#if i can't figure it out then for the purpose of this script I'll just age the characters back down again

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Six of Crows fan-written Script

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll to see if you guys wanted to keep this going!! 🖤

Hi, so in true me style I still haven't got around to organising these posts into scene breakdowns so this is the next part of episode 1 scene 5, I'm hoping that I can get the end of scene 5 out in the next post and then from that point forwards I'll be able to post it scene by scene. I hope that makes sense.

Same reminder as usual: I'm trying to be as true to the books as possible whilst also matching Show!canon but I've also taken the occasional bit of artistic licence as to how I would imagine producing the show myself, for example inserting my personal headcanon about Anya in the opening scene of episode one. Also, I have never written a script before so the formatting is my own made-up method; if it doesn't make sense please let me know and I'll adapt it :)

Side note: Would it be helpful for me to make a masterlist with links to the parts I've already posted?

Recap since it's been a while - Kaz is with Van Eck at the Hoede house and is holding a knife to the merch's throat when Mika walks through the wall, frightening Kaz because he thinks he's hallucinating from a drug Van Eck has given him

EPISODE ONE SCENE FIVE (PART 2)

KAZ: What the hell is this?

VAN ECK: Let me go and I’ll explain

KAZ: You can explain right where you are

VAN ECK: What you’re seeing are the effects of jurda parem

KAZ: Jurda’s just a stimulant. It’s harmless

VAN ECK: Ordinary jurda, yes. Jurda parem is completely different - and most definitely not harmless

KAZ: So you did drug me?

VAN ECK: Not you, mister Brekker. Mika

[KAZ turns and looks at MIKA. The camera moves slowly up the Tidemaker’s figure; his hands are trembling, the dark circles beneath his eyes are pronounced, and his kefta is slightly ill-fitting as though he has lost a lot of weight since it was last altered]

VAN ECK: Jurda parem is a cousin to ordinary jurda - from the same plant. We aren’t sure of the production process, but a sample was sent to the Merchant Council by a scientist named Bo Yul-Bayurr

KAZ: Shu?

VAN ECK: Yes. He wished to defect, so he sent the sample to prove his claims regarding the drug’s extraordinary effects - Please, mister Brekker, this is a most uncomfortable position. If you’d like, I can give you a pistol and we can sit and discuss this in a more civilised fashion

KAZ: A pistol and my cane

[VAN ECK gestures to one of the stadwatch guards by the door, who leaves briefly and returns with KAZ’s cane]

KAZ: Pistol first. Slowly

[The guard unholsters his own gun and hands it to KAZ by the grip. KAZ grabs the gun and cocks it in one swift movement, then releases VAN ECK and throws the letter opener onto the desk before snatching his cane from the guard’s hand. He is immediately more comfortable. VAN ECK paces backwards and KAZ moves slowly towards the window]

VAN ECK: That cane is quite a piece of hardware, Mr Brekker. Is it Fabrikator made?

KAZ: None of your business. Get talking, Van Eck

VAN ECK: When Bo Yul-Bayur sent us the sample of jurda parem, we tested it on three Grisha - one from each order. 

KAZ: Happy volunteers?

VAN ECK: Indentures. The first two were a Fabrikator and a Healer indentured to Councilman Hoede,

[KAZ frowns; he recalls hearing the name recently but cannot remember why]

and Mika is a Tidemaker. He’s mine. You’ve seen what he can do using the drug.

KAZ: I don’t know what I’ve seen.

[KAZ looks back at MIKA, and the camera follows his gaze. MIKA is focused intently on VAN ECK as though he is unaware of anything else in the room, his expression one of desperation]

VAN ECK: An ordinary Tidemaker can control currents, summon water or moisture from the air, or a nearby source. They manage the tides in our harbours. But under the influence of parem, a Tidemaker can alter their own state from solid, to liquid, to gas and back again and do the same with other objects - even a wall.

[KAZ frowns. He isn’t convinced, but he has no other explanation for what he’s seen]

KAZ: How?

VAN ECK: It’s hard to say. You’re aware of the amplifiers some Grisha wear?

KAZ: I’ve seen them - animal bones, and such. I hear they’re hard to come by.

VAN ECK: Very. But they only increase a Grisha’s power. Jurda parem alters a Grisha’s perception.

KAZ: So?

VAN ECK: Grisha manipulate matter at its most fundamental metals - they call it the Small Science. Under the influence of parem, those manipulations become faster and far more precise. In theory jurda parem is just a stimulant like its ordinary cousin, but it seems to sharpen and hone a Grisha’s senses. Things become possible that simply shouldn’t be. 

KAZ: What does it do to sorry sobs like you and me?

[VAN ECK is marginally offended to be aligned with KAZ]

VAN ECK: It’s lethal. An ordinary mind cannot tolerate parem in even the lowest doses.

KAZ: You said you gave it to three Grisha. What can the others do?

VAN ECK: Here

[He begins to open one of his desk drawers and KAZ raises his pistol slightly]

KAZ: Easy

[VAN ECK opens the drawer with exaggerated slowness and pulls out a lump of gold the size of his palm]

VAC ECK: This started as lead.

KAZ: Like hell it did.

[VAN ECK shrugs]

VAN ECK: I can only tell you what I saw. The Fabrikator took a piece of lead in his hands, and moments later we had this.

KAZ: How do you even know it's real?

VAN ECK: It was the same melting point as gold, the same weight, the same malleability. If it’s not identical to gold in every way the difference has eluded us.

[He holds it out for KAZ to take]

VAN ECK: Have it tested, if you like. 

[KAZ inspects the gold for a moment, then slips it into his pocket. He’s decided that even if it's an imitation, it's convincing enough for him to find it a purpose]

KAZ: You could’ve gotten that anywhere.

VAN ECK: I would bring you Hoede’s Fabrikator here to show you himself, but he isn’t well.

[KAZ glances at MIKA again, and the camera once more notes his sickly pallor and the dark circles beneath his eyes]

KAZ: Let’s say this is all real and not cheap coin trick magic. What does it have to do with me?

VAN ECK: Perhaps you heard of the Shu paying off the entirety of their debt to Kerch with a sudden influx of gold? The assassination of the trade ambassador from Novyi Zem? The theft of documents from a military base in Ravka?

[KAZ nods. He is glad to know the secret of the Zemeni Ambassador’s death and remembers JESPER talking about the three Shu ships filled with gold. Although he has heard nothing of the Ravkan documents, he doesn’t want VAN ECK to know that and so acts as if he is more than aware]

VAN ECK: We believe that all of these occurrences are the work of Grisha under the control of the Shu government and under the influence of jurda parem. Mr Brekker, I want you to think for a moment about what I’m telling you: Men who can walk through walls. No vault or fortress will ever be safe again. People who can make gold from lead - or anything else for that matter - who can alter the very material of the world. Financial markets will be thrown into chaos, the world economy would collapse.

KAZZ: Very exciting. What is it you want from me, Van Eck? To steal a shipment? The formula?

VAN ECK: No. I want you to steal the man.

KAZ: Kidnap Bo Yul-Bayur?

VAN ECK: Save him. A month ago we received a message from Yul-Bayur begging for asylum, he was concerned about his government’s plans for jurda parem, and we agreed to help him defect. We set up a rendez-vous, but there was a skirmish at the drop point.

KAZ: With the Shu?

VAN ECK: With Fjerdans.

[KAZ raises an eyebrow - the Fjerdans must have spies deep in Shu Han or Kerch, or both]

VAN ECK: The diplomatic situation is somewhat delicate, and it is essential that our government not be tied to Yul-Bayur in any way.

KAZ: You have to know he’s probably dead. Fjerdans hate Grisha; there’s no way they’d let knowledge of this drug get out.

VAN ECK: Our sources say he’s very much alive and that he’s awaiting trial.

[VAN ECK clears his throat]

VAN ECK: At the Ice Court.

[KAZ stares at him for a moment, then bursts out laughing]

KAZ: Well, it’s been a pleasure being knocked unconscious and taken caprice by you Van Eck - you can assure your hospitality will be repaid when the time is right. Have one of your lackeys show me to the door.

VAN ECK: We’re prepared to offer you five million kruge.

[KAZ pockets the stadwatch officer’s pistol. He is no longer afraid for his life, but he’s furious to have had his time wasted so tremendously]

KAZ: This may come as a surprise to you, Van Eck, but we canal rats value our lives just as much as you do yours.

VAN ECK: Ten million.

KAZ: There’s no point to a fortune I won’t be alive to spend. Where’s my hat? Did your Tidemaker leave it behind in the alley?

[KAZ begins to walk towards the door and the camera follows behind him]

VAN ECK: Twenty.

[KAZ pauses, and slowly lifts his head - an image mimicking that of season one of Shadow and Bone when he heard the offer of one million kruge. He turns slowly to face VAN ECK]

INEJ voiceover, a reminder of what she told him in Scene Three: Greed is your god, Kaz.

KAZ: Twenty million kruge?

KAz voicover from Scene Three: Greed bows to me. 

[VAN ECK nods, but he doesn’t look happy about having raised the offer so much higher]

KAZ: I’d need to convince a team to walk into a suicide mission - that doesn’t come cheap.

VAN ECK: Twenty million kruge is hardly cheap.

KAZ: The Ice Court has never been breached. 

VAN ECK: That’s why we need you, Mr Brekker. It’s possible Bo Yul-Bayur is already dead, or that he’s given up his secrets to Fjerdans, but we think we have at least a little time to act before jurda parem is put into play. 

KAZ: If the Shu have the formula-

VAN ECK: Yul-Bayur claimed he’d managed to keep the specifics secret - we believe they’re limiting from whatever limited supply he left behind. 

[KAZ has already started thinking about the job, and who he’ll need on his team - and what he’ll be able to do with the money. He pauses, and frowns]

KAZ: Why me? Why the Dregs? There are more experienced crews out there.

[MIKA has a sudden coughing fit, and VAN ECK helps him into a chai and offers him his handkerchief. He snaps his fingers at one of the guards]

VAN ECK: Some water

[The guard exits]

[indigovigilance]

Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the Bookshop

Credit to @flameraven for scripts

Read on Ao3 at: Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the Bookshop (1702 words) by indigovigilance Summary: The rules regarding who may enter the bookshop, and who may give others permission to enter the bookshop, are revealed by events rather than exposition. Parallel themes surround the Bentley. In this meta I generate a theory of sovereignty and citizenship as it pertains to the Bookshop, and what that implies about a statement Crowley makes and Aziraphale's final decision in S2E6.

What actually is the Bookshop?

First, Aziraphale explains to Crowley:

S2E5: AZIRAPHALE: We're perfectly safe in here. Technically, this bookshop still counts as an Embassy.

But then, speaking to Shax, Aziraphale further defines the bookshop:

AZIRAPHALE: Out of the question. Might I remind you, that this bookshop is technically an independent embassy. Being a former outpost of Heaven, and as such…

Which doesn't actually make any sense.

An embassy, by definition, is a satellite of another larger nation. It is usually the residence of an ambassador, and is considered the "soil" and jurisdiction of the home country, regardless of where it is in the world: "An embassy is considered “foreign soil,” meaning that it operates under the jurisdiction and laws of the home country, not the host country (the country where the embassy is physically located)." [ext source]

So an embassy, by its basic definition, cannot be independent. It's an oxymoron. I'll interpret this to mean that the Bookshop constitutes its own nationstate (and that Aziraphale just doesn't say it that way because he's a funky little guy).

Bookshop: A Sovereign Nation of Two

There has been extensive discussion about why Crowley seems never to have told Aziraphale that he was living in his car, and why, if/when Aziraphale figured it out, he didn't say anything about it. (I wrote a meta discussing how we know that Aziraphale knows by the beginning of S2E4 that Crowley is living in his car. Additionally, in S2E6, Aziraphale doesn't seem to look particularly surprised when Crowley announces to the room that he's tired of living in his car; you can interpret this as being distracted and phased out but I don't think Aziraphale is ever so dissociated that he would miss a statement like that and simply not react. So by then, he certainly knows.)

I posit that Crowley did not ask to move in and would have refused to do so even if offered for one very simple reason: moving in would have made him a citizen of Bookshop, and therefore a point of vulnerability for Aziraphale. Because as he explains to Shax in S2E3, he can't technically invite her in:

SHAX: if you won't let me in… CROWLEY: Not technically something I can do.

Of course, Crowley is a demon: he could be lying. But let's take the statement at face value, since Shax, also a demon, who seems reasonably familiar with the rules of entry, doesn't question it. So Crowley, by never establishing citizenship, ensures that he can never be coerced or tricked into letting anyone into the Bookshop. He maintains his foreign entity status on purpose to protect Aziraphale.

One more note, in passing: Crowley stays at the shop in S2E3 and S2E4, but he has been charged by Aziraphale to "mind the bookshop, and Gabriel." His role is more akin to a house-sitter than a houseguest. He's there on work visa, and it does not establish citizenship.

So Crowley isn't a citizen of Bookshop. But someone other than Aziraphale is.

S2E1: MAGGIE: I can be out of here in two weeks. AZIRAPHALE: Out of here? Why? Don't you like it anymore? MAGGIE: Oh, Mr. Fell, I love this shop! I've loved it since I was a baby. But I know how behind I am on rent. (…) MAGGIE: You can't just forgive me eight months' rent. AZIRAPHALE: Oh, I can. I'm very good at forgiveness. It's one of my favorite things. Now, you have paid your rent, I have my music, and I know exactly what I'll be doing for the next 21 minutes. [he giggles and leaves] (creepiest most disturbing giggle in all of cinematic history BUT ANYWAYS)

We've established that Maggie not only is a tenant of land owned by Aziraphale, but that her accounts are all paid up. Her citizenship (or at least, permanent residency) is secure. If simply renting out the space wasn't enough, we learn that she is a fourth-generation resident of the space owned by Aziraphale, which started inside the bookshop itself, and so Maggie may have been born into citizenship. Either way, the consequences of this arise in S2E6:

AZIRAPHALE: Maggie, what just happened? MAGGIE: I… I think I might have just told them they could come in.

Crowley can't tell demons that they can come in. But Maggie can. My explanation for this is because she actually lives (and is up on her rent) in a territory of the nation of Bookshop. It could be posed that Maggie can invite demons in because she is a guest of the ball, and so this is a temporary power, but Crowley was a "guest"/house-sitter and didn't have this power, so I reject this explanation and affirm it as a citizenship/residency power.

The Metatron's Offer

At time of writing, the fandom has spent two months trying to figure out why Metatron offered Aziraphale the job of Supreme Archangel. Was it to get him back into Heaven where he can keep a closer eye on him? Was it to get him away from Crowley? Did Metatron realize that he is a wellspring of power and wants to tap into it for nefarious purpose?

I'm going to propose a different, much simpler reason: he needed to get Aziraphale out of the bookshop. To explain that, we look to a line that Crowley delivers during the Conversation:

CROWLEY: I mean, if Gabriel and Beelzebub can do it, go off together, then we can. Just the two of us. We don't need Heaven, we don't need Hell, they're toxic. We need to get away from them, just be an us. You and me, what do you say? AZIRAPHALE: Come with me… to Heaven. I'll run it, you can be my second in command. We can make a difference. CROWLEY: You can't leave this bookshop.

Hang on, didn't Crowley just say that they should run off together? Why is he now saying that he can't leave the bookshop? These statements seem contradictory, but through the lens of sovereignty, they're not. You see, if Aziraphale goes off to Alpha Centauri without rejoining Heaven, the Bookshop still belongs to him and constitutes the sovereign nation over which he rules. It is the anchor and touchstone of his independent status. What ever new residence they establish will, in turn, be an embassy of that "independent embassy." The Bookshop then (I hypothesize, and posit that Crowley does too) grants Aziraphale protection from Heaven and Hell no matter where he is in the universe.

A Brief Aside on the Mechanics of Satellites

We have some evidence that Bookshop rules extend to wherever Aziraphale happens to be "residing," in that when Aziraphale borrows Crowley's car, Shax must trick him into giving him permission to enter (S2E4):

HITCHHIKER: I'm so sorry, can you be an angel and give me a lift? Only m-my car's broken down and my phone's dead. Just to the next town, there's a garage there. AZIRAPHALE: Oh… yes, well… I suppose you better climb in, then.

Thus establishing that, theoretically, Crowley and Aziraphale could "go off together" and still have the protection of the Bookshop.

The Consequences of Aziraphale's Final Decision

Crowley tells Aziraphale that he cannot leave the bookshop, but then we know that Aziraphale takes the job and ascends to Heaven. Metatron looks extremely relieved. No sooner do they ascend than Muriel enters the bookshop, where we know Metatron has placed them. Let's take this point by point.

The Bookshop is no longer a sovereign nation

By rejoining Heaven, Aziraphale has reclaimed his citizenship as an angel of Heaven. I'm going to go ahead and say (for sake of argument and because it is thematically consistent) that Heaven does not honor duel citizenship. Therefore, Aziraphale has given up his citizenship of Bookshop, but as it still belongs to him, it is now territory subject to the jurisdiction of Heaven. Muriel has been placed there as a representative of Heaven. Having been (we can surmise) the only "independent embassy" in existence where both angels and demons had to ask permission to enter, it is once again a good and proper embassy of Heaven.

This is important because now, neither Aziraphale nor Crowley have any place to go that is protected from both Heaven and Hell.

Muriel has unfettered access to Aziraphale's collection of books

My very simplistic theory for why Metatron went to so much trouble to get Aziraphale to cede control of the Bookshop is that he needs access to his collection of books. Specifically, he needs a certain Scrivener who enjoys reading to set up camp there and peruse every single book. This is because he is looking for something.

