#love sitting some characters down on a vague object on a vague background. go be in the outdoors. just dont sit by anything complicated.
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deeply frustrating to eavesdrop on, i'd imagine
#love sitting some characters down on a vague object on a vague background. go be in the outdoors. just dont sit by anything complicated.#in stars and time#isat#isat spoilers#isat loop#isat siffrin#in stars and time fanart#isat fanart#this doesnt have any wider context i just wanted to draw some facial expressions and poses. also speech bubble practice for me#so sorry about the hand lettering but i was trying something 👍#anyway i hope loop's extemely fake annoying 'stoop to my level please' laugh comes across as that specifically lol
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Eli Finch Alphabet 18+
Bastard, feral man! I literally conjured this man into my mind involuntarily and now he's stuck there. First time I've done something like this so hopefully you guys like it! I've based this on an alphabet template I saw credited to @/dear-yandere. I will probably do a much more in-depth one, about how he met the reader and some background info, but I thought this would be a good starter! Also, there is a bit of an NSFW section but I'll warn you before :) Also swearing!!! I see him as Jack O'Connell but see him as you like! 18+
Also, I haven't published the majority of the story yet so most of this is just can be seen as a character study as I have left some things a bit vague to not spoilt potential future plots. If you want to read the beginning of his series go here!
Okay before we get into it, let's cover the basics.
Eli is a bastard through and through. His early years were not kind and in order to survive, he did what he needed to do. Stealing, lying, cheating, violence, manipulation, etc. Now I know what you're wondering, but why does the reader care so much for him? Why do they seem to not care about his more violent tendencies? Simple, he refuses to let you see that side of him. Ever since you showed him a crumb of kindness he vowed to always protect you and that means protecting you from the sides of him that border on monstrous. That doesn't mean he won't use his skills for your benefit. We've seen that he is more than willing to lie, cheat and steal to get you whatever your heart desires.
Those jewels look real pretty on you sweetheart
Also, he is a naturally charismatic person and while he hates the idea of physically hurting you or you seeing him be violent, he has no moral objections to using his charms to manipulate you. In fact, he's been manipulating you since the first moment you met. Although it has been in small, innocent-seeming ways, he's been in control of your friendship since the beginning. Not that you had any idea though.
You wouldn't want to break my heart now would you darling?
NSFW:
This man is a fucking massive perv. He's been thinking of fucking you since the day he got an accidental sneak peek down by the river (okay so maybe it wasn't an accident as he claims). But I'm not just talking about just thinking about it, I mean he takes active steps to get as much intimacy from you as possible (even before his change). Whether it be from you yourself, hugging a bit too long and too tight and leaning a bit too close behind you when you are kneading dough.
But sweetheart! I'm just giving you a hand! Don't you want me to give you a helping hand?
Or the way he forces intimacy with you via your things.
You two are sitting up in your room, teaching him to read
You are doing so well!
Do you really think so darling? With all this hard work I think I deserve a reward. How bout a kiss?
When you suddenly get called away by your parents. Hogs to be fed, chickens to be plucked. He doesn't mind, it gives him some alone time with your things. Your soiled clothes, your pretty undergarments and all the time in the world to imagine what you would look like bent over your desk in the corner.
He may love and cherish you but if you think that's gonna stop him from fucking your undergarments (I hate the world panties and we use the word undies in Australia, so argue with a wall, also it's the 1800s) and putting them back like nothing happened your dead wrong.
Then there's the brothel (let's all ignore the existence of STI/Ds please and thank you). After a particularly hard and restless day of trying not to fuck you like an animal bent over the closest surface he can find or hell even the floor, Eli is forced to look elsewhere. He'll take a nice stroll down to the brothel, there he'll find whichever worker looks the most like you
(Also I just want to say sex workers deserve respect. fun fact sex workers in the wild west were often quite rich and would build a lot of the infrastructure of a town, that was why prostitution was outlawed to stop them from gaining a lot of money.)
He'll imagine fucking you the entire time, and will definitely cry out your name throughout the entire thing. The first few times he got the worker to say things like how much you loved him and how you would let him take care of you, but the voice didn't match up so since then the only sound that can be heard is his grunts and moans, and your name being cried out. The worker doesn't mind, they get paid well with all the money Eli stole from the other patrons at the bar.
And this was all before he got turned.
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A = Affection (How do they show their love and affection?)
Oh boy. If there is one thing that defines Eli, it's the length he would go to show you affection. Quite a large part of this is his belief that it is right and proper for a man to provide for those they love. While Eli didn't have a very good childhood, he did have a good father. A strong and devout man who would do anything for his family (even get killed). So this idea of providing for someone was heavily ingrained into Eli from a young age.
However, he missed the lesson about right and wrong. I spoke before about his criminal ways, most of which he keeps hidden away from you. But he will use his skills to pinch small shiny trinkets to place just outside your window when you get mad at him. Blackmail to make sure you are crowned Autumn harvest Queen/King, and his disregard for personal property when he rips pretty flowers from Mrs Colton's garden to give you when you came running to tell him you were to be crowned the Autumn Harvest King/Queen.
Did you hear Eli! Can you believe it? Me!
Of course I believe it, sweetpea! How could they choose anyone else?
And that's not even getting into the amount of physical affection he gives you. Kisses on cheeks, surprise hugs from behind, playing with your hair as you lay along the bank of the river and all the while oblivious you thinking that's just what friends do.
B = Blood (How messy are they willing to get when it comes to you?)
man oh man, you have no idea. Before the change, Eli was already a violent man. Constantly picking fights with anyone who got in his way. Most of the time there wasn't even a good reason for him to break jaws or noses. He just wanted a fight. But if he needed to defend you? If you were threatened in some way? It would be a bloodbath. He would have either just gone straight for his revolver or if he knew he could win, his bare hands would do. Thankfully there had never been a reason for him to defend you. You would never be seen in the areas where Eli lurked looking for trouble, and those you were in the company of were good God-fearing folk.
But after his change? Even a man looking at you for too long would cause him to snap. Not only was he more aggressive now, but he was also a downright predator. Before the change, he would have just started the fight then and there. But now? He would watch and wait, stalk his prey until the opportune moment to strike. These moments were often along dark alleyways or narrow pathways along the outskirts of town. His favourite moments to attack were out on the plains, that way he could take as long as he wanted and didn't have to worry about anyone hearing the screams.
C = Cruelty (How would they treat you? Would they mock/tease you?)
Eli is definitely someone who would tease, but not mock. He's not a very cruel person, at least to you. To you, he is the almost perfect gentleman. Almost, because he looks through his fingers when you ask him to cover his eyes when you get changed down by the river. But other than his less-than-savoruy ways, he truly is a gentleman to you. He is kind and sweet, always pushes in your chair, opens doors, and pays for anything you buy when you go out together. He definitely teases though. He will tease you about anything, what and how you say things, what your wearing, how you act around people
Careful darling, keep acting like that and that boy is gonna think he has a chance at the heaven between your legs
Aw, come on sweetheart! I'm only telling the truth! It's not my fault boys like him are dimwits who think they have a chance. We both know he's never gonna get between your legs. You're too good for a man like that, I mean you're as pretty as a Georgia peach and twice as sweet!
Pretty much all the time his teasing could be called flirting. Which it is, he is flirting with you. Unfortunately for him, you've been friends for so long that you've just decided that it's just his way of being friends.
That is the extent of his cruelty with you, sometimes he does take it further but that's for another time. On the other hand, his cruelty to others has no limit. I mentioned above he enjoys when he can take his time with those he kills. I won't say much, but I will say he is pretty handy with a knife.
D = Darling (Would they do anything against your will?)
Fuck no, not outright forcing you to do things. I mentioned previously he had a good father figure and that was the first thing his father ever taught him. Real men don't force themselves on others. But let's be real this is the 1800s and consent wasn't as black and white as it is/should be today. While a maybe isn't a yes today, telling him maybe is like giving him a free pass. And I don't exclusively mean sexual or intimate things. It can be as simple as jumping from the rope swing by the creek or sneaking out with him to much much bigger things. I mentioned before he doesn't mind manipulating you to get what he wants from you.
However!!!!!! As soon as a no or a stop leaves your mouth he is stopping instantly. He takes his pleasure in being able to make you say yes of your own accord, not forcing it.
I think there are instances when he might manhandle you a bit to rein you in but they are when he is at the end of his rope and has run out of patience.
E = Exposed (How much of their heart do they bare to you? How vulnerable are they when it comes to you?)
Eli acts like a very confident and arrogant person, which he is, but there is sadness within him on the act of his childhood. You know hardly anything. He refuses to tell you anything other than the very basics and even then he has shifted than a bit. It is the 1800s so anything seen as a weakness in emotion is looked down upon. Although Eli knows you wouldn't do that to him but it is so ingrained in him that it would be many more years before the whole story is revealed.
F = Fight (How would they feel if you fought them?)
Physically? He would just laugh. Even before his change, this man was working as a ranchhand and stockman. He has spent years working hard and fighting anything that looked his way. So when play fighting began it wasn't long before you were calling for mercy, although he often pretends to not hear you so he could spend a few more moments pressed up tight against your ass and hands gripped tightly round your waist or chest. You always get mad that he keeps his switchblade in his pocket when you wrestle (it isn't his pocket knife). After the change, there was no question he would win, even if you threatened him with a gun or knife that the same laugh would come through and you would know that you were in for a long night.
G = Game (How much of this is a game to them?)
This man's whole life is one big game. He is constantly looking for ways to joke around and have some fun but don't be mistaken. He may tease and cause mischief but this man can switch between fun and games to a steal-hearted killer in a moment. It all depends on who he is dealing with.
H = Hell (What would be your worst experience with them?)
I have some things in the works regarding this, but one that sticks out is the moment you realise that he isn't the same Eli you knew and loved and that there was no way for him to change back. It would involve lotta blood and gore and the crumbling realisation that you might never have known Eli at all.
I = Ideals (What kind of future do they have in mind for/with you?)
Eli has it all mapped out. A fancy homestead on a hill with white shutters and pretty blue doors. A few 80 acres for some steers and some mares. A pretty garden out the front for you and a large red barn for him (filled with chains and shackles). He wants enough room for all the kids he plans to have (he has yet to ask you how many if you want any at all). He wants you to name them all, he thinks it's only fair since he's gonna change your last name (oh how gentlemanly). He really just wants what was taken from him when he was a child. This time is gonna be different though, this time he will be strong enough to protect his family (like his father should have been)
J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?)
Oh yeah, this boy gets jealous. I went into it a bit above. After the change, it really only takes someone looking at you wrong to set him off. He'll stalk them all the way to their home, and just before they set foot on their property he's dragging them off into the wilds for a quick lesson in manners.
K = Kisses (How do they act around you?)
He is constantly checking you out. Always watch what you're doing and offering to help in any way. Teases like it's his fucking job. Joking around about how your father hasn't married you off yet (never gonna fucking happen, there's a reason your father doesn't ask suitors over anymore) and if both of you are still without spouses by a certain age you should just marry each other (wow so subtle)
I think it's a great idea sweet cheeks. I mean think about it! We're already the best of friends, why can't we just be the best of friend's in our marital bed!
ow! No need to hit so hard darling, if you wanted me to get on my knees you only had to ask.
L = Love letters (How would they go about courting or approaching you?)
This man has been courting you since day one, you are just too much of an oblivious idiot to see it. I have said this before and I'll keep saying it until the cows come home, this man would steal the crown jewels for you. He's been leaving you trinkets outside your window for years now, sometimes wildflowers and sometimes whole clothing he's nabbed from someone's laundry line.
Oh, how you wound me, darling! Refusing to try on the fruits of my hard labour! Come on sweetheart, for me? I promise I won't peek.
He definitely peeks and has to excuse himself to take care of a situation behind the stables.
M = Mask (Are their true colours drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?)
Oh yeah, I think I've explained it enough so I won't go too in-depth but it's really night and day. You get all the best of Eli, all his kindness and love. Those who aren't so lucky get the worst.
N = Naughty (How would they punish you?)
*good girl/boy is used*
Not physically, unless you did something he really didn't like, but in small (toxic) ways. You no longer get little trinkets outside your window, he isn't waiting at the river for you and he won't talk to you when you do see him. He acts like you don't exist. After a few days of this torture, it's too much for you. You've been crying yourself to sleep and you can't take any more. You sneak out in the middle of the night to confront him. As soon as you see him you burst into tears. All he does is take you in his arms and slowly pat your back.
Have you learned your lesson now sweet pea? No more talking with that boy, alright? We don't want him getting ideas do we peaches? Good girl/boy
Oh my goodness I nearly forgot!! This man would have a thing for spanking you. I mean you bent over his knees with his hands all over that ass? Say no more. But I think this would only come in when you do something that could have ended in you getting hurt.
I thought I told you to never do that without me, darling. Stop your crying now, there's no way you're getting out of this one. So be a good girl/boy for once and do as your told
O = Oppression (How many rights would they take away from you?)
*primarily female reader*
Welp, it's the 1800s so if you're a woman (or really anyone other than a white man) boy do I have some bad news for you. Can't really take away rights you don't have. If he were to take rights away, it would all be legal in the sense that as your husband (it was bound to happen really) he really has the last say. So if you try and make a run for it, you'll just be sent right back. On the other hand, it could be a lot worse for you. It just wasn't a great time to be a woman in America (or anywhere really).
P = Patience (How patient are they with you?)
For you? He has all the time in the world. He is more than happy to partake in anything that takes your fancy, even if it may be seen as annoying by others or something seemingly pointless like showing him a rock you found. When it relates to you it's the most important thing in the world. However, put yourself in harm's way or god forbid flirt with another man, things will hit the fan. Not towards you though, no his anger is directly targeted at the fucker who thinks it's ok to flirt with another man's claim.
Q = Quit (If you die or leave would they ever be able to move on?)
Nope, no, never. If you die then that's it, game over. He'll probably mourn for you in the wildness of the north in some forest thousands of miles away from anything that reminds him of you. If you leave???? It doesn't matter if you went to the ends of the earth and back, Eli will drag you back kicking and screaming right back to where you belong, underneath beside him.
All in all, it's you or nothing.
R = Regret (Would they ever feel guilty about abducting you? Would they ever let you go?)
Can't really get into this yet, but I think a very very very small part of him would feel guilt but the majority of him is just overjoyed to have you as his, finally.
S = Stigma (What brought about this side of them [childhood, curiosity, etc]?)
Oh, definitely childhood but that's another story for another day.
T = Tears (How do they feel about seeing you scream, cry, and/or isolate yourself?)
It depends on what type of crying. I think some light tears would result in some teasing.
Come on peaches am I really that bad? Here I thought you liked me. You sure seemed to like me last night. How bout we stop these tears and have some fun?
but ugly sobbing? That's a different story. He is a true protector at heart so it would cause some emotional damage to him. Although it does give him a good excuse to get close to you.
Screaming? He would find it a bit silly and ridiculous. You've known each other for years so this is no way friends act around each other. This is where I see the manhandling come into effect
Is this really how your gonna act? Like a child? I think your way past acting like that at your age. But If I need to put you in your place, so be it
Isolating yourself? How? this man is in your business 24/7. You can't even try to ignore him, he's just so annoying
U = Unique (Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?)
I can't really think of anything at this stage. There are so many good writers out there with all their own little quirks added into their writing so I really don't know how Eli differs. If I had to make a choice, it would be that his yandere tendencies aren't really acted upon you but onto those around you. if that makes sense? If he never turned, you might never have known how willing to kill for you he was.
V = Vice (What weakness can you exploit in order to escape?)
Lust for sure! This man has wanted to fuck you for years. He's so horny for you, he couldn't see a trap being laid from a mile away.
Well, would you look at that! Ain't that a pretty sight! And all for me? you spoil me, darling!
(flashforward to him being knocked out by a wile e. coyote-looking trap with his pants around his ankles)
W = Wit’s end (Would they ever physically hurt you?)
Not in an extreme sense but a little punishment for trying to do something dangerous he told you to never ever do? Oh yeah. You'll be bent over his knee quicker than you can say I'm sorry.
X = Xoanon (How much would they revere or worship you? To what length would they go to win you over?)
This man worships the hell out of you. You were the first person to show him kindness after his tragic childhood. Since then you are the apple of his eye. He would do anything for you, no questions asked. You tell him some people have been rude to you, and he'll ask how many graves he needs to dig. Moreover, your body? His temple. That place between your legs? The altar on which he worships you. This man is a simp.
Y = Yearn (How long do they pine after you before they snap?)
This one is quite tricky. If he never turned, I think he might have never really "snapped". I think he would have eventually told you what he really felt and it would have been a happily ever after situation - he had actually planned on telling you before he left for mustering but talked himself out of it. But with him changing everything went downhill, all the raw emotions he had were multiplied and the love he had before exploded into obsession. If we are looking at it as a before and after sorta thing, as soon as he changed he snapped. He had been pining after you for years and now all those emotions, which were strong already, became tenfold.
Z = Zenith (Would they ever break you?)
Break in a physical way? No.
In a mental way? Never, your personality is the one thing he loves the most about you - that and your thighs.
In an emotional way? Oh yeah, he's gonna wear you down until you can't find the strength to say no to the ring he's placing on your finger.
#oc#eli finch#yandere drabble#yandere x reader#yandere imagines#yandere#cowboy yandere#yandere werewolf x reader#werewolf#yandere werewolf
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Gray Morning, Golden Home
Pairing: (poly) Jeongguk x Jimin x Taehyung x Original Character, [background OT7 implied]
Summary: (Indulgent fluff without much plot) Hari has a quiet morning with her magical boyfriends and their many, many familiars.
Contents: soft, magic!au, college/university!au, fluff without plot, jimin is a troll, jeongguk is a good boyfriend, taehyung is soft, oc is whipped, there are so many pets/familiars i had to make a sidenote to keep up with them all
The morning was cold and gray and damp.
Hari grumbled, still half-asleep as she buried her face in the folds of her comforter. The pale morning light was shining through the gap in her curtain, not warm, but piercing and cool. She was a fan of mornings like these, but still didn’t like to wake up any earlier than she had too.
Fortunately, it was the weekend and she wasn’t forced from the comfort of her bed by any alarms or pressing arrangements to get to class or work on time.
Hari could hear Bass yelling in the kitchen, the little cat demanding her breakfast as the dogs ran around the linoleum. There was a pause from the cat and the sound of cat food being poured into a dish. She could hear Jeongguk quietly scolding Holly and shooing him away to his own bowl.
Hari snorted. Rapmon was the one that needed looking after the most when it came to stealing cat food. He was one of the biggest of their bunch, but quite sneaky when he put his mind to it.
She sat up, taking a moment to just stretch and sit quietly while she continued to wake up. Kkanji was laying by her feet, the older cat snoozing quietly with her fluffy tail over her face. Hari smiled at her, amused that Taehyung’s familiar was sleeping with her instead of her own. But Bass was an unusual type and wasn’t one to wait around for Hari to drag herself out of bed when there was food to be had - or other coven members to bully.
Kkanji ‘murrrped’ at her as Hari ran a hand down her soft back, startling the cat awake. A soft purr filled the room as the sleepy witch lavished the familiar with affection before pulling herself out of bed.
The door next to Hari’s was still closed and she could hear Taehyung snoring inside. She cracked it open to take a peak. Three heads popped up from various points on the bed, Soonshim’s eyes glowing in the darkness for a moment before he recognized Hari’s scent. He opened his mouth to let his tongue loll out and his tail thumped against the bed. Yeontan and Sangdol scrambled out of Taehyung’s arms to jump up against her legs for her attention. Soonshim rose and stretched before leaping out of the bed and following the group at a more sedate pace.
“C’mon, guys.” Hari urged them into the kitchen. “Breakfast time.”
Jeongguk looked up at her as she and her entourage entered the kitchen, the dog’s nails clicking against the floor to announce them. He smiled sleepily at her and Hari felt her heart give its familiar jump at the sight. Even after months of exposure, she still had a hard time controlling her feelings.
Holly and Rapmon left his feet and their bowls for a moment to greet Hari and the other dogs before hurrying back. Bass only flicked her ears to acknowledge her witch, too concerned with her breakfast to do much more. Kkanji hurried into the kitchen behind the rest, quietly looking between Jeongguk and Hari to see who would feed her first.
Only Gureum, Mickey and Jjangu were missing from the bunch, the latter pair no doubt dogging Jimin as he got ready, the oldest of the familiars rather clingy to the temporary leader of the coven while the eldest members were away.
Hari was still nervous about how the atmosphere of the house would change when the rest of the boys returned home. Her joining of the coven hadn’t been planned and was an unusual one, given that she hadn’t even met everyone in it yet.
But the way that Jeongguk smiled so warmly at her and opened his arms to usher her in for a hug made her relax, stepping into his embrace like she was coming home. Her head was tucked under his chin and he smelled like a silly mix of Mountain Dew and faint sweet perfume and laundry detergent. She hummed contently.
“You were up all night binging that game again, weren’t you?” Hari asked in amusement, wondering where he found the energy to still pull all-nighters when she could barely make it through the day sometimes. Gureum’s mysterious absence hinted at a magical boost, the little dog likely recharging after helping Jeongguk stay up all night. “How are you awake still?”
“I’m gonna go take a nap after breakfast.” Jeongguk promised before she could scold him. “I figured I could go ahead and cook for you guys since I was already up. Jimin-hyung’s in the shower.”
“Tae’s still asleep.”
“I’ll wake him up when the food’s ready.” There was a vague, tingling feeling in the air that always preceded the use of magic, and the cabinets opened. Jeongguk’s eyes glowed slightly as he pulled plates and utensils out, four sets of tableware floating to the table.
Hari was slightly jealous of his ability, her own magic still too unrefined and imbalanced for her to feel safe with object manipulation like Jeongguk could. It was basic magic skills and her lack of magical upbringing made her own magical education somewhat lacking.
Hopefully Namjoon could teach her control and fundamentals when the rest of the boys returned home. Jimin said he’d offered to help her when they had their last phone call. It wouldn’t take much longer for their coven to be complete again now that the older coven members were no longer looking for the answer to their curse breaking.
There was a squeak from down the hall as the water shut off and Hari realized in the sudden silence that Jimin had been in the shower the entire time. She squeezed Jeongguk once more before letting him return to breakfast and she sat down on a barstool to watch him.
