#I have scripts and responses written out for a number of 'em though just need to find time to finish everything

[chocodile]

Are there ghosts in your amaranthine world..? Or ancient sailor’s curses?

I may be interested in inventing a character… is that allowed? I’m not much of an artist but I could write something for you!

"Ghosts? How absurd! An educated wizard like myself would never entertain such superstitious nonsense!"

(...Now, if you'll excuse him, he's gotta go research ancient eldritch powers hidden beneath the earth's surface and finish working on a potion made out of his unicorn buddy's magical blood. You know, reasonable, scientifically grounded stuff like that!)

So, to answer your question: Real ghosts = not canon, curses = yes canon, and could resemble a haunting. More explanation of how that would work under the cut:

You can attach enchantments to objects, so there would be nothing stopping you from attaching a baneful curse to something instead. A lasting enchantment generally requires a power source or some kind of upkeep to keep it "charged"... ones worn by a living creature can draw upon the body's own magical energy field... but can also be powered by the "background radiation" present in unusually magically charged environments. There are absolutely "cursed" forests where travelers suddenly find all the food in their rucksack spoiling overnight, areas of ocean where compasses stop working and the wind won't blow, that sort of thing.

So, you could also have a magically charged area that was "haunted" and caused visitors' minds to start playing tricks on them, perceiving illusions, hearing murmurs and clips of nonsense speech, experiencing objects falling over/moving on their own, etc. Any naturally generated "haunted" location would be pretty basic in its illusions, though. Something with more structure (recognizable figures, coherent speech) would have to be an enchantment engineered by a wizard on purpose, and would take quite a lot of skill.

Non-wizards often refer to locations with unsettling or dangerous enchantments as cursed or haunted, though wizards who understand the underlying magical mechanics behind those phenomenons might roll their eyes at that framing, insisting it's no different than when the town healer enchants a necklace to ward off sickness--just undirected and on a larger scale.

ALSO to answer your other question: You are absolutely welcome and encouraged to invent a character if you are so inclined! I would love to see what you come up with!

[lethesomething]

An otome lover’s guide to A3

So. A3.

Not an actual otome, but the actor management game and anime from Cybird (of Ikemen All the Things fame) has a bunch of boys. Ok, so a Lot of Boys. All the Boys, in fact. And men. Some of them are like thirty. Which is refreshing.

Where do you even begin telling them apart? Here is an Attempt, based on the first season of the game.

Spring troupe: The Vanilla boys

Bright, youthful, mostly kinda normal. This troupe stands out  for its overall lack of experience and its anime protag willingness to overcome hurdles. Most resembles the main team in a sports anime.

Sakuya Is baby. This boy is a golden retriever puppy that has yet to realize he's ended up in human form. Orphan street urchin with a heart of gold. He's kinda useless as an actor but he will ganba all the way until he makes it. Protect him. Mostly from himself.

Masumi A Giant Friggin Red Flag. Weirdly obsessed with MC. His personality apart from stalker syndrome is what I like to call 'the Kageyama Tobio': genius at one thing and uninterested or terrible at everything else. He is seemingly incapable of social interactions and at best uninterested in any of them apart from MC. Also really harsh on people who don't perform to his standards, which is almost everyone.

Tzuzuru The Self Sacrificing One. Look, this dude gave up most of his dreams to look after his siblings, and he literally joined you because otherwise he'd be sleeping in a cardboard box (Why are all these dudes street urchins?) Wants to be a playwright so he foregoes any semblance of sleep to finish scripts. Has the spinal cord of a jellyfish unless in Very Specific Cases. Cute when he pouts. Pouts a lot. Someone save him.

Itaru Jekyll and XxHydexX. Super cordial professional by day, game addict that will murder you for messing up his kill streak by night. He's So Friggin Pretty why is he a dick?? Doesn't really know if he's even into this theatre thing. You know he is. Of course he is. Calms down tremendously over the course of the arc, just don't, you know, get between him and his gamer score I guess.

Citron What the Foreigner. Mysterious foreign prince possibly on the run from his parents/the cops. Your theatre is a convenient hiding place for him, because obviously getting into showbiz is what you do when you want to remain anonymous. Speaks Japanese in a weird way. In fact, he sounds Exactly Like Utapri's Cecil despite having a different VA.  Quirky to a fault. Has potentially been trained as some kind of covert operative but is surprisingly cheerful about everything.

Summer Troupe: The Diva's

A group of highly talented dudes with varying degrees of social issues. Most resembles the cast of a smaller indie otome game.

Tenma The Arrogant One. A child actor from tv wanting to learn stage work. Has zero social skills. He's brash, completely full of himself and extremely critical of everyone else. Needs to learn the Power of Friendship which, spoiler, he obviously does, albeit in a very tsun kindof way. Can't let them know you care, ever.

Yuki Salt Personified. This kid is friggin 14 years old and wears dresses but he will rip you to shreds with his words. Winner of the most deadpan delivery of burns. He's in middle school ffs. Really into fashion. Resident costume designer. Potentially serves as a representation on gender roles in theatre, but the whole thing is fairly lowkey. The team, bless them, just accept him for who he is, sharp tongue and all.

Muku The Soft One. Another middle schooler, this one is way less sharp with his words. Into shoujou manga. Has severe insecurities and a propensity to start sentences with 'um'. Shaking leaf, what is he doing on a friggin stage. He actually has pink hair, could he BE any more squishy. Protecc.

Misumi The Weird One. I realize several characters fit that description, but Misumi is obsessed with triangles and lives in a  liminal space between realities so I don't know what to tell you. Also he's like… spiderman. Inhuman amount of acrobatics. Another homeless street urchin (Tokyo - is it Tokyo??? - appears to have an issue, guys). Sweet dude though. Chill and positive about everything, as long as it is triangular.

Kazunari The Influencer. Resident designer and bigshot on social media. He's down with Literally Everything. Likes everyone, is cool about every instance. Unerringly positive to an unhealthy degree. Really, Really conflict averse, even. You could call him painfully insecure, but that's like most of the cast. Wearer of hats in a non-ironic way.

Autumn Troupe: The Delinquents

This troupe consists almost entirely out of (ex) violent delinquents and (ex) criminals. The tough guys, no one here is totally innocent. Most resembles the cast of a beat-em-up.

Banri The Number One. Hotshot teenager who's never tasted defeat in his life. Good at anything without trying, so he never tries. Obsessed with outperforming Juza because he's like the one dude Banri can't beat at fisticuffs. Honestly kinda insufferable for most of their arc.

Juza The Lone Wolf. Cursed with a resting bitch face and an inability to perform in social settings. Considered a delinquent and constantly challenged to fights. Is actually sweet lamb, just with lots of muscles. Cripplingly low self esteem. Wants to act to be someone else. Protect at all costs.

Omi The Responsible one. Wait, that was an option?? Big brother type. Perfect son in law. A keeper. This guy is mature and he cooks and it makes me wonder what's wrong with him. There's probably a dark secret (narrator voice: there was a dark secret).

Taichi The Sunshine Child. Really into yoyo's. Like the toy, not the male subspecies. Has the hair colour and the vocal volume of a shonen jump protag. Bouncy and very loud. Feels way younger than the middle schoolers, though he's in high school.

Sakyo The Debt Collector. Actual yakuza agent. The one the theatre owes a lot of money too. Secretly really loves the performing arts, because of course he does. Massive tsun. I wasn't looking at you, baka. Should have been an accounting professor in another life. Wordy.

Winter troupe:The Drama Team.

No really, most of them have drama and angst written all over them. Only team that consists entirely out of actual adults. Angsty adults, but still. Most resemble the cast of a daytime soap opera.

Tasuku The Defector. The top actor from the rival gang troupe that joined Mankai instead. Fitness buff. Pretty clear about his boundaries for right and wrong. Sweet bean, really. Has a lot of emotions about his childhood friend Tsumugi. Seems to have a lot of feelings in general. Red oni type.

Tsumugi The Subdued one. Talks like a wallflower, looks like he got his fashion choices out of a high end french magazine from the eighties. One of the boring ones. Cinnamon roll. Blue oni. Massive self esteem issues due to past trauma. Weird relationship with his childhood friend Tasuku. They'll work it out, you know they will.

Hisoka The Narcoleptic. Literally washed up and adopted by the  theatre group that found him. Weirdly good at acting. Sleeps about 80 percent of the day. Needs to be poked and cajoled with treats. Might actually be a cat. Has no recollection of his life before he was picked off the street by a desperate director.

Homare The 'Extra AF'. A poet who dresses in loud costumes and has really stupid hair. Loud, overtly confident in his bad poetry and just generally confusing to watch. A Gentleman. Flamboyant. Kinda gay coded. Hisoka's crutch and the only reason that man is able to perform like a human being.

Azuma The Flirty One. A Cuddling Professional, because this is a teen rated game and we can't put in an actual prostitute or host. Unnaturally pretty. Indeterminate age. Sensitive. At least one of these dudes has empathetic abilities, may as well be the cute one. Extremely flirty and Experienced (tm) at life.

[donttellpeterparker]

HSMTMTS Part 4

Summary: Coming into Junior Year things were going to be different. With my handsome and sweet Senior boyfriend on my arm, I could do and be anything I wanted, nothing was going to stop me... except... of course... maybe him.

Requested: Yes xx You must be hating how long this is getting xo

Word Count: 3k+

Warning(s)?: god fiNALLY SOME FLUFF BUt like with a lil angst whoops (Italics in quotation are lyrics), Written in third and first person which is something different, Yes this is following the script from the show so please no comments about how it's exactly like it because... that's kinda the point :)

Taglist: Open

MERRY CHRISTMAS BABES! HAPPY HOLIDAYS (And if you don't celebrate Christmas HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY <3)

masterlist

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HSMTMTS

''Can I get you to move a little closer to each other?'' Mrs Jen smiled, directing both EJ and I closer as the other cast members looked on with questioning glances. I could tell what they where thinking. What's wrong with them? They're a couple, why is it so awkward? Aren't they together?

