#i might remake it one day but i probably wont so | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

qqueenofhades · 3 years

Note

... Remember the Russian Revolution au? Which ended with Fedyor's sister very sick and Fedyor searching for Ivan in hopes of getting help for her from him? Fedyor finding Ivan and offering to do "anything" in exchange for his sister's medical treatment? Ivan secretly wanting Fedyor, but refusing to take what he wants like that? Soooo... I would also like the big the big 3 of your coming projects to happen, but... y'know... just.... wanted to bring this au up again... ;)

Behold, the oft-requested follow-up to the first two Russian Revolution au ficlets. Ahem.

Fedyor does not sleep that night. He does not even think about sleeping. He only leaves the army headquarters long enough to think hard about what he is proposing to do, wonder if it is worth it, and decide that it is. Katya needs the medicine, he has no other recourse, and he is categorically unwilling to return home to his family as a failure, when they have placed all their trust and hope in him. Ivan has hinted that he might be able to obtain it, and so that, no matter what it takes, is what Fedyor will have to get him to do. And for that…

He knows that he is not unattractive. He has dark eyes, dark hair, a dimpled smile, a personable and friendly manner that, in happier times, attracted the attention of many an eligible young lady who wished to ice skate or promenade around the park or take a carriage ride, as courting Russian couples are wont to do. However, while Fedyor was perfectly happy to chat with ladies, or escort them to a ball, or fulfill his essential chivalric duty, he was not otherwise interested in wooing them. It was partly for that reason that he signed up to the military, where an enterprising young man can have other opportunities in the darkness of the barracks. So long as his family was kept conveniently unaware.

For all that the Bolsheviks have overthrown the government without a clear plan as to what to do next, and accordingly plunged them all into this miserable civil war, Fedyor does secretly sympathize with certain of their beliefs on the remaking of family life. They say that marriage is outdated and bourgeoisie, that monogamy is unnatural, that women should not be subject to patriarchal systems, and that homosexuality is an equally valid state of nature. Such a possibility of sexual classification and divergence is much discussed in Europe these days, and there is even a small but growing scholarly literature, written by eminent scientists. Sexual Inversion by Havelock Ellis, published in 1896, argues that the man-loving man is indeed even a possibly improved form of human, associated with superior intellectual and artistic achievement, and that nothing about his attachment is wrong or abnormal. Two years before that, Edward Carpenter wrote Homogenic Love, and in 1900, the German Elisar von Kupffer published an anthology of homosexual poetry, Lieblingminne und Freundesliebe in der Weltliteratur. Such texts are relatively easy for an educated, French- and English- speaking young Russian intellectual, such as Fedyor Mikhailovich Kaminsky, to lay his hands on. He is not sure what can come of it, but at least he knows that he is not alone.

The question remains as to Ivan Ivanovich Sakharov’s proclivities. Unless Fedyor is very much mistaken, Ivan was at least considering the possibility of accepting his offer, and turned it down for honorable, moral reasons, feeling it unjust to sexually extort a young gentleman in exchange for his sister’s care, rather than physical horror at the idea of such a coupling. If he’s a Bolshevik, he’s probably acceptably tolerant of their philosophy on an abstract level, but it’s less clear as to whether that extends to its personal practice. If Fedyor turns up in his bunkhouse – which, come to think of it, is probably shared, curse these Bolsheviks and their dratted communality, highly inconvenient for a midnight seduction attempt – scantily clad and willing, will Ivan’s objections hold out then? Or… or what?

Fedyor doesn’t know, but the uncertainty adds to the frisson of shameful excitement, rather than detracting from it. He searches through the streets of Chelyabinsk for some bread (it does not seem in much greater supply than in Nizhny Novgorod) and waits for the sun to go down. In March, the days, though getting steadily longer, are still short and chilly, and it’s bitingly cold when it gets dark. Then he pulls up his muffler, tells himself not to be unduly precious about it, and heads for the makeshift army quarters on Kirovka Street.

The buildings in downtown are beautiful, built in the Russian Revival style of neo-Byzantinian splendor, though the onion-domed Orthodox churches have all been converted into stables and armories, and anything that whiffs of an ideology contrary to the Red one has been economically discarded. Fedyor reaches the door, knocks, and when a disgruntled sergeant comes to answer it, expecting him to be a soldier out too late and in line for a ticking-off, Fedyor raises his hands apologetically. “I’ve come to join up,” he says. “The great socialist cause of the world’s workers is the only true one for a patriotic Russian man, and I vow it my full allegiance, if you will have me. I was speaking to my friend earlier, Ivan Ivanovich, and he suggested it. Is he still here?”

The sergeant eyes him squiggle-eyed, but they cannot afford to look gift horses too closely in the mouth, or turn aside willing recruits. It takes a while, but he shouts for someone who shouts for someone else, and this finally produces the startled personage of Ivan Sakharov, who clearly thought it was for the last time when they parted several hours ago. Upon sight of Fedyor, he stops short, looking alarmed, angry, and wary all at once. “What are you – ?”

“Can we talk?” Fedyor is resolved to do this, he truly is, but he feels it best to get it over with before that wavers in any degree. Whether he wants it too little does not seem like the problem; on the contrary, he fears that he wants it too much, and if he stops to reflect on it or delude himself with any nonsensical notions of it being more than once, that can only hurt the cause. “Somewhere… private?”

Ivan hesitates, as if asking to commune out of sight of the others is tantamount to heresy (though it’s not as if these damn hypocrites didn’t plot in secret, away from their own countrymen, for months and months, Fedyor thinks angrily). Then he jerks his head. “Fine. Five minutes. This way.”

He leads Fedyor up a few narrow, creaking staircases, past closed doors that echo with snorting and snoring and coughing, the cacophony of his comrades, none of whom seem to be enjoying their glorious victory quite as much as they thought. Ivan, however, appears to be sufficiently high-ranking in the Red Guards that the room they finally arrive at, though not much larger than a closet, is at least private. It reminds Fedyor forcibly of Ivan’s room back in St. Petersburg, the one they slept in together, that first night after the Winter Palace. It sounds more intimate in his recollections than it actually was. Nothing happened, of course. But Ivan was kind to offer it, kind when he did not need to be, when a young tsarist soldier alone in the ferment of riot and revolution, such as Fedyor was, would not be likely to see the new red dawn. It is that which Fedyor keeps in mind as he shuts the door with assumed casualness, then turns around, meets Ivan’s eye in a significant fashion, and shrugs off his coat, cap, and muffler. Then, unmistakably, starts to unbutton his shirt.

He has almost gotten to the bottom by the time Ivan, who is staring at him as if he’s lost his marbles (it is unclear if this is an encouraging fashion or not) finally recovers his sense. He strides forward and covers Fedyor’s hands with his own large, callused rifleman’s fingers, sending a shock of attraction burning through Fedyor from head to toe, along with the death of any more illusion that he could continue to be casual about this. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Fedyor’s throat is as dry as a bone, but he forces himself to speak. “I said that I would do anything for my sister’s care, if you would help.”

He lingers suggestively on the word anything, just as he did before, in case there was any doubt (as if the undressing wasn’t enough) what he means here. Ivan looks like a cornered bear, but as his eyes catch Fedyor’s and flick across the lean, muscled torso thus revealed beneath the shirt, he swallows hard and has to glance away. The attraction trembles silently in the air between them, tense as a piano string, tuned to snapping. In the old days, that is, when people played pianos, and did not burn them for firewood, as Fedyor’s parents were preparing to do with theirs when he left home. It chokes raw and painful in his throat. He is attracted to Ivan – desperately attracted, in fact – and yet he still hates what the Bolsheviks have done, even if the Romanovs and the Provisional Government were no better. The deposed Tsar Nicholas II is under house arrest with his wife and five children, the four tsarevnas and the tsarevich, in Yekaterinburg. Little sick Alexei Romanov, whose hemophilia opened the door for Grigori Rasputin to control the queen, the royal household, the government of Russia, and so bring about the end of their house. He was like something from a fairytale monster, that Grisha. The rumors of his death, not quite two years ago in December 1916, is that it almost did not happen, he was so hard to kill. A demon. A beast.

“You cannot do this,” Ivan says, his voice too rough, his eyes still struggling to remain decorously averted. “It is not – it is not right.”

“Not right?” Fedyor flares. “So a little spot of armed treason and overthrowing the man who, however deficient he might be, was the heir of one of the oldest and greatest empires in the world? That part was entirely aboveboard, but this, when you want this – don’t lie to me, I’m well aware you do – to help my sister? That would be a sin?!”

Ivan backs up a step, glancing around shiftily. These walls are thin, and he clearly does not want his beloved brothers-in-arms to hear this. “Fedyor Mikhailovich – ”

“Have me.” Fedyor is done playing games. “I’m here, I’m yours for the taking. You can do whatever you want to me, as long as you give me the medicine at the end.”

For a long, spellbound moment, he thinks Ivan is on the brink of agreeing. Then once again, he shakes his head. “No,” he says. “I could not in good conscience consent to this. But I will fetch you the medicine. You do not have to give me anything in return.”

Fedyor gawks at him, shocked – and, it must be confessed, more than a little disappointed. “I thought it was fair trade,” he says. “Tit for tat.”

“It is…” Ivan shakes his head, eyes once more straying to Fedyor’s bare chest. “Button your shirt up,” he says, half-laughing, not angry, breathless and soft. “It is very distracting.”

“Good.” Fedyor takes another step. “I think you deserve it, you obnoxious bastard.”

“Be that as it may.” At least Ivan has the good sense not to dispute it. “I cannot do this,” he repeats, more gently. “You are a fine young man, Fedyor Mikhailovich. Perhaps in another life… but it would not be honorable to trade your virtue for this.”

“My virtue?” Fedyor has to laugh. “What makes you think I have that?”

Once again, Ivan wavers. But to give him (loathing) credit, he will not be swayed. “Button it,” he repeats. “I will arrange to have the money and medicine sent by your lodging by tomorrow, if you give me an address in the city.”

“I don’t have one.” Fedyor folds his arms. “Only here.”

Ivan looks even more startled. His lips part, he takes a step forward, and for a brief, wild, exquisite yearning of an instant, Fedyor thinks he is actually going to kiss him. They’re almost close enough – not quite, but almost – for it to happen. Then Ivan says, “Your family must be very proud of you.”

“I…” It catches in his throat. “I don’t know. I hope.”

“I would,” Ivan says. “I would be.”

And that, somehow, is all that seems to matter. Even as Fedyor spends a night in Ivan’s narrow camp cot of a bed, Ivan insisting on taking the hard floor out of an excess of gallantry, an echo of their first night in St. Petersburg. Ivan does as ordered, gives Fedyor some rubles and some medicine and a train ticket back home to Nizhny Novgorod. He personally escorts Fedyor to the train station to make sure he does not come to grief, then stands on the platform, staring after him like Vronsky watching Anna leave one more time. The train begins to huff and puff, spitting soot and embers, and Fedyor keeps his nose pressed to the glass, leaving a smudge, until long after, as it seems he is never destined to do anything but, Ivan Ivanovich Sakharov has vanished into the mist.

#heartrender husbands #fivan #fivan ff #ivan x fedyor #russian revolution au

34 notes · View notes

honey-makki · 3 years

Text

It was a normal day for Ashleigh Styleson. Walking to school and zoning out for a few hours. The end of the day was not what I expected at all. Instead of sitting at my desk doing homework I was tied up in the storage room of a gym.

Today I was kidnapped by older (and very sexy) men?

I don;t know why they took me, I don’t even kow who they are. One of them is tallish and blonde and looks like he would play troy bolton in a remake of high school musical. He keeps staring at me and im nervous that my bright blue jeans and band tee paired with my knee high converse aren’t cute enough for him.

Maybe they wont want me anymore, i wondered. my doubt was quickly replaced when three more men walked in the room. One had blonde hair tied back with a headband and i could just tell he was in charge by the bde he had. The other two were meeker and didn’t really catch my eye, a tall skinny nervous blonde and the only brunette.

“Who are you”

Don’t worry about who we are baby girl just what we can do for you.

“Do for me?”

The one in charge laughed. “Maybe if u are good enough we will let you go home. smothing tells me you are a bad girl tho, maybe its the outfit you are wearing”

My parents did hate this outfit, they said it was too eddgy but i didn’t want to be the preppy bithc of their dreams. No i am hardcore. Punk through and through and obviously these men could tell.