He was quiet and focused, having already set up several smaller side dishes while he cooked enough jeon for everyone. The smell of frying potatoes made Hari’s mouth water and reminded her of the hashbrowns her mom used to make for breakfast back home. Having grown up around her mom’s mostly white family in America and their set ideas of breakfast, the way the boys made their breakfast was still a bit odd to her, especially since most of the time it didn’t feel like breakfast to her. Hari enjoyed it and was reminded of the few times she’d had breakfast with her paternal grandfather. Luckily for her, Jeongguk listened to her better than her grandfather and remembered her extreme dislike of fried eggs.
Set aside from the boys’ larger dish, was a nice little bowl of scrambled eggs, just for Hari.
Her chest felt warm and content.
Bass, finally finished with her breakfast, brushed up against Kkanji and Rapmon on her way to Hari, jumping into her witch’s lap. Bass’s funny, broken purr was loud in the kitchen as the young cat aggressively showered Hari with love, headbutting the witch’s chin so hard it seemed like she was trying to become one with her.
Hari laughed and scratched the scraggly cat under the chin, ducking down to give Bass better access to her face and receive love.
She nearly fell out of her chair when another head bumped into her own. Jimin caught her easily, laughing at her reaction and keeping her on top of her stool.
“Yah!” she scolded, slapping his shoulder. “You scared me half to death! And you’re dripping all over me!”
Jimin’s shoulders were shaking with mirth as he shoved his head into her neck, making her squeal as her neck was soaked by his wet hair. His silver locks were nearly gray when wet and left cold trails against her skin as he mimicked Bass. The feline familiar was only too delighted with his actions and redoubled her efforts, trying her best to headbutt them both at the same time.
Jimin only pulled back when the cat stuck her nose in his eye.
“Sorry, Hari-ah.” the silver haired man apologized, not looking the least bit remorseful. “I saw my chance and I had to take it.”
“He’ll be worse when you and Hobi-hyung are together.” Jeongguk warned, looking amused. “You guys are both the jumpy type and Jimin-hyung is a troll.”
“You say that like you’re any better,” Hari snorted, leaning back from Bass. The cat promptly lost interest in her and went to harass the dogs.
Mickey scuttered away from her to hide behind Jjangu and Rapmon, still wary of the excitable cat. Hari had to admit that Bass could be a bit of a bully to the smaller dogs if they let her. The witch scooped the Shi Tzu up into her arms for safety.
“I’m a selkie,” Jimin protested, whipping his towel at Jeongguk. “And the fact that you’d compare this face to a troll just proves that you need glasses.”
“Okay, Jin-hyung.” Jeongguk mocked, referencing some trait of the oldest coven member that Hari didn’t understand yet.
Jimin grinned at the joke and ducked down to kiss Hari so quickly that she barely had time to register it, her ears going red as he sauntered over to the stove. “Want me to finish this up? I’m not volunteering to wake Taetae up today.”
“I’ll get him.” Hari volunteered, carrying Mickey with her down the hall. “Gukkie’ll just roll him down the hall when he doesn’t wake up.”
“You just want to make out with Tae without us.” Jeongguk teased, fake-pouting with Jimin.
Hari lifted a hand to flip them off as she rounded the corner, the sound of their laughter trailing after her.
The room was still dark and the air conditioning was blowing a steady stream of cold air in, making it the ideal sleeping setting. It was no wonder why Taehyung slept so well and deeply.
Hari made a mental note to take more naps with him in his room, the atmosphere just different from her own room in a cozy way. She used her own room for too many things besides sleeping, not having a playroom or art room like the other boys had. From what she understood of the unexplored rooms, the older members of the coven had private workrooms too - music studios and offices, Jimin had explained when she first started living with them.
Maybe in time, she’d ask them to add a room for her too. It would be fun to watch the magic they put into the house bloom.
Hari wondered how the house would sell one day if they ever wanted to move, having so much space inside when it looked so small on the outside. She loved it.
Taehyung snuffled and turned his face into the pillow as Hari pulled the covers back, sliding into the warm space between him and the edge of the bed. The smell of lavender and freshly washed sheets surrounded her, making Hari glad she and Jeongguk had finished the laundry recently. Taehyung procrastinated in changing his sheets too much for her taste, something she learned early on in their relationship.
He turned his head, still asleep but drawn to her warmth. Hari smiled and tucked herself into his side, kissing the edge of his jaw lightly. Taehyung’s lips twitched up into a slight smile, his eyelids fluttering a bit at the new sensation. Hari pressed another kiss to his jaw before starting a trail up to his cheek, his nose and finally his lips. She felt them curl beneath her own and had to pull back when her own smile grew too big to continue kissing him.
Taehyung hummed, trying to chase after her. Hari kissed him again quickly and rubbed a hand over his hair, massaging his scalp and tugging lightly at his hair like she knew he enjoyed. He sighed at the feeling, finally cracking his eyes open to look at her.
“Good morning.” Hari said simply, laying her head on the pillow next to his. She could spend every morning like this, lazy in love with her boys and exchanging hugs and kisses freely.
It was harder to do outside the house where she was only openly dating Taehyung and left longing to hold hands with Jimin and Jeongguk. At least, in the realm of the non-magical. The boys assured her that things were more liberal in the magical communities.
“Morning,” Taehyung murmured, trailing his fingers over her arms and raising goosebumps from the ticklish sensation. His voice was even deeper than normal and rough from disuse and Hari could feel it reverberate in her chest. “Can I get a wake-up call like this every day?”
Hari pretended to think about it. “I dunno, I may have to rotate schedules with Gukkie and Jimin. I’d like to wake up like this too, y’know.”
Taehyung smiled fondly. “Then I’ll take a turn tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it.” Hari said genuinely, stroking her hand over his hair once more. “Jeongguk made breakfast. We’re just waiting on you.”
Taehyung leaned forward to kiss her one more time before sitting up, giving Hari a peekshow of his stomach as he stretched. She eyed the sliver of stomach she could see between his t-shirt and shorts appreciatively. She almost wished that Jeongguk and Jimin weren’t waiting for them so she could have some time to show her appreciation - or that they would come back to the bedroom and join her.
But the sheets were newly cleaned and breakfast was getting colder by the second.
Taehyung muttered something that she didn’t catch as he slid out of the bed, pausing a moment to greet Mickey where he was waiting on the floor, and headed out into the hallway.
Hari watched him go, lingering in his bed for a moment. She closed her eyes and laid back, soaking in the familiar smells of Taehyung. She could hear him join Jimin and Jeongguk in the kitchen, a cacophony of greetings from their many familiars almost drowning the boys out for a moment.
It felt like home.
Hari smiled contently, her heart feeling full.
“Hari-noona! Your breakfast will get cold if you don’t hurry!”
“Hari! Moon Hajoon! Did you get lost?”
“Maybe she went to the bathroom?”
Hari chuckled and called out. “Coming!”
#bts x oc#bts fanfction#bts fanfic#poly bts#bts magic au#bts x original character#jungkook#jimin#taehyung#bangtan#my writing#light in a nocturnal world
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I Played Every Food Game in the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid
In light of increased violence by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians, several game developers have to come together to create the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid. And with over 1,000 games (available at https://itch.io/b/902/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid until Friday for just $5, of which all profits go towards the United Nations Relief and Works Agency), it’s no surprise that there would be a handful of food-related games. So let’s take a look at them.
I did, however, omit a few. There were a couple of food-related text-based RPGs, which is ultimately not a medium that I’m familiar enough with to feel like I could talk about and do it justice (and also most of them required at least 2 players). “Breakfast Cult,” ended up being more about cult stuff than breakfast stuff, which was disappointing (for the purposes of this, anyway). A couple, upon extracting the .zip files, seemed to be files of all Unity assets and no actual game, and eventually I kinda stopped caring. Sorry if I missed any otherwise, I did my best to gleam through the over 1,000 titles in this bundle.
Ace Baker
You’re presented with a list of ingredients with names that don’t resemble any food known to man, and it’s up to you to throw things together in combinations that will result in something that resembles a baked good before your partner comes home from work. There are icons next to each item, which vaguely suggest what it is, but the whole point is to sort of work it out yourself. I was just barely able to get a Perfect Cake before running out of ingredients, after countless Acceptable and Dubious attempts.
The UI was simple but effective, and I was almost a little sad that the list of fake applications off to the side couldn’t actually be accessed. Most of the dialogue (which is very slim, and basically bookends the game) with your partner, Nora, would be clunky if it wasn’t so tongue-in-cheek about how Cyberpunk-y it’s trying to be. The repeated use of “shiny” immediately brings to mind that one Spongebob episode where everything in the future is chrome. The fact that the player character and their partner are both asexual (yes, that kind of “Ace” Baker) doesn’t seem to have much to do with anything at first, but it’s worth mentioning that this game was originally developed for an asexual game jam, so think of it as a game that started off as being about an asexual person and then they added the baking afterwards, rather than the other way around (And even then, who cares? If you’ve got something against asexual people, get outta here.)
My only real critique is that after a while, the music loop stopped, forcing me to sit in silence as I studied my baking grimoire. But again, this was a little game hashed together for a game jam, that, if for some reason you didn’t want to get the bundle, is actually free on itch.io, so can you really complain?
Hot Pot Panic
What a classic conundrum: you’re at a hot pot restaurant with a friend, and, despite being all-you-can-eat, you have to control your appetite to avoid weirding out your friend. There’s basically two mechanics you need to keep track of: cooking the food in the hot pot, and managing the conversation with your friend. You click on the raw ingredients to put them in the pot, then wait until the sprites turn a golden hue and you start to hear a sizzling audio cue to eat them. Meanwhile, you have to make small talk with your friend, and pay just enough attention to be able to choose the correct multiple choice response to any question or open-ended statement she ends her side of the conversation with. But you have to be careful not to burn your food, however, because that won’t count towards filling your stomach, which you have to do before you run out of conversation topics. The whole thing is a delicate balancing act. I have to admit I failed at first because for some reason it didn’t dawn on me that you could cook more than one thing at a time?
The pixel art sprite work works very well; the foods are instantly recognizable and I could really feel the judging glare coming from behind the friend’s thick glasses. The background music perfectly matches the atmosphere, and, as already mentioned, other sound design elements like the sizzling cues from perfectly cooked meat prove to be vital to juggling the different elements of gameplay. All in all, a neat little game that perfectly encompasses the feeling of anxiety that comes with wanting to not embarrass yourself in public when all you really want to do is eat.
Putahe ng Ina Mo: Sinigang Edition
Ok, I’m gonna try to be nice to this one. On one hand, I love the aesthetic it’s got going on. Upon opening the game, you can tell from the background music, which I can only describe as “whimsical mad scientist,” as well as a stream of emojis flying past, that this game is supposed to be very goofy. Unlike other games on this list which were more point-and-click, the ingredients for your sinigang (a Filipino tamarind stew) can be picked up and thrown about as you wish. The fact that the art style is very realistic makes this that much funnier.
However, upon opening, the window forces a specific resolution that just would not work with my monitor. This may seem like a minor problem, as I was still more-or-less able to access all the ingredients, but imagine the mental state I was in: I’m already confused, and then the second I clamp the lid on the pot, everything goes up in smoke! How the fuck did I burn water? I ended up also watching a playthrough on YouTube, and they also, no matter what, burned the sinigang. Considering the name of the game translates roughly to “Your Mother’s Cooking,” maybe the idea is that no matter what, you’re never going to make it as well as mom. Or, considering my mom’s cooking, maybe it’s the opposite of that.
A weird, goofy little game that just didn’t seem to like my computer.
Sangwish
This is 100% in the vein of all those weird 2010s “[Mundane Thing] Simulator” games that were all the rage for a while. No instructions, no objectives, just a pile of food for you to play with. My immediate reaction was, for some reason, to grill the mysterious meat slices, but it turns out the stove there is just set dressing. Giving up on such pointless gourmand pretenses, I decided to just make the biggest sandwich I could. Eventually, there was so much on the sandwich that the bottom slice of bread started vibrating slightly, because physics. Then I tried to put my knife in the sandwich, but the vibrations knocked it to the floor, never to be seen again. Then I decided to throw all of my bread and most of the ingredients on the floor, never to be seen again. Here is my end sandwich.
Easily one of the sandwich simulators I’ve played all day.
Terroir
Much like a wine with a good terroir, this is by far the most complex game on this list (muffled snooty wine snob chuckles in the distance). The end goal is clear: grow grapes, make wine. But, as you can imagine, you are completely at the mercy of the elements. The ideal time to harvest your grapes is when they are at a ripeness of 4-6 out of 10. However, the randomly-generated months gave me month after month of cloudy and rainy weather, not allowing my grapes to get the sunlight they needed to get their ripeness above a 1. The only time my grapes ever hit a 6 was out of harvesting season, and by the time I was allowed to harvest, they had somehow dropped back down to a 1. And as you can imagine, a bunch of 1-star grapes will only make 1-star wine. The fact that I almost immediately got root rot didn’t help any, either. And because I tried to expand too quickly, buying an extra plot of land when I couldn’t even afford the grapes to grow there, I was thousands of dollars in the red within 3 years.
Is that a dig against the game? No. It’s frustrating, but in that way that games with a learning curve often are. The tile-based design is pleasant to look at, although much of the UI can be a little confusing to look at at first. And, of course, most of the “gameplay” is sitting and waiting for the wine critics to tell you what a bad job you did. Some of the few management choices you can make seem to not have much of an impact (my first wine wasn’t acidic enough, so I added pressed juice to my second batch that brought the acidity up to a 9, but then the mere act of bottling the wine brought the acidity down to a 4 somehow). It’s an interesting concept for a game that I assume I’m just not getting, but might give another chance at some point in the future.
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[SS] Chapter 1 Part 3
She could see Viscount Grant’s house, which retained the dignity of its former days. Prillance’s heart throbbed as she approached the carriage door.
Albert, the butler of the Grant family, came up as she reached the carriage door.
“I am Albert, the Grant family's butler.”
Embarrassed by the unexpected guest’s visit, Albert looked at Marquis Weiand's carriage with a slightly bewildered look.
This was not the first time a lady made such a sudden visit.
In fact, it had become an occasional occurrence since the fall of Ver’s title to a Viscount. The ladies, who couldn't even talk to him during his days as a Marquis’ son, came without prior notification to meet Ver Grant who became lower or equal to their families.
The ladies, who visited Viscount Grant's house, wanted to meet Ver, whose title has declined but still had good looks and noble dignity. Albert severely felt the change of the family’s status.
But none of the visits had been from a Marquis’ house. Known to be the flower of social circles and rumored to marry Duke Tonz, this lady’s visit was even more surprising.
“Viscount Grant……Is he inside?”
"Yes, he is here."
Lady Weiand carefully inquired, but she was known to be fussy. They haven't had good reception treats lately, so no tea was available for her picky taste.
Albert was worried she would find fault with them.
"This won’t take long."
Prillance, who read the discomfort from Albert, quickly added. She knew her character’s reputation better than anyone else, so she could guess what Albert was thinking.
"Then please wait a moment."
After being away for a while to ask Ver, Albert returned. He finally appeared within Prillance’ sight, who was anxious to see if she had been rejected.
“I will guide you inside.”
Fortunately, words of permission came from him.
Prillance carefully came down from the carriage and walked along with Albert. Albert's guidance stopped when he reached the large gate inscribed with the Grant's signatory wolf.
Like the wolves inscribed in the pattern, the Grants lived for the sake of integrity. And Ver, who would continue to live like that, was behind that door.
The door opened. Prillance took a deep breath and took a careful step.
“Welcome, Lady.”
She heard a low voice. A handsome black-haired young man greeted her.
As a result, Prillance was frozen in place for a while. Ver's face was more handsome than she expected. Pitch-black hair, dark gray eyes - straight eyes which made him look upright.
Unlike his tired eyes, his neatly locked buttons and tidy clothes showed his character trying to be polite under any circumstances.
Ver, who she had only read in books, was in front of Prillance.
“Lady Weiand…you asked for me?”
But he was not alone in the drawing room. A visibly embarrassed lady greeted her. The same thing happened to Prillance.
"Would you like to sit over here?"
Ver was the only person who remained calm amidst the situation. As he gently pulled the chair in the parlor, only then did Prillance come to her senses and walk towards the spot. Ver, minding his manners, sat in the middle of Prillance and the other lady.
Soon a maid came in and prepared tea. At that moment, Prillance looked at Ver's face once more. He was in front of her eyes, but it still felt amazing no matter what she thought.
His short hair shook slightly as he raised his cup and drank tea with a straight back. Having taken a sip of tea with his eyes slightly lowered, his profile was manly, unlike his features.
His hands, which put down the cup, did not look soft nor beautiful because he often practiced with the sword. But the hand was manly because it looked large and rough.
“We couldn't entertain the Lady's preferred tea on such a sudden visit. Still, this one has a nice scent.”
It was meant for Prillance, who had no response even though the tea was in front of her.
"Ah…”
Only then did Prillance, who caught the eye of Ver, take a sip of tea. The fragrant tea calmed down the excitement of their sudden meeting.
"It indeed has a nice scent."
Thanks to this, Prillance found composure and replied with a smile.
"That’s good to hear."
After that it was quiet again. Occasionally she heard the sound of the tea being drunk and the cup being put down. And there was Prillance, who looked closely at Ver as if she had something to say, and the other lady, who looked at her and was as anxious as she was.
“There must have been an urgent reason why you two came to see me.”
In the end, Ver lost his patience and was the first to open his mouth. He touched his eyes as if tired. He was hoping the matter would be over quickly if they intended to laugh at him.
Prillance's gaze turned to the person opposite her. She intended to say that she wanted to be considerate and let the other lady speak first, but the other lady felt a silent pressure due to Prillance’ sharp gaze.
"That’s…Well…”
Embarrassed, the other lady stuttered. There was no way she could compete with Lady Weiand, the queen of social circles.
"Don’t tell me…”
Prillance spoke quietly, covering her mouth with her hands. It was obviously a surprised gesture.
“If you don't have anything to say, it would be best to just leave.”
Soon her eyes and voice became sharp.
“…Th, that…I'll go first.”
The other lady, who clasped her dress tightly, left the place with a bow.
Unlike her, who held back her anger with a deep breath, Ver got up and saw her off to the door.
“You look tired.”
Ver came back and sat down. His face looked worn out. It looked like he was used to this type of situation.
When she saw Ver's pain right in front of her, which she had only read in the novel, she felt like crying. It hurt her more because she knew the ending of the love he tried to keep so much. Prillance turned her head out the window to swallow the rising tears.
Perhaps he hasn't been out for days. He wouldn't sleep and just concentrate on his work. It was a way for him to endure the pain, as someone who embraced all his sorrows by himself.
“Lady…”
From Ver's point of view, he hoped Prillance would talk to him quickly and leave, but she didn't seem to intend to. As he tried to speak again, she suddenly stood up.
"Would you like to go outside?"
What caught her eye was a sunny garden. Finally, she grabbed Ver's arm lightly and led him outside.
The servants stared in amazement. Passing the servants, Ver only came to his senses when they were already in the garden.
"It’s nice to get some fresh air."
Prillance said to Ver, who looked at her bewilderedly. Then she took a deep breath. As he looked up, the sun was already shining in the sky.
Feeling unused to the light, Ver realized that he hadn’t been out for a long time.
"Sunlight is good for you."
Prillance smiled at Ver who looked more relaxed. Although this was the only thing she could do, she wanted to at least relieve a little bit of his tension.
But she realized that although she was the one who led him out, she had also only stayed inside her home for the last few days. ’ Who is doing this for whom.’ When she realized that, a small smile formed in her mouth.
When Ver looked sideways, he saw Prillance smiling. Her usual appearance during balls and social gatherings could not be found in the face which had little make-up at the moment.
The usual sharp mood and piercing eyes became gentle. Perhaps because of this, he could not have imagined she could be someone who could look so pure.
As Ver looked at Prillance's unusual mood, he met her eyes.
Soon, her pale brown eyes, which grew in amazement, caught his attention as they shone brilliantly in the sun.
Ver thought those eyes were quite lovely.
Prillance was worried that smiling by herself, she might seem like a mad woman, so she carefully turned her eyes to avoid his gaze.
“The sun's rays activate the body's cells and make them healthy. That…It’s like photosynthesis.”
"Huh?"
"Oh, nevermind."
When Ver asked back at the gibberish, Prillance waved her hand.
“…Shall we walk for a bit?”
Prillance switched topics again, and fortunately Ver didn't ask anymore. But in fact, he was right to say that he didn’t hear her properly. Her words didn’t really touch his ears because Prillance’s eyes caught his attention.
There was still no conversation between the two who walked alongside each other, but the various sounds around them filled the quietness and were not uncomfortable.
“Lady, you may speak.”
Ver recalled that she hadn't spoken so far. He thought Prillance was choosing what to say. Of course, since they had very little contact before, he did not know what to expect.
'Maybe she came here out of the blue because she thought I had tarnished the title of a Marquis.'
He thought about this and waited for her to say something. On the contrary, Prillance was in trouble. She didn't know what to say. But she wanted to tell Ver something that would help him.
'Fighting. Cheer up. This too shall pass.' only abstract, vague and unhelpful words came to her mind.
Prillance stopped thinking and looked at Ver's tired face. Now that she thought of it, Ver lost his father, became an object of attention in the country, and sent his loved one away.
"I…”
After a long time, Prillance opened her mouth. Ver's eyes naturally turned to her. Did she come to ridicule or see his different appearance? Ver wondered what Prillance was trying to say.
"I’m on the Viscount’s side."
But what she said was a completely different story he had never even imagined. So he just stared at Prillance, not even thinking about hiding his bewildered face.
“What I’m trying to say is…I believe in the former Marquis' innocence, and I believe the Viscount will rise again.”
Prillance wanted to let him know that there was someone who believed in him and his family. It was the best thing she could say.
"So please have strength."
At the end of the novel there was a different background to the truth, and the Grant family, who was cleared of the charges, regained the title of a Marquis.
Of course, as always, behind it was Prillance, the villainess. But as long as she was Prillance, she couldn't say that. She just hoped to give him some strength.
Seeing her speaking so confidently, Ver felt strange. Even while his father was alive, the two Marquises’ families had little to no interaction.
