#I just gotta simplify things down to basic shapes how hard can it be

[exopelagic]

sudden realisation that the thing holding my art back is that I never had an anime phase

[shadowtarot]

CHM: Gonna bring in someone who could act as a Red Herring: Ryuji is walking home and ends up being approached by Sho Minazuki, now in his early 20s. Sho takes Ryuji to the side and "politely" (with a combat knife) asks to chat. He offers information about the Kirijo Group in exchange for info about the Thieves and their methods, just out of general curiosity. Should Ryuji agree, Sho spins his info in a way that makes Kirijo sound super evil, referencing his scar and his dead "dad", etc.

Chariot’s Mystery Part 11

Ryuji’s checking the chat log following a new message being posted on the site Futaba got contacted.

Everyone’s in a bigger tizzy now that this group wants to contact the Phantom Thieves. The chat turns into a voice call however as Zenkichi points out that constant text spam is getting too hard for he and Maruki to both keep up with. Putting in his earbuds, Ryuji mostly listens to the others talk as he walks home. Being in public, he can’t safely say anything regarding what’s going on. “They definitely have some smart players in their group if they’d link Alibaba to the Phantom Thieves solely based on modus operandi.” Makoto sighs. “But that leaves the biggest concern: is this group trustworthy enough to hold communication with?”

“It sounds too risky given what we know so far.” Zenkichi states. “We’d need a better understanding before we can even attempt to interrogate this group. I’m planning on heading to Iwaitodai soon, so save any big contact with these people until we have more than just Ryuji there.”

“Yeah, that sounds like the safest plan right now.” Ren nods, though it’s not like anyone can see that. “I can’t leave Inaba without arousing suspicion right now. Even if my record’s legally clear, people are more on guard with even the most simple action of buying bread in school. If I could feasibly send Mona I would...”

“If the situation calls for it, I can create some sort of excuse to pull you out of school.” Zenkichi explains. “But I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that...”

“Ryuji, how close are you to getting home?” Futaba moans in boredom. “You’re the only one over there and we NEEED updates!”  “Just a few more blocks I promise, I’m still not used to getting around here and-”  Something cold and flat touches the back of Ryuji’s neck. ...metal.  “Ryuji? Did something happen?” Maruki calls out. “You gotta learn how to turn down the volume on your earbuds, kid.” A voice states. “...come with me and don’t you DARE go the other way.” “Ryuji don’t comply, just run!” Zenkichi states. “What’s the description of the-” “Gramps...did you not hear what he said? I believe his ‘mugger’ heard our Phantom Thief talk.” Sophia explains.

“Shit.”

Ryuji silently complies with the red haired mugger. “What are you wanting...” He finally says as they reach the far end of a dead end alleyway. “Call it an Intel exchange. You want info on Kurijo yeah? Tch, I have more experience with those people than you’d ever want to have.” Now in better light, Ryuji can observe the x shaped scar on the guy’s face. “And what are you wanting in return then?” Ryuji looks the older man in the face. “I want to know how your group pulled off that...Change of Heart thing. I’m not gonna leak any of it, not like it’d do any of us any good right? People who don’t have Persona would think we’re nuts.” The rest of the team is hearing that convo, and is messaging via text to avoid being heard.

“Your buddies went silent, huh?” The man leans forward to him. “Shoulda been like that from the start.”

“...” Ryuji silently waits instructions. He can’t just trust some random crazy with a knife with knowledge of Persona to not leak their operations to the people they’re researching. “I might change my mind about not speaking a damn word about this if you don’t cough up the info now.” He’s getting less calm as Ryuji continues to not give a reply. “...we don’t have much of a choice in the matter Ryuji.” Morgana finally says. “Explain what you can.”

“Get his name first though.” Ren adds.

“Give me your name, I’ll give you what you want then.” Ryuji glares. “A tough guy eh? Well I’d say that if you weren’t just buying time waiting for orders like a helpless runt. But fine, names Sho but that’s all you’re getting until you cough up the details.” Sho leans up against a brick wall, arms folded. “...we alter the behavior of someone’s shadow buy stealing the desire that corrupts them, the heart of the issue.” Ryuji explains.

“Come on, that sounds like you’re simplifying it. I’ve seen no way to steal ‘desires’ by those means with the Shadows I’ve fought and observed.” Sho shakes his head.

