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mono-bloom · 11 months

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Gen 2 Playlist Analysis

Now that we know exactly how important and foreshadow-y these songs are, I decided that I have too much free time so here’s my shitty prediction of the songs meaning on the Gen 2 playlist. This is not serious at all so enjoy the rambling of an insane man. Sidebar: I use the word “Showfall” as a collective term and for legibility and could be interchanged with Hetch(s)

Kaisarion by Ghost - It seems to be either talking about a lowly grunt of Showfall’s POV talking about the company, or could be a nod to one of the new characters, but seems very much a Showfall song. Confidence: 7/10

Spillways by Ghost - CHATS SONG OMG! This reeks of a song that taunts the viewer/listener for their choice at the end of Gen 1. Could also be about G1!Characters but considering the lack of CCs in later seasons, it is very much about chat. Confidence: 9.5/10

Faith by Ghost - Hetch’s song. The lines “I am all eyes, I am all ears, I am the wall” are so telling. It could also be Showfall song in general. I want to say that this is for a new villain, but I believe that there were multiple Hetchs in every episode, so it could be a variation. Confidence: 7.5/10

He Is by Ghost - Unknown Character that could either be working with or fall under the corruption of Showfall. This is a hymn almost. While this could be about “The Savior” from the games, I hold firmly that “The Savior” is a false savior and should not be trusted. Confidence 5/10

Kiss the Go-Goat by Ghost - Trickery. We’ve/The Characters have been tricked into something. “It ain’t always what it seems When you cling onto a dream”. There is a false reality at play that will kick us onto our asses. Osculum Obscenum, Kiss of Shame. Confidence: 8/10

Square Hammer by Ghost - This is what I feel is The Savior’s song. Nowhere is there evidence that The Savior is a holy and righteous figure. I don’t think we will get to see them in this Generation but they will become more prominent, possibly with a grave sacrifice (GL!Ranboo perhaps? “Hammering the nails into a sacred coffin”?) Confidence: 5/10

Crucified by Ghost - I am honestly not sure why this is here. It could be a callback to Gen 1, it could be showing us a pattern for Showfall, I’m not sure. Either way, it makes me curious. Confidence: ??/10

Another Believer by Rufus Wainwright - This one is interesting. Depending on the lens you look through it could change the meaning. From the characters' POV, it could simply be a break of trust and/or seeing through the veil of Showfall and being re-indoctrinated, or it could foreshadow our own manipulation, trying to convince the characters to trust us. Confidence: 5-7/10

Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears - Power struggle. I imagine we will see more moments like those we see in The Choices. The struggle between fighting against the tide and letting it guide you. I think this one is like a theme song for Generation Loss as a whole. Who’s right? Who deserves power? We don’t know, but we want it. Confidence: 7.5/10

Homage by Mild High Club - This is a character’s song. This is about someone with borrowed time that has let the tide guide them to their end. I can imagine the exposition with flashbacks of happy memories before they let the tide take them under. Tears will fall and we will be angry (/lh). Confidence: 6/10

Jesus He Knows Me by Ghost - The Founders’ anthem. These are the words of a seemingly omniscient, malevolent cult leader(s). Confidence: 9/10

You’re at the Party by Lemon Demon - I’m not entirely sure if Gen 2 will follow the same idea as Gen 1 with this being a television show (the latest video on Generation Loss’s YT gives me hope that it is) but if so, this seems like a parallel to the moment GL!Ranboo wakes up at the end of episode 2 and realizes it’s all a game. A morbid, fucked up game, but a game nevertheless. Confidence: 6.5/10

He Needs Me by Shelley Duvall - This one is interesting. I feel that this one is about the cat-and-mouse game that is going on between us and Showfall. Showfall needs us to be a part of their show, to have us tune in and pay attention. To potentially be a weapon against their enemies, as shown in The Choice. However, we need Showfall. We need them to give us entertainment. And even though we kicked and screamed and cried over our Hero, in the end, we watched till the very end, and they saw that. We are in a loop. Confidence: 8/10

Misery Fell by Tally Hall - I feel this one ties into the previous song and goes into more depth on the relationship we have with Showfall.

Cannibal by Tally Hall - Once again, this is our relationship with Showfall, however, this is how we feel. We are trapped and being bled, but we are willing. We tune in and watch the show each and every time. This could also be about the protagonist of Gen 2, but the more information we get about Generation Loss, the less I think the characters matter.

This was so dumb and took me over an hour to do, and I’m not sure how coherent this even is but here it is lmao

#generation loss #gen loss #genloss #generation loss analysis #gen 2 #ranboo #Im on my bullshit again #this was so unneeded and is probably so inaccurate but oh well #generation loss rambles

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feartheoldblog · 1 year

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do you have any headcanons for micolash? not much is stated about him, but i like to think that the fucked up animals in the nightmare are indeed his creations/pets from the waking world, essentially grafting animal parts together with the old blood

Hello anon!

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not as well versed in the more intricate pieces of lore etc. so this will primarily be my own headcanons but I’m more than happy to give a few.

I absolutely believe that the dogs with the crow heads/crows with dog heads aren’t just a creation of the nightmare itself but something that Micolash (or his fellow scholars) actively created in the ‘waking world’. I’ll use that to describe to the time in the past pre-dream/nightmare and prior to the game, in this case when the School of Mensis were prolific and active. It’s very clear that Mensis are more than willing to mutilate and perform unethical experiments, and I feel like they’re more than capable of grafting animals together.

However, I headcanon that it was Micolash’s, pardon the pun, pet project. The crows and dogs are definitely affected by the blood (just look at the bloody size of those birds) so he’d probably be curious about what he could make with them. I can’t really think of any real scientific drive that he would have to do it other than some morbid curiosity or perhaps research into animal physiology and its interaction with the old blood. Maybe he just wanted some friends! Most people get a cat or a goldfish, Micolash gets a half-dog/half-crow abomination of his own making. There’s a few meaty werewolves in Yahar’gul which I don’t think were ‘made’ (more imagery than anything) but I guess you could see them as hinting at animal experimentation too.

Outside of that topic, I do have a few headcanons.

• Micolash did indeed study at Byrgenwerth but he wasn’t as closely associated with Laurence as he would’ve liked to have been. I think that he was always a bit of an eccentric, even amongst the scholars of Byrgenwerth. He was an interesting person with plenty of ideas and asked the right questions, but not the sort that you would trust wholeheartedly. He was involved in the research to a point, and I think that would also have spurred on his intention to leave Byrgenwerth for Mensis. He had enough knowledge from there to continue to research but enough freedom in Mensis to perform whatever he wanted without being shackled down by Byrgenwerth’s rules or research. Definitely a difficult person to work with, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t like to be his lab partner!

• I like to think that he came from a family of ample wealth, enough for him to receive an education fitting of an applicant to the college of Byrgenwerth but not grossly rich. In fact, I feel like he was probably one of the less well off students at the college. I’ll go into detail about this at some point but I do think that Byrgenwerth was like colleges back in the day where only the wealthy were permitted to attend.

• At Mensis, he truly came into his own. He had fellow scholars with ideals identical to his own and individuals to defend them. He also finally had enough resources and reach to organise the grotesque events in Yahar’gul and finally achieve his goals (which he basically did).

• On a more light hearted note, I think that his favourite place in Byrgenwerth was the lake and he often enjoyed leaning on the stone walls, gazing out at the glassy surface to collect his thoughts or finish any work. That’s the only part he misses about his former college- other than that it was just a means to an end, and a hinderance on the latter end of his stay. The library was great too but he had a better one at Mensis any way.

#he’s not one of the chars i think about much apologies #but i’ve tried to answer this as well as i can :)#it’s probably nothing new to you but hopefully you find it interesting regardless #my original response got deleted so i’ve had to rewrite it :’)#i wish i had more cutesy personality/hobby headcanons or stuff along those lines #but i’ve not rly considered them with him #asks #anons #soulsborne asks

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declanowo · 7 months

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31 Days of Horror - Day 16 - The Secret of Marrowbone

16/10/23

I have a vivid memory from my childhood where my parents sat me down and we discussed where I would want to go if they died. Morbid, I know, but the idea always lingered with me after my discussion. In the end, we agreed my eldest sister, and my brother would look after me, and while none of this ever came into fruition, for a while I was plagued with dreams where this played out. In the end, death was an avenue for a new life I could visit in my dreams.

The Secret of Marrowbone, or simply Marrowbone, is a 2017 film directed by Sergio G. Sánchez. It follows a family as they flee from their father, only for their mother to pass away, and for the eldest sibling to have to hide this fact until he turns twenty-one, and can legally watch over them.

Before moving much further with this one, this film is built upon secrets, twists and turns that we watch unfold, and for this reason, I feel it necessary to warn anyone who may read that I will be spoiling this! I would very much recommend this film, and I’m unsure how the experience would be if the plot twists had been unearthed beforehand, so here is that warning!

To start, I want to discuss the reason I wanted to watch this film in the first place: the cast. George MacKay plays Jack Marrowbone, the eldest sibling of the family. I had seen him before in 1917 and Captain Fantastic, both of which I had watched for lessons in school and college, and while I thought both films were good but not captivating for me, he was definitely the stand out of them both for me! Anya Taylor-Joy plays Allie, a librarian who falls in love with Jack, and befriends the family. I love a heap of films she has been in, including The VVitch, The Menu, Emma and Last Night in Soho. Next is Charlie Heaton, who plays Billy Marrowbone, and although I have only seen him before in Stranger Things, I think the wildly different characters he plays between this and that are to the credit of his acting! Finally, Mia Goth plays Jane Marrowbone, and is in two of my favourite films, X and Pearl, as well as several others I love, such as Infinity Pool and The House. All of them, and everyone else in this film, puts in a great and believable performance as their characters, making them feel deeply real.

For a large majority of the film, we inhabit the Marrowbone house, which I think is an excellent setting. For one, the set design is great at making the house feel old and withered, yet having some excellent shading to characters interests and design tastes, where we can reasonably believe that they have been spending all their time there! The colours are dull and grey, which usually I would find boring, but they have a deeper purpose as they suggest the isolation and confined lives the younger siblings have been forced into. These greys and browns juxtapose the bright colours outside, and at the end of the film, as Jack finds himself free when he abandons the house, rushing through fields to visit Allie or wandering into the nearby village to sell cakes.

As far as the film's story itself, I enjoyed it! I think that the familial bond of the characters makes you care about it a whole lot more, and the mystery makes the whole ordeal captivating. Even as I sit writing this, I am putting together some of the imagery and plotlines purposes, such as Sam Marrowbone, not wanting to look into mirrors, believing ghosts are in them. Of course this makes sense when you find out about the ending.

I guess I should move onto what the plot twist was, because I believe it shaped a lot of the film! That being that the family we watch bond and grow across the course of the film, is mostly dead. After their serial killer father made his way into the house, he killed all three of Jack's siblings, leaving him alive as he locked his father in the walls. Everything we have seen play out has been a result of Jack taking on his siblings' personalities because he couldn’t cope with the fact he didn’t protect them.

The ending is harrowing, while I had a hunch that it was coming, it really hurts to watch - we see how much everyone in the family cared and loved for each other, only for the final realisation that none of this happened.

I will say, the trope usually results in some very awful depictions of real people with DID and often leads to a huge spread of misinformation. I always think of Split, which had a massive and awful effect, all because it portrays a character with this mental health condition as villains, rather than understanding that most people with this condition are victims. And so, while I felt this depiction may not be as harmful as many others as a result of the character not leaning into violence and harmful behaviour, it is something that I always think about when watching that kind of film.

By the end of this film, I found myself heavy with sadness. It is a story that relies on your connection to the sibling bond of the characters, and I very much loved it. Although sometimes the story felt a little like it was dragging on, or like a ball of yarn that was filled with knots and impossible to collect, it manages to stitch itself together by the end into a single coherent piece which is a delight to think about and watch.

7/10

#halloween #horror #horror movies #creative writing #literature #reviews #review #marrowbone #gothic

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nerves-nebula · 1 year

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RIP to your girlfriend but Hounds End sounds like a really interesting project/story and if a nonbinary ghost of an ambiguous canine nature came into my life, offered to kill my parents for free and without risk to me, AND helped me run away and learn to live on my own I'd VERY much take that deal.

