#`⠀ *⠀ ┈ ⠀we’re all stories in the end .⠀⠀/⠀⠀eleanor crain .

[emeraldspiral]

So I just finished an audiobook of The Haunting of Hill House and watched The House on Haunted Hill, the original The Haunting and the 1999 The Haunting.

The Vincent Price movie is pretty much just it’s own thing loosely inspired by the book. Not much to say about it except that they made a point of having Vincent say everyone at the party would be paid by his estate if he died during the party to ensure they’d all still get their $10k, but like... Why didn’t he just cut his wife out of the will so that she’d get nothing if he died, negating her reason for wanting to kill him? And why didn’t they ever get rid of the acid pool in the cellar?

Eleanor gave me autism vibes in the original book.

In the book and the original movie I don’t really get why the house is haunted. Like, the only deaths that happened around it were Hugh Crain’s first wife, who crashed her carriage before she ever set foot on the property and the daughter’s “companion” who committed suicide after becoming a social pariah. Hugh himself was overseas when he died, the daughter who didn’t inherit the house I think just lived a normal life and the daughter who did lived a long life before she passed away. So who’s supposed to be haunting the house and why? It never seems like the story develops any further than the initial explanation that we get. It’s not a mystery that gradually gets unraveled where everyone finds out more and more disturbing things about the house’s history. We’re just told the house was “born bad” and creepy things happen in it that don’t seem to be connected to any particular trauma.

I think the 1999 film is actually really underrated. Like, it addresses all the faults I just outlined by actually having fucked up stuff happen at the house to explain who’s haunting it and why and revealing additional layers to the initial story as it progresses. There’s moments of dated CGI, but you have to appreciate how much of the movie actually was practical. Today, they wouldn’t have built those beautiful, elaborate sets, they would’ve made EVERYTHING CGI.

I like how they veered away from being a straightforward faithful adaptation but still kept nods to the original with the stone lions being a motif in the house and the styling of Hugh Crain to kinda look like a lion. I think I read somewhere that someone described the sound of him “roaring” at some point as like a T-Rex, which I think is actually pretty clever because the classic T-Rex sound effect we know from Jurassic Park (another Spielberg film) is a mixture of animal sounds, including the roar of a tiger, and tiger roars were also famously used in The Lion King because they’re louder and more ferocious than real lion roars. So to associate Hugh Crain with lions, he has a tiger roar, which we think is a lion’s roar because of the Lion King, but also a T-Rex roar because of Jurassic Park.

I also think it was fitting that they took the part from the original where Eleanor hears a child crying and finds the courage to scream “Stop it!” because she can’t bear to allow a child to be hurt and made that the plot of the movie.

It does do some things I didn’t like. There’s moments where I think they could’ve used practical effects instead of CGI if they weren’t trying to show off that shiny new technology.

The iconic staircase scene is truncated with Eleanor’s climb not being shown and her appearing at the top of the stairs already as it begins and having no reason shown for why she goes up there. The “Who was holding my hand” part was clearly ADR’d in because somebody thought that was an iconic line they had to include somewhere even when it didn’t make sense.

Same thing with Eleanor dying at the end. Like, it’s not clear why she dies and it doesn’t really fit thematically. It happens just as Eleanor is finding her courage and coming out of her shell and being shown she’s wanted and cared for by Theo, who offers to let her move in with her. A complete 180 from the original where Theo rejects Eleanor’s suggestion of moving in together and she falls into despair, feeling as alienated and unwanted as she did at the beginning when she’s kicked out of the house following her escapade on the stairs. It feels like the only reason Eleanor dies at the end of the 1999 movie is because she died in the original.

There’s a moment where Liam Neeson gets dragged into a fountain for a bit, but then the fountain just lets him go for no reason. Like, what was stopping it from killing him and what purpose did that moment serve narratively?

I also feel like Owen Wilson’s death didn’t really add anything to the story. It happens in the middle of a big action sequence at the climax and isn’t dwelt on at all so it doesn’t do much to heighten the tension. I read that originally they wanted Hugh Crain to be in the fireplace instead of the portrait at the top of the stairs and I think maybe Luke getting his head knocked off by the flue only happened because they set the flue up as a Chekov’s gun at the beginning and they needed some kind of payoff after they decided to have Hugh come out of the portrait. I think Luke was originally supposed to die when he crashed the car into the gate because there’s a moment where something falls on it that could’ve stabbed him in the skull and shots of gasoline leaking while he’s unable to get out or turn the car off, but nothing comes of it. Liam busts him out and the car never explodes or catches fire and everything’s fine until Owen dies a minute later anyway. Owen crashing the car into the gate actually does feel like a nod to the original story that actually works though. Like, they had that scene because in the original story Eleanor dies at the end by crashing her car, but the purpose it serves in the 1999 movie is to create a diversion so Eleanor can slip away back into the house.