Marquis Weiand, who had been a Marquis since the establishment of the Arceo Empire, was a member of the emperor’s faction for generations. And a former knight who took part in the war, the former Marquis Grant had been a member of parliament since he cut the head of the Red Army and led the victory during the war.
What Congress did at the time was originally to agree with the opinion of the imperial family, but the former Marquis Grant's actions were a little different.
Standing on the position of the parliamentary bloc, he both supported and opposed the opinions of the imperial family, depending on what he believed was right or wrong. Because of their politically different moves, the Weiand and Grant families were not affiliated with each other, but rather lived in acknowledgment of each other without crossing the line.
So it was very awkward that Lady Weiand suddenly asked to meet, and suddenly believed in his family's innocence.
“…Thank you."
Nevertheless, it was true that he was thankful for Prillance’s words.
He knew better than anyone that his father was innocent, but he couldn’t say so out loud. The imperial family and all the nobles would not listen to anything he had to say.
How much trouble would the lady get into for having said these words? That's why Prillance's confident words helped Ver. Even if she was a lady who didn't know politics, maybe they were words he wanted to hear the most.
“Never give up easily.”
Whether it’s his heart or life.
Swallowing the end of her words, Prillance wished him happiness.
Previous | TOC | Next
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Fuck it. Long post about the animatic for this mashup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxAJpP9FKA) that I would love to do but simply don’t have the project focus for.
Not a single coherent story or anything, just the different ideas the snippets give me. All somehow Minecraft related. Some are Team Crafted, a couple are Hermitcraft S7 but more the beginning, some are just Minecraft typical characters (Notch, Herobrine, Alex, Steve)
Oh and a couple of them are Sanders Sides
Also sometimes they vibes and ideas come from the context of the source musical (because I know it), sometimes I don’t know the context and/or much of anything about the source musical so I just go off the lyrics and vibes (so if someone here has an interest in musicals and thinks some of the vibes are wrong...sorry????? lmao)
0:00 to 0:10 (Hellfire instrumental): title card duh
0:11 to 0:23 (Miss Baltimore Crabs): Notch being a whiny bitch like ‘ugh things used to be so good when I was the god of this world creating things and now things are just awful’
0:24 to 0:42 (Charming): Something something just stills of Patton in a skirt going across the screen or something??? (Upon second thought maybe it’s him and Roman stills and Janus is warning Virgil or smth???? Idk it’s pre-redux vibes but whatever I had nothing)
0:43 to 0:55 (Kick it Up a Notch): I just remember vibes of someone being chained up and the captor looming over them but I have no idea who they were I promise I get more ideas later on these are just rough (Ok maybe it was like Janus looming over Virgil but again the vibes aren’t up-to-date and I don’t have as strong thoughts here ANYWAY MOVING ON)
0:56 to 1:12 (Blood in the Water/When the Going Gets Tough blended): I don’t remember my original thought but two characters circling a third vibes are strong here like maybe Enderlox and WitherMU circling Skybrine??? Maybe???
1:13 to 1:36 (Razzle Dazzle): Again pre-redux Sanders Sides vibes but Janus talking to Roman and then just Roman being Roman I guess? Just like (this fits in with some other Chicago animatics featuring Sanders Sides folks that I would love to do but never will) Roman committed murder (obvs) and Janus is Corrupt Lawyer and reassuring him that the press will love him and he’ll get off (also the foreign girl in Cell Block Tango is Patton)
1:37 to 1:46 (Dentist): I think I just was thinking Skybrine posing and doing some stupid little dance? Idk a lot of iffy ones in these first two minutes yikes
1:47 to 2:04 (Killer Instinct): I had a good idea for this one! But it’s gone! Oof!
2:05 to 2:23 (Loud): So Bruno and Augustus are standing on either side of Seto (normal) and are singing the song and going to make him join Klub Ice. At the line ‘the less you have to say the louder you yell it’ they pull off his big cloak/robe/whatever and then during the next line they’re somehow (idk Klub Ice magic roll with it) changing his clothes from whatever he wore under the cloak into appropriate Klub Ice attire and then shove him offscreen (idk just this part and the way she sings it gives me hella Klub Ice vibes just like brain? nah fam be loud and sexy and party)
2:24 to 2:52 (Stars): All I remember was someone standing on a rooftop looking out and that’s...just the song.
2:53 to 3:14 (Wait for it): Again I have no idea what I thought at the time but it was definitely angsty (:
3:15 to 3:24 (A Sentimental Man): I know Notch is singing (because evil man everyone thinks is good) and the vibes I’m getting now are either Sky or Steve and I have no idea which.
3:25 to 3:45 (Hey Little Songbird): Herobrine is singing and smoking a cigar/ette and grinds it under his foot at the end to put it out, I think maybe he was singing to Alex? Could also be like TrueMU or Deadlox or something but idk mate
3:46 to 3:56ish (Macavity): It’s about Herobrine who is appearing vaguely in the background making sexy(?) poses and someone else was in the foreground singing at some point??? Idk could be Sky and Deadlox could be Steve and Alex who tf knows not me not today
3:57 to 4:05 (The Pitiful Children): I think I had Herobrine singing to not-brine Sky? Circling ofc but if there was context it’s long vanished from my brain
4:06 to 4:16 (Easy Street): oh hey look hermitcraft It’s from the Head Games and whoever was giving all the cave spider heads is just dancing and a bunch of cave spider heads fall down and then at the end Cleo shows up as SpiderCleo and is just pissed
4:17 to 4:30 (The American Dream): I. Honestly have even less clue than the others. I think this one was always a weird one and honestly after learning a little bit about the source musical idk if I want to mess with that
4:31 to 4:42 (What’s Up Duloc): Ok I love this one it’s evil Notch and he’s just like looking over the world like ‘I’m going to destroy this’ and on the ‘bum bum bum bum bum’ small pictures of the Team Crafted folks in despair at an event pop up on beat like that’s what he’s planning to do to destroy them because Team Crafted strong like I seriously love that idea
4:43 to 5:03 (World Burn): Pretty simple, just Evil Xisuma, cuts on certain beats, whatever he has is maybe like somethign that brings up an admin panel? Or something like that? Anyway just Evil Xisuma being evil and angry what if it was emblazoned with a shimmering red apple on the back like a red version (for Hels) of a Notch apple because I love me some evil Notch
5:04 to 5:31 (Last Midnight): Another one I really really like! Going with some source vibes, like Herobrine is holding Sky’s amulet (he got deadified) and he’s singing it so angrily because his son (adopted because of magic deals but shhh) is dead due to these assholes and the assholes include Mitch (idk I guess Jerome is the ‘Baker’s wife’ here and got fucked over by prince bitch), Deadlox, TrueMU, and I guess Ssundee? Idk it’s just angry and upset Herobrine because people can suck and now his son is dead
5:32 to 5:44ish (Poor Unfortunate Souls): Felt more like an evil Herobrine song to me. He’s doing the deal thing and stuff is emphasized with fire because duh, probably Sky on the other side of the deal because Skybrine yeet, but yeah the fun
5:45 to 6:09 (Meant to be Yours): Deadlox (suitably fucked up because Heathers) banging on Sky’s closet door (Sky is inside because Heathers context) and there’s an image of them standing before a burning building idk it’s just the Heathers song but the bits she takes for the mashup and with Team Crafted boys
6:10 to 6:16 (Johanna): Uhhhhh the singer isn’t shown but I think it was just feminine Alex dancing and then sitting and looking out a window
6:17 to 6:40 (Hellfire for real this time): Notch is standing in a religious looking building and thinking horny thoughts and the object of his lust is also feminine Alex because reasons
6:41 to 6:55 (bits of some of the other songs): Just mini frames of the scenes; at the end the whole screen is Evil X doing his thing
I do not remember as much as I wish I did but hey it’s there
Anyway some of these could work as full animatics for the source song (Loud is a maybe, Poor Unfortunate Souls is obviously doable, Last Midnight is also a maybe, Razzle Dazzle definitely has the appropriateness for a full animatic) but some of them do not because of context and other stuff (Like...most of the ones I wasn’t sure about and then also Easy Street because the rest of it is significantly less fun, What’s Up Duloc has a lot of musical context in there, stuff like that). Idk it was just something I was thinking about again and this was the best way to talk about it all.
Also I thought evil Notch was underutilized and then I found more fics and I am vibing with them like I don’t have a problem with good Notch in fics but evil is so much more fun (then again I love Herobrine as a character because you can write him however the fuck you want sooooo)
#mcyt#might delete#seriously evil notch is my jam#especially if he's still the creator! not because evil creator is my jam specifically like#he is a god or powerful and just doesn't like the world or the people in it#and is going to be evil and shit
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alright, I wasn’t technically tagged in this, but @the-chesapeake-shipper did a vague-tag to all mutuals yesterday, and 🥺 I’m bored. thank u for ur generosity
rules: tag people you want to get to know better!
your name and then what you would have named yourself: well... coincidentally, i did choose my name a few years back. i’m darcy (yes, after mr. darcy. no, i do not regret it). HOWEVER there are times when i wish i had chosen a name that paid homage to my Japanese heritage. i recently learned that my mom had planned to name me kimiko hunaya and there are lots of days where i consider it because i know my great grandmother approved of it
astrological sign (sun/moon/rising if you know): will someone at a higher level of gay please teach me how to do this stuff???? i’m a capricorn, but i don’t know if that’s sun, moon, or rising
when did you join tumblr and why?: oh god.... way too young? i think i made my first blog in eighth grade. so 2011. mostly because i wanted to be an edgy tween reblogging quotes
top five fandoms: i have to narrow it down? this list is in a constant flux but at this exact moment: nbc hannibal, star trek, tolkien (i cant bring myself to say lotr while the silmarillion still holds most of my heart), the man from uncle, and x-men (but exclusively for erik’s turtlenecks)
top five favorite films: the normal heart, princess mononoke, star trek: the voyage home, the phantom thread, and the pride and prejudice 5 part mini-series that we’re all going to pretend is a movie because i never watch movies...
go to song when you want to Feel something: depends on what i need to feel, but if we’re talking about Yearning(TM), lover please stay by nothing but thieves
what’s your religion or faith if you have one?: i was raised mostly with catholic influences and some shintoism/buddhism. i vacillate between total nihilism and the concept of divinity in nature and the infinite cyclicality of energy and life??
a song that makes you feel seen: anything keaton henson has ever written? beekeeper is a very enduring song from when i was younger that still hits me right in the gut even if i dont feel the same way as i did back then. a more currently relevant song would be garden song by phoebe bridgers
if you could have any career: if i could be the person i want to be rather than the person that i am, i would be a university english professor, preferably at some old university where everything is a little drafty and the campus library has high ceilings and ghosts that stretch back to time immemorial. sharing a love for literature and storytelling has always appealed to me, and if i could, i would spend the rest of my life in academia
do you have a type: men who are too old for me and women who intimidate me 😔
what does your heart/soul yearn for?: faust. all i want right now is to sit down in my library with goethe, tchaikovsky playing in the background. where’s mephistopheles to give me a special witches brew so i have all the time in the world to glut on the passions of humanity?
if you had to describe yourself in 5 words to someone who doesn’t know you: book hoarding bisexual literature student???
favorite subject in school: english, but i also love history (especially art history)
where does your soul feel most at home?: sitting on the end of my grandparent’s crumbling dock, feet dangling in a lake that made it’s home in some scooped out part of the north cascade mountains. everything is still except the whisper of the air through the pine needles and the slap of water against the shore. my grandma and i had wine and charcuterie for lunch and now my grandpa’s talking about his painting—something that straddles the line between the familiar and the surreal. it’s a very comforting memory
top 5 fictional characters: aragorn, son of arathorn, king of gondor; hannibal lecter; jim kirk; thomasina from tom stoppard’s arcadia; lyra belaqua from his dark materials
top 3 moments in a show that made you ugly cry: did you mean when boromir dies in fellowship???? he’s such a tragic character, and sean bean was the perfect casting decision. uuuhmmmmm hannibal tenderly and erotically gutting will in his kitchen. it’s one hell of a sex scene, that. aaaand the ending of your lie in april. i have nothing else to say on the matter
the earth, the sun, the moon, or the stars: has to be the stars (moon, please forgive me....)
favorite kind of weather: when everything is poised on the edge of a storm. the air is perfectly still, and you can smell the rain and the lightning. the sun low enough that there’s nothing but a glow of light at the bottom of the cloud bank
top 3 characters you kin with: elizabeth bennett.... clearly; will graham.... less clearly; and leonard mccoy, ultimate mom friend
favorite medium of art: subtractive sculpture mediums, especially marble, and oil painting. give me all that classic art
introvert/extrovert/ambivert: i’m a big, dumb introvert
a favorite literary quote: i could... spend hours answering this. since i’m thinking of stoppard and his horribly underappreciated plays, we’ll go with my favorite quote from arcadia: “We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again. You do not suppose, my lady, that if all of Archimedes had been hiding in the great library of Alexandria, we would be at a loss for a corkscrew?”
some of your favorite books: the hobbit (tolkien), cloud atlas (david mitchell), the goldfinch (donna tartt), broken monsters (lauren beukes), the amber spyglass (phillip pullman), the paper menagerie (ken liu), the vintner’s luck (elizabeth knox), wuthering heights (emily bronte), pride and prejudice (jane austen), lolita (vladimir nabokov), crimson petal in the white (michel faber), sharp objects (gillian flynn), life after life (kate atkinson), the picture of dorian gray (oscar wilde), arcadia (tom stoppard), faust (goethe)
if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?: a townhouse in edinburgh scotland, someplace just big enough for all of my books and a dog and cat. or that town int he netherlands where there’s no cars and everyone gets around by boat. i don’t drive, so that sounds like such a dream??????
if you could live in any time in history, when would it be?: i don’t think i’d like living in any other time, honestly... as a nonbinary person... but i would love to pop into the victorian era for a visit. i want to sit in on a victorian salon, listen to poets read their work and look at art and just generally enjoy the beauty of it. but i wouldn’t like to live then for long
if you could play any instrument masterfully, which would it be?: the cello please and thank you
if you have one, what mythological god or goddess do you feel a connection to?: i vibe pretty hard with persephone...
oh my god, this is so long, but LASTLY, favorite recent selfie in your camera roll: two because why not?
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Nina Sykes’s Interview
Let’s finally sit her down for this, shall we? Chances are this will not have been closely proofread, so typos and mistakes may be present. Feel free to ask anything about them to clarify! CC: @toxoplasmajuice
[The In-Character Portion (questions written by Clyde Atkins himself):]
Tell me a little about yourself. Y'know, name, pronouns, age, where you’re from, anything else you might say if I asked you, “Who are you?”
Hiya! The name’s Nina. I’m 19, from a small town named Arcadia Peaks, and I’m currently, er, was studying to become an astronaut. I was also going to run for one of the officer positions at my sorority! I’ll miss those gals.
Before the world ended, did you have any long-term goals? Where would you picture yourself in the future if the future didn’t crumble in front of our eyes?
Like I said, I was looking to become an astronaut! Dabbled with a communication minor before deciding to major in biology and minor in astronomy. Would’ve eventually gotten my masters and prepared for the incredibly rigorous tests you have to go through to become an astronaut.
Any talents or skills? What about hobbies?
[Laughs] does my athleticism count? I’ve been training for so long I can lift about anything, and I hold several track-and-field records. I also love to read, if that counts as a hobby! Same goes for table-top games and going for a run or walk.
If you feel like sharing, what was your love life like before this? Totally fine if you don’t wanna talk about it.
I’d say it was good! I had a boyfriend in high school, but we broke it off after we realized that our lives were heading in different directions. I also dated this lovely woman in my first year of uni. We were the same age, were paired up at orientation, she had gorgeous red hair and was just fun to be around. We broke up at the end of the semester because both of us weren’t feeling the best about continuing the relationship when it felt like there wasn’t a spark.
Besides the sanctuary part, what made you sign up for this BC?
Clyde, duh! He’s cute. Plus with my uni ex, we used to watch BCs all the time. Sure, they can be cheesy, but they look like a lot of fun.
Okay, okay, hot take: this question is fucking stupid. First of all, MMBCs have happened even with this question, so it’s not even protecting anybody. Second, if we really needed this information–or if the network did–there’s better ways to do background checks. You can just lie here. You can literally just lie. Third, it’s just so vague. Sure, if you��ve got some degree of murder on your record, maybe that would be important, but–what, being caught with a gram of weed in the summer of ‘15 is supposed to tell me you might be a murderer? And, most importantly, it blatantly contributes to the stigma against felons. Non-violent criminals, people who’ve changed for the better, people who were falsely accused–we’re basically saying all of them might as well be murderers. And I’m not for that. But the program we’re doing this through is requiring that I ask, so, whatever: do you have a criminal record?
Nope! I don’t have one.
Anyway. Random fact about you?
I DJ a bit on the side! It’s a lot of fun, even though I’m still learning it.
Is there anything important I should know about you? Health-related stuff, ancient curses following you, that sort of thing?
Nope! Well, actually. Sometimes I get really anxious? Nothing diagnosed, but papa* always sad I probably got some of his.
[*Papa refers to Parker. She called Mitchell, her other dad, well, Dad.]
Is there anything or anyone you had to leave behind to come here? (This one’s optional, too.)
My dads and my little sibling. I hope I can see them all again soon.
What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when things calm down and we can leave the BC house again?
I think I mentioned it already! [laughs] But I also want to try and find some of our extended family we’ve lost touch with too. Heard they were going to an island with someone by the name of January Wallace? But that’s all I know.
The Out-Of-Character Portion (questions written by toxoplasmajuice themself):
Usual OOC question 1: may I draw your Sim? (No one’s ever said no to this, but it never hurts to ask, right?)
Hell yeah you can! 8)
Usual OOC question 2: do you have any tips for writing your Sim that you feel the interview and/or your intro post don’t already give me?
While she doesn’t have the charismatic trait, Nina is very outgoing. No matter the person, she can find a way to hopefully click with them, even if it isn’t on a deep level (so like, friendly acquaintances type of deal).
Time for some new, spicy OOC questions! First of all: I want to start decorating contestants’ rooms this time around. Do you have any pointers as to decorating your Sim’s room? General themes are fine, and if you have any specific objects you want me to put in your Sim’s room (EA content or CC), that’d be great.
So I was trying to get inspo, but unfortunately I gave her a white room in the legacy aslglksjda. SO! In rewriting that bit of canon, I’d say colors that pop? Or even some sort of black and white mashup that’s accented with red. Make of this unintended Monokuma what you will.
And for the other new, spicy OOC question: will you generally be around for random questions I have regarding your Sim? I might need random bits of information from everyone from time to time… for reasons. :)
Ofc! I’m always here for building that Lore(TM) and fleshing out my characters more.
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Death Stranding (PS4)
Death Stranding is the culmination of four years of anticipation and, for me, mild concern. Hideo Kojima was taken from the height of his career at Konami and the more-is-more excess of Metal Gear Solid V, and thrust in to an environment where he had - seemingly - far fewer resources at his disposal but not even the slightest hint of oversight. The years of development steadily revealed a director who was in no way financially constrained, and whose Hollywood aspirations seemed to be more heavily indulged than ever. Yet to actually sit down and play the end result is to meet a new kind of Hideo Kojima game, one that is markedly different in tone and style, which indulges his need to spell out every bit of world-building and research but which provides a structure where that content can actually be appreciated, one where gameplay expresses theme and cinematic flourishes are a garnish and a dessert rather than the core of the experience. This is perhaps the most Hideo Kojima game yet, but it is also one of his most creatively successful.
Death Stranding opens in media res in the style of the best science fiction, dropping the player in to conversations full of of unexplained but curiosity-piquing terminology that invite you to sit, listen, interpolate and reason out how the story world must work. It is, if anything, too mysterious - the player is thrust in to a mission of nation-spanning importance without a grasp of some of the more important character relationships that are supposed to motivate it - but it cultivates the mindful, steady, curious mindset that is the primary tone of the game, and it sets the you up for the explanations and background reading that will turn from a trickle to a steady flow as you progress.
The gameplay cultivates a similar sense of patient contemplation and constant observation. Sam Bridges’ movement in the game world is engagingly tactile but demands a steady and considered awareness of the terrain and his own current state. The left stick does not merely direct Sam across the landscape in the fluid, effort-free manner of the modern third-person adventure but very noticeably shifts his centre of balance. Run down-hill at a clip and you’ll feel his front-heaviness start to get away from you; ease back or even pull back on the stick and he’ll continue to descend at speed for a time but with his body more strongly centred over his scampering boots. Stride across widely spaced broken boulders and you will become conscious of the need to alternate left and right movement to balance out Sam’s inertia, lest he begin to pivot off in to a spiral and eventually crumple on to one side.
In time, this becomes second nature but never becomes automatic. The game doesn’t demand the constant, finicky persistence of a Bennett Foddy game, but nor can you simply set your eyes on the horizon. It’s the closest a game has come to the sensation of a good hike, your brain absorbed by the task of placing your feet while devising the best route across the terrain towards your ultimate goal in the distance. Even when the game gives you equipment and upgrades that make traversal easier, these are balanced such that you are using your focus in a different way, not abandoning it entirely. A rope may allow you to abseil down a precarious cliff-face and skip a lengthy walk, but the abseil itself - and any subsequent climb back up - needs care, lest you knock your backpack cargo on an overhang and send it plummeting to the ground below. Bionic legs that automatically assist your balance on rough terrain come with a dramatically reduced cargo-carrying capacity which will tempt you not to use them. Vehicles all come with jump buttons, not to greatly enhance their manoeuvrability but because of the absolute certainty you will wedge them, and their un-carryable tonnage of precious cargo, in between some boulders. (Their turning radii are even tuned so that you need to consider the best line to follow on paved highways.)
Movement itself is at the bedrock of the game’s hierarchy of goals. Your medium-term objective in Death Stranding is always a cargo delivery from one place to another, which must be completed according to certain conditions of volume of goods, speed, or cargo damage. Individual deliveries can then be manually threaded together, in the manner of Elite or any MMORPG fetch quest, in to an overall plan, which will boost your standing with multiple customers in an efficient manner. To play Death Stranding is to be conscious of the relationships between structures in space and the topography upon which they lie, and to exploit them to the best overall benefit.
