#and i seen many different horror films and games since then

[littlealeta]

Me: Recovers from Amanda the Adventurer and then searches again for theories on wtf is going on in it.

Also me: gets depressed and sleeplessly disturbed all over again.

[cleolinda]

The Scariest Movie I Ever Saw in a Theater: The Ring

I'll tell you up front that the story I'm going to tell you is about "The Ring (2002)," in the sense that it is about The Ring in the year 2002.

See, I don't know what The Scariest Movie Ever is. A quick google says that the consensus is The Exorcist (I haven't seen it, because I never felt like scheduling a day to freak myself the entire fuck out). But horror is specific, and not just to a person, but to a time and place, even. When I saw The Shining as a teenager in a well-lit living room with other people, I didn't even really flinch, but I bet it would play very differently to me now. I don’t think The Ring is at the top of anyone’s list, but twenty years ago, I had a personal interest in it—at the time, I was running a dinky little Geocities site devoted to movie news. Links curated and compiled from all the other, bigger sites I followed—basically, it was the linkspam format I have used on multiple platforms, including here on Sundays. And so, as someone who followed theatrical releases pretty closely for two or three years, I saw the trailer for The Ring, and I immediately knew it was going to be huge.

To locate you in time, this was just after three self-satirizing Scream movies and the Overcomplicated Serial Killer films of the '90s. The Ring was something completely different: chill aqua-blue color grading a good 5-6 years before Twilight; a mournful Hans Zimmer score; no jokes, no quips; and a slow, inexorable sense of doom. Grief, even, given that the movie begins with the death of the main character's niece. What immediately struck me about the first trailer was 1) the melancholy of it, and 2) how much it doesn't explain. Onscreen, you get the title cards,

THERE IS A VIDEOTAPE IF YOU WATCH IT SEVEN DAYS LATER YOU DIE

Concise! Understandable! A woman (Naomi Watts) is freaking out upon discovering that her young son has just watched it! Admirable job setting up the premise and the stakes of this entire movie in thirty seconds flat, without even any dialogue. That's all you need to know, and thus, the remaining minute of the trailer can do whatever it wants, and what it wants to do is be fucking weird. Echoing voices, TV static, a closeup of a horse's eye, ladders, a girl with dark hair, people reacting to things we don't see, drippy doorknobs, rain. Characters don't give us the whole plot in convenient soundbites of dialogue (like they do in a later trailer); we just hear lines, overlapping, murmured out of context—

did you see it in your head? she talks to you... leading you somewhere... showing you the horses... you saw it. did you see it in your head? she shows me things. Everyone suffers.

That you saw it has lived in my head ever since, and not once have I charged it rent. But the "best" part is Naomi Watts screaming at the end, because you don't hear her voice; you only hear this heartless telephonic beeeeeeep. It's 2002 and I'm watching this trailer, thinking, I have no idea what the fuck I just saw. This is going to be huge.

And it was, to the tune of $249 million on a $48M budget.

At risk of recapping what you might already know, Ringu, aka Ring, is a media franchise that spiraled out from a trio of Koji Suzuki novels into Hideo Nakata's film Ringu (1998), a landmark of Japanese horror, plus several other movies, some TV series, many comics, and even a couple of video games. The overarching story is about a murdered girl/vengeful ghost named Sadako Yamamura whose rage and pain have created a cursed video tape, you watch it and you die unless you pass the tape around like a virus, seven daaaaays, etc.

The "ring" in question is the rim of a well. Keep that well in mind.

The movie I saw is the U.S. remake, which itself had two sequels. (The iconic Sadako is now named Samara Morgan. Keep her in mind, too.) Director Gore Verbinski moved from The Ring to Pirates of the the Caribbean (!), and so Hideo Nakata himself would direct The Ring Two. I... honestly have only seen the first one. And I was right, it was huge, and it kicked off the American J-Horror Remake genre, for better or worse. But what gets forgotten about The Ring is its marketing campaign, which I followed pretty closely for my doofy little news site.

It was inspired.

The story of The Ring is partly the story of the sea change in the media landscape—how we watch movies. And the story of its marketing is a picture of the very last years before social media changed the wilderness of the internet into something that feels so big, like a billion people could see anything we say, and yet so small—only a tame handful of places to say it, owned by three or four companies, and corraled by algorithms.