“The method we use to access that world isn’t accessible anymore. So I can’t explain it in better detail without showing it.” Ryuji retorts. “Ugh...fair enough. Well here’s my end of the deal then.”  Everyone listening in on the convo pays close attention to possible intel being shared. “Kirijo’s done all sorts of experiments on people in terms of getting them to awaken to Persona pre-maturely. I was a victim of those experiments, and the only human still around to tell the story properly. Forced experiments using Plumes of Dusk, creating combat robots with Persona capabilities. ...a lot of people died that had those plumes shoved in their bodies or were pushed through such hardship just to get them to come,” Sho looks at Ryuji, who’s now visibly shaken by these details. “I was ‘Adopted’, only to be experimented on..denied a lot of the basic human rights and abused. The damn thing gave me a split personality, and only one half had access to my Persona. I was trained to kill... and they’re still using those Persona-using Machines. Two are still active.. between that, and the fact that Persona forced out by the group had a tendency to go out of control and kill people...the company has a lot of skeletons in their closet. figuratively and literally.” Sho stands up strait from where he’s leaning. “...the Government has them in their pockets. Yet they don’t fully know what they’ve caused in the past...or will keep causing in the future.”

He walks off...leaving Ryuji to stand there alone with his thoughts. “Human experimentation...they’re no better than Madice...” Haru sighs. “Joker...what’s our move?” Sophia asks. “We make that contact with the group. Not for a friendly interview, but as a letter of challenge.” Ren states. “Futaba, can you try to hack Kirijo’s security and force a live broadcast of us to communicate just within that building?” “Give me a bit to get everything set up. But it’s one hundo percent doable!” Futaba snickers.

[amostheartman]

Be honest with me. (us? The TP/BotW community? idk.) What do you think of the BotW2 trailer, and do you think there's even a sliver of potential for the Twili to return? I've been dying to know your answer, Amos. By the way, thanks again for the Midlink art piece. Doing a smart here by being off anon for this ask lol.

My My, Quite the question 

*TP Link

First off I’m pretty sure Twilight Princess Link is done as far as canon in-game appearances go. Wolf Link was a pretty dope add-in for Breath of the wild and could be added in for BOW2, but that’s really all were gonna get I’m afraid. :/

well sorta at least.

I mean we got TONES of Amibo and in-game TP stuff like the Twilight tunic, TP Epona (the only Epona in this game mind you), TP Zelda’s Light bow, TP Ganondorf’s Sword, Midna and Zant’s helmet, mention of Prince Rails on the path to Zoras Domain, the somewhat homage to the Bridge of Eldon and of course the famous side quest “A Fragmented Monument” being an obvious nod to the Mirror of twilight.

but even with all this TP stuff It’s no indication that Nintendo has any plans to bring TP Link into the mix.

...

That said... Between you and me, Nintendo just won’t let go of Twilight princess Link.

TP Link got the hi-rez treatment a few years ago for promotional stuff, and as much as I love it and want posters of the full version there really isn’t a reason for Nintendo to be using him to promote things.

They could have use any other Link, but they picked him specifically.

 I mean, Skyward Sword Link was technically the latest in the usual green tunic design(although it was basically a simplified TP tunic), Ocarina of Time and Toon Link are the “fan favorites”, and Breath of the wild Link is the brand spanking new one that broke records.   

Yet, TP Link is still getting promoted.

Whats even more interesting is the the rest of the Nintendo Tokyo banner.

Breath of the Wild Link and Zelda are both there, but so is TP Link and Ganondorf!

 And get this, TP Link is the one in the smaller more common banner!

I love it, but I can’t explain it!

*This is from the 2019 Nintendo Tokyo game show btw*

So as much I have my doubts about TP Link showing up in BOTW2 or ever having a real return of any kind Nintendo sure isn’t making it easy for me to keep believing that.

 Almost like they're toying with me. :(

Is TP Link gonna show up in Breath of the wild 2? probably not. at most heel be a non-cannon amibo wolf companion like in the first one.

Is there gonna a new game with TP Link in it? doubt it.

Is there gonna be a port of the HD Version of Twilight princess to the switch? Could be... but highly unlikely.

Will they do a complete remake of Twilight Princess with these dope re-rendered models with a gameplay style like the Wii U tech Demo of the spider boss!!??? GOD I WISH BUT I KNOW IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!!!  ( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ)

But logically it’s probably that TP Link is the best looking and most Marketable out of the Link bunch.  :/

Anyway, you were asking about Breath of the wild 2 right. lol

*BOTW2

the trailer is interesting... like really REALLY interesting.

Its looks waaaaay darker and shaping up to be the Zelda story we never knew we wanted.

I mean com’on whats not to love about dark Zelda stories!? Zelda is always at it’s best when its pushing the edge a bit.

I even did my own break down of it.

  I think I posted it here already but I can’t remember so here it is anyway.

This is pretty much what I gathered from the trailer.

Dark, mysterious, somewhat hopeless and tragic, our heros are in over their heads, everything is on the line, I love it!

Sadly, I really don’t wanna think about it too much because I got my hopes up last time and Nintendo has a bad habit of playing it safe when they should go all out. :/

Straight Up though we’re gonna be seeing Zelda in a much more involved role so that much seems apparent. to what degree? I have no idea.

She might be playable as a character you switch off to for puzzle solving or Goddess powers since shes using the sheikah slate.

All I ask it that she not be an exclusive cutseen character. I wanna see my girl doing things in game.

that said, I know people want Zelda to be the the main playable character but she really isn’t suited to fill Links role as the adventurous warrior type. 

