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BSADKJANKJD GOD ILL DIE LAUGHING AT THIS

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Intimidation Meme

Sometimes it’s difficult for people to seek contact with each other because they can feel intimidated by others. Using this meme, you can send the symbols to my askbox that represent to you how intimidating I am to you. This way, it could be more clear to both sides how things are based on these feelings.

😗 - YOU ARE THE SOFTEST BEING. 😀 - I’m not afraid of reaching out to you. 😃 - To me, you are easy to approach. 😊 - I think you are a really friendly person. 😶 - I’m not sure if I can reach out to you. 😐 - You seem a little distant from others. 😓 - I feel like you would not really like me. 😲 - I’m afraid of reaching out to you. 😟 - I wish I had the courage to start talking to you. 😥 - I am very intimidated by you. I wish it wasn’t that way, because you seem cool. 😫 - I admire you from the sidelines because you seem cool and I’m just a dork. 😧 - Senpai, notice me???? 😦 - I feel really insecure when I want to reach out to you. 😨 - You intimidate me….a whole damn lot. 😭 - I wish I could be your friend but to me, you are so hard to reach out to. 😱 - I am so incredibly intimidated by you, it even makes me a little anxious sometimes. 💀 - OH MY GOD DON’T EAT ME PLEASE

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RE-ANIMATOR (1985) dir. Stuart Gordon

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Herbert looked at his watch. "Approximately twelve minutes. I believe another, smaller dose is appropriate." He scribbled some numbers and put his arms out in front of him, shrugged his shoulders, sleeves pulling up a bit. 5CCs of serum would be good to start. Half of the previous dose.

"Hm? Me? What about me?" Herbert raised an eyebrow at Dan as he returned to the worktable. "You mean my last dose? Why, Daniel, are you going to chastise me?" Although they'd had their disagreements about it, it seemed Dan had given up trying to stop Herbert from using it altogether. Even with this being the case, the topic brought about a small flutter of anxiety whenever it was mentioned. The times he had been overdue for another dose had been some of the most shameful, and there was no graceful way to deal with that.

Herbert frowned, turning his back to the other two in order to search for something on a nearby cart. The sudden grip on his arm did alarm him. In an instant, he could tell it was too strong, too cold, too waxy. Herbert was not afraid of his creations, not by any means, but he had learned that he did not enjoy being snuck up on.

Herbert let out a little yelp of surprise and instantly jerked his arm inward to try to hug it to his chest. Unsuccessfully. Had that been the end of it, things would have been fine. Herbert should have turned, seen that it was just Eli, and relaxed. Perhaps spoke to the reanimate to try to calm him. Instead, the steadfast grip on his arm sent him into a flustered tizzy, and he pulled again, flight winning out over fight, struggling to get free.

In fact, what seemed to send the signal to calm him down was seeing Dan move closer. There were many times when something had gone wrong - some experiment awry, some violent skirmish outside their tent - and Dan had been there in a second to help. That's what they did. It seemed his subconscious was aware of that.

Herbert blinked and processed the scene. Eli was...scared. Alright. A tentative tug told him he still wasn't going anywhere, but now his eyes were trained to his latest creation. "Dan..." An implied cry for help.

Eli seemed to hesitate, still much rather focused on the reagent that had been prepared previously by West. He let out a small groan, another protest, but that seemed to be the extent of his willfulness for now. He turned back to the work table, the one he had found himself woken up on twice now. He eyed 'Daniel' with a nervous gaze, purposefully keeping a good distance from him as he circled the table.

Dan watched the stumbling man, he could feel the fear that seemed to leech off of him despite Dan attempting to keep his movements calm and his tone cool. He muttered his own reassurances to Eli, gently and slowly guiding him back onto the table to lie down.

"I don't know, how long has it been since the last dose?" Dan asked, waiting for Eli to settle before he would attempt to see what he could do about the neck. He felt the vertebrae in the back of the neck, noting the C5 and C6 were knocked clear out of alignment and the spinal processes there had been chipped, not to mention a gash in the side of the head. He would need to address the shoulder later- noting Herbert had done at least some manner of repair there, but the work had been hasty. That wasn't like Herbert, the man was fastidious in his detail. Perhaps he needed another dose.

