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[Just a bunch of human teens, driving to a rural homestead, picking up hitchhikers. Hmmm....is that one a bad call? Atem has to think about it, one arm around Ryou, the other holding the glass.]

In a situation like that, I wouldn't be afraid to pick up a hitchhiker, either! They probably thought the blood on his face was from working at the slaughterhouse.

[....but not only does that hitchhiker injure himself, he injures Hanklin, and he sets a gunpowder fire inside the car.]

That's two injuries and a no-sense decision. Although, I have to give them credit...they didn't go to his house for dinner and made him leave the car!

[Here's to you, Tally and Hanklin, and all your doomed, partying friends.]

[Ryou pops one of the macarons in his mouth, which oh my god may be a dumb idea? It's super sweet!

...But no. No regrets he's gonna enjoy the hell out of it. It's his birthday, he can do what he likes!

He's done with the second one by the time all of the nonsense unfolds, and while he's not entirely against Atem's logic, he can't keep his own opinion to himself here. He is the horror boy.]

Oh come on, they should have made him leave the van sooner than that, let's be honest. Even by normal standards, allowing him to stay in the vehicle that long was...more than inadvisable. Bet he'll come back later as an antagonist.

[Ryou's seen and read enough horror to know picking up a hitchhiker and letting him be weird in your van is ridiculous okay?

So he reaches one conveniently long arm forward for his glass and...in the interest of compromise, takes a single drink.

He proceeds to then miss the teens arriving to the gas station because he has opinions on this wine.]

...This is really good, where did you get it from?

[No worries about the movie. Someone will start screaming eventually, right?]

[Atem has to give him that. The slaughterhouse talk was enough to set off warning bells, but once the stranger took Hanklin's knife, that's about when Atem would be queuing up behind Yugi's eyes, paying sharp attention for the moment he'd need to step in.

Yugi wouldn't have kicked him out of the car, but that's what Jounouchi's for.]

Oh, the same place the 38 stocks their bar from. I figured any winery they dealt with would be monster-friendly enough to sell to me.

[He's glad Ryou likes it.

Oh no...there's a gasoline shortage in the area...bad news for this crew.]

Maybe I'll get some more later. N-not for today though, this is...honestly plenty.

[Ryou doesn't drink much, his first time was...huh, probably at one of the Tagevalgten's parties? He remembers talking to that Fitz fellow with wine in both hands and...oof. He showed up to tell people not to eat the meat and got tipsy instead...

...At any rate, the point of that train of thought was to think about how he's kind of a lightweight. So hopefully this movie isn't filled with too many dumb decisions, that way he can get his drinking in on the deaths.

Within minutes, he can't help but shake his head though.]

All these red flags...and they're going to an abandoned homestead? This is how people die in movies, you know.

[After that though...he just keeps watching without too much commentary. He won't bore Atem with "Standard horror trope dictates that the couple who wants to separate from the group are going to die first."

He doesn't want to take all the fun out of it. But there's at least one drink or two involved on his end, and no one's even died yet.

It's criminal how invested he is in this movie, for the record. He's happily curled up next to Atem and maybe he has criticisms but he really does enjoy this kind of thing.]

They don't know they're in it! Their choices would seem much more reasonable if they were in a romantic comedy.

[And that's why he's different. Rip to these guys.

The couple clearly intending to spend quality time together goes into the house with the generator, and Atem tsks disapprovingly.]

Mm. Going into a house uninvited, in Vandare...that's a quick way to get into trouble. This guy will be lucky if he isn't sh--oh.

[And then a guy with a leather mask and an apron comes out and gets the trespasser with a hammer.

Atem frowns. He takes the drink for trespassing in a gun-happy city and the other for Dirk's death, dutifully, but something about the apron guy...]

...that's funny. I could swear I've seen him before...

Oh? Doesn't look familiar to me.

[Ryou also drinks, perhaps just a bit too much because that wine really is good.

...Ah. He has to refill his glass. Is he drinking too much? They've still got a fair bit to go, maybe he should take smaller sips.]

It's always the romantic couple getting offed first, I swear. I'm sure she's soon to follow, because obviously she's going to look for him. I don't know though, shouldn't I be disappointed? I thought this was Vandare Chainsaw Massacre.

[Obviously it's a joke, which he snorts at. ~~Laughing at your own jokes is not cringe right?~~

Back to the movie though...now it looks like the young woman's going into the house which Ryou isn't sure counts as a bad decision so much as a concern move, but it has him cringing anyway.]