Answer, no we weren't anymore, not that it was anyone's business. I was so tried of being lied to and left with nothing, nothing but my own wild guesses. EJ tried explaining but I couldn't hear it, everything was lie. The play during the summer, the lead part I got, a lie. The last school musical part, also a lie. Even a present he gave me was a lie, a used lie by his ex-girlfriend. Annoyance didn't even cover what I was feeling towards him.

''Come on, guys, we are blocking this as a love story, not a SARS epidemic'' Mrs Jen tried to joke through the tension. I stepped closer towards him, EJ doing the same though trying to get my attention while doing so.

''Troy, once the intro begins, cross downstage and plant yourself at the piano. Gabriella, you slowly approach the piano, and rest an arm on it, naturally. Okie dokie! Now, Let's take it from 'Wow, now that's really nice''' Mrs Jen instructs. As per usual, Peter wasn't here so EJ filled in as his understudy. I was almost tempted to get Gina, my understudy who had been trying to steal my spot take this one.

''Wow, now that's really nice'' EJ states awkwardly, his enthusiasm stiff. I grimace as the piano softly began to play. This was going to be a long rehearsal.

~*~*~*~*

''How do people like that live with themselves? How do they sleep at night?'' I babbled on, holding the cup of coffee in my cold hands. My best friend sat across from me, holding her own beverage inside our favorite little cafe.

''Like a shark. Eyes open'' If I wasn't so down I'd probably laugh.

''We've been dating for, like, three months and I don't even know this person'' I exclaimed, throwing my hands to the side before returning them back to my cup, taking a sip.

''Sweetie, it's called a blind spot. Everybody's got 'em. Why do you think I flunked my driving test?'' She folded her hands forward now, smiling a little which caused me to smile softly.

''If he's willing to do that to somebody, how long before he tries to poison me?'' Again, asking aloud but was very grateful for the ears my best friend was lending me in my time of need.

''I'm gonna get us some food'' She stood up, sighing to herself as I was lost deep in thought. A few moments later she came back, snapping me out of it.

''These are your choices, a very sad-looking bran muffin or some really shriveled-up carrots'' I scrunch my nose up, not liking either. I glanced down at them, picking up the muffin packet.

''Don't look now, but you're shark's cousin is here'' I glanced back up and then pivoted my head around, spotting Ashlyn. I smiled softly towards her. Hoping for a smile back, she gave me a timid look instead, quickly retreating. I hop up fast, chasing after her.

''Hey! Ashlyn! You don't have to avoid me'' I call out, noticing her pick up her helmet from her bike.

''No. I'm not avoiding, I just decided to make a half-caff mocha frappe at home'' She faked a smile.

''Look, Ashlyn, no matter what happens between me and EJ, there's no bad blood between us. I mean, you might have some because you're related to him, but that's not your fault'' I chuckled, getting off track.

''Y/N, I really don't want to be in the middle''

''Wait, you're not. It's not like you knew what he did'' She instantly frowned. My awkward smile fell a little, realising.

''Oh. You knew what he did, and you knew about the hot egg? His ex-girlfriend?'' I asked.

''Not till today'' She responded, frowning herself at her stupid cousin. I sighed in relief.

''But, I'm not totally surprised''

''Are you totally disgusted?'' I asked a little incredulously.

''A little, but he's EJ. He tends to do the wrong things for the right reasons''

''No, you cannot possibly defend him'' I began, growing slightly annoyed.

''No, I'm not. I'm not. Look, I know what he did sucks, but he loves you... and he's hurting right now and...'' Ashlyn tried reasoning, feeling a little silly for even backing up her cousin in the first place.

''Yeah, and what? What am I supposed to do with that?''

''Find some way to forgive him?'' As much as I hated to say it, she did have a point. But it was not going to be that easy, he did a lot of unforgivable things. Why does he deserve a second chance?

~*~*~*~*

My thoughts consumed me again once I got home. I went straight up to my room and stayed in there, even missed dinner because I wasn't feeling very well. I felt sick to my stomach thinking about everything, I wish I could turn my brain off and stop. The only thing that usually calmed me down wasn't here anymore.

I didn't even bother checking my phone once I heard it go off.

''Hey hot stuff'' I answered with a smile. My best friend laughed through the phone, sending a greeting back.

''Just checking to make sure you're okay'' She was honestly the best.

''Yeah, I'm fine'' I lied smoothly, walking over towards my bed.

''You sure?'' She asked in a disbelieving tone.

''Uh, yeah. It happened, it's over, life goes on. Plus, I just blocked EJ's number, so... Problem solved!'' Sometimes she was the only person who could see through the mask.

''You know it's okay to be sad, too, right?'' I bit my lip, not wanting to cry.

''Yeah, I know''

''Y/N, it's okay to be sad'' I looked up towards my window, smiling sadly.

''Yeah. Okay, thanks hun''

''Call me anytime, okay?'' A genuine smile now coated my lips.

''I will. You're the best. Mwah bye-bye'' I sing-songed at the end before hanging up the phone. I soon found myself frowning again, my thoughts immediately rushing back in. My body fell backwards, landing on the soft pile of cushions underneath. I let my eyes wander the star-covered ceiling, humming to myself. A few seconds later I sat back up again, reaching out towards the end of my bed for my electronic keyboard.

My fingertips were already dancing across the keys, a melody softly beginning to form. It wasn't hard to find the lyrics to how I was feeling, using my heart as the words and my hands as the melody, everything fell into place.

''I found a boy, told me I was a star... Held the door, held my hand in the dark... And he's perfect on paper, but he's lying to my face... Does he think that I'm the kinda girl that needs to be saved?...'' I stopped myself once I heard the upstairs bathroom door open and close loudly, a voice echoing.

''Thanks Carol!'' I recognised the voice. My hands stilled. I quickly hopped off of my bed and walked over towards my closed bedroom door, opening it to leave the room. I closed it behind me and made my way down the stairs.

''Uh... hey mum?'' My words formed more of a question once I saw her prepping the sofa with pillows and a blanket.

''Hi, there'' She smiled, looking up to face me.

''Whose are those?'' I asked, gesturing down towards the boy-style sneaks near the bottom of the stairs. They looked like-

''Peter's''

''Why are they here?'' Teeth were biting my bottom lip.

''Because the rest of him is in the bathroom changing into pajamas, or whatever else I gave him to wear''

''Mum'' A soft whine left my throat.

''Hold on, hold on. There's something going on at home. It has something to do with his Aunty... Her and Happy are back in town, engaged. I already called her to let them know he was spending the night here'' She finished.

''Spending the night?'' My eyes widen. We both hear the door open from upstairs, our heads turning for a moment.

''Mum, I can't deal with any more drama today. Please...'' I begged. My mum stepped forward.

''Sweetheart...''

''I have had the worst day ever'' The words tumbled out. I hadn't even wanted to tell them anything.

''Sweetie, I'm guessing not as bad as his'' I glanced down, biting my lip.

''Yeah'' Soft footsteps tracked down the stairs. I turned around once my mum glanced up behind me with a warm smile.

''Hey'' Peter greeted my, eyes a little wide. I scrunched my lips together and nodded back at him.

''Well, I gotta say, that looks better on you than it does on me'' Mum jokes, pointing towards the shirt he was wearing. Even I smiled a little.

''Uh, It's kinda comfy'' Peter responds, chuckling.

''Well, so are my birkenstocks, but let's draw the line here'' The both of them chuckle. My lips only pursed in response.

''Yeah. Well... sleep tight'' Mum said softly.

''Hey, thanks again for letting me stay. Thank you'' Peter stumbled over his words, a small blush on his cheeks due to slight embarrassment. Mum just shook her head.

''Anytime'' She said before walking up the stairs.

''I probably should've called you, and asked how you feel about me being here. I didn't...'' He began once mum was out of sight.

''It's okay. You wouldn't have reached me. I turned my phone off'' I stayed still, rocking slowly on my spot. My feet stopped once Peter walked past me, looking completely exhausted. He headed straight for the couch but stayed standing, his eye looking distant.

''So, what's going on at home?'' I asked cautiously.

''I don't...'' Peter stammered, turning around.

''Well, if things ever get really tense, you know you can always hang here'' I threw my hands to the side with a soft laugh, trying to ease him a little. He sat down, eyes still looking straight ahead.

''I'm really scared'' Peter smacked his lips.

''I'm really scared this time'' Peter knew that his Aunt and Happy were getting close, dating even. But he thought she'd never look into marriage ever again, not since Uncle Ben... He was even a little mad that she would consider it, marrying someone else. Her and Uncle Ben were perfect, they raised him perfectly and in a loving home. When he died, he watched his Aunt fall into depression, barely showing any emotions for at least a year afterwards. The funeral was the second hardest day of his life, the first being saying goodbye to his parents without even realising.

Uncle Ben was his entire support system, his role model in life. He grew into a father figure, someone irreplaceable. The thought of his Aunt May going through all of that again scared the hell out of him. Peter never felt like he was going to accept Happy into the family, the spot was already taken and he couldn't see why May would want to add another.

He couldn't see her lose another person she loved, a person Peter may even love himself one day. Losing three parental figures was enough for a lifetime.

''It feels different already'' And they weren't even married yet.

''Oh, But... I mean, that's all it is right? Different? Doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad'' I tried to soothe, walking over to sit next to him. He turns to face me, eyes and face slightly red and blotchy. He had been crying.

''It's really hard to talk about it, you know? N-not with you, but anyone else, it's like...'' He trails off, glancing at me then straight ahead again.