She’s really more of a sage type character on top of being a book worm and not really fit for direct combat.

Ironically enough playing as Zelda would change things so much it wouldn’t be a Zelda game. lol

Or heck, she just might be the playable character its hard to tell honestly.

but what about Link?

Link on the other hand (no pun intend) is still gonna be the player character I think.

I imagine the thing going on with his arm is going to replace the sheikah slate’s function with some added combat stuff.

Kinda like Nero’s arm from DMC or the Shinobi prosthetic from Sekiro.

It would be pretty cool to see Links combat and exploration open up because of a nifty arm. :)

or it could be killing him and we gotta find a way to cure him so he can defeat Ganondorf. (that would be rad!!!)

All-n-all that just depends on what the arm is doing and waht the game wants to be like.

I hope and pray for a combat system like in Twilight Princess and a return to the Temple / Dungeons puzzle and bosses system from the other 3D Zelda’s with a breath of the wild spin.

Golly, just picture exploring a Dungeon with Zelda doing logic puzzles and switching off to Link to handle the combat segments doing a back and forth between the 2 leading up to a boss fight they have to work together to defeat. 

THAT WOULD BE SO RAD!!!!!

Man this is getting long.

 I’ll just say that I have high hopes for BOW2, but going in with zero expositions is always the the way to go.

I trust Nintendo took the feed back from the first game and is adjusting t something that will hopefully satisfy the fans.

I apologize if this was all over the place, I had to do work in between.

I had others ask me slimier questions if you’re that curios and want a fresher take on my thought for BOTW2.

* thoughts about that BotW sequel trailer

* how much Hyrule has changed 

thanks for the question, hope I answered it properly! lol

-Amos :)

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 9: So Tristan Died

Been resisting that springtime urge to buy a house plant and watch it slowly die while everyone else on my timeline posts beautiful terrariums and wallscapes. I have murdered nearly every plant I own, I have no idea why, I have killed several cacti. But I just found out about logees.com and y’all. Have you seen a rock fig? I want it so bad.

So, instead of wasting my money, I will write here and...not click buy on that rock fig. That beautiful beautiful rock shaped plant. That incredible and glorious miniature Deku Tree.

Also, this week Tumblr said that they’re extending the post limit size for text posts and like...there was a text post limit? Y’all I assumed these posts were hella long, (and in fact way, way, way too long) but like, I never capped a text post limit so...I guess I do all right.

So, switching over to Yugioh, we’re back with the Tristan-Duke-Serenity trio, who are still fighting over Serenity, the world’s most oblivious child. I haven’t gone over too much what their high and low points have been over these past like 5ish episodes but here’s what they’ve been up to, a refresher course of what they’ve been doing since Tristan drowned a Rhinoceros turtle in the lake.

1.) Serenity sneezed once and the Tristan and Duke had a big fight over who gave Serenity a cold

2.)

Sorry that’s all they’ve done. I really thought this would be a list when I started.

It’s been so boring that Serenity has decided this has been the best part of her tourney vacation (she is not wrong). And I just realized--she went to great lengths to get her eyes fixed and now she’s trapped in the VR zone and she doesn’t even need eyes to be here. Hell, if she gets trapped here, she’ll never need eyes again, she’ll have permanent perfect vision 24/7. We keep finding new alternatives instead of spending millions of dollars on Serenity’s eyes and the show kind of glazes over it.

Anyways, we learn a lot about Serenity this episode, mainly that Serenity is a little bit of a space cadet.

(Every episode Duke’s necklace is a little bit more simplified and today it is...almost just a cross. I look forward to seeing what necklace’s final form will be.)

Duke is supposed to be the antagonist of the three, but it really comes off that Tristan and Serenity have goldfish memories and somehow do not recall being launched down a hyperspace tube by five insane computer ghosts trying to consume their bodies. Most people would not forget that happening so like...it’s kinda hard not to side with Duke. Weird that the guy with such ridiculous hair is actually the most level headed person here.

And honestly, if Yugi had been speaking, then Joey and Serenity would have sobered up. Kind of a bummer that Duke doesn’t have the card cred, although Tristan was there when Duke beat Joey.

Like this episode was somewhat frustrating because Duke Devlin really is supposed to be incredibly good at cards, a kid who has only been beaten by the Pharaoh himself, and Tristan and Serenity sort of don’t believe him for some reason. Duke owns a version of the game they are playing. Like, he has ownership over Dungeon Dice and they don’t...care? It’s really weird, but it’s not like Duke has really done anything for an entire season so maybe he deserved this?

But considering that he’s been running for his life/kidnapped since they met up again 2 days ago during Kaiba’s tourney, maybe Duke just has no choice but to hang out with these people who do not respect him at all.