Another death incoming...

[Chainsaw...what is it about this that's so familiar? There's the start of a buzz in his brain, making it even harder to place, and it's probably not important, so...Atem puts it out of his mind for the moment. He looks at the screen over his own glass, grinning.]

She's doomed.

[Not for a good few minutes, though, as the camera lovingly shows a set piece of a room that's full of animal and human remains. Bones all over the floor, bone furniture, bone chandeliers...]

How much of that would you put in here if you could get away with it?

[He means the apartment.]

[That is a very good question. Atem probably shouldn't have asked but it's too late. No takebacks! So while he's pouring himself more wine, Ryou thinks it over.]

Hmm...I do like the chandelier and the sitting piece, though I'm not sure...if that's a sofa or a bench. They'd be conversation-starters, don't you think? I'm not sure if I could use actual human bones if I intended to have people over though.

[Not unless they were ethically sourced which is basically impossible.]

Maybe a bleached rib and vertebrae windchime would sound cool.

[Ryou no.

Blessedly, they are distracted from any other macabre furniture mentions by the girl being snatched up by the murder. Ryou shakes his head again, then...grimaces as she's hung on a meat hook.

That's a drink. Good thing he topped up.]

Well...we may have to drink to her again, she didn't die on-screen. Movies like this do like to throw the element of surprise in.

[Personally he wouldn't mind it. The wine has begun to make him feel pleasantly warm. He's starting to become familiar with the feeling, but he's pretty sure he's not drunk.

Yet.

While the film transitions to the rest of the teenagers, Ryou takes an opportunity to settle a little further down on the couch, just so he can set his head more comfortably on Atem's shoulder.]

Am I being too weird? When it's fictional, it's interesting...but you probably didn't expect to be dating such a strange person at this point in your life, did you?

[Sorry, Ryou. You're asking him a serious question, but the thing is, the killer got out his chainsaw in that scene, to carve up the boyfriend, and...

And Atem's kind of staring at the screen, like he can't believe it. Ryou's asking, "am I too weird?" but all Atem can say is--]

That's the Chopman.

I...I'm sorry, the what-man?

[Ryou cannot even. WHAT?

Did he just call the chainsaw murderer the Chopman? Is Ryou missing something? Did Atem see this guy from the movie somewhere in real life?! It really isn't outside of the realm of possibility--]

[--And then, just out of nowhere, he starts laughing. Oh god oh jeez where's the remote he has to pause why is this so funny it's like Atem made that name up, but did he? DID HE??

~~I guess you had to be there~~

Give him a minute, he has to stop laughing he can't be sloshing this nice-ass wine everywhere, it tastes too good, but man it takes him a minute.]

H-have you seen this movie before?!

Edited 2021-10-27 03:31 (UTC)

No, but I've seen him. In Domino. The hair's not the same, but everything else is...

[The irony of following up an "am I too weird for you" question with a statement like this is entirely lost on Atem.]

He was working for Kaiba. At the "theme park of death!"

So...you're telling me that Seto Kaiba hired the man from this movie...for a death park attraction?

Atem, he probably hired a cosplayer, you know? But also, Kaiba...really was obsessed with you wasn't he? He really tried to hurt you guys.

[At first, Ryou sounds bemused, but then as he got down to the subject of Death-T...he realized that perhaps it was a bit more serious than that, and he shouldn't be laughing. Kaiba effectively hired a chainsaw murderer to hurt his friends.]

I can't confirm it, I suppose...since the killer was never caught.

But, the summer before, there'd been murders at a camp near Domino Lake. It happened before I was awake, but I remember when Yugi heard about it. Ten campers died in one night, all cut up into pieces. Kaiba said he found the one who did it, and scouted him for the haunted house part of his revenge project. The way he was back then...I wouldn't have put it past him.

Kaiba locked Jounouchi in a room with him. Or, at least, with the guy he said was him. Jounouchi won, and we moved on to the next level. But it wasn't easy! The killer was strong enough to rip the door off its hinges, and Jounouchi was handcuffed to him. Luckily, the floor was covered in oil, and the room was lit with real candles. Jounouchi picked his handcuff with the candleholder's spike, attached the chain to the door, got out -- and the room went up in flames behind him.

[Man, Atem misses that guy. He's not seen Jounouchi in way too long. Not since the event in February, and that wasn't even really him...]

Edited (LMAO) 2021-10-27 18:59 (UTC)

Oh...

[Ryou's ears slowly start to lower the more Atem talks about it. Good that he paused the movie because this is heavy.