Like ??? that's the stuff you have day dreams about even though you know its unrealistic but it's kinda comforting in a morbid way.. Love both the characters, cisn't people gotta stick together. Would probably be a lot more terrifying if the ghost dog didn't ask about the whole killing parents thing and you just wake up or get home and find a ghost dog covered in blood and your parents gone but you know what I support their rights AND more importantly their wrongs.

But I can understand your GF not wanting you to focus on vent stuff with questionable morals, but akreg the most important thing is that it doesn't hurt you to think about it

Also your the best boss ever and I have decorated the hypothetical business room/office with fun little knickknacks and a speaker system so anyone in the business can chill and listen to music when not out on a job. I may not do everything perfetly but the moment you say something I'll go "I'm on it boss" in a brooklyn accent and try my best

im glad you appreciate it for the vent/wish fulfillment that it is, hah. i probably put too much stock in her opinion at the time cause she was basically my only friend and also the only person who really WANTED to see my art. so when the one person who always wants to see your art is kind of put off by your vent project its like ouchggh. but its not like she TOLD me to stop doing it or anything.

another thing about Hounds End is that i made the dog-spirit-ghost intentionally off putting and angular, cause I love monsters and I love the idea that just cause someone looks scary doesn't mean they're actually evil or whatever. i didnt get very far but i do have these few comic pages i made back in like 2020 or something. don't judge how rough they were heh, i made them while depressed :')

I appreciate the decorations. I am an avid enjoying of Little Knick-knacks hah. fun fact about that phrase tho, I say "I'm on it boss" and "what next, boss?" every time i go to work. I love doing it, its so fun and my bosses/coworkers seem to like it so its like, nice. im getting a good grade in Being an Employee.

#nnstuff #ask #asks are sweethearts #hounds end #nnart #nnoc

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pacifymebby · 9 months

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if you’re feeling sinister / chapter one

Titch

"So, it says in your folder people call you Titch..."

"Only my friends..."

"Well then," said the young woman sitting opposite me in a less than comfortable chair, just like mine. She closed the folder in her lap, hands resting one on top of the other. "What should I call you then?"

I smirked.

"You mean we're not going to be friends?" I drawled so that she had to pretend not to notice my sarcasm. My sullen eyes and mouth.

"I'm your therapist Miss Karras... You don't really want me to be your friend."

And all I could do was smirk because it was true. I had no intention of opening up to her the same way I'd had no intention of opening up to any of my other therapists because I'd been going to these kinds of sessions since I was a little girl and I'd long since lost faith in doctors.

"You know my name its on the front of my folder..." I said with a shrug, glancing once more around the compact little office. I was missing two hours of school for this and though usually I'd be glad of an excuse to duck double maths, I wasn't missing double maths, I was missing a music lesson which I shared with two of my best mates and I was pissed that one of the only classes I enjoyed was being sacrificed in exchange for fourty five minutes of being watched and studied by a pen tapping nerd with a morbid curiosity complex.

"Alright then, Pepper, thats a unique name isnt it..."

"Mum was a hippie," I said matter of factly, plain and bored because so far we were having a conversation exactly the same as so many others, one I was endlessly bored of repeating.

"You sound as though you dissaprove, you don't share your mother's beliefs?"

I frowned then, chewing my cheek though I couldn't deny that she had piqued my interest. Usually people asked whether I missed her, or what else I knew about her. What was it like growing up without her? And usually I had very little to say to them.

"I don't worship the green man if thats what you mean?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it... I can't help noticing your necklace though..."

"It wasn't hers," I said a little too quickly, realising the moment the words had left my mouth that she hadn't been about to ask me if it was. That I'd revealed a little of myself to her that I hadn't meant to.

"No?"

I shut up then, shrugging my shoulders, watching her from under my lashes sullen lips set in a downward curve.

"Its whitby jet... Well, it looks like it from here anyway..."

"Right, and?"

"Well, I just think its interesting that you show no interest in your mothers lifestyle but you wear a piece of jewellery which is designed to protect against dark spirits..."

"Right..."

"You don't think that's interesting?" she asked, probably resisting the urge to cock her head to one side. Probably doing her best to strike the balance between curious and disinterested.

"Its just a necklace," I shrugged, "it was my grans."

"You lived with her didn't you, when you were younger..."

"After my I watched my mum being murdered you mean..." I said, smirking when her eyes did the usual, the surprised flutter, the momentary uncertainty, the desperate flicker away from me because for a moment I'd reminded her why I was here.

The story two ways. The one I'd told the police that night: that my mum had gone flying, that her head had spun all the way round, that she'd screamed but it wasn't her scream. That my dad had tried to save me, picking me up and running away, taking me back to the convent, leaving me there when he ran away.

And the story spun the other way, the way the police and everyone else had accepted it. My dad had killed my mum in a jealous rage, that the 6 year old daughter forced to watch was so traumatised by what she'd seen that she had tried to turn it into a horror movie, that she'd fictionalised it to cope and got lost somewhere in the dream.

I looked back at my new therapist and tried to work out which version of events it was that was haunting her in that moment. She just smiled, persistent.

"Yes," she said, "she took you in didn't she?"

"Why are you asking me if you've read my folder?"

"These are just starting questions Pepper, generally the way this works is that we spend the first session getting to know one another by expanding on these topics... It helps if you try to open up..." she said, leaning forward, really looking at me, giving me those 'you can trust me' eyes I'd noticed most therapists were under the false impression that they'd mastered.

"Right..."

"So... Why don't we start there, what was it like living with your gran?"

"Nice," I shrugged glancing at the clock on the wall, "she was nice..."

"Nice?" she sat back in her chair, I could tell she was trying not to chew her pen, trying not to do anything that would show me I was getting to her. But I was getting to her.

"Yeah," I said, "nice... Better than the alternative and better than living with my parents... If anything you could say my 'dad' did me a favour..." I added with a smirk knowing it wouldn't shock her, knowing she'd think she was getting somewhere... She wasn't.

"That was a joke by the way, don't get your hopes up..."

"Well," she said sitting up a little straighter, blinking again, "maybe thats where we can start, why do you feel the need to joke about your parents relationship? That must have been a traumatic time in your life Pepper... Growing up in well, what must have been quite a toxic environment..."

I shrugged.

"Why does anyone tell any joke? Cause its funny..."

🔪🍎

"Go on then how was it?" asked Van throwing his arm around me as he dropped himself and his rucksack down on the grass at the edge of the football field.

"I don't like her," I shrugged taking the cigarette he offered me and lighting it up. He just laughed, let Suki say what they were all thinking.

"You never like them..."

"Yeah well," I shrugged, "they're all the same aren't they..."

"Whats this?" yawned Johnny droppimg his footie kit at my side, coming to rest the other side of me so that he was leaning back on his elbows looking up at me from under the rim of his baseball cap.

"Titch has a new therapist," said Mia cracking open her diet coke as she kicked one shoe off with the toe of her other.

"Oh right," he nodded, "she's right then."

Of all our friends Johnny was the only other who understood me when I talked about the therapy. He had a dead mum too. She'd been found in the woods two nights after they'd found my mum but the coroners said she'd been dead two days. Murdered, just as brutally as mine. Presumed by the police to have been caught in the crossfire between my mum and dad, probably murdered by my dad before he'd fled deeper into the woods to end his own life.

They'd found him hanging from a tree, both wrists slit to the elbows, throat slit too. They'd called that a suicide... Somehow.

So when we were feeling particularly morbid, me and Johnny would refer to ourselves as the dead mum club and have a little smirk and a cig in honour of our brutally murdered mothers, and, though none of our other friends ever contradicted me to my face, I knew Johnny was the only one who really believed my version of events.

"See," I said with a little smile flashed in his direction, glad to have him there, understanding in his own quiet way.

"So how longs this one meant to last?" asked Van, "and are you still gonna be able to come to practice next week?"

"I don't know," I shrugged trying to play it cool then as I thought back on the conversation we'd had earlier that afternoon. When she'd read me like an open book and gotten under my skin in a way that made me feel a little bit sick.

"Probably until they decide whether she's crazy or not..." sniggered Larry earning a sock to the ear from Mia as she told him to shut up.

"They don't think you're..." started Johnny, his voice quieter as he knocked my elbow with his.

"Yeah," i smirked, "they do..."

And though this time round I wasn't entirely sure, usually it was true.

🍎🔪

"You know Pepper, I know you've been doing this for a long time now..."

"Ten years won't seem like a long time when I'm 70..." I said thinking back to that night when I was only 6 years old. Thinking about how long the last ten years had really felt. Maybe childhood had disappeared in a flash but the rest had dragged. Would continue to drag until I was old enough to leave our little country village and start again somewhere else where no one knew who I was and who I'd been.

"Ten years is a long time Pepper..." she said holding my gaze, "I know you think I'm probably just the same as every other psych you've seen..." she said apparently undeterred when I remained still and unresponsive, "but I'm not..."

"Right... Thanks for clearing that up..."

"I mean it Pepper, I'm not here to circle some numbers and give you a score out of ten, I want to help you..." she really leant on those last few words, then again she wasn't the first to lean on those words when sitting opposite me in a little office much like this one.

"Uhuh..."

"You don't believe me..." she said with a guilty smirk, "thats a shame Pepper, cause I believe you..."

#Iyfs #Catfish and the bottlemen fanfiction #Sam fender imagine #Catb imagine

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jirai-kei-freak · 15 days

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Intro post <333

My name is Emma and welcome to my blog (aka what goes inside of my mind)!!!

About me~

• A lie that I’ve been keeping my whole Tumblr life is that I’m actually younger then I’ve always said. I’m 14. I joined Tumblr when I was 11 and lied about my age to get in. I’m very guilty about this but since some other shit has happened Ig I might as well confess

(I’m actually a big liar about the dumbest things ever so if smths a miss plz let me know)

• Complicated Bi 🌈💅✨

• I 💖 everything kawaii n’ cute, and I 🖤 everything morbid and disturbing

DNI

💀Pedos

💀Conservatives

💀Nazis

💀Sensitive snowflakes (such as members of the American Feelings Yazuka)

And most important of all…

ZIONISTS

Bonus facts ^~^

• I consider myself an athiest… but in a weird way…

Though I do not believe in any Gods or afterlives nor do I accept the possibility of it, I do have several ‘spiritual’ beliefs, such as the theory that there are infinite universes out there meaning that every combination that is possible does exist, that dreams foreshadow the future (I’ve had several instances of this since I was young), the law of assumption, and that aliens are real (just not in the way most people think)

• I’m also an ex-Christian, stopped believing since Roe V. Wade got overturned cuz I am NOT associating myself with THOSE people

• I’ve recently gotten back into drawing, and would LOVE to learn the art of animation one day

• I am also a huge writer and have a million different stories and characters in my head. I have a main-blog about them but I’m considering deleting it for… reasons I would not like to talk about

• I’ve been taking piano lessons since August and I’m rlly enjoying it so far!!!

• Cats. Are. Everything.

• My biggest dream in life is to be the star of Broadway ⭐️

• Because of this, I am in choir and planning to take theatre classes next year \^O^/

• Bpd girly~

Special interests

Sanrio

The mummy

Vocaloid

Phantom Manor

Shoujo Tsubaki

Haunted Mansion

Litchi Hikari Club

Hamilton

Killing Stalking

Disney

Eroguro and Dai Nippon Gothic

*please note that none of these interests are in any particular order

Okay, that’s it for now! Bye!~

#Pinned post #about me #gore #pp smol

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citkats · 4 months

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Inside vs Outside the Frame: Differences in Horror in Frankenstein (1931) and Vampyr (1932)

This was written for a film history class for my school, I'm quite proud of it so I wanted to post it here, enjoy :') Do not copy or plagiarize

The monster movie genre has been associated with a creature as a singular force of evil and destruction. Frankenstein (1931) aligns closely with this idea as Frankenstein’s monster is made of physical parts, while Vampyr’s (1932) monster is harder to identify as it goes into more abstract ideas about death. While James Whale interpreted the genre as having a physical monster, Carl Theodor Dreyer was more interested in the subconscious fears that surround the idea of one. By examining the storytelling, form and history in Frankenstein and Vampyr, the differences in the way they use the monster movie genre to create fear and develop horror aspects are revealed. Frankenstein creates fear inside the frame, whereas, Vampyr creates fear outside of it.