(read more under the cut)

Also, they’re still keeping it a secret that Duke beat Joey because...they’re still lying out of their ass for Serenity’s self esteem. It’s Season 3 and we’re still very concerned that Serenity cannot handle the truth. This girl was in a hospital for weeks and completely blind, I’m pretty sure if anyone can handle hard truths, it’s this girl. But, she’s very pretty, so better not spook her.

I am impressed that this random throwaway plot point from the beginning of S2 has come back to haunt us.

It checks out. This was about as much credentials that Joey had when he joined Pegasus’ tourney. I mean, Joey trained with Grandpa but Grandpa full on died in the middle of their training so...Tristan should have been fine this episode, he’s been interning with card people for like...years.

Anyways, this is where everyone else is.

And Noah decides to try his carrot-under-a-box trick that has so far worked on literally every child he has tried it on.

These kids cannot resist a door to save their lives--and that’s really the whole thing. If they resist the door, then boom, their lives are saved. But nah. Gotta open every door. So they enter, and behind this door is, you guessed it--their favorite place, the ever recurring supervillain of all of Yugioh,

Wow.

Anyways, the fourth of the Big 5 is here and he is a robot that’s gonna do some Russian ballet to the Nutcracker Suite.

Finally, someone who’s strong enough to safely do the ballet alongside Tea.

*I did not watch Gundam, I spent my Torrent days watching Cowboy Bebop and Love Hina and I remember none of it.*

Speaking of, Love Hina--that one probably didn’t age well, didn’t it?

Tristan just digging his own grave for no reason is basically the rest of this episode. Duke Devlin was their out. Duke Devlin has been primed to die for like a full season but then Tristan had to go and fight a giant robot like an idiot. Which is not a sentence I thought I’d be typing about Yugioh, the show about a haunted card game.

PS, I just remembered something. One sec, let me dig this up, something I wrote in S1 that at the time, when everything was about magic and soul snatching, seemed so outlandish that it would never actually happen.

I can’t believe that I predicted myself but at the same time was still just so wrong, because not only do they already have Gundams, they also are card playing Gundams.

This giant VR Gundam could just step on them, right? Like just step on them? I get that would be against Noah’s set of rules but like...

...just a little step.

And what’s even more nuts about this show, is that some things I knew going in, some things you can’t escape just living here on the internet, like Yugi being strapped to a saw at some point (I just didn’t realize it would be from...a clown and would have *such freakin large blades attached*, it was very sudden) and them dueling from the backs of motorcycles (which apparently isn’t even this show. Apparently dueling motorcycles is a spinoff and y’all...kind of disappointed by that). But Gundams? This universe is so zany that Gundams just went completely under the radar.

*this robot casually wearing a jumbo duel disc*

Faced with the reality of none of his friends ever take him seriously, Duke decides to find a weird compromise and asks for double duel. Thing is, this robot also can’t take Duke seriously, and so this super backfires.

Would it in fact simplify everyone’s dating life if we had a 1 in 3 situation? I mean it’s already a mess because we have two 3 in 1′s, but we could balance that right out with a 1 in 3. Then the math will be correct. Balance will be achieved.

And that was how Disaster Serenity sort of stumbled her way onto a dueling platform and killed her brother’s 2nd (3rd) best friend (4th if you count Joey’s rivalry with Kaiba).

Tristan, who’s job as a volunteer janitor is to clean up messes, could not clean up after this Wheeler hot mess.

This is a card now? OK. I see you, product placement. I see why you made Duke Devlin pick up a deck again. Just for this product. That’s fine. At least we did something with Duke Devlin. But we could have maybe used him at any point outside of dungeon dice monsters, ya? Like any point?

Anyway, Serenity explains that if they tell her exactly what to do, they will be fine, so the robot catches wind of this and does this move

Of course. Of course the abandoned warehouse is now full of lava.

Serenity doesn’t even know the rules since she was actually blind until yesterday. She recalls faintly that on the train Tristan told her the rules, and that there were stars on the card that line up with power or whatever. So she looks down at the card and goes “Ah! there are little stars on here!” she plays it, and she realizes that no one has ever told her that sometimes they are placed sideways. Basically Serenity playing this episode as a recently not blind woman would be like me playing cards as someone who fast forwards through all the shuffling.

It’s hard to say if it’s Serenity who caused all this or Tristan who didn’t just let Duke do his one job. Either way, Tristan will absolutely find a way to blame this on Duke until about the point Tristan dies. Between Tristan refusing to play ball with Duke Devlin who is actually a card expert and Serenity playing all of her cards the wrong direction, I’m fully ready for Tristan to die by the end of this episode. Boy had a million chances to just chill and let Duke do his thing so ya, kill him.

Anyways, here’s a desert brought to you by yellow ochre. A LOT of yellow ochre.

Was this also a background for an 80′s space anime?

At some point Nezbitt sat in a boat and watched Kaiba launch what appears to be nuclear missiles at a missile factory. Kaiba did say he needed to throw out the old and start over so like...do Marie Kondo the way you need to do that Marie Kondo thing, Kaiba. This clearly did not bring you joy.

