#i thought the finale was a tragedy but it turns out it was a comedy all along lmao

[borzoilover69]

ULTIMATE JAKE: an idea and an execution

 iA I Aka the post where borzoi talks to the crowd how awesome Lord Jake English is, the guy that everyones seen around, but have no idea who he is. Pull up a chair, this will get long. 

If Ultimate Dirk can be summarised by the mask of tragedy in theatre, LE Jake, AKA Ultimate Jake, could be summarised by the mask of comedy. I’ve barely read HS2, but from what I can see, Dirk wants to make a serious nitty gritty tragedy of serious and epic proportions. But he tries so hard that he ends up making it almost laughable.

Jake wants to make a thighslapper huckshaw comedy where everyones having a grand old time but  there is such deep and hollow tragedy hidden within the folds of all those pretty smiles.

If anything they abide a lot by aristotles theory on comedy and tragedy. While tragedy imitates men better than average, comedy parodies those who are worse.

Aristotle stated that those of a more serious type that may have once been inclined to celebrate the actions of great heroes in poetry and prose turn to tragedy, while those who’ve been dishonourable, humbled, turn to comedy. It comes down to duality, tragedy viewing duality as a fatal contradiction forever a fault in things, while comedy views it as natural, but something that everyone must live with the best they can, enjoy.  Do you see where I’m going here? Dirk, who praised Aristotle and read the epics turned to tragedy. Jake, dishonourable and hiding from those who he care about, turning to comedy. They line up well with the cognitive psychology of the tragedy and comedy visions, which you should totally look into when you can. 

Tragedy is idealistic, stubborn and serious. They long for something higher and greater than common existence. They value heroism, hierarchy, and finality. 

Comedy is pragmatic, adaptable, and playful. They consider the self, comfortable in their own skin. They’re anti-heroes, valuing situation-based ethics and reversal.

With that out of the way, lets keep to philosophy like it’s a boat in the atlantic. If Dirks look in life upon going ult is one of pessimistic realism, Jake is an absurdist.

If life is a cruel joke to jake, and it has been, then in his ultimate form hes acknowledged it, and given the cruel void, hes decided to seek out his own meaning. And it just so happens to be his best friend.

Misc details

- Capitalist

- He wears old 3D movie glasses because he’s that idiot. 

- He collects a lot of things. He has plenty of things hes shot killed and stuffed in his collection. 

You could say he’s rather past oriented, taking care to document it all out of interest and perhaps a subconcious pursuit to figure out the future.

- Very apathetic. He may be charming, but he’s still a jackass. He thinks existence itself is funny, he’s an absurdist; but he’s also a guy who realises he’s been kicked to the curb too many times and started shooting people. - His crew consists of John/June, (in place of rose. They have a lot of movie nights!), Karkat, and one (1) dead dave.

And finally some thoughts about ult Dirkjake: Maybe Dirk wants Jake to just kill him. It’s a game of cat and mouse, and perhaps it’s love for someone who deems himself unworthy, no, incapable of doing so. What better love than to kill someone? To trust and know they will kill you. Feeling safe in the knowledge they’ve known you in every universe and are here to kill you. Not that Jake would let him. I like them.. I think it’s my fave brand of dirkjake besides the original.. they’re dysfunctional, intolerable, and they hate each other, but it’s just interesting. For better or for worse, they’re stuck, and they’re not afraid of the fact they suck. If anything, it’d spur them to be worse.

“Oh yeah. I find the other guy fucking annoying and I’d gladly take a moment to rip his guts out and walk him around a tree until they’re all out and he's calling me every bad name he can think of, but if anyone tries doing this shit with him without my consent, I’m going to be hells of more pissed off.”

Look. It’s funny in the way that realistically, they could probably do a lot of damage to everyone else but due to the fact they know the other guy exists, they’re too busy trying to kick the others ankles out and then beating each other up to become dangerous.

Oh you bet your nanny it’s the gayest most fucked up kismesis known to man. Ultimate Dirk hates LE Jake, because he doesn’t give a damn. Because Jake makes him feel things he denies feeling. And that ridiculously, somewhere in paradox space, Jake went ultimate and decided he was going to man up and pursue Dirk to the ends of the universe. Ultimately: “My soul is bound to you in explicable ways. Our bonds cross the multiverse and wherever you are, somewhere I am by your side. Even in a hundred universes, maybe even a million. I will still find you.”

Perhaps the greatest thing and a closing note is that given they are the ascended versions of themselves, they’re aware of the fact that they’re aware of every time the other guy screwed them over, kicked them in the balls, etc. But they’re also able to see everything else. So what’s with a little hatelove eh?

#homestuck meta #dirkjake #ultimate dirk #ultimate jake #homestuck #ultimate rose: ive seen the light and you two either need to get laid or die #jake english #dirk strider #a lot of philosophy/ #borzoi talks #borzoi meta

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

If Poppy somehow knew about Proto’s true identity before HoJ, how were her actions and attitude towards him change?

HONESTLY I think that if she knew the Prototype was Elliot Ludwig all along, she could have stopped the HoJ from happening. So...

Great Escape AU

Poppy finds out that the Prototype/Experiment 1006, who she thought was a stranger who suffered a cruel fate just for her to become alive, is actually Elliot Ludwig, her adoptive father. And, even worse: He's planning to kill everyone inside Playtime Co. in order to free all the children inside! She must stop this plan from continuing, and, after that, elaborate another one so everyone can be free: Workers and children alike.

Poppy finds out about this when Theo is turned into Catnap, after confronting Pierre about why he was burning her father's legacy to nothing. He accidentally implies Elliot had a similar fate, and, after days of investigation, Poppy has the awful realizzation that Pierre wasn't lying. Knowing the Prototype is looking after Catnap, she decides to talk to the smiling critter, just in time to make him realize that the one who saved him wasn't a higher being, but just another victim of cruelty. Now together, the two adopted siblings must try to convince Proto to stop with the violence.

And, when and if they finally do that, they must figure out a way to make everyone escape and have the authorities actually do their job well, instead of trapping everyone into another prison. Things feel so complicated, but a certain PlayCo. worker may be the savior angel the duo needs...

This is like a drama movie combined with an action movie combined with a comedy movie combined with a tragedy but it has a happy ending. Some extra thoughts:

Elliot dehumanizes PlayCo.'s workers due to all the torture he has been through. This is not an excuse to his actions, but it's a reason why he's doing what he's doing;

Catnap thinks he failed the Prototype during their escape attempt, the last thing he heard being "you have failed him". What he doesn't realize is that this was the Prototype talking to himself: He failed Theo. He failed his boy;

Catnap and Poppy have a sibling dynamic as they have in Poppy Worldwide/Save Everyone AU;

Poppy was an adult when she got turned into a doll, and despite her size, she's very protective of Catnap, knowing that in the end he's just a kid. Not that he LISTENS to her reasoning for that...

All the Smiling Critters have their BBI versions as well;

Elliot had volunteered to become the Prototype, thinking this would make the brain transfer safer for Poppy, not realizing that dr. Sawyer was trapping them both inside PlayCo. It was too late to help Poppy or himself by the time he put the pieces together;

Angel is the same one as the Poppy Worldwide/Save Everyone AU one, only younger, being on their late 20s/early 30s by the time Poppy and Catnap drag them to their plan;

More workers will eventually join the plan to help Angel, including the children of Playcare;

Elliot still has schizophrenia and still deals with a lot of hallucinations;

Poppy and Elliot were extremely close before getting turned into experiments, and once someone knows they were daughter and father, it becomes easy to spot all the habits one got from the other. These include hiding their mouths/covering their faces when laughing too much, figdeting with their fingers, and clapping two times when they want a group to pay attention to them. Catnap is also going to get these habits from them.

#poppy playtime #catnap #the prototype #experiment 1006 #ppt poppy #poppy playtime poppy #ask tag #great escape au

[basu-shokikita]

Kloktober 2023 Day 6

Comedy or Tragedy

I'm primarily someone that loves both consuming and writing comedy but I have to say that Metalocalypse, besides being funny, is ripe with angst potential. Because of that, I struggled choosing one for this day. Eventually, I managed to come up with something…and here it is.

Hope you enjoy!

Toki clung to Skwisgaar, sobbing inconsolably on his shoulder. “No, it can’t ends like dat!” He hiccuped. “It amsn’t fair!”

Skwisgaar, though less emotionally overt, had tears in his eyes. “It ams…like dat…”

“No!” Toki yelled, banging on his own thighs. “No! Please!”

Skwisgaar watched him sadly, fighting off the tears.

“It can’ts…” Toki’s voice got lower. “I can’ts…No…No…”

Wiping his eyes, Skwisgaar patted him awkwardly. “It will be okays…eventuallskies…”

“But hows?” Toki insisted, his eyes red and cheeks wet. “Hows can it evers?” He buried his face in his hands. “Hows…”

Skwisgaar tried to speak, but his voice didn’t come out. He cleared his throat, voice broken when he talked. “You has to believes…One deys…”

“Hows can you be okays when you lost it alls?!!” Toki turned to Skwisgaar and the latter looked at him with so much despair in his eyes. “Oh, Skwisgaar…my hearts broken…” He sniffed.

“I knows…” Skwisgaar nodded slowly. “Never thoughts…dis could happens… toes us…” He rubbed his eyes, in an attempt to regain his composure, instead breaking down in front of Toki.

“Oh, no, Skwisgaar…” Toki cupped Skwisgaar’s face with worry.

“Everythingks ams so frails…” Skwisgaar looked to the side, distraught. “In da blinks of an eyes…it can goes away…”

Wordlessly, Toki wiped the tears off Skwisgaar’s face with his thumb. “Don’t cries…” He whispered, while crying himself. 

Dark blue eyes met icy ones. “Toki…” Skwisgaar pleaded his name, like he was about to break into pieces.

“Skwisgaar…”

Pickles walked in with a bong and almost dropped it over the sight. “Whu….Whut is goin’ on here?!”

Toki turned to the voice, casually letting go of Skwisgaar. “Oh, Pickle!” He rubbed his nose. “We were watchings um, whats it calls…”

“Da Broker’s Mount Ann…” Skwisgaar sadly, drying his face with his shirt. 

“The Brother’s Mob Plan…” Toki repeatedly wrongly, just as sad.

Pickles’ eyes went from the rolling credits on the TV, to Skwisgaar and Toki, to finally the DVD box on the table. Something seemed to click on his brain, because he sighed and went. “Ye mean…Brokeback Mounteen?”

“Ja, dat’s what we says.” Skwisgaar raised an eyebrow.

“Moidaface says it was a cows boy movies…” Toki explained, looking down pathetically. “We thoughts they would has horses and has gun fights…”

“Fuckingks Moidaface…” Skwisgaar cursed under his breath. “It was so fuckingks depresskings…”

“Ye guys are so fucken stoopid…” Pickles said, to no one in particular. “Who hasn’t heerd of Brokeback Mounteen?”

“He mades us watch a gay movies and cries about it!” Toki ignored him, getting progressively angry instead. “We should…We should kills him!”

“Ja!” Skwisgaar stood up in agreement. “He mades us gays! We amsn’t gays! Lets kill hims!”

“Uh, I think you are pretty ghey…” Pickles commented and took a bong rip before flopping on the couch. “I mean, ye were like-”

“Let’s go, Skwisgaar!” Toki decided, standing up too. “We can burns his dicks while he ams sleepings!”

“We cans drop a huge pianosk on his stupids, uglies dick!” Skwisgaar suggested, with a mischievous smirk. 

“Yeah!” Toki cheered and they left, mumbling and cackling about the possible suffering they could inflict on Murderface. 