Both Frankenstein and Vampyr utilize storytelling in order to connect a sense of dread to the monster depicted in each film. However, they diverge in similarities when it comes to creating the horror, as it is achieved using a tight narrative structure in the former and abstract ideas in the latter. In Frankenstein, what is known by the audience is what scares them: the monster itself. They know that the monster is made out of pieces of the dead, it has a criminal mind and it is capable of killing – all things storytelling-wise that lead the audience to develop a perception of fear toward the monster and what it is going to do next. The story lets the viewer get familiar with the monster to anticipate its next move, but not familiar enough to be able to sympathize with its actions. This can be seen in the scene next to the lake when the monster is throwing daisies into the water with the little girl Maria. Frankenstein’s monster throws Maria into the water, thinking she would float as well but instead, it drowns her. At the moment just before this, there is a slight humanity brought to light in the monster with his connection to the girl. However, when the audience has just started to become sympathetic instead of being horrified the monster’s violent nature re-emerges along with his naiveness (Badley). As a result of Maria's murder, both the storytelling and audience perception of the monster change in the film. The shocking event creates tremors of fear and anger in the story, with the whole village storming the monster's hiding place and burning it to the ground. The audience never gets a break from the rising anger and fear building in the narrative, solidifying any sense of dread with the addition of morbid fixation on the death of the monster. Alternatively, what makes the storytelling in Vampyr successful is the lack of information given to the audience. It feels like a waking nightmare with the otherworldly atmosphere executed by the cast of shadows, unexplainable dreams and use of time (Kawin 32). These vague yet haunting images and the subconscious fear of what creature is behind it are what make the vampire horrifying, not the image of the vampire itself. Questions remain unsolved even by the end of the film, creating a sense of enigma surrounding the narrative (Swaab). At the beginning of the film, Allan Grey is visited in his locked room by a man who writes down a message on a book; to only open a book after the man has died. The man then disappears but the book stays, making the scene feel like a dream. However, the audience is forced to accept that it was not a dream as the book still lays there, creating an uneasy feeling that something is not right in this world (Kawin 34). Carl Theodor Dreyer explained that he wanted the horror to be created subconsciously: the physical objects don’t change but the viewers' relationship to them does, as if “..we are told that there is a corpse behind the door” (Kawin 32).

Frankenstein’s form is very theatrical and leaves little to the imagination, creating the horror in the frame, not the subconscious. The mise-en-scene is reminiscent of the classic Hollywood style, where the elaborate, stage-like sets, never let the camera break the fourth wall. The camera achieves extreme high angles, able to show as much of the scene as possible. This can be seen in the moment the monster wakes up from his subdued state and chokes Dr. Waldman. The shot starts over the top of the bed, positioned along the fourth wall, and as the monster chokes him it raises higher, giving the most efficient angle to view the horror. Sound is also being utilised to push the horror displayed in the frame. When Frankenstein’s monster is first shown fully, his footsteps are heard ominously echoing throughout the lair before it is even shown. This leads to a feeling of morbid anticipation within the audience, with each step making the fear grow stronger. He is then materialized on screen, ominously backing through the doorway, displaying his ineptitude and unpredictability. The choice to make the sound appear off-screen instead of showing Frankenstein’s monster moving up the stairs is a purposeful one meant to work with the visuals within the frame to enhance each other and create the most fearful scene possible (Hong 220). Vampyr uses its formal elements in a more abstract manner, relating the camera's gaze to that of the audience, making the horror resonate on a personal subconscious level. Where Frankenstein chooses to remain formally on the outside of the events, filming the sets as a stage, Vampyr immerses the camera in the scene. For example, the dream sequence in which Allan walks ghostly through a field, the vampire’s house, and into his coffin is filmed with inquiry, framing the outside of the house in wide-angle shots, and cutting to close-ups of Allan peering through keyholes. The audience sees the house in the same perspective as the character, creating an empathetic mystique, wondering what behind the door might put him in danger. Furthermore, Allan sees himself in a coffin, and the camera takes the viewpoint of his dream corpse staring toward the sky as his coffin is carried to his grave. At this moment the “reverse angle allows us to identify with the character's self-consciousness.” (Kawin 37), playing into the spectator's abstract fears of seeing one's final image. The contrasting of these formal elements reveals the ways in which the two films use the monster genre. Frankenstein looks at the fear of the monster itself, choosing to fill its frame and soundtrack with the anticipation of its attack. Vampyr finds horror in the abstract ideas that may come to fruition through contact with the monster: the fear does not come from the thing itself but the death that may result. This abstracting of ideas arises from the historical contexts surrounding the films, and for Vampyr, it was the German Expressionist movement that gave way to this.

German expressionism, while already existing before WWI, was elevated even higher due to its themes of rebellion, and helped suppress the “association of "'German' with militarism, brutal aggression and the Kaiser” (Elsaesser 63). Films during this time projected emotions onto the mise-en-scene to express reality, by removing realism in favour of distorted and fantastical design (Thompson et al. 89). In Vampyr, these designs are used to create the dreamlike world Dreyer has put the audience in. He places the subconscious of his characters into the framing allowing their own fears to take precedent in the story. Dancing shadows over the walls and the dream-like sequences all add to the warping of reality commonly found in the works of German expressionists. At the same time on the other side of the world, non-expressionist classical form thrived. Frankenstein’s theatrical, horror-in-frame approach to the genre fuelled the critique of pre-production Code Hollywood films as being overly violent, gruesome, and non-conservative. Audiences who viewed the film were cited to have called theatres days after initial screenings, unable to sleep and remove the “graphic” images from their minds (Badley). It was the lasting impression of the horror that made it culturally potent. When looking at the historical context of the film, situated in a period of Hollywood where censorship was far and few between, the overtly dramatic and tell-not-show way of messaging becomes sharp. Taboo subjects are portrayed on screen with very little concealing, an example being Frankenstein’s monster murdering a girl out of confusion and naivety making the evil of the monster hard to critique. By being able to show all of the horror in the frame, Frankenstein is able to make the images of violence last outside of the film. In conclusion, the contrasting use of horror elements between Frankenstein and Vampyr reveals the different ways the genre is used to communicate to the audience in each respective film. By specifically analyzing the narrative, form, and history of the two films, the various ways one can interpret and make use of the monster movie genre are brought to light. It is revealed how different a horror can be depending on the choice of where the fear is placed, either within or outside of the frame.

Citations

Badley, Linda. “Hollywood Expressionism: James Whale's Frankenstein.” South Atlantic

Review, vol. 85, no. 4, 2020, p. 4.

Kawin, Bruce F. “Fear in a Frame.” Horror and the Horror Film, Anthem Press, London, 2020,

pp. 32–48.

Hong, Seung Min. “Contrapuntal Aurality: Exceptional Sound in Hollywood Monster Horror

Films during the Early Sound Era.” Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 47, no.

4, Oct. 2019, pp. 215–226, doi:10.1080/01956051.2019.1566201.

Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. “Part Three: The Development of Sound Cinema,

1926-1945.” Film History: An Introduction, McGraw-Hill Education, 2019.

Elsaesser, Thomas. “Caligari’s Family: Expressionism, Frame Tales and Master-Narratives.” In

Weimar Cinema and After, 61-105. New York: Routledge, 2000

#essay #film #school #vampyr #frankenstein

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mrpenguinpants · 3 years

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Xiao and Diluc: Opposites Attract HCs

Minor spoilers for Xiao’s and Diluc’s backstory.

Yes, more xiao content. Oh and Diluc. Diluc is there too. I wonder who my favourite child is? Honestly, it’s probably Childe. Every time I write “child” I end up misspelling it to “childe”. It’s consumed me. But yes anon I love the opposites attract trope. It’s so nice having person A be this cute cinnamon roll and person B is the ew don’t touch me go away I hate you, just mwah 💕

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Today’s appreciation post goes to imlikemoony. My entire reblog notifications have just been you and thanks for the spam haha. I love seeing new people go through my work and enjoy it so thank you^^ Please don’t feel like this is a callout post I swear it isn’t 💕💕

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Xiao Semi Series

[ Friendship ] [ Falling in Love ] [ Cuddles ] [ Protective ] [ Affection ] [ Jealously ]

Diluc HCs

[ Comfort HCs ] [ Relationship HCs ] [ Being Fathers HCs ] [ Jealously HCs ] [ Unrequited Love HCs ] [ String of Fate [Soulmate] ] [ Fainting ]

[Masterlist]

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[taglist] <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@hanniejji @mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @twistedsunnshiii @stanzastic @akaasea @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz @dai-tsukki-desu @youaskedfurret @snowy224 @mayumintsu @tigerpriestess @yuu-yuukurotsuki @legionqueensav

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Xiao and Diluc: Opposites Attract HCs

Xiao

It occurs to Xiao one day that despite being alive for centuries, he doesn’t know a lot of people. Xiao has only known Rex Lapis and his fellow adepti and only just recently introduced this life to others such as Verr and Ming. It never bothered him and still doesn’t, he prefers his life to be peaceful and in solitude since it’s safer that way, but when you crash into his life with all your unrestrained energy. He’s a bit of a loss for words. The only other person he knows that acts similar is Guizhong, but it’s still a bit of a troubling memory but either then that, he’s never interacted with someone so...open with their feelings. Though he supposes that Hu Tao was somewhat similar but in a different way. Unlike the craziness and exasperated actions that Hu Tao brought, your presence was a breath of fresh air and sometimes he found himself caught up in your antics.

When Xiao thinks about it, if he were to ever find love he suspected he would prefer someone who was calm and independent. He wasn’t the most affectionate so he wouldn’t want a partner that relied on that and he liked the peace and quiet the inn provided. That was until he saved you one day and you felt it was your absolute responsibility to return the favour, even though he told you many times that you really did not need to. If you wanted to return the favour you could leave him alone. Simple as that. Which didn’t work and in hindsight he was glad you were so stubborn to hang around until you managed to find out his favourite food was almond tofu.

The moment that set in stone Xiao’s love for you is when he told you his past. When he was named Atalus. How he had been possessed and forced to kill against his will. How he devoured dreams and lived in agony before he was saved by Rex Lapis. He was scared that you would fear and leave him, only for you to slowly lace your hands with his and wept for his own misfortune. He’s never had someone cry for him and he realized that he never wanted to see you upset like this again.

At first your larger than life personality put him off a bit, how could someone run through life as if nothing was wrong? What would happen if you finally faced loss? Wouldn’t that make things worse? It wasn’t until he spent more time with you that he saw your point of view, that while he couldn’t adopt the same idea, he respected it and began to appreciate it. It was nice having some sort of solace in his day even if it was just for a few minutes. Something to get his mind of the darker things while you start chatting about this really nice old lady with a domain sized teapot.

Though, there was a bit of a downside to this. Since you bared your heart on your sleeve, perhaps in Mondstadt it would seem normal but here in Liyue, everyone hid behind some kind of mask so people found you a bit naïve and would try and hassle you. It always sent Xiao into a worried state when you left the inn to go out on your next adventure. Verr likes to compare him to a cat waiting for it’s owner at the door, but as soon as they return he acts so moody as if he wasn’t waiting at the balcony trying to see if he could see your clothing peak over the hill. He has no idea how she comes up with these ridiculous ideas.

Another “downside” Xiao discovers is that you have mini bursts of affection. You describe it as a those anemo slimes that pop when you shoot them, morbid as that description is, you’re not wrong. Your bursts of affection always manage to startle and embarrass Xiao, especially when he was with others. He wasn’t going to tell you to change yourself, never will he do that, but when you clasp his hands and tell him with all your love and shining eyes that he’s “doing such a good job” and “you’re so proud of him”. He wants to melt because wow, he never noticed how much he values your praise and how it sends his heart flying. But he can’t because Childe and Zhongli are right there.

