As my dad quite eloquently reminded me and ma today, this is his and I's last free weekend until mid-September (and by then Harvest will be moving into proof of concept planning), sooooooooo.
I'd like to have one last Downcast writing prompt if anyone's got any ideas. Something crazy that may lead to some action or gritty violence.
I'm really tempted to do just a drabble about Harry & Garcia out in the elements, out of communication, having to pull a Burn Notice Sam/Mike-style escape from meth-makers.
Write the craziest thing one of your characters have done at 4 am. (Preferably Sully or Frank!)
Oooo! This is gonna be fun. XD Now, just FYI, this is... not ENTIRELY canon... I think Eleanore would have my hide for the ending to this one. :P But it certainly would explain some things...
Also, sorry it's only SLIGHTLY silly. I should have gone with a different character. XP
Coin Toss
"No.""C'mon, Frank-""No, Sully. No. I'm not going to do things because of a coin toss.""Chicken.""I'm no-""Ba-kawk!" That was Sully."Do it!" Albert."C'mon, man!" Tony."Don't wuss out!" Morgan... really? Really?"Goddammit..."
The first flip was innocuous enough. Heads, Frank would have another drink. Tails, he would have two drinks. It was heads. Frank had another drink of Tony's latest concoction.
They'd been up late before, they'd been drinking with Tony before. But this was a doozy. It was 3 in the morning, they were all a bit buzzed, even Morgan, and it was at the point Sully started messing with Frank. Everyone else just kind of half-assedly watched as Frank got to do more and more coin tosses, and the things Sully said to do got more and more edgy.
Have two shots of the drink and then take off Harry's tie. (failed miserably)
Drink three shots, then take a punch from Albert.
Attempt beating Harry at arm-wrestling.
Let Morgan play Mumblety-peg with his hand.
And then, drink a shot of the stuff, then drink a shot of an alcohol of Tony's choosing. Given Tony was laughing his ass by this point, whatever it was going to be was going to be serious. Frank groaned. "Why am I doing this? What happened to discipline? Free will? Not giving into these sort of thingamabobs?" Harry laughed, "it's April 1st, Frank, anything goes now!" Seeing him guffawing was not common, even in his young age of 23, but the 19 year old Frank sighed and followed Tony to the flask storage.
The pantry door opened, revealing over 25 flasks neatly stored and unlabeled. Tony went through them, sorting, trying to figure out which one was "the one" - until at last he landed on a black one, with an effulgent flame on it. Grinning, Tony grabbed it, tested its scent, and passed it to Frank. "Here." Frank held it with dismay and sighed. In a swooping gulp, he felt the burn and coughed instantly. Nearly choking, he passed the flask back, shocked. "What the FUCK!" Everyone was laughing now. Even Morgan, which made Frank frown.
An hour had passed since this stupid game had started and now Sully held up the coin. It was 4:05AM.
And it was time for the final toss.
"Okay, Frank, last one.... heads... you get some water and sober up.""And tails, I throw up on your face?""... tails..." Sully grinned "... drink another hit off the Effulgence Flask.... and then kiss Morgan..." ALMOST everyone was snickering, though Morgan was certainly not amused. "Frank, no," she said, frowning at him instantly.
Frank looked back at her. "Why not? It's not like I'd enjoy it either, ya know." Albert and Garcia ooo'd at that. "It's not like your lips are all that kissable lookin'." Morgan rolled her eyes. Sully held up the quarter and smiled. "So?" Frank sighed. "Fuck it. I want this stupid game to be over."
Morgan sighed, "fucking idiots..."
"Give me the coin, Sully." Harry held out his hand. Sully raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't think I'll be fair?" "If you were fair, you wouldn't have angled your hand last round." "Oh fer-" "Sully." Harry was being stern now. Out of the whole group, he was actually the least drunk. He hadn't even had a sip in 2 hours. And that moment made it clear to the others. Sully handed him the coin.
Everyone paused and it gave a moment for it to sink in. Morgan tensed up, not liking the possibility. Frank was now looking quite apologetic about the whole thing. Sully was still smirking like a dope.