Would that be my escape or downfall?

Do they think my confidence is sexy or annoyin??

a/n definitely sexy. she is so confident and no one can fuck w her

“Do you want to listen to music” he doesnt let me answer before using pandora to open up a one direction station, “hows this”

My eyes almost roll out of my head, “im more of a.. Um 5sos person.. A person w taste”

a/n i don’t hate 1d but being a 1d stan?? couldn;t be me (◔_◔)

Of course you are, because i also love them, and he quickly switches to the beter station.

I can’t help but start to dance in my too tight biinds when good girls play out from his phone.

“If i untine you, will you dance fro us like a good girl?”

Only f you tell me why i’m here

Depends on how good you dance. Theres a daring glint in his eyes and ive never been one to back down from a challenge.

The song flows through ym body and i cant help the way my hips mve in a seductive circle, his eyes zeroed in on my rainbow studded belt. Suddenlyan idea sparks in my mind.

I might be punk but that doesn’t mean i don’t learn tiktok dances at night for fun. Its one of the only things i can do when my mom grounds me and takes my laptop away. Idk why she doesn’t take my phone but its not like i have a ton fo friends to text anyways

It’s not the right song but i think the moves to the savage dance will work well enough. If i sing savag in ym head i can keep on beat and maybe he’ll like my dance moves. I can’t see how the others stare at my ass while i put on a show for the man in front of me but i wouldn’t care anyways.

When i finish he walks up and whispers in my ear, “those moves aren’t necessarily what i would call good, you wouldnt want your mom to see you shaking your ass infront of a grown men woul you?”

Well i do what i want so if i want to be sexy in front of you then i will. A pout is evident on my face but i take the time hes laughing to check him out in front of me. Hes bigger then all the boys in my grade and theres a warm tingling in my tummy that i don’t recognize.

One fo the men speaks up behind me and says, “ we took you because you are hot.” i blush unwillingly at the compliment from an attractive older man, “and we want you to stay with us” says another.

I pause, leaving ym life behind? The pink bedroom walls and strict annoying parents and school? And instead i get to live with four ripped men who think im sexy and cool? Easiest decison of my life

“Am i living in this gym? Because i need at least a shower and bed and i dont’ see any of that hear..

“Don’t worry kitten you can come bck to our place and sleep in anyone’s bed you want.”

---

Maybe geting kidnapped isn’t the worst thing thats ever happend to me/ now i dont have to do my math homework and i can probably have my first kiss with one fo these hot dudes.

they take me to thier apartment above a store and before the door even closes the man has his warm muscle shoved down my throat. i don’t know alotbout jissng but i felt like we skipped a few steps! but when the next man came up he’s much gentle with me and it wasn’t long before i was confident and our tongues battles for dominance

the second pair of hands moving on my body from behind only spurred me on to pull the first one even closer. not to mention he was super hot.

the man still at the door had a dark glean in his eyes and commanded me to strip. everyone else looked at me bungryily and i felt like the power shifted in my favor and that my feminine wiles would get me anything i wanted.

maybe i could get used to living like this

a/n this was a dream i had and i wish it was realll!1! where are my sexy men!!!

a real a/n: this is part of the miki mouse whore house collab! check the others out here

#i’m so sorry #also sorry about having to repost #writes.tea

16 notes · View notes

beakybirdsong · 3 years

Text

Sigh okay it's Pokemon News Drop Day so I'm gonna make a quick appearance for initial thoughts. But uhhh they're not great lmao

So if you don't like debbie downers probably don't read this lol

Because I got a bit...edgy

But like...I actually *hate* that we're getting 3 different games and none of them look remotely...good, all for different reasons.

The D/P remakes, from what we've seen so far, just don't excite me in any way. My opinion could change going forward but for right now it looks like it might as well be a remastered port, which is...not really what I've come to expect from Pokemon remakes, even as someone who's generally become a huge pessimist over the years lmao. HGSS added Pokemon following, the Pokathalon, a customizable Safari Zone, team photos, polished bits of existing storyline (like awakening the legendaries or disguising yourself as a rocket), and I think even the Battle Frontier iirc. We got much less in ORAS, but the story was admittedly still polished up good from what it was, including a little post game romp where we could catch Deoxys, the DexNav, which was super fun to play around with, and additionally Mirage Islands, a bunch of minimaps in the region that changed every day, which you essentially could collect from others by playing online or using Streetpass and accessing BuzzNav. It was also the first game to let us really hunt a hoard of legendaries, some of which were hidden in really cool updated areas (lookin at you Sea Mauville).

My point of all this I guess is that if you're going to give us a trailer for DP remakes can you not make it look like...samey and bland lol?? I'm not saying there WONT be any new content, but I am saying that if there isn't then it just...is not gonna be worth the money that a Switch game costs. Especially after Swsh left such a bad taste in my mouth. Like H O N E S T L Y I'd probably be being a lot nicer right now if Swsh was like...a good game lmao but that shit still has bugs and even after two full DLC drops there's nothing to DO (outside of being a crazy person like me and hunting shiny legends in Dynamax Adventures).

NOT TO MENTION HOLY SHIT, the longer time goes on the less forgivable it gets that these characters are sooooo fucking static!!!! The whole *thud* thing worked fine back in the DS era because it was....yknow, the DS era, but it just looks so stupid over a decade later. You can't add any more movement than that?? Barry's static pose in battle is also just completely devoid of personality. I'd honestly be fine with the chibi style if they did something interesting with it. Which is my point ig. Please please pleeeaaassseeee do something interesting with these remakes. Give me a reason not to just play on an emulator, or hell. Dig out an old copy and play on the 3DS, which still supports DS games lmao.

Okay phew ANYWAY.

Idk if it's because I'm coming down off of that hot mess but Pokemon Legends is actually...kind of interesting in concept. Like it takes place in the past, neat. And it's """"open-world,"""" okay neat. And the starter options are remixed, neat (I have a lot of thoughts on that actually and they aren't bad but this isn't the time or place). And they clearly told the tree-renderers to get their fucking act together, but like...that's a good segue into the problem I'm having with it which is that it still just looks empty. And boring?? And I think what I'm getting hung up on is that part of my brain is like ooh cool but there's a much bigger part of my brain that's like "OK but WHY"

It's just so frustrating as a longtime Pokemon fan to look at these two games which are both set in Sinnoh and only seeing wasted potential. Why aren't we getting one really good Sinnoh game that could happen with a little more time and less spread-thin resources? One looks bad because it's static and underwhelming port of an otherwise big beautiful labyrinthine region and the other looks bad because it looks good in places but is otherwise is an empty looking world in the way that the Wild Area was. We could have all the good stuff in one package but why would they do that when they can double up on profits by shipping out two mediocre games?

Speaking of, the nastiest taste in my mouth by far was the fact that we're getting three new games at all. Other parts of first-party Nintendo are making a point to ask for understanding and delay releases because of the pandemic and it seems like Pokemon just isn't letting up. What kind of conditions and crunch are these developers working under while also dealing with the handicap of doing it all remotely?? Do they get to sleep and eat like Jesus fucking Christ. I know there's a studio name I don't recognize helping with the DP remakes but STILL. It's not worth it! It's not worth it! Make a better game later!!! Stop beating your own franchise and the people who make it half to death!! Getting even one new mainline Pokemon game a year is unrealistic and unsustainable and it needs to stop fucking yesterday!! Hell, I would cry tears of joy if we went a year with no new Pokemon news at all! That's how ugly this feels.

In an attempt not to end on a sour note I guess, Snap looks good enough to get. I'm curious to see how many courses there are, but the characters look endearing enough, and by nature of being an on-rails game the world feels alive because it's not an unrealistic ask to make it feel that way (they did it just fine on the N64, even with the technical limitations of the time). I would much prefer mainline Pokemon games veer away from this "open-world" direction they're going in and just focus on making their little segmented areas tighter and more immersive in terms of aesthetic and exploration and maybe like one or two static encounter mons with a bit of personality. But I'm getting carried back into the Mainline Game Bad Thoughts Zone and I don't wanna be there. So. Idk check out that Venusaur doing a cannonball! Instant serotonin. Hoping there will be some fun pokemon interactions you can apple into happening like Surfing Pikachu or the Jigglypuff concert. Snap looks fun. I like fun. This is fun. This is fine!!!!!!!

#pokemon #pokemon legends #pokemon snap #brilliant diamond #shining pearl #pokemon presents

9 notes · View notes

wygolvillage · 3 years

Text

been thinking about how i would make a remake/reimagining of simons quest. long post ahead. might be a little stupid since im no game designer or writer or anything lol

random gameplay stuff

it would be metroidvania style, but not all in the castle. imagine it like ooe but the map is interconnected.

i would keep the day/night cycle but it would be less obnoxious of course... probably there would be a little clock on the HUD showing what time it is and how close you are to nightfall. villagers would go inside during the night, but you can still enter churches. churches are your most reliable healing method since save rooms would be pretty sparse in the rest of the world map, and saving at the churches also allows you to skip straight to morning or nightfall if you so desire. being stuck in the middle of the woods during night can be disastrous if the player is ill-prepared since monsters grow stronger then.

there would still be puzzles to figure out and complete, and it would still be a bit cryptic (not to the degree of the original of course), but there is a supporting character i would put in who you can ask for hints at any time, and hers are a lot more straightforward (more on her later). important items are gained through quests rather than bought with hearts, but drop rates would be VERY forgiving since it’s required. like, a villager promises to give you the red crystal if you can get him some fish meat from a merman, which would have about a 40% drop rate... i kind of wanted to preserve the sense of fighting monsters to forage for materials the original has without making the game a total grindfest :P

additionally, materials dropped from monsters can be used to craft food items after simon teams up with the aforementioned supporting character. like i said before, save rooms wouldn’t be super common so it would be implemented as a way to heal yourself when you’re away from town.

the bosses would be decently difficult to compensate with there being very few of them- a true challenge, but they can be beaten with both playable characters if the player is skilled enough

the plot would be expanded upon as well so lemme give a little summary

it begins in simons house where he wakes up having trouble breathing. he’s been struggling with some physical illness ever since battling dracula years prior, especially a nasty bite on his arm he sustained during the fight, and that arm has been turning a pretty nasty shade of grey, like its wasting away. he goes outside to a graveyard near a local church to try and get some fresh air, but it is largely unhelpful. suddenly, he spots an old woman standing at one of the graves. he looks over at him and says mysteriously “ah... must be a horrible night for a curse.” simon is like “what do you mean?!” the old woman tells him to “resurrect him and destroy what remains, or nothing will remain of you”. she then disappears into thin air, implying she’s a ghost or something equally spooky. simon is like “destroy what remains... dracula’s remains?!”

the game starts properly in the graveyard and surrounding forest as simon heads in a fairly straight path towards the town of jova, where he meets a woman a few years younger than him named agnes. agnes’ parents were killed by dracula’s forces when he was resurrected back then, and she admires simon greatly for defeating the dark lord (shes also implied to be a descendant of grant danasty!). she decides to accompany him on his quest after hearing about his curse. he asks the head priest of the town if he knows about dracula’s remains, and the priest tells him that he heard of some of dracula’s followers placing some of dracula’s body parts in their strongholds to worship, and points him to the direction of the first stronghold and hands him a stake. he also warns them that bringing all of his remains together can resurrect the dark lord and it holds a remarkable corrupting power.

simon and agnes then become a character swapping duo (just like portrait of ruin hehehe). agnes is low on defense but can deal plenty of damage at a close range, and her signature weapon is the golden knife. she’s fast as well, whereas simon is more of a slow, defensive character who is best at keeping distance between himself and the enemy. agnes is smart, but impulsive and stubborn, and doesn’t like being told that she’s wrong. simon is a stoic but kind individual who tends to keep to himself. their personalities occasionally cause conflict between them during the adventure, but they eventually grow to become really good friends.

eventually they reach berkeley mansion, the first of the strongholds, and its aesthetic is very much “dark evil church”. there are the usual skeletons and bats and stuff, but some of the dracula followers are regular enemies as well. the first boss is a human who has dedicated his life to following dracula (specifically to contrast against the priest dude who gave simon the stake and directions) who uses magic attacks and stuff. beating him earns simon dracula’s rib, which functions suprisingly well as a shield (which becomes important later).

the adventure continues on like this, going from town to mansion to town, with simons curse becoming more and more hindering to him (from a story perspective not a gameplay one. simon wont become worse to play as because that would be lame as hell). they go to the other mansions, with the bosses being carmilla (guarding the nail of vlad, in a mansion thats very much a vampires lair), olrox (guarding the eyeball, in a massive dining hall themed mansion) death (guarding vlads ring in a Spooky Clockwork Skeleton Mansion with slogras and gaibons and all the usual death stuff), and in the final mansion... there is no boss. just as simon is about to grab the heart, agnes stops him.

