Title: Fearless
Rating: M for Language, Violence, Grotesquerie, and General Trippiness
Summary: A girl suffers trauma to her temporal lobe. The result: no fear. ~ Squint and turn the screen sideways for romantic subtext. 1000 words per drabble.
Disclaimer & Important Notes: Don't own Freddy; don't own the rhymes. You know the drill.
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Film
(Night 97)
"I used to be afraid of things," she said moodily. "I watched movie once based on a Shakespearean play. It was called Titus—you know, with Anthony Hopkins?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, Tony Hopkins," Freddy said, feigning familiarity, before rolling his eyes and glowering. "Fuck no, bitch. Who the hell is—no, you know what? Never mind."
She managed a faint grin, but it looked pale and thin. "I probably shouldn't have watched it," she admitted. "I was young, at the time. And there was a scene where two brothers had raped a girl—I remember it well." Her eyes were vague and distant. "They cut out her tongue so she couldn't tell," she said softly, "and they cut off her hands at the wrists and stuffed the stumps full of branches and twigs."
He raised the hairless ridge of one twisted brow. "Impressive," he conceded. "I should have thought of—"
"It was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen," she continued. Her voice was steady and even. "I had nightmares for weeks."
He scowled and asked, "Where was I then?" But he knew he didn't feel it as keenly as he would have a few months earlier.
"You know what I feel when I think of that scene now?" she asked softly, turning her eyes up to him. They looked faintly confused, and her brow was furrowed in the way it always did when she was trying to figure something out. "I think of how useless those twig-fingers were, and how…aesthetically displeasing the whole thing would be. What an…inconvenience." She shook her head, her eyes still not-quite-troubled. "I think that's why I keep coming back to you," she offered after a moment, her voice low and thoughtful. "I want to see if you can make me feel."
Who killed Cock Robin? "I," said the Sparrow,
"With my bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin."
Who saw him die? "I," said the Fly,
"With my little eye, I saw him die."
Who caught his blood? "I," said the Fish,
"With my little dish, I caught his blood."
Who'll make the shroud? "I," said the Beetle,
"With my thread and needle, I'll make the shroud."
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This drabble is dedicated primarily to psychadelicious and secondarily to JessicaDwyer for the prompt, "film."
It is 298 words long, and I pondered for quite a while before I wrote this one. I didn't know where I was going to go with it, to be honest. But somehow, my mind tripped over a movie I had watched for a "Shakespeare in Film" class in May of my sophomore year of college, and how it FREAKED THE HELL OUT OF ME. I'm not kidding. Titus, man. And I was a college student.
The scene described here is legitimately from this film, which is a trip and a half in its own right (honestly, it reminds me of the old-school Freddy movies, which I always felt like I was on LSD while watching). It struck me as something so bizarre—something that could only happen in a nightmare—that I had to include it here, perhaps as fodder for Freddy's future adventures. The rest of the conversation between Freddy and Ash just subsequently happened, developing simply the way I would imagine each of them responding to their current discussion topic.
Thanks again to psychadelicious and JessicaDwyer, for reminding me of that particularly horrifying film sequence and giving me nightmares again, five years later. ;)
ANOTHER NOTE: Prompting is now CLOSED for the duration of this fic. You have all been wonderful, and thank you so much for your help. The story is mostly completed though (drabbles will be posted pending an opportunity to edit them), and I won't really need anymore prompts. I appreciate all your help in this and am debating doing a brief one-shot "sequel" drabble to accommodate one of the recurring prompts that I am not using in this piece. I'll update you as I make my decision. In the meantime, of course, you're welcome to leave reviews even without the prompts. It's definitely appreciated, regardless, and I'm glad you're enjoying this fic!