#Man and van Brent

[toadettely]

honestly i’m horrible at naming things and idk what to call this so it’s up to whoever but i think i’ll do a set of drabbles getting into each of their traits. like in the last one with sophist’s affinity to gravitate towards cursed objects and somehow survive (as long as it’s a cursed object) and vern being overly sympathetic with the ghosts (usually they love him but if they’re vengeful they TARGET him) ((again attempting to color code))

sunny meadows mental institution is not a place for those who are weak of heart. it has an ugly past which has seeped into the asylum’s very being. every wall drenched in pure terror and agony. as sophist and brent roam the right side of the institute fear turns their bones to ice. vern, on the left of the map, walks alone with no comfort except a flickering flash light..

they all booked it out of there.

“c��mon nick please?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!?”

“all you have to do is find the ghost room and get out..” “we promise we’ll let you stay in the van for the rest of the night” “i won’t be a dick about you staying in the van EVER again.”

“you’re all crazy if you think i’m going in THERE. AND..and this place is HUGE!? all THREE of you couldn’t find it?! WHY DO YOU THINK I CAN?!”

“is he serious?” “i think so..” “nick come on..there has never been a time where you haven’t found the ghost room on your first try.”

“yeah! you got this dude just do your thing”

“..fine..BUT! i’m not dying alone. if you fellas think i’m sooo good at this why don’t one of you come with me.”

“ok” “sure” “i wouldn’t mind but we need someone in the van to monitor sanity”

“..i hate you guys..”

nick slowly approaches the asylum steps getting slower and slower the closer he gets.. a stark contrast to how vernias practically skips towards the mental institute.

“you belong here..anyone who’s willing to enter this hellhole has to be insane”

“this place is inhumane, i’m like half sure i saw a jar of teeth, but as long as you’re here with our luck we’ll be fineeee”

“TEETH?!”

“chill out we’re already inside you can’t be yelling!”

“well maybe don’t tell me about the HUMAN TEETH!?”

as nick and vern scouted the remains of sunny meadows drenched in fear..the guys in the van seemed pretty alright.

“do you think nick will finally get a taste of the afterlife with this one?”

“he hasn’t died yet and we’ve been doing together for at least a year..plus i heard he used to do solo jobs”

“NICK?! like our nick? he doesn’t step out of the van unless vern has him by the scruff”

“yeah, no apparently he was really good at it”

“that’s wild.. you think i can take a nap before they come back?”

“uhhh sure. i can keep watch and monitor their vitals”

“cool cool..”

as brent turns back to the computer he feels a weight drop onto his shoulder.. and then hears a gut wrenching scream. sophist bolts straight up nearly knocking his head into brent’s chin.

“..sleep is for the weak anyway..”

just then nick runs up to the van, panic written all over his features, as vernias follows cackling.

“THE CROSSES FLIPPED UPSIDE DOWN!? WHAT THE HELL”

“you should’ve seen it! he screamed like a little girl! It’s in the chapel by the way”

“THE CHAPEL. THE HOLY PLACE OF THE LORD!! OH MY GOD I CAN’T”

“okay, okay as promised we’ll do the rest you can go back to being van man”

“actually i’m not going back in there either.. there are like 5 cursed items in there-“

“WHAT? REALLY?!”

“aaand just like that sophist’s gone.”

“i guess i’ll follow and see what else we can find”

“bye brent!”

“i need a nap..”

i can’t lie your encouragement is sending me on a spree but still!! el i WILL go kaboom 💥 clover bits all over. things will truly get chaotic if you keep using the a word [envision the yippee horse guy thingy staring at you]…

-🍀

(This ask is from two day ago) Continuation of this!

I'm absolutely invested in this AU!! It's so exciting and your dialogues are Chef's kiss!!

Swizard tagged a rb with "Pc Phasmophobia AU" and I think I like that name a lot for this AU! (≧∇≦)ﾉ It's basic but it's literally on point (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

I adore your love for details when it comes to their traits! When I read your first story, I haven't thought about things like Nick's luck, Vern's overly sympathetic nature and Sophist's connection with cursed objects and his ability to somehow survive them - But it's very noticeable now and amazingly written and well thought-out! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) I love all of this so much <33

Nick used to do solo jobs before this?? That's so cool! And makes sense that he was good at it, his luck probably protected him haha (^∇^*)

I LOVE how Vern mentiones there are cursed items in there and Sophist just SPRINTS into the place - absolutely beautiful (/≧▽≦)/

Take all the praise and encouragement, Hun!! You deserve it and I really adore this AU and your writing, Honey Bomb!! 🍯💣

[jihyoruri]

❨ .˳⁺⁎˚ ﹏ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ . ❩. ❁ the loser (that we love)

#✿! . . . group! - aespa (sm entertainment)| GOT (sm entertainment)

#✿! . . . birthday!- n/a.n/a.2001

#✿! . . . mtbi!- INFJ

#✿! . . . relationship status!- situationship (yu jimin)

#✿! . . . traits!- awkward, doesn’t think before she talks, soft hearted, emotional, lacks social skills

#✿! . . . family!- the l/n family a very big family that comes from old money and is very important

#✿! . . . close friends!- her members (aespa), half of the sm family, bada lee, yunjin (lesserafim), yves (ex loona), clairo, pinkpantheress

#✿! . . . brand endorsements!- ysl, crome hearts, ralph lauren polo, givenchy (with her group), vans

#✿! . . . fav artists!- kanye west, sza, weezer, eyedress, metro boomin, tyler the creator, frank ocean, mac miller

#✿! . . . songs that describe her!- needy (ariana grande), puppet (tyler the creator), die for you (the weekend), step on me(the cardigans), pretty when you cry (lana del ray), sorry not sorry (tyler the creator), cake (melanie martinez), I just threw out the love of my dreams (weezer)awkward(sza), poison (brent faiyaz)

✿! . . . fav movies/tv shows!- it, scream, spider man into the spiderverse, the social network, pitch perfect, daria, south park, breaking bad

#✿! . . . biggest dream!- to find a place where nobody can find her and just chill there for a couple of months or years

#✿! . . . most cherished possessions!- her neon green electric guitar, the sweater that jimin got her when they were trainees, not possession but her matching tattoo with a close friend of hers (bada), her song book, her South Park belt

[somethingvicked]

True love of mine part 2.

An Eddie Munson story

Stranger Things AU (no Upside-Down)

warnings: Female reader, slight angst, flexible timeline.

(Credit to artist of whatever pictures I use - I find them online, don't own! Special thanks to @velvetmayhem that allowed me to use her edit for this fic!)

Chapter 1

Now

Y/N

You walked into the grocery store before heading home, just to grab a few toiletries. Brent was a boyfriend most people could only dream of but he still bought you the wrong shampoo, despite the fact that you had been together for nearly three years.

Fiancé, you corrected yourself. Brent was now your fiancé.

You wondered if the thought should have made your heart flutter, or a geyser of joy making your eyes tear up but neither happened. You just felt... not numb and not unhappy. Like it was… okay.

You looked down on your left ring finger, seeing the ring glittering there.

You didn’t feel thrilled about seeing that either. Instead it made you feel guilty about how little time you had spent looking at it since it made itself at home on your finger.

It wasn’t like you weren’t happy about this. You were! Brent was a wonderful man; sweet, funny and he cared about you!

Okay, he was a bit boring at times but no one was perfect, right?

It was not Brent’s fault that you still had a tear in your heart which never seemed to heal. A hole left by someone that no one else could ever fill.

Eddie Munson.

After all these years it still hurt to think about Eddie Munson and how much you had loved him. The plans you’ve both had. How you had promised each other there would never be anyone else for either of you.

Typical children’s dreams one might think.

And it seemed Eddie thought so too, considering he had suddenly disappeared on you.

One day when you were in your first year of college and Eddie on his third (and last) attempt to finish high school, Wayne, his uncle, had called you and worriedly asked if Eddie was with you. He had just vanished and left a letter where he said not to look for him.

You had gotten worried, of course and come home immediately; not that it had helped. No one knew where Eddie had gone or why. Not the guys in Corroded Coffin (his band), not the members of Hellfire Club, the Dungeons & Dragons club Eddie was the leader of, not Wayne… no one.

Wayne had tried talking to the police but they had shut him down – Eddie was over eighteen and he hadn’t stolen anything from Wayne, like credit cards or money, they couldn’t track him down and bring him home. The few items he had brought with him – like Sweetheart, Eddie’s beloved electric guitar – were his. The van was as his as well. Since Eddie had left a note there wasn’t a case of a missing person either.

You couldn’t understand it. Eddie had just upped and left. Left all of you. Left you. Without even a word of explanation.

Your mother had comforted you, saying that Eddie was a scum and you were better off without him. That you would forget and love others.

She was wrong. You had never forgotten. And despite trying your best you had never loved anyone like you had loved Eddie.

You’d even kept the tattoo you two had gotten when you were 16 and he was 17 – Eddie knew a guy that knew a guy … - you both had settled on Roman numerals for the date you had met. Both of you wanted something that no one else would understand and that didn’t draw too much attention.

You had thought about covering it up or even getting rid of it. But you couldn’t.

Eddie may have cut off contact with you but he still had his hold of your heart.

It wasn’t like he was dead either. The year you finished college Eddie had gotten his breakthrough on the metal scene.

He was now one of the most famous metal singers out there, living in Los Angeles. He was a one man band, wrote all the lyrics himself, but of course he had a team working around him.

By pure curiosity – and perhaps to torture yourself – you had listened to a few of his songs. You had recognized one or two that he had written himself back in Hawkins but never one he had done for Corroded Coffin. And never one of those you helped him with.

You loved to write, poetry especially. When Eddie found out he had been like an excited puppy, wanting to hear everything, and wanted your input on some songs he had written.

That’s how you two ended up collaborating on most of the songs he did the year before disappearing.

But he never used those. If there was any sign that you were dead and forgotten to him, it was that. As if fate was playing a trick on you, you walked past the magazine stand and your eyes fastened on a pair of dark chocolate brown orbs, staring out from a cover.

Eddie was on the cover of Rolling Stone, looking outragesly good in leather pants and a black tank top, showing off his muscular arms and tattoos.

Without meaning to your gaze drifted down to his left ringfinger, wanting to know whether he was single or not.

Nothing. No ring. Back then, in Hawkins he used to wear all his rings on the left hand and just a single one on the right one. But now he had rings on his index finger, middle finger and thumb, none of his ring finger.