Harry tossed the coin in the air and quickly caught it. Frank and Morgan had wanted to pay attention to it, but they were for some reason caught in one another's eyes. A shared feeling of, "dammit, I want out of this." It wasn't until Harry called out - "Heads. Go wash up, Frank." He threw the coin back at a disappointed Sully, whose glum hand caught it in front of his sad face. "Damn."
Frank broke eye contact with Morgan and went to the bathroom. He drank a lot of water and splashed his face more than a few times. He felt like taking a shower. Whatever was in that flask was strong. His arms felt weak and fucked up, like jelly not just from fat but from intoxication. It was disgusting.
There was a knock on the door. "Yeah?" he said and Morgan opened the door a crack. "Hey. Harry's giving us a ride home. You want to come along?" She looked away. Frank smirked. She was being nice. It was a pleasant thing to see for a change and he nodded. "Sure, thanks." There was a pause. Morgan stepped in and looked at him. "You look terrible," she said, just a hint of a smile.
"Yeah." He didn't know what to say. He was too out of it. He went and splashed his face in water again, finally toweling off. "First thing I'm going to do is take a shower," he finally spoke. Morgan nodded. "That sounds good. I need one, too" It made him think things he'd rather not. He looked at his watch, 4:38AM, and wondered how much sleep he would get. There were things to do. Things he tried focusing on.
It wasn't working.
"Say, Morgan?""Yes?""Would it really be that bad?""Hm?""Ya know.""I don't-" In a moment, Frank did something he never thought possible and surprised his murderous friend. Childhood friend. The first girl he ever knew. Who had killed with him, who had once beaten him up to help with building pain tolerance, and he hid the bodies for when she flipped out a couple of times. She was so in shock, her hand only reacted on the standard impulse to go for her straight razor. But it stayed there. She stopped herself, unthinking, a stronger impulse outweighing the other. It was 4:39AM and their lips met. Frank kissed her.
It wasn't a long moment, since Albert suddenly bopped into the door and poked his drunken face in. But it was enough to make it count. "Hey, we gotta-" but he stopped as the two pulled apart. Frank started washing his hands again, Morgan yoinking her hand ungracefully out of her pocket. And they both tried in too much of a hurry to go nonchalant. He looked at them and raised his eyebrows. "You guys coming?" Moment gone, suddenly more sober than thought possible, the two nodded. "Yeah, coming." Albert left and Morgan was soon to follow, until Frank's hand fell on her shoulder. She shrugged him off. "I'm sorry," he whispered, but as his hand began to drop, hers found it and gave it a small squeeze. "It's okay," she breathed back and was gone.
Frank splashed water on his face again and looked at himself in the mirror.
Ok, gonna hit the gym, but just FYI - I am going to do ONE more AU Medieval-Fantasy Downcast prompt today.
Some details as to what that can entail:
King Harold, formerly a secretive Assassins' Guild leader, has now taken over the Kingdom of Exodia, whose rich resources shall be used to defend from a coming war.
Sully, an assassin working for King Harold, has been cursed and a siren named Emily is haunting his dreams. Yet whenever he is awake, Emily dreams of him, and has begun to gain independence from the spell.
Killer Kim of Adalhelm is an assassin who has teamed up with the former King of Exodia, Maxis... the two seek to overthrow and defeat King Harold.
Fine then. Medieval AU since that idea's latched itself onto you: King Maxis and Kim team up. ;)
Thank you! Ee! :D
One Eyed King
He was in and out for days. The memories of the event whisked by. In his dreams he had two eyes. He had a wife. And he was King. The princess and prince were beautiful, his pride and joy. Greater than all the worlds he had conquered, greater still than his own rise to power. One night he had gazed upon the domain he ruled... and heard the sound of a distant cannon. It wasn't until the ball hit the castle walls near his children's rooms that he realized it was an attack. Then it was a flurry of images, burned into his eyes.
Then there was only one eye.
And then he heard his daughter scream.
