#i would love to skip the mask entirely but not with my health issues in a packed con center | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

grimoireofhayley · 9 months

Text

Of Friends and Horror

Stu Macher x Fem!Reader x Billy Loomis

WARNINGS: Graphic content, Smut (MINORS DNI), Language, Talks of SA, Cheating, Obsessiveness, Gore, 18+ Content, Stalking, Possessiveness, Dirty talk, Religion talk, Suppressed Mental Health problems (I.e., reader has some issues that she isn't aware of)

Word Count: 1k

Tag List: @ev3ningrain @nerdytif @fanfic-enjoyer123 @darkenwolfie @juda-the-simp @colsons-baker @junnniiieee07 @octaviablakeslove

A/n: YES, two chapters in one night? Let’s gooo! I was squealing and kicking my feet like any normal 23 year old would writing Fanfiction, lmao. This is by far my favourite chapter ever written, let me know what you think! Did I get Billy’s personality a-okay?

All chapter links! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

OF&H Masterlist

Chapter 9

Billy ignored your attempt at trying to help him, though, it was true, it wasn’t entirely…

He did kill Casey and Steve that night, but he didn’t do it alone, Stu was with him, he did just as much as he did. After the slaughtering was done, he made it clear to Stu that he needed an alibi, hence his short and brief sexual encounter with Sidney before he went to your house for ‘help.’

Billy hated how you were covering for him despite not knowing what was happening, you were smart, but stupid, stupid enough to believe him. You knew better than to do that. However, what he didn’t get was why Stu decided to go to your place, when he knew Billy was going to try and murder Sidney tonight.

He overheard other officers talking about another incident involving the ghost face that took place at your house, something about a heart in a box and a mask that was found… But how could Stu be this dense?

“Officer, I didn’t kill anybody.” Billy defended himself, not wanting to stay the night locked away, especially with his slip up at Sidney’s and Stu’s arrogance because the cops now know there’s two of them instead of one.

“This is bullshit.” You slammed your fist down, startling the taller-male. “He didn’t kill anyone…” Your ears started to flare red.

Officer Brinks drummed his fingers on his lap, “I’m sorry, are you his girlfriend or something? Why are you still here, interfering with my interrogation?”

Your heart skipped a beat at the mere mention of ‘girlfriend.’

“I-I’m not his girlfriend…” You stuttered, “You couldn’t tell by the way he was talking about Sidney? Sidney is his girlfriend…” You licked your lips, looking away, confidence coming back. “I’m just a really good friend who strongly believes he didn’t do it… I mean, the evidence is there. So, why would he try to kill his girlfriend?” You gave the officer a side-eye.

He coughs, clearing his throat, ignoring your comments.

“We’re gonna have to hold you, son, until we get those phone records.” Brinks explains, making Billy look down, upset. A small tear rolling down his cheek as he shakes his leg, nerves taking control of his body.

“This is crazy,” Billy murmurs, turning away, looking at Sidney through the glass pane. “You know that? I didn’t do it.” He finishes.

You step in front of the window, closing the blinds, shielding Billy from Sidney’s scared gaze. “Bil, look at me…” You mumble, taking your index finger and placing it under his chin, tilting his head upwards to look at you. “Can you two give us a moment…” You asked both Hank and Brinks, “Please?”

They nodded, understandingly, leaving the two of you alone.

“I know you didn’t do it and the police will find out soon enough that you didn’t do it, that you didn’t make those calls.” You reassured your friend, trying to cheer him up, “I’m sure it’s all just a big misunderstanding; you know, wrong place wrong time.” You smiled, and for a second, Billy’s eyes softened, his big-brown orbs looked at you with a glint of love and temptation; a hint of possessiveness lingering in them. If only you knew that it was him, that he was the Ghost Face, that these tears and sudden relations with Sidney was all a facade, nothing but lies, he wanted you and only you, he wanted this to be all done, but his revenge was far greater than any feelings he ever had, or was it?

“Billy, honestly, I know you better than any of them; better than Sidney, your father and the police…” You pucker your lips, a small giggle falling from them. “If it was you, I’d know, right? You’d call me to come help with the bodies.” You joked, “We’re a team. We always will be.” You ran your hand through his hair, playing with it, “I would do anything for you.” You blushed, still playing with his strands of brown.

Right then and there, he knew.

“Forgive me…” He whispers.

You were confused, but that quickly faded as his lips crashed into yours.

Your grip tightened in his hair out of surprise as he cups your face, kissing you with such force you’ve never seen him do with Sidney.

He knocked the chair over with his body, tumbling forward in the process. His lips never leave your now plump and swollen ones as you kiss back.

You stumbled into the window from Billy’s movement, a quiet thud emitting around the atmosphere.

He moved his hand from your chin, pressing you harder against the pane, the blinds moving ever-so-slightly, but not enough to reveal the heated session surfacing.

He roughly grabs your sides, making your gown shuffle upwards, his thumbs pressing into your skin, leaving dents. It was painful, but also very rewarding. There were sure to be bruises there tomorrow.

“B-Billy…” You moaned, feeling him press his knee against your cunt, a shrill of excitement bubbling inside the pit of your stomach

He continued to kiss you, his face pink with lust, his eyes undressing you, slowly devouring you whole.

“You have no idea how long I waited to do that…” He started breathlessly, letting go of you, but not completely as he fiddled with the hems of your nightgown.

‘God, why am I now just noticing what she’s wearing?’ He thought, biting the tip of his thumb, soaking in your beauty, his one hand never leaving its grasp on you.

You bit your lip, realization finally hitting you in the face like a bunch of bricks.

“Oh, god…” You whispered, “I-I… We can’t…” You mumbled, pushing away, “I have to go…”

<- Previous Next ->

#fanfiction #scream 1996 #billy loomis #billy loomis x female reader #billy loomis x reader #billy x you x stu #scream franchise #stu macher #billy x stu #stu x reader #stu macher x reader #stu macher x female reader #stu macher imagine #billy loomis imagine

463 notes · View notes

kakashiswilloffire · 3 years

Note

hey friend! i saw you are taking requests and would love to submit one if you're up for it!

would love something fluffy and sweet for kakashi. maybe some lazy day off shenanigans with his s/o and his ninken? bonus points if snuggling in a dog pile is involved at some point. reader can be gender neutral.

thanks and congrats on 100!

thank you so much!! i'm not really a dog person so i struggled a bit but i hope you enjoy!!

ao3

words: 2.4k

warnings: none!

It was the first day off you had both had in nearly a month. Team 7 kept Kakashi busy, if not with missions, then with training all day. On top of that, he was still in the on-call rotation all jonin were required to keep their names in, though his shifts were less frequent due to his status as a sensei. You had recently been promoted, and with that, your responsibilities were upped and you had been asked to step in for one of your colleagues who had recently run into some unexpected health issues. The time you had been able to share at home together had been limited to early mornings and late evenings, and frequently, there had been nights where the apartment you shared had remained empty entirely. Your fiancé had been counting down the days until your schedules finally overlapped, and you had exactly twenty-six hours in which you both had no obligation to the outside world.

You were awoken by the fire alarm screeching and a handful of swear words, followed by a crunching of plastic and sudden silence. Gaze flickering to the side, you noted Kakashi’s two-thirds of the bed empty and grinned, holding back a chuckle.

“Everything alright, babe?” you called out.

The reply came with an air of resignment. “Did I wake you up?”

You brought your arms over your head, feeling your joints re-align and pop lightly as you stretched.

“Not necessarily, unless you need help cleaning up?”

“No!” He replied quickly, and you heard the broom skitter across the tiles, dragging the remains of the smoke detector with it. “Go ahead and go back to sleep, I’ll come wake you later.”

Not one to deny the opportunity to rest after how late you’d gotten in last night, you snuggled back into your pillow with a small smile. It only took a moment before you were drifting off again, although not as deeply as you had been. You were dimly aware of the sound of teapot being filled, the burnt toast smell wafting through the open door, and your fiance’s graceful footsteps as he danced through the kitchen.

Wait.

Danced?

You raised your head up slightly, freeing both ears to focus on the sound of the Copy Ninja’s footsteps. His weight wasn’t distributing evenly on each step and the pattern of his footfalls was irregular. Bringing yourself to a sitting position, you suddenly realized that he was humming absentmindedly in the small kitchen.

Kakashi was not known for his stoicism, but the level of professionalism he established outside of the copy of Icha Icha attached to his palm was carefully maintained even in his downtime. When you went out together for dinner or drinks with friends, he told few jokes and mostly at Genma or Asuma’s expense. Gai’s repeated challenges to karaoke contests, both in locations with and without a karaoke machine, had always been flatly denied in favor of watching you and Kurenai choose the heartbreaker duet of the week to belt out. When you found yourself at the rare club, it only took light coaxing to bring him onto the dance floor with you, but anything more than swaying to the beat was out of the question. As long as he was having fun, you didn’t mind him not joining in the way the others teased him to do, but you had wished that he would be able to let go of his responsibilities long enough to really enjoy himself one day.

You slinked out of bed, keeping your movements as fluid as possible as you wrapped the comforter over your shoulders. As silently as you could move, you travelled into the hallway and through the living room, the smell of something acrid and burnt slowly getting stronger. You flattened yourself parallel to the wall, though not touching it to prevent the noise of the comforter dragging along, once you approached the doorway to the kitchen. He was certainly humming, and you couldn’t repress a grin, realizing he must be nearly skipping from the counter to the pantry from the way he moved. As slowly as you could, despite your excitement, you leaned around the corner to check on the man in the kitchen.

Kakashi was wearing boxers and a binder, his most comfortable outfit when secure inside your shared home. To your delight, he had chosen one of the binders without a mask attached, and you had a clear view of the slightly silly grin plastering his face as he shifted intermittently from humming to light, mumbled singing, punctuated by murmuring the ingredients he was using as he reached for them. He was stationed at the stove, stirring a medium pot and tasting from it in between verses of his song, reaching for more salt or minced garlic to adjust. He closed his eyes, bobbing his head side to side at a line he took a particular interest in, the morning sunlight catching glints of silver in his messy hair.

Taking advantage of his eyes being shut, you whipped back around the doorway into the living room, quickly tiptoeing away. You were so in love, and so happy to see him carefree, your mouth fell open in a silent scream and your hands, corners of the comforter still held in each, flew to your face.

You had to tell someone. No one would ever believe that Kakashi Hatake, master of a thousand jutsu, could be so sweet and cute behind the former ANBU exterior. Quickly, you crouched to the floor, abandoned the comforter, and made the required handsigns, pausing for a moment to remember if it was hitsuji or uma that came after saru, then gently pressed your palm against a squishy couch cushion. With a puff of smoke that evaporated almost as quickly as it was created, Pakkun sat before you.

You brought your finger up to your lips in a shushing gesture immediately. The tiny dog squinted, but nodded his agreement after a beat. This was your third or fourth time summoning him, and the first time you had done with without Kakashi. Animal summons were not your strong suit, and you had never particularly been a dog person, a fact that Pakkun had keyed in to almost instantaneously upon meeting you when you had no more than polite “my boyfriend’s pet” level interest in his paw pads. They were as soft and supple as he claimed, but you didn’t quite understand the appeal of man’s best friend.

You made the simple gestures required to convey that there was something to see and led Pakkun quietly toward the entryway to the kitchen where you could hear the rice cooker being sealed and started. Kakashi had switched to a different song and was now vocalizing the instrumentals softly, occasionally pausing to mime playing the instruments he was mimicking. Your hand found its way over your mouth, your heart melting with the gentle domesticity. Then you jerked away, feeling a soft scratch at your feet.

The pocket-sized grizzled dog glared at you until you bent down, when he pointed upwards toward a mess of hair. You felt a pang of guilt as you realized from this angle, all you could see was the shinobi’s calloused hand pushing silver strands out of his face, the black engagement band glinting dully on his finger. For the wedding in four months, you had managed to arrange custom bands for you both with the Hatake crest engraved into the matte surface. Kakashi didn’t know yet, and you knew that with how mission work was, he wouldn’t get to wear it often, but he would have a piece of his clan’s legacy with him whenever he did wear it.

The feeling of disappointment radiated off of the dog with the headband as you absorbed the fact you hadn’t considered him not being able to see over the counter. After a moment, you held out both your hands cupped together, fingertips resting on the floorboards. Pakkun regarded this, looking from your hands to your face, which you tried to humble appropriately. He sniffed at your exposed palms, then delicately stepped into your arms.

Bringing him up to your chest as you stood back up, you felt him stiffen. Had you moved him too quickly? Were you holding him too tightly? You ran two fingers down the back of his head instinctively and were surprised to find him relax. Kakashi tasted the cloudy liquid from the pot again and nodded firmly, turning toward the doorway. You whipped around, placing your back against the living room wall and clutching Pakkun tightly to your chest. You both held your breath, waiting to see if you’d been caught.

He sang to himself, “almost ready!” and you released your breath. Quickly, you snagged the blanket off the floor and made your way back to the bedroom.

“What’s the occasion?” Pakkun demanded as soon as you had the door shut behind you, jumping onto the bed.

“There is none! It’s just our first day off in a while, and he thinks I’m still asleep!”

Pakkun considered that quietly. “His pa, Sakumo, used to do the same thing. If he thought no one was around, he’d put on a whole concert for himself. Kakashi used to join him, up until his death. Then I didn’t catch him humming again till about a year after Minato’s death. Life had been rough for the poor pup up till about then. But he’s been in there all morning singing to himself?”

You nodded, pulling the gray comforter tighter around your shoulders. You knew your fiancé had been through more than most people should ever have to go through, but to think he might be making a breakthrough with his depression and trauma—to start singing again?

Pakkun made an odd noise that reminded you of a sneeze, then pawed at his eye and seemed to clear his throat. “I gotta tell the others. They’re gonna lose it.”

“Yeah, you should definitely head back and let them know the good news. I’m supposed to be asleep after all, he’ll probably come wake me up in a minute or two.”

The sly dog hesitated, then a wicked glimmer flashed across his eyes. “Or…”

Before you could react, you were engulfed a thin cloud of smoke that smelled vaguely of grass, and your bed began to creak. You jumped up, gasping at the number of variously sized dogs that had appeared in the room.

Pakkun addressed the crew before anyone could ask any questions. “Stay quiet. We’ve got a stealth mission ahead of us. Everyone, this is Kakashi’s partner, the one he’s marrying soon.” He then turned to you and pointed out the pack members in a line. “Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Uhei, and Guruko.” They were all undeniably adorable, and you’d have to ask your fiancé when he had the time to commission them all matching vests and headbands, but you were still shocked to see so many dogs. Did he really have eight summons? When most shinobi had one, if any?

“Name of the game is observe without being detected. Target: Kakashi. Location: kitchen. Standard formation. Questions?”

With no questions being posed, Pakkun lept up onto Bull’s head and led the way. You marveled in how quietly such a massive dog could move and trailed the pack as they made their way through your apartment.

You heard the timer on the rice cooker ding, then the seal breaking and relished the scent of the steam drifting through the air. There must be a stick of lemongrass in the rice this morning. You could see that Kakashi was beginning to set the table, gathering everything for a cozy breakfast for two.

He was also singing, audibly, with some degree of confidence.

One by one, the dogs all stopped and froze in awe. Akino and Uhei stepped around to the other side of you, and Shiba—or maybe it was Urushi?—popped their head between your knees to try to see. You were surrounded on all sides by the ninken, and you started to feel comforted by their warmth. Together, you all listened to your man serenade chopsticks and bowls as he spun to the small table, breaking into a mock tap routine as the china hit the wooden surface. You felt your head tilt to the right as you let the waves of love rush over you as you watched him carefully adjust the oily, burnt pan in the sink so he could wash his hands.

“Alright, love—breakfast is ready!”

For just a moment, you forgot that you were supposed to be in bed. You didn’t move as Kakashi rounded the corner, freezing when he saw nine sets of puppy-dog eyes gazing wistfully back at him from the middle of the living room, all heads tilted to the right and dreamy smiles plastered on each face.

“Ah! Uh, how long have you, uh…?”

Together, you moved as a pack toward your loved one, tackling him in a ten person hug. When you wormed your way past Uhei, you cupped Kakashi’s face and brought him in for a deep kiss, feeling butterflies in your stomach. He blushed slightly, tracing his thumb along your jawline.

“I love you, and I’m so glad that you feel safe and happy and loved with me,” you whispered fiercely, trying to beam the intensity of your emotion at him without being too aggressive.

He smiled, Sharingan deliberately taking the whole scene in as he lay on the floor with you, pulling you into his arms. Pakkun trotted over to sit on his chest while he brought you in for a firm, tight hug.

“Me too. And I’m glad you got to meet the rest of the clan.” He let the Sharingan fall shut, relaxing against you.

“Would’ve made more miso soup if I’d known everyone was coming over. Have you seen the dog bowls around anywhere?”

#fic request #kakashi can't cook #kakashi x reader #kakashi hakate #ninken #kakashi x gn!reader #gn!reader #kakashi oneshot #naruto fanfiction #domestic kakashi #pakkun

176 notes · View notes

talkfastromance4 · 4 years

Text

wake me up inside-- vampire!michael

My contribution to the wonderful michael appreciation fic week started by @sadistmichael. This really challenged me with the trope I chose and for writing non-binary reader and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Word count: 2505

Warnings: mentions of blood and blood consumption (in a tasteful manner, ha) but it’s not explicitly acted upon, a human/vampire pining, emotional, hints of sexual tension

Copyright talkfastromance4 © All works is intellectual property of the author. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction or any part or all contents in any form is prohibited. You may not, without written expression and consent from the author, distribute works amongst other social media platforms

donate to my ko-fi here :)

Masterlist

I have plans for a part 2 so this is just a feel for the storyline, let me know if you’d like part 2! Enjoy :)

• • • •

Michael feels a slight tickle under his nose. Absentmindedly, he uses his long finger to itch the small scratch but his nail is met with the black cottoned fabric perched across the lower half of his face. He rubs his nose anyway, but with a slight irritation that he can’t simply remove the mask.

It’s a new world and in this time period, Vampires are mandated to wear masks to help prevent them from feeding off humans. The smell of blood isn’t as potent but it doesn’t stop the smell entirely. He quite likes the masks if he’s being honest, it adds to his easily acquired edge of the typical vampire-esque persona. Dark, mysterious, and cryptic.

He nods to the other vampires he passes along the sidewalk, their eyes hold the same brightness as his. Human eyes are more of a duller color whereas Vampires are five times as bright. The predators have to lure their prey in somehow.

The constant thuds of passing hearts has become a monotonous drone in his ears, a never ending metronome and a constant reminder that the heart inside his chest is hard as stone. He hasn’t had a pulse in over fifty years, he’s an empty shell with a never ending desire to feel full.

As he’s about to pull out his ear bud to drown out the beating hearts, there’s one that is fluttering like a hummingbird and an overpowering sweet, ambrosial scent filters through the small fibers of his mask. It causes him to drop his ear bud and stumble in his path. A couple of Vampires walking by give him a side eye glance at his behavior; Vampires are never clumsy.

The beating hearts around him slip away, all he’s concentrated on is this one heartbeat, it’s so erratic and flighty he’s curious to what it belongs to. And that smell? His fangs throb with desire as his curiosity gets the best of him and he follows the sound and scent.

He pushes past humans and Vampires alike, ignoring the annoyed and frightened looks as he touches shoulders. The abnormally accelerated heart rate becomes closer and closer until he’s standing outside the door of a small cafe. Michael presses his finger to the door ever so slightly and the aroma nearly makes him keel over. His sea glass eyes zero in on the object of this little hunt of his and it’s you.