I feel like Liam and Owen don’t really do anything essential for the plot in the climax so you really could’ve just killed Liam off in the fountain scene and then had Owen die in the car crash or the stupid magic carpet lion head flue thing and then there would’ve been a lot more tension at the end with it just being Theo and Eleanor facing Hugh Crain alone.

If it were up to me, I would’ve had Eleanor live and move in with Theo at the end. I might even have them be a thruple with Luke, since it would’ve resolved Theo’s issue with having a BF and GF who don’t get along and can’t all live together like she wanted.

[oklottie]

[ VICTORIA PEDRETTI // CIS WOMAN // SHE/HER ] – oh my god, is that CHARLOTTE “LOTTIE” IADANZA?! the tabloids can’t seem to stop buzzing about the TWENTY-FOUR year old ACTRESS. the industry has dubbed her THE LUCKY PENNY and sources say, she is OPTIMISTIC and WARM, yet also GULLIBLE and WEAK-WILLED. yet, with all this gossip, who really knows?! one thing’s for sure, though– queen bee has it out for her!

hello hello hello! alex here! with her second muse! whose last name sounds absolutely stunning if you pinch your fingers together and say it like a stereotypical italian chef!

**** so,,, let it be known,,, that this character is an adaptation of another. and,,, as a preview,,, the other character died from super rabies™ in an au after putting on a production of cats... using stray bahamian cats.

QUICK FACTS:

full name: charlotte “lottie” rose iadanza

date of birth: march 6, 1996

*does not perfectly reflect the below big three zodiac chart because that’s too much math

zodiac big three: pisces sun, gemini moon, pisces rising

gender & pronouns: cis woman & she/her

sexual orientation: bisexual ( also preference for women bc we luv that for her but we also luv leaving things open to chemistry )

education: bachelor in performance arts

enneagram: 2w1

mbti: infp

various inspirations: rose nylund ( the golden girls ), jan brady ( the brady bunch ), fox 8 ( fox 8: a story ), eleanor crain ( the haunting of hill house )

BACKGROUND:

so i’m reworking her background,, hence why she has a completely different name and everything,, bc her original one?? the angst in it wld have no place here!! gotta have a reason for it!! but this bitch?? labeled her ‘the lucky penny’ for a reason

so we’re fully embracing the rose nylund side of her.

she was born in this super small town in themiddleofnowhere, usa. basically springfield - literally no one, including the residents of the town, would be able to tell you where it is. can’t find it on a map. just gotta rely on that connection.

is this half-comedy, half “i’m entirely serious”? why yes, yes it is. 

in the state of indiana that’s all anyone knows.

it was full of what one can only describe as ‘characters’ - aka, complete caricatures. even her family!!

as the middle child, lottie always had someone one-upping her. older brother? the school casanova! he could nibble any girl’s name into a corncob WITH their SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED FONT!! who could beat that!!! 

older sister? she got davy jones from the monkees to appear at the 2010 homecoming. davy jones!!! 

then the younger ones were just cute i don’t know what to tell you.

with her siblings being so in the spotlight (you know… by the standards of whatever town they were in…), lottie searched far and wide for the thing she was good at. she couldn’t fire-breathe well. she was decent at juggling, but things got messy when a chainsaw was thrown in (they still mourn paul williger’s hand). somehow… one of the last things she tried… was acting. 

but she wound up being really good at that!! so she put her entire being into it!! and just trusted that ‘good’ by her town’s standards doubled as ‘good’ by other standards!!

and, considering she was accepted into an arts school on her acting merits, they apparently were!!!!!!!!!

so this next part is based on how entirely shocked i was at the story of how victoria pedretti got the role of nell + her label: with literally only one thing on her resume, it being a student film that was exclusive to youtube and was more performance art -esque than anything… she was apparently the perfect fit for a netflix original role. she sent in literally a stupid home-recording audition… and yet she got the role of the main character, thus beginning her lucky streak.

this streak has yet to be broken, but the story goes that it’s only a matter of time!! sister’s probs gonna suddenly become a really good actor :\ steal all the roles :\ i haven’t named her but it’s gonna have to be a name like ‘marcia’

PERSONALITY/MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

all the personality facts u can gather from the ‘quick facts’ section!!

likes cats unironically, so that speaks VOLUMES.

thinks getting davy jones (rip) to come to your prom in his very much has-been stages is literally the most impressive thing in the entire world

ok ok imma be real im!! a lil tired rn!! so i’ll write more here after a shower!!

speaking of - most of vera’s intro has been expanded on. a lot of it,,, still need,,, fixing in the grammar area bc a bitch was rushing but!! got a full connections list now!! at least there’s that!!