Gabriel left Heaven with a large box; he arrived at the Bookshop with an empty box. We can punt around all sorts of possible reasons but let's say, for sake of conjecture, that Gabriel stole the Book of Life on his way out to protect himself and Beelzebub from erasure. We don't know where the Book is now, but Metatron (who doesn't know the box was empty) has good reason to believe that the Book of Life is somewhere in the bookshop. But it's too dangerous to admit that they've lost track of it, so the best way to find a Book in a bookshop is to get the owner out of there, install an avid reader as steward, and wait patiently.

Other consequences of this theory of citizenship

We are given to believe that Crowley and Aziraphale are both outcasts of Hell and Heaven, respectively, yet Aziraphale seems to be the only one of them that benefits from the protections of independence. We could say that it is because Aziraphale owns land, and so that allows him to establish a nationstate, whereas the Bentley does not, but since Aziraphale brings the protections of independence with him when he borrows the Bentley, that seems flimsy. I find it more likely that in S3 we're going to learn something about Crowley that explains why he lacks these protections, and if I dare to make conjecture, it will be the subject of another meta.

I didn't get around to a discussion of the consequences of Aziraphale throwing his halo and "declaring war," or that war declaration being maybe-cancelled by Crowley; suffice to say, that may again be it's own meta.

~~~

If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy: Honolulu Roast: the story of a coup

another meta on the topic of ownership re the Bentley by @ineffable-endearments can be found here.

~~~

edit: I was reminded by @rekishi-aka to note that in S1, Gabriel and Sandolphon walk right in, because at that time the bookshop is an embassy of Heaven. For all of S2 except the final 30 minutes, celestials all have to ask permission to enter, including Michael, Uriel, Saraqael, and Muriel, because the Bookshop is independent. After Aziraphale throws his halo, celestials just appear inside the Bookshop: by declaring war, Aziraphale has relinquished his protection. It's unclear whether it would have been reestablished by Crowley cancelling the war, but it's a moot point because then Aziraphale agrees to become the Supreme Archangel.

[jealousmartini]

Stupid rant about when I made this post

when I was thinking of the pillow fights, I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I was strictly thinking of bts🚶🏾‍♀️like YEAH OBVIOUSLY WITH MY OWN GANG TOO BUT.. cmon

I MEAN. WHAT CAN I SAY. IF I COULD HAVE ANY KIND OF PLATONICAL INTERACTION WITH BTS I WILL NOT BE CHOOSING A LAME ASS SUBTLE ONE.

I WANT PILLOW WARS. I NEED TO SEE THOSE ARMS FLEX💪🏼💪🏼

PLEASE JUST LOOK AT THEM BEFORE YOU SPEAK TO ME

And I do NOT CARE what anyone says right now because maybe you've figured me out. Maybe you've figured out I am an attention wh🤭re. Maybe you've noticed I am in fact touch starved. Or maybe you've just had the most bewildering realisation that "Oh my God. SHE REALLY IS JUST A HORNY ASS MAN HUNGRY BITCH!!😨😱 WHO THE HELL TOLD THIS WOMAN ABOUT SHIFTING" and to that I say, if you were given this chance this opportunity that only comes around once and only to the lucky ones, would you waste it on generic classic realities just to look Holy and innocent to the Internet? Really😐.

Cus I'll tell you one thing I can't stand the most are DISHONEST HYPOCRITIAL PICK ME SHIFTERS. Like tell me what the purpose of criticising other shifters for seeking out their wildest and strangest desires was. To make you look good? To make people think "oh yeah you tell em girl. Shifting for the sole intention of having a pillow fight with 7 godly gorgeous beefy men is ridiculous." "I bet she scripted being the most targeted one too just so she could have the most attention, what a pick me" YEAH I DID. AND WHAT ABOUT IT LMAO🤣🤣

Cus everyone in this room who has been a shifter for more than 10 days, knows that everyshifter has their secrets. So do YOU babe. I know you have your sick fantasies too don't fucking lie.

(Btw I am fighting with my own thoughts here, literally no one said any of those quotes but myself lol)

@livingmydreamlife5555 @theshifterbear @4ellieluv @cocozydiaries

[blissents]

Devlog #1

Hi hi! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I don't really post often, but I told myself that starting in 2024, I wanted to share what I've been working on! I'm a solo game dev who has been developing a game called Visionaries. It's a romance visual novel that explores grief and loss.

༺✧ STORY ✧༻

"Visionaries": Special individuals with the ability to look into the past. There are a select handful of Visionaries who can also see into the future.