Agnes: You told me you were going to destroy the remains, weren’t you?

Simon: Of... Of course, Agnes. Why do you ask?

Agnes: Why haven’t you?

Simon: ...

Agnes: We have almost all of them. You remember what the priest said, right? That bringing them together can resurrect Dracula.

Simon: Well... I haven’t exactly been truthful, Agnes. The old woman who sent me on this quest didn’t tell me just to destroy his remains...

Agnes: So you’ve been intending to resurrect the Dark Lord this whole time? For your own selfish gain?

Simon: This curse will kill me if I don’t.

Agnes: ...So it’s true, then. You’re willing to risk the lives of thousands just to save your own skin. Lives like my parents’... Lives like mine.

Simon: I...

Agnes: There’s no need to explain yourself, oh great hero, Simon Belmont. (Scoffs) If you care more for yourself than anyone else, strike me down now!

surprise! simon has to fight against his best friend! tbh i would be pissed at him too lmao. and it’s a tough fight, as agnes can deal a ton of damage and is hard to dodge. killing her like any other boss will give you the bad ending, where simon realizes she was right and lets himself succumb to the curse out of guilt for her death. the way to the good ending is to use dracula’s rib as a shield (i told you it would be important!) or dodge/survive her attacks until she tires out (the shield is the best method though), and realizes simon doesn’t want to hurt her. they have a touching emotional moment and simon assures her that he beat dracula before and can do it again, but he will need her help. agnes nods, and they head to the ruins of dracula’s old castle, which is totally empty. there’s no music, while the rest of the game has been filled with catchy tunes, here there’s only ambient noise.

they reach the throne room and place drac’s remains on a pedestal, where they begin to glow with dark energy. blood is dripping down the walls and stuff, and the count is returning to the mortal plane as thunder booms in the background. simon begins to doubt himself. if he loses now, the world will be plunged into darkness, and it will all be his fault. but... agnes has his back, despite everything. they fight dracula together, and though it’s tough with simon’s weakened body, they eventually prevail, as simon drives the stake into his heart, the curse finally lifted.

the game ends with agnes and simon returning to jova. agnes admits that she’s still upset with simon for lying to her, but she would be even more upset if he died slowly because of her. simon sighs, stating that there was no easy solution to the situation they were in, and asks for forgiveness for breaking her trust and risking so much for his own desires. agnes says maybe one day she will forgive him completely, and she still considers him a friend, but she needs some time to herself. simon nods, and they go their separate ways.

SO YEAH idk if this is even good but i hope u at least enjoyed reading it. maybe ill make designs for this version of simon, and for agnes too ofc :D

...yeah, not exactly the happiest ending, but i always found it kind of weird that simon was so willing to resurrect the count to save himself from the curse, so that’s the main conflict i decided to add to the story. its not the sort of conflict that can be easily resolved. theres no easy answer... agnes was right about simon risking other peoples lives being wrong, but she was also wrong to insist that he just give up and let the curse kill him instead. its Complicated idk... Castlevania II: Simon’s Trolley Problem

edit: actually i decided there would be two "true endings" after using the shield in the agnes fight. the one i described, and a second one where they decide against resurrecting dracula and simon lives out the short rest of his days with agnes until he dies of the curse. both endings are considered equally canon and valid

#Castlevania #castlevania ii simon's quest #simon's quest #simon belmont

10 notes · View notes

broken-n-discarded · 3 years

Text

We loose ourselves

Over the last 2 months of being free of my narcissist and learning to comprehend what happened to me and how cruel he is, I have found it interesting just how much I changed myself to please him and be more of what I knew he liked than my actual self. The strange thing is that all the things I liked or I became were already in me or things that interested me, I just emphasized them more. The things that I liked that he didn't like I let fade into the background and just didn't pay attention to them anymore. For example, I love tea, hot, cold. Doesn't matter I love tea, its my preferred beverage. However, my narc didn't like tea it revolted him. So he would make fun of me or make a gaging sound anytime I mentioned that's what I was drinking or he saw me drinking it. Over time I just didn't drink hot tea at all and instead of ice tea, I picked up his soda habit. So it got to the point that all I really drank was soda aside from my morning coffee. I would drink some ice tea but no where near what I use to drink. Over this last month without him I have started to slowly find who I really am and what I really like again. Tea is one of the new things I've rediscovered and over the last few days I have a lot of ice tea and even some hot tea and I think, wow how did i stop drinking this, its so good. It is mind blowing how they chip away at who you are and get you to change more and more without actually telling you or asking you to. You sort of just pick up on it between the teasing and passing comments. Then when they stop you realize that you are where they want you and feel almost relieved that you have finally found a level that they seem happy with. It doesn't last that long though because they usually find something else to start picking act once you fix whatever they have been picking on you for.

If its not that, then its the weird “I like this, oh now you do, ok I don't like it anymore” game. There was so many times that I would mention something that in the “love bombing” phase he loved too. All of a sudden he didn't like it anymore, simply because i did and it hurt, like I lost part of what made us, us. Which I think was the point. To make me feel like I had some how not grown in the relationship like he did, or that whatever it was had outlived its cool and now i was behind. He loves movies, especially horror films. Me on the other hand I only like the originals like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm street, Friday the 13th...to name a few. He loved these as well. Yet when I would mention them and want to watch them all of a sudden he didn't want to watch them, it had to be the remake or some random obscure horror film no one but die hard horror fans liked. He dismissed the ones I liked as ok. Where they use to be his favs like me. When we would watch some of the obscure ones, he’d premise it with you probably wont like it but its one of my favs. If i ended up liking it, then all of a sudden it wasnt his fav anymore it was just an ok film. It was hurtful and frustrating feeling like he was always looking for something to reject me with and make me feel bad.

In this healing chapter of my life, I have finally decided that I am going to like what I like and do what I want to do and not care about what other people think, especially him. I have come to the realization that he will never like or approve of anything about me so I might as well stop trying. Hes gone and never coming back and its time I let it go and bury that horrible toxic relationship that I endured for 18yrs. Hes a horrible cruel monster who will never change because he thinks that its fun to tear women apart in order to make himself feel better.

#narcissist survivor #narcissist #healingfromnarcissistabuse

5 notes · View notes

lucidpantone · 3 years

Note

I don't think 10 is the premier date now, I been thinking...because of corona the started the spring break sooner and they might start school (if the conditions let them) later right? So...if they start the 10 at some point they gonna have clips on school right? They been filming there so it wouldn't be realistic, now I know most remakes choose to ignore corona but LUKA just posted about the early break from school so the premier date is probably after this break ends or the first 2 episodes doesn't involve school?

similar anon: Hey Lucid! How do you think this social content will be released? One Q&A a day starting 1st of April?

similar anon: So if we assume April 10 is the premier date then this Q&A is part of their premier date announcement?! Or nothing to do one with another?

modified anon: Hey regardless of corona they do have extra calls and quite interesting ones grandmother and grandfather, teacher, baby during sugar feast?! I have no idea what is that, girlfriends, school boys? Basketters of all origins? what is that?.... anyways is pretty boy still on this season tho? I have see him interact mire often with the crew...

Ok I am bunching all these up to answer them together. Firstly a lot of the season is filmed on basketball courts, football pitches and Yasmina house. So we could easily start the 10th and the focus all that week on introducing yasmina’s family home and her brother and the squad. Ok so let me go down this list.

Concerning Extras I didn’t say they wouldn't be any I said they would be limited calls and it looks like its basically two elder roles, one adult, more basketball boys (which means more b.squad scenes) and a baby for Suikerfeest.

Also a belgian muslim homie explained Suikerfeest like this to me: Suikerfeest or the Sugar Feast is the celebration of the end of Ramadan for babies or little kids. Little children going around in their neighborhood, wishing people a happy bayram so they receive candies, chocolates, or sometimes even a small amount of money...

Lastly pretty boy started following Akram pretty recently so why would he do that if he wasnt still connected to the show...... Also from the extras calls we can see we are still going to be filming with the bsquad and having scene with them later into the season am not worried if we get to episode 7 and we havent seen him then i will be worried and i’ll let you guys know too.

Ok concerning April 10th(and 3rd or 17th). You have to remember this is Yasmina’s season and they are certain milestones in her household that are important and why most likely they wont start any later the April 13th. Its the beginning of Ramadan. I am not saying they couldn't skip the beginning of Ramadan which they absolutely could but its more like why would they? Ramadan is a great occasion to drop into Yasmina’s life to highlight her family and their traditions and to see her life outside of the squad and her school friends. I actually wouldn't mind if the first episode is completely about yasmina outside of the group. Similar to how we focused on Robbe’s state of mind before we met Sander.

Ok finally will the Q&A’s be a hint to the premiere date. Someone sent me a crazy theory which I thought was a great idea. Firstly I asked my connect do wtfock write in their own questions if they don’t like a question? or reword a question to achieve the desired effect? They said yes. So with that in mind a mutual said to me what if they have red herring questions that serve as clues to the premiere date? And I thought that would be cool but then I remember we are dealing with wtFOCK social and they can’t even published anything more then boring food pics. So my opinion is the stans are way more creative then the social team themselves and I would be more shocked if they connected the Q&A’s to the premiere date because the social team has been so lackluster thus far.

#lucidpantone anons

1 note · View note

luna473 · 4 years

Text

Water Attracts Lightning // Zuko X Kasami (OC) [FF]

Kasami’s P.O.V

It’s been about 4 days since Zuko brought me in. It’s a good thing his healers are of high level experience, if not I’d probably be a lot worse off right now. I still get sharp pains in my side at the site of my cut, but all of my bruises and burns have been healed.

“Kasami?” Zuko opens the door and peaks his head in. “Are you up?”

“Yeah, just give me one second.”

I finish brushing my hair, along with braiding one loose strand on the side. I put my hair behind my shoulders as it falls down to my waist in slightly curly waves. I put on my water tribe outfit, but I quickly realize that its way too hot in the firenation to be wearing these fleece covered North Pole clothes.

“Actually, give me a few minutes.” I laugh sheepishly as I grab the scissors.

I cut off one of the long sleeves of my white water tribe top. I crop it and put it on, the bottom resting a few inches above my belly button. I take the warm fleece off of my blue and white skirt and cut a slit up the right side. I put on my necklace and my traditional tribe bracelets, one on my upper arm and two around my wrist.

I put on my most prized possession, an Air Nomad bracelet that Aang gifted me for my birthday. He knew how much I loved Air Nomads and their culture. I guess thats why Aang and I formed a really special bond. I love all of my friends but he was there for me when no one else was. I consider Aang my best and closest friend. I spent almost all of my childhood reading ancient Nomad scrolls, scriptures, and books. Besides training with water and swordsman masters, of course. It was amazing to have someone else, a real Nomad, to be best friends with.

I hope Aang and the others are okay.

Suddenly, an idea pops into my head.

I walk out to see Zuko waiting outside my door, he studies me, glancing up and down before speaking.

“Took you long enough.” He says, leaning against the wall.

“Well I wouldnt of had to remake all of my clothes if it wasnt like 90 degrees here.”

I cross my arms across my chest and blow a strand of hair out of my face.

“Let’s go.” He begins, “We have a lot to do today.”

“Actually, I need to do something first.”

Zuko groans and runs his hand through his hair.

“What is it?” He snaps harshly, clearly annoyed.

“I need to enter the spirit world.”

“The spirit world?!” He shouted, an exasperated expression on his face. “Why do you need to go into the spirit world?”

“Okay well, first of all, calm down and stop shouting.” I started, unamused by his behavior. “Since Aang and I are the only ones out of our group who can enter the spirit world, we promised to find each other there if we ever got separated.”

Zuko massaged his forehead and sighed deeply.

“Kasami, we don’t have time for this!”