Zhongli smiles pleasantly while Childe looses his absolute shit, which causes Xiao to kick his spear at Childe because he refuses to let go of your hands and hisses at him. Even when you try and scold him it doesn’t last long because this has become a weekly occurrence. Only now Xiao will give you a quick kiss before he goes off to gut Childe while you and Zhongli wave pleasantly and talk about how the weather is faring. Everyone that isn’t a native to Liyue think’s you’re all insane as they hear Childe’s screams as Xiao attempts first degree murder.

It interesting to see you both interact to outsiders. Xiao has his piercing yellow eyes and reserved demeanor while you’re this sweet and bright person. Before Xiao met you, people could never get a good look at the mysterious man that stays in the top balcony of the Wangshu Inn. But now if they came at the right time, they could spot a soft smiled man in green listening to a very animated talk with someone else, using their hands with a dramatic flair. That is until the man notices them trying to eavesdrop and the softness in his eyes drops and goes to irritation as he glares at them, curling a hand around his partner’s waist, and he let’s off a warning growl. His partner never seems bothered, only turning around to give a small wave in greeting, smiling as if the dangerous aura radiating behind them didn’t exist, before giving the man a small kiss as they go back to their conversation.

While you live a larger than life way, you also enjoy the small moments with Xiao. Xiao prefers to spend his time sitting above the inn and overlooking Liyue which you enjoy too. Resting near each other as you watch the sun go down is calming and takes the stress of life away. But sometimes you just want to bring Xiao out and have some fun.

Which ends up with you dragging him off to the pond near the Wangshuu inn, you wanted to catch frogs for whatever reason. Weren’t you both a bit too old to be playing with frogs? But he stands by and watch's you chase around the poor animals, tracking mud all over your clothing and skin, he can’t help but let a small smile slip. It isn’t until you end up falling into the pond after slipping that he’s on alert mode that he runs over worried.

Only for you to pop up and start bursting out into laughter. Xiao is stunned for a few moment as he watches you laugh at your own mistake, mud scrapped all over your face and clothes, the fact that you’re still in the pond with a frog on your head. He can’t help but feel his face fall as his mouth twitches into a smile as he chuckles along with you. He reaches over to try and scrub the dirt off your face but it only ends up smearing it more but you appreciate the effort. He carefully lifts you up as he carries you back to the inn. He thinks back to when you both first met, how he spent so much time worrying over his life as an adeptis and you as a human, but now those thoughts have been flung out of his mind. He wants to take your approach, that why worry over the little details of the future when you can enjoy the bigger moments you have now.

Diluc

On days that Diluc works as the bartender for Angel Share, if you come at just the right time when the sun was still high in the sky, you might be able to catch the ever distant man smiling and engaged with a conversation with one specific patron. Of course, this silly “rumour” was made up by the ladies of Mondstadt with too much free time on their hands but given Diluc’s reputation and demeanor it did make some travelers curious. Only for them to write it off as this special patron to be a green bard or cunning captain. One that Diluc surely did not crack a smile at. In fact it seemed to be the opposite. But the tavern isn’t so bad, there’s this nice individual that will listen to all your sorrows with kind eyes and a gentle heart.

As soon as the last customer leaves and Diluc locks the door, does he let his shoulder drop and he breathes a sigh of relief. Before turning and walking to you as he let’s himself relax in your embrace. He listens as you re-tell on the woes of a jewelry saleswoman from Liyue to how Venti is still getting ID checked at the Cat’s Tail as he basks in your warmth. He’s glad that this is what’s troubling the people of Mondstadt and not anything incredibly dangerous relating to the Fatui or the Abyss Order. He asks if you’re doing alright to which you grin and nod that everything was perfect, before placing a small kiss on your forehead and he leads you out back and into the night and ready to return home.

Kaeya finds a lot of enjoyment going to up to you and discussing his “concerns” about Diluc. It always leads to you fretting over his health and if he was working too hard and he should take a break. Diluc is whipped and cannot say no to you so he always begrudgingly let’s you lead him away as Kaeya smiles and waves him off. It’s gotten to the point that no matter what Diluc is in the middle of, unless it’s of the upmost importance, if he catches Kaeya anywhere near you he’s swooping in and leading you away.

Diluc has always been straight to the point, non-nonsense idle talk, but when you drag him away to simply lie down at Starsnatch Cliff just because you were worried about him, he can’t help but feel his heart warm. Watching you blow on dandelions and enjoy the peaceful winds of Mondstadt does he let his hectic life standstill.

When Diluc first met you, it was during his three year long journey to discover the truth of his father and the Delusions. You had saved him during his escape from a Fatui stronghold and explained you were apart of a third-party observer from the North. A vast underground intelligence network that approved of his actions and wanted him to join. Diluc, still deep in his anger and untrustworthy state of anyone, declined the offer but you still hanged around him. He didn’t understand why, and frankly did not want you anywhere near him, but you did save him. Something you very much liked to bring up, even after returning to Mondstadt. He couldn’t necessarily push you away and despite leaving the Knights of Favonius, he still maintained the same chivalry that all knights had.

From then on it had just been the two of you, him looking for the next Fatui base while you travelled with him as an “observer” despite helping him and being overly chatty. Asking where the next destination is like you’re some sort of overeager kid. At first, he really disliked your presence. A lot. In his mind you were a second Kaeya and after the events of what had happened, he might have been far colder to you than he should have been. He thought you were hiding behind the same kind of mask Kaeya did and that you were secretly some Fatui agent sent to kill him. But that never seemed to deter you, even making fun of the idea that the Fatui would seriously try and send an agent to con him rather than try and kill him outright with all the information he had on them.

You both had your clashes when it came to certain things, especially when it came to taking breaks and sightseeing. He felt that you were way too relaxed for something so important and you felt he was way to uptight and needed to stop running through life. But overtime, he found that he actually somewhat enjoyed your personality and quirks. While you could kick a Fatui’s guard head off if you tried hard enough, you would also drag him to feed the ducks by a pond. He had come to learn that you and Kaeya were different, you didn’t wear a mask and bared your heart to the world. He thought you were a bit foolish for doing that since you can never really trust anyone but you instead offered that not everyone was a bad person, that if he spent every waking moment trying to backstab someone would that really be a life worth living?

It’s during the lantern festival in Liyue does he really come to understand his goals in life. Writing down wishes for the new year to send off in paper lanterns is when he acknowledges his shortcomings and finally agrees to join the underground intelligence network. You offer him a bright grin as you cheer that he finally finally got off his stubborn self and you’re now officially partners in not-really-but-still-technically crime. For the first time since Diluc started his journey, he gives a small smile and let’s himself relax as he watched the golden lanterns fly through the sky beside you.

When he decides it’s time to return to Mondstadt and take up his position as Diluc Ragnvindr, he tries to not so subtly ask if you would want to join him. He knows that you still have ties to that secret organization and you probably have your own agenda but Diluc has gotten used to your bubbly personality, he doesn’t want to live without you. But his worries are quickly squashed when you tease him for a bit but slip your hand in his and ask where the next destination is.

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Gripping my writing hand, I went overboard and ran with it. I really want to write pre-hcs of how you met Xiao and a continuation of young Diluc and you. But I must finish my inbox. Also my joke of Xiao beating things into submission started all the way back to my first Xiao HCs of friendship. I did not know this lol. I just think it’s funny to imagine xiao doing it. I’m about to high five my past self.

By the way, should I break up my hcs more? I feel like they are actual paragraphs and that might be annoying to read.

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egg-emperor · 2 years

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People downplaying Eggman's evil and seeing him only as silly and cute for his interest in theme parks, circuses, carnival, toy-like and colorful and fun aesthetics, etc while ignoring the evil that still very much exists within it are really overlooking all the ways that it ties in with and actually emphasizes his evil through it. I wish they wouldn't because it's something that's so great about his character and I don't think it's appreciated anywhere near enough for something that's so significant to his character and villainy.

I love it when he's like "look at my cool toys and fun playland!" and it's just so fucked up and deadly, whether it looks colorful and fun like Circus Park or the Interstellar Park, or dark and intimidating like Eggmanland for example. It's like he wants to make the world his plaything and the people his toys, the world shaped in his perfect image which is making all his wildest imaginative dreams come true and being he's the center of it all and recognized and hailed for his greatness. It's never been about or for anyone else genuinely.

As much as I obviously absolutely adore when he gets dark, serious, and threatening, I also love it when he treats it like a fun happy game too for how gloriously messed up it is that way. But people act like it's just some innocent cutesy thing for him when it's actually equally as fucked up. The point is that it's supposed to be deceiving when it seems fun and happy. He's not supposed to be creating something that genuinely brings happiness, safety, and innocent fun like Tinker or something. That's always apparent.

He's taking something that's supposed to be innocent, safe, and fun for everyone and turning it into something evil, dangerous, and fun only for himself and he knows it. It's evident in Eggmanland and the Interstellar Amusement Park. It's the most fucked up way to indulge in interests of his that aren't inherently evil and even considered childish by some and he makes it into a big deal that's so evil, deadly, and dangerous. And everyone will take it seriously when they see it for what it really is and learn his dark and malicious, deeply self absorbed intentions.

Eggmanland is of course a beautiful prime example because it's literally hell on earth and the difficulty and fucked up design exists for a reason more than just game design, it's in the story because this bastard intended for you to have a fucking terrible time and be plunged into serious danger, if that wasn't already extremely obvious. (That's why I love suffering while playing it so much, fuck yeah sadomasochism at Eggmanland 😍 hfjsngmsngm) That's why he tells Sonic to come deliver any complaints to him in person, if he can. He knows how deadly it is, he loves it and is enjoying himself way too much with it, as Sonic said.

Tons of Eggman's lines in the Colors announcements also show this. He fully acknowledges all the dangers and horrific harm and even death the attractions and hazards of each planet can cause, even joyfully detailing it in some lines and having a morbid sense of humor about it. It's another blatant example of his sadism as he clearly finds enjoyment in the bad parts. While Tails is just talking about the food at the Bucket 'O' Sushi, there's truth to him saying that his cruelty has no bounds. He also calls his operations at Planet Wisp "evil" because he isn't oblivious, he knows all this is evil and fucked up and he's having a blast because this is exactly what he wanted.

One of my favorite parts of that flashback in the IDW Imposter Syndrome #4 flashback wasn't only how he said he wanted theme parks because he likes them. Though of course, I do love how he's proudly, unapologetically, and shamelessly into the things he enjoys and expresses them openly to the point that he'll make the whole world know. It's admirable and inspiring for that part, despite his evil. But I see people that only focus on that part and act like it means it's just a silly and innocent interest for him and that's it, which downplays his evil in it so I'm like wait, there's more to it than that and it makes it even better!

I love this part so much because it offers a subtle but wonderful look into that exact combination that I adore.

Yes the petroleum-based cotton candy is funny but would make sense as the food at Eggmanland and the Interstellar Park is apparently awful to. I have no doubt that this is intentional in all instances, it's one of the less deadly ways he wants visitors to have a terrible time while he finds great amusement in it. It's one of the more lighter hearted silly ways he can have fun when people are having a bad time.

But my favorite part is how it can get darker than that, how he talks about wanting his enemies' darkest moments, their last moments, to be in this setting with these fun and amusing things. In a place with pretty bright colors, fun looking rides, carousel music playing, things that are supposed to be warm and welcoming, fun and safe. Just think of the humor and enjoyment he'd find in his enemies meeting their demise like this, watching with a big wild enthusiastic smile as he has his silly fun in such a messed up way.

It's thrilling fun with the things he loves involved for his entertainment before victory and a horrifying nightmare for them before their doom. He can make something that's supposed to be cute and fun so dark and disturbing and the end of people's lives and it's part of the fun and intention to him. It's beautifully twisted and so fucking cool that he can accomplish that through his awesome fun aesthetics and amazing imaginative designs. He's so unique and compelling of a villain with his interests and motives while still being so evil for that and I love it.

He does indeed have that childlike passion and excitement for this stuff, he genuinely loves the happy, colorful, and fun aesthetics, and I do find his confident and shameless interest and enthusiasm to be very cute and charming. The combination of this with how dark it can get is part of what makes it so great, how it can be both exciting and thrilling and eerie and chilling. So people are missing another big important part when they actually make it out to be an innocent thing for him and use it to downplay his evil because it actually emphasizes it when you look at it in this way and acknowledge both sides.