That's pretty fucked up of Kaiba to do, especially locking Jounouchi up with this murderer. It's things like this that make it very clear to Ryou why Yugi and the others hadn't been perturbed by the whole "friends going into comas" thing when they'd first met. It was almost as if they took it as a personal challenge to befriend Ryou or something, which at the time he thought was very foolhardy...but also touching.]

W-well I'm really glad that no one got killed in all of this. The more you tell me about the death park, the worse it gets. Maybe we ought to just sit down and talk about it at length sometime.

[Maybe not now, they're having a good time, right? He hopes...]

Ah...do you want to stop watching? I wouldn't want to bring up bad memories for you.

[Pretty fucked up, Kaiba!!]

I don't mind telling you about it. Some pretty bad things happened, but...we made it to the top of Kaiba's tower by working together, and supporting each other!

That was the first time I wasn't fighting alone.

[A full year later and Atem's still full of emotions about the Exodia miracle draw. God he loves his friends a lot. He's slightly buzzed, and he loves his friends a lot.]

So, I'm okay to go on. After all, this can't be the same guy! Maybe someone from Domino who was here before told the story to the locals, and they decided to make a Chopman movie.

[Maybe it was the Kaiba whose name is in the monster graveyard, he thinks. If so, that Kaiba's on notice.]

Either way, [he says into his wine glass, so it echoes a little,] we beat him. So, he's not that scary.

...

...

But -- you were asking me something, weren't you?

[A minute ago, before Atem got distracted by the fact that he helped fight a horror movie villain in the middle of a theme park of death orchestrated by a guy who cared so much about collectible trading card games that he invented hologram technology to get extremely specific, expensive revenge on him.]

Edited 2021-10-27 19:48 (UTC)

Nah, I don't believe it's the same guy at all. Just a cheap knockoff.

[Aww...Ryou really likes hearing Atem talk about friendships and relationships, even in the context of supporting each other through multi-level murder attempts. Not counting that last bit, it's super cute and overrides the encroaching homesickness Ryou is starting to feel because he misses his friends too. No! Good vibes only!]

Oh, right. I was asking if...you thought I was being too weird, which at this point is probably moot, isn't it? But...you know, just because of the weird interest in the furniture.

[He takes a sip of wine because whether they're playing or not the wine tastes really nice and he likes it. Free drink!]

[He looks sideways at Ryou, raising an eyebrow.

If Atem had more self-awareness and less confidence, he might point out that yes, it's a moot point, he just told Ryou the "we beat Chopman" story. Instead, he's very certain that there's nothing wrong with his own history at all, and just as certain that Ryou should embrace his weird spooky interests with pride.

His arm goes around Ryou's shoulders affectionately, pulling Ryou back in. Atem's definitely feeling the 3/4 of a glass of wine he's consumed.]

I'll get you a bone wind-chime for your next birthday.

[A quick, stolen kiss to Ryou's temple.]

Maybe sooner! Who knows?

[Ryou is happy to lean back against Atem, and to be promised a bone wind-chime at all. He is also blissfully unaware of how tipsy Atem is, because there's absolutely no way that Atem is as much of a lightweight as Ryou is.

He's buzzed enough to be perhaps...a bit too saccharine, himself.]

Aww, that's terribly sweet of you. [He smiles contentedly, before reaching for the remote. The movie was about to unpause anyway, they couldn't keep putting it off.] Ethically sourced bones only, please. No need to bring me the bones of our poor victims.

[Hoo boy, Ryou's skating a little close to The Truth there. But he has no idea.

Why would he?

He turns the movie back on, and they're back in the rural death trap.]

[Yep, Tally's boyfriend is bullying Hanklin, Hanklin can't find his knife, whatever, at least two of them are doomed.]

Okay. Animal bones it is, unless someone willingly agrees to part with them.

[That's what Ryou means by ethical, right? It's no good to have human remains around if they're just connected to a bad memory, anyway.

A young man in a paisley shirt and thick glasses wanders off to look for the dead couple, as the brother and sister left behind anxiously discuss horoscopes while the sun sets.]

Oh, he's next.

[That is exactly what Ryou means by ethical though now he has to wonder who Atem knows that can just give bones away for free? Their bones? Bones they own?? It is a mystery.

But that's fine because the movie is on and now they're back with the rest of the group.

Ryou squints at the screen.]

Wait. Hanklin had his knife before didn't he? It's not like a knife will save them, but I swear...he's kind of a whiny jerk.