Back around 1997-1998 or so, I worked at a video store (Movie Gallery, where the hits were there then, guaranteed) for about a year and a half. By the time I left, we had started adding DVDs to the VHS tapes on the shelves, but we hadn't replaced the entire stock. Video stores might have transitioned fully to DVD by 2002, I'm not sure, but people still commonly had both VCRs and DVD players in their homes. And I remember that The Ring was sold in both formats when it eventually hit home video. Which is to say—you know the analog horror genre today? Marble Hornets, Local 58, The Mandela Catalogue?

Analog horror is commonly characterized by low-fidelity graphics, cryptic messages, and visual styles reminiscent of late 20th-century television and analog recordings. This is done to match the setting, as analog horror works are typically set between the 1960s and 1990s. The name "analog horror" comes from the genre's aesthetic incorporation of elements related to analog electronics, such as analog television and VHS, the latter being an analog method of recording video.

Okay, but this is just what home media was like, and 2002 was at the very tail end of that—boxy black VHS tapes that degraded with time and reuse were just how we lived. At the same time, I'd been using CDs for music since about 1991, and all our software installs came on CD-ROM discs; a "mixtape" by that time had shifted to mean a rewriteable CD rather than a cassette tape. In college, I—well, I'll plead the Fifth as to whether I downloaded mp3s via Napster, but I was also taping Mystery Science Theater 3000 on VHS over the weekends. It was Every Format Everywhere, All At Once, and we kept half a dozen kinds of players around for them. Here in 2023, we stream and download everything invisibly, unless we choose to engage in format nostalgia. (I've already run into the problem of Apple Music deleting songs I really liked, due to this or that licensing issue, because I was really only renting them.) The year The Ring hit theaters was the edge of a last shimmering gasp of physical media where iTunes had only come into being the year before, and iridescent discs were still mostly what we used, but cassettes, both video and audio, were still viable. And so, people did not think it was terribly weird when they started finding unlabeled VHS tapes on their windshields.

Movieweb, quoting TikTok user astro_nina:

"Their marketing strategy was essentially 'let's get this tape viewed by as many people as possible without these people being aware of what this is, sort of raising intrigue," she says. One way they achieved this was by airing the tape, which allegedly marks its viewers for death within seven days, as a commercial with no context. The video would air between late-night programming "with no words, no mention of a movie, for like a month...so people would run into it and it would just go on to the next thing, and people would be like, 'what the f--k is this?'"

I remember seeing the Cursed Video as an unexplained ad at least twice, by the way. That TikTok also indicates that DreamWorks straight-up sent copies of the tape to Hot Topic stores, as well as planting them under actual movie theater seats. While running my movie site, I heard at least one story of someone finding a tape on the sink counter of a restroom at a club. Did the marketing department actually plant tapes in bathrooms—or did a freaked-out recipient leave it there, hoping to dodge the "curse"?

(I haven't embedded the Cursed Video here, by the way—but I could have. If you'd like to see the American take on it, you can watch both the full version and the shorter variant that appeared in the movie itself. A text description of what the fuck you're even looking at is here [content note for both: blood, insects, animal death, body horror, and suicide by falling]. The original version from the Japanese film is shorter, and it's eerie rather than gruesome.)

BUT WAIT, THERE WAS MORE: DreamWorks had something of an alternate-reality campaign going with a handful of in-character websites. This was only a year after Warner Bros. ran the groundbreaking "The Beast" ARG for A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: "Ultimately, fifty websites with a total of about one thousand pages were created for the [A.I.] game." (I lurked in the Cloudmakers Yahoo group.) Marketing for The Ring did not go anywhere that in depth, nor did it need to; it was both a smaller film and a smaller story. I saw at least two “personal” websites (seemingly amateur and a little tacky, like my own), but the one I particularly remember was about someone who owned/trained horses? I'm not sure if it was meant to be the actual Anna Morgan character—Samara's mother—or maybe someone who had noticed that the Morgans' horses were disturbed? I'm not even sure anyone even remembers this but me. Reddit users dug up a few other archived websites, but they're about Sadako, the curse and/or videotape; they aren't as subtle or character-oriented as the site I remember. (Honestly, I wonder if weird shit like "What Scares Me" or "SEVEN DAYS TO LIVE" were made by fans rather than a marketing department, but who knows.)