Also, you can't convince me that even young Ivo wasn't most interested in the idea of theme parks being dangerous and fucked up in a chaotically fun way. I love to think of him always sketching up designs for risky rides such as coasters that abruptly end and send people plummeting and all other kinds of crazy shit like that and thinking it was the coolest and funniest thing. And he still does now, evident by how that still happens with the rides that his middle aged self can actually create in real life now and finally make all his dreams come true! It's so cute but so fucked up fjdngndmsh 💜

#dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #analysis #my post

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balillee · 3 years

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my unpopular dsmp opinions, some of which genuinely should be popular

c!dream has crossed the moral event horizon and is irredeemable. once you cross that threshold, you're no longer a 'morally grey' character.

pre-recorded, heavily produced lore killed the lore. it was cool, sure, but you completely misunderstand the magic that the smp had when people watched it initially. the story is improv and that's how we like it. we can tell the cc's have lost interest in it, you can admit that to us, we'll understand, just stop lying to me.

c!dream's pov isn't necessary to understand his character or his motivations. if you've watched literally any c!primeboys stream he's basically spelled it out for you.

i don't understand how fans can dislike l'manberg or have claimed to be against it since the beginning. i honestly don't get it. what's so bad about wanting your own spot where you make your own rules and skirt accountability that has been used to technically oppress you before - and, before someone who never saw the earlier streams tries to disagree with this, the og l'manberg crew were imprisoned for shit that everyone else on the server was practically encouraged to do. also, what do you have against fun and happiness?

i think some of you forget that 'hybrids' aren't a thing, discounting c!ranboo. there's no piglin hybrids, c!techno is just a pig. there's no avian hybrids, c!phil is just a man with wings. there's no creeper hybrids, c!sam is just a creeper who's indecently exposed from the hips down. canonically there's no hybrids, and therefore no hybrid discrimination. people ran with that concept too much.

the loss and the fanon rewriting of the early lore up until pogtopia has ruined fandom perception of c!dream and the og l'manberg boys. c!tommy is more morally white than you think he is, and c!dream has always been a villain - he massacres and he kills and he destroys and he schemes and he always has broken his own rules. no wonder the boys wanted their own space after how they were treated.

i think ranboo oftentimes forgets his own lore. he brings stuff up that c!ranboo may have done, such as exploding the community house to frame c!tommy, holding onto Cat, and it goes absolutely nowhere. we've gotten all of these developments in his story but they have never been expanded on, and we're nowhere closer to figuring out his relationship to c!dream and what his other side is and honestly i see no hope that we'll be any closer to knowing even by the end of the year.

your characters don't all have to be morally grey for the story itself to be morally grey. this is fiction - some people can be nothing but evil and others can be nothing but good. being purely good or evil doesn't mean that you're one dimensional, either.

c!dream apologists have ruined c!dream for me. he's not a good person. how about you let me enjoy a villain for who he actually is, rather for than your percieved woobified ragdoll you pass off as c!dream.

the story was better when there was a central writer. it was brilliant back when wilbur wrote it to be that the environment drives the characters and the story, and it was really good in early s2 up until techno's execution day when it was more character driven. since then, the amount of autonomy people have over their characters without any central 'director', as it were, has been a detriment to the story overall. there needs to still be one overarching figure or director or writer.

not everyone is a main character. just because they have a pov, doesn't mean they're a main character. some characters have such little impact on the overall plot and describing everyone as a main character oversaturates the story and makes some characters seem more important than they are.

the egg lore had so much potential up until it didn't. all that built up threat that we were expecting and we still don't even know what the egg wants really other than just controlling people. does it hatch?

genuinely, if there's no major plot developments by the end of the year (and let's be honest, it's a very big possibility at this point), a few of the more prominent members of the server should do a podcast style stream talking about where the story would have gone, because at least then we would have gotten somewhat closer to a conclusion.

c!techno is a villain and an asshole and a bad person. he stops caring for people once their interests don't align with his or if they look at him funny. he makes meta-jokes about his own tyrannical and oppressive nature. stop taking that away from him. he's a bad person. cc!techno does a fabulous job portraying that in a comedic manner and the balancing of him being a deeply flawed person with deeply flawed morals and ideas with his comedically-portrayed stubbornness and lack of willingness to hear out opposing viewpoints is incredible. i want to like characters who are arseholes for the sake of being arseholes, and who refuse to take into account the hurt they've caused either out of self-righteousness or because they don't care, so let me. he's the anti-peacemaker, LET ME HIM ENJOY HIM FOR THAT!!!!

i think tommy and wilbur's way of doing lore is my favourite. relies heavily on improv, voice acting, sprite acting and facial expressions. really shows off the acting props and they pull off the emotional moments well for the insanity of the creative medium.

i'm not a fan of fan-music. i find songs about media i'm into difficult to listen to. coincidentally i'm also not a fan of shit like slam poetry or live music/musicals/pantomimes.

the death of l'manberg killed people's motivation to go on the server casually. i've talked about it more in depth before, but destroying what was a central, driving environment for the story killed momentum and motivation. imagine in an episode of she-ra, the princess alliance just nuke the freight zone and all of the members of the horde just have to deal with it. that would be shit.

until season 3 has some momentum, i'm counting the end of the smp as january 20th. that had a conclusion. season 3 has... whores, technoblade and tommyinnit. that's about it.

i wasn't a fan of the development of c!tubbo joining las nevadas. i preferred snowchester and the walled city conflict. give c!tubbo some backbone and some badassery. also tubbo where's the fucking nuke bro if you're shelving that plotline just tell us on like an alt stream what the plan was i beg

add like 2 or 3 new people to the server so that michael mcchill has someone to talk to and so that there's something always happening on the server. it gives the og's more motivation to return if things are happening in and out of canon and it'll help with momentum, and who knows? maybe they can write their own story/stories.

i really think that c!sam is an underrated character. he's multilayered, extremely interesting, and the dichotomy of his loyalty to his job and how far down the rabbithole that's taken him versus the genuine love he has for his friends that drives him to do what he does out of wanting to do right by them is brilliant. i don't talk about c!sam enough.

STOP HAVING FUCKING VILLAIN ARCS!!! I'M FUCKIN SICK OF IT!!!! i want to see more characters who see everyone else being absolute selfish, abhorrent cunts and go 'if nobody else is going to be a good person, i fucking will'. GIVE ME SOME MORAL WHITENESS!!! IT'S INTERESTING AND MORALLY GOOD CHARACTERS ARE FUN!!!

let tommyinnit build cobblestone towers. everyone bullied him too much for how ugly they were and the one he built outside of the prison looked genuinely really nice. it gives the boy something to do.

i'm a fan of the revive book and the canon lives system. don't ask me why, but i think it might just be the morbidity of it. it adds to c!dream's god complex persona, and i think the fragility of death itself is a really fun concept. not enough fan cc's have made connections with that and c!mumza, and it could make for cool fanfic.

ranboo your house is fucking ugly. it's an eyesore

c!niki, and to some extent now c!jack and c!fundy, are boring me and ruining my mood. i think c!jack is the closest to being an actually interesting sympathetic villain, mainly because nobody else seems to realise that c!niki is a villain. not a good one imo, but she's a villain. c!jack just has the problem of starting a new project over and over and over and over again and because of the slow in momentum for the primary cast, there hasn't been a lot of recent development for him.

not really a dream smp opinion, but if philza went full geordie accent, i would love it. i want him to, in canon, say shit like 'me n ye' instead of 'me and you' and use geordie dialect. i want him to be physically unintelligible because it's funny.

i don't really know what's up with c!foolish but i think he's a dumbass. he had a while to think about c!q's proposal and then changed his mind about joining the guy to admitted to letting him die just because. moron

i wish there was more c!eret lore. i wish he was an actual king with an actual kingdom and actual subjects and royal advisors. c!eret is far too fucking cool to be the king of nothing and nobody. fatten up the kingdom and the castle with people who work with c!eret, and don't just make it tyrannical and dictator-y to prove the point of the server's 'anarchists'. make it a healthy working environment, please - if you want moral greyness, have 'anarchists' who claim to care about the welfare of the server oppose a kingdom of happy people under a fair and just ruler because their ideologies clash.

the server needs more characters who oppose anarchy in more peaceful ways, or passively wish for systems to be a part of. i think a chaos vs order conflict ending only in mutual understanding where everyone understands that they should just leave each other alone would slot nicely into the story that's been created so far.

you need to have watched all of the previous arcs to understand the story. i've seen people argue that they don't need to know about earlier lore to understand the prison, but that's the equivalent of only watching the final season of pretty little liars and expecting to understand the context of what's going on.

some characters aren't that morally grey. some characters, take c!tommy for example, are definitely on the whiter side for the morality scale, he's just an asshole. he's abrasive and rude and a dickhead but he also doesn't agree with terrorism, he's patriotic, he strives for a better world, he's apologetic, but he's also a fucking BITCH.

you can add onto this if you want, but not if you're a c!dream apologist. nobody likes your opinions

#dream smp #dsmp #esclaposhitpost

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sweeethinny · 3 years

Text

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!

following the tradition I started almost a year ago (it will be a year on Ginny's birthday), here it is, a fanfic to celebrate this date!

Harry Potter is probably the fictional character I'm most attached to.

Flynn for Fleamont, Albus still with the same name (I think Albus is a beautiful name, let's forget the meaning and there's no Severus), Ruby for Rubeus <3

--------

‘‘Smile at the photo!’’

‘’I thought we were going to sing now.’’

"We will, but first, just smile... Yes, get closer... Perfect."

‘'We can start?'’

"Dad, you're getting old."

"I know, I realized that when you told me the same thing last night."

"Don't talk to your dad like that, Al, old people don't like to be reminded that they're old." Ginny smiled, brown eyes flashing towards him. ‘‘Come on, everyone! Happy Birthday to you…’’

Everyone started to sing, the same disorganized mess as usual, with Sirius and Remus whistling, his dad taking a bunch of pictures that were probably going bad but that he was going to display in the frame anyway, and the kids - who weren't kids anymore - starting to argue about the first piece of cake.

Harry was happier than ever.

It had been a nice day, they had traveled to their country house so there would be no unpleasant interruptions from curious people like on his 35th birthday, and they would spend the weekend having fun, enjoying the family, fishing, telling stories and laughing. It was the best way to celebrate his 41st birthday, and Harry was feeling like the happiest man in the world.

When the song ended and everyone looked forward to him blowing out the candle, Harry thought of all the years that had passed, and how things had improved since then. He looked at the children in front of the table, eagerly waiting to eat as usual, then at Ginny who was smiling at some picture James had taken, and Lily who was watching him with a smile very similar to his own, but a little older and wiser.

There wasn't much to ask for; he had his family, his parents, and all the people he loved and thought important to have there. He had nothing more to ask for.

May everything continue to be fine. He thought, closing his eyes and blowing out the candles, hearing the screams and howls and barely managing not to laugh.

"Happy birthday Dad, I love you so much." Albus was the first to come, which Harry was glad because he wasn't at an age for many outpourings of love.

‘'I love you too, my boy, so much.'’

‘‘And I wanted to know-’’

“Albus, stop hogging Dad,” Flynn pushed his brother away, already nearly as tall as Harry, a sly smile on his face. The same smile that had gotten him into so many other problems that year. Harry hadn't forgotten that. "Happy birthday, my old man." He opened his arms, far more willing to show affection than his brothers. ‘’Forty-one, huh? Almost time for retirement.'’

“Yeah, I'm thinking about starting to worry about putting my room downstairs. My knee is not the same anymore.” Harry hugged him, laughing at the boy's courage.

'’I love you.'’

"Me too, boy."

"Get out," Ruby shoved them both, but Harry was willing to ignore that because his little girl was only thirteen, and he didn't want to fight anyone on his birthday. 'Happy Birthday, Dad. If you weren't my dad, I'd hit the imposter and go after you.”

"I'm glad about it, my love." Harry chuckled, hugging her and thinking his babies were growing up too fast for him to like it.