"What happens after we die?" The age-old question with no definitive answer. Many have constructed their own complex theories and stories to try and explain this mystery.

~~~~~

Explore the world of Visionaries as you wake up in an unfamiliar room, unable to speak and move. You're faced with unusual people (who tend to bicker any opportunity they get) only to later discover that they are your assigned Visionaries. These Visionaries have only one task; they intend on looking into your memories.

What is the purpose of Visionaries existing, and why do they insist on looking into your mind?

If you want to read more about the progress I've made on Visionaries, please continue reading below the cut! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

༺✧ ART ✧༻

Most of my time has been spent working on the art! (I can't feel my hand) My main focus is to finish drawing all of the character sprites as well as finish rendering the backgrounds. I've already come up with all the designs and expressions for the characters, they just need to be rendered :,)

I still need to create their little character info sheets (I have no idea what the word is, haha), where you'll learn their names, ages, and all of that fun stuff ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Below are some of the sprites :-)

The first two are fully rendered, while the other three need to be finished :,)

As for backgrounds, I have 1 that is fully rendered and 3 that still need to be finished! I'll only be sharing 3/4 today since I'm unsure if I'll be including the one background in the demo.

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit when drawing the backgrounds D: There were a lot of things I envisioned, but unfortunately, I didn't know how to fully portray them. I had some trial and error while coming up with the original designs. That being said, I'm glad I was able to come up with something I felt satisfied with! I'm planning for the rest of the backgrounds to follow the red/brown colored theme as seen in the first photo ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Of course, there will be more backgrounds than the ones I'm currently showing! I already have some ideas/drafts for those, but they might change depending on the way the story plays out.

༺✧ WRITING ✧༻

So far, I've planned for the demo to have a little less than 9k words. I'm unsure if I'll keep it at 9k words, or if I'll expand it some more so that there will be more content in the demo :-) We'll see!

As for the overall game, there will be at least 2 routes. There will also be 2 romanceable options (one being he/him, the other being she/they). I'm still figuring out how I want to script all of this, so these aspects may change in the future!

The game will also have options where you can choose your pronouns and name!

Here's a small snippet of the script!

I wanted to show the dynamic between two of the characters :-)

༺✧ OTHER ✧༻

Besides writing and coding, I've been coming up with some ideas for the GUI! I don't have any current drafts of that to share, but I'll hopefully include them in a future devlog ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I also have plans on creating the cover art for the game, cgs, more backgrounds, and possibly some promotional art (rip my hand, there's so much I need to draw (╥_╥))

I was thinking about composing the music for the game, but I realized I know absolutely nothing about music and wouldn't even know where to start if I had tried :,) So instead, I've compiled a list of some soundtracks and sound effects I might use! Hopefully, I can share that in the future once I've narrowed down which soundtracks I know I'll be using.

༺✧ CONCLUSION ✧༻

My overall goal is to release the demo sometime during this year! Because I'm doing everything myself (art, script, writing, etc.), it might take me a bit longer to get everything done. My apologies for that! (╥_╥)

Besides that, I really just want to start creating and sharing more of my art. Getting over the mental hurdle of being afraid to show my work is honestly pretty terrifying for me. I normally only share the things I create with close friends, but I think it's time to get over this fear of mine! ᕦ(ò_ó)ᕤ

I was able to make significant progress within these past few weeks since I'm currently on my winter break. Classes start back up soon, though, and I'm going to be internship-hunting as well as planning on a big move. I'm still going to try my best to juggle everything so that I can make even more progress on the game! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

At the end of the day, all of this is a fun little project I've always wanted to do. As a little kid, I absolutely loved playing VNs (and I still do!). Creating my own game felt like an unreachable goal, but with enough effort, I think it's something obtainable ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I really just want to create something that others can enjoy!

As a side note, I have some plans to create a little blog (not even sure if it's considered a blog, haha) about the games I've played/want to play! That will be coming very soon!

Thank you to anyone who read this far! You have my eternal gratitude <3

~ bliss ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

[toonifiedchaos]

Eyeless Jack Rewrite

Original By Azelf5000

Rewritten By Drb (No tumblr account) & NathanH (toonifiedchaos)

Quick notice - NathanH.

We are both fairly inexperienced writers and this is our first time doing an ambitious project like this together, and so we hope you can help us by giving criticism. We plan to bring much more to you all, and do our best to improve with the information you give us along the way. In other words don't expect this to meet demand please we're complete normies. With all that out of the way we hope you enjoy this story.

Drb Chapter 1 - Prelude

I don't know why I'm forced to write in this stupid book my mother gave me, but since the death of my sister and that horrendous car crash that my mother can't seem to move on from, she's been trying to make us feel better or give us some sort of emotional place where we can just be ourselves. Frankly, I don't see the purpose of writing here, but I'll do it for the sake of her. I don't really know what to write in a journal, but I guess I'll just start off with who I am.

My name is Mitch. It is February 1992, in my opinion, the greatest time to be alive. My brother is Edwin, my father's name is Lucas, and my mother is Elizabeth. And then there was my sister, who sadly has passed on from this world, her name was Erica. I don't know the specifics on how she died. Mom didn't tell me the details, but all we know is it was a really bad car accident, something to do with swerving. All I can say is that mother hasn't been the same since she lost her first. We all miss Erica, but that's beside the point.

Me and my brother Edwin have been recently trying out making some home movies. We don't have any ideas yet, but hopefully, we'll get something soon, something inspirational. I can feel it. He had an idea, something about Sci-Fi. I don't like that idea. Or some sort of Horror, and I like that one. But we're still trying to figure out what's going to be everything. Or maybe a fantasy. I don't know exactly what we're going to do, but we'll find something eventually we like. 

I just wonder now how I end a journal entry.

Today is a pretty good day. Mother and Father went out to get some takeout since Mom didn't feel like cooking, with everything and all. We had pizza; it was pretty good. While we were eating, my brother had a pretty good idea. He decided to start the process of actually writing a script. When I asked him what it was going to be about, he said it was going to be like some horror flick. He didn't know exactly what it would be about. I questioned him about how he was writing a script without knowing what everything was. All he did was look at me and say, "I'll figure it out."

It's 1:30 in the afternoon. Nothing new, but we are coming up with ideas, writing stuff down about ancient monsters and beings. We haven't really settled on a topic for our movie yet. It's going to be a horror one, and I'm pretty excited to make it with him. He's been feeling strange, or not really strange, just sad since the loss of our family member. We weren't close, but it's still sad.

This is my third day writing in this journal, and I'm kind of starting to warm up to it. We finally came up with a pretty good idea for our movie. It's about this cult. We don't know what they're going to wear exactly, but at least we have an idea down for once. We don't know what the cult is doing right now; we're just figuring out characters. But I'm hoping that it's going to be really cool. 

To be honest, I'm starting to warm up to the idea of a horror flick. I was hoping we could do something different, but I kind of want to now. It's that weird feeling where you don't want to do something, and then you just warm up to it over time.

Day Four: I really think I'm starting to get the hang of writing these journal entries. I think I'm going to try to list the days from now on, like Day One, Day Two, and so on. But that's beside the point.

Today, we came up with how the cult is going to look. I was thinking about some robes, maybe like the Spanish Inquisition, so we settled on a cult with blue masks of some sort and long black robes. They look a lot like the ones plague doctors had but not exactly. They're a bit different and not made of leather—maybe some sort of heavy wool material. I think I can just spray paint Mother's shower robe for the movie, but I'll have to ask for her permission and get the spray paint. Not sure where to find it, but I could probably ask Dad.

Everything's been looking up for us. Life has been actually good.

Today, Mom and Dad got into an argument. They were yelling at each other. I don't know; I didn't hear the full thing, but all I caught from the top of the stairs was that they were blaming each other for the death of my sister. Mom was yelling at him, saying if only he hadn't gotten her a car. Dad yelled back, saying if only she didn't let her go out that night to have fun. 

But all I thought was, how is this supposed to change our lives? At some point, I heard something—maybe Mom slapped Dad or hit him in some way. Dad left the house, not in a hurry, but walking out slowly before glaring at me. I quickly scrambled back up the stairs, almost tripping but getting back up quickly. He had a sad look in his eye—like guilt, sadness, and blame. I don't know how to describe it, but I feel bad for him, you know?

Oh, I almost forgot to write down the day: Day Five.

Nothing new today. Oh, I almost forgot it again—today is Day 6 of writing. Aside from that, nothing new. Dad still hasn't come back. I was a bit worried, so I asked Mom where he went. Mom said he was going to talk to his mom, so that means he's at Grandma's right now. I don't know exactly why—maybe he's dealing with something.

I asked Mom, "Will he be coming back anytime soon?"

"I don't know, honey. Hopefully," she replied.

Later that night, Dad came back. They had some heated discussion in the kitchen, but everything's okay now, thankfully. For food today, we had mac and cheese. It wasn't bad—Dad cooked, and I liked it.

Me and my brother did a bit more brainstorming too. We still haven't come up with anything, you know, good in my opinion, but we're getting there eventually.

Day Seven: Sometimes I feel like everyone in the house is distraught apart from me and my brother. The house feels not empty but dead since she left. Dad is sulking around on the couch most of the time. Mom is in the kitchen or anywhere else, God knows. Me and my brother are usually in our rooms, though he's in mine sometimes.

Despite everything, we have really good ideas we're coming up with. So far, we don't know what the cult is doing, but at least we know what the cult looks like. In my opinion, that's a big step up. In my brother's opinion, he just says it's a minor imperfection. I always kept asking, "What do you mean by that?" He always just said, "Well, some things can't be perfect in life, so we just got to work with what we're given." I like my brother; he has really good advice.

Today was the funeral. Since then, he hasn't been the same. No, he's the same person, of course, he's just a lot more depressed. He sulks a lot more than usual. He's been trying to go back to his old self; it's kind of hard, though. Mom and Dad are just distraught, and I don't know how to help them. I wish I could. I wish I had my sister back.

Drb Chapter 2 - Supernatural Conflict

I finally think I have a grasp or an understanding of how to properly write a journal. Since the last time I wrote here, nothing strange has happened, but we've actually started trying to find ways to make the costumes. My brother actually found an old robe. It was already black, so it was in the exact mentality we needed, but it wasn't the exact darkness we needed. It was a bit too light.

Oh, I forgot again—today is day 8. I have to remind myself to do this more often. It feels nice to write here. My brother has been a bit sadder than usual, but still, he's holding high spirits the best he can, the best all of us can since the loss of my sister.

But aside from that, everything has been going well. Dad got a raise at his job. Mom has been feeling better. In fact, she actually cooked yesterday. She made stir-fry pasta or noodles. I liked it. My brother didn't like it; he didn't like the vegetable part, to be specific. But aside from that, everything's been going perfectly normal.

Today was a pretty good day. My dad bought some spray paint, and we went outside and spray-painted the coat. Dad's actually in support of our idea. He's a lot more lively than usual. I'm really happy to see him as his old self. Mom is also becoming better. She's a lot happier than usual. She's not energetic, but she actually has a genuine smile of happiness once in a while, and I'm happy to see that.

Everything is actually going back to normal, except for a couple of things. It's probably nothing—probably just the tree branches against my window or just seeing things in the dark. The brain does that once in a while. But I've been seeing these shadows sometimes. It's probably just my brother going downstairs to get water, but it still has me a bit on edge.

I did it again. I almost forgot to add what day it was—day 9. I'm about to go to bed. Hopefully, nothing strange happens. I'm still a bit nervous, but it's not that bad.

Day 10: Today we finally got the costume done. I'm really happy with it. The mask is exactly how we envisioned it—a blue, oval-shaped mask with two eyes and no mouth. The black robe is finally done and dried. It fits perfectly with the hood on. My favorite part is when you put the hands together; it looks like they're connected. I took that inspiration from the Spanish Inquisition, or as my brother would say, it's not special; it's just an average cult thing. I tried to convince him, but he didn't really care. Well, at this point, I don't really care either. At least we have something we're working on.

But something has been going on. Once in a while, I hear things—like very light footsteps and sometimes, not scratching, but like someone's putting their hand on the wall and walking very slowly. As well, lights sometimes turn on and off, and doors sometimes creak slowly open and creak slowly shut. Sometimes they swing open and stay open, and then maybe an hour or sometime later, they just shut. But it's never the same door. It's always a new or different thing.

Day 11: The electrician has come by to check out the lights, but he says nothing is wrong with them. The doors, he can't explain that. To be honest, I don't really know what's happening. I thought it could be the wind pushing the doors open, but the doors closing—I don't know about that. That, to me, is extremely strange.

We've actually started recording the movie today. I'm pretty excited. We've just started recording a couple of scenes, but aside from that, we haven't really filmed much. We've planned out the script though, and we have it fully done and ready. We're planning on recording more soon. We're playing the scenes out sometimes, but we haven't got the film yet because the battery for the camera is dead and it's still charging. It takes a little while—I don't know why it takes so long. Maybe the lights turning off and on is affecting the power. We'll have to call the electrician back.

We found out that a small mouse was chewing through the power lines. That's why the lights are flickering. But the strangest thing is, even after fixing them, the camera could charge but the lights still flicker, the doors still shut, and I'm starting to get really scared that there's something here. It's probably nothing—just my suspicion taking over. My parents keep telling me it's probably just my imagination. "Nothing to worry about, kiddo," my dad tells me. "Stop joking around," says my mother every time I bring any of this stuff up. 

The strangest thing is, when nobody's home, this still happens. My brother and I were home one time while our parents went out to get groceries, and the doors shut, sometimes they creak open and creak shut. They shut loudly and close even quieter sometimes. The same for the lights—they still flicker. We sometimes check the attic to see if there are any mice chewing on wires. Nothing. At least the camera's charged though—that I'm excited for.

Day 11 (continued): I'm really excited to start recording soon. I'll probably start recording tomorrow. I don't feel like it today since it's already getting late, but I can hear something in the corner of the house. I can barely hear it, like someone's hand being dragged against the wall. Not scratching with nails, but a very light hand against it.

You can also hear very faint footsteps. They're very hard to hear, but if you listen patiently and quietly, you'll hear them, as well as light switches being turned on and off. It's like someone is playing with them for fun—flicking them on for a little while, then off, then rapidly flicking them on and off, and then leaving them alone. The same for doors opening. Sometimes the stairs squeak like a mouse being stepped on. I don't know what's happening, but hopefully soon we'll start filming.

I think my mom is right, and so is my father. This is all just my imagination.

Day 12: Recently, I went back up to the attic to check what was going on, and I found something pretty interesting. There were small scratches around the outside of the attic window. It's a pretty big circular window. Something a bit more unnerving that I found is at the top there's a latch opening. When I opened the latch, I realized I could stick my head through it, and there was actually space for me to crawl out.

But there's nothing to hold on to or step onto. It's a risk, and I don't think anyone could crawl up from the bottom all the way to the third floor. It's a strange discovery, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I hope it's just the wind or something natural causing those scratches.

Tomorrow, I'll focus on the movie again and try to put this strange feeling aside.

NathanH. Chapter 3 - First Contact

[Recording start]

“Alright, I’m recording this because in the past few days some… pretty weird shit has happened. This was such a mistake, WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE CAME HERE!”

[Brief silence as Mitch adjusts the position of the camera, showing he’s still in his hospital bed]

“Okay so I’m still in the hospital

“Okay, so I was trying to go to sleep about 4.. 5..? Nights ago and things were pretty normal, up until I woke up to the sudden crashing of glass in the attic, obviously I started freaking the fuck out, only to find out I couldn’t move. It was like an invisible force was holding me down, looking back on it I think it was sleep paralysis, but that isn’t what matters.”

[Mitch begins to visibly shiver despite the notably warm weather]

“What matters is what happened next. I saw something that night, all my fears, all my paranoia.. Was confirmed in the span of mere minutes as someone.. Or something carefully moved down the stairs from the attic and began to move towards my room”

[Mitch’s composure at this point breaks and he starts sobbing as he recounts what he saw]

“My door slowly creaked open, the squeaking of the old hinges sounding like the squeal of a dying pig. And that's when I saw it, an impossibly long and gaunt arm with tight, charcoal black skin that looked like it would begin to split at the seams at any second reached through the door, its fingers twisting the wrong way to wrap around the frame and clumsily push the door open”

“That's when I saw a familiar set of black fabric. It was wearing the robes from our costume and as its long crooked body that nearly touched the hallway ceiling hunched down to slide through the door I saw my homemade mask strapped over its face, the eyes looked like black holes and a clear, thick substance leaked from the eyeholes.. Almost like saliva from a hungry animal”

[Mitch takes a second to let his emotions out, sobbing and hyperventilating]

“That fucking abomination stood over my bed staring me down with NO EYES IN ITS SOCKETS, it hunched over again nearly on all fours, and I made the worst mistake I could have made… I DISMISSED THAT DEMON AS A HALLUCINATION, I was in the midst of sleep paralysis so it seemed like the logical conclusion, JUST A MANIFESTATION OF MY PARANOIA RIGHT?!?!”

“As the figure lingered closer my eyes closed, and past that everything became a blur… GOD I was such a fool..”

[As Mitch’s anger and terror boils up to the surface his voice raises, shouting and screaming before dropping to depressive wails and muffled words as he covers his face]

*sniff* “I woke up in the HOSPITAL, I was confused obviously but my mother told me that I had screamed in the middle of the night and when they were rushing up to check I weakly shambled into their room with a blister on my left cheek and a gaping patch of torn off skin and flesh on my abdomen rambling about the man in my room. My dad checked the bedroom, finding nothing but unnaturally large, three-toed animal-like footprints leading to my bedroom window which had its latches used to lock the window torn right off.” *sniff* “My mom called 911 as my dad found this and tried to prevent me from moving around in order to not risk more blood loss and by some MIRACLE they were able to get me to the hospital. If they were even a few seconds later I probably would have died. I was in a seriously critical condition, virtually dead… And yet I’m here recording this.”

[Mitch after letting out all this seems to calm down just a little]

“But you wanna know the most disturbing and baffling part of ALL of this, when the doctors were performing the operation they found something baffling. MY KIDNEY WAS CRUDELY REMOVED! Because of that as well as the accounts of my parents the police are getting involved meaning I probably can’t say much more than I already have. When I heard that my world flipped completely, I had so many more questions than I had before now. Why me? Why take my kidney of all things? Is any of this even real?’