“I’m going to do it either way, Zuko.” I glanced away sadly and looked at the floor. “They probably think I’m dead. I have to let them know I’m here and that I’m coming for them.”

“Fine, but make it quick.” He began walking away. “If your not back to the ship in an hour, you can find your own way back.”

Asshole.

I jogged back into his villa, and decided to go sit on the beach to meditate. I sat down, closed my eyes, and pressed my fists together. I focused on my breath for a while, and in a few minutes I notice the landscape around me was beginning to change. My soul felt like it was lifting out of my body, although it seems scary, it always felt the most amazing during the transition from the real world, to the spirit world.

I opened my eyes to see that I wasn’t at the beach anymore. The sound of waves turned in to the sound of leaves and branches flowing peacefully in the wind.

“Come on Aang, where are you?”

I made my way over to our favorite spot, a flower garden beneath a giant bonsai tree. The four nations’ symbols carved into it’s trunk. I sat and waited, until suddenly, I heard footsteps nearing. My eyes shot over to the sound, a familiar face with blue tattoos making his way towards me.

“AANG!”

A huge smile plastered across my face, I ran as fast as I could over to him. His arms already open, waiting to receive his hug.

“Im so glad you’re alive, Kasami.” He peered down at me with a concerned but elated expression.

“Are you guys okay?” I walked around him, searching for cuts or bruises. “Are any of you hurt?”

“We aren’t hurt too bad, don’t worry. If Sokka would just shut up once in a while maybe he wouldn’t get in trouble so often...” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

I balled my fists and my jaw clenched.

“Aang, please don’t lie to me. Tell me what’s happening to you guys.”

He sighed and glanced down at the floor.

“Katara can barely stand and Sokka’s got bruises all over him.”

“And you?” Tears well up in my eyes as I look up at him.

“They keep me chi blocked. I can’t reach the Avatar state.” He began, his voice quivering and tears beginning to fall down his face. “I’m the Avatar and I can’t even save them.”

“Aang, please. Do not blame yourself.”

“How can I not? I’m supposed to bring balance and peace to the world.”

“Everything is going to be okay. Thanks to you I made it out of there alive. Well, just barely, but Zuko found me and-“

“Wait, Zuko?”

“I fell off of Appa trying to escape and I fell in to the woods on Ember Island.”

“Where does Zuko fall into this?”

“Well he was on vacation and he happened to be out at the time. He found me and brought me back to his villa. Zuko and his healers basically nursed me back to health.”

“Fire Lord Zuko? The one gave you your sca-“

“Yes Aang.” I interrupt his sentence, not wanting him to finish it.

“Speaking of Zuko, I have to go.” I wrapped my arms around Aang and squeezed him tightly. “If Im not back at the ship soon, I’ll get left behind.”

Aang hugged me back and squeezed me even tighter.

“Im coming for you guys. I’m going to get all of you out of there,” I let go of him and put my hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”

We said our goodbyes and I returned to the real world. I opened my eyes to see Zuko sitting right in front of me.

“Z-zuko?”

“Oh, uh, sorry! I was just making sure nothing happened to your body while you were in there.”

“Like how Katara was protecting Aang the night of the North Pole invasion before you showed up and stole him?” I remarked sarcastically.

“Hey! I said I was sorry for that!”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips, before I started laughing at him.

He got up, dusting the sand off his clothes. He reached his hand down to me, offering to help me up.

“I can get up myself, thanks.”

I rose up off the ground and dusted my own skirt off.

We stood in silence for what seemed like forever, just staring at each other.

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat and broke eye contact. “We should probably, uh, get going.”

“O-oh, yeah. We have a lot of preparation to do.” He gestured at me to walk with him as he started making his way back to the ship.

“Lets go.”

Zuko’s P.O.V

Kasami stands in front of me, the sunset perfectly hitting her face. I never noticed how beautiful her eyes were. She’s got two different colors. Her right eye a light shade of blue, matching the Water Tribe insignia on her necklace. Her left, a vibrant and light shade of green, like the leaves of a white dragon flower. My favorite. The sun only enhancing their color, they continue intrigue me. Sadly she looks away. I seemed to have gotten a little lost in her eyes, but I quickly return to reality when she clears her throat.

“We should probably, uh, get going.”

“O-oh, yeah. We have a lot of preparation to do.” I add as I begin walking back to the ship, Kasami trailing close behind.

We’ve been on the ship for a couple hours now. We haven’t spoken a single word to each other. I go out on the deck to find her playing around with some water. I catch her smiling as she whips it around her body, the water flowing gracefully wherever she points her hand. I make my way over to her spot on the floor, but as soon as she notices me her smile fades.

“Have you heard of blood bending?” I asked, taking a seat right in front of her.

“Yes.” She raises her brow. “Why do you ask?”

She glances at me with suspicion.

“I’m only asking because It could help us a lot. You know, when we’re trying to save our friends.”

“I’ve only ever tried it once, but I’m still trying to figure out if it was a dream or not.” She answers, rubbing her temples.

“Why don’t you try it?”

“Well, I don’t really have anyone to try it on.”

“Try it on me.”

“Zuko, are you crazy?” She looks at me, clearly distressed. “I’m not going to blood bend you!”

“Kasami, do you have any idea how powerful we could be together? You have to try!”

“T-Together?”

“I mean, uh, when we rescue the others. Ya know, you with your blood bending and me with my lightning?”

I point my finger up at the sky, a tiny bolt of lightning sprouting from it, buzzing sightly with electricity. The color immediately drained from Kasami’s skin and terror overtook her face. She backed up, her eyes wide with fear.

“K-Kasami? What’s wrong?”

I get up and walk over to her. I reach my hand out but she stumbles back till she hits the railing of the ship.

“Don’t!” She yells, turning away from me and putting her face in her hands.

“Please..Please don’t d-do that again.”

“Don’t do wh-“

“The light...the lightning.”

Her voice and her hands were shaking, she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“oh.” I whispered as I peered down at my hands, ashamed that I had just scared her so badly.

“I promise you, I wont ever do it again.” I said in a hushed tone. “I know you might not believe it, but I am so, so sorry for hurting you, Kasami.”

She looked back at me, her eyes were glossy and full of tears. She was too full of pride to ever let them fall in front of some one else.

“I’m so sorry.”

My own tears threatened to fall. I looked down at my feet. Suddenly, I hear her walking towards me. Kasami stood only a couple inches away from me. She looked up at me and smiled. I took in the beautiful sight in front of me. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she looked right into my own.

“I want to believe you, I really do.”

“It’s okay if you don’t now. I’ll prove it to you.”

Immediately after finishing my sentence, she flung her arms around me pulling me into a tight hug. I wrapped my own arms around her and pulled her in tighter, letting a tear fall from my cheek.

“I guess I can give you chance, figuring how you saved my life and all.” She whispered into my shoulder.

I pulled away slightly as we held each other. She raises her hand to my face and caresses her thumb across my scar.

“I know I’ll never be able to make it up to you, but I’m going to try my hardest.” I whispered softly between the two of us, our faces only inches apart.

“Fire Lord Zuko, we have arrived.”

The captain snaps us out of the moment we shared, and we let go of each other.

“O-oh, Thank you Captain.”

“Its been an honor serving you, Fire Lord.”

He bows to me and walks off.

“Well, we better get going.” I turn around to see Kasami still staring at me with a slight grin on her face. She nods and we make out way onto the mainland.

“Welcome to the heart of the Fire Nation.”

The moonlight shone down upon the Fire Palace as the light of torches all across the nation could be seen for miles. The music playing and people dancing certainly piqued Kasami’s interest. This is the biggest smile I’ve seen on her yet. She really is beautiful.

Sokka’s P.O.V

“Katara how long is this gonna take?!” I pace around my cage, staring at Aang.

God, I feel like an animal.

Ever since our cages were moved into the same room, he’s been trying to contact Kasami in the spirit world. After being told she was “taken care of” a couple nights ago we’ve all been frantic about trying to contact her. Unfortunately, none of the attempts have worked. Im starting to believe his words.

“Sokka! Shut. Up.” Katara growled at me. “Stuff like this takes peace and quiet!”

Suddenly, we hear Aang groan as he comes back into consciousness.

“Guys,” Aang beamed at us with a grin. “She’s alive!”

Katara and I both let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Shes with Zuko, she said she’s putting together a small team of elite people to help her rescue us.”

“Woah, woah, woah. She’s with Zuko?” I looked at him, clearly shocked. “She always said she hated him.”

“Well, he actually saved her life when she escaped that night. She was almost dead when he brought her in.”

“Shes okay now though, right?” I ask, my face of shock quickly turning into concern.

“She’s perfectly fine now. We’re getting out of here soon, don’t worry.”

I took a deep breath, the first one I’ve been able to take in days.

“I’m just glad she’s alive.”

Kasami’s P.O.V

As much as I want to trust Zuko, part of me is terrified. I know in my heart that I need to hear him out and give him a chance, but a small part is screaming at me to run. I’ve never allowed myself to be this vulnerable with someone, ever. I better play it safe. Keep a safe distance, don’t get too close. I won’t allow myself to get burned again. Never again. Not like last time.

Zuko walked me in to the Fire Palace. Despite its dark and dreary appearance, it really was beautifully crafted and designed.

“I think we should assemble a small team.” I begin, walking around the room. “I’m thinking Suki, Ty Lee, Mai-“

“Mai will not be joining us.” Zuko interrupted sternly.

“What? Why? Shes one the best fighters I know!”

“She will not be joining us, thats final.”

I glared at him. What was that all about?

“I’ll bring my good friend Kahn. Hes an excellent fire bender,” Zuko stated.

“Are you sure we can trust him, Zuko?”

“Would I bring him along if we couldn’t?” Zuko gave me a slight smirk.

“Alright Zuko,” I replied, putting my hands up defensivly. “but if he screws up, its on your ass.”

I smile up at him. Zuko gives me a small chuckle. I think that may have been the first time I’ve heard him laugh. It was a cute one, slightly raspy but nonetheless wanted to make me laugh along with him. I hoped I could make him laugh more often.

“Lord Zuko?” A familiar voice spoke out from the doorway.

“Kasami?!”

“Suki?!”

I ran up to the Kyoshi Warrior and wrapped my arms around her.

“I missed you so much!”

She plants kisses all over my face, causing me to scrunch up my nose and giggle. Even though me and Suki had a rocky past, we always managed to pull through together. She’s an amazing friend, extremely loyal, and will fight with me to the end.

“So I heard were going on a little mission, correct?”

“Thats right.” Ty Lee chimes in, stepping delicately as she makes her way across the room. She spots Suki and I, squealing as she runs over, engulfing us in a huge group hug.

“Its so good to see you girls!” Ty Lee beams as she releases from our hug. I give her a small smile.

“I can’t believe were all together again, It’s been far too long for my liking.”

“Well yeah! You’ve been traveling the world with the Gaang and that hottie Sokka!” Ty Lee gushes, earning a glare from Suki.

“Hehe, sorry...”

I notice Zuko from across the room, his face looks exactly like Suki’s. Angry...with a splash of jealousy. I quickly shake it off and focus my attention back to my friends.

“Hey, did I miss the party?” My eyes shoot over to the deep, unfamiliar voice. His tall silhouette gaining my attention. The shadow steps into the light, revealing his face. Which is not too bad in my opinion. I’m not one to blush, let alone gush over a boy I just met, but when he made eye contact with me I could feel the heat from my cheeks growing red.

“You must be Kasami,” He grinned, walking over to me. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

He shoots a glance at Zuko, winking at him. This earns a glare from Zuko but I can still notice the red on his cheeks before he turns away.

“Oh you have?” I ask, glancing over at Zuko with a brow raised.

“Only good things I hope.”

“Very.” He smirks.

His dimples are so cute.

I’m snapped out of my infatuated stare by Ty Lee and Suki’s giggles.

I laugh it off and walk over to the conference table, closer to Zuko.

“Alright guys, let’s get down to business.” I state, everyone picking a seat.

“How can we be of service?” Suki inquires, fanning herself.

“Aang, Katara, and Sokka have been kidnapped and are being held hostage.” I begin, earning shocked looks from the girls and Kahn. “What we do know is they’re being held on a small piece of land close to Ember Island.”

“The only island close enough to Ember Island is Yangchao Isle. It only has a couple tall buildings, mostly warehouses.” Kahn adds.