‘'Forty years… It seems like yesterday that I thought your grandfather was going to kill me because I got his daughter pregnant.'’ His dad smiled from ear to ear, looking happy that his moment had finally arrived in the hug line, his mother was to the side and Lily also laughed at the memory, nodding.

'’Dad was furious, we thought he was really going to kill James.’' She had tears in her eyes, and Harry felt like a child again, running to his parents in the morning of his birthday and trying to guess the presents, excited by the schedule of the day. "I know I always say that, but I'm so proud of the man you've become."

"And I always say it's thanks to both of you." Harry kissed her forehead and then James, who was already crying. He became a man who got emotional easily after all the stress of the war, and every birthday, New Year and Christmas, James would cry. But Harry understood, he also needed to choke back tears at various times when he realized how far he was going.

When you were 15 years old and had already faced so many things, you doubted that you would be alive until the next year, let alone 41 years old.

"We love you so much, but I hope this year the cake doesn't have peachy," James joked, just to ease the slightly morbid vibe that had befallen them.

"No, chocolate," Harry soothed, chuckling along with Lily as they saw James turn towards the table, seeming to catch the children's eagerness to eat. Harry noticed that Albus had been hanging around the cake since the time Ginny arrived from the shop with him.

‘'Thank God! Excuse me, let me cut a piece then… Come here kids!’’

"Shouldn't you be the one cutting the cake?" Lily caught his eye, and Harry shook his head.

"Let him spoil his grandchildren a little more," he shrugged. "They'll probably go to bed early after they get sugary in their bodies."

‘‘Yeah, probably… You always fell asleep right after eating too much cake. It was our secret weapon for when we needed a few minutes of peace.” They both laughed, Harry now understanding what they had been through, but he still doubted that as a child he had as much energy as his kids had.

It looked like the three had an infinite battery.

"I'm glad to be here." Lily hugged him again, and again, Harry understood what she meant.

His parents had seen a lot, and the question of whether they would be able to survive the War was something Harry knew had haunted them as much as it had haunted him.

‘'I say the same… I wouldn't be anything without you and Dad.'’ He whispered, just because saying it too loudly aroused a sadness in him that Harry didn't like to think about, as the fear that his parents would die during the War was something that lingered in his mind for too long to be pleasant. "And neither do the kids." They watched James hand each one a piece of cake, ranting about how it had been the first time he'd fished with his father. Flynn seemed to be the most interested, his brown eyes flashing towards his grandfather.

‘’Let the others hug the birthday boy, Lily! There are more people in line!’’ Sirius yelled after Hestia, who rolled her eyes and looked at Harry as if she said, ‘'Don't worry, take your time.'’

‘‘Don't be a jerk, Pads. Ginny, can you…?” James walked back to Harry, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders and smiling as Ginny pointed the camera, the three of them posing for the photo. Harry knew that by the end of the party there would probably be another hundred, but he didn't care, it was important to keep those memories. And Lily had bought a new album that was barely two pages full, so they clearly needed more.

"Come here dear…" Lily and James walked out of there, James proudly taking the camera and going to where Ginny had been before. "Kids go with your dad, that's it, everybody together." Harry smiled again, ignoring when Albus nudged Flynn and whispered that he was getting taller, or when Ruby cursed them for pulling her braids.

Today he wouldn't mind that, it was his forty-one birthday and it was a happy day.

"Happy birthday my love," Ginny whispered after James took the picture, kissing Harry's cheek. ‘'You may be getting old, I know, but I still feel the same way I did when I stuck my elbow in butter because of you.'’ Another flash came, now just the two of them there, and Harry kissed her, definitely knowing he was the happiest man in the world.

Erised's mirror would probably show something very similar to reality - perhaps Harry had a more muscular stomach and less gray hair.

'’Thank you for being with me. I love you, and I still feel like that stupid teenager who dreamed of you and needed a cold shower at seven in the morning to get to class.” They both laughed, and another flash came toward them. These photos would make great frames.

"That hasn't changed much, has it?" She raised her eyebrows mischievously.

'Not. It hasn't changed much.” He shrugged.

Harry sighed, watching as Ginny winked at him and let Sirius come over to hug him, still smiling mischievously in his direction. Yeah, his sixteen-year-old self would be very proud of how far he's come.

#hinny #harry x ginny #jily lives #hinny au #everybody lives #harry potter next generation #sweet writes #my fic #harry and ginny

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alfredosauce50 · 3 years

Text

From a past life [Yandere vampire! Romania x reader]

Synopsis: For centuries, he waited for your return--your rebirth. So when he finally learns of your whereabouts just outside of Wallachia, he rushes to meet you in hopes of becoming what you both used to be. But he runs into a predicament when he learns you're in a relationship with a man, a pesky human mortal by the name of Daniel. He'll do anything to get rid of him, even if he has to play dirty. He made a promise to you that he would find you for the rest of your lifetimes, so God forbid that he breaks it. Wordcount: 3, 813 The reader is referred to as she/her.

A trip to Romania had always been on your bucket list. Your boyfriend was just as excited to go, but he wouldn’t have been if it turned out to be the last trip you'd ever go on with him.

Today was when you would visit the highlight of your itinerary. On the Transylvania side of the border with Wallachia, and nestled in miles of rolling hills, was Bran castle. The awe-inspiring fortress told one of the most famous tales of old as Count Dracula's abode. Or at least, it was rumored to be as it fit the description of it.

Needless to say, you were dragging him around the estate to admire anything and everything that piqued your interest or served as a potential photo spot. “Oh, hurry up, Daniel! This is where he slept!” Scrambling closer to the grand bed, which was certainly framed with more wood than needed, you leaned in behind the red rope that fenced off the artifact. Then, you flashed him a wide grin.

He returned the gesture with a tender smile of his own. “I'm as old as this castle, kicsim. Let me take things in slowly.”

“You're only three years older than me. I don't think you have the right to call me little or yourself old.” Flattening your lips at that, your frown melted away as quickly as it appeared.

“But look! Dracula's sheets and mattress. Though it would make more sense to say it was Vlad's... The guy he was based on. Hmm, but that wouldn't make sense either.”

The man rubbed the nape of his neck with a soft laugh. It was no doubt he shared your enthusiasm, but your unapologetic passion always made him fall harder than he already had. “Yep. I believe he was imprisoned here. I don't think he'd be getting the master bedroom.” He appeared from behind and rested himself on your head as you placed a pistol grip on your chin.

“Even then, I can't imagine him sleeping so soundly after sticking so many sticks up people's--” Two strong arms squeezed around your waist to make you gasp.

“Ah-!”

“Okay! What do you say we go down to the gardens for a walk, hm?”

And that was exactly what the two of you did. Skipping out in front of him, you held onto his hands and swung his arms. “I'm gonna go down to the pond, okay? You can enjoy this place nice and slowly like the old person you are.”

This was the greenest garden you ever had the pleasure to stroll through, even the tea house blended in with its moss-covered roof. It only emphasized how ancient this castle really was, and something about it delighted you in ways you couldn't articulate.

“Alright, kicsim. I'll see what nice flowers I'll add to my hair.” Daniel scooped the pink blossom from his hazel brown bangs and placed it behind your ear. “When I do, I'll come get you. Don't let any vampires find you before I do.” Shooting you a wink at that, you pecked him on the nose before running off.

Who would have thought those words would ring truer than he intended? Several miles away, slept a man who was as old as Bran castle. His name too was Vlad, though he never earned such a fearsome reputation by impaling his enemies. Instead, he kept a low profile and dedicated his long, neverending life to finding someone.

Every restless night, she was what he dreamed of since her passing.

When I go, promise me you'll find me again.

Promise me.

Fluttering his eyes awake, they glowed a blood-red in the darkness of his bedroom. They drooped with a tiredness that never seemed to go away no matter how much he rested.

Sliding off the mattress, he folded the flaps of his robes tightly around his body before making his way into the halls. Every corner of this humble countryside cottage he called his home was enshrouded with shadows, and not to mention the thick coating of dust caking the top of every shelf, couch, and tabletop.

He hadn't cleaned this house for centuries. His will to try withered away through the years in his lonesome, but he was patient. Peeking through the gap between the curtains of his overgrown hair, his irises shrunk as the blinding daylight poured into them through the drapes of his living room window. He could feel it in his dead still heart.

Something had changed.

Out there in the world scorched by the sun, was something even warmer. And it was so familiar, so tender, he could not mistake it for anything else, or anybody else for that matter.

She was nearby, and the thought filled him to the brim with a joy so potent, tears of relief welled in his wide eyes. He had waited hundreds of years for this moment. For her return. Her rebirth that would usher in his own.

The prospect was so invigorating, he felt as if his heart began to beat again. He never felt so alive. Scurrying back to his bedroom, he sat in front of his vanity to access his appearance. He had to look presentable before meeting her, hadn't he? A bedhead like this and nightwear would simply not do.

Especially when he hadn't cut his hair for at least twenty years.

Giving his long locks of strawberry-blonde a thorough comb, he let it fall straight down to his lower back. With a few quick snips, he shortened his bangs by a few inches to give the impression he had some sort of control over an otherwise uncontrollable mane of hair.

As he shed himself of his robes in exchange for day clothes, a white dress shirt paired with dark plaid pants, one singular thought repeated in his head like a broken record. As morbid as it sounded, it was more of a Godsend than anything.

Death was never the end. Not for her, and not for him. Or rather, a new beginning.

But it didn't start the way he imagined. Following her sweet scent to the gardens of the famed Bran castle, he found the smell growing more and more pungent, albeit confused. It was mixed with another's, tainted by the stench of a human male. His irises thinned to slits, and he tensed up all over. How could this be?

Hiding behind a tree, he peered over the side to confirm his suspicion.

There she was, her beauty as pristine and untouched as the last time he loved her. For just one second, he was over the moon. But his euphoria was short-lived when he saw that she was with a man. Kissing him, even. Even though it was just on the nose, any further down her face would have caused him to start an apocalypse.

That insignificant, trifling, and scheming little creature. He was about to reap what he sowed. How dare he take his place? It was him she was meant to with, not that pesky mortal!

Whipping his head to the front, his eyes went round with disbelief and his breathing grew ragged. An unfathomable ache spread in his chest as he dug his nails into the bark. How could he have let this happen? It took every shred of his willpower to keep the waterworks at bay.

His throbbing heart was also weighed down with a pang of heavy guilt. To allow another soul to be this close to her was a grave disservice to the promise he made. But that didn't mean he couldn't undo this.

In just a few seconds, he formulated an intricate plan to carry out well-deserved revenge. To have her in his arms again, and him, out of the picture where he belonged. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the man and tapped him on the shoulder. When he spun around, he grabbed him by the neck and caught him in a trance with his hypnotizing, inhuman gaze.

“You will give these flowers to the nearest young woman you see. Put them in her hair and kiss her on the lips.” Opening his own palm, he materialized three peonies before placing them in the other's.

Unable to escape the powerful snare cast by a vampire such as himself, Daniel did so as told. “I will give these flowers to the nearest young woman I see. I will put them in her hair and kiss her on the lips.” He reiterated monotonously with his eyes glazed over.

Watching the helpless man saunter off, he smirked devilishly as he exchanged glances with his long-lost lover. This would hurt her a great deal, but she would only be devastated if he never did it.

You had been watching the pond, completely ignorant to the scene that was about to unfold. Little did you know, it was purposely orchestrated. Using a stick to prod at your reflection, you lingered on the ripples distorting it before glancing up. In the distance was none other than your boyfriend, and judging from the pink in his hands, he found his flowers.

So you stood up. You would have snuck up on him as a surprise, but your feet remained firmly planted on the ground when you witnessed him give it away, then flirt with another woman. It couldn't be mistaken for anything else. He was kissing her!

Frankly, you couldn't believe it. One year was all it took for him to lose interest? Blood flushed your face as bile rose in your throat. How could he? And during a vacation at that, too! Tears threatened to spill out of your eyes, but you blinked them away when you heard the light treading of feet nearby.

This had to be a misunderstanding. Right?

Spinning to the source, you found yourself staring at the most peculiar man you had ever seen. He carried a delicate parasol to shade him from the sunlight. Combined with his pasty white skin, it was almost as if he was one of the very mythological creatures the country was renowned for.