Pickles watched them go with disbelief, a cloud of smoke surrounding him. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, or somethin’.”

#kloktober2023 #kloktober #metalocalypse #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #skwistok #pickles the drummer #my writing #no beta we die like men etc

[ordinaryschmuck]

So, I finally watched Hazbin Hotel...

Weird, given how I talked about it a bunch. Heck, one of my top rated posts at the moment is my interpretation regarding the fear in Alastor's eyes during his breakdown. But despite having opinions on Hazbin Hotel, I've never really checked the show out, especially as it was coming out. I was kind of waiting for all episodes to get released so I could binge it all in one sitting, but I kept pushing that off until TODAY, and...I have thoughts.

Pros:

Love the animation of the show. Every praise I could give animation is present, with each character being incredibly expressive, their movements fluid, and the animators know when to be stiff for comedic scenes and giving their all for the big musical numbers or action.

I also love the way these characters look. I hear people complain about how overdesigned everything is, and that's valid. I would NOT want to animate this show due to every detail that I'd have to keep track of. But...if we can still praise Spider-Verse despite the animators being under torturous conditions as they make every frame a work of art, we can give the animators the same pat on the back here for making this show look as good as it is. Besides, a few years ago we had people complaining how every western cartoon looks the same. Now we have a show that's the most visually distinct than a lot of animated series coming out today and now we're complaining about that? I'm a man who admires effort more than anything, and while I agree that simpler is better with televised animation, I'm still proud that the animators pulled through in this.

The songs are all great, with personal favorites being "Loser, Baby," "Hell's Greatest Dad," "Stayed Gone," "Hell is Forever," and "You Didn't Know." The weakest one is probably "Whatever it Takes," but it's not really BAD, not me. Just not as strong as the others. I dug this soundtrack and it was the main thing that suck me into this show.

Charlie, as a protagonist, is pretty strong. I love the irony of the daughter of Hell is the nicest person in existence and her frustrations in making the Hazbin Hotel a success a delight because you WANT her to succeed as much as everyone else does. Plus, where most adult comedies make their protagonists cynical a-holes, it's a nice change of pace to have a hopeful one that apologizes as she's fighting people. Love it.

Angel Dust is easy to root for. What he goes through with Valentino is...something that someone like me can't fully grasp and understand, let alone judge. But I personally feel like it does the job to show the tragedy that this character goes through and allows you to root for him to get better.

And I like that Husk is right there to support Angel Dust, being a sort of conscience to protect him despite how much Angel gets on Husk's nerves. I also dig that they grow closer together, treating each other with mutual respect and admiration. It's sweet and I hope things turn out well for these two. Plus, he's voiced by Kieth David. The man can't do wrong.

Nifty is the funniest character in the show, and I will hear no disagreements about it.

Sir Pentious is a lovable loser who's the second funniest character. He reminds me of Papyrus from Undertale, trying so hard to prove that he's strong and powerful only to hilariously fail at every turn. You really root for the guy to get better and feel grateful that he finds happiness in a way I'm not sure anyone could have expected.

Rosie only appeared in one episode, and she's already my favorite. The gal's chipper and supportive towards Charlie, to the point where I completely forgot that she was a cannibal overlord who killed her partner to take full control of the business. Again, I love the irony of characters like this.

Lucifer was more fun than expected. I thought he'd be Mr. Serious, but he's just as bombastic and fun-loving as Charlie and Jeremy Jordan sounds like he's having the time of his life being this character to the point where it's addicting.

Vox has the potential to be a great antagonist and it's a crime that he only has ONE episode with relevance. Hoping he gets more in the future.

And Alastor. I love the concept of a character always smiling with the only thing betraying him are his eyes. As someone who takes joy in facial expressions, I always have a great time trying to analyze a character's restrictions and seeing how they emote, especially when animators and artists utilize a character's eyes to do most of the talking. That's done here in spades, making Alastor more interesting of an evil character as he keeps people guessing with his devious smile, not even dropping it when he's having a mental breakdown.

All and all, I can see how this show can draw in an audience...BUT...

Cons:

The comedy misses more than it hits. The funniest stuff comes from Nifty and Sir Pentious, but other than that, I don't really laugh much with this show. The dramatic moments work decently enough, so that's a pro, but when it's trying to make you laugh, it crumbles for the most part.

The constant swearing does get on one's nerves a bit. Dialogue, more than anything, depends on character. And to have EVERYONE swear almost consistently feels like a misstep. Because if everyone shares a similar level of lingo, then how can you differentiate a character's line on paper. Plus, I feel like it cheapens certain character. Saint Peter, the man who greets you at the pearly gates, shouldn't be another character that goes, "Oh, shit" when him going "Oh, shucks" speaks more about who is compared to everyone else and gives a glimpse into how different Heaven is from Hell.

The dialogue also hurts a character like Adam too. I want to buy that he's Earth's first man, but having him talk like a douchebag rockstar kind of takes me out of it a bit. Like, the way he talks doesn't sound like how the first human being should sound. He sounds like a guy who died in the late eighties, which SHOULD be funny but it's too distracting too much of the time when a character who talks like an old man who's ignorant to modern thinking could have had so much to say about what Heaven deems as worthy to be up above. They nailed the ignorance, but had him speak it in a way that doesn't fit humanity's first man. Maybe less "Call me Dickmaster" and more more "Call me Sir."

Vaggie...is FINE, I guess? But her character faces the same problems as Millie in Helluva Boss, where most of her personality and character is dependent on the relationship she has with another.

I'm also not a fan of Chaggie. I'm sorry. I'm in love with the ship dynamic of the stern, responsible one paired with the bubbly optimist. Heck, I'm a Lumity shipper because of it. But Chaggie just...WHELMS me. I don't hate them together but I'm not foaming at the mouth with each cute scene they share either. Honestly, I ship Charlie more with Emily than I do Vaggie, which...sucks for Vaggie, I guess. But Emily deserves love in her life too, dammit.

And the pacing for this season really is bad. I don't think the problem with this show is that it had eight episodes. Less is more is a phrase for a reason and we don't need twenty episode long seasons for EVERY show. I prefer it, don't get me wrong. Allows characters the a chance to breath and allows the story to take its time more. But what kills Hazbin Hotel's first season is that it feels like a three-season long story just got wrapped up into ONE. I'm sure there's more plans with Heaven, the Vees, and especially Lilith, but to have the season end with the next extermination feels like Avatar ending its first season with Souzin's Comet. There's so much the characters need to do and prepare for in so little time, ending a status quo shaking event, that I feel like a smarter idea would have been splitting this season's story line up into three parts. I mean, unless the cast and crew didn't know ahead of time that they'd only get eight episodes a season, why not have a little faith that they could have split the story up better? Because otherwise, it makes the show feel like it went by way too quickly. Eight episodes isn't a problem, but how they use those eight episodes DO.

So, while I can absolutely see why Hazbin Hotel could have its fans, I can also see how it can put people off. The style and characters work well enough, but the dialogue, jokes, and story need much more polish. It's not the worst, but not the best either. I hope things improve in Season Two and that the show itself can redeem ITSELF in the future.

#hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar #angel dust #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin husk #hazbin nifty #sir pentious #hazbin rosie #lucifer morningstar #hazbin alastor #alastor the radio demon #what i thought about #quick thoughts

[absolutely-not-my-main-blog]

Messy post but if I don’t post now, the season’s gonna be over before my thoughts are out: Charlie (feels like) he’s in a different genre of show than everyone else at the moment, all his scenes and reactions in the first few episodes especially are more sober and serious (to me) compared to everyone else, even if coloured by the absurdity of Sunny, he's taking control of the situation because he can recognize the situation when the others can’t, he’s always seemed more perceptive but now it’s really showing as he’s done with his mom’s shit, he’s done with Jack’s abuse, and all the scenes with Uncle Jack are clearly uncomfortable and (I think) intentionally not really being played for laughs? (unless they really are just making a horrendous writing choice here), but he’s seeing these darker layers, he’s seeing Mac turn down everything he’s ever wanted, raising eyebrows at the cigarette burning, he’s questioning Dennis’ decisions that maybe wouldn’t have him bat much of an eye before (hmm wait, him asking why dennis wouldn’t perform his ex-wife’s dying wish to be buried in the pet cemetery vs Charlie obeying his dad’s dying wish/tradition of his corpse being carried up the mountain 🤔, Charlie and Dennis having similar shared trauma and both being faced with things that could bring those trauma back up this season, perhaps building up to some closure and heart to heart between them in the finale, 🤔 but that's for another post), anyway Charlie’s opening doors, he was the only one who knew what was behind some of the doors, he’s been denied his legacy, he’s starting to notice or show that he’s noticing just how fucked up all their lives actually are, like someone becoming aware of their narrative for the first time, previously living in a comedy, but starting to pull the thread and discovering it's actually interweaved with tragedy... while Frank still sits down for cake and Mac can't/doesn’t want to see what's right in front of him, and Dennis is likely spiralling and etc. etc., he's pulled back the curtain just a tad... while the others are still protected by it, but the curtain’s gonna come down eventually. And it’s not an all at once shift, this has been a long time coming, all happening slowly, nigh imperceptibly, like that post about boiling the frog, if you turn the heat up right away, it realizes what’s happening and jumps out right away, but if you turn the temperature (tragedy) up gradually, it takes a while before it notices, before we notice, and when it does notice, well...

Something about comedy that becomes tragedy the more you think on it. Something about the inherent connection between comedy and tragedy.

Sunny is a comedy. Sunny is a love story. Sunny is a tragedy. All statements true at the same time. But I think the latter might be coming to the forefront (and Charlie might see it coming). (But it’s not a change, not really, it’s same old sunny, because the heat’s always been on, they’re just only starting to really feel it).

#iasip #text #sunny sweet 16 #charlie kelly #anmmbposts #it’s always sunny in philadelphia #posting now or else gonna nitpick over it for another month I swear

[writingmochi]

cast: ateez & txt & enhypen ✗ reader

synopsis: a collection of ateez, txt, and enhypen works based on author's favorite radiohead songs

genre: variative for each member

based on: music radiohead's discography from albums “the bends”, "ok computer", "kid a", "amnesiac", "in rainbows", and "ok computer oknotok 1997 2017" (1995-2017)

status: subterranean homesick alien out now!

message from the moon: do remember that this is fiction and all the actions the idols do in these works do not reflect what they are in the real world. this is a non-priority anthology so all stories are standalone, won't have any schedule for deadlines, and will be written on my availability! also, note that the infos written below aren't the final one so i can add/subtract anything such as each of the synopsis which will have its final form when the certain fic is released

taglist? right here

listen to all 20 tracks!