“Well I’m probably gonna end this here, as I said before the police are involved in the case and there is currently an ongoing search, since I was in the hospital for quite some time to recover the investigation is nearly over, and my condition is mostly stable so tomorrow I can leave the hospital, I can lay down in my own house again… Talk to my brother again.. But I'm beginning to wonder if that's even a good thing, the police will be patrolling the area though, so I have some reassurance that I’ll be safe once I return… Let’s hope I’m not proven wrong.. My family is really worried about me.. I don’t think I’ve seen them this depressed or paranoid since we were informed about the… accident where my sister died…. I wish you were here Erica *sob* You were always the smart one.. You would know what to do ....”

[Mitch speaks his final statement through sobs and clenched teeth]

“I’m gonna try to sleep now, I can’t wait to see my family again… God give me strength in my time of need”

[Recording end]

NathanH. Chapter 4 - Second Coming

[Recording start]

“I’m so… so sorry Edwin *uncontrollable sobbing* I wish I could have saved you.”

[Mitch sits down at his desk, adjusting the camcorder position sloppily with jerky, forced movements]

“I- I need to document what happened, the world NEEDS to know what happened to Edwin. I woke up again a few nights ago, and I saw THE DAMNED THING AGAIN.. It CRAWLED through my open window like a contortionist bending and twisting to fit the unnecessarily small window..”

“I couldn’t do anything. All I could do was watch in paralyzing fear as it slowly got up, its bones audibly cracking and relocating as it stood up once more and the thing crawled closer to me.. I snapped, with a quick motion I reeled my legs back and sprung them into the demon's jaw. That was a mistake, its neck broke and the mask flew off but it was still alive and with one motion its neck clicked back into place like the final gear being put into a giant clockwork abomination and that's when I SAW IT’S FACE!”

[Mitch holds back tears once more, shaking violently like someone beginning to experience shellshock]

“IT’S FACE WAS HORRIBLE. IT HAD NO EYES, NO NOSE, NO EARS, JUST AN ALL ENCOMPASSING MAW WITH A LONG SERPENT'S TONGUE AND ROTATING GUMS WITH SHARP RAZOR BLADE-ESK TEETH, My comparison was more accurate than I had previously thought.. THE LIQUID DRIPPING FROM THE EYE SOCKETS WAS SALIVA”

“The creature let out the most ear-grating, horrible screech I had ever heard, hushed and quiet like a thousand goats and pigs being dissected while alive! IT WAS LIKE A CAT DRAGGING ITS CLAWS AGAINST A CHALKBOARD”

[Mitch collapses with his face down on his desk for a minute or two straight sobbing and quivering, before raising his head once more to continue his recounting of that night, that he had tried so hard to forget. The day he lost his most precious family member, an only child now and uncertain it won’t just come back for him and kill him someday]

“It slashed at me violently but I managed to dodge it by accident fumbling out of my bed, in frustration it grabbed my mask and donned it once more before running away a strange squishy object coated in a soft white cloth mixed with poor quality mesh like hastily crafted bandages from someone who's only ever seen one but never looked into how it actually works or what its made of. The saliva coated the object.”

“I tried to run after it, I RAN AS FAST AS MY SHAKING LEGS WOULD ALLOW but the hallway seemed so much longer than before, when I got there it was already too late, I was staring at a broken window as my mom and dad ran up behind me, screaming and wailing at the horrible sight, the same wailing I heard all night after my sisters death.. I'm so, So sorry, Edwin.. Please god forgive me”

After wailing and running through the staircase, I found a small spatter of blood on the door handle of my brother's room. I was taken aback. As I slowly turned, looking down the hall and then down the stairs following a trail of red specks staining the carpet, I saw him at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like he had been dragged from his bed. He was bloody and mangled. I couldn't even tell it was my brother, except for his pajamas. He was so mangled and bloody, like a sponge that hasn't cleaned for a while. As I sat there, staring at my brother's mangled corpse, I stood there in fear, shock, and awe at what creature could do this.

The one thing that was left, the one thing I held most dear apart from my parents, was my brother. I could feel tears swell up underneath my eyes as I slowly and quietly stepped down the steps. As I got there, I collapsed on my knees over his corpse, and my eyes and body went numb. The only things I felt were anger, fear, and pain from that moment. As I turned him over, I couldn't even recognize his face. It was that mangled. I was staring at my own brother's corpse. That monster, that thing, that creature took him from me, and I couldn't do anything about it.

[Mitch clenches his fist and slams it on the table violently as tears continue to violently flow down his cheeks like all the water within the world had manifested within his tear ducts]

“When the police arrived, they didn’t even recognize him. His bones were horrifically broken and dislocated, and his face was mauled to pieces. It looked like someone was lit on fire and then bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer. That creature did all of that. As I thought about it in my head, I felt true terror and fear at what it could do to me, it did all of that within what must have been around 30-45 seconds. And the worst part of it all? There wasn’t a smidge of usable evidence to convict anyone, because it wasn’t someone. It was something.”

“The only evidence we had was saliva and small traces of D.N.A that couldn’t be tied to anyone, there were no fingerprints, I thought we had NOTHING, but then I realized something. I walked back into the hall and showed the police the makeshift bandages arranged almost like a sack. And as they opened it, me and the officers on site nearly vomited.”

“What they had in that sack, was my HALF DEVOURED KIDNEY COVERED IN BLACK SLUDGE AND CLEAR SALIVA, the officers refused the concept of anything supernatural but seeing those teeth marks I saw a look in their eyes, as if they were trying to search for a rational explanation that didn’t fucking exist.”

“I’m sorry for this abrupt ending but I can’t keep this log going, it hurts too much, within a little over a month and a half I HAVE LOST BOTH OF MY SIBLINGS”

[The last of the recording is Mitch's sorrowful screeches as he picks up the camera and shuts it off]

Drb Chapter 5 - Mourning

Day one since the incident

I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to say, think, or feel. I've been traumatized. I was already devastated when my sister died; I was in ruin. But now, seeing my brother's mangled corpse, I don't know what to say. Mom tried to cheer me up by making pizza, and Dad brought a cake, but nothing changed. I ate it, thanked them, and just went to bed. I'm holding his favorite jacket right now. I don't understand why it had to be him. I wish it had been me instead. I wish he were alive and well. I wish they were here with me. I wish I didn’t have to wake up every morning and look at a shadow of myself in the mirror reminding me that my mental state has been slowly deteriorating, and that I will never see them again. Damn that creature. They say they will find it. I’m counting on their word.

Day two

Nothing new or interesting. My parents tried to get me up and out. They took me to the mall. As we walked around, I saw nothing interesting—just the shops we used to visit and the pizza place and arcade my brother loved. I don’t know what to do without him. It was me and him against the world, against the trauma of losing our sister. Now it’s just me. My parents don’t understand what I saw that day. They can’t comprehend or fathom the creature and my dead brother’s mangled body. Mom is taking it surprisingly well, but I know she’s going through a mental crisis. Dad has gone back to drinking. I don’t know what’s going to happen to this family. It seems to be deteriorating day by day.

Life has been quiet and slow since yesterday. Dad has been quiet, and Mom is tense but trying to make us happy. Dad doesn’t laugh or smile; his face is stone-cold. Mom, on the other hand, breaks into tears at any mention of anything. She’s wailing over the loss of a second child. I don’t know what to do, say, or feel. I just want him back. I was so desperate that I almost joined them last night, but I couldn’t do it. I realized he would have wanted me alive, no matter what. Thankfully, I didn’t go through with it. I changed my mind at the last second and threw the knife down. My parents didn’t catch me; it was quiet, but I was still extremely unnerved, paranoid, and broke down in tears until the next morning. My parents found me. I had hidden and cleaned the knife. I felt like I shattered, like a vase or glass hitting the ground. I couldn’t stop crying and begging God to bring him back. God wasn’t merciful; God couldn’t bring him back. I even started to question my faith. How could God let this creature exist? Or maybe it wasn’t God; maybe it was some ancient beast. My brother always loved horror, but at this point, I don’t know what to think. Any thought of him brings me pain. I wonder if God even exists, or why, or for what purpose this creature serves.

Day three

My father has been doing nothing but sitting on the couch, drinking shots. I hear him yell for another beer every couple of hours. Sometimes he comes home late, intoxicated. Mom doesn’t do any of that. She’s been awfully quiet. I can hear her crying in her room sometimes in the middle of the night. I comfort her, and sometimes she catches me crying, and we cry together. It’s a painful but comforting moment. Nothing can change this, though. She keeps telling me everything will be fine, but I wish I could believe her. This has been too much for me to handle, and I can’t imagine how my parents feel, losing a son and a daughter. I hope they get better, especially Mom and Dad. Mom has been feeling a bit better, but she’s not showing her distress like Dad, who’s been drinking. I hope he gets well too. I don’t know what to say. I’m just so tired and distraught. I just want to see my brother again. I’m not going to write as much, but I’ll try to pop in once in a while. Since it hasn’t been the same without him, I’ll miss him. Losing a friend is painful, but losing family is different. It’s turmoil, pain, and sadness all mixed into one big pot of depression.

Sincerely,

Mitch

Drb Chapter 6 - New lead

I was in a beautiful place in Hawaii. The beautiful sunlight, a beautiful beach, "Ommetarka," someone yelled. I could hear it getting louder and louder, like they kept yelling my name over and over. As I awoke, sitting in my old decrepit office, my partner Eremond woke me from my nice dream. There was no beach here; there was an old coffee cup, a couple of cigarettes, and a dead-end job.

"We got another one," he said.

My eyes opened up very slowly and surprised, but in an "another one" type of manner.

"Are you sure? Were they-"

Eremond interrupted, already knowing what Ommetarka was gonna say

"Yes, it's the same case as all the others. One kidney missing and the other half eaten and covered in an oily black sludge."

"But not exactly, this wa-" Eremond started to say.

Not letting Eremond finish, Ommetarka got out of his chair and swiftly made his way out of his office, slamming the door behind him. He started to pick up his pace, running a bit faster now, getting outside, slamming the door to the police car, and driving as fast as he could to the newest location.

When they got there, it was the same thing that they saw for every other victim. Poor kid, he was only 17 and got his face torn to shit and his kidneys eaten. This one wasn't even given the opportunity to survive. Ommetarka knew what Eremond had meant by it being different, this was an outright attack. Whatever happened it made the perpetrator furious.

"Come on, be a little, you know, nicer. They did just lose their son," Eremond said.

"Why can't I be blatant with it?" Ommetarka responded.

"Because we have to be kind. They just lost somebody; it's insensitive," said Eremond.

"Fine, fine. Okay, sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you, but that's beside the point. Do you have any evidence on this guy? Anything, anything at all?" Ommetarka turned to him.

"We haven't had anything on this guy for the longest while and the longest time. How do you think this case could give something new when the light is more scarce than a smile around the workplace?" said Ommetarka.

"Geez, okay," responded Eremond.

As Ommetarka turned to the victim's parents once more, asking them some questions, "Can you tell us anything you know or anything you could have seen or any new information that you may have or any old or anything? It could help."

Jack, the father of the kid, responded, "Yes, actually I did do something. I have a Polaroid camera that I don't use often, but after I saw my phone was dead, I snapped a picture. He was at the door already, but I think he turned around for a second, I don't know."

As Jack handed over the Polaroid camera to Detective Ommetarka, "Hey, can you hold this for me?" He handed the camera over to Detective Eremond. As they thanked Lucas, the father of the victim, and Elizabeth, the mother of the victim, they said their great thanks. Practically only Eremond gave a lot of thanks; Ommetarka stayed silent most of the time and didn't say anything. But they had a lead that they hadn't had in a very, very long time. They in fact needed this. As they both got in the car and started driving away, they did hear one thing that Jack yelled out to them before they drove away, that they could answer.

He yelled at them, "What is this thing called?"

One of the detectives yelled back, "The Phantom Cannibal," in a monotone voice. I keep saying it thousands of times before this Phantom Cannibal that they've been chasing for a long time now has gotten away with countless murders, countless people, ...countless families, friendships, brotherhoods—anything you could really call of value in someone's life—ruined. That person has ruined so many people's lives. He had to be stopped, thought Ommetarka. As they both sat in the car, they wondered what they could do now. Ommetarka had a lot of ideas; he was thinking of the most blatant ones to easily execute this mission. 

Detective Ommetarka was a very sensible man; he was the definition of reasoning, inquiry, logic, speculation, and conjecture put into a man—but also if that man had alcohol problems, smoking problems, and was in general depressed. On the other hand, Detective Eremond was an entirely different person. He was very scared of being alone and he kind of had a little jump in his step, like he was a bit more lively than his partner. In this new case, the clues they needed were fractured into many pieces and hidden within an endless maze of ciphers and dead-ends. 

But back to Eremond, he was not only scared of the dark, he was a man of his word. He kept promises as much as he could, but he executed them even better. He was the type of guy you could trust and count on, being that one guy that everyone else would trust and count on. 

As both detectives got out of the car, finally reaching their newest destination, the photo lab, they registered and gave the photos, hoping that they would come out clean. About a week later, they got the photos back. The first photo was of pure black; nothing could be seen. The second photo was of a hand, but it was all black, maybe they had gloves.

"That helps," said Ommetarka in a sarcastic way. 

But the final third photo—that one was the money shot, because that one showed the killer in full. The photo was taken outside the door, turned back, looking at the camera directly. They saw it: fully black robes and a blue mask.

Eremond cried, "Hey, those robes are like the Spanish Inquisition!" he said enthusiastically. 

"And who the fuck cares about the Spanish Inquisition?" Ommetarka responded. 

"Nevermind, we actually have a shot of our killer. Do you know what this means? We can catch him. And this is why I give the questions and you answer," said Ommetarka.

"And why is that?" said Eremond in a way like a child would when they wouldn't understand or get something. 

"Never mind, it's okay," Ommetarka responded. "So, we actually have a picture of the killer. He's 6'1" if we can estimate by the door frame. We can't guess his weight or his skin color or anything of that sort, but we can guess that he's a guy by the build underneath the cloak and we can also get the exact height. How about this? We will try to set up some interviews."

After agreeing on the interviews, they both managed to find around five people that matched the height. 

"So, is this all we have to work with?"

"Yep, five people. Start sending them in."

The first guy that walked in was a pretty skinny but tall dude.

"The name is Jack, right?" Ommetarka looked up at him and said that with suspicion in his voice and eyes.

"That's me," said Jack in a bit of a nervous voice.

"So, we've checked your criminal record, Jack. You have nothing on here. You don't do anything?"

"Nope," responded Jack. "I don't do anything. I just live my life."

After a few minutes of the interview, they realized they had the wrong guy. Yes, the guy matched the description, but they checked everything—the medicals, the criminal record, they even had a search of his house. Nothing. 

And then the next guy, and the next guy. They didn't find anyone. None of the people they found had a criminal record. One guy was accused of robbing a store; he got 20 bucks out of that. ...countless families, friendships, brotherhoods—anything you could really call of value in someone's life—ruined. That person has ruined so many people's lives. He had to be stopped, thought Ommetarka. As they both sat in the car, they wondered what they could do now. Ommetarka had a lot of ideas; he was thinking of the most blatant ones to easily execute this mission.

Detective Ommetarka was a very sensible man; he was the definition of reasoning, inquiry, logic, speculation, and conjecture put into a man—but also if that man had alcohol problems, smoking problems, and was in general depressed. On the other hand, Detective Eremond was an entirely different person. He was very scared of being alone and he kind of had a little jump in his step, like he was a bit more lively than his partner. In this new key to the case, the key for some reason was broken into many pieces.

But back to Eremond, he was not only scared of the dark, he was a man of his word. He kept promises as much as he could, but he executed them even better. He was the type of guy you could trust and count on, being that one guy that everyone else would trust and count on.

As both detectives got out of the car, finally reaching their newest destination, the photo lab, they registered and gave the photos, hoping that they would come out clean. About a week later, they got the photos back. The first photo was pure black; nothing could be seen. The second photo was of a hand, but it was all black.

"That helps," said Ommetarka in a sarcastic way.

But the final third photo—that one was the money shot because it showed the killer in full. The photo was taken outside the door, with the killer turned back, looking at the camera directly. They saw it: fully black robes and a blue mask.

Eremond cried, "Hey, those robes are like the Spanish Inquisition!" he said enthusiastically.

"And who the fuck cares about the Spanish Inquisition?" Ommetarka responded.

"Never mind, we actually have a shot of our killer. Do you know what this means? We can catch him. And this is why I give the questions and you answer," said Ommetarka.

"And why is that?" said Eremond in a way like a child would when they wouldn't understand or get something.

"Never mind, it's okay," Ommetarka responded. "So, we actually have a picture of the killer. He's 6'1" if we can estimate by the door frame. We can't guess his weight or his skin color or anything of that sort, but we can guess that he's a guy by the build underneath the cloak and we can also get the exact height. How about this? We will try to set up some interviews."

After agreeing on the interviews, they both managed to find around five people that matched the height.

"So, is this all we have to work with?"

"Yep, five people. Start sending them in."

The first guy that walked in was a pretty skinny but tall dude.

"The name is Jack, right?" Ommetarka looked up at him and said that with suspicion in his voice and eyes.

"That's me," said Jack in a bit of a nervous voice.

"So, we've checked your criminal record, Jack. You have nothing on here. You’ve never done anything, correct?"

"Yep," responded Jack. "I’ve never done anythin’ illegal. I just live my life the best I can."

After a few minutes of questioning, they realized they had the wrong guy. Yes, the guy matched the description, but they checked everything—the medical history, the criminal record, they even got a warrant to search his residence. Nothing.

And then the next guy, and the next guy. They didn't find anyone. None of the people they found had a criminal record. One guy was accused of robbing a store; he got 20 bucks out of that. "I don't think that guy was the murderer. Going from stealing $20 from a convenience store to eating people's kidneys and mangling their faces just doesn't click in someone's mind." Then Ommetarka had a flash of inspiration. A genius idea. After telling the last interviewee to get the hell out, he burst out the door and yelled for Eremond.

"Eremond!" yelled Ommetarka. "I have a genius idea."

"What is it?" Eremond responded.

"How about we interview the people who were attacked? Let's interview them," said Ommetarka.

"Genius plan. I'll go set up the interviews," said Eremond.

A couple of minutes later, they had three people who actually decided to show up out of the five. First was a kind of average guy, the second was a girl, and the third was a pretty buff guy.

"Let the first guy in," said Ommetarka.

This scrawny, kind of skinny but not really skinny kid walked in. He looked to be between the ages of 20 and 25. As he sat down, Ommetarka immediately started asking him questions, looking at the folder with his information.

"Josh is the name?"

"Yes, it is, sir," he responded.

"Tell me your story," Ommetarka said.

Josh quickly had a small panic attack, looking around the room and starting to hyperventilate. "Is he here? Is he coming for me?" he asked, starting to yell.

"No, it's okay. Breathe," said Ommetarka. After calming him down, Josh told his story.

"One day, I was out late, and I got home a bit drunk—not a lot, but just a little bit. My brother was home, and I was sleeping. Then I woke up to the sound of his screams. I realized he was dead, mauled up, fucking gone, like he'd been ripped to shreds. But I couldn't move; I couldn't help him. I could hear the screams, and then they stopped. I tried closing my eyes so I couldn't hear him, and when I looked up again, I saw him right above my bed. Blue mask and black robes."

Josh cowered in fear in the corner of the room, backing up. He was about to start having another panic attack before Ommetarka put away the photo. "It's okay. I'm going to catch him. He'll be caught. I promise you'll be safe."

"Really?" said Josh. "Thank you."

As Josh was walking out of the room, he saw a woman sitting there. Josh looked at her, and the woman looked at him. Right before Josh was about to leave, she said, "You saw him too, didn't you?"