He smiled gently, almost understandingly.

“Are you alright, domnișoară? I have a spare handkerchief if you'd like.” His alluring voice was as bewitching as a siren, but his mere presence brought you unspeakable comfort. And yet, he was nothing but a stranger, an odd one at that, so you were at a loss to realize that all it took for you to gravitate towards him was for your eyes to meet.

“I'm okay, thank you. But I couldn't possibly accept something like that. I mean, I don't know you...” Waving your hands at the man apologetically, you took the opportunity to scan him up and down.

As if he walked right out of a fairytale, he oozed prince-like charm. His clothes were traditional and refined, but that long, silky hair of his was certainly a rare sight--rare but breathtakingly beautiful. It gave his character untold notions of grandeur, mystery, and an inexplicable impression he was ancient.

But that couldn't be, not when he didn't look a day over twenty.

“What do you mean, you won't take it? It's yours.” He pulled out a small piece of fabric from his sleeve. Placing the finely embroidered cloth into your palm, he never gave you the chance to object. “It would be rude to regift something, so you'll have to keep it forever.” Mischief curled at his lips, and you couldn't help but laugh a little.

“Alright, alright, you got me there.”

You dabbed away the moisture before breathing out a sigh.

“I'm sure you're a very nice person, but I can't bother you more than I already have. Thank you, again, Mr. Vampire.” If it weren't for how heartbroken you were, you would have been mortified. Being pitied by a Romanian local was never part of your plan.

Just when you were betrayed by Daniel, he appeared like a knight in shining armor. If only you could forget what happened between you and your boyfriend. Otherwise, you would be bragging about meeting a vampire in Romania for as long as you could talk.

“Mr. Vampire?” He lifted his head before revealing a pair of sharp fangs in a grin. Now that caught you off guard. “You don't see me calling you miss human--and I have a name, thank you very much.” As he placed his gloved hand on his chest to playfully feign offense, he bit back another smile at the sound of your amused giggling.

Despite what happened a few minutes ago, talking to this actor was making you feel better already.

“And let me guess, is it Alucard?” You shook your head. “Or is it Vlad? You can't possibly call yourself Dracula looking like that.”

He blinked incredulously, then curved an arm over his face as if to cover himself with his non-existent cloak. “How did you know?”

“That your name is Alucard?”

“No, Vlad.”

“Okay, close enough. It was nice meeting you, Vlad, but I have a stupid boyfriend to scream at.” At the mention of that, you looked like you were on the verge of tears again. “All I'm hoping is that he's still my boyfriend after this. If only he were as much of a gentleman as you.”

He reflected your distress in a frown, and you would have been surprised by how much this apparently bothered him. But you already walked off. So he offered one last niceity before you strayed too far. “Good luck with your boyfriend.”

“No promises.”

He let those two words affect him more than he intended. Needless to say, he moved on quickly to watch you run to the unsuspecting brunette. Soon, his anguish was staved off by the sight of you shoving him back a few steps.

What looked like a one-sided argument broke out, and all the poor, confused man could do was just that--be confused. Shortly after, you stormed off, and he jogged behind, desperately calling your name.

A sinister smile cracked at Vlad's lips, and his irises glowed red. That little thing had no idea what was yet to happen to him.

That night, Daniel took you to the Brașov city hall for dinner. The beautiful buildings surrounding a fountain were as traditional as they were clean. Too bad your zeal was burned away by your anger. In the few hours in the hotel before, he barely managed to soothe it by explaining himself. A given, considering his explanation made no sense whatsoever.

He couldn't remember flirting with a woman.

“I think we could share a pizza. Are you okay with that?” Lifting his gaze to meet yours, you only turned away to stare out the window into the endless night. Your spaciness was deserved on his part, but little did he know, it only had so much to do with his wrongdoings.

The eccentric local never left your mind. After all, he gave you something to smile about with his whimsical kindness.

Vlad must have been an entertainer, a virtuoso at that, but his actions never came off as ingenuine. To be frank, you were drawn to his sincerity, and even looking for him subconsciously, wishing that he could magically appear because you willed it.

If only Daniel could be just as sincere.

“I must be okay with a lot of things.” His face fell. The same sorrow from when he was at the hotel room returned, but you couldn't care to give it any attention. “Like you pretending you didn't kiss someone right in front of me because you don't remember. I'm not stupid. Who else would have long hair tied back and flowers in their fringe?”

Daniel knitted his brows so tightly together, creases formed between them. “... I know it sounds like I'm lying, but I swear to you I didn't do it. You know me, (F/N).” At this point, he hadn't the foggiest what to say to appease you because he simply didn't do it. “I promise. All I'm asking is for you to trust me.”

“You promise?” You fumed.

There was only one thing you hated more than a liar.

“I trusted you, Daniel, I really did. But how could you ask me to trust you after I talked to that girl? She remembered it, so why can't you? Did you think I was that crazily into you I could let anything slide?” The biting truth silenced him, but it was the sound of you choking back tears that broke his heart.

“I'm gonna go to the bathroom to think this over.”

He had no way to argue with you, let alone the heart to when it was just broken and crushed to a thin slab of flesh. What if he really did kiss someone, and miraculously forgot?

“When I come back, I better not see you kissing anybody again.”

Standing up at that, he watched you leave with a defeated expression. Then, he folded his arms across the table and buried his face into it. There was no way he could fail that, could he?

What were the odds of kissing someone again when he had absolutely no intention to? The chances were dwindling at zero as he kept his head down. Unless supernatural forces were at work, nothing could get him to budge from sitting at this table.

But even he couldn't count on the world of the mundane to save him.

Sitting a few tables away was the exact opposite of mundane. When the front door slammed shut, he stood up and walked to the customer with their head down. While all the men in the establishment wore their hair short, his was long and flowing like time itself. There was something other-worldly about him. Something ghostly in the way he walked.

With every step he took, his feet never seemed to touch the ground as if he was floating. And his pale complexion was just as macabre as how he carried himself.

Not a minute passed, and Daniel found himself standing outside by the fountain. With absolutely no recollection, he somehow left the restaurant and wound up here in the festive courtyard. As shock paralyzed him from head to toe, the only thought that occurred to him was this. What in the hell was going on?

Rather than sitting head down in the warm restaurant, he was out here, chilled by the biting European cold. Couldn't he have at least remembered the transition?

In front of him was the same woman he supposedly flirted with in the gardens. And judging from the blush on her cheeks, he just threw away all his chances at making up with you.

“Listen, I... I don't know you. Forget me. Forget this ever happened.” Daniel trembled, feeling a chill run down his spine as he staggered back a few steps. It was like a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. There was just no sound explanation for this when this situation wasn't sound at all. Whatever it was, this was clearly a case of sabotage.

And like hell he was giving in to whoever that masterminded it.

He ran back inside with a fearful kind of urgency. Rushing back to the table he unwillingly abandoned, he froze when he saw you marching towards him down the aisle with murder on your mind. But death was too lenient a punishment. It would grant him a clean slate, a new beginning from a past life of unfaithfulness.

So he was splashed with a glass of red wine instead.

As the crimson liquid soaked his hair, it spread over his shirt like blood. After you saw what he did, the last shred of hope you didn't know you had died, squelched out there on his clothes for the world to see. A chorus of gasps was heard from every corner of the restaurant. Unbeknownst to the patrons who murmured amongst themselves, it wasn't just any lover's quarrel they were watching.

Daniel's breath hitched as he struggled to process his mortification. Behind you stood the very gentleman that tapped him awake, but he never made the connection between him and his misfortunes.

And perhaps, it was better that way.

After leaving your boyfriend for good, Vlad offered to walk with you around the city. Once again, he had swooped in to save you, only this time around, he was staying.

“So... What are you gonna do now?” He asked, casting a tender gaze your way. Before you could wrap your arms around yourself, he beat you to it and flung his cloak around your body. When you gawked at him, he only grinned toothily with his fangs.

Your cheeks reddened and you turned away. Why he was still in his vampire getup was beyond you. But seeing his enthusiasm only reminded you that you lost yours. “... Book another hotel room. Spend the rest of this holiday crying. Maybe never think of this country ever again.”

“And I'm not letting you do any of those things.” He hummed, giving you a gentle squeeze. “Why do you think I'm walking with you right now, hm? I'm gonna take you around to the best spots in Transylvania. The most haunted ones, I mean. So you can forget about going back to the hotel.”

You sighed but managed a small smile. “That's great and all, but I'm not made of money. And my stuff is all there.”

He squinted. “... Oh yeah. But after we get your stuff, we can go elsewhere, can't we?”

A few laughs fell from your lips. His generosity really knew no bounds. “Your house, then? You do realize I only met you today, right?”

Vlad closed his eyes. He could beg to differ.

“But you're still walking with me alone. In the dark.”

“Only because you saw me cry twice today. I wouldn't be mad if you killed me so I don't have to be so embarrassed.” He frowned at the sound of that, so you added this. “I was just kidding. Something about you just makes me feel... Strangely comfortable. Like I've met you before. Isn't that weird?”

“... Not really.” Reaching the top of a hill, he stared at an old castle in the distance, sitting high up in the mountains. “There's a legend about this city. Hundreds of years ago, a vampire and a human woman fell in love. She died, of course. But people say he's still around, waiting for her to reincarnate so they can be together again.”

The way he spoke was so sad, it was almost as if he was that very vampire himself. But what did that have to do with you?

“... Okay. Then do you think he'll ever find her?”

Vlad turned to you with an unreadable expression, but there was an untold fondness in how he looked at you.

“He already has.”

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altruistic-meme · 3 years

Text

AFTG fic recs

Hi all! I just wanted to share some of my all-time favorite fanfics for aftg, for no real reason other than I want more people to read them and send their love to the authors :)

Under a readmore because it got. A little long. But please enjoy!

WIPs

Dangerous Habits by LovelyLittleGrim ( @lovelylittlegrim )

Andrew has run into problems while on undercover jobs before. None of those problems were anything like the troublesome runaway that is one Nathaniel Wesninski

Aka: the fic where Andrew is undercover as a hitman for hire and Neil is the guy who hires him. Things get complicated from there.

Undercover Andrew? BAMF Neil? Hitman AU?? Absolutely. I’m in love. The story is just *chef kisses*

Chapters: 8/9

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, past rape/non-con, Drake Spear (who is his own warning), Butcher Neil,

Negotiations by elesary ( @elesary )

This is what Andrew Minyard knows: his brother is dead, killed by a petty Raven prince who has never learned to keep his hands off of Andrew's things. His brother's daughters are his responsibility, a job that is made infinitely harder when their shitty grandparents want custody. Nathaniel Wesninski is a liar, but he might be the only way to avenge Aaron and protect his nieces. All Andrew has to do is watch Nathaniels - Neil's- back as he carves out his own life and identity from everyone who thinks they own him.

Andrew has always been good at upholding his end of the bargain, has he finally found someone willing to uphold theirs?

This fic has got me fucked up, honestly. I’m emotional over it. It’s fantastic.

Chapters: 11/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, attempted sexual assault, Butcher Neil,

the upper hand by plantelty ( @plantelty )

Shortly after losing his mother, Neil arrives in the small town of Palmetto, South Carolina, alone in the world and with an impossible plan to carry through.

At the age of eighteen, Andrew ends up helping a boy stage his own death.

Just two fucked up boys learning to trust each other during the course of a summer, but also: multiple references to songs, twinyard angst (Nicky tries his best), The Plotting of Neil Josten's Gruesome Demise, and shit hitting the fan in a variety of ugly ways!

The cliffhanger has got me on the edge of my seat, but it is 100% worth the read and the wait for the last chapter!!

Chapters: 10/11

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Canon typical violence,

The Butcher’s House by Fire_Bear ( @fire-bear )

Andrew thought something was odd with the house the Foxes had to move into after their Athletes' House had been burnt down. He just wasn't prepared for what was actually wrong with it.

For this was a house full of monsters.

Ghost story! Ghost story! Ghost story! I literally think about this fic every other day, it’s fantastic.

Chapters: 6/?

