#and a ghost upset that another ghost (Phantom) didn’t win and starts a fight

[theshadowrealmitself]

Someone jokingly throwing Phantom’s hat into the ring during the next election and now he’s seriously competing against Vlad Masters to be Amity’s mayor

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge - Day #20: Favorite Song/Musical Monster

1.       The Phantom of the Paradise

Phantom of the Opera has spawned plenty of spin-offs and parodies, but none are weirder and cooler than The Phantom of the Paradise. Born in that stage-musical wasteland between the sinking of Hello Dolly and the rise of Lloyd Webber, Phantom of the Paradise was a bizarre rock-opera that was a mixture between the Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Our Phantom this time around is named Winslow; he didn’t start off deformed, but got that way through prison experiments and a record press accident. Winslow just looks and sounds awesome; his teeth are made of iron, and he talks through a voicebox that sounds like a ghost screaming through a CB radio. The entire movie has a bird theme to its characters, so Winslow’s helmet winds up looking like a hawk. In fact, a lot of people probably only know about this musical through the comparison between Winslow and Griffith from Berserk. It doesn’t help that their stories are kind of similar; locked in prison, mutilated, deal with the forces of evil. It’s probably just a coincidence, but I’m not gonna’ lie and say it wouldn’t be a cool reference if it wasn’t. Still, people should give this movie a chance on its own merits, just because of what campy fun it is.

2.       Lilith Immaculate

Cradle of Filth is a symphonic black metal band with a distinct gothic horror bent to their albums. They’ve done several concept albums, including one based around Gille de Rais and another on Elizabeth Bathory, but Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa was an original story. At the center of the album’s story is the monstrous goddess Lilith, trapped by the Knights Templar during the crusades and now possessing a girl sent to a nunnery. It’s all so incredibly gothic; sins of the past, sexual frustration, religious oppression, graveyards, doomed love.

I might not be the best judge of character, but Lilith here hits the nail with the hammer as far as gothic monsters go, reminding me a little of The Great God Pan or Gormenghast. Part of Lilith’s appeal is that, for all intents and purposes, she wins; the album ends with her former lover realizing that he has unleashed something he could never control, and now the world is doomed. Lilith heralds the dawning of a darker age, the antithesis of everything Victorian values holds dear. You can’t help but cheer for her as she readies to make war on the world.

3.       Stanton Cree

Ghoultown is a gothabilly band, which means that it’s like rockabilly but with some Southern rock and it’s about ghosts and vampires and werewolves. Needless to say, they’re pretty great. Their best known song is probably Drink with the Living Dead, which tells the story of a cowboy forced into a drinking match with an undead gunslinger. The ghoul, Stanton Cree, shot a man for his beer and can’t rest until someone beats him in either drinks him under the table or beats him in a duel.

I love ‘Weird West’ songs, and Ghoultown is the epitome of that. Stanton Cree has gone insane from eternal life and is determined to find somebody to beat him, but he won’t go easy on his opponent. It’s the kind of story that belongs in Deadlands or some other cowboy horror setting. It lacks the morality tale aspect of Ghost Riders, but that’s a deliberate decision to emphasize just how bizarre the story is. It’s a perfect mood piece for a dark night out on the Wastes.

4.       The Erlking

Schubert’s Erlking is an old-fashioned fairy, the dangerous and wild kind that need to be feared. As a father rides through the forest at night, his son sees the Elf King trying to seduce him to come away with him. It’s always nice to be reminded that fairies and elves aren’t nice, that they can be as dangerous as any monster or demon. But it needs to be done with a certain degree of subtlety, at least for a while, a delicate touch before the other shoe drops.

The Erlking is of course also a metaphor for death, and the father believe his son is only hallucinating as he dies in his father’s arms. It reminds me of the old medieval stories about how Fairyland was sometimes just a trap made by Hell, or how fairies would appear in afterlife narratives for children. Whether death, fairy, hallucination, or all three, the Erlking is still a chilling figure.

