Corpse Bride (2005) Dir. Tim Burton And Mike Johnson

i get prettier every time a man disappoints me

Finally.

Emily had breathed a long sigh of relief when Will finally replied to one of her messages. She had grown frantic at the lack of answers. Thoughts of what might have happened to him after they parted ways left their heavy guilt in the pit of her stomach. She should have never left his side. It wasn’t that she had faired great - but at least they would have been together. The fight would have been more fair with the two of them. Whatever had happened, they would have gone through it together...

Orion had found a mortician that had come to piece back together her arm, his silence about what he witnessed guaranteed with a well-placed threat. It left her shoulder and chest a crisscross of stitching, Emily learning quickly which pieces of her wardrobe could not be worn again without exposing her secret to the world. 

She wore a simple sweater as she went to meet him now, the collar coming in close to her neck that she tugged lightly as she stepped into the park. Perhaps someday she would get used to it. Her eyes scanned the area, searching until she saw him. His message had let her know he was alright, or at least whole, but seeing it for herself was a whole other level of relief. She raised a hand in greeting as she hurried to him, her feet only slowing when she caught a familiar scent on the air. It smelled of... home. The Underworld. At first she was scared - and then she was angry, the scent growing stronger the closer she came in to him. “What did he do to you?” She asked, to herself, to him, to the air around them, hands light on his neck, holding his face, but really checking for a pulse beneath his skin and only slightly relaxing when she felt it. @will-turnerx

thrillsxchills·:

For a moment Orion wondered if he had went mad. Her expression read something completely different from the Emily he once knew. How? They had the same face and all. Was this another trick of his imagination? Orion had no idea but he felt like a fool regardless. His emotions had took ahold of him and there was no turning back now. Especially now as he knelt in front of this woman with her hands in his. The boogie man was known for his dramatics after all.

He felt defeated at her words. His heart broke even. Stranger things had happened and apart of him just assumed that maybe just maybe she was back. It wasn’t an impossible thought was it? Slowly he slid his hands from hers until they fell back softly into her lap. Clearing his throat Orion tried to make the best out of this situation. Wiping his eyes with his pocket handkerchief he shook his head. “No please, don’t apologize. I’m the one who mistook you for someone else. It’s just well, you look like someone I loved.” He paused, biting his lower lip as another tear slid from his eyes. Fuck. He hated feeling like this.

Just as he was about to stand up and walk away she said something that caught him by surprise. His eyes lit up momentarily in hopes it had been her. He nodded curtly, giving the woman his full attention. “Yes, Orion Bartholomew. Do you remember?”

*

Ellie knew she had done nothing wrong, she did, but as the voices spoke back up all around her, so did a feeling of guilt. She felt it creep around her with its tendrils and hold her tight in its grasp. She wished she could go back to the quiet so she could think this through, she could make this right. He seemed nice enough - and whoever this woman had been, he obviously cared for her deeply. She was certain no one had ever loved her so deeply or would act so brashly just because they saw her again...

That sort of love deserved commendation, not embarrassment, and yet she saw no way around it to help ease his pain.

And so she continued forward, moving blindly down this path in hopes she could say the right thing. 

“Not so much, no... it’s hard to explain but a voice told me... nope, that definitely made me sound like I hear voices...” She sighed, pausing to try and gather herself and her thoughts, pressing down the striped sleeve of her costume. “There is no way to explain this that does not make it seem like I have a mental illness, which, fair enough, but probably does not make you feel better in the slightest... but I was told as you were speaking. The voice seemed fond of you.”

All the woman could do was shrug and frown in contemplation before asking, “Can I get us both a drink?”

thrillsxchills·:

Orion was rather enjoying himself, how could he not? The scales were finally tipping in his favor for once. At least for now. He didn’t want to be cocky this time considering how things faired for him twenty odd years ago. This time would be different. It had to be. Sadie was catching up with her brothers and Orion didn’t want to intrude in her conversation. He didn’t want to overwhelm her so he politely excused himself. Almost instantaneously he found himself drawn to the bandstand playing nearby. The music was rather lovely even though it wasn’t his typical taste. Or maybe he enjoyed it because he was finally happy again.