''Well, you can always talk to me about anything anytime, okay?'' My heart was breaking for him. I know how much it hurt him to lose Uncle Ben, I didn't know him at the time but he spoke about him a lot, especially when we first started dating.

''I know, things are kinda weird between us, but, um, we're friends, right?''

''Yep'' Peter nodded, his eyes still on me. It was hard not to get lost in them. Every second passing I could feel myself being pulled back in, the thumping in my chest growing and growing. A warmth had settled in my stomach.

''You know that'' My voice broke near the end, softening. My eyes fell to his lips before meeting his eyes again. A breath hitched in my throat, the softest gasp leaving my parted lips. My chest was growing warm, heart beginning to beat a little faster. I still couldn't look away. Not when he was looking at me with a soft expression, his own eyes darting towards my lips then my eyes.

''Uh, do you need a pillow?'' I bounced up, glancing behind me then back towards him, trying to shake the overwhelming feelings. Peter sniffled, snapping himself out of it as well.

''Or... yeah'' Peter had to force his eyes away from her lips.

''Or no. No that's great'' He failed miserably. The feelings he had been pushing down for months rushing to the surface, spilling over.

''Yeah, thank you'' He was stumbling over his words, growing nervous.

''Okay. No problem'' My words sounded stiff and awkward but I tried to smile anyway. We just stopped and stared at each other for a second, not knowing what to do.

''Good night, Peter'' I spoke up, breaking the silence first. Without thinking, I lent forwards and wrapped my arms around him. It was a huge mistake, and I immediately tried to lean away once I felt the rush of tingles and the warmth spreading around me, enveloping me like a blanket. His arms circled around me before I could move.

Peter's features softened again, thankful for the comfort he was so desperately seeking. I exhaled, letting myself lose a battle with my self control. I hugged him a little tighter, almost needing it for myself. It was uncanny, the way my body was still responding to his touch so easily, becoming putty in his hands. With my self control dwindling by the second, I needed to retreat soon before I ended up doing something I'd regret.

But he was so warm and inviting and... intoxicating. I couldn't get enough.

My brain soon switched back on, pulling my body away slowly. I could feel my heart beating loudly in my chest, ringing in my ears. My mind forced me to look down, my self control slowly coming back.

But I made the deadly mistake of looking up, meeting his chocolaty, brown eyes. I was already done for. Peter must have felt it too, looking down at me as if I was the most gorgeous and fragile thing he ever saw. He instinctively bought a hand up to cup my cheek, swooping down quickly to close the small gap between our parted lips.

My heart was wanting to burst out of my chest, warmth radiating from his soft lips to my own, trembling ones. He held my cheek still, his other hand still on my waist not letting me go. Peter could feel it too, his heart almost leaping out painfully. His emotions are terribly heightened by his spidey-senses.

My eyes drifted close on their own, my heart winning a losing battle for the tiniest of moments. Self control what?

I pulled away swiftly, my eyes quickly opening to gaze into his. The same aww expression mirroring my own.

''You can't do that'' The tone was a little hoarse, it was even breaking a little.

''I know... I'm sorry'' His hand was still cupping my face. I needed to remove myself from here before I pulled him back in for another swee-

''I'll grab you some more pillows, these ones are quite flat'' I lept away as if I was just burned, my eyes going glassy as I bounded up the stairs towards my bedroom. My hand shut the door so fast, my breathing becoming irregular and slightly strained.

A lone tear left my eye and fell down, another one soon followed, then another. Before I knew it I was crying, crying over how painfully fast my heart was beating. Crying over the tingling warmth still dancing across my lips. Crying over the boy just meters away who had somehow broken my heart all over again.

After 10 minutes I managed to calm myself down enough to stop crying, my heart going back to it's original rhythm. I gathered the pillows and slowly walked back down the stairs, leaving me bedroom door open.

The pillows, blanket and my mum's clothes were neatly folded on top of the lounge, Peter nowhere in sight. My eyes were tearing up again, a pillow falling from my grip.

Again, I returned to my bedroom, willing myself not to cry. The keyboard was still on my bed, my mouth humming the tune again as I sat down, playing as I let my heart sing the words.

''And there's one more boy, he's from my past... We fell in love but it didn't last... 'Cause the second I figured it out, he pushes me away... I won't fight for love if you won't meet me halfway... And I say that I'm through but this song is still for you... All I want is love that lasts.... Is all I want too much to ask?... Is it something wrong with me?... All I want is a good guy... Are my expectations far too high?... Try my best but what can I say?... All I have is myself at the end of the day... But shouldn't that be enough for me?......''

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A/N: Wowzie up to 4! Here was an action-packed part! There was angst and softness and sweetness and tenderness and- you get the point xx Heart and comment what you think lovelies xx And please let me know if you guys are liking this, if not I'll stop writing parts xo

[joe-conway-blog1]

You Don’t What?

Now that I’ve signed a book contract and have let friends, family, strangers and my dentist know about it, I’m getting requests. Others are asking me to look at their writing. I love it. Except, on occasion, when the subject of reading comes up and I’m left gaping. It goes something like this.

“Of course, I’d be happy to read your story. It’s great getting to know other writers.”

“Thank you. It would mean so much to get a real writer’s opinion.”

“Who are some of your favorite authors; who do you read?” I always ask. I like to know a little of what this eager new writer reads so I can critique with some understanding of what has influenced his or her style and voice.

“Well, I don’t read that much. I did have to slog through ‘The Glass Menagerie’ in high school, though. Boy, that Tennessee guy sure used a lot of words, didn’t he? Oh, and I did some reading in college. Mostly comic books.”

It throws me for a loop every time I get a response like this. I always hope my face doesn’t give me away while inside I’m screaming, “You don’t what! What are you thinking?” I’m tempted, and sometimes give in to telling them of the advise I got when I first began writing. Like so many, I chose writing for children thinking that would be the easier road. The advise I heard in many quarters was this read at least one thousand children’s books before you put pen to paper. I thought then and think now that it’s a staggering number and I didn’t go crazy maxing out my Visa at the bookstore buying up every Junie B. Jones and Winnie the Pooh book in stock. But merely hearing that advise made me realize how far I had yet to go.

Next you might expect me to reveal how awful the stories are from those non-readers. Nope. That’s not necessarily the case. Most people who really want to write already have a strong sense of story. Something inside is busting to get out. What a terrific starting point. The next step is to actually get it down on paper. It takes some doing to progress that far and I applaud the effort. But then comes the fly in the ointment. I call it ‘the idea.’

The idea of writing has universal appeal. In every place you can imagine the story teller is sought after and revered. Just look at the industries built around the idea. Movies, televison, video games, Broadway plays and musicals, and once upon a time, radio. We are stimulated day and night with the idea these venues present and they are taken in primarily with the senses. None of them requires much in the way of reading. But in some souls the stimulation goes beyond watching or listening. It goes to the powerful desire to do something similar.“I have this great story it begins.

Of course in these venues the idea has come to fruition through hard work, dissapointment, harsh criticism, more disappontment, perseverance, and then then triumph. Somebody wrote, re-wrote, re-wrote and eventually triumphed with their movie or television script, book, or play and each somebody was a reader. A monster reader, I’ll wager. And that’s what some new writers fail to understand. They’ve got a story, they’ve written it down but no one gets to home plate by skipping first base reading.

Reading gives us the basics. On some subliminal level it teaches about word flow, effective use of simile, pacing, story arc, character development, powerful inner dialog, word choice and syntax, and so much more. Then, by an oddly ordained process we barely understand it carries over into the writing we call our own. Who in the world would not do this?

When writers ask me to critique I know they’ve been infected by the idea. I know how that feels and it pulls me towards them. And even though I’m often told that they don’t read-much- I smile when asked to ‘take a look and tell me what you think’ and I read this trusting person’s work. I tell them to take my comments with a grain of salt; I’m just an ordinary person. Really. I tell them where I think they’ve done well and what needs a little work. I put edits in red, offer words of encouragment and tell them where they might find markets and an audience. But most of all I tell them to go and read.

You have a story to tell. Wonderful. You’ve come to the point of wanting someone to read it. Great. But if you’re serious about this writing thing please find works in your genre and read them lots of them. Go back and stand on first base for a while. It will benefit your own writing immeasurably.

So, what is your genre and how many books in that genre have you read? Go ahead count ‘em up, I’d love to know!

[shirlleycoyle]

Hackers Dissect ‘Mr. Robot’ Season 4 Episode 9: ‘Conflict’

Episode 9 of Mr. Robot’s final season was not only amazing plot-wise but also happily filled with hacks. We discussed [SPOILERS, obvs] IMSI catchers, Raspberry Pis, PGP, phishing telcos and stealing cryptocurrency. (The chat transcript has been edited for brevity, clarity, and chronology.)

This week’s team of experts includes:

Em Best: a former hacker and current journalist and transparency advocate with a specialty in counterintelligence and national security.

Trammell Hudson: a security researcher who likes to take things apart.

Micah Lee: a technologist with a focus on operational security, source protection, privacy and cryptography, as well as Director of Information Security at The Intercept.

Freddy Martinez: a technologist and public records expert. He serves as a Director for the Chicago-based Lucy Parsons Labs.

Yael Grauer (moderator): an investigative tech reporter covering online privacy and security, digital freedom, mass surveillance and hacking.

IMSI Catchers

Yael: I thought it was clever of Darlene and Elliot/Mr. Robot to use IMSI catchers.