You’re sitting at a small table near the back, flipping through the pages of a very large hardcover book. The way your heart was beating confused him. The jagged jumps almost indicated a worrisome health issue, Michael had thought you were about to have a heart attack but here you are, reading a book smelling like the most sinful bouquet of flowers.

Michael doesn’t notice the stares of other patrons in the cafe--he’s the only vampire in here--until the man behind the counter clears their throat.

“C-can I help you?”

Michael is frozen in place for a moment longer, your entire being astounds him and he wants to find out exactly why that is. The surrounding hearts shift back into his ears but yours is engraved in his mind because it’s the loudest and most dominant. He shifts his gaze to the small man behind the counter and Michael moves forward.

“An elderberry tea, please,” Michael orders the first thing off the menu he sees and waves his card over the terminal with ease.

Michael watches the man make the beverage quickly, handing it to him in a pink cup and saucer. He’s impressed the man doesn’t flinch at the ice cold touch of Michael’s fingers. With his attention still on you, he picks a seat that’s a few tables away from yours but you’re still immersed in your book, completely oblivious to all surrounding activities.

For the rest of the afternoon, Michael observes you in a way that’s not noticeable to the human eye. He’s thankful for his heightened senses for that.

He observes the way you touch your lips as you read, your eyes alight with whatever words are on the page. He memorizes the shape of your lips already, the curves and subtle plumpness stirs something in him that he can’t quite place. Michael becomes transfixed by every small action you do, the way you bite your lip, or touch your cheek. Even the way you shake your leg leaves him reeling and guessing what it is that leaves him enthralled.

Time has become null and void to him now but he’s surprised at how fast it’s gone because the next thing he knows, you’re standing up breezing by him. Michael is stunned at your scent, his fangs throb but that other stirring is back. He closes his eyes, concentrating on his breathing.

Leaving his tea untouched, he follows after you quickly but not quick enough because you’re already in your car zooming down the main road. Michael hopes to see you again soon, whoever you may be.

****

A few weeks have gone by and each day, no matter how hard Michael tries to fight it, he finds himself in that small cafe being captivated more and more by you. He wonders what your job is, how you’re constantly here reading with copious amounts of coffee. Michael concludes that must be the source of your racing heart, the caffeine rushes through your body. He’s become so attuned to the sound, he hears it when you’re not even in his vicinity.

One fateful day, he plucks up the courage--again is odd because he could have anyone he wanted with a simple look and smooth lilt of his voice--and introduces himself. It’s a stormy day so all of the tables are filled with occupants seeking solace from the rain.

“Hello, I’m Michael,” he introduces politely, his voice muffled behind his mask. “Everywhere else is full, do you mind?”

You look up at him and he’s waiting to see the fear in your eyes, he’s the only Vampire in here, but it doesn’t come.

“Sure, please,” you indicate with an offered hand to the seat. “Crowded in here, huh?”

You’ve thrown him off again. Human and Vampire interaction are limited, and any type of romantic relationship is vastly frowned upon for the fear of being bitten and sucked dry still hangs amongst the humans. Yet here you are, friendly as ever, treating him as if he weren’t some mythical monster come to fruition.

“More than usual, yeah,” he chuckles. “What are you reading? I’ve seen you with that same book everyday.”

“Oh,” your cheeks are colored red and Michael can smell how delectable your blood is. “I’m an editor and this is one of the books I need to finish.”

“Can you tell me about it? Will it be a New York Times bestseller?”

“If i say so, it will be,” you smile slyly before diving in about the plot.

You both stay in the cafe until close discussing the book and he walks you to your car with a promise of seeing you the next day. Michael smiles behind his mask as your heart skips a beat at the promise.

More weeks go by and Michael finds himself becoming attached to you fairly quickly. You’re still mouthwatering to him, but he’s fallen in love with your mind and quick wit. You question why he buys the elderberry tea but never drinks it. He points to his mask and you frown.

“Between you and me, I wish you could take the masks off. Vampirism isn’t that strange, you have those bars you go to, right?”

Michael squints at you.

“You know about those?” he asks. Blood Bars are where Vampires go to pay for a drink of human blood. There’s blood bags or even the all too willing humans who crave the bite of a Vampire. The whole scene is full of erotic taboo.

“My friend wanted to go for their birthday,” you shrug, and Michael is filled with white hot rage imagining you at a place like that. “But then they got sick so we stayed in instead.”

Michael’s anger subsides as fast as it came. He never wants to imagine you at a place like that, where he knows other Vampires would undoubtedly fight for a bite of your neck.

“That’s good. Don’t ever go to one,” he warns. His slender finger traces the rim of his teacup.

“Have you ever been to one?” you implore leaning forward on the table.

Memories flash in his mind of blood bags and the sexual acts he’s experienced in many of the rooms that are always available. He’s always left satisfied.

“A few times,” he responds cryptically and you snicker at his obvious downplay.

Later on, when he walks you to your car he nudges his fingers against yours. With every nudge he links your fingers together in a completely innocent yet electrifying way. He’s thankful it’s dark out because if anyone were walking behind, you’d look like a completely normal human couple.

You open the door standing against it, staring up at Michael with a question in your eyes he desperately wants to answer. He’s become so attuned to you that your want and his desire is the same. One kiss. You’re caught in his eyes as he leans forward but his mask is an ever annoying presence so he settles his forehead on yours instead.

Your skin is blazing against his own, being this close leaves him even more tempted for a taste, a bite. That new yet familiar stirring is back as he breathes you in, breathes in your excitement and nervousness. It rolls off you with each shaky breath as he lifts his other hand to cup your jaw. He’s left burning and aching for you in a way he’s never felt in his entire existence.

This moment lingers and Michael doesn’t want to break the spell as he caresses your cheek. His desire and your desire ripples to the surface. What he would give to pull you close, crush his lips against yours, but instead he tilts his head so his mouth is by your ear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, kitty,” he purrs in your ear. You visibly shudder.

“Kitty?” you laugh breathlessly.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” he sighs, his voice tickling your ear, “you kill me more and more. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

****

Michael didn’t see you tomorrow because he was in dire need to quench his thirst. He hadn’t realized how far behind he got on his hunting or frequenting the Blood Bars until his best friend, Luke, commented on the dark pallor under his eyes.

On his way to the establishment, he left a note on your windshield explaining his absence but not without sneaking a glance at you in the window. You still left him awestruck by your attractiveness.

At the Blood Bar, he traces the bag in front of him while Luke is flirting with the bar patron, his incisors gleaming in the low light. Michael feels full but he’s empty without being in your presence.

Then, to his horror, he hears your heartbeat and the sweet, sweet aroma of your scent. Michael whips around to find you standing in the doorway with a mask on your face. Michael growls as he’s instantly by your side before you can blink, he’s slipped his mask back on as to try and lessen your potent aroma.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he hisses grabbing your wrist harshly.

“I wanted to see you,” you gasp in shock at his abrupt appearance.

“You shouldn’t be here, it’s too dangerous.”

“Why?” your voice becomes defiant now and he can see your feeble attempt of trying to break free from his tight hold. “Other humans are here. I wore this so I could fit in.”

“You won’t fit in because you’re too mouthwatering,” he grits through his teeth then lifts you in his arms. He races to the furthest bedroom in the place where he hopes your smell won’t reach others of his kind. He has you pressed against the door, your heart hammers against your chest, eyes wide.

To Michael’s complete shock, you’re laughing. You always leave him dumbfounded, making him guess what it is that always leaves your heart racing. You’re a peculiar human.

“What are you laughing at?” he growls pressing against you, his hands rest on the door on either side of your face.

“You seem so free here, I like it,” you lift your fingertips to pad under his eyes, “you look better.”

“You drive me crazy. Take this ridiculous thing off, let me see you.” he pulls your mask down. He groans at the rose shade of your cheeks, he can sense your arousal and desire and it drives him even more crazy. “There’s my kitty.”

His fingers trickle down your shoulders, brushing over your collarbone and down your chest. He feels the spike of your heart beneath his fingers as he continues down to your hips where he pulls you against his own. This is the most he’s touched you and he never wants to stop, you leave an ever burning scorch on his fingers, he cocks his head to the side.

You’re breathing is erratic at him so freely touching you. You want to grind yourself against him as your arousal becomes more and more apparent and you’re lost in his eyes. Tentatively, you lift your hands to his mask, fingertips brushing the tops of his ice cold cheeks.

“Can I take yours off?” you ask shakily, slipping your fingers under his mask. Michael’s hands slip behind your lower back, he knees your legs apart. A small squeak escapes you at the slightest form of friction from that movement.

He nods and you pull it down slowly. The fabric falls to the floor between you and you’re hypnotized by his beauty. His lips are pink and full surrounded by the softest beard you’ve ever seen. All you want is to kiss those lips, see if they really are that smooth.

“Wow,” you exhale letting your fingers explore his cheeks. “You’re gorgeous.”

“That’s you,” he smiles, eyes dancing before they close as he breathes you in by your fingers. When his eyes open again he inches closer, your fingers knotting in his hair until he’s a breath away from your lips. “Can you do something for me?” his breath blows across your face, it’s such a fresh, cool smell you hold your breath.

“Anything.”

“Say my name,” he whispers.

“Michael.”

Then his lips are on yours, your breath escapes you in a gasp as you feel his kiss shiver through your whole body like a bucket of ice water has dropped on your head. It’s overwhelming, it’s oh so pleasurable. His tongue is controlled over yours, in excitement you grind yourself against his knee and it makes you whimper at finally feeling him on your sex, even if it is just his knee.

“You’re going to be screaming my name.”

• • • •

Taglist: @galcalirwin @cashtonasff5sos @thecurlsofgod @myloverboyash @rotten-kandy @tea4sykes @jannimoeller3 @loveroflrh @iovehemmings @cxddlyash @princesslrh @here-for-the-uproars @katiaw2 @g-l-pierce @fairyintheglass @gosh-im-short @banditocth @dezzym17 @koalacal @lukeisbaby @spicycal @mysticalhood @notinthesameguey @wastedheartcth @atlcalm @itjustkindahappenedreally @calumance @babylon-corgis @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @lanternlover2 @istaywithmyjonas @calteahood @sarcastically-defensive17 @another-lonely-heart @devilatmydoor @frontmanash @philthepegacorn @mantlereid @lukedorkyhemmings @addietagglikesbands @kikixfandoms @sanrioluke @mayve-hems @morguelth @haikucal @thatscooibaby @meghanrose05 @idontneedanyone @dinosaursandsocks @cassie-sos @suchalonelysunflower @burstintocolor @zhangyixingxing1 @dead-and-golden @mymindwide @everyscarisahealingplace @stardust-galaxies @blackbutterfliescal @redrattlers @lovelybonesetc @karajaynetoday

#michael clifford writing #michael clifford imagines #vampire!michael #michael writing #michael 2020 #michael fic week #michael clifford #5sos writing #michael vampire au

104 notes · View notes

lorei-writes · 3 years

Text

One year into pandemic. Maybe a little over it. I feel kinda chatty, so you know. There isn't going to be anything interesting here, feel encouraged to skip.

It's been a year. At first I was rather optimistic. I wrote plenty to cope. I was scared and wasn't at the same time.

Now I am not scared and am at the same time. This fear grew a bit familiar. Standard. It doesn't seem to go away.

On the other hand, what should I fear anymore? My family went through covid. We didn't all get tested, but all had the same symptoms - so for all I know, this weird fever I had for a while a couple months back might have been covid. Only mom showed no signs and she tested positive then.

All my closest friends got covid and luckily made it through. Some of my extended family members weren't so lucky. Some are still ill, some are so very scared.

Now, this isn't a call not to be afraid. I am still going to uphold all the restrictions, to add my brick to the wall and keep others safe. I don't know about your region, but my country is at the brink of healthcare collapsing. Again. No wonder, but it's a rather complex issue - after all, physicians and nurses were out on the streets protesting for years.

Talking about protests, this past year was something. I did not go out into the streets. I feared getting ill. My health isn't too great. But my friends went, and each time they did I waited for them to call me. Otherwise I was to get in touch with their group or family - in case they got arrested or beaten by the nazis. I searched for groups and collectives offering free legal help, so that my friends knew what number to put on their bodies with markers.

And it wasn't even the first protest. There was Margot and the unlawful sentence, there were physicians, farmers, then women, taxi drivers...Who else? I sorta lost the count. I guess it's easy for that to happen when protests stretch for 100 days - and it was just the women's one, against the (effectively) complete abortion ban.

Talking about protests - time and time again, we saw police violence. Broken arms, blood, people being thrown to the ground and their heads hitting the pavement. We saw tear gas and...I think no shots were fired. Which isn't a suprise. It would remind too many people of the regime back from the last century, I believe; Sexual assaults in the arrests, certain key protesters being targeted. Disciplinary commissions for teachers who weren't opposing the protests. Teenagers being threatened with legal means for sharing posts on Facebook.

But there were also neighbours who set the ladders in such a way, so that protesters could escape from the closed off streets. And some who made warm tea for them, as all restaurants and such were closed down due to covid. And deputies using their immunity to get police in place, even despite getting physically hurt, time and time again. My cousin's mother in law sewing masks for the entire crew of the store my cousin works at. And some more. Plenty more. Plenty, plenty more.

It was an odd year. It isn't good. The current ruling party weaponizes and protects hatred against people like me - not-catholic, queer, women. But somehow, even though I'm scared, I don't feel fear anymore.

Maybe I'm tired. I probably am.

Please, take good care of yourself and those you love. In all honesty, if humans don't care for each other, then who will?

Keep warm,

Lorei

#lorei rambles #rambling #babbling

2 notes · View notes

tabloidtoc · 3 years

Text

Globe, January 4

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Ghislaine Maxwell buying her way out of prison

Page 2: Up Front & Personal -- Gavin Rossdale playing tennis with his pup Chewy, Brooke Burke holding holiday balls topless, James Franco takes his cellphone into the sea

Page 3: Leighton Meester surfing in Malibu, Robbie Williams, Lisa Rinna wearing two masks

Page 4: Angelina Jolie is bracing for major humiliation after being dragged into Johnny Depp’s latest legal showdown with ex-wife Amber Heard -- Angie’s run-ins with Johnny who she starred with in 2010′s The Tourist are coming under intense scrutiny as Depp gears for a second court battle with Amber -- Angie and Johnny were so coy about their white-hot connection at the time even though their romance was an open secret but they got lucky because nobody had the smoking gun to prove it but now it’ll all come out in the open -- at the time Johnny was still dating Vanessa Paradis while Angie was five years into her doomed love-in with Brad Pitt -- there’s talk bisexual Amber was kind of obsessed with Angie so Angie is central to the plotline whether she likes it or not

Page 5: The Bachelor host Chris Harrison is worried he’ll follow Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron out the door -- both these shows have been on TV forever and the world has changed around them and to keep up with Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement changes are being discussed and that’s left Chris fearing he’ll be the next Tom Bergeron and replaced by a woman of color

Page 6: Aging divas Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton are caught in a bitter country catfight and long-dead Patsy Cline is the excuse -- although there’s been little love lost between the Nashville icons for nearly 50 years their simmering feud exploded weeks ago when Dolly apparently took some veiled public shots at Loretta’s BFF Patsy who was horribly disfigured in a car wreck two years before dying in a 1963 plane crash -- in an interview Dolly recalled standing in the wings of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry at age 13 and watching Patsy perform and she remembered thinking about how awful it was that she got her pretty face scarred up like that -- Loretta was fit to be tied over the comments Dolly made about her old pal and thinks Dolly should stop running her mouth about Nashville legends like Patsy and Johnny Cash -- Dolly’s heard about Loretta’s complaints through the grapevine and brushes them off as quarantine boredom mixed with old age

Page 8: Blake Shelton’s going bonkers after fiancee Gwen Stefani told him she wants to skip the mega-million star-studded wedding shindig he’s been planning and elope -- Blake is all bent out of shape over Gwen’s latest switcheroo which calls for them to get hitched on the sly at a Mexican resort and she’s got him so mixed up he can’t think straight because for the longest time she wanted the Hollywood-style wedding with all the bells and whistles and was very particular about details but now she’s telling him to ditch those plans which have already cost them a small fortune and book a trip somewhere exotic so they can just just get it over with -- Gwen wants to elope so they can hitched at the Riviera Maya resort in Cancun where they could swap vows on the beach witnessed by her three sons and Blake has no choice but to give in to Gwen and he’s saying he’s fine with it as long as she’s sure this time

Page 9: Hollywood horndog John Mayer is back sniffing around old flame Jennifer Aniston after his mom gave him a shove -- John and Jen had a steamy fling for about a year before he dropped her in 2009 and now John’s mom Margaret Meyer is scolding him for letting Jen go and John’s mom is always on him about settling down and she feels that at 43 he should be married and she recently had a heart-to-heart talk with him and told him she thought Jennifer was the most down-to-earth of all his exes and because John considers his mom one of the smartest people he knows he decided to reach out to Jen and he’s always admired Jen and thought of her as a classy lady and now he’s reaching out to her again in hopes of getting her to agree to see him again once things leave lockdown

* FKA Twigs has socked actor Shia LaBeouf with a bombshell lawsuit claiming he subjected her to relentless physical, emotional and mental abuse and gave her an STD and she also accuses him of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress -- although Shia says she’s lying Twigs insists Shia once choked her in the middle of the night and kept a loaded firearm by the bed leaving her terrified to get up at night for fear he’d think she was an intruder and shoot her -- she claims during an incident around Valentine’s Day 2019 Shia threatened to crash his speeding car unless she professed her love for him so when he pulled into a gas station she got out of the car but he threw her against the car while screaming in her face then forced her back into the car -- Shia also had rules about how often Twigs had to kiss and touch him -- Shia has been arrested several times on now-dismissed charges including assault and disorderly conduct

Page 10: John Lennon didn’t have to die -- that’s law enforcement experts’ explosive analysis after reviewing newly discovered evidence about the Beatles legend’s December 8, 1980 murder in NYC -- an odd series of coincidences and simple decisions put Lennon and his killer Mark David Chapman in the same place at the same time -- a review of the details concludes Lennon’s death was a strange result of flukes including his penchant for running around without protection and a missed appointment with his photographer and without these quirks of fate John would still be alive and recording hit songs

Page 12: Celebrity Buzz -- Pink flashes her bandaged thumb after getting stitches in Santa Monica (picture), Amanda Seyfried confesses she made a terrible decision for turning down the role of a lifetime as Chris Pratt’s love interest in Guardians of the Galaxy and now she’s watching from the sidelines as the director’s second choice Zoe Saldana skyrockets in the money-making Marvel franchise, Katherine Heigl will star in the upcoming limited biopic series Woodhull about Victoria Woodhull the first woman to run for president in 1872, Big Brother alum Zach Rance has come out as bisexual after admitting a sizzling same-sex romance with his former reality show housemate Frankie Grande who is the real-life older brother of pop star Ariana Grande

Page 13: Jaime King slurps down a meal on the streets on L.A. (picture), Jax Taylor mowing the lawn (picture), Guns N’ Roses axman Slash loads up on supplies at an L.A. grocery (picture), former teen heartthrob Chad Michael Murray admits his inflated young ego got the best of him and now he looks at photos of himself and thinks what a dweeb

Page 14: Julia Roberts is headed for the small screen headlining the limited TV series The Last Thing He Told Me where she’ll form an unexpected relationship with her teenage stepdaughter while searching for the truth about her husband’s mysterious disappearance, Emma Stone is also heading for the flat-screen in the comedy series The Curse alongside Nathan Fielder about a couple starring on an HGTV-style show who are trying to conceive a child amid an alleged curse, Nicolas Cage is hosting a new series called The History of Swear Words in which he’ll delve into the origins and pop culture usage and science and cultural impact of profanely shocking expletives