It was then he saw her. She looked so much like….no, could it be? It had been so many years since he last saw her. Last Orion remembered was them sharing their final goodbyes and watched as she went back home to world beneath. “Emily?” He found his lips whispering her name before he even had time to think. She so much looked like her, same curls and features. The way her smile lit up a room. He gazed at her until he found his feet moving for him. He desperately wanted it to be her. She was always there when he needed it. She practically helped raised his kids with him when he was at his lowest point in life. What he would do just to see her again and tell her how thankful he was for her and the impact she made on his life. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he made his way through the sea of people to get to her. As he continued to get closer his chest tightened with excitement as he got a better look of her face. It was her! It was really her! Kneeling in front of her chair he took her hands in his. “Ems, is that really you?” I never thought I’d see you again…” He asked a bit shakily with a tear stained face.

*

Three months prior, Ellie Long had stopped here in town to buy some new strings. The tour she was on was winding its way down the California coast but this small town was not even on the list. The brash crash of emotion as she stepped into that music shop had been overwhelming. She nearly cried as she stood there in this random store - and she ran outside as quickly as she came in. The voices, for once, were quiet, except a small, polite, Please. She didn’t know how she knew what it meant but slowly the woman collected herself, turned around, and went back inside.

This man, this stranger, as he came up on her, as he grabbed hold of her hands, and peered down into his eyes - he brought with it a swell of happiness, sadness, grief, desperation, rising up in her chest so that she wondered how she was possibly still breathing. She would have backed away, ripped her hands out from his, but she was afraid she would be sick if she moved even an inch. “I... I’m sorry...”

Orion... There it was again! That voice, how it seemed to resonate inside her skull. She heard voices all day, their dulcet tones mingling in with her own thoughts, but this seemed to live there in the base of her skull, its timbre ringing through her bones in a voice that sounded so like her own. Look how grown he is...

She couldn’t think, coopted by a voice not her own, held hostage by the crashing waves of emotion inside her chest and the desperate need of a man who clearly thought she was someone else... Ellie didn’t know what to do, and so she did something brand new, she acknowledged. Never once had she admitted, spoke back to, did anything other than run, from these voices, but now she looked at the man and asked in her soft voice, “Is your name Orion?”

Ellie had spent a summer in Kentucky in her earlier years, playing with an orchestra in Louisville. To bide her time, she had picked up the banjo, hours spent plucking ceaselessly in a city where she knew no one to distract her. The voices always had something to say, some request or opinion, and she never grew used to them. Not that she tried. The banjo, the violin, the drums - all attempts at running from the dead though she stayed there in one spot.

Her time with the banjo finally had some use, seeing quickly how she could use the festival for the betterment of the shop. She had offered to sponsor the bandstand and fill some time on the schedule of performers. A few folk songs and then a turn into covers of Metallica played on the banjo with a previously recorded drum track playing behind her. Fun and on brand.

She wiped some sweat from her cheek as she bounded the steps after her set, locating the table where the performers had their things laid out for use to put the banjo away until some other hillbilly festival called for it. @thrillsxchills​

Ellie slid up beside the refreshment table, catching sight of the woman she had been looking for. “Miss Van Dort.” She greeted, a small smirk betraying her serious tone. “I go through all this trouble to sponsor the bandstand and you do not even sign up to play us something for us? Tsk.”

But she couldn’t keep composure for long, starting to laugh as she leaned against the woman’s arm. “Truly, what sort of fun should we get into night?” @evergiots​

only Laura Harrier popping into my mind currently

thrillsxchills·:

👻

SHE DIDN’T LOOK FINE. Orion was dumbfounded how she was still standing let alone not screaming out in complete agony. Years ago he used to spend his nights getting black out drunk and starting bar fights. He’d usually get his ass kicked and end up laying in the alley beaten and bruised and drunk. Even then he couldn’t crawl home if he wanted too and yet Emily was standing in front of him as if it were just another normal day. “Are you sure Ems? Your shoulder looks like its about to fall from the bone..”

Feeling stunned he watched her carefully as she walked passed him and entered his home. Closing the door behind them he locked it once more. “It’s nice to know you have that much faith in me.” Despite the seriousness of her injury she managed to cause a small smile to pull at his lips. “I confronted a few in the streets but they were rather slow so I managed to surpass them.” He shook his head and let out a soft sigh. “Not much to be honest. Sadie was hurt, she’s staying with me for the time being. The casino looks like shit, but that can be fixed. I think the rest of my employee’s are fine but I haven’t heard from all of them.”