Micah: I've never had a chance to play with one for real, But they're also referred to as "cell site simulators" because they simulate cell phone towers. Your phone tries to connect to the tower with the strongest signal, so in order to do a man-in-the-middle attack against cell phones, you just need to broadcast a stronger signal than the nearest cell phone tower and nearby phones will connect to your IMSI catcher instead. Then, you forward the traffic to the real cell phone tower, so the phones will still work, but you can spy on/modify all the traffic in the meantime

Yael: I’ve written about them before, but it was about law enforcement use of them for surveillance. They can’t intercept Signal messages, right? So if Deus Group just read a Freedom of the Press Foundation guide, Darlene and Elliot's plot would be foiled.

Em: It will intercept the Signal data, but messages are encrypted until they reach the recipient’s device, so it's not enough to just intercept it.

Micah: Their plot wouldn't have been foiled because Cyprus National Bank still sends two-factor authentication codes (2FA) over unencrypted SMS. I thought it was a nice touch how much Raspberry Pis were represented. In the first scene, in the hotel, the camera panned across some Raspberry Pis, and Darlene was logged in to a Raspberry Pi during the garage door hack.

Image: USA

Freddy: The Raspberry Pi 3 uses USB 3.0, which is fast enough to run a homemade IMSI Catcher.

Em: Homemade antennas are fun. =)

Yael: Oh, did they make their own?

Freddy: You can make your own. I think those are limeSDRs.

Price’s Last Stand

Yael: We had Price in yet another hostage situation.

Em: Yeah, he handled it very well. The traditional ways of getting out of a hostage situation weren't going to work there, but he did several important things for the situation he was in:

1. He kept calm. This is the most important thing. If he had panicked he'd have been killed a lot sooner.

2. He kept Whiterose off balance. His teasing and taunting was beautiful to watch, especially the "wind in his hair" bit.

3. He didn’t give up any important info to accomplish number 2.

4. He provoked Whiterose when they were both visible outside. Walking away after saying what he said almost guaranteed not only that he'd be shot there but that Whiterose would do it—in public.

Yael: My favorite taunts were, “it’s bad management when your best employees either walk off the job or blow their brains out,” and “all this over a little pipsqueak in a hoodie.” I think Price kind of didn't care if he died after Angela died.

Em: I think he didn't care if he died but he wanted to get Whiterose first. Once he handed off the drive (which he did right before going to the meeting), he had accepted his fate.

Freddy: You can't control people who have nothing to lose.

Em: Or to gain.

Micah: I like how Mr. Robot explained why he was there in the hotel room, instead of Elliot, by saying, "Life throws you an error code like that, you don't have the luxury of a fucking pop-up explanation."

The Bank Heist

Yael: Okay, so let’s talk about the hack. They said they needed to correlate phone numbers with bank account numbers to initiate the money transfers.

Em: They needed that for the script so they'd know which 2FA code to use for which request. Otherwise they'd have to brute-force it for each account, and that'd likely trigger a safety measure.

Micah: So Elliot and Darlene seem to have a SQL database from the bank, and their database includes account numbers, first name, last name, and hashed phone numbers. They needed to use the IMSI catcher (and the cell phone tower hack) to learn everyone's phone numbers, so they could hash them and then lookup the hashes in the bank database until they had phone numbers for all 100 accounts

Em: That's pretty realistic, FWIW. An equivalent of that was one of the first things we pulled from Phineas Fisher’s hack of Cayman National Bank and Trust (much to the dismay of some of the account holders).

Trammell: There was a CCC talk about nation-states doing 2FA intercept on Telegram password resets.

Micah: So, the venue changed. They got a hotel room within line of sight of the first venue, and they expected all Deus Group members to show up there, but the location moved. Mr. Robot figured out that Whiterose was at the first venue, though. So Darlene went to the second venue with the IMSI catcher, and Mr. Robot/Elliot stayed at the first venue to try to focus on just Whiterose's phone number. So all that hacking that Mr. Robot was doing, he was hacking into the telecom company that owns the closest cell phone tower.

Yael: How did Whiterose figure out that they needed a venue change and he had to get at Price?

Freddy: She said that Elliot disappeared right after Price said he was retiring, and that Price asked for a Deus Group meeting on Xmas, which was suspicious.

Micah: Elliot had a dump of Tyrell Wellick's phone, and it looks like he and Darlene imported Tyrell's Firefox passwords into Iceweasel, and then looked through his Google calendar. There was a password-protected attachment in one calendar event, and the thing I don't quite understand is how they got the password. I think Darlene sent it to him in Signal Desktop, but I don't know how they knew what it was.

Image: USA

Freddy: It almost looked like a script to execute, but I couldn't tell. Maybe it was a pop-up?

Yael: I think it directed to a password-protected webpage hosted on some kind of private server. So I guess Whiterose got sloppy and forgot to take Tyrell off the list of people getting the venue change.

Micah: Tyrell was the guest of honor; he was getting named new CEO of Evil Corp. She just didn't realize he was dead.

Yael: I'm sort of stunned Whiterose didn't know Tyrell was dead or at least missing, with their surveillance..

Em: It happened in the middle of nowhere and the FBI didn't handle the crime scene, so the search around the van etc. was limited.

Yael: Yeah, but they had eyes on Tyrell and would've noticed he was missing after.

Hacking The Cell Tower

Micah: Okay, so let's talk about the cell phone tower hack.

Yael: Elliot was phishing telecom employees to try to get access to the cell phone tower because he didn't have the cell-site simulator.

Micah: Yeah, exactly. He needed to hack the cell phone tower, because that would give him the same access as if he had his own IMSI catcher. Once he got credentials from his phishing, he was trying to re-use them to login to the telco's VPN.

Yael: So what's easier and more reliable, building your own IMSI catcher or phishing telcos?

Freddy: Probably the latter, to be quite honest.

Micah: Also, did you notice that when he was phishing the telco, he scraped PGP keyservers to get a list of their email addresses? That's not realistic, though. Nobody in real life uses PGP. Except for The Intercept, but it's painful. I'm not sure all these gallatintelco.com employees would have keys on the keyservers.

Em: It would only take one person uploading their set of public keys to get them there. Keyservers verifying permission of the owner to list the keys is relatively new, as far as I can tell.

Yael: Why does he need their public keys, though? How does this work?

Em: He didn't need the keys, he just needed the email addresses associated with them so he could phish the telco employees. He was basically IDing which email addresses were being used—rather than trying to get a list of employees and then figuring out the company’s email address format (e.g. jane.doe@gallatintelco.com).

Trammell: And he was hoping that one of them used the same password on the cell site infrastructure that they used to login in response to the phishing email. The first few didn't, but eventually one of them did. Someone always does…

Micah: It looks like USA Network didn't actually generate all these PGP keys. They're not in the SKS pool.

Trammell: Elliot’s ECorp key from the 2017 season is on the key servers. Or someone like me ran a key generator to spoof the 32-bit key id and uploaded it to the server and then registered e-corp.co.uk to complete the fake. 32-bit PGP key IDs are short enough that you can find a key that matches .

Image: USA

Freddy: I don't know any company, much less a telco, that requires you to publish PGP keys online.

Micah: The Intercept.

Yael: I think also the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Freddy: When I used to work in cybersecurity I think I was the only one with a PGP key.

Micah: I think it's much more likely that a telco wouldn't be using any email encryption. But if they did, they'd use S/MIME, which is like PGP but centrally managed and therefore popular in the corporate/government world, and simpler to use.

Yael: I feel like I got PGP for street cred to get hackers I wanted to interview to talk to me vs. actually using it.

Micah: I used PGP to help facilitate the Snowden leak. Good times.

Garage Door Hack

Yael: Let’s talk about the garage door hack.

Trammell: Based on the scripts I think Darlene was using a HackRF. In that screenshot you can see that she has logged into a Pi with the HackRF and captured the signal while the security goon was pressing "close."

Image: USA

Bank Transfer

Micah: So as far as the bank transfer goes, I think there are some pieces of the puzzle that aren't quite clear in this episode. Last episode there was a snippet of python that involved mixing cryptocurrency. So I think they must have done something like this. Once they could spy on everyone's SMS, they initiated bank transfers for everyone, to transfer their money into some other bank account. When all the Deus Group members got SMS messages, they intercepted the 2FA codes and sent them to the bank to complete the transfers.

Freddy: Yeah but even then, you can't just do a bulk transfer of billions of dollars into cryptocurrency?

Micah: On the other end, the receiving account must have automatically been hooked into a cryptocurrency exchange, immediately selling all of that money for cryptocurrency, and then, immediately mixing that cryptocurrency.

Freddy: And do what with it? Someone will notice a trillion dollars being dumped into BTC (cough cough TETHER). Also, there is a cost to buying that cryptocurrency and you couldn't get the network throughput for syncing the transfers. Syncing a blockchain is much slower compared to something like SWIFT.

Em: Cryptocurrency for this is not realistic.

Micah: Before it could get exchanged for cryptocurrency, they had to have done a SWIFT transfer to a different bank. That must have been the first step.

Freddy: I am just saying, where did the money go? The cryptocurrency stuff is like "fancy Hollywood magic."

Micah: So maybe the money is all just sitting in like, a Swiss bank account or something that they set up just for this hack, and they're slowly working on moving it into cryptocurrency

Em: It would have to be several SWIFT transfers or things would not be accepted on the other end. Moving it all into one account wouldn't help, because it would be seized and returned.

Micah: It's a separate SWIFT transfer account for each Deus Group member, but still.

Freddy: Moving that much money would have tripped all sorts of liquidity rules at the banks.

Em: Yes, and the receiving accounts would have had issues with it. Even if all translated to BTC etc., they'd have to distribute it very widely to prevent it from being returned. A well set-up bank would also have additional confirmations required for transfers that empty out accounts or are over a certain amount.

Trammell: The liquidity of any of the cryptocurrency exchanges wouldn't be able to handle any significant buy-in like that. It would be like the flash crash in reverse.

Yael: Wait, I thought BTC couldn't get returned.