5.       The Phantom of the Opera

I don’t claim to be in the Phandom, I only have a surface knowledge of it, but I feel like the Phantom is still an important monster/horror icon, even before becoming a musical star. The Phantom’s story, even from the beginning, has been about toxic people and learning to grow up. Born deformed, the Phantom embittered himself against the world, becoming a genius at music, engineering, and just about everything else, but a child socially. The lesson he learns is about putting another person’s wants and needs before your own, and that’s still a vital lesson that is incredibly painful to learn. Naturally, I don’t care about that; I just enjoy making fun of Love Never Dies and deciding which Phantom is the best based on grodiness of deformity. Obviously, that’s up to objective taste, but it’s Ramin Karimloo. Karimloo has the most extreme deformities, and is prone to fits of ACTING, so Karimloo takes top spot for musical Phantom. The best non-Musical Phantom is, of course, Lon Chaney, followed by Charles Dance, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Again I’m… I totally don’t care about this musical. I swear.

6.       Mefistofele

I would argue that Boito’s Mephistopheles is the definitive version of the character, even more than Goethe’s. If nothing else, Boito’s Mefistofele defined the look of Mephistopheles, casting him in his famous red cavalier’s outfit. Mephistopheles here is also much more analogous to the Devil than his own separate entity here, since the opera begins with Mephistopheles challenging God to a bet over Faust’s soul. While Mefistofele might not be where the devil started enjoying his work, it’s definitely a far cry from Marlowe’s Mephistopheles urging Faust not to give up Heaven.

Still, despite the loss of complexity, Boito’s Mephistopheles is more personable, more charming, even a bit more human. There are situations he can’t control, and his relationship with Heaven is more casual. In the end, when Faust repents, you get the feeling that Boito’s Mephistopheles was enjoying the ride, and is almost as upset about not being able to have fun anymore as he is about losing his bet with God.

7.       The Water God

Anything by Dethklok kind of feels like cheating, since they were explicitly made to be a parody band of death metal. At the same time, though, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that the entire underwater setting where sea monsters have race wars with mermaids isn’t the dopest shit. And then one of these sea monsters finds a deep sea oracle and they turn into some dark ocean god and it’s all so freaking cool. It is unnecessarily cool for a joke band meant to shill for an Adult Swim show. But the entire epic of the water god here is genuinely more compelling to me than a decent chunk of the fantasy characters I have read about. Maybe I need to read better fantasy stories, or maybe everyone else just needs to get with the program and starting writing Metal epics about killer tritons.

8.       Ghost Riders in the Sky

Now this is the original Weird West song. Demon bulls, undead cowboys, nightmare horses; this song has got it all. And of course, this all goes without saying about how the song is also the unofficial theme song for Ghost Rider, one of my favorite superheroes. The song has that same ‘weird tale’ feel that Drink with the Living Dead has, which is probably because it’s based on an actual Texas folk tale. The image of a special Hell for cowboys is interesting, but I’m more fascinated by the prospect that Satan has livestock. Are all the Devil’s farm animals Metal like his steer? What about his chickens? Does Satan live on a giant dude ranch? Now I want some kind of Western/dark fantasy story where the Devil is a cattle baron all dressed in black and red.

9.       Red

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 was… God, I’m really putting this on the same list as Mefistofele good lord, but All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 was, well All Dogs go to Heaven 2. I mean it wasn’t the worst direct-to-video cartoon sequel of anything ever, it kind of just drifts there around the middle, but like many DTV cartoon sequels it has, unfortunately, a really great villain with a really great villain song. Designated antagonist Red is a demonic cat who’s after the angel Gabriel’s horn. His design is actually pretty good, and I appreciate the implication that if all dogs are heavenly, then all cats are therefore demonic minions. This is of course a known truth to anybody who has ever had to clean a litterbox, but it’s always nice to be reassured.

However, that alone would not let Red make the list; it takes more than being the redeeming feature of a DTV cartoon sequel to get here. What clenches it is Red’s pedigree; Red is voiced by Broadway musical veteran George Hearn, who has been in everything from Camelot to Wicked, but is most famous for being Sweeney Todd during the musical’s performance in 1970, and stayed with the production through its national tour and its Emmy-winning TV performance. In short, this man was the definitive Sweeney Todd, at least until Johnny Depp. All Dogs 2 even acknowledges it by having an entire sequence set in a demonic barber shop and theater. And I’m just a sucker for that kind of reference, so the evil red cat edges his way in.