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: character death (major or minor is unclear), injuries,

Promise of an Unbroken Boy by elesary ( @elesary )

Neil is caught by the police with Mary's burning body and is sent to juvie in Oakland where he is assigned to share a cell with one Andrew Doe, who promises him Exy, if only Neil will tell him all of his secrets. With no access to tinted contacts and hair dye, he agrees, it's only a matter of time until he's killed after all. What does he have to lose?

But Andrew's found someone who knows what a promise means, and he'll be damned if he lets that go without a fight.

Ngl this is definitely in my very top favorites -- I LOVE the idea of Neil and Andrew meeting pre-series, and this fic just BLEW my expectations for that plotline out of the waters

Chapters: 14/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Underage, attempted rape/non-con, canon-typical violence,

~~~~~~~~~

Complete

The Nameless Monster by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Nathaniel Wesninski wants nothing more than to see his father dead and buried. But when his father promises him the title of The Butcher, Nathaniel quickly realizes that his destiny of following in his father's footsteps is closer than ever before.

So of course, when he gets forced to go undercover for the Baltimore police, he starts seeing what living could truly be.

Andrew Minyard is a newly recruited police officer for the worst precinct in Baltimore, who is dedicated on hunting down the notorious Butcher and his unnamed underling. But when Neil Josten is thrown into his midst as his civilian consultant; he starts to realize some things don't quite appear as they seem.

I love the story telling -- the secret identities, the plotting, everything.

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Butcher Neil, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced slef-harm (I believe there is a scene that is somewhat detailed on this subject), some characters also get drugged at one point,

that’s just something people say by nanatsuyu ( @theoctopusnods )

Neil makes the mistake of stealing the wrong car. Andrew makes the mistake of offering a ride to a liar. They both make the mistake of turning the whole affair into a road trip ‘home.’

Gonna be honest; the summary does not give a big idea as to what is in store and i am SO GLAD I gave this one a try so i’m telling you that you will be too

Chapters: 24/24

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: implied/referenced child abuse, panic attacks (somewhat grahic descriptions of)

The Story After You by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Andrew Minyard does not understand how Riko Moriyama landed Neil Wesninski.

How the snot-nosed, small dick, rich brat, second son of the Moriyama family who also just so happened to own the largest EXY gear and merchandiser company in the world “RAVEN” - had landed smart mouthed, quick witted, stupidly blue eyed Wesninski, was beyond him. Well, unless Wesninski was a gold digger, but Andrew doubted it.

Or; how Andrew Minyard says he doesn't get into messy situations, until he meets Neil and suddenly he is in the most messiest possible situation ever imagined in his life - oh and also, he might be becoming a homewrecker.

Ok I am behind bc I haven’t read the final chapter of this but!! I love the story, it’s very emotional and moving, and I love the characterization in it.

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Abusive Riko/Neil, abusive relationship, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/reference child abuse, implied/referenced self-harm, graphic depictions of violence, some descriptions of injuries/scarring,

This Complicated Life by 5a5b5p5 ( @andrewsbutterflyknife )

“This is exactly why I don’t want you and Andrew to meet,” Aaron says grumpily. “You two would get along far too well.”

Neil grins. “I just like pissing you off,” he says, “It’s not my fault your brother does such a good job at it.”

—

Neil doesn’t expect much from his Sophomore year of college, but when he becomes a waiter at the Palmetto Bistro, his life gets a whole lot more interesting. As it turns out, maintaining friendships new and old as well as navigating an interesting relationship with the head chef of the restaurant—who just so happens to be his best friend’s twin brother—is a lot more complicated than he’d thought it would be.

A much more light-hearted fic than most of the others! Includes a secret relationship, and also chef Andrew >>

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings:

When I Fade, Keep Me in Your Memory by demesh

Neil Josten has a secret: he can flicker out of existence.

He can vanish with the turn of a thought; click his fingers, and suddenly he’s not there anymore. Invisible and untouchable, he becomes a living ghost.

Having promised his mother never to let his ability go, Neil teeters the line between faded and real, a person and an echo. He can’t risk getting hurt.

But then, one day, someone sees him when they shouldn’t be able to.

A (flower-shop) AU about how a faded and lonely Neil finds it in him to become someone real.

Another fic that I need to catch up on ;; but anyway it’s amazing and I love Neil’s ability in it, it’s so well explained and well-written about

Chapters: 12/12

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: mentions of past abuse, panic attacks

12 Ways to Woo a Minyard by NikNak22 ( @knickknacksandallthat )

Neil is a math nerd who, by a stroke of dumb luck, falls into a group of friends that are the closest thing to family he’s ever had. So, when he tells them about his new mysterious crush, he shouldn’t be surprised how immediately they come up with a plan to help win them over. One they insist that if Neil follows it, he’ll have them falling for him in no time. But things don’t always go to plan – or do they?

Nicky wants to set him up with someone else. Matt and Jeremy are confused but supportive. Allison and Seth offer lewd suggestions, while Dan does her best to keep everyone in line. Jean and Renee know something, Aaron doesn’t really care, and Kevin just wants Neil to join the lacrosse team.

But one thing’s for certain – whether Neil’s successful or not, everyone’s got money riding on this.

The romance-trope-filled fanfic of my dreams. Sometimes you just need a fic of pure joy -- this is that fic.

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings:

finders keepers by moonix ( @annawrites )

Andrew meets Nathaniel through a scavenger hunt app. As their team takes part in a hunt that sends each of them to creepy, abandoned places alone to solve clues and gain points, Andrew and Nathaniel begin a little treasure hunt of their own. The anonymity of getting to know each other in small increments, never meeting face-to-face, allows them a level of intimacy neither are used to. Meanwhile Renee’s friend Neil is acting weird whenever Andrew shows up…

This was one of the first fics I read for aftg!! And BOY what a great start!! All of the little pieces and parts that work together, and just the scavenger hunt itself is fantastic! (I also REALLY wanna know if there is an app like this out there because I would be down to do that)

Chapters: 8/8

Rating: Mature

Warnings: (these all come from the author:) “mentions of historical abuse in a mental asylum, mentions of suicide, mentions of murder and kidnapping, morbid facts, creepy abandoned places including a haunted house at a theme park with disturbing rooms, special appearance of a creepy clown doll, fatphobia and some introspection on body image/complicated relationship with food, mention of self harm scars”

-----

Scared to Live (But I’m Scared to Die) by Major_816 ( @major816 )

Neil Josten goes to the Nest for Andrew, but he stays for a lot more.

"I'm sorry Coach," he muttered.

"For what kid?" Wymack shifted. "You've got to give me something to work with here."

Wymack watched the thin traces of sorrow as paper exchanged hands and he was looking down at a contract with the Edgar Allan Raven's.

"I signed them Coach, I'm sorry."

The one where Neil doesn't come back from Winter Break.

It is VERY dark, and is one of very few fics that I have actually been almost unable to read one of the scenes, so DEFINITELY pay attention to the warnings -- both these, and the ones provided for each individual chapter. I did go through the fic to collect as many warnings as I could find in the chapter warnings, but be sure to take care of yourself.

Chapters: 36/36

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: rape/non-con elements, implied/referenced rape/non-con, discussions of rape/non-con, canon-typical violence, graphic descritions, physical abuse, panic attacks, descriptions of injuries (often graphic), psychological warfare, dissociating, psychological torture, physical torture, use of knives, alcoholism/alcohol abuse, pain-induced delirium, rape/non-con, emotional self-separation, suicidal ideation/thoughts of suicide, emotional distress (which sums up the whole fic and also me while reading it), handcuffs/chains used as restraints, referenced/implied abuse towards animals, vomitting, begging, excessive use of painkillers, drowning, waterboarding, physical restraint, mutilation of an animal, mild hallucinations, non-con drugging, sleep deprivation, starvation, humiliation, the Butcher,

Also one of the first fics I read and 100% my absolute favorite fic!!! Which is adfjhsd a little worrying, considering, but it is what it is. Anyway. This fic absolutely wrecked me, and while it is technically complete, there is a sequel in the works! So! But I am so so excited for the sequel, and I am working on rereading this. It’s amazing. 1000/10.

#also!! btw i would love if anyone has more fic recs >> just an fyi >>#idk if demesh doesn't have a tumblr but i couldn't find one :(#also major816 for some reason i can never tag and idk why #aftg #all for the game #andreil #the foxhole court #tfc #andrew minyard #neil josten #fic rec #rec list

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hats-off-to-mars · 2 years

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"The unisexual Brett Smiley says: The line between male and female is practically non-existent". Record & Popswop Mirror, October 19, 1974.

Transcript of this image under the cut (transcribed by @juiceisfunwater ), and you can see the whole magazine here (no transcript for that, though.)

Record & Popswop Mirror October 19, 1974

The unisexual Brett Smiley says: ‘The line between male and female is practically non-existent’.

Brett Smiley’s okay, he’s perfectly ordinary! Just because manager Andrew Oldham occasionally addresses him fondly as “she” doesn’t mean Brett’s homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual- this blond-haired beaut is just sex-u-al, and is enjoying (in a very innocent way) selling his looks if his looks will sell records.

“I like people”, he smiles toothily, “although I prefer girls. I often get mistaken for a girl but that doesn’t bother me. Nowadays the line between male and female is practically non-existent”.

Brett is 18 years old and already has been involved in umpteen love affairs. Believe me, this guy’s loved more times than many of us have had those proverbial hot din-dins. But more about that later.

Born in the Mid-West of America, Brett’s family moved to New York when he was eight. By the time he was a teen dream Brett followed the family trend by taking to the grease paint and bright lights of a Broadway theatre company. Then he finally played the head role in Oliver at 14.

“I decided to leave acting and travel around. Don’t get me wrong I loved the theatre, but I just wanted a break. During my theatre life I became interested in music, and many times I tried, unsuccessfully I’m afraid, to get a recording contract.”

Then, just like it happens in fairy stories, Andrew Oldham, disguised as fairy godmother, waved his magic wand in Brett’s direction.

“I met Andrew at a party” says Brett, “and he asked me to sing some of my songs. He liked them so much that we got together and recorded some of them.”

From this magic union a new single has been born, titled Va Va Va Voom with Space Ace (both good enough to be the A side).

“Most of my songs are about personal experiences,” he says. “I’m a very emotional person. Space Ace, was written aeons ago when I was feeling kinda manic depressive.”

True enough. This pretty adonis is a touch on the morbid side. Space Ace is a melancholy number with suicidal lines such as “there comes a time/when you want to do it with a knife.” And it gets more touchingly depressive as the song progresses. He pleads “I’m feeling so insecure/touch me, be my paramour.”

“I suppose growing up in New York theatre does have an effect on one’s life. It made me grow up much quicker than say an average kid who goes to kid til he’s 16/17. I do feel older than my years, although I’m a very moody person. Some days I’m only three years old.”

One thing’s for sure, this chameleon-like youngster has had his fair share of arduous love affairs.

“I had my first one at thirteen”, he says nonchalantly. “You could say I fall in love very easily, still there’s no-one waiting in the wings at the moment. On average I fall in love twice a year. One of my hobbies is flirting. I’m very good at it.”

He’s also very good at writing songs and claims to have hundreds of compositions up his sleeve. And if his latest is anything to go by, then we should be hearing some very tasteful toons from Mr Smiley.

“One of my very first songs was You’re A Tart (Sweetheart), written for a lady friend of mine. Initially I was into a very folky, laidback, if you like, sound but when I came to Britain and heard your rock ‘n’ roll, saw your groups in their flashy clothes performing wildly on stage, I thought why not?”

Both songs on the single are rock and roll a la Bowie. Brett delivers the lyrics in breathless, wistful camp tones.

During the interview they also played me a song from a tape of his forthcoming album, which is one mix away from completion. The song, titled Queen of Hearts (could it be a double entendre), was similar to the style of his single, with full orchestration, heavy guitars and emotional singing.

“Yeah, I suppose my songs are rather doomy”, he agreed, “though I do write some happy songs but even they have nasty endings. I suppose the reason for this is that I’m very sensitive and become deeply involved.”

Well Mr Cassidy- you’d better be hopping along now- we think it’s Brett’s turn.

#brett smiley #glam rock #image #junkshop glam #70s

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