This is game design and a tone which almost entirely reject conventional ideas of mastery and excellence. In Kojima’s other games, success depended upon acting with skill, speed, and excellence, but Death Stranding consistently rewards persistence, thoughtfulness, and planning, and denies you the opportunity to achieve a friction-free, graceful effortlessness. Even the game’s finale ranking system is grindable; Kojima simply does not care whether you reached your grade by doggedly completing a thousand shoddy deliveries or dramatically resolving one hundred excellent ones. A great Death Stranding player is not to be found weaving through the landscape like a death wind as in Metal Gear Solid V, but standing patiently in a river waiting for their stamina to rebuild, or contemplating the long way down a mountain rather than the swift, risky descent of a cliff face.
Which brings us to theme, and the first time in many years that Hideo Kojima has successfully communicated his game’s ideas through the gameplay itself. The core concept of connection is clearly expressed in the delivery-based gameplay, which as I’ve mentioned forces you to consider the spatial relationships between locations. The cargoes themselves tell stories about subtler connections: who might be sending which objects to who tells you about their collaboration, cooperation, and perhaps even attitudes. These connections are made concrete by your ability to build structures in the world, with each bridge or ladder or road speaking to the links between the previously-isolated denizens of the United Cities of America. These connections are in turn shared between the different players: structures and even misplaced cargo and vehicles from other players’ worlds will appear in your own, and vice versa, to be exploited, improved and recovered towards your now-shared goal of reconnecting America.
The game reinforces at every stage that you must collaborate to succeed. Structures are expensive, particularly in the early game, but by sharing with others you can create a better, less-frustrating and more survivable world. Hiking through the snow and rounding a hill to find another player has built a refuge for your cold, wet, hungry Sam is like spotting a warm cafe window on a cold and lonely evening. You will be rewarded for, and you can reward, this altruism: the sending kudos every time I come across a rope or ladder has conditioned me to smash the like button on every social network I use with a ubiquity and enthusiasm that I was sure had been washed away by cynicism. This may be the best and most positive argument yet that games have the capacity inherent in all art to influence people’s thoughts and behaviour.
Kojima’s newfound emphasis on thematic gameplay has not tempered his love of narrative exposition, but it does fit Death Stranding better than his previous, more action-oriented games. The opening couple of hours and the finale are exposition-heavy cut-scene-fests in a universe full of vaguely human ciphers with motivations that are relatable yet communicated entirely through exposition. (There’s some remarkable Hollywood talent here doing its best to sell it, but the scenes focused on each character are, enjoyably, completely incongruous with each other, like a low-key Spider-Verse treatment.) But for the bulk of the game, all eighty contemplative hours of it, the player is left largely to their own devices, with the scene-setting and research-regurgitation coming almost entirely in the form of text dumps. In Death Stranding, more than any Metal Gear Solid game, there is time to mentally unpack the ideas about human connections Kojima is lecturing you about, and a setting and goals that actively encourage you to consider the implications. As narrative fiction it’s unsubtle, with cloth-eared dialogue and a bias towards expressing its ideas verbatim rather than through the characters, relationships, or even much of the plot, but viewed as part of a game, and of this game, it actually works well.
There is actually an idea I’ve been toying with, since Tim Rogers made the case that Hideo Kojima writes non-fiction, that perhaps he is a creator of edutainment games: that the nearest analogue of something like Death Stranding or Metal Gear Solid 2 is not Stalker or The New York Trilogy, but Crystal Rainforest or Granny’s Garden, or I guess Where On Earth Is Carmen San Diego (we never had that here, but we got the TV show), a game where you’re given a great deal of non-fiction knowledge in an enjoyable, interactive environment. True, Death Stranding lacks quizzes to test you on your acquisition of the knowledge, but I think that’s probably the least important part of any edutainment game’s design. I made the joke recently that Hideo Kojima spent one hundred hours reading about the words, concepts, and objects related to the English word “hand”, and by golly he’s going to make you sit down and do the same thing, but I’m not sure it was entirely a joke, or that it’s particularly negative for the game to work this way. Perhaps Death Stranding is the world’s greatest multimedia educational experience. Perhaps Hideo Kojima should just start giving TED talks and get it all out of his system.
Death Stranding is entirely itself in a way only an indie game or a Hideo Kojima production can be, and was destined to be divisive. Its patient, mindful pace and resistance to streamlining are bound to frustrate those who approach games as sport, and its needlessly convoluted plot and casual disregard for narrative will turn off those expecting an interactive movie from the supposed master of the form. But the past few months of going for long, productive hikes in the mountains, surrounded by ghosts and rewarded by lectures about puzzling scientific curios, has been a genuine pleasure.
A modern classic.
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The Lost Guardian- Chapter Seven
“A Lull in Time”
(Authors note: Oh thank fuck, finally, an update! What do you mean it’s been months?? Ah shit. Sorry. Well, It’s here now, and the setup is readying for the grand entrance of the Origin Guardian! I promise, the next chapter will not take another multiple months if I can help it. Thank you @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 for helping me Beta read!)
Notice!: I’ve done some really cool art that also gives some background for these characters, please check it out!
Patton | Logan | Roman | Virgil | Remy | Deceit | ???
Chapter Six | Chapter Eight
Fandom: Thomas Sanders Sides
Pairings: Eventually Polyamsanders (LAMPR/CALMR)
Warnings: Hints at injuries and heavy defeatism within conversation. Let me know if I missed anything!
Consciousness does not greet him all at once, and instead Virgil finds himself floating back and forth freely in his mind as his body begins to wake up slowly. Instantly, Virgil recognizes the familiar haze that has settled over his senses, and like a match, his anxiety lights up with a single strike.
Oddly enough, at first all Virgil feels is his anxiety, his senses not responding immediately and at first, that just fuels his anxiety more. This was just like the familiar haze that had been settled over him from before, when he had been faced with a very real threat and yet was unable to react due to said haze. It had settled into his head, but instead of it lying to Virgil that everything was fine, it simply rolled soft waves of calm through him, asking his body to be still, be patient. He couldn’t react, but his mind was clear, unhindered by an unsaid command.
Panic lapses over on itself roughly a few times until the first sense returns to him, touch. Though foggy at first, Virgil’s mind is eased into the understanding that his head is being cradled somehow on something soft and warm. Fingers and palms gently rub at his temples and comb through his hair in slow, soothing motions. His body is laid out on something soft but firm, it feels like the familiar bed he had been sleeping on the night before.
His thoughts swirl around vaguely, settling a heavy unease into his chest as the initial panic begins to sort itself out, and his awareness finally clears. His body feels heavy, eyelids and limbs limp against his command, a sharp contrast to his exhausted mind spiking with worry.
He can't move, he can't move, but- he can feel. And, despite this disorientation and unease, Virgil’s body feels safe. His chest raises in gentle and slow breaths, and whoever touching him moves their fingers and gently slides them behind his head, tilting it up a bit to slip behind his ears and carefully massage his neck. Slowly, his hearing comes to him, and the unease calms a bit.
“Hey, babe.. hi, hey, there we go.. can you hear me, doll?” A thumb stokes right behind one of his ears, and his sense of hearing is fully returns. Remy’s voice curls soothingly around his head, comforting, solid, and true.
“There, there, babes. Rem’s gotcha. You’re safe now.” Though still on edge, his anxieties lessen a fraction at the familiar voice speaking to him, calm and soothing.
“Now I know, doll, all this is high-key scary and after all that just happened you probably aren’t faring any better with your circumstances as is, but.. I’m making the decision to take rein of your soul’s connection so you aren’t assaulted by all your senses at once while you process, okay darlin?” A hand trailed along his temples in small, soothing circles, and despite Virgil’s heavy eyelids obstructing his view, he felt himself slowly calming down.
Gentle fingers soothed over the expanse of Virgil’s neck, a feeling that would have caused him to shutter if he could. What unnerved him was how Remy’s fingers caught slightly even with the lightest touch of Virgil's skin, it reminded him clearly at what had been done, what he had done.
“You gave me quite a fright, V.. seeing ya freak out so bad, I wasn’t prepared for it..” Remy hummed gently to the seemingly sleeping human, though any Guardian would know better when hearing Virgil’s mind go a mile a minute.
“Makes me wonder what freaked you out so bad, hon.” With a light, gentle stroke over Virgil's eyelids, the heaviness slowly faded, allowing his eyes to flutter open.
Virgil is greeted with a rather wrecked Remy, hair askew and sunglasses absent, worry lines as present as his glowing eyes, as if the lines had always been there. The small smile the elite holds is not self-assured, attempting to be comforting but still so very cautious. Remy’s thumbs still slide soothingly over Virgil’s cheeks and jaw as they share a silent moment of communication, so many questions threatening to spill out of either being, yet nothing is said. Despite the silence, there is still an unspoken understanding between them, one that knows fear and one that knows failure.
A gentle knocking draws their attention to Remy’s bedroom door, it opening slowly with Remy’s answering hum. Virgil wishes he could rub his eyes, which still feel the remnants of his brief sleep, as he is greeted with Roman’s worried gaze peaking past the door frame. Roman seems to visibly relax when Virgil’s awakened eyes meet his own, the ravenette thankful as Remy’s hands tilt his head towards the door to avoid him straining his eyes.
“There you are, Stormcloud.. Welcome back to the land of the living!” Romans voice is weak, attempting to boast in a lighthearted manner, but there's no hiding the concern and guilt in the other’s glowing red and gold eyes. Virgil can only hope his body does not look as wrecked as it feels.
Roman’s mouth opens to say something more, but a pair of loud footsteps, and a pair of slower, quieter following footsteps silence him as Ro turns to look into the hallway. It takes a second before a very disheveled Patton appears, wide watery eyes landing right onto Virgil's form. Nothing is said as Patton's hand curls over his own mouth, slowly walking into the room and stopping a small distance away. Virgil inwardly cringes as the sound made from the guardian dropping straight to his knees to be somewhat eye level with the ravenette. “Oh, Virgil..”
Logan slides up against Roman, looking just as ruffled as Remy, guilty eyes meeting Virgil all the same. Nothing is said for a long, long moment before Remy sighs, gently fingers curling soothingly along his jaw. The ability to move his jaw returns to the ravenette, but still he makes no move to speak, staring almost hollowly at the others.
“Virgil..? Can you please let us know what the fuck happened back there? An’ how the hell you got outside?” Remy’s voice reverberated in his head, though soft and calm, it still bothered Virgil some.
Shining brown eyes trailed down to Patton, thinking over his response for a long moment before speaking, “..Him. He came.. Took me.. Warned me.”
“What did he warn you about, Virgil?” Logan’s crisp voice echoed a tension that clearly indicated restrained anger. He thought for a moment, eyes unfocused as the scene relapsed in his head. With a shudder, he closes his eyes and does not respond. “Well? What did he say?”
“What does it matter, Logan? I’m doomed to die, I’m nothing more than an object of revenge, I don’t matter. That's what. And to be honest, he’s not wrong.” Logan hissed at that, “Virgil, that's not true.”
“How is it not true, Logan? I’ve all lived my life knowing only one thing is certain, that I’m destined to die. It’s just Fate’s sick cruel joke to give me some hope before I inevitably fall victim to it’s whims. Why else would it still be trying so hard to kill me? What's the point in trying to save me when we all know that I’m too weak to save myself. I’m not worth the trouble okay? I’ve been a deadman since I was born, apparently.” Virgil laughed bitterly at that last part, tears threatening to spill. “I can’t change that.”
“Virgil,” Roman’s strained voice trembles, “I don’t understand how you don’t understand that-that, you just aren’t alone anymore! You speak like we aren’t by your side! Like we can’t help you! But we can, and we will! We’re right here, with you. It’s true fate has delt you a fucked set of cards but that doesn’t mean you can’t win with them.” Roman’s voice gets closer, and Virgil dares to open his eyes. Roman is sitting close to him, slightly closer than Patton, and Logan has moved closer to comfort Patton as well.
“You can, and you will, fight this. Know why I know you can do that? It’s because you won't be doing it alone. You are stronger than you think Virgil. And you’ll be even stronger once Thomas gets here and rebuilds your soul. And with us around, more alert than ever, he won't be able to touch you ever again.” Roman hummed, reaching to sooth a hand through Virgil’s messy hair.
Virgil sighed, willing his tears back a bit with a few blinks to accept the gesture, sighing again softly when the other rested a hand on his cheek. “I want to believe you, Roman.”
He watched a tired but successful smile flicker onto Romans face, before the other leaned a pressed a gentle kiss to the others forehead. “That's a perfectly good start, Mi amor.”
“If it helps, Virgil? Now that we know his tricks, he won't be able to use it again. I don’t think he realizes he isn’t stronger than I on my own, let alone in any combination with Roman, Patton, and Remy,” Logan hummed, soothingly petting Patton’s head which was tucked under his chin, then in a lower, protective growl, “And he will certainly pay for the distress he’s caused you, Virgil.”
Virgil smirked tiredly, feeling loved and protected again. Slowly, Remy released Virgil’s senses altogether, now that he was sure the other was no threat to himself. With full control, Virgil attempted to sit up, wincing and trying not to hiss at the soreness in his body from his earlier terror filled event. Eventually he was up, though still leaning against Remy heavily, exhausted and hungry. There was a long moment of contemplative silence, tension still thick in the air but slightly more lessened now than before.
“Hey, uhm.. Virge? Can I um..” came Patton's voice after a minute, hesitant and scared to ruin the calm moment. “C-can I hold you?”
Virgil hummed softly before opening his arms, smiling faintly at Pattons soft happy cheer, and let himself be picked up by Patton. Once settled into the others lap, leaning against the others chest, Patton soothed his hands over Virgil’s sore back, trying to loosen a few knots and help Virgil feel better. Eventually Logan and Roman joined the other three on Remy’s bed, settling over one another in a haphazard but safe cuddle pile. Even Patton had leaned back, with Virgil in tow, and was now flat on his back with Virgil cuddled up on top of him and listening to the guardian’s heartbeat.
“We’ll go get some food in a bit, god knows how hungry you probably are after that. And heaven knows I need a cup of coffee after this morning’s events. But right now, lets just.. chill out. Regroup.” Remy offered, practically melting against Roman’s hands running through his hair. There was a small chorus of agreement as the mood settled into something calmer.
After a few minutes, Patton soothed a hand over Virgil’s neck, rubbing softly in hopes to sooth the irritation a bit as he spoke. “This time we’re not gonna sleep on the job okay? So, if you want too, honeybee, don’t hesitate to nap. You deserve it, okay? We’ll be right here when you wake up.”
“Promise?” Virgil whispered, eyes drooping tiredly and of their own accord.
“We promise, honeybee.”
Slowly, but surely, Virgil allowed his eyelids to shut, hands gripping at Pattons shirt as he drifted off bit by bit. The others would wake him for food in an hour or two, but for now, they let the boy rest, and hoped that Thomas would arrive by the afternoon.
Only then, would this issue begin to be resolved.
.
.
.
Next Chapter
#sanders sides#polyamsanders#lamp/calm#virgil sanders#roman sanders#logan sanders#patton sanders#remy sanders#chapter seven
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@random-emerald-thoughts as promised, here are the details on season 4 of The Rape of Europa Hannibal AU television series.
If anyone is seeing this for the first time and needs to know what the heck this is, links are here:
OVERVIEW
SEASON 1 SUMMARY | SEASON 1 DETAILS
SEASON 2 SUMMARY | SEASON 2 DETAILS
SEASON 3 SUMMARY | SEASON 3 DETAILS
SEASON 4 SUMMARY | SEASON 4 DETAILS
Below the cut is the following information:
Additional Information about each episode and the real crimes that inspired some of the stories
Artwork featured in each episode
Flashbacks featured in each episode
General Season Arcs / Information / Themes
General Clannibal info
SEASON THEMES / NOTES
One of the underlying themes of the season is the brother/sister relationship. The terrible brother/sister relationship between Mason and Margot, and the much better, but still traumatic relationship between Lecter and Mischa. Lecter is horrified that anyone should treat their sister so badly when he misses his own sister so much.
In the past season (season 3), we have learned that Mason Verger wants to kill Hannibal Lecter. We don’t really know why. We haven’t really seen his background. Slowly we will see flashbacks of what happened.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 1: Sense and Sensibility
DATE: October 1993
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Meeting Barney, seeing him with a copy of Sense and Sensibility.
Barney - Talking with Lecter, late at night, talking about Sense and Sensibility, specifically passion versus control. Elinor’s reserved feelings vs. Marianne’s more outgoing ones. Hannibal Lecter then brings the conversation over to what Barney thinks of Clarice Starling
Clarice - Flashbacks to the Finale of Season 3 with Hannibal rescuing Clarice and sleeping together
Hannibal - Hannibal watches Clarice sleep. He hears helicopters overhead and knows he must fleet. He stares again at Clarice, not wanting to leave her, but eventually goes.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Ancient of Days by William Blake at the British Museum (Seen in Mason Vergers’s room)
NOTE:
Mason Verger, paralyzed, deformed, mutilated by Lecter spends most of his life in bed in the dark. We see him thinking of the Doctor, looking at photos of the Doctor, obsessing over the Doctor. We aren’t sure why he’s obsessed or what he plans to do, but we get the sense that it’s probably not good...
Mason hires Barney. We’ve not seen much of him before. But flashbacks give us an idea that he is important. We see flashbacks of him talking about Clarice with Lecter. Mason asks Barney many questions about Lecter - a wide variety. Barney isn’t really sure how any of it is relevant to his nursing job. Mason then lets Barney know that he knows he was the source of quite a bit of the Lecter memorabilia that he had purchased over the years. He wants to know what other objects Barney might have...and information is just as useful as objects.
Margot, who was last seen in season two having slit her father’s throat, is still around. Her brother is the only one that knows the truth and is pretty much blackmailing her into doing what he wants, or he will turn her over to the authorities.
Clarice has essentially been given credit for tracking down and killing Il Monstro. Nobody is aware that it was Lecter who ultimately killed him.
This is all intercut with Clarice also thinking about the Doctor. Only for Clarice, she keeps thinking about her time in Italy with the Doctor - she flashes back to their making love, to waking up to find him gone.
Several months have passed since the events of Italy. Clarice has heard nothing from the Doctor. She has hoped for letters - something.
We see Lecter in France. He too is thinking about being with Clarice. He remembers watching her sleep and making the choice to leave her when he heard police approaching. At one point he sits down at his desk to write to her and finds he cannot.
Paul Krendler comes to visit Clarice at work. He harasses her about the Gardner case. She confronts him and asks if he doesn’t like her because she refused to go to bed with him. He says she’s crazy and storms out.
Johnny asks Clarice to marry him. She’s not thrilled with the idea but doesn’t show it. She asks if she can think about it and Johnny promises to give her time. He leaves a ring with her to wear if she so chooses.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 2: Double Exposure
DATE: November 1993
FLASHBACKS:
Paul Krendler - Paul, as a young boy, makes out in the back of a car with a girl who resembles Clarice. When he cannot perform, she questions his sexuality.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Hundreds of smaller works (sketches, small paintings) by Manet, Degas, etc.
NOTES:
This episode and the character of James Brockman are heavily inspired by the real-life John Mark Tillman - a Canadian art thief who over the years managed to still over 10,000 antiques and pieces of art from museums and galleries. He kept most of his thefts small in order to not attract attention, but over the years amassed a collection worth an enormous sum.
Clarice is at a Museum Gala Benefit with Johnny at the National Gallery. It is not work-related. She meets up with Miranda Pilcher and speaks to her a bit about the artwork. She spies Paul Krendler and tries to avoid him, lest he try to hit on her. She ducks into an empty gallery only to witness a very quick, sleight of hand theft. She does not arrest him, and he does not notice her.
Clarice later pours through photos of the attendees. Clarice managed to get the list of names from Miranda. She finds the man’s photo and identifies him as James Brookman.
She works to get a warrant and when her team raids his home, they are shocked to not only find the statue in question but thousands of other pieces. None of them are major thefts, but they account for thousands of smaller ones. Immediately Clarice’s team members are put onto the task of organizing the pieces, figuring out where they were stolen from, the process of restitution for each piece, etc. A massive task, considering they have ten thousand pieces to go through.
Brookman is looking at some pretty heavy jail time, but Clarice wonders if she can negotiate with him. She wonders how much he knows. She knows that since he has stolen so much, he most certainly knows a good deal about other thefts around the world.
Brookman, it turns out, knows a lot. He quickly identifies several wealthy business owners who are involved in money laundering via expensive artwork. He identifies several crime rings and also notes several important paintings hanging in museums are fake. Clarice’s team begin to investigate all of these leads, and all of them turn out to be true.
Clarice wants to know...does he know anything about the Garnder case? He says he does not, but that he can work to find out if his security is relaxed. Clarice agrees.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 3: The Muse
DATE: December 1993
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Hannibal draws Clarice while she speaks to him at the Baltimore Asylum.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Various (fictional) portraits and nudes in the style of Picasso and Balthus
Christ with the head of Clarice on a Watch, by Hannibal Lecter
NOTES:
This episode is vaguely inspired by a (fake) story about Picasso, as told in the Orson Welles Documentary F for Fake, where Picasso painted 22 paintings of the same model and she ultimately demanded all of the paintings.
A very famous French artist has been brutally murdered in his studio. He has been shot in the chest. No one is quite sure why. His friends and family are interviewed...the man was your typical tempestuous artist, but no one could think of any reason why someone would want to murder him. The artist was wealthy, but on his death, most of his wealth was donated to a museum...so nobody benefitted monetarily from his death either. It’s quite a puzzle.
Meanwhile, Mason Verger has acquired a couple new pieces from Barney’s Lecter collection, including a drawing of Clarice Starling done while she and Lecter spoke together about the Buffalo Bill case.
Clarice, going through the artist's studio looking for information is surprised to find several paintings of the same model. When looking deeper she finds even more. Looking in his collection at home - still more. In storage, even more. Who is the woman? None of the artist's family of friends seem to know her.
Mason continues to speak with Barney, and on discussing the Clarice drawing, Barney mentions that he and Lecter talked late into the night about Clarice Starling. Mason finds this interesting and is frankly surprised. Barney and Mason speak for a long time, and Mason stares at the drawing again. Then he brings up his copy of Lecter’s letter to Clarice written just after his escape. He has a copy. Barney asks where it came from, and Mason mentions that he has sources in the F.B.I that have gotten him copies of most evidence. He looks at the letter, then at the drawing. He comes to the conclusion that Clarice holds something for Lecter - that perhaps Clarice is Lecter’s muse.