you're turning into something you are not

cast: frat bro!sunghoon ✗ sorority girl!fem.reader

genre: romantic comedy, greek life au, college au, angst, mature content (smut)

inspired by: literature the prince and the pauper (1881)

it wears me out

cast: san ✗ fem.reader

genre: adventure, sci-fi, romance, dystopian, angst

inspired by: movie wall-e (2008)

you do it to yourself

cast: wooyoung ✗ fem.reader

genre: modern dystopia, thriller, tragedy

inspired by: tv show black mirror (2011-present)

this, this is our new song

cast: idol!hongjoong ✗ indie musician!fem.reader

genre: drama, coming of age, musicians au

i am back to save the universe

cast: jungwon ✗ fem.reader

genre: superhero fiction, adolescence, science fiction, angst

inspired by: comic cloak and dagger

ambition makes you look pretty ugly

cast: hueningkai ✗ reader

genre: content not available, set in the terra incognita universe

inspired by: error 401

they'd think that i'd finally lost it completely

cast: alt kid!soobin ✗ fashion student/designer!fem.reader

synopsis: after soobin's encounter with a person from his original timeline, he experiences doubts if he can settle in this new timeline or not. his alienation and existentialism take a spin in a new world he has to figure out himself, or if he could be courageous enough to ask you to guide him down back to the surface

genre: coming of age, slice of life, romance, drama, friends with benefits au, college/university au, angst, fluff, mature content (drug consumption and explicit smut), set in the time wave universe

this is what you'll get when you mess with us

cast: jay ✗ fem.reader

genre: drama, crime, romance, thriller, angst, mature content (smut)

inspired by: bonnie and clyde but with a dynamic of succession's tom wambsgans and siobhan roy

you know we're friends 'til we die

cast: seonghwa ✗ fem.reader

genre: content not available, set in the terra incognita universe

inspired by: error 404

we are standing on the edge

cast: detective!jongho ✗ detective!fem.reader

genre: crime, mystery, psychological thriller, noir

inspired by: movie se7en (1995)

the worms will come for you, big boots

cast: spy!yeonjun ✗ investigative journalist!fem.reader

genre: action, adventure, drama, agent au, angst

inspired by: movies from the 007 series: the spy who loved me (1977) and tomorrow never dies (1997)

i'm not here, this isn't happening

cast: singer-songwriter!taehyun ✗ up-and-coming actress!fem.reader

genre: drama, childhood friends au, fame au, angst, mature content (suicidal thoughts, manipulation, exploitation), set in early 2000s

help me get back to your arms

cast: movie character!heeseung ✗ fan!gn.reader

genre: psychological thriller, parasocial relationship, angst

there was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

cast: yeosang ✗ reader

genre: adventure, action, mystery

inspired by: video game silent hill 2 (2001)

catch the mouse

cast: beomgyu ✗ fem.reader

genre: adventure, drama, thriller, road trip au, run away au, angst, mature content (smut)

inspired by: movies bones and all (2022), american honey (2016), and y tu mamá también (2001)

one by one

cast: guitarist!mingi ✗ session musician!fem.reader

genre: rock band au, angst

inspired by: documentary meeting people is easy (1998)

it is the 21st century

cast: niki ✗ fem.reader

genre: enemies to lovers?, high school au, angst, fluff

inspired by: folk story mulan

because we separate like ripples on a blank shore

cast: guardian angel!sunoo ✗ human!gn.reader

genre: fantasy, angel au, angst

inspired by: the boyz's roar concept (2023)

i don't want to be your friend, i just want to be your lover

cast: yunho ✗ reader

genre: drama, toxic relationship, friends to lovers au, angst, mature content (smut)

the beat goes round and round

cast: jake ✗ fem.reader

genre: time-loop, science fiction, mystery, drama, fantasy, romance, gang au

inspired by: movie groundhog day (1993) meets musical west side story

NOTABLE MENTIONS (written fics and the radiohead songs in their playlists)

let down ; exit music (for a film) - time wave

weird fishes/arpeggi - troubled pixies

all i need ; go slowly ; spectre - isobel

© writingmochi on tumblr, 2021-2024. all rights reserved

#k-labels #ateez imagines #txt imagines #enhypen imagines #ateez scenarios #txt scenarios #enhypen scenarios #ateez x reader #txt x reader #enhypen x reader #rsc: fm #cs: ateez #cs: txt #cs: enhypen #sc: regina

[pixies-and-poets]

Well, well! What have we here! If it isn't your girl Bramble "I'm going to write fanfics but ONLY RARELY" Scramble with another fanfic!

I don't know if I'll ever continue this story directly, but I thought up a starting point for the Divine AU and haven't been able to stop thinking about it for a couple of days. Enjoy my attempts at "localizing" things into Greek! Phantom is also literally Dionysus here, but it's strange to call him that, so I did what we in the business called "cheesing it" to get us back to his familiar name.

As always, thank you for putting up with my Phandrow obsession lmaaaooo. And now enjoy...

An Appeal to the Heavens

It was mid-morning of a bright day in early spring, and the city streets bustled with activity. Children and adults alike ran about wearing colorful togas or tunics. Street vendors shouted from the sidelines, or pushed their carts straight through the crowd. The drinking was heavy, and wine stained the lips and tongues of many a mouth.

It was the middle of a festival, after all.

The Dionysia lasted for a whole week, and mostly celebrated theatrical productions both grand and small. But today there were also competitions for poetry: theatre’s cousin, and also much beloved by theatre’s God. There were different categories for original poetry throughout the day: epic, tragic, comic, romantic. It was an hour yet before they began, and every adult was preparing themselves with the appropriate amount of inebriation to survive the more tortured of verses- and purchasing fruit to throw, if need be.

Through the mass of pure white or brightly-colored clothing pressed a man who stood out from the rest in his somber long tunic, so dark brown as to be almost black. The only spot of color on his form was the vibrant pink ribbon that tied the cloth around his waist. More notable than his clothes, however, was the way he literally stood out amongst his fellow rabbids: his tall, slender but top-heavy form being so unusual that it drew plenty of rudely curious gazes.

…Or at least, that’s what he imagined they were looking at. More likely, they were staring at the tiny raincloud that followed in his vicinity, bobbing here and there as if to observe the festivities, and occasionally giving off a little thunderclap of excitement.

The tall man carried a bundle wrapped in white cloth close to his chest, protectively but not too tightly, as delicate and guarded as if it were a newborn child. He weaved through the crowd with extreme care, so as not to let anyone bump him and his precious cargo too hard.

Finally, he reached his destination- a grand temple, richly decorated above and among its pillars with carvings of grapes and their vines and leaves, and the masks of comedy and tragedy, and harps, and musical notation. Atop the pillars, its triangular pediment was carved with a relief depicting actors upon a stage. 

For a moment the visitor stared up at the building in awe. He could have spent hours taking in every detail. It was so large, so ornate, compared to the temple in his home village! There was only one, which all the gods had to share, their little shrines jumbled up against one another inside. This one was so huge, despite its dedication to a single god alone! But it only made sense- this was THE main temple to Dionysus, in the city that was holy to him.

And yet… hardly anyone was around. The wide set of stairs leading up and inside were the least crowded space the tall rabbid had seen for a while. This surprised him a bit - he had expected others to have the same idea as him, to come to pray. Perhaps most people saw little use - or little fun - in being pious at a temple, when the whole city was transformed into a shrine for the god’s honor.

The visitor slowly approached the doorway, and then turned around. He noticed his cloud hanging back- the little thing rarely came into buildings to begin with, and certainly not temples.

“I won’t be long, Katára,” he addressed it, with a gentle smile. Then he turned back and entered the structure.

He found himself in a massive hall. On the left side was a large dias - a stage, in fact - and on the right, rows of seating, raised up in tiers. Here plays were sometimes performed, but right now they were elsewhere, all over the city. And at the far end of the hall, which the visitor was now walking towards in the space between the stage and the audience, was a statue.

The newcomer's green-blue eyes, which were often somewhat squinted due to his poor eyesight, widened in amazement. The statue was larger than life, much much larger than even the largest mortal rabbid he had ever seen. And it was an incredible piece of workmanship. At its base, a large harp - which the god’s body was said to contain - was delicately rendered and covered in gold. This was subtly part of a pillar, which supported the statue’s upper body - the god with one hand at his chest and the other stretched out, his hair flowing, his eyes closed and his mouth open in divine song. All of this was carved in stone, but painted in vibrant color: the purple of his toga, the green of the grape leaves in his hair, the red of his mouth, and even more purple on his wine-stained lips, which were said to be a near permanent feature.

Most astonishingly of all, however, is that his giant round belly was made entirely of glass, through which the harp could be seen.

Never before had it been more obvious why the god had earned the colloquial name of the Phantom. He usually kept his stomach transparent, like a ghost, so that all might see the glorious instrument inside. Most statue depictions, of course, could not capture this detail, or had to attempt it in the most rudimentary of ways. He also went without legs most of the time, his body culminating in a ghostly tail- although legends claimed he could give himself legs, if it was more fun to have them.

There was another reason he'd earned that name, of course. He was infamously elusive, appearing before mortals extremely rarely, at least in this age. Some gods, like the hero Perfectus or his less heroic brother Augustus, dwelt among mortals almost full-time; others appeared rarely, but at least sometimes... and the Phantom was almost never seen at all, at least in his own form outside of some disguise.

"So that's what you really look like, eh?” said the newcomer as he gazed up in wonder. How different this was from the simple wooden carvings in the temple of his village! Those certainly couldn’t pull off a trick of transparency like this. Before he knew it, he was at the base of the statue, which was raised up on a huge pedestal of its own. His eyes were at the level of the harp, and he could see his own reflection- a poor, tired poet, gazing at a form of divine magnificence. Embarrassed by his own awkward reflection, he looked upward again, at the face of a god who was rapt with the joy of performance... and without thinking, he reached out a paw and touched the glass.

He stood like that for a moment, before suddenly coming to his senses, embarrassed and ashamed. He took his paw away, and saw that it had left a faint print. At this point he was more relieved than ever that not another soul was present in the temple. He must clean that off in a moment. But for now…

He looked around the edges of the statue’s base. Various tributes had been left here recently; sumptuous costumes and props; bundles of papyrus that were probably play scripts, piles of coins, and more. The newcomer found some empty space and sat his own bundle down, gently unwrapping it. Out he pulled a bunch of grapes.

It was a healthy group - each individual a rich reddish purple, as full and round as the god’s own belly, with no bruises or wrinkles or rot. The ideal representation of the fruit. He had spent far too long at the market this morning, picking out the absolute most perfect bunch he could find. In fact, he was pretty sure the vendor had charged him extra for it after seeing how long he had agonized and deliberated.

Now he sat them tenderly at the base of the statue, and used the freed cloth to wipe off his paw-print. He stood back, looking at his tribute nestled in amongst the others… and felt shame. They were only grapes, after all. Nothing compared with the expensive clothing and masks and other offerings on display. He sighed. Still, it was about all he could afford to give. …That, and his endless devotion, of course. If the god would have it.

But no one seemed to want it.

The visitor tucked the cloth away within his tunic, and then knelt before the statue, his ears flopping forward over the top of his head. He brought his long arms together and clasped his hands and shut his eyes.

“My Lord,” he began. “It's been a while. It's me, Tristan of the Woods, from Chróma Próta… do you remember me? I’m very far from home. I used to pray to you in rhyme, but… well, I think you must not have liked it, because you never answered my prayers. -But I don’t hold it against you personally! None of the gods ever do.”

He sighed, feeling like he was messing this up already. “-So anyway, I thought I might try something different this time. I thought I should be more casual. Perhaps you’d like that better…”

Tristan paused here. His knees were already hurting from kneeling on the stone floor. He opened his eyes and looked up at the statue, at the torchlight reflecting off its glass, making the god seem to glow.

“You know,” he said, “if I’m going to be casual, I should go all the way. Commit to it. I hope you don’t mind.”

He went around the side of the statue’s dais, where there were no tributes laid out, and heaved himself up onto the platform. This was the side where the statue’s ghost-like tail snaked around, and the visitor settled himself into the crook between the tail and the statue’s body, resting his back on the glass, curling his legs up behind the tail.

“Well then.” He began to speak once more, looking alternatively down at his knees, or the statue’s tail, or the decorated walls around him. “I’m here today because - I need your help. Desperately. If there’s ever a prayer I need answered, if you only answer one in my whole life, let it be my request to you today.”