"What about you?"

Eli still made a pointed effort to not look at Dan directly, instead attempting to turn his broken neck towards West. He trusted him wholly, unquestioningly, but it was clear he was still terrified of Dan. Even though West's colleague was being gentle, the bright and gashing images of the previous attack were hard to ignore. He reached out for West, attempting to grab hold of the man's forearm with another painfully strong grasp.

"West..." he groaned out, Dan looking to the hand and then to Herbert- not sure how the man would react to the touch. Herbert was strange about touch- he preferred to do the touching than to be touched, he half-expected him to recoil in shock at the clearly desperate action of the reanimate. Dan moved to reach over, grabbing Eli's arm in an attempt to pry the grip off of Herbert to avoid any rash action from the other doctor.

"Eli....Eli....easy, easy," Dan tried to soothe, but the dead-eyed priest seemed to only want reassurance feom the aloof Dr. West.

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Had it been any other child, Herbert would not have a clue what to do in that situation. Generally speaking, he remained rather aloof, unless he was very close with someone. That she hugged him came as no surprise. They showed affection the same way, with actions, not so much words. Herbert wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to sit on the couch beside him, patting the top of her head with the opposite hand.

"So. It's just the two of us tonight. We can run some scans and then have dinner." The schedule of events was helpful. Having specific duties laid out for Abigail in the lab was helpful as well. She was curious, and a good listener, but just having her sit patiently the entire time was not a viable option. "Will you take notes while we work?"

It really was the nicest thing she'd heard in a while, from anyone other than her parents. Though there was that small voice starting to creep in from the back of her mind: Do they just say they love me because they have to? Because they're my parents? Because it seems they were the only ones with something nice to say about Abigail Cain.

That is, except for Herbert.

She left the piano stool and immediately hugged Herbert, when he finished his memory, she didn't even think about metabolic mapping or brain scanning. She just wanted to be with him; she didn't want to be all on her own. That little head of brown hair in twin braids, always in twin braids, is all he saw as the little girl held him tighter.

"I like doing science with you, Uncle Herbert. So... Yes." The only time she said no is when she really, really wanted to be alone. When she was upset or had a really overwhelming day. She'd sit in the garden those days, look really closely at the insects going through their daily regimens. Even today, she has some beetles and butterflies pinned in portraits.

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Ah. Eli listened. That wasn't much of a surprise, as he had listened to Herbert before, but it was still a marvel that he turned out so much better than the others. He would have to go back through his recordings and figure out what made him different. Perhaps the river had kept the body cold enough that no real deterioration could occur. Perhaps the timing was just perfect. It couldn't have anything to do with him being a *priest*, although he wouldn't put it past Dan to suggest there was some mystical intervention involved somehow.

"Yes, of course," Herbert said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he headed over toward Eli. "I'll take care of everything..." Eli was preoccupied by the reagent, it seemed. It wasn't clear if this was because of the reagent itself (some aesthetic value, perhaps, or something deeper that called to him from having the same substance coursing through him) or because he just wanted to ignore Dan. That was an amusing thought.

"Eli, do what Daniel instructs you. Allow him to do the repairs." He grabbed his notebook and began jotting down some notes. "Dan, do you think we should give him another dose?"

Dan could see Herbert trying to think. It was strange- normally Herbert was dismissive of his projects. 'Assemblage of useless parts', things to be discarded, the mad man's animated projects often went 'missing' and while Dan rarely questioned it, it did go to show how Herbert viewed these reanimates often with careless indifference. But not Eli. He was excessively proud of him, attempting to smooth out his pitch as for why the man had to stay. Unfortunately, it was making sense.

Eli was already attempting to approach the broken door when Herbert snapped up, stopping the reanimate in his tracks with his stern command. Eli turned awkwardly, confusion on his face as he swayed where he stood. He pointed to the door with the hand not currently holding his head.