Maxis finally snapped awake. It was morning. Dawn. He opened the only eye left and realized there was someone rapping on the door. He started to sit up and the cleric in the corner desk mumbled, "rest, your highness." Maxis laid back. He dozed off again. A mighty king, the slayer of a thousand, whose reign was peaceful with power; now an injured man who could barely raise his head from the bed.
When he came to, there was a familiar face in the room. Her arm was broken, her face was smattered in blood, but he could recognize that scowling tone. He never knew a voice could scowl until that masquerade. She was young, the kind of young woman who his Queen would have admired in their youth. Someone who made the most of her life and never seemed to live by the rules the world wanted her to live. Maxis smiled a little as he started to stand up. She didn't respond, hadn't noticed him. She was grumbling at the cleric, who was chastising about keeping tabs on her crossbow. "Trying holding onto it next time, m'lady?" Lady... Maxis chuckled inside. She had been introduced to him and his Queen as such, but she would hate the word. Indeed she did. "Stop calling me that, cleric," she growled in disdain.
"That must hurt," Maxis finally said, his throat dry from dehydration."My Lord, please rest. I will get you some water in a moment," the cleric said. But Kim looked over, hair in her face, eyes peering through at him."Yeah. It hurts. But a lot less than losing depth perception, I assume." She was smirking again. It made him smile.
The cleric rolled his eyes and kept working on the splint to keep Lady Kim's arm in place. He would need to gather two tinctures from the next town over or send one of the children to get it. The knife wounds he would be able to heal with his abilities. Not much drain, now that he was done with the work repairing King Maxis of Exodia for now.
"Why are you hurt, Kim?" Maxis spoke informally."Same reason as yourself, your Highness," Kim replied."Hrm... not high anymore. Not with what they've done."Kim thought for a moment, while Cleric William finished tightening the splint and went to work with his hands. The glowing blue light hovered over her wounds and sealed them. She winced, remembering the cuts at the hands of that crazed assassin. And it made her think of something.
"Them. It was them, wasn't it? Those three at at the masquerade. The ones in the red masks."
Maxis trembled at the thought, remembering the last thing his right eye saw before it was impaled on the blonde's dagger.
"Yes.... yes."
Kim smirked. "Rejoice, your highness... one of them takes breath no longer."
The one-eyed King grinned... he couldn't help but laugh. "That... is why you have come to this land. I should have recognized your scarf at the ball, my lady. I did not realize you were the infamous Murderbeast Kim."
She frowned again, biting her lip to keep from shouting. "That's Killer Kim... your highness."
"The assassin who defeats those who have unjust laws and murders the sinners in the land?"
"The one and the same." She was wondering if this was going somewhere, frustrated as the pain was going down and Cleric William had finished with the minor cuts, beginning work now on the large gash in her left arm.
"I had heard once you sought my head. Is this true?""That depends, Maxis. If you wish to continue a rule that leads to inequality amongst your people-""I had no idea til the time of my escape in the castle how severe conditions were." He spoke defensively. Royally. It bothered him more than he thought it would and he cleared his throat. "No. I will not rise to power once more. This is an era of much change and I doubt one such as I will ever gain as I did... the love I had... the children..." He felt the tear ducts salty. Kim paused, hearing the subtle and silent sob in his voice.
"You have lost everything?""All that was once Exodia is now perished. Its land and its riches are in the hands of Harold of Downcastan."
There was silence at that. She didn't know what to say right away. The Cleric left and returned that afternoon with tinctures for her. He also carried a small leather patch for Maxis' eye. He placed it carefully over the hole that was now filled with healing flesh. The eye had been removed and would never return. Kim looked at the big man, now but a man. Once a king, once a warrior... but now, what?
It reminded her of her youth. Of Roy and herself, escaping the fires of the horde. The fireballs they had dodged and the demons they faced. Afterward, had they appeared as this Maxis did?
She smiled again when it was done. The tincture took effect quickly and it gave her better thinking. She was prepared to speak. To offer.
"Sir Maxis." He looked up. There was a good ring to that. A wonderful ringing sound at the name she now gave him.
"Yes, Killer Kim?"
"How say you, to the thought of joining me on a quest of vengeance?"