[Ryou over here with mildly offensive opinions?! Sheesh!]

You're right though, the other guy is walking to his death. Hopefully more creative than blunt force trauma, but old movies like this do sometimes recycle.

I think so...

[Atem...thinks Hanklin lost his knife, at some point. Is that going to be important? He's not sure. But it's extremely funny to see this side of Ryou -- opinionated and a critic about horror fiction! Atem thinks Hanklin's a little too quick to try to gross other people out, but it's behavior he'd have tolerated too much of in his own friends. And besides, Hanklin's the only one who suspects someone might be after them!]

Are you critiquing the Chopman's style?

[Oh, no, Paisley Shirt's checking the freezer the girlfriend was last seen in.]

Oh, there she--

[She's still for a moment -- but then bursts out of the freezer. This gets Atem to jump -- not far, but the full-body twitch will be very obvious to the boyfriend on his shoulder.]

--ah!

[And then the Chopman comes out of nowhere -- with the blunt force trauma.]

She was alive, you were right!

[But Paisley Shirt's hit hard, and oops, Atem's out of his own drink. He leans forward to refill it. He's playing cautiously and sticking to the rules!]

Just a little, but it's not the movie's fault! It's probably just a product of its time, you know? It wasn't contrived then.

[Ryou has Big Opinions about horror movies, okay? He loves them but he also likes to talk to them, and Atem's letting him do it, so it's even better. He may also be a little sugar rushed, and he's definitely a tiny bit buzzed.

When Atem jumps, he can't help the little smile on his face. He tries to stay serious and does not laugh but it is a tiny bit funny. A silly little horror movie got Atem to flinch, huh?

He'll file that away for later, but for now...he straightens both to take a drink of his own and allow Atem to top his glass up.]

Told you~

[Did he just lilt there? Boy...]

I don't think we'll see her again, and you don't have to drink but I think I will. I'll bet on it!

[Just look at that dead expression on her face, it couldn't be clearer. The next death is Hanklin's a little later on, and when Ryou drinks for that one, he's pretty sure that they've reached the climax of the film. He's also...pretty sure he's starting to feel the wine, because he's fallen off with his commentary in favor of cuddling with Atem.

He's still watching! He totally is, he's just...comfy. Yep. How he can be this comfortable watching someone else die and then watching Tally run away from quite possibly the most athletic backwater chainsaw-wielder is anyone's guess. He drinks for the dead couple upstairs--should he? Shouldn't he? Too late, he did it. The wine tastes really nice, okay?

...Sorry Atem, your boyfriend might just be a lush for today.]

If that's your call, then I'll put my trust in it, too.

[Pour one out for freezer girl. And for the decision to leave the car to look for their friends, and Hanklin's death, and Tally getting her cut sucked by a living corpse, and...

...yeah, he's fallen off of talking. His whole body's become very warm, and it's nice to hold Ryou. There's a lot of screaming, a lot of close-up shots of eyes so close you can count the lashes, and honestly, stroking Ryou's shoulder idly with his fingers as his arm rests around Ryou's back is a little more fun. His face tilts against the top of Ryou's head, cheek pressed against his hair.]

D'you think she's going to get away alive?

[In Ryou's expert opinion.]

[Ryou's watching...he's watching but Atem is distracting him with all that softness and tender touching and it's niiiice.

When he's addressed, it takes him a moment or two, but he does respond.]

Hmmm, yeah...probably. Good movie's gonna leave one alive. Just my thought. Needs a happy ending.

[Ryou brings the drink to his lips when Tally gets whacked with a hammer, he'd already put off drinking at the finger-sucking, since he couldn't un-drink for the apparently not-dead grandfather but that hammer looked gruesome.

...The other times though, where she's only mildly tapped, he doesn't.]

What about you? You think she'll get away? They're...dragging it out a little.

[Speaking of dragging, he shifts a little, wrapping an arm around Atem to hold him like a body pillow. He's feeling pretty relaxed right now.]

'S turning into torture porn.

[...Wait. What the fuck did he just say? Ryou's ears flick upward as he realizes what words had accidentally escaped his mouth. He's, uh. He's not sure whether to laugh or to apologize. So he freezes.]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, PLAYER1. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 10.11.0.0.01 * PLAYER1 has joined 10.11.0.0.01 <PLAYER1>** If you're looking for someone you knew as Yugi before June, you've found him! It's Atem, leave a message.

cw fictional self harm

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cw child murder, burning to death

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gonna gently skip a little bit to speed things along, lmk if that's ok or not!

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