You suddenly realized what you were doing and closed your eyes against the tears burning behind the lids. What were you doing?

You were the one with a ring on your left ringfinger, you were newly engaged to Brent and you were acting like a stalker on your high school sweetheart!

It was humiliating.

You opened your eyes to walk away but that’s when your gaze caught something else too.

On Eddie’s left arm – you had decided it would be the left arm because it was closest to the heart – above the fold of the arm – there it was. The tattoo. The Roman numbers.

He hadn’t… he hadn’t gotten it covered up either (and Eddie had added way more tattoos to his body than you had over these years, it was not like he hadn’t had the chance!) or gotten it removed by laser.

What did that… what did it mean?

You didn’t know.

But one thing was crystal clear to you. If you checked your high school sweetheart’s hand for a wedding ring, if seeing your matched tattoo on your old lover did more than you actual fiancé proposing to you… then something wasn’t right and you couldn’t pretend anymore.

It wasn’t right to Brent. And you needed to do something, because it didn’t feel healthy to act this way.

Perhaps you needed therapy but first of all you needed to stop lying to yourself. You didn’t love Brent, not like the way you should love him at least. And he didn’t deserve to be strung along by you.

You still loved Eddie Munson – you had never stopped, and it wasn’t because you hadn’t tried to move on, because you had.

Maybe you needed closure, to tell him everything that you felt and just get it out?

Regardless, Brent needed to come first. He had always come second, truthfully because he made you feel better, so you had gone with the flow, despite knowing that he would never be first in your heart but now… now you needed to make things right with him and tell him the truth.

You didn’t look forward to it but it had to be done.

Silently you said goodbye to the photo of Eddie and headed toward the cashiers.

Then.

Hawkins, 1977.

Eddie

Eddie and his band mates exited the scene of the talent show, a lot of the audience booing, which was expected. Chrissy Cunningham clapped her hands though – that girl was never mean to anyone (even though she never intervened when someone else was) as did the new girl.

She had arrived the day before yesterday – Eddie had noticed the new car when he sat at the playground, reading, mostly so he wouldn’t disturb his old man’s hung-over sleep.

Yesterday it had been her first day at school. Seemed she was a year younger than him, but that didn’t matter much; because she moved here she was more of an outsider than he was, and no one was talking to her. He wanted to say hi, to ask her if she wanted to hang out with him and his gang but… if she had any chance of making new friends in Hawkins, they would quickly diminish after talking to him, Eddie Munson.

Suddenly her name was spoken and Eddie turned his head, seeing her walk up to the stage. Was she participating?

“Y/N is going to read a poem she has written herself,” the teacher said, Y/N looking out over the crowd, not looking nervous at all.

Then she started, looking down in her notes and started to read a poem about a Viking warrior (she had Scandinavian heritage he learned later):

"A night so cold and the moon was shining clear A man all alone came along A sword and armor of alves he did wear A friend, yet they sounded the gong The witch hunt is on and wolves call in the forest, Calling the man as one of them “Hang him, the abhorrent,” It’s the likes of him we condemn,” He was judged by men so filled by their hate They came to enjoy his demise Through lies and deceit it is hard to see clear He heard them toast their despise But then A man so wise and learned from the script Defended the man in his need He said, what right do you have, to do this to him, he, He who came as a friend Let him be freed! The witch hunt is off Yet wolves call in the forest Calling the man as one of them Singing their choruses Of how no real killer came."

Eddie was listening with his mouth open. The poem was beautiful – it was talking about being different and judged. But it was the way she was talking about armor and weapons made by alves, a warrior connected with wolves? Her whole face lit up.

She got a rather tame applause from the rest. Eddie could understand why – she had written a beautiful poem but it had been about magic, alves and Viking warriors. That wasn’t people in Hawkins were prone to. Even less a girl writing about it and adding violence.

But Eddie liked it. He liked her.

Y/N.

taglist: @ali-r3n @ficsbypix @mewchiili @jenniquinn @eddiemunsonfuxks

(let me know if you want to be on the taglist!)

please, like, comment and reblog!

Your likes are wonderful but reblogs expand my reading circle.

[brokehorrorfan]

The Universal Classic Monsters Collection will be released on 4K Ultra HD (with Digital) in digibook packaging on October 3 via Universal. Designed by Tristan Eaton, the eight-disc set is limited to 5,500.

It includes 1931's Dracula, 1931’s Frankenstein, 1932’s The Mummy, 1933’s The Invisible Man, 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein, 1941’s The Wolf Man, 1943’s Phantom of the Opera, and 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon.

All eight films are presented in 4K with HDR10. The Spanish version of Dracula is also included. Special features are listed below, where you can also see more of the packaging.

Dracula is directed by Tod Browning (Freaks) and written by Garrett Fort (Frankenstein), based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan star.

Dracula special features:

Alternate score version by Philip Glass

Dracula (1931) Spanish version directed by George Melford

The Road to Dracula

Lugosi: The Dark Prince

Dracula: The Restoration

Dracula Archives

Monster Tracks

Trailer gallery

Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.

Frankenstein is directed by James Whale (The Indivisible Man) and written by Garrett Fort (Dracula) and Francis Edward Faragoh (Little Caesar), based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, and Boris Karloff star.

Frankenstein special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer

Audio commentary by historian Sir Christopher Frayling

The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made A Monster

Karloff: The Gentle Monster

Universal Horror

Frankenstein Archives

Boo!: A Short Film

100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics

Monster Tracks

Trailer gallery

Dr. Frankenstein dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human monster out of lifeless body parts.

The Mummy is directed by Karl Freund (Dracula) and written by John L. Balderston (Dracula). Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, and Arthur Byron star.

The Mummy special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Paul M. Jensen

Audio commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns, and Brent Armstrong

Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed

He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce

Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy

The Mummy Archives

100 Years of Universal: The Carl Laemmle Era

Trailer gallery

An Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes is his long-lost princess.

The Invisible Man is directed by James Whale (Frankenstein) and written by R.C. Sherriff (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), based on H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel. Gloria Stuart, Claude Rains, William Harrigan, Dudley Digges, and Una O'Connor star.

The Invisible Man special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer

Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed

Production Photographs

100 Years of Universal: Unforgettable Characters

Trailer gallery

A scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.

The Bride of Frankenstein is directed by James Whale (Frankenstein) and written by William Hurlbut. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, and Elsa Lanchester star.

The Bride of Frankenstein special features: 

Audio commentary by film historian Scott MacQueen

She’s Alive! Creating The Bride of Frankenstein

The Bride Of Frankenstein Archive

100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics

Trailer gallery

Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.

The Wolf Man is directed by George Waggner (Operation Pacific) and written by Curt Siodmak (I Walked with a Zombie). Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr. star.

The Wolf Man special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Tom Weaver

Monster by Moonlight

The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth

Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr.

He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce

The Wolf Man Archives

100 Years of Universal: The Lot

Trailer gallery

Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.

Phantom of the Opera is directed by Arthur Lubin and written by Eric Taylor (The Ghost of Frankenstein) and Samuel Hoffenstein (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Claude Rains, Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, and Edgar Barrier star.

Phantom of the Opera special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Scott MacQueen

The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked

Production Photographs

100 Years of Universal: The Lot

Theatrical trailer

An acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy’s career.

Creature from the Black Lagoon is directed by Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man) and written by Harry Essex and Arthur A. Ross. Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, and Whit Bissell star.

Creature from the Black Lagoon special features:

Audio commentary by film historian Tom Weaver

Back to the Black Lagoon

Production Photographs

100 Years of Universal: The Lot

Trailer gallery

A group of scientists try to capture a prehistoric creature luring in the depths of the Amazonian jungle and bring it back to civilization for study.

Pre-order Universal Classic Monsters Collection.

[gendertheft]

A full moon rises outside.

There, a growl! A moan of terror! A scratching at the door! Finally, a long, terrifying howl, and the glint of a yellow eye that leers at you behind the screen.

Like any creature movie, good werewolf movies are hard to find. In order from least to most terrifying, these are my top ten.

Wolf Children (2012, dir Mamoru Hosoda) : Hana is a young student in Tokyo, meeting a strange man that eventually reveals himself to be a wolf man. As life goes on, and they have children, Hana raises and encourages them to follow their own path.

Wolfwalkers (2020, dir Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart) : Robyn Goodfellow wants to help her father. There are wolves in the woods, and they terrorize villagers, trying to eat their sheep. After Robyn meets a strange girl who lives within the pack who bites her, she begins to question what’s been told about wolves, and about nature. Can it really be controlled?

The Wolf Man (1941, dir George Waggner) : Larry Talbot is coming home. There’s a funeral to arrange, an estranged father to make up with, a new woman to woo. But things take a turn for the worse when he gets bit by what he thinks is a wolf… but ends up being a man.

The Beast Must Die! (1974, dir. Paul Annett) : The most dangerous game is afoot… and Tom Newcliffe is determined to bag himself a werewolf, the last beast for his collection. As the hunt begins, it may end closer to home then he may like.

The Company of Wolves (1984, dir Neil Jordan) : A fantastical fairytale about the dangers of growing up, about men who are hairy on the inside.

Strippers v Werewolves (2012, dir Jonathan Glendening) : A stripper kills a werewolf during a strip tease, and the resulting chaos results in a showdown at the club.

Ginger Snaps (2000, dir John Fawcett) : Who remembers their puberty fondly? Not Ginger. Hair’s coming in weird places, she’s growing a tail, her period just won’t end. Her younger sister Brigitte is watching with horror, knowing that she’s next.

Howl (2015, dir Paul Hyett) : What do you do when a creature attacks a train you’re working on? How far do your responsiblities go? How beholden are you to your passengers?

Good Manners (2017, dir Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas) : Clara is a nurse from Sao Paulo, looking for a job to help make rent. She meets Ana, a young mom to be - but as Ana’s problems become her own, Clara starts getting attached.

Dog Soldiers (2002, dir Niel Marshall) : A Biritish training excersise goes terribly wrong when the group finds a mauled special ops officer - but the path he leads them down may contain a couple of problems he doesn’t want to elborate on.

honorable mentions:

Wer (2013, dir. William Brent Bell) : werewolf found footage film

Van Helsing (2004, dir Stephen Sommers) : Hugh Jackman rips his shirt off to turn into a werewolf to fight dracula.

red riding hood (2011, dir Catherine Hardwicke) : Twilight, but if Bella had jerked off about it.