10.   The Beast of Pirate’s Bay

There are plenty of Voltaire songs I could have picked, but it figures I would pick the one about a sea monster. A variety of leviathans are conjured up to describe the Beast, without any actual answers given. It figures that like any good tall tale, the Beast changes from teller to teller. The truth is, though, that I find this to be one of Voltaire’s more sympathetic songs, and I can’t help but identify with the ending. Once upon a time there was a little me who loved sea life more than anything else too. The song takes a lower spot because of the actual nature of the monster, but the feeling still shines through.

[darks-ink]

Ectober Week day 4: Corruption (AO3)(FFN)

Content warning: Major character death (implied), descriptions of the destruction of (animal) ghosts

No one has the power to change the past, only to delay the inevitable. Danny never realized until it was too late.

It was such a slow, gradual change that Danny still doesn't know where it went wrong. Even if he was given another chance, another shot at redemption, he wouldn't know what to change. Last time it was so easy, an obvious mistake with awful consequences, but this time there was no clear turning point.

It started so long ago, although he isn’t sure when, exactly, that was. He likes to think that it was somewhere soon after defeating his evil future self, but he thinks it had started even before that.

At first it was so innocent, almost impossible to tell apart from his normal thoughts. Quiet suggestions that he should defend himself from Dash, that he should fight back, not for himself, but for all of Dash’s victims.

He could see the justice in this, and he listened. The next time Dash attacked him, Danny fought him off. The nerds had celebrated him, and while Sam didn’t approve, Tucker was more than understanding.

When Dash tried again, Danny simply fought back even harder. And the next time, he hit even harder. By the time Dash gave up, not just on Danny, but on all bullying, even Tucker disapproved of his violence. He agreed that it was a good thing that Dash would stop bullying, especially since the other bullies would likely follow his example, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to take it this far.

Danny agreed, but the quiet voice inside his head didn’t let him say so, so he didn’t.

Dash wasn’t the only opponent that Danny faced with increasing amounts of violence, however. The ghosts that continued to harass him and his town were also subjected to his wrath. He beat them up far more than necessary to trap them in the thermos, and he got a vicious kind of pleasure from doing so.

He knew it was wrong to go against his moral code like this, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The quiet voice in his head crowed in pleasure, and in doing so it drowned out Danny’s own protests.

His senseless violence continued to escalate, and he started going on patrols without Sam and Tucker more and more often. They didn’t approve, he knew, but they couldn’t scold him about it if they didn’t know it had happened.

It was during one of these solo fights that he took the next step towards the inevitable. He was chasing some sort of ecto-animal, barely sentient enough to be aware of its environment, but an absolute pain in Danny’s ass. He had caught the critter several times, depositing it into the Ghost Zone every time, but it continued to find its way out.

Even the severe beatings that Danny delivered didn’t teach it to stay away, and he was just so tired of fighting this same ghost over and over again. The quiet voice in his mind had an idea to stop the ghost from returning, and Danny gladly obeyed.

He didn’t even think about what he was doing as he pinned the critter down with one hand, charging an ecto-blast in the other. He pressed the charged ball of energy against the chest of the small animal and released it, obliterating the core of the ghost. Afterwards, he dutifully sucked up the remaining ectoplasm, dumped it into the Ghost Zone, and promptly forgot about it, never stopping to think about what, exactly, he had done.

The quiet voice continued to encourage him to destroy ghosts (although it never actually said anything along those lines, only that he was taking care of problems in a more permanent way), and so Danny continued to obliterate any non-sentient ghosts that crossed him.

It was only a matter of time before someone spotted Phantom doing so, and word quickly spread. Within the hour, everyone in Amity seemed to know about Phantom destroying other ghosts, and everyone had their own opinion about the matter. Some were glad to see that bothersome ghosts would never return, others thought that Phantom had gone too far, and others still thought that this was the start of a slippery slope, a clear tell that Phantom wasn’t the well-behaved ghost he pretended to be.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were upset, of course. They knew that Danny had been patrolling without them more and more, and they suspected that he was doing so to hide his violence from them, but they never thought it would be this bad.