The normalness of their conversation almost made him forget about the condition of her shoulder. He gave a curt nod and swiftly removed his trench coat and wrapped it gently around her shoulders. Buttoning one of the buttons so it wouldn’t slide off. “I’ve seen worse.” He spoke with a small smile, even though it was a lie. He just didn’t want her to feel worse than she already was probably feeling. “Years? Is there something I’m missing here?” 

*

“I promise, I am about to explain.” One soft hand squeezed Orion’s arm in reassurance. How did you go about admitting these sorts of things? And where did the line fall between supplying new information and having withheld it and then lying? The idea that she had lied by omission to the one person she knew she could always trust hurt her to her core and she prayed that when he heard, he would understand, and he would forgive her.

There was relief in being here, being inside, a safe place while she put together the puzzle of her arm and Hades. She had once been decay, but life and flesh returned to her as passed through the tunnel she escaped from. She considered if that would work again, when she took Hades there, but it meant going back. No matter how temporary, the thought filled her with dread. 

“I expect nothing less. I was less lucky... but I felt worse for the poor creature that attacked me. It was probably as confused as we are, simply doing what it always did to survive.” Her good arm shrugged. “But I guess thinking like that is what got me like this, huh?” It did not change the familiarity she had felt as she connected with the monster, as she saw herself reflected back in it. 

But it didn’t matter if she was monster or human. She was ultimately Emily, and that meant certain things, like that the people that mattered to Orion mattered to her and the person that mattered to him the most was here and she was injured. “Let me know if you need anything for her. I can even help getting the casino cleaned up and running so you can take care of her. People will be aching to forget all of this.” 

It was time. It was time to give him her full resume, to let him in on her life, on her secret, on how she knew she could help him... but the telling was the terrifying part. She smiled up thankfully at his help with the trench coat. If her heart could beat, it could have been seen slamming into her chest. “Years.” She confirmed. “And yes... though I am unsure how to tell you... maybe a proper introduction?”

Rolling back her shoulder, tossing back her hair, she began, “My name is Emily Rose Loreley. I was born February 28, 1891. My father managed to own a large portion of the town he lived in. It was he who gifted me with running his speakeasy... that is until December 28, 1921... that... was the day I died.”

Musical Intersections of Broken Lives Emily Loreley and Ellie Long

BLOOD IN THE CUT by K. Flay

The boy I love's got another girl He might be fucking her right now I don't have an apartment Thought if I was smart I'd make it far But I'm still at the start

Guess I'm contagious, it'd be safest if you ran Fuck, that's what they all just end up doing in the end Take my car and paint it black Take my arm, break it in half Say something, do it soon It's too quiet in this room

ADRENALIZE by In This Moment

Get a little bit higher So we can fall till we bleed Push a little bit harder Pull me into the speed So tell me can you feel this? Come into my dream

I crave excess, turning wine into sweat Dripping down my neck I can't deny, I'd die without this Make me feel like a god Adrenaline and sex

MY SHOT from Hamilton

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory When's it's gonna get me? In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? If I see it coming, do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody? See, I never thought I'd live past twenty Where I come from some get half as many Ask anybody why we livin' fast and we laugh, reach for a flask We have to make this moment last, that's plenty

BRING ME TO LIFE by Evanescence

How can you see into my eyes, like open doors Leading you down into my core Where I've become so numb Without a soul My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold Until you find it there and lead it back home

Wake me up inside (save me) Call my name and save me from the dark (wake me up) Bid my blood to run (I can't wake up) Before I come undone (save me) Save me from the nothing I've become

thrillsxchills·:

👻

Orion had barely left his house since the whole monster debacle. Maybe only a couple handful of times, but that was it. It wasn’t because he was scared or trivial things like that but he needed to watch after Sadie. She was too stubborn for her own good. He felt like he was reaching his maximin stress level. Things were falling apart all around him and he couldn’t stand it. 

Hearing the doorbell ring Orion emerged from the shadows and looked through the peephole. Whoever it was could wait, he had greater things to worry about it. However when he realized who it was he quickly unlocked the door and swung it open.

