The (After) Life of the Party by @metamatronic
Chapter 16: 2 Birds
the winner of my fanfic contest, where I asked for folks' fic recs and their fave scenes and picked one at random to draw
All credit to @metamatronic head over to their blog to check out their fics and wonderful art! They've got a bunch of extra ghost au interactions, as well as just tons of great stuff in general!
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“ Don’t ,” Mondo said. His voice sounded weak, and for once he didn’t care. “Please, Kyoudai, please. Just don’t go in.”
For a moment, Taka hesitated. Mondo held his breath, watching as the prefect’s hand hovered over the doorknob. Then, mechanically, Taka leaned back and checked his watch.
“Right on time,” he said with a twinge of relief, before grabbing the knob and pushing his way into the room. Mondo’s feet felt like bricks, but he followed.
For a moment, it looked like Taka was alone. Taka huffed, checking his watch and straightening up. No amount of white hair or fake curse words could change his thoughts on punctuality, it seemed. Mondo let out a choked laugh.
Maybe Hifumi chickened out , Mondo thought. Maybe the plan fell apart, or Chihiro got through to him. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
But the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, and that unease in his stomach hadn’t settled. His eyes darted around the room, before catching the glint of glasses as a figure stepped out from behind the open door.
Hifumi was wielding a large hammer as he shuffled over to Taka. As he lifted the mallet over his head, Mondo let out a snarl and went in for a tackle.
As he phased through Hifumi, he heard the nasty crack behind him and felt his blood run cold.
Mondo fell to his knees at Taka’s body. He paid no attention as Hifumi let out a small noise of disbelief before shuffling out of the room. He watch Taka’s eyes flutter— he was still alive, he realized, bile rising in his throat.
“C’mon, somebody, anybody ,” he whispered, trying to will a witness to come through the door and help the man bleeding out on the floor.
Taka groaned, trying to push himself up before collapsing. Mondo watched as his hair slowly darkened back to its natural color. Mondo reached out, before recoiling. He was terrified that he would actually make contact, that he’d somehow drag Taka into this ethereal hell he and his other classmates were living in.
“Don’t die, just hang on. Someone’ll come, someone’s gotta come,” Mondo said. There was so much blood. It was just like Chihiro, just like Dai—
Mondo shook his head, trying to violently shake the thoughts out. He couldn’t do this, not again, not now.
Taka murmured something and Mondo snapped to attention.
“It’s okay, Taka, you’ll be okay. Just hold on,” Mondo said.
“Mon…do…” Taka’s voice was quiet as his eyes slowly fell shut. Mondo stomach twisted.
“No, no, no,” Mondo whispered frantically. Just as Mondo leaned in, something flew up with such force that it smacked his chin and sent him reeling backwards.
Sitting up and rubbing his chin, he looked over. He froze.
Taka was sitting up, rubbing his head and frowning deeply. His eyes opened before locking with Mondo’s. He stared for a quiet moment before the tears started.
“Mondo!” Taka shouted, tripping over his feet as he practically launched himself into Mondo’s arms. Taka buried his face in his shoulder, and he could feel his hands clutching onto the back of his jacket so tightly he thought it might rip. He was sobbing.
Mondo, for a brief moment, let himself be selfish. He wrapped his arms around Taka and squeezed. He’d never wanted this to happen, not to Taka, but there was a small, terrible part of him that was so thankful to at least get one more conversation with him. God, he’d missed him.
“What happened?” Taka asked, finally pulling away. “H-How are you here? I saw you…die.” He choked on that last word. Mondo stared at him, mouth agape.
“You, uh…You’re not…Um.” Mondo stuttered. Taka seemed to have noticed Mondo’s eyes flick briefly over his shoulder, and slowly turned.
Taka screamed.
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Want to support a fun, researched indie film with a cute dog and get some cool donation rewards in the process?
Time for a little plug! My film, Wishful Thinking, is current raising money for a composer & its film festival run! Our humble team of 12 is working our butts off to get this film finished by May 2024 (our college graduation), and would greatly appreciate your help!