They demanded to know why he would do this, but he couldn’t tell them. He didn’t want to tell them about the quiet little voice that encouraged him, and it’s not like he did any real harm. The ecto-animals he destroyed were barely sentient, and did little more than cause trouble. The world was better off without them.

Their protests that people said that about most ghosts, including himself, were ignored.

Their attempts to follow him on patrols went unheeded as well, as they were easy to lose, and he made sure to restrain himself when they were around.

The reality of what he had been doing still didn’t hit Danny when he destroyed a humanoid ghost for the first time.

Amity Park had grown quieter. The animal ghosts avoided the city, and even the more intelligent ghosts had started to shy away. Instead of enjoying the peace, Danny grew restless and paranoid, and the voice was quick to strike. It started to encourage him to act pro-actively in his defense of the city, instead of waiting for trouble to come.

As Danny pondered how to achieve this, the voice started pointing him in the direction of ghosts who posed a threat to him, ghosts who might endanger his loved ones.

It was an obvious choice. There were many ghosts who endangered the city, but there was only a single ghost who posed such a clear threat to Danny’s family and friends.

And so Danny left for the Ghost Zone, finding his way to Clockwork’s tower with surprising ease.

The Fenton Thermos sat on a table, unattended.

Danny removed the empty Thermos that he wore on his back, and replaced it with the Thermos that contained his future self.

On his way out, he glanced at the screens that Clockwork used to view the timeline. He saw familiar imagery of his evil future self destroying Amity Park, and took it as silent encouragement from Clockwork.

He left the tower, and left the empty Thermos.

Actually destroying his future self was easier said than done, however. He knew he couldn’t win in a direct battle, and he didn’t want to risk the full ghost escaping.

His parents’ inventions provided the solution for his troubles. He managed to find a cage strong enough to hold the evil Phantom, and the questionably-named Ecto-Stoppo-Power-Erfier would then be used to strip the ghost of his powers. After that, destroying him was easy, especially when he remembered everything the ghost had done.

Danny still didn’t think about what he had done. The voice continued to whisper its approval to him, telling him that the full ghost had it coming, that he deserved it.

The voice continued to encourage Danny’s violence, and Danny continued to listen obediently. He grew sullen and withdrawn, with a short fuse and vicious when angered. Mr. Lancer and his parents grew concerned as well, and his sister, Sam, and Tucker hovered around him almost constantly.

They tried to help, in their own ways, but their words were almost incomprehensible to him. The voice, which had steadily grown louder, drowned them out with ease.

They were worried about him, he could tell, but nothing he did seemed to calm them down. He wanted to help them, his friends, his sister, his parents, and his teacher, but he didn’t know how.

Luckily, the voice knew.

And, just like before, Danny obeyed.

Suddenly, the voice grew quiet, and for the first time in who-knows how long, Danny had only his own thoughts to keep him company.

He couldn’t really remember what he had been doing. He knew that Jazz, and Sam and Tucker, and his parents, and even Mr. Lancer had been worried about him. He had wanted to help them, he remembered, but he hadn’t known how.

He knew he had helped them. He just couldn’t remember what he had done to achieve this.

It was then that he started to take in where he was. He didn’t recognize the area, as it had turned unrecognizable by some sort of great violence. There was debris littered around everywhere, and fire as well. The streets had emptied out, with no one around.

Had a ghost attacked? Were his loved ones safe?

He made to take off, and saw his gloves as he raised his clenched fists.

His gloves, which had once been white, were heavily stained with something red.

He looked at his hands, slowly opening and closing them. The red which stained them glittered, liquid moving as the gloves underneath shifted.

He knew it was blood, but he wasn’t sure how he knew. He wanted to blame the (not so) little voice, but it remained silent.

Suddenly remembering the situation, he shoved away his concerns about the blood on his gloves, and whirled around to inspect the area. He saw something moving from the corner of his vision and almost blasted it, but closer inspection showed that he had seen himself reflected in a shattered window.

He was about to laugh at himself for his own stupidity, but something felt off about his reflection, stopping him. Danny drifted closer to the window, and looked at himself.

Ruby red eyes looked back.