“Great,” I close my eyes and remember the events of the night I escaped. “The place where they’re being kept is heavily guarded. I almost died trying to escape.” Zuko glanced over at me, shooting me a reassuring smile.

“We were attacked by four men in masks, I’m guessing they’re the masterminds behind the whole thing.”

“Do you remember anything significant about their appearance?”

“Sadly, No. Just that there was an earth bender, a fire bender and a water bender.”

“What about the fourth one?” Ty Lee added.

“He just...stood there.”

After the meeting was over, we all agreed to meet at the rendezvous point the next day at 12 AM. Its the dock of a small island right next to Yangchao Isle. We decided to split up and prepare for sneaking in with our teams. Zuko and I, and Suki and Ty Lee. Kahn decided to work alone. He said he was going to dig up all the information he could on the Isle and the four masked men who took us. With everyone gone, that just left Zuko and I.

I notice the beautiful pool in the back, just waiting for me to jump in. I sprint to my room in the Fire Palace and quickly pull out a bikini from one if the drawers. Red and black...not quite my style but It’ll have to do. I slip it on and grab a towel, throwing it over my shoulder.

Making my way to Zuko’s room, I notice the door is slightly open, giving me a great view of Zuko. There he stands, shirtless, bouncing in place while pretending to play the guitar and humming a song. A song that seemed all too familiar.

“Secret, secret, secret, secret, tunnelllll!!”

He sings the last part of the tune out loud, causing me to let out the laugh I’d been holding in for far too long.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE?!”

“Long enough.” I muster out as I’m doubled over, unable to contain my laughter.

When he starts giggling along with me, I can’t help but look up at him and smile.

There’s that laugh again.

“Wait, why don’t you have any clothes on?” Zuko asks, trying not to stare.

“Well, I came over here to ask if you wanted to go in the pool with me?”

His straight face turned into the biggest smile I’ve seen on him yet.

“We might as well have some fun before we, ya know, possibly die.” I said, laughing between my words.

“Don’t say that.” Zuko chuckles.

He splashes me, soaking my hair.

“Oh you’re gonna regret that!” I shout at him, bending a huge bubble of water right above his head.

“Wait wait, Kasami NO-“

He shrieks as I release the water, soaking his entire body, clothes and all.

He looks over at me with a devious smirk, but before I realize what he’s up to, he swiftly runs up behind me. He goes to push me in the pool, but not before I can grab him and pull him in with me.

We spend the rest of night swimming and laughing. Forgetting the events of the past week and the plans to come, we enjoy each other’s company. Who would have thought I’d be here, with the Fire Lord.

After getting out of the pool we lay on his couch, in front of the fire. Despite being in the Fire Nation, the Palace was extremely cold. Unlike the Airbenders and Firebenders, I am unable to warm myself with my breathing. I shudder, goosebumps rising along my tan skin. Zuko takes notice and pulls my body closer to his, wrapping his arms around me. His body was warm to the touch, mine was cold, freezing, even. Soon enough, we both fell asleep. My head resting on his shoulder and his head resting on my own

#avatar fanfic #sokka fanfic #avatar fanfiction #enemies to friends to lovers #avatar zuko #zuko x oc #zuko #aang #suki #slow burn #enemies to lovers #love triangle #zuko fanfic #avatar au #team avatar

3 notes · View notes

coolingdownanddrawing · 5 years

Photo

heres some idea’s for redesigns along with some bulletpoints on what I was thinking for story stuff involving remaking the series

Im having trouble reading off the screenshots so Im gonna write it out under the cut along with probably adding some ideas or expanding on the bullet lists (future me here: I wrote a Lot)

Sam Manson:

-Rich Activist, meaning she’s kinda blind to some troubles going on or doesnt full understand how others are doing financially, along with being raised in a house with people who arnt exactly empathetic and more focused on appearances then worker rights, sam can come off as shallow to others doing activist work.

it could be a really interesting character arc for her to realize some of the things going on outside of her school and plants that she can help with, along with dealing with that sense of helplessness she feels at being to normal to help anyone she expresses in the show.

-Goth, but cheery? One thing i noticed in the show is how overall cheerful sam can come off while toting goth ideal’s, which may be a part of why she isnt shown to have many goth friends with them seeing her more as a poser becouse their teenagers and teenager Be like that sometimes.

It’s not a problem in my book but it could be fun to see tucker or danny question it when in goth spaces and sam basically saying the truth that you dont have to be miserable to enjoy dark subject matter. maybe with tucker and danny getting a small interest in some of the “lesser” goth stuff sam introduces to them.

-fights everyone, becouse teenager with boundless energy and Ghosts attacking all the time. sam didnt fight much in the original series and thats a shame.

-facinated by ghost, becouse duh

-I was kinda thinking of her and tucker being introduced by them competing for class president, becouse that seem’s like a position both would be interested in and it be more interesting then having tucker face dash

Tucker Foley

-Likes to influence others is a general statment, but its true tucker likes to be involved in other peoples lives and generally have his oppinion affect people in possitive (or negative) ways. he likes seeing that his involvment matters and he suffers when people ignore him or take his oppinions for granted and id love to see stuff centered around this trait

-level 1 leader/planner, sorta connected to the influencing people thing I think tucker really would thrive in leadership roles that danny just isnt suited to handling, big mobs of people and sam on his side and he is a force to be recond with. Tucker thrives in getting big groups of people to side with him esspecially since technology profficientcy isnt a sign of weakness in this day and age.

plus him working on his public speaking lines up with his motivation of wanting to be attactive to ladies.

also Having him working on public speaking stuff and general people person scenario’s gives a lot of reason for the group to interact with the A listers in a less hostile scenario

-tech god I guess, becouse tucker foley

Dan Phantom

-Incarnation of discomfort being the unintentional (At least the first time) fusion of a stubborn 14 year old and his crazy 40 year old father figure with very different morals and oppinions makes existing very, very akward for dan, but great comedy fodder!

-dan is able to have legs or a ghostly tail whenever he pleases unlike vlad or danny, becouse I figured it be a good way to make fights more interesting and their fighting styles different becouse I want more vlad involvement and having them be extra different types of ghosts makes watching either of them fight much more interesting

-wishes to not exist, esspecially in the presense of either danny or vlads love interests becouse WOW thats akward

-WAAAAY more powerful then danny and vlad, partially becouse making dan a final everything is going to hell desperate final action for danny and vlad would make dan’s appearances more interesting but also becouse of difference’s about vlad plasmius and danny phantom I will talk about when I get to them.

Dan Discomfort Masters

-“Vlad’s nephew” becouse if you’re meeting this guy stuff has gone horrible wrong on the de-fusing front and he needs a reason to be in either fenton on masters house hold to get whatever he needs to fix the ghost catcher

- big ol liar pant’s, partially becouse danny and vlad are Huge Liars but also becouse of the whole, I need shit to stop existing

-Trying to keep it together becouse he’s probably made to interact with people vlad and danny have Opinions On and honestly he cant decide if he wants to viciously prank jack at every oppertunity or punch himself for thinking of being mean to jack, among other such mixed feelings.

Vlad Masters

-Certified genius due to a number of thing’s including his obession, and becouse being smarter then jack makes him happy and if jack ever expressed interest in a subject He Must Be Better, he might not be trying to kill jack becouse he doesnt want to deal with a ghost hunter ghost for who knows how long but he wont be lesser then jack in ANYTHING.

-fruitloop, still has some backwards logic and morals such as having valarie become a ghost hunter to offer a sparring buddy to danny and whats a better motive to shoot at someone then they ruined their life right but he’s generally such a over the top bird brain trying to show off to everyone that fruitloop is the only description he can be given.

-less evil is a Big Thing, he’s still objectively not a very good man but I want him and danny working together and sharing a roof on the weekends but that means not shooting first and asking questions later on site, so a less evil vlad is needed, plus it just generally makes there interactions more fun and less dangerous which is what im going for, since walker can take over a lot of vlads antagonist role in the story plus danny and vlad making agreements to get stuff out of eachother sounds like a hell of a lot of fun, i liked eye for and eye vlad sue me.

- as a side not I want vlad to be a lot less physically fit and practiced with doing things as a human, seeing him as a man who lords his power over others when he can he prefers relaxing and working as plasmius more then masters, which affects his health and serves a purpose in story for a lesson id like made after watching phantom planet last night

Vlad Plasmius

-loving guardian in that he really, really does want to be a good father and mentor figure to danny even if their relationship is rocky due to long standing lies he’s been feeding him and how tight a grip vlad has on his familys financial health. as well as the whole snatching partial costody as soon as costudy was called into question after dannys accident (Ill get to that) vlad’s babysat in the past for the fenton which is part of it, along with his desire to be better at jack in every aspect.

-great implorer, in which he likes to get minions when he can and usually only grumbles if his minions already have plans when he calls for them, pays great by ghost zone and human standards and usually offers a full health plan, though skulkers case that full health plans is for when he gets his head up his ass and thinks he can actually get either danny or vlads pelt, one of skulkers suits is on vlads lab wall with a nice hole where its face should be as a reminder to those who cross him.

-only legs, meaning he uses 100% more kicks and ground based attacks then danny and can kick below the bet where danny cant, this plus his fire core making him have to get creative lest he burn his surroundings to the ground has him fighting in a very different way to danny, along with his 20 years of experience. vlad tends to fight ghosts with less reason to leave the ghost zone, and invading lairs to get what he wants, leading to more serious encounters then what danny faces in the begining.

-loves dramatics, becouse vlad plasmius everybody he’s a cookyier villian here

-less evil and more ruthless and efficient to those who get in his way, that arnt who percieves as family

-Plasmius’s obsession is teaching people lessons, in all the good and horrible ways that can imply. halfa’s have more broad and less restrictive obsessions then other ghosts which makes them more dangerous and able to ammas power.

Danny Fenton

-Fenton works heir, which is played up a lot more in this with vlad backing his family and giving them chances to disgrace themselves on public telivision and get shamed out of wherever their currently living, leading them on a series of moves throughout dannys life before amity park show off their inventions to the world! Since Jazz aggressively refused the role it fell on danny and he actually takes it pretty seriously, believing as a little bab in ghosts and being convinced of their evil from a young age by his parents which you can only imagine does great things for him when he becomes a halfa and learns unkie vlad is one as well.

-has been haunted by the creepy ghost boy title his whole like due to his situation and the fact he is usually made to assist in showing off his parents weapons publicly as a apprentice ghost hunter, one such invention was the fenton portal that had a wire loose during the presentation, when he went in and put it back the doors automatically shut him in and jack and maddie didnt notice he was in there still until the screaming started, this led to some public outcry over weather jack and maddie are fit to raise kids and vlad swooping in for partial costudy of both fenton children “to ease the masses, and besides he’s basically helped raise them anyway whats garenteed weekends at one of vlads places going to do?” it was a sucky situation.

-bad reputation due to general protectiveness of his parents along with terrible social skills, along with his new trouble of hiding and controlling emerging ghost powers.He doesnt leave a initial good impression on sam and tucker when he first meets them as fenton, and people tend to avoid him to keep away from his parents wierdness anyhow.

-is less good in the traditional sense but wants to keep people safe and happy if he can help it, though its argueable if thats simply a manifestation of his obsession or if its just becouse he’s a sweet kid, once he gets it into his head that ghosts arnt always evil he tries really hard to be nice to ghost too and even tries to save them from his parents when he can. putting his neck out for them.

Danny Phantom

-just wants a lair is a shorthand for wanting to just experience regular ghost things when he’s going ghost, he’s less inclined to fight every ghost he see’s unless their actively hurting people and tries to talk them down, not wanting his afterlife filled with enemies when he officially keels over.

he has big dreams for a super cool lair of his own that are explored upon the one time he’s split apart by the ghost catcher, mostly becouse phantom rips the door to his room from its hinges and zooms into the ghost zone as soon as he’s out, found aimlessly wondering helplessly looking for the PERFECT location to start building. he tends to day dream about the lair of his dreams in class.