Downcast Prompt: "Tony/Garcia BFFs" for vanessasketch
WARNING FEELS IMMINENT.
Downcast prompts continue! :D
Thanks for this one, Vanessa. It gave a lot of interesting breathing room to these characters and it's really a moment of joy.
Anyway, on with the writing! \o/
Glad Tidings, Fellow Murderers!
The sound of a log rolling down stairs let Tony know that Garcia was finally back. He wondered if he was silly enough to have the sodas in his hands at the time, but briefly as his friend came in the laundry room and put them down by the sink. "Ah, got the Dante's Root Beer. We are ready for a proper party now." Tony rolled his eyes as he continued measuring. He had been making his own soda since he was nine years old, so the importance of buying some consumerist crap from the Fred Meyer ten minutes away was infinitely void.
Garcia came up and slapped Tony on the back, the gesture he couldn't stand, and the two peered into the measuring. Tony hadn't missed a drop and was right up to... "There. A cup of butter," Tony said finally, and put it down by the basement kitchen's cutting board. "He's not lactose intolerant, is he?" Garcia asked, realizing then he'd never brought up the subject. "Well, I have some scented candles just in case." Garcia snorked a laugh, but Tony went back to work. He got the powdered sugar and started mixing it with the butter, while his friend went over to the other side of the kitchen.
Small hands were molding marzipan, one pair smaller than the other, and little shapes were coming to life. The smaller hands were making smiley faces and the larger ones made objects... it didn't occur to the little girl that Morgan was making knives, guns, and poison bottles with the confectionary; but the sight of it did give Garcia pause. He watched them working together a moment. At one point, Serena's tiny hands lifted the marzipan up towards her lips, for a taste of a particularly happy smile, when Morgan's hand quickly grabbed her wrist. "Ow!" Serena cried out, looking at Morgan in surprise. Their spectator waited to see how Morgan would react. A blink, Morgan's blank face obviously reacting behind the eyes, and she let go. A muttered "sorry" followed. Serena rubbed her wrist and said, "you're mean," then stuck her tongue out at her sweet-treat making friend. Before Morgan could reply, Serena grinned and went back to making the Marzipan, as if nothing was wrong. If she could feel anything, she envied that about her little companion. Garcia approached the two now. "How are things coming along?" he asked, putting a hand on their shoulders. Morgan nodded, "well." Serena showed Garcia her latest. "Look, I'm making happies! Sully's so sad, we're gonna make him happy, right?" She grinned and his hand took the little marzipan smiley face of black eyes and mouth on yellow. A moment of looking at it and his smile matched the edible treat. "That we are," he finally said.
Tony, meanwhile, got the beaters going and mixed up the icing. The mix, plus extra powdered sugar, dollop of hazelnut flavoring, teaspoon of coconut oil, and it was ready to go. "Icing's ready for color!" Serena would have been running for it but Morgan grabbed her collar to stop her. "Ack!" Garcia laughed and said, "coming!" When he approached Tony's station in the kitchen, however... "Wait, where's the blue dye?" Without looking, Tony pointed in its exact direction, sending Garcia that way. "And go easy on that. I know Sully likes blue, but I'm running out of that stuff."
"What, do you need it for your next bake sale?" Garcia said, his hand grabbing the Koger bottle. "No, for pois-" Tony stopped himself, realizing Morgan was glaring. Serena hadn't noticed the conversation, thankfully. Harry's first rule about his daughter - no mentioning business around her. Tony quickly caught himself, "no, I do make-up for the Blue Man Group."
The icing was mixed, a lovely blue shade, and Garcia handed it to Tony to apply to the cake. "Anything else I can do?" Garcia asked. Tony looked at the next room. "Give Albert a hand with the decorations, I heard him having trouble with the string." When the pair peered through the door to the other room, sure enough Albert was covered in more decorations than the room was. The paper furls at his feet were torn to bits and he had confetti in his hair. How someone so disciplined and neat could not for the life of him create an organized party room decoration-layout was beyond them. Tony and Garcia started snickering, pulling back into the other room. The sound did not fall on deaf ears and Albert shouted, "why do I get stuck doing decorations? I told you guys I suck at it!" Tony laughed back, "because you're available!"
