#JOEL YOUR WIFE DIED TRYING TO MURDER YOU

[badboyfriends]

i am SO sad that Lizzie isn't in this season, because the banter between her and Joel over eachother almost undoubtedly having different soulmates? it would be so funny .

part two of the "we should make out" joke after she died in 100 hours, but make it a whole series. divorce arc

[theminecraftbee]

Joel turns around. Martyn is standing there. His eyes are a burning red that gives Joel the heebie-jeebies. If anyone would know to be scared, it's Joel! He would! He'd recognize a mad dog if he saw one anywhere!

Anyway, all of that is to say that his high-pitched scream had been totally justified. "Oh my word Martyn what are you doing here?" he says, clutching his hand over his heart, several feet further back than he'd been thirty seconds ago.

Martyn snorts. "Is the sign not for me? Figured there was no one else it could be for."

"The what?"

"The sign."

Joel turns around. Outside his base, the other Mounders have hung a helpful banner: "SORRY EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD <3".

He'd told them it was kind of rude, hanging that up. Sort of made light of the whole thing, really. His wife and Mumbo and Jimmy had died, guys, don't be idiots about it. Bdubs had loudly told him that he was TRYING to be helpful, Joel, geez, why don't you appreciate his efforts? Pearl had shrugged and said they don't exactly make cards for this kind of thing. Joel's pretty sure they do, actually but...

Sorry everyone you love is dead. Hah.

"My wife is dead, Martyn," Joel says.

"Who, Lizzie or Jimmy?" Martyn says, weirdly dark. "Anyway, my husband's dead, so--"

"Your what?"

"Mumbo and I got married one time. Everyone forgets that for some reason."

Joel has to think about it a while. "Huh."

"Yeah. Anyway, you've still got the other Mounders, huh? Don't know what you're crying about. Thought the sign had to be for me. Thought I'd show up. Get cake. Kill some people. You know how it is."

"If there's a TNT minecart in my base, the first thing I do after I turn red is kill you," Joel says.

"That's not really how it works this time," Martyn says.

"Yeah, well, screw you," Joel says. "Also, they didn't make me any cake. I should ask them for that next. Hah. A cake."

"You know, maybe don't ask for that? Parties tend to go wrong in this game."

"And who's fault is that, huh?"

"Hey, don't look at me! Or, do. Since I'm going to kill everyone, on account of everyone I love being dead and all. Really convenient excuse for murder, that. I should use it more often, if it didn't involve the crippling grief," Martyn says.

"Oh, please. At least you tend to have people to love in the first place," Joel snaps.

"Oh, right, that is your curse, isn't it?" Martyn says. "Sorta broke it last time, but you do tend to get isolated and a bit crazy. Hey, I wonder if we're the ones who traded, actually what with the whole wolf thing."

Joel blinks. "What?"

"Oh, we're all cursed," Martyn says. "After all, They like it better that way. Hey, do you think Jimmy's curse transferred to Lizzie, got cancelled out by the fact Lizzie tends to die stupidly, or got broken? Personally, I'm thinking random fluke, when it comes to canary nonsense."

Joel stares at Martyn. His throat is dry. "What?"

Martyn stares back. "Hey, I'm the mad dog this time," Martyn says. "You probably shouldn't be the one growling."

"Well then, you should stop saying stupid shit," Joel says.

"Stupid? Please. It's obvious everyone is cursed. Nothing to be done about it but to play into the--"

"NO ONE IS BLUMIN' CURSED," Joel shouts, his vision suddenly red and blurry in a way it shouldn't be when he's still on yellow. "NO ONE IS BLUMIN' CURSED. THERE'S NO SUCH THING! YOU'RE JUST, JUST MAKIN' UP REASONS IT ISN'T ALL A TRAGEDY THAT EVERYONE I LOVE IS FUCKING DEAD, MAKING UP REASONS THAT IT--NO ONE IS CURSED! IT JUST HAPPENS! IT JUST HAPPENS! IT JUST FUCKING HAPPENS! AND WOULDN'T IT BE BLUMIN' NICE IF THERE WERE A HIGHER POWER BUT THERE ISN'T SO SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT CURSES!"

He's panting. Martyn is staring at him. He stares back, a snarl on his teeth, the echoes of wolves and of grief, grief, grief, grief playing at the back of his throat.

"Joel?" Martyn says, hesitant.

"My wife is fucking dead. My best friend is fucking dead. One of my new possible best friends is fucking dead. Sorry about your husband, I guess? Get out."

"Bold thing to say to the guy who can kill--"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Martyn stares at Joel a moment longer, and Joel finds he's not scared of the madness in his eyes at all.

Martyn leaves.

Joel realizes he's crying. The tears turn into giant, ugly sobs. Sorry everyone you love is dead. Sorry everyone you love is dead. Sorry everyone you love is dead.

"I blumin' hate caring about people," he says to no one at all through choked breaths, and he kicks a rock at the banner for good measure. It pokes a little hole through it and bounces off the dick-shaped tower behind it.

"Someone really should have made both of us a blumin' cake, they should," he says next, and he sits down until Pearl runs over, having heard the shouting. His face is red and his vision is still swimming. She stares at him, gathers him in her arms, and cries with him, and for the life of him, he doesn't know if that's any better.

[fanficmemes]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Ohhhhh this is a fun question!!! This is not in order of how much I love them but simply in order of when I thought of them

Anakin (Star Wars) there’s something so wrong with him genuinely but he’s so pretty that I’m willing to jump in feet first

Agent whiskey (kingsman 2) HELLO COWBOY I’m really into this guy and his southern charm he makes me crazy fr I think we should get a movie where he just hangs out and rides horses

Joel thelastofus (the last of us) my sad man. My babygirl. My brother in arms, traveling companion, occupier of my thoughts. I wanna grab him and Ellie and bring them to our universe so they can catch a break for once

Ianthe (the locked tomb) okay she’s trying so hard to run this empire but god just had a breakup and the other intern lobotomized herself, she’s really having a terrible day. Wet rat of a woman. Evil but kinda bad at it. Can’t monologue for shit. Honestly in love with every woman in that series but she’s really fun to talk about

Zhu Chongba (she who became the sun) THE ABSOLUTE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME!!! She was like well my brother was supposed to have a great destiny but he died. Oh well too bad. I’m gonna become emperor now and also become this books one and only she/her non-binary lesbian

Ben Wyatt (parks and rec) he’s so me fr he’s just an uptight little man who loves his wife and is also autistic. Does not understand Pawnee and I think that’s for the best, I like that he pretends to like lil Sebastian tho

Simon + Patty (dinner in America) autistic girl x punk rock guy (also autistic lol) they’re like Bonnie and Clyde except there’s no murder only arson and the like. I think they should burn more shit tbh but I get it I get it

Pyrrha Dve (the locked tomb) yeah that’s right I’m bringing back this fandom to talk about the love of my life. Trapped in the body of her necromancer, living her life as best she can, and she still takes the time to love Nona. She’s a big butch lady who could throw me through a wall, she’s an emotional wreck, I feel so deeply about this women you have no idea

Alanna (song of the lioness) switched places w her twin brother so she could become a knight, hides as a boy for years, becomes the most badass knight in the kingdom and then she’s like well. Guess I’d better learn martial arts from my part time boytoy AND SHE DOES

Priya (the burning kingdoms) escaped death as a child just to see her people conquered and beaten, frees them from the empire just for her gods to come back and start possessing and killing people. She just wants to be with the love of her life, but duty has kept them apart. In another life she and her girlfriend get to live peacefully

[the-firebird69]

My son is trying to get us vehicles for our people and Trump ran over bja and Dave twice and said it was them doing it in him and couldn't help it it was Tommy f and you guys figured it out but still Trump needs to be stopped cold and he is and we need to get rid of him and we need to get rid of him now he's a murderous swine going after his own child. He does not have the AI he's just a moron but that's besides the point I'm putting a new threat assessment up of him right now

Thor Freya

We're going to go after him now and very hard he's a useless prick it's killed all the time and can't figure out people don't want him doing stuff and he's willing to die so we got to kill him ahead of time and we're putting the order out now

Frank Castle hardcastle

This guy is in trouble for trying to help and the idiot next door is making vehicles and says it's him when he's the moron making vehicles we have to go after Trump to take away his factories because he's a huge a****** to our friend and is a moron

Mac

You're a f****** loser Trump you hardly have anything left to your brain the rest of it's going to come out shortly and man are you a loser that's all I can say Joe Watts that's your name you're a loser yeah you're a pile of f****** s*** and airbag you don't do a damn thing that's effective and these people should have got rid of you a long time ago you're running around westboro saying stupid s*** and you're still doing it you don't want my support you don't need my support and I'm not going to give you my support ever and we're taking tons of stuff here and all over the world and people going to take tons of your stuff today they cut you in half here your personal finances youll get it cut in half again. Pretty soon you won't know anything and you won't have money to go anywhere you can be a bum I can been trying to do to me and you're a f****** stupid person I'm turning all the cannons on you now and you ain't going to make it

Zues Hera

I get something you're setting me up every few seconds because that's not possible moron I say you have like once or twice a day in response of your asinine s*** so I guess I'm going to set up and croke and yeah I died the other night not from the head wound but okay I sort of see something I'm going to keep getting killed doing what I'm doing so what

Trump

When is your bothering me and you're a huge f**** and I'm going to get you killed until you're dead fully and if all your people follow you they're going to die too I'm not afraid to say it cuz every damn successful at it and you end up dead you dumb f***

Zues

I sort of get this with bothering him and he's having his killed but so what you're trying to go after him anyways

Joel watts

Good I'm sending order to hit you and your people we're going to take another chunk out of your stupid useless body

Zues Hera

What a joke you are Trump

Olympus

You're an embarrassment Trump to our kind and we hate you we're going after you now

Mac

Just in time when we started clearing you out and there's a ton of you when we found out by the time he gets up and ready to go your idiots will be small again what a heart attack on you stupid c*** Trump

Bitol and Goddess Wife

We have a lot to see this a****** but we can see it directly to him make sure that he's stressed out not our son

Thor Freya

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

MY DEAR WIFE. I DESIRE A SEQUEL TO THE JIMMY EMPIRE FIC. I MADE THIS TUMBLR ACCOUNT TO MAKE MY DEMANDS. NOW GO BE FREE. WRITE YOU FANTASTIC FANFIC WRITER YOU. -BEST SPOUSE, PURP <3

this was a popular request LMAO :D

here’s the first part

…

The ringing of her communicator wakes Lizzie up late in the night. Blinking herself awake, she quickly answers it, speaking quietly so as to not awaken her sleeping fiance next to her. “Hello?”

“Lizzie, it’s Pixl,” comes the familiar British voice. “I’m so sorry to wake you.”

“It’s okay,” Lizzie says. “Is something wrong?”

“Something’s happened with Jimmy.”

Lizzie’s heart skips a beat. “Is he okay?”

“I’ll explain everything later but I could really use your help right now. Are you able to come to the Cod Empire?”

Momentarily forgetting that Pixl can’t see her, Lizzie nods. “Of course, I’ll come over right away.”

“Thanks so much, Lizzie,” says Pixl gratefully. “See you soon.”

“See you.”

Lizzie puts down her communicator and gets out of bed. Just as she’s finished changing, her fiance stirs in his bed and murmurs, “What’s going on? Who was that?”

“Pixl,” replies Lizzie softly, secretly glad he’s awake; she wouldn’t have woken him first. “Something’s happened to Jimmy, and Pixl needs me. You okay to come over to the Cod Empire with me?”

Joel sits up in his bed, immediately more awake. “Of course, of course. Let me get dressed.”

The two fly straight over to the Cod Empire and land outside Jimmy’s house. Pixl answers the door on the first knock. “Queen Lizzie, thank you for coming,” he says gratefully. “And King Joel.”

He leads them inside. Lizzie and Joel both gasp simultaneously as they spot Jimmy lying on the bed.

Joel freezes but Lizzie dashes to his side and grasps his hand, staring down in horror at the bruises covering Jimmy’s face. “Oh my goodness! What happened to him?! Is he okay?!”

Pixl joins her on Jimmy’s other side. “He’s recovering,” he responds grimly. “You know the demon Xornoth that’s shown their face around the server lately?”

“Heard of them.”

“fWhip and Sausage seem to be around the epicentre of the whole thing. They captured Jimmy, kept him in a cell for a whole day, beat him several times, then tried to sacrifice him to Xornoth. Scott and I managed to save him but he almost died from his injuries before Scott was able to heal him somewhat with magic.”

Lizzie gazes down at Jimmy with a worried expression, gently touching his face. He stirs slightly under her touch.

After a moment, she speaks again, her tone low and dangerous. “fWhip and Sausage, you said?”

Pixl nods. “Yeah. Scott and I chased them off but I’m a little worried about them returning to finish the job. That’s why I asked you over; I could do with some help protecting him. If that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay.” Lizzie retracts her hand and presses her fist into her palm. “Hell, if either of them show their faces around here, I’ll rip them apart with my bare hands.”

Now Joel moves closer to the bed, his expression uncharacteristically serious. “Poor Jimmy… I can’t imagine how terrified he must’ve been.”

As Pixl opens his mouth to respond, another knock at the door sounds. The three frown at each other, trying to work out who could possibly be at the door.

After a moment, Pixl heads back over to the door and answers it. His gaze darkens when he sees who’s standing there. “You’re not welcome here.”

Lizzie stiffens as she hears MythicalSausage’s voice: “I just wanted to ask how Jimmy is. And to… apologise.”

“Apologise?!” Lizzie bursts out.

Joel draws Pixl out of the way as Lizzie storms to the door and shoves Sausage backwards. “You TORTURED my friend and you think you can just walk over here and APOLOGISE?!”

Sausage scrambles back as a furious Lizzie bears down on him. “I had nothing to do with hurting him! That was all fWhip!”

“YOU THINK THAT MAKES IT BETTER?!” Lizzie bellows.

She flings out her arms and manipulates the ocean water into grabbing hold of Sausage and bringing him closer to her. “ACK!” Sausage chokes, struggling uselessly. “LIZZIE!”

“I’m going to kill you, Sausage,” growls Lizzie. “Would you rather be flung high into the air and fall to your death or drowned in salty ocean water?”

“N-Neither!”

A dark smile appears on Lizzie’s face. “Too bad. I’ve decided I’m gonna drown you.”

She lifts the water higher. His scream is abruptly cut off as the water envelopes his head, stopping him from breathing. She watches with satisfaction as his air slowly runs out.

But then Pixl’s voice comes from behind her: “Lizzie, he’s calling for you. He needs you.”

Lizzie pauses, weighing up her options. Eventually, she releases Sausage onto the dock, taking grim pleasure in the way he splutters and coughs up water. “You’re lucky this time, Sausage,” she says. She kneels down beside him and pushes her face close to Sausage’s with a menacing glare. “But if you ever, and I mean EVER, come near Jimmy again, you’re gonna wish you were never born. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-Y-Yes!” gasps Sausage.

Lizzie steps back and lets Sausage flee, before rushing back inside and back to Jimmy’s side. Her ally is stirring, his eyelids fluttering. “L-Lizz...ie…”

“I’m here,” whispers Lizzie softly, holding his hand against her cheek to reassure him of her presence. “I’m here, Jimmy. Are you okay?”

Jimmy coughs weakly. “M-My wrists hurt.”

Frowning, Lizzie pushes down Jimmy’s sleeve, revealing the thick red marks. “Wh-What is this?!” she gasps. “Pixl?”

“It’s…” Pixl hesitates, knowing what his next words will likely cause. “They’re burn marks. He had his hands tied behind his back for most of the day in that cell.”

Joel glances sharply at his fiancee. “Uh oh.”

Thunder sounds overhead as dark clouds rapidly slide across the sky. Lizzie’s expression remains steady, but lightning flashes in her eyes. “I’ll be right back, Jimmy,” she says, her voice as steady as her expression. But it’s just an act for Jimmy’s benefit and both Pixl and Joel know it.

Neither Pixl nor Joel stop her as she storms out of the hut and takes off flying towards the Grimlands. She lands atop the outer wall, rain starting to fall from the sky.

“FWHIP!” she bellows, her voice rolling through the clouds and echoing across the land.

Seconds later, the count himself appears atop his tower, within audible distance despite the increasingly loud thunder overhead. “Queen Lizzie!” He spreads his arms wide. “How may I help you?”

A bolt of lightning strikes the very top of fWhip’s tower.

“Aha, what have I done to invoke the wrath of the Ocean Queen?” fWhip laughs.

Instead of replying verbally, Lizzie lifts her arms and summons a giant wave of water from the river, sending it crashing down like a tsunami over the Grimlands.

“NO!” fWhip yells. “My villagers! You’re gonna drown my villagers!”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU TORTURED JIMMY AND TRIED TO MURDER HIM!” roars Lizzie.

fWhip stares at her for a moment as he finally remembers that Lizzie is one of Jimmy’s closest allies. “...oh…”

Shaking himself into action, fWhip dives down into his flooded village. Lizzie watches him, taking grim satisfaction in watching him flounder around in desperation. She doesn’t even realise how close he is to death until-

fWhip drowned

Lizzie quickly dissipates the flood and jumps down to look for fWhip’s items. As she’s starting to pick them up, fWhip reappears, so she retreats back to a safe distance.

“I’ll get my revenge for this, Ocean Queen,” growls fWhip. “I will not take the attempted murder of my villagers lying down.”

“I don’t give a crap,” Lizzie snaps back. “Don’t you dare think about going near Jimmy ever again, because if you do, I can promise you I will wipe your goddamn empire off the face of the world and I will NOT regret doing it.”

fWhip narrows his eyes. “You’re messing with the wrong empire. I too have the power to wipe an empire out of existence.”

“I live in the ocean. The bulk of my empire is underwater now. Your TNT will make a scratch at most.”

fWhip’s mouth opens, then closes again. After a moment, he looks away. “Fine.”

Lizzie raises an eyebrow. “Really? You’re backing down that easily?”

“I’m being smart. You’ve no idea what’s coming, Lizzie. I do. I need to prepare. I can’t afford to be dragged into another war right now.”

As fWhip turns, he finds Lizzie extremely close to him. She grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls him close so that their faces are inches apart. “Then don’t start one,” she snarls. “Stay away from my allies.”

She shoves fWhip away and takes off again, flying back to the swamp. Part of her feels bad at the attack on fWhip’s innocent villagers but she pushes it aside. fWhip tortured Jimmy and was perfectly willing to slaughter him when he was tied up and defenceless.

Lizzie has no sympathy or mercy for a person like that.

When she gets back, Joel meets her at the door. “Lizzie, you’re back!” he gasps. “I saw the death message in chat.”

“Yes. fWhip needed to be told that I won’t tolerate him hurting my Jimmy.” Her gaze flickers from Joel to Pixl and back again. “Or any of you.”