Josh stopped. He turned back, saying, "They said they'll catch him. Everything will be fine." And then he left.

The next person that came in was a woman. She was about the same height as the guy before, 5'10" or 5'11". As she sat down, Detective Ommetarka immediately started questioning her. She was more straightforward.

"You want to hear my story?" she said. "Also, by the way, my name is Emily. Here's the story: I was getting a friend from work, and I let them stay over at my house for the night. They were really drunk, and I wouldn't let them go home by themselves, so I let them sleep over for a day. They passed out on the couch immediately. I went up to bed. About five minutes later, I heard their terrified screams. After the police checked, they were mauled to death, but their kidneys were perfectly, somehow surgically, removed."

"Aside from that, though, I saw him too," Emily continued.

Detective Ommetarka interrupted by saying, "Let me guess: blue mask, black robes?"

"Yes, exactly," responded Emily. "Just a question: did the guy from the last interview also lose his kidneys?"

"He lost both," said Ommetarka. "Poor guy. I only lost one."

As the detective sat up, he pondered his next move.

"Son of a bitch," muttered Detective Ommetarka. "Okay, we'll try."

"Thanks," responded Emily.

The last guy was a big, buff man. He was six feet tall and muscular, and somehow his story was the most frightening of them all.

"Donahue?"

"That's me," said the towering man.

"Do you mind telling us your story?"

"Okay," Donahue began. "I got home one day from work late at night. My wife and my two kids were sleeping, and the next second, right before I passed out into bed, I heard my wife screaming. I look to the side of me but I can't move my body, and I just see something tearing into her. I saw it and then it just disappeared. She's dead. I realized it was gone with her kidneys. Then I heard the kids screaming and despite my efforts I couldn't do anything about it. The next morning, they were horrifically slaughtered—all three of them, my wife and my two kids. If you can, please bring that son of a bitch to justice. I want that man's head on my fucking wall," Donahue said, tears in his eyes.

"Thank you. This story will aid us in our search to find this man," said Ommetarka.

After finishing up all the stories from all the victims, they received an emergency phone call. The police said something was happening around 2:00 AM—it was a break-in. Ommetarka immediately thought they might catch the killer.

"Let's get him!" he yelled to the officer. They quickly ran out to the middle of the street, rushed into their car, and bolted out of there as fast as they could, not even stopping to buckle their seatbelts. They started driving and soon made it to the location

NathanH. Chapter 7 - Pursuit

The two detectives defying their original orders rush to the scene before the police to confront The Phantom Cannibal on their own and end up catching the creature in the middle of a dissection of the homeowner viciously ripping the stomach open, the phantom cannibal surprised by the sudden interruption panics and runs off jumping out the window and running deep into the abandoned steel factory

The detectives arrive at the scene and hastily exit their car, rushing up to the front door of the house finding it wide open.

“SHIT! Come on we gotta move” 

Ommetarka muttered trying to urge his partners to pick up their pace while not alerting the potential intruder to their presence.

Ommetarka silently trudges up the stairs of the home, Eremond following behind. As they reach the bedroom door Ommetarka takes a deep breath, noticing that it is slightly ajar.

Ommetarka and Eremond rush into the room drawing their weapons

Eremond begins to shake seeing the sight in front of him, they saw the phantom cannibal hunched on all fours on the edge of the victims bed, making an incision with its unnaturally long claw-like fingers. Ommetarka, who is normally gruff and stoic let out a petrified “What the fuck” as his hands froze in place

The Phantom Cannibals neck twisted 180 degrees like an owl without warning to face the two detectives the loud sound of cracking bone and squelching flesh reverberating through the empty room before letting out this ungodly shriek like a pained demon having its face melted away by hydrochloric acid.

Eremond shaking in fear began to back up while Ommetarka regained his composure and stepped forward raising his gun

“Put your hands up and get down on the ground, you have the right to remain silent. Anything said can and will be used against you in court of la-”

The Phantom cannibal in one quick motion lunged at Ommetarka using one of its claws to slash at his arm causing him to drop the gun before using its other claw to slash at his stomach, but before it can do any more damage Eremond manages to shoot the creature in the chest, causing it to let out another primal screech

Eremond runs up to Ommetarka as the Phantom Cannibal stumbles away and crawls out the window still bleeding

“Ommetarka, are you alright”

Ommetarka gets up, looking at his chest he sees that the slash just went through his coat and only left superficial damage

“Yep, nothing’ serious but we need to go after him”

Eremond seems like he’s about to say something but Ommetarka merely gives him a vague stare but Eremond seems to get the message after a second

“So we’re actually going after him?”

Ommetarka gives a quick affirmative nod and both of them rush down the stairs and out the door, getting into their car and barreling down the road following the visible specks of blood that stick out on the light gray sidewalk

After about 3 minutes of driving they find themselves at an old steel factory that was shutdown in 1968 due to safety and human rights violations

Eremond seems to freeze up looking at the massive facility

“So are we sure it's here?”

Ommetarka gets out of the car and follows small specks of blood leading up to the bashed in door

“There's no way to be sure until we see it but I don’t see anyone else bleeding out in town so it seems like a given, I don’t know why you asked”

Eremond seems to try and make a remark out of frustration but gives up after 10 seconds realizing in hindsight that the question was pretty stupid

“Fair enough, let's just go and catch this freak.”

The two detectives make their way into the old factory turning on their lights and venturing into what could be their last night

NathanH. Chapter 8 - Confrontation

As Ommetarka and Eremond walk through the empty halls and machines they begin to wonder if it ran away already

“Ommetarka don’t look like anyones here, maybe we should just go back and give the information we have”

Ommetarka seems to seethe with rage hotter than any fire could hope to burn

“WE AREN’T LEAVING, *sigh* look we can leave once we’ve searched the whole place, I know you don’t like the dark”

Eremond seems relieved at the prospect of being able to leave soon

“Alright, BUT YOU BETTA KEEP YA WORD”

Ommetarka just lets out a small chuckle as he opens a door to another catwalk, and less than a second later a loud crash reverberates from an indiscernible origin in the factory.

“JESUS!”

Eremond shouted without thinking and Ommetarka takes a second to let out some frustration

“SHUT UP! Wait.. well they know we’re here now.”

Ommetarka draws his gun and looks down to the nearby machines seeing a notable light. It’s molten steel, how it's still molten is anyone's guess but it's still here.. Maybe it was doing something?

“Wait, maybe that means..”

Ommetarka thinks before flicking a nearby switch, and just as he expected one of the empty conveyors roars to life weakly shifting

“So the building is operational, the lights are just dead from years of function. Interesting.”

Behind them they hear a metallic creak, and before they can turn around Eremond screams as he’s thrown several feet across the catwalk

Ommetarka quickly turns around and fires multiple shots, hearing the now all too familiar screeches before he is lifted off the metal grates by his feet and violently slammed into the ground several times before being thrown as well

As Ommetarka weakly tries to get up he doesn’t see Eremond anywhere

“EREMOND WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!”

The only response he gets is the creatures guttural growls of what appears to be irritation  as it holds Ommetarka down and begins to violently claw at his chest

Ommetarka can tell it's waited way too long in its head to do this even if it was only 25 minutes since they’re first encounter it already HATED both Ommetarka and Eremond, and that it revels in every second of it, and as the creature begins to pull at his kidney he sees Eremond fire at the creature a final time hitting it in the back of the head before pushing the creature which had let its guard down into the railing of the catwalk

The creature lets out another growl as it attempts to regain its footing only to find it the railing can’t support its weight, but before it can rectify this mistake and find something else to support itself on the railing collapses causing the creature to fall down and slam its back on the edge of the vat of molten steel and rolling in. The creature screeches and screeches as it burns alive, but Ommetarka isn’t focused on that at all

“Eremond!”

Ommetarka, despite the irritation his partner gives him, seemed happier than ever that he was alright. Eremond gives a casual remark

“Come on Ommetarka, you know better than anyone if there ain’t a body there's a good chance they’re still alive! You're a detective.”

Ommetarka for once walked right into one of Eremond’s cheesy remarks

“Good point, Eremond.. Good point”

Eremond takes a moment helping Ommetarka get to his feet and begins tending to his wounds the best he can so he doesn’t bleed out before professionals arrive.

As the two leave the facility, Eremond helps support Ommetarka so he doesn’t fall over. Ommetarka calls backup to the scene while Eremond gets the camera and other tools for the investigation process to the car.

The investigation yielded the charred corpse of the supposed phantom stalker, several locations marked on a rough map scratched into the break room wall, and several hundred buried kidneys from all around the town some of which had pieces of flesh carbon estimated to date back to the late 1700’s encased in preserving liquids.

Drb & NathanH Chapter 9 - Closure

Mitch’s section

Day 16

The date is February 27th, 1992. I visited the graveyard today. Just so I could lay down and remember the good times I had with my siblings. I saw the news as well, the Phantom Cannibal is deceased and will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone again. I know it's weird but knowing my brother's death and my suffering may have been the catalyst to saving dozens if not hundreds is a strangely comforting thought. At least his death wasn’t in vain. But I still can’t get over it because it still hurts knowing both of my siblings are dead and I’ve lost one of my kidneys, KNOWING I’VE BEEN TRAUMATIZED BY THAT THING, IT HURTS SO MUCH! IT HURTS EVERYDAY, AND I KNOW I’LL NEVER GET OVER IT NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY, KNOWING I’LL NEVER SEE ERICA OR EDWIN EVER AGAIN! MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME! WITH ALL THAT'S HAPPENED TO ME, TO EVERYONE IN MY TOWN, I AM HOPING THAT WHATEVER MAN OR CREATURE OR WHATEVER THE HELL I SAW THAT NIGHT IS BACK IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL WHERE IT BELONGS!

I’m sorry this entry is so short and emotional, but I’ve been repressing these feelings for months

I’ll probably end this here so I don’t get too worked up. But it’s been nice letting my emotions loose.

Sincerely, Mitch

As the two detectives exited the building, slamming the door behind them, they got back in the car and drove to the police station. While driving, the air was silent except for the light hum of the car and the wind. Neither detective spoke; no sound dared to break the uncomfortable silence. They just contemplated what they realized they had seen.

After getting back to the police station, they immediately got to work, except for Detective Ommetarka. He was a bit traumatized after everything. Ommetarka got out a piece of paper and started filling out the report: "The Phantom Cannibal. Gender: Unknown. Name: Unknown." He still put down "The Phantom Cannibal" as the name. Cause of death: shot five times—four in the chest, one in the head. Broken shoulder blade and spine. Second- and third-degree burns all over the body, same for bone damage. Body is unidentifiable. Where once was a blue mask, there remained a blue mask, but shattered, crisp, and broken. It was still recognizable, and you could barely make out the old remnant, but it was now unidentifiable. The cloak was mixed in with the rotten flesh; we couldn't even distinguish which was flesh and which was cloak.

After finishing the report, Detective Ommetarka turned to Detective Eremond. "Hey, are you okay?" asked Ommetarka.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," responded Eremond.

"Hey, how about we try to cheer up? There's a new coffee shop down the street. Let's get some donuts."

"Sure," Eremond replied. They both slowly got to their feet, trying to forget what had just happened, but they knew this day would affect them for the rest of their lives. As they got in the car and drove away, the image blazed in their minds: a shattered blue mask, burned and crispy on the edges, still a remnant of the past, now something that would haunt them.

Years later, perhaps 13 or 14, Detective Ommetarka suffered a heart attack. He was fine, but his friend Eremond decided to stay with him. They became next-door neighbors and lived out the rest of their lives drinking coffee and eating donuts. They were both married. One of them had two kids; the other had none.

Extra

The palm trees swayed gently in the night as the sun slowly rose on a new day. A small red car drove into town and parked in front of an old house that not many people visited anymore. An older man stepped out, looking up and down at the house.

"Honey," called out Charlie.

"Yes, dear?" responded the older man.

"Where are we?"

"We're home—my childhood home," said Mitch as he unlocked the door and walked in. "No one has been here for a long time. We'll stay here for the night."

Charlie looked at the stairs, the living room, and the kitchen before heading upstairs, having small flashbacks of the past. Mitch looked at his old room, where fond memories were made. After tucking his two kids into bed, he sat on the couch with his wife to watch some TV. Suddenly, the kids came running down, holding something he couldn't quite see in the dark.

"Dad, look what we found!"

"What is it?"

"It's this," they said, holding up an old VHS tape.

"Put it in; let's see." As he inserted the VHS tape, images blazed across the screen. It showed two younger boys—one holding the camera with shaky hands, and the other in an oversized dark coat and blue mask, clearly reading from a script. The boy read out, "I am the evil cult member. Be fearful of me," before the scene cut poorly to the next.

"Is that you and your brother?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah, it's me and Edwin," Mitch replied. But as he kept watching, his face turned pale, remembering what happened that night and what happened to Edwin. He winced in pain, grabbing his left side.

"Are you okay?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, honey," Mitch replied as he headed up the stairs to bed. He slowly drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened by a loud clang. Looking around, he realized he looked like his younger self. Quietly stepping into the hallway, he felt something wet and soggy underfoot—a dark pool of blood on the carpet. He heard a nightmarish memory, a lullaby no one wanted to hear again: the screaming, crying, and yelling.

"Mitch!" a voice called, growing louder. "Mitch!"

Mitch woke up, realizing it was all a dream. In a cold sweat, he lay in bed with wide eyes, breathing heavily and holding his left side. He sobbed uncontrollably, the only word he could utter being, "Why wasn't it me?" He remained like this for days until he finally began to recover.

While Mitch was recovering, Charlie decided to explore the backyard, noticing how beautifully overgrown it was. Looking up, she saw a circular window with many scratches around it and a small incision, as if to easily open and close the window. Strange, she thought as she walked away, stepping on something. Looking down, she thought, Maybe it's a dead mouse—some sort of rotting thing. It looks like it's been sitting here for a long time. Probably just a mouse or some sort of animal. She buried it and walked back inside.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"Yes, honey, I'm feeling a lot better. Let's go," Mitch responded.

"For what reason?" Charlie asked.

"Let's go," Mitch repeated, raising his voice.

"Okay, honey, no need to raise your voice."

"Sorry," Mitch said as they both gathered their things, got the kids, and drove away. Since then, Mitch hadn't been the same, often waking up with night terrors. He was feeling a lot better, though, attending a counseling group with others who had similar experiences. He had really bonded with two old men, whose names he couldn't remember, but they were both detectives working on a case similar to what he had experienced.

"Hey Mitch, don't you want to join us for coffee?" yelled Ommetarka.

"Sure," Mitch said, walking over and getting in the car.

"Don't forget me!" yelled Eremond from the end of the car as the trees swayed and they drove away, the sun blazing in the midday.

[shiraki-yurara]

On-Screen Lovers Part 2 Story Event - Hitaki - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Morganatic Idol belongs to CYBIRD & ABC Frontier, Inc.

My Notes: Translation is for entertainment purpose only. Translation may or may not be correct. Please ignore any grammar mistakes.

On a calm and quiet night-----

---

I came alone to the dining room to make tea.

(I'll check social media while the water is boiling.)

(Reactions to the feature article on exe published today are……)

I swiped through my smartphone and read through the vast number of comments.

Then, information about Gem also caught my eyes.

(Hm? This is……)

Hitaki: Hey, Kawanaga-san. Good work today!

Rina: ! Hitaki-san, good work today. Have you just returned home?

Hitaki: No, I was working in my room for a bit, and I came to get a drink to take a break.

Rina: Oh, then, shall I make you some tea? I was just getting some ready.

Hitaki: Thank you. I'll take you up on that offer.

I poured in the boiling water, quickly brewed the tea, and handed the cup to Hitaki-san.

Rina: By the way, I just saw Hitaki-san's article.

Hitaki: Mine?

Rina: You're going to star in a romantic movie, right? Social media is full of people expressing their expectations.

A super idol met an ordinary woman and fell in secret love-----

The public was extremely excited when they heard that the "Prince of Gem" would be appearing in such a dreamy romance movie.

Rina: It's a role that suits Hitaki-san perfectly, and the majority of people commented that they were looking forward to the heart-pounding scenes.

Hitaki: It's good to see such a big response.

Hitaki: Actually, I was just checking out the script for that movie.

Hitaki-san showed me the script he was carrying.

(Wow……, this is exactly what you'd expect from a romantic movie.)

Just by reading the synopsis at the beginning of the book, it was clear that there were many scenes that would make your heart flutter.

Rina: Seems like the number of female fans will increase even more.

Hitaki: Fufu, that's true. I have to try my best not to disappoint……

Hitaki-san smiled as he said that, but his expression seemed to darken slightly.

Rina: Is there something bothering you?

Hitaki: Eh?

Rina: Sorry if I'm mistaken. It just seemed that way to me……

Hitaki: ……You have a keen eye for people. Actually, I do have some concerns.

Hitaki-san glanced at me and stepped toward me unexpectedly.

I was slow to react to the sudden approach, and the momentum drove me against the wall.

Rina: !? Er, errr……

Hitaki: I'm trying to figure out how to play a scene like this.

A finger was placed on my chin and my face was raised.

His sweet whisper and the way he traced the contours of my face made my heart skip a beat.

Hitaki: What do you think? Do you have any advice?

Rina: ……I, I.

Overwhelmed by his sex appeal, I opened my mouth in confusion.

Rina: I think this is enough as it is……

Rina: My heart beats really fast right now. There's nothing to be worried about.

I somehow managed to answer, and Hitaki-san slowly let go of me.

Hitaki: I see. To tell the truth, I didn't expect such an honest reaction.

Hitaki: That was just a joke, I just wanted to see your reaction.

(Eh!? So you were just teasing me?)

His unexpected behavior, completely different from what I had imagined, left me speechless.

Hitaki: But it's true that there are concerns.

Hitaki: One of the highlights of the movie is the scene where they go on a secret date in the city.

Hitaki: It's a bit unrealistic, so I can't really relate to it.

Rina: Why is that?

Hitaki: First of all, idols wouldn't go on dates in public places, right?

Hitaki: I couldn’t understand why I'd go to town and risk being found out.

Rina: Ah……, you’re right.

Including Hitaki-san, Gem and exe members were all reasonably careful when they went out.

Since he was an idol himself, it might be difficult to dismiss this development as simply "entertainment."

(You could say that it's a professional concern……)

Hitaki: Of course, it doesn’t mean that I reject city dates.

Hitaki: But casting me in this movie must have been for the purpose of letting people relive their "romantic relationship with Hitaki".

Hitaki: Thinking about it like that, since I myself would choose a high-end restaurant, I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

As I watched Hitaki-san mutter with his eyes cast down, I too began to think deeply.

Rina: Did he choose the location to suit the woman he was with, who is a civilian?

Rina: Or maybe he wanted to enjoy it from the same perspective as his girlfriend……

Hitaki: Hm……, that may be so.

Rina: By the way, where is the city date location?

Hitaki: I think it was Nishi-Azabu. The filming is actually going to take place there.

Nishi-Azabu was known with the image of a town with upscale residential areas and many fashionable stores.

Rina: Nice cafes from that town are often introduced. I see them a lot on social media.

Rina: If you get tired, you can take a rest in the park. It seems like it would be fun to go on a date there.

Hitaki: Wow, you know a lot about it.

Rina: That’s……, I think I know as much as anyone do.

As I replied, Hitaki-san's smile deepened for some reason.

Hitaki: Still, it's helpful enough. In fact, it makes me want to go with you there.

Rina: Eh?

Hitaki: Kawanaga-san, would you like to go on a date with me this weekend?

I couldn't help but shout out loud at the unexpected suggestion.

Rina: Eh!? Me?

Hitaki: Yes. As I said before, I can't fully empathize with the protagonist right now.

Hitaki: I think this can be solved by going on dates in the same place and having the same experiences.

Rina: But I feel that it doesn’t have to be with me.

Hitaki: Really? I think there’s no one who could be more qualified than you.