When Morgan and Serena finished with the marzipan pieces for the cake, they went in to help Albert with decorating. The sound of clattering things made Tony wince. "That better not be my Bob Dylan collection," he grumbled. Garcia patted him on the back. They began putting the Marzipan pieces on the cake one by one, trying not to be too choosy they wouldn't offend Serena or Morgan's effort. "So, let's go through it again," Garcia said. Tony counted it off on a hand, "cake, check. Root beer-despite the fact my recipe beats that store-bought crap any day, check. Decorations are being taken care of. Harry rented Sully's favorite movie already-" Garcia interrupted, "I don't understand why he didn't download the 720p rip of it." Tony smirked, "what, we're pirates now, too?" Garcia rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Okay, then Frank's got the present."
They paused. "Frank got the present, right?" "Shit. I'll call him, be right back." Garcia headed out the door, past the better decorations by Serena (who seemed to be whupping both Albert and Morgan at it), and up the stairs to Tony's main floor.
Waiting, Tony finished with the cake decorations. He checked on the milk in the fridge, got the root beer on ice for chilling, and checked the time. 23 minutes until arrival. All things considered, it was going well. It'd been Garcia's idea, but Tony appreciated the concept. Sully had been working really hard and this last job, from the sounds of things, had been a real doozy for him. Doing something nice when he got back seemed like a good idea. Maybe for one they'd be doing something nice. There was a relaxing feeling in that thought, one Tony tried not to give too much.
"This is quite possibly the most contradictory cake I've ever seen." The two stared at the cake in awe of it. Smilies everywhere, with throwing knives, guns, and other death-dealing tools as well. Sully had been a fan of action movies when they were teenagers, so Morgan had the excuse for those. The blue was his favorite color and Tony tried to shape it like the ocean waves. He couldn't remember where, but their assassin friend had mentioned the ocean looking tranquil once. It seemed like something he'd like. The two looked at the spread they'd made in the basement's main finished room, in awe of what they'd put together. Frank arrived shortly after with the present, which he and Morgan argued about who would wrap it while Garcia and Tony did the actual work to do so.
The doorbell upstairs rung, letting the group downstairs know it was time. Garcia and Tony bolted upstairs while everybody got in position. Serena turned off the light.
Harry used his key to unlock the front door, him and backpack-wearing Sully coming in. The two approached from the basement, trying not to smile like a couple of kids. "Hey, guys," Harry said, his eyes trying to say, 'is it ready?' Garcia nodded, a subtle yes, "glad to see you made it." Sully looked at them both with a truly glum expression. "How was Budapest, Sully?" Tony asked, and got the response you'd get asking a puppy with a tummy ache what it wanted for dinner. Harry patted Sully on the shoulder. "Let's not bother him. He's home now. Let's get'im cleaned up." "Sure, sure," Tony said. As Sully went over to the upstairs master bathroom, he looked at Garcia. "Are the others here?" he asked, "there's a lot of cars outside." Garcia nodded, "yeah, they're around. Go wash up, we've gotta debrief you." Sully sighed, not looking forward to that, and carried on with his backpack on his shoulders.
When he exited the bathroom, changed into casual clothes again (casual even for "casual work days"), he realized the upstairs was entirely empty. "Hello?" he called out, looking around. Nobody to be seen. He heard something coming from the basement and went down, finding it completely dark. Once he entered the main room, he felt around for the light switch.
Flik!
"SURPRISE!" his friends cried out, indeed surprising him. There they were, all of them together, with a cake set out in front with the words, 'Welcome Home, Sully!' on it. Next to it was a rectangular box of a gift. And chilled root beer, his favorite brand. Their faces were genuinely happy to see him, all of them. Even Morgan was smiling, alongside Frank. The feeling was contagious and a smile of his own covered his face. He approached them, thanking them for their effort, for all they'd done. It was a lot. Something significant, really, as the last time they'd had a celebration like this was when Serena was born (and probably like that, this was on Garcia's insistence). It was special.