Werewolves Within (2021, dir Josh Reuben) : who’s the werewolf. it’s not who you think it is. no, not them either.

The Werewolf of Washington (1973, dir Milton Moses Ginsberg) : poltician goes into werewolf, and like, it’s really affecting him.

[weclassybouquetfun]

Emmy nominee Phil Dunster had time on his hands and did a IG Q&A and tried to stir up tumult in the Brent + Toheeb/Breeb bromance.

Please don't make Brett choose, guys.

Plus Phil is always flirting with guys, don't let him fool you, Brett!

Phil speaking on "Entertainer" costar Jonah Hauer-King (THE LITTLE MERMAID).

-First image of Juno Temple from series five of FARGO airing Nov. 21st on FX.

-From basketball to Uno, it's all about the love of the game for Jason.

It doesn't surprise me that Jason's sister knows to flash the Hov hands.

-Some media site posted that Nick Mohammed visited the location of TED LASSO. Mans lives in that neighborhood.

-Thierry Zoreaux/Van Damme/Zorro (Moe Jeudy Lamour) is working!

-Jodi Balfour's fiancee Abbi Jacobson's series A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN was axed and Jodi had something to say about it.

- I know Ted said "Well, that's the funny thing about coincidences, ain't it? Sometimes they just happen." But I do not think it was coincidence that the animators of MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN drew this.

Trent Crimm with The Daily Planet, canon?

-Hannah Waddingham spoke with "Haute Living" about a myriad of things and as this interview was conducted pre-strike she can talk TED LASSO and the Lasso family.

MOAR HANNAH

I spoke to a woman at a recent Deadline event who said she spoke with Phil during one of their recent publicity pushes and she told him how she can see the show going forward and how they can do spinoffs and Phil replied that without Jason he doesn't see how it can go on. I told her that yes, a few of the cast members had said the same but she was adament that it can still return in some form. And yes, it most certainly could but in people's hearts of hearts do they really want the show to come back without Jason? This show was mapped out and came to a natural end. Anything else would be zombiefication of it.

[rogueshadeaux]

Chapter Thirty-Four — Vengeance

My heart was hammering away in my chest, and I was hoping, praying that this was a bad dream somehow. A classic nightmare, where no matter how fast I tried to run, the monster would always catch up. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to wake back up in the van.

6.8k words | Godspeed soldier | TRIGGER WARNING: monsters [imaged below, sorry], injury, blood, guns.

We both turned and stumbled, more out of shock than fear; the little curled up bodies of the crab-guys in the other testing chambers were stirring, shaking off the permafrost as if the wailing of the Ravager was their alarm clock. The floor shook hard as the Ravager broke through the ground just under the glass, a blast of cold air attacking our ankles. “Dad!” I screamed, stumbling over my feet a bit as the vibrations threw me off. Brent caught me by the back of my shirt and yanked me straight, pushing me forward as his skin turned silver, steel overtaking his body. 

Dad stood at the end of the hall, trying to look past us at whatever was making that noise as we ran as fast as we could. The Ravager was faster, though; it hooked its claws under the glass and yanked, making the tempered glass shatter like it was nothing. It seemed like nothing, compared to the creature — I guess it just needed to find the right angle. I looked forward again to Dad, who caught me in his arms when I ran close enough to look me over, checking me for injuries. “What happened?” he demanded, looking between Brent and I. Zeke was beside him in an instant, storing the centuries-old phone away as everyone’s newer models came up to illuminate the hall just in time to catch the gleam of the Ravagers’ shell as it ran left, shoulder checking the glass of one of the other testing chambers and shattering it with the hit. 

“It’s releasing them,” Brent realized, looking over at me, scared. 

Zeke huffed, almost surprised. “Those are Bertrand’s swamp monsters,” he said, looking at Dad. “We need to go, now!” 

Dad’s hand gripped my back and he pushed me forward, the softness of them quickly becoming violent pokes as he pulled concrete out.

But I didn’t wince. I didn’t care about anything except getting out of there. 

Garbled, monstrous screams bounced off of the pristine walls again and again until I swear, my ears were bleeding with the sound. Zeke was surprisingly fast for his age and stature, vaulting over an overturned desk as he led the charge to the exit, Brent and I hot on his tail with Dad close behind as we flew through the damaged entrance to the lab, leaving behind every crash and scream. There was another sound layered on top of that, a compound, stacking bricks sort of sound, and I glanced back to see Dad stopped by the entrance, trying to seal it up with concrete. Brent skidded to a stop beside me, pointing his phone’s light back and catching the glowing glint of the crab-like swamp monsters’ eyes as they galloped towards the gap, Dad barely sealing it in time. He took a tentative few steps back as the creatures' muffled screeches of protest bled through the man-made rock, asking, “Do you think that’ll hold them back?” 

Zeke, behind us, shook his head. “It won’t be enough,” he said, so surely that all Dad could do was turn and motion at us to get going. 

“Is there any way to kill them?” Dad asked. 

Zeke nodded. “Two: hit them with UV rays, or with enough force.”

We dashed down the hall, passing the rounded doors for every other experimental laboratory that we had planned on looking through. “What about the other rooms?” I huffed, trying to keep up with the men as I ran. God, I needed to work cardio back into my life. 

“That doesn’t matter!” Dad insisted. There was a horrible grinding sound, and then crumbling as the concrete wall welded into the open doorway began to crack, gaps making the screams of the creatures behind it all the more clearer. “Shit,” Dad growled. 

My heart was hammering away in my chest, and I was hoping, praying that this was a bad dream somehow. A classic nightmare, where no matter how fast I tried to run, the monster would always catch up. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to wake back up in the van.

But I wasn't known for my luck, as of late. Especially not right now, as a portion of the concrete wall fell away and a swamp monster forced itself through the gap, blundering for us as the others tried to follow. 

It used its front claws to launch itself forward, rushing towards Dad and catching a slab of concrete to the face just before we entered the atrium of the underground base. “C’mon, we’ve gotta get to the elevator shaft!” Brent shouted. 

Zeke stopped in place, turning to wave Dad forward as he turned away from the swamp monster he just chucked concrete at. “Go with them, I’ll be right behind you,” he said, pulling a gun from some hidden holster in his jeans. With a click, a little flashlight on it turned on, illuminating the path to shoot. 

Dad nodded, running to catch up with us and moving to grab me by the elbow, Brent just a few steps ahead as we dashed down the crescent shaped stairs. I didn’t dare turn to look at what was happening behind me; there were more monstrous screams now, and a few gunshots before the entire earth seemed to shake. The rumbling got stronger until fissures began cracking the floor between Dad and I, the concrete crumbling apart. 

“Jean—” Dad tried to warn me. Didn’t matter; we were both suddenly thrown in either direction as something crawled through the floor, tripping Brent as well. I rolled, my arm twinging in pain as the cast cracked against the ground. Thank God whatever Dr. Sims made it of was strong enough to not break. My phone flew off somewhere in the distance, the bleak light from its flashlight disappearing in the kicked up rubble. That giant creature, the Ravager, burst out of the ground, shatterings of concrete and moist dirt and soil flying away as it clawed its way to the surface, blocking the way to the elevator shaft and immediately eyeing Brent who was three feet away and on his ass. It opened its mouth to hiss, the entirety of what wasn’t shell emitting a bioluminescent glow as it began to trample towards him. 

Brent was all steel, sure, but I wasn’t sure that was a good thing when the Ravager could shred through concrete like it was playdough. Its clubbed front legs straightened to reveal blades as sharp as a stinger for claws as it reared back on hind legs, prepared to pierce Brent where he sat splayed on the ground. My arms were out before I even fully registered the thought, water spiraling down their shape and out towards the monster, combining in their dance into a spray with the strength of a fireman’s hose. Not that it did much to the creature; it didn’t go flying back like Augustine did when I used this move on her, but it did make the upper half of the creature’s body snap back, throwing off its strike and giving Brent enough time to burst into a halo of steel and fly off on the wings they created when they rewelded back to his body. My stream stopped in time to allow the Ravager to be hit with three of Zeke’s bullets, the man shouting over the deafening ringing of gunfire, “Behind us!” 

The swamp monsters were now barreling to meet their ringleader, six of them storming into the atrium and immediately honing in on Zeke, who turned to empty his clip out into them. Brent landed from the skies and was letting the wings melt away into his hands, creating two spears that he immediately threw at the creatures. 

My eyes scanned the floor for the one thing that would help with this fight — my phone. There was next to no lighting in the atrium save for the weak emergency lights, and while Dad had the benefit of his concrete powers glowing and Zeke’s weapon light was bouncing around the area enough for Brent to see a little of what he was doing, I wasn’t so lucky. I was nearly blind in this fight, barely able to tell concrete from creature. 

But there, a few yards away, laid my phone, lilac phone case blackened by dirt and rock. I ran towards it without hesitation, scooping it up and looking at the shattered screen in dismay. Goddamnit, this was a new phone! I hissed as my thumb caught the corner of a piece of glass, moving to try and pull the little piece out with my teeth when I heard “Jean!” behind me.

The Ravager’s six beady red eyes seemed to zero in on my form before it dropped a shoulder and charged, intending to mow me down like a linebacker. 

I yelped, my heart dropping out of my chest as the Ravager thunder towards me — and I couldn’t think of anything better to do than to turn into water. I didn’t even move; my watered form stayed standing there until the Ravager cut through it and crashed into the wall behind me headfirst. The bits of me ripped apart by its impact stitched back together, and I was running away towards Dad before those parts of me regained skin, falling into his arms still wet enough to leave stains on his sleeves. 

His hands came up to cup my face, and he turned it each way a little, flashlight shining down in one hand as he checked on me. “You okay?” 

I nodded vigorously; I wasn’t hurt, but god, I was scared. “What do we do?” I asked, the panic in my voice making the words fly quick. 

Dad looked around at the chaos before quickly pulling me around him, using himself to shield me. “Stay by me,” he said, tone fierce. 

The Ravager had run into a wall, shaking its head and turned back around to look at Dad and I and hiss out a very loud and absolutely angry snarl, unphased. In fact, it didn’t look hurt at all; its hard shelling was strong enough to keep the wall from even giving it a bruise. It took a few tentative steps forward, gnashing its teeth and those horrifying pincers around it. There were a few more pop offs, and I glanced over to where Zeke and Brent were. They stood, backs to each other, one mowing down the creatures with bullets while the other used a longsword he still managed to swing around with one hand, the other haphazardly holding up his phone to light the way for the slashes. 