“Emily?” He asked as a small smile began to creep across his lips. She was safe too. Noticing the expression she wore his smile quickly faded until his gaze fell to her mauled shoulder. “Holy fuck, what happened?” That was a stupid question but he wasn’t even sure how she was standing up at the moment. “Do you need help? Come in.” He’d ask questions later but he just needed to get her inside where it was safe. “Do you need help walking?” He’d carry her if he had too.

*

Yes, Emily thought, that was the sort of reaction that made sense. She didn’t even know what to say to him besides to reassure him, giving him a smile. “I’m fine, I promise. A ghoul just didn't want to be my friend. Bad decision making on his part. I’ll explain inside... honestly, I barely feel it.” She slid beside him into the house, working hand pressing her hair behind her ear.

“Boy, I’m glad to see you. I was fairly confident if anyone survived this mess, it would be you but...” She turned to face him. “Having visual proof of it is good too. How are the others? Have you heard anything?” There were few people that Orion cared much about - but she took those people as her own. He had been loyal to her from the day she met him, offered her friendship and security when she had none. Those things left their mark on the woman, a mark much deeper than any some monster might have left. Those he cared about, she cared about. Those he fought for, she fought for.

She looked around, glancing over the entryway. “Do you have a blanket or something I can cover up in while we talk? This is probably...” Emily glanced down at the meaty remains of her shoulder. “Less than pleasant to look at if you aren’t used it.”

“Trust me, I have looked worse over the years.”

Name : Ellie Long Age : 29 Reincarnation of Emily Loreley Sexuality : Pansexual Abilities : Speaks with the dead

Personality Traits : + Trusting, Kind-hearted, Confident - Somber, Perfectionist, Easily Guilted

Connections: New to town. Potentially has caught attention of someone in the past if they were in San Francisco.

If You’d Like A Connection With Ellie, Hit Me Up! Looking for friends, enemies, dates, lovers, you name it, we accept them all.

“I've spent so long in the darkness, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the moonlight is.” I was inspired by the beautiful laura harrier.

One problem at a time.

She needed to find Will. Emily still did not know what to do about Hades or the deal she had made with him. She wanted someone to tell her she had made the right call; and yet, she didn’t know if she would believe the person even if they did.

She had plenty of time to think, however. She couldn’t just walk around town with her arm in the state it was in, the mess of her clothes, the hole left in the muscle where the ghoul had sunk in its teeth and ripped. No, going out in the daylight would not do and everything else she had to do required her to be at whole on the surface. There was an old mausoleum on the cemetery grounds, long empty and with the door cracked. That was where she hid, filled with dread and worry for what had become of her people, waiting for the sun to finally disappear.

It was in a world cast in shadow that she slunk back into, still careful to hide, take her time.

It was too late even for the casino by the time she reached the right part of town, landing on Orion’s doorstep. She didn’t know what the next few moments would entail, but she needed help. That would require answers from her, confessions, and she was ready to do it - she hoped. 

With shaking nerve, she rang the doorbell. @thrillsxchills​

ashencrwn·:

.

“Impress me and I might just let you stay indefinitely; betray me and I’ll give you to Cerberus as a new chew toy,” Hades replied curtly, sliding his hands into his pockets as he stood there, patiently waiting for her decision.

He hummed at her response, smiling slightly at what she had to say. “I’m accustomed to hearing regret in death - I’ll admit that surprises me. But good for you. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re dead and trying to escape the laws of nature.”

*

Emily knew enough to know that Hades kept the deals he made. He was too arrogant to question the same of her. She did not even know what she would do, how much she was willing to sacrifice to do the ‘right’ thing. But questions like those cannot be answered in seconds and she did not have minutes. Regardless, she knew she was turning her back on her chance at safety. She was either the henchman or dog chow - and she swallowed hard as she held out her good hand to shake. “Fine. Let me know when you something for me to do.” She smiled up.

The deal made loosened her tongue though. For the first time, there were no lies, no trying to hide any part of herself, and Emily was happy to remind him, “And I’m not trying anything, sir. Looks to me like I’m doing a damn good job of escaping them.”

Laura Harrier | INSTYLE 2020 GOLDEN GLOBES ELEVATOR