#Henry's room/The guest room is directly under Melanie's room

[belethlegwen]

Hi! I've read The Stranding 3 times now, but for some reason I'm still incredibly confused by Melanie's house. Are there 3 levels? Where's Henry's room? The kitchen?? The living room? (Are there multiple???) I don't know if it's too much to ask, but could you clarify what room is on which level? Thank you! :) <3

Hi there! I think you mean The Rescue, but I appreciate the question all the same!

The house in The Rescue is a two-storey split-level home, so there's technically four floors with three half-sets of stairs to go between all of them.

Melanie's bedroom is on the top floor, along with the upstairs bathroom (where she takes baths), and two spare rooms that are mostly for storage. There's a half-flight of stairs that leads down to the front entrance area on the main floor, and the main floor houses the main livingroom (TV, that L-shaped sectional) and is open-concept through the diningroom and kitchen. The sliding glass doors to the backyard are by the diningroom area.

Just between the front entrance and the kitchen are the stairs leading down to the downstairs level, which is where the downstairs livingroom is (another TV and a different couch, this is where Henry and Melanie had their first conversation once they came back in from the Massengale the first time, where he tried to interrogate her about the government structures) Henry's room, the downstairs bathroom/closets and the back door which is the main entrance Melanie uses in the house.

From there is the last half-set of stairs to the basement, where the laundry room/pantry/basement storage is, along with her Dad's office/music room.

I drew a really terrible, super rough and probably inaccurate layout, though! The green lines are the positions of the inside doors, the dark red solid lines are the doors to the outside, blue line is the sliding glass doors, and the squiggly paintlines are the stairs (light brown for stairs connecting the levels you see in the image, red for stairs connecting the levels you see to the other layer of bad drawing)

Thank you so so much for the ask! Hope this helps!

[EDIT] HEY COOL I JUST NOTICED NONE OF MY DOOR EDITS SAVED. Gimme a second to edit the image.

[princess-of-riviaa]

The Tonight Show

Request 1 by anonymous: Hi hi my darling! How are you? I hope you're ok and I hope you have a great weekend. So, I've never requested anything before, and it's ok if you don't appreciate what I'm about to ask, but I've never seen anyone writing about a hot night with Henry in Brazil. You know what I mean? Summer, samba, the sea, caipirinha, that mystic moonlight (he loves Brazil, and Brazil LOVES him). Thanks for reading 💙

Request 2 by @lunedelorient​: Reader writes a fantasy book. Henry discovers the story and convince Charlie, they have to produce a movie. Both met Reader, and Henry falls madly in love for her, (because she is as awesome as her book). And filming just made them closer and closer. Charlie, who knows his bro likes her (but is too scared that this doesn’t work like his other relationships) starts to give her clues, and since she likes him back, decided to let him know he can ask her out. On a very sexy way. The movie is a hit, so they have a very busy promo tour. One of the stops is Lipsync Battle. Henry doesn’t know she is the queen of Lipsync, so she used it for her plan.

Pairing: Henry Cavill x OFC (Melanie)

Author’s Note: i’m so sorry if I didn’t get your requests down just right. I allowed the story to flow how it wanted to and this was what happened! So I hope you both still enjoy!

Summary: Henry finds himself falling for the writer of the latest film he’s working on. One night in Brazil, those feelings are finally acted on.

Warning(s): mentions of alcohol, fluff (surprisingly)

Word Count: 1,568

HENRY

She circles her hips, and I swear I’m hypnotized. The way she moves… it’s like the music is a part of her, flowing from her swaying hips and shaking arms. She’s a fucking goddess.

I move in my seat, hoping my hard on isn’t obvious under these low streetlights. Brazil was a bad idea. This girl is full of bad ideas, yet for some reason I seem to go along with every single one.

It started with that stupid interview. I should have known she was up to no good when I first saw her in that tight cocktail dress that did nothing to hide the teasing shape of her ass and the luscious bounce of her tits. I’d ignored my feelings up until then; but on the night, she was irresistible.