Joel gazes at her with almost visible hearts in his eyes. “I love you so much, Lizzie.”

Lizzie can’t help a chuckle. “I love you too.”

“Guys, guys, come quick!” Pixl calls suddenly. “Guys!”

The two quickly rush to Jimmy’s beside but stop dead simultaneously when they see what Pixl is so panicked about.

A mark has appeared on Jimmy’s neck. It looks like some kind of rune, but what’s worrying about it is the fact that it’s glowing red.

“What is this?” Lizzie gasps. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know! It just appeared!”

After a few seconds, the glowing dies down, leaving only the clear black mark.

“This has got to be something to do with the demon,” says Pixl shakily. “I don’t know what or how or why, but somehow, fWhip and Sausage’s attempted sacrifice of Jimmy must’ve caused this.”

“But what can we do about it?” Joel asks. “What can we do to help?”

Pixl has no answer to this.

Nobody does.

[tweedlydumbtweedlydoo]

Live Stream Murderer (Part 1) | Spencer Reid x reader

Requested by @thatsonezesty13 / Summary: You’re kidnapped by the Live Stream Murderer, who is in search of his soulmate. He tortures the women for 36 hours and whoever lasts that long is in his eyes; his soulmate. Will you make it through the 36 hours of torture? 

A/N: Tumblr won’t let me tag you, but I’m sorry for the long wait! I decided to put this into 2 or 3 parts, hope you don’t mind. I hope you enjoy!! xx 

Tag list is at the end. Let me know if you want to be added xx

**MASTERLIST**

Requests: {OPEN} CLOSED

** Rules for Requesting **

** Who I Write For **

********************************************************************************************NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS

        You and the team exited the SUV and headed into the hotel. It had been a long and exhausting day for all of you. The day had brought you no closer to finding the unsub. The city sheriff had called the BAU in for help in solving who was behind the live stream murders. So far that hadn’t been another victim since the BAU arrived, but you all figured a victim would be found soon considering he only keeps the women for 36 hours.

 You all had nicknamed the unsub, “The Live Stream Murderer.” So far, the only leads you have been what he’d left behind; the videos of the kills. He would torture the women for 36 hours and so far, all of them had died in the end and been dumped. What the BAU hadn’t found out was why this guy was doing this. There were no clues in the videos in why, even Penelope was at a loss. 

“Shit.” You muttered as you searched your purse. Did you leave your phone back at the station? 

“What’s up?” Spencer had stopped to face you, the rest of the team heading inside. 

“My phone.” You groaned, “it’s not in here. I must have left it at the station..” 

“Maybe you left it in the car?” Spencer suggests. 

“Maybe..” You sigh and glance back at the SUV parked at the corner, “I’ll go check.” 

“I’ll go with you.” He kindly offers, “It’s late.” 

You waved him off, “No it’s fine. It’ll only take a minute. I’ll be up in a second. Just let JJ know.” 

He’s hesitant to leave you, “Okay.. just be careful.” He takes one more glance at the SUV and surrounding areas for any signs of danger. There wasn’t anyone around. He waited at the door to make sure you got to the vehicle safely and then proceeded toward the elevators where the rest of the BAU was waiting. 

“Where’s y/l/n?” Rossi asks. 

“She couldn’t find her phone, so she went back to the SUV to check.” 

Everyone nodded, too tired to even think of what kinds of dangers could be lurking for you around the corner.

 “damn it.” You huff in anger at no sign of the phone. “Where the hell..” You bent over to investigate under the passenger seat and spotted the phone. “There you are.” You mutter grabbing it. 

He watched from the corner. Your back was to him and you were preoccupied with searching the vehicle to even notice as he approached. He’d seen you on the news this morning and his heart yearned for you. All the other women he’d chosen hadn’t been worthy. They weren’t strong enough to withstand life, withstand the torture and pain he provided. But you, you had potential. He just knew as a BAU agent you were strong. Maybe strong enough to be his soulmate.

His wife had died in a car accident. She’d been the love of his life, but she hadn’t been strong enough to endure the pain. He needed someone to be able to endure the pain so that he wouldn’t have to go through that loss again and you were a potential match. 

You’d seen his reflection in the window when you’d shut the door, but it’d been too late; your reflexes were slow and exhausted. He’d grabbed the back of your head and slammed it into the window, leaving a crack the side of your head. You were knocked out instantly.

 ~ 

Spencer’s fingers tapped against his chest as he laid in bed. He wondered if you’d made it back to you and JJ’s room yet. 

“Reid.. go to sleep.” Morgan grumbled from the other bed. He was sharing a room with Morgan, which was the usual, “Your finger tapping and foot shaking is distracting.” 

“You think she made it back to her room?” Spencer voices his concern, glancing at Morgan.

“I’m sure she’s fine and sleeping peacefully. Like you should be doing.” He groans, turning over.

 Spencer sighed before staring up at the ceiling again. He was right. They’d had a long day and sleep was needed right now if they wanted to be sharp and finally catch the Live Stream Murderer. He turned over and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t help the feeling that something was wrong.

~ 

The next morning when everyone was to meet in the lobby for breakfast, JJ was already there, but you weren’t. 

“Where’s y/n?” 

JJ stirred her coffee, “Thought she got up early this morning before I did. She may be in the gym or something.” JJ wasn’t bothered by it. You were usually up before her and she knew you could take care of yourself. 

“I’ll go check.” Spencer heads that way but when he arrives at the gym, it’s empty. Don’t panic, Spencer. I’m sure she’s fine. He says to himself. 

He hated to think the worst but ever since Maeve, he can’t help it. It had been a method of protecting himself to think the worst first, so he’d be prepared if had come to it. You’d been his saving grace and pulled him from a dark place after it happened. He told himself he wouldn’t pass up another opportunity to tell you how he really feels, but he never found the time right. 

“Find her?” Hotch asks, glancing at his watch, “It’s time to go.”

 “Gym was empty.” 

“Maybe she got an early start at the station?” Rossi offers as they head toward the door. 

Spencer pulls his phone out of his bag and dials your number as you all walk toward the SUV. Your cellphone rang nearby.

 “I hear her-” Spencer started to say, but he’d stopped and seen what the team did. 

There were your belongings on the ground beside the SUV and blood between the cracks in the window, but you were nowhere to be found. 

~ 

The team had split up to look around the corners and in between buildings but there was no sign of you at all. “I knew I shouldn’t have left her out here alone.” Spencer points to the SUV, “I made sure she made it to the car safe and then I just left. I left her.” 

“Kid, you can’t blame yourself for this.” Morgan tries to reason, “It’s not going to help us find her.” 

Hotch’s phone rings, “Penelope.” He announces to the team before answering and putting her on speaker, “Hello?” 

“t-the live stream! Y/n. She’s on the live stream. It’s everywhere!” Penelope quickly spits out. The team hadn’t had the chance to tell Penelope the news so imagine the shock it gave Penelope when she opened her computers at work to find her best friend plastered all over the internet. 

Spencer’s already pulling it onto his phone and he almost wants to vomit at the sight. You were tied to a chair and screaming in pain as a man in a black hood pressed a hot poker into your leg. 

“You son of a bitch!” You spit out to him, “I’ll kill you! I swear it!” 

There was a small pile of blood under your chair and he could see the knife in the side of your leg, positioned to make sure there wasn’t any major arteries hit.

 “oh god.” Penelope cried over the phone.

Hotch, the one who usually was strong and never let anything bother him actually pulled his eyes away from the phone and clinched his eyes shut. To see a member of his team in that kind of position, that kind of torture made him want to vomit. “Garcia, pinpoint the live stream.” 

“Y-yes sir.. I’ve been trying all morning but it’s bouncing off everywhere that there isn’t even a small area I can pinpoint it too.”

 According to the timer at the bottom of the screen the live stream had been going on for 8 hours. Which meant there was only 28 hours to find you. He just hoped you were strong enough to last through the torture that long.

 “We have to find her.” Spencer chokes out, looking up at the team, who wear the same face of disgust and fear for their team member. “I can’t lose someone else.” 

Criminal Minds tag list: @thelovelydreamer17​ , @la-vie-en-amour1​ , @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25​ , @astra-inclinant-sed-non-obligant (possibly: @astra-x-inclinant​)  , @bluerose512​ , @lolychu​ , @varsityalthete​ , @tylers-missing-car-radio

*if your name is crossed out, tumblr is being stupid and won’t let me tag you.

All my works tag list:  @blossomreed​ , @mggstyles  , @simonsbluee​ , @thewolf-and-thesheep​ , @obxrafejjwhore​ , @abbiesthings​ , @itstaskeen​ , @reniescarlett​

[babygirlizz]

izzie’s favorite movies and tv shows of 2020 (aka the worst year ever)

another year, another movie and tv show review. this year has, to put it simply, sucked. 2020 has been so terribly awful that sometimes the only light you can see are the absolute bangers of movies and tv shows that came out this year. with that being said, some of the movies and tv shows didn't come out in 2020. if the are mentioned in this post it is because they either: had a season come out this year, i found them this year, or they became popular this year.

SPOILERS: it may not come as a surprise but just in case you didn't realize, there will be many spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

tw // death, suicide, drug use, mild adult language. if any of these things might trigger you, i strongly urge you not to read this post.

there is no specific order of these shows and movies, i'm just writing as they come to mind. if you enjoy any of these movies or tv shows, or if you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!

TV SHOWS

1) Santa Clarita Diet

Okay, so I know this show doesn't have anything to do with 2020. But, I found this show in 2020. I put it off for a while, thinking it wasn't my style of a show, but boy was I wrong. I loved this show. Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) is a normal suburban wife and mom. She is a real estate agent with her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant). She struggles with the fact that she isn't very adventurous. This all changes when she throws up an insane amount at a house showing. She then finds herself craving adventure, and craving human flesh. Yeah, she's a zombie. Not only is this show super hilarious, but it also shows the growth that they have with their characters and their family. I'm also team Abby (Liv Hewson) and Eric (Skyler Gisondo).

2) Outer Banks

So, I'm from NC. And, watching this show at first bothered me because I can very obviously tell this show isn't actually filmed in the obx, and the geography isn't exact, but once I got past that, I loved it. John B (Chase Stokes) is a teenager that lives in the poor side of the outer banks. He has a friend group called the Pogues which consists of JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), and Kie (Madison Bailey). They absolutely hate the Kooks, which are the rich kids. A while after John B's dad gets lost at sea, presumed dead, the group finds some evidence that may solve the mystery, and make them rich. In the process, John B falls in love with a Kook names Sarah (Madelyn Cline) whose father Ward (Charles Esten) may have a little more to do with the mystery than he let on. Through friendship, murder, and secrets, the gang may just figure out what happened to John B's dad.

3) Love, Victor

Alright. I loved loved loved Love, Simon. I also really loved the book "Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda." So, when I heard about this show, I was so excited. Victor (Michael Cimino) is a teenage boy that moved to Creekwood with his family. He meets Felix (Anthony Turpel) who lives in his building. He also meets Mia (Rachel Hilson) and they begin dating. But, he also meets Benji (George Sear). While trying to get used to a new school, new friends, and a new relationship, Victor finds himself questioning his sexuality. With the help of Simon (Nick Robinson) and his friends, Victor finds it in himself to finally come out, and he admits his feelings, for Benji. This is such a good show, but I was so upset when season 1 ended on a cliff-hanger.

4) The Haunting of Bly Manor

The sequel to The Haunting of Hill House. Now listen, haunting of hill house was an absolute banger. When I saw that Bly came out I nearly died. I was so excited. But, I was alone in my apartment and also a lil bitch. So, I had to wait a week until I was home with my family to watch it. Now, I was so excited to be scared, and there were a few jump scares and ominous moments, but this season was more centered around the story line of Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) and her new life in a foreign country. When seeing an ad for a live in job as an au pair. When she gets there, she meets the two young children she’ll be looking out for and the other workers of the house, including the gardener, Jamie (Amelia Eve). Throughout her stay at Bly she begins to notice weird behaviors from both children and by the end of the series she sacrifices herself for the children. Sadly, this story is being told by Jamie who Dani had fallen in love with during her stay at Bly. Now I was somewhat upset about the lack of horror, but was still very intrigued and drawn in by this series.

5) Julie and the Phantoms

Alright, at first I was not gonna watch this show. I thought it looked a little too young and childish for me, but everyone was talking about it on twitter so I had to. I. Love. This. Show. This show centers around Julie (Madison Reyes). Julie is a teenage girl who, sadly, lost her mother. The one major thing she shared with her mom, was their love for music. Since her mothers passing, she gave up music. This is until, dead musicians from the 90′s show up in her garage. Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Alex (Owen Joyner), and Reggie (Jeremy Shada) all tragically passed away in the 90′s after eating bad street hotdogs. When Julie finds their CD in her garage, she decides to play it and they come back in ghost form. But, only she can see them. With their help, she finds her confidence to play music again. Also, she has to find away for them to stay because they’re slowly disappearing. 

6) Derry Girls

Bitch. I love this show. And yeah it didn’t come out in 2020. Shut up. I found this show recently after watching the cast on the holiday special of the Great British Baking Show. I loved the actors so I had to watch the show. This show focuses on Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) a 16 year old girl that lives in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 90′s. Alongside her is her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), her two friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn). During these years, a lot of people in Ireland struggled, especially because it was during wartime. Even thought this show isn’t focused heavily around the war, it’s amazing to see these teens live a fulfilling life while struggling with the state of their country, and the lack of money that their families have. 

7) Elite

HA. This show did have a season in 2020 so leave me alone. But bro, I love this show. At first, I didn’t watch it because I thought I could only watch the dubbed version in English, which I hate. I hate dubbed shows they look so weird. But, once I found out I could watch this show in Spanish, I fell in love. But, sadly, theres too damn much to talk about in one little post. It’s crazy. But basically it just follows the lives of teens in high school that are trying to survive. And no, not in the “I’m surviving high school,” sense. No, people be getting murdered. 

MOVIES (tbh i didn’t find a lot of movies good this year lmk which movies u liked this year and maybe i’ll like them!)

1) All the Bright Places

After the death of her sister, Violet (Elle Fanning) is devastated. She closes herself off, and has her parents get her out of doing school work that involves working with others. But, as time goes on, they realize she may need to start to move on. Violet then meets Finch (Justice Smith) who is enamored by Violet. He suggests they do a project together. While finding and visiting some of the smallest wonders of their state, they begin to fall for each other. While you are focusing on Violet and her mental health, you tend to miss some of the signs that Finch’s mental health isn’t great either, but by the time you do, it could be too late. 

2) Dangerous Lies

Hmm. This was weird for me. I had only ever seen Camila Mendes in Riverdale, and honestly, not a fan. So, Katie (Camila Mendes) and her husband Adam (Jessie T. Usher) are struggling with money. Katie decides to take a job working for an elderly man, and eventually gets her husband hired there as well. Unfortunately, he dies, but for some odd reason, leaves the house and all of his fortune, to Katie. As they get comfortable in the house, they begin to uncover some very weird and dangerous lies. 

3) The Devil All the Time

Ok. Iconic. You got so many hot men in this movie. Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson. C’mon now. That’s crazy. But, this story is so long and in depth that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. This movie is a bit disturbing. It involves murder, sexual assault, killing of animals, and so much more so if that’s an issue for you please do not watch this movie. It was also quite long, but it was still good.

4) After We Collided

Okay just listen. I was that teenager. I read wattpad stories and was, embarrassingly, addicted to After. This was not a great movie per say, but it was After. This is a sequel to the movie After. This movie centers around Tessa (Josephine Langford) and her recovery after her breakup with Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). Theres sex, alcohol, bad acting. The whole nine-yards. But c’mon, they’re so cute together.

5) To All the Boys p.s. I Still Love You

Okay it was a good movie. I enjoyed it. This movie focuses on Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her boyfriend Peter (Noah Centineo) and their relationship post the first movie. But of course relationships aren’t super steady, and John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher) shows up. Yeah, John Ambrose, from her letter. They become closer and Lara Jean has to decide who she wants to be with. Spoiler, it’s Peter. BOOOOOOO justice for John Ambrose McClaren, he deserved better. 

[platinumsun490]

Sonic and Friends: Last of Us AU-Knuckles

Thanks to the inspiration of solar-socks, who thought of the idea of putting Knuckles the Echidna in place of Abby from the Last of Us, I have written my own version of his backstory as to why he hates Tom, in place of Joel, and Sonic, in place of Ellie. Like Abby, Knuckles loses his dad, but I added a bit more to that. Gotta warn you though, this does not have a happy ending. Each piece of the story is something that led Knuckles to the final conclusion of killing Tom and getting revenge.

nothing but ANGST

Knuckles watched from the little secluded area he and his father, Locke, had hiked out to as echidnas of all kinds walked in and out of the hospital, either to help or to visit. While he knew it was important for him to be there, seeing how he was going to be the next leader, it was nice to get away every once in a while. Just then, Vector, a crocodile, and Espio, a chameleon, came running up to them from a distance.

“Sir, that hedgehog showed up,” Vector said breathlessly.

Locke rolled his eyes, unknowing. “What hedgehog?”

“The one your wife keeps talking about.”

Knuckles stopped rummaging through his bag to stare at Vector and Espio, who couldn’t be saying what he thought they were saying. Espio stepped forward, saying, “They found him in the tunnels. He has an old bite mark on his arm. No signs of infection.”

The echidna warrior watched as his father, Locke the echidna, blinked a few times in shock, shaking his head and saying, “That can’t be.”

“They’re already runnin’ tests on him, but…you gotta get down there,” Vector said. Both of them seemed to be in disbelief. Knuckles couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

After so many years of saying the echidna people, his people, would have a cure for the Zombot Metal Virus soon, it finally happened. He remembered watching his parents preach about it sometimes, like religious leaders saying the word of an otherworldly being. At first, he thought his parents were going crazy, and chose to stick by his friend’s sides, but now, this news practically proved his parents right. He watched Locke shift his weight nervously from one foot to the other. “Dad?” he asked timidly.

He merely pointed down the path they had originally came from, silently telling them to head back to base. Vector and Espio left first, most likely to spread the news further, and Knuckles watched as his father took him by the arm and pulled him to the main building, a hospital.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Knuckles watched as his mother and father discussed the operation in his dad’s main office. Locke was trying to explain how there was no way to remove the specimen without destroying the host. Lara-Le, Knuckles’s mother, was clearly not happy about his father’s wording. “The host? He is a child, not some petri dish.”

“You think I don’t-” Locke’s voice began to raise, but he quickly contained himself and said, “I’m aware of the situation.”

“And you’re okay with killing him?” Lara-Le asked with a grim expression. It scared Knuckles a bit to see his mother so upset. He was used to a negative attitude from his dad, but not his mother. She was always so positive about things, keeping everyone’s heads up when it felt like there was nothing else.

“No, Lara. I’m okay with developing a vaccine that’ll help save millions of lives. How many echidnas have died for less?”