[The “About” page from Seven Days to Live on the Internet Archive.]

[The entirety of An Open Letter on the Internet Archive. “UPDATE” is a now-blank pop-up. I would bet $5 that it was originally a pop-up of the cursed video.]

I need to point out here that Facebook did not exist in 2002. It would not exist for another two years, and Twitter wouldn't exist until 2006. Even MySpace was not a thing until the next year. I didn't start my Livejournal until October of 2003. What we had, for the most part, were independent forums and blogs. We also had Creepy Internet Fiction like "The Dionaea House" and "Ted the Caver"; their use of the blog format, of people out there seemingly living their lives until something fucked up went down, gave the stories the shape of reality. And it helped that these blogs had comment sections, sure—sometimes more story unfolded there—but for the most part, an author could "abandon" a blog, and you'd just find the story there via word of mouth. Like the Ring blogs I remember, it wouldn't seem strange if no one replied to you, whereas today, you'd have to hire a writer to sit on Twitter, or Reddit, or even Tumblr, and interact with people in character. Could you do something like The Ring's mysterious, weird-ass blogs today? Would anyone even notice?

So: It's 2002, my head is full of Alternate Reality and eerie images and you saw it, and I'm hype as hell to go out and see The Ring. I'm perfectly happy to go see movies by myself, so I went in the early afternoon (best time to get a good seat). The movie ended up being a sleeper hit, and the first weekend, the public was still sleeping on it, so there were only 7-8 other people in that theater, grouped in maybe two clusters. I was off in my own little pool of darkness in the upper right quadrant. Functionally, once the lights went down, I was alone.

Despite some middling reviews at the time, The Ring is something of a horror classic nowadays. If you want a scary movie this Spooky Season, check out The Ring. Or don't, because it nearly killed me.

We're at the last, I don't know, third of the movie? And Our Heroine has tracked down the origin of the Cursed Videotape to some creepy mountain motel or whatever. SPOILER, it turns out that it was built over the Cursed Well (everything in this movie is cursed) that Our Villain was thrown into—that's why Sadako/Samara is a vengeful wet murder ghost crawling out of TVs now. While investigating this decrepit hotel room, intrepid journalist Rachel and her, who is it, her ex-husband? her kid's dad, idk, discover the well under the creaky old floorboards. And then, wouldn't you know it,

NAOMI WATTS FALLS INTO THE WELL

NAOMI WATTS FALLS INTO THE FUCKING WELL

THAT'S WHERE SAMARA'S BODY IS

[The rather slapstick moment when Rachel falls into the well. Does not include what actually happens next.]

I go absolutely rigid in my seat. Naomi Watts is splashing around this dark-ass death swamp of a well and I know, with as much certainty as I have ever known anything in my life, that Samara is about to pop up in all her pasty, waterlogged glory. All the sad creepy dread, all the desperation to figure out what the fuck all that shit on the tape was and stop Samara from killing Rachel's son, all the horrible contorted victim faces, all the alternate reality I’ve been soaking in, it has all come to this. I have to leave the theater. I cannot be having with this. I have to be gone from this place. My legs do not work. I cannot feel them. I am frozen. I want nothing more in this life or any other to get up and leave this cavernous pitch-black room, and I cannot. I start praying for death. I want you to understand that I am not trying to be flippant or humorous. This is genuinely what went through my head. I was too scared to even think, "You know, you could just pray to pass out or for motion to return to your limbs or something." No, I sat there in The Ring thinking, Please for the love of all mercy just let me cease being.

You know that scene in Mulholland Drive (also starring Naomi Watts)? Winkie's diner and the EXCRUCIATING tension? It was a little like that, except I wasn't watching it, I was experiencing it, and Samara was my dirt monster out behind the diner.

Except that the jump scare didn't actually happen. I mean, yes, Rachel finds Samara's body down there, but—I don't remember exactly, please don't make me go watch it again to tell you what actually happens. It's played more sympathetically on Rachel's part, as I recall, and she and her ex get Samara's body out so that she (Samara) can have a proper burial.

And then it turns out that this is not the end of the movie. It turns out that Rachel has Fucked Up.