-no leg’s leading to more air combat and trying to immobalize people with his tail, usually fighting fairly though with his moments of cheap shots in partiicularly deadly battles,, he usually fights people like johnny 13 who mess with people then he does generally harmless ghosts like box ghost in the begining, plus with his in development abilities that include a versatile ice core his fights are more strategy then sheer beat down or creative weapon making (or heating whatever metal the ghost is wearing to the point of insanity)

Danny also has this little problem where he “died” in a anti ghost hazmat suit made of stuff to weaken and harm a ghost who comes in contact with jack and maddies little boy and it means its harder on him to access his powers, taking more energy to do things that most ghost would find easy like intangibilty and invisibility, which is a major problem for him esspecially at first, danny’s only made aware of this though vlads help and their working on a way to trick the hazmat suit into changing material with what danny was wearing under the suit, since its being difficult with changing on dannys command, he can put stuff over and under the suit but the suit itself is hard to make budge. the outfit shown above is after danny learns how to at least add stuff over it with vlads help.

dan does not have problem’s with the material of his costume making him have access to all dannys abilities easily, along with vlads experience and power and dannys creative thinking dan gets the nickname of the ultimate enemy with good reason

- Loves exploring, esspecially the ghost zone its so interesting and full of enteraining characters and the food is Amazing at least in ghost form and vlad’s show him some pretty incredible places in the zone when they agree to work together in the sense of vlad stealing madde and jacks thermoses at the end of fenton fights and danny helping him spelunk in the ghost zone, its a guilty pleasure to be able to show sam and tucker around when they become friends, natural portals are a tempation danny has a hard time ignoring when he see’s one, much to his loved ones annoyance. wolf is a terrible enablr of a friend.

- due to his obession with proving himself (its the wording i go with now i might change it to something like control or being loved) danny tends to want people to like him and seeing a opertunity to get them to like him sorta throws him off balance and out of fight mode, usually leading to him cuddling up to them, in phantom form dannys a great cuddler. take caution though he’s been known to trick enemys into thinking he’s gone out of fight mode and either shove them into the nearest portal/thurmos or later freezing them where they stand. dannys terrible with crowds, esspecially crowds of people who dont like him he freezeses up.

Danny to-tired-to-function (school and not working with parents danny)

-cant wait to to graduate, with no plans to go to college becouse he’s not paying for more hell

-is really in a bad place socially and mentally in the begining, but will become a lot happier once he befriends sam and tucker, though before that he tends to do some pretty desperate and embarrasing things to get attention and has a problem with letting people drag him into trouble on the promise of friendship.

Danny’s Chore’s list:

-deadly laundry with ectoplasm contaminated laundry machines to content with

-helping whoever wants to cook, cook, or being in charge of dinner most nights unless someone else wants to cook (breakfast is jazz’s job, maddie and jack are gently discouraged from cooking, jazz and danny usually or use to just grab take out for lunch if they had time)

-cleaning the lab

-dishes with ecto contaminated dishwasher are always a little dangerous damn appliances and their wills to reak havoc, jazz likes to help make sure it doesnt hurt anyone since its more dangerous then the laundry machines

-assembling weapons with parents for the vault, or incase of a huge ghost invasion so everyone has a chance at a weapon, danny usually just assembles the less dangerous stuff that doesnt require a lot of welding

-general house maintense, vacuuming and window cleaning while jazz mops and dusts

-jazz cleans the weapons vault after learning dannys secret becouse its a lot less dangerous for her then for him and hes infinitly grateful

AND DONE thats some of my thoughts on what could be done with a re design of the characters and story beats listed, im tired of writing now but enjoyed getting this out

#danny phantom #danny fenton #sam manson #tucket foley #dan phantom #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #lot more words then normal

53 notes · View notes

chiseler · 4 years

Text

“You Devilish Mummy!”: Mexican Horror in America, 1958-1963

Rosa Arenas

For some people, Cinqo de Mayo means a nacho party platter, a cooler full of Corona, plastic sombreros and a pinata filled with stale butterscotch discs. For a few of us, though, Cinqo de Mayo means one thing and one thing only: Aztec mummies. The sad part of it is that it might actually make much more sense than the nachos.

After Tod Browning and his crew left the set at the end of the shooting day while working on 1931’s Dracula, they were replaced by director George Melford and a Mexican cast and crew. Using the same sets, the same cameras, and a translated version of the script, they worked all night to shoot the Spanish-language version of the film. Those who have seen both tend to agree that the Spanish version is the superior of the two. The cinematography is more vibrant and less stage-bound than the Browning version, the atmosphere is richer (possibly because they were shooting at night), and most important of all, the Mexican Dracula (Carlos Villar) smolders with a sexual energy and menace Bela Lugosi, great as he is, lacks.

Prior to the mid-’50s, most American audiences would probably be surprised to learn that Mexico even had its own film industry. That’s when low-budget producers from Sam Arkoff on down recognized the economic advantages of snapping up the US distribution rights to existing foreign genre pictures. It made perfect sense. You didn’t need to hire any directors or cameramen or gaffers. There were no actor hissy fits to smooth over. All you needed to do was dub in some English dialogue that more or less made sense, fit the action on the screen, and approximately matched the actors’ lip movements. Or maybe not, whatever. Sometimes you might want to bring in an editor to try and rearrange a few scenes so the picture and dialogue’ll make more sense to the kids at the drive-in, but even that wasn’t always necessary. Come up with a snappy English title, Americanize some of the actors’ names, and you’re good to go. The important thing is these films could be picked up for a song, and minus a few minor expenses everything they brought in was gravy.

Suddenly US theaters were full of sci-fi, horror, and westerns from Italy, Japan, Spain, and yes indeed, Mexico. Low-budget distributor K. Gordon Murray quickly established himself as the king of marketing Mexican horror cheapies to American audiences, handling films like The Man and the Monster, The Brainiac, Curse of the Doll People, and a whole lotta movies with “Aztec Mummy” in the title. It would be nice to say these films have complex and thought-provoking storylines, that the acting is strong and subtle, that the cinematography is dazzling and the special effects on a par with any major American studio at the time, but that would really be pushing it. A lot of the films were just slapdash, flat-footed remakes of popular American films but with cheaper sets. A few of them do stand out, though, in that even the dubbed and edited versions remain uniquely Mexican, even if they do seem to tell the same story over and over again. And some of them are just plain nuts.

Genre director Rafael Portillo and screenwriter Alfredo Salazar were best known for their Aztec Mummy and wrestling pictures, and in 1958 topped even Santo Meets Dracula with La momia azteca contra el robot humano, translated as The Aztec Mummy Against the Humanoid Robot or, more simply, The Robot Meets the Aztec Mummy.

As the opening narration assures us, the film is based on an “actual experiment” conducted by two scientists from “The Los Angeles University” and verified by witnesses who “signed sworn statements with a notary public” so “there is no question about this story’s authenticity.”

Please keep that in mind.

The film is told mostly in flashback and through voiceover, which is generally a sure sign you’re watching a heavy-handed bit of editorial butchery. The same sort of thing was done regularly to the US versions of Toho films, usually with a mind toward simplifying the story.

Okay, a psychiatrist (Ramón Gay) is mocked by his colleagues when he presents a paper about past life regression, so he storms home and hypnotizes his wife Flora (Rosa Arenas). We slip into a low budget flashback within a flashback as we learn Flora was once an Aztec maiden on schedule to be sacrificed when she runs off with a warrior. The village priests find them, bring them back, and bury the warrior alive after placing a curse on him. Then they fit the old Flora with a gold bracelet and breastplate inscribed with directions to the location of “the secret Aztec treasure.” Then they cut out her heart, which may say something about the effectiveness of that breastplate.

Returning to the first flashback, we learn the evil Dr. Krupp had spied on the experiment and now wants in on it. Nevertheless the good doctor decides for some reason that the best way to prove his theory is to find the bracelet and breastplate, so they all go looking. Lucky for them they find a secret passage under the pyramid that I guess is in their backyard. Moments later they find the ancient temple, the skeleton of the old Flora, and the breastplate which they take home with them. The fun doesn’t last long, though, as the warrior’s mummy shows up at the house, grabs the breastplate, grabs Flora, returns to the temple, and prepares to cut out her heart again. At this point we’re about six minutes into the film.

Then it turns out, see, that Dr. Krupp is really a sinister underworld figure known as The Bat, and...oh screw it. Over the course of the rest of the film we get gangsters, a shootout, hypnotism, a mad scientist, a pit full of rattlesnakes, that mummy again, some Aztec rituals, a few vanishing bodies, a police investigation, a stolen corpse, a stolen brain, and a stolen “machine that uses radium,” together with lines of dialogue like, “oh, you devilish mummy!” and “continuing our search we hurried to the snake pit.” Eventually we even get a robot there near the end (though it’s more of a reanimated corpse wearing a metal suit festooned with some blinking lightbulbs),and it has a brief and slow wrestling match with the mummy.

And all of it, believe it or not, is crammed into a zippy 65 minutes. No, it’s not a particularly good film as the term is traditionally used, but it is a fascinating one. As crazy as it all gets, as big as some of the plot holes and lapses in logic may seem, the craziest thing of all is that you can’t really criticize it for any of that given that it’s, y’know, based on a true story.

Robot Meets the Aztec Mummy is a pretty extreme example of what was coming out of Mexico at the time. Other genre pictures were no less strange, maybe, but a little more sane.

Three years after Bert I. Gordon’s Attack of the Puppet People and 25 years after Tod Browning’s The Devil Doll, Benito Alazraki released his 1961 film Muñecos infernales, better known in the States as Curse of the Doll People.

An archaeologist interested in ancient rights and such and her physician husband (Ramon Gay again) visit an art collector friend who regales them with the exciting tale of his recent trip to Haiti. While there, see, he and two friends witnessed a secret voodoo ritual that included human sacrifice. For all the crazy goings on though, the art collector couldn’t take his eyes off the idol the voodoo priests were worshipping. He thought it would make a fine addition to his collection, so the next day he went back and stole it.

(Given that the story is not told in flashback, just by some guy sitting in an easy chair, I’m tempted to think the whole Haiti angle was an invention of the screenwriter for the American version. Maybe the producer was a little tired of Aztecs by this point.)

It’s not hard to guess that stealing a revered idol from a voodoo temple is not without its repercussions, and sure enough before you know it the children of all the men on the Haiti trip start receiving new dolls in the mail. Real nice, realistic-looking ones too. None of the parents seem a bit concerned by the arrival of anonymous gifts for their children, merely handing the dolls to the tykes and sending them off to bed. After a few cuts to an oddly Mexican-looking Haitian voodoo priest, well you guessed it. the dolls start coming to life and knocking off the parents in ways that can’t easily be traced back as the work of an evil dolly.

The one surprise here is given the budget, the special effects (midgets in doll clothes on oversized sets) are really, really good. Better than Bert Gordon’s, even. It’s just too bad the story around them doesn’t have a bit more zing to it. It’s a little flabby and obvious. Still, you start to get the sense a pattern is developing.

El baron del terror (released in the States as The Brainiac in 1962), directed by Chano Urueta, marked a bit of a break from the simple revenge plot. Oh wait, no it didn’t. But it was still a break from the standard storyline.

As the film opens it’s 1661, a comet has appeared in the sky, and an evil baron (Abel Salazar) is being burned at the stake by Inquisitors for practicing black magic. As evil barons are so wont to do when finding themselves in circumstances like that, he places a curse on all those who condemned him, vowing he would return in 300 years when the comet reappears and kill off all their descendants. The Inquisitors, for some reason, don’t seem terribly concerned by all this and go ahead and burn him anyway.

Cut to three hundred years in the future and true to his word the comet has reappeared and so has the baron, who starts snuffing people who didn’t even know they were related to Inquisitors. Yes, it’s a plot we’ve seen how many times already? But the Brainiac, as the title might hint, does offer a twist or two. First, before he kills his victims the Baron transforms into a kind of hideous horned demon monster (the doll special effects were better). Then during the murders he sucks out his victims’ brains, which he keeps in a big salad bowl in the kitchen. When he lures someone over to his apartment and confirms their identity, all he needs to do is excuse himself to the kitchen for a moment, have a spoonful of brains, and shazam. No more descendant and more brains for the baron.

A year later Ueueta returned to more standard form with La cabeza viviente, aka The Living Head. Here again he opens with a long prologue in which he went to some pains to at least give the illusion of historical accuracy. When a great Aztec general dies, not only is he buried, but so are a few of his servants and a high priestess to help him on his way in the afterlife. That those others weren’t quite dead yet doesn’t seem to matter much. It’s all quite a big to-do.