Lara grew angry. She jabbed a finger at Locke’s chest, pushing him back a bit. “That was their choice. Are you asking me, or are you telling me this is how it’s gonna be?”

Locke moved closer to her, but she stood her ground. Knuckles watched his father place his hands comfortingly on Lara’s shoulders. “I am begging you to buy in.”

Lara didn’t hesitate with a response. “And what if this was Knuckles?” Knuckles watched as Locke’s expression changed slightly, just slightly, before going back to serious.

“Look, everything that we’ve been fighting for, all the sacrifices, all the horrific…all of that is justified with this one act.”

“If this was our son, what would you do?” Lara asked again calmly. She was starting to scare Knuckles. Locke stood there, not saying anything, which made Lara turn and leave. Before she walked out, she said, “I’m telling the human, Tom. He has a right to know.”

She faltered when she noticed Knuckles sitting on the floor next to the doorway, but she just rubbed his head and walked away. Knuckles then stood up and walked into the room, where his dad was leaning against the desk with a dark look, his body showing signs of tiredness. Walking up next to his father, Knuckles said, “If it was me, I’d want you to do the surgery.”

Locke took his son’s hand and gripped it tightly, like a patient on a lifeline. Knuckles watched his father wipe a few tears away, then walk away to do what he had to do.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Knuckles watched as Vector and Espio leaned over a bleeding body.

His father’s body.

Dropping his weapon, Knuckles stumbled into the room, gaining his friend’s attention. Espio took a step back while Vector stood up and held his hands out, saying, “Knuckles…”

“Is that…?” Knuckles whispered. He felt all the blood drain from his face, his hands shake as he saw a scalpel from the operation jammed into his father’s neck. Blood was staining the floor a dark red, darker than his fur tone, darkening to a sickly brown color.

Knuckles watched as Vector moved towards him, not to comfort, but to stop. It was then that Knuckles realized he was screaming. He was screaming for his father. He didn’t know he could make such a horrid sound. It scared him. “No! DAD! DAD, NO!!” Falling to his knees, Knuckles curled up in Vector’s arms and started to sob violently, his breathing erratic and ragged. He buried his face in Vector’s shoulder, continuing to cry over his loss.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Knuckles watched as a thief who had broken in interrogated Lara-Le about the cure for the virus. The human, Tom Wachowski, had taken the hedgehog, Sonic, away from their home, leaving the echidna race to fend for itself after years of saying they had a cure and ended up not having one. Now, people, humans and Mobians alike, had gotten angry.

“Tell me where you people hide the cure or I’m going to make sure you have one less mouth to feed,” the man said as he held Knuckles down at gunpoint.

Lara stiffened at the sight, then took a deep breath, put on a serious expression, and bargained, “If I show you where it is, will you let my son go?”

Knuckles watched the man nod, then yelped when he literally kicked out of the room. Knuckles reached for his mother, but she just smiled tearfully at him as she led the man away.

Minutes later, as Knuckles and a few survivors were escaping, he heard a gunshot.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Knuckles watched as Tom tried to climb the fire escape as fast as he had done. Tom had ran into Knuckles on a supply run and saved him from being bitten or killed from one of the monster. Now, a horde of Infected was closing in on them, and they didn’t have much time.

Thankfully, one of the buildings still had its fire escapes attached to it, despite the ruins around them. Tom finally reached the top, but one of the steps gave out and left him dangling off the edge.

He scrambled to climb over, but he didn’t have a good grip. With a sneer of disgust, Knuckles grabbed Tom by the front of his shirt and lifted him up with ease, ignoring the man’s panicked yelling. He wanted to do this. He wanted Tom to remember who he was.

“Did you hear about what happened to the echidnas after you ran off with the only hope the world had? Do you know how many died at the hands of murderers and Infected?” Knuckles seethed through clenched teeth. Tom looked confused for a second, then frantic. He thrashed in Knuckles’ hold, hitting and kicking, but to no avail. The red echidna lifted him higher, scowling with absolute hatred. The faces of his parents and friends flashed in front of him, making him hesitate. They wouldn’t want him to do this…

Knuckles let Tom go.

Knuckles watched as Tom’s body slammed into the fire escape a few times, then hit the ground with a sickening thud. Infected after Infected jumped onto Tom, and Knuckles turned away, just as Tom’s screams were cut short.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!”

The echidna looked up in surprise to see Sonic standing on a building near them, having seen the whole thing. His expression was one of shock, fear, defeat, and anger. He glared at Knuckles and sobbed as he fell to the ground, curling in on himself. Knuckles watched Sonic choke on his own breathing, but actually stepped back a bit when Sonic grew rageful.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Sonic shrieked, filling the empty space around them with an echo of his threat. “You hear me, you bastard?! I’ll kill you for this!”

Knuckles watched Sonic sob uncontrollably for a few seconds before grabbing his bag and jumping over to the next building. He was done here. That was all that mattered to him.

For once in his life, Knuckles didn’t stand by and watch. For once, he did something.

[im-elated]

they really delivered on tragedy

which (i hope this makes sense!) i feel like joel deserves?? it was so well done. it wasnt cliché “he died saving his loved one” or lame random death that feels too low for him. it was horribly poetic that he came across and saved the life of the person who came all this way to find and kill him. that sure now he’s doing all these good guy things, but joel has a pasts - and the effects of our pasts don’t leave us just because we move on from them. I stress, @thejollywriter  that i still dont know who abby is or why she was after joel, so please remember that and keep me spoilers free! 😁

but it’s funny -just a couple days before i started playing the game, my sister told me that she saw someone call joel a bad guy (context - someone asked “whos a villain you known is bad but love anyway?” and someone said “joel miller”) and that she thought that was really unfair. i was like, bro, he makes it really clear that he’s done some awful things through the first game - the biggest that stands out in memory is that he used to be a part of a road ambush gang, and then of course his talks with tommy and the end of the game where he murders a bunch of people because he doesn’t want to lose ellie. (she was like “yeah i guess you’re right, id forgotten a lot of that but i still love him” and i was like “bitch me too the fuck”) Anyway, point is, id had no idea that this second game would focus so much on (or i guess be triggered by) his past!! and i think it’s really cool that they’re bringing it back up because it’s so legit.

it reminds me of this (surprisingly good) western movie i saw a few weeks ago with my grandpa- there was this guy (let’s call him Main) who killed like 7 people when he was younger - was in prison for a few years, and came out a truly changed man - peaceful and kind, trying to make an honest living and move on from his past. but this one guy Main worked with really hated him and whenever another person was like “omg youre that murderer!!!!” the coworker would try to convince them to kill Main/make him fight back and get rearrested. so through this whole movie, Main is talking people down from fights, trying to calm the coworker and get him to back off, meets and marries a lovely woman, leaves his job and works with her on her farm….. and so finally the movie’s wrapped up, everyone’s happy, Main’s away from the angry creeps. and this guy in a nice suit rides up to their farm and is like “hey nice to meet you ive been looking for you for a long time” and just fucking shoots him dead. he explains to Main’s wife that he’s the son of one of the men Main killed like 15 years ago.

and hed just been waiting patiently to grow up and track him down. Westerns and post-apocalypse fictions are often similar because they both deal with such relative law and wishy-washy enforcement. it’s often that the strongest and smartest make up the law. looking at you, negan.

anyway, i really liked that movie, and it’s fun to run into what looks like the same kind of story here for Joel. neither Joel or Main saw it coming

i love that right after seeing these hateful people, we see Joel’s house - with all those flowers and notes. he was so well loved by these people he had lived with for years, worked with, protected. he was out patrolling and saw a woman absolutely swarmed by zombies, and ran in and helped her.

Joel wasn’t evil, and he had a great last couple of years of showing how great he can be when supported by civilization. I’m going to miss him.

[onthepageoftears]

Kill Your Darlings Ch. 18 (Jaskier x Assassin!Reader) || Witcher

A/N: Another long chapter! Only a few more to go! I’m gonna be a little MIA while I play The Last of Us Part II, but I’ll still check back and reblog some stuff! So if I don’t reply to your comments etc right away it’s just because I’m crying over Ellie and Joel lmao Enjoy!

Your comments and feedback are always encouraged and mean a lot to me!

Summary: The ones we were once closest to might be further than we remember.

Warnings: mentions of death, killing, blood, wounds, bruises, language, fluff, slight angst/comfort, tensionnnn, and more angst hehe

Words: 3,731

Please Don’t Plagiarize My Work!

Time was slow.

Maybe it was because your adrenaline was dying down. Maybe it was because you just realized the bard next to you was not just…a bard. But sitting in the bandit camp you and Geralt and Jaskier had just cleared out, you were feeling anything but anxious, anything but worried. You were feeling…content.

You practically smiled to yourself as Jaskier reapplied bandages to your wounds. He had found supplies in the camp and immediately offered to help you, despite the fact that you could very easily do it yourself. But still, you let him.

His hands worked carefully as he wrapped the wound on your leg. It was looking better than when you had first got it, which was a plus. But right now, you were focused on his fingers, on the way they moved so particularly, almost like he was playing his lute. It was like every movement of his was calculated and purposeful, and the slight grazes of his fingertips on your skin felt that way as well. You had to practically pray to the gods that he didn’t notice the flustered expression on your face that you so desperately tried to conceal.

“There,” he said, finally tying the bandage so it didn’t undo the work he did. “That should hold for a while longer.”

You blinked and rolled down your pants, slightly disoriented now that he wasn’t as close to you anymore, “Right. Thanks.”

As soon as Jaskier’s touch wasn’t on your skin, your mind flooded with thoughts you were trying to push away. Your mind first went to Hotch. He was a disgusting man, willing to do anything for revenge — even killing his own wife. He would have hurt a little girl at the chance of getting back at the man who seduced his lover; even though you knew he was crazy, you couldn’t help but connect his actions with your own. Despite hating him for what he did — and might have done if you hadn’t killed him — at one point, you did the same. Your whole life you were raised to hurt those who hurt others, in hope that it would fill the hole that was left after your father murdered your mother.

And then you met Jaskier. But honestly, that didn’t change anything. If anything, it made it worse. You would do anything for Jaskier, and had done anything for him. You killed Joneta. It seemed like so long ago that you had…ended her life, but it was only the other day. And you wouldn’t stop there. You would do anything for Jaskier, to get back at those who wronged him. So how did that make you any different from monsters like Hotch?

“What are you thinking about?” Jaskier’s voice broke your thoughts, making you turn to him. As usual, his eyes bore into your own with an intensity that you still weren’t used to. Maybe you wouldn’t have told him if he wasn’t looking at you that way. But of course, you did.

You let out a small breath, “Hotch.”

“What about him?”

You shifted in your spot, keeping your eyes just to the side of Jaskier’s face.“He was…blinded by his rage. His rage for you.” You met his gaze again, a new hardness to your stare, “He wanted revenge.”

Jaskier’s frown turned into soft expression as realization took over, “Y/N—“

You cut him off, “After my mother died, and my uncle taught me everything I know…I did anything for justice. For revenge.”

“But you’re not like him.”

“Why not?” Your eyes stung with tears, but you blinked them away. “I’m an assassin, Jaskier. I kill people.”

“I know that—“

“No, you don’t. I kill people and I enjoy killing people. If I hadn’t known you were innocent, I would have enjoyed killing you too.”

Jaskier faltered, his eyes alleviating as he looked back at you, “But you didn’t. And that’s what makes you different.” He tentatively placed a hand on your knee, watching your face to make sure you were okay with it. When you didn’t flinch, he spoke again, “I know what you’re capable of Y/N.”

And it doesn’t bother me. He didn’t say it with words, but as his eyes searched your own it was clearer than anything he could have said.

Jaskier looked at you like he was about to say something else, but before he could, Geralt’s footsteps emerged from wherever he had previously been in the camp.

“We should probably leave here soon. We don’t know if there are more bandits, and we don’t want to be here to find out.”

It was then that realization struck you. You had to warn Rauf about everything that had happened. Though it was only a couple of days, so much had been revealed to you, to all of you, and Rauf knew nothing about it. He had to be wondering where you were, what was taking so long — but once you told him everything you knew, he’d understand.

You hoped.

“I have to go,” you said suddenly, pushing yourself off the log you had been sitting on.

Jaskier immediately reached towards you, “You have to—hold on, now.” He grabbed your wrist before you could limp away, “Go where?”

“To talk to Rauf. I have to warn him. About everything.” You shifted to face the bard, “I mean, who knows how many other innocent people are being targeted for no good reason.”

Jaskier nodded and stood beside you, “Great. Yes, okay. Then let’s go.”

You stopped, gently taking your wrist from his grasp, “No.”

“No?”

“I have to go alone. You can’t show your face, at least not until I clear everything up.”

“You can’t go alone.” To your surprise, it was Geralt who spoke this time.

You crossed your arms over your chest, “Why not?

Jaskier spoke, cutting Geralt off, “We just…don’t think that’s a good idea.”

You gritted your teeth, “Why not?”

“Maybe we should plan it out first?”

“What is there to plan out?”

The silence that followed was not actually silence. There was an unspoken conversation that hung in the air as Jaskier and Geralt shared a look, one that you were quite determined to bring to light.

You glared at the two of them until Geralt finally spoke.

“Your guild leader isn’t who he says he is.”

You frowned at Geralt’s words, swallowing a lump in your throat as your stomach dropped, “And how would you know that?”

Geralt hesitated before responding, “I followed you to your guild.”

It wasn’t news to you. But his matter-of-fact tone made you feel ten times more defensive.

“And?”

“I went back there after you returned the first time. When you and Jaskier were waiting in the Nowhere Inn.”

You frowned, searching your memory. You guessed he was talking about when you first noticed Joneta lurking around the inn, when Geralt was nowhere to be found.

Geralt continued, “I wanted to see if he was actually checking on the client, like you said he would.”

“How did you know who he was?”

“He stood tall, unafraid. Unlike you, he didn’t slink around when he walked. He didn’t care about being careful.” Geralt relented, “And, he was the only one who came out of the guild without the cloaks like yours.”

Your eyes narrowed, “So you guessed.”

“Was it not accurate?”

You took a sharp breath in through your nose — from his description, it was definitely Rauf he was talking about. No one else from the guild had the same…aura as your uncle, and even if they did, they would have been wearing some sort of cover so no one could see their face.

You nodded your head, still feeling stiff with indignation, “So you followed him. And…?”

“He didn’t come here.”

You frowned, “So? They could have met at another place. It’s not unusual.”

Geralt only quirked a brow, as if to say, do you really believe that?

“He could have been set up as well.” You huffed in frustration, “There’s no way to know for sure until I confront him.”

“And what if it does go wrong?” Geralt crossed his arms over his chest, “Are you going to fight your way out?”

You gritted your teeth, anger seeping through you at Geralt’s patronizing tone, “Yes.”

Jaskier scoffed beside you, “Right, because it’s not like your leg is horribly injured and you can barely walk on it — much less take out a whole guild of assassins.”

It was an understatement to say you were shocked at Jaskier’s bluntness. The frown on his face was enough to make you step back — not from fear, but from surprise. You blinked as he softened his expression, reaching a hand out towards you in comfort. But you shifted away from his touch.

Jaskier spoke again, choosing his words carefully, “We just…need to be cautious, is all.”

“Fine,” you practically spat, turning away from the bard. “But we do this my way. And if you don’t do what I tell you, I’ll knock you out myself.”

Neither of the men responded to you as you limped back towards the horses and out of the camp.

—

The ride back to Novigrad was quiet. At first you had been fuming from what was said — how dare they assume Rauf was guilty when they didn’t even know him? Sure, you had your suspicions, but when they did, it felt like a direct attack. You knew you were wrong to have been so mad at them, but by the time you had gotten close to Novigrad, your previous frustration was taken over by a new anxiety.

What if they were right. What if Rauf never checked the payer — or what if he did, and he didn’t care? Where would that leave you? Where would that leave him?

Once you were at yet another tavern in Novigrad, you slid off the horse without Jaskier’s help; but once your feet landed on the ground, you kept your hands on the horse in front of you.

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Jaskier said once he landed beside you.

You snorted, “Don’t think I can?”

“Of course I do.”

You fought the urge to look at his infamous eyes, instead focusing on Buttercup’s fur under your fingers. For some reason, looking at Jaskier made your stomach twist in a different way — it was like a new fear, a fear of something happening to him. You had felt it before, especially when you faced Joneta. But now, it felt different. Stronger. Like because now that you knew there was something deeper in your relation to him, losing him gained a thousand times more weight.

Before, you had wanted justice for Jaskier. You wanted him to be able to walk the streets again and perform without worrying about someone trying to kill him. Even though you barely knew him, and his personality was not something you thought you could ever miss, you didn’t want him dead.

But now, not wanting him dead had turned into needing him alive. If he died…you couldn’t even think about what it would do to you. And that…that was scary.

“We’ll be fine,” you said, the words surprising both you and Jaskier. You looked back at him, your eyes trailing to his lips, which were slightly ajar. He placed his hand beside your own on the side of Buttercup’s stomach.

His eyes stayed on yours, “Of course.” He smiled, the playfulness in his tone not meeting the fear in his eyes, “All you have to do is…not die.”

You huffed out a laugh, despite the constricting in your chest, “I would never.”

The smile on your face fell almost immediately, but instead of turn away from Jaskier, you placed your hand over his.

The look he gave you made your stomach flop, but you kept his gaze. “I’m going to fix this.”

After a moment, he sent you a small smile. “I know.”

—

The torches outside of the new fellowship gates flickered in the darkness as you lifted a fist to knock on the raggedy wood.

The small eye hole slid open, revealing a predictably gruff face.

“I’m here for the fellowship,” you stated, ignoring the nerves bundled in your stomach.

To your surprise, the face in the eye hole broke into a smile. Almost hastily, the man slammed the small door shut and eagerly opened the gates for you.

His smile was just as wide when he grabbed you in a bone crushing hug, “Y/N, how are ya?”

“Terrific,” you mumbled into his shoulder, praying to the gods that he would let you go before you stabbed him right then and there.

Thankfully for him, he did. His smile was smaller, but still present. “Remember me?”

You hesitated, but nodded, “You’re the same guy who let me in last time. Uh…”

“Androu.”

“Right. Androu. Cool.” Talk about a new recruit, you mused as he watched you step forward, only to hold an arm out in front of you.

“Ah, not so fast. Gotta leave your weapons at the front. New rule.”

Your heart pounded in your chest, but you frowned at your own nerves. It won’t have to come to that anyway, you thought, but your gut was telling you otherwise.

You huffed at the new guard and started removing your knives from their sheaths despite your inner protest. One hour and Geralt and Jaskier will come in. That would give enough time to talk to Rauf and figure things out before it got too crazy. If it got too crazy.

At the last second, you decided to leave one knife in your boot hidden. What they didn’t know, they couldn’t find.

After the guard — er, Androu — secured your weapons, you decided to test the waters of his overt friendliness, “And what idiot made this weapon stripping rule?”