Most of the swamp monsters were preoccupied with Brent and Zeke, but two looked over as the Ravager hissed again, turning to charge towards us. “Dad!” I warned, lifting my hand to let water overtake the cast on my arm. 

I sprayed one in the face, intent on waterboarding the thing while Dad lifted his arms, concrete returning. It spun, faster and faster until the shards of cement were whistling as they rotated, and when he flexed they exploded from him, a fanned out row of rock hurtling towards the creatures and cutting them at the knees. One’s backwards knee cap snapped back until it ripped clean out of its socket like a shelled crab, leaving behind a sad bit of dangling tendon and a wailing creature that immediately teetered sideways. The other, the one I was hosing down, took the brunt of the hit to the chest, stumbling back. Blood came oozing out of its cracks…pure black, sticky and slick and tar-like. 

Dad and I glanced at each other, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. “Do you have anything that could hold a sample?” He asked, before raising his arm to send a shot of rock towards a creature that got too close to Brent. I shook my head. 

To the left, the Ravager straightened, raising its upper body high as if it was presenting itself — but it didn’t move to charge. It wasn’t even looking at us. Its maw opened wide, the screeching now replaced by this gross gastric gurgling as it coughed once, twice, three times before shooting off glowing spitballs of phlegm towards Dad and I. 

I raised my hands, pushing my water forward  until it created a wall and catching the gross spitballs before they could splatter on us. Or, I caught most of them; some slipped through with their velocity and splattered beyond the wall, only slowed in their arcs. Three splashed on the ground in front of us, one so close to Dad’s shoe that he got the splashback from its impact — and he immediately cursed as the green-tinged phlegm began to burn pinprick holes in them, making him kick the shoe off as it worked past his sock and threatened to chew through his foot. 

Oh, great. Acid reflux — literally. 

I threw the wall of water back at the creature, letting it become a wave that smacked it in the face. Not that it reacted to that hit; it barely reacted to any of our hits. Nothing seemed to be able to cut into its exoskeleton — even the acid slipped away from it, turning the leathery skin at the joints raw but refusing to eat through the creature’s body otherwise. 

The Ravager shook off the pain and growled, digging its feet into the ground to prepare to charge. Dad pushed me away. “Go to Brent,” he commanded. The concrete that was circling his arms paused in place and snapped to his skin, seeming to birth more rocks from it as they overtook his body, giving him his own hard shell. “You two get a sample of that…blood, and then we’ll all make a break for it,”

Dad folded in on himself until he was a ball of broken concrete, rolling away like some messed up Sonic the Hedgehog. His form jumped from the mass, the excess concrete piling under him to vault him forward, letting him land his encased hands directly into the Ravager’s chest. It was almost like I could feel the hit in my own chest as the sound of the impact vibrated through the air, the Ravager falling back. It reached out and grabbed Dad by one of his ankles as he tried to jump away, chucking him across the room until he hit a pristine white wall so hard it bent around his frame. 

And as Dad slid down the wall unmoving, the Ravager’s eyes zeroed in on me once more, and it screamed. 

“Shit,” I muttered, turning to run towards Brent.

The Ravager raked at the ground with surprising speed, burrowing under it like it was a foamy bath and not actual concrete as I dashed towards the pair of men fighting against the smaller monsters, praying Zeke wouldn’t stick a bullet between my eyes in the crossfire. Not that that fear was warranted; he was landing every shot with almost near precision, the only issue being that the swamp monsters’ skin was so leathery it took a few bullets to weaken the skin enough to let some brass pass through. There were still four standing, all giving Zeke and Brent a run for their money.

And I wasn’t in a good position to defend them.

It wasn’t even about healing — I couldn’t think of a good way to protect them both from the creatures using my water. They’d slice through any waves I’d make, and I didn’t have enough power to continuously spray them down without needing something to drain. And using my powers to look for a drain source proved fruitless; there was water flowing through the pipes behind the walls, but the biggest issue was they were behind the walls.

But I didn’t need to be the heavy hitter right now. I just needed to get Brent, get a sample, and get out. 

So I brought my hands together and pushed, the powerful hose that came out knocking a swamp monster away and clearing the path for me to make eye contact with Brent, who was quick to pull me beside him. “Where’s Dad?” he asked, looking around. 

I glanced back to where I last saw him to see him amid a pile of concrete rubble, shakily getting into a standing position — and to see the ground begin to crack again as the Ravager began burrowing its way closer to us. “Look out!” I called.

Brent pushed me back and watched the Ravager's burrowing, timing its breech as the steel around his arms grew wide. The moment its ugly little head popped out followed by its huge front arms, Brent shoved his arms out, creating a huge saw that spun so rapidly I could hear it whizzing. It zoomed towards the Ravager like a woodshop machine gone rogue and slammed into its chest, a webbing of fissures ripping through the exoskeleton. 

He was strong enough to hurt it.

The Ravager shook the hit off with ease, though; it pulled itself out of the hole the rest of the way, slamming its hands against the ground before moving to return the favor to Brent, who dodged the hit. 

“Dad said we need to get a sample of the thing’s blood and run!” I shouted over the noise of the Ravagers’ screaming, watching it in case I needed to humidify and dip. Zeke aimed for its back and lodged three bullets in the hard shell, the Ravager spinning in place to concentrate on him instead.

“Why the fuck would we do that?” Brent demanded, throwing a hand out to shoot another saw at the Ravager’s back, cracking the shell along its spine. 

“It looks like tar!” 

Brent glanced over at me, bewildered, before his eyes traveled over my shoulder and he shouted, “Behind you!” while roughly pulling me into him. His arm coming over my head and the shrapnel that shot off of it swiped painfully at my head, making me yelp. 

“Don’t fucking scalp me!” I complained, watching the steel form into sharp curved boomerangs that spun before connecting with the swamp monster, slashing away at its body.

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?” Brent demanded, glaring down at me as the creature stumbled back. His eyes shot everywhere, considering his next move “I’m gonna pin down the thing,” he told me as the swamp monster shook its head, trying to recover. Brent’s hand came up and some of the steel in it slivered away, coupling in his palm until it was a small vial with a screw top. He held it out for me to take. “Get that sample when I do.”

The Ravager screamed behind us both, taking our attention; Zeke was trying his best to stand against it, but he was a fly to a horse in a situation like this. Miniscule, barely bothersome, and at risk of being squashed. The Ravager swept a claw at Zeke and he barely rolled out of the way in time. There was a blur of rock and amber and Dad was suddenly behind us, hands sweeping out to let off this row of concrete shots that barely flew over Zeke’s head as he stayed down, knocking into the Ravagers’ knees and forcing it to fall flat on its face. “Go,” Dad commanded over the noise of its screams. “Get the sample and then get out of here.” 

“But Dad—” Brent and I both began to object. 

“Go!” He insisted louder. 

He pushed Brent back, hard shell against firm steel, and that was enough to get us both moving. Brent zeroed in on the swamp monster when we turned, hands twitching as he decided on what to do. “Stay behind me,” he commanded, passing me his phone. 

Brent balled up his fists and began to jog towards the swamp monster, who had righted and gave one long, chittering scream before rushing to meet him halfway. Steel was crawling down his arms again, welding to his knuckles before bubbling up to create studs along them, sharp dusters he used to uppercut the creature’s chin. Its head snapped back and he roughly pushed into its chest, making the swamp monster lose its balance on those weird arms it had. A shot of steel followed, slicing away at the grayed skin on its chest and sending a large splatter of that black blood everywhere, soaking us both as the hit tripped the swamp monster further. The moment its claws came up to try to stabilize itself, Brent finished by throwing out his hands, silver stripping away from the extra build on his arms and shooting out and stretching as they torpedoed towards the creature and wrapped around its wrists like snap bracelets. The monster fell back with the force and its shelled back cracked against the white cemented ground.

“Get it, now!” He yelled, keeping his hands extended as if holding the steel was the only thing keeping the swamp monster down. 

I nodded, trying to keep energy in my feet as I ran towards the swamp monster. This was horrifying in a way, like approaching a shark with a bloody hand out to pet it; I was sure I was gonna be monster mash — and not the annoying Halloween song. But getting closer, close enough to look the swamp monster in its cataract-covered eyes, made me feel bad for it. There were parts of its face darker than others, and in the illumination of Brent’s phone flashlight, it took me too long to realize it had freckles splashed across its nose. Like I did. Something normal, something human, stayed with the transition to whatever this was.

This swamp monster was once an inactivated Conduit. This creature was once a normal person, damned to a life of whatever this was. Left forgotten underground for almost twenty-six years. 

Even with its pincered face, I couldn’t look at it as I unscrewed the steel bottle Brent gave me, holding the lip of the vial close to its chest and waiting an annoyingly long amount of time for enough blood to drip into it. 

Well, they’d have to take what little I got, because as I sat there, mere inches from the swamp monster, the cuffs on its wrists began to shift with its struggle, threatening to dislodge from the cement. Brent growled behind me with that same groan he’d make on the final reps of his exercises, straining to say, “Jean, move—”

Too little, too late, though. 

I barely turned before I was being hit in the side, the same one with the barely healed slice, being thrown like I weighed nothing. I rolled a few times, my already-burning side lighting up even further as it hit the broken ground again and again, leaving me to writhe in pain. I could barely register the vibrating in the ground until the swamp monster was hovering over my form, gnashing its pincers as the black on its chest dripped down onto my abdomen. It screamed, bringing it's claws up and preparing to stab through me. 

And hilariously, the only thing I could manage to think was Ah fuck, this is gonna hurt. 

I could barely see the swamp monsters’ figure through the tears in my eyes, but my ears picked up on something as Brent yelled, “Heads up!” 

I groggily turned my head, wishing I had enough wit about me to ask Brent what the hell he thought I could do in a position like this, but it didn’t matter — he wasn’t talking to me. His hand shot out and with it came ribbons of steel that parted from his arm like some weird Spider-Man webbing, shooting over me and distracting the swamp monster, making it stagger back. I watch the ribbons gather close and latch to each other, bending and twisting into a chain link that Dad caught, the end whipping around to lash the creature’s face and make it wail. He leapt between the swamp monster and I, concrete slithering down the chain and welding to the end like those medieval weapons, using it to beat on the creature until a blow to the head was enough to cause it to crumple in place, either dazed and damaged or dead. 