Anyway, lets skip to the good stuff. That’s right this boy: dead because he couldn’t not.

As you all know, I’ve been looking forward to Duke Devlin dying for such a long time now. I’ve been waiting here, tapping my fingers delicately together all Mr Burns-style expecting that the only way they could possibly find a use for Duke Devlin--since they refuse to give him any cards--would be to die.

But guys. I forgot about Tristan.

(bro wants to point out that right above the dungeon dice card was the revive card that would have come in handy right about now.)

Truly unexpected, standing in between Serenity and Duke, the most killable of the Yugioh franchise, Tristan freakin died.

But most importantly, we’re getting very close to death 169 (nice). We skipped 69 proper (a shame) because *somebody* had to kill just a chunk of people at once, Kaiba. So...who’s it gonna be? Probably the Big 5 member who’s cosplaying around as a Sexy Fish? chances are good.

Anyway, if you just got here, we’re in Season 3, if you would like to start at the beginning in S1, click here to read my so many recaps of this show. I cannot believe how much Yugioh content is in this Yugioh show.

[vvyrmwood]

Please give your fans a hands tutorial pls I am b e g g i n g

I GOT U I GOT YOU

first things first we gotta establish a couple ground rules:

rule #1: FUCK HANDS

what i mean is, don’t stress to much about being ‘good’ at drawing hands, or anything tbh, If you’re trying to draw something but you aren’t sure how, just do your best. Let yourself make mistakes and be bad at it, and then do it all over again! don’t beat yourself up over failures, art is hard! and you’re doing just fine!

don’t feel bad for hiding hands in your drawings, and certainly don’t feel bad for drawing little mittens for hands, you’ll get there

NOW LET’S DIG INTO SOME SIMPLIFIED ANATOMY, BECAUSE THE BEST WAY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DRAW SOMETHING IS TO KNOW THE PARTS!

once u know the basics you can simplify that down even more to, it’s always helpful for me to break things down into simple shapes! break it down into something you can understand!

here’s a few tips on figuring out how to proportion the fingers:

lasty here’s another lil trick that’s helped with with spacing the fingers:

i hope that helps some!!!

[min-xie]

I love your art work! ♥ so much. I'm also an aspiring artist but since I don't have a tablet I'm stuck with traditional. So far I've only been able to draw faces but the bodies is difficult. I look up stuff on Pinterest +tumblr, if you have any tips please?

thank you so much! ♥

you can still make great art without a tablet haha.

uh it got a lot omg let me put it under the cut

Right now i’m stuck in a slump, but Back In The Day™ when I was doing great better, to get out of the Anime/ Kawaii Phase™ (same face syndrome was omg) I basically simplified my drawing style by a lot! When I did this, my faces tended to be either circle, oval, etc. and over time I added more detail on it. My faces are still p similar tho (always rounded lol). Ngl i’m going back to that Anime Phase since most of my characters are starting to look too similar. I did the same with drawing bodies. Start small then build up. Gotta have a good foundation before you build the house haha

This was around when I got into HTTYD which had very distinct shapes for their characters, and from there my art inspirations shifted from anime/ manga artists to animation. Not saying anime is bad, but when it comes cartoons that aren’t anime the characters are much more exaggerated. The best example of what I mean is look at Steven Universe characters then look at Horimiya (both of which I like)

Asides from life/ observational drawing (and more of the same stuff people will tell you but are still important) I found that sometimes I shouldn’t work on something too long because I lose interest in. If I was studying something and it looked bad I’d just start over. My sketchbook is basically a lot of drawings layered on top of each other of the same thing (gotta save the trees man). It’ll become muscle memory then.

Oh and make sure you have really nice flow and rhythm too, like know about where people draw straight and curved lines (i draw a lot of curves so my stuff doesn’t look very stable;; gotta scult them forms man. When I started with more bodies they always looked too weird because it looked like I “tried to hard”/ basically inflated or sucked out an average body because I didn’t know how muscles + fat would work. Look at different body types. I looked at both styled and real life ones, the former so I can see how other people simplified the body. I like looking at people’s life drawings a lot

tldr;

break it down into shapes/ simplify

draw a lot but be sure you take care of yourself

study different body types

study realistic photos and stylized ones

flow and rythm makes ur art nicer to look at tbh

life/ observational drawings are always important man

Have Fun™

[fandomriderx-1]

The Play’s The Thing

Hi all! Here's a short story I wrote for my fiction class. I’d love to hear some feedback, especially from the admittedly great writer, though thoroughly incompetent arch-nemesis, @identityconstellations

I sobbed as I held Amon’s limp body, when I heard loud footsteps just a little to my left. I wiped my tears and gazed at Amon.

“Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. Oh happy dagger!” I picked up the knife in Amon’s hand, still a little warm. I held it with both hands in front of me.