“Me.” The two of you snapped your heads to the side, where Rauf was standing with a charming smile.

You looked at him, your spine stiff. It hadn’t been too long since the last time you saw him, but somehow, now, he looked…foreign. More confident than you’d ever seen him, which was saying something.

Still, you snorted a laugh, “You’ve lost your touch, uncle.”

“That’s not what the brothel women told me last night.”

The guards around him laughed hesitantly, making you roll your eyes. Even though his presence made you a bit uneasy (and apparently the guards as well), you couldn’t help but shake your head at his humor. Maybe he hasn’t changed that much. Maybe it’s just…paranoia.

His infamous smile lay comfortably on his face. “Care to join me in my office?”

You nodded and followed after him, quirking a brow at the two guards that followed behind you.

“You have guards now?”

Rauf chuckled, “The guild is growing, Y/N. We’re not a small fellowship anymore. And with more people, there is more potential for…threats.” He looked at you from the corner of his eye, “You understand that, don’t you?”

You simply nodded, swallowing the lump in your throat. You couldn’t wait for this to be over. And whatever this was, you couldn’t say.

Surprisingly, when you got to Rauf’s office, the guards waited outside. You almost expected them to stand on either side of Rauf at all times, like he was royalty or something. But that relief was soon extinguished when the door was closed behind you and you were left with just your uncle. You felt like you were getting ready to be lectured, even though he was the one who needed to be informed.

“Are you here to tell me good news?” Rauf sauntered deeper into the room, his eyes twinkling with a certain mischief that used to comfort you.

“Afraid not,” you said, watching as he leaned his hands on his desk. You opened your mouth to continue, but found yourself at a loss for words. How were you going to explain everything to him? Where would you start? What would make him actually believe you?

And why were you doubting him so much?

But before you could speak, Rauf sighed. “Joneta went to claim your target. Never came back. Do you know anything about that?”

You clenched your jaw, nearly drawing blood as you bit your tongue. You didn’t expect her name to come up so early in the conversation. You had hoped you could bring up what happened with her after he understood why you didn’t kill Jaskier, why you couldn’t. And why that meant you had to kill Joneta. But right now, looking in his disappointed eyes, you knew it wasn’t the time.

So, you lied.

“No.”

Rauf clicked his tongue, “But, I’m assuming you do know that your target is still out there.”

You shifted in your spot, trying to cease the fire that had begun spreading across your skin. “I know it’s not him.”

“And let me guess. You decided this on a gut feeling?”

“No.” Your outburst startled you; it was something you hadn’t done since you were young. But this tone Rauf was using with you — that reminded you of your childhood. He was treating you like an insubordinate child, like a rebel without a cause. Despite the anger filling your veins, you tried to remain calm.

After a moment, you cleared your throat, “I found the payer—“

“You found the payer?” His own anger surprised you, but you stood your ground. “And how did you manage that?“

You involuntarily shifted your gaze down to his desk of still unorganized papers. His eyes followed your own before he let out a scoff of disbelief, “You disobeyed a superior based on a gut feeling—“

“And I was right—“

“But you knew what you did was wrong, because you went behind my back to do it.”

You clamped your mouth shut. The feeling of shame twisted in your gut as Rauf looked at you and tilted his head.

“Is that not true?”

You spoke through gritted teeth, “Yes.”

You held his angry gaze before he let out a sigh and turned away. You released a breath, composing yourself before he turned back around.

“How many times in the last few times we’ve met have I had to ask you to trust me?” You opened your mouth to speak, but he held a hand up to stop you. “Rhetorical question.”

“I wasn’t going to answer that.” You spoke despite the glare he sent you. “I was going to say that this isn’t about not trusting you. It’s about trusting myself.”

“Y/N—“

“I followed all of your lessons. Your rules. I heard them in my head, being relayed to me over and over again as I made these…decisions. But still, my…gut—“ Rauf rolled his eyes, but you continued, “My gut was always right.”

Rauf considered you for a moment. You thought you could see was a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.

But you were wrong.

“Did your gut tell you to kill Joneta?”

You froze, any hope of getting through to him dissipating and being replaced with…guilt. Your breath was caught in your throat, making you unable to form words.

“Now, that was not a rhetorical question.”

Rauf’s smile made you sick to your stomach. You turned your eyes away from him, unable to keep yourself together as your eyes teared up.

“I know you mean well, Y/N. I do. But you need to know that you can’t just go around breaking rules because it’s what you think is right.” By then, he had made it over to you and placed his hand on your shoulder. Still, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “You’ve been different lately.”

So have you, you thought, but before you could say anything, the door behind you slammed open.

You and Rauf turned to see it was the two guards.“Sir, we found one of the targets lurking around the guild. Some of the new recruits were roughing him up before we brought him in.”

Your heart skipped a beat. You specifically told Geralt to come after an hour, and to leave Jaskier behind. It couldn’t be one of them, could it?

Rauf seemed to be thinking the same thing, as his eyes were glued to you. “Is he dead?”

“No sir. We stopped them before it got too bad. We thought it best to bring him to you to figure out how to deal with it.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Though maybe it would have been better to just kill him there.” You watched as Rauf’s face scrunched in contemplation. Then, he shook his head, “No, no. You were right. Bring him here.”

To say you were holding your breath was an understatement. You and Rauf stood in silence as the sound of grunts echoed from the hallway, nearing closer and closer by the second.

You didn’t want any of this to be real. It didn’t feel real; Rauf treating you this way, the guild becoming something it never was —  everything was falling apart, and you couldn’t seem to catch your breath. For once, you felt completely out of control.

As the footsteps got nearer, you silently wished they had left the door open so the suspense couldn’t give you the heart attack it already was. At the same time, you didn’t want to see who the target they had found was. Though, deep down, you already knew.

Finally, the door swung open.

Rauf clapped his hands together, “Well, well. Look who it is.”

One guard held each of his arms as they dragged him into the room.

You almost didn’t recognize him with all the blood. From what you could see, his face was covered in bruises that had already begun to form, blood was soaking into his shirt — whether it was his or the assassins’, you couldn’t tell. His feet were dragging on the floor as the guards brought him in, his head hung over his chest. But despite his injuries, you could hear the low wheezing of labored breathing — he was alive, which was something.

But it wasn’t enough. You clenched your fists, digging your nails into your palms as Rauf walked over and lifted his bloodied chin.

“The famous Jaskier. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

———————————————————————————————————

Sorry for the cliffhanger…but also not >:) let me know your thoughts!

[ratingtheframe]

Lights, camera, lockdown! All the films I watched at home this November.

Last month, the UK went on a one month down lockdown, causing cinemas to shut and new releases to be put on hold.

In fact, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was the only multi million dollar film to be released this year. It’s painful to think that Dune was supposed to be released almost two weeks from now and that we have to wait several months to see the sci fi film hit screens. Despite the post poned releases and closing of cinema chains, there are still some great films I hadn’t seen and used last month as an opportunity to look into them. Even though I didn’t see as much as I did in October, the quality of the films I managed to see this month is high.

His House (2020) as seen on Netflix

Starting off reasonably well with this horror brought to you by Netflix that centers the life around two immigrants and a spirit haunting the new lives they’re trying to build in the UK. It’s certainly a new perspective that I haven’t seen in horror and definitely isn’t a film for the fainted hearted for some of the scenes in this are genuinely terrifying. The overall message was thought provoking and poignant as it sort of spoke for those who’ve lost their lives attempting to seek asylum and those whoa are still struggling to find a new home.

His House is available to watch on Netflix. Score: 9/10  

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (2020) as seen on Netflix 

Definitely one of the most surprisingly good films I watched this month, Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a classic Netflix horror from Poland. The film follows a group of Polish teenagers addicted to social media who are sent to a camp to curb their addiction. However, when on a hike through the woods, one of the teens goes missing and without a phone to call for help, the kids are forced to face two grotesque monsters feeding upon humans. From start to finish, this film was highly entertaining and had a good structure to it. There were no gimmicks or cliches and it’s definitely a film I’d recommend to just about anyone. 

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is available to watch on Netflix. 

Score: 10/10

The Ring (2002) as seen on BBC iPlayer

Gore Verbinski’s (A Cure for Wellness, Pirates of the Caribbean) infamous horror is a cult classic and must watch for scary movie fans. Usually horror films can be too gimmicky and borderline cringey without an ounce of substance to them. However, The Ring is surprisingly good in that it possesses a deep narrative with three dimensional characters, good acting and wonderful direction. When a journalist’s (Naomi Watts) niece dies in unknown circumstances, she embarks on a journey to discover a horrifying tape that if watched, kills you in a week’s time. The box office sales for this film speaks for itself seeing as the film made nearly $130 million when it was released back in 2002. The Ring is certainly not for the faint hearted, so if horror isn’t your thing, I’d advise you stay well away from it. 

Score: 9/10 

Misery (1990) as seen on Netflix

Stephen King’s Misery is turned into an unsettling thriller starring Kathy Bates and James Caan. Author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) ends up getting caught in a snow storm, that seems his car veer off the road, leaving him in a critical state. However, a seemingly caring and selfless woman, Annie (Kathy Bates) takes him in, using her work as a nurse to care for him. It turns out that Annie is a super fan of Paul’s work and the care she has for him soon turns nasty and sadistic, leaving Paul in a panicked state for he is in the middle of nowhere with a practical psychopath. I wouldn’t say Misery is one of best adaptations of King’s novels. There are better pieces of work by Stephen King that have been made into movies such as IT, The Green Mile and 1922. The pace was quite slow and the fact that it took place in only one settling detracted from the progression of the film. However, it’s entertaining, well cast and had a decent story to it. 

Score: 7/10

Drive (2011) as seen on Amazon Prime 

Drive is 1000% one of the best films I’ve seen this year, in my entire life in fact. It’s incredibly bold, ambitious, vivid, subtle and heart wrenching at moments. A stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) is torn between the world of crime he partakes in and the love he has for a young woman (Carey Mulligan) that lives in the apartment next door to his. The subtlety and sensitivity that both Gosling and Mulligan brought to this film was so pure and authentic to their characters, whilst bringing an underlying sadness to the entirety of the film. By the end of the film you want to cry but aren’t sure why and these sorts of films are rare to find. The sound track and SFX in this are unreal, again adding to the confirmation that this film is one of a kind.

Score: 12/10 

Time (2020) as seen on Amazon Prime

I was delighted to see Amazon Prime had put this straight onto their service seeing as I’d missed out on Time during the London Film Festival two months ago. This is one of the most moving and deep pieces of work I’ve seen this year. Time is a documentary filmed over 20 years that details the life of a woman trying to seek justice for her husband who was put in prison for life for armed robbery. Not only is she fighting for her husband, but also her four sons, two of which weren’t even born when their father was put away in jail. Fox Rich lives in Louisiana, one of America’s toughest states when it comes to the criminal justice system. Sentences are of some of the highest in the entire country and are especially harsher to people of colour. Fox and her husband took the fatal and desperate decision to rob a bank in a bid to support their business and family. This drastic choice took Fox’s husband away from his family and for 2 decades, Fox spent time trying to get her husband out of jail. The thing that moved me the most about this documentary was her sons; four beautiful, smart and driven men who grew up without a father. It made me wonder how proud Fox must be of her kids and to see her fight for her husband and remain loyal to him is enough love to last two lifetimes. 

Time is available to watch on Amazon Prime now.

Score: 10/10

The Departed (2006) as seen on DVD

Throughout this two and a half hour film I was wondering how they had managed to get Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg to do a film together. And the answer is that this epic and high profile movie was directed by the infamous Martin Scorsese. It’s a mystery why I hadn’t seen this film sooner, seeing as it was a huge hit during its release making a staggering $291 million worldwide during its release. This is definitely DiCaprio’s best film (next to Revolutionary Road and The Revenant) and his performance was incredibly punchy and strong throughout. Everyone in this film was top class and the dialogue fitted well with each character with a natural story progression throughout. A top notch, Hollywood, must watch film.

Score: 10/10 

Murder by Numbers (2002) as seen on Amazon Prime

One of Ryan Gosling’s earliest films follows two high school students committing a sadistic murder simply to see just how it feels. Detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) is put on the case to solve the murder and quickly pieces the case together, leading her to Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling) and Justin Pendleton (Michael Pitt) two students at the same high school. I wouldn’t say this film was bad, however the ending played a big part in the overall quality of the film. It had a good pace and characters, however the ending definitely let down the film for it was rushed and unaligned to the rest of the film. Ryan Gosling’s performance at the tender age of 22 was pretty decent and definitely stated to everyone else his ability as an actor for years to come. 

Score: 7/10

All Good Things (2010) as seen on Amazon Prime

As you can tell by now, I went on a Ryan Gosling whip this month. All Good Things is the true story of David Marks (Ryan Gosling), whose wife Katie (Kirsten Dunst) disappears and still to this day, has never been found. Marks was the prime suspect in the disappearance case but was never found guilty and lives a free man. Even though the story was interesting and the performances good, the fact this is a Weinstein Company Film made it hard to watch, especially with the totally unnecessary nudity and sex scenes that put Kirsten Dunst at its forefront. The film lacked a clear resolution and was left completely open ended like the case of Katie Marks, which is understandable, however not when it comes to making a good film.

Score: 6/10

Borat (2006) as seen on Amazon Prime

After finding the second Borat film to be highly entertaining, I decided to watch the first one and was certainly not left disappointed. The first Borat film introduces us to Kazakstan reporter Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his first visit to America, whilst taking in all the americanisms to report back to his own country. Soon his pursuit turns to Pamela Anderson whose doing a book signing across in California. The comedy has many jaw dropping moments and sees Cohen above and beyond the boundaries of comedy to bring the character of Borat to life.

Score: 10/10

Boy Erased (2018) as seen on Sky Cinema 

If there’s one film worth watching on this list, it’d be Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased. This film is the product of a real understanding of film language and the ability to make a beautiful and heart felt story. Edgerton is a well known actor, but has taken time to go behind the camera as well as in front of it in this Golden Globe nominated picture starring the likes of Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Troye Sivan, Xavier Dolan and Joe Alwyn. Like HELLO if that cast isn’t making you immediately turn off this site right now to find Boy Erased, then I don’t know what will. The film based on a true story follows Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) and his time spent at a gay conversion centre with fellow homosexuals Gary (Troye Sivan) and Jon (Xavier Dolan). Jared’s father (Russell Crowe) is a pastor he and his wife (Nicole Kidman) take their religion rather seriously, which is why Jared has been forced to seek help for his sexuality. It’s a hard concept to swallow, especially in this day and age when most parents, religious or not, are starting to become more acceptable of their children’s sexuality. This film exposes the reality beyond that and how some parents feel their child is damaged by something completely normal and feel the need to seek help for it. Boy Erased is made with sensitivity and beautiful acting from an a class cast. All round, it’s a perfect film.

Score: 11/10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) as seen on Amazon Prime

I was a little confused starting this film to see it in Swedish, as I thought I was watching the David Fincher film of the same title. However, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was original a book and the first adapation of it for film was directed by Niels Arden Oplev, two years before Fincher made his version, starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. However, the fact that this version was in Swedish didn’t detract from the thrilling story spun onto screen. The three hour movie follows a journalist whose been hired to solve the mystery of a missing girl who is part of a high profile family. A young female hacker who once hacked the journalist and practically ruined his career, joins him along the way and the pair of them uncover a long string of untold secrets that see blood being split amongst numerous women. It’s one of the best thrillers I’ve ever seen and a must watch if you enjoyed Fincher’s version.

Score: 10/10

Still Alice (2014) as seen on DVD

A highly anticipated film on my part, Still Alice is an arresting and moving film about a mother struggling with on set Alzheimers. Julianne Moore scooped up a Best Actress Award at the Academy Awards in 2015, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her performance as Dr Alice Howland and her battle with Alzheimers at the age of 50. Kristen Stewart plays her daughter and Alec Baldwin her husband and their performances are equal to Julianne Moore’s. Overall, this was a touching piece that had soooo much depth to it and yet carried a satisfying simplicity throughout it. 

Score: 10/10

Enemy (2013) as seen on DVD

I heard about Enemy’s synopsis via a YouTube video and was throughly excited to watch it on hearing it was directed by Denis Villeneuve, a master director when it comes to thrillers and sci fi films. Even though Enemy was difficult to fully interpret, I still enjoyed the story and performance Jake Gyllenhaal brought to the table as a man who meets another man that looks exactly like him. There’s some pure mind fuckery that plays throughout the film as you’re left questioning who is this other man or if there are even two men at all. If anything, it’s an exploration of a man having a double life, wrapped up in some sinister secrets and tied between two women. All of Denis Villeneuve’s work is exceptional and Enemy is no different. A must watch for thriller lovers. 

Score: 10/10

A Star is Born (2018) as seen on DVD

Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born certainly wins the award for making me cry the most this month. The last version I saw of this film starred Judy Garland and James Mason and was centred around a musical actress and the rocky relationship she had with her actor husband. That 1954 version possessed a lot of brilliance and it was easy to compare it to the more modern version starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Who would’ve thought these two could be such an authentic on screen couple? The songs, the lyrics and the acting that these two brought to this picture was on another level, it was incredible from start to finish. Obviously the fact that this film had been done 4 times before honed the quality of the film, however Bradley Cooper’s direction and ability to bring out the best in Lady Gaga definitely makes this version of A Star is Born the best one yet. This directorial debut was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Lady Gaga was handed the award for Best Music for a motion picture. Warning: you will cry whilst watching this or at least afterwards. 

Score: 12/10

Sorry to Bother You (2018) as seen on Netflix

Netflix certainly came through this month when it put Boots Riley’s fanatical dark comedy Sorry to Bother You on its streaming service. It’s honestly like nothing I’ve ever seen before and the innuendo and hidden messages within this film make it something that you can watch several times and never get bored of. Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) gets a job as a telemarketer who gets promoted to a “power caller” and through pride and greed, ends up abandoning his ideologies and friends completely. The film speaks for the gentrification of Oakland, California and capitalistic society we live in today. There are many hidden messages amongst the film that at first are hard to decipher, but soon you realise these messages are as clear as day within our own society. Lakeith Stanfield stars alongside Tessa Thompson, Steve Yeun and Armie Hammer, not a cast you’d usually put together but one that certainly worked. Sorry to Bother You is highly entertaining and will definitely make you laugh out loud at points and have you questioning your laughter right after.

Score: 10/10

The Florida Project (2017) as seen on DVD

I’m starting to think that films made between 2017 and 2018 are some of the best ever made and the Florida Project falls into that. I heard about this film through one of my favourite actors and was glad for the recommendation as this film is one of the best I’ve seen all year. The colours and character dynamics are strong and vivid throughout, as we follow the lives of people living on an apartment complex whilst speaking for the child poverty that plagues American society today. Willem Dafoe, who plays the complex’s handy man and security guard, even earned himself a Best Supporting Actor Award at the 2018 Academy Awards. 