Hitaki: If it’s with you, I would have a great time on a date in the city.

Rina: ……!

His charming smile captured my heart, and it started pounding.

Hitaki: Don't you think it's fate that we're talking about the movie like this?

Hitaki: I'm hoping you can help me with my problem.

He took my hand and squeezed it gently.

His mannerisms were gentlemanly, but there was also an intensity to them that left no room for argument.

(I want to support you if I can. That’s what I think, but……)

Although I was hesitant, I already felt that I had no right to refuse-----

Rina: I understand. If you are fine with me, I'll accompany you.

I gently squeezed his hand back.

[wearesorcerer]

Re: Best 3rd-Level "Smart Guy" (Divination/Rune) Spell

These were originally separate categories (divinations and runes), but I wanted to conserve time and space. 97 votes came in; the winner was speak with dead at 37.1% (36 votes), followed by tongues at 19.6% (19 votes). I probably could have separated this list out a bit better had I taken the time. I'll analyze the spells anyway.

Arcane sight is just detect magic without the waiting, which IMHO is how detect spells should work (but that's a tangent). Ofc, I think all casters should be able to use detect magic at-will as a baseline ability, so what do I know?

Clairvoyance irks me: in power, it's roughly equivalent to detect thoughts, yet it pushes arcane eye a level higher, forcing that to compete with the superior scrying. All this and it can't even be used to make a ring of x-ray vision, even though that's what it does.

I don't blame people for not voting for discern lies: it's too specific for the level it's at, you're usually better off with zone of truth and detect thoughts anyway, and it's poorly worded.

Explosive runes/glyph of warding is fun. Not the most fun, but fun. By which I mean "I have never used the spell, but I appreciate Order of the Stick."

Illusory script is annoyingly powerful for a 3rd-level spell. I mean, it takes true seeing AND another spell to decipher it? The 5e version fixes these complications, I think, so whatever.

I don't get linked glyphs. It's just glyph of warding with a special trigger? Can't you do that with glyph of warding?

Secret page got no votes, which is great. It doesn't hide a page, it just...is another version of illusory script. You know what else could be done to hide writing? A variation of 1st-level spells that operate identically. I mean, it's about as powerful as disguise self or Nystul's magic aura.

Sepia snake sigil is stupidly overpowered. It's a spell glyph version of glyph of warding but applies temporal stasis to the target -- an 8th-level spell effect accomplished with a 3rd-level spell. On top of that, it specifically has brown light. You can't have brown light: brown is orange plus gray, i.e. it's a shade and thus requires some absence of light.

So, all the chaff out of the way, let's get to the meat: spells that let you communicate with creatures you couldn't otherwise and therefore gain information.

Speak with dead won because of the movie. The only thing it has over both tongues and speak with plants is that you're almost certain to be using it on a creature you know will have relevant information -- but that's because you did the research first, not a feature of the spell.

Speak with plants has great potential use, given that plants are everywhere and (for the purposes of the spell) they're temporarily sapient in a qualitatively and quantitatively way similar to humanoids. 5e instituted a downside on memory, but this is stupid and isn't present either in Critical Role's use or in 3.5's. You're not limited to so many questions, either, which is great. The downside is that you're unlikely to get any in-depth information from Henry Crabgrass. (Seriously, look up animatics on YouTube, they're wonderful.)

Tongues is the most likely to provide you with relevant information, but that's only if you can succeed at relevant social checks. You might need to do so with speak with plants, but you will almost assuredly have to do so with tongues: first, you have to figure out who it is you need to talk to, then you have to cast tongues, then you have to convince that person to talk to you, then you have to do the actual questioning. However, the spell gives you all the time you need to do that, so you're probably good. The only downside of tongues in many editions is that it is theoretically possible to learn every language in a setting (especially once 3rd edition condensed most of the species-specific monster languages) and so not need the spell, whereas you have to rely on magic to converse with plants or the dead.

[juniperberries-canisroot]

MORTAL SANCTUARY

Summary: The one year 'anniversary' of Astrid's betrayal weighs heavy on the guilty conscience of Listener and Matron, Chantilly Leice.

Content warnings: Paranoia, regret, betrayal & guilt. Canon events, violence and death. First person PoV.

Context: I know Arnbjorn is scripted to die in game. In my story CL arrives just in time to save him. Everyone else dies thou.

Fun fact there is actually in game a NightShade plant by the escape tower. It's inside Solitide by the gate of the tower if you were using it to go outside. It's near the food stalls.

@tes-summer-fest

"You're part of the Family, after all. This, as you can see, is our Sanctuary. You won't find a safer place in all of Skyrim."

"Our Family, my dearest. Our Family."

Eight years. Eight years ago you told me that after I was recruited into the Dark BrotherHood. Family, safety. For seven years I was part of your 'family'. For seven years I did as you told. I served, and I killed, and I was part of your family. In some strange twisted way, you became the closest thing I ever had to a mother figure in my life.

But just like the people who were supposed to be my parents, you sold me off. A year ago you betrayed me. You saw me as a threat to your authority, your leadership. Years of loyalty meant nothing to you. I was nothing more than leverage in the end. And I still wasn't enough. My one purpose to you, my one final use, and I failed that as well.

I couldn't save them all. I couldn't save your family. I barely had enough time to protect the ones that survived. I am forever grateful for the ones who did, but I am forever haunted by the memories I have of those who didn't. The memories I have of them are tainted, thanks to you. I lost them. They're dead. It's my fault they died.

Do you know NightShade grows in areas associated with death? Areas where dead bodies lie. Places where someone was killed. Caves and homes that undead vampires inhabit. The exit tower you told me to take after poisoning the fake Emperor.

Some grow outside both Sanctuaries. There were always a few outside the Falkreath Sanctuary, even years before that day. Now, there's five more plants. Festus Krex. Gabriella. Veezara. Lis. You.

They others are doing well. Arnbjorn, Nazir, Babette, Cicero. There's been three new recruits since then.

I'm not doing well.

When I see a flash of black and red, my blood runs cold. Fear pumps through my veins faster than any drug could take affect. I instinctively reach for a dagger and search for a shadowy corner to drag them off to and slice their throat out. It's usually not a Penitus Oculatus agent, but there have been the rare times it was. Too many times for my comfort. What a sick irony that the BrotherHood and Oculatus uniforms share a similar colour scheme.

I'm constantly terrified that I'll loose them. That I'll come back to the DawnStar Sanctuary one day to find it ablaze, or that I will arrive far after the embers have died down, and find their charred corpses. That once again I will be too late to save someone.

They are the closest thing I have to a family, and I'm terrified at the thought of that. I'm terrified that if I say it aloud, if I think about it too much, they'll die. They'll be killed. And it will be all my fault again.

You were an idiot thinking you could go against somethin more powerful than you. I was a fool thinking I could allow myself to have a family.

Now I carry the Blade. I'm the Matron and Listener. Maybe it was supposed to be this way. I knew for years the way you ran the Sanctuary was wrong. Abandoning the Tenets, disregarding the Night Mother's authority. My authority, as Listener.

But what I wouldn't give for everyone to alive today. Arnbjorn said the others were already dead by the time I arrived. But that doesn't prevent me from thinking what could have been. If I was just a little faster, if I left a bit sooner.

I'll never have a family again. I can't allow myself to have a family, to cars for someone, anyone, like that again. Not after what happened that day. Not after you.

I hope you're happy with your decisions. I know I'm not with mine.

[burakkuhardt-wrsf]

(Character interaction, for personal notes)

The first time Reuben sees Corey, it's from the windows of the coffee shop. Reuben is working his typical shift, a job of choice and not necessity, wiping counters. But when he looks up and catches a glimpse of an anxious figure outside the glass doors, he pauses. Corey is pacing back and forth quickly, though he unsteadily wobbles over from time to time from the motion, body no longer able to make quick movements without dizzy nausea.

Reuben watches him from the corner of his eye as he gets back to work- concerned, but not all too surprised. It wasn't exactly uncommon to see students pacing anxiously around here, being so close to the study hall- although typically it's around exam time, and not on a random weekend.

For four days, Corey is back at around the same time every day, pacing and stumbling and biting at his nails. Never trying to come inside. He makes a few close attempts, even grabbing the door handle once, before quickly changing his mind and retreating. Reuben becomes increasingly concerned each day, wondering if he should call someone to help the kid.

The next day, Corey finally makes the step to come inside. He doesn't pace or build up his courage, he immediately walks straight to the door and flings it open; he looks strung up, in a tight ball of stress, as he walks. Reuben looks up from the counter and smiles, relived the kid finally found some form of courage. But as soon as he goes to give a greeting- as soon as their eyes meet- Corey is retreating once again, practically running out the door and hitting the ends of multiple tables painfully in his hurry

Reuben thinks that will probably be the end of it, that the kid will find a different place or unfortunately just stop trying. But, surprisingly, he's back the next day. Corey doesn't pace, he simply opens the door, this time with his head down. He makes his way carefully over to the counter, avoiding eye contact, and waits for his time to speak

Reuben: Welcome in, what can I get for you hun?

Reuben says calmly, voice low and avoiding direct eye contact as to not scare the boy away

Corey takes a steadying breath and goes through his order one more time in his head before speaking. It was purposely simple, quick and easy for his first ever attempt ordering something away from the island

Corey: Sm-small co-cofee pl-please

Reuben: Alright

Reuben gives him a small smile, admiring the effort he seemed to be putting into this

Reuben: Can I get a name for the order?

Panic washes over Corey as his script dies. He didn't know they would ask that- he didn't know how this was supposed to work. Was he supposed to just stand here? But they wouldn't need his name for that. Was he supposed to leave? Would they call him? Was he supposed to sit at the booth to wait or was that for food? He can't order food from a public place he can't-

Corey breathes in sharply, trying to cool the panic, before quickly turning around and retreating. He's almost to the door when he stops, heart racing

Corey: I'm s-sor-sorry

Corey says with his back to the barista

Corey: I'll be beh-b-back tomorrow!

He quickly makes his retreat, Reuben left staring at empty doors. But, he'll be back tomorrow. And that still feels like progress.

-------------

The next day, Corey is back as expected. He seems calmer this time, silently making his way inside and sitting at a booth instead of heading to the counter. Reuben smiles, grabbing a menu just in case and carefully walking over

Reuben: Welcome in, what can I get for you?

Corey looks up to the barista, 'Reuben' his name tag states

Corey: Sm-small diner coffee. Please.

He sounds a bit more sure this time, the order is still clearly rehearsed, but there's more of a sureness to it- like he had asked someone to make sure it was the right thing to say. Which, considering the slight change in order and behavior, Reuben thinks he must have. Ordering at the front for coffee to go, or for the study hall- ordering at the table for sit-in dining and diner coffee

Reuben: Sure thing- I'll leave this here in case you need it

Reuben slides the menu on the table, slightly off to the side so it wouldn't feel like a command

-------

He brings the coffee over, plated with a napkin and metal spoon, and sits it carefully in front of the now-customer

Reuben: If you need any fixin's, help yourself to the cart behind you

Reuben gestures to the coffee cart of creamers and sugars that rests against the counter, tucked in between the wall and the booth Corey was sitting in

Corey: ....thank you

Reuben smiles softly

Reuben: If you need anything, just wave me down. I'll be around.

He looks nervous, like he wants to say something, so Reuben waits a moment

Corey: Uhm. My...my name is Corey. I kn-know Bohan? A bit? He sa-said...he said you kn-know each-ch-chother and tha-a-at this wou-would be a good place to c-come for my sp-speech home-m- work.

Reubens face lights up

Reuben: Oh! Yes of course, Bohan is a big regular here- isn't he just the sweetest thing?

Corey makes a noise somewhere between a snort and a scoff, clearly knowing something Reuben didn't

Corey: uuuuh s-sure haha

He looks down, playing with the napkin in front of him

Corey: But I just wa-a-anted to say thank you, you were re-eally nice and p-p-patient with me even when I was be-eing weird.

Reuben laughs, lighthearted

Reuben: Well you're just a sweet thing too, aren't you? You're always welcome here when I'm around, no worries. Weird and all.

He starts making his way back to the counter, but looks at Corey one last time

Reuben: And tell Bohan he better get his butt back in here soon!

((Alternate version))

.........

The next day, Corey finally makes the step to come inside. He doesn't pace or build up his courage, he immediately walks straight to the door and flings it open; he looks strung up, in a tight ball of stress, as he walks. Reuben looks up from the counter and smiles, relived the kid finally found some form of courage. But as soon as he goes to give a greeting- as soon as their eyes meet- Corey is retreating once again, practically running out the door and hitting the ends of multiple tables painfully in his hurry

But before he can make it completely out the building, he runs face first into Bohan, that music guy who was helping the tech lab carry in boxes. Corey tries to regain balance, wobbling back and forth unsteadily and head beginning to spasm from the impact.

Bohan: Woah man, are you ok? Where's the fire??

Corey: N-n- c-c ih-

Corey breathes in sharply, words not coming out right. He carefully makes his way over to the wall and slides down, holding his head so it stops shaking. Bohan joins him, cautiously sitting on the floor across from Corey and blocking the view of onlookers.

Bohan: ...should I be calling someone? Do you need a doctor?

Corey slowly shakes his head, still holding it firmly. He breathes in again, more slow and deliberate this time. After a few minutes of tense silence, the shaking stops. He carefully lifts his head to look at Bohan, who is patiently waiting with a surprisingly soft expression.

Corey: I'm s-s-orr-sorry. I'm f-fine-ne-now.

Bohan: Alright...

Corey goes to stand and Bohan gives him a hand up; it was a surprisingly easy gesture, as if this was a simple routine of friends and not almost-strangers.

Bohan: Was there...uhm- something you were running from? Am I gonna see big burly guys comically running through the halls after you?

Corey: Do you w-want to see b-big b-burly me-men?

Bohan scoffs, surprised, and smirks at the other.

Bohan: Well not if they're gonna pummel you.

Corey smiles back at him, a bit awkwardly. If Skylar was here, he could keep this conversation going. If Skylar was here, he'd make dirty jokes and distract the cute helpful concerned citizen so he didn't ask anymore questions. If Skylar was here....Corey would be standing off to the side. In the background. Not a part of the world. If Skylar was here- Corey wouldn't be making a connection with someone.

Corey: Ac-actually I was tr-try-ying to g-go to the caf-fé, but I chick-ck-ckened out.

Bohan glances to the clock on the wall, then back to Corey.

Bohan: It couldn't be crowded, could it? It's usually pretty dead at this time.

Corey: Empt-ty actually....

Bohan: And...the usual barista is in, right?

Corey: I th-think so...d-d-do you have it me-memorized?

Bohan: I'm. Uhm.

Bohans face goes red, very clear on his pail freckled skin.

Bohan: ...a big fan of coffee?

Corey gives him a small, skeptical look

Bohan: and I know the barista. Kind of. A bit. He's really nice. Like, way too nice probably. He's like the nicest person you'll ever meet. Just, you know, really...uh...

Corey: ....nice?

Bohan: Yep!

Bohans face goes impossibly redder

Bohan: What I mean is- if you're anxious about ordering or whatever, don't be. He won't bite your head off or whatever.

Corey looks unsure, scratching at his nails and avoiding the others eyeline

Bohan: What if I went with you? I was on my way anyway...maybe having a friend around would help?

Corey looks up at "friend", surprised. He quickly reminds himself that people here use that word a lot more loosely than on the island. It doesn't mean anything.

Corey: ...I cou-could try. I guess.

Bohan beams at him and puts his arm around Corey's shoulders, leading them back over to the shops doors

Bohan: Then- we're off!

------------------

The door chimes and Reuben looks up to see Bohan, one of his regulars, with his arm around the anxious student from before. The two are talking amongst themselves animatedly (Bohan more so than his friend) and they look a lot more comfortable than before. The pair walk straight to the counter, the room basically empty with no line, and Bohan gives him a bright smile

Bohan: Heyyy Sammy! How's it been?

The anxious student looks at his name tag, confused, which has "Reuben" written in a clear font

Reuben: Quiet per usual- isn't it kind of nice? Everything's been on it's best behavior!

Bohan chuckles, taking his arm away from Corey to lean over the counter in a clear familiarity

Bohan: Even the foamer?

Reuben glares at the foam maker on the latté machine

Reuben: ....never the foamer.

He looks back, this time carefully glancing at Corey instead, trying not to startle him

Reuben: What can I get you two?

Bohan: Usual please~

He says with his head resting on his palm, staring almost dreamily at the barista. Corey suddenly understands why he's such a devoted regular

Reuben: ...and for you, love?

Corey takes a deep breath, willing his voice to work properly and hoping he doesn't embarrass himself

Corey: J-just a sm-small co-cofee pl-please.

Reuben gives him a small smile. The order was carefully spoken and very clearly rehearsed, but he felt a weird pride for the kid. His son was quite anxious too- not as much as this young man was, but enough to where he understood the struggle. He looks back to Bohan, who quickly changed his posture as if he wasn't staring

Reuben: Are you sitting in?

Bohan gives Corey a questioning look. Corey glances anxiously at the door, but steels himself; looking determined not to run away again

Corey: Yes pl-please.

[multiplydifficult]

Have just gone back to reread https://multiplydifficult.tumblr.com/post/715441802973413376 after we started thinking about stuff

specifically:

Autistic cognitive processing pace and the disabling ramifications aren't things we talk about often. It's one reason some of us become obsessed with having back up plan upon back up plan (because we literally cannot think fast enough to keep up with the demands of our lives)

and how i am both incredibly reliant on language and entirely lost without it. And it explains i think, why i spend so much time pacing or sitting and thinking about stuff, why most of that thinking is in the form of explaining stuff to people. Often, yeah, after a few loops of the same information being repeated i will have a Realisation, or i'll make a Connection between the first things i thought about and the later things that lead on to.

But mostly, it's scripting. I knew i occasionally scripted stuff on purpose, but i recently noticed that sometimes i try to say stuff that i 1. haven't before tried to say or 2. am not expecting to say, and so i do a really poor or confusing job of communicating it. Because for 1, and this is crucial, i haven't yet figured out what combination of words will actually communicate the concept. For two, it's like the script is saved as a computer file that i haven't had time to go find and open up. (But it takes many many repetitions to save it, and requires occasional revision / refreshment.)

that scripting in loops also often helps me to find gaps in my knowledge or understanding of stuff, allowing me to look it up / figure it out and fill those gaps in.

This all takes so much time, and language (speech in particular) is a really big drain on my cognitive energy. When i'm scripting like this i'm often moving my mouth, whispering slightly, which quite frankly is similarly draining! I have two layers of words in my head when i think, the thinking layer and the layer that is associated with mouth movements of talking, that turns off when i drop speech alone.

And that scripting is like practicing the feel of the words and becoming familiar with that because when it comes down to it, that's what i am doing when i'm talking. I just had my first singing lesson a few days ago and beforehand, was thinking about how singing is a visceral / embodied experience of being an instrument in the way other instruments are not. It's embodied language or something, it's movement and voice and so much complexity and is done with and through the body in a way that playing an instrument or typing aren't. And hell, i always had a disconnect from that viscerality of being in my body, i'm trans and grew up with unmanaged sensory issues including a severe lack of deep pressure, which is almost painful in it's unpleasantness.

I need to start doing language-free days again & more often. I already know dropping speech helps with my functioning, but reading tends to prompt that scripting mechanism, and i think i'd be most functional and recover fastest if i can turn that off for a day once in a while, so i don't spend so much cognitive energy on scripting & expressive language processing & psuedo-speech.

And i'm recently terrified, again, of needing to soon spend a year and a quarter doing stuff full-time. We don't switch anymore so i can't rely on my headmates to share the load. Anything i can find to help, i am desperate to get used to using as soon as i can.

[doc-coyote]