Dad rushed over to me, forcing me to sit up as he demanded, “Are you okay?”

I coughed hard a few times as he pulled me to my feet. “Y–yeah,” I replied shakily. 

 Dad inspected my cast before seeing what was in my hand. “You got the sample?” he asked, eyes scanning. There were still three swamp monsters and the Ravager, who seemed to be trying to square off with Brent now. Dad threw a look over his shoulder. “The exit’s clear,” he realized, before looking at me with earnest eyes. “You need to go.”

“I can’t leave you guys—” I began to plead.

“We’ll be right behind you, okay?” He reassured me. “But you go while we have them distracted.”

“But—”

“Go!” Brent screamed, insisting. He was throwing sharp blade after sharp blade at the Ravager. 

I looked between them, heart hammering in my chest; I didn’t want to leave them. I didn’t want to even risk not being by their sides in case something happened. But realistically, what use was I here? The middle of my back was spasming in pain, and not just from rolling against the ground — I was running low on power supply. I needed to drain, and there was simply nothing to drain. 

So, with the tears in my eyes more from fear than pain now, I nodded. “Okay,” 

You’d think, when you get amazing superpowers, that you’d be able to stop just about any force that comes your way. I thought I would be able to, and was sure of it after the fight with Augustine. But water wasn’t the weapon to use against these things. To distract and maybe trip them up, sure. Defeat, though? I couldn’t think of a way to do it. 

And I think that was the worst part of it all as I began to run towards the exit: that I was failing in keeping my family safe. 

I turned forward and put all my strength into my running, feet beating against the floor and jumping where it was broken by the Ravager. The popping of the gunshots stopped, and I could hear another set of footsteps pounding after me, glancing back to see Zeke hauling ass. “Go, go, go!” he chanted at me, waving me forward as he vaulted over another fissure in the ground. I got to the entrance hallway just before Zeke, turning to watch Dad and Brent both try to tackle the two remaining swamp monsters and the Ravager on their own. Dad wrapped the chain twice around a swamp monster’s neck and pulled so tight it snapped the creature’s spine, Brent putting a clean shot of silver rebar through the chest of the other one. The last thing to contend with was the Ravager, who looked very ready to make itself their problem. 

Zeke ran past me, moving to grab me by the elbow. “C’mon, we need to get you to—” he started. 

“Not without them!” I insisted as the Ravager turned to face Dad again, spitting out more acid. Dad flinched and instinctively shielded his face with his hands, the acid that landed on them immediately beginning to eat away the skin. He howled out in pain, and Brent’s head snapped to look at Dad, not seeing the Ravager swing towards him its clubbed foot hit his chest, sending him sprawling back. 

Brent flew back, Dad shaking his arms to try and get the acid off — and pulling the full attention of the Ravager. It screamed and moved to go after Dad, and my scream was only eclipsed by the loudest popping known to man, my ears immediately ringing in protest as Zeke shot a few bullets towards the Ravager, trying his best to give Dad a distraction to get away. 

But he was too distracted to take it. 

Brent dashed forward and shadowed Zeke, grabbing Dad by his elbow as he struggled to concentrate on anything but the pain in his forearms and yanking him along as he dodged the Ravagers’ downward slam of its fists. Brent pushed him forward, urging him to run before turning to face the Ravager fully. 

“Brent!” I tried to scream over the Ravager’s own wail. That fucking idiot, what was he doing?!

Dad nearly stumbled over broken concrete in his haze, barely able to concentrate on anything as he fought through the pain in his arms. Zeke let me go and was gone in a flash, rushing to meet Dad halfway and help lead him towards the exit. 

Meanwhile, the Ravager unfurled its clubbed claws to slash at Brent, who was too busy watching Dad be pulled away from the action to realize the move until it was too late to dodge. The claw raked across the back of his shoulder just as he went to turn, shredding the shirt and raking against his steel skin. 

And with a horrible, teeth grinding scrape, the claw caught on some invisible part of his steel and sliced into him, revealing just how thin the skin was. 

Red on silver was always a favorite composition of mine. How could you not love it? Almost any sort of red was accompanied by silver; Christmas trees, bedrooms. Dad even had a red guitar back in Chapman and the silver pickups and bridge were far better than the black pickguard, in my opinion. But watching blood slowly seep out of the slice in his steel, red ebbing the edges of the silver and sinking into his shirt, did nothing but fill me with dread. Brent cried out as he was thrown aside with the claw and I swear I could feel my soul slip away from my body as the Ravager hissed at him.

Zeke and Dad entered the hall just as I rushed to leave it, Zeke barely catching me in time as I passed him. “Where the hell you going, kid?” He asked me, holding onto my arm firmly. 

“He’s hurt!” I retorted, glancing back to watch Dad stumble into the hall. He was hurt too, bad; I could almost hear the pops as acid ate away at his arm, becoming red in rash, tissue and blood. 

Shit, they both were hurt. 

Zeke didn’t let go of my arm, his grip surprisingly strong. “You go out there, you’re gonna give us a lot more trouble than we have now.” 

I glared at him. “I’m not just gonna leave my brother out there!” 

Zeke looked forward, blinking in surprise. “I don’t think he needs the backup,” he muttered. 

Brent had righted and was now staring down the Ravager, who was standing on its knuckles and hissing at him as he stood between us and the monster. Neither moved, though — it was like they were in a standoff, waiting for someone to draw first. 

And Brent was quicker. 

The shine of his steel seemed to glow silver as it slowly peeled away from his body, leaving him in normal skin as it flittered like paper in the wind. I’d never seen his power move so slowly before, and while it was pretty and all, I wasn’t exactly happy seeing it happen while he was facing off with a creature from Resident Evil. 

But it didn’t just pull away and flutter to the ground; it caught some invisible wind, picked up by the force and began to swirl around Brent’s feet as more steel flaked away from him, adding to the swarm. 

Meanwhile, Zeke pulled me into the entrance, and motioned to Dad, immediately saying, “Rinse that acid off of him, it’ll help,” like he had experience with these burns. I guess, in all honesty, he probably did, considering he’d dealt with these creatures before. I coaxed Dad to sit down, trying to make eye contact with him and not exactly feeling good that his eyes were so glazed over that he couldn’t. Water began to pour down my arms, clearing out the gaping and angry red wounds that littered his arms in a spotted fashion. 

Dad hissed, face pale, and I hummed. “I’m almost done,” I said, trapping the acid in bubbles and letting them float away back into the atrium and to the side, away from everyone else. 

Zeke was standing guard, looking into the atrium and muttering, “What on earth is that kid doin’?”

I glanced over at Brent, surprised to see him now surrounded by this spinning spiral of shrapnel, a stairwell of jagged razors from over his head down to his feet, swirling like a shield around him. Steel was crawling up his back like some stiff symbiote, building on his arms in a kite-shaped bend that let the long triangular ends lay on each other like scales, the tips flared out to make him the world’s most dangerous armadillo. The Ravager moved to swipe at Brent and its clawed hand instead met bladed steel, slicing off the tip. Brent’s arms pushed out like he was trying to shove something away, and the sharp blades around Brent suddenly went from a rotating shield to lying flat, ends spinning as they coupled up like the blades of a saw as they flew outward from him in all directions. 

Including ours. 

“Delsin!” Zeke shouted, gun lowering. Dad looked to the side, eyes barely widening through the pain as he registered the claw-shaped metal spinning in circles as it flew towards us. His hand shakily raised and with a pained gasp, concrete digging up from the injuries in his arm and reminding me way too much about the pain I had felt when Augustine made those a nice feature of my leg. 

A short concrete wall came up almost immediately, the three of us having to duck behind its jagged edge to avoid the slivers of steel that thudded against it only seconds after. The sharp end to one cut through the concrete and threatened to stab Zeke in the knee, missing by centimeters. 

Beyond the barrier, the Ravager screamed like it was in pain and I peeked over it to see the monster stumble back as razors of steel embedded in its chest — but it wasn’t enough to stop it. Brent wasn’t ready to stop either, though; those reinforced arms came to cross his chest before swinging out diagonally, the kites on his forearms flying off with the throw and folding in on themselves until they became dart shaped. They spun like discharged bullets, each at least a good three feet long as they rushed towards the Ravager and pierced its shell, forcing it to stumble back. He threw his arms again and again, dart after dart shooting away and impaling the creature as it wailed, flinching away like a wounded animal. I guess it technically was. 

Brent was unrelenting; the reinforcements on his arms slithered to his back and he was gone in a flash of silver, soaring towards the domed, tall ceiling. He reached the summit of his flight and seemed to hover there in space, barely perceivable to us on the ground in the dark. His silver caught the shine of an emergency light just as the wings ripped away from him, the panels shifting around his form as he came back down to earth. The panels around him gathered close, shreds of steel coming from nowhere to build on them until he was surrounded by giant misshapen spikes, metaled fist in its center and directing the missile drop straight on the Ravager. 

The impact was so violent that the entire room shook, dust being knocked off of places that hadn’t seen a human’s touch in years. That horrible sound of scraping metal coupled over until it was more comfortable for me to press my cast against my ears in an effort to stifle the screech, bruising the side of my head with the push. We were lucky nothing collapsed with the shaking, and I was sure the wedding party above ground was feeling it too. There was more kicked up rubble where Brent and the Ravager had disappeared, a cloud of debris spreading wide and fast, leaving us to cough and wave it from our face as we tried to look through it for Brent’s form. 

“D’you see him?” Dad asked me weakly, twinging with each cough. 

I squinted, the cloud of dust slowly dissipating to reveal a pile of black and red in the center of a crater, the Ravager skewered a dozen different ways by steel, dead. In front of it, Brent was breathing hard as he stood shakily, trying to take a step forward and barely managing two before falling to his knees.

Zeke waved me forward and I was running for Brent, meeting him where he stayed on the ground and trying my best to pull him back up — ‘trying’ being the key word, as he was heavier than anything I could lift. But I could help prop him up as we staggered back towards the exit. “C’mon,” I huffed, trying to help him find his footing as he used my shoulder as a crutch. “Let’s get outta here,”

Dr. Sims pulled away from Dad. “There. Hopefully it’ll be fully healed in a few days,” 

Dad was laying on the couch, wincing with every movement as he tried to get comfortable. I was sitting on the floor by his head with my hands in his hair, speeding up its drying process from his emergency shower by absorbing the water so the throbbing in my back would stop. That didn’t matter though. What mattered was that Dad looked like he was in so much pain. I hated it. 