Score: 10/10

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2014) as seen on DVD 

Usually I’d pass on a Charlie Kaufman film, seeing as they make no sense, however I felt that it was time I delved into this cult classic starring Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood. It’s a really well made film with a clear and distinct message to it that’s represented in some phenomenal filmmaking techniques. The plot line of this film follows a man trying to erase a past lover and his memories of her get wiped away physically before your eyes on screen. This film is certainly a conversation starter and one I’d recommend to just about anyone. 

Score: 9/10

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) as seen on DVD

Wes Anderson’s wonderful mind is depicted in this endearing narrative about two children running away from home. This has to one of Wes Anderson’s most iconic films and next to The Grand Budapest Hotel, it’s definitely one of the films you think of when you think of Anderson’s work. His work is known for having well rounded stories, beautiful shots and A List casts, with Moonrise Kingdom being no expection as Anderson manages to squeeze Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Kietel and a young Lucas Hedges into this film. If you’ve seen any of Wes Anderson’s work and not Moonrise Kingdom, get on it now. No, seriously, now. 

Score: 10/10 

Jarhead (2005) as seen on DVD

Sam Mendes’ war film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx translates the lives of US soldiers in Iraq onto screen and the brain washing their government has done to boost the importance of the US military and the service soldiers are doing to their country. Jake Gyllenhaal’s execution in this film is a reflection of his ability as a great actor. He always has this patient and gritty approach to his work that makes him addicting to watch on screen. There’s an entire video on YouTube about Jake Gyllenhaal’s eyes and the way they communicate his emotions on screen. This is certainly present in Jarhead, as the anger, frustration, disappointment and despair is held within Jake Gyllenhaal’s eyes throughout. Jarhead was originally a memoir written by a US solider named Anthony Swofford. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the open ended resolution to the film and the stagnant progression of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character. He literally didn’t achieve anything, which I suppose is the point of the film and how the honour that soldiers who went to Iraq were supposed to feel, is more of a fantasy than a reality. 

Score: 9/10 

Silence (2016) as seen on BBC iPlayer 

This film was truly summit else and a refreshing turn on genre from highly acclaimed filmmaker, Martin Scorsese. Silence certainly proved that he has the ability to be more sensitive with his films and can tells stories outside his usual New York mobster type movies. The film tracks the journey of two Portuguese missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) in the 17th Century who go to Japan looking for one of their mentors (Liam Neeson). However in this era, Christians faced persecution in Japan and were practically slaughtered for not following the country’s religion of Buddhism. The priests’ journey is perilous and heart rendering as they are forced to abandon their own religion in order to save their own lives and the lives of others. Despite the film being just over 160 minutes, it’s an inspiring story and one that is told in a tactful way. To believe this is a film is quite hard, as the accuracy of it makes it closer to reality than just a film itself.

Score: 8/10

Lynn + Lucy (2019) as seen on BBC iPlayer 

This film recently came out in UK cinemas and was put onto BBC iPlayer due to lockdown. I found it to be interesting and enjoyed the new perspective it gave to quite a simple story. Lynn and Lucy have been friends for almost their entire lives, and when Lucy’s baby boy dies in unexplained circumstances, it drives a wedge between her relationship with Lynn, as people in their neighbourhood accuse her of being a child murderer. Eventually, Lynn stats to believe the rumours herself, leaving her best friend behind and favouring the opinions of those who hardly know her. A great debut and British film, Lynn + Lucy is profound story of friendship. 

Score: 8/10

Revolutionary Road (2008) as seen on Netflix 

Revolutionary Road has a metric score of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, which I find quite offensive as the film nearly falls into the “thanks but no thanks” category of films. Directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kate Winslet alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, I don’t see what’s not to like. I only clocked halfway through the film why DiCaprio had been cast with Kate Winslet (Titanic, duh) and it made their on screen chemistry more prominent for me. I always say this about EVERY SINGLE Leonardo DiCaprio film I watch, but his performance in this was unreeeaaal. His character went somewhere intense and never returned, making the hardship on screen 10 times more powerful. There’s a scene where him and Winslet’s character are in a full blown argument and DiCaprio’s rage was on another level. Incredibly authentic and honest, Revolutionary Road showcases a wonderful example of when two masterful actors come together to make something great. 

Score: 10/10

Hillbilly Elegy (2020) as seen on Netflix 

Hillbilly Elegy recently got torn to shreds by critics as it was released on Netflix the other week, and I half agree with what most are saying about it, but also feel there’s unnecessary criticisms about this film. The film is based on a memoir of a Yale Law student, J.D Vance (Gabriel Basso) who comes from rough beginnings and ends up building the life he so desired from a young age. His mother (Amy Adams) is a destructive drug addict who’s moods change frequently so that she’s constantly at war with her own mother (Glenn Close) and two children (Haley Bennett and Gabriel Basso). The story follows J.D’s return to his home town to claim his mother from a hospital after she over dosed on heroin. The only problem is, he has an interview with a law firm from Washington the following morning and has to choose between taking care of his mother and landing his dream job. Sounds pretty intriguing, right? And it truly is. The film is laced with conflict and great performances from everyone, however critics have blasted this film with hate, saying that it doesn’t ring true to the entire American experience of living in poverty, without healthcare and enough money to bring food to the table. The fact that J.D made it to Harvard and now works for a successful enterprise somehow detracts from his struggle as a child, which I think is complete BS. I think this film should be taken for more face value than as a political story. It’s a straight talking, rags to riches tale that proves with hard work and dedication, you can transform your struggles into success. One critic had the audacity to say that “Selling out your origins is a kind of white trash cosplay because you were lucky enough to get out”. The irony of this is that the critic herself is white and it suggests had JD been a person of colour, it’d made a better film, which isn’t the kind of world where I want to live in when stories of people of colour are used as poverty porn rather than something to enjoy or learn from. My only criticism of this film would be the pace of conflict within the film and how things went from 0-100 waaay too quickly. This can happen in real life, but on screen it tends to look sloppy and rushed.

Score: 9/10 

And that’s it! A rather short list for this month, but as the year draws to a close, I’m just really excited for the new films hopefully hitting screens next year. Seen you soon!

[the-firebird69]

Watch "2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Trailer" on YouTube

This fool was killing Dave and Carol's kids, people here now they went over their tapes and they hear it and they saw it. It turns in is very important it ties in and is very important they both died in the crash and Dave audette was up front and Dodie was Mac and they buried them and Trump went back for them when he was president and he made the Giants and revived them to a degree, and prior to and he did it to access the AI and he thought he didn't need it anymore so he disposed of them and they were in Alexander and Lady Gaga knew about it and do the song and it's murder and he's up for charges because he's an idiot and they don't trust he did it right and the AI has been located because the movie moonfall and his friends exposed him because they can't stand him anymore and his stuff doesn't work and he thinks that he's killing everyone with AI and it's Tommy f all I have to do is block a few pinpoint spots he says and you're a complete jackass and nothing's going in and out it's been up there forever and these guys probably have the thing probably so they're going after him cuz he has a designs for the laser light computer this is him and it's Trump AKA John remillard AKA Joe walks and you see him in 2010 getting will and bills and they hated him for it and tons of people need to know it

Thor Freya

And in 2001 he was xiang he was the leader. And he forced it out into his possession and he left it there we needed him to do that. And we needed to interview Dave and while there's up there screwing around the managed to do that nobody will ever know and Paris Hilton. And that was after Gene's Corp and he did for years took him forever finally stuck them together and he forced it out and he didn't get all the future kill he's a slob he's another whole thing and they've been in and out but are still intact and they got them in a lot of trouble he got Dave killed and he's a jerk and he went to Tennessee a while ago and read the letters and enough of this foolishness

Thor Freya

You're an ass Trump you ended up there in the sat on it you have the Interrupters and you sat on them you're fool you couldn't use it didn't build anymore and I was a test now he did not and you probably couldn't anyways so you wasted your friend and you took tech and you wasted attack and you got rid of your people so what's the reason for you getting rid of your people

Zues Hera

I guess I started doing it this stupid thing wouldn't work and try to use this a threat to be subtle and it didn't work still and I tried to build my own but I couldn't figure out how to read all that stuff I don't know how to do any of that stuff this sucks I got really screwed and I screwed it all up because I don't know how to do it and Davis right cuz he said on the phone I don't know what I'm doing and I'm not the one to tell you did anyways now I know why cuz I'm the full messing him up and you're speaking to him as a brother and he knew what he meant I can't believe it he said it right out loud I don't know what he meant

Joel Watts

We got it it's an innuendo and it was said all the time in westborough David was afraid of him cuz you're a failure and You're a murderer and he didn't die then it was in Florida you missed it but you got his wife and he wants to kill you the whole time I'll tell you what we're going to get you just for that you're mean people and they're smart and helpful yeah the dangerous but they can be controlled and you can't

Mac

[boywivlove]

| Please Don't Go |

Kim Seokjin x Reader 

Summary | You and were partners in the Police force, and soon became romantic with each other. After investigating a murder you are gunned down during an on foot pursuit. Not knowing if you will pull through, Jin stays by your side in the hospital, not knowing if he will ever get an answer to questions left unsaid.

Warnings | swearing , blood, descriptions of violence, fatal injuries. 

AN | This is my fic for the `April Showers Bring May Flowers` collaboration with @bangtanscenery​ I hope you enjoy it! I based the concept on the song `Please Don't Go` by Joel Adams listen to it if you can its a great song <3 Please enjoy and lemme know what you think!!

There was no doubt in your mind that joining the Seoul Police Force was the job for you. You had always been set on becoming a cop like your father, he was the greatest man you knew, and when he died on duty, you made a promise to yourself you would become a great cop. After months of hard work, you graduated from the police academy, finally reaching your dream. 

Your partner, Kim Seokjin, had graduated from the academy four years before you, and you hung to his every word as he showed you the ropes. Jin was a great partner, his arrest record was one of the highest in the precinct, and his face wasn't bad to look at either. He was professional as he could be with his work, but he had a jovial charm that made him approachable. He always had a cheesy dad joke ready for when you would see each other at the office, and each time, he would crack you up. The best thing about your friendship is the nickname he gave you, sunflower, he knew you loved the colour yellow, and You guess it just stuck. Every greeting to you was followed with `Sunflower`

`Good morning Sunflower`

`Gloomy weather we're having Sunflower`

`Coffee?  Sunflower`

You never caught on, but Jin was starting to fall for you, outside of work when the district officers would go for drinks or a meal, Jin always sat next to you, banter was always exchanged and aside from work you had a great deal in common. He wanted to keep it professional, he knew how distracting office relationships were, but it happened, he fell for you. He fought off his feelings for as long as he could, but seeing your smiling face greet him everyday at work got him. 

He didn't even know if you felt the same, you never hinted that  you wanted anything more than friendship from him, and on several occasions, you voiced how you couldn't see how office romances work out, either romantically or professionally. Jin had to agree, especially in the police force, there was too much to factor in, but he threw caution to the wind.

Jin had turned up at your apartment at 10pm, which you immediately thought was strange, social calls at night were not usually Jin's thing. But as you greeted your friend you were surprised by the bouquet of sunflowers, and his out of breath ramblings to you

` if I don't try, I'll never know… I don't know if this will work with us, but, i want to try…`

And the rest was history.  Two years later and you and Jin were still going strong, 

To say you were stressed is an overstatement. You haven't eaten all day, working on this case was the most important task in your eyes. Jungkook had to eventually drag you from your desk and take you out to a diner to your objection, only relenting when it was agreed to bring your paperwork along. The whole force was still grieving and doing their best. But you felt a personal grievance in this particular case. It had all started a few weeks ago, There had been a string of murders in the area, and the police were on the hunt for a suspected serial killer. It seemed the suspects M.O was targeted at doctors, nurses and emergency responders. Whoever this killer was, it seemed he had not planned these murders, all spur of the moments, possibly driven by a grievance, feeling wronged in some way by the people working in medical care. This killer had the same method of killing, gunning their victim down in a moment of opportunity, but after they had killed the victim, the killer gave one more bullet, an execution style shot to the head. 

The personal connection she had in this case was felt by the whole force. The murderer had changed his M.O, and gunned down a police officer who was working the case. Officer Kim Taehyung graduated from the academy with you and a few other officers on the squad.You had been close with Taehyung, you introduced him to his wife Seol, and he had teased you about Jin's sunflower nickname for you. He was a great cop, and a great husband. He and Seol had just welcomed their first child, a little boy, Kim Sung Jae. Now, Tehyung will never see his son grow up, and Sung Jae will never get to know his father. Your heart broke for the boy, as you yourself know what it's like to grow up without your father. 

You and Jungkook had spent hours at the diner, and the paperwork was finally done, now you were nursing a coffee when Jungkook decided to ask about Jin, honestly since taehyung's death, you'd barely seen him, he and Namjoon had been moved to the night shift weeks prior to work on different cases and fill out paperwork, and with you and Jungkook on day shift, you barely get time with him. You knew he had not been sleeping well either, he and Taehyung had gotten close after you had both started dating, and he had taken his sudden death just as badly as you had. 

“ Im sorry for your  loss Y/n, I didn't know Taehyung that well, but he was a great officer.”

“Yeah, I just hate that he will never see Sung Jae grow up, I know what it's like to lose your father in duty…”

You sighed and sipped on the now cold coffee, it was just as sad and bitter like this whole situation. Lost in thought you didn't register Jungkook taking your hand in his, a firm grip reassuring you slightly.

“We will catch this guy Y/N,” 

The way Jungkook said it with such conviction moved you, he was a good kid. Jungkook was  one of the youngest officers on the squad, and to you he became something like a younger brother

.“I know we will, we have to.”

With the paperwork done and the coffee now ice cold, you and Jungkook left the diner and headed to your squad car, you wondered how Jin was holding up. You didn't want to make an issue out of nothing, but recently, Jin was acting odd. The grief and working late was one thing, but it was like he was trying to hide something from you, and it made you slightly worry.

You find yourself coming out thinking about him, you barely registered Jungkook pulling you down behind the passenger side door as the window shattered into pieces falling onto you both. 

You snapped out of your inner thoughts, another loud noise making its way into your ears. A gunshot. Jungkook radios for backup as he notes that shots have been fired in the area, you look towards the back street of the diner, seeing a shadowy figure with its gun pointed at you, and as you draw your gun your partner lets out a shot of his own. The shadowy figure doesn't seem phased and lets off another round of shots towards you both before his gun clicks, signally it's empty. You see the figure make a run for it towards the main street. You were sure, more sure than anything in your career as a cop, that this was the guy you were looking for. The guy who killed Taehyung. Not wanting to let him get away, you and Jungkook speed off after the culprit, radioing once again to update the situation. 

“ This is officer Jeon, requesting back up….shots fired …..were in pursuit of the culprit approximately  five foot male grey hoodie, black jeans…”

You ran ahead of Jungkook, ramming through pedestrians and across the busy roads, he was not about to get away, not after all the pain he's caused people. You see him duck into an alleyway and you quickly run after him, your gun aimed and ready to shoot should he not surrender peacefully. Your eyes were looking over every little detail, the alley led out to the back streets  of the high street, he couldn't have run straight though, the alley being lengthy and blocked by rather large dumpsters. You cautiously made your way forward. You could hear your rapid pulse in your head, every beat getting louder and louder. You scanned ahead and while making your way forward, you heard it, the sound of a can being kicked across the floor. Coming from behind you. 

You turned quickly and then you felt something heavy connect with the side of your head. Your vision flashed with white as you fell disoriented to the ground, The perp had hit you with a brick, the corner covered in blood as he dropped it to the ground, you could feel the warm sticky liquid start to run down your head and seep into the collar of your shirt. You could see double, the alleyway swaying as the perp made his way to where you had dropped to the floor. You felt the wind go out of your lungs as he landed a sharp kick to your stomach. The pain and the force of the kick only seemed to magnify the harsh vibrations your head wound was giving you. You tried to reach for your gun, which had dropped after the blow to your head, but the perp was faster. He seemed to toy with the idea of what to do, looking at the gun with his head tilted to the side.

 You had never felt this scared in your whole career. Risking your life was just a part of the job, but the pain you felt was frightening. You felt as though you were staring into the abyss when he looked you in the eyes. His black orbs seemed to stare through to your core, seeing every part off you, and when he registered your fear. He didn't even seem to relish it as you thought he would. If you weren't so disoriented, you would think that maybe this was why he killed his victims with a shot to the head, simple and quick. This was rushed and sloppy for him. A shot rang out. The warm feeling in the side of your head had spread to your abdomen. Looking down, you see the pool of red that surrounds you, the metallic taste in your mouth was stronger, it was getting harder and harder for you to breathe. you stay awake just long enough to see the perp aim his gun at someone making their way into the alley.

Jungkook, finally caught up with you, let out three gunshots, killing the perp on the shot. The commotion from the main streets starting to zone in on the gunshots, Jungkook rushes to check you over, your pulse faint, and your skin cold to the touch. His jacket is pressed into your stomach, trying to stem the blood that was covering you from the waist down. You could faintly hear him screaming at the radio com for the EMTs to get here. 

Four weeks, it had been four weeks since Jin's whole world stopped. He hadn't slept, shaved, or had a decent meal in two weeks. How could he? He was almost certain his heart had stopped beating the moment he got the news.

 He had been making his way to work when he got the call, the captain, he had been vague, asking him to come to the hospital, but he knew, he knew it had something to do with you. He hadn't heard from you all day. But recently, that was the norm. This case had everyone on edge and overtime was greatly needed. The only time Jin saw you that wasn't in passing was when you were heading out and he was coming home, and vice versa. He had also been avoiding you for a reason. He didn't want you to find out during all this, he had wanted to wait for the right moment, not wanting to spring this on you on top of grieving and working overtime. Jin had met Jungkook at the reception, his shirt was stained red, his usual black work blazer was missing from his usual attire, he knew. Jin knew the moment he was Jungkook that something bad had happened to you. 

“Doctor please. How is she!? Is she alright? No one will say anything to me…”  He was desperate to know, but Jungkook was silent, his face seemed to be like marble, threatening to crack.

The doctors eventually got Jin alone, away from the busy hallways of the intensive care unit. Jin felt his whole world crash, his sun dropping from the sky like a led balloon.

“The shots perforated her stomach and penetrated the large and smaller intestines… we resected what we could… but the damage was severe…her head injury had caused slight swelling on the brain and has caused her to enter a comatose state...mr Kim… I'll be frank. With this amount of damage...there's a slim chance of her pulling through..but..”

“But what…”

“You might want to get in contact with her family, let them know she may not wake up”

He made his way to his destination, the light from the early sunset had illuminated the hall in a warm amber glow, he bathed in its warmth for a moment, the feeling of the sun on his skin felt like a hug from you. 

The soft, yellow, warmth. It was you. 