I guess if I’m going to explain myself, I should start at the beginning. Ten months before the interview. The day the script for A Hunted Crown landed in front of me and my casting agent convinced me to go for the lead role. It was a brilliant script, full of twists and heart-wrenching scenes, as well as characters that jumped off the page and became real, fleshed-out people. According to my agent, the book this movie was based on was even better. So, obviously, I had to audition. There was no way I would give up a chance to be a part of something like this. Not only could it make my career, but as a fantasy lover I know that finding a genuine story these days is harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

The only problem: she was at the audition. Her pseudonym was Little Lady, but I learned that day that her real name was Melanie. I was a few years her senior, but damn if she didn’t make me feel like I knew nothing about the world. Not in a condescending way--she was so sweet and genuine, it was adorable--but in a way that she knew so much about everything and I knew so little compared to her. I spent most of our brief, five-minute conversation trying not to gape in awe at her brilliance. I was glad she wasn’t in the actual audition room, otherwise I would have been too distracted to do my audition any good.

But five days later I got the call; I’d been casted as the main character. Cue three months of training and six months of filming. Melanie was on set everyday. She became a familiar face I enjoyed seeing all the time. We bonded through our love of fantasy and other nerdy things. Though I quickly began to memorize trivial things like how she ate a green apple with her lunch everyday, or how she giggled uncontrollably when she was tired after a tedious day of reshoots, or how her clumsiness made me yearn to look out for and protect her, I forced myself to stay focused on the film. Just get through filming, then I can let my mind wander.

Filming ended too soon. I found myself grateful that she was going to Brazil with the main cast to promote the movie (we’d shot ninety percent of the film in the mountains of Serra do Mar, just outside Rio, and the director had roots there, so we were doing half our promoting there and the rest of it back in the states) and even happier when they paired me with her for almost every interview we did.

Until The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallen. He had us do a lip sync battle. On his show, it was a tradition that he battled against his guest for the night, but since he had both me and Melanie, we were put against each other. And of course she had to choose songs that weren’t even discreet about all their sexual innuendos, and of course it had to be right then and there that I learned she knew how to move her body. It took everything in me not to drag her backstage and take her right then. Somehow, though, I managed to contain myself. I lost the battle, but for once in my life I had been too preoccupied with other things to care about winning.

I won’t be able to contain myself tonight. Not with how she’s dancing. Not with the way she’s looking directly at me, like she’s doing all of this for me. Not with how hard I already am.

… MELANIE

My pulse races, though I know it’s not from all the dancing. It’s from Henry. It’s from the way he’s looking at me right now--like he wants to devour me. The look makes adrenaline pump through my veins, mixed with just the right amount of nerves, and I force all of that into the dance. One thing most people don’t know about me is I dance as well as I write. Henry is completely entranced by my movements and something in the air--maybe it’s the amount of beer we’ve already had, or all the couples grinding and making out around us, or just the romantic atmosphere of Brazil itself--tells me that tonight I’m finally going to get what I’ve been waiting for.

I reach out for his hand and drag him from his seat before he can protest or I can think logically about what I’m about to do. I lead him to the middle of the dancing crowd before starting to dance again. He hesitantly begins to dance along with me. Before my mind can halt me in my tracks, I turn my back to him and begin to dance in front of him, swaying my hips like I’m dangling a treat in front of his nose. I gasp when I feel his hands slide around my hips and pull me against him. We fall into a steady rhythm, swaying our hips together, and with every movement my heart beats harder in my chest.

Henry nudges my ear with his nose, sending a shiver down my spine as he tells me, “I never knew you could dance like this.”

I throw my head back until it rests on his shoulder, his thick muscles flexing and unflexing with each of his movements. “You never asked,” I reply. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Henry.”

His right hand lets go of my hip and moves to rest on my stomach. My back is now flush with his chest. It’s an intimate gesture, one that sends heat straight to my face and my core. Butterflies dance just under my skin where his hand rests. I want to know how it will feel when he moves his hand lower.