Em: Anything can be seized.

Micah: Yeah, I think once they get successfully get it into BTC, the only way they could seize it is by seizing the actual wallet, e.g. the secret keys.

Em: The exchange(s) are a vulnerable point, I think. Cryptocurrency would be harder to seize than a traditional account, if no one ever did anything with it. It'd have to sit there, dead.

Micah: If Elliot and Darlene can maintain their anonymity from the financial fraud investigators, they won't have any way of knowing who to seize it from. Also, if they don't actually want the money, they can just destroy the wallet.

Trammell: If they are doing the "K Foundation" attack rather than a "Robin Hood" approach, they could also transfer the BTC to a random address (or a symbolic one) where there is no secret key.

Em: There is one thing we're overlooking in the discussion of cryptocurrency transfers:

eCoin. We don't know how eCoin worked, but it's likely that it was more integrated with Cyprus Nat'l Bank than BTC et al is with most traditional banks.

Trammell: Good point—we're hypothesizing about how eCoin might work, as compared to real cryptocurrencies. (If eCoin is even anything other than a fiat currency issues by Evil Corp).

Em: I would be amazed if the bank wasn't integrated with it. And remember, eCoin wallets aren't secure against Evil Corp. They had the ability to look in every wallet etc.

Freddy: Presumably they also stole all the money from Price/Tyrell, too. So what's to stop them from bankrupting Evil Corp?

Trammell: I'm surprised that such rich people would have only one bank account. Their funds only have FDIC insurance up to $250k.

Em: What does FDIC insurance matter when the accounts are owned by the people who own the government(s)?

Freddy: Or for off-shore bank accounts.

Trammell: A more realistic response from Whiterose would be "oh, there's more where that came from."

Em: I think that's besides the point, considering the power dynamics at play.

Trammell: Offshore, different banks, different countries, etc. Single points of failure are so very dangerous.

Em: Whiterose would have been totally humiliated, all her data and everyone else's gone, their money taken—why would they give her more? The goal wasn't to bankrupt the members of the Deus Group but to bankrupt the Deus Group. Fsociety made Whiterose and the Dark Army bleed in a way that made them no longer appear invulnerable. Who would want to work with them then? But even arguendo, Whiterose would know the funds were gone for the immediate future and that'd ruin the Congo plan.

Darlene

Micah: I like that in the video Darlene told everyone the address of the Deus Group meeting, so that protestors showed up and stalled them from leaving long enough to complete the hack

Yael: haha yeah that was a fun distraction

Trammell: F L A S H M O B

Freddy: The only thing that rich people understand is an unruly mob.

Micah: Did you also notice the billboard for the fictional NBC TV show about fsociety called SHIFT+CONTROL?

Image: USA

Yael: Good name!

Micah: And the very last scene: Whiterose is putting on makeup while it appears a SWAT team is raiding her mansion and there's firefight going on? I think Whiterose is done.

Em: It's hard to tell. Zhang is done, definitely. Whiterose might not be. Though probably, given how close we are to the end of the series.

Yael: I was surprised when Price got shot. I knew he was gonna die, but didn’t expect it like that.

Em: He did such a good job of provoking Whiterose. It was beautiful.

Yael: That was a great episode. I was glad the hack finally happened and also that Darlene had a pivotal role in it. For Dom.

Hackers Dissect ‘Mr. Robot’ Season 4 Episode 9: ‘Conflict’ syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[jikook-love]

Heartwrecker

CHAPTER 12 | last mission

JEON JUNGKOOK: Full-time Student, Part-Time Heartwrecker

When Jungkook is hired to break up the relationship of Taehyung’s childhood best friend, he finds the presence of overwhelmingly attractive Park Jimin a bit more distracting than he could ever expect it to be…

read on ao3

“Seriously, how many parties can one couple host within the span of a few weeks?” Jungkook grumbled. He tugged aggressively on the clean lapels of his vest, lifting his chin to make sure everything was symmetric.   

“They—well, I guess mostly her idea—have money to blow and reasons to celebrate,” Taehyung replied. He shrugged, fastening the glimmering buttons on the cuff of his dress shirt.

“Still though,” Jungkook said, while adjusting his tie. “If they already had an official engagement party, what the hell are they gonna call this?”

The two stopped talking for a moment when they caught sight of themselves in the mirror, fully polished and dressed to the nines in their suits. Jungkook had luckily managed to salvage Namjoon’s from the rain, and Taehyung, for whatever reason, just happened to have a nice tailored suit lying around.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you even agreed to come,” Jungkook said pointedly. “What with all that…stuff.”

Taehyung glared at him. “If I were you, I’d pretend none of it happened, but you’re secretly proud of yourself, aren’t you? Asshole.”

Jungkook huffed, directly returning Taehyung’s glare for the first time in a while. “You know what? Can you stop being so passive aggressive? I only did what you told me to do.”

“I’m pretty sure I explicitly told you not to do you-know-what with you-know-who. Several times.”

Jungkook dodged the accusation. “Besides, what you said before. Reflecting. Thoroughly. I did that. And came to one conclusion.”

“And what’s that?”

“Even if I had tried to, I probably…no, definitely couldn’t have helped it.”

Taehyung threw his hands up in defeat. “Great job, Captain Obvious. Now you see our biggest problem.”

“Hey, you’re partly to blame too!” Jungkook raised his hand accusingly. “You practically shoved his ass in my face. Over and over again.”

“When did I?!” Taehyung snapped back. He let out a sigh before continuing. “Goddamn, if I had known it would come to this I would’ve given you personal lessons.”

“…what?”

But Taehyung wasn’t listening. “Step one. Stop staring at his ass…actually, try not to stare at him in general while you look like an actual puppy—”

“I do not!”

Taehyung widened his eyes and tilted his head in Jungkook’s direction, nodding aggressively. “YA. YOU DO,” Taehyung asserted. “Even I noticed and I’ve only seen you two together once. You stare at him like he’s some kind of sun god and then you have this goddamn stupid, dumbass smile on your face.”

Jungkook stuttered for a protest, but in spite of himself, came up with nothing.

 “I’d be surprised if he didn’t notice,” Taehyung murmured, grimly. “He usually notices stuff like that…and he’s also a sucker for it.”

Jungkook perked up. “Really?” He promptly received a whack on the back of the head.

“Stay focused, idiot,” said Taehyung. “We’re going to go this party and so why don't you worry about whether or not you're gonna be exposed by the both of them first.”

Jungkook brushed the sleeve of his jacket one last time. “See, I still don’t understand why you think this is a good idea—both of them are going to be there.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you messed around with—huh, who would have ever thought that Jeon Jungkook would ever be two-timing with a fiancé and his fiancée. Look at you.”

“Tae…” Jungkook growled. He waved his hands around frantically, trying to dismiss the topic. “Anyways, can you tell me why you want me to go to this party so badly again? I really don’t get what you’re planning.”

Taehyung shrugged. “I already told you.”

“What?”

Taehyung avoided looking directly at Jungkook before he answered:

“So you can break it off with Jimin as soon as possible.”

   The plan was cut and dry, and required their two man tag team, along with the little “bug-spy-gear-thingy-ma-jing” (Taehyung’s words). Taehyung was to keep eyes and/or ears on Jungkook at all time, making sure he didn’t get side-tracked. As simple as the task was, the actual actions were to be extravagant—while Taehyung was off distracting Jimin’s fiancée, Jungkook would isolate Jimin and do and say whatever abhorrent things it would take for Jimin to end things with him.

Of course, Jungkook had protested vehemently when Taehyung had first suggested the idea, but soon, he was convinced that he had no better alternative.

“But what if he ends up protecting his fiancée against me instead when the time comes?” Jungkook had attempted to find loopholes at the time. “I’ll just be a serial dater at that point. He’d be more likely to defend her, is he not?”

“Then you just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Taehyung had replied at once. “Tell her some twisted truth. Make sure she takes your side against her will. Leave him no choice.”

“This sounds awfully complicated…”

Unexpectedly, Taehyung had only smirked.

“Not for you, it’s not,” he’d said. “This is child’s play for you. You’ve already practically written the script in your head. He’ll be off to find a new partner who is better suited for him and she’ll learn to fix her ways and hopefully do the same one day. Everyone will be happy in the long run.”

“Except for me.”

“You’ll get over it. Trust me.”

Jungkook sighed to himself.

This would mean he could never be with Jimin ever again.

Even after this was all over.

His heart throbbed in pain, and he tilted his head back, as a way to ease himself and the ache that was radiating from within.

“Oi, Jungkook. Are you alright?”

Jungkook felt a tug on sleeve and looked up to meet the eyes of Kim Taehyung, laden with concern and worry. They were standing in front of the entrance where the party was to take place, and the moment he stepped foot through that door, he would not be able to return. It brought him back to his reality, the reality where he was someone who never truly deserved love in the first place—the reality where he was nothing more than a con man who played with others’ hearts.

Jungkook swallowed, pressing his eyes together a split second.

It’ll all be over soon.

The tugging ensued again.

“Jungkook,” Taehyung called again. “You know…if you’re really gonna get really messed up over this…”

“It’s fine,” Jungkook cut him off. Every dream has to end at some point.

He stepped up to the gates, his eyes glinting with a certain ferocity and resolve that seemed to convince Taehyung. Even if it was more for himself.

“I’ll end it all. Tonight,” Jungkook asserted.

He pushed the gates open and stepped inside.

  The party was outdoors this time, amidst a gorgeous garden with an array of plants of flowers. Tables set with white table cloths with marvelous flower arrangements scattered throughout the clearing. The cool, evening breeze complimented the essence of naturals. The atmosphere was relaxing and rejuvenating in contrast to last time’s party, the dwindled numbers and respect for the outdoors contributing to that. Nonetheless, the guests were as pompous as ever, decked out in their suits and evening gowns, daintily tilting their wine glasses as they discussed the most superficial of matters.