His skin was stained by soot, but the color seemed off. Automatically, Danny reached up to wipe some of it off. The skin underneath was discolored, a strange blue rather than his normal tan.

He closed his eyes, refusing to accept what he saw. He turned around, eyes still closed, and tried to force it out of his mind.

Something tickled the back of his neck, a welcome distraction. Until he realized that the tickling was his own hair, and he could feel it flickering like fire. Dread washed over him, heavy and cold.

Opening his eyes again, he pulled down a lock of his hair to inspect. Just as he had feared, it continued to wisp in his hand, despite the lack of wind.

Releasing it again, Danny turned back to look at his reflection. He nervously licked his lips, and shivered as he felt (and saw) a narrow snake-like tongue instead of his normal tongue. He grimaced, and saw the light glint off of his fangs.

“No...” he whispered, but suddenly he knew.

The voice, which had haunted him for months, steadily increasing in volume, didn’t just sound familiar because it was his mind’s voice. It had sounded familiar because it was his voice, the voice of his future self.

“No,” he repeated, stronger, and he whirled around to search the area around him.

His eye was suddenly drawn towards a bright sign in the rubble, and he instantly recognized it, despite the damage done to it. It had once read “Nasty Burger”, but most of the letters had been burned or blown off.

He glanced around himself, still looking for his loved ones, but he knew he wouldn’t find them. Not alive, at least.

He halted, inhaled sharply, and then turned back to his house. He had to speak with Clockwork.

He had to fix this, somehow.

But Clockwork didn’t show himself. The tower was as empty as the last time, and the screens still displayed the same imagery. Danny found himself watching them, and slowly realized that he had misjudged their purpose during his last visit.

They weren’t quiet encouragement from Clockwork to destroy his future self. They were a warning of the path he had taken.

He hadn’t listened.

Clockwork couldn’t change the past, he could only steer the future. And Danny hadn’t followed the correction, had instead followed the voice of his future self.

And so Clockwork could do nothing to help him, or his loved ones.

He ruefully thought to himself that this future was inevitable, after all.

[bachelorbro-blog1]

Season 21 -- Week 5

Alright, I have a headache. Let’s do this.

We open with Corinne and Taylor sitting in front of a fire and having a very emotionally mature conversation, by which I mean they’re calling each other names and sticking their tongues out because why wouldn't they? I won't bore you with the sordid details because I don't want to.

Corinne tattles on Taylor and then we cut to the rose ceremony where everyone who has never seen a single episode of a reality television show ever is convinced that Taylor will not be receiving a rose. 

The ladies are legitimately shivering in a barn during the rose ceremony, and (from what I can tell) Sarah is the only person who isn't wearing a coat. Way to give yourself the flu, Sarah. How will you teach the classroom full of children that you left to be on TV now?

“Nick should send them both home,” says Kristina, who is slowly becoming one of my favorite contestants. She already has a rose. There are blessings all around us. 

Nick gets rid of Sarah, who is cold, and Astrid, who I have once again forgotten was even competing. Sarah cries about some stuff. I didn't expect her to go home just yet, but I did expect her to go home, so whatever. Sorry, girl. 

Taylor and Corinne get roses because they still need to fight to the death like the wild gators they are. 

Everyone (except Sarah and Astrid) (again, sorry!) is going to New Orleans, which is actually a fun and cool place to go. Good job, ABC! 

Rachel gets the one-on-one date. She is READY (to be the next Bachelorette).

Corinne continues to pop up in talking head interviews to drunkenly ramble about why she doesn't like Taylor. I mean, I don't like Taylor either, but it’s not like I have to tell a camera about it every time I drink too many glasses of rosé.

Rachel and Nick start their one-on-one date at a fun flea market. “I want to eat you,” says Nick to Rachel, who is now wondering whether or not she wants to be here. 

They eat oysters. For some reason everyone thinks that oysters are aphrodisiacs. I happen to think that they look like gray ears. Then they eat beignets. The amount of powdered sugar on Nick’s beignet is equal to the amount of powder that you see on Scarface’s desk so there’s that, I guess. Nick is a messy eater, which is the least surprising thing I have ever noticed. 