CONNECTION IDEAS:

** all connections are open to any gender unless otherwise specified

any nice lil friend connections <3 (??/???)

the dorothy to her rose: someone who puts up with her dumbassery but will make it known that it is, indeed, dumbassery (0/1)

“u wanna hit?” “hit what?”: an attempted bad influence… attempted. (0/2)

“get it 2gether”: y/m is over here bein a hot mess and she’s over here like “well as my guidance counselor, rupaul ms cummings, once said: if you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love anybody else?” (0/2)

exes on any terms (0/2)

some publicity stunt relationship (0/1)

ons: i don’t see her as being much of a fling/fwb type of person, but we’d love to see that One™ one night stand that j ended with her being like “wait,,, how does this culture work again i forgot” (0/1)

[blodreina-noumou]

6, 26,36 for the tv ask thing!

Tysm!! I always appreciate it, and you 💖 (also this is so long omg sorry)

6. which shows do you think are underrated and need more love?

I’m going to limit myself to three, because we’re in an age of excellent and underappreciated television and I could probably list at least ten.

The Dragon Prince on Netflix is from the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender and it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. It has excellent diversity representation and an emotional, rich, and deeply meaningful storyline. But in true ATLA style, all the struggle and heartbreak is couched in so much heart and humor and beauty that you just want to live in that world, even if it hurts. Also Bait is there and Bait is the best. This one is in danger of not being renewed, so if any of that sounds even remotely interesting to anyone reading this, please give it a shot.

Anne with an E on Netflix is probably my favorite book-to-screen adaptation ever. They really captured Anne’s heart and personality while also managing to update the themes of the story for a modern audience. The settings and costumes are so lovely and authentic, and the storyline is full of hardship and heart and so many wonderfully complex and lovable characters. While it doesn’t shy away from some of the more difficult aspects of life at the turn of the 20th century, the show also takes the time to fill you with a sense of hope and warmth in the face of adversity. It’s all about found family and I’m a sucker for that trope.

Frontier on Netflix is on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum of the other two shows I mentioned. It’s gritty, it’s hard, and it’s brutal - but it also shows a very honest and unexplored aspect of early North American culture and the ways Native Americans and various colonizers interacted and warred with one another. It is explicit about the brutalities of that time period, especially towards women and ingenious people, so I wouldn’t recommend it for the young or faint of heart. On the shallower side, Jason Momoa is a terrifyingly sexy protagonist that dominates every single scene he’s in - which is most of them.

26. favorite tv show theme song?

I really love a good instrumental theme that is instantly recognizable and captures the way the content of the show feels. Some comedic examples are Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Patriot Act. On the dramatic side, I love a good sweeping score like the ones used in Black Sails, Game of Thrones, or Westworld. I think creating original music for television is a very underrated art, so any time a theme song can transcend and become iconic, I get a lil giddy.

Side note - I can’t be the only one who hates The 100 theme song. That “BWAAAAAANNH” and the manic vocalizing always make my head hurt.

36. what tv character would you die for?

There are many, but my gut answer is Eleanor “Nell” Crain from The Haunting of Hill House. Her story is so tragic. The way her arc plays out across the first five episodes especially is so well-done. You mourn her before you even know her, because of the sudden and violent nature of her death - and then you start to get to know her and you mourn her even more, because it’s just so sad that someone so innocent and kind and open-hearted had the life she did. Victoria Pedretti’s performance is so raw and real. Hill House wouldn’t have nearly the emotional impact that it does if Nell Crain wasn’t such a tragically lovable character.

TV show ask game if you want me to ramble at length some more!

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 20 November 2017

Quick Bits:

Angelic #3 continues Qora and the Complainer’s quest to find the Eye of Ay. Just take a moment and look at how beautiful Caspar Wijngaard’s art is.

| Published by Image

Animosity: Evolution #2 introduces a family of rodents to the community, who learn quickly that not everything may be as it seems and not everyone is looking out for their best interests. It’s a nice...ground-level way to introduce some of the inner workings of the refuge.

| Published by AfterShock

Betty & Veronica: Vixens #1 is a fun start to this new series where Betty and Veronica start a women’s biker gang. The art from Kim & Kim’s Eva Cabrera gives it that nice edge while still maintaining a style not too far removed from the old Dan Parent house style.

| Published by Archie Comics

DuckTales #3 gives us two more adventures of Scrooge McDuck, Della, and Donald penned by Joey Cavalieri. I can’t stress how much fun these stories have been so far, perfectly capturing the humour and adventure of the new television series. Great for both kids and adults.

| Published by IDW

Giant Days 2017 Holiday Special #1 sees the girls take a trip to London over Christmas break, staying with one of Esther’s high school friends who has a “real adult life”. It’s fun as they try to meddle with her love life, setting her up with whom they deem socially responsible among her three suitors. The artwork from Jenn St-Onge is very nice.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