“I want to know those things. I want to know you inside and out, Melanie,” he whispers in my ear, and I become a puddle of desperate want.

I spin around to face him, my lips parting when I see how dark his gaze has become--and how he can’t look anywhere but at my lips. He closes the distance between us until we share one breath.

“Tell me to stop,” he breathes. “Tell me you don’t want this.”

“I can’t,” I reply, my voice shaking. “I’m not a liar.”

And then he closes that last half-inch of space between us and brushes his mouth against mine. It’s a hesitant kiss, a mere brush of two nervous mouths, but my heart is still in my throat and my hands are still shaking at my sides. Henry finally closes his mouth over mine and deepens the kiss, applying much needed pressure to my mouth. An embarrassing moan claws its way from the back of my throat. Henry can no doubt hear it. But instead of laughing or pulling away, he wraps an arm around my back and pulls me as tight against him as I can possibly be. My hands reach up to cling onto his dark curls. He whispers a soft fuck and I swallow the noise greedily. Our tongues collide and make a dance of their own--a dance of giving and taking, of claiming and exploring.

Henry pulls back, albeit reluctantly, and rests his forehead against mine. We both stand in silence for a minute, attempting to catch our breath. “We should go back to the hotel,” Henry sighs.

I nod. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

How the hell can one kiss be that mind-blowing? I can barely think, barely stand without my legs shaking, barely breathe. I never want him to stop kissing me.

He gives me a soft smile as his fingers loop through mine and he guides me out of the crowd and back onto emptier streets. The hotel is only two blocks away so we walk back in tense silence. Everyone--the director, the three main actors of the movie, and me--all have our own rooms, but tonight I stay in Henry’s. It’s the same as mine--single bed, bedside table, bathroom--but it’s so much more appealing than my room. Maybe it’s because, after a week of staying here, the smell of Henry is in the sheets.

“Do you want to stay?” he asks as we make our way inside.

I nod a simple yes at him. That’s all he needs before he kisses me again, slowly moving towards the bed.

Neither one of us get any sleep that night. I couldn’t be happier about it.

***

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[whatwouldwaltdo]

PM ramble

(or: I wanted to collect all my PM update thoughts in one place for your convenience. But seriously, it gets rambly and looong.)

Hey guys, so as I’ve said before, I have some Things to Say about the PM changes coming up in just a few days (sorry, I meant to finish this before the opening). Here are those Things. I do want to start off by saying that, as a whole, I don’t have a problem with change. It’s inevitable, and in some cases, it’s for the better. However, changing under the guise of “enhancing” what was already there, only to muddy the waters even more, isn’t really for the better.

I still remember seeing the preview video that Disney released for the refurb and getting really excited, thinking, “wow, this is great!” Tom Fitzgerald mentioned that they’d be revealing some secrets, including the Phantom’s identity, and I felt very excited but very nervous - I was glad the ride was getting some love, but I was afraid they were going to take it in a new direction that would be entirely different from the original. 

WELL

The ride loses its sense of mystery. What I think I’ve always loved about the original ride is its ambiguity. One thing that was especially vague was the story - who is the Phantom? What does he want with this young woman? The official story always posed that the Phantom was Henry Ravenswood, Melanie’s father, but it was never stated outright, leaving the story open to interpretation. Some thought he was the father, some thought he was a former suitor, some thought he was a random spirit, all completely obsessed (or infatuated - or enamored) with this girl. The ride takes a strong cue from The Phantom of the Opera, and some interpreted the story that way.

All, I think, were valid, as everything was so vague. It was fun coming up with new theories, too - maybe he was hanging her father, or the skeleton face was just a mask when the zombie at the end was his true form. (Clearly, there’s a big focus on the Phantom here.) (Another burning question: What happened to that AA? Is he rotting away for real somewhere?)

