Tagged again for the Find The Word game (#1), this time by the lovely @catchingbigfish. Thank you so much <3 And the wonderful @words-after-midnight tagged me for the last line (#2) & heads up seven up (#3) games. Thank youu <3
I’m still relatively new so I’m a little wary of annoying/overwhelming anyone with multiple tags, which is why I’m combining these into one post, BUUUT this time I’m sharing from different projects for each game~
Soft tagging: @wildswrites @pertinax--loculos @tate-lin @nightlylaments @linaket @dotr-rose-love -- no pressure, and I promise this is the last tag game post I’ll torture you with for the next few weeks!
Game #1 - Metanoia
My words: dare, rule, crisis, star, surround
Your words: bloom, sweet, fade, escape, white
dare
Although every other artistic rendition on the construction site walls left something to be desired, Kai was an ambitious 14 year old who took his artwork seriously. He was amused by all the “if u read this u suck dick” messages left behind, of course, but he wanted his art to look so cool no one would dare spraypaint a dick over, wanted it to stay there and be admired by all the other kids and hobos haunting the decrepit building.
Most importantly, he wanted Michael to tell him he liked it.
“You know what you’re doing is a crime, right?” Michael said instead, rubbing his arms to warm himself up.
rule
“If I open my eyes… would I recognize you?” Mal asked, teeth sinking in his lower lip.
“Open them, I leave. Keep them closed, I stay.”
“Them’s the rules, eh?”
“Mhm,” the stranger agreed, playing with the hem of Mal’s jeans.
The party was still in full swing, walls vibrating under jarring cheers and the heavy bass of trashy music. To Mal though, the world outside was completely faded out.
To him, there was only the stranger.
crisis
N/A
star
Mal slid his hand down and rested it over the stranger’s steady heart, a magnet pulling him up to nuzzle back into shelter.
The stranger was burning so hot it felt icy.
“You gonna make me see stars or what?” Mal asked, hooking smiling lips into his own.
surround
Kai was running, his hand in Michael’s, dashing through the wheat and up a bridge to the other side, towards home, but none of it registered.
He didn’t notice the sunflowers, the high stems cutting through his skin, the tiny pebbles of dirt jumping in his shoes, pressing on his heels painfully as they kept running and running and running. He was panting heavily, the cold air slicing deep in his throat, but they didn't stop until they made it to the cemetery, under the protective warmth of a street lamp and familiar surroundings.
Game #2 - Flat 27
(yes, it’s not just the last line. I like cheating)
[TRANSCRIPT:
Damien pulls the curtain open. Their eyes meet.
RYAN (Voice Over): Oh. You’re-
Damien smiles, relieved. Open. Genuine.
RYAN (Voice Over): Devastating.
DAMIEN: Finally. I need you.]
Game #3 - Forget-Me-Not
[TRANSCRIPT:
He reaches for the backpack and pulls out the photo album. He clutches it to his chest.
YUL: This... this is my curse. My burden. If you look inside-
SEO JOON: Yul-ah.
Yul looks up, shaken by the familiarity between them.
SEO JOON: The only reason I’m still here is because I trusted you with my life. I’m telling you you can do the same. (beat) I promise.
An insomniac writer develops a parasocial relationship with his enigmatic cellist neighbour.
DETAILS: genre — psychological, thriller // themes — obsession, solitude vs. loneliness, real vs. manufactured self // status — completed (script), in production (film) // medium — film // wordcount — 3k words // warnings — insomnia, stalking, death
READ HERE
Summary, Characters & More Info under the cut
SUMMARY: Detached from society and impaired by his deteriorating mental state, writer Ryan latches onto one of the last things that can still keep him going - his novel. He fixates on trying to finally finish it, but the incessant noises in his head prevent him from concentrating as he hasn't slept for days on end.
His inspiration is finally awakened when he overhears a tormented cello playing from the neighbouring apartment. Ryan grows dependent on the music to write, believing his neighbour, Damien, is playing specifically for him, and they're bonded through their art despite never exchanging a single word. When Damien starts to show a disconnect by refusing to play as usual and inviting a third person into their "bubble", Ryan is tempted into a depraved act that finally brings him face to face with his delusions.
CHARACTERS:
Ryan: An overachiever with a debilitating fear of failure. He sticks to his choice of being an artist despite not having confidence in his abilities because he doesn't want to admit he might've made a wrong move. He thinks whatever he achieves isn't good enough, always dissatisfied and pushing himself for more. He dreams of connecting with someone who innately understands him and cares about all of him, warts and all, but his only real companion is the teasing voice in his head, Mind-Ryan. He's what Ryan wishes he could be; a future-self that's successful and confident, who always knows what to do and say and takes what he wants without shame.
Damien: A soft spoken and sensitive artist, who lives and breathes music and wishes for nothing but to embrace and create art. The scars of a difficult childhood are easily seen in his struggle to open up and form any significant bonds with his peers, but despite this disconnect, he still yearns to be seen and understood without going through the ordeal of having to vocalize his past. He's prone to getting attached to people who show him care very quickly, and is easily taken advantage of as he has a habit of going out of his way to please. Strikingly, behind this seemingly weak and malleable exterior lurks a barely supressed urge to finally snap.
Matthew: A confident, outspoken artist who refuses to take no for an answer. If he wants something, he gets it, an idea he's lived with his whole life. His skill is more technical and resulting from countless hours of practice, rendering him immediately jealous of anyone who shows natural talent and an understanding of music that goes beyond just good performance. If he can't be like those people, he'll take away their spark so they'd be like him, but he does so in a subtle, deceivingly loving way. A charmer and a good manipulator, he has people eating out of his hand.
MORE INFO:
The Inspiration & Idea: Not a surprise, but I was inspired by Taemin, namely by Advice. I wanted to write a small, practical film, but give it value and richness through its themes, visuals, and performances. It's why the storyworld is limited to just the two flats, and one of the reasons for using only Ryan's POV - the other being that I want the reader/audience to experience the growing parasocial relationship through Ryan and become stalkers along with him.
The Style: Ryan and Damien's little nook of the world seems almost exclusive to them and verges on surrealistic. Displaced in time and space, it's a world that's both real and imagined, a world seen through Ryan's eyes that may or may not be reliable, with easy to miss intricacies and life-changing twists.
The Current Status: The script is written and most of the pre-production is finished, but I am still ironing out some logistics with plans to shoot later in 2023.
The Extended Universe: The novel Ryan is writing is Metanoia, which shares a setting with Forget-Me-Not, although they're separated by a few decades.