"Door...Dan....Dan....the door....open," he tried to explain, but made no effort to move towards the door again. Dan moved to slowly approach Eli, still unsure if the other would attack. To his surprise, Eli cowered away from the other doctor, still afraid of the man as he tried to scramble towards West.

Dan recoiled his hand back, not wanting to scare Eli further. But he seemed to hold Herbert to a high regard- a God, according to Herbert's own notes as much as it troubled Dan. If it meant it would offer some protection to Herbert- and against any potential escapes- Dan couldn't argue much. Instead he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to think.

"I still don't like this," Dan groaned softly, looking back to Herbert.

"You're responsible for him, though. Whatever happens, whatever he does, it's yours to deal with, right?" Dan spoke sternly. He still kept his tone low, as he often did when discussing such sensitive topics in the hospital. Not that Eli was not to be made privvy to what was going on- he was smack in the middle of all of it and seemed to have the awareness of, well, a walking corpse, but Dan still felt he didn't need to be involved in he and Herbert's spat.

He still wasn't sure how long Eli would last. Herbert was unpredictable, he had never really shown care or responsibility towards anything other than his notes and research- and he certainly didn't have the best track record with animals. How was he going to deal with a person? He turned his attention back to Eli, frowning aa he saw the man struggle to hold his head up.

"Come on, Eli, lie down and I can try and fix your neck," no doubt the smack from the shovel had done quite a bit of damage. Something that should have been fixed before waking him up.

Eli mumbled words, not listening to Dan as he instead seemed to fixate on the workstation nearby, dull blue eyes focused on a vial of glowing reagent.

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// my best friend @imadoctornotamagician made me this beautiful piece of artwork. 🥹🥹 I am adding it to my collection from them. Check out their stuff here, it's amazing! 🥺🥺

Edit: just pointing out that the pencils - including the one that's broken - are canon accurate. 😂

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Telling a Story Through Touch - Part 1

I want to talk about the way Dan and Herbert use touch in Re-Animator and Bride - how they're different, and how they change.

Touch is complicated for Herbert. He comes off as stiff and withdrawn at first; from the way he holds himself, dresses himself, and acts around most people, it seems as if he dislikes being touched, or expects other people to use touch to hurt him.

But when he gets comfortable with Dan, it's clear that he CRAVES touch. In Re-Animator, he constantly puts himself close to Dan, pressing against him, reaching for him, resting a hand on him, etc.

He touches Dan as a source of comfort. When he's scared or overly excited, he reaches for Dan.

He also used touch to GIVE comfort. When Dan is hurt or in distress, Herbert is quick to lay on hands.

I think for Herbert, his willingness to touch and be touched by someone is a sign of true trust and love. Physical affection is vulnerability, and Herbert doesn't allow himself to be vulnerable in front of just anyone. Herbert strikes me as someone who hasn't experienced a lot of physical affection in his life. It's more likely that he is used to being hurt rather than comforted.

So, every time Herbert touches Dan, it's an expression of love.

Dan touches Herbert for two reasons. The first is to protect him - Dan is a Helper. He likes to take care of people, and when Herbert comes into his life, Dan immediately takes him on as someone to care for (and maybe enable, but let's be generous).

The only other time we really see Dan touch Herbert is when he's mad or annoyed at him.

Herbert is annoying! And it's his presence in Dan's life that sends it careening off track. So it makes sense that Dan harbors resentment for him, even while he is still obsessed with him and his work. Especially after Meg dies.

And Herbert feels it. In Bride, it's clear that Herbert is very aware of how angry Dan is, and it changes how willing he is to touch Dan.

(I have to cut this because of the 30 gif limit. I'll continue with Bride in Part 2.)

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I love this scene in the extended Re-Animator where Herbert throws a sandwich at Dan and then rants for a bit, because of the sequence of events that it implies.

After the whole morgue fiasco, Dan and Herbert must have spent hours talking to the police before they got home.

Now, Dan is still in his bloody scrubs. Clearly he walked in the door and sat down on the couch, and that was it for him.

But Herbert?

Herbert is in a clean suit.