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Wishful Thinking is a researched film that is set in Dara, Turkey and is inspired by folklore and djinns of the Mardin region. Our team has worked with multiple cultural consultants, spearheaded by Dr. Zeynep Arda, to ensure we tell this story in a way that respects and represents the culture we’re drawing from.
As a reward for donating, you can recieve an array of merch ranging from pins to prints!
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What is the most mysterious song you ever heard?
Oh man. That's a pretty broad question.
I have several favorites, one of which is "Mysterious Monk" by the British band Metamatronic. It is ostensibly about the life of George Frederick Handel (1685-1759), but many of its lyrics were clearly chosen for rhyming ability, and it's filled with patently absurd (but rhythmically felicitous!) lines like this:
One day, in sixteen, he was and after he'd been groomed, they sent him off, to study, at Halle
In sixteen thirty four, he left Halle
He now had to go to Hanover, where he met the Elector's daughter
She now saw him and said, "Get off, you London lad"
...
In fourteen thirty seven, he married Mary the Shepherd's Daughter
Her father-in-law was no help, so she asked Handel's aunt
Now Handel was not sure whether this was wise
To marry a rich, woman like Mary, 'twas known as a wise move
Also:
Handel was now an established master of his art
And he had several, important patrons, to bend to his start
When he'd accomplished his aunt-in-law, paying attention to her spy,
They were soon evicted, and in shame departed and left town
(there's more in this vein but I think you've got the idea)
I can't quite decide whether this makes Handel more or less mysterious, actually. "What is really going on here? What are we to make of these facts, which are (with a few well-chosen omissions) true?"
"Even Handel, the great, was a victim of the machinations of Hanoverian politics, so what chance do I have?"
But then, on the other hand: "Is this supposed to be a song about Handel? Could this really have happened? Maybe it's a song about how the composer of the song wrote the lyrics in an ahistorical bubble."
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It’s been a crazy year, but a good one.
On top of hitting a major follower milestone on here (thank you all for your support, it means the world) I also:
Landed a spot in an exclusive 30 person animation program that I’ve been aiming for since high school,
Pitched a short film premise that was selected to move forward,
Was selected as director for said short film,
So while I’ve been taking a well-deserved break these past two months, I wanted to thank you all for being such a wonderful community to share art with, regardless of the fandom. A lot of the progress I’ve made as an artist has been due to the love and support I’ve received here.
Here’s to an even more fruitful 2023. :)
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It's finally time for our contributor reveal!!! These are the talented Hajimepilled individuals who will be creating for our zine!
Page Artists:
Dreamaruu: @dreamaruu
A.J: @artisticjeans
Alltea26: @all-tea
AsahiIsLate: @asahiislate
bluejayboju: @bluejayboju
Diesel: @hajihiko
Gabi: @dr2-hell
Mae: @vhsghostricks
Meta: @metamatronic
Miz: @awesomesug4r
Noodle: @doodles-by-noodles
phobosketch: @metal-queer-rex
Primrose: @maybe-a-moth
Q: @qt33pi
Quinn: @quinns-art-box
Rain: @shangerez
Sunny: @solarskips
Yagito: @go-hop-to-it
Writers:
Alexia: @ninasfireescape
goshdangronpa: @goshdangronpa
illym: @illym
Kalcifer: @candidateofloyalty
Keane: @/peachykeane (Ao3)
Lava/Leon/Logan: @punk-pitcher
Leo: @/shorthairizuru (Twitter)
Lopp: @hugeresolve
Naz: @1queer-bookworm
president-homewrecker: @president-homewrecker
Rin: @rin-chan32
Rose: @kibasniper
Sasha: @hope-speak
Soda: @/MxSoda (Twitter)
Tee/Cherry: @one-way-dream
WeirdDancer:@dancingnever
whorkn33: @whorkn33
Merch Artists:
Emmy: @hellscap3
helloweezz: @helloweezz
Lee: @nnytheprice
Oli: @/cockar00miss (Twitter)
SunndropCitrus: @sunndropcitrus
Yagito: @go-hop-to-it
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