A second line parade appears and they join. “I didn't know Nick had that kind of swag,” says Rachel. “Ugh, he doesn't,” weeps Liz, the forgotten doula, from her kitchen floor. 

This date has a lot of parts. They go to a concert being performed by someone named Lolo. She tweeted about this episode, but that didn't help me figure out who she is. Whatever. Thanks for being here, Lolo.

The date finally ends at Mardi Gras World, which is a terrible warehouse filled with frightening Mardi Gras parade floats. Rachel squeals out of excitement. I scream out of fear. Nick puts a string of beads around Rachel’s neck without asking her to take off her top, which is a nice surprise. 

Rachel talks about her dad, a terrifying federal judge who will surely grill Nick when he meets him at the hometown stage. 

The remainder of the ladies (who aren't Taylor and Corinne) are going on a group date to a straight up haunted house. Josephine calls it romantic. I would be inclined to agree, but my first crush was Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice.  

Raven will rebuke ghosts in the name of Jesus (because she is from a small town in Arkansas and has read the Bible approximately 865 times). Alexis will rebuke them in the name of Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino for similar reasons. 

The caretaker appears and tells them that his name is Boo, which...fine. There is a ghost named May living in the house. She is eight years old and has been searching for her doll for approximately 200 years. Jasmine G. does not believe that she exists so obviously I’m hoping that she’s carted away by this child specter. 

They enter May’s room and Jasmine G. moves some shit around because she likes to test her fate. They leave the room and play with a Ouija board, which is something I have always been a little too scared to do. Alexis is confused. She gets another free pass because I love her. 

The camera cuts away to a shady portrait of May as they play with the board and then the lights turn out and everyone shrieks. This is the most staged thing I have ever seen in my entire life but I am LIVING FOR IT. 

Nick suggests that they go exploring so Raven and another brunette tag along. May’s doll is missing from her room. It is more than likely that Boo is playing with the doll in his bedroom (anyone else getting AHS season three flashbacks?) 

Jasmine G. upsets the spirt world once again and a chandelier falls (very Phantom of the Opera!) She does not believe in Molly or Megan the ghost, but the jury is still out on May. 

Jasmine G. is finally afraid and makes peace with May the eight year old ghost. She asks for forgiveness and some books fall. Boo has rigged this house very well. She and Raven run away. 

Corinne and Taylor will be going on a two-on-one date the next day (and Taylor will be going home). Corinne orders a lot of food, calls Taylor “Queen of the house,” and then drinks champagne in a bubble bath. 

Danielle M. finally gets some more quality time with Nick. She is longer my top choice to win because she is simply too good for Nick and I don't ever want her to be sad. 

The next day Taylor and Corinne board a small boat with Nick and a swamp man. They are going to have their date in the bayou. A very big part of me is hoping that Shrek will be there. “Make America Corinne again,” says Corinne, who is a professional sociopath. 

They meet a voodoo priestess because apparently it’s very easy to find those. She is a white lady with multi-colored hair and a straw fedora. They have their tarot cards read. Taylor goes first. Corinne tattles on her again and calls her “a big mean swamp monster,” which, same. 

The reader tells Taylor that someone on the date is very emotionally intuitive, which is a huge lie. Taylor tattles on Corinne while Corinne asks how to make a voodoo doll that is specific to a person (that person may or may not be Raquel) (Kidding! It’s Taylor! Can you imagine?) 

More stuff happens and then Nick sends Taylor packing. Now she can go back home to a place where she has no friends because she is a mean person who brags about having a Masters degree. Ashley I. schooled her on Twitter so be sure to check that out when you get a chance. 

After Taylor is sent home and left stranded in the middle of the swamps to be eaten by the gators and ABC executives, she has a voodoo ceremony performed on her and leaves to find Nick and Corinne on their date. She is going to reveal Corinne, but we have to wait until next week to see that happen. Taylor walks through the woods in this season’s Chad Bear moment.

After the credits Nick dons a Nicolas Cage mask and makes Alexis kiss him. It’s ok, Alexis. You will find the perfect man for you on Bachelor in Paradise. I promise. 

My Top 5:

Vanessa

Rachel

Danielle M.

Raven

May the Ghost