Clarice looks into the artist’s calendar to see if she can figure out who the girl might be. She sees several appointments for sittings, including appointments in the future. Clarice tracks down the girl and begins to ask her questions. The girl finally cracks and says that she killed the artist. He had become obsessed with her. Had stalked her. Had sexually harassed her, taken liberties with her, & etc.
The solving of the case is a big deal in the media, and Clarice is once again front-page news.
We see a photo of Clarice in the newspaper. We are given four shots of this. First, we see Paul Krendler at home, obsessing over Clarice’s photo. He hates her, but he wants her too. We see Mason Verger looking at Clarice’s photo in the newspaper, wondering how she might be of use to him...we see Clarice Starling, still in Paris (Eiffel Tower in the background) looking at a French newspaper, seeing her face on the front page, and crumpling it in disgust. She doesn’t much like notoriety. Lastly, we see Hannibal Lecter looking at a French newspaper in his Parisian apartment...they have been in the same town for several weeks, and we are aware that he has not gone to her.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 4: Mundus Novus
DATE: January 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Mason - Mason meets Hannibal Lecter for therapy for the first time. Mason reveals a lot about what he’s done - he is not remorseful. He is bragging. Lecter’s demeanor registers nothing.
Clarice - Clarice remembers kissing Lecter in the Season 2 episode Whoseo List to Hunt. The scene immediately changes to her remembering him telling her in Operation Atilla that he has forgotten what he is capable of.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Vermeer (Missing)
NOTES:
The title of the episode means “The New World” a reference to the novel. It references both Lecter’s journey to America and in this episode Clarice’s official end of her career with the Art Crime Team.
Clarice and her team received a tip that The Storm on the Sea of Galilee from the Gardner Heist is being held in a warehouse in Boston. They are told it is in the hands of a local Mafia boss. Clarice, Johnny and two of her team members go in, but the press has been tipped, and it appears the entire scheme is a setup. Johnny is killed and the press manages to catch it all.
Clarice mourns Johnny’s death. She takes care of his estate, his funeral, etc. After that she is able to turn back to the case. The painting was recovered...but it’s been discovered that it was a fake. The loss of a man for a fake painting - the press has a field day. This doesn’t look good for the F.B.I. Clarice is on the verge of losing her job. Mason Verger and Paul Krendler are both watching closely...Mason makes a call to Jack Crawford and tells him to hire Clarice.
Hannibal Lecter sees Clarice’s trials and tribulations on the front page of the paper. After months of trying to avoid her and forget her, he decides to make his way to the United States.
Paul Krendler goes to visit Mason. It is clear that they have been meeting regularly. We learn that Paul Krendler, with the help of the Boston Mafia, placed the fake into the warehouse. The plan worked beautifully. Clarice, in disgrace, would be hired by Jack on the advice of Mason. Clarice would work to catch Hannibal Lecter - she being the perfect bait. Mason would have Lecter’s body as the centerpiece of his little collection, and Mason Verger would fund Paul Krendler’s run for congress, as well as give him Clarice to use or destroy however he sees fit.
Jack Crawford hires Clarice onto Behavioral Science. It’s where she’s always wanted to be, but she certainly didn’t want to get there in an effort to be saved from being let go from the F.B.I. altogether. Clarice asks Crawford what case she will be put onto, and he tells her that he wants her on the Lecter case. Clarice is conflicted, still thinking of Lecter. She remembers kissing him in Whoseo List to Hunt, but then also recalls when he got angry at her in Operation Atilla and accused her of becoming complacent and forgetting what he was capable of. She considers these two sides of him and wonders if she really wants to capture him.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 5: Subtractive, Additive, Kinetic
DATE: February 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Clarice remembers standing in front of The Ecstacy of St.Theresa in Italy with Hannibal Lecter
ARTWORK FEATURED:
The Awakening Slave by Michelangelo
The Young Slave by Michelangelo
The Bearded Slave by Michelangelo
The Atlas (or Bound) by Michelangelo
The Ecstacy of St.Theresa by Bernini
NOTES:
The title of the episode references the three kinds of sculptures that exist.
Clarice interviews agents to replace her on the Art Crime Team. She asks Miranda Pilcher to help with this. Miranda and Clarice would not be considered friends, but they now both have great respect for one another after several years of working together. She is sad to see Clarice go.
Paul Krendler continues to harass Clarice about just about everything. Her replacement is taking too long - why is she choosing this person? Why not someone else? She had better be grateful that she gets to move to Behavioral Science instead of just being fired. She owes a lot to Jack Crawford, etc.
Clarice moves into the basement of Behavioral Science. She has a few disorganized boxes of Lecter evidence an begins to work to organize them. She wonders if she can really put him away.
Clarice receives a letter from Lecter at home. She feels relief, having heard from him after so long. He begins by apologizing for the loss of Johnny and asks how she is dealing with it. He then apologizes for the loss of her job but congratulates her on her new position. He wonders in the letter - does she want him captured? He assures Clarice that she is strong enough to get through all of the challenges that she is currently facing. He talks to her a bit about sculpture - additive and subtractive. He talks about how additive sculpture adds elements to an already existing base, but that a subtractive one removes elements to reveal something at its core. He tells Clarice she’s gone about things wrong - tried to add things to her life thinking they will make her a better person, when really she should carve away at things instead, and that just because she will have chipped away at the whole, it doesn’t mean that the beautiful sculpture revealed within the stone wasn’t within the block the whole time He tells her about Michelangelo’s Prisoners unfinished pieces of art, and encourages her to visit them as they are on loan at the National Gallery. He asks her if she remembers The Ecstacy of St.Thereas sculpture that they saw together in Italy? He reminds her he saw the same look on her own face once and wonders if she ever remembers their time together.
Clarice visits the National Gallery and looks at the sculptures as the Doctor requested. She half expects to encounter the Doctor there, but she does not. She does meet Miranda again, and Miranda wonders why she is there to see these particular pieces. Clarice cannot admit she’s received a letter from Lecter, but she does mention, as she had years before about The Flaying of Marsyas, that “He” told me to come see them. Since this is the second time Clarice is mentioning “Him,” Miranda begins to wonder if Clarice felt more for the Doctor than she let on.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 6: Every Vermeer in the World
DATE: March 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Margot - Mason attacks Margot when they are children
Margot - Margot visits with Doctor Lecter as a child. He tells her what happened to her is not her fault.
Barney - Barney remembers an evening when Lecter introduced him to Vermeer’s paintings.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Vermeer, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
NOTES:
Barney and Marot have met before, but begin talking at the Muskrat Farm gym. They begin talking about Lecter and how they each knew him. They talk about Mason, about work, about life. Barney tells Margot how Lecter introduced him to things - how it is his dream to see every Vermeer in the World.
We see a scene of Lecter talking to Barney about Vermeer late one night in the asylum. Barney has a school book open and they are discussing Girl Reading a Letter by Vermeer. Barney asks how he knows the letter is a love letter, and Lecter tells him that a painting of a Cupid used to hang on the wall in the painting, but had since been painted over (this is true, and the painting is currently undergoing restoration to bring the Cupid back)
Clarice believes that she can be led to Lecter via the sales of Lecter Memorabilia. She learns as much as she can about it. About his autographs, pre and post-incarceration, his notes, his papers, his drawings. She is hoping that some kind of pattern will emerge.
Ardelia is worried about Clarice. She’s worked hard, lost Johnny, lost her job, started a new job, and now must track down the madman who started her career several years previous. She asks Clarice is perhaps she should take a leave of absence. She knows something is going on with Clarice, but she cannot quite pinpoint what.
Clarice also begins to investigate Lecter’s past. She begins to research wine, food, and even speaks to one of Lecter’s old companions, Rachel Du Barry. She looks at old photos of Rachel in Vogue. She sees several photos of Rachel on Lecter’s arm at various events and finds herself jealous, despite the fact that Rachel is now much older and has had three husbands. Rachel mentions how charming Lecter was, that he made a girl’s “Fur Crackle.” She tells Clarice she hopes she has some “Known Acquaintances”
Margot goes to Mason about their father’s will. She is still disowned for being a lesbian. She asks to be reinstated. Mason says no and threatens to tell everyone that she killed their father if she persists. She then says if she cannot be in the will, then perhaps her child can. She asks Mason for some of his sperm. He says he will give her some if she agrees to help him capture Lecter. Margot is conflicted. She remembers her time with Lecter - she likes him well enough, but ultimately agrees.
Clarice goes home and re-reads her recent letter from Hannibal Lecter. We are reminded of the Vermeer from earlier in the episode.
We end with scenes of Clarice and Margot intercut - the both of them uneasy about capturing Lecter due to their different kinds of affection for him, but ultimately working through their feelings and moving forward with what they both feel they must do.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 7: The Two Picassos
DATE: April 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Margot - Margot has therapy with Doctor Lecter as a child. He tells her he is weirder than can imagine.
Will - Will has flashes of speaking with Lecter at the hospital, of seeing the wound man image above Lecter’s desk, of Lecter attacking him.
Mason - Mason invites Doctor Lecter to his home. He shows him his dogs that he has not fed. He shows him his toys, including his guillotine. Lecter shows no emotion. He asks Mason if he would like a popper. Mason takes it.
Mason - Lecter breaks Mason’s mirror, gives him a shard and suggests he peel off his face. He does so and feeds it to the dogs.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Crying Woman by Pablo Picasso
NOTES:
The title of the episode does not refer to any Picasso paintings (though one is featured on the estate at Muskrat Farm), but rather the faces of Will Graham and Mason Verger.
Clarice goes to visit Mason Verger regarding the Lecter case. He shows her a new X-Ray he has acquired and wants to know if it is authentic, as he is collecting Lecter Memorabelia for a private collection. Clarice says she cannot confirm it, but she will work to find out.
Mason is pleased to have Clarice in his employ since she has worked with Lecter before. But he decides he would also like Will Graham. He calls Jack Crawford and Crawford says he does not think Will will want to come out of retirement after the Dollarhyde case. Mason asks Crawford to try.
Mason calls Tomasso, Piero and Carlo and hires them kidnap Hannibal Lecter. He says that he has Will Graham and Clarice Starling as bait - surely one of them will either find Lecter themselves or manage to lure Lecter with their respective pasts.
Margot is horrified when she realizes that the men who were hired to kidnap her two years before are now the men that Mason has chosen to hire to kidnap Hannibal Lecter. It means she will have to speak with these men, work with these men, pay off these men. She wants nothing to do with them. Mason reminds Margot of their deal.
Jack Crawford heads to Florida to find and meet with Will Graham in an effort to convince him to come back to Behavioral Science to help capture Hannibal Lecter.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 8: Fearful Symmetry
DATE: May 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Barney - Hannibal telling Barney that Clarice is becoming one of the big cats
Will - Flashbacks to the crime scenes of the Leed’s and Jacobi’s houses.
Will - Meeting with Hannibal Lecter to discuss Dollarhyde
Will - Interview with Freddy Lounds, discussing Francis Dollarhyde
Will - A coded letter to The Tooth Fairy is found. Will and Crawford work to unravel it. They quickly find that Lecter has asked the Tooth Fairy to kill his family.
Will - Will watches Molly kill Francis Dollarhyde
ARTWORK FEATURED:
The Tyger by William Blake from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
The Lamb by William Blake from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, William Blake (Copy at the National Gallery)
NOTE:
The title of the episode comes from the William Blake poem “The Tyger.” The poem is one of two, being paired with “The Lamb.” in Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience” both of which represent Clarice.
This episode is a lot about loyalty and being willing to switch sides. Lecter works with Will, but betrays him. Barney looked after Lecter, but has no problems getting wealthy off of Lecter’s old belongings. Crawford has no problem getting Will to work for him again, despite having put him in danger twice before. Mason has no problem hiring the kidnappers who kidnapped his sister to kidnap Lecter, despite how uncomfortable it may make Margot. Meanwhile, Clarice is still stuck in the balance - what side will she choose?
Mason purchases Dr.Lecter’s medical records, background information and X-Rays from Barney for a great sum of money. He is extremely pleased with his purchase.
Mason hires Carlo, Tammoso and Piero to steal William Blake’s The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. It has to do with the Lecter case, Mason wants it in his Lecter collection, and he also hopes that it will help spur Will Graham to action to find Hannibal Lecter.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 9: Vestibule of the Asylum
DATE: June 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Will - Visiting Hannibal Lecter and telling Lecter he was caught because he had the disadvantage of “Being insane.���
Will - Hannibal at court
Will - Hannibal asking will “Do you ever wonder why it was you who caught me? It’s because we’re alike, you and I.”
Clarice - Meeting Krendler telling her he is a “Pure Psychopath.”
Clarice - Clarice visits Lecter in his cell and is introduced to Sammy.
Clarice - Clarice watches Lecter sketch his own hands. First, he sketches his left hand with his right, then he sketches his right hand with his left. She notices the six fingers on his left hand.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Vestibule of the Asylum by Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum (Owned by the fictional M.J. Verger Museum)
Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, National Gallery (Owned by the fictional M.J. Verger Museum)
Gilgamesh with 6 Fingers Holding a Lion. Unknown artist. Sumerian in origin.
NOTES:
The title of this episode hails from the title of the painting Vestibule of the Asylum by Vincent Van Gogh that literally depicts the Vestibule of the Asylum in which Van Gogh was staying. In this episode, it is also meant to signify Will’s precarious mental state - that he is essentially teetering precariously in the doorway of madness.
Strangely enough, it is the M.J. Verger museum that is stolen from in this episode. A famous Van Gogh is stolen, and Clarice and her team must work to find the culprit responsible. While at the Verger Museum, Clarice notices a Sumerian statue of Gilgamesh with six fingers.
The culprit is ultimately caught and found to be a man in a poor mental state. Clarice and Will begin to discuss not only the culprit but Van Gogh himself.
Mason calls Clarice back again to show her his newest acquisition - an X-ray he believes to be that of Hannibal Lecter. In order to compare and confirm it, Clarice must find the X-Ray of Lecter’s taken in captivity when he attacked the nurse. Mason’s X-Ray shows a man who used to have six fingers but has had the extra digit removed...
Clarice and Will, looking for Doctor Lecter’s medical records visit the abandoned Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. They find the place derelict and frightening. The records are not located in Chilton’s office and so they both muster up their courage to go down into the basement where Lecter’s cell used to be.
Clarice and Will stand in front of Lecter’s cell - they both remember seeing Lecter on the other side. Clarice decides she wants to go in. Will watches, horrified, as she crosses the threshold and places her hands on Lecter’s old table.
Will struggles greatly with being at the asylum and is plagued by the worry that he himself is insane. He remembers calling Lecter insane but also remembers Lecter telling him that he was caught because they are very much alike.
Clarice and Will only find Migg’s medical records and are feeling very put out when they realize the smell of the place is getting worse...
They encounter Sammy living in one of the old cells. Will doesn’t know Sammy and is a bit frightened, but Clarice immediately knows how to respond, telling Sammy that she is not Jesus, as Sammy rants and raves. She holds out a Snickers bar for him and he seems pleased enough.
Clarice and Will begin to discuss the nature of insanity. They begin to talk about Lecter and wonder if he is truly insane, or if everyone is a product of experiences, or if maybe that is what insanity vs sanity is - how well we cope with what our lives have given us.
Will finds he cannot continue to search for Lecter without losing his sanity completely and returns to drink in Florida. Lecter writes him a letter. It is the opposite of the kind of letter Clarice receives, filled with encouragement at her bravery.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 10: The Map Thief
DATE: July 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Clarice tells Lecter she read his paper on surgical addiction
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Map of the North American Colonies, Yale University
Map of the World, Yale University
Lecter’s Paper on Surgical Addiction and Left/Right Facial Displays
Various papers and receipts from the Lecter estate
NOTES:
This episode is influenced by a lot of people. The amount of curators stealing paperwork, maps, letters, etc from Universities is mind-boggling. There is a large list of people in authority stealing these things. The two main people, this is based on however are Daniel Spiegelman who smuggled items out of Columbia University using a legal pad and dumb waiter (I swear to God, I can’t make it up), and E. Forbes Smiley who stole maps and documents from Yale library. His theft was discovered when he dropped a razor blade on the floor. A book was written about him called The Map Theif, from where this episode gets its title.
Clarice is working to get all of the Lecter evidence placed in one location. One of her co-workers puts a sign outside the door calling her office “Hannibal’s House.”
Columbia University has a whole collection of Lecter papers, and Clarice creates some problems when she tries to seize them. She manages to placate them when she finds that some of their papers and maps in their rare document collection have slowly been going missing over the years She agrees in exchange for the Lecter library that she will look into the other thefts for them.
Clarice looks over a listing of missing items and finds that they are valuable, but not incredibly so. They are low value enough to not be noticed. Someone has stolen low-value items in a high volume, ultimately making quite a lot of money in the process. She knows someone else who used to deal in low-value high volume items...James Brockman.
Clarice goes to visit James in jail to see if he might have any information or know anything about some of the various thefts over the years coming out of Columbia University. James tells her to look for long-time university employees.
Clarice tightens security in the rare document section of the library. She puts cameras outside of the door as well to watch comings and goings. When another document disappears, but nobody is seen coming and going, Clarice wonders how on earth this could be happening.
Clarice eventually finds that when several boxes on a shelf are moved, it reveals the door of an old dumb waiter in the wall. It goes down to the basement, where someone could easily exit. She places a camera in the basement, ultimately catching a University professor who has been stealing documents for years and selling them.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 11: Sfumato
DATE: August 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Clarice remembers asking for the Doctor’s papers from his cell from Barney after Lecter’s transfer to Memphis
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Clarice as a Griffon by Hannibal Lecter
NOTES:
The title references Sfumato, the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.
Clarice goes for a run in the forest and Lecter gets his first look at her again in over a year. Slowly he begins to follow her again but does not confront her. He breaks into her car and smells her steering wheel.
Lecter writes Clarice a letter, draws a drawing of her, and selects some soaps and lotions for her and send them in the mail. They never reach her. We see them being intercepted by Paul Krendler.
Clarice ultimately determines that many of the pieces of Lecter Memabelia are being sold by Barney under a false identity when her old Art Crime Team gets in touch. She realizes Mason has hired Barney for more than just information about Lecter, but for actual pieces in Lecter’s collection. She wonders if perhaps Mason is trying to catch Hannibal Lecter for himself and if perhaps he plans not to turn Lecter over to authorities.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 12: Entartete Kunst
DATE: September 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Clarice remembers Lecter asking her for access to the Lost Art Register, to telling her about his paintings and about the name Grentz
Clarice - Clarice remembers Hannibal Lecter, delicious and hallucinating at the end of season two when she learned the fate of Lecter’s sister.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Third Reich Artifacts (Busts, eagles, etc)
A Nude Venus by Robert Lecter
NOTES:
This episode is influenced by a 2017 story in which a huge trove of about 75 pieces of Nazi Artifacts was uncovered in a secret room in the home of a wealthy Buenos Aires man. The horde was found due to a suspicious piece of art at a local gallery, which ultimately led to a wider investigation.
The title of the episode means “Degenerate Art” in German. The Nazi’s banned much modern art or anything that they felt was insulting to Germany in some way. Robert Lecter is mentioned to have been imprisoned briefly due to his artwork.
A painting of Robert Lecter’s is sold to a Buenos Aires gallery by a local man. The gallery, looking further into the piece, is a little alarmed. The painting, they quickly find, is located on The Art Loss Register and is listed as having been stolen from Lecter Castle. Being associated with both Lecter and with art, Clarice is once again asked to join her old Art Crime Team.
She journeys to Buenos Aires and finds that she likes the city very much. She investigates the gallery and the painting and confirms that the painting is indeed a Robert Lecter painting from Lecter Castle - a painting Lecter had mentioned to her several years before.
The gallery owners are investigated and it is determined that they ultimately just made a stupid purchase, but that they have not done anything illegal intentionally. The gallery owners cooperate - they give back the painting, they give over the name of the person who sold the painting to the gallery without question.
A warrant to search the home of the original owner of the painting is given, and Clarice and her team go in. They are shocked to find a secret room filled with all kinds of Nazi Memorabilia and stolen Nazi art. They are shocked. They wonder if the man is guilty of war crimes - most certainly he is, based on the items he owns. It is believed he likely came to Argentina, as it is a well known safe haven for Nazis and Nazi sympathizers after the war.
They dig into the man’s identity - he is not anyone they know, but they realize that his name is likely false. After a good deal of digging, Clarice comes across a piece of paper with the name Grentz. She recognizes it immediately as one that Hannibal Lecter had given her. She knows this man is Grentz - the last man Hannibal Lecter wants to avenge for the death of his sister.
The name doesn’t stick. The government doesn’t cooperate. A mess of paperwork - maybe there will be a trial in a few years...but for now, the man is allowed to continue living in his home. His Nazi memorabilia is seized, but he can live his life without being harassed otherwise. This bothers Clarice immensely. She KNOWS it’s Grentz. She KNOWS he’s guilty, but her hands are tied. She leaves Argentina with Lecter’s painting but feeling defeated.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 13: The Deposition of Christ
DATE: November 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Balthus- Sitting with Hannibal Lecter as they observe a painting. They discuss Clarice Starling.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
The episode name comes from the station of the cross related to bringing Christ’s body off of the cross. Clarice, of course, is Christ. A deposition, of course, is also a formal kind of meeting.
In Real life a Polish painter born in Paris. His work is controversial but sought after. He married a Japanese woman, and is likely the inspiration for Robert Lecter and Murasaki in "Hannibal Rising." In "Hannibal" he is Hannibal Lecter's artist cousin. Likely on his mother's side, or a from a sister on his father's side. We do not know much about Lecter's other family members, so Bathus is the most likely person that Lecter would have willed some of his "known" possessions to when he went to prison for life.
Clarice discovers that Balthus is related to Hannibal Lecter due to Bathus’ large collection of pieces by Robert Lecter. Clarice has the piece she recovered in Buenos Aires from Lecter Castle, and she finds that since Balthus is his only known family member, that since Lecter cannot “legally” claim the painting, that it would instead go to Balthus. She secretly hopes that if word gets out that his cousin has his artwork, Hannibal Lecter will come looking for it.
Mason, Krendler and Barney meet with Dr.Doemking, who tells them that Clarice Starling needs to be in distress for Hannibal Lecter to come to her.