He came to the same place he'd been coming to for weeks, the flowers he had placed days ago had wilted, the petals dry and falling to the floor. 

Sunflowers. Your favourite. 

He replaced the dead flowers with new freshly cut ones, disposing of the old ones in the waste bin.  Jin then sat down and looked out of the window. The same soft amber glow from the hallway had made its way inside the room.

His mind replayed the moment he first walked into this room. The hurt and anguish still stained on his memory.

You had looked so broken. Your pale skin, the needles that stuck out of you from the I.V, the bandages. It was so hard for Jin not to break down right there on the floor. 

It had been four weeks since you were brought to the intensive care unit. And Jin had been given leave to get himself together while you tried to pull through. You had stabilised, but you still remained in the coma. Jin had to take that with a grain of salt. You were fighting, and that's all he asked for. There was so much he still wanted to say to you. So many moments you and he had yet to go though. Jin had to hold onto those yet to be moments, as a reminder everyday that you were fighting to come back to him. 

“Hey sunflower, I brought you some more, the last ones had started to wilt again, I got you a bigger bouquet this time, thought i'd make up for how fast you go through them…”

Jin sat beside you, his hand takes yours in his, stroking your knuckles slowly. He brought your hand up to his face as he traced kisses over each knuckle, and then your palm. He would give anything to hold you properly. He would give anything to see your beautiful eyes shine in the light again. His breathing hitched as he trained himself not to cry.

“Love, I know you're fighting, and I know you can hear me. But I need you to fight more. I have so much I have to say to you. I should have asked you a year ago when I bought this, but I could never find the perfect moment.”

Jin looked to the bedside table, the velvet box sat next to the sunflowers, and he kissed your fingers one by one. 

“I promise, I will ask you the moment you wake up. Just come back to me Y/N, please.”

“Please don't go.”

[aion-rsa]

The Best Creepy Horror Movies

https://ift.tt/31YlYtU

Creepy isn’t the same as scary.

Of course horror movies can be scary simply by using loud noises and sudden movements to make their audiences jump, but creepy is harder to pull off. To be effectively creepy, a film needs to establish a certain atmosphere; it needs to draw you in and make you care. It needs to give you something to think about when you’re trying to drop off to sleep at night; to make you wonder whether that creaking noise down the hallway was just the house settling or something lurking in the shadows. Creepy stays with you. It gives you goosebumps.

Here are 85 of the best horror movies (in no particular order) to chill your bones. Enjoy the nightmares.

Us (2019)

Jordan Peele’s follow up to his award winner Get Out is another social horror. While it might not be quite as accomplished or coherent as Get Out (the end is a bit of a mess) Us is arguably scarier than Get Out as a family staying in a holiday home find themselves tormented by evil replicas of themselves. It’s a film that keeps you constantly on edge with the performances of the main cast – Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex – absolutely pitch perfect and never less than convincing as good and evil versions of themselves.

It Comes At Night (2017)

Though the marketing material was somewhat misleading, featuring the above scary-looking dude (who really isn’t a big part of the film at all), It Comes at Night, from director Trey Edward Shults is a claustrophobic slow-burner that insidiously ramps up the creep factor. Joel Edgerton plays the patriarch of a family holed up in a cabin in the woods to escape an unnamed wide spread virus. But when a man, his wife and their young child arrive seeking shelter his family life is disrupted. A coming-of-age horror with one of the bleakest endings around.

Mr. Jones (2013)

Nobody knows who Mr. Jones is. The artist is a recluse, but his bizarre sculptures have made him world famous. When a documentary maker and his girlfriend stumble across what looks like his workshop, they become obsessed with finding out the truth about Mr. Jones, but the truth isn’t particularly easy to stomach.

Read more

Games

20 Scariest Horror Games Ever Made

By Matthew Byrd

Movies

Best Modern Horror Movies

By Don Kaye

One of the most stylishly shot found footage movies you’ll ever see, the makers know the rules of the genre well enough that when they break them, it adds to the story rather than detracting from it. Also, those scarecrows are petrifying.

Under the Shadow (2016)

Set in war-torn Tehran in the late 1980s, Under the Shadow sees a would-be doctor battling the forces of evil for her daughter (and her sanity) even as everyone around her flees to safer ground. The juxtaposition of earthly and unearthly threats makes this a uniquely terrifying film, and Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is a wonderfully complex and sympathetic heroine. Not many films could make a sheet of printed fabric terrifying, but Under the Shadow manages it.

Gaslight (1940)

Bella (Diana Wynyard) thinks she’s losing her mind. She keeps losing things, and the lights in her house seem to flicker, even though her husband Paul (Anton Walbrook) tells her he can’t see anything wrong. Plus there are those footsteps upstairs… Just from that description, you might think that Gaslight will turn out to be a haunted house story, but the real explanation for all the weirdness is far more sinister than that. Walbrook does sinister like no-one else.

The Babadook (2014)

A character from a terrifying kids book comes to life to haunt a single mother (Essie Davis) grieving for the loss of her husband in this beautiful, sorrowful meditation on depression and despair. Top-hatted Mr. Babadook with his horrible, terrible grin is of course creepy as all, but Noah Wiseman as her needy and uncontrollable child gives him a run for his money in creepiness.

The Clairvoyant (1934)

Maximus, King Of The Mind Readers (Claude Rains) performs amazing feats of clairvoyance on stage every night in front of adoring audiences. The problem is, it’s fake – the mind-reading is all done through a secret code Maximus has invented to communicate with his assistant wife, Rene (Fay Wray). But one night, he meets Christine (Jane Baxter), and his abilities become real. He really can predict the future. If you’ve already guessed that’ll turn out to be more of a burden than a gift, you’re right. Gorgeously shot, wonderfully acted, this is a creepy delight.

Sleep Tight (2011)

The second Jaume Balaguero film on this list is just as bleak and horrifying as the first: Sleep Tight sees a concierge secretly breaking into the homes of the people he’s supposed to serve to try to make them as miserable as he is. When Cesar (Luis Tosar) finds one tenant is harder to upset than the others, his behaviour escalates until he’s committing unimaginably grotesque crimes against the poor girl. The ending will have you shuddering in your seat.

Lake Mungo (2008)

This strange found footage film from Australia takes the format of a mockumentary focusing on the family of a dead girl who think there are supernatural goings on surround their house. It owes a debt to Twin Peaks in its odd neighborhood vibe, and the twisty plot holds many surprises, as the movie wrong foots the audience time and again. It’s creepy throughout but by the time you finally discover what’s really going on it’s not only terrifying but emotionally devastating too.

Dead of Night (1945)

Probably the best horror anthology ever made, this Ealing Studios production includes five individual stories and one wrap-around narrative. The wrap-around sees a consultant arrive at a country home only to find that he recognizes all of the guests at the house – he’s seen them all in a dream.

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Movies

A Short History of Creepy Dolls in Movies

By Sarah Dobbs

Movies

Annabelle: Real-Life Haunted Dolls to Disturb Your Dreams

By Aaron Sagers

Spooked, the guests start recounting their own stories of the uncanny, each more unnerving than the last. Well, except for the one about the golfers, but that one’s just there for light relief before the film hits you with the scariest ventriloquist’s dummy ever committed to film. Just excellent, all round.

Hereditary (2018)

One of the most truly harrowing movies of recent years is Hereditary, the feature debut from Ari Aster. Toni Collette stars as a mother trying to hold together her family in the aftermath of a tragedy while around her supernatural goings on begin to escalate.

Read more

Movies

Hereditary: The Real Story of King Paimon

By Tony Sokol

Movies

Hereditary Ending Explained

By David Crow

Hereditary has been called The Exorcist for a new generation, though it’s so much more than that. In fact at times, Hereditary is almost too scary, so oppressive is it’s escalating anguish and dread. This one is pure nightmare fodder.

Nina Forever (2015)

Rob (Cian Barry) can’t get over his ex-girlfriend. Nina (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) died in a car crash, which is bad enough, but when he tentatively begins a relationship with his co-worker, Holly (Abigail Hardingham), he finds himself haunted by Nina. Literally. She materializes in his bed every time he and Holly have sex – she might be dead, but she’s not letting go.

“Creepy” doesn’t feel like a strong enough word to describe this film – “devastating” might do it. It’s a sensitive and horrifying portrayal of grief, with a sense of humour as dark as the inside of your eyelids, and some extremely upsetting gore. Brilliant, but not one for the faint-hearted.

Robin Redbreast (1970)

When she moves away from London to a tiny country cottage, Norah (Anna Cropper) expected the change to be a bit strange, but nowhere near as weird as it ultimately turns out to be. As she gets to know the locals, she finds herself being pushed towards a relationship with karate-loving Rob (Andrew Bradford), and while she’s initially game, she soon discovers that her choices are being made for her. It’s a little bit Wicker Man, a little bit Rosemary’s Baby, and a lot of creepiness.

It Follows (2014)

Inspired by a reccuring nightmare director David Robert Mitchell had in his youth,It Follows is a clever, freaky take on the slasher movie, featuring, well, a sexually transmitted ghost. Maika Monroe plays a young woman haunted by a shape shifting spectre after a sexual encounter who slowly but relentless trails her everywhere – the film plays with the audience expertly, making us guess whether background characters could really be the monster. Ultra modern and highly effective, this one will leave you jumping at shadows long after the credits roll.

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

A tyrannical landowner is plagued by, well, a literal plague in Roger Corman’s adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story. Vincent Price plays the Satanic Prince Prospero, who rules over his village with an iron fist, condemning people to death for the mildest offence and abducting any woman who takes his fancy, but all of his evils come back to haunt him when he throws a masked ball and Death shows up. Fittingly, it’s got the hallucinogenic quality of a fever dream, and the various incarnations of Death are wonderfully creepy.

As Above, So Below (2014)

A group of explorers heads deep into the Paris catacombs, only to find they’ve gone a little too deep and stumbled into an alternate dimension that might actually be Hell. It��s a brilliantly over the top concept, and the way it plays out is incredibly eerie. Yes, it’s found footage, and yes, it’s a little bit on the silly side – it chucks in quotes from Dante and a few too many sad-faced ghosts – but some of the scares along the way are properly frightening. Suspend your disbelief and let it freak you out.

Oculus (2013)

Eleven years ago, Alan (Rory Cochrane) bought an antique mirror… and then died, along with his wife. According to the police, they were murdered by their 10-year-old son. According to their daughter, the mirror is haunted, and something supernatural caused their deaths. Now Tim (Brenton Thwaites) is out of prison, Kaylie (Karen Gillan) wants to prove he was innocent by conducting an experiment on the mirror… But inadvertently puts both of them in danger all over again.

Read more

Books

“God God – Whose Hand Was I Holding?”: the Scariest Sentences Ever Written, Selected by Top Horror Authors

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

A24 Horror Movies Ranked From Worst to Best

By David Crow and 3 others

It’s chilling. The way director Mike Flanagan plays with reality, building unbearable uncertainty through camera angles and false memories, makes this film both incredibly scary and impossibly sad.

The Witch (2015)

After being cast out of a New England plantation for not interpreting scripture in the same way as the colony’s elders, a family strikes out alone, and soon discovers how inhospitable their unfamiliar new home country can really be. The Witch is a period piece, and the language is suitably archaic, but don’t let that put you off: it’s a brilliantly chilling portrayal of Puritan life, where belief can mean the difference between life and death, and horror is only ever one failed crop away.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

The Amityville Horror is the haunted house story. If you were only ever going to watch one haunted house movie, it should be this one, because this is the archetypal story: a family moves into a house where horrible murders happened, and then bad things happen to them. It manages a lot of things later imitators didn’t, though, which is that it makes the Lutzes’ decision to buy the house make sense, and also builds the horror slowly, so that they almost don’t notice when the things going wrong in the house switch from annoying issues to outright horror. If you’ve moved house in recent memory, this one’ll hit you where it hurts.

The Conjuring (2013)

If you were only ever going to watch two haunted house movies, the second one should definitely be The Conjuring. James Wan’s ode to ’70s horror has plenty in common with The Amityville Horror, but it also has plenty of ideas of its own – and at least half a dozen moments that’ll make your heart leap into your mouth.

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The Conjuring Timeline Explained: From The Nun to Annabelle Comes Home

By Daniel Kurland

Movies

Horror Movie Origin Stories: Directors, Actors, and Writers on How They Fell in Love With the Genre

By Rosie Fletcher

The camerawork, the music, the cute kids stuck in the middle of epic spiritual warfare… it all adds up to a completely terrifying experience. You’ll probably need to sleep with a nightlight for a week afterwards.

The Changeling (1980)

George C. Scott stars as Dr. John Russell in this classic ghost story, which is a favorite of The Others director Alejandro Amenabár. Following the tragic demise of his wife and son, Dr. Russell moves into a rambling Victorian mansion to compose music and pick up the pieces of his life. He’s soon being woken by relentless booming sounds coming from the heating system, precisely at 6am every day… Then there’s the old “apparition in the self-filling bath” trick (actually, this may be the first time this happened onscreen, but it sure won’t be the last).

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Dog Soldiers: The Wild History of the Most Action Packed Werewolf Movie Ever Made

By Mike Cecchini

Movies

The Best Horror Movies to Stream

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

This is one of those movies which hits up all the clichés: people go into the dark, gloomy attic to search for clues, and to the library to look up old news archives on the microfiche; they visit the graveyard, and finally, hold a séance (which is overwhelmingly creepy). The eerie soundtrack and skilful storytelling result in a film which peels back its mysterious layers slowly for a satisfying finish.

The Hallow (2015)

If you go down to the woods today, make sure you don’t steal anything or break anything, or the Hallow will get you. Tree surgeon Adam and his family move into an ancient farmhouse to start sizing up the land for developers and quickly fall afoul of the supernatural creatures lurking in the trees, which turns out to be a really bad idea. This film’s got it all: foreboding mythology, grotesque body horror, and the most amazing line of foreshadowing dialogue you’ll ever hear.

The Uninvited (1944)

A couple of Londoners holidaying in Cornwall stumble across a gorgeous abandoned house on the seafront and immediately decide they want to buy it. The owner, a grumpy old colonel, is happy to sell it to them on the spot, but his granddaughter is reluctant. Turns out the house has got secrets, and, yeah, a ghost. The dialogue in this film is incredible in a very 1940s kind of way, and the tone can occasionally be accused of jolliness, but it’s also got its moments of proper creepiness. Best enjoyed with a glass of sherry.

Saint Maud (2019)

One of the best movies of the year, Rose Glass’s feature debut is a study of a young palliative care nurse who starts to believe she’s on a mission from God to save the soul of her dying patient.

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Saint Maud and the True Horror of Broken Minds and Bodies

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

Saint Maud Review: Elevated Horror That’s a Revelation

By Rosie Fletcher

It’s a film about conflicts between mind, body and soul, but it leans her into genre territory as Maud (Morfydd Clark) hear God talking to her directly and punishes her own body in an attempt to feel closer to her spiritual side, while the cancer riddled Amanda (Jennifer Elhe) celebrates her body as it lets her down. Shot in Scarborough everything about Saint Maud is unsettling right up to the indelible finale. An absolute must watch.

Crimson Peak (2015)

Director Guillermo del Toro insists that Crimson Peak isn’t a horror film but is, instead, a gothic romance. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t creepy as all get-out, though. When aspiring author Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) meets charming baronet Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), she falls madly in love and agrees to move back to his ancestral home, Allerdale Hall – aka Crimson Peak. But the house is crumbling and full of ghosts, and Sir Thomas’s sister doesn’t seem terribly friendly, either…

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Best Modern Horror Movies

By Don Kaye

Movies

Lake Mungo: the Lingering Mystery Behind One of Australia’s Scariest Horror Films

By Rosie Fletcher

Del Toro’s visual flair is in full effect here, and every frame of this film (even the scary ones) are stunningly beautiful to look at. It’s a treat.

Baskin (2015)

A group of cops answers a call from the middle of nowhere and unwittingly stumble into something that can only be described as ‘a nightmare’ in this skin-crawlingly nasty Turkish horror. Abrasive, aggressive and deliberately difficult, this is the kind of film that burrows deep into your brain, only to resurface later at the worst possible time. Then again, by the time you’re stranded in the middle of nowhere with only dead colleagues and Silent Hill-style monsters for company, you probably don’t need memories of a horror movie to freak you out.

His House (2020)

A Netflix movie which could make a mark come award’s season the directorial debut of Remi Weekes sees a Sudanese refugee couple seek housing in London only to find themselves haunted by ghosts of the past and present. This is proper horror and it’s creepy as hell but it also leans into the horror of the refugee situation with the two marginalized, restricted, and treated as outsiders from the start – it’s a powerful but uncomfortable watch.

Host (2020)

The defining horror of 2020 – written, shot, edited and released on Shudder in just 12 week – Host is so much more than a lockdown gimmick. Following a group of friends who decide to do a seance via a Zoom chat, this ingenious movie trades on the real life friendships of the cast and crew and the absolute ubiquity of the video software during isolation. It’s seriously creepy too, utilising visions in the shadow but later some seriously impressive stunt work. Director Rob Savage and writer Jed Shepherd have signed up for a three picture deal from Blumhouse on the strength of this movie which absolutely needs to be seen.

The Haunting (1963)

Not to be confused with the remake of 1999, this retro gem not only features some classic sequences of spooky happenings, but a philosophical take on the paranormal. As John Markway says, “The preternatural is something we don’t have any natural explanation for right now but probably will have someday – the preternatural of one generation becomes the natural of the next. Scientists once laughed at the idea of magnetic attraction; they couldn’t explain it, so they refused to admit it exists.

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House of Dark Shadows: The Craziest Vampire Movie You’ve Never Seen

By David Crow

TV

How The Twilight Zone Influenced Are You Afraid of the Dark?

By Chris Longo

Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) is investigating the mysterious Hill House, whose inhabitants often die in odd circumstances. With him he has Luke (Russ Tamblyn), the cynical heir to the home, the psychic Theo (Claire Bloom, way too cool for school) and Julie Harris as Eleanor, who has some ghosts of her own but figures a free stay in a mansion is as close to a holiday as she’s going to get. Markway is pleased the ladies haven’t done any research into the bad reputation of the house “So much the better. You should be innocent and receptive.” (The old dog.) This is a great, character-driven story with a dry sense of humor, and a mysterious heroine who feels oddly at home with the supernatural.

Unfriended (2014)

A cautionary tale about the dangers of cyberbullying, Unfriended achieves the seemingly impossible and manages to make the standard sound effects of everyday computer programs terrifying. The whole story is told through one character’s desktop, so you get to watch as she Skypes with her friends, posts to Facebook, or picks something to listen to on Spotify. The details are fascinating, and it’s kind of brilliant how the filmmakers manage to express so much about a character through her browser bookmarks and the messages she types, but doesn’t send. Once the horror kicks in, though, you’ll be too scared to notice much more of the cleverness.