He shifted, slouching down even further against the statue. “You see, My Lord… I am a poet, yes? Or at least I call myself such. But in my hometown, they do not like my poetry. I don't blame them, because neither do you, it seems- the gods, I mean.

Well, despite everything, I care for my hometown. I want to give back to them. It just so happens that they're holding elections soon, for the archon- you know, that’s someone who’s sort of in charge of a town, among us mortals. A lot of decisions, and a lot of responsibility. The only thing is, it’s only open to people who can pay a certain amount of money… to prove we’re financially stable, and responsible, and well-to-do.”

The poet took a deep breath, then exhaled sadly. “The problem is… I’m NOT. I have hardly any money. I barely scrape by. And that’s why… that’s why I came all the way here, to the poetry competitions. I entered myself in all four of them, you know! It’s going to be a busy day for me. But just winning one… that would be enough. The prize money would be all I need to enter the election.”

The rabbid turned his upper body around, to look up at the statue once more, though from here he could only really see the side of his toga, his elbow and his flowing locks. “So… since this is your festival, I was hoping… maybe you could inspire me today, to do extra well? Or… perhaps convince the judges to see the virtues of my work. Whatever you can do, as a god, to help me win. Just one little competition! I… I would prefer it were the tragic poem, as I’m always most proud of myself in that regard. But any will do. That’s all I ask. Just one, my Lord. It’s for a good reason, I promise you.”

He turned back around, put his hands together once more, and was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, it was softer. “Even if you don't like my poems.... maybe you can pretend, just this once. And in return… if there’s anything you wish of me... just let me know somehow. Send me a vision, a divine message in a dream, however you wish to reach me. I will do whatever you ask.” The poet suddenly had a feeling that he might dream of the god that night, and for other nights to come, divine vision or no. He felt very warm, and blushed. Could the gods tell what a mortal was thinking? Especially if they were in the god’s own temple? He desperately tried to suppress the thoughts that had been bubbling up inside him since he first laid eyes on the statue, on the god’s fair face. Absurd thoughts.

“There are, perhaps, better deities to pray to,” he continued quickly, drowning out his thoughts by speaking, “for poetry specifically. But… I have always been drawn to you above all gods, My Lord. I know you have never answered my devotion with any reward, but… well, you are busy, I’m sure, granting the wishes of playwrights and actors from the cities. And who am I but a humble poet from a town buried in the forest? I… would like your assistance, My Lord, but above all I simply… I simply pray that you hear me. I have come here, to your grand temple, and although I have little to offer…I do have myself. And I want you to know that I am ever your faithful servant. I am yours, body and soul, if you will have me. …Thank you for listening.”

During this last bout of speaking, he had closed his eyes, clutched his hands together, and bowed his head once more. Now he opened his eyes and stood up. He got down off the pedestal and walked back to the front of the statue. Trembling, he looked up at it one last time, and felt the warmth rise again to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He was so beautiful, and the lowly poet so unworthy…. How dare he ask for anything?? And what’s more, how dare he dream- how dare he entertain the thought even for a moment- that the god would take notice of him as anything more than yet another wish to grant, or more likely, to ignore?

Ashamed of his whole endeavor, the poet turned and left in a hurry, to rejoin his cloud and prepare for his first oration.

—

But the poor mortal did not know the terrible truth! His prayers had not been ignored on purpose. In fact, they simply weren't reaching the long ears of the gods.

They never had.

The poet was well aware of his own ill luck and misfortune. It was a reality he lived with every day, with every verse he spoke. But he had been taught as a child that the gods heard everyone out, no matter how pious or fallen, no matter how glorious or meek. Little did he know, so complete was his curse, that the Fates blocked his messages from ever reaching the holy realm.

Today, though… in that realm, far above the land in which mortals struggled and died…

The Phantom’s eyes opened. He opened his mouth, too, very wide - not in song, but in a mighty yawn - and he stretched his arms and shook his silver hair. 

Then he groaned and flopped backwards again onto his bed. He really needed to stop having drinking contests with Augie. The god of wine always came out on top, of course, but it was a close one, with the sea-god just barely passing out when Phantom was at his limit. The constant beach parties in Pharos Philia, where Augustus made his home among mortals, had trained him well.

The god of theatre, wine and merry-making was feeling anything but merry this morning. Under the dull pounding of his hangover - something to which even the gods were susceptible - he felt a prickling in the back of his mind. He had prayers to listen to.

Of course he did; it was the third day of that damned festival. He had ceased to care about it decades ago. Mortals always followed trends in their work and their lives, and their trends repeated in cycles, each generation thinking they were the first to discover some grand theme or unifying truth about existence. For a short-lived mortal, their little dramas, both those on a stage and those not, always seemed important and new. For a god, it got boring after a while.

And yet… today he had woken up with a strange feeling. A premonition he could not shake.

Perhaps, for the first time in years, he should visit his own festival. In disguise, of course. It wouldn't help his headache, but… he had nothing better to do.

The god closed his eyes, and the eyes of the statue in his grand temple opened, and glowed. He was looking through them.

….But there was no one around to notice. The temple was completely empty.

Of course, Dionysus thought. Of course it was empty. No one was at the festival to actually celebrate or worship him. They were there for their own entertainment or their own glory, as actors and writers, directors and choreographers. Well, he supposed he couldn't blame them. He knew the feeling.

At least this was a choice spot to manifest into the mortal world, then. In a sparkle of gold, a body materialized before the statue- the guise of a mortal rabbid, although notably larger and more rotund than the average. He had given himself legs, and was dressed in an unassuming blue toga, and even transformed his hair into fancy curls and a neat little ponytail, quite different from the messy locks he was normally depicted with. Still, he did not want to alter his inborn beauty too much. He hoped no one would catch on.

He turned around to give a brief glance over the tributes at the base of his statue. There were some finely-wrought objects and pieces of clothing, but still, nothing compared to what he saw every day in the land of the gods. Some mortals had even offered him their mortal play scripts- eurgh, no thank you. But just as he was about to turn away again, his eyes caught a small spot of purple.

He walked over and saw… a bunch of grapes. They looked delicious, and clean, and very fresh. Someone must have left them here quite recently! As far as he was concerned, this was the only useful gift in the collection.

With a smile, the Phantom picked them up, and strode out of the temple, eating the succulent orbs one by one.

#mario plus rabbids #mario + rabbids #phandrow #woodrow #ts woodrow #the phantom of the bwahpera #soh divine au

[kimkimberhelen]

Gene Cousineau: “Little Sally Reed from Joplin, Missouri. What do you want?”

Sally Reed: “To be an actress … it’s all I ever wanted in the whole world.”

This quick exchange introduces Barry’s audience to Sally (Sarah Goldberg) in the series premiere. Her passionate, teary plea rings normally at first glance; she’s a small-town girl with wide-eyed Hollywood dreams. Aw, shucks. Over four seasons, HBO’s grim comedy ingeniously peels back layers to unveil Sally’s discombobulating, deeply human personality. Her unlikable traits—selfish, gravely insecure, a knack for walking over people (including seemingly naive aspiring actor Barry Block)—remain intact as the show nears its end.

By now, though, we know these qualities stem from a marred past: a rotten home life, previous spousal abuse, and a gnawing lack of confidence she desperately wants to cover up. Barry rarely excuses her entitled behavior but slowly sheds light on how her illusory front is a coping mechanism. No wonder she makes the short-lived Joplin as an outlet to process her tragedies. What’s worse? She barely gets time to exist in the world she creates after working hard to achieve it. As it turns out, Sally is the ultimate portrait of trauma in Bill Hader and Alec Berg’s stellar series, which wraps on May 28.

Sally Reed was probably never going to have a happy ending. It’s not because she prioritizes her lofty career ambitions, pushing away anything that gets in the way. Goldberg plays Sally’s goals with such enthusiasm it usually borders on mania, even when she’s sympathetic. It’s a shame she hasn’t won an Emmy for her wrenching yet funny performance. Remember her season two monologue when Barry (Hader) auditions for Jay Roach? Or her season three “entitled fucking cunt” breakdown in the elevator that Natalie (D’Arcy Carden) shares with the world, leading to her downfall? But the professional blinders Sally’s had on for most of Barry’s run is what limits her in the end.

As if her traumatic history wasn’t enough, her entanglement with Barry Berkman worsens everything. He breezes into her life one fine day, drawn into her safe space, when he catches her rehearsing outside Gene’s (Henry Winkler) studio while on a mission. Barry finds solace in it, attracted to the idea of shedding his skin to inhabit somebody who doesn’t have PTSD or a laundry list of crimes. It’s enough to get him hoping for a fresh start. That’s also what Sally hoped for when she moved to Los Angeles after finally leaving her abusive husband, Sam (Joe Massingill).

Season four delves into why Sally deserved to leave her Joplin jail. Sam isn’t the only reason. Her mother is dismissive, flat-out refusing to believe her ex abused Sally, nor does she care that her daughter’s boyfriend is arrested for murder in L.A. “Big whoop” isn’t exactly the expected maternal reaction, and her nice-guy father doesn’t have anything valuable to add, either. It’s clear from the final season’s early episodes that Sally doesn’t have anyone—anyone except for an imprisoned Barry. Her admittance to him in this season’s “bestest place on earth,” that she feels safest with him, is a devastating reality chec

Hader and Goldberg, sitting feet away, separated by a glass barrier, deliver a potent performance in a scene that sells their toxic attachment. She can write all the one-act plays and TV shows she wants, but Barry’s grievously absorbed her identity just when you (and everyone around her) thought she was free of it. Their confrontation in jail is a turning point for the show’s final installments. Her shaky confession sets Barry’s brain aflame. He teams up with the FBI, makes an enemy out of NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), and escapes prison during a shootout. Ultimately, it launches a new life for the duo in the middle of a barren landscape where they don new identities and shed their skins. Just like the dream, huh?

Barry’s final season jumps eight years ahead with a full picture in episode five, “tricky legacies.” It glimpses into the dreary monotony of Barry and Sally, who go by Clark and Emily now. They shield their child from the real world. It doesn’t mean Sally’s not seething under Emily’s mask. Her pain follows her because she chose to give up the one thing that mattered: her acting dream. Having experienced a shitty upbringing, she passes along the intergenerational trauma to John by parenting similarly to her mom—indifferent, indignant, and inebriated. She doesn’t know where to start nurturing.

It’s not like Barry’s childhood was a prize, so neither of them is good at this, but Sally is on a whole other level. She drops alcohol in his juice to put him to sleep, serves up burnt lunches, and generally wrestles with how to love this human being she gave birth to. In Sally’s expressions, Goldberg displays a tangible aversion to motherhood, a full-bodied disdain for the life they’re responsible for creating. So yes, in a twisted way, she’s a copy of her parent now. It’s a full circle.

Everyone on Barry is haunted by their actions, especially with the time jump, so Sally isn’t an exception, of course. Barry wreaked absolute havoc. Gene lost Janice Moss (Paula Newsome), ruined his legacy, and now reappears to chase fame again. As seen in episode six, “the wizard,” Hank has grown a successful business, but had to kill the love of his life to do it. Fuches’ (Stephen Root) friendship with Barry turns sour as he morphs into the Raven. Yet, Sally’s regression is agonizing because she was a lick away from gaining everything she wanted. Instead, she ponders torturing her network boss, kills a man in self-defense, and runs back home, only for everything to crumble again. All this while witnessing Oscar winner Sian Heder work with her mentee, Kristen (Ellyn Jameson), and watching Natalie soar.