Dad looked over at me as Dr. Sims rose from his crouch, walking off with the remains of whatever was in Zeke’s first aid kit. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked me. 

Why was he worrying about me? He was the one with bone visible in some spots. “I’m fine,” I said, trying to smile. 

“No pain in your shoulders or anything? Promise?” 

I shook my head, ignoring how the motion made my back twinge. “Promise,” I lied. He didn’t need to worry about me right now. 

Brent stepped into the room, toweling away at his wet hair. His bruises were already that sickly yellow they get right before disappearing, road rash from the concrete cleared. I was a bit scratched up at the knuckles and my elbow was raw, but it was all minor stuff. 

Better than what Dad was experiencing. 

“How many other messed up creatures do you think they had in there?” Brent asked, moving one of the chairs at the small table to sit in. Dr. Sims was in the other one, reading away at the notes we stole from the First Sons’ base. 

Zeke was in the kitchen, finishing up with cleaning out his gun. “I can tell you, for a fact, those weren’t the only monsters he could make. Who knows what else was down there.”

Dad huffed. “Probably a lot more information that could have helped us,”

“We have enough,” Dr. Sims tried to say in a positive voice. For the first time, though, I could hear his voice waver. “We at least know now that there’s powers that can corrupt Conduits, to varying degrees.”

Dad sat up a bit, wincing. “Yeah, and none of them are like what Jean’s experiencing.”

Dr. Sims slowly put down the x-ray, biting his cheek. “I suppose, now with this information, I can tell you I may have a lead that could help us.”

Dad slowly turned his head to regard Dr. Sims fully. “You what?” he asked slowly. 

“There was someone I found while doing that conducrinopathy study, for the old DUP soldiers,” Dr. Sims began, before holding up a finger. “Well, no — Sia found them. A Conduit, a Prime Conduit, whose powers are turning against them.”

Dad glared up at Dr. Sims. “And you didn’t think to tell me this before everything?”

“I’m not in the habit of breaking doctor-patient confidentiality, Delsin,” Dr. Sims said back just as cooly, crossing his arms. “But that’s…what Sia emailed me about. She’s the patient’s power of attorney, and she’s giving me permission to evaluate them. And the person I sent the sample to? She’s got some results, and she wants to talk to us. She wants us to bring along Jean too for an evaluation.”

Dad looked unsure, throwing me a glance before regarding his friend again. “‘Bring along Jean?’” he repeated. “Where?”

Dr. Sims sighed. “Boston.”

[docrotten]

THE MONSTER CLUB (1987) – Episode 282 – Decades of Horror 1980s

“One hundred years before this story begins, it was a time of darkness in Transylvania, a time when Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters conspired to rid the world of vampires and monsters and to save mankind from the forces of eternal evil. … They blew it.” Will the Monster Squad blow it, too? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle between the young monster fighters and the pseudo-Universal Monsters in The Monster Squad (1987).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 282 – The Monster Squad (1987)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Gruesome Magazine is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of Decades of Horror 1980s and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Synopsis: A group of 12-year-olds form a Universal Monsters fan club called The Monster Squad and have to save their hometown from Count Dracula and his monsters when they show up for real.

Directed by: Fred Dekker

Writing Credits: Shane Black & Fred Dekker

Special Effects by: Stan Winston Studio

Stan Winston (monster creator)

Alec Gillis (head monster maker: Dracula and bat transformation)

Shane Mahan (head monster maker: Mummy)

Matt Rose (head monster maker: Gillman)

Steve Wang (head monster maker: Gillman)

John Rosengrant (head monster maker: Wolfman)

Tom Woodruff Jr. (head monster maker: Frankenstein)

Monster mechanical department: Steven James, David Kindlon, Richard J. Landon, Dave Nelson, Wayne Sturm

Monster art department: David LeRoy Anderson, Eric Fiedler, Emilio M. Gonzales, Leonard MacDonald, Lindsay MacGowan, Dave Matherly, Steve Patino, Anton Rupprecht, Shannon Shea, Brian Simpson, Michiko Tagawa, Jackie Tichenor

Selected Cast:

Andre Gower as Sean (as André Gower)

Robby Kiger as Patrick

Stephen Macht as Del – Sean’s Dad

Duncan Regehr as Count Dracula

Tom Noonan as Frankenstein’s Monster

Brent Chalem as Horace

Ryan Lambert as Rudy

Ashley Bank as Phoebe

Michael Faustino as Eugene

Mary Ellen Trainor as Emily

Leonardo Cimino as Scary German Guy

Jon Gries as Desperate Man (as Jonathan Gries)

Stan Shaw as Detective Sapir

Lisa Fuller as Patrick’s Sister

Jason Hervey as E.J.

Adam Carl as Derek

Carl Thibault as Wolfman

Tom Woodruff Jr. as Gillman

Michael Reid MacKay as Mummy (as Michael MacKay)

Jack Gwillim as Van Helsing

David Proval as Pilot

Daryl Anderson as Co-Pilot

Robert Lesser as Eugene’s Dad

Gwil Richards as Mr. Metzger (as Gwill Richards)

Ernie Brown as Night Watchman

Sonia Curtis as Peasant Girl

Charly Morgan as Vampire Bride with Possom

Mary Albee as Pantry Girl / Vampire

Brynn Baron as Pantry Girl / Vampire (as Joan-Carrol Baron)

Julie Merrill as Pantry Girl / Vampire

Marianne De Camp as Mrs. Carlsen

The Monster Squad (1987), underappreciated at its release, has, nonetheless, risen to become a fan favorite over the years. With effects provided by the Stan Winston Studio and dialogue from the pens of Shane Black and Fred Dekker, the film follows the proven template used in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), i.e., the copies of Universal monsters are deadly serious while the youthful monster fighters provide humor. In light of current events, it is an excellent time to revisit this horror comedy with a heart and a happy ending. And while you’re at it, take in Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018), the documentary about the film and its growth in popularity. It might bring a tear or two to your eyes.

At the time of this writing, The Monster Squad (1987) is available to stream from Hoopla, PlutoTV, Prime, and several PPV sources. It is also available on physical media as a 3-disc set that includes a 4K UHD disc, a Blu-ray disc, and Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018) Blu-ray disc, from KL Studio Classics.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Bill, will be Critters (1986), another franchise-starting film showcasing the effects work of Chiodo Brothers Productions (Killer Clowns from Outer Space, 1988) and an experienced cast featuring Dee Wallace and M. Emmet Walsh. The Grue Crew is excited about discussing this one.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[sunsburns]

and i make you (sick)

pairing: ex!luke castellan x woc!reader

content summary: social media au where you and luke broke up but he's not over you... and you don't think you're over him either. also everyone is clowning luke.

—or: your ex keeps posting to get your attention

author’s note: this is so silly and stupid and so unserious pls bear with me

part one: you make me (sick)

♫ Clouded by Brent Faiyaz

♡ liked by connerstoll , sallyjackson , and others

lukecastellan recently, i guess

view comments

chrisrodriguez pls stop posting my girl is on this app 🤧🙏

clarriselarue that’s not something you need to worry about.

travisstoll leave me alone please 😖😖

charlesbeckenoff you gotta let brent faiyaz go man

lukecastellan i can’t. he’s part of me now

clarriselarue and you just had the urge to post? again?

lukecastellan i figured my friends would like another post

clarriselarue are the friends in the room with us?

annabethchase leave him alone plss 😭 i can’t keep up with defending him

groverunderwood who is this diva??

liked by lukecastellan

percyjackson planting? flowers? 🤔

lukecastellan well yes!

percyjackson woah okay lose the sass 😒

lukecastellan didn’t realize i had any

percyjackson not funny didn’t laugh.

lukecastellan your mom thought it was funny, she also liked this post

groverunderwood that’s fucking crazy 💀💀

connerstoll percy is fuming right now LMFSO 😭😭

yourusername do you do weddings?

silenabeauregard HELP LMFAP

clarisselarue yourusername girl what r u doing here?? 😭

yourusername i’m on a mission

silenabeauregard mission? to do what????

lukecastellan to do ME 😆

this comment was deleted

yourusername lukecastellan i hate you.

lukecastellan i think i’ll be okay 😪

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

you just posted on your story!

annabethchase replied to your story

DIRECT MESSAGES

annabethchase: you don’t wear converse.

yourusername: ???

annabethchase: that’s not your foot. and it’s not percy’s either cause he wears vans.

yourusername: wow… there is a lot to unpack here. i’m not even gonna ask or try

yourusername: but if you must know i’m changing it up a little

yourusername: trying new things

annabethchase: you always wear new balance because you swear converse are uncomfortable but okay sure let’s say that

yourusername: annie please 😭

yourusername: not you going detective on me

annabethchase: just sayingg 😒

annabethchase: also!

annabethchase: is that the old hiking trail by my house?

yourusername: what? ofc not

yourusername: it’s some other trail

annabethchase: girl.

yourusername: i’m being fr!

annabethchase: ok.

yourusername: maybe i went back for a lil hike

yourusername: for the memories

yourusername: remember when i used to babysit percy and we would come over??

yourusername: and you guys would climb the trees 🥹

yourusername: and grover would take a shit ton of pictures

yourusername: u guys were adorable

annabethchase: omg stfu cause i also remember you and luke making out there too 😐

yourusername: bro 😶

annabethchase: if ur seeing my brother again just say so cause u left ur shirt & charger here

yourusername: do u wanna go out and chat and have a girls day 😁

annabethchase: sure. pick me up in twenty minutes. i’ll have your stuff ready.

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

♫ Ant Pile by Dominic Fike

♡ liked by silenabeauregard , lukecastellan , and others

( tagged : annebethchase )

yourusername minibeth & date nights

view comments

clarisselarue ughh gorggg

annabethchase wait cause why did our makeup eat...

yourusername lowkeyyyy i’m loving blue lately

percyjackson it’s because of me ofc 💙

yourusername yes, percy, it’s because of you

groverunderwood ate!

lukecastellan that fuckass bag is everywhere

yourusername god forbid a girl likes a nice bag ffs

lukecastellan using it the way it was intended i guess

yourusername get tf out of my comment section.

silenabeauregard looking real good in that last pic...

yourusername is it my final one?? why are you typing like that??