Shutter (2004)

Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) is driving back from a wedding with her boyfriend Tun (Ananda Everingham) when she hits a girl – in a panic, they leave the body lying in the road and try to get on with their lives. They start feeling rattled when Tun’s photography is blighted by misty shadows and they both suffer from the odd hallucination which seems to show that their hit and run victim (Achita Sikamana) isn’t resting in peace.

Where would horror films be without photographic dark rooms? Even in the digital age, the dim red light and slowly emerging pictures remain classic tools of terror. Not to mention the room with rows of jars containing pickled animals, and the surprise homage to Psycho. This story has it all. There are also touches of dark humor throughout (the praying mantis is a recurring motif) and one of the most bone-chilling scenes has a hilarious payoff.

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TV

How A Creepshow Animated Special Pays Tribute to Series Legacy

By Matthew Byrd

Movies

The Weird History of A Chinese Ghost Story Franchise: Horror Comedy at its Wildest

By Gene Ching

Directors Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom skilfully create real characters and have the ability to communicate some of the most powerful and eloquent moments without dialogue.  The mystery deepens as more sinister evidence comes to light and the climax is truly chilling. This is one which will stay with you long after Halloween.

Spider Baby (1967)

The Merrye children live out in the middle of nowhere, with only one another and their family chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr) for company. Which is for the best, because they’re all afflicted with the family curse – a bizarre quirk of genetics that causes members of the Merrye family to begin to de-evolve once they reach a certain age. When some distant relatives come to visit, intending to challenge the kids’ right to stay in the house, things go sour fast. It’s a horror comedy, this one, but if you’re not a little bit creeped out by Virginia (Jill Banner), the Spider Baby of the title, and her spider game, well, good luck to you.

What Lies Beneath (2000)

Robert Zemeckis directs Michelle Pfieffer and Harrison Ford in this glossy supernatural thriller, with predictably high quality results. Clare and Norman Spencer live the perfect life – especially now their daughter has left for college and they’re enjoying empty nest syndrome. But the neighbors are causing some concern – especially when the wife disappears and Claire believes she is trying to communicate with her from “the other side.”

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8 Essential Gothic Horror Movies

By David Crow and 1 other

Movies

Horror Movie Origin Stories: Directors, Actors, and Writers on How They Fell in Love With the Genre

By Rosie Fletcher

Zemeckis has admitted that this is his homage to Hitchcock, and true to form, the suspense builds deliciously slowly. When Claire starts seeing faces in the bathtub (where else?) she goes to talk it over with a psychiatrist. A session with a Ouija board proves that somebody is trying to contact Claire, and it’s not long before she’s stealing keepsakes from grieving parents and reading books with chapters helpfully entitled “Conjuring the Dead.”

The result is a strong movie whether you’re enjoying the ghost story or the “Yuppies in peril in a beautiful house” aspect of it (and it doesn’t hurt that Michelle looks luminously beautiful).

Cat People (1942)

Serbian immigrant Irena doesn’t have a friend in the world when she meets Oliver. He’s kind and attentive and they soon fall in love, despite Irena’s lack of physical affection. She’s convinced she’s living under a curse that will mean she’ll transform into a panther and kill any man she kisses, and despite seeing a (deeply inappropriate) psychiatrist, she can’t shake her beliefs. Oliver is initially patient but eventually finds himself falling for his much more reasonable colleague, Alice. There’s no way this love triangle can end happily and, well, it doesn’t. Cat People is sad as well as eerie, with an increasingly paranoid atmosphere enhanced by skillful shadow play.

The Nameless (1999)

Five years after her daughter Angela went missing, presumed dead, Claudia starts getting weird phone calls. A female voice claims to be Angela, and begs her mother to save her. A series of weird clues leads Claudia to investigate a weird cult… but when things slot into place too easily, it seems like someone might be luring her into a trap. Thematically, The Nameless is similar to Jaume Balaguero’s later film Darkness; there’s a similar feeling of hopelessness and despair, a creeping horror that doesn’t let up, topped off with a horribly downbeat ending. Brrrr.

Dead End (2003)

The Harrington family are driving home for Christmas when they decide to take a shortcut. Obviously, that turns out to be a bad idea. Picking up a mysterious hitchhiker is an even worse idea. Dead End isn’t a particularly original movie, and it does have a truly awful ending, but there’s something about its characters, its atmosphere, and the way it tells the well-worn story that’s really effective. And creepy, of course.

The Others (2001)

Every ghost story introduces an element of uncertainty: are these things really happening, or are they in your head? Like The Innocents, The Others is partly inspired by Henry James’ novella The Turn Of The Screw. Grace (Nicole Kidman) has turned being neurotic into a fulltime job; her children apparently suffer from a sensitivity to light, which means the gothic mansion they inhabit must be swathed in thick curtains at all times. This makes things difficult for the new servants, who have turned up in a most mysterious manner… 

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31 Best Horror TV Shows on Streaming Services

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

TV

Best Horror Anime To Watch on Crunchyroll

By Daniel Kurland

Grace’s daughter has an imaginary playmate called Victor; her insistence that there are “other people” in the house vexes Grace until she begins to hear them, too. A piano playing by itself, shaking chandeliers and some truly traumatic hallucinations add to the panic as Grace questions exactly who she is sharing her home with. The tension builds to almost unbearable heights before a truly haunting ending. An intelligent script with a superb twist, quality acting and an atmospheric set (complete with graveyards, mist and autumn leaves) – what more could you want in a creepy movie?

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

“It is happening, and no one is safe.” Night of the Living Dead features some of the most brilliantly ominous radio broadcasts in all horror. When a group of strangers end up trapped in an isolated farmhouse together after the dead begin to rise, no one is in the mood for making friends, and it’s their own prejudices and stubbornness that leads to their downfall. (Well, that, and the fact that no one realized getting bitten by a ghoul would lead to death and reincarnation. Oops.)

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TV

The Walking Dead vs. Real-Life Survivalists: How to Prep for The Zombie Apocalypse

By Ron Hogan

Movies

Night of the Living Dead: The Many Sequels, Remakes, and Spinoffs

By Alex Carter

The zombie imagery is some of the most haunting ever committed to film, as vacant-eyed ghouls wander in and out of the shadows, chewing on dismembered body parts as they lurch around, constantly in search of fresh meat…

Candyman (1992)

Say his name five times into a mirror and the Candyman appears. Despite his sweet-sounding name, that’s not something you really want to do: Daniel Robitaille was a murdered artist, stung to death by bees in a racist attack, and so he tends not to be in a good mood when he shows up. Set in an urban tower block, this film demonstrates that horror can strike anywhere, not just in spooky old mansions in the middle of the countryside. It’s gory, grimy, and really quite disturbing.

M (1931)

A child murderer is stalking the streets of Berlin and, as the police seem unable to catch him, tensions run high. In an attempt to stop the nightly police raids, the town’s criminals decide to catch the killer themselves, and a frantic chase begins. Though there’s no actual onscreen violence, Peter Lorre is amazingly creepy as the whistling killer, and there’s a sense of corruption pervading the whole film. (Since both Lorre and Fritz Lang, the director, fled the country in fear of the Nazis soon after the film was made, it’s tempting to speculate on what M might be saying about Germany at the time, which only makes it all the creepier.)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

An early example of the found footage genre, The Blair Witch Project has been aped and parodied by everyone and their grandma, but there’s something unsettling about it that hasn’t quite gone away. Most of the film is improvised; the actors are really filming the scenes themselves, working from a loose outline of the plot, but without prior knowledge of what half the scares were going to be. That ambiguous ending lets you make up whatever explanation you like for the events of the film, which means whatever the scariest thing you can think of is, that’s what the film is about.

The Orphanage (2007)

Laura (Belén Rueda) is returning to her childhood orphanage with her husband and son in order to open it as a care home for children with disabilities. She’s busy, but still has time to notice that seven year old Simón (Roger Príncep) has found an imaginary friend, Tomas. He might have a sack over his head, but what’s a little creepy mask between pals?

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The Scariest Films Ever Made and How They Frighten Us

By Matt Glasby

Movies

Katharine Isabelle on How Ginger Snaps Explored the Horror of Womanhood

By Rosie Fletcher

Simón is adopted, so it’s only a little odd when a social worker shows up without an appointment. It’s slightly more odd that she’s snooping around in the shed at night. During a daytime party, Laura has an encounter of her own with a masked child, and then experiences every parent’s nightmare: Simón is missing. What follows is the story of a mother who takes the search for her son to the limits of her sanity. Geraldine Chaplin makes an appearance as the medium who conducts possibly the most spine-tingling of all onscreen séances, and there are some truly terrifying shocks during Laura’s search for the truth.

Director JA Bayona makes every shot count; the movie is visually beautiful as well as fantastically sinister. It’s a bona fide horror film but the ending might make you cry.

Ring (1998)

Ring isn’t a perfect film. It’s a bit too long and ponderous and there’s a bit too much irrelevant mysticism in there. But in terms of pure creepiness, it’s pretty damned effective. The idea of a cursed videotape was brilliant – who didn’t have zillions of unmarked VHS tapes lying around the house at the time? – and that climactic scene where the image on the screen crossed over into reality is bloodcurdling. Sneaky, too, since it managed to suggest that no one was safe. Especially not you, gentle viewer, because didn’t you just watch that cursed tape, too? An awful lot of people must have breathed a sigh of relief once their own personal seven-day window was over.

The Innocents (1961)

Based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, this film sees a young governess heading out to an isolated old house to take care of two young children who appear to be keeping secrets from her. Their previous governess died, along with another of the house’s servants, but their influence still seems to be lingering about. Or is it? Just like in the original story, it’s possible to read the ghosts either as genuine spectres or as the fevered imaginings of an over-stressed and under-sexed young woman. Either way, though, the film is terrifying.

The Skeleton Key (2005)

In a decaying house on an old plantation, an old man is dying. Caroline is hired as his carer, but although her job should be simple enough, she begins to suspect that something weird is going on – especially when she finds a secret room in the house’s attic filled with spell books and other arcane bits and bobs.

Is the old man actually under a spell? Why does he seem so terrified of his wife? And might Caroline herself be in danger? The Skeleton Key is one of those films that’s far better than it has any right to be; it slowly ratchets up the tension to a crazy finale and ends on an incredibly creepy note.

Insidious (2010)

Insidious uses just about every trick in the book to creep out its audience, and for some people, that might seem like overkill. There are lurking monsters around every corner; there’s a child in peril; there are wrong-faced nasties; and there are screeching violins every five minutes. On repeat viewings, the plot doesn’t quite hold up (halfway through, the film switches protagonists, which is baffling) and the comedy relief seems grating rather than funny. But the carnival atmosphere, the nods to silent German Expressionist films, the demon’s bizarre appearance, that dancing ghost… there’s something brilliant about it, nonetheless.

Dark Water (2002)

Part of the initial wave of soggy dead girl movies, Dark Water is occasionally very daft, but still effectively creepy. Yoshimi Matsubara is a divorcee, forced by circumstances to move into a crumbling apartment block with her young daughter, Ikuko. Their new home isn’t in the nicest of areas, but it might be alright if it weren’t for the leaky ceiling – and, um, that creepy little girl lurking in the shadows, the one who’s never there when you take a second look. Directed by Hideo Nakata and based on a book by Koji Suzuki, Dark Water might not be as terrifying as Ring, but it’s still pretty eerie.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

The effects are dated, and the sequels utterly killed Freddy Krueger’s menace, but the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film is still creepy, in its way. The premise is amazingly disturbing – a dead child molester is attacking children in their dreams – and, combined with some of the deeply weird nightmare imagery in this film, it’s more than enough to give anyone a few sleepless nights. All together now: one, two, Freddy’s coming for you…

Uzumaki (2000)

Slowly, inexplicably, a small town is taken over by spirals. Some people become obsessed; others are killed, their bodies twisted into impossible positions. Uzumaki is a live action adaptation of the manga of the same name, and it’s incredibly weird. Unspeakably weird. Visually, it’s incredible, although the green filters look less interesting than they used to due to overuse by every horror and sci-fi movie since. Still, most films don’t go to the extremes that Uzumaki does.

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

Yup, it’s another soggy dead kid movie, but this time the kid is a boy and the action is set in civil war-era Spain. A young boy is sent to a creepy orphanage, where the other boys scare one another by telling stories about the resident ghost, Santi, who was killed when the orphanage was bombed. Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, this isn’t your average ghost story – it’s a companion piece to Pan’s Labyrinth, but it’s much more of a horror movie than its better known counterpart.

The Vanishing/Spoorloos (1988)

Saskia and Rex are on holiday when Saskia suddenly, inexplicably, disappears. Rex dedicates his time to trying to find her, but to no avail. He can’t move on, can’t live with the uncertainty, so when Saskia’s kidnapper reveals himself and offers to show Rex what happened to her, his curiosity wins out. It’s a simple yet eerie story with an utterly devastating ending.

Audition (1999)

Takashi Miike’s Audition is more often described as extremely disturbing rather than creepy, but if you can get over that ending (which, let’s be honest, most of us watched through our fingers or from behind a cushion while shouting “NO NO NO NO NO” at the screen), the rest of the film may well creep you out. It starts off slow: a middle-aged man is thinking about dating again, but rather than trying to meet women via traditional methods, he holds a series of fake auditions for a non-existent movie. He meets Asami, a shy dancer, and starts wooing her – but Asami isn’t as sweet and innocent as she seems. Pretty much every character in this movie is an awful person, and the way they treat one another is disturbing on many, many levels.

One Missed Call (2004)

Also directed by Takashi Miike, One Missed Call is a parody of the endless string of soggy dead girl movies made in Japan at the time. But somehow it’s still really creepy. The premise is that, as the title suggests, teenagers are receiving missed calls on their mobile phones. The mystery caller leaves a horrifying voicemail: the sound of the phone’s owner screaming in agony. And since the call came from the person’s own phone, and appears to come from a few days in the future, it’s clearly a sign of impending doom. Sure enough, the kids all die just as the missed call predicted. There’s a nasty little backstory about evil little girls, and a bonkers televised exorcism, and generally, it’s a great film whether you love or loathe stories about scary dead kids.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

You might’ve thought about how you’d survive the apocalypse, but have you ever stopped to consider whether it’s actually worth doing? In The Last Man On Earth, Vincent Price is the only survivor of a mysterious plague that’s turned the rest of humanity into walking corpses, hungry for his blood. Every day, he tools up and goes out to kill the bloodsuckers; every night, they surround his house and try to kill him. It’s a dismal way to live, and a depressingly eerie film. It’s based on Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend – so skip the Will Smith adaptation and watch this instead.

A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003)

Part melodramatic family drama, part psychological horror, A Tale Of Two Sisters is all scary all the time. When a pair of sisters return from a mental hospital, having been traumatised by their mother’s death, they find their new stepmother difficult to adjust to. The nightly visitations from a blood-dripping ghost don’t help, either. But as always in these kinds of films, nothing is what it seems – you might need a second viewing to get your head round the ending.

Night of the Hunter (1955)

Robert Mitchum might have claimed not to be interested in movies or acting, but he’s great in this. As Harry Powell, a bizarrely religious conman, he’s terrifying, whether he’s preaching about the evils of fornication or chasing the children of his latest victim across the country in an attempt to steal a stash of money he knows they’re hiding. The use of light and shadow in this movie is just stunning; the first time Powell arrives at the Harper house is a particular highlight. Robert Mitchum’s singing voice isn’t half bad, either.

Peeping Tom (1960)

Peeping Tom was so controversial when it was released that it effectively ended director Michael Powell’s career. It’s violent, voyeuristic, and since it tells a story from the villain’s point of view; it’s entirely unsavoury. And it’s wonderful. It looks great, it has an amazingly twisted (and tragic) plot, and Carl Boehm is brilliant as Mark, the awkward, mild-mannered psychopath who feels compelled to murder as a result of his father’s deranged experiments. (That’s not a spoiler, by the way – but if I told you how he killed his victims, that might be.)

Psycho (1960)

Happily, 1960’s other movie about a disturbed serial killer was less of a career-killer. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is wonderful, sodden with guilt and tension right from the opening scene. It’s a shame that so many of its twists are so well-known now, because watching this without knowing what was going to happen must have been brilliant. It’s still great – beautiful to watch, genuinely tense and frequently unnerving – but it has lost some of its shock value over the years. (Also, the bit at the end where the psychiatrist explains everything in great detail is utterly superfluous.) Anthony Perkins’ final twitchy, smirky scene is seriously creepy though.

City Of The Dead / Horror Hotel (1960)

Getting the timing of a holiday wrong can have disastrous consequences, as City Of The Dead illustrates. Nan Barlow is a history student who, under the tutelage of Christopher Lee’s Professor Driscoll, becomes fascinated with the history of witchcraft, and decides to visit the site of a famous witch trial… but she arrives in town on Candlemas Eve, probably the most important date in the witches’ calendar. Um, oops.

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The Underrated Horror Movies of the 1990s

By Ryan Lambie

TV

Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix

By Alec Bojalad

City Of The Dead is often compared to Psycho, and there are enough similarities between the films that you could assume it was a cheap rip-off – but though the campy US retitling supports that assumption, this was actually made before Hitchcock’s motel-based chiller. It’s definitely creepy enough to be worth watching on its own merits.

Village Of The Damned (1960)

For no apparent reason, one day every living being in the English village of Midwich falls unconscious. For hours, no one can get near Midwich without passing out. When they wake up, every woman in the village finds herself mysteriously pregnant. Obviously, their children aren’t normal, and something has to be done about them… Based on John Wyndham’s novel The Midwich Cuckoos, Village Of The Damned is more of a sci-fi movie than a horror movie – but it’s super creepy nonetheless.

Dolls (1987)

Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon toned things down a bit for this creepy fairy tale, but not much. When a group of awful human beings are forced to spend the night in the home of a couple of ancient toymakers, they soon get their comeuppance at the hands of – well, the title gives that away, doesn’t it? You’ll never look at Toys R Us in the same way again.

The Woman In Black (1989)

When a reclusive old lady dies in an isolated house out in the marshes, a young lawyer is sent to sort out her estate. But there’s something weird about her house, and the townspeople aren’t keen on helping sort things out, either. The TV version of this movie is far, far creepier than the Daniel Radcliffe version; there’s one moment in particular that will etch itself on your brain and continue to creep you out for years after you see it…

The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974)

Beautifully shot with a great score, The Perfume of the Lady in Black is a dreamy, unsettling film where nothing is ever as it seems. The wonderfully named Mimsy Farmer plays Sylvia, a scientist haunted by melancholy and hallucinations. She’s never quite recovered from her mother’s suicide, and when she goes to a party where talk turns to witchcraft and human sacrifice, her sanity starts to unravel. But are her problems really all in her head, or is there something else going on? The film doesn’t reveal its secrets until the very end, when all that creepiness pays off spectacularly.