Unfortunately, that’s all been tossed out for the sake of “nope nope nope, guys, he’s definitely the dad. Make no mistake. Everything’s cleared up now. Stop asking.” In every scene in which Melanie appears, he’s directly behind her, because heaven forbid we forget about his stranglehold on her. (Seriously, why is he so obsessed with her? It’s weird.) The ride becomes his story now, not Melanie’s.

It’s a very romantic ride. There are a lot of grand designs, the music and scenery are incredibly dramatic, and characters do things with strong emotional resonance. Just listening to the soundtrack can make me tear up. But watching ridethroughs, the ride has an entirely different feeling now - like it’s trying too hard to be Mansion and not its own thing. (Read: the Ballroom, the Séance, the Corridor of Doors sound effects, the Music Room.) Touches of Mansion are totally fine, but too much is overkill.

Melanie becomes a completely different character. I think there’s a reason Melanie has always had such appeal in the Haunted Mansion fan community - she’s really sympathetic and goes down a hero. Her one true love, maybe the only man she ever loved, was taken from her, and she stays faithful to the idea that he’ll return, even though, deep down, perhaps she knows he never will. She defies the Phantom by staying in her wedding dress and saves the Guests by showing the way out, despite any desperate attempts by the Phantom to get them to stay. It’s her role as Pure Good that endears her to visitors, I think, as she upsets the power of Pure Evil. It’s all very powerful.

In the new ride, that’s been completely removed. (Again, for me.) The multiple suitors takes away from the romantic “one true love” notion. (Also, were they killed off by Henry? Somehow? Or did they just die horrible, un-Phantom-related deaths?) The story’s become about the men in her life, and she feels reduced to an object. Which is...ew. Like, all she wants to do is grow up and get married to somebody, but her dad won’t let her, so she “goes a little stir-crazy” (again: ew) and becomes Constance Lite, going after anybody that walks in. (Who’s so obsessed with Connie that we needed another one?) The thing that absolutely destroys her sympathy is the ending, as she’s apparently just resigned to living in this house and looking for someone to marry instead of bothering to save the Guests from the Phantom. No time for that, she’s got a wedding to get to!

On a side note: Others have talked about this more eloquently than I could, but the whole “she’s gone a little stir-crazy” thing is really off. She’s been isolated(?) in this house by her father for years, watching her suitors get offed one by one and tormented by a party she’ll never be able to attend, and now she’ll just ask any rando to marry her? Well, at least she takes after dad in the “crazy” department. *eyeroll* (Perhaps they’re working together to lure you into a trap? Maybe the “Will you marry me?” is an illusion by the Phantom?)

The parade ≠ the new ride. In a big way. Another big sticking point for me is that the Halloween parade (where the Phantom and Melanie were interacting in a very not-father-daughter way) is also completely scrapped. It was incredible to see them brought out of the ride and into a very public parade. To be honest, it really seemed like Disney was heading in the ex-suitor direction, and I got really excited about it. I had never denied the idea that he might be her dad, but with the parade being kinda romantic, it was looking less likely. Well, NEVERMIND, I guess. It was really misleading. 

(On a side note, I’ve decided that anytime I draw them interacting, being cute, etc., it’ll be in a weird “parade-verse” where everything’s fine and she’s got a spooky suitor and also throw my take on the original ride and C’est Magique in there because why not. I like the theory that there are two Phantoms - a glittery ex-suitor one that she falls in love with and a non-glittery dad who’s a jerk. On the bright side, I get to draw her being all, “oh, Dad, you’re so annoying!”)

Really, it just feels like a totally different ride to me now. It doesn’t feel like an enhanced version because there are so many changes to the basic story. I can’t say I’m not impressed by some of the effects - the Phantom AAs are gorgeous, that transforming wallpaper is something else, And everything looks so clean and nice and smooth now. But it’s become something that I don’t personally care for, although I won’t tell anyone they’re wrong for preferring it. 

So...yeah. That was a ramble. I’m tired now. G’night, everybody.