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

DIRECT MESSAGES -- the gods’ fav girls + grover ✨

silenabeauregard: you do think i’m stupid...

yourusername: what is this? 🤨

clarisselarue: an intervention

groverunderwood: omg 😆

silenabeauregard: whats ur deal??

clarisselarue: why are you being so cutesty with luke again?

groverunderwood: #not mindful #not demure

silenabeauregard: are you guys hooking up again????

yourusername: woah

annabethchase: we should do this some other time pls

yourusername: i have company right now

silenabeauregard: is it luke??

yourusername: no it’s percy 🥲 sally brought him over cause he’s being annoying again

yourusername: and i can’t have percy looking over MY shoulder and reading this 😭

yourusername: he’s gonna bully me so hard

clarisselarue: so you admit ur hooking up with luke again??

yourusername: do you think i should? 😏

clarisselarue: uh no.

yourusername: why not?

silenabeauregard: cause you love him so bad and it’s gonna hurt your feelings if ur just friends with benefits

yourusername: right ofc ofc

yourusername: you’re so right. i’m sooo in love with him like it’s crazyyyyyy ❤️🔥😝💞

yourusername: he’s so pretty and strong and he takes really good pics of me and i think he loves me too 🤔

yourusername: like we couldn’t stay friends cause we’re still in love 😻

clarisselarue: why are you being weird 😭😭😭

silenabeauregard: i actually didn’t think you would admit it that easily but i’ll take this win

clarisselarue: no i swear she’s being weird

silenabeauregard: she’s said weirder

yourusername: like what?

silenabeauregard: like how u want his babies???

yourusername: OH OKANDJAJ

annabethchase: hey so this is insane actually

groverunderwood: I’M DEAD LIKE 😭😭

yourusername: GROVER ARE THEY BEING FR??

groverunderwood: HELP LMFAO IS THIS PERCY??

clarisselarue: what???

yourusername: no nothing i just love luke sooo much and i want his babies soo bad and he’s sooo hot and i try to be soo unbothered but in reality i’m so bothered 🥹

yourusername: hey also this IS luke & friends 😆

silenabeauregard: OH MY GOD???

clarisselarue: NOO WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?? GROVER??

groverunderwood: she’s with me and annabeth actually ☝🏽

annabethchase: looking for her phone 😐

annabethchase: i think we’ve found it.

yourusername: very honoured to have been apart of this chat ladies + grover 🫡 - luke, percy & chris.

silenabeauregard: why didn’t you guys say anything 🙁

groverunderwood: wanted to see how long it would go on for before you noticed

annabethchase: had a bet for 5 minutes and would’ve won if they never sent a picture 😒

clarisselarue: why would yall lie like that 🥲

groverunderwood: technically no lies were told if you reread the messages…

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

♫ Mona Lisa by Dominic Fike

♡ liked by silenabeauregard , yourusername , and others

lukecastellan chillin .

view comments

clarisselarue: why is he getting better at photo dumps...

silenabeauregard: cause he’s not taking his own pics anymore

clarisselarue: oh so true

lukecastellan untrue!

chrisrodriguez don't listen to them your posts have always been good!! lukecastellan

liked by lukecastellan

travisscroll luke GLAZERRR

percyjackson i'm trying so hard to hate this but i can't

lukecastellan thank you!

annabethchase: i know that bag anywhere yourusername

groverunderwood: not slick at all 😒

yourusername wrap it up it's so over

lukecastellan i was having fun

yourusername i was not.

lukecastellan ur crazy for me

yourusername you make me sick

yourusername that mirror selfie tho...🤒

liked by lukecastellan

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

lukecastellan mentioned you on their story!

you replied to this story

DIRECT MESSAGES

yourusername: wait i can’t believe you hard launched first 😻

lukecastellan: is that what we were doing?

yourusername: okay purr my insta king

lukecastellan: please talk to me normally

yourusername: come over and i’ll do more than just talking

lukecastellan: be there in 10 🫡

┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 

♫ Sick by Dominic Fike

♡ liked by silenabeauregard , lukecastellan , and others

( tagged : lukecastellan )

yourusername cat’s out of the bag...

view comments

annabethchase was it ever in the bag to begin with?

yourusername okay damn

percyjackson put it back in the bag please.

yourusername what are you being messy for? i literally changed ur diapers

percyjackson CHILL

clarriselarue YUCK! (i’m happy for you...)

yourusername doesn’t feel like it but thank u 😊🫶🏽

clarriselarue i swear i am i’m just jealous

lukecastellan you literally have a whole mans tho??

chrisrodriguez it’s okay i’m used to it

connerstoll this is making ME sick

yourusername okay jokes over we get it dominic fike

lukecastellan wow ur so gorgeous i hope ur boyfriend can fight

yourusername he can’t fight but he bites!

lukecastellan huh?? 😭

yourusername he might nibble you a bit

lukecastellan girl u crazy i can’t tell if i’m into it or not (i am sooo into you)

yourusername ilyyy ❤️

[toadettely]

el i will explode if this continues. kaboom 💥 and then there’s gonna be clover all over the walls and we simply can’t have that

but you did convince my brain to turn back on so here you go! (i attempted to color code it)

vern is inside sitting in the basement of 6 tanglewood drive with a spirit box, happily chatting to the past resident of the home, while sophist splays himself out like a starfish across the summoning circle. the ghost seems pretty friendly and is overjoyed to converse through spirit box.

their radios crackle and they hear nick’s voice fill the room. “i can see you bozos on the camera, get out of there we don’t know if she’s friendly”

“hey! at least we’re actually in the house ‘Mr. Van Man’. plus she said she wants peace and that’s our whole job.”

“uhh guys-“

“vernias, so help me, GET OUT OF THERE.” the radio cuts off with a crackle.

“vern-“

“scaredy cat nicolas telling US to get out of the house! can you believe this soph-“

as vern turns around he see’s sophist locked inside the summoning circle supposedly unable to get out as the candles around him start lighting themselves

“SOPHIST?!”

“hey! i tried to tell you..but at least she’s friendly right? we can survive a hunt..”

“IF SHE’S HUNTING SHES NOT FRIENDLY”

“guys, i figured it out! it’s a moroi. vern that means you need to stop talking to it; it curses you as it responds through spirit box”

“oh shit.”

“BRENT I’M GOING TO DIE”

“What!?” “HUNTING, GET OUT, GET OUT”

“NICK IT-“

silence.

“vern?”

“i’ll get the camera” brent sighs

just as that’s said sophist runs through the door looking just a bit beaten up with ‘red paint’ smeared all over him.

“the ghost and and flying and circle” he rushes out panting and sputtering.

“so vern’s dead? i can say i told you so?” “uh- yeah”

“amazing brent get a picture, sophist get your cards and revive him and let’s roll”

“YOU’RE SENDING ME BACK IN?!”

-🍀

THERE'S GONNA BE CLOVER-CONFETTI EVERYWHERE IF YOU KABOOM💥 !!! (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

More ghost hunter stories, yay!! (⁠＾⁠∇⁠＾⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♪ My stepmom and stepbrother love Phasmophophia!! I was thinking about playing it too some day! ^-^

Ohhh this is so fun to read!! I love how Nick is "The Van Man" because we all know he'd be too scared to go in and be directly confronted with scary and spooky stuff (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

And him and Vern have their usual back and forth - I always love to read that haha!! Vern panicking and screaming is SO him - but he's definitely the bravest one of out of them! :3 Sophist as well, ofc, these two are such a perfect duo for stuff like this hehe (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。

The ending is so perfect ＼⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠)⁠／ it had me smiling so big and chuckling!!

Such a cute and funny drabble you cooked there, Clover!! Thank you so much!! ( ´⁠꒳⁠` )💛

[fleshybones]

COVER BAND  

heaven - Brent Adalph✅ love hurts - nazzaret✅  

all day and all of the night - the kink ✅

e-pro - beck subdivisions - russsi blue sky - all man brothers  

it’s good to be king✅ - pets

 I was wrong - social distorterr

Clint Eastwood - gorillaz submarinesong - the candy skins 

leave them Behind - ride  stand by me - oasis 

for love - lush  

dig for fire/wave of mutilation - pixies  

i want to touch you - cat wheel 

soul sacrifice - Santana id love to change the world - ten years after sooner or later - grassroots ✅

this is a low - blur 

born of frust - jam 

flame - sebadoh

 tropic morning news - the national 

how soon is now - the smiths   

Your love / Alright- Supergrass  

 backwater - meat puppets 

world in my eyes - depeche 

tidal wave - the apples in stereo 

into the mystic - van Morrison  ✅

autumn sweater - yo La tengo  

cut your hair - pavement  California dream in’ - mama and papa ✅

ohh La - faces ✅

oblivion - grimes bittersweets - verve can’t find my way home - blind faith 

fat bottom girls - queen✅ 

dear mr fantasy - traffic✅ 

the book of love - magnetic fields 

nothing else matters - Metallica  

can you take me higher - creed   

Bennie and the jet - Elton John  ✅

stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin ✅

open road - slightly stoopid 

love you inside out - beegee ✅

ticket to ride - Beatles✅

the summer - coconut record 

bang a gong✅/ life’s a gas  - T. rex  

fool in’ - def leopard✅  Mississippi Queen - mountain ✅

owner of a lonely heart - yes 

gratisfaction - stroke  magic carpet ride - steppenwolf ✅

velvet underground - heroin  ✅

over the hill & far away - Led Zeppelin  ✅

dream lover - Bobby Darin  ✅

baba o Riley - The Who✅  supernova - lamontague 

[ulkaralakbarova]

Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes – the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Sean: André Gower Patrick: Robby Kiger Del: Stephen Macht Count Dracula: Duncan Regehr Frankenstein: Tom Noonan Horace: Brent Chalem Rudy: Ryan Lambert Phoebe: Ashley Bank Eugene: Michael Faustino Emily: Mary Ellen Trainor Scary German Guy: Leonardo Cimino Desperate Man: Jon Gries Detective Sapir: Stan Shaw Patrick’s Sister: Lisa Fuller E.J.: Jason Hervey Gillman: Tom Woodruff Jr. Mummy: Michael Reid MacKay Van Helsing: Jack Gwillim Pilot: David Proval Peasant Girl: Sonia Curtis Pantry Girl / Vampire: Julie Merrill Wolfman: Carl Thibault Film Crew: Writer: Shane Black Production Design: Albert Brenner Characters: Bram Stoker Sound Effects Editor: Samuel C. Crutcher Co-Producer: Neil A. Machlis Set Decoration: Garrett Lewis Makeup Artist: Katalin Elek Assistant Art Director: David F. Klassen Executive Producer: Rob Cohen Original Music Composer: Bruce Broughton Visual Effects Supervisor: Richard Edlund Executive Producer: Keith Barish Art Direction: David M. Haber Characters: Mary Shelley ADR Editor: Eric Boyd-Perkins Makeup Artist: Zoltan Elek Executive Producer: Peter Hyams Writer: Fred Dekker Creature Design: Stan Winston Editor: James Mitchell Special Effects Coordinator: Phil Cory Special Effects Key Makeup Artist: Steve Wang Casting: Penny Perry Director of Photography: Bradford May Special Effects Key Makeup Artist: Tom Woodruff Jr. Producer: Jonathan A. Zimbert Special Effects Makeup Artist: Alec Gillis Special Effects Makeup Artist: John Rosengrant Special Effects Makeup Artist: Matt Rose Costume Supervisor: Michael W. Hoffman Foley Supervisor: Beth Sterner Sound Editor: John Shouse Costumer: Daniel Grant North Property Master: C.J. Maguire Hairstylist: Janice Alexander Supervising Sound Editor: Randle Akerson Set Designer: Roland E. Hill Jr. Visual Effects Art Director: Brent Boates Assistant Editor: Gillian L. Hutshing Visual Effects: Wayne Baker Special Effects Technician: Rocky Gehr Special Effects Key Makeup Artist: Shane Mahan Special Effects Supervisor: Ray Svedin Assistant Editor: Beverly Pinnas Visual Effects Editor: Michael Backauskas Assistant Sound Editor: Norval D. Crutcher III Visual Effects Coordinator: Lesley Mallgrave Special Effects Supervisor: Hans Metz Sound: Richard S. Church Sound Editor: Donlee Jorgensen Sound Editor: Stephen Bushelman Assistant Sound Editor: Ron Meredith Special Effects Technician: Jeff Rand Supervising Sound Editor: Norval D. Crutcher Set Designer: Harold Fuhrman Costume Supervisor: Aggie Lyon Movie Reviews:

[sharelocalservices]

At Ease Exploring the Magic of Man and Van Services in Brent

Urban life necessitates efficient and dependable moving services, and Brent stands out as an exceptional borough for this man and van brent service. Let's embark on an exploration to unlock its mysteries and uncover how this game-changing service is revolutionising how we navigate city landscapes.

Understanding Man and Van Services

Moving can be a difficult and overwhelming experience, which is why Man and Van services stand out. These personalised moving services go above and beyond simply transporting belongings; instead they take an empathetic and personalised approach to moving. Imagine having someone by your side helping navigate the intricate maze of relocation - that is the essence of Man and Van Brent; services which understand both its emotional and practical elements of relocation.

Brent Exploration of Man and Van Services

Brent is known for its diverse culture and unique charm, which presents moving challenges unique to this borough. Enter Man and Van services - designed to bridge between neighbourhoods by providing tailored solutions - providing seamless relocation services from Wembley's bustling streets to Kilburn's quiet corners.

Finding Man and Van Services in Brent

Discovering reliable local Man and Van services requires understanding what services exist within Brent. Search engine results to real-world recommendations show us that using this keyword ensures you reach its heart of moving expertise in Brent.

Making Informed Choices

Today, information plays a pivotal role in decision-making. Research indicates that Man and Van services in Brent have seen a marked increase in customer satisfaction as opposed to traditional movers due to personalised attention coupled with local knowledge providing a smoother transition for residents as well as businesses alike.

Addressing Concerns and Exploring Myths

Man and Van Services Are Only Appropriate for Small Moves

Contrary to popular belief, Man and Van services do not limit themselves solely to smaller moves; their adaptability means they can accommodate various relocation needs - be it moving a single room apartment or an entire corporate office complex, Man and Van in Brent can tailor its services according to each mover's specific requirements.

 They Lack Professionalism as Compared to Established Moving Companies

Man and Van services often generate questions regarding their professionalism; however, the reality is quite the contrary; thanks to an experienced network of professionals, these services combine a friendly yet expert approach with reliable moving experiences for a superior moving experience.

Technology and Moving Services

With technology now playing such a dominant role in daily life, the moving industry is also adapting. Man and Van services in Brent are taking advantage of advancements by adopting cutting-edge innovations into their processes and customer experiences - from online booking platforms to real-time tracking services - the future holds even greater convenience for those searching for their ideal moving solution.

Seamless Moves Await

Now that we have explored the world of Man and Van services in Brent, it is clear: seamless moves await those seeking an effective combination of expertise, personalization and local knowledge in their man and van brent moving company. So the next time you find yourself navigating Brent with relocation duties on your shoulders, remember these three words "Man and Van Brent." Your stress-free relocation awaits only one keyword away.

Advantages of Hiring Man and Van Services in Brent

Cost-Effective Solutions: 

Man and van services often provide more cost-effective alternatives than larger moving companies, as their flexible packages and tailored services cater specifically to what your budget demands.

Personalised Approach: 

In contrast with generic moving services, Man and Van providers in Brent offer tailored attention. Their focus lies on understanding your specific requirements to provide a move that perfectly suits them and their preferences.

Flexibility in Scheduling: 

Life can be unpredictable and your moving plans may change abruptly. Man and Van services understand this fact and offer greater flexibility when it comes to scheduling services for last-minute moves or advanced planning; their services adjust according to your timeline.

No Hidden Costs: 

Transparency is at the core of reliable Man and Van services, and that goes double for moving services. There won't be any surprise fees or hidden costs in your final bill; this creates trust between both parties involved, making the whole moving experience simpler and stress-free.

Quick Turnaround Times:

Man and Van services offer quick and seamless moving experiences, designed to meet the timelines of their clients in Brent.

Environmentally Friendly Solutions: 

Many Man and Van services in Brent are adopting eco-friendly practices. From fuel efficiency in transportation to recycling materials used during packing services, selecting these options can contribute to your commitment to sustainability.

Tailored Packaging Solutions: 

Packing is an essential aspect of moving, and our Man and Van services go beyond simple transportation to offer customised packing solutions tailored specifically to you. Whether you prefer doing it yourself or assigning someone else the task, these services will meet all your packing needs.

Reduce Stress and Physical Strain:

Moving can be both physically and emotionally exhausting, so availing yourself of man and van services in Brent can ease the strain and let professionals handle the heavy lifting, giving you time to settle into your new space more smoothly.

[teacherintransition]

The Pallet, The Pad or The Pen?

Not really a pen per se …more like a keyboard

When Covid burst upon the scene four years ago; with retirement following soon after, my sanity was saved by constantly painting. In a few months, I painted two dozen pieces and kept my mind together. When we made the decision to retire, I kept the pace up as well as creating numerous works involving medieval iconography and illuminated manuscript. My practice time on guitar has been up and down. I also embarked on a string of writing projects that I’ve steadily increased in the interim. I’ve had three articles published, written a book, and over two hundred blog articles on various platforms. Poetry has been something I added to my repertoire with questionable success …I hope leaning toward the success element. It was never my intention to devote as much time to writing as I have and as I look at the year long unfinished painting that I brought to Missouri, it haunts me, it teases me …it’s calling me names. How have I let my visual art work become ignored so much?

It’s not been a total turnaround in regards to visual art; I’ve completed a series of illustrations for children’s book, but eight months of work went down the drain, I’ve also taken a plethora of photos during our travels. Why can’t I get my damn easel out and paint? To add to the agony, the last two nights I’ve watched “At Eternity’s Gate” and “Lust for Life,” two cinematic masterpieces telling the story of my painting saint, Vincent Van Gogh. I don’t know if I’m trying to motivate myself or shame myself. The vast majority of my painting tools are at my home studio in Nacogdoches, but c’mon Brent …that’s not an excuse.

The paintings were really tied up with our European travels pre-Covid, but we’ve only been back once in 2022; but geez, another non excuse as we have been traveling across the country and state with no ending of possible subjects to paint. It is frustrating. My writing routine is strong and I don’t want to shut it down, but I have to say something with the acrylics and oils …I don’t know what, but something is screaming to get out. The longer it takes to get back on the horse, the more intimidating it becomes. It’s similar to working out, or reading, or doing home chores; getting started is the hardest part. The films were motivating, but I connected too strongly with the struggles of an artist, Vincent in particular, and fear of failure gut punched me and my eyes turned to the year long unfinished painting sitting in the corner. Damn you painting! Is there a solution? There is and writing about this internal conflict is part of, I hope, the solution.

So, here I am, going on the record: I am going to produce a painting in the next …week, few weeks, before the apocalypse? What if I don’t? It’s not a scene man, not a good one anyway. The paints are calling and fearful of drying out. Wish me luck…

[musemuseum-a]

Muses | B

Barron Quartermain | 32 | Sam Claflin | Author | Extra Info | Verses

Bastian Merryweather | 30 | Joseph Quinn | Interior Designer | Extra Info | Verses

Beckett Marrin | 26 | Seth Green | Bassist in Moon Howlers | Extra Info | Verses

Benjamin Wild | 34 | Daniel Radcliffe | Sports Commentator | Extra Info | Verses

Benji Markland | 23 | Benjamin Wadsworth | Underground Fighter | Extra Info | Verses

Billie-Marie Grace | 25 | Florence Pugh | Detective | Extra Info | Verses

Blaise Andrews | 20 | Milo Manheim | Pyrokinetic Mutant | Extra Info | Verses

Bliss Frey | 21 | Taylor Momsen | Brothel Manager | Extra Info | Verses

Blue Adams | 20 | Grace Van Dien | College Student | Extra Info | Verses

Blythe Holtzman | 28 | Grace Van Dien | Ghostbuster | Extra Info | Verses

Bodie Mitchel | 24 | Tom Holland | Adventurer | Extra Info | Verses

Braxton Valor | 37 | Jai Courtney | Underground Fighter | Extra Info | Verses

Bree Spawlding | 30 | Carla Jeffery | Lawyer | Extra Info | Verses

Brent Davis | 43 | Ryan Gosling | Stunt Man | Extra Info | Verses

Briar Starr | 28 | Natalia Dyer | Bartender | Extra Info | Verses

Britannia Lowel | 35 | Aly Michalka | Journalist | Extra Info | Verses

Brynn Swanson | 40 | Rebecca Ferguson | Singer | Extra Info | Verses