I think I was relatively okay through the rest of it, although the climax is Samara emerging from a TV in her full glitching swampy glory to scare [SPOILER] to death. I don't recall praying for death twice. There's a point when you're so exhausted from fear chemicals that you're like, yeah, this might as well happen. Bring it, Soggy. I did have a hard time prying myself out of that seat afterwards, though, and my mom says that when I got home, I had the classic thousand-yard stare. How was the movie?

"It was great," I said, and I meant it.

I've seen things that were objectively scarier (I watched much of The Haunting of Hill House from behind a pillow, to be honest), and it's not like I've never experienced fear in real life. But I respect when a movie that can make me feel so intensely, and there's something weirdly precious about the way horror is a safe roller coaster, as it's often been said. So I love telling the story about The Time The Ring Nearly Killed Me—a movie that actually made my body stop working—and I love thinking of how embedded in a specific time and place that movie was for me. The last gasp of VHS when the Cursed Videotape still seemed plausible; the way the internet was still wild and weird and free; where I was in my life, keeping up so avidly with all the movie news, and finding myself in such a little pool of darkness early one afternoon. It's the scariest movie I saw in a theater; that's the alchemy of circumstance.

[fernsnailz]

January 2024 Review Roundup

hello everypony‼️ something i want to do through 2024 is a mini review series where i recap some of the media i watched/played/read at the end of every month. this was inspired by tumblr user ponett’s 2023 media wrap-up, it's a great collection of quick reviews so go check it out!

i’m doing this partially as writing/analysis practice, but mostly because my memory is really bad and i want to keep track of what i've seen this year. with that said, my thoughts on everything i finished in january 2024 is under the cut :]

Portal 1 + 2

yyyup i beat Portal and it only took me (checks watch) 13 years

the first time i played Portal 2 was at a friend’s house when i was in middle school, and i had a fuckin blast. but after all that time... it still holds up! i don’t think anything i have to say about Portal will be particularly new since people have been praising this series since it came out. the writing, the level design, even the controls feel tight and engaging the whole way through. i played on switch and expected a bit of jank, but i was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it felt to play. the only part that dragged for me were the levels through the old aperture labs, but i think i would like them a lot more on a second replay. Portal 2 is fantastic and one of my new favorite games, the artistry behind it is truly incredible and i’m really glad i finally finished it. while i was playing Portal 2, i described Glados and Wheatly to a friend and said “they’re like if a ceiling fan could be passive aggressive and if Fozzie Bear was an evil golf ball”

I Think You Should Leave

finally. i can truly understand and appreciate Subspace Dubbed Over

i think one of my favorite things about I Think You Should Leave is how it utilizes horror. beyond sitting slack-jawed in disbelief at the crazy events unfolding before my eyes, a number of the sketches dipped into bits that genuinely kinda scared me. like the one sketch that circulates on here where the guy (pig?) in a mask crawls through a dog door, which is. genuinely terrifying. but so many of the other sketches have slow, nerve-racking pacing leading to crazy shit that would be perfect in a horror film were the context different. idk i like dissecting how horror and comedy are essentially the same thing and I Think You Should Leave was very good at enabling that <3 favorite sketches are probably “then let my wife eat the damn receipt” and “55 BURGERS 55 HOTDOGS 100 FRIES 100 TATER TOTS”

Sonic Prime Season 3

man. ohhhh man. i didn’t go into this with high expectations and i still feel let down. Sonic Prime Season 3 was definitely my least favorite “season” of the batch - abysmal pacing, very few character moments i actually enjoyed, and the things i praised about the show felt very underutilized through these episodes. Nine is the shining star of Sonic Prime and i was looking forward to seeing his more villainous side, but his character took such a sharp turn into pure evil and it felt like he spent the entire season repeating the same three lines. and as much as i praise Shadow’s writing in Prime, it doesn’t really matter when he spends half of the season trapped in a hole that he just… runs out of later.

lastly, i cannot stop thinking about how bad the pacing of this season is. three episodes for a repetitive final battle feels like such a waste of time when you see just how much they rush the emotional resolutions in the last episode. however, there is one thing i truly love about Sonic Prime Season 3 - i love the Sails and Mangey fakeout death. it's so fucking funny. like you really expect me to believe that two cartoon animals in this Y-7 rated show EXPLODED?????? absolute comedy gold.