Cut to 450 years in the future, as an incredibly bad archaeologist and two assistants stumble upon the tomb. First they completely destroy the mummy of the high priestess and shrug it off. Then when he finds the invaluable Ring of Death, the archaeologist immediately announces that he’s going to give it to his daughter, “who likes ugly things like that.” Then after reading aloud the very clear curse that will befall anyone who desecrates the tomb, the trio scurry’s off with the general’s mummified head and the mummy of his servant (the one still clutching the knife). Do they then deliver them to the museum where they can be properly cared for and kept in carefully climate-controlled environments? Well, almost: he brings them back to his apartment and keeps them in the living room.

Yeah, it’s not really hard to see where this is headed. The daughter starts wearing the Ring of Death and gets a little kooky in the head . Then the servant and head come to life and all three of them (the daughter carrying the head) go tracking down the desecrators in order to cut out their hearts.

“I know what you’re thinking,” a police inspector says after the first murder. “But I don’t believe in legends. Or in superstitions either. All I know is that this is a very difficult case.”

That’s the real killer in The Living Head. Even more so than most, the dubbing is miserable, with most of the lines either being non-sequiturs, or so plainly obvious and logical they come out sounding like non-sequiturs. I get the feeling sometimes that the voice actors they brought in were never given scripts, simply shown the film and told to make it up as they went along.

Ah, but this is merely a taste of what’s out there in terms of Mexican horror. We haven’t even considered the Santo pictures yet, and there are hundreds of those. I’m not sure if the likes of Robot Meets the Aztec Mummy would really enrich anyone’s appreciation or understanding of Mexican independence, but there are doubtless lessons to be learned here. Namely, should you happen to find some neat stuff in a sacred temple next time you’re in Mexico, for godsakes just leave it there, no matter how cool it is. Those Aztecs mean business.

by Jim Knipfel

#Jim Knipfel #The Chiseler #Robot Meets the Aztec Mummy #Brainiac #The Living Head

4 notes · View notes

paradisobound · 5 years

Text

I Want It, I Got It: Chapter 5

Summary: Phil Lester was a worker for the BBC in London. Working in the advertising department, he was content being alongside his friend and fellow coworker PJ during every shift. However, the BBC is temporarily being used as a film set for a new movie staring Hollywood ‘It’ star, Daniel Howell. Being stuck as an extra on the set, Phil finds it’s hard to ignore the famous star. And maybe, just maybe, Dan finds it hard to ignore Phil as well.

Word Count: 2k (this chapter)

Warnings: Occasional swearing

Rating: Mature (for right now)

Updates will be every Wednesday and every Sunday

**MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3**

“Aren’t you the least bit nervous?” PJ commented the next day as they walked with Spike in the local park near Phil’s flat.

Dinner the night before had mostly consisted of both Sophie and PJ telling Phil about where he should take Dan around London and so he came up with a comprehensive list saved on his phone. But he still had many worries fueling his brain.

Like what if this was all a mistake? Daniel was a famous celebrities and surely he really didn’t want some pleb like Phil taking him around London. But on top of that, won’t people see them? Won’t this cause some big news scene?

He didn’t really want to do that.

There was a lot of weight on this line and he had to admit that it made him slightly nervous.

“No,” Phil answers eventually, “I am. I’m incredibly nervous.”

“Have you two messaged since last night?”

Phil shook his head. He hadn’t even replied to Daniel last night after he had messaged him last night. He probably should have. He internally winced. Did he already fuck this all up because he didn’t reply to him? He hoped not.

“You’re over thinking already.” PJ commented just as Spike tugged at his leash and Phil looked to see what the pup was doing. He just saw a squirrel and was hoping to chase it but he held the little guy back.

“Well, I didn’t reply back to him. Do you think I could have messed his up already?”

Pj stopped on the path and turned to him, hands in his coat pocket. “You’re really asking me this, Phil? Less than a week ago, you were telling Gemma off about fantasizing about the hunky lad and now look at you. You’re head over heels for the bloke.”

“I’m not head over heels for him.”

Pj cocked his eyebrow. “Really? You’re really saying that right now?”

Phil blushed and continued moving in the direction Spike was pulling him. “Well, he’s seems not to be a bad guy.”

“So you take back what you said before about him being pretentious and rude?”

Phil scoffed. “Well no. I don’t even know him yet.”

“But you know he’s not, though? Or else he wouldn’t have already slid into your dm’s.”

“He didn’t slide into my dm’s.” Phil laughed. “He just messaged me asking for a favor.”

“Oh, and I’m sure that’s what Nick Jonas did with Priyanka Chopra as well.”

“Shut up.” Phil laughed, hitting PJ gently on the side. “This is all a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? Like this feels like we’ve entered an alternate timeline―a whole new dimension.”

“Maybe we did.” PJ commented with a shrug. “But Spike over there is doing his business and I’m sure that we can’t launch that into another dimension.”

Phil rolled his eyes and walked over to Spike, pulling the bags out of his pocket.

Maybe they did fall into a wormhole and enter a new timeline. It sure did feel like it.

He, PJ, and Spike all left the park a short time later. PJ said he was heading back to his flat for the afternoon to work on a BBC assignment he was behind on and Phil figured he might as well get a jumpstart on his next one as well. The BBC had made it clear in yet another email this morning that Phil was not off the hook despite having to reappear to the building.

When he got back to his flat, he let Spike off from his leash and allowed for him to run off to his bed to sleep. He then set down with his laptop on his couch and opened up Illustrator to begin his next assignment. He was to create a new promo poster for the BBC radio one show and since he particularly liked that show, he really wanted to put time into it.

He slowly began to piece together shapes and colors when his phone vibrated against his side and he picked it up out of instinct. On his screen, he had a new Instagram message again. Without even unlocking his phone, he knew already they were from Daniel.

danielhowell: hello its me again! My manager gave me the go ahead to go out in London next Tuesday so are you free then? My bodyguard Joshua will be with us but i promise he’s a soft teddy bear.

danielhowell: I know i said this already but i do appreciate it! I like being able to go out and do normal things but its hard, ya know?

amazingphil: It’s no problem! I don’t mind showing you around London. There is a lot we can do.

danielhowell: I hear! I hope you don’t mind that we’re probs going to be bombarded by people all day. I feel like I should apologize for that in advance...but it kind of comes with the package―me.

danielhowell; that last part wasn’t as funny as i was expecting it to be. I’m sorry lol

Phil had to admit that he snickered. But he still was in complete disbelief that he was messaging back and forth with Daniel Howell.

amazingphil: I kind of figured. I saw some of the speculation on Twitter already.

danielhowell: Ugh I’m sorry. My fans are always speculating about me. It sucks but there is not much i can really do. I’m glad for them and i appreciate them because i wouldn’t be here without them but they can be a pain.

danielhowell: that being said i can tell them to leave you be? I mean, they probably wont listen but it is worth a little bit of a shot?

Phil bit his lip. He couldn’t ask that of Daniel already when there is nothing between them. They’re just talking about London and about Phil showing him around London. That’s all.

amazingphil: I couldn’t ask that of you. They’re not bothering me directly.

danielhowell: well if they ever do, please let me know!

danielhowell: I really mean it. They can be...a lot.

amazingphil: I’m sure i can handle them if need be.

danielhowell: okay mate but don’t say i didn’t warn you

danielhowell: oh, by the way, can we meet somewhere discreet? I want to keep my day as low key as possible and i don’t want fans to follow me to meet you. Do you have any suggestions?

Here was the thing. Phil didn’t know of many locations where any meeting or any sort was going to be discreet. Everything was pretty much out in the open around London unless you were in one of the back alleys where you could be shanked.

amazingphil: sorry, not really. We could meet at the BBC early on? I have a pass to get in so we can meet in there first?

danielhowell: okay. Fingers crossed I don’t get plowed over by fans before then.

amazingphil: #prayfordaniel

#prayfordaniel?? Phil inwardly groaned and covered his face in shame. That was the dumbest thing he could have sent someone like Daniel and now he’d sent it and Dan’s already read it.

He covers his eyes when his phone vibrates again for another message.

danielhowell: not sure that’ll work but it might worry the shit out of my fans lol

Phil found himself smiling really wide. This was nice. In a way, it almost felt like he might have a budding friendship with Daniel. Of course that was probably super silly but there was some place deep inside of himself that gave him hope.

Dan’s next message widened that place.

danielhowell: can i just say another thank you for treating me like a human? I’ve tried talking to other people before and they all freak out or begin to obsessively fangirl and ngl, it gets tiring. really tiring. So i really appreciate this, Phil. it means a lot.

amazingphil: of course, Dan. Why would i treat you any differently?

danielhowell: :)

They stopped messaging not long after which made Phil feel a tad bit sad but he had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the last time he and Dan talk before Tuesday.

He worked on a big portion of the BBC radio one advertisement and then he put his laptop on the charger to take Spike out for the bathroom and then order dinner from the local Domino’s.

By that evening, Phil had settled into bed in a peaceful food coma and was scrolling through his social media feeds again. Dan had posted some tweets in replies to some fans and he wasn’t trending anymore despite trending the entire week for filming and being on set.

But as he went through all of Dan’s tweets, he realized that he actually didn’t know hardly anything about Dan and he should probably look up some information before he meets him and makes a complete fool of himself.

He googles Dan’s name and unsurprisingly, his name comes up automatically with a ton of tabloid reports.

Daniel Howell’s new beau??

Daniel Howell on set in London! Catch the behind the scenes.

Is Daniel Howell filming in London? We have the inside scoop.

Phil found them all laughable and all totally exactly what tabloid magazines do.

He clicked on Dan’s Wikipedia page and decided to skim through it.

“Daniel James Howell, formally known as just Daniel “Dan” Howell, is a Hollywood actor, two time Oscar winner, and four time Emmy Award winner. Howell is best known for his portrayal as Romeo in the 2014 remake of the classic Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet alongside Jennifer Douglas which earned him his two Emmy’s. His career took off after his role was heavily accepted by critics across all boards, some even naming him the newest A-List star in Hollwood. Since 2014, Howell has worked starred in many new movies such as “One for the Road”, a coming of age story about a group of teenagers in America which earned his first Oscar, and “The Year of Us”, the star studded adaptation of the widely acclaimed novel by Stephanie Barry, which earned him his second Oscar.”

Phil finished that section and sat back. Wow. So Dan has been a popular celebrity for a while. He knew that. He remember how everyone hyped his role for Romeo and Juliet, calling him the next best Romeo after Leo DiCaprio.

But he honestly never paid any other attention to who Dan was or how he gained his stardom so fast.

“Personal Life: Daniel Howell was born on June 11th, 1991 in the small town of Wokingham in the United Kingdom to parents Karen and Joseph Howell. He has a younger brother named Adrian who is a popular YouTuber influencer. Howell began his acting career at just the age of five when he was casted in a production of Les Miserables in his community. After his success in acting, over the course of his youth, his family moved to Los Angeles, California, in hopes of him to gain stardom. Howell starred in his first Hollywood film at the age of 16 but would not become known for his roles until the age of 23.”

Phil thought back to what he was doing at twenty three. Definitely not gaining any stardom, that’s for sure. He was just sitting in Manchester, trying to make ends meet with a crappy job at Starbucks.

“In June of 2014, one year after gaining his fame, Howell announced his battles with anxiety and depression in hopes to become an ambassador for his younger fans. He is an advocate for mental health and the ability for everyone out there to have access to a health care system that will help anyone who is struggling like he was.

In September of 2017, Howell announced that he was bisexual and dating fellow costar Kellen Queen. After less than a year of dating, Howell and Queen announced on social media that they were no longer together. Howell has not been reported to have dated since but Queen is now dating his fellow “Timeless” co-star Helen O’Reilly.”

Phil sat back and processed the information. If he thought back to it, he could vaguely recall the entire break up happening. He remembers the tabloids and the social media frenzy but he never kept up with celebrity news enough to really know what was going on.

But to see where Daniel had come out as bisexual was a lot. Mostly because Phil himself was gay. He tended to keep his romantic life quiet but for some reason, he kind of hoped that Dan would ask him about his sexual orientation so they can have something to talk about.

There was one thing Phil didn’t mind and that was openly talking about his attraction to other men.

He closed out of Wikipedia, deciding he had read enough, and shut off his light. Spike has crawled in beside him sometime while he was reading on wikipedia and now he was curled in his side.