WHICH MEANS

Even though Herbert must have already been suffering from reagent withdrawal, his priorities after getting home were:

Change into fresh suit.

Make Dan a sandwich.

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Currently making a Re-animator meme but I’m posting this screenshot on its own just because I’m absolutely enchanted by Herbert West being the kind of guy to keep a single can of 7-Up on his desk in front of his biohazard warning sign

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Lovely time! Currently watching Bride of Re-animator!

Jeffrey Combs Movie Night!

// Hello! Thanks to everyone who was interested! Here is the link! in a few minutes, I'll start playing...Re-animator? From Beyond? not sure yet! And I'll just keep them going. Feel free to share!

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Starting in a few!

//OOC: I know I put some feelers out there, but would anyone be interested in a Jeffrey Combs movie night? I'll put up a Hyperlink link or something...feel free to share.

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Jeffrey Combs Movie Night!

// Hello! Thanks to everyone who was interested! Here is the link! in a few minutes, I'll start playing...Re-animator? From Beyond? not sure yet! And I'll just keep them going. Feel free to share!

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Herbert’s mind was fast at work. If he didn’t come up with a solution now, Dan was going to be more difficult to persuade. They were on limited time, and Herbert was struggling to think of reasons why they should keep him. So he took a different approach. 

“What else are we going to do with him, Dan? Let him go? He needs constant monitoring. He needs someone to teach him how to live again.” Perhaps appealing to Daniel’s sense of sympathy would me more effective. “He likely will need regular doses of serum to keep the re-animation process progressing.” Herbert snatched his notes up again and began flipping through the pages. 

His patients were a problem. “I’ll call out. Harrod will be all too happy for me to go missing for a few days.” The old woman was a good doctor. Herbert respected her in that regard, but her disdain for the young scientist was clear, and Herbert tried to stay out of her way.

Oh, and as for the door. Herbert’s head snapped up. “Eli.” He fixed the man with a stern look. “Do not leave this room. Do not go out the door. It is dangerous for you out there.”

Dan shifted his gaze from Eli to Herbert occassionally, looking more to Herbert as Eli seemed to pacify. Or rather forget why he was fearful. Either way, Dan frowned at Herbert's 'plan' - which was his original plan all along. Was reviving the reanimate just a way to ensure he got his way? Honestly, Dan wouldn't put it past the smaller doctor.

"I don't like that plan," he admitted in a low grumble, absentmindedly rubbing at his nose to try and hide his mouth talking. A habit he picked up in the hospital when he did rounds with Herbert. Which brought up something else.

"You forget you have patients at the hospital. I can only cover for you so much," Dan tried to think. With Eli being awake- or alive- would make transport a bit of an issue. The man had spotty intelligence at best- while he retained memories he was still prone to the wild moodswings of a typical reanimate, and Dan didn't want to risk a car accident on the way to Miskatonic.

"And the door- Herbert," perhaps the other had forgotten about the warped and broken frame of the door just a few feet away. He gestured back towards it, hands returning to his hips in his exasperation.

Eli watched the two with confused curiosity as they spoke, occassionally repeating a word he would catch in passing. He did catch the word door, frowning as he muttered it and looked to where it once had been, where Dan came from.

"Door is....open,"

Dan looked to Eli, to the doorway, then back to Eli- his mouth pulled into a tight line.

"Yes. Yes, the door is...the door is open," Dan confirmed. He felt more uncomfotable with the thought of keeping Eli on the premises. It was one thing to have a violent or even spiteful reanimate around, it was another to have one as naïve as Eli was. He could do a lot of damage without realizing it, he could do a lot of damage to Herbert without realizing it. They had basically a wild chimp now in their basement. Dan didn't say anything else, merely turning his tight-lipped expression to Herbert to await his response, a look of frustrated disappointment burning to the other.

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the iguanas weren’t just in the movie. hp lovecraft wrote them into the original reanimator story. it was always iguanas

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Every day I wake up and choose violence against Dr Hill

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Has anyone ever told you that you look beautiful laid out under a surgical light?