overall, i just… don’t really know what to think of Sonic Prime. anything i enjoyed in the show was often fleeting, and much of it felt like its only purpose was to waste my time. also Rouge i can’t believe they did you so dirty oh my god

Ghost Trick

i was so proud that i figured out the secret behind Sissel’s memory loss like halfway through the game. however i also kept getting caught during the prison escape sequence like an idiot

Ghost Trick is in a similar situation as Portal where 1. it’s incredible and one of my new favorite games, and 2. there’s nothing i can really say about it that hasn’t already been said or just. shouldn’t be said. Ghost Trick is a fantastic mystery game, and because of that i think it’s best to go into its story as blind as possible. the narrative unfolds in such fascinating ways - even though the actual object manipulation gameplay isn’t directly about solving the mystery (like in Ace Attorney or other mystery games), it still ties wonderfully into the story in some incredibly unique ways.

i also really love the artstyle of Ghost Trick - i love 2D character artwork with that sharp lineweight, it reminded me a lot of Sonic Battle (another game with an artstyle i love). i was also really impressed by the 3D character models and animation - despite the limitations of the camera, you get a wonderful sense of everyone’s personality from the limited body language expressed in the overworld (even though the models lack much facial expression which. i guess they don’t really need? idk that was the only thing that threw me off). anyways yeah everyone should play Ghost Trick so Ghost Trick fans can be freed from their curse and talk about it without having to tag like 10 different spoiler tags. and for Missile

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

ok bear with me. i went into Scott Pilgrim Takes Off without reading the comics first. and i fuckin loved it

my understanding of Scott Pilgrim before SPTO was mostly from the movie (I KNOW I’M SORRY), but even with my base understanding of the series i really enjoyed this show for what it was. i found myself appreciating the time they dedicated to further develop every single character in the show - especially Ramona. she’s fantastic as the lead, i really loved watching her reconcile with her exes and seeing all of them grow instead of exploding into coins. my favorite episode was probably the one with her and Roxie - not only did i adore the movie-jumping set pieces, but you really understand the weight of Ramona’s mistakes in their past relationship and how much it hurt Roxie. despite the big climactic fight, the flashbacks are quiet, subtle, heartbreaking. Ramona’s apology is genuine, and it feels so wonderful to watch her confront her past throughout the show. also i think it’s really funny that for all these characters to become the best versions of themselves, they had to kill off Scott for most of the story

and holy shit the artstyle and animation. oh my god. i love watching something that makes me immediately go “i need to see the storyboards for this RIGHT NOW.” SPTO is such a visual delight to watch, it elevates the artstyle of the comics while also keeping what makes that style so appealing - i love the line weight on the characters, i love how much forward energy the animation has, i love the fucking. virtual boy section. as soon as i found out Science Saru was also behind Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, everything made immediate sense. i was destined to love this show.

another worry i had going into SPTO (besides the fact that i hadn’t read the comics lol) is that the original cast from the movie was returning. i think the movie cast is fine, but i wasn’t sure how some of them would fare with voice acting for animation. however, i thought they all did a good job - i think the whole cast loves these characters and would be able to fit into them fairly easily no matter what form their performance takes, and they definitely had a good voice director in the studio with them. the only thing that felt off about the voice performances to me was that sometimes it sounded like some of their mics kept peaking?? idk some of these episodes i watched high as balls and i felt like i could hear and see every single sound and frame of the show. so that might have just been me.

god i did not. expect to have this much to say about Scott Pilgrim. i really loved this show and i’m currently reading the comics to fully catch up on the general Scott Pilgrim experience - i think reading the comics AFTER Takes Off is making me appreciate even more of the character work that went into the show. like they do so much with Mathew Patel in SPTO, a character that was. not originally around for a long time from what i’ve gathered? also i like the funny little robot. oh my GOD i cannot talk about this show anymore whatever it’s good get me out of here

Sword AF Season 1

i put on the Smosh cast’s D&D series to play in the background while i was drawing. i did not expect to think much of it. instead, i had one of the most enjoyable D&D podcast experiences since i listened to The Adventure Zone Balance???

i haven’t really enjoyed other D&D podcasts since i dropped off of The Adventure Zone, and i wasn’t expecting much from Sword