He looked at the cake, raising an eyebrow. "That is the most contradictory cake I have ever seen." Tony and Garcia tried not to laugh too hard.
As the party continued, they watched Sully's favorite film (Luc Besson's "Leon: The Professional"), ate cake, and watched Sully open his gift. He unwrapped it, smirking while his friends fought over who thought of it and their other gift ideas. "It's better than Frank's first idea..." "Oh, c'mon." "A lapdance?" Harry scowled at them both for the term use in front of his daughter, but Frank was already defending himself. "I was kidding! Geez!" "Sure you were," Morgan ended it, rolling her eyes. Sully finally revealed the wooden box, a nice hardwood. He lifted the top and revealed a gleaming, beautiful chrome-finished Colt 1911. It was so reflective he could nearly see his reflection in it. Sully smiled with satisfaction.
As things wound down, Garcia and Tony found themselves back in the basement kitchen, starting to clean the plates and glasses. They both took a glance out the door to the other room, while Leon's behind the scenes features played on the TV. The two smiled at their work. These were the moments they strived for. These were the moments they loved, bringing a smile to their friends' faces. The ones that counted. The ones they wish would keep happening forever.
Well, I'm rusty at writing today, but I'm gonna do these two prompts anyway!
Anyway, detaching my laptop from it's latched-in place on my desk, so I may burn some DVD-Rs up here and write the prompts downstairs. Yay, I get to be mobile! :D
Also, is anyone interested in Medieval Downcast AU? Because there's not only a prompt coming up for it today but a lot of rambling about it, too. o.o
What is Downcast? A feature-length independent film made by myself, some awesome writer friends, and a gaggle of Portland, OR film community folks. It’s a crime saga about a gang of criminals who started in High School, but now in their late-20s are about to be torn asunder by betrayals and secrets and murder and all that bad(ass)ness.
So, here’s a few things.
HOW IT WORKS:
Use the above link to send me an ask.
Pick a character (list below), then an emotion, and/or a genre
???
Profit!
I’ll have to take this easy since the genre prompt round 2 got WAY out of hand and my brain went crazy on that. These will be minor little things, sometimes only a paragraph or two long. ^_^’ But if you’re into noirish character-driven drama with action/crime film trappings, drop one in! And don’t be afraid to be silly, dark, romantic, weird, crack, or horrific! It’s all good! :3
Character List:
Sully- the hitman of the group who does elaborate assassinations, in love with Emily, sullen attitude but an occasional sense of humor - friends with Frank and Morgan
Harry- the leader, has a daughter named Serena, lives in the same house with Albert and Morgan as roommates - controlling powerful influence
Morgan- the assassin, personal kills, friends with Sully and (sort of) Frank - hangs out with Serena a lot - psychotic, kill-crazy, dangerous
Albert- the loyalist business guy, follows Harry’s commands like gospel, treats Morgan like an older brother would - aggressive, easily angered
Tony- the chemist/drug-maker, guilty and alcoholic, friends with Garcia and Albert - often twitchy and a little unstable
Frank- the package boy/messenger, often the optimist, insecure - friends with Sully and Morgan, close connection to Garcia
Garcia- the negotiator, now dead - was friends with everyone - the peacemaker and the support, who helped keep the group sane
Serena- the daughter of Harry, rebellious, twelve years old, and without a mother - often hangs around Morgan but has other connections
Emily- the unknowing girlfriend of Sully, sweet and nurturing, a child care center employee - only knows Frank of the rest of the group. Her potential is greater than it seems...
Killer Kim- the vigilante on the hunt for the group, mysterious background, very comic book - has wit, bullets, and grit to her that makes her stand out
Maxis- gang leader, partial rival, in love with his wife and cares for his children, naive about his place in crime; not the kind of person to be messed with
The Recruits- the cannon fodder indoctrinated by Harry’s gang - numbers, no names - often young, surprisingly mixed in background, and outcasted from society to become members of this violent group
If you feel you need more, you can watch the trailer, or check out the website, and maybe check out the photosets I’ve done so far. ^_^’
I'll be working on editing the actual movie today, but definitely drop in a few. The last results of this can be found here.