“This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.” I shouted these last words, plunging the knife into my chest. Warm red liquid poured down my chest, turning the purple of the dress black. As I collapsed next to Amon, I couldn’t help a small smile. Sometimes, friends are the greatest things in the world.

Rewind a few months. It was the second week of my senior year, and a giant banner had appeared in the main hallway. It was one of the cheap kind the school always used, made from that really big paper the school buys in huge rolls and letters in paint that would flake off if you breathed on it. Still, it did its job, proclaiming tryouts for the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

My friend Maddie nudged me as we walked to our first class. “We should try out, Cindy!”

I stared at the poster. Today was Monday, and the try outs were on Friday.

“I’m not sure we even have enough time. It says we have to recite a monologue.”

Maggie rolled her eyes at me. “Oh please, you’ve had ‘The V Speech’ memorized since we watched V for Vendetta last year. You made me recite Evey’s line so much when I die they will cut open my skull and find ‘Are you, like, a crazy person?’ carved into my brain.”

I chuckled. “Ok, I get your point. Still, that’s from a movie. Think Chrismon will count it?”

“Probably,” Maddie said, shifting to take her jacket off without removing her backpack. “That whole speech is basically a really long tongue twister. Get it right and he’ll know you can handle Shakespearean.”

I mulled over it for a second before nodding. “You’re probably right. Ok, I’ll try out.”

We spent the next few days rehearsing after school at Maddie’s house.

“What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe! Oh time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie!” Maddie finished in her best man-voice, reciting Viola’s monologue from Twelfth Night. Putting down Maddie’s iPad with the monologue on it, I gave her a round of applause.

“Awesome! Pull back the hair, add some fake stubble, and you could totally pass for a man!” That earned me a pillow aimed at my head.

“Gee thanks, Cindy.” Maddie said, sitting down beside me. I shoved her with my shoulder, getting a shove in return.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Maddie began. “Are your sisters trying out for the play?”

My sisters, Theresa and Mildred, and yes they look just like their names sound, were notorious members of the drama club. They’d try out for every single play the school would put on, get small parts, and then throw fits if the whole family didn’t come see every single performance.

I sighed, exhausted at the thought of those two. “Of course they will. They wouldn’t miss a chance to stroke their enormous egos.” I glanced at my watch “Crap, I’ve gotta get home. Mildred has laundry duty this week, and she wants me to get my clothes together tonight.”

I grabbed my backpack and Maggie walked me outside. “We still good to go for lunch after auditions tomorrow?” Maggie asked as I got into my car.

“Yep! I already got my chores for the week done, so I should be free.” Chrismon, the drama teacher, had a small family emergency and had to reschedule the tryouts for Saturday instead of Friday, so we planned to meet at tryouts and then go for lunch afterwards. I closed my car door and pulled out of the driveway, waving to Maggie as I drove off.

The next morning, I woke up to a pile of dirty clothes landing in my face.

“Get up, Cindy. Its your turn to do the laundry.” Theresa announced.

I shot up in bed, knocking bras and skirts to the ground. “What are you talking about? It’s Mildred’s week. I vacuumed the house.”

With a smirk Theresa shook her head. “Check again.” She called, walking out of my room. I untangled my body from the sheets and dirty clothes and raced down the hall to the kitchen downstairs. My stepmother, Susanne, had instituted a chore chart that rotated every week, making sure everyone vacuumed, cooked, did the dishes, etc. When I got home last night under my name was written ‘vacuum & dishes’ in my stepmothers exquisite handwriting. Now under my name was ‘laundry & dishes,’ with ‘laundry’ written in a crude imitation. The same could be said for Mildred’s category, which now had ‘vacuum’ in the same crude handwriting.

“Midlred!” I shouted, loud enough that Susanne’s cat jumped and ran out of the room.

I stormed upstairs to Mildred’s room, throwing open the door. Mildred was sitting on her bed, reading a book I couldn’t see the title of. She turned the page before answering. “Yes, Cindy?”

“What do you think you’re trying to pull, changing the chore chart? It was my week to vacuum, and I already did it two days ago.”

Mildred laid her book down, still open, and dramatically raised her hand to her mouth. “What in the world are you talking about, Cindy? It’s your turn to do the laundry. I was the one who vacuumed on Thursday. Now, you better get started. Theresa couldn’t get to my or her laundry last week so you’ve got quite a lot to do.” She motioned to the huge pile sitting by her door, and handed me her book, nails perfectly manicured from their salon visit last week. “Unless you want to make something of it.”

I took the book, seeing it was the complete works of William Shakespeare book that Susanne kept in the living room to look smart. It was open to Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene II. My stomach sank. Maggie’s monologue. You could say a lot of things about my stepsisters, but three things would always be true: they were egotistical, they were overly dramatic, hence handing me the book like this, and they were cruel. I could feel Theresa grinning from the doorway.