* Fashion Police -- Peyton List 8/10, Sofia Carson 9/10, Vanessa Hudgens 2/10, Neve Campbell 1/10, Chelsea Handler 4/10

Page 16: Cover Story -- Jeffrey Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s $30M jail break -- terrified and tortured Ghislaine risks family fortune to buy her freedom -- the accused sex predator and her fat cat inner circle are set to plunk down an obscene $30 million to buy her way out of federal prison in what outraged investigators fear is a brazen plot to cheat justice

Page 19: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Mayim Bialik

* Lizzo is admitting she’s having negative thoughts and is hating her 300-pound body but adds she knows she beautiful

* The Spice Girls were likely liquored up on cut-rate champagne when they made their first album according to Emma Bunton a.k.a. Baby Spice who says she and her bandmates swilled the cheapest sparkling wine in the studio

Page 20: True Crime -- a chilling message left by the elusive Zodiac Killer has finally been cracked by a team of code breakers after 51 years -- a hodgepodge of numbers, symbols and letters called the 340 cipher was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 and lawmen believed it contained key clues to the serial killer’s identity but the truth is even more chilling -- according to the experts the message says I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me, I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me

Page 21: Caitlyn Jenner is terrified after learning her skin cancer has returned a second time -- she was diagnosed with basal cell skin cancer a few years ago and had an entire layer of skin removed from her nose -- since then she’s been slathering on sunscreen but a new red spot on the right side of her nose popped up along with some crusty areas on her scalp but the nose patch was not cancer but hypertrophic keratosis or scaly damage from sun exposure -- however the dozen spots on the top of her head was squamous cell carcinoma which is a skin cancer that’s known to be aggressive so her doctor burned off the offending spots -- her doctor recommended she replace her 1960 Austin-Healey convertible but the chances of Caitlyn selling her prized ride are slim

Page 23: Your 2021 Horoscope -- love, luck, health, wealth, happiness -- plus surprising celebrity predictions -- Elton John, Valerie Bertinelli, Johnny Depp, Jessica Simpson, Matthew Perry, Cameron Diaz, Will Smith, Katy Perry, Howie Mandel, Savannah Guthrie, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood

Page 30: Larry King has reached a deal with estranged wife Shawn but she’s royally peeved about the payoff -- Larry has agreed to pay her a lump sum of $20,000 plus $33,000 a month in spousal support which lasts until at least their next scheduled hearing in April but Shawn claims the 33Gs only covers a third of her monthly nut which includes $25,000 for rent on her home, $12,000 on clothes, $3500 on groceries and $4500 for hair and nails and pet care and gym

Page 31: Kim Kardashian is reading husband Kanye West the riot act over his junk food benders that are sabotaging her healthy eating program and it’s led to more than a few arguments with no peace in sight -- he’s telling her to chill and let him live by his own terms but she can’t do that because it’s driving her crazy -- what really ticks Kim off is his junk food has totally taken over her section of fresh cut veggies, fruits and water and she wants him to get his own storage in a different part of the house where she won’t have to see it or hold her nose

* Kardashian momager Kris Jenner’s faux reality TV home is on the market for nearly $8 million even though she never lived there -- the L.A. estate was used for exterior shots of the image-conscious family’s compound on Keeping Up with the Kardashians but it was all for show -- dubbed the Iredell Estate the house also appears in True Blood and Chelsea Lately

Page 33: Health Report

Page 34: Wrestling Ring Kings: Where Are They Now? Sable, Bret Hart

Page 35: Lex Luger, Steve Austin, Ric Flair

Page 36: The Undertaker, Tito Santana, Diamond Dallas Page

Page 37: Kane, Kurt Angle, Sunny, Mick Foley

Page 39: Despite an astounding 30 No. 1 country music hits legendary singer Charley Pride took a haunting regret to his grave that he never made it as major league baseball star -- Charley had so much success but he died tormented his baseball career short-circuited -- Charley was singing and playing guitar by the time he was 14 but his real goal was to pitch for the New York Yankees -- Charley signed with a Yankees farm team as a flame-throwing phenom at 17 but in his rookie season he threw out his arm and was just never the same -- after he struck out in baseball he put his full energy into singing but faced an uphill battle -- Charley was the Jackie Robinson of country music and he endured a lot of racism

Page 40: Kelsey Grammer admits he often breaks down and blubbers like a baby and it makes him feel better and he cries when he’s upset or sad or scared and it provides him a lot of relief and he believes years of tragedy in his life taught him to cry as a healing mechanism and now he sheds tears whenever he has sad feeling bottled up inside him

* A moneybags James Bond fan coughed up a whopping $256,000 for the handgun 007 Sean Connery toted in the first spy epic Dr. No -- the disabled Walther PP semi-automatic was supposed to bring in no more than $200,000 but the unidentified American buyer who claims to have seen every Bond epic went even higher

Page 44: Straight Talk -- Miley Cyrus is now blabbing about why she broke up with husband Liam Hemsworth after years of togetherness and just nine months of marriage and it sounds like a case of the pot calling the kettle black

Page 45: Furious Queen Elizabeth has booted Princess Eugenie and her husband out of Prince Harry’s Frogmore Cottage home in a bit to foil Meghan Markle’s plan to completely cut him off from England and the royal family -- pregnant Eugenie and her booze-seller husband Jack Brooksbank were ordered to quit the cottage and move back to Kensington Palace just six weeks after Harry and Meghan secretly leased them the home meaning Harry and Meghan are still on the financial hook for Frogmore which was a gift from the queen and they will have to underwrite the cost of keeping up the property and it also ensures Harry has a home in Britain if he ever wants to come back -- by moving Eugenie and Jack out the queen has made sure Harry still has a place to hang his hat if he decides to come back to leave his American wife

Page 47: Bizarre But True

4 notes · View notes

arethereanyoriginalusernames · 3 years

Text

Spooky babbles about RENT (the Broadway Musical (about assholes ))

We all have our guilty pleasures, or at least enjoy things that we acknowledge are bad. I’m sure that you and I can both name examples of these things specific to us.

It’s also likely that, like me, when someone makes a compelling video essay about something that you’ve never seen, that you agree with that person. Only to become exposed to more of it, and then you realize that “hey some of this is pretty good”, but then you become super conflicted bc you know that it’s bad, but you still enjoy aspects about it.....

I’m just making this about me, aren’t I? Welph, let’s do this proper and make another essay, bc I totally have time, and I totally won’t regret this later when I have a million things to do:)

.... oh quarantine, what have you done to me~?

... so, Lindsey Ellis. I consume her content regularly, and I would absolutely say that she’s probably one of the best YouTubers nowadays. You might remember her from her nostalgia chick days, but since distancing herself from that character, she makes video essays on several topics, a lot of them pertaining to popular shows and stories. If you write stories or enjoy creating characters and whatnot, I would make her channel a must to check out.

She also has a podcast on Spotify called “Musicalsplaining”, which I would also recommend you check out. It’s a podcast she does with her friend Kaveh, who dislikes musicals. They both watch a musical, and have a discussion over it, and it can get pretty funny due to their discussions being unscripted banter between two buds stuck in quarantine.

Lindsey has done both a video on a musical called RENT, and she and Kaveh covered it in their podcast. If you want a more funny coverage of it, I’d say listen to the podcast, as both Lindsey and Kaveh basically bond over their mutual rage, which is honestly beautiful. For a more in depth look at how RENT misrepresents the AIDs crisis, the lgbt+ community, and is just a bad story in general, check out her video essay on RENT on YouTube.

As you can probably guess, I’ve listened to both the video and the podcast. At least 8 times each (seriously, they’re really good). Now, I had never watched Rent before, nor had I listened to the soundtrack. The most I did was read the synopsis on Wikipedia. And I still haven’t watched the musical... but I currently have over half the soundtrack downloaded on Spotify.

So.... yeah. And after listening to the soundtrack, I have some thoughts. I don’t disagree with Lindsey’s take on Rent, honestly I still 100% agree with everything that she said, but now... something’s different. I see potential in Rent, and I see some gold hidden in what is basically a steaming pile of narcissism masked as “being artistic”. And that actually makes Rent that much more frustrating for me.

I’ll assume that despite my recommendations, you might not feel like listening to Lindsey’s coverage of Rent. While I still recommend you do so, since she explains the issues better than I ever could, I’ll do my best to give you as brief of an explanation as I can.

Rent is a rock musical loosely based on the opera La Boheme. It follows a group of “struggling artists” attempting to survive in New York during the AIDs/ HIV crisis. It’s one of the first popular Broadway musicals that featured LGBT+ characters, and it was rather successful when it was a new thing. Then years past, people forgot about it, then a terrible movie adaptation was made. Said movie caused a lot of people to realize that maybe Rent wasn’t actually that good.

The heroes of our story are as follows.

We have Roger, one of the more decent people here (which isn’t saying much), who’s a former drug user who’s trying to stay clean from drugs. He lost his last girlfriend to suicide, and he’s currently dying from AIDs. He’s trying to write one great song before he dies so he can leave some kind of legacy.

Mark is a wannabe filmmaker who exploits people’s misfortune for his own passion project (without their consent). He likes to film and romanticize the plight of the homeless while doing fuck all to help. He’s struggling financially, so he considers it fair to not pay for anything bc he’s an artist and being poor is admirable or something. Also, not only is he a privileged white kid with rich parents who could help him, but he refuses to contact them, he also quits a decent job bc he can’t express himself artistically. I wish I was kidding.

Mimi is a stripper with a drug addiction and AIDs. She’s also the love interest for Roger. While logically, it’d be a bad idea for Roger, someone who is trying to be clean of drugs, to not get involved with Mimi, the story wouldn’t have you believe that. She tries to get him to do drugs with her and “live”, and the story tries to do a thing by having her fake die by aids, only to be revived and cured by Roger singing. I wish I was kidding.

Maureen is a narcissist who gaslights her partners, has a weird job as a performance artist, and is bisexual so of course she has to be super slutty and flirtatious, and dance around the idea of cheating on her gf, Joanne, who’s this super smart, serious gal who leads protests for social justice.

Collins and Angel are the local maybe adora-gays, maybe adorable trans x cis person couple. (It depends on the adaptation and audience interpretation whether Angel is a drag queen or trans). Angel takes in an ailing Collins to live with her, and she also gets super rich by killing a dog. Collins is an anarchist currently fighting the aids epidemic. They’re a cute couple, but then Angel dies of aids bc we need a sad, and then Collins starts robbing atms in memory of his dead lover. I wish I was kidding.

Yes, I skipped over some stuff, but kids, this is a Tumblr post, and we’re already dealing with an essay here. And Wikipedia is right there. Basically, all you need to know is that Rent is a musical about assholes justifying their behaviour by being like “oh, but we’re artists!!!”. Oh yeah, and there’s also a guy called Benny who’s a former friend, and the only decent person here despite being portrayed as a bad dude, but I honestly don’t think I can remember anything beyond that for the life of me.

So, clearly Rent isn’t perfect. But, it’s hard to deny its impact. After all, it featured a main cast where half of the characters are POC and LGBT+ . Mind you, it was written by a straight man who “knew some gay people”. But, at the time, it was at least better than nothing.

And one aspect of Rent that people still appreciate to this day are the songs. And honestly? The majority of it is pretty great. A lot of people might recognize Take Me as I Am and Seasons of Love, two iconic songs brought to this world by Rent. And the rest of the soundtrack is great.... well, it’s better if you can make yourself forget the context of the songs, and look over some poorly aged lyrics. Light My Candle and I’ll Cover You are pretty cute songs, Goodbye Love has some great vocals, Another Day fucking slaps, and la Vie Boheme is a fun listen despite some weird lyrics.

While listening to the soundtrack, I realized something. A lot of these songs are great.... out of context. Another Day is great, until you remember that Roger is being portrayed as unwilling to live life bc he’s trying to stay clean of drugs. Yes, he likes Mimi, but there’s a pretty legitimate reason why he shouldn’t. And yet he’s in the wrong for... being concerned about his health? La Vie Boheme is soured when you remember that the cast is doing this entire performance after the restaurant owner begs them “no, not tonight, please!” Like, the guy’s doing his job and trying to run a business, but fuck him, let’s piss off people who don’t agree with us! And Take Me Or Leave Me is basically Maureen accusing Joanne of being too controlling and not accepting, when Joanne is taking issue with how Maureen is flirting with others constantly and is dancing around the line of being unfaithful. And Maureen’s logic is, I shit you not, “oh, but I just can’t resist temptation, and I’m attractive, and as long as I’m in your bed and not someone else’s, it’s ok!”

This... made me think. Maybe all Rent needs is a rewrite. An update. Something like Rent can probably work, but the misunderstanding of how poverty, aids, and societal unfairness works ultimately drags it down. Most of all, I think that Rent is an example of how a Broadway show can have great music, but that’s only part of it. If you fail in story and characters, the music won’t save you.

Let me know what you guys think about this.

I apologize for wasting your time,

- Spooky

2 notes · View notes

wolf-nir · 4 years

Text

I am writing this in full quarantine since there is not much to do besides overanalyzing each little thing too much. Thank you anxiety.

I will analyze everything from the beginning, but I will focus mainly on Hawks, Twice and Dabi.

So, first of all, a minute of silence for all the shit Re-Destro had to go through in the last few months since he decided it was a good idea to fight the LOV. The guy really went through a lot and in the end, he's seeing his father's legacy and himself being destroyed, in addition to having lost the few people, he considered important.

(I declare that the defendant is in serious need of a vacation.)

Second. MY BABY, KAMINARI I KNEW I LOVED YOU FOR A REASON. I really want to do a character analysis on him, but I'm controlling myself because half of what I write will be me hyping my little Pikachu. I AM A PROUD MOM AND DON’T DENY IT.

(Now, please, that all his theories of being a traitor are gone because I'm tired of having my heart broken.)

Also, please appreciate the magnificence of Midnight because I love this woman too much to be health.

Now, to the real shit hole.

We barely started and we are already shown that Hawks are not there for jokes. So far we've only seen him lose all his feathers once and it was during his rescue actions during the High-End.

Basically, this chicken knows what Twice is capable of and is ready to go with everything.

The scariest thing is not knowing that the Hawks already know that they will need to fight Jin, but the almost relaxed way he seems to use to explain how he managed to accomplish his mission.

(Now, a useless little lecture on scenario structures and scenes for free to you.)

See this? From the moment that Hawks starts his dialogue, he is completely in the shadows or hiding his facial expressions.

In some situations, this shadow cast on a character's face means that

a) he may be emotionally out of control (think in Gon from hxh)

b) ready to commit some violent/criminal action or

c) that he is revealing something forbidden to someone who shouldn't know about this.

At first, I thought it would be the second case. Hawks is clearly prepared to attack Twice at any wrong move on the part of the villain, the predatory eyes, with unusual pupils and enlarged in a way that makes you feel fear are clear signs of this.

The thing is. Hawks' speech and even his stance (not counting the feathers) tell a totally different story.

Keigo slowly approaches Jin, the two feathers he uses as a sword in a relaxed, downward grip, as if clearly saying that Hawks has no intention of attacking. Of course, maybe it's because Hawks is confident enough in his ability to control his already sharp feathers and surrounding Twice and even with all this clear threat, Hawks still asks Jin not to resist.

Many may think that maybe it’s because Hawks is wary of Twice’s ability, but Hawks- no, Keigo, created a kind of connection with Jin in earlier chapters, one that seemed to go beyond a simple infiltration attempt and perhaps “use the weakest link” kind of thing. So Keigo asking Twice to surrender almost willingly is more of a sincere request than a veiled threat.

So we can say that this situation is heading towards the third option, in which Hawks genuinely says what he thinks (finally dude).

Please, a minute of silence for my baby's suffering. Twice finally realizing that Hawks is a traitor is the most painful thing I have seen since the last All Might fight. Worst of all is seeing him blaming himself and remembering the last time he trusted someone outside the family he found at LOV.

Returning. It's super interesting to see the use of contrast of light and shadow here.

The entire appearance of Hawks is in the shadows, he looks more like a villain than Twice himself. It's like this scene is showing us through images of the Hawks' double agent role, showing him completely in the dark, with only his eyes distinct enough, showing that he's always been there to spy. Unlike Twice, which is completely in the light, and even covered by the mask, its expressions are completely exposed.

This is all very cool and ironic, since Hawks is, technically, the good guy, but he finds himself in a position that only villains find themselves when they are drawn in the moments when he intends to attack one of the good guys or protagonist. But Twice is completely engulfed by the light, portraying him in the ordinary role of the hero and, at the same time, transforming him into someone vulnerable, leaving no loopholes for him to hide his feelings of anguish.

(Ouch, these flashbacks from Jin are killing me.)

“How sad is it if nobody trusts you?”

That, right there, is the golden question. Or we can call it the key to the pandora box.

It's just a sentence, but it makes us reflect on how, because of all that the Hawks have gone through to become who he is now, Keigo has never really shown himself to be a character with great connections or someone trustworthy.

And it is noticeable when we see him interact with other Pro-Heros or the Commission. Dude, in the first meeting with the Commission, he shows exactly this scepticism when he reveals that he knows information that the organization itself was trying to keep completely confidential.

He doesn't let anything be a secret and he has said that he always prefers the truth, even if for that truth to be revealed he has to “get his hands dirty”.

Hawks doesn't trust anyone, maybe, but himself. Sure, he trusts that heroes will do their job and that they are reliable in that, but he is still the type to investigate everything he can in any situation, even when he shouldn't know anything.

(Clear paranoia and trust issues, but with such a shitty childhood, who would never?)

As a morally grey character, this desire to always know everything and to have control over things around him is quite predictable, but it also shows that Hawks doesn’t necessarily create a connection with people without seeing some kind of benefit behind it.

Hawks works with Endeavor and tells him his own truth (and perhaps ideology) because he knows that, even if Enji doesn't understand his point of view or doesn't like how he does his job, Endeavor is still Hero # 1 and he needs that strength. Honestly, for me, none of the Hawks' interactions with Enji suggests that the Hawks really are some kind of Endeavor fan anymore like when he was a kid, he just sees the merits of maintaining a friendly relationship with Endeavor since he is Hero # 1 and for to believe that Enji can bring a new image to heroism that differs from all the fanaticism around the image of All Might being the "Symbol of Peace".

NOW. Enough of my improvised character analysis on Hawks and let's skip to what matters because I'm already like Izuku, murmuring incomprehensibly at this point.

THE SHADOWS ARE FADING!

It starts very slowly as if Horikoshi is creating a climax to reveal exactly what Hawks really thinks, or rather what Takami Keigo really thinks and believes. So far we've only seen Hawks, the Hero, but never Keigo, the only time we had a concrete glimpse of the person behind the hero was in the dialogue between him and Twice.

At that moment Keigo really let himself be vulnerable because he found himself mirrored (perhaps in the worst ways) in Jin. Two men with life experiences and opposing paths, but who are still connected by how mentally fucked up they came out of everything they went through.

(What a beautiful friendship *sobs*)

AND NOT ONLY THAT! It's not just Hawks being as true as possible at that moment that makes the shadows disappear, but also the fact that he, a hero, believes in the recovery of a villain, to believe and declare that Twice is a good person, that he deserves a second chance.

And you know what? At first, I thought it was just that. Hawks recognizing that a villain deserved a second chance. But honestly? It’s much more.

Remember this?

We have already stated that Hawks is not the type of person who likes to lie (he can and has done it before, but he prefers to speak the truth in most cases), so when he tells Twice how he feels caged because of the current system, I don't think he's lying. Especially because his entire life Hawks has always been in a beautiful golden cage.