It has happened several times that I have learned I was in relationships that I wasn't made aware of until I was being dumped due to my inattentiveness to said relationships. This being news to me since these "relationships" had started with the other person making it clear early on that we were to be friends and nothing more. Mind, I never asked but I get why and can appreciate when people draw these lines.

I was under the assumption then that all activities we did was under the banner of friendship. I do lots of things with friends. Go to the movies, out to dinner, plan imaginary heists and con jobs, go to museums (you can combine this activity with the prior one, it's fun!) go out to the middle of the desert for the purposes of stargazing and/or cryptid hunting (catch and release)

Lots of fun things you can do with friends! Now, if you've ever seen the movie Happy Gilmore, there's a line that stuck with me and I think it sort of skewed my brain. "Friends can listen to 'Endless Love' in the dark!" It's funny since he's clearly not being honest. HOWEVER, I effectively fell into this trap with these supposed relationship/not-relationships.

I was also well aware of the concept of friends with benefits so when these friendships got to that point, I just assumed that was part of the deal. Sometimes, friends can listen to "Endless Love" in the dark. So, I thought. Hell, thinking back, I actually said the quote whenever this happened and was met back with laughter and some sort of confirmation. Did... did they not realize I was quoting the 1996 Adam Sandler golf comedy? Okay, maybe that's on me.

Either way, I think a lot of things I say get chalked up to just me being a big weirdo (I'm 6'3"/1.905m) And so I just sort of go with the flow and I was already told, this wasn't anything but friendship, why wouldn't I trust them? They're my friend, after all.

I think it's possible these women had heard how I'm awkward in the start of relationships because I sort of have to build all new scripts for being that close to someone in a way that I don't with friendships. Now I don't think they necessarily started with the intention of doing this. I think their goal of us just being friends was true. But, as it so often happens, I'm really good at just messing up other people's plans without even trying.

Loving me and completely ruining your plans has a long history. My mere existence did this to my father's plans for his firstborn. I was to go to military school as soon as possible and then go on to become a military doctor, hence the name Dr. then my dad got to actually see me, for real, the day I was born. Those plans went away because he loved me and didn't want me to be away from him like he previously thought.

So, maybe something on a similar wave length happened here. I've had people tell me they had planned on killing me until they actually met me so the same makes sense with falling in love with me. I'm a wild card for how people will react to me. Some cards are more rare than others but still, can't ever really guess how folks will respond to me entering the picture.

These people were totally on board to being just friends and then over time I just sort of became more than a friend to them. My scripts for friendship are pretty good, I know how to be a charming friend when needed, I think. Then they realize they like me and just think I'll figure it out too. But, that's not in the script so, no, I won't. You gotta tell me the scripts are changing so I can revise what I'm doing. Had I been told feelings were on the table, I'd have been awkward for a bit but I'd also prioritize this person in ways I don't most of my friends. I don't listen to "Endless Love" in the dark with all my friends, just particular ones who request it.

I'd get told I was never the one to initiate things, hey, even if I'm in the friends script, any relationship script has me filled with requests/questions like that. It's like you should alert me we're changing things up entirely. My therapist has said if this ever happens again I need to bring up if the friendship is changing but, damn dude, it's hard to see the forest for the trees when I'm in these situations.

I get told I'm not romantic but I was told this was a friendship and so why would I? I don't want to make things uncomfortable for a friendship. I love being romantic if I'm in a relationship but, it has to be stated that's what this is. Maybe I'm spoiled, every regular relationship I've had is very up front with what it is and there's an understanding that I'm gonna need some patience given for how it'll be at the start with me. I need clear communication.

One time, I got broken up with and then the next day we were fooling around again. I understood we were no longer dating but clearly a friends with benefits thing was more her style now. Then, a few days later, she asked me to get back together with her so that cleared it all up even further. (Okay, not really, but i at least had more footing) I require notice for such things, I will not intuit relationship stuff like that. I'm not even sure I can. When I'm knowingly in a relationship, I will be frank (and still be Doc) and ask blunt questions at times because I need to know what's going on.

I mostly look back on those "relationships" with a "get a load of this" mentality but they really did fuck with my head for years there. I can be extremely clueless when it comes to relationship stuff but I do hope there's some amount of honesty I can expect from my friends.

I've had too many years and too many people where I shouldn't be so trusting but I work very hard at doing it so I don't lock myself off forever. Sometimes, friends will ask if they haven't earned certain levels of trust and, well, no? No one likely will get those levels. I can only be so trusting and I think I'm doing a whole hell of a lot after all I've been through.

I think it's both pretty funny and pretty fucked up that I've had several "relationships" one of which my therapist believes was a relationship neither party was aware of! That's a whole other kettle of fish, though, one I'm still pondering over.

[twistedtrashposts]

Starting us off is one Leona Kingscholar. Sorry Riddle, but I'm too tired to write a mental breakdown and lion boy is easy. I'll write you...well, maybe not next, but after Azul at the latest.

This is the normal version, will write a yan one over on @twistedyanposts later. So no worries if you aren't into dark content!

Bri isn't the best writer, but like I said, I just really wanted this to exist, even if I had to be the one-

"What are you brats yapping on about now?" As irritating as the members of his dorm were, they usually had enough common sense to keep it down whenever he was trying to nap. Which was more often than not.

Though, it wasn't difficult to spot the bright colors of those trespassing on their territory. A whole lotta red. The part of the story where those Heartslabyul scrubs got involved in his plotting, huh? Annoying, but not like trying to fight it would do anything.

Everybody in the main cast had tried to go against the script at some point. Even tech savvy Idia and precious little powerhouse Malleus hadn't had much luck. The most they were able to do was maybe alter one or two lines of dialogue.

It kinda sucked to have to be seen as an enemy at first, but such was the way of a school of villains. Besides, there were worst ways to go about it than putting Yuu's 'friends' in their place. Remind them of where they stand, even if the story favored them for now.

Before Leona reached the small gathering of students, he smelled Ruggie's fear, giving him pause. The script didn't give them anything to be afraid of. Everything was supposed to go their way until the Magift tournament, and he ended up Overblotting.

"Ruggie, I asked-"

"Boss, wait-"

Oh. Oh. That wasn't Yuu. That was...well, you.

Oh.

Well. Shit. That changed things. Like the status of the dorm leader's brain, for one.

That shouldn't...that shouldn't be possible. You shouldn't be here. Even those Diasomnia folk said it was close to impossible, at least for now. And even if it was possible, did it have to be now of all times? When he was the antagonist? Did Draconia do this on purpose, just to set him up to look like a dick?

His irritation wasn't helped by the red and blue ones clinging to your sides like desperate kittens, trying to look like they were protecting you from his dorm members while looking smug as anything. Like they could do anything if he actually wanted to hurt you.

Like he'd even try in the first place!

Actually...if things were already off script, did he even have to keep going? He was going to fail anyways. And if you were here, surely you'd be confused as all hell, even if he continued along. Leona wouldn't be surprised if your little color coordinated minions already explained some of it. Or maybe they were purposefully keeping you in the dark, hoping to be your knights in shining armor.

"...You're here to see Jack, yeah? Don't bother. Whatever Crowley wanted you to figure out is all wrapped up, anyways." There was an outcry of surprise from the NPCs in the crowd, bit he didn't pay them any mind. If the player was here in the flesh, then they mattered even less than they used to.

Slick as ever, Ruggie seemed to catch on to what he was leading up to. "Uh, Leona. You know they can't just take your word on it, right? What, you confessing or something?"

The two of them locked eyes for a second before both pairs landed back on you, ignoring your little posse. "Like hell. Not today, at least. If the herbivore wants a confession, they'll just have to keep coming around here. Without the goody-two-shoes'."

[jumukus]

A3! Event: Dance with Butterfly Episode 3 Translation

Izumi: Let's read the script now.

…

(Focusing on ballroom dancing as the theme, the story follows an odd pair who aim for victory in the contest with their clashing personalities.)

(The protagonist, Takatsu, is originally a street dancer, but he grows after getting to know ballroom dancing. This is just like what Tasuku-san requested.)

Tasuku: ...I'll find what kind of person I'm aiming to be through this play.

Tsumugi: ...Tasuku? Do you have any questions or something?

Tsuzuru: Feel free to tell me if there's any part you find hard to act out. I'll fix it.

Tasuku: It's nothing. I like the story.

Tsumugi: …

Guy: I feel like both Takato and Arisugawa won't be having a hard time playing Takatsu and Arikawa since they're somewhat similar to their usual selves.

Azuma: I think it also has something to do with how the roles' names are similar to theirs.

Tsuzuru: Oh, I actually did that on purpose because we had somewhat decided on the cast before I got to write the plot.

Azuma: Now it all makes sense why I feel a connection with the characters here. It's like, "I know I'll play you."

Guy: I have no problem with that. Rather, I kind of like that.

Tsumugi: Same here.

Izumi: I'll announce the cast just in case…

Tasuku-san will play the protagonist, Takatsu, while Homare-san takes on the deuteragonist, Arikawa.

Hisoka-san and Tsumugi-san will play their rivals, Mikasa and Hanaoka, respectively. Dance teacher Kouta will be played by Guy-san.

Last but not least, Azuma-san will play the designer, Yuuki.

Tsumugi: I figured we have to practice ballroom dancing as well.

Azuma: Homare should be an expert at this, no?

Homare: Let's see… Did you write this piece with the classic waltz in mind?

Tsuzuru: More or less.

Homare: I knew it. Everyone thinks of the classic waltz when it comes to ballroom dancing.

But if we put Tasuku-kun's image into consideration, a dance with lots of powerful moves will suit him better, like cha cha cha or samba.

Because he'll take on the lead role, having him dance latin will be a better option.

Tsuzuru: I see… I believe you because you're more knowledgeable about this than me.

Izumi: So we're gonna change the dance genre?

Also, I think we should have an expert teach us the choreography.

Homare: I'll ask my acquaintance about that. He's good at every genre.

Izumi: I appreciate that!

Azuma: Have you tried cha cha cha or samba before, Homare?

Homare: No. I've only learned waltz since childhood, so that makes me a total beginner in the latin genre.

Tasuku: Are you fine with that, though?

Homare: Totally. Rather, I feel like this is a good chance because I've always wanted to try out a different genre.

Both of us need practice now.

Oh, right! Why don't we come up with a pair name while we're at it?

Tasuku: Is that necessary...?

Homare: Of course! It is to differentiate us from the others, after all.

Tsumugi: I mean, athletes sometimes come up with a pair name too, like TakaAri or something.

Hisoka: ...I thought it was a new species of ants.

Rento: What's up with ants~?

Izumi: Oh. Hello, Rento-san.

Rento: I heard you finished the script?

Izumi: We're reading it now. Here you go.

Rento: Thanks.

…

‘Cause the latin dance scene doesn't have many sounds, we should make use of the actors' live sounds durin’ the show.

I'll squeeze in some BGM too. But havin’ the audience listen to the sound of yer footsteps an' breathin’ will draw them to the show more.

Izumi: Wow! That sounds cool!

Tsumugi: It'll be difficult considering our skills are crucial here. But I believe Tasuku and Homare-san will do just fine.

Guy: It'll be an impressive scene.

Tasuku: We can't do it half assedly.

Homare: If we don't pour our hearts into it, we'll only look silly during that scene.

Tasuku: I actually don't want to have any pair names, but I guess I've gotta learn to compromise…

Homare: Have you finally understood it?!

Tasuku: But since we've come this far, we don't need to do anything. Just stay this way.

Homare: That's not enough! Because we're a dance pair, we have to smooth out any bumpy roads ahead of us!

I have an idea! In order to deepen our understanding of each other, should I try building my muscles? In exchange, I want you to read my poems.

I believe you'll come to fully understand me that way.

Tasuku: But why…

Homare: It's to further deepen our understanding, and to improve our combination! It's necessary!

Tasuku: Sighs…Fine. But we're going to practice really hard after that, okay?

Tsumugi: That sounds fun, somehow. Should we do it too, Hisoka-kun?

Hisoka: ...Okay.

Izumi: It looks like they'll come up with a totally different way to study their roles.

Tsuzuru: Looking forward to watching the show.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

Homare: Ouch… My arms are all sore… I can't even hold the camera this way.

Tasuku: So why are you still holding that?

Azuma: Hehe. You'll only make the viewers dizzy if you're shaking that much.

Homare: Despite that, I feel like I've come to understand Tasuku-kun better after training my muscles.

He can maintain his strictness by hurting his muscles on a daily basis.

Tasuku: …

(I don't understand anything even after reading Arisugawa's poems. I really don't know what's going on in his head.)

Azuma: Looks like… it's a failure in Tasuku's case, huh.

Guy: I guess it doesn't bring any results.

Azuma: No need to force yourself to match each other, as long as your personalities still fit well.

Homare: Except when we're dancing, our breathing has to be in sync. And in order to do that, we need to understand each other even if we have to force ourselves.

Tasuku: I know, but my partner here is you, Arisugawa…

Guy: How about you try what Tsukioka and Mikage do to deepen their understanding?

Homare: Great idea! Let's go spy on our rivals.

Hisoka: ...I'm done watering the plants.

Izumi: Can you get rid of the weeds next?

Tsumugi: Hisoka-kun. This marshmallow egg is delicious.

Tasuku: They look very different from usual.

Homare: Tsumugi-kun holding a bag of marshmallows is such a refreshing sight.

Hisoka: ...Stares.

Tsumugi: Do you want one?

Hisoka: ...Yes.

Tsumugi: Okay.

Hisoka: ...Munch.

Homare: Isn't that what you call telepathy?!

Tasuku: Not at all. Mikage is just easy to predict.

Homare: Hmm… I wonder why we can't do it as well as them.

Tasuku: Because you're just too difficult to understand, and we're just fundamentally different. Let's practice the dance part for now.

Homare: Hmm…

< Episode 2 | Masterlist | Episode 4 >

[genyathefirebird]

It's nearly half three and I've finished watching the old guard in the hindi dub. I don't have thoughts but I also have no regrets because I did find some gold...

I like that they've leaned more heavy on the purpose and why theme.

Hindi Joe's 'how dare you' will live rent free in my head forever now. Same as Joe saying 'Nick!' waking up in the safehouse. 🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉

The handcuff line in the van is a joke to Joe that Nicky initiates!

Celeste!!!! Already lives rent free, but now x2. 

If there is someone who has seen the hindi dub and has more than my passively-verbal gujarati-until-6yrs old-and-then-gone please come and talk to me i have questions!

The Don Quioxte book is now the world's first novel. 

Booker voice actor sounds like gruff-sad? Nice.

Nicky's voice actor has a soft voice. 

Andy asks if they've seen the news and says that nothing seems good/right to her. And the next bit she outright says she doesn't trust [Copley]. Which makes Booker's little persuasive nod have a different flavour of trust. 

Okay I like Andy's voice actor's voice. Because she sounds 100% done. 

Cancer is mentioned instead of ALS. Which actually makes a neater parallel between Copley and Booker. 

After his wife's death, Copley says he's 'now trying to do something'. 

On the train, Andy says she doesn't want another saathi (companion). 

Nicky's train speech is pretty much the same except 'she needs us' is now 'we'll help her' -done deal baby! Love must be stored in the Nicky in every dub. 

Nile's more blunt and less sarky with a ''You're the reason for that' [blood in her hair] instead of 'wonder why'

On the phone to Booker where andy mentions Nile and 'Potential'= dhum dhar (idk but to my dumb ears it feels like the meaning got like onomatopoeia in it?) 

On the train she did call Nile a kid (with like the age connotation) but on the plane she doesn't. 

Okay okay so if Marwan is like Joe at 100%, the hindi voice actor is like Marwan at like 65-68% which is more than I was expecting anyway. I feel like Nicky's voice actor sat and listened to Luca and how soft his voice is and took Notes so good on him.

Andy's 'too old' = 'don't ask'

OMG OMG OMG when Nile wakes up, while she's still gasping, there's a 'Nick!' from Joe. And I had to rewind twice but it's definitely a 'Nick!', and then I rewound and listened to Marwan who makes a startled noise. (And now I'll forever wonder if this was in their script or if it was the hindi voice actor's choice.)

No pit viper in this 😢  

'Just us two. Until the last breath.'

Quynh's voice actress doesn't call for Andromache as she's being carted off to the ship.

Nicky says they spent 50 years looking for Quynh after she was thrown into the iron maiden. 

Instead of being crazy, Quynh's helpless/weak/no agency over the situation(?) 

Outside the safehouse, Nile says she 'doesn't want to live a life like this. That there's not even any meaning in a life like this'. - I really like how that's translated over and how it fits in with the why and Purpose

'Me and my army will keep you completely safe' - lol okay Andy 

We got an extra Nicolo in the van. Yay! 

Also also… 

So The Speech is spoken a bit faster compared to Marwan's. I had to slow it down to 0.75, but it is still poetic af translated and pretty much the same. Thank you translators! 

Also…... 'He's not my boyfriend. Absolutely not.' 

And the one difference is...'He's my everything.' 

(I have officially lost my shit. Taking a breather. Whooo. Okay okay.) 

I can't make out what Nicky says in return, [you're still?] a romantic (idk I slowed it down and I can't figure it out) 

The handcuffs bit comes off as more of a joke between Nicky and Joe, rather than a dig at Copley and Keane. Which then makes the whole there's a TV - champagne bit funnier because they're just heaping it on. 

Andy knowing Rodin biblically is now 'close to her heart' (I'm cackling...but on the whole there's less swearing so far and I'm a bit sad about that. Although they kept one of Andy's fuck's earlier on.) 

Oh… so they've just gone with 'there's your balance, ass/donkey' 

After Merrick's letter opener stabby bit Joe's 'shit' is now a 'I died'... which I'm creasing over because you could say the same about a stubbed toe. 

Oh Booker's fire speech is just as sad. (Thank you translators)

SO SO SO Celeste asks 'can I help?' instead of 'do you need help?'

And we're given a 'You're doing your business' instead of 'it's your business' … hmmmmm business as in work as in purpose…

OHHHHHHHH!  Celeste says 'It's not enough to think about ourselves' instead of 'we're not meant to be alone' HMMMMMM 

(Okay translators I just want to say hi because I like this translated intention of purpose, because here, Andy's bit in the hotel at the beginning and Nile's bit before the raid is *chef kiss* to me) 

When Celeste is finished she says 'Take it. It's done.' (Yeah Andy take your revitalised purpose to the checkout!) 

In the Lykon flashback, Quynh's begging Andy to 'do something.' 😥 

Nicky's conversation with Kozak is just as Judgy. 'Immoral' becomes 'sin' 

Bedhead? Nicely tousled….. is [something I don't understand but I think it is Something about the bed] because Joe says 'Totally not comfortable' (I am screeching because I can't make it out and I don't understand.) 

'Malta days? Oh those Malta days.' Joe's voice actor defo took notes. That chuckle. 

Nile and Andy's scene outside the mine is the same too. (Thank you translators)

'We would do the same for you. There's no difference between us' HMmmmmmmm AND they also kept the same 'i can't do this, I'm not doing this' word choices.

'You can't learn this in 24 hours.' Instead of 'They can't teach you how to live with it.' (I LIKE IT) 

So they've cut out 'you've got to feel it, Nile' but…… 

We get a 'Take care of yourself [Andy]'. 'Always.' 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Okay so Nile can say shit when she sees the empty clip...but Joe couldn't 💁🏽‍♀️

'She's still bleeding. She's not healing. Go get something. We don't have time' (THANK you for that time parallel coming through again.) 

Also Booker sounds super sad. Like despairrrr.

In the lab Booker says 'Her wound isn't healing. And I'm responsible for it.' (Ooof so you'll just fess up right there and then.)

Nicky - 'everyone has to die one day. If Andy's death is written [as fate] then no one can change that' 

'Your time is coming' 'As is yours' is now…..'You don't have much time.' 'Neither do you.' NICKY PLS your vague promises are still fab. 

WHAT WHAT?! When Nile shoots her foot, she says 'That shouldn't have hurt.' Nooooooo let them swear!!!! 

Okay so I've gone past tiredness now and I'm also going a bit insane because where it's 'i thought it could be the end of disease. I thought it could be the end of suffering'......... Copely says '[All of] these people. Everything about them is unknown.' I'm a little confused because this is a different take on the quantity [?] of their history and I'm not sure if it's my poor passive translation and taking 'these' as both the unknown people saved throughout history or how Andy, Joe, Nicky and Booker are unknown. (But if I'm somehow understanding right there's a double parallel there and again PURPOSE!) 