Now, she’s drunk and being tortured (note Hader’s prolific direction in “the wizard”) as a man in a ski mask figure shakes up their trailer home. She’s permanently haunted. Janice’s father has captured her partner, and all she can do is call him repeatedly, begging him to come back. With two episodes of Barry remaining, Sally is left alone in her cage to care for John. Does she head back to her hometown to complete the cycle? Or will she return to the city of dreams to find Barry and maybe accomplish the only thing she wants to be in this world? Either way, Sally might not realize it, but she’s already played the role of a lifetime now. It’s wish fulfillment in the worst and most tragic possible way.

#barry season 4 #barry hbo #sarah goldberg #sally reed #long read but a good read #avclub #hbo #bill hader

[opheliajupiter99]

Enodi: The Faceless Clown - Interview for the Carnivale (Sad/Lovecraft tw)

It was a rainy night at the Carnivale, a few scattered carnies busy tarping the rigged games so they wouldn't short-circuit, while others still made sure the tents were tied tight, so water wouldn't leak through. They didn't speak much, or even look at each other, focused on their work, carrying with them a downtrodden sort of air.

They were hiring new acts at the Carnivale, but with the poor weather, the turnout wasn't expected to be high; in fact, only two people had shown up so far. A halfling with a quite pathetic juggling act, and an elven woman with a flute performance; the performance was decent, but not better than the little fellow that played the ocarina, so she was turned down regardless.

Mr. Lecroux walked past the carnies, who kept their heads down as he passed, and headed to his own personal tent, the most lavish of the bunch of course, assuming no more acts would pass through. Just as he was about to pass through the curtain, he passed, turning his head as he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

Half of a mask, pearly white in color, the dim torchlight of the Carnivale highlighting it, the mouth of the mask pulled down into a frown, and a wide, yellowed eye staring out from the mask's depths. Lecroux just stood there for a moment, staring at the sight, before the figure inched a bit closer, his features becoming more clear.

It was a short, skinny elven man of dark skin, long dark hair trailing halfway down his back, wearing jester-like attire tied akin to a robe, and of course, his most notable feature, the Comedy/Tragedy mask he wore, the other half now visible, a baby blue with its mouth turned upwards into a smile.

"Am....I-I late?" The elf croaked, his voice hoarse and ragged, as if he either chainsmoked or was deathly ill. Lecroux continued to stare for a moment, looking the man up and down. After a moment, he gently nodded, eyes slightly narrowed. "Nah...nah, ya ain't late. Come right in, fella." He said, waving him in.

The pair entered Kremy's tent. It was purple and green in coloration, its 'ceiling' reaching up into the sky, with a silken purple and green bed off to the one side and a desk at another, with two chairs on either side; one just as lavish as everything else, and the other a simple, cracked wooden chair, fittingly summing up the divide between ringmaster and carnie.

The elf sat down at the appropriate chair in silence, the ringmaster quickly sitting across from him, interlocking his clawed fingers together as he leaned against the desk. Sitting this close to him, he began to notice an odor, but decided to ignore it - for now, anyways.

"So, fella, first things first; what's ya name?"

"Enodi."

"Just Enodi? No last name?"

The elf shook his head, those sickly yellowed eyes never leaving the ringmaster.

"Uh, right...well, whattya do then Enodi?"

A quick, manic giggle echoed out from the depths of the mask, the elf's tone quickly turning from soft to elated. "I m-make people laugh! I sing, a-and I dance - t-tell tales, and jest, to make the children giggle!" He said, producing another giggle of his own, his eyes scrunching up slightly to indicate he was smiling under the mask.

"Aaaah, right, a clown yeah? Guess I shoulda figured with that getup...welp, we -did- just free up a slot on our clown act.." He hummed, clacking his claws together in thought. He looked the man over once more, taking note of the lute upon his back, before his eyes naturally focused back on the mask.

It was quite hard to ignore, completely covering the man's features beyond his eyes. Lecroux didn't like masks much; a lot of tells of a person's emotions, of their lies, laid in their faces. Part of it was body language of course, but a performer could easily hide those kinds of hints.

"What's with the mask?" He inquired finally, the question leading the elf's eyes to rise from the desk back to the ringmaster.

"It's my face."

Kremy blinked, tilting his head. "Yeah yeah, I get it, it's part of ya thing, but I mean like, ya wear it all the time or-"

Enodi shook his head. "No, I mean it's my face. I-I need it." His voice cracked slightly at the last part, almost as if in a pleading fashion. Kremy rose a metaphorical brow, leaning back in his chair. "I didn't mean to offend, fella, I'm just askin' a question."

With a hum, the little bard shrugged. "Okay." He said simply, then reached up to grasp at the clasps behind his head, which held the mask in place.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm showing y-you why I n-need it."

With a soft click, the mask slid from the elf's face, a revolting squelching noise following the motion. Kremy's eyes widened immediately, wide jaw falling slightly agape at the sight before him, the foul scent that had once been minor now becoming far too noticable.

Kremy just...stared, wide eyed, for nearly half a minute, at the rotten, faceless horror that sat before him. The expression didn't seem to bother the little bard; either he wasn't offended, or he'd seen the expression so many times before, he'd grown numb to it. Perhaps both.

"...Y-Ya dying..." The ringmaster said finally, his voice shaking ever so slightly. The bard shrugged, moving to pick his mask back up and reclasp it as he spoke. "I know. I-It's alright though, it doesn't hurt." The ringmaster took a moment to recollect himself, blinking a few times and rubbing a hand over his snout, trying to get the rotten scent out.

"...Are ya contagious?" The elf pondered the question for a brief moment, then shook his head. "I d-don't think so. The h-healers that t-treated me didn't get s-sick. But I-I'll be careful, I promise."

His face fell, metaphorically speaking anyways, as he saw the ringmaster mull the thought over more and more; he didn't care if he found him disgusting, he only cared about missing his chance to entertain. "I-I don't need pay!" He blurted out, the words quickly regrasping the gator's attention.

"I-I'll probably be gone soon anyways, so I d-don't need pay. Just...p-please. I need to make them laugh! Please!" The bard begged, his yellowed eyes carrying as much desperation as they could in their withered state. Kremy took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh.

"A'ight, ya can join. But ya gettin' a small tent, and ya stayin' there. I know ya said ya ain't contagious, but I ain't takin' chances." Enodi nodded hurriedly. "Y-Yes, yes, of course! Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you!" He clasped his hands together, producing another squelching noise, making Kremy cringe.

Later that night, Enodi had been settled in his dinky little tent. It was pathetic, even by Lecroux carnie standards, the floor of it covered in sawdust, as if in an effort to soak up what contagion the elf might carry, and barely anything laid within it, just a straw 'bed' off to the corner, a bucket, and a simple wooden chair.

Enodi didn't care though; he was beyond overjoyed. He spent that night, sat in front of one of the walls of his tent, regaling his exciting day to seemingly no one. The voices that danced about in his head listened intently, as they always did, chattering in return in their endless cacophony, and the poor little bard only finally slept out of pure exhaustion sometime later.

None of the bad mattered. Only the laughter and the smiles mattered.

#once upon a witchlight #enodi #tw sad #lovecraftian horror #once upon a witchlight fanfic #kremy lecroux

[cherubic-cherry]

The Tragedy, Comedy, and Miracle That is Tim Drake snippet

“I’m not gonna hurt you, sweetheart, I'm Nightwing, I work with Batman and I just wanna help you get home.”

His plan wasn’t working. If only Nightwing wasn’t so nice, but of course he was. Tim knew that Nightwing would never just abandon a little kid on a rooftop in the dead of the night, it would be really great if he would, though, just this once. Another plan came to him, a better plan than just crossing his fingers.

He gingerly snuck his arm into his bag that was still resting on his shoulders. He wondered how long he could stand there seemingly motionless while facing outward before Nightwing tried to approach him. Hopefully a few minutes but probably not given his rotten luck.

His hands glided over the ridges on the flashlight, the smooth wrappers on the granola bar, and the cold, metal flip phone but he still couldn’t find what he was looking for in his overly packed bag, not without being able to properly look at it.

“Are you okay? I just wanna help. Can you come closer?’’ Nightwing egged, his voice had an edge of begging, but he sounded so sweet and soft. He dropped the fake-sounding voice he usually used. His normal voice made Tim be able to place him around his early twenties (just around the first Robin would be by now) and his voice sounded deeper and rough, it must’ve been hoarse from yelling but he still managed to sound so nice.

It was the perfect voice to use on what Nightwing thought was a scared and innocent little kid. Nightwing might have worked with kids as his day job. His gentleness was wasted on Tim, though, who, although was definitely scared out of his mind, could not claim innocence when it came to how he managed to get into this particular position.

His fingers finally found it: two chalky feeling spheres that lay on the very bottom of his bag, unused.

“Sweetheart, can you please turn around and step away from the ledge for me?”

The snow must’ve made Tim hard to see from where Nightwing was standing. Tim took a step closer, ignoring how weird it felt to walk when his joints still needed time to defrost. He forced himself to get as close to the vigilante as possible while still making sure he couldn’t make out his face with the heavy snow coming down.

“There we go,’’ Nightwing said to himself but because of their proximity Tim was still able to hear him. Guilt curled into Tim's chest from the translucent relief in Nightwing’s tone, Tim really was the worst kid on the planet. He edges himself as close as his body would allow him before freaking out.

“Hi there-’’ Tim didn’t allow him to finish his sentiment. He grabbed the mini smoke bombs from his bag and chucked them in Nightwing's direction. The snow was thick and his arm was tired from holding up his camera. He didn’t mean to throw the smoke bomb at Nightwing's face, he planned for it to fall at his feet or somewhere behind him and have it serve as a distraction. Instead, he ended up throwing the aluminum ball directly into the hero's nose, causing the smoke bomb to go off in his face.

Read the rest of the chapter here:

#fic rec #dick and tim #dick grayson is a ray of sunshine #dick grayson #little Tim drake #Tim drake #tim drake is a menace #baby tim drake #ao3 fanfic #ao3

[abimess]

The Story Of Us - Part 13

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Masterlist | Get notified of my next stories

Summary: You and Wanda have known each other since you were little. And a love story that could've been as simple as a clichéd romantic comedy suffers the effects of stubbornness and immaturity, ending up becoming something almost like a Greek tragedy.

Word count: 2.913  || Pronouns: she/her

Warnings: none

And it's finally here! This chapter is more of an epilogue, really, but it's a cute moment and I feel like it wouldn't make sense if I left this song out. Hope you like it!

You do NOT have permission to repost or translate my work on any platforms (even with credit)

Series Masterlist | Previews Part (Read on: Wattpad || AO3)

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Lover

This would be the prettiest sight in Westview if you didn't have a certain redhead in mind.

Still, the party venue didn't fail to take your breath away, with the pastel decorations just the way Wanda likes them, and the yellowish lights you've chosen, which give the whole garden a more and more welcoming tone as the sun goes down. 

And all this from the small window of the room where you are getting ready. You imagine how beautiful the ceremony will be when you finally come down to be part of it. 

Only the thought makes your insides turn nervously, your heart beating faster with anxiety. Of course your brain would trick you into thinking about all the things that could go wrong, but you wouldn't allow that. Everything would be fine, there's no reason to be nervous.

"We have a problem." Is the next thing you hear, and you spin on your heels to face Pietro entering the room. "A small problem, nothing I can't fix." He adds quickly as he closes the door, slightly scared by your desperate expression, "I actually just don't know where to put the ring bear."

"Ring bearer?" You correct, looking at him with shock, and the man shrugs his shoulders. "Yes, the bear that will bear the rings." He says with obviousness, but you keep looking at him completely baffled, hoping he is kidding. From the way his eyes widen in the next second, you figure he’s not.  