Jungkook and Taehyung manage to integrate themselves rather well, merely by keeping a low profile. They kept their eyes out for the host and hostess, who were yet to appear.

Jungkook was busy pouring himself a drink at the side when he suddenly heard Taehyung’s voice clear in his left ear.

“We have an emergency,” said Taehyung.

“How could it possibly get worse?” was Jungkook’s response. He closed his eyes, slowly sipping his drink as he braced for impact.

“Their parents are here.”

It was an understatement to say Jeon Jungkook almost spat out his drink—because he actually spat out his drink.

“What? WHY?” Jungkook screeched, not aware that people were staring at him apparently screaming at his drink (as the device did not come with any visible wires).

“I guess this is the engagement party for family and such,” Taehyung contemplated.

“So why are we invited?” Jungkook asked.

“Obviously because I’m like the brother he never had.”

“Doesn’t he have brothers?”

“You get the point.”

“Anyways, what about me? What the hell is he thinking? Inviting some guy he just—what is he thinking?!”

He heard a long sigh.

“Maybe he just simply doesn’t expect you to do anything stupid while you here,”  Taehyung explained. “Or maybe he just really needed an excuse to see you again, even if it’s here.”

Though Taehyung had said it in the most casual tone, Jungkook interpreted it as anything but. Park Jimin would go through such lengths to see me? In what world… Though if that were actually true, it would probably complicate things a lot more. 

“So what are we going to do?” Jungkook was tactful enough to keep his voice at a whisper now.

“You? Nothing,” Taehyung replied at once. “You should just focus on Jimin and do what you’re supposed to. And don’t worry, because I know their parents.”

“You're gonna distract five people at once though?”

“You’re not the only smooth talker around here.”

“Tae…”

“If I can trust you, you should trust me. We’ll be find. Now I’m gonna stop talking, and we’re gonna go find ‘em, okay?”

Taehyung’s words seemed to strengthen whatever resolve it was that remained within Jungkook’s heart.

“Right,” Jungkook replied firmly. 

A silent agreement ensued between them, until they were to encounter their targets. Jungkook retrieved himself, straightening out his tie and brushing up his clothes as he preceded to make his way through the garden party. It was all different now. The confident, beguiling glint within his eyes had returned, for a long time in a while, and it was as effective as ever. Already the heads were turning as they always had, and he could literally feel his steps becoming lighter and steadier, as his alter persona shone from the attention it was receiving.

Not watching where he was going, Jungkook almost carelessly walked directly into the person he least wanted to see.

There stood the fiancée of Park Jimin, appearing as extraneous as ever in her long white gown. She seemed to be going for the look of an ideal, kind-hearted daughter that evening, for obvious reasons. Her dress was conservative, and her heels half the height they normally were. At first glance, one would've believed that she was quite the refined, prestigious person, but Jungkook of all people knew never to judge a book by its cover.

Fortunately, he heard Taehyung’s voice in his earpiece at that very moment, vividly calling her name and stealing her attention.

“There’s an emergency!” his friend was saying. Jungkook felt all sorts of bad vibes creep all over his body. What sort of situation could he possibly be dreaming up now…?

“Kim Taehyung?! What are you doing here?” It was all sorts of uneasy to hear a strange mix of her voice both through the tiny speaker and in reality.

“It doesn’t matter! Come quick! Your parents are already there!” He was practically yelling at this point.

“My…parents?” Jungkook could both hear and see the dread coursing through her. She immediately lifted her dress and scurried after Taehyung,  out of sight and out of mind--for the most part. Jungkook was starting to feel his own sense of dread. It'd finally hit him that he truly had no idea what his friend was planning. Though he supposed—as he heard a loud crash along with incoherent screaming from different people coming from his earpiece—he would find out eventually.

There was no time to linger, as he started to make his way through the sparse crowd again, his eyes subtly scanning to find the one person he was looking for. He kept walking and walking, the garden suddenly feeling so much larger than it'd initially seemed.

But then, out of nowhere, something felt different.  

It wasn’t that Jungkook was a vain person. He never was, nor would he ever be. But there were certain things that he had taken for granted over time, when he was under his guise. He just expected people to be distracted by him, to catch their attention simply upon passing by, to fall for him immediately upon his initiation. 

Which was why he immediately noticed when this was no longer the case.

They weren’t looking at him anymore. Well, some of them were, but it was no longer exclusive. The attention usually fixed upon him was dwindling, as they seemed to be looking…elsewhere…

Of course…

He walked faster, knowing he was getting closer to his target. And at last, when he politely patted the shoulder of another man and pushed past, he finally found the person he’d been looking for.

His breath hitched his throat.

She was a ravishing beauty by regular standards, her dark hair piled in a bun, revealing her smooth, pale, bare back that was framed by her dark red dress. Her makeup was dark and seductive, her red lips painted in a way that made her smile seem all the more mysterious. Even the way she tilted her wine glass at her acquaintance was dainty and poised, as if she had always been refined and prestigious above all other, ever since the moment she was born. 

Jungkook tilted his head and smiled a little to himself. 

Because though she was the one that caught his eye first due to her extraordinary mannerisms, she barely managed to hold his attention for more than a second. His heart slammed against his chest. Much to his demise, he could not take a step closer. 

Since when…could he look like that?

His aura of maturity was unfamiliar in every which way, despite the innocent charms of the smile that was once familiar, shining brighter than everything else beneath that evening sky. His body lines were beautifully displayed in that dark suit, all the while effortlessly maintaining his masculinity. The top button of his white dress shirt was undone to reveal a black choker beneath, seemingly etched onto the skin of his smooth neck. The silky black hair that normally made him appear boyish and friendly had been pushed up, revealing his forehead and emphasizing the eyes that twinkled ever so prominently  as he indulged in their small talk.  His posture was reserved, yet provocative: he was clearly leaning towards her, a hand pressed onto the table, lingering just close enough to her waist.

Jungkook tongue prodded in his cheek as he watched this surreal appearance of Park Jimin with his female acquaintance. He felt a strange chill run through his body when they both burst out into genuine laughter, seemingly over some (probably—no, definitely stupid) thing Jimin had just said.

Refusing to let his emotions overwhelm his rational judgment, Jungkook let himself fully register the image before him. There was Park Jimin, standing next to a beautiful, seemingly good-natured woman  beneath the moonlight, conversing and minimally flirting with one another. And she was more than likely one of many lovely women by his side, who would gladly offer the rest of their lives to him. Perhaps, it might just be better this way: Jimin could find love in someone who he could actually have a future with, someone who could please both his family and undoubtedly, himself. It was something that Jungkook could never give to him, not in a million years. 

Suddenly, Jungkook felt singled out, as if everyone around him had just left, and it was only him and the other two who remained in that area of the garden.

He felt an unknown source of heat course through his body.

Oh boy…

He wished his life could be that simple.

It was too late to tear his gaze away, as Park Jimin had already noticed him standing there. He convinced himself that it was not a lingering stare that Jimin was giving him in stead of his female friend. He told himself that there was no way Jimin could possibly be expecting him, and there was no way that he would abandon his lovely acquaintance for his lowly self…

“Actually, do you want to go look around a bit?” Jungkook heard Jimin say a bit too loudly. And the worst part of all was that he wasn’t even giving her proper eye contact anymore--he was too busy glancing at Jungkook out of the corner of his eye. He'd already withdrawn his posture, his body language indicating that he was eager for her to leave. 

“I guess so,” was her response. “With you, right?”

“Um…no.” Was it just Jungkook’s imagination or was Jimin actually sounding a bit nervous? Though it was gone the second he cleared his throat.

“I have someone I have to…talk to, for a bit,” Jimin stated resolutely.

“Oh, ok,” she said understandingly. She gave him a smile as she walked away from him, saying: “I’ll talk to you in a bit.”

From the stiff way Jimin nodded, Jungkook had a feeling he wasn’t planning to any time soon. And when she finally seemed out of sight, Jungkook took that opportunity and casually sauntered up next to Jimin. Jungkook threw him a slight smile before placing himself right next to Jimin, subtly brushing against his shoulder. He didn’t look at Jimin—mostly because he didn’t have the courage to yet at this close proximity—but he swore he could feel the both of them smirking simultaneously upon the slight contact.

“Wasn’t that a bit heartless of you? Sending such a beautiful woman away just like that?” Jungkook initiated playfully, leaning back as he watched the tranquil scene of the party unfold before them.

He felt Jimin shrug next to him. “She was just an old friend,” came the easeful response. "I can't believe you actually came, by the way."

“Seemed awfully friendly for just a friend,” Jungkook quipped.

“You know, you look really manly today...”

“Are you changing the topic on me?”

“Hey. If it makes you feel any better, I consider you my friend too.”

Jungkook couldn’t help but smile at that. But he couldn’t let Jimin win. Not yet.

“You certainly treat your friends very well then,” Jungkook continued.

“I try my best.”

“Careful. If you have too many friends, you won’t know which ones are truly loyal to you anymore.”

“I choose them very carefully.”

“Really? What made you choose me then?”

The back and forth abruptly stopped. Startled, Jungkook turned and wondered if he’d actually hindered Jimin with such a simple question.

“Jimi—?”

Jungkook nearly gasped aloud when his partner took a step that left him barely pressing against his chest. He suddenly felt Jimin’s lips right next to his ear, when a husky, low whisper breathed:

“Cause you’re a really good kisser…”

Fuck.

If Jungkook didn’t feel that tingle before, he certainly did now.

Something clicked his brain, that, while they were standing there in that secluded clearing, there was absolutely nothing that could possibly stop him from pulling back and staring directly into Jimin’s eyes, which in turn would, with one hundred percent certainty, cause his instincts to take over and then—

“WHAT THE FUCK. ARE YOU DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.”