A few hours later I pulled up to the front of the school, Theresa just exiting the building. She ran over to my car.

“Cindy, where have you been? You completely missed auditions!”

I motioned for her to get in the car. Maddie knew me well enough to know when I needed to be quiet. I drove us to Moe’s, our favorite lunch spot. We got our food and grabbed a booth in the corner. I was halfway through my burrito when I decided to talk. I gave her the short version of what happened that morning.

“Wait, they threatened me? With a book?” Maddie questioned.

I nodded. “Kinda. I don’t know how, but they found out what you were planning to do for your monologue. My stepsisters are evil, but they’re smart. They knew that Romeo and Juliet doesn’t have many female characters, just Juliet, the Nurse, and the moms really. They figured by getting rid of one of us they’d have a better shot of getting a lead role.” I took a sip of my drink, the cup crunching a little in my hand. I was pissed. “So, they rearranged the chore schedule so I’d be stuck doing laundry all morning and miss the auditions. And if I tried to do something about it, like tell Susanne or something, they’d find some way to ruin your audition instead.”

“Ok, your sisters are freaking psychos.”

I raised my cup like it was a toast. “Amen to that.”

Next Friday Chrismon had posted the cast list. I know this because the moment he taped it to the door Mildred and Theresa had taken pictures of their names and sent them to all our relatives, telling them to RSVP now for opening night, announcing that they had been cast as Lady Capulet and Lady Montague respectively. I turned off my phone and slammed my locker, marching down the hall to Biology.

“Cindy!” I heard a shout from down the hall. Maddie was running towards me with her phone in the air. Once she got close enough she shoved it in my face. “Chrismon posted the cast list.”

Barely looking at the phone, I tried to give my friend a small smile. “I know, Mildred and Theresa already messaged the whole family.”

Maddie shook her head, black curls flying everywhere. “No! I mean, yeah they were cast, but look!” She shoved her phone closer to my face, so I finally gave it a good look.

“Amon Strong is Romeo … Maddie Henson is Juliet!” I shouted, wrapping my arms around her neck. “You’re going to be Juliet! I can’t believe it!”

Maddie wrapped her arms around me too. “I know! But that’s not the biggest thing.” Maddie pulled back from me.

“I’ve got an idea about how we can get back at your sisters.”

The next few months flew by in a blur. Maddie had to go to rehearsal almost every day after school, and even a lot of Saturdays once October rolled around. I already gave Maddie I ride to and from school most days, so it was easy for me to stay behind and work on homework while they put the play together.

It was really interesting to watch. Chrismon apparently has never done Shakespeare before at our school, so he wanted to take this weird, minimalistic approach to it. Instead of a complicated, moving set, they just had this long, rising platform that curved around the stage. It was only about six inches off the ground on the left side, but on the right side it was so high that people would walk under it to get on stage. The idea was to let the context of the scene shape how people viewed the set. So, when the scene is supposed to be in a town square, the platform surrounding the middle of the stage would look like buildings. When the scenes were supposed to take place in the Capulet’s house, the highest platform would serve as Juliet’s bedroom. And when it was the final scene and Juliet was ‘dead’, the platform would feel like her tomb. It was pretty smart, especially on a high school budget.

To add to the minimalistic thing, he even had them simplify the csotumes. Everyone except Juliet, the moms, the Nurse, and Friar Laurence were wearing black dress pants and shoes, a white dress shirt, and a blue or red vest. And even then, Friar Laurence basically just had an overgrown vest on, and the girls were just wearing basic dresses. The idea was that everyone who was a part of the family feud was wearing a particular color. If you were on the Capulets side, you wore red, and if you were a Montague, you wore blue. To show their being apart, Prince Escalus, the Friar, and the Nurse all wore purple, as did Romeo and Juliet after they got married. Contrasting with the black platform and white background with shifting red, blue, and purple colors, it made a stunning display.

While I was admiring the set one day during a dress rehearsal, one guy wearing a red vest walked over to me.

I didn’t know his name, but I had scene rehearsals enough to know his role.

“Well, if it isn’t the noble County Paris. To what do I owe this pleasure?” I joked.

He made a deep, overdramatic bow. “To see why this fair maiden has dined to watch our humble practices all these weeks, with hope of learning her name.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Nothing quite like performing Shakespeare to get you accustomed to the language.

“I’m Cindy, Cindy Todd. Maddie is my best friend.” I answered finally.

The boy quirked his head. “Todd? As in-“

“Yes, as in Mildred and Theresa Todd. They’re my stepsisters.”

The boy scrunched up his lips in disgust. “Yikes. The worst I’ve got is an older brother who won’t shut up about how I’m the favorite child. Though between you and me,” He leaned down to stage whisper in my ear. “He really doesn’t make it that hard.”

I chuckled again. “Which brings the subject back to you. You know my name, so what’s yours?”

The boy extended his hand. “Jim Davis. Pleasure to meet you, Cindy.”