God Complex: Dogma #2 sets Seneca into looking directly for the One God at the behest of Apollo and the Rulers. How religion is being presented here as a mix of faith, knowledge, and science is interesting, I don’t know how much of this is inherent in the toys, but Paul Jenkins is weaving the story very well here. And again, the artwork from Hendry Prasetya and Jessica Kholinne is wonderful.

| Published by Image / Top Cow - Glitch

Made Men #3 continues Jutte’s tale of getting revenge for the assassination of herself and her squad, focusing this time on the police chief. I love the set up on keeping the chief otherwise occupied while the rest of the team is dumping his home for information.

| Published by Oni Press

Motor Girl #10 is about what you’d expect for a conclusion to a series about a war vet who has an imaginary talking gorilla as a friend and is on the cusp of witnessing an alien invasion. Terry Moore has told an interesting and entertaining story here and I’m kind of sad to see it end.

| Published by Abstract Studio

Optimus Prime #13 takes us back into the land of deeply interwoven Transformers continuity, pulling together threads from the Dinobots conflict with Bludgeon, Sixshot’s rampage across the galaxy, the ramifications of Jhiaxus’ experiments, and the recent First Strike events.

| Published by IDW

Punisher: Platoon #3 gives Goran Parlov an opportunity to show you how powerful a stare can be.

| Published by Marvel / MAX

Redneck #7 kicks off a new arc with the family laying low following the destruction at Sulphur Springs. As they hide out, Landry gets an education on the “vampire rules” from Bartlett. It’s again interesting how seemingly effortlessly Donny Cates can weave together down home Texan family life and vampire mythos. It makes being a vampire seem almost quaint.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Shadow #4 reveals what Luisa has been up to, as the Shadow himself comes to grips with his actions having become the inspiration for others. It’s an interesting way to deal with legacy and the impact that his vigilantism has had on society.

| Published by Dynamite

Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil #2 again spotlights why David Rubín should be a household name. His designs and art are just incredible. This issue focuses on Cthu-Lou, a small time crook with an octopus head that just wanted to be an ordinary plumber.

| Published by Dark Horse

Star Wars #39 continues to fold Rogue One into the broader Rebellion-era, while also showing to Luke the coal face of war and its cost in a way that a scruffy moisture farmer from Tatooine wouldn’t have understood before.

| Published by Marvel

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #16 begins a new Ticeraton story as the main feature, giving readers a bit of backstory on their history in Dimension X under the heel of the Utroms. There’s also a cute back up of the “Triceratots” training from Erika Anderson and Michael Dialynas. It’s really nice to see Dialynas back doing some Turtles work.

| Published by IDW

Underwinter: A Field of Feathers #2 is a little more straightforward than the first issue, giving a more concrete explanation as to what’s going on, even as we’re still treated to impressionist art and somewhat abstract poetry. This is some really great stuff.

| Published by Image

Void Trip #1 is basically the Zaks and Edsel bits from Heavy Metal’s “So Beautiful and So Dangerous” mixed with Cheech & Chong. It’s rather humorous as Ana attempts to justify her hippie lifestyle as she and Gabe search for Euphoria. The artwork from Plaid Klaus is amazing.

| Published by Image

X-O Manowar #9 shows Aric that liberating a planet and achieving victory isn’t as easy as just one battle and the death of an emperor. Clayton Crain’s art again is more than worth the price of admission alone.

| Published by Valiant

Other Highlights: All New Wolverine #27, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #13, Bankshot #4, Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack #4, Black Panther #167, Cable #151, Captain Marvel #126, Clue #6, Dept. H #20, Doomsters Monolithic Pocket Alphabet, Eleanor & The Egret #5, Elephantmen #79, Forlorn Funnies #1, Gasolina #3, Genius: Cartel #4, Ghost Station Zero #4, Glitterbomb: The Fame Game #3, The Hard Place #4, Invader Zim #25, Invincible Iron Man #594, James Bond: Solstice, Luke Cage #167, Jimmy’s Bastards #5, Lumberjanes #44, Maxwell’s Demons #1, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers #21, Monsters Unleashed #8, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #26, Riverdale #8, Royals #11, Saucer State #5, Silver Sable & The Wild Pack #36, Spider-Man vs. Deadpool #24, Thanos #13, TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #4, Tomb Raider: Survivor’s Crusade #1, Turok #4, The Unsound #6, Warframe #2, Wayward #25, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse - Mr. Wormwood Goes to Washington #3

Recommended Collections: All-New Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 1: Communication Breakdown, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, Doctor Strange & The Sorcerers Supreme - Volume 2: Time After Time, Eternal Empire - Volume 1, I Am Groot, Nick Fury: Deep Cover Capers, Star Wars: Darth Vader - Volume 1: Imperial March, Ultimates 2 - Volume 2: Eternity War, Winnebago Graveyard, X-Men Blue - Volume 2