He fell asleep relatively fast, dreaming about Tuesday with Daniel.

#phan #phanfic #phanfiction #au #famous!dan #moviestar!dan #normal!phil #princesslexi763fics

29 notes · View notes

sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 5 years

Text

Suspiria remake review from a shitty movie-goer

(this review is posted too late so excuse me for some timing inaccuracies I couldn’t be arsed to edit)

(IF YOU HATE TL;DRS JUST SKIP AHEAD TO THE “THE REVIEW” PART. YOU’RE WELCOME)

I actually hate to admit why was I interested to watch this movie in the end, but for once SOMETHING motivated me to go to a movie after countless tries from my family to get me to watch something in theatres at a “reasonable time” (daytime is what they mean, this movie was at 8pm our time, and this is when the cross-city bus transport (it goes from one big city to another) stops doing their service lmao).

I myself have a lowkey interest in moviemaking (I’m already getting there by editing my phone-recorded videos because whatever). I come up with my concepts in my head and I am mostly willing to put them down somewhere in my computer so I don’t forget it years later if I want to make that concept a thing in the end (because none of my concepts are finalized... well except for one short horror-ish story I posted on DeviantArt (see mom, I do like some horror stuff!). Reddit as of lately inspired me to edit some of my movie’s plot-lines based on irl events (not related with anything too SJW), and I’m not sure how an usual movie-goer would see this concept but I am going to try to execute it... whenever I have enough equipment to shoot my own little films or skits or whatever.

What’s that? There are people who scrolled past this and already yell at me that “YOU ONLY WENT TO SEE THIS MOVIE BECAUSE OF THE MAN WHO COMPOSED THE SOUNDTRACK~~~”? Ugh yes you exposed me, tea all over. I even had “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” on a bit of a repeat as of lately (how fucking come I wasn’t too couragerous to listen to this song before?? And “Pyramid Song”??? Man am I discovering their pearl(ie)s(*) too late). And I’m occasionally on the band’s subreddit as well. And the man himself is touring ‘round the USA, signing material of fans and have genuinely warm chats with them. Admireable.

But that’s only half truth.

I never thought I’d see Suspiria on cinema theatres in here. Until one time when I saw an ad on a completely random Lithuanian website that said this movie is coming to our theatres 14 December... I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. I made my goal to see Suspiria since then. I even dared to ask a couple of my new college ‘friends’ to see it with me, but one of them fell off the deal when I revealed that I’ll be going to see it on Saturday, and on the weekends he’s usually at home, far away from the city the college is in (he lives in college dormitory on mostly the work-weekdays). So my only movie companion ended up to be this 28-year-old coursemate (actually we both study different things but sometimes we attend some of the same lectures) who was intrigued by the Suspiria trailer herself so at least I’m gonna have her by my side of the movie, so I thought. Sweet.

I already envisioned seeing this in a mall cinema theatre but my companion offered me a cheaper alternative - her suggested cinema theatre was actually in renovation so the business is temporarily happening inside an actual drama theatre’s long theatre hall. I had to wait long until the ticket box opened and because of that I was lowkey frustrated as I finished my English test writing a little earlier, so I spent my time walking around the city until the time came and I wandered off to the old building of the cinema so then I remembered it was moved and I found the moved place. Yeah I bought the tickets before my companion could but I’ll skip ahead to the time that I almost lost the tickets because they were put down on a windowsill outside some children activity centre (Suspiria and children?? lol). I came back home late at night and was ready for the movie to happen the next day. Oh and before buying the tickets I coincidentally saw dance classes going on nearby that building... weird, as Suspiria has dance elements in there

The day came (December 15) and my family went together with me because they saw this as an opportunity to see the Christmas tree of our city (but not the movie). Needless to say, they were still visibly pissed at me orchestrating this idea, as I planned everything BUT the transport to go by. Well at least my mom and my sis. Dad was cool with it as he returned home to watch Home Alone. Aside all that, the cinema hall was cozy, Christmassy, not too small, there were a few trailers before the movie, no snack-seller places (as this is not a mall lol) - my companion was glad she wasn't at the mall as she found this place where we were at way lovelier.

Now with all that unnecessary long intro off my chest, let’s begin:

THE REVIEW

(definitely not spoiler-free, if you are sensitive to spoilers please watch the movie for yourselves before reading my review. But if you like being spoiled, I’m your friend then I guess lmao)

The intro to the movie felt like I ended up booking a wrong movie - I didn't expect that to be set somewhere in Germany, especially an American/Italian-shot one. Was that a thing in the original Suspiria? I don't know... (apparently it is, but the cities are different, never the country though)

Patricia (I didn’t know it was Chloë Grace’s role until reading the Wiki) looked like to be a really big deal here, with the dance pupils discussing her disappearance the other day and Susie overheard them, then Sara mentioned the Patricia thing to Susie after Susie revealed she was kind of chosen as the lead dancer for the Volk play... is it because Patricia was THE saviour that unfortunately knew a little too much?? Idk, it’s perhaps the reason we get to see the Klemperer guy subplot happen (I didn’t know it was Tilda Swinton behind him all the time either, must be because the way the male German accent was put on her lol). Turned out she was captured and kept under some dungeon where Sara had gone later in the movie, but looking like an almost melted and grotesquely old human being (or if Mary’s mother from “Chocolate with Nuts” was a person). Speaking of which, there is one more later in the movie, but I won’t tell just yet - we will need to get into such scenes discussion first.

Interesting deaths here, despite of them being grotesque and horrifically detailed. It almost felt like Susie, whilst doing her first dance as the probable lead dancer, temporarily turned into Olga’s voodoo doll or a violent bloodbender (that old lady from Avatar that could bloodbend was incredibly uncanny, damn) and left Olga completely fucked up, and the foam mouth later on... is this the effect myxomatosis has on a human being if it was ever humanly? She was twitching and salivating afterall. :P But no, she’s not dead until she gets to plead her death later in the movie! :O Several others occur throughout, but none is more prominent than this key scene I described, well at least according to TV Tropes.

The search for the evil person in this movie without Wiki helping me much was definitely a nice game for me to play. I kept thinking that Blanc might be that one, then I thought she’s not the one until she looked at Carolina (I think that was the tall tomboy’s name??) suspiciously and then she later passed out on the floor violently, with rabies foam and everything.

Anyway, don’t tell me Tilda Swinton wouldn’t make out a pretty good Thom Yorke post-Pablo Honey. She’s 8 years older than him, ffs! Also played a man before (e.g.: this movie I’m talking about) so the make up won’t be an unjumpable-over hurdle.

The sighs were for sure unsettling, especially because they oddly sounded like orgasm here and there. IDK why. I know fucking is referenced twice in this movie (well only fucking once and sex another time). Speaking of random things, the nightmare shots were completely random themselves, following up with some imagery we never see in the movie again, and some of that we see only a little (like the worms and bloody organs).

3 long scenes that were note-worthy for me. One is the Olga mutilation/Susie's first dancing scene that I already noted, and it was driven by music (the others will be too. Soundtrack of this movie still rules). Then there's the Volk play itself - girls go from one place to another, take poses of each other, dance individually, let their minimalistic red rope dresses flick in the air, interspersed with Sara in the underneath area and her broken leg (so broken, the bone went out of her skin!), and then the matriarchy getting her back on stage, but healing her leg with her witch powers before that. I haven't really listened to the rest of the soundtrack but I gotta check the song out so that I won't end up labeling it as a Kid A reject. No but seriously - intense dancing needed some intense drumming and painful instrument sounds just to project out the massiveness of the whole play.

Then I keep remembering the scene where Madame Blanc commands Susie to jump higher and higher in the mirror hall, up until she jumps as highest as possible. Also my companion’s favourite scene was the stare exchange between these two ladies during the part where people were singing some drinking song in a bar to celebrate ‘Volk’’s success - you hear them singing and then some chilling background noise slowly mixing and creeping its way into the atmosphere, then I think it leads into a scene where some sparkling aura entity wakes Susie up (and she’s nude) in the middle of the night and gets her to go down to this... dungeon orgy full of random stuff going on, complete with an Asian man doing something beyond explanation (I could say lewd but not quite), even more strange ritual dancing and the very much frightening Madame Helga... who looked like Jabba the Hutt for some reason. And then of course everyone slitting, slashing and twisting each other, and by the end Susie throwing us all a plot twist which makes her THE evil one who can finally let her ‘friends’ go of all that suffering they have been through thanks to the damn witches (and yeah apparently her dance friends haven’t completely died? THAT’S how they do - they tell Susie to end their suffering and she does). Also she cracks her chest open to reveal a... very graphic part of a female body that will by no doubt get this whole text review reported without consent so I refrain from any illustrations. Oh and this scene mostly has the possibly favourite this movie’s soundtrack song of mine, if not one of them, play - titled Unmade. It was a mind-boggling decision to do so but the movie editors do them I suppose, but still. I felt sad for the song having to be the background of such absurd but fair enough events? (Oh and I didn’t mention that everyone who voted for the other woman than Madame Blanc to be the leader of the witches (iirc) were rid of in this movie. Damn.)

Oh and the ending is rather an interesting detail, not talking about post-credits because as always I have to be this one movie goer who wants to do it but can’t because they’re urged to go back out of the movie theater. We turn into modern day Germany with a love heart carved on a brick wall with the letters A and L (perhaps?? at the time of finishing this review my memory towards it kind of erased some parts of the movie for me), a nice little remembrance of Lutz’s (the old man’s) love for his dear Anke, with which they have reunited during the movie, but Lutz was dragged out by some people related to the dance academy for probably wandering elsewhere than needed and somehow Lutz ended up as one of the sex dungeon victims, stripped of clothing and lying down quite powerless. That and before the modern day shot we are subjected with Lutz in hospital with Susie coming to visit, they discuss something related to the plot, Susie touches the guy speaks some more, leaves and according to the Wiki, Lutz “suffers from a violent seizure” that was nothing more than just a hard seizure. And it even erases his memories!

Anyway, as a whole, I felt more underwhelmed of this movie’s experience despite really wanting to see it. Like, “uhm yeah gore blood people getting slashed everyone’s a witch and everyone’s watched over by the witch and if you expose the witches you die” kind of underwhelmed. I didn’t want this movie to blatantly go through my head, but it did, that’s why I wanted to make notes everytime something notable happens. There was one startling moment, and it just was an innocent scene transition. And something within Olga’s mutilation scene made me chuckle (and made some other people leave the cinema hall ASAP). It’s more of a disgusting watch than scary. Also feels too dragged out in parts.

I’d only recommend it if you are gore-tolerant (there are people that can’t stand looking at blood so this might as well not be for you, especially if you’re younger than 16), like intense choreos that can impact other people literally, and... the soundtrack. Yes of course. If you dare to get through the movie with feeling its soundtrack, sometimes you might as well feel it right, but some of the soundtrack song usages might as well make you go “hmm” as much as me.

I'll remind myself to never watch a movie in theaters for soundtrack again (unless they're not THAT late). And the other 'trilogy of the three witches' movie remakes, especially if they come out at the time I haven't moved houses by now, because for sure as hell will my parents not like me going to cinema late once more. The movie is lowkey 7 out of 10 for me, can sometimes it's on the verge of falling down to 6 becaude of no completely proper comprehension of some directing choices... so 6.7/10 is good - as it still has 6 in it, but totally leans on to the 7.

Will probably watch it again. I need to remember some more of this movie sometime later. And looking for online uploads of this movie is unrecommendable - I'll wait until Lionsgate distributes it to America for wider audiences so that anything could surface 2 months (or even a few days) later from now. Though if I didn't need all that, I'd definitely not watch it again for a long time... unfortunately I want to.

Post movie feelings: my companion liked the movie, initially said to never watch it again but now wants to watch it again because it was so "wtf" she felt like re-experiencing it at some point. She liked the music (another bonus point for Yorke). She wished she could film the reactions of other people who watched this, as they mostly were confused, all being like "wtf did I just watch???". I'm already feeling bad for the 3rd companion who didn't join us but would also like to watch this - he’ll likely be one of those confused movie-goers.

#suspiria #reviews from a shitty movie goer #lol :')#spoiler alert #tl;dr alert #this review's looooong overdue but f*ck it!#suspiria (2018)#there's a lot i might have missed?#movie review #review

1 note · View note