Balthus and Clarice speak fairly honestly about Lecter, but Clarice ultimately shows she means business. Balthus says he will cooperate, but as soon as Clarice is gone he sits down to write to Lecter. It is clear from his letter that they have been in contact with one another and what’s more- that Lecter has told him about Clarice, and had even told Bathlus to eventually expect her.
Clarice is served papers but has no idea why. She wonders if it has something to do with Balthus. She gets to the deposition and finds that Paul Krendler has a letter, drawing, and gifts from Hannibal Lecter that he has intercepted. Since she has not yet been able to find Lecter, he hopes firing her will put her in enough distress for Lecter to come to her aide.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 14: The Fall of the House of Verger
When Clarice witnesses a kidnapping that the F.B.I. refuses to acknowledge, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Mason’s well-laid plans finally come to fruition. Jack Crawford suffers a heart attack. Hannibal Lecter asks Margot Verger for help. Margot makes a shocking discovery about her brother’s estate.
DATE: December 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Margot - During therapy with Doctor Lecter as a child, Hannibal Lecter suggests that killing Mason would be therapeutic for her recovery. But he cautions her to wait until she is old enough to get away with it.
ARTWORK FEATURED:
Excerpts from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgard Allen Poe
NOTE:
The title of this episode is a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher in which the twins of Roderick and Madeline Usher are subtly implied to have been in an incestuous relationship. Madness and death ensue, and a fissure running through the house cracks open and the house is swallowed into the earth. Obviously not pulling any punches with referencing the Verger siblings here.
Hannibal Lecter goes shopping for a wine keyed to Clarice’s birthday year.
Clarice, on administrative leave, is headed to the grocery store. Hannibal Lecter is following close behind. Behind him follow Mason’s men. Clarice goes into the grocery store, and Lecter goes over to her car to leave her a birthday gift, at which point he is seized by Mason’s men and taken back to the Verger Estate. She calls the F.B.I, but they refuse to acknowledge that what she saw actually happened. She must be mistaken...
Hannibal tells Mason that he has some details wrong. His face was not fed to the dogs - Mason ate his own face and exclaimed that it “Tastes like chicken!”
Lecter is tied up waiting to be tortured by the kidnappers. After speaking with Mason, he speaks with Margot and asks if she will just cut one of his bonds. She says no. She tells him about being disowned, about wanting a baby, about her promise to Mason. He reminds her that she knows she would one day have to kill Mason. He says that if she lets him go, he will take the fall for Mason’s death. She says she cannot.
Clarice determines that she will go after Hannibal Lecter. She breaks into the house to find Hannibal tied up, awaiting torture. She releases his bonds but is shot by Tomasso, though not before she gets two shots off, killing the other two men.
Margot gives Tomasso his money and makes him promise never to reveal anything about the kidnapping of Lecter. Margot then goes back to Mason, furious that his plans have gone wrong, and kills him, planning to blame Lecter for his death.
Lecter escapes, taking an injured Clarice with him.
SEASON 4, EPISODE 15: The Restoration of Clarice Starling
DATE: December 1994
FLASHBACKS:
Clarice - Short bursts of Clarice coming upon the screaming lambs
Hannibal - Short bursts of Hannibal's sister being taken from him
ARTWORK FEATURED:
The Concert by Vermeer, The Isabella Stewart Garnder Museum
The Storm of the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
A Lady and a Gentleman in Black, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Landscape with an Obelisk by Flink, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Chez Tortoni by Manet, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Self Portrait by Rembrandt, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Cortege aux Environs de Florence by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Program for an Artistic Soirée 1 by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Program for an Artistic Soirée 2 by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Three Mounted Jockeys by Degas, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Rape of Europa by Titian, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
NOTES:
The title of this episode references “restoration” - as in a piece of art, but also the restoration of Clarice Starling, who has been mourning her father for so long that she has lost touch with who she really is.
The hunt is on for Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. She is missing and presumed dead, though Lecter is assumed to be alive and the hunt is on for him.
Ardelia, angry at Starling’s classification takes matters into her own hands. She visits Barney, who does not have much information to offer her.
Unknown to all, Clarice lies unconscious in Hannibal Lecter’s rented home on the Chesapeake shore. She has been shot, but she will live. Hannibal Lecter sits in a chair and watches her sleep. He knows that the distasteful qualities of her father must be associated with someone.
When Clarice wakes, they begin to talk in earnest. They talk about her father, about Johnny, about Krendler, and Lecter comes to the assumption that perhaps Krendler is who shares her father’s bad attributes. Johnny, having the good, but having died, has put Clarice into a further crisis. Eventually, he tells Clarice that she is angry at her father. She is upset by the notion that she would be angry at her father and pouts for some time.
Another area of discussion are the crimes Clarice has now committed. She knows that having come to rescue Lecter she has broken many laws and will not be welcomed back into the F.B.I.
Lecter and Margot speak on the phone. She tells him they've not found his DNA in Mason's hand yet, and asks him to call and leave a message on the machine, which he does - he owes her this for letting them live. She says she needs yet another favor. She says she's found some interesting things in her father's vault - they might be helpful to Clarice. He agrees.
Margot says she has a couple other problems - Barney. Lecter assures Margot that Barney isn't a problem, but suggests he can be motivated by money. She thanks him. She says the only other person alive who knows everything is Paul Krendler.
Hannibal Lecter says this is very convenient, as he also needs Krendler dead - if she will bring everything agreed upon, he will take care of everything.
Margot shows up at the house with some paintings. We do not see what they are, as we see them from the back. Clarice comes out of her room, very weary and ill, and Hannibal tells her Margot has brought these paintings for her - that with these surely the FBI will grant her immunity. She looks at them for a long time and thanks Lecter and Margot.
Margot says there is only so much she can do once the FBI is led to the house on the Chesapeake. Hannibal says he understands. He hopes Clarice will be well enough for him to leave in three days. Hannibal asks Margot to invite him to the Christening of Margot's child. Margot gives him a piece of paper. He says thank you and he will take care of things. He asks Margot if she would like to stay for dinner and she declines.
Margot visits Barney and bribes him with enough money to see every Vermeer in the world - once. She then calls Paul Krendler and tells him in a couple of days she and Congressman Vellmore would like to meet. Would Paul jog up to Rock Creek Park to meet the helicopter?
A couple of days later, Clarice dresses up for her birthday dinner and Hannibal plays for her. He tells her in the living room that Krendler will be joining them. She immediately understands. He says he understands if she isn't hungry. He holds out his hand and she accepts it, and together they walk into the dining room where Paul Krendler waits, his head sliced open. Two shadows loom heavily over Krendler Clarice is fully complicit in his murder.
Krendler harasses Starling over dinner. Lecter stands to shoot a crossbow through Krendler to get him to be quiet, but Clarice takes it from him - not to stop him, but to do the honors herself.
In the living room they sit and talk quietly. Clarice looks at the paintings again, knowing she will be welcomed back with them. Hannibal says the Lambs won't bother her anymore now that Krendler is dead. Clarice turns to him and asks him about the things that still haunt him at night? Hannibal says the thinks perhaps he will never be free of them.
Clarice again (like in season 3) tells him she is not a saint - but that she has something for him. She hands him the dog tag for Grentz, along with an address. She tells him she managed to find him living in Argentina under a false name.
Clarice says he had to give up his sister, but that he does not need to give her up. He accepts her offer.
Several days later, Ardelia has been leading the hunt for Clarice. Eventually, the clues lead them to the house on the Chesapeake. Ardelia is the first one inside. She finds the house abandoned. But in the livingroom she is confronted with paintings - paintings were stolen from the Gardner museum years ago. We see a flashback to Margot - on the death of her brother going to his bank vault and finding the paintings inside - Molson Verger had been the original architect of the Gardner Heist.
Ardelia looks at the paintings and knows Clarice is gone for good - the case she started years ago is solved.
A package arrives for Margot - inside is a forged copy of one of Molston Verger's wills, reinstating Margot as his heir. We see a flashback of Hannibal Lecter forging it.
Three years later Barney goes to the "Treasures of the Gardner Museum", on loan in Buenos Aires Argentina. The exhibit includes several pieces from the heist, including Vermeer’s The Concert, which is the main reason Barney is there. The exhibit also includes other pieces from the Gardner Museum that were not stolen. Barney sees two people in the gallery he recognizes. He thinks it might be Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. He pauses, turns and leaves without ever seeing the Vermeer. Clarice Starling looks over her shoulder. “What is it?” Hannibal Lecter asks, “Nothing.” she says, “I just thought I saw someone.” She turns back and they both continue to look at another piece from the Garner Museum - Titian’s The Rape of Europa.
#hannibal#hannibal lecter#will graham#clarice starling#hannibal au#the rape of europa#clannibal#fan fiction#fan fic
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Do you have any tips for being able to sit down and write? I have an idea for a short story which I really like, but I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of what I want the specifics of the plot will be. Every time I sit down to write anything I just get really frustrated and self-critical.
I have lots of tips! I know all writers are different so this is just what I’ve found works for my specific tangle of anxiety and executive dysfunction…
When I have a plot I’m trying to work out, I like to write about it stream-of-consciousness style. I find it helps my thoughts keep moving forward better than just thinking in circles in my brain. Here’s an example from a short story I’m working on, from the backstory of one of my D&D characters:
I wanted this story to be about Rosie resolving an argument between her parents. But what’s the argument? Alain is the most ruthless out of the three of them and I could see her making a decision that made Danniel and Finnan uncomfortable. Danniel is the Nathan analog so he has a tendency to go to great lengths for people that he loves. Finnan is the least responsible parent but probably the softest out of the three, and the most likely to bring up moral objections. So something where Danniel and Alain agree on a business goal/idea but disagree about the execution, and Finnan doesn’t think they should be doing the thing at all?
Alain’s abilities revolve around people skills and manipulation – because of her background in Sharn, she’s perfectly comfortable using the secrets and insight into people’s personalities that she’s gained. Living in Lerwick now, there’s less call for those talents but they’re definitely still part of her. What kind of situation might call for the use of those skills? Taking out a competitor to the inn? Influencing a town council decision? These days she uses her skills to protect her business and her family. Think more about this, even though Rosie doesn’t need to understand all the details…
Speaking of Rosie, how the hell is an eight-year-old going to help fix this? She doesn’t solve the problem, but she gets her parents speaking to each other bc she’s inherited Alain’s deep knowledge of other people. She had that conversation with Alain in the last scene about Finnan and Danniel’s fears, and is able to use that to address the D/F leg of the triangle. If she can soothe Finnan’s fears about being left out of the poly triad and remind Danniel his blackrom frenemy love for Finnan transformed a long time ago into a cranky kind of affection, it should be enough to get those two speaking. And then together they are a match for Alain, who is formidable and hyper-capable otherwise and has a tendency to steamroll them individually.
Sorry that was a bit long, but hopefully you get the idea! I ask myself questions about stuff I haven’t resolved, and write down what I do know, trying to pin down the vague ideas I have into words. It often leads me toward the right answer and helps me fill in details.
It sounds like the other part of your problem might be anxiety about first drafts, though, which is a separate beast. For me it helps to understand it is going to be absolute shit. All those quotes you’ve heard about “you can’t edit a blank page” and writing “worst possible version” at the top before starting are totally true. Write something at first that is steaming hot garbage, okay? You don’t have to show it to a single other soul. Later you can edit it with red pen and circle all the ways you want to change it but for now just write it horribly. Terribly. So badly. I really really recommend getting down a shitty first draft, because when you go back to edit you often find you landed closer to the mark than you thought you did.
Anyway I do apologize for this extreeeemely long response, but I hope you find some of that helpful :)
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ART SCHOOL | INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN SMITH
Filled up sketchbooks of distorted portraits of passer-bys, mundane objects, personal notes, weird thoughts and meanderings are just a couple things in artist Brian Smith’s sketchbook and works. Textured with black and gray tones, Brian’s drawings are often personal, humorous, and observational. We’re excited to chat with Brian to find out more about his background, drawings, and what he has coming up for the rest of the year. Take the Leap!
Photographs courtesy of the artist.
Introduce yourself?
My name is Brian Smith, I’m from a town called Hicksville, New York. Now, recently living in Los Angeles, California. I’m currently the sole employee of a warehouse and I like to draw.
What was your introduction to drawing and/or art in general? What were your early influences?
I’d had a babysitter who showed me how to draw actual hands and not just the turkey ones you make when you’re little. That was pretty big for me. It got me interested in figuring out how to draw other things just by looking at them for a bit. I always had sketchbooks as a kid, and in turn would forget them somewhere. My Nana who was kind of a closet artist would find them and leave little watercolor drawings of shore birds, ladybugs on tall grass, pond habitats etc. That seeded some notion I wouldn’t come to until much later about the intimacy of sketchbooks and how good it feels to give and receive drawings. Early influences would definitely be those two women. There was also a lot of adolescent suburban troublemaking, the inevitable introduction to skateboarding and cartoons like Rocko’s Modern Life and Ren and Stimpy.
How would you describe your work now to someone who is just coming across it?
I generally stumble through an explanation if I’m ever asked. I recently looked back at like two years of drawings for a show. Seeing a good chunk of what you’ve drawn over a period of time all at once is wild. I still don’t think I’ve got my answer. It’s all kind of vague, sad, funny and personal. I like it to be just so, where people can attach their own meaning to it or ask questions about it.
How did you find yourself going from maybe keeping a journal to actually getting work creating art or selling artwork?
I’m still getting there. I think so far those things for me have a mutually beneficial relationship. Drawing in sketchbooks is where I’m most productive. Everything after that is selected and isolated into its own drawing. That isolated sketchbook drawing might become a print or an image someone wants to buy or use for something which is always great.
How do your ideas take shape? How do you get from start to finish? What’s your process?
It’s a total crap shoot haha. Sometimes I’ll blast through something in a night and others, a half inked drawing will sit in a drawer for months before I’m ready to get back into it. I get my ideas from a lot of things and in a lot of different ways though. I have a very distracting internal dialogue from time to time, I don’t know what it is. Sometimes I’ll just hang on a phrase, words that sound funny strung together in a sentence and put it down on paper and save it, maybe draw what it makes me think of later on. This croucher character I started drawing came from a thought I had of how dumb I must’ve looked a few days earlier, scrunched down taking a photo in the city while a wall of people moved around me.
When are you most inspired? And what is your favorite subjects or things to draw and why?
Inspiration strikes at random. I mostly like to draw at night or very early in the morning. I like drawing dogs and people, they’re emotional critters.
What artists inspire you these days?
The artists in my immediate circle at Bill’s Bar (@billsbarla). Those people are constantly creating and progressing. It’s insane.
You moved to LA not too long ago, how has living here influenced your artwork if at all? What do you think about the art community in LA?
I got out here in November. Lots of sketching and a few finished drawings in the bag since then. I’ve got a few ideas that’ll have to cook a bit longer before I figure out what to do with them. It’s definitely been a receptive town for me, showed a bunch of drawings I’d been sitting on and got a nice response. I’ve been to a few art shows and they got me pretty excited on what’s going on and what can be achieved with some elbow grease.
Tell us about a favorite project or collaboration you’ve done. What kind of challenges do collaborations pose and what do you love about them?
My favorite collaboration has been with Austin England (@mochelife). We started sharing drawings through the mail over a decade ago. We did that for years before we actually met in person 6 or 7 years ago. Now we share a studio space with some other great artists and I’m currently babysitting his dog Lola. Collaborations for me can tend to lead to overthinking. Not always, but sometimes.. and when it gets to that point it’s tricky to dig yourself out and just relax and work with what the other person is doing. I love the whole process of it though, it’s fun and you never know where it’s going to go. You usually learn something new and wind up with something cool. That’s the best.
What was your last adventure that showed up in one of your illustrations, thematically or just visually?
Driving through the midwest. Indescribable. I drew a bunch of roadkill from memory that was pretty fun and weird.
Every artist has a different way of making his or her artist career work. How do you make it work for you? Do you spend time maintaining an online store or just draw when you want when you have free time?
I pretty much draw when I can. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it, which is always tough. I just draw in my sketchbooks, turn those pages into zines or actual finished pieces and let people know they’re for sale on instagram. I haven’t quite dialed in the online store thing just yet, but I’ll get there. Every now and again a drawing job or commission will pop up.
What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art?
Don’t follow in my footsteps. Go to lots of museums and art shows. Keep a pen in your pocket. Take the extra time to get an image to look the way you want it to.
What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks?
Don’t write your artist statement in the 3rd person.
When you aren’t drawing or hustling, what do you do to relax or just stay fresh in life?
Beers, talks, books and walks to relax. Going to a museum, taking a trip and or getting out of the old comfort zone to stay fresh.
What are your favorite style of VANS?
I like the white Vans Authentic, especially all worn in and pretty raggedy looking.
Anything you can share that is coming up?
I don’t have anything coming up which is nice. Everything’s pretty wide open creatively, so I’m just gonna keep my antennas tuned and try and get productive.
FOLLOW BRIAN | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
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On The Twentieth Century ~ Snow Troupe 2019
Oh boy. Oh dear. If you'd like some background, here is a fairly comprehensive Wikipedia summary, but since all signs point to this show disappearing forever (a tragedy), I will do my best to go through it roughly scene by scene in hopes of extending the memory.
“Perfect” is a word I’m still reserving for A-cast West Side Story ‘18, but boy is this close. It’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for, what in my wildest dreams I wanted Daimongumi to be, and feared it might never be. It’s hands down the best time I’ve had with my beloved Yukigumi since Chigi retired, and god I hope they continue on something even VAGUELY resembling this trajectory (tragic nihonmono, not optimistic, but,,,). I hope I can convey even a fraction of the joy that is this show.
Firstly, although it is the site of the first time I ever saw Komu live and thus a house of very treasured memories, I do NOT objectively like Theatre Orb. The third floor is too high for musical theater, the back of the second floor should not be A-seki, and the sound is abysmal. Unless you’re close to the front on the first floor, the instrumentals overpower the vocals, and everywhere I sat, including a pretty good S, there was an unpleasant echo. Like, if you can tamp down the power of DAIMON’S voice, something is wrong with your acoustics. The only time I had an improved experience I was on the extreme side of the 4th row and basically hugging a speaker, but if that’s the range for decent audio it’s a problem. And for some of the impressive songs in this show (and also just for Japanese comprehension of the speedy dialogue), it was a shame.
Everything else was outstanding. I can’t describe how WONDERFUL it was to hear Yukigumi, the tragedy troupe no one asked for, get not just giggles but consistent roaring laughter again. The overall casting—both in taking a chance on giving this troupe this show, and assigning roles to some maybe unexpected people—was brilliant. I’ll get more into the individual performances as I go through the story, but in quick summary:
Maaya was absolutely the star, in both the weight of her role and the extremely satisfying application of her many talents. Lily is, in my opinion, unquestionably the crown jewel of her Takarazuka career so far, and if something ever tops it we’ll be luckier than anyone has any right to be. I’d kill for more of this treatment going forward; she’s talented enough to carry a show, and I think the dynamic of the entire troupe improves when she’s in this strong of a position.
Daimon, whom I love to death, was SO above and beyond what even I thought she’d be able to do with a comedy; I always suspected she could pull it off IF she had the perfect formula of support (which I wasn’t confident the current Yukigumi lineup could give her), but she was SO good and SO in charge and SUCH a tone-setter for the entire comedic situation, I was truly blown away.
Owen and Oliver are in my opinion the juiciest roles after Lily and Oscar, but maneuvering around rank to cast Aasa and Manaharu was brilliant. Aasa has been average for me after leaving a huge impression in Robespierre, but her performance as Owen was back to MVP status, and Oliver is an absolute jackpot role for Manaharu, who rarely gets to do much of anything.
I wouldn’t have wanted to see Saki in any role but Bruce; he’s the big dumb just-a-pretty-face movie star, the butt of many jokes and the most slapstick of all the roles, and her exaggerated physicality was I think better suited to that style of comedy than the quick banter in the Oscar/Owen/Oliver group (also, for the sake of their dynamic, I wouldn’t have wanted Bruce to be someone physically smaller than Oscar).
That put Shou, who conceivably could have been cast higher, in the leftover train conductor role. It’s not as exciting a part, but it was perfect if only to clear the way for the other casting choices. She got to be the center of several musical numbers, and she got to tap dance!
After a little introductory tap number by the four main train boys (Tachibana, Suwa, Manomiya, and Seika), the show opens with famous Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe’s right hand men, Owen (Asami Jun) and Oliver (Mana Haruto), running from an angry mob of unpaid theater crew from Oscar's most recent abysmally failed production (again!). They all but crash into Daimon cameoing Al Capone (because Chicago in the 20s!) as he’s escorted away by a policeman. Owen is more laid back and pretty much always drunk; Oliver is high strung and also prone to drinking. As far as my off-the-cuff brain will take me, Aasa and Manaharu have not had much experience playing off each other, but they worked SO well together. They were so funny, so in sync, perfect foils for each other’s characters, even physically similar enough that they just really looked like a matching set of long-suffering assistants. Since Owen and Oliver don’t have any money, they give the angry mob the slip, and read a note from Oscar instructing them to meet him on the 20th Century Limited, a 16-hour luxury train ride from Chicago to New York, and secure Drawing Room A. Then we go into the prologue number (pics are from the little bit of digest video and like one online article they gave us).
Although in retrospect I think it kind of subconsciously stressed me out the first viewing, I LOVED the music and choreography in this. Almost all the numbers mimic the rhythm of a train chugging along, and much of the choreography—when it isn’t just tap literally designed to sound like a train—has a feeling of commuter busyness to it. It wasn’t just on theme, it also enhanced the chaotic screwball atmosphere.
Owen and Oliver board the train to find Drawing Room A occupied. When their best middle-aged-white-lady-insisting-to-speak-to-a-manager voices claiming (falsely) that they booked the room weeks ago failed to work on the train staff, they deduce from some nearby luggage that Drawing Room A’s occupant is Congressman Lockwood (Touma Kazuki in a hilariously disgusting fat suit and combover with her shirt sticking out of her pants at all angles) reserved under a fake name. Suspicious, Owen and Oliver burst into the room under the pretense of delivering said luggage and catch the congressman fondling his much younger secretary (Sara Anna). They win the room by threatening to leak what they saw if he doesn’t leave—Riisha scrambling around in such a disheveled huff while Aasa loudly counts down from ten. Score! But just then the train starts moving and Oscar is still nowhere to be found.