I'm hoping someone can validate me on ^^^^ or shoot me down because idk and it's going to keep me awake 

Ummm I think the word choice for Copely is specifically 'atone' where he says he's 'going to make this right' 

And Nile says 'this isn't how you atone.' 

Lmao even Keane can't swear

Let Joe swear!!!!!!! 

'We've been doing a shit job of it' is Something which mentions chosen/negative/purpose but in a different way and I can't figure it out even with it slowed down. 😭😭😭 Help! 

So just...with the mentions before about choice and the phrasing with Celeste, but also Joe calling Booker selfish and just above with choosing bad purpose… Booker finally getting up implies he's making that choice by not thinking about himself and thinking of helping them get out. 

It's 2 now. 

Ahhhhhh 'go big or go home' is 'do or die' (but it rhymes guys!!!!) 

'You shot Nicky. You shouldn't have done that.' Isssss 'You shot Nicky. How dare you.' (But the 'dare' is a word also synonymous with courage...so it's also disbelief and I would argue it would have been as good as a 'how fucking dare you' and I wANt tO SCREAM) 

'I think you showed up because it's my last days. So I can see what's coming next.' Specifically future tense here…and I'm living for the mentor-mentee feels. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Let Nile say shitttttttt as she's falling 15+ floors. Come on!!!! 

Booker tells Nile she's a good girl -which is good because it keeps the young reference but less like Andy calling her a child on the plane, which would have sounded weird here.  

'I had a little hope. But I [still] had hope' which just makes it sound like he wasn't expecting 100 years as a punishment?  

It's 2:30 someone help me i need to sleeeeep

'Nile said we should forgive you' instead of 'Nile was going to let you off with an apology' which I'm just going to HMMMMMMM A BIT MORE again because I might not be understanding properly and may be reading too much into the whole companion word choice and the selfish/selfless bit 

'I won't see you again?' is asked as a question (yissss) 

Andy's last bit is just as badass and exactly the same! 

Oh so Booker can kinda swear in the post credit scene okay…

[thoughtfulpaperback]

SPOILERS!!!

Charmed 02x02 Review

Y'all part of me just can't. Like the excitement and energy over this last episode is too much to keep inside. I am super ready to burst and super excited for episode 3. But I am just gonna say that overall I thought this episode was superb 8/10 only because I am saving my 9 and 10. But if I could I'd give it a 9 out of ten. There was only like a couple things I was nitpicky about and it's pretty standard tv logic stuff that most people overlook so dont come at me for it. So I am just gonna start like I always do except I cant just pick 3 likes and dislikes so I am just gonna list my likes some of the nitpicks and then some episode highlights.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I liked:

1. Hacy development

So no secret I am a hacy fan and I pretty much love any hacy content the show will give us but I really thought the show did so well this episode.

Originally, I thought the show was going to explore Macy's feelings through Dark!Harry, and in a way they have revealed them using Dark!Harry (Season 1 ended with us not sure if Macy felt anything for Harry, but knowing he had some feelings for her). I was worried there may be less hacy moments because they would keep most of the interaction between Dark!Harry and Macy. Even had me scared that Macy may be falling for Dark!Harry and not Harry proper. But no, they gave us Genuine Hacy.

The awkwardness of the interactions after the dream. That car ride was hilarious with the map and the radio (harry is still super at comedic relief in club and in car)

Harry's concern over having done something wrong

The looks when checking each other out.

Making each other laugh and encouraging each other.

Harry trying to save that witch and Macy being concerned by what it would

"I know Harry"

I mean it wasn't just tension. There was some fluff thrown in. Harry telling her to celebrate the victories and looking at her proudly. Which brings me to item 2.

2) I love what rupert does with his eyes between the two Harrys. Real harry (as macy put it) is so harmless looking. Those puppy eyes are adorable and rupert makes sure to have then turned up all the way when being real harry.

The only time Dark!harry makes soft eyes (well sort of) is the first time we see him with Macy, the initial moment in episode 1, and then when Maggie goes for a hug in this episode. He is just so taken off guard by the affection that his pretending-to-be-Harry-face slips and his eyes kind of go wide and they arent so narrowed and focused. Which makes me think he has not been hugged often or at all . . . That's sad. Then the switch when Maggie backs away. The eyes narrow again and he gets all mean. Just love that rupert can do things like that to give both characters distinctive enough feels that you can tell that dark!harry is acting.

3) Mel and Maggie bonding

So I really do hope that we get some Macy and Mel bonding, but I am happy anytime the show can deepen the bonds between the sisters. Maggie and Mel have a bit of a complicated relationship even though they grew up together. I mean especially from this episode we see and remember that Mel was the big sister for most of her life. She protected Maggie and seems to have acted like a second parent. It is sad that there dad really just turned out to be a bad dad. No reason behind it no, issues with Marisol other than apparently the ones he created on his own (which I will get into on my nitpicks). The fact this was just a loss for Maggie, and not just a loss as in she was the only one to feel something when Ray died but a loss of memories she thought she had and an idea of who her dad (a piece of her past), was sad but it actually gave us further insight into mel and Maggie's dynamics. First season we knew the rift between mel and Maggie was over Mel's obsession with and Mel's expectations of how Maggie should have acted and behaved. I think a lot of us chalked it up to Mel being controlling and having the oldest child attitude, but I think now we see there is more there. Mel seems to have spent a lot of time protecting Maggie and biting her tongue about certain aspects of thier lives and in a sense making sacrifices for her. So it makes sense she would expect the same from Maggie, but at the same time Maggie didnt know, and even if she did thise were Mel's choices and Maggie doesnt owe her anything for them.

Knowing that we can see how it is so easy for riffs to form between them which make the start of this season make more sense to me. Because Maggie wants to live her life and is a trusting and positive person. Mel expects a certain level of loyalty and commitment and has a different idea of what that looks like compared to Maggie. On top of there general personality differences it makes sense they all that would culminate into a rocky relationship prone to communication difficulties and tifs. But I love that they are starting to acknowledge those things and rebuild. Last season it was them just getting over feeling abandoned by each other after the death of Marisol. This exposed deeper roots of the initial rift. I liked that.

4) I love that the Maggie and Mel still have Magic and even though though the active powers are gone they arent defenseless. They just need to be resourceful. I actually like this a lot and I feel gives the writers a lot of room to play with creative ways for the ladies to save other witches.

5) demon lore!!!! Okay so while season 1 seems mostly thrown out the lore actually explains season 1 demons better.

One of the issues I had was that there did not seem to be a synchronized front with the demons and they never explained why even though Alistair claimed to be a hotshot the only people he had working for him was his family.

In the OG in first season before lore got expanded) demons and witches werent organized. Demons sort of acted on thier own for thier own purposes and witches seem mostly solitary except for occasional get togethers on important events. Later on in the series demons got an organization system (triad) then later one ruler (the source of all evil). Witches seem mostly solitary except for now the elders who assigned white lighters watched over them and placed rules on magic. I dont think people really remember the drastic shift in lore and the plot holes OG had because we generally liked the places it was going. So I am kinda on that page fro the reboot.

It flipped the script. Witches are or were the organized bunch both self ruling and ruling over the magical community. Demons were at war with each other and all had different agendas so makes sense that the Caines were mostly on thier own.

I like this idea of there being different general types of demons and a hierarchy. I do wonder if that will limit then in the long run, but assuming they can be creative with the categories they have defined I am not too worried. I am excited to get more info on demons now.

6) the new love interests. I love Mel's new love interest. So different from Mel and her previous love interests. I reserve judgment until we get more interaction but I am liking her so far. Jordan is interesting I am actually liking the build up of thier relationship and will be nice to see maggie start off slow and make friends with him first. I wasnt a huge parkerita fan but I did not dislike the ship. But one of my general blehs is love at first site between teens. The way parker and Maggie began was just off putting to me but they were nice together when they were together honestly. This will be a good venture into perhaps an adult relationship or at least on that doesnt begin with as much drama. That said she is dead and will have to hide her identity from him soo....

Now on to the nitpicks:

1) Ray's characterization.

Okay so I dont mind that Ray turned out to be just a crap dad. It happens. But there are things we know that Ray probably didnt that makes us wonder why marisol even got with him and married him.

A) we know Marisol continued an affair throughout her marriage to Ray. Even assuming Ray was just a crap husband and father, why did marisol get with him and marry him if he was so good at alienating everyone he met. I wouldnt think he was just a one night stand that Marisol decided she would have to marry after getting pregnant. I would think she would be above that.

B) did he even know about magic. Was his whole relationship and life with Marisol and the girls just based on secrets, ignorance, and not being around?

I mean for B it is fine if it was I just would like to know for sure what it was versus just guessing. But I assume like Maggie I am just gonna have to move on from this

2) the house lights and the job application.

Okay how does the house have power and and water without the city noticing? How can maggie apply for a job with no social security number? I mean I assume because she is dead she cant use her real info. Or she could but wouldnt that make it easy for demons who may think to infiltrate government records to find them? I mean this is a nitpick and can be explained away by Magic, but still it was on my mind.

3) the mysterious figure at the end. Okay y'all, I assume it is Dark!Harry. But the more I thought about it, the more I got angry that they didnt show his face. Basically, that is leaving room that it could be someone else like one of the other new love interests or someone we havent met yet. I dont like that. If it is Dark!Harry we've already met him and know he is after the girls so most likely would be working with the demons. So showing him wouldnt be a big deal. But keeping the figure hidden means leaving that door of possibilites open. This has me paranoid now. Again nitpick. I'll get over it. Some people might like that.

Episode Highlights:

Comic relief Harry. Getting knocked down when orbing into the club and not being able to hold a map.

"I'll put a hex on you."

"I'm formidable!" You tell him!

Harry's wonky orbing in general. so confused so turned about.

Maggie being able to tell that Dark!Harry was not Harry. "Those are Harry's charges and family you cant fool them ya creep!!!"

Invisible mel putting a shovel to the side of Dark!Harry's face. "Yess!!!!"

Harry's puppy dog eyes when Macy says all she needs is a look to know who the real Harry is

[punkscowardschampions]

Nancy & Rio

Nancy: Hey Nancy: how's all the prep going? Rio: Oh my God Rio: it feels good to talk to someone over the age of 12, put it that way Rio: its getting there but I might not 🤪🥴😵 Nancy: same cos Buster's acting like a 5 year old rn Nancy: I wish I was there helping Rio: Travelling brings out the worst in 'em Rio: if I have to see an airport with mine this year, too soon 😬❌ Rio: we could use your 👀 Rio: I'm sure there will still be shit to do when you all get here Nancy: Did your dad convince your mum about a honeymoon though? Nancy: Asking cos I wanna steal you away for a while Nancy: When I get there I'm gonna have so many 📷 to set up and take but I'll definitely make time for any finishing touches there are Rio: 😘😘😘 Rio: s'more convincing nan and granddad that your parents and the rest will help out controlling the masses whilst they're off 🎔☽ Rio: a reason we can NEVER find a babysitter 🙄 Nancy: Oh come on! If my mum gets involved they'll be perfect 😇s Rio: 😂 Rio: I'd be happy to test the theory Rio: going to be so good to see you again! Nancy: Me too if it'd get her off my back 🙄 Nancy: I've missed you so much! Rio: Uh-oh, what's the latest crusade with her? Rio: Girl, same! So much catching up Nancy: Who can keep track? This week it's something about how I spend too much time in my room Nancy: Like doesn't she realise I don't sleep in a cell? I have everything I need Rio: Right? Rio: At least we're past grounding, was such a laughable punishment when its not the 50s or something, please Nancy: malted milkshakes and jukeboxes yes, the rest of the 50s, no Rio: But you'd look so fetching in a circle skirt 😉 Rio: what are you wearing though Rio: I've been so busy making sure the kids are actually clothed that I'm not remotely ready, ugh Nancy: Also less likely to be hatecrimed when it's just gals being pals 😉 Nancy: [a pic of her outfit cos we don't have one yet gang] Nancy: oh my god if you're not joking dad better start speeding! You really need my help ASAP Rio: Don't rub it in, or I'll be at the back of the bus heckling you Rio: me and all MY #sistas Rio: 😍 you look so good, I'll ignore your white feminism if you tell him to step on it Nancy: 😳 x 10000 like Nancy: But I'll demand it Rio: 🧡 Rio: Its a mood, catch me stealthing down the aisle at the back, please, steal the show, kids Nancy: 💚 Nancy: Honestly I feel nervous & I don't have to do the walk/nobody's gonna be looking at me Rio: Awh, don't be Rio: Honestly, everything is so extra, no one will know where to look Rio: you know them Nancy: I was safe to assume that Junie isn't answering me cos he's 😳 x 10000000 then, yeah? Rio: No doubt Rio: I can't even find him to tell him to reply Rio: if I spot him Nancy: It's fine I'll see him soon anyway Rio: God bless him Nancy: I need out of this car now & away from all of them Rio: I can feel the tension from here, babe Nancy: If he spends another sec on speaker talking to his friends about last night's party I will have to throw his phone out of the window Rio: Eww Rio: your brother is 1000% gonna be THAT businessman on the train that wants everyone to hear his convo Nancy: I know Rio: then pops a few blood vessels when someone tells him otherwise Rio: you poor thing, forreal Nancy: He got into a fight at the party over some girl 🙄 But of course the other lad was the only one hurt Nancy: How am I related to this idiot? Rio: How have your parents not turned the car around or at least threatened to Nancy: He doesn't wanna come which means he is, no matter what Nancy: Even if he was 🤕 Rio: Also do you live in Chelsea or a bad American teen drama Rio: the dramatics 😂 Nancy: Right? But it's me getting lectured by my mother regularly Nancy: your favouritism is showing again Rio: We all like you better, don't worry babe Nancy: thanks Nancy: if your parents wanna adopt me, now is good Rio: What's one more is pratically the family motto so why not Rio: you'll have to miss all the WILD parties and the even wilder bants Rio: reckon you'll survive? Nancy: just about Rio: Be honest Rio: if I go to town right now, what are the odds of the kids staying semi-presentable? Nancy: It'd be single figures Nancy: like 5% maybe Rio: Yeah Rio: but even less chance of me getting something wearable if I ask my boy to bring something with him, right? Nancy: Unless he's very fashion forward Nancy: You could tell him to go to ours and raid my wardrobe? Rio: Such a humblebrag, Nancy McKenna 😏 Nancy: If you don't want my advice or designer labels, don't ask, like Rio: 😂 Rio: how is it possible I have nothing suitable in my whole ass wardrobe Nancy: This family has had a surprisingly few weddings in our lifetime Nancy: & there's no chance of you re-purposing what you wore to my parents' big day all those years ago so Nancy: I'll make a detour and pick something up for you Nancy: if you trust me Rio: The amount of sin is truly unholy Rio: my grandma be 😠 at all these heathens Rio: and that feels like forever ago Rio: dread to think what I was rocking but at least I was cute Nancy: So 😢 I couldn't bring a date to meet your grandma she sounds lovely Nancy: [finds a pic of the baze wedding like] Nancy: you were the cutest! Look! Rio: Love the sinner, hate the sin, sweetie 😘 Rio: Oh lord Nancy: Says you but what happened to ME? Nancy: I'm like a different person rn and it's not a glow up Rio: Shh, you look beautiful, are you kidding Nancy: I look like my parents are into medieval torture & put me on a rack Nancy: not cute Rio: Oh 'cos being tall is so unappealing Rio: all those leggy supermodels, YUCK Nancy: 😂 Rio: Anyone saying different is obviously jealous Nancy: How very teen drama Nancy: the girl who hates me really loves me 💋 Rio: better start loudly talking about that Rio: your 'rents will be so proud Nancy: They aren't likely to hear me over Buster's dramatic playlist 🎶 Rio: Now you're just making shit up 😂 Nancy: [records him as proof hey boy hey looking like a moody fuckboy snack over there no doubt] Rio: He really did just look at the window like a music video, huh Rio: also praying you make it here unmurdered now, girl 🙏🤞 Nancy: He wouldn't dare start a fight with us in our finery 👗👠 mum & dad would kill him Nancy: or I could with the 👠 Rio: Gotta stay favourite, yeah Nancy: definitely Rio: catch me being no ones 'cos I'm not coming Rio: see you tomorrow, like 👋 Nancy: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo Nancy: you have to Nancy: don't leave me with my evil twin Rio: 😩 but Rio: so over this before its begun Nancy: please Ri Nancy: I'll make it fun somehow Rio: There's no escape anyhow Rio: so many people here already just 👀 @ me Rio: I'm not putting on a fucking poofy dress I'm sorry Nancy: you don't have to Nancy: bridesmaid but keep it fashion Rio: I tried on some actual bridesmaid dresses but I felt so stupid Rio: why is it all floor-length and fucking Rio: the excess material Rio: I don't wanna drown in tulle, I'm not 5 Nancy: gross Nancy: I promise to never get married first of all Nancy: second of all I'm gonna make sure you look 🔥 today so Rio: 🧡🧡🧡 Rio: I've got to start on the drinks now though, sorry Nancy: show me what's in your wardrobe & I'll try & remember what's in mine Rio: I love you but you remember what I said about floor-length? Nancy: okay okay just yours then Nancy: come on, I can do this Rio: [does] Rio: but honestly, fuck it Nancy: there's so much I could make work Nancy: & no reason for us both to hate our outfits Rio: I won't hate it, I'll just be hated Rio: mainly by my grandma 💁 Nancy: as soon as Buster arrives his attitude will pull focus Nancy: plenty to keep your grandma busy in this car Rio: He'd never be that nice to me Rio: even unintentionally Nancy: I will then Nancy: thinking of a scene to cause as we speak Rio: 😏 Rio: such a shame there'll be no hot girls there you aren't related to 💔 Nancy: if only hitchhikers were still a thing Rio: So predatory for a 13 year old Rio: flip that script honey Nancy: it's the lesbian way Nancy: ask every girl at my school Rio: Ugh, turning their backs in the changing room is it? Rio: like half of 'em have got anything to hide, people are ridiculous Nancy: Yeah Rio: Its more than that then Nancy: It's not a story for today Rio: Later Rio: when you've caught up Nancy: when I've taken my make up off maybe Nancy: it took a really long time Rio: it looks 🔥 Nancy: it's not too much, right? You'd tell me Rio: Of course Rio: but it so isn't, its great Nancy: thanks Nancy: a benefit of doing it in February, our faces won't melt off & I'm not sunburnt Rio: They've thought of you at least Rio: love that Nancy: I'll try & remember to thank them too, like Rio: Thank whichever God made you gay too Rio: boys are such dicks Nancy: I got stuck with a brother so I'd still suffer Nancy: probably won't 🙏 Rio: Well you can ignore him Rio: sure you both prefer it that way Nancy: You can ignore any boys you want Nancy: or don't want Rio: Nah Rio: not when I'm this hard to ignore yeah Nancy: all the more reason Nancy: when you look like you look you can take your pick Rio: I already have, that's what I'm saying Nancy: & they're still dicks? Rio: He is Nancy: So dump him Nancy: there must be some boys in existence who aren't Rio: Eh Rio: None as cute Nancy: Gross Rio: Shut up 🙄 Nancy: if you wanna talk about boys you've come to the wrong place Rio: excuse me Rio: you've literally talked about your hitchhiker fantasy so you can deal with it Nancy: I don't have a fantasy I was trying to think of a diversion to horrify your grandma Rio: Sure Nancy: It's a shame Buster would never swap outfits with me Nancy: a move like that really would pull focus from what you're wearing Rio: I hate to break it to you but not really Rio: already got so many chicks in suits Rio: you know this is MY parents wedding, not yours Nancy: but how many boys in dresses do you have? Rio: I'll check Rio: my parents have weird friends, babe Rio: and have you met my siblings like Rio: your the normie branch of the fam, no amount of lesbian angst is changing that for you, I'm so sorry Nancy: at least they have friends, mine have co-dependence Nancy: and yeah, I'm trying to get adopted in, remember? Rio: 😍 romantic Rio: we'll swap Rio: I need the break Nancy: you and Buster would kill each other in seconds Nancy: but if you can survive long enough to end him I support it Rio: Duh Nancy: I've heard 'you should see the other guy' enough to be sure it's bullshit Nancy: you can take him Rio: I know Rio: trust me Nancy: he hasn't lost a 🥊 for ages it's way past due Rio: Weddings always end in a scrap Rio: may as well take it for the team honestly Nancy: fights & drunken displays happen whenever this family gets together Nancy: again, take your pick Rio: I'm not drunk but tah for the faith, babe Nancy: it's early still Rio: 😒 Nancy: they are all driving me to drink & I don't even Rio: Slainte Nancy: exactly Rio: Fuck it, I'm going town Nancy: do you have time? Rio: Sure Nancy: Then yeah go Rio: ✌ see you when you get here Nancy: I'll find you as soon as we show up Rio: Do Rio: I'll be the bombshell Nancy: I'll be the awkward ginger Nancy: 💚💋 Rio: 🧡💋