"OH MY GOD." Pietro exclaims, his face showing a mixture of realization and terror, and you widen your own eyes in both irritation and disbelief. "YOU BROUGHT A BEAR TO MY WEDDING?!"

"What the hell are you two yelling about?!" Natasha’s voice is confused as she enters the room, Maria right behind her. As the two women enter and close the door, you run your hand through your hair angrily. "Pietro brought a wild animal to my wedding!"

"Technically it's not wild, it lives in a zoo-"

"There's a bear at my wedding!" You interrupt the defensive speech of the blonde man, who shuts up immediately, ashamed - and slightly scared of your angry posture. Natasha and Maria exchange confused looks as you keep mumbling under your breath about your wedding being a complete disaster. 

"Okay, Y/n, calm down." Asks the redhead tenderly, placing her hands on your shoulders and guiding you to sit on the chair near the window you were previously looking at. After you do, Natasha turns her attention to her girlfriend. "Babe, can you go get her some water please?" 

At the same instant, Maria nods and rushes out of the bedroom. As you bury your face in your hands in distress, Natasha crosses her arms, looking at Pietro, who’s been motionless by the side of the door. "You, talk."

"Alright, so, Wanda left me in charge of taking care of the ring bearer and-"

"Never mind, you don't have to say anything else." The redhead interrupts with a tired sigh, torn between laughing at the absurdity of that situation or slapping the man on the head for such an unbelievable mistake. 

"Okay, look, in my defense, he's trained for this. He's pretty small, his name is Koda and he's adorable." The blonde man argues at the same time as Maria returns to the room, and offers a yellow smile in an attempt to make the situation better somehow. 

"I just saw the bear, he really is cute." The dark-haired woman adds, handing you the glass of water, and you drink it all in a single gulp. "Okay then, if the bear is trained for it I don't see a problem. It'll be a lot of fun, actually." Natasha says, reassuringly looking at you and you sigh, nodding your head in surrender.

"Great... But now we have another problem." Pietro says, attracting all the attention back to him. "You'll have to tell Wanda about the bear." He says, directly at you, and you furrow your brows in confusion. "Me? Why me?" You ask, and the blonde man puts his hand on his pockets before saying, "Because I'm afraid of her."

"Pietro, I-"

"Cool, bye!" He interrupts before sprinting out of the room, closing the door with a loud thud, and you let out an incredulous chuckle. "Can you believe this guy is gonna be my brother-in-law?" You say with humor, making the other women in the room smile amusedly. 

"But are you complaining?" Natasha questions with a raise of her eyebrow, and you smile to yourself as you think about getting married to the woman you love. "Absolutely not." You answer, receiving a sweet smile from your friend. 

"Alright, let me go fix this mess." You say as you stand up and receive from the other two pats on your back and supportive comments.

The second floor of the house you rented for the wedding is taken mostly by the people working on the ceremony, so you don’t get stopped to chat on your way to the room where Wanda was getting ready. Just the thought of seeing her made your skin shiver with anticipation, and you had a smile on your lips as you knocked on the door. 

Although you can hear the sounds of chatter coming from inside, no one comes to open the door for you, so you decide to open it yourself. 

"Wands?" You call out the moment you step in inside the room and, although you still can’t see them, the chattering stops. "What are you doing here? You can't see me!" Wanda shouts from the bathroom, almost in distress, and you smile amusedly.

"Yeah, Y/n! It's bad luck!" Carol adds, coming out of the bathroom and walking towards you with an almost angry expression that makes you immediately raise your hands in surrender. You barely get a glimpse of your fiancée getting out of the bathroom before the blonde covers your eyes with your hand.

"And you can't see her either, miss, close your eyes!" Maria says with amused disapproval, and you imagine that she covered Wanda’s eyes as well. "Guys, I need to talk to her." You say amidst a laugh, your hands in the pockets of your suit.

"Wait, I have an idea." You hear Carol tell, and soon after you are being moved around the room by hands that you imagine are the blonde's. By the soft mumbles coming from Wanda, you imagine that Maria is doing the same to her.

"Okay, you can open your eyes." Carol says, and when you do as you are told, you are met with only Wanda's face a few inches from yours, a long towel held up between you so that you can't see the rest of each other's bodies. And she looks absolutely stunning.

"What is it?" The redhead asks with amusement at your clear expression of wonder, and you giggle lightly, smiling foolishly at her, unable to stop admiring her. "I haven't seen you since this morning. You look beautiful."

"My makeup isn't even half done." Wanda comments with a playful chuckle, but she has reddened cheeks from your comment, and you can only fall even deeper in love with her. "I know, and you already look breathtaking."

"Guys, I know it's your wedding day and all, but I'm gonna puke if you keep this up." Carol playfully complains beside you, and the four of you giggle before Wanda frowns in confusion. 

"What did you want to talk to me about?" She asks, and you find yourself unable to tell her what happened. She would probably just be more anxious and nervous than she already is, and you wanted this day to be nothing but perfect for her.

"Pietro has a surprise for you." You tell instead, watching your bride's countenance turn into one of curiosity and excitement. "It's happening during the ceremony, so he asked me to let you know."

"Okay." She comments with an anxious giggle, and you can tell by her expression that she is holding back from asking questions, so you rush to say, "See you at 5:30."

"See you at 5:30." She repeats sweetly, happy smiles taking over both your faces as you lean toward each other like magnets. Before your lips can meet Wanda's, however, a hand is placed between you.

"No kissing until the preacher allows it!" Carol says, looking at you both reproachfully. And, amidst giggles, you have your friend cover your eyes again and carry you out of the room.

-----

"Are you sure you're going in alone?" asks one of the staff members responsible for guiding the ceremony forward, and you let out a shaky breath of nervousness as you see all the people you know sitting in the chairs arranged in front of the altar.

You and your family never got along again after so many arguments and years apart. You didn't care much for that, at least not anymore. But there was the inconvenience at this moment of not having anyone to go in with you, and in the midst of so many things to sort out, you forgot to choose someone to do it with.

"Absolutely not." A voice behind you sounds before you can give her your confirmation, and you and the woman look back immediately, "I'm going in with her."

"Charles." You say with a smile that reciprocates his. "Congratulations on the wedding, child. You deserve all the happiness in the world." He wishes, taking one of your hands between his, and you have to hold back your tears as you thank him.

"All right then. You may go." Says the woman, signaling down the aisle before giving a few commands on her walkie-talkie. In the next instant soft music begins to play, and conversations quickly die down as the guests look back.

You and Charles exchange a look of confirmation before you begin to walk slowly toward the altar. You exchange a few glances and smiles with close friends, your heart beating fast with each new step. 

As you reach the altar, the man turns to you to deposit a gentle kiss on your cheek, and you smile at him as he walks back to stand beside Erik on one of the chairs, who is also smiling at you.

You try not to let your nerves get the best of you as the ceremony takes place, controlling yourself so that your leg doesn't shake with anxiety. But it is only when Wanda appears at the end of the aisle, accompanied by her father, that your brain completely stops working. 

It's as if everything around you happens in slow motion and is slowly dimmed, darkened until only you and Wanda are left, smiling as she gets closer and closer. At some point you can no longer hold back your tears, and you don't even mind too much because the redhead has tears in her eyes too when she joins you. 

Oleg hugs you tightly as the two of them reach the altar, and you don't wait for him to pull away completely to turn your full attention to your bride.

"Hi." She whispers softly as she stops in front of you, looking up at you with those beautiful green eyes you fell so hopelessly in love with all those years ago, and it's hard not to kiss her as you smile back. "Hi."

The preacher gets back to talking after that. About love, commitment, and all the things that the woman in front of you makes you feel strongly and want for the rest of your days. You have to focus really hard to pay attention to the speech and not get lost in the redhead's beauty, but every time she smiles, it's as if all your attempts have been in vain. 

But eventually she looks away down the aisle, and you decide to follow her gaze as the guests let out choruses of surprise and excitement. You softly chuckle as your eyes rest where everyone else's are. 

Walking slowly down the aisle toward you, a small brown bear with an even smaller black tie wrapped around his neck carries in his mouth a little basket with the rings that you and Wanda will exchange.

"There's a bear at our wedding." Wanda comments, looking at the little creature in a mixture of confusion and disbelief, and you hum in confirmation. "A special gift from your brother." You tell, drawing her gaze back to you. "Our ring bearer."

The redhead's frowning eyebrows only last for a brief moment before her countenance turns to one of understanding, chuckling softly at the misunderstanding her brother had committed. She should've known.

But the guests let out adoring sounds, laughing and taking pictures of the animal as it approaches you, and you can only think that Natasha was right, it was fun after all. 

When the little bear finally makes it down the aisle, his trainer hands the rings to you and Wanda, and you both hold your breaths in anticipation. When the preacher instructs you to take your vows, you let out a long sigh.

"Wanda Maximoff," you begin, smiling wider when you see the happy smile on her lips, "I thought I fell in love with you that night in high school when you kissed that guy at one of my shows - honestly, how dare you?" 

Your playful question draws laughter not only from your bride but from the guests around you. When the redhead shrugs, they laugh some more. "But the truth is, it was long before that. When I shared my glove with you that cold day, or all the times we stood on the roof at night talking for hours. Or maybe several other times before that. Certainly many other times after."

Your tone is so passionate that Wanda is sure her heart is going to explode at any moment now, but she settles for just letting the tears flow instead. And as for you, you need to clear your throat to fight the crying and get your vows finished. 

"The truth is that you make me fall in love with you every day. Every morning when I wake up next to you and every night when I lie down by your side." You continue, the butterflies flying rampant in your stomach as memories fill your mind. "And I know, as surely as a human being can be, that I will fall in love with you, every day, always, for the rest of our lives."

You finish your vows by placing the wedding ring on Wanda's finger, and she gives a tearful laugh of happiness as she watches the action. When you finish, the preacher tells her to perform her vows now, and the redhead just smiles at you for a moment before doing so.

"Y/n Y/l/n," she begins, "we've been through so much throughout our lives together... A little over two decades now, I thought we'd have grown tired of each other by this point." She jokes, drawing amused giggles from you and your guests. 

"But the truth is, I could never get tired of you," she confesses, her eyes sparkling with the light of the setting sun and something else that only you are capable of awakening in her, "you are the reason I wake up every day with a smile on my face and go to bed every night with the certainty that life can truly be good."

Your smile widening makes tears roll down your cheeks, and Wanda has to resist the urge to hold your face between her hands to keep talking. "And I may not be a silly, naive teenager anymore, but with you, all my days are a fairytale." She remarks knowingly, a reference to the first date of the two of you that only you and she would understand. 

"And I never told you this, but that night on your roof, when you asked me what my planning was for 20 years from then? It was with you." Her confession is tearful, and makes your breath hitch as your tears flow down more freely. 

"It was always you, and it will always be you, for the rest of my days." She assures, placing the ring on your finger this time, and you just want the preacher to give the command soon so you can kiss your bride already.

"If anyone has anything against this union-"

"Oh, please, we've been waiting for this our whole lives!" Tony's shout interrupts the preacher's speech, drawing laughter from everyone around, including herself. "Alright." The woman says with amusement, exchanging glances between you and Wanda as she says, "I now pronounce you wives. You may seal your marriage."

Neither of you needs to hear it a second time, and as soon as the instruction leaves the preacher's lips, you and Wanda are moving forward, your arms around her waist as her hands cup your cheeks, pulling you closer. 

The guests erupt in cheers and applause, but all those sounds are drowned out as your bride - now wife - kisses you passionately, the best kiss you have ever shared in your lives. 

As Wanda said, you have been through a lot together. But right now, more than ever, you are sure that the story of you is nowhere near over, and things would only get better from here on out.