Whoops. He loses his hat, Owen and Oliver pull him through the window, and despite his abject failures in both life and train boarding, he lands dramatically front and center, all pomp and ego, waxing lyrical about the glory awaiting them in New York. Poor Oliver, despite being generally more sober and organized, is also more abused.
Daimon, always so delicately pretty and deeply sad, nailed Oscar so hard I don’t have nearly enough words for it. Her eye makeup was stern and crazy (and pretty monochromatic, nice touch for the 20s vibe), her mustache was GROSS, her neurotic mannerisms were so on point and so funny. She AD LIBBED!! WELL!! I was CRYING of laughter on senshuuraku, and she wasn’t just reacting; she was DOING THE AD LIBBING. The way she fidgeted and flailed and whimpered and yelled and modulated her voice WAY high and back down again to drag us though Oscar’s manic journey was just soooooo perfect. Not that I had any doubt she’d kill the songs, but they were hard, so it was all the more impressive. As perfect as Aasa and Manaharu were together, the three of them played flawlessly off of each other too.
Interrupting Owen and Oliver’s failing attempts to convince Oscar that they are in fact heading for insolvency rather than glory, the conductor informs the passengers that they are approaching Englewood and Oscar flips out. He reveals actress Lily Garland, his former protégé and lover, is boarding there and will be staying in Drawing Room B. He gleaned this information from a bellboy who told a maid and stalked Lily onto the train without her knowledge, but insists that in the 16 hours to NY he’ll be able to convince her to star in his next show, solving his financial problems. Owen and Oliver are Stressed.
This leads into my absolute favorite progression of scenes: a flashback introducing how Lily and Oscar came to meet. Oscar is auditioning Imelda Thornton (the goddess Satsuki Aina) for the role of Veronique, a Parisian street singer who refuses to sleep with Otto Von Bismarck so he attacks Paris and starts the Franco-Prussian war as revenge (men!). If only the photos from this scene showed the parts I want; Daimon was SO funny. Imagine like, the face you make when you try to give yourself 8 chins and take the ugliest low-angle selfie you can. Daimon was that + a thousand-yard stare of skepticism, fidgeting neurotically and tapping the arms of the director’s chair, with Oliver and Owen standing behind, simultaneously goofing off and keeping things running smoothly. Also in the picture at this point: Max Jacobs (Agata Sen), a successful Hollywood producer trying to sign Lily in the present, but in the flashback, Oscar’s (later fired) useless assistant who can’t even take Imelda’s coat correctly. Imelda, an all-ego-no-talent diva, is freaking out because her regular pianist was sick so she had to hire a substitute last minute and she’s late. Enter now Midred/soon to be Lily (Maaya) through the audience, in oversized glasses, tacky pink house dress, and matching hair cap, dropping her sheet music all over the place. Imelda is furious, Oscar is disgruntled, Max is Stressed. Mildred sits down at the piano, Imelda declares she’s going to sing “The Indian Maiden’s Lament,” and tries to begin but Mildred is still dramatically warming up her hands and shoulders. Finally she gives the ok and starts playing something completely different (Imelda, furious; Oscar, melting into a pile of gooey discontent).
Take 2, Mildred begins playing the correct song beautifully, while Imelda sings horrendously and Oscar tries violently and wordlessly to convey to Owen and Oliver in moments of Imelda’s averted gaze that they need to stop this somehow. Imelda hits a sour note that’s just the last straw for Mildred, and she stops playing and corrects her (gorgeously, flawlessly, Maaya’s voice is a treasure). Imelda, flustered, thanks her and tries again, but isn’t any better. Mildred keeps stopping and correcting her, eventually just singing the end of the song herself, while Oscar, moving his chair closer with hilarious little Flintstone car footsteps, stares at her agape and then gives her a standing ovation. Imelda loses her cool and fires Mildred on the spot for ruining her audition; Mildred hulks out and demands her pay for the day plus train fare (Oscar, fully Team Mildred at this point, is mimicking all her movements behind her). Imelda pays and storms off, telling her assistant to call her an ambulance. Just as Mildred starts packing her things to go, Oscar declares he wants her for Veronique and asks her name.
I wish I could share with you all the sound that both of them made saying “Mildred Plotka,” pronounced “Mildred BLEGCH” with copious spit. I’m embarrassed to admit I just spent a good 30 minutes? trying to chase down a vivid childhood memory—I was 11, and watching Spaceballs on TV with my bff, and in the combing the desert scene they censored “we ain’t found shit” not with a bleep but with some absurd SCHMUSCHSG noise, and my bff and I laughed for approximately 8 days, because we were 11 and probably eating Gushers—and in my memory this and Mildred BLEGCH were the exact same sound, and I wanted you to experience it so much I watched every combing the desert clip on youtube fruitlessly, hoping one would be this exact censorship (sorry... I’m just... Daimon was funny??? and I’m very emotional about it????). Anyway, since no one can say Mildred BLEGCH, Oscar decides her new name will be Lily Garland. After some hemming and hawing about not being an actress, Lily decides to give it a shot. The house dress tears away and we have the snazzy number “Veronique.”
Maaya was absolutely brilliant throughout the entire show, but this number hit me extra hard. Not only was she exceptional vocally through a very challenging song (dancing all the while), but her aura of a freshly hatched starlet, packed with youth and hope and freshness and naiveté and raw unpolished talent, contrasted so vividly with the successful Hollywood actress still fueled by Mildred Plotka spitfire that we see in the rest of the show; I found it VERY striking. It was subtle but so effective and truly masterful acting. Veronique ends, Daimon re-enters from the audience and tosses a bouquet (the first time I saw it she missed the stage, and Maaya, fully in character and without missing a beat, just parkour’d off the stage and grabbed it and hopped back on), and we’re ushered back into the present.
The conductor enters Oscar’s room to inform everyone that a religious nut is vandalizing the train with REPENT FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND stickers, but not to worry because they’re doing everything they can to catch the culprit; and to drop off a play that he’s written about a day in the life of a conductor (to Oscar’s annoyance). Then the train arrives at Englewood station, and Lily boards with a flurry of paparazzi, her assistant Agnes (Chikaze Karen), and her attention-whoring movie actor boyfriend Bruce (Ayakaze Sakina). Maaya (in a GORGEOUS dress) is instantly the Hollywood diva instead of the wide-eyed starlet; Saki is the comic relief in what’s already a screwball comedy. Oscar is a terrible person, so if you can imagine how big and dumb and sappy and suffocating and clumsy Bruce has to be to make you root for Oscar, Saki was all that.
The two lovebirds put on quite a show of excessive PDA for the photographers while Agnes rolls her eyes, until it’s time for Bruce to leave the train.
Lily falls to the floor dramatically, wailing oh WHAT will I do without him, when Bruce bursts back into the room, declaring he can’t possibly let the love of his life go to NY all by herself (Lily, all sorrow a minute before, is not 2 seconds later annoyed to see him). So he’s now along for the ride to witness Oscar’s whole scheme.
Owen and Oliver, trying to take matters into their own hands, show up in Lily’s room to beg her sincerely to do a play with Oscar, hoping she’ll pity him and his dire financial situation enough to do him a favor.
Lily sings a whole song about how that’s never ever ever going to happen, and Bruce freaks out to learn that Oscar is on the train. Lily insists they have no romantic history, and then immediately lights up when she hears Oscar’s voice in her head. They sing a lovey duet representing that they’re still clearly both on each other’s minds. Despite the comedic and not at all tender nature of this show, and the love-hate relationship between these two characters, Daimon and Maaya’s chemistry, in my opinion, has never been better. I wouldn’t have thought it would take playing two self-centered assholes who both despise and desperately want each other to send the sparks flying, but BOY did it do the trick.
Meanwhile, the REPENT sticker situation is getting worse, and the audience at this point realizes that the culprit is the unassuming little old Letitia Primrose—played brilliantly by Kyou Misa.
She sings about how she’s taken it as her mission to encourage young people to repent for their sins.
Oscar hears from Owen and Oliver that Lily is with Bruce and is despondent; he declares that he still loves her will definitely steal her back from both him and Hollywood. Oliver is fed up with his nonsense and tells Oscar he’s off his rocker (bless Manaharu and her ability to simultaneously look like a squirrelly little dude in her suit and bowtie and also not only stand up to Daimon but rile her up and get even more out of her). They get into a big fight and as Oliver storms out of the room, Oscar notices a giant REPENT sticker on Oliver’s back and chases after him to remove it. When he removes and reads it, he’s struck with divine inspiration for a new play about Mary Magdalene, a part so good Lily can’t possibly resist it.
Oscar is so sure this will work he instructs Owen to go buy him a bible so he can start writing the script immediately. Owen reminds Oscar that the train is in fact moving and they can’t really do anything at all, when they see Ms. Primrose’s bible on a chair (and all fall dramatically to the ground). Oscar takes that as a second miracle, insisting this means there will be a third, and Owen and Oliver agree to play along with his demands.
Oscar, now filled with renewed confidence, and Bruce, just as big and dumb as ever, sing a duet about how Lily is theirs (not at each other, separately in their own rooms). Both of them are just awful men.
While the two of them are non-confrontationally fighting over the same woman, Owen is in the bar trying to write a press release about the triumphant return of golden duo Oscar Jaffee and Lily Garland. Ms. Primrose picks up a crumpled draft from the floor and muses that she’d love nothing more than to sponsor some big artistic project. That gets Owen’s attention, and she reveals to him that she runs a patent medicine company and doesn’t know what to do with all her money. Owen calls to Oliver that they’ve found their third miracle!
Back in her room, Lily emerges in lime green negligee, to Bruce’s delight. Things are just getting uh sexy I guess when Oscar interrupts them and actually confronts Lily for the first time.
Bruce is furious that Lily lied about her history with Oscar, who is sitting on the couch in back of the room drinking their champagne and eating all the olives out of their martini glass as they argue. Bruce eventually storms off, slapping his headshot onto the wall as he leaves the room (Oscar immediately stands and tears it up). Lily sits down on the couch, now arguing with Oscar and angrily joining him in eating olives. Their hands touch going for the glass at the same time; Lily sternly tells him to let her go but then turns around and caresses her hand happily. Oscar takes this moment to spring his play idea on her; Lily reveals that she heard the whole story of his bankruptcy from Owen and Oliver and tells him she’s on her way to NY to sign with a reliable producer (the formerly useless Max Jacobs who Oscar himself fired). Realizing he’s out of game, Oscar starts hurling insults and they sing another spark-flying duet—Lily insisting she has everything, and Oscar insisting movies are beneath her talents and she’ll rot in Hollywood and fall into obscurity.
Lily eventually kicks Oscar out, EARNESTLY throwing and smashing a champagne bottle against the door behind him. Oscar, without even taking a breath between Lily’s room and his, screams at his two traitors for ruining his plan and strangles poor Oliver (on senshuuraku Daimon held on for a comically long time, and Manaharu, refusing to concede that ad lib, then played dead on the floor for a good minute). Oliver and Owen save their own asses by telling Oscar about the sponsor they managed to find on board, and THAT’S ACT ONE (right before curtain, we see a tiny little plane labeled “Max Jacobs” flying above the train).
During the big ensemble number (”Life is Like a Train”) that opens act 2 we discover that the train is now absolutely covered in REPENT stickers, then Owen and Oliver take Oscar to meet Ms. Primrose.
I can’t stress enough how delightful Kyou Misa was, the perfect little ostensibly earnest but just subtly batty old lady; the way she stiffly hobbled around was adorable too. Ms. Primrose is thrilled to work with the great Oscar Jaffee, and even more thrilled to share the story of Mary Magdalene with the world, and asks him how much money he needs. Oscar nervously asks for $20,000, at which Ms. Primrose balks that that CAN’T possibly be enough and writes a check for $200,000. Oscar, Owen, and Oliver giddily sing “Five Zeros” in a manner not unlike Scrooge McDuck swimming in his gold coins, and over the course of the song Ms. Primrose bumps it up to $20,000,000 (in the 1920s!). Now they’re sure they’ll be able to lure Lily back.
Oscar is about to go grab Lily and introduce her to Ms. Primrose when the train doctor Dr. Johnson (Kujou Asu) busts into his room with yet another manuscript (A day in the life of a doctor!). I mention this mostly because a) I LOVE ASU DEEPLY, she is so underused, and b) the three musketeers leverage this manuscript situation later on in my other favorite scene. They get rid of Johnson and Oscar finds that Lily wants to see him also. She sits him down and asks Bruce to give them some time alone (on his way out, he goes to replace his torn head shot with a new one that comically unfolds into five headshots before Oscar violently chases him the rest of the way out the door). Oscar is fuming, and Lily tenderly asks him to sit, which he does with a grumpy face and a flamboyant kick as he reluctantly crosses his legs on the sofa. Lily explains that she’s embarrassed by her behavior so far, is so grateful to Oscar for her career, and wants to help him after all... so she reaches into her bra and pulls out a check for $35 so at least he’s not dead broke. Oscar, amused, stands up and, acting as if he’s a magician, folds up the $35 check and dramatically asks Lily to blow on his hand. Out comes the $20,000,000 check.
Oscar ushers Lily into his room to prove to her that Ms. Primrose is in fact a real person who wants to sponsor his new play, if she’ll star in it. Lily, despite still generally feeling like she’d rather die than work with Oscar again, is now enticed both by the role of Mary Magdalene, which is much juicier than what she’s been allowed to do on screen, and the prospect of raking in this much money without being beholden to the jerks who run Hollywood. Faithful Oliver has already prepared a contract, and we get “Sign It Lily,” probably both the most difficult/impressive song and biggest earworm of the show. Not the best version but here, have a listen.
Oscar, Owen, Oliver, and Ms. Primrose are all bombarding Lily trying to get her to put her name on the thing (I truly don’t know when Daimon breathes), while simultaneously trying to keep Bruce and his contrary agenda out of the room (Saki gets repeatedly slammed into doors and walls, closed into closets, suffocated with pillows, etc). Lily gets overwhelmed and runs back to her room, pursued by a cocky triumphant Bruce, who yells behind him that they’ll never get her back away from movies.
Oscar gets a lightbulb moment at the word movie, and the team files one by one back into Lily’s room, smashing Bruce in the head with the door each time. Oscar tells Lily that if she agrees to do the play, he’ll shop the movie rights to whatever studio she wants (to which Ms. Primrose responds WHY BOTHER, she’ll fund the movie too). That pushes her over to yes, and she takes the contract to read carefully. The conductor enters the room notifies everyone that they are approaching Cleveland, and that Ms. Primrose’s nephew and his wife sent a telegram ahead that they’d be boarding the train there to meet her. She turns cold and hurries off alone.
Owen, out for a celebratory entire bottle of wine, coincidentally runs into Ms. Primrose’s nephew (Machi Yuuka), who is frantically searching for his aunt. He says she hasn’t been all there since she stepped down from her position as company president, and just escaped from her mental institution. Owen asks about her money, the nephew says there is none, and Owen realizes they’re fucked.
In the frantic search for the missing Ms. Primrose, Bruce overhears Owen breaking the news to Oscar and Oliver, and tells Lily that Oscar deceived her again. She’s furious, and Oscar probably only escapes with his life because just at that exact moment, the formerly useless and fired but currently hot and successful Max Jacobs bursts through the door (Oscar yells MAX JACOBS like he’s going to burst every single blood vessel in his head and neck).
Max hopped a private plane to Cleveland to meet the train, because he has a brand new play written just for Lily (called “Babette”), and he’s so excited he can’t wait for her to get all the way to New York. Babette is a glamorous high society type role about a woman in love with two men. Lily starts reading the script, but finds herself wondering out loud if it can be changed to be more like Oscar’s. Max is incredulous and starts trash talking Oscar, and Lily slaps him REAL HARD in the face. She then catches herself yet again and and asks to be left alone to read the Babette script more carefully.
We’re taken to Lily’s wistful daydream of a classy party taking place in the Babette universe as she tries to wrap her head around the show and imagine herself in the title role. But she finds it dull, and every few pages, she has an intrusive thought about the more inspiring Mary Magdalene—one minute she’s milling through the impeccably dressed party guests, and the next she’s face to face with Owen or Oliver or Ms. Primrose dressed like an Apostle, until finally Oscar dressed as Calaf Jesus crashes the whole thing from behind.
(Yup that’s a screenshot of the bromide sample page).
But Lily brings herself to her senses yet again, drives away all thoughts of Oscar, and agrees to sign with Max.
Oscar has lost and he’s despondent. He walks into the train bar to find Oliver sulking behind Owen who is passed out drunk in a chair. He takes out a gun (Oliver tries frantically to wake Owen), and begins a melodramatic monologue about how it’s better just to end his life now because no one wants to see him become a beggar in times square.
Daimon hilariously mimes Oscar begging, then people throwing garbage at him, then dodging the thrown bits (on senshuuraku Aasa and Manaharu joined in with pretending to throw things). Eventually he leaves the room in despair, and Oliver asks Owen if he thinks boss would really kill himself. Owen is in the middle of saying absolutely no way when they hear a gunshot and run into the next room.
Oscar, now in a comical panic rather than a depression, is clutching his side and gasping that he’s been shot, and the heretofore still missing Ms. Primrose is in the corner of the room holding the gun by her fingertips, crying that she was just trying to put it away when it went off.
Oliver runs to get Dr. Johnson while Owen tends to Oscar who is (again, comically) writhing in a chair and complaining that being shot by a crazy granny is not how he wanted to go, and this is my second favorite progression of scenes.
Owen offers to call the pastor for Oscar (who, by the way, cannot identify WHERE he has been shot), and Oscar gets mad. Owen then offers him ice cream. Oliver sticks his head back in the door to ask of Oscar is dead yet. Owen says not yet and brings in Dr. Johnson (Asu, my love) who at first giggles and assumes that because it’s Mr. Jaffee he’s just acting. Owen and Oliver assure him this is real, and begin moaning and wailing as Dr. Johnson examines Oscar in earnest.
He stands up, and Owen and Oliver take this to mean it’s a hopeless case, and it’s time for them to say goodbye. On senshuuraku, Daimon verrrrrrrrry slowly slid all the way down the chair, so that Aasa had to hold her up by the arms to keep her from wiping out, AND had to kick her foot to a lower step of the stage so she could stand up again. The raku digest thankfully shows a bit of this, along with the Matrix move Daimon had to pull to jump to her feet when Dr. Johnson declares that Oscar hasn’t been shot at all.
(It does not, however, convey how drawn out and hilarious this was, nor does it show the chair then toppling onto poor Aasa, and it taking her at least 3 tries to get it off her again).
Oscar then gets another harebrained idea, and tells Dr. Johnson that he read his manuscript from before and that it’s SO GOOD he wants to give him an acting lesson right then and there. Dr. Johnson is stoked. Oscar tells him to just sit in the chair, stare at him solemnly, and shake his head back and forth if anyone looks at him (Asu, over the next few minutes, gives what my admittedly biased heart firmly believes is the award winning performance of the show). Oliver and Owen are to pretend Oscar is dying. The cherry on top of senshuuraku was in the moment before this all commenced, Daimon, immediately after the chair debacle, took an extra long pause before delivering (completely straight-faced) her usual line of “I don’t want to see any hammy acting,” after which the others took a comically long pause before replying, “Yep.”
Dr. Johnson takes his place in the formerly toppled chair, Oscar grabs a pillow and lays down on the floor, Oliver and Owen go fetch Lily and start wailing again. Agnes and Bruce also follow Lily into the room and start crying themselves at the sight of Oscar “dying” on the floor. Dr. Johnson looks around from person to person in a panic and starts hyperventilating. Owen and Oliver mime at him to look sadder, Asu licks her finger and dabs tears on her cheeks and then makes the dumbest crying face I’ve ever seen, shaking her head increasingly aggressively each time someone in the room looks at her. Daimon and Maaya are weepily singing “Lilyyyyyyyy, Oscaaaaarrrr” back and forth for deadass three entire minutes. I can’t believe how much vocal control Daimon has even lying on her back on the damn floor.
Lily eventually signs the contract as Oscar’s dying wish. When Max enters the room, Oscar immediately jumps up to rub it in his face, and Lily once again is furious at being deceived. Oscar claims that with no money to offer, the only way he could rescue her from a rotted career was through trickery. **I FORGOT BECAUSE I FINISHED THIS AT 6AM AFTER BEING UP ALL NIGHT that Lily gets the last word because she hasn’t actually signed her name at all but written PETER RABBIT. They throw things and hurl vicious insults at each other and then finally realize they’re just too hot for each other after all and throw open their arms and get married.
The finale opened with Agata in a top hat and tails dancing with a stick and a bunch of musumeyaku, then there was a huge golden group tap number and a lovely waltz for the duet dance.
I’ve been pretty upset that I had to miss BeruBara 45 and that I booked the trip I’m currently on before finding out Komu and Wataru would be returning to Bow Hall this summer, but being able to see this, especially since we’ll never see it again, was so so worth it. It was certainly a much needed boost for me personally, and it seems like it was a boost for the troupe and for Daimon and Maaya as a combi as well. I’m always torn about Broadway shows like this, because they’re SO good, and I WANT them to take on these kinds of challenges, especially when the result is so spectacular, but it’s such a bummer when they disappear forever. Many points to Harada for fitting this weird musical to Yukigumi like a perfect cozy little glove.
#takarazuka#reviews#on the 20th century#actual longest review ever#I didn't proofread it#I don't even want to read it#am i 東宝組 now 19
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I've seen some posts going around about Crowley/Aziraphale being queerbaiting in the Good Omens series. I'm afraid I will regret writing this, but I have OPINIONS, said opinions being less about Good Omens and more about Tumblr not necessarily understanding the way audiovisuel storytelling and the queer community work, and maybe it's worth taking a moment to think closer about these things.
Spoilers for Good Omens (2019) and some allusions to the Discourse below the cut. Also, long post. You have been warned.
I probably should say here that I liked Good Omens, am myself aro ace, and am of the opinion that Crowley/Arizaphale is canon. So yes, personal bias exists, although I am going to do my best to be objective. Also, I haven't read the book yet, so am only going to be talking about the series.
(Ignoring hereby that they are supposed to be agender. It is a very good series, but they really, REALLY should have found a way to include that piece of information.)