The impact was equivalent to someone planting a mini grenade in his ear. He almost tilted backwards from the auditory blast, stumbling on the balls of his feet.

“Jungkook, are you okay?” Jimin asked as he reached out towards him.

The boy placed a finger to his right ear and nodded weakly, barely grimacing from the pain that he tried not to make too obvious.

Fucking Kim Taehyung.

It was the only thought that was written clearly across his brain. Of course, Kim Taehyung had “conveniently” remained quiet up until now, just so Jungkook could get barely distracted enough to get sidetracked. Of course, Jimin had to whisper into the ear where his gadget was located. And of course, he couldn’t even freely swear at the asshole, even in a string of whispers, because Jimin was watching him ever so intently, confused as to why such a lovely, perfect moment was shattered.

 Fucking Kim Taehyung. Jungkook thought again. Without remorse.

Jungkook looked up at Jimin again. And when he saw that pretty, worrisome and ever so concerned expression, he suddenly remembered what he had to do.

Immediately

I’m gonna have to get used to that expression.

“Jimin, do you wanna come with me for a bit?” Jungkook asked, as naturally as he possibly he could. He nodded towards the large garden labyrinth just ahead of them.

“Ooh. Taking me to a private place, huh?” Jimin noted. “What exactly do you want to do with me?”

“Nothing you won’t learn to appreciate,” Jungkook spoke his twist of a truth.

"Lead the way.”

Jimin followed Jungkook unwaveringly through the twists and turns of the hedges, with nothing to guide them but a few dimly lit lanterns and the moonlight above. It was dark and damp, the smell of moss and wetness wafting through their nostrils and overpowering any other pleasant smell that the garden had to offer. Jungkook had to acknowledge Jimin’s defenselessness—he could probably do anything to him in here and no one would be the wiser. The thought of it made his mouth dry, and he started to wonder if Jimin would be the same with anyone else. Though in a way, Jungkook knew he was no better than any of these malicious people he was dreaming up-- he himself had brought Jimin in here with the intention to severely hurt him, even if not physically.

“Jungkook? Aren’t we going a bit too far?” came Jimin’s concern at long last.

“It’ll be fine,” Jungkook replied.

They finally reached a clearing, which seemed to resemble the centre for the maze. In contrast to the rest, this part of the maze was actually well-kept and bright, with extra lighting and several stone benches scattered around the clearing. In the center of it all was a formidable black water fountain, the sound of a steady flowing stream providing a soothing atmosphere amidst the somber sky.

What a perfect place to break someone’s heart, Jungkook thought morbidly to himself.

“Jungkook? What is it you wanted to say?” came Jimin’s voice.

Jungkook turned to see him already comfortably sat at one of the stone benches. He was leaning back as if this was truly the only place he could relax and let himself go. Jungkook gulped as his eyes traced over Jimin’s neckline and up to his pretty face, etched out with the loveliest smile. Never in his life had he ever seen anyone so beautiful…and never in his life would he ever thought he’d have to end it so abruptly with someone so beautiful.

Yet here he was.

He took a deep breath, and put on his darkest persona, one that he rarely used and wasn’t particularly fond of.

This was not for him, but for everyone else.

Including Jimin.

And he knew Taehyung was listening.

“Jimin,” Jungkook called his name carefully.

He watched with guilt as Jimin perked up a bit too eagerly. “Yeah?”

“You’ve become too much for me. We’re going to have to end this now,” Jungkook uttered. It was probably the only honest thing he’d said thus far.

And boy, did the truth hurt.

He could feel his façade cracking. It took all his resolve to maintain his steadfast, cruel expression, where he was staring Jimin down without mercy. He was sure Jimin couldn’t see his lips quivering from there, and he really hoped he wasn’t about to cry. Never before had an act been so difficult in his life, but it didn't matter. He knew that this would be the last one.

And Jimin certainly looked distraught. He was staring at Jungkook, with eyes that were unfamiliar to him, laden with sadness and confusion. His lips were parted, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know what exactly to say.

But suddenly, within a split second, that all changed.

Jungkook could barely believe it when he heard it.

It was the sound of Jimin’s snicker.

Dread coursed through Jungkook’s body. He hadn’t foreseen this possibility—the possibility that Jimin actually had no feelings for him at all, and that he was the one who was actually being played all along. It was the only possible situation that could make this more painful for him than it already was, and it appeared to be playing out right before his eyes.

“Jungkook…” Jimin spoke vividly.

“Yes…?” Jungkook braced for the worst. It’s okay. It’ll all be over after this. If anything this just makes it easier.

“You suck at lying.”

The surprising words took a moment for Jungkook’s befuddled brain to register. And by the time they did, Jimin was already standing right in front him, smiling brightly as if nothing had ever changed. As if he’d never even said anything with the intention to hurt him. 

“Poor Jungkookie,” Jimin whispered, with a slight chuckle. He reached out and swiped underneath Jungkook’s right eye with his thumb.

“You’ve never been good at hiding your expressions, have you?” Jimin spoke, as he held up his thumb to the light. There, as clear as ever, was the gloss of what had been a single tear leaking from his eyes. Jungkook had been wrong after all—he had failed to hold them back.

His mind was in turmoil. Jungkook was great at hiding his true intent. He always had been. And he knew that better than anyone.

“Maybe it was just the way you looked at me. No one’s ever looked at me like that before.”

“Even I noticed and I’ve only seen you two together once. You stare at him like he’s some kind of sun god and then you have this goddamn stupid, dumbass smile on your face.”

Just…evidently not in front of Jimin.

“I would ask who put you up to this…” Jimin pondered. “…but I feel like even if I did find out, it would end up bothering me more than it would bother them.”

Jungkook froze, becoming vividly aware that Taehyung was indeed listening in. He immediately recalled Taehyung's fear of being suspected by Jimin.

“W—what makes you think someone put me up to this?” Jungkook tried, though he knew it a futile question as soon as the words left his lips.

Jimin paused, choosing his phrasing carefully before answering:

“You should really see your face right now.”

Jimin leaned closer, and impulsively, Jungkook stared into his eyes. Except this time, he saw his own image within the brown irises, faintly reflected by the lights around them. And it was true--if Jungkook had thought Jimin looked distraught earlier, he himself looked as if he was about to completely fall apart any second. 

Jungkook clenched his fist.

“Psst. Don’t get distracted. You can do this. I know you’re a better liar than this. Just go through with it.”

His body stiffened as he heard Taehyung’s voice in his ear once again.

“Remember, his parents and his fiancée are both here. Don’t do this, Jungkook. If you mess this up, or even worse, if you get caught, it’s all over.”

The claim was assertive and insistent, Jungkook’s mind was about to be torn apart. In front of him was Jimin gazing at him with the most angelic, expectant look, while Taehyung was whispering to him like a devil.

“Jungkook-ah, just go with it…” Jimin called.

“Don’t you dare, Jungkook,” Taehyung was almost growling. He could hear everything Jimin was saying as well.

Jimin was stepping closer again, and Jungkook felt like was going to explode. He knew his heart was telling him to go full-speed ahead, while his brain was screaming for retreat. He glanced to his right in order to avoid looking Jimin directly in the eye.

A thought suddenly occurred to Jungkook. 

“Jungkook…” The tone was warning now, as if Taehyung could suspect what Jungkook was up to.

As expected of my best friend.

“Sorry,” Jungkook said aloud, to one person in particular.

“Jungkook?” Jimin called.

“Not you.”

Jungkook smiled suddenly, reaching out to pull Jimin towards him.

He didn’t even hear the rest of what Taehyung was apparently screaming at him, as he was too busy pressing his mouth against the plump, luscious lips of Park Jimin’s, having held himself back this entire time. While Jimin’s mouth was initally stiffened from the shock but then slowly softened, melding into his own, Jungkook had ripped out his earpiece and, in one fluid motion, swiftly tossed it into the water fountain next to them without Jimin noticing, rendering the device—and the powerful microphone that had been built into it—useless.

But that was no reason to stop.

He brought his hand and pressed it into to Jimin’s back, provoking him to arch his back and bring his body closer. He felt Jimin’s precious hands grapple at the lapels of his neck, clasping and unclasping as the both of them lost themselves within each other. It thrilled Jungkook to know that there was no around to catch them, despite that this place was probably easily accessible Jimin’s fiancée and parents. And it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. Jungkook didn’t know that he could be so aggressive like this, but it was partly Jimin’s fault too—eagerly abandoning all company to be with him, teasing him and flirting with him all night, and following him defenselessly with full anticipation of his actions.

Jungkook grunted when they somehow ended up by one of the hedge walls, Jimin’s back pressed up against it with nowhere to go. As if some sort of ravenous monster had awoken inside him, Jungkook kept going at it with all that he had. He kept Jimin pinned as he kept devouring his lips, his tongue accessing every nook and cranny of his mouth. It was a sinful pleasure, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He knew he had been long gone for a while now--it had only been a matter of time before he was fully corrupted, after all.

Every second they were pulled apart seemed like a waste. They breathed heavily, resting their foreheads against each other. Jimin was whispering naughty things into his ear while Jungkook was in daze, wondering what the hell had overcame the both of them. Before he had even noticed it, Jimin's jacket was unbuttoned shirt was untucked and he'd undoubtedly slipped his fingers underneath and all around this entire time. Jungkook's own tie and shirt buttons were undone, with Jimin’s fingers brushing and lingering upon the garment around his neck, and he hadn’t even been the wiser. The heat was overwhelming, even more than it had been last time, and it seemed to have driven them both crazy.

“Now that’s more like you,” Jimin groaned, pressing himself up into Jungkook, who pressing his lips tenderly into the bare skin around Jimin's choker. 