I shook his hand, smiling. “Pleasure to meet you, Jim.”

Over the next few weeks Jim and I ended up chatting quite a bit. As Paris he wasn’t in Acts III and IV, so he spent long stretches of rehearsal in the audience seats with me. Eventually I let him in on me and Maddie’s plan.

He frowned a little. “I get why you’d want to do it, but do you think it’s the smartest thing to do? I mean, this play isn’t just Mildred and Theresa, it’s everyone else. This is a lot of people’s senior year. If you mess the play up, you could hurt their chances at scholarships to go to acting colleges.”

“That’s why we’re only doing it for the last two performances. Our family can only come on that last night, so it’s the perfect time to strike.” I assured him.

Jim seemed to mull it over. Eventually he gave in. “Ok, fine, but you need to let me help you prepare. We did the play back in middle school, and I was Romeo then. I know all the lines, so I can make sure you don’t screw this up, no offense.”

I raised my hands in defense. “None taken. Thanks a ton!”

After that Jim would join me and Maddie at her house every night after rehearsal. We’d work together to rush through our homework, then continue working on the revenge scheme.

Opening night went off without a hitch. Susanne was busy that night, so I sat with Maddie’s parents in the front row. Her dad had even gotten a bouquet of flowers that he passed out to us. When Maddie took her bow, we threw the flowers on stage, congratulating her on a great performance.

Still, nothing could compare to what happened that Friday. Chrismon always insisted on running the play at least once before every performance. I was sitting in my usual spot in the audience while she and Amon, our Romeo, practiced the balcony scene. We had brought in Amon, who had dated Mildred last year only to discover her cheating on him, weeks before and he knew what to do. In our version of the balcony scene, Romeo climbs up the platform and spends a few lines up there with Juliet before climbing down part-ways, still holding Juliet’s hand.

Only this time, while reciting “I would I were thy bird,” Amon let his foot slip, keeping an iron grip on Maddie’s hand, who was already mostly leaning off the platform. With a shout, Amon fell to the ground, pulling Maddie with him. The two landed in a heap.

“Maddie!” I shouted, running up down the aisle and practically jumping onto the stage. Chrismon was there almost as fast.

“Ow!” Maddie shouted, peeling herself off Amon as she clutched her left arm. “I think I broke it.”

Chrismon checked on Amon while I inspected Maddie. It was well known that I had some first aid training, so he let us be.

“Nice fall.” I whispered. Maddie shot me a slightly angry glare.

“It wasn’t entirely fake.” Maddie grunted. Feeling her arm, I could defiantly tell it was messed up. Nothing broken, but her wrist and elbow were definitely sprained from Amon’s yanking.

“Crap.” I locked eyes with Maddie. She mouthed for me to stick to the plan.

Maddie turned back to our director. “Mr. Chrismon, is Amon all right?”

Chrimson nodded his head. “A little bruised, but I think he’ll be fine. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a planned.” He gave us a wary look but didn’t say anything else about it. “What about you?”

“She definitely sprained her elbow,” I reported. “But I don’t think anything’s broken. I guess Amon broke her fall.”

Still a bit dazed, Amon gave a thumbs up.

“She’ll need to be checked out by a doctor, but either way I don’t think she can do any more show’s” I concluded.

“The who’ll play Juliet?” Jim helpfully asked. That boy should’ve gone to Julliard for that performance, you could never tell he rehearsed that line.

I could hear Mildred and Theresa shouting from the back of the crowd that had gathered, but Maddie had already grabbed my arm.

“Cindy, you can do it! You’ve been here for every rehearsal, and you helped me with memorizing all my lines. I know you can do it!” She looked to Chrismon for encouragement.

The drama teacher looked at me. “It’s last minute, but do you think you can handle it, Cindy?” Loud twin screeches could be heard in the background.

I tried my best to look conflicted before nodding.

“I’ll do it.”

We called Maddie’s mom and had her taken to see a doctor while we worked to get me into Maddie’s dresses. One thing we failed to account for was that Maddie was at least three size larger than me. Luckily Chrismon is a wizard with safety pins and soon the dress fit perfectly. An hour later and it was curtains up.

I sobbed as I held Amon’s limp body, when I heard loud footsteps just a little to my left. I wiped my tears and gazed at Amon.

“Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. Oh happy dagger!” I picked up the knife in Amon’s hand, still a little warm. I held it with both hands in front of me.

“This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.” I shouted these last words, plunging the knife into my chest. Warm red liquid poured down my chest, turning the purple of the dress black. As I collapsed next to Amon, I couldn’t help a small smile. Sometimes, friends are the greatest things in the world.

We received a standing ovation. It turned out that was the night the local paper sent over a reporter to do a piece on our play. It was a slow news day, so I took great satisfaction in throwing the paper at Mildred’s head the next morning. Under the big bold headline of “THE PLAY’S THE THING” was a picture of me, taking a bow.