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And this is the end! Thank you so much to everyone who followed this story, I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you all liked reading it as well. As always, thoughts and comments are very much appreciated ad encouraged. Stay safe!

Extra: Something New

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff au #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #marvel imagines

[tanetime]

20. Does Wyneer have any interesting facts regarding his creation?

This turned into me just rambling about making Wyneer and I'm so sorry.

I made Wyneer because me and some friends at the time decided to make DST mods together. My design prompt was "a jack of all trades." I pieced together inspiration from some old noh actor OCs of mine and imagery from a song I was obsesed with at the time and got Wyneer out of it.

The face on his mask used to be a lot smaller, and his hair less angular. You can see him become more DST-animatic-like over time... it's like putting a normal dog next to a pug.

His original outfit (not pictured bc the art sucked) was a lot fancier and later became the basis for his original guest of honour skin.

Wyneer originally had no name or gender or personality at all. He was supposed to be a blank slate and exaggerate certain personality traits through his masks...

...The problem was that I didn't have any masks. It took like six months for the first ones to get concept art. In that time, Wyneer developed an identity of his own. So the masks had to change into being different 'people'.

Wyneer himself hasn't changed very much, but his masks changed a lot. Under the cut I'll talk about the masks who made it into his mod, but here's two that didn't:

A kelp based mask, who was supposed to be used during seafaring. I think they got more stats from eating raw fish to allow them to stay at sea longer? They were very creature and liked to just sit in ponds.

A beefalo-wool mask who had an affinity toward animals. I don't have a whole lot of concept art of them because I drew them once and went "that's it that's the design."

Both of these masks got cut because ultimately I couldn't come up with anything for them to do that justified them existing. I don't think they'll ever come back.

As for the ones that made it in...

now let's talk about

The Masks

Here's some quick-fire things.

1. Fright n Flight, Brave Face and Laborious were the first masks I made, and I made them all together. Fright was the first to get modded in, Brave was the first to get sprites, and Lay was the first to develop an individual personality that wasn't part of Wyneer.

For the longest time the masks in his mod looked like this because they had no designs (that's Fright on the right):

2. Brave Face and About Face only exist because their names are puns, and their mechanics are based on those puns. Boutey was supposed to be a comedy/tragedy mask until he became whatever the hell he ended up as.

3. Going back to Brave, if you'll remember I said that Wyneer's masks added to his personality originally. Back then his masks had more abstract designs and weren't designed to emote. For a very small period of time, Brave was a dragon!

There's nothing left of this iteration other than his sharp teeth.

Fright was also a monster for a bit, but this was around the time I decided to make the masks people, so they became more reminisent of human faces instead.

Brave was the hardest mask to design. He used to be blue and green and resemble actual artefacts that were supposedly made by Celtic tribes, but the colours 1. looked bad digitally 2. bore no resemblence to any materials in Don't Starve. His final design was colour-picked from Wigfrid's Winged Victory set for cohesion.

It pains me that he's now a typical movie interprenation of generic Celtic things but it does make sense that Wyneer mistakenly thought that was what he should look like...

4. About Face and Jet Black were originally the same mask. About Face was originally "a rogue that becomes a tank" so his high sanity form couldn't be noticed by enemies unless he attacked them first.

It was a bit much, and I was debating making a crow feather mask, so I split that half of Boutey into Blake's original version. It got coded in but I ultimately didn't like it and removed it.

5. Wyneer had a whooole upgrade pyramid of masks involving different seasons. The idea was that there were four masks that had a season that suited them, and you could combine the masks together to sets of pairs to ultimately form a mask that consolidated all of their perks.

I got as far as making Crimson and Azure (summer and winter) before realising that the idea sounded cool on paper but introduced a lot of masks that were going to be redundant.

Wyneer did design Jet Black with the intent of him consolidating Crimson and Azure's abilities, but that's not quite what purple gems do.

6. Nightmare Face used to glow magenta, like the other Ruins stuff. However, DST's colour cubes wash out magenta into a disgusting grey colour under certain circumstances, so I changed it to red.

Klei later did the same thing with the Nightmare Werepig. I wonder if the same realisation happened to them.

7. The masks were originally supposed to have slightly different hair and wear Wyneer's clothes differently. I did the former for Brave and Boutey and immediately realised that it would be a nightmare and stopped doing it for the remaining masks.

8. Several of Wyneer's masks are based on venetian masks.

9. Wyneer's masks had a crafting tab icon before Klei nuked it. I still think it looks cool.

10. The masks in Wyneer's mod are fully animated and have a disgusting amount of sprites. I wanted each one to feel unique, so I drew them all from scratch. It took so long to make them all that you can see me getting better or rustier between each one... it was a lot of work, but I really enjoy searching for an emotion and seeing how each one looks.

11. Wyneer's masks are so unique that they broke the Modded Skins API and as of this post the hyperspecific glitch that effects him has not been fixed. Thanks Wyneer.

...I could go on forever, but this post is way too long...

As a sendoff, here are the beta inventory icons for the masks, for no particular reason.

#tane t talks #asks #wyneer #my ocs #don't starve mod #dst oc #dst mod #long post #really long post #i am so sorry

[anticipatingevaporation]

Everything Everywhere All At Once - And why it works so well

I am so glad that the movie I was most excited to watch this Oscar season delivered on those expectations.

I find myself quite glad that this Oscar season seems to have a really diverse line-up of films nominated for best picture. From blockbuster to drama to indie films, almost every genre seems to be covered.

But there is one movie on the list that is somehow all of these genres. And that is Everything Everywhere all at Once. 

I knew little about this film going in, only that it stars Michelle Yeoh, seems to have a lot of action, and was directed by the guys who made the “Turn Down for What?” music video. That last little nugget of info really explained the madness behind this movie. If you’ve seen that music video, you’ll know it is absolute chaos. But there is something somewhat satisfying and entertaining in that chaos. It feels like chaos that you can’t help but keep watching.

And that is exactly how I felt about this movie.

Everything Everywhere All At Once really manages to live up to the title. The film is pure mayhem, there is so much going on at any given moment. And yet I never got lost. I kept waiting for the moment the film would get too insane or lose all kind of narrative sense, but it never came. It kept me hooked throughout.

Like I mentioned earlier, this movie perfectly balances a number of genres: action, comedy, romance and drama, all wrapped within a seemingly insane story involving multiple universes. The movie somehow balances and executes each of these elements flawlessly.

The action is impeccably choreographed and performed, legend of the genre Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan both sold every sequence, and directors the Daniels found a way to keep each one unique and fresh, with an entertaining spin every time.

Oftentimes with genre films such as these, you’ll find that one aspect is stronger than the other, perhaps the story drags but the action is great, or vice versa. What I love about this movie is that every part of it complements the other so well. There are real, personal stories hidden within this crazy movie. Every character has motivations, tragedies they carry with them that they must deal with. It is, like many great films, about love and family, and those unrecognised dreams we all have. 

But what is so great about EEAAO is that the genre elements only serve to enhance the emotional moments of the film. Only by having infinite multiverses displayed can we truly understand our characters, only by having insane action sequences can their wants and needs be truly displayed. The Daniels aren’t afraid to let their audience go from laughter to tears within a single moment, and they have figured out that perfect balance where the two only serve the other, rather than detract.

This is most certainly a movie that I enjoy and appreciate the more I think about it. The first thought I had as the credits rolled was, I have never seen anything like this. This isn’t a movie that will leave you quickly. Even if you don’t love it, it will most certainly make you think, I guarantee you will see things you have never seen before.

Michelle Yeoh really gave an incredible performance here, aside from having to balance so many different versions of herself and keeping the narrative straight, she displays a believable transformation in her character that is gradual but also believable. I truly hope she gets her dues and wins best actress this year. She more than deserves it.

I had no clue who Ke Huy Quan was before watching this movie, but oh man is he just an incredible actor. He at once masters comedy, romance and action, while also being the emotional centre of the film. I couldn’t help but adore his character and want to protect him at all costs! Quan seems to be the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor this year and I couldn’t imagine a more deserving actor or performance.

Finally, Stephanie Hsu. Only on repeat viewing of this film can I truly appreciate what she has done here. She brings an incredible charisma and spunk to this film, while instantly being empathetic. You manage to be scared of and sad for her at the same time. She committed 1000% to this role and I am so glad she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I can’t wait to see more of her.

Finally, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka the Daniels, deserve ALL the flowers they are getting for this film. While EEAAO seems to be show of madness and chaotic energy, it is in fact an exercise in restraint. It takes masterful directors and writers to make a movie like this work as well as it does. The directing duo managed to unleash their bizarre brand of storytelling on the world without overindulging. Everything done here is within reason, it all serves the narrative in some way. So while this movie may hypothesize that nothing matters, when it came to filmmaking, everything really did matter. I applaud their creative vision and commitment to delivering it to the world. It really is brilliant stuff, I am most definitely putting their previous film, Swiss Army Man on my watchlist, and keen to see what they next bestow upon us.

Aside from having a damn good title, Everything Everywhere All at Once managed to do everything, without ever doing too much, and Everyone should really give it a watch.

(apologies for puns)

#Everything Everywhere All at Once #Oscars23 #Oscars #My Review

[puppysdog]

I know nothing of your OCs tell me about them

ive got way too many so im gonna talk about the final girls ocs i have from my horror movies !

first is Áine from Goldberg. shes one of my favorites since shes the first final girl i came up with. she was really fun to make bc i realized i didnt have any “weird girl” ocs which was a tragedy. college aged, lived with her bestfriend izzy (pre death) and her two closest friends after. shes got copper curly hair (like the irish actress jade jordan), big brown eyes and glasses, and the same set of five tshirts and cargo pants from high school. shes super into horror movies and murder mysteries, and is over confident in her abilities which continuously puts her in dangerous situations, but also helps her get out of them. she ends up with the killer at the end of the movie which i think was a fun turn on the final girl trope

for the movie The Summoning in the Forest (title in progress still) both Alex and Ranger Butch Ryder are the final girls. ive always been a big fan of unwilling mentor/younger character with no family left type tropes so i thought what better way to do so than with a butch lesbian and a just-came-out-two-months-ago 17yr old. Alex loses her sister during a ritual summoning to try to being back their parents, and accidentally unleashes a demon in the forest. Fire Ranger Butch Ryder and her dog Sapphie live out in a near by fire tower for the season, and end up taking Alex in while trying to stop this demon from setting her entire forest on fire. I havent worked on the script for that one yet, but i want to focus on Ryder’s butch aspects and show them as desirable and hot. I also think Alex and Ryder being able to bond through their sexuality is a great way to steamroll through two strangers wouldnt work together bc two lesbians stuck in a horror situation would no doubt team up

Dakota is the final girl for Haunted House and oh boy shes gotta be my second favorite. British, fat, shaved head, dyke, 80s type punk chav vibe, hot headed, literally everything to me. She ends up inheriting a house from a family member shes barely heard of, and being a broke mid twenties yr old she immediately is on board. the house has a minor staff run by Ms. Adeline Falls so Dakota doesnt even have to do anything but play head of the house and follow the rules. Except shes really bad at following rules, and the house hates her. cue movie horror montage of a haunted house trying its best to kick the most stubborn girl out. i think this one will have more of a crimson peak/bly manor type vibe than anything? gothic semi tragedy horror is the feel i want to go for. also she basically ends up getting with the house at the end, so theres that

My last final girls are Belle and Julia from Sleep Over (title also in progress) i hesitate to call Julia a final girl since shes the antagonist, but she does end up alive at the end with Belle so ig she counts. very horror comedy with an over the top weird girl, Belle. Belle is absolutely obsessed with horror and the macabre, extending to serial killers and such. she has an entire room dedicated to horror props and set pieces, and she’s extremely elitist about her opinions on the genres. shes very much like May from the movie May, super awkward but much more outgoing with it. Julia and her crew are the new up and coming serial killers of the city, and decide Belle is gonna be their next target. Belle, already unhappy with the groups work and considering a shame to true serial killers, turns her house into a deadly home alone mixed with saw style death trap, and the serial killer trio slowly realize theyre the ones trapped in the house. I really want to give Julia and her crew popular mean girl type vibes. Like hair done poofy, cherry earrings, gold rings, lots of matching pinks, etc. Her and Belle dont end up together or anything but they do get the same life sentence, and the movie ends with what looks like them breaking out together

and thats my girls <3

#.ask #wah sorry this is so long i ddint realize till i was done LOL #also adeline from haunted house is a gilf #and also a personification of the house

[gr1evance]

1, 10, 19 grievance??