This is a surprisingly complex question, that can be boiled down to three different problems: First, the way people analyze audiovisuel stories (in this case, television, but the argument also stands for movies), second, the term “queerbaiting” not being clear enough and also used too broadly, and third, people's still too narrow view of what is and isn't queer.
In this order, I am going to start with the way tv (and movies) work. It is the least controversial.
One of the things that I love about tv so much is just how complex and layered it is. There is what is directly said and shown to happen, but than there is the music, the acting, the costumes, locations, camera angles and editing, all of which have their own language and add something to how we will see a story. If you watch Good Omens, you'll notice that the exact nature of Crowley's and Aziraphale's relationship never is directly addressed or them confirmed to be queer. However, you will also notice the way they keep looking at each other, the fact that romantic music plays in the background for an awful lot of their scenes together, that they do and say things on a regular basis that goes further than the normal limits of a friendship, and the list goes on. This show is as clear about them loving each other very, very deeply as it possibly can be without directly talking about it.
This, of course, leads us to the question: What is and isn't text? What level of queercoding counts as representation? And this is where things get a little more complicated, because there IS NO clear line. People usually say that it doesn't count, unless the correct term is used. Which makes sense, given everybody's tendency to just... Idk, make a movie about somebody fighting his ex without ever telling us that he is, in fact, his ex, and than hope that they can get away with either the queer fans doing all the hard work of reading between the lines, or just write a couple of tweets about how they're totally gay and get credit for the representation.
Seriously, people, don't do that. If there is a way to use the terms, do it.
But there is a gray area. Welcome to Night Vale never labeled Cecil's orientation, yet we still know that he's gay. That scene they cut from Thor: Ragnarok of Valkyrie leaving the room of a woman? It never said that she was bi. I mean, I haven't seen it, but from what I know, I'd bet A LOT of money that, had they included it, people still would have complained about it not being clear enough. We still act as if including it would have confirmed Valkyrie's bisexuality. What about period pieces, set in times when certain labels didn't exist yet? And, finally, what if a relationship would actually benefit from being left vague and undefined?
There is no clear answer to this. It's a gray are, so feel free to just sit around and think about your own opinion on these things.
Which leads us to queerbaiting: Creators playing up the fact that they MIGHT have a queer character or relationship in their work for publicity, without ever planning to include it. It's a thing that happens both inside and outside of the story. In practice, this usually looks like putting in a lot of subtext between two same-sex characters, including suggestive scenes in the trailers, and going in interviews “well, they could be, it's an ongoing series, you'll just have to wait and see. ;) ”.
Queerbaiting is a VERY vague and very popular term, that is used very broadly, even in cases where it isn't exactly accurate. It is not exactly easy to tell what is actual queerbaiting, and what queercoding because Higher Powers wouldn't let the creators include openly queer characters in their work. Than there is of course the cases where queer characters are kind of there, but it's a blink-and-you-miss-it thing. I've heard the term “queercatching” used for that in a video. Also, queerbaiting is an accusation people like throwing around every time a show disappoints them by not making their OTP canon. (Stop doing that, PLEASE!)
In this context, it is understandably difficult to say if a certain ship is or isn't queerbaiting. However, I would argue that Crowley and Aziraphale are not. I haven't seen all the promotional things going on, so no idea how big of a selling point their relationship was. But I do know that everyone behind the scenes seems to agree that those two love each other very, very deeply, and the show itself isn't trying to hide it. On the contrary, it goes out of it's way to draw our attention to it. To anyone who is watching halfway attentively, it is going to be very, very clear that what those two have going on is NOT straight.
Which leads us to our final point: What is and isn't queer.
Oh dear. It is a topic that is still hotly debated within the community (at least on Tumblr), mostly by people trying to exclude certain orientations or keep other people from using certain terms.
Queer is an umbrella term used for members of the LGBT+ community, meaning “not straight”. It may refer to gender identity, romantic or sexual orientation, and things that don't quite belong in any of the boxes we have. The beauty of the term “queer” is exactly that it is so huge and so vague that it exceeds all boxes and definitions. A really handy thing to have, if you want people to know what you're talking about without needing to give them an hour-long vocabulary lesson first.
Please note here that so far, I have avoided using any labels for Crowley, Arizaphale, or their relationship. Please also not that while I did say that they love each other very deeply, I never used the word “romantic”.
Because here is the thing: I really don't think that they're gay. Or bi, or pan. Or anything else, really. They, and their relationship, like the term “queer”, fall outside of any predetermined categories. It is just, really, really, really clear that what's going on isn't heteronormative.
I have seen many aces being happy and feeling seen and seeing themselves in Crowley and Aziraphale in Good Omens. I've also seen many aros think the same thing. Because here is the beauty of it: We only know that they love each other more than anything else in the world. It is never said that that love is romantic.
I've also seen many allos completely miss this point.
Asexuality and aromanticism, as is to be expected from orientations that are defined by the lack of something, are still very invisible, both in RL and in fan circles. While we do have our own spaces and our own little community, mostly we are just there between our allo friends and... kind of stand and wait in a corner while they are busy with the sex and romance our society is constantly throwing at all of us. Being ace and/or aro is often confused with “being celibate”. We don't talk enough about what sexless or romanceless relationships could look like. No wonder so many people missed it when they saw one in Good Omens.
The queer community is STILL very strongly sexualized. And this is a problem, because while sexual attraction IS an important part of being queer, it is also not the only one. Queer people are still queer if they are not having sex. They are queer if they DON'T WANT TO have sex. They are queer if they don't enter romantic relationships. There is nothing straight about the close bonds aros can have with their friends. There is nothing straight about having a friend be the person you are emotionally closest to, close enough to openly beg them to run away together. Multiple times.
Queerplatonic or quasiplatonic relationships are the ones that are a bit difficult to define, because they are somewhere between “friendship” and “romantic relationship”. What they look like depends really on what the people involved want them to be like. Some live together, others don't. Some do things together that are usually considered to be romantic, others don't. Some kiss or have sex, others don't.
So far, I haven't really seen anybody really talk about the existence of queerplatonic relationships outside of ace and aro circles. And while I aggressively headcanon Sherlock Holmes and John Watson being queerplatonic, this was the first time that I've really seen an actual relationship onscreen that can be easily, or even best, read as being one.
But almost by definition, this means that it has to be vague, and subtle, and floating around somewhere around the lines separating friends from romantic partners. As such, I think that Good Omens did a really good job, giving us a relationship that is so obviously loving but also so beyond easy descriptions. However, this also means that it is easy to miss and end up feeling baited.
The problem is, I'm not sure that they COULD have done it better. Any explicit discussion about Crowley's and Aziraphale's relationship would have felt forced and out of place, and the term queerplatonic isn't enough known, they would have had to follow it up with an explanation of what that even is. And it isn't as if they could have made it any clearer how much they love each other as they did.
Some people say that they should have kissed onscreen.
Betty and Veronica in the Riverdale tv series kissed, and we all still know that it was only queerbaiting.
And isn't that, wouldn't that be, in the end, reducing queerness once more to the sexual bit in queer relationships?
I don't know. As I said, there is no clear answer, and in the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I suppose, the best I can say is that what Good Omens did with Crowley and Aziraphale is very beautiful and well executed and also undoubtedly queer. It is, also, not enough. We still live in a time where we don't have much representation, and therefore all collectively jump on anything we can find. As long as this is the case, people will always be unsatisfied with everything. We need more. More explicit, more sexual, more romantic, yes, but also more quiet and subtle and undefined loving ones.
Anyway. I just had to write my opinion on this, because I REALLY didn't like what looked like a group of people dismissing a queer relationship because it wasn't sexual. This isn't even about Good Omens, not really, more about Tumblr being generally Tumblr and not seeing nuance and not thinking things through.
So... Please learn how to properly analyze audiovisual stories. Please be more careful and think a little before you start throwing around the term “queerbaiting”. And, please, PLEASE take a minute to think through if what you are doing isn't in fact sexualizing queer people and excluding parts of the community because of a too narrow definition of queerness.
And finally, PLEASE leave Gaiman alone. One, he has no obligation towards you whatsoever, and two, this was originally a thirty year old book that, three, he co-wrote with a now deceased friend. Being critical of media is one thing, and obviously, Good Omens isn't perfect. But... Just think about what you're doing before you do it, ok?
#good omens#crowley/aziraphale#my opinion#long post#queer representation#queerbaiting#queerplatonic ships#asexual#aromantic#aro / ace relationships#it's not many people who said it#and there are always some idiots who don't agree with me#in the end of the day#it's up to personal interpretations#but this is a bigger and more structural problem#and good omens just gave me such a good reason to talk about it
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Something Between Us: Chapter One
This fic takes place directly after Something about us. Kal and Roy settle into their new relationship. Kal retakes his place in the superhero community. Roy starts his own business. Jade, as always, is full of surprizes.
Waning for smut.
Read on Ao3
Chapter One
Kaldur fell asleep fifteen minutes after joining Roy on the sofa. Between the ticking of the clock on his wall, the sound of Roy’s steady breathing, and relief at being finally,blissfully, alone Kaldur didn’t really stand a chance. Although this was not how his evening was supposed to go his only regret was how the sofa’s armrest pressed into his back. Kaldur never really considered his sofa’s size and comfort level until this week. He made a mental note to find a replacement.
At some point after he nodded off Roy must have rearranged them. Kaldur lay on his back with Roy stretched out on top of him, half of the archers limbs dangled off the sofa’s edge. With the exception of their shoes and belts they still had their clothes on. And the top two buttons on Kaldur’s shirt had been undone. How Roy managed all that without waking Kaldur was a puzzle for another time. For now Kaldur’s back would very much appreciate moving all this to his bed.
Kaldur ran his fingers through Roy’s hair, studying the swirl pattern. He hated to wake Roy up but figured he’d have a pretty good shot at replicating this position in a more comfortable space. Ducking his head he managed to kiss the top of Roy’s head. “Surely I am not that comfortable to lay on?” Kaldur asked, his voice fond.
Roy murmured something intelligible as he woke. He turned his head until he could rest his chin on Kaldur’s chest. With a sleepy grin he leaned forward and kissed Kaldur’s collarbone. “You underestimate yourself.”
Kaldur didn’t have the presence of mind to suppress his shiver. “Come on,” Kaldur ran his fingers along Roy’s cheek and Roy leaned into the touch. “Let’s get to an actual bed.”
Roy seemed to wake fully at the word bed.
And Kaldur...Kaldur was taken aback by the heat in Roy’s gaze. He was then ready to smack himself when Roy’s look turned into one of concern. Because what in Poseidon's name was his problem now? “It is silly,” Kaldur explained weakly. “I just. I panicked?”
“Panicked?”
“Old insecurities.” Kaldur averted his eyes. After a breath he looked back down at Roy. “ You don’t suppose that this is a sign of progress? At the very least I did not claim that nothing was wrong.”
“We just keep going in circles.” Roy shifted forward to kiss Kaldur lightly on the lips, and the slow drag of Roy’s body against his pulled a moan from Kaldur. The fire was back in Roy’s eyes. He sprung off the sofa and grabbed Jade’s gift bag off the coffee table. ”Come on,” He said before offering Kaldur his other hand. “Time to rip the bandaid off.”
Kaldur glared at the bag. “Are you certain that is not bugged?” Kaldur’s glare hardened as Roy laughed at him. “I am serious.”
“Don’t be so suspicious.” Roy leaned down to grab Kaldur’s hand and tugged at it.
Kaldur let Roy hoist him up and off the sofa and then drag him to the bedroom. Once inside the room Roy tossed the gift bag onto the bed. Kaldur pulled Roy closer. “Do not laugh.”
“Laugh?”
Kaldur nodded. “At what I am going to say, but you know we do not have-”
Roy rolled his eyes and let go of Kaldur’s hand “I’m not letting you back out of this,” He said before tugging off his shirt.
“It is not that-” Shirtless Roy was a distraction. “It is not that I don’t want to. It is just that we have had a long day, surely we can do this later.”
“I don’t know about you but I just had a very refreshing nap.” Roy explained as he pulled his pants down. “I’m wide awake! Now strip.”
Kaldur took a beat too long to follow Roy’s order causing Roy to scowl. He placed his hands on his hips and Kaldur’s eyes locked on to that location. To the cut of Roy’s abs and the trail of hair that disappeared into Roy’s boxers. Kaldur could feel his throat going dry as his mouth popped open.
“What did I say?” Roy was moving forward now, the suddenness of his movements freezing Kaldur in place. Roy grabbed Kaldur’s collar in his fist, tugging at him as if he were holding him steady for a punch. “Now you listen to me,” he started, his voice a low growl. “I have suffered these last few days because of your stupidly pretty eyes and perfect arms. I have waited patiently for us to be alone. And guess what? We’re alone! Now I’m not sayin that you owe me this, but you owe me this.” He let go of Kaldur and stepped back enough to pull off his boxers. “So strip.”
“Your arms are nicer than mine,” Kaldur responded dumbly.
“I swear to god!”
“I am not wrong.” Kaldur said as he started to unbutton his shirt. Because he did want this, but he still had problems going after his wants. Or even admitting that he had wants. “Objectively speaking your arms are nicer.”
“Uh huh.” Roy made his way to Kaldur’s bed. He pulled the covers back before sitting down, leaving his legs spread open. They hadn’t really touched each other yet and he was already semi hard.
Kaldur bit back a whimper and averted his eyes. “And talking about suffering. Do you think it would kill you to wear more than a towel when you leave the shower? Hm?” he pulled his undershirt over his head. His eyes flicked over to Roy. Roy who was currently watching him with interest. Kaldur looked away again as Roy absently licked his lips. For what might be the millionth time in the past few days he was glad he didn’t blush easily. “And what is with the staring?”
“Something wrong with me enjoying the view? Your pants are still on.”
Roy said it just as Kaldur had unzipped his pants. The look he gave Roy earned him a cocky grin in return. Kaldur pulled his pants down and kicked them off.
Roy hummed appreciatively. “I like those on you.” He pointed to Kaldur’s boxer briefs. “You should get red ones.”
“Red? Should they have cartoon characters on them as well”
“Ha ha, get over here.” He reached out to Kaldur and Kaldur complied. Roy grabbed Kaldur’s hips once he was close enough. He rubbed his thumbs along Kaldur’s apollo’s belt and then hooked them into the elastic band of Kaldur’s underwear before pulling them down. The archer chuckled.
“That’s comforting,” Kaldur said dryly as he stepped out of his underwear.
Roy grinned up at him. “You grew a little.”
Kaldur scoffed and rolled his eyes. Other parts of him were more honest.
Roy’s smile widened. “Yeah you did. Though I guess it’s not fair to compare you to the you back then.”
“You certainly know how to put me in the mood.”
Roy let Kaldur go and scooted backwards on the bed to make room. “What? Me telling you how big your dick is isn’t turning you on?”
Kaldur laughed lightly then followed Roy onto the bed, hovering over him. “You are ridiculous. Why do I love you?”
Roy’s face softened as he reached up to cup Kaldur’s cheek. As Kaldur leaned down to kiss him Roy wrapped his arms around Kaldur’s neck to tug Kaldur on top of him. They kissed for a bit, pressing into each other as if it were possible to fuse together.
Roy pulled away first, speaking before Kaldur could object. “You love me?”
Kaldur pushed up on his elbows to look down at him. “Have I never said so?” Had he ever said so? It seemed so obvious, of course it was to Kaldur. Because for a long time these feelings were the background noise of his life. But Roy’s eyes were full of questions and even without the promise of romance Kaldur realized that he should have at least made it known to Roy that he would always be someone he treasured.
Roy shook his head. “Never directly.” his face scrunched up as he thought. “But then I’ve never said it either.” He rubbed Kaldur’s arm absently. “But I do love you. God...I should have said this before.” He gestured vaguely to himself.
Kaldur’s face lit up. “I have no complaints. If we moved at my pace I’d be trying desperately not to touch myself in the shower right now.”
“Can I say something kinda scandalous?”
“You ask as if you won’t say it anyway.”
“I totally jerked off to you the second morning here.”
A few moments passed and the silliness of it all bubbled up causing Kaldur to laugh. Roy laughed as well tears forming at the edges of his eyes. Kaldur buried his face into Roy’s neck, smiling into Roy’s skin. “That explains the laundry.”
“Damn, I thought I was pretty stealthy with that.”
Kaldur hummed a response and began kissing Roy’s neck. Roy shivered appreciatively as the kisses moved up his neck to his chin and then back to his mouth. The slow pace of their kissing did little to calm the heat rising within him. He tugged at Kaldur, maneuvering the Atlantean until he fit neatly on top of him and between his legs. He rolled his hips upwards causing Kaldur to break their kiss.
Kaldur pressed his forehead against Roy’s.“What do you want?” He whispered the question but his eyes betrayed his urgency.
Roy could feel Kal’s hardness against his stomach, the possibilities made him ache. “Way more than what we’re prepared for.” he answered honestly.
Kaldur’s eyes softened. “If we had waited-”
“Nuh uh.” Roy squeezed his legs, pressing his knees into Kaldur’s hips. He chucked at Kal’s sharp intake of breath. “I have other plans.” He grabbed the gift bag and rummaged through it, pulling out the bottle of lube. “Don’t give it that look, you’ll appreciate it in a moment.”
“Yes...your ex wife’s contribution to our sex life, Such a thoughtful gesture.”
“You know it actually was?” Roy poured a decent amount on to his hand. “I mean unless you were gonna go to the corner store and buy some? Wonder what rumors the neighborhood could generate with that?”
“Point taken. But don’t expect me to send a thank you note.”
Roy slipped his hand in between them, taking Kaldur in his firm grip. Kaldur’s eyes fluttered shut.
“What about?”
Roy shushed him. “Later.” He moved his hand slowly, dragging at the tip.
Kaldur took a shuddering breath, trying to control his responses.
“Stop that. Just let go.”
Roy sounded annoyed, Kal thought dimly, why was Roy annoyed? “Stop wh-”
Roy kissed him and it was not smooth or slow or perfect, but bruising. Needy. And when he pulled Kaldur’s lower lip between his teeth Kaldur lost it a little. Roy increased his pace and Kaldur would bury himself alive if he were aware enough to hear how wrecked his voice sounded because a hand job was not supposed to be this revolutionary. But it was. Especially when its been far too long since anyone had touched him this way and more specifically because it was Roy touching him this way.
Roy murmured encouragement. Roy called him beautiful. Kaldur disagreed with Roy’s praise, because even now a deep part of him couldn’t believe it. Roy tightened his grip, apparently as punishment because, “The fuck you mean you aren’t?” And maybe now would have been a good time for more lube because Roy’s hand, roughened by his craft, was digging into the more sensitive skin of his cock. It would hurt a man built differently, but it was just the right amount of roughness to truly permeate the dense skin Neptune blessed him with.
Kaldur had to get away. He had to get away because he wanted to savor this. He wanted to last at least long enough share this first toppling over of pleasure alongside Roy. But when he leaned backwards Roy followed. Roy’s other hand was kneading his ass. Roy’s mouth was on his neck and then his chest and when Roy bit down lightning flowed through him and all Kaldur could see was white.
“Thanks for the light show.”
Roy’s voice, deeper and rougher than usual, brought Kaldur back to life.
“Light?” Kaldur was still floating but he noticed, noticed the faint glow as the markings on his arms pulsed. “Sorry, I...um.”
“Sorry? No, that was, fuck Kal.” Roy closed the distance between the two of them, arranging them so that he was sitting on Kaldur’s lap. “Fuck.” He wrapped his arms around Kaldur’s neck. “The sounds you make.” He pressed in closer smearing Kaldur’s cum between them, he began to thrust involuntarily, rubbing himself against Kaldur’s stomach.
Kaldur’s head cleared enough to register his dissatisfaction. So long as Roy hadn’t cum he wouldn’t feel fully sated. He supported Roy’s lower back as he laid him back on the bed.
“What are you…”
“Returning the favor.” Kaldur said as he slid downward, fitting himself between Roy’s legs. He lifted Roy’s right leg and slung it over his shoulder. Roy bucked his hips as he watched and Kaldur didn’t resist the urge to tease him. He smiled before flattening his tongue against the base of Roy’s cock then slowly dragged his tongue along its length. Roy’s head fell back as he closed his eyes. His eyes snapped open as Kaldur swallowed him whole, hollowing out his cheeks to increase the suction.
Roy pushed at Kaldur’s head. “How...how are you so…”
Kaldur settled for a slow rhythm pulling back so that only the tip was in in mouth before pushing back down to the base. Roy grabbed at his head in vain, as he rambled a chorus of assorted swear words. When he could tell that Roy was close he pulled away, the release of suction making a deafening pop.
“You need to grow your hair out! Fuck I can’t ...No!”
Kaldur didn’t listen to Roy’s protests, instead he tugged Roy’s hips closer before going in again, increasing his speed.
“I said….” Roy couldn’t get the words out because he could feel the back of Kaldur’s throat. He knew now that this was how he’d die. That if it were possible to suck someone’s soul from their body this was how it would be done. Roy remembered why he rarely asked/wanted for blow jobs in the years he and Kaldur weren’t together. Kaldur ruined them. He ruined them with his steady gaze and soft lips. With his lack of gag reflex and high lung capacity. He was sure Kaldur should be out of practice but no, apparently the fucker’s mouth was made for fellatio. Furthermore Kal was moaning around his cock and that...Fuck.
Roy risked another glance. Gathered what strength he had to prop himself up on his elbows just to see that Kaldur’s eyes were still on him. That Kaldur’s other hand was busy stroking himself. When the hell did Kal get hard again? He wondered as he flopped back down on the bed and fell into oblivion.
Kaldur kept Roy in his mouth, swallowing down Roy’s orgsam as his second rocked through him.
“Fine, you win.” Roy croaked, his voice would even sound worse in the morning. He slung his arm over his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing instead of how Kaldur continued to lazily lap at him.
“I wasn’t aware that this was a contest?” Kaldur responded, a smile in his tone.
Roy moved his arm so that he could glare at Kaldur and Kaldur smiled broadly in response.
“This was your idea.” Kaldur remind him.
Roy scoffed. Of course it was his idea, because he had damn good ideas! “Round two after I take a nap.”
#Something Between Us#Kaldur'ahm#KALDUR#roy harper#Young Justice#young justice invasion#young justice outsiders#jade nguyen#dick grayson#koy
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