May (2002)

May was always a weird child, and unfortunately she’s grown into a weird adult, too. Unable to form any meaningful relationships with the people around her – not even a class of blind children she thinks might be kinder to her than the people who can see how strange and awkward she is – May decides she’ll need to take this “making a friend” business into her own hands. Dark and twisted and incredibly gory, May is as sad and sweet as it is creepy. A lot of that is attributable to Angela Bettis, whose performance is adorably unnerving.

Nosferatu (1922)

In this unauthorised take on Dracula, the evil Count is depicted not as a tragic or romantic anti-hero, but as a horrifying embodiment of the plague – complete with an entourage of rats. Max Schreck makes a brilliantly weird-looking vampire, all teeth, ears and fingernails; his shadow is especially unnerving. Although the ending as presented seems a little abrupt, it’s conceptually horrifying – as is the fact that, due to a copyright claim filed by Bram Stoker’s estate, all but one copy of this movie was destroyed back in the 1920s.

Vampyr (1932)

In a spooky old inn, Allan Grey is visited in the night by an old man who leaves him a gift-wrapped book, with instructions to open it only on the occasion of the man’s death. Which turns out to be soon. The book explains that the town is plagued by vampires – and, helpfully, gives instructions on how to kill them. Vampyr is an early sound film, so while there is some sound and a little dialogue, most of the silent film conventions are still in place. It has a fairly straightforward, Dracula-esque story, but the plot’s not the point. It’s a deliberately strange film, full of disembodied dancing shadows and weird dream sequences; there’s something almost otherworldly about it.

Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi is the definitive Dracula. With his eerie eyes and wonderful accent, he’s brilliantly threatening as the charming Count, but despite his iconic performance here, he’s not the creepiest thing about this film. Nope, that honor goes to Dwight Frye’s portrayal of Renfield, the lunatic spider-eater under Dracula’s control. He’s amazing, all awkward body language and hysterical laughter. Lugosi’s oddly cadenced speech has been emulated and parodied a zillion times, which takes away some of its power; Frye’s performance, on the other hand, is just downright disturbing.

White Zombie (1932)

A year after Dracula, Bela Lugosi starred as Murder Legendre, an evil voodoo master, in one of the first ever zombie movies. The zombies here aren’t flesh-eating ghouls but obedient slaves, working tirelessly in Legendre’s mill. Even when one of them tumbles into a grinder, work doesn’t stop. When the plantation owner goes to Legendre for help winning the heart of the girl he loves, he’s handed a dose of the zombie potion – and now the only way to break Legendre’s spell over the innocent girl is to kill him. Lugosi is suitably menacing, and the drone-like zombies are properly eerie.

The Cursed Medallion/The Night Child (1975)

For a few years, in 1970s Italy, Nicoletta Elmi was the go-to creepy kid. She pops up in Mario Bava’s Bay of Blood and Baron Blood, and in Dario Argento’s Deep Red, among others, but she’s never more creepy than she is in The Cursed Medallion. Here, she plays Emily, the daughter of an art historian who’s making a documentary on demons in paintings. She’s given a medallion but, as the title suggests, it’s cursed, and she ends up possessed by the spirit of a murderess. It’s atmospheric, lovingly photographed and, of course, Elmi is awesome in the lead role.

The Descent (2005)

A group of friends go off on a spelunking holiday, but get more than they bargained for when it turns out that the caves they’re exploring are dangerous in more ways than one. There’s enough time spent on character development that you really feel it when the group starts to get thinned out; there’s some incredibly painful-looking gore; and there are some amazingly freaky monsters. Watch it in a darkened room to make the most of its wonderfully claustrophobic atmosphere.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

The shine might’ve come off this movie because the Paranormal Activity franchise has become Lionsgate’s new one-every-Halloween cash cow, but there’s something deliciously creepy about this movie. Rewatching it now, even knowing when all the scares are coming, it’s still chilling. In a neat twist on the traditional haunted house story, Paranormal Activity’s entity haunts a person, not a house – so its victim can’t just pack up and move. The found footage conceit is used to great effect, making you stare intently at grainy nighttime footage of an empty room, straining your ears for distant footsteps, before making you jump out of your skin with a loud bang. (Pro tip: the movie has three different endings, so if you think you’re bored of it, try one of the others.)

Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

So much of the effectiveness of a horror movie comes down to its sound design. A well-placed creak, groan, echo, or jangle can make the difference between something completely normal and something terrifying. New scary noises don’t come along very often, but Ju-on: The Grudge managed to come up with something unlike any other scary noise you’ve heard before. Its ghost makes a weird rattling, burping groan as she approaches; it’s kind of like a death rattle, kind of like a throttled scream, and it’s creepier than anything you’ve ever heard before. The film is relentless, light on plot and heavy on jump scares, but it’s that noise that’ll stay with you.

Julia’s Eyes (2010)

Julia and her twin sister, Sara, both suffer from the same degenerative disease – one that causes them to go blind. When Sara undergoes experimental surgery and subsequently kills herself, Julia suspects foul play – and, indeed, something weird seems to be going on, with whisperings about an invisible man lurking in the shadows. But as Julia gets closer to the truth, her own eyesight suffers more and more…The film restricts our vision almost as much as Julia’s; it’s almost unbearably claustrophobic, and ultimately heartbreaking.

The Eye (2002)

Another film about eyes and the horrors of going blind, The Eye follows Mun, a classical violinist from Hong Kong, as she undergoes an eye transplant. Although the transplant seems to be successful – Mun can see again – something isn’t right, because now she can see dead people. And most of them are terrifying. The ending is vaguely preposterous, but the rest of the film is creepy enough that it’s forgivable.

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Lucio Fulci’s unofficial sequel to Dawn Of The Dead features perhaps the creepiest zombies ever committed to film. When a boat turns up in New York harbour with only a zombie on board, investigative reporter Peter West sets out to find out where the boat came from and what’s going on. He ends up on the island of Matool, where the dead are returning to life to eat the flesh of the living… and they’re really, really gross. Zombie Flesh Eaters was initially classified as a video nasty in the UK, and it’s not difficult to see why. Its atmosphere elevates it above your average exploitation movie, though; there’s something really melancholy about it.

[REC] (2007)

When a local news crew decided to tag along with the fire brigade for an evening, they probably didn’t realise they’d end up fighting from their lives in a zombie-infested tower block. Co-written and co-directed by Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero (yup, him again), [REC] is a decent enough zombie movie, until the final reel, when it reveals an even more terrifying ace up its sleeve.

Let Me In (2010)

Although remakes are usually terrible, Matt Reeves’ take on this unusual vampire story was both respectful of and different from the original and, for my money, it’s creepier. Lonely tween Owen doesn’t have any friends until the equally strange Abby moves in next door. They embark on an odd friendship/proto-romance, but Abby has a secret: she’s a vampire. The use of a candy jingle is, against all odds, really eerie, and by paring the story down to its most essential elements (and getting rid of that daft cat scene) Let Me In makes for a scarier watch than Let The Right One In.

Carnival Of Souls (1962)

After a traumatic accident, weird things start happening to Mary. A strange man seems to be stalking her, though no one else can see him, and she feels irresistibly drawn to an abandoned pavilion out in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, the pavilion housed a carnival, but now it’s just an empty building… or is it? There’s nothing surprising about the plot of this movie to a modern audience – you’ll have the whole film worked out within about five minutes – but it is gloriously creepy. The climactic scenes at the carnival are pure nightmare fuel.

The Shining (1980)

Probably the most effective of all the Stephen King adaptations, The Shining plonks Jack Nicholson down in the middle of a creepy hotel and lets him do his thing. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who gets a winter job as caretaker of The Overlook Hotel, where the isolation and/or ghosts send him out of his mind. There are so many creepy images in this film: the twin girls who just want to play, the woman in room 237, the lift full of blood, and, oh, lots more.

The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari (1920)

Appropriately, watching The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari feels like slipping into a nightmare. Caligari’s cabinet holds Cesare, the sleepwalker – a catatonic oracle able to answer questions of life and death with eerie accuracy. Is Caligari a hypnotist, a murderer, or both? It’s a strange story, made stranger with a twist ending, and rendered impossibly creepy by the Expressionist production design. The weird, distorted hand-painted sets give the film a crude, unreal beauty and, if anything, the passage of time has increased the film’s creepiness, because it’s so utterly unlike modern films.

The Exorcist (1973)

An obvious choice, but The Exorcist is genuinely scary. It’s deceptively simple: the filming style is realistic, the locations are ordinary-looking and, by comparison to more modern horror movies, there aren’t many elaborate effects or stunts. But the film makes every scary moment count. It’s atmosphere is oppressive, claustrophobic – there’s an ever-present sense of dread throughout. It ought to feel more dated than it does, but even now, the demonic makeup and scratchy voice of the possessed Regan gives me goosebumps.

The Omen (1976)

Damien is probably the ultimate creepy child. Adopted by the Thorns when their own newborn dies, it doesn’t take long for his dark side to emerge: Damien is the Antichrist.

There are so many iconic moments in this film, so many things that have shaped both the horror genre and our culture’s idea of evil; something about this film really struck a chord, and even now it’s pretty effective. Every death scene in this movie is memorable, but the suicide of Damien’s nanny at his birthday party particularly stands out.

Ghostwatch (1992)

Originally shown on UK TV at Halloween, Ghostwatch scared a whole generation shitless. It’s presented as a live broadcast, starring familiar BBC faces: Michael Parkinson plays host, while Sarah Green and Craig Charles report from the scene as a normal family recount their experiences with the terrifying ghost they’ve dubbed “Pipes”. The shadowy figure of a man is glimpsed several times throughout the show, some appearances more obvious than others, and as viewers call in to share their own stories, things get weirder and weirder…Okay, this isn’t technically a film, but it is so amazingly creepy and brilliant that it couldn’t be left off the list.

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is a wonderful mishmash of genres: it’s got humour, horror, singing and sex. It frequently teeters on the edge of absurdity. But at heart, it’s deeply creepy. When devout Christian Sgt Howie visits the isolated community of Summerisle, he thinks he’s investigating the abduction of a little girl – and the villagers certainly do seem to be acting suspiciously. But as his investigation continues, it becomes clear that something entirely different is going on. Howie runs headlong to his doom, and its final scene is downright spine-chilling.

Suspiria (1977)

Suspiria is Dario Argento’s finest hour. It’s eyeball-meltingly beautiful to look at, all unnatural neon lighting and ridiculously lavish set design; the music is cacophonous, a never-ending wall of sound that doesn’t let up; and the plot is, well, it’s functional enough.

Suzy, an American ballet dancer, flies to an exclusive dance school in Germany only to find herself in the midst of a murder investigation – and something weird is definitely going on with the teachers. If you haven’t seen Suspiria in a while, treat yourself to the Blu-ray. There’s nothing restrained about this movie, nothing ordinary; it sneaks up on you and worms its way into your brain. It’s brilliant.

The post The Best Creepy Horror Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

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THE LAST OF US 2 SPOILERS BELOW

I need to talk about this because I'm getting tired of everyone calling this game badly written.

Imagine for one second, that the entire game was just that part with Abby. You're a young firefly soldier, wishing every day to find the light. You spend every day living with hope and with your amazing super sweet dad who loves saving run away zoo animals and collecting coins. One day you experience a life changing event. You finally have a chance to find a cure but the same man who brought that to you has brought you the most pain in your life. He killed your father. He killed everyone in your group, your family, all but a handful of people. You have nothing more to fight for but to find justice in the cruelty brought to you.

Every day of your life after that revolved around finding him and getting revenge. 4 years of God knows what happens and you finally have a lead, you finally have a chance to make him suffer like you did, and you do.

Life after that is empty and do you have regrets? What do you even regret? This was your life for many years and there's nothing after to fight for. Except then it happens. You meet Yara and Lev and life has meaning again. Protect them at all cost because they are the light in the dark. They deserve more than what was given to them. You fight for them. You first want them to go alone with Owen but you then hope to go with them and start a new life. Yara dies saving you and Lev, and you almost die saving Lev. You both escape to find a better life but that is taken from you as well as the rest of your friends are killed one by one. Not only that but it's connected to the same person who has taken everything from you before. Revenge is the answer again. You want her to suffer for what she did. Yet at that moment, Lev calls out to you and you don't do it. Why? Because you don't want the same to come back to him. You want him safe and that is more important than anything. So you leave, hoping to end this cycle of revenge. You go looking for the light again, but your past choice haunts you and comes right back to make you suffer.

Now look at this again and tell me what is different between this story and Joel's story?

Right from the start of the outbreak, Joel suffers the most not because of the infection, but because a soldier killed his daughter. It's been 20 years and if you even try to tell me that Joel did not go through an entire rampage of soldiers until he found the one who brought the order to kill him and Sarah because he absolutely did. Tommy says that he has nightmares from these years. Joel was a hunter who murdered innocent people. Joel was a murderer because the world took everything from him. He seeked revenge and it brought him more emptiness than anything else. Until one day he found something to fight for. Ellie was his light and his life and he was ready to do anything for her and when people tried to take that away, he hasn't hesitated to bring it back. After that he wanted to end it and end the cycle. He calmed down and he settled. He's living a better life, but his past has come back for him and has taken that from him.

And THEN look at Ellies story and tell me the difference between these two? You have someone you care for, they are taken from you and you go back to get revenge. In your path to it you learn of other things to fight for but your past haunts you and just as you have the ability to kill Abby, you chose to end the cycle and go back to a better life with your wife and child.

Yes, they are different in aspects but all three of them have gone through the same shitty situation. Ellie chose to end it when she could and there is great honor in her choice.

This game is a PERSPECTIVE.

This world has always been bigger than Joel and Ellie.

We are biased for Joel because we saw his story. If we saw Abby's story first we would have been biased towards her.

So everyone please calm your asses down and stop calling out Abby because she is the exact same as Joel and Ellie and you are all cowards for not wanting to admit it.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, I'm up for debating anyone if they wanna chat DM me babes <3

[whistlewhileiblogit]

Is Sadie Adler...too capable?

(Okay just wanna say if I have any details wrong please correct me as I am doing this all by memory! Also long post warning)

So, I have seen a lot of complaints regarding Sadie Adler's characterisation. Mainly, a lot of people have made the argument that she is a bad character (some claiming her to be one of the worst written in RDR2), because she is "too badass" "invincible", and essentially...without saying it...a mary-sue of some sort.

A lot of people have complained that Sadie is essentially indestructible as a character, and it is unrealistic that a woman who had never been a gunslinger, could magically become one in such a relatively short time.

Now, in some ways, I can see a point. But allow me to explain my thoughts, and the ways I took Sadie's personality and character through my initial playthrough of the game.

Now it's no secret that I adore Sadie. So you could argue I'm biased, but hear me out.

We meet Sadie early on in the game, where she's lost EVERYTHING. Her home, her possessions...her Jakey. The man she was in love with. Her husband and best friend.

Now we don't know much about Jake, though it is implied he is probably the only man who treated her as an equal (before Arthur, at least). Why do I say this? Because of the way we see Sadie behave when she is with the gang, initially.

She spends the first few chapters simply staying around camp. Most of the time she is either sitting solemnly alone in mourning, or working (and most likely arguing with Pearson). She is pretty much constantly in a bad mood, and makes it known to everyone in camp. But could you blame her? Again, her entire life had been destroyed.

So when Arthur has his first mission with her, he automatically assumes her not wanting to work with Pearson means she's lazy. She quickly shuts him down and explains how she and Jake used to share the work. She was as used to hunting as she was washing dishes. So already we know she should at least be able to use a gun decently. Whoa look at that! Rockstar sowing some seeds!

When they're at Rhodes, we see Sadie do the first thing she has had a choice in doing: she buys herself new clothes. This may sound stuoid, but remember, the dress she had previously wearing wasn't hers. It was most likely leant to her by Mary-Beth or another woman in the camp. Sadie then makes it clear to the shopkeeper she doesn't need help putting her supplies in the back of the wagon.

I've seen people be offended by her behaviour in this scene alone. "she was being a bitch to the shopkeeper for no reason! He's just doing his job!" and- as someone who works in retail- believe me, I get that argument...sorta. I understand it to an extent, but we have to remember; Sadie is living in a time where women were second class citizens. It makes perfect sense that she'd be passive-aggressive automatically. She constantly has to prove herself when everyone assumes she is simply a helpless woman.

Now in this very same mission we learn just how trigger-itchy Sadie is. And she follows down this path practically the entire game. She has bloodlust, specifically for any and all O' Driscolls. And for good reason (I also wanna mention the implication that she mauly have been sexually assaulted by one or more of them but won't get into that).

We see Sadie pour everything she has- literal blood, sweat and tears, into trying to avenge Jake. And a lot of people- ahem- a lot of men have had a big problem with her behaviour. But the thing is, if she had been a male, losing his temper and going on killing sprees over the death of his wife, his character would be praised. There are countless lists of male protaganists in games who have the tragic backstory involving a murdered wife and/or child. How many male protaganists are there that act exactly the same way as Sadie, for the same damn reasons, and aren't criticised for it?

Now I hate making this a sexism debate, I really do. But honestly, most of the criticisms I see of Sadie's characterization are just that; sexist.

Personally, I have to admit I am a sucker for the trope of the hardened character with a heart of gold (Joel from TLoU, Bruce Wayne, Arthur freakin' Morgan, Sadie Adler, etc), despite the connotations it has. I know it is an overused trope to use a protags fambam as the driving force of the plot, but in all honesty? It's done because it is something everyone can relate to. If you had a loved one or child murdered, you're telling me it wouldn't fundamentally break you as a person, even a little? You wouldn't want revenge?

When you think of it this way, of course Sadie's actions make sense! Watching Colm O'Driscoll himself die wasn't enough for her. Hell, even when Arthur and Sadie hunt down the remaining O'Driscolls, even after brutally killing the last big feller- Sadie sits down and has her moment of reflection. And it is clear, that even though it's finally all over- it still isn't for her. It's clear that she believed so strongly (or wanted to believe) that if all the O'Driscolls were gone, she could finally be at peace. And in this moment, she realises just how wrong she was.

Sadie recognises she is too far gone by this point, and even years later when she meets John in the prologue, she reiterates as much. I personally believe she might have been abke to heal even slightly had Arthur not died. I really think that in a way was the straw that broke the camels back. She talks to John about how she spends most of her time alone because she finds it hard just being around other people. She doesn't know how to act anymore. She is self-aware enough to realise she is a "broken" person.

Sadie is an amazingly written, tragic character. I suppose one could argue she was too good of a shot, though I don't see why she couldn't have been considering she knew how to hunt. Not to mention rage and heartbreak does things to a person. I am sure there are probably plenty of fair arguments against her- though the ones I have seen simply have been plain and rooted in sexism.

I just really want people to think about if Sadie had been a male. I can almost guarantee there wouldn't be nearly as much backlash as Sadie has received.

Also, I have read many complaints about her voice and y'all are entitled to your opinion but I think her raspy voice is sexy as fuck sue me.