1.) how would you describe the world your story takes place in?

its called the purpose and its. a minecraft superflat world. ok thats not entirely accurate it has some dimension to it but its an entirely flat plane of "nature" though theres not much variety and its not anything youd find in a mortal world. i havent nailed down exactly what it looks like but i imagine its not all green also green might be more of a minority color? i imagine it all very purple usually but i imagine theres some splashes of other color in there. the sky is entirely purple space, millions and millions of tiny stars visible and swirling i imagine its very pretty. the area you can actually see in is quite small though relative to the infinity this place technically takes up because that little area is circled in an surrounded by something called the darkness which is.. pure black darkness that forms a very stark and visible border where its suddenly just pitch black past that point. at the edges it looks like soot tags and i think theres occasional movement in it. generally very scary. in the area thats not the darkness theres a little sort of "town" its kind of just a mishmash of "houses" (some of them.. are not actually houses, like vinny's house, which is literally just a big greenhouse) of all different styles that dont really go together but they're the gods individual homes made to suit them. all the gods the story focuses on live there and then a ways away outside their little area is asterisk who watches over them and all of that. overall kind of sad lonely and mildly devoid of much life the purpose is just where all the gods... live forever.

10.) if your story is titled, why did you choose that title?

oh god i titled grievance like. 3 or 4 years ago so the memory is very hazy. but its pretty straight forward its about nix whos dealing with. grievances. so. the sequel to grievance, atrophy, was named during an in depth discussion of bone and muscle atrophy in a class and i thought the idea of relating that word to nixs loss of relationships and general stability and how that turns into a very physical atrophying of the world he lives in as he's forced to destroy what he knows of it all. which is all stuff that takes place in grievance and not atrophy but atrophy focuses on the aftermath of that and how things end up turning out alright in the end through rebellion against said atrophy. in a bunch of symbolic ways. hopefully that makes sense

19.) describe the sillies you think about but that dont go in the story.

oh god honestly theres not much that DOESNT make it into the story in some way or another. but just going through a few ideas. to take the prompt literally in summaries of the story it doesnt really come through because. its not like the summaries have all the jokes thatd be in the final written episodes but something i dont mention often is that grievance is actually a comedy (kind of a... dark comedy tragedy thriller really) in a way that like. things are presented as just jokes but then they linger for too long til they have to be taken seriously. things that happen are inherently comedic but thinking about them for too long is terrifying. youre meant to laugh and then feel bad for laughing, and not in any offensive way, but in a deeply hollow and horrific way. the main character, nix, is a walking punchline at every turn, but hes a depressed abused alcoholic forced to be the catalyst of his world's end. but theres still jokes and its funny and theyre silly furries and you laugh anyways and its not supposed to make you feel good :) something that doesnt make it into grievance and atrophy other that being hinted towards and implied that i find funny is the history nix and clueless have. they were friends with benefits for a time before nix got really mentally ill about it and clueless cut it off but they kind of just make each other worse and enable each others self destructive tendencies in a way thats like. how did you two ever think this was gonna go well Also how did you let this go on for that long. whats wrong with you. if i ever get to completely make grievance and atrophy theres a set of three mini comics id like to make and one of them goes into depth abt this hugs is also a character that doesnt show up til atrophy and doesnt get too too much spotlight but i think hes funny. hes way to dramatic and spiteful and hes funny to me

#captains log #ask #anon #grievance

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : Nope (2022)

Back in January of 2012, Jordan Peele made his breakthrough into the popular consciousness via Comedy Central’s comedic golden ticket that was Key & Peele.  While both members of this pairing had achieved varying levels of success as bit players and character actors, I’m sure that nobody anticipated that the mild-mannered and deceptively intense Peele would soon become the face of modern day commercial horror and suspense media, stepping into the rare air occupied by the likes of industry giants like Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock.  His debut film, the landmark Get Out, showed infinite potential and promise... his follow-up film, Us, while not loved as universally as Get Out, did manage to garner enough support and respect for Peele to avoid accusations of the sophomore slump... but it was his latest film, the mysteriously promoted Nope, that has left me the most extreme in terms of the juxtaposition of anticipation and curiosity.  Sadly, I missed the film in theaters, and didn’t want to pay ownership price for an early rental, but the day the movie dropped to own I was on top of it, which finally afforded me the opportunity to take Nope in and share my thoughts.

Nope would probably work best as a completely blind experience, but as one of the multi-millions that saw the ad campaign initiated during the Super Bowl, building and creating my own set of expectations was inevitable.  With plenty of looks to the sky and lots of ominous situations, comparisons to Close Encounters of the Third Kind felt logical but obvious, and luckily, the actual film baits and switches narratively in a way that adds tons of substance and subtext to the familiar self-imposed premise.  The parallels between the in-world Gordy’s Home sitcom and the Jean Jacket situation become obvious with the help of the understated OJ, and through his eyes, we immediately shift our thinking on Jean Jacket... normally, we see a UFO as an invading force with some sort of intentionality, but much like the titular Gordy lashing out in a primordial manner on set (a location completely foreign and likely frightening to him), Jean Jacket roams the unfamiliar Agua Dulce mostly unnoticed and harmless, but lashes out once their fear response is spiked by misidentified threats (a.k.a. humans).  With this new positioning of the synergy between all parties involved, we as viewers are allowed to saddle up (no pun intended) for a much needed fresh take on the UFO film trope.

Interestingly enough, this drawn parallel between Gordy’s Home and Agua Dulce also serves as the foundation for narrative subtext surrounding post-traumatic stress responses in the face of tragic losses.  Though he is not presented as the main character, this illustration of post-traumatic stress is the clearest in terms of the character Jupe, the sole individual to make it through the Gordy attack not only unscarred, but acknowledged by Gordy in a non-violent manner.  With this situation seemingly completely derailing what was a promising career in the entertainment industry, we find Jupe not only clinging on to any assemblance of his former past glory, but we also find him essentially trying to recreated that bridge between his fear-based morbid curiosity and a potentially dangerous foreign element in his familiar (read : safe) territory.  In contrast to this stands OJ, who was also is attempting to understand sudden and violent tragic loss.  OJ’s extremely reserved nature allows him to keep his distance, assess and understand the threat, and eventually, turn his tragedy into a potential opportunity to better both his life and the life of his sister Em, though the potential trade may be their actual lives if they make any mistakes.  Outside of this brilliant dynamic, we also are shown lots of very real reactions to a UFO... OJ is scared but cautiously curious, Jupe is attempting to exploit the situation for monetary gain, Em shows completely believable fear and confusion responses prior to extreme bravery in the face of the unknown... even Angel and Antlers find themselves curious enough to provide their technical knowledge and prowess to what seems like a potentially possible window emerging from insurmountable impossibility.

As always, Jordan Peele and company use calculated and ambitious cinematography to put viewers in the grey area between subjective and objective viewership, at many times using his camera to almost make viewers feel like a curious but scared tag-along looking over the shoulder of any particular character.  The visual effects used to bring Jean Jacket to life are stellar on a number of levels... as far as design, the multitude of forms that Jean Jacket takes are somehow both curiously familiar and wholly foreign, while the seamless integration of Jean Jacket into the world of Agua Dulce makes it feel extremely tangible.  The costuming is mostly natural and subtle, seemingly to give prominence to Jupe and his crew, whose signature and outlandish attire serves as a connection element to their signature and outlandish lifestyle.  The sound design of Nope is completely brilliant, with the sounds emitting from Jean Jacket sounding both vaguely familiar and wholly terrifying in their role as the auditory star of the film, while tons of supporting sound design balanced out against deafening silence is used effectively to breed tension.  The location of Agua Dulce is cinematically pleasing, with the rustic and dusty landscape standing in stark contrast to the rich blue skies and healthy clouds that fill said skies.  There also seems to be a healthy amount of homage in the film... I personally noticed the main cloud standing as a sort of proxy for Devil’s Tower from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jean Jacket’s primary form resembling the Trimaxiom Drone Ship from Flight of the Navigator, and in a nice personal touch, Em’s final motorcycle ride ending with an homage to one of Akira‘s signature shots.

Daniel Kaluuya’s best leading man performances have always been centered around protagonists that are pensive, resourceful and economic with their words, and Nope continues this tradition, allowing Kaluuya to dwell in the dramatic realms of those like Clint Eastwood or Toshiro Mifune in terms of his ability to own cinematic real estate through steely looks and calculated physicality.  Keke Palmer both uses and offsets Kaluuya’s energy by presenting her character as boisterous, optimistically opportunistic and larger than life despite numerous relatable odds, with deep love for her brother still emanating in spite of her actions.  Steven Yeun, who has been on an amazing run the last few years, turns in another wonderful performance by embodying the most extreme version of grace under fire, with the grace represented by the smiling mask he is barely able to maintain that hides his hurt from the fire that is the Gordy’s Home trauma that Jupe sits in on a daily basis.  Brandon Perea makes the most of his limited supporting time by serving as a happy medium between the energies of OJ and Em, with his enthusiasm and curiosity bolstering Em, and his ability to assess and his natural apprehension lending credence to OJ.  Michael Wincott also makes a brief but memorable performance as a jaded and entitled cinematographer who has created a bubble for himself that allows him to sit in his extreme toxicity, with his unhealthy laser-focus to his craft ultimately setting up his downfall.  Keith David makes an important initial cameo to help set the narrative in motion, while appearances by Wrenn Schmidt, Sophia Coto, Barbie Ferreira, a number of other supporting actors, and perhaps most importantly, and uncanny valley-dweller performance from Terry Notary as Gordy round out the film.

Yet again, I find myself in a position of regret for not taking the time and onus to see Nope in theaters, as the sheer grandeur that Jean Jacket commands would seemingly translate best on the big screen.  I try not to feed into reviews and the opinions of the internet, but it was hard not to notice the mixed reactions to Nope from the viewing public.  Personally, my initial viewing of Nope did not hit me the same way I was hit during my first Get Out viewing, but as for the hierarchy of Jordan Peele, Nope is immediately better than Us (no disrespect to that film), and in time, will likely be more accepted and appreciated than Get Out (a bold statement, I know).  I’m looking forward to revisiting this film, and curious to see what viewers discover as time passes by, because Nope definitely feels like a movie deserving of repeat viewings.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #JordanPeele #Nope #DanielKaluuya #KekePalmer #StevenYeun #BrandonPerea #MichaelWincott #WrennSchmidt #KeithDavid #DevonGraye #TerryNotary #BarbieFerreira #DonnaMills #OsgoodPerkins #EddieJemison #SophiaCoto #JenniferLafleur #AndrewPatrickRalston