Jungkook sighed happily, feeling that bead of sweat slide down his forehead. He had never broken so many rules before, not like this. But considering the rush he was getting, he would probably be tempted to do it again despite himself.

“Don’t lie,” Jungkook grinned, distracted as he was while Jimin bit and tugged on his lips.  “You don’t know me that well.”

“Well, you know me just as well,” Jimin replied, as pointedly as he could while breathing heavily.

“Yet here are we.”

Jimin smiled provocatively. With a swift flick of his wrist that had been clutching onto Jungkook’s messy tie, Jimin angled his head and leaned forwards, parting his lips eagerly as he pulled Jungkook for another round.

Jungkook whole-heartedly accepted the wordless response.

Fuck…it feels so good.

A/N: *giggles* k lbr. i feel super weird rn. I wrote it and then I kept myself awake at night thinking about it...

jungkook is a fuqing idiot, just fyi. both of them are. (and they're gonna get what they deserve.) Hope it was worth the worth and thanks to @wafaoo This chapter wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for her encouragement (which is something I need once in awhile OTL).

Let the story...approach...an end in the near future.........(?)

Thank you to everyone who's been genuinely enjoying this lately. It means a lot ♥♥♥

[vileart]

Three Shows and a Dramaturgy: Tim Marriot @ Edfringe

A Warning From History – Mengele 

As the Labour Party argues over the definition of anti-Semitism* and the Israeli government approves a Jewish Nation State**, divisions deepen and boundaries blur.

All across Europe and the USA extremist views advance and the Far Right begins to creep into government.

Against this contemporary background, Smokescreen Productions offers a warning from history at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Mengele takes us back to a beach in Brazil in 1979 when a drowning man is washed up on a beach where he meets a mysterious woman.

The play imagines the notorious doctor of Auschwitz confronted by the woman he assumes has saved him. 

Mengele Trailer from Smokescreen Visuals Ltd on Vimeo.

Shell Shock Tackles Major Mental Health Issue Related Deaths of Veterans

Fringe Encore Winner and Best Solo Show, Adelaide Fringe 18 The Ministry of Defence has just admitted that it “does not hold information on the causes of death for all UK Armed Forces veterans”*.

This includes the growing numbers among our estimated 2.6 million former service men and women who take their own lives.

The multiple award-winning play Shell Shock,which is coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 11 August as part of the Army@TheFringe programme, tackles the mental health challenges faced by some veterans trying to return to civilian life. 

All Change – Ivor’s Not Going Quietly

Ivor waits, his train of thought broken by his fragmented and decaying memory. 

His daughter Lily packs a bag, preparing him for a “home”. But Ivor’s not going quietly. As fast as Lily packs, he unpacks...

Performed by sitcom veteran Tim Marriott  with Stefanie Rossi as Lily, it’s a tale for our times, addressing the issues of failing memory and caring for an aging parent – something growing numbers of us can expect to face in years to come.

First of all, how do you define mental health? What does the term mean to you - do you have a social model of sanity, for example, or is it concerned with neural atypical conditions?

We are all happy to discuss our physical health… I wear a Fitbit tracker and will happily bore anyone to death about how many steps I have taken today, this week, this month… but there is a stigma around mental health that, in order to be truly healthy, we should address. Mental health therefore means to me exactly that – a healthy, balanced, exercised and fit mental state… or not. 

I don’t think of mental health in terms of expected social norms, or psychosis, but more in terms of how I react to stress and pressure on a daily basis. There are neuroses, injuries, degenerative conditions, physical and mental traumas and imbalances covered by the very general term ‘mental health’, but on a day to day, the phrase makes me think of emotional and intellectual well being.

What areas of mental health are you looking at in the performance?

I am doing three shows at EdFringe that

can be seen to deal with different aspects of 

mental health. Two established shows and one new one. ‘ Mengele’ exposes the mind of a narcissistic sociopath, ‘Shell Shock’ charts the descent through toxic masculinity into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The new show, ‘All Change’ is a deeply personal family story about living with dementia interpreted through a domestic and comedic setting.

In what ways do you hope that your play can help the audience to move forward in their understanding and actions towards a greater sense of mental good health?

In ‘All Change’, we use humour to bring the audience into the world of Ivor and his daughter Lily as she attempts to prepare him for life in a ‘home’. Her gentle handling of this irascible character says much about how we can respond to the condition and ease the confusion of the sufferer. Though the play also contains other complexities in that Lily has her own issues that she struggles to share with her father as his mind slips away. The play is not didactic, that is not our style, but hopes to at least provoke a conversation or two.

And given the high pressure nature of the Fringe, do you have any ideas about positive self-care during August in Edinburgh.

Performing three plays during the fringe will be a challenge and the level of involvement in each one, the emotional and physical demands of each role will make us vulnerable to anxiety and stress. Audience reaction and reviews can feel very personal and you can’t win ‘em all, so we need to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth.  As a reviewer myself, I try and take account of

this when offering a written response as I know what negative criticism can feel like and how destructive it can be to one’s mental health.  I will try and make myself and my company as resilient as possible by keeping physically fit, eating and sleeping well, keeping regular hours and avoiding too many late nights and alcohol!

Josef Mengele, known in the camp as “The Angel of Death”, escaped justice after WW2 and escaped to South America. 

The woman challenges him to attempt to justify the unjustifiable and in so doing exposes the rhetoric of a sociopathic narcissist, echoing arguments we hear again today.

Created following advice from the Holocaust Educational Trust and endorsed by the Amud Aish Museum of New York, Mengele seeks to engage, educate and provoke conversations about the issues of today as much as of the past. 

A short run at Edinburgh last year was followed by an award to take the play to New York as a Fringe Encore winner, then on to a sell out season at Adelaide Fringe 2018. 

Inspired by the novel Right to Die, the play is written by Philip Wharam and Tim Marriott, who also performs it with Stefanie Rossi and Emma Wingrove.

Mengele, the play, is inspired by and written to acknowledge the chilling truth expressed by Auschwitz survivor Lydia Tischler who said: “all of us have the capacity to be sadistic and horrible to other people. The potential for destructiveness is in all of us.”Marriott says:“It is vital for us to understand such men as Mengele, to learn from history, to stop others like them from rising again.”

Adapted from Gulf War veteran Neil Blower Watkins’ autobiographical novel of the same name Shell Shocktells the story of long-serving soldier Tommy Atkins’ attempts to return to Civvy Street and his undiagnosed PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). 

The effects of PTSD amongst generations of ex-military and first responders in a social media driven society where we are constantly under pressure to live “happy and fulfilled” lives are huge. 

Shell Shockwas adapted for the stage and is performed by BBC comedy veteran Tim Marriott (The Brittas Empire) and was created in association with military and mental health charities as a stigma reduction project for the military community and beyond. Earlier this year it was named Best Solo Show at the Adelaide Fringe.

The play is ultimately positive, offering hope and support, and is followed by informal interactive feedback sessions, or “Fire Circles”, where others are encouraged to share their own stories.

Marriott said:“PTSD can be a huge challenge for veterans. All too often the symptoms are repressed, unrecognised and often go untreated, especially in a culture defined by masculine grit. For generations we have taught our young men tobe embarrassed about their emotions and hide them, or avoid communicating them – unless in anger. This is now recognised as Toxic Masculinity.”

As Tommy shares his observations on the absurdities of the everyday with the audience, so the cracks in his military grit become apparent. As he represses his reactions to flashbacks, he rails at the world in increasing outrage. Nothing is safe. From post office queues to Ikea, computer games to ‘phone zombies, all feel the force of his frustration. 

Listings Details

·       Venue: Army @ The Fringe in association with Summerhall, Hepburn House Army Reserve Centre, East Claremont Street (Venue 210)

·       Time: 17:30

·       Duration: 60 mins

·       Dates: 11, 12, 14-19, 21-25 August. Previews 10 August. 

·       Tickets: £9 to £12

·       Bookings: https://festival18.summerhall.co.uk/book-tickets/

·       Advisory: Contains strong language

Marriott said:“Hundreds of thousands of families across the UK are affected by dementia every year. It has an immense impact on the lives of everyone it touches and as time ticks on its something that any of us might eventually suffer. But whilst the personal tragedy of dementia is at the heart of All Change, it’s very much a play filled with humanity, warmth and humour.”

All Changebegan life as a devised project, inspired by the work of St Wilfrid’s Hospice, workshopped with drama students and scripted by Toby H Marriott, on an emerging writers course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre. Based on personal experience, the play was then developed into a compact professional production, researched and developed in Bristol and at Brighton Fringe and now premiering at Edinburgh.

Alzheimer’s Society fact file

·     There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to over one million by 2025. This will soar to two million by 2051.

·     Some 225,000 will develop dementia this year, that’s one every three minutes.

·     One in six people over the age of 80 have dementia.

·     Some 70% of people in care homes have dementia or severe memory problems.

There are over 40,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.

See https://www.alzheimers.org.uk

- Ends -

Listings Details

·       Venue: Assembly George Square Theatre, The Box, EH8 9JZ (Venue 8)

·       Time: 12:20  

·       Duration: 50 mins

·       Dates: 9,11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 27 August. Previews 9 August 

·       Tickets: Previews £10 (£9); 11-27 August £12 (£11) 

·        Marriottis best known for seven series of BBC TV's leisure centre sit-com The Brittas Empire, appearing in every episode as deputy manager, Gavin. Other TV credits include Allo Allo, Doctors, The Bill, An Actor's Life for Me, The Main Event, Luv and film credits include the forthcoming features The Real Thing, Love Type D and Revelation. He recently returned to the stage after an 18-year career break teaching English and drama. He is also appearing in two other Fringe 2018 productions, Shell Shockand All Change.

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