So when he tells Twice that he is a good person, that he can get a second chance, Hawks is implicitly saying that Jin can get rid of his own cage, that is, the role of villain that he ended up playing in search of acceptance.

Hawks believes that, unlike him, Twice still has a chance to have the freedom of choice that the two never really had.

Note that I use the word “believe”, simply because Twice's reaction and what he says clearly shows that Hawks is being naive in his own way.

And Keigo knows that.

He knows that his words are empty promises. The Hero Commission would never lend itself to the role of creating a rehabilitation program for a Class S villain, especially one who is part of the antagonist group that almost managed to destroy the reputation of the Heroes and the UA, which has a great reputation for the Hero Course. Besides that Hawks himself made it clear that Twice, because of his quirk, was one of the most dangerous villains among the League.

Notice how Hawks tries to stop Twice from talking. And I understand don't wanting to be called out in his own bullshit. Hawks acknowledge that Twice is a good person goes against everything that he was trained to believe from a young age, and then, having to see Jin also breaking his expectations when telling the reality of the situation certainly messes with him.

Hawks' expression is quite revealing at the moment, he seems sad to face reality, even reaching the point of acting in denial. He seems ready to attack, but in the sense that he wants Twice to stop telling the truth of the situation.

(Now look at that, my baby is crying and is your fault Hawks.)

Keigo doesn't want to fight Twice, but that doesn't change the fact that he has to. Keigo betrayed the League, the family that Jin finally found, and worst of all, used Twice to achieve this.

If Hawks really thought that Jin wouldn't fight him after doing so then he certainly doesn't remember what happened to Chisaki. The League takes care of each other. Especially Twice who is the most open to declaring how important other members are to him.

Now a minute of silence to admire the work of art that is this picture. Twice using Sad Man’s Parade always makes me excited and sad at the same time.

(You go, boy! This is what I call loyalty. You can say what you want about the League, but you can never say that they don't care about each other.)

Okay, a lot is going on one a single page, omg.

Hawks' resigned expression made me want to curl up in a corner and cry. But then we have Dabi's magnificent manic smile at his side and it is difficult to feel sad.

I saw a lot of people debating whether the sentence on this page was said by Hawks or Dabi, but after searching almost all the sites to read the chapter, it's very clear that the sentence is from Dabi.

Besides, it would be kind of out of character for Hawks to think that heroes are trash when he knows and agrees that heroes are needed in today's society, even if the ideal future he wants is the opposite.

So yes, that phrase is from Dabi, and you know? It’s the only good thing in the entire chapter. Hawks and Dabi indirectly agreeing that Twice is a good person is my jam.

Looking further and throwing some theories here, this statement by Dabi can go far beyond Dabi by not blaming Twice for the heroes' attack. It could have something to do with his own secret past *insert Touya's theory here* and it could mean that in the next chapters we will either have a bloody fight or we will have more clues to Dabi's past and a bloody fight.

Anyway, my friends, Dabi will burn a chicken in the next chapter.

(Ok, so this is the end and Jesus fucking Christ, I don't even know if it makes sense, but yeah.)

(if anyone wants to know about my analysis on Hawks and Dabi character, let me know that it might motivate me to finally finishing write this shit that’s been sitting on my google docs for a long time to be healthy)

#bnha #bnha 264 #bnha spoilers #bnha dabi #bnha hawks #bnha twice #chapter analysis #i'm dead tired after writing this #MY BABY DON'T DESERVE TO SUFFER #HORIKOSHI WHAT ARE YOU DOING

36 notes · View notes

simqly-me · 5 years

Text

Everybody talks about how great an Avengers reality TV show would be, and I totally agree, but what about an X-Men reality TV show? Like, Charles allows a TV crew to come and record around the school so more kids want to go, and it all goes to complete shit. Like, imagine what they all would be doing

Peter-

He’d be annoying as he possibly could, and prank literally everyone. He’d try to make it look like the worst possible place you could go to. Sometimes Warren would get in on his pranks, unless Kurt found out and forced him out of it. He’d constantly annoy Scott to the point of Scott being completely ready to murder him, and would skip out on all of his chores. They try to get him to stop going on camera, but this little bitch always finds a way. He is super immature, but can act serious if needed. He’d make a bunch of shitty references and play video games all the time. When someone is talking, you can almost always see him doing Fortnite dances in the back for no reason but his own amusement. He plays a bunch of old songs, and is always blasting them, in the middle of the night. Scott almost throws his speakers out the window multiple times. He also has a record player- and he usually plays Queen or some shit. The show has almost gotten copyrighted so many times because of him.

Scott-

Tries to make the school look perfect. Talks about the academics, the clubs, and how everyone is welcome. In a lot of angles, you can see him quietly studying in the background. He introduces the newer kids to the camera crew, and the crew follow him around as he shows them around the school. He’s completely done with Peter’s bullshit. The crew has witnessed him try to laser Peter multiple times, but he only does it because he knows Peter can quickly dodge it. He’s often the subject of Peter’s pranks. Tries to make it look like they live in a safe environment, five minutes later the kitchen and common room are both up in flames, Ororo is trying to put them out with her powers, Jean happens to be the one who started them after Peter pissed her off, Peter’s running around because somehow his jacket caught on fire, Jubilee is bawling her eyes out, Warren is pissing himself laughing, and Kurt’s no where to be seen. He has teleported all the way to Guatemala. He is starting a new life there. He can no longer deal with the constant fear he has living there. Scott is just 320% disappointed with his friends antics.

Jean-

It takes the camera crew a while to find her, sometimes. She tries not to be on it a lot. She usually hides out in the back of the library, studying. She can also be found hanging out with the group, one of the only times she seems content when they film her. She also tries to help a bit with Scott’s cause, that the school is great, but often finds herself listing the shitty parts instead. She sets stuff on fire because of Peter a lot, and is quick to apologize after, begging for forgiveness. She can also be found at the archery range, but they decide not to bother her, as she seems happy and calm and not stressed for once. She’s usually the calmest one, except for one she gets really pissed. Everyone goes to her for advice, and she’s actually insanely trustworthy with information (Well, she has been hearing everyone’s secrets her whole life).

Kurt-

Literally has no idea what is happening. 110% confused he just wants peace and quiet. He was surprised the first time he watched a TV show, and now they’re suddenly in one? And there’s no script? What is he supposed to say?! He goes to Jean for help because he’s kind of embarrassed that he doesn’t get it. Even after getting advice, he’s still really confused. Almost every time the camera lands on him, he teleports away because he’s scared of screwing it up. Warren tries to assure him he’s fine, but he’s still scared as hell. Sometimes the camera crew catch him reacting to things he’s never seen before because of the circus. Jubilee usually is the one introducing him to them. Oh, him and Jubilee watch the Bachelor together. The camera crew find him sleeping all the time. Doesn’t matter where. He is asleep. They do not bother him. The simply get a quick shot, and move on. He’s just an oblivious adorable dork who needs help around things.

Warren-

Having the time of his life. He loves the cameras, because he can say things the whole world can hear. Has criticized his dad multiple times on camera, hoping he would hear it. He gets in on Peter’s pranks a lot and loves pissing people off. He honestly does not give a fuck if people are mad at him because he holds his own opinions. They catch him drunk multiple times, and it’s always fucking hilarious. The flying shots they get of him are pretty cool, too. He’s, surprisingly, apologized on the show about the Apocalypse situation. Acts protective of Kurt, and is almost always seen with him. Warren and Peter hold a love-hate relationship. They make fun of each other a lot, but, they’re kind of best friends. They tell each other almost everything. They’ve been caught smoking on the roof and talking before, and Warren calls him his birth name to annoy him. Warren’s wings are super fluffy, and the whole group seems to think so, because they’re always all up on them. He was caught red-handed one night when they found him with a bunch of conditioner, bringing the entire bag into the bathroom to shower with. He had to admit it then and there- he conditions them in fear of anyone getting hurt because of them. He acts bitchy, but he cares. He was lucky enough to earn their trust in the first place, in his opinion.

Ororo-

She often talks about serious issues on camera, because she finally has the platform to do so. The camera crew comes with her to Black Lives Matter and feminism events. She protests often, and people start to recognize her at the protests because of the show. She sometimes disappears for days to weeks, confusing everyone when she comes back with a group of new mutants. “Found them, adopted them,” Is her only response when questioned. She can be insanely hilarious at times. When she’s super upset, she’ll make it storm for days and lock herself away in her room. One time they recorded her decking a guy for catcalling her, even after she said to go away. Her hair is constantly changing, and nobody knows how. She’ll not leave the mansion at all and one moment she has this hair style, the next she’ll have a different one.

Jubilee-

Literally ecstatic about the cameras. Bubbly the whole time, she’ll bounce around and show the camera’s her favorite areas of the school. She rants about the most random shit on camera, and at random times will shout herself out. ‘Follow me on Instagram @-’ ‘My Twitter is-’. She’ll talk about her favorite shows and her dreams and such, and she’s just really pure the whole time. An absolute queen. She lets the camera crew record one of her girl nights with Jean and Ororo. Most expect it to be super cliche, with facemasks on while they paint each other’s nails. But- but no. They’re pranking everyone. Scott automatically believes it to be Peter, meanwhile the trio is climbing in the vents over him. Everyone in the mansion is surprised after seeing the episode, and Peter has a smug look on his face when Scott apologizes for getting pissed at him.

Wade-

Nobody knows how the fuck this dude is getting into the mansion. He literally should not be there. He keeps sneaking in and talking about shit that no one understands. ‘Wow, a TV show in a movie franchise?!’ They try to kick him out, but he keeps coming back somehow. He is everywhere. There is no stopping him. Starts paintball fights in the corridors and where the hell did he get all of these paintball guns?! They’ve tried every single thing they could, but, Wade is there to stay. Only a few people have actually seen his face since he’s always wearing that damned mask.

Charles-

A tired Mom™ . Regrets the show a few weeks in, but he can’t stop now. There’s a fan base. A fan base! And so many more young mutants have been registering to get in! Talks about mental health a lot, and how they can offer therapy sessions at the school. Tries to stop all of the shit that happens, but never can. He just needs a fucking break for Heaven’s sake. Get this man a vacation, stat! Actually very proud of all the kids, though. For everything they’ve done. They aren’t scared to talk about issues that need to be talked about, and, that makes his heart swell a bit each time.

Erik-

Not there half the time. When he is, he’s hanging out with Charles or scolding Peter. The kids call him Dadneto on camera, and he pretends to hate it. Also, trains the kids, a lot. Talks about how mutants should be viewed as equals (Charles wont let him start with his usual ‘Homo-Surpremacy!’ monologuing. So, he sticks with equality instead.) Makes an apology video apologizing for every time he’s tried to end humanity. Only there to support Charles, honestly.

278 notes · View notes

high5nerd · 4 years

Text

Personal Coronavirus Emergency Announcement

So, good news and bad news:

Good news: I’ll have more free time to both update my socials and interact with all of you! This includes starting a new goal for me, I want to interact with my fanfic readers who leave comments more. I often feel nervous to respond to them with gratitude since I’m scared of coming off extremely clingy or too talkative, and I have learned that a lot of readers love being responded to. (This is legit after remembering my first memory of my longtime pen pal, where we literally met on fanfiction.net after we read each other’s fanfics and simultaneously told each other we loved our writing. Sup @jafndaegur!)

So commissions will go up on and off involving both fanfic writing and art if interested, and if people would like, I could do some Q&As for those having questions on current state of events, journalism, news, writing, etc. since I’m a copy editor for a small newspaper. I can also do some Q&As about college/university issues and topics for people preparing for college!

A website is in the works as well as consideration for a youtube channel, but it’s still under consideration since I’m scared to show my face, I don’t look like a conventional instagram/youtube beauty guru that seems to be the dominating thing right now. More to follow on that!

Bad news: The reason this is being posted is because I’ve just received a notice from my work that I’ll be furloughed starting next Monday.

What does furloughed mean? Good question, I just learned the term last week as well, I feel you on the confusion! It’s better than being laid off, technically. If you’re a full-time worker (working 40+ hours a week) and you get furloughed, your hours are reduced to half that, but you still get full-time employment benefits.

Skip this bit if you wanna go to other details, but this is an example:

Let’s say you’re working at a firm $13.50 an hour, 40 hrs a week, weekends excluded. That’s roughly $540 a week, before taxes.

So now it’s $270 weekly (not livable, but I do have paid days off, health, dental and life insurance still)

My apartment lease was supposed to end May 1, but I was evicted “encouragingly released” by my landlady so her new tenant that can pay double what I’m paying doesn’t “catch any coronavirus you left behind.”

Pro tip: Don’t fucking rent privately.

So I could have ended up homeless having to spend $60 a month using a storage garage for my stuff, living in my car (and the state of Maine shut down all campgrounds and RV neighborhoods, so that would’ve sucked), but I’m staying at my grandparents house in the meantime.

Needless to say, I’ve lost $1580 after being scammed by my former landlady when she stole my security deposit and last month’s rent, then blocked all contact from me. I can’t take any legal action since lawsuits and small claims are now defunct until the pandemic is over.

So now I have to scramble to find another way to make ends meet, trying to pay for medication, get tested (since my landlady was sick around me and got in my face to insist my generation is the cause ‘the plague’), and also find a tele-therapist so I don’t drink myself into a stupor whenever the police scanner goes off.

Anyway, that’s it for the bad news.

Moral of the story, our country fucking sucks because it’s destroying the economy and our government is trying to start an entire genocide by wiping out poverty-stricken people who can’t afford food, shelter and healthcare during this pandemic. Thanks America! You can go suck North Korea’s pig-hoofed chode.

Further announcements will soon follow! Commissions are currently being finished, three are done with one more to go, and my art commissions are last priority, since there’s only two in process by people I work with irl.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read this. Please be safe, wash your hands, don’t touch your face (unless for aesthetic face masks!) and take your medication. Depression is going to be a killer during this time, you must defeat it with every ounce of strength in your body!

#announcement #personal psa #high5nerd talks #high5nerd #commissions #fanfic commissions #fanfiction commissions #art commisions #coronavirus #covid2020 #covidquarantine #covid19 #coronavirus update

3 notes · View notes

honestsycrets · 5 years

Text

No Thieves Welcome IX: Sleepover!

Author’s Notes | written for @grungyblonde

❛ pairing | hvitserk/reader

❛ word count | 3330

❛ genre | angst, smut

❛ summary | to margrethe’s misfortune, ubbe lies like shit.

❛ warnings | angst, smut, manipulation, dark!hvitserk, cursing, pissed!hvitserk, make ups

Why was it that you attempted to break up with him?

He considers what if could have been-- of what it was. It could have been any number of things really. Magnus was at his short list of possibilities. But… what if it was something else? Not enough spoiling, he thinks. Women liked those things. Shit, he did too. Or maybe it was the fact that he didn’t do shit on that stupid ass research paper or in physics? Damn, it could have been that too.

“Hvitserk, you aren’t eating.” Ubbe knocks him in the ribs with his elbow over his spring rolls with peanut sauce, jam packed with his favourite bean sprouts and lettuce. His green eyes shift dully over to the food sitting before him, reaching for a his frozen passion fruit boba. They came to eat after Hvitserk got his first tattoo, long black streaks on one of his forearm… and, a little piercing for you to enjoy later.

“Yeah, sorry.” He murmurs. “(Y/N) tried to break up with me. Shit, she only wants to be friends.”

Then-- he notices the change in his older brother. The one where his eyes fall distantly and he lacks the words to explain what exactly is on his mind. He knows Ubbe better than that though. He’s a terrible fucking liar when it’s to his very own brothers.

“What is it? You’ve been like this for days, Ubbe.” He says, sitting dead pan. Short of putting the roll into his mouth, he tells his brother exactly what is on his mind. Ubbe’s toned chest rises and falls, his pressed white button up tight on his chest.

“She didn’t tell you.” He states, bringing his arms to fold one over another.

“Didn’t tell me what?” Hvitserk hisses. That Magnus was why you were breaking up with him? Man, that would have been a long ass time coming. As long as there wasn’t another man in the picture, shit. Everyone knew that Hvitserk Ragnarsson had made claim to you. But… if he had to fight someone, he god damn well would have. You were his and he would do anything to solidify that.

“Margrethe shoved her down some stairs.”

What. His face reflects the shock. No, not shock. He knew that Margrethe was jealous. Insanely jealous with a lascivious tongue that had been running at school claiming that you had an STD. He rebuked that one back-- if anyone had an STD, it was probably his insane little fuck buddy Margrethe. Hvitserk bends his head down, running his fingers through his long, honey coloured hair.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Why did you fucking know before I did!?” He lashes out, shoving his fist onto the table. Ubbe holds up his hands in defense, staring just as heatedly to his little brother.

“Calm down.” He says. “I only knew because I was on my way to her house when it happened.”

His hand squeezes and releases, eyes darting around the untouched dishes on top of the table. The people dining around stare upon Hvitserk, waiting for him to snap his shit like he wanted to. He easily could have but not today. Not today. His thumb sweeps the stubble above his thin upper lip.

“Where is Margrethe?” His voice shakes.

He knew better than that. She’d hurt you if given the chance.

“Margrethe!”

He’s banging down her door. Fist, thumping the wood. Margrethe’s normally kept up nails are torn bits of acrylic, shuddering as her lover threatens to crack open the door at any moment. They should have been at school. Margrethe had been skipping since Aethelwulf came to see her. She could go to jail! Or prison! She was too cute for prison.

“Margrethe!”

How had someone not called the police on Hvitserk outside of her door?

She hesitates in answering but… the last thing she needed was the police here again. As she opens the heavy foor, her eyes are downcast. This is the last thing she wants to do after all. In front of the door, Hvitserk has a calm appearance. He walks in on light feet despite his heavy boots.

“Hey, Margrethe.” He smooths his large hand over her cheek as she looks at him with meek, almost gentle eyes. There’s a storm behind them. It’s quickly evident when she lurches toward him, the fist behind her hand with a long but sharp bread knife that she’s probably spent far too long sharpening. Hvitserk snatches her wrist, twisting it about her back and shoves her into the dividing wall between the entryway and the bedroom. Then kicking the door shut, he wrangles it from her grip. The blood courses down his forearm.

“Shit.” He proceeds to pat her down, lifting her modest cream slip up to feel within her thin panties. When he’s satisfied that there’s nothing else, he kicks off of the wall.

“What was that?” He leans in, combing a piece of mismanaged hair behind the round shell of her ear. “Did you think I was going to hurt you, hm?’

“You were beating the door.” She squeaks. “And you could have done it, you could have! Who knows what you would have done for that whore! She came here wearing your stupid hoodie!”

Shhh, shhh, shhh. Hvitserk brings his finger to her lip. He spreads his legs where he stands and urges her to keep silent. It was just like Margrethe anymore to spout off. The more he moved toward other the women-- the more this would happen. Hvitserk flicks his head in the direction of the mismatched kitchen. There he would chuck the knife into the drawer, complete with child locks.

“Did you go off your lithium? Or wellbutrin?” Hvitserk asks at long last, snapping them shut.

“You know I don’t like them.” She admits to her lack of use of the drug. Not… entirely surprising, Hvitserk thinks. He had little doubt that Ubbe was pulling away from Margrethe in the last few weeks. Hvitserk walks over to the cabinet where the medicines were, finding that the medicine was still… there, definitely unused. He pops one open, taking a dosage of each and slamming them down on the short breakfast bar. Then going into the fridge, he pulls free a bottle of water and places that too before her.

“You know she’s my number one fuck. She’s gonna be my fucking girl whether you like it or not.” Hvitserk pushes the cabinet shut, shoving his hands into his pockets this time. A sneer rises on Margrethe’s face the second the words leave his lips. It’s almost as if she’s going to snap off again, or perhaps sob, he’s not sure which.

“It’s not fair.” She begins, but Hvitserk holds his hand up to cut her off. There’s something that he has to tell her and he can’t put it off anymore. His eyes fall to the clicking fake silver plated clock behind her.

“I don’t want to sleep with you anymore.” Hvitserk returns his hands down, folding his hand into a ball. “I like you so maybe I’ve been putting off telling you for your health but enough is enough. Don’t think I didn’t find out you pushed her down the stairs.”

Before she can even recover from that, he pushes himself from where he was to walk around her. His hand curls through her long, blonde hair, pushing her hair onto one of her delicate shoulders.

“I won’t let you get in the way.” He bends down to whisper into her ear. “So don’t make it an issue, Margrethe, hm? You’re too pretty to end up like Magnus.”

She could never be okay with being replaced. As she turns in her chair to plead with him, calling you this that and the other thing-- he only smiles in feigned weakness for her. Let the crazy woman rant out her frustrations. To no avail she pleads with him to see her side of things. When that doesn’t work, she defaults to the one thing that she knows he usually couldn’t say no too.

“One last time?”

She knows it's really over when he purses his lips together.

A hot shower soothes the aches from your tumble down the steps. The warm steam soothes your bones, but the cool little shower tabs that Asta gave you warmed over your skin with hints of jasmine and ylang ylang.

“Man, I always knew that Margrethe was bat shit crazy, but I never knew how fuckin’ bat shit she was!” Asta exclaims as you step out of the shower in nothing more but a fluffy towel. You had bruises in places where there shouldn’t have been bruises.

“I knew she loved him... But to push me down the stairs?” You pout, coming to your cabinet where all your K-Beauty items were. After double cleansing your face, you took a small puff full of your favourite toner to clean your face.

Asta sits on your toilet like a pretzel, leaning back and forth with that dumbfounded, curious look on her face. She leans forward, inching and inching until she’s nearly falling off.

“So what did Hvitty say?” She asks.

Nothing because you hadn’t told him. If you were going to be friends with him, you didn’t need him flying off the handle and asking you what happened, how it happened, where it happened and all that. You can live without that blowout.

“You think I told him?” You laugh off the thought. If Hvitserk knew-- and that was a big if, you didn’t know how he would react. Shit, maybe he would pick her over you. It seemed like more than you personally wanted to deal with.

“You should tell him.” Asta folds her arms. “I mean, call me stupid, but he loves you.”

You glance over to her, tossing the bit of cotton away and reaching into your drawer to pull out a pearl face mask. With one awkward exchange of looks, the both of you laugh.

“You’re stupid.”

Your phone gives off a jaunty ring similar to that of a doorbell trilling. You grasp your phone from the grey pebble countertop, pulling up the stupid little doorbell app that your mother insisted on installing outside the door.

“Speak of the devil…” You murmur, flashing your phone at Asta. She squeaks adorably, hopping up and squeeing right next to you. He looks… different. His hoodie is off, over his firm arms. In place of that, he has a slim black button up. It looks strange on a man wearing a bun. You rush over to the rectangular window, overseeing the entrance to the house on the second floor.

“He’s here!” Asta laughs.

It would interrupt your night at home-- a sleepover with Asta in place of your family being home. Your father was a man often busy with work as he always was growing up. Your mother? Well, she just happened to be working night shifts on a cycle every six months.

“Go, go, go to the spare! Give me that.” You sweep the phone from her fingertips. She laughs, sneaking down the hall while you answer the video call.

I’m on my way! You say.

Hvitserk jumps cutely, swaying to stare at the modest black camera attached to the wall.

“What the fuck is this?” He grins cheekily, moving in to the camera so that you can outline the green of his eye. The way down the stairs is long and tiresome. You almost forget several steps on your way down, snapping this lock and that until the door pops open.

“A camera, dummy.” You pull the door open-- and to your surprise, Hvitserk drops that wholesome smile. His eye runs over the hem of your not so modest towel against your upper thighs. Whatever information he registered shoots right back to his dick, because he hardens up from the semi-hard state your voice put him into to hard in a matter of seconds.

“Yeah… you’re uh… towel?” He flicks his fingers down, reasoning with himself to calm the hell down.

“I like to shower before bed, Hvitserk.”

Not helping. Hvitserk clears his throat, suddenly finding these dark blue jeans really tight from the way his hand drops down around his dick. He leans forward, finding no one behind you. No signs of life either.

“Your people ain’t here?” He asks. In response you step aside, allowing for Hvitserk to step forward into the house. You pull the door shut with a pop of the lock, sneaking onto your tippy toes to kiss him smoothly on the lips.

“Nope!” You chirp the golden words. Or at least half golden.

“You mean I got all dressed up for nothing?” Hvitserk unbuttons the first few buttons on his chest, revealing smooth skin marked by a few honey curls. “Bullshit that is.”

“Always a silver lining though.” Then he shrugs his shoulders, turning back to you. There is one hand that is clasped upon the knot holding your fluffy towel up. You almost release the towel-- if not for knowing that Asta was in the spare, you probably would have. The longer this relationship went on, the more you knew there were certain things he expected of you. Putting out was one of them.

“What did you come here for?” You ask, ambling back toward the staircase. Hvitserk follows after like a hungry dog, fixated upon your trembling fingers. With a lurch and a miss from Hvitserk, you sneak up the stairs.

“Didn’t come ‘ere to get pussy if that’s what you’re thinkin’.” He breaches the top of the staircase. “Bet you were hopin’ for it though. Answerin’ the got damn door in a fuckin’ towel.”

“I saw you coming.” You flick your phone, glinting against the lights that Asta left on. He narrows his eyes at you-- the last warning before he bursts into a run after you while simultaneously cursing his tight ass pants. The giggles combined with Hvitserk’s ragged pants filter in between the crack of Asta’s door.

Hvitserk catches you in the run, grabbing your neck and shoving you up against your bedroom door. A bruising grip to your neck keeps your head tight against the door while Hvitserk rips away the fluffy towel away from your body. Hvitserk’s hand comes down upon your ass with a harsh pop, slapping your skin hot and red.

“Ow! Hvitserk!”

He was rough but not usually this rough! Hvitserk shifts you to face him, his annoying pants loosened and cast off. You feel him before you actually even see the tip of his dick pushing into your moist walls. It’s your shared favourite feeling-- the way that he breaches you and the way that you take him in. For stability’s sake, your hands come to his shoulders even as his prop you up.

It’s strangely different this time.

Almost like a bump-- heavy in your cunt. You look down at Hvitserk as he moves, questioning if balls deep was really the right time to ask him if his dick had something wrong with it. Not bad wrong! You certainly felt a flutter of pleasure when he pushed forward and raked back but--

“It’s a piercing.” He slurs out. Oh. That explains it. “Squeeze me and see how it feels.”

Despite your raised eyebrows-- you do. Too much at first, because he buckles. He shakes his head adorably. Wait, why was it adorable?

“Fuck not that tight. Smooth it out.” He commands. So you do… and before long, he’s the one moaning. Smooth thrusts within your sweet pussy time with your clenching-- and before long, Hvitserk is the one filling the house with his grunts.

Shit, the house. Asta was in the house! It was only down the hall!

Taking it upon yourself, you lean forward to catch his lips. He’s momentarily stunted by the initiation of a wet kiss but just as quickly kisses you back. His breath hitches, puffing against your lips with every squishy sweep of his hips losing control. The first kiss in a while-- and he hates himself for his tummy fluttering. That was the start of the end. In a quick spiral, he hilts and lets his seed spill just where it shouldn’t have: inside of you. This was getting to be a bad, bad habit.

And shit, he was in deep.

“Mother fucker…” He curses under his breath, giving a few shallow thrusts until it was all to nothing. As he sets you back down, it crosses his mind of what a got damn mess he made of your freshly bathed body. The sleepiness hits him right away, loosening the collar of his button up even more.

“You might as well take it off.” You note.

“Whatever you want, princess.”

Off it goes over the floor and like a stupid ass, Hvitserk leans down to his jacket while you move to your bed. Asta would be fine, right? She had the television, her tablet and free wifi. Dinner had been made and usually you would just gossip. So… of course you could skip a girls night with her this one time.

“Why did you come here, anyway?” You ask, slipping beneath the fluffy covers and probably spilling his seed over the sheets. Spunk is supposed to stick so what the hell ever! It would be fine. Hvitserk crinkles a cherry red wrapper, dropping it into the trash and pushing the cherry red treat into his mouth.

Did he always have sweets before bed? He slips beneath the sheets, moving his arm underneath your neck to support you. Friends, you told him you would just be friends. Only be friends!

“Because you were hidin’ shit from me.” Hvitserk turns you in to look at him. It occurs to you that you still have bruising from your fall over your body. In shock of this random fuck… you hadn’t thought about the blotches that mar your skin like the palette of a blueberry high artist. Probably shouldn’t have acted stupid, but you did.

“What was I hiding?” You ask.

Hvitserk makes it his goal to pull your leg over his, snuggling obnoxiously close. What was probably too close before friends but ha, you had his creamy nut between your legs so that was SO far gone already.

“Margrethe.” All he needs for an answer is in that statement alone, but he expands on his statement. “You’re supposed to tell me if shit is up, (Y/N). Pushing you down a flight of fucking stairs? What did you think I wouldn’t take care of you?”

That was a little self explanatory in the fact that you had gotten flung down the stairs.

“You fuck her. You beat Magnus.”

Yeaaaah, but that was Magnus. He’d never do that to you. Men were one thing… women were another. Well, at least good girls. Margrethe had never been a good girl. This sounded like a sack of shit even to him.

“Look I used to fuck her. But I don’t now, honest.” He clicks his lollipop against his pearly teeth, stained with the artificial colouring. “You’re my girl, not her. She’s Ubbe’s girl or-- whatever.”

Probably not anymore but shit, the point remained. He can only hope that you believe him… despite his failings, that he wouldn’t just fuck one pussy and then another. Or at least not when it was you! He knows his reputation proceeds him.

“We’ve been over this Hvit. I’m not--”

“Yeah, yeah, not my girl. Whatever.” He cuts you off, pulling you in. Your hand rests against the smooth, sweaty curls of his chest. “But I want ya to be.”

What were you supposed to say to that?

No, no would have been a good start. Instead, you flutter those stupid eyelashes at him and snuggle in against him, enjoying a rare and intimate moment of peace. Despite your phone vibrating somewhere on the ground.

How could you be so stupid?

@igetcarriedawaywithyou, @kylobien, @titty-teetee, @breathlessouls, @nejijjeoroo, @bcat1291, @readsalot73, @mslothbrok (no mix), @romanchronicles, @captstefanbrandt, @ailucascen, @michaeliskindahot, @concretewaywardangel, @naaladareia, @cbouvier23, @the-geeky-engineer, @dorned, @lisinfleur, @funmadnessandbadassvikings, @tephi101, @akamaiden, @Kirah34, @ethereallysimple, @venusloviing, @happylittlepuppydog, @beyond-the-ashes, @slutforrpg, @laketaj24@hipsternoionlylikeunicorns, @mixedwiththemoon, @sparklemichele, @alicedopey, @lif3snotouttogetyou, @rubyquartzshades, @noregretsandyeteveryregret, @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol, @deathbyarabbit, @unacceptabletatertots, @beyond-the-ashes (no sig), @babypink224221, @titty-teetee, @ivarandersen, @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla, @moose-squirrel-asstiel, @icarus-fell-in-spring, @piebytheocean, @strangunddurm, @atequila, @rekdreams247, @justacrush, @ivarswonderlust, @peachesnpisces, @elenawrit, @equalstrashflavoredtrash, @roxxck, @dylanowhyyien, @ilvebeenabad, @vikingsmania, @huntingbears, @My-Little-Wolfe, @seize-the-droid, @Certifiedpoison, @hotshotstar, @deans–chevy–baby, @moondustmemories, @colourmeinblue, @ilvebeenabad, @squirtleandeeveearethebest, @rubyquartzshades, @queenmissfit, @calaena-banrion, @hallowed-heathen, @Kirah34, @lulura, @looneytunes20033, @Imamom-makingadifference, @sunlightdaniel, @neeadinghugs, @Funmadnessbadassvikings, @mblaqgi, @Natmors, @triumphantreturnofpies, @dmv49, @imavulcanatheart, @attorneyl, @nina2697, @iconicvaleria, @lovelynerdytraveler, @tierneygonzalez, @zabee113, @meganjudee, @nininstinct, @sdcyumyum, @ms-allenbrown, @pancake-blonde, @ivarswickedqueen, @starkiddreamer, @Orange Darko @austenkingmylady, @thisisparadisemylove, @pinkrockstar19, @jeowjungkook, @threewintersoldiers, @end-of-night, @yaminax-kuss-a , @gruffle1, @arses21434@natalie-rdr, @tempt-ress, @Sirena-wesker, @thevikingsheaux, @poisonedjoinery, @smokealone, @chewythecatus, @glopsifum, @laughinglikenialler, @lefrenchfrye, @she-walks-in-the-moonlight, @mybarnesmyhero, @vengefulflange, @imcreepininyourheartbabe, @therealmrshale, @that-goodgirl, @supernaturalvikingwhore, @athroatfullofglass

#hvitserk x reader #hvitty x reader #hvitserk imagine #hvitserk's heathen feast #dark!hvitserk #tw: manipulation #vikings imagines #vikings imagine #vikings/reader #vikings x reader #roundtwo

259 notes · View notes

godkilledthesugarpeas-blog · 5 years

Text

Generic Drugs, Are They As Good As Brand Name?

Product innovation in OTC Analgesics to improve performance, in terms of speed and strength, and further improve the length of the effect. I have tried to buy a number of products from Amazon US, and unfortunately usually find they won't ship that product to Australia. Skinner said. And the samples that have been tested are also apparently responsive to the antiviral medications to buy Relenza is one of the great examples. One of the most annoying aspects of using a retail store to purchase your medication has to evaluate costs. I REFILL MY OWN BY USING A BUTTER KNIFE TO REMOVE THE LID AND FILL WITH MY OWN SOAP. Similarly, there are some medical professional and para medical professional who are using Internet for providing their services without following the applicable laws of India. I think this is very pretty and helpful for those who are looking for patterns or just browsing. Anti-aging skin care products are big business for the Cosmetic Industry as it is one benefit that jumps out to all consumers when looking for the best one to try. Online pet pharmacies offer a variety of branded food products with a detailed description of their key ingredients. You may have heard a friend or family member declare an online Chemists, or perhaps you have used one yourself when ordering medication for your pet. However, just like most medical products they may have side effects which vary from one user to another. He said counterfeit products come in different forms. Work has started and battle lines are being drawn but a lot still needs to be done- and the quicker the better. No other individual is better positioned through training, knowledge and clinical expertise to advocate for the health, well-being, and specific needs of pets. Food and Drug Administration Home Page. If you withdraw money for non-qualified medical expenses or for other reasons, you will pay a 20% penalty (up from 10% in 2010) in addition to paying income tax on the non-qualified amount withdrawn. The reason that generic brands cost less is that they do not spend the same amount of money on advertising as the brand names do. Previously, paper-based records are located in different places and getting access to all of them takes a lot of time and money. Moving consult communications online frees up the time that too many doctors spend playing telephone tag about patient medical issues. Roger Schmidt believes it is time for a change in pain management, and is determined to go beyond masking the pain. Do not skip doses, increase your dosage or reduce your dosage without consulting with a medical professional. If you have internet facility then you can get online help. With live help and assistance, canada drugs online you can have all your questions answered before you make the purchase. Any help will be appreciated. What will happen to the pharmaceutical companies in the US? The AKC Canine Good Citizen Program is a great place to start training all dogs and owners. Lose Weight. Feel Great! The person may feel very giddy when attempting to sit up, may have an intense headache around the forehead, and his or her scalp may feel sensitive to the touch. This medication is not intended to be used to treat mental problems caused by dementia in elderly patients, as the risk of death may be increased. The afflicted may isolate themselves from loved ones or withdraw from social interaction entirely. But we are in the Century of the Brain. Some people have complained that the prices are too high compared to the US. The sun is out, the weather is perfect, and an eclectic collection of people from across the country has gathered to protest mind control. A reference was made to the exterior door of Macy’s department store, noting that “a perp” might have ran into the store. Let your doctor know if you have a history of kidney disease, heart failure, high cholesterol, dehydration, untreated mineral imbalances, high triglycerides, gout and diabetes. Just thought I would add a bit more history. Adding ingredients like PH drops and lemons to water is actually the cheapest way to ionize water. Meats and seafood promote gout attacks. If you prefer face-to-face meetings, there’s the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), whose local offices provide Medicare enrollees with free counseling. Thanks again for the assistance and info on the coupon.

5 notes · View notes

quinlin-blog1 · 6 years

Text

The Lost Island ~ Chapter One

**Just a quick note. This is one of the first ever books I wrote. Disclaimer being that it’s going to be cringe-y at the beginning but it does get better**

The warm May sun beams, joyfully, almost playfully, through the window of a tall house at the end of a quiet street. Children cheerfully ran playing up and down the road and skipping ropes at the local park. From inside the house, a girl of sixteen could see her little siblings as they rough-housed in the front yard. The sun came through the window, illuminating her bright green eyes and shining on her long soft brown hair, with its teal dip-dyed ends tumbling down to her lower back.

That's me. My name is Adriana Langster, I have five siblings, four of which are younger than me, and one is older. I live in Australia, though I won’t say where exactly.

My head was resting on my palm, my other hand sketching the scene in front of me. I found myself smiling as I thought about my little siblings, but then, the smile dropped.

I will be going away soon. My mother is sending me to a finishing school for girls on faraway island. I won’t see my friends or family for three years. My baby sister will be starting school, with my brothers and younger sister.

Flashback:

I was in my backyard, playing With Maya, my baby sister.

"Adriana!" My mother, Lana, called.

"Coming mum!" I called back and set Maya on the sun chair, and ran inside. My mother was sitting on the couch, looking absolutely elated.

"What's up mum?" I asked sitting in my favorite chair, swinging my legs off the edge of the arm.

"Remember how when you were younger, you said you’d like to go to that finishing school that our neighbor Olive went to?" She asked me. Yes, I remembered, but why was she bringing this up now? That was eight years ago.

"Uh-huh?" I answered hesitantly. ‘Wow, really elegant Addy’ I thought.

"Well. Guess who was accepted?" She asked eagerly with a huge grin.

"Lily?" I asked hopefully. ‘Oh No, I don't want to go!’ I begged inside my head.

"No silly, you! They have accepted you in! Isn't that great!?" Mum shouted as she tackled me with a hug.

"Uh mum?" I asked. How was I supposed to tell her?

"Yeah?" She asked, smiling like a goof.

"You do realize that, that was eight years ago right?" I started slowly.

"Yes, time flies huh?"

"I don't think I want to go anymore mum" I told her.

She looked confused. "Why? When Olive told you about it you were begging to go" She pointed out to me.

"Yeah but, I've changed since then. I've made friends, I have a life now. I'm enjoying myself here. That place is a school to teach girls how to become proper ladies. I don't really think I belong there" I told her.

"That's why you're going. Because you need to learn to become a lady."

"If that was your plan to send me there, then why not send me earlier?! Why would you wait till now, when I’m happy and comfortable here?" I snapped.

“Sweetheart your name has been on that list since you first showed interest in going! Olive made sure of it!”

“I know mum! But I've changed from the little girl I was then!”

“Don't think that I haven't noticed.”

“My point is! I've changed, I don't want to go to that school any more. I'm happy with the one I’m going to now!”

"I'm not sending you because I want to ruin your life, I'm sending you because it's better for you and will give you more opportunities." She said.

I shouted in exasperation and stomped upstairs to my bedroom.

End flashback.

As you can tell I didn't take it so well.

Someone banged on my door, knocking me out of my thoughts. I went over and opened it. No one was there.

"Addy!" A little voice cried.

I looked down to see Maya hugging my legs. She couldn't pronounce my name right, none of them could at that age. I leaned down and picked her up. Since Maya was born, we’ve always had a very special connection. I sit down on my bed and bounce her on my knee. Maya loves this. She also find's it funny when someone sneezes. Seriously, it's like the funniest thing in the world for her.

"Addy's going to have to go away soon" I told her. Tears coming to my eyes. I hated the idea of abandoning my baby sister. She needs me and I need her. Maya tilted her head slightly. Her small hand reached up and touched my cheek lightly.

“Why?” She asked me quizzically.

I didn’t want to answer the question, so instead I brought up another subject.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her.

"Yes" She replied. Of course, she’s always hungry. I smiled down at her.

I lifted Maya up and put her on my shoulders. She giggled as I bounced down the stairs. Her small arms wrapped tightly around my neck as she hung on.

I haven't been on very good terms with my mother since that conversation. Though we still speak it's not as carefree as it used to be. When I reached the kitchen. Lily and Lysander were taking large drinks of water. They had bruises and slight scrapes on their arms and legs. I smiled and shook my head slightly.

"Hi Addy,” Lysander said.

"Are you coming to our magic show tonight?" Lily asked. They were always putting on magic shows and performances. The two of them were almost like twins, even though Lily was a few years older than Lysander.

"Of course. Why not?" I told them.

They smiled. Uriah, my youngest brother ran in, holding his superhero figure out with his arms spread wide open.

"What time is your magic show?” I asked. Peeling an apple and cutting it into quarters. "Ow!" I exclaimed when Lysander bumped into me making me cut my finger.

"Oh! Sorry Addy!" He stated.

"It's alright" I said, running the cut under cold water.

"The magic show is at six o'clock. Here's your ticket" Lily stated, handing me a piece of paper with my name and a big six on it. I smiled at my sister and kissed Lysander’s head.

"Ew! Sister Germs!" He yelled and ran away. Lily chasing after him.

"Addy? Can we watch a movie?” Uriah asked me.

"Of course, let's go" I said, Picking Maya up off the counter and carrying her into the living room where Uriah turned on the T.V. Backyardagains was playing. Uriah plopped on the floor in front of it. I sat on the couch with Maya curled up on my lap, gnawing on an apple slice. Eventually I fell asleep listening to the cheesy songs from the show and Uriah’s laughing.

I was awoken abruptly, when the family dog Lee and my dog Twilight ran into the living room, wanting me to take them for a walk. Twilight was huge, being part Dane part husky, I often put Maya on her back and let her ride Twilight. Lee, on the other hand, was just a tiny little thing. We rescued her a few years ago when she was two years old and she still looks like a puppy.

I groaned.

"Alright, alright!" I said. Getting up and stretching. My back made a series of relieving popping noises.

I walked to the door and grabbed Lee’s leash. Twilight never left my side. I had rescued her when she was a puppy from some kids that were throwing rocks at her. I took her home, cleaned her and nursed her to health. Since then she has become my best friend and protector. Of course, she was the protector of the entire family. When Maya was born, Twilight looked after her like she was her own. I was Twilight's mother and Maya was the baby sister.

I clipped the leash to Lee’s collar and I opened the door. I was instantly hit by a wave of heat. Even though it was autumn it felt like midsummer.

We walked down the streets, waving to the neighbors, when suddenly I was slammed into the ground, there was a person was on top of me. Catherine.

"You know. If you weren't so shy, I would say to try out for the football team" I groaned sarcastically. She laughed and climbed off me.

Catherine was quiet most of the time, though when we're together she's quite animated figuratively speaking. She had pale blonde hair and amber colored eyes. It was hard for Catherine at first, because her hearing is impaired, we had issues communicating when we first met for a school project, but my mother had taught me basic sign language at a young age.

But, of course, Catherine wasn’t alone. Our other friend Crystal was standing not too far away during these events, holding Lee. Crystal always loved that dog, probably because she was easy to pick up and cuddle.

Crystal was something else to say the least. Crystal is Catherine’s opposite. She tends to be more girly than either of us. Her black hair was cut just to her shoulders, the roots dyed bright. And she tends to be quite random.

Catherine’s purple streaked hair was pulled back into a ponytail, as per always, while Crystal’s was a riot of braids.

I had already told my friends that I was leaving in a few days.

We had been spending as much time together as possible. We headed over to my house to drop off Lee. Twilight will whine if we left without her, so we decided to bring her along.

"Hey mum?! I'm going to go to the park with Crystal and Catherine!" I called up as I left the house on my bike. Crystal and Catherine had already grabbed their bikes and were waiting for me.

We didn’t usually go to the park, unless we had to take the little kids with us.

Luckily Lily was best friends with Alex, Catherine’s younger sister so we regularly brought them to the playground.

When it was just us, we went to our favorite grove of trees on a cliff, overlooking a lake, covered with vast trees. There, we had made our tree houses, three separate from one main one.

No one ever came here, but if they did they wouldn't have been able to find the tree houses unless they knew what they were looking for. Mine, was filled with pictures that I had taken…I want to be a photographer, a video camera and an underwater camera, a lap top for photo editing, my snorkel and mask, books. The main house had a few seats and an extra-large first aid kit. Catherine’s idea, she wants to be a doctor. Getting up there wasn't easiest thing in the world, let me tell you. We had to make it hard to get up so that people won't think of trying. We each have different ways of getting up. Crystal's way is an inconspicuous platform that she can crank up, Catherine’s is a rope ladder that she wove the first day (It took several tireless days to get this all done, in which our parents thought we were out at a science fair) and mine was a simple, "find as many ways to climb up as possible" kind of deal.

We reached the hang out and climbed up to the main house. I looked at my surroundings. Many pictures of past summers, Halloweens, Christmases, Easters, Birthdays and many more different ones, hung up on the walls. We made this tree house three years ago. It made me sad that I would have to leave it all behind for another three. What will change while she's gone? All this would be gone. We would be older. Nineteen, wow.

"Don't worry Dell. We won't ever change" Catherine said as she came in. I must have looked as confused as I felt because Crystal spoke up next.

"You were thinking aloud Dell”

(Some clarity, my friends call me Dell to stand for Delta, Catherine is Alpha or Alphs for leader and Crystal is Beta or Bets.)

"Sorry, can't help myself. Think, I won't be able to see you guys for three years, excluding Christmas." I stated sadly.

"I'll see you. My mum set me up to go too. Aren't otters adorable?" Crystal asked.

"Yes Bets, otters are adorable. Then it's just me?" Catherine said

"Why don't you go?" I asked.

"Because Dell, you know my mum" Catherine had a point. Her mother wasn't the nicest person on the planet, she was very stern and had a high shrill voice that could cut glass at the lowest whisper. She didn't like me or Catherine very much so she loved to lecture Catherine on us. This was one of the reasons Catherine was so shy.

"You don't have to tell us we're going. You can tell her that you've given it some thought and decided you wanted to go" I stated.

"I couldn't ask for an otter" Crystal sang happily.

I face-palmed, so it's otters now? Last week it was bunnies, the week before it was sloths. Crystal is obsessed with cute baby animals. She begs her parents for one, they say no, she moves on to a new one and repeat. Catherine seemed to be thinking the same thing because she repeated my actions.

"Are we allowed to bring pets?" Catherine asked. Last month, her parents had caved and bought her a pet penguin that she named Sparkle. Personally, I still couldn’t believe that she had gotten a penguin, we were in Australia for heaven’s sake!

"Yeah, I'll be bringing Twilight." I explained.

We were quiet for a few minutes, each one of us doing our own thing, when Catherine suggested going swimming, to which Crystal and I agreed.

I ran out and ran across the bridge to my house, wobbling unsteadily as I did so. I took out my bathing suit and changed quickly, before climbing down the tree and jumping the last few feet to the ground. I raced to the cliff at the edge of lake with Crystal and Catherine chasing after me. I reached the lake and began to remove my shorts and t-shirt and dove into the water just as Crystal and Catherine arrived. I resurfaced and was splashed by Catherine. Crystal was rubbing sunscreen onto her pale skin on shore since she did not tan well. Catherine and I began to splash each other, laughing uncontrollably. After a while we headed back to shore and collapsed in the sand to relax and tan for a bit.

I was going to miss my girls.

"We'll miss you too Dell" Catherine stated.

I need to stop thinking out loud. I thought.

"Yes, you do" Crystal agreed.

"Dang it!” I exclaimed and my best friends laughed.

"What if your mum says yes? Then we could all go together!" Crystal tried.

"Yeah, I could ask her tonight when I get home" Catherine stated.

"Actually, I was thinking we could have a sleepover tonight. You could ask if that’s ok when you go to get your stuff" I told them. I had asked my dad this morning and he said it was all right. He thought that since I’d be leaving soon we should cram in as much time together as we could.

"Sounds good." Crystal said happily. She's always happy. Maybe that's not a bad thing

I leaned over, making sure that my friends didn't see, and picked up two handfuls of wet sand, balled it up and threw it at them. Crystal screamed and Catherine fell off her chair face first into the sand.

"DELL!" They screech. I ran.

It quickly turned into an all-out sand war. Catherine threw one into my hair and I hit Crystal in the shoulder. Crystal set a timer for one hour, and the sand fort competition began. Forty- five minutes later my fort was done, with walls taller than myself and a foot thick. As the others continued to build up their forts. I began to make ammo.

I had made about twenty sand balls before the timer began to sing the duck song. ‘Really Bets?’ I thought to myself.

Instantly Crystal let out a war cry and began to throw sand bombs at both me and Catherine, who ducked behind her fort for cover. I ran around them and behind Catherine. Grabbing a handful of sand and shoving it down the back of her shirt. She squealed and jumped up and down, trying to get the sand out of her shirt. I was rolling on the floor laughing until tears rolled down my face. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Catherine stop throwing sand and look at Crystal. Suddenly they both jumped from behind me grabbing sand and shoving it down my own shirt as revenge.

This continued for ages, with us teaming up against each other. Finally, we all collapsed on the sand, panting for air.

"Alphs, what time is it?" I asked.

Catherine reached over to her bag and pulled out her phone.

"Two twenty- eight" She replied.

"We've been here for three hours?" Crystal questioned

"Yup" I answered.

"What do we do now?" Catherine said.

"Well my dear buddies. We, are going to shower, get dressed, then go to my place. My mom wants to take us out for dinner, to celebrate" Crystal stated.

"Celebrate what?" I asked.

"Getting into school. Alphs will have time to convince her mom to let her go before we leave" Crystal pointed out.

"She has a point" I said.

"I guess I can try. It wouldn't be too bad getting out of that place for a while." Catherine concurred.

"Great! Let's head back and meet up at my place around four, mum wants to take us at five thirty" Crystal said happily.

"Then we can have time to get ready for you guys staying over" I said.

"I'm glad we don't ever do these things at my house, last time it was a disaster" Catherine mused

It was true, the last time we had a sleep over at her house was two year ago. Boy we sure learned our lesson. We accidentally burst one of her feather pillowed and stained her carpet and bed sheets with grape juice, her mother was none too impressed to say the least. Mind you we were like ten.

"We'll have the basement tonight, Lily.... Oh no!" I exclaimed.

"What?" My friends asked.

"Lily and Lysander are doing a magic show tonight at six! I won't be able to see it and they'll be upset”

The last time I pulled a stunt like this they whined at me for three days straight.

"Maybe they would bring it earlier if we told them we'd come" Catherine told me.

Lily loved Catherine more than she did me, though I loved Alex, Catherine’s little sister, tons, so it worked out nicely.

"I'll let her know that" I said and grabbed out my phone and turned on Skype. Instantly a message from Lily.

"When are you getting home? Is Cathy coming with?" It read.

"Well that's the thing, Cathy will be coming with me, but can you move the show the earlier so she can be there? Crys’ mum wants to see us at five thirty" I explained. It took a few moments but my phone beeped again none the less.

"Fine, but You have to be here at five" Lily stated.

"Perfect I'll be home soon. The others will be coming too, plus Alex" I could almost hear her squeal.

After saying quick goodbyes, I hung up the phone and turned to my friends with a grin.

"We're good, as long as your there by five and have Alex with you, she can stay over too.

"Oh, she'll love that. She'll probably screamed louder than anything and run to pack for the night" Catherine said amused

"That's why I love her" I said taking my hair out of its bun that was falling to the nape of my neck and shaking it out.

So, we left the beach back to our houses to drop off our stuff and head back to our actual homes. My brain couldn't stop thinking about how much things are going to change when I leave. I would be sixteen where I got back for the summer. I wouldn't be coming back for another summer for three years, Christmas and spring breaks, but nothing else. Then I would have to go back for another three years. By the time I'd finished the school I'd be nineteen!

“You’re thinking' too much about it Ads! It won't be as bad as you think!”

I have four voices in my head, two boys and two girls. The girls named Cal and Tori, the boys named Zell and Arrow.

Zell, Arrow and Tori mostly keep a level head about things, while Cal insists on always looking on the bright side. They had apparently been in my head since I was born. I hadn't ever told anyone accepts for Catherine and Crystal, who also had voices in their heads. I had never told my parents, though I had come very close to at many points in my life. Mostly when Cal and Tori were nagging me about something, or when Zell and Arrow were annoying me, or when one of them let something slip that they weren't meant to. I got so caught up in thought that my parents would notice and ask me about it. I always lied my way out of it smoothly.

“I can't help myself Arrow. I'll be gone for so long! Everything would be different!” I replied to Arrow’s statement.

“You’re thinking too much about it Sissy! It won't be that bad!” Cal said to me.

“Oh Sure! Everything is Goin' t' be fine and dandy when she be goin' t' a place where she don' be knowin' anyone, or even know where to be goin' Sure Cal She'll be fine!” Zell said sarcastically.

“This can't get any worse. I completely agree with Zell on this one. I don't know anything about where I'm going or who I'll be meeting”

“You'll be fine Mistress. It's best that you go to this school” Tori spoke up.

“Wait? Do you guys know anything about this school that I'm going to?” I asked.

“Er- No, nothing. We only know what you know” Tori lied.

“Nice try Tor. We be knowin' everythin' 'bout this. We just can't be tellin' you 'bout it” Zell covered.

“Under whose authority?” I said, dignified.

“The boss man! The big guy! The toughie! Think about it Ads. He's the one who doesn't want you to know anything about yourself that you don't already know! Remember that time when you were ten and playing football? There was no way you could have made that shot but you willed yourself to so you did! You saved the game because you did something impossible! I'll bet-” Arrow's monolog was interrupted by a loud smacking sound and his loud call of “Ouch”. Tori or Cal had Smacked Arrow.

“Arrow! You weren't supposed to say anything! We could get into trouble!” Tori scolded a pouting Arrow.

“Well it ain't like we can be leavin' Ads in a rut with no way out, Tor.” Zell pointed out to Tori

“But the master told us not to tell her anything she doesn't need to know!” Cal reminded them.

This conversation seems to be very one sided.

“And we ain't goin' t'. But we ain't goin' t' leave 'er with Nothin'!” Zell said firmly.

“Yeah! She has the right to know what's going to happen! Or at least a rough edge of it!” Arrow agreed.

Yep, very one sided.

“Well how do we know she can handle it?” Cal asked.

“Are you kidding me!? It's Ads! Of course, she can handle it!” Arrow exclaimed.

“Are you sure? Because it's this kind of stuff that makes people worry and stress.” Tori pointed out.

“It's Ads we be talkin' 'bout! O' course she can handle this!”

“Guys!” I shouted, finally having enough. People looked at me weirdly.

“Go back to your knitting!” I told them and they averted their eyes.

“Point to Ads” Arrow joked.

“Thanks. What is going on?”

“What we are going on about Ads, is that the fact that you’re going to the school is important, you have to go. But Catherine and Crystal are going to be there too.” Cal reassured me.

Seems like I have no choice. I thought to myself. As I stepped through my door,. I was instantly ambushed by Maya and Twilight.

Maya riding on Twilight's back as they came romping up and trampled on top of me. Twilight licking my face, while Maya insisted on jumping endlessly on my belly. And I suddenly felt the bile rising in the back of my throat. No, I didn't really throw up. Thank whoever may be out there, for my iron stomach.

“Help! I'm being sat on by a demon baby!” I shouted

My mother poked her head around the corner to see what was going on, only to roll her eyes, smile and walk back into the living room

“Thanks for the help!” I shouted after her.

“You're welcome!” Came the reply.

I turned back to Maya who was literally making my breakfast come back up.

“OK! OK! I'll make you a smoothie if you get off” I offered, laboring to breathe.

Maya got off and I hobbled off into the kitchen to make myself and Maya a smoothie.

A loud ringing of the doorbell interrupted my giggling as Maya and myself hid away from Catherine, Alex and Crystal, who were the ones that were ringing.

You see, we were hiding from them, partly because I didn't want to get dressed, but mostly because we were hyper on sugar. It wasn't our fault that mother had left the cake and pies unattended.

So here we were, hiding in Maya's large play house that was in her playroom. We heard footsteps up the stairs and the door open.

“Addy! I know you're in here! I want to hide too” Alex's voice came.

I opened the door and let her into the small house. We giggled and waited for Catherine and Crystal to come up and find us.

“Come on out Dell!” Catherine called.

“Yeah. Either we'll find you. Or the man- eating otters will!” Crystal added.

Que Catherine face palm and Alex's stifled laughter. Crystal and her silly obsession with baby animals. Alex and I were completely busting a gut, so much so that we failed to keep our laughter quiet for much longer.

“They’re in the house!” Crystal exclaimed as they heard us

“No, we're not” I said

“Yes, you are!” Catherine stated

“Can't touch this” I sang quietly to Alex who laughed harder, if possible.

“What did you say?!” Catherine and Crystal asked loudly

“Nothing!” We replied.

I counted down and we busted down the door, running out of the room with Maya asleep on the little bed in the house.

“Can't touch this!” I sang loudly causing both Catherine and Crystal to laugh.

“That's what you said!” Crystal exclaimed.

We ran into my room and collapsed on my bed and floor, laughing too hard.

“W-when do you l-leave?” Alex stuttered out as she tried to calm her laughter.

“In about six days.” I replied, taking in air.

“Cathy asked mother if she could go, I think mother will let her though. I'd love to go” Alex said to me.

“You’re just too young Al. You'll be going soon enough” I reminded her.

“Yeah, I know. Then Lily and I can go together!” Alex said brightly.

“Yeah, we'll be back soon enough for Christmas and then spring breaks. Three years from now you can go too” I told her.

“I know. But it's going to feel like forever!” She emphasized the “Forever” in the sentence.

“I know!”

“Alright Alex. We need to get Dell ready, so out you go.” Catherine said as they walked in.

“Yeah. Come on, Delly!” Crystal Smirked. This was never a good sign.

#Actual stories #first book #Lost Island #stories #superpowers #first chapter

1 note · View note

chicagoindiecritics · 4 years

Text

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: EDITORIAL: Lessons on the New Future of Movie Theaters

Image: pxfuel.com

During this last month or so of our collective national and international quarantine, I’ve been holding the topic of re-opening movie theaters from my usual “What We Learned This Week” columns on the Feelin’ Film podcast for a “Soapbox Special.” There have been so many articles, so many perspectives, and so many rapidly evolving updates and changes that I couldn’t distill them down into one little lesson or column entry.

With several regions of America starting to re-open (including my own state of Illinois and city of Chicago), it was time to get on the stump and arm the cannons. I put some of what follows into spoken word recently on an episode of Mike Crowley’s “You’’ll Probably Agree” podcast, but the issue has grown since then. Click into the multitude of links in the lessons for the deeper referenced stories. They are well worth their reads and your attention. The theme of this all can be summarized as cautiously optimistic.

LESSON #1: WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO GO BACK TO THEATERS — I’ll open this rant back in late May with polling from Variety. It featured a survey of consumer comfort. Here are some bulleted results in numerical order:

91% requested hand sanitizer stations

90% say the most important factor is a cure for COVID-19.

86% supported limited screenings for cleaning time

75% support employees temperature checks

70% would rather watch a first-run feature at home

61% would feel better about mandatory face coverings

60% support audience temperature checks

47% were comfortable buying concessions

46% were comfortable using public restrooms at theaters

There’s more there in that article, but those were the highlights. Beyond even that poll, you’ve got more and more segments of the population who won’t feel comfortable with any public event, let alone a movie, without a vaccine in place. Putting any number of these initiatives in place would be costly, especially for theater chain companies reeling on the edge of bankruptcy.

LESSON #2: WHAT DOES THAT FUTURE LOOK LIKE — Any of those changes from Lesson #1 would make for a very different setting than the “normal” way we’ve been going to the movies for the last century. Many editorials and articles (Seattle Times in May, Vulture in May, and Quartz in June) have tried to talk that out exhaustively with every guess in the clouds. For example, many of us have embraced reserved seating as a way to select our spots, skip crowds, and guarantee seats even if we walk in last minute to avoid 20 minutes of senseless trailers (I know that’s not just me, *wink*). The activity timeline changes upward if we are to stand in a line for temperature checks and even downward if there are no concession lines or needs anymore, which is a tremendous business hit to the theater chains that have been bolstering their kitchen capabilities and choices beyond candy and popcorn for the better part of the last two decades. The other word in there everyone wants to avoid is “crowds.” Can that be accomplished with roped off sections, skipped seats, or an all-reserved seating model (which some older theaters don’t fully have)? In the meantime, you’ve got companies fumbling financial footballs and poking public outcry bears (bravo Michael Phillips) over requiring or not requiring masks (and reversing courses) and other measures before they even open. Do you really trust them to get all of this right on the first try here in July?

LESSON #3: THE OPTION OF AUTOMATION — Piggybacking off of Lesson #2, one potential solution could be artificial intelligence, as crazy at that sounds. According to Variety in May, some theaters in Korea were considering “contact-free” technology. Theater chain CJ-CGV replaced its human staff with AI robots and automated kiosks for scanning and handling ticket transactions. Concession stands were replaced with app-powered and LED-controlled pick-up/delivery boxes. Leave it to tech-savvy Asia to be the tip of that spear. Could the likes of AMC or Regal pull stuff like that off, again, while teetering on financial failure? How do data-danger-minded consumers feel about that?

LESSON #4: COMPANY SURVIVAL IS PERILOUS — The first three lessons constitute a forecast and some great ideas, but who or what can afford those measures? After months of virtually complete closure, save for some door-front concession hawking, large theater chains, especially AMC (which includes the Carmike brand), are in the financial toilet. Bailouts and loans are hard to come by and “junk” status is hitting stock reports. You even have Amazon interested in gobbling up AMC, which would be quite interesting. It may require a rescue such as that. This peril is international as well with CineEurope reporting a possible $20–31 billion loss for the year. Even reopening isn’t an instant cure. The majority of profits for these companies are dependent on concessions because of the high ticket receipt percentages going back to the studios, a gouge that has been increasing over the years at the high blockbuster level (Thanks, Disney). If the food areas are closed due to viral fears and health code regulations, that destroys earnings. 50% capacities of social-distanced seating doesn’t help theaters either. Even 50% might be optimistic. There are theaters opening at barely 25% capacity.

LESSON #5: “TOO BIG TO FAIL” IS LOOKING FAILURE STRAIGHT IN THE FACE — And with that we reach the studios’ level of wallet hit with an inactive theater distribution market. Even with their demanded big bites of the pie, half-filled (or less) theaters do not help them either. This is especially the case at the blockbuster level. No matter the anticipation demand or potential staying power of a really big hit flick with less competition, it is exponentially harder to recoup $200 million-budgeted tentpoles and their $100+ million marketing campaigns if sizable fractions of the screens holding butts are gone or entire chains are shuttered. That’s why the really big stuff like Tenet, Mulan, Fast 9, No Time to Die, and more are not automatically landing on streaming services or VOD outlets. Even at a Trolls: World Tour-equivalent $20 price tag per rental (and its modest success), those giants cannot recoup those huge red balances versus getting a ticket for every head instead of every household. A little thing like The Lovebirds or Irresistible can land in the green with VOD, but not Wonder Woman or Black Widow. A business with a blockbuster class level of movies that once looked too big to fail making its worldwide billions is now failing because they have no place to go and no one able to come to their shows.

LESSON #6: STUDIOS DID SOME THIS TO THEMSELVES — Believe it or not, the studios have slowly damaged their own theatrical success/potential for years with the incremental shortening of the windows between big-screen premieres and home media release dates. Folks my age remember the months of interminable wait back in the VHS and cable TV eras before streaming services were even a glimmer in someone’s eye. For example, Forrest Gump hit theaters over the July 4th weekend of 1994. It didn’t land on VHS until late April 1995 after a long theatrical run and a winter Oscar bump. After that, it wouldn’t hit paid cable for another bunch of months and then years before basic cable made it “free.” By comparison, Joker opened on the first weekend of October last year, hit store shelves the first weekend of January 2020, and no one cares if it comes to HBO or Showtime because Netflix, Hulu, or VOD is cheaper and better. What used to be six months at the minimum (or even an entire year if you were a Disney release) has shrunk to merely 90 days on average. Sure, both Forrest Gump and Joker raked for their times, but it’s an indictment on patience versus money-grabbing. People that are willing to wait can now weather a pretty comfortable amount of time compared to the past for their 4K players and big-screen TVs in their dens. In our current COVID-19 state, we’ve all got nothing but time on our hands to do just that. Why risk health if personal patience versus some “fear of missing out” can pay one $20–30 digital download/disc price to watch a movie repeatedly instead of hauling the entire family plus concessions once, especially for something they don’t deem “big screen worthy?” The studios trying to keep the buzz constant with shorter waits will now see leverage backfire in favor of the consumer. For a current case of that, just look at Disney/Pixar’s Onward and the mere weeks it took to cave from the VOD rental level to dismissively dishing it to everyone in Disney+. With studios building their own streaming shingles, you’re going to see more of that or see more wins for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

LESSON #7: THE PRICE POINT OF DIGITAL — Let’s go further with the digital wants of consumers versus the new risks and hassles of theaters. Circling back to that opening Variety polling again, remember that 70% would rather watch a first-run feature at home. And that was back in May. Imagine now knocking on the door of Independence Day, no matter how much antsy-pant anticipation and hope is out there. That same Variety polling screened respondents on online pricing with some keen results. It asked how much a “reasonable” price would be to stream top-quality productions in their home. Here are those results in numerical rank:

47%- $10

20%- $20

19%- only if it was free

6%- $30

3%- $40

1%- $50, $60, or $80%

That’s 67% holding firm at $20 or under and studios need to do their own projections of math. Regardless, welcome to a more than a little bit of the #firstworldproblems portion of this entire “Soapbox Special.” Movies are wants, not needs, period. They are lovely fulfillment, but non-essential. For every one of those 6% hardcore FilmBros and cinephiles with the disposable income to drop $40 or more to see their precious Christopher Nolan film, over 95% aren’t budging or can’t afford it. Check your privilege.

LESSON #8: ADAPT OR DIE — One way or another, change is needed at the highest level that trickles down to every screen in America. A popular industry that has weathered the advent of television, cable, and now streaming opponents and competition in its century of existence should be able to survive this. Or can they? With the Paramount Accords lapsed, is it time for studios to buy or build their own sustainable theaters to show off their own wares and keep all the profits they used to share with the chains? If studios instead mine the digital landscape successfully, do we really need multiplexes anymore? That is a question posed recently in The New Yorker by Richard Brody in a good read. They’ll need smaller budgeted films to do that, scaling so many things down. Go back to the roots. You can make a dozen solid indies or five or more star-driven mid-budget programmers like the industry used to do in the 1990s with the cost of a single MCU film. Reverting back to that level of business would require some baths and haircuts, but it would rescue the industry. It’s time to embrace those needs. In another angle, columnist Nick Clement on Back to Movies says the film industry is “f — ked.” In many respects, I highly agree with him and his fantastic stump piece speaking on unemployment and the public state of some of those aforementioned #firstworldproblems. Time and patience are the biggest needs.

LESSON #9: “ABSENCE AWAY MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER” — I’ve used this lesson before in “What We Learned This Week” and it’s time to end with it again. Shed away all the polling and conjecture. We all know the love for movies is there or we wouldn’t be talking about it. Look at the success of early openings and the lined-around-the-block comeback of drive-in movie theaters. It will be a topsy-turvy year, without question, even with a full return. We’ve had a zero-budget film named Unsubscribe streaking at an empty box office only to be dethroned by revival screenings of Jurassic Park putting it back to #1 in the nation, George Foreman-style, 27 years after it last ruled the multiplexes. If the year ended today, Bad Boys For Life would get the “biggest movie of 2020” championship belt in the record books. Just like Field of Dreams says, “people will come.” They just need to wait. Everyone, for that matter, from the greedy studio execs and sidelined movie stars to the lowly theater ushers and concession stand workers, needs to wait. This has sucked and it will keep on sucking, but the best answer is to wait and get through this better and healthier, personally and financially, than rushing and screwing it all up. The movies will be there. We want all the people to be there too.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED

Permalink

from REVIEW BLOG – Every Movie Has a Lesson https://ift.tt/2BHtPlF via IFTTT

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3i8582e via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress #CIFCC #film critics #movies #film #Chicago

0 notes

coruscantholonet · 4 years

Text

Sim ongoing

Soooo,first a small update on the sim in that work on it is still going down. We’d love to have an opening date but playing it by ear. Real life comes first, and I’ve been dealing with a lot of health issues so progress is a lot slower than it normally would be for me. Fortunately have had several talented volunteers who are doing great with the build, so expect some more updates soon.

Some things we’re looking for include;

1. Getting a few rigs done.

2. Have a few staff positions as well in both the GM and storyteller department. As always longstanding policy is that we only take on those who do not have staff/responsibility positions elsewhere.

------------Skip below if you don’t like rubbernecking.

Next, I need to apologize. I fucked up. Recently I went at some people who didn’t really deserve the “wrath” which seemed to be a catalyst in a domino effect that crippled “Unification”. I still have many criticisms of it, but that chain reaction allowed for something much worse to fill the void that was created and I speak of “SWU” and “Taris”. While 0% of what I said was a “lie” there was of course items that were speculation and a bit harsh and in retrospect it was regrettable. I had some people with real life connections to Cyprus in my ear and it was very much a fire which was extensively fed by those with a malicious agenda. For all the flaws Loosh and others may have, they would be far favorable to Cyprus. In the entire decade I’ve been here I don’t think I’ve ever encountered someone so corrupt, someone who has not an ounce of integrity or any idea what fair play is. Over the last few weeks I’ve had to hear so many of the regulars here speak of how they’ve been screwed over there and it’s been a bit gut wrenching with the knowledge that I am partly responsible.

One example I will provide of how he and his clique engineered the feud was that they were the ones leaking information from Unification chat. I’ve always aspired to be the same in public as in private, so I’m not usually too concerned with “leaks”, but in this case it was a clear effort to escalate the fighting so that he could benefit from it.

Some other examples during this was when two votes where occurring in Unification at the same time. One of them to take away Loosh’s server admin position, the other on banning me.

So to make that clear. Both Cyprus and Sabastiion/JOINASR traded votes in order to gain support for their effort to oust Loosh. When that didn’t happen and they couldn’t obtain virtual “power” through Unification they instead broke off to make SWU.

Everybody knows I don’t mind a “fight”, to some extent I’ll embrace it. That’s just who I am, but in this case I do think that was used against me as I swallowed the bait and didn’t really take pause to see the agendas at play. In retrospect, with the history Cyprus and Sabastiion/JOINASR have for this kind of thing, I should have seen it from a mile away.

So let’s start with their last sim, in 2017 they made a Corellia sim back when we were Coruscant. We had been under construction much like now, however we had a major setback when those two saw the build then offered the builder a much higher sum than we were able to pay. So they pretty much bought the build out from under us, then there was even some griefing during this period as they sought to do what they could to keep us from re-opening.. much like the present in which they’ve bribed several people over. Eventually their co-admins got fed up with their antics and voted to remove their admin status. In response they returned the build, several builders who had worked on parts of the sim where negatively affected by this and I’m not even sure it ever opened again. Here is what their co-admins sent out at the time..

“ Tonight, (9/4/2017), the ownership team voted on the removal of another owner (Talon) and an Admin (Cyprus). The two of them had continually goaded another SWRP sim into conflict. That sim being Fourth Dimension/Legacies. They bought a build out from under the owner of that sim, trying to use it as their own and rushed to open before 4D was fully able to, and are now pinning that on us. They griefed said sim, and harrassed its players in their group chats on multiple occasions in attempts to either poach from them, or simply troll them. Talon, as an owner did not actually pay into monthly sim tier, and never passed along the money from rentals to the ownership team. We still don't know where that money is. Cyprus, controlled the tip jar in the landing zone, and we haven't seen a dime from that. This sim was started on the idea of civilizing Star Wars roleplay, and being done with this sort of drama. We, the ownership team are deeply sorry that this occurred, and we are going to be working as hard as possible to get the sim back open, and on a clean slate, starting from square one. We will have a skybox area open for roleplay ASAP as we complete the entire sim build. We greatly appreciate your support and patience during this time, and we hope to be back to full scale RP soon! Any further questions, please contact torresalpha12 “

And here is one of the builders of that sim;

[18:34] RedactedA: Eesh, Talon just did a seriously fucked up thing to Corellia.

[18:35] RedactedB: yeah I heard he returned the whole sim

[18:35] RedactedA: He deleted the sim and is now advertising 4D in the groups. [18:35] RedactedA: That's seriously poor form.

[18:35] RedactedB: wat

[18:35] RedactedA: [18:31] Φ Brother Talon (sabastiion): Fourth Dimension (148,128,4083) ((Builds were stolen from here, and they also have 31 people. Looking for more RP outside of corellia? Consider this)

[18:36] RedactedA: I worked on the build there too, I'm a little less than pleased my work was deleted as well. [18:36] RedactedB: He's such a cunt

So, they got removed from position, returned the build then started advertising for my sim.. this after they bought our builder out from under us. I guess they figured they needed to get back on our good side after alienating everyone who had worked with them on that sim.

They didn't even end up paying the builder all the money they'd promised, after they rage returned the sim they blamed the 150USD that never got delivered on the people who they had just left build-less that had nothing to do with the deal.

They turned around and offered us the build parts that the people they tried to stick with the bill didn't even have access to. Trying to get back in good favor with us, we declined though, we pretty much sat there and watched that sim implode like "huh".

09/06/2017 [00:08] Φ Cyprus (DarthWyyrlok Resident): Btw, the hutt palace that [redacted] made for us, probably one of the better things hes every made, did you want to use it?

There are countless other stories like this, they’ve ripped off many people over the years.

[Redacted C]Years ago he was attempting to make a sim. He asked if i wanted to help out and be an admin. Said sure. Paid him 10k and he immediately banned me. Called me a dopey retard for believing him. Part of me agrees with him.Ever since, if he shows up, i typically warn the fuck out of people and avoid him like a herpes ridden 3rd avenue hooker.

[Redacted D]Havent seen him on sim. But he sounds like a cunt.

[Redacted C] he's the lead for the empire on taris

This pattern of underhanded behavior extends to the roleplay itself. I don’t think I’ve seen many cases of worse meta-gaming than from that circle of real life friends with Cyprus, Sabastiion and Nessa. Here is just one example in which Cyprus plays both a Darth and a Jedi Master at the same time.. and...hunts himself.. clearly using one character to inflate the other, this is perhaps one of the worst abuses of alt accounts I’ve seen in my decade in SWRP...

[ Have cut out irrelevant posts from other people ]

[01:46] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1) walked in slowly, a shadow casted over his face as he stood on the dance area for a few moments before continuing forward. His footsteps where silent as if he was trained to walk in silence and his breathing nominalized. He hooded figure would proceed to the bar area where he would slowly sit down on the stool. Once again keeping the silence he had brought in with him

[02:11] Lord Talon walked in slowly his face hidden from all to see. The force around him pulsated as he walked in, each step he took created a soft tick that would echo across the room before drowed out by music. He then looked at the grey robed figure, his scent was masked but he could easily distinguish it from their past incounters. “Ah master Raven Tal” he said with a grin “It seems we meet again”

[02:13] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1) chuckled lightly as his head remained facing forward "It seems I've found you" he said in a low tone of voice as he stood up from his chair and faced Cyprus. Feeling the immense hate that radiated off of the sith warrior. His hands would extend outwards as the jedi warrior's lightsaber flew to his hands and ignighted, the blue blade humming to life.

[02:19] Lord Talon would simply grin at the comment that ordered him out. Instead he would enclose both muscular hands slowly around the hilt of the customized duel phase fouth generation saber as his skilled digets of his fingers locked into place. The weapon reacted to the brush of his touch in which followed a sudden snap and hiss igniting forth an extensive blood shine blade that illuminated the dark room. He gave a slight flourish of the imense blade as he twirled it between his hands before grasping it in a double djem power stance as he looked at the jedi that stood before him as a slight growle escaped from his teeth

[02:20] -Shiva- X -Shev'la Dinii- (ellisa01.turbo) drew her blaster pistols them, aiming one at the sith and then another at the jedi. With her fingers over the trigger she would then shout. "Oi, the fuck out of the establishment, now. Yo uare ruining business."

[02:21] Cyprus Talon (arijonas1) inclined his head slowly, tiping forth his chin in a silent acknowledgement of Lord Talon's invitation. His immense hands had enclosed around the enlongated staff hilt of his legendary blade and drew it close in a duel handed battle stance of Djem So in mirror of Talon's own. The laser blade gave a banshee wail as it whirled about suddenly in a brilliant flourish within the skilled flow of his hands, creating a whirlwind like effect of weaving blue blade before him as he approached abruptly foward, unleashing a controled thrust foward of the extensively long blade towards Talochest as he looked at the mando figure "I wouldnt shoot if I where you my friend" he said as he lunged forward

[ As if the style and names didn’t give it away, here he posted Raven’s post from the Cyprus account, then tries to cover in OOC ]

[02:23] Cyprus Talon (arijonas1): (whoops trying to send that back to him) [02:23] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): (i sent him that post lol and he was meant to check it and send it back incase i missed something lol) [02:23] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): (so just count that as my post so i dont have to re post lol)

[02:27] Lord Talon grinned slightly as he saw him lundge at him. He was more than prepared to dodge such an attack. He would side step away from the blade as he used his own to push it aside as he spun inwards and attempted to knock the side of the saber into Raven's head using his immense speed and strength that was fuled by his darkside enriched powers.

[ Some OOC arguing happened here, as Cyprus did not seem happy other people where interjecting in his fight..with himself, so back to the IC..]

[02:37] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1) moved around the woman standing there as he took into account the woman standing there as he simply rolled around her preventing her from getting in the middle. having maintained direct control over the fluid motion of the drive of the blazing red blade as it plunged forth from Lord Talon to his head, he would not overextend his balance and thus allowed him to counteract the strike to his head from Talon's own saber. There was a cracking hiss as the searing blades would connect he would extend a hand to Talons stomach he would attempt to push the Sith outward of the club to prevent any other distubance of the people inside, this was a jedi's fight, not theirds. And he would do whatever it took to finish it

[02:39] Lord Talon Eyes opened wide as he got hit by the force push, he was send flying out of the room as he then regained his balance by sliding across the floors with his boots that brought him to a halt. As he griped his lightsaber once more ready for Raven. He knew the jedi wouldn’t let the others get in the way so he left them alone and would focus on the jedi who he faced.

[ More OOC arguing about other people interjecting who then called for defenders choice RHCS, admin sides with them. ]

[02:49] Sihivus Verne: ((While V may not have been directly attacked, it is a club. Considering their club is being shot up, they are welcome to take action as judging per group defender roles)) [02:49] Cyprus Talon (arijonas1): (sighs fine just let me and Raven finish because this was an really important rp taht had to be done and this was a sim we chose to meet at we didnt think others would get involved like this and lead to this ooc)

[ Extra hillarious when it is fairly obvious they’re the same ^ argument continues, eventually RHCS fight happens, Cyprus losses to the club bouncer. Of course the Jedi was mysteriously afk during the fight.. ]

[03:17] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): (ugg sorry about that everyone can someone fill me in on what happened, if anything happened in ims thanks!))

.[03:20] Eva Lekach: ( It's ok they got the Sith you are saved. )

[03:20] Eva Lekach: ( back ic )

[03:20] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): (i could have taken him lol)

[03:22] Lord Talon: m would be dragged out into the sidewalk of the the streets of the undercity as he chuckled lightly as he cluched his shoulder which had a bullet wound in it. after she let him go he would get onto a knee placeing on hand on the ground to stabalize himself as his sith coloed eyes looked at Shiva with long hatred. "I will find you and I will kill you, if you have family I sudgest you hide them for I will kill them. You will cry out in pain beggin for death and i will not grant it to you, your pain will be that of 1000 dying souls.: he said as he collapesed onto his back and attempted to roll of the edge of the platform

[03:29] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1) shook his head "An interesting character Cyprus is, as stupid as his creator aparently" he said with a sigh looking to Sparrow "I'm sorry if he disturbed anything here, I mearly came by word of mouth that whe would be here, now it seems that I didnt need them." he said turning to Shiva "As for me, I do need them"

[03:29] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1) "when I leave"

[ The End. Now while that was a few years back, he can’t use the “I was young” excuse, he was in his 20′s at the time as he’s now pushing 30, so this isn’t a case of ‘kids being dumb’. This is a blatant abuse of alts IC, and clear attempts of deception OOC. This pattern continued OOC elsewhere.. ]

[2013/11/02 01:34] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): And there is one thing I want to get clear, whats the big deal if I am an alt, or an old account of someone, which I am my old account got deleted and couldnt be recovered, Look the only reason im still in swrp is to get the rp back up and going between groups, thats why i cam because I know you guys are doing that do. Otherwise I would have given up swrp a long time ago, we all see it deteriating slowly and all I want to do is fix that, and I dont want to do this if people have anegative aditute twoards it. Honestly if I did something that got you upset please tell me and I can fix it! Please, I'm not sure what I did wrong, mearly came to say hello oocly thats all, nothign more nothing less then I got bombarded with questions. Im just confused is all [2013/11/02 01:35] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): alts are fine, but pretending to be an elder ooc is not and might get you banned in some places. [2013/11/02 01:37] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): what are you talking about lol Ive been around for a very long time in swrp. Back when the soverignty existed and besipin was still going strong and coursant was a dominant system, Ive been around for a while, my old sith master was MagmaRyu, he was one of the most well respected sith back when I was an apprentice and I was very luck to have him as a master otherwise I woulndt be her today [2013/11/02 01:37] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): So I'm not making anything up [2013/11/02 01:37] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): there would be no reason to [2013/11/02 01:38] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): that is not old [2013/11/02 01:39] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): thats about 5 years ago that im talking about [2013/11/02 01:39] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): 6 probably now [2013/11/02 01:39] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): well log on and lets see, if you are as old as ranogar [2013/11/02 01:39] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): he would remember back then [2013/11/02 01:40] Raven Tal (aaronsterling1): i cant, my account was deleted my some ass, honestly how else can i prove this to you haha [2013/11/02 01:40] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): do you realize how many times i've heard this? Over the span of almost 8 years?

[00:57] Cyprus Talon (arijonas1): Raven came to me earlier today and seemed upset and confused by something you said, hes a dear friend of mine so if I could, what did you say to him? [00:58] Chaos DarkRose (nymph.zenith): i have no idea what you are talking about [00:58] Cyprus Talon (arijonas1): Raven Tal, he said he talked to you the other day...

Besides learning how to use spell check? there has been little growth in Cyprus, he’s still someone who utilizes OOC methods to gain IC power. When he failed to make a mark legitimately, he now tries to buy the status. Rewarding those who support him with high combat system ranks or even real money in some cases. So like I said, going after Loosh and Uni was dumb on my part as I enabled the rise of the most corrupt motherfucker in SWRP. So there is some obligation to raise transparency and awareness of some of his past antics. Some of his past names even seem to be banned by Linden Labs, I couldn’t tell you why but found that interesting. Take all of that for what you will. I’ve provided materials to backup pretty much everything I’ve ever said on him, it is a rarity when you have to speculate so little to illustrate what a colossal garbage person someone is. Play where you wanna play and do what you wanna do, but do it with eyes wide open.

Their platform is the exact same pledge they made in 2017, just a couple weeks before they destroyed a sim many people had worked hard on..

8-22-17 “Star Wars Universe Town Hall Agenda”; created by Sebastiion

“This notecard will explain what we will be talking about in more detail during the Townhall Meeting, as well as explaining a little more about Star Wars Universe. The purpose of Star Wars Universe is to strive to create a multi sim roleplay experience, executed through Star Wars Roleplay groups within the community. In light of recent events, and in the past couple of years of roleplay, the community has drifted far from what is used to be. By working together and by leaders stepping up to the plate we can accomplish a community that speaks for all of us instead of only one individual.

What will we be talking about?

*Why has Star Wars Roleplay fallen apart.*

*How Star Wars Universe can play a huge role in restoring trust within our community.*

*How Corellia, Dantooine, and other key sims can play a supporting role in this.**

Why it's important that the leadership within the community drives their ideas from its *entire* player base, and not just from a *few* key leaders.*

*The future of Star Wars Roleplay and how we can make this project a success.*

Once these topics have been addressed there will be a time for questions, comments, suggestions, etc. Remember this movement is a grassroots movement that starts with you. Attending this town hall and making your voice's heard can help shape the future of Star Wars Universe. The link will be posted in a notice an hour before we begin.”

I guess they changed their mind by 9/4/2017 when they returned the sim :(, point being, they are full of false promises, and pretty much anyone would be a favorable alternative to having these meta-gaming scam artists continue to assert influence over the community.

------------

“Dark Lord” lolo, not sure if I’ve ever seen a case of someone less deserving.

youtube

#ToolCyprus

0 notes

interviewtion · 7 years

Text

Niku Gutfuck Interviewtion

In this interview I talked to Texas-based musician Niku Gutfuck about the role of ambient music as a healing tool, the inspirations for their new EP, and the process of focusing on addressing mental health. Q: You’re extremely honest and outspoken about your struggles with mental health. How have those struggles informed and inspired the music you make, especially on this new EP?

A: I've had these issues for a long time but never bothered to talk about them. I never really knew how to. That said, I didn't know how to make art about them either. I didn't even know I had bipolar disorder or OCD until I was diagnosed this year. It all made sense after I was diagnosed, but finding out I just...gave up. I stopped caring. I skipped class, I never went outside, I avoided other people. I just kinda existed.

Relating this to the EP, someone very dear to me who had been a very big part of my life for about two years tried desperately to help me. They tried their best, but the issue is I didn't. I instead, pulled the stupid pity party card multiple times and found myself being like "well, this is just life. Whatever," rather than growing the fuck up and taking the initiative to make things in my life better. Suffering took zero effort. That's why I decided to just be miserable. Eventually, these issues of mine took control.

I said things I didn't mean and acted in ways I never thought I would, all to this person that has always been there for me. I hurt them badly. We ended up going our separate ways. I didn't realize how much their company meant to me and how much I had taken them for granted until they were gone. It was too late. I grew the fuck up too late. I did everything too late.

I found myself remembering that this person always told me that I was one of the few people who truly cared about them. That I was always there for them. That I was very important to them. And in return I gave them a big "fuck you" without even realizing it because I was so clouded by my own self loathing and selfishness. It fucked me up. I considered this person family, and honestly still do. But because of me they are gone. It pains me more than I could ever explain.

This EP is about that. It's about me grieving over losing this person. How much I miss them. How sorry I am. How I decided to start self harming because I couldn't live with myself. How I became even more of a shut in because of my actions. And finally, realizing that I need to change.

It's entirely ambient because I feel like droney ambient music is best at giving off intended emotions. Ambient music is very personal, I feel like lots of people don't realize that. The message behind the EP is "look into yourself, see if your problems are becoming you, and change it before it comes at a price that you would have no choice to pay."

I don't want my listeners to be like me, I want them to learn from me. I don't see myself as a role model. I see myself as a colossal fuck up that's trying to change their ways and NOT be a colossal fuck up. I care so much about all of my supporters and their well being. To be honest, I want to make that person proud despite everything. I hope I am. Take your mental health seriously. You don't want to find comfort in your problems. That's a path that leads to a very dark place.

Q: In your essay on your latest release you talk a little bit about Tamakichi Anaru, so how has his visual work inspired your own music? A: Snuff films used to really interest me in the sense that I never really got what motivated people to do such acts. Anaru-san's work is very very violent and, to be blunt, fucked up in nature ranging from the most heinous acts of violence to straight up gore porn. I find Anaru-san's work to be in a sense some of the most human shit. To explain, we're fucked up.

I have a writer friend named Noah, who once told me that he believes that humans are naturally born evil. Though it isn't as black and white as that, there is some truth to the statement. The human race in general is just fucked up. We spread the message of loving each other through media outlets or to strangers passing by, yet we hurt each other every single day. Slavery, genocide, war, oppression, even things that are on a smaller scale like bullying. This is the shit we do to each other. We make each other miserable.

I feel like, in a way, Anaru-san's work is a manifestation of that. It's fucked up, and in no way do I condone any of it, but at the end of the day all of us have the potential to be fucked up. Some people just choose to hide it behind a mask. Q: What made you end the Midori Kida project in order to start releasing music as Niku Gutfuck? A: Niku Gutfuck started last year, actually. I was releasing very violent harsh noise music, it was straight up a wall of power electronics. The project initially was started because of my experiences with anger issues and obsessive compulsive disorder.

It was meant to portray a feeling of anger. As a society, we look down upon anger. Anger is painted in a negative light all the time, people with bad anger issues are often demonized, and looked at as violent people that just want to inflict pain on others. For the longest time, I shamed myself for it because of that. I believe that we shouldn't be judged for our emotions, but for our actions. Anger is human. We tend to think of humanity as whatever the media portrays humanity as. That feeling of being an outcast due to my issues was initially what inspired Niku Gutfuck.

Midori Kida, however, wasn't at all as deep as that, nor do I think it ever could have been. I was catering. It was me not being myself. It felt like I was making music under someone else’s project. That's a very harmful way to look at doing something you like to do, but it's the truth. I didn't realize just how personal Niku Gutfuck was until very recently, so I decided to keep the name and take the project to new places, while still keeping the themes that were personally significant to me.

Q: How did you choose the name Niku Gutfuck for this project? Are you worried at all that a name like that might turn some people away from listening to the music? A: Originally I just picked it because it sounded violent and angry enough for the context of the music, but after I got tired and upset with Midori Kida, I realized I had some personal connections to it. Like I said, Anaru-san's films depict the ugly fucked up side of humans that we like to pretend doesn't exist. Well, one has to be ridiculously fucked in the head to commit such heinous acts of violence upon another person. To me, it's giving in to your mental health problems. Letting them take control and change you. You're no longer yourself, you're your problems wearing your skin and passing off as you. It makes you harm people, break others, destroy them because your mental health problems grabbed you by the collar and you didn't have the willpower to force them to put you down. Just like I did to my best friend.

Like I said before, I want to make music so people learn from my mistakes, I don't want people to be like me, I want people to LEARN from me. Mental health problems can be fixed with time, willpower, and effort. It takes courage. Something I lacked. And in turn I hurt someone who was very important to me. Niku Gutfuck is supposed to symbolize that. Not even being yourself anymore. Becoming a costume that your paranoia wears to look like you.

I was worried about the name at first, and in a way I still am, but the more I thought about the personal aspects the more I felt like I had to. I'm so obsessed with people being happy honestly. Happiness is the best thing in the world in my opinion. Just seeing someone, anyone, happy makes me emotional and happy too. But while that's something I wanna do with my art, at the end of the day I need to do this for myself too. I do this for other people, but I also do it for me. Art is the only method of self expression that I have. I want to make things for people who need it, but how can I expect my art to help others if it can't even help me first?

Q: What is the appeal of ambient music for you? A: My friend Warren (he makes music as Foxes in Fiction) once described ambient music as "audio xanax". I think that's very accurate. To me, ambient music is the epitome of emotion. A lot of ambient and drone-y experimental music doesn't have a ton going on, and I normally see that as a common complaint with the genre. I, however, think that is fine. There is this science where certain frequencies and tones can make people feel certain emotions. Music can be healing. That inspires me a lot.

Ambient music is a genre I always find myself going back to, especially when things start to become overbearing. You don't have to worry about any drastic changes, it's pretty much just music to remember things to. I enjoy that. I'm a very sentimental and sensitive person, so I remember things in my life a lot. Good and bad. Ambient music tends to be my soundtrack for that.

Q: Who are some of your personal favorite ambient/drone/noise artists? Do you have three albums in those genres you would recommend to people who aren’t familiar with them? A: An artist that has always been there for me is Yuko Imada. In fact, Yuko Imada's "Untitled (Moon)" was pretty much 99% of the inspiration for Everything is Gone. On Seeing has been my favorite song for years, I listen to it when insomnia keeps me up. I Am A Lake of Burning Orchids has also inspired me a ton as well. I also can't go without mentioning Watashi no Koko and Apollo Knives. Since I have quite a few influences for this album, I decided to give five recommendations instead of three, simply because there are a lot I recommend. Yuko Imada - Untitled (Moon) I Am A Lake of Burning Orchids - Summer in My Veins Apollo Knives - The Harshest Winter Watashi no Koko - まごころを君に Nobuto Suda - Modest Calm I also want to point out that the Yume Nikki and .flow soundtracks are fucking fantastic. They inspire me a lot, both of those games are so dear to me.

I really wanna talk about some of the other artists that inspire the album I am working on. Not ambient artists, but I really feel like I should point them out because of how much they all mean to me.

One of my biggest influences is Halsey. She's honestly one of my favorite artists of all time. Her music is so important to me and she's somebody I really really look up to and view as a hero. Her lyrics hit very very close to home to me, I relate so much to them. Reading interviews with her and seeing that she also deals with bipolar disorder makes me feel like I'm not alone. I usually feel like I'm an outcast because of my BPD. Like I shouldn't have anybody close to me and I should remain in solitude cause I'll just end up hurting them by accident. She showed me that my mental health doesn't have to define me. She influences me in so many different ways, in my opinion all of her music is perfect. I honestly can't stress enough how vital Halsey is to me and how much I look up to her haha.

I feel the exact same way about Meishi Smile. Meishi Smile has been one of my favorite music projects for so so long. The amount of raw emotion in the music is so breathtakingly beautiful to me, I've viewed Garrett Yim as a hero since I was a Junior in high school. I've always been obsessed with his countless projects (nono., and the previously mentioned Yuko Imada) and honestly he is one of the reasons I ever started making music in the first place.

Meishi Smile and Halsey both make me feel like somebody gets it. Every day I wake up and feel like I am inhuman. Like, my mental shit makes me some monster that deserves to have nobody. They show me otherwise. I wanna do that for somebody at the end of the day. Show someone that they are not alone.

On another note, I am also very inspired by J-Pop. I really love the works of Yasutaka Nakata, whether it be Perfume, Capsule, or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (the queen haha). J-Pop just has this sound to it that really makes me gravitate towards it. It sounds very happy on the surface, but if you look deeper it's a very dark genre, a good example being Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's music video for Kira Kira Killer (one of my personal favorite Kyary songs) exploring themes of death.

Tyler the Creator is also a colossal influence on me, he's helped me a lot when it came to dealing with my anger issues and shit. And of course I am also very inspired by Porter Robinson and Madeon, they are also heroes to me. Also, anime haha. Stuff like Danganronpa, Anohana, and Madoka Magica fill me with this weird urge to recreate how those franchises make me feel and how they sound to me.

But I get most of my creative inspiration from my personal experiences. I do lots of venting through art. All of the upcoming album is me doing that. Venting. I have a lot of emotional scars and have so many regrets. This new album is so personal. One song is about how in my state of feeling torn up over what I've done I turned to drugs as a coping mechanism and ended up having this mental breakdown after getting super fucking high. Another is about my dependency issues with self harm and how I've become addicted to cutting and burning myself. It feels weird, honestly. Makes me feel kinda naked, you know? At the same time it feels so good putting feeling into my music. Letting out all my regrets, grudges, and anxieties into a tangible form just feels...good. It's something I wish I've always done rather than make music I'm not proud of. I'm hoping I find myself while making this album.

Q: It seems like video games are an important component of your life, so do you ever see yourself soundtracking a game? A: I've actually thought of this quite a bit. I'd love to in all honesty. I'd soundtrack any game really, but I'd really love to make the ost to a Yume Nikki fangame. Yume Nikki is such an important game, it's amazing that Kikiyama was able to create such a dedicated fanbase over a simple little RPG Maker game. I still visit Uboachan, though not too frequently.

I first got introduced to video games in the Gamecube/Game Boy era, so growing up games like Pokemon Silver, Sonic Adventure (both of them), Super Mario Sunshine, and my favorite game of all time Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess took up all my time. I remember maxing out the ingame clock in Twilight Princess haha. From there I graduated to PC gaming, and now the game I've been playing the most of is Overwatch. I'm pretty garbage at it but competitive has been helping me get better. I'd also like to point out while we're on the topic of video games how much Danganronpa means to me. It's one of my favorite games and makes me hella emotional. There's a song on my new album about it haha. Q: What do you have planned for the future of this project? A: I have a new album coming out at some point that’s named Stay. Niku Gutfuck is split into two different styles: The ambient, droney harsh noise side such as Everything is Gone, and a very J-Pop inspired electronic music side. The topic of Everything is Gone is gonna be elaborated on in a few songs, as well as other topics I want to get off my chest. I am not sure when this is coming out, where I will release it, or if I will fuck with any labels at all, I am just trying to get my emotions out in audio form as of right now. I'm ultimately trying to improve as a producer and musician as much as I can, music production is honestly something that I just adore fucking with and I can't see myself stopping no matter how discouraged I get.

There's this fire in me that won't let me stop, and I am so glad it's there cause it keeps me going. I'm trying to find an artist to work with to make the album cover, especially since I love working with visual artists. The feeling of two artistic minds that focus on different art forms coming together to create something is so inspiring to me and one of my favorite things about making music.

Be sure to follow Niku Gutfuck on Twitter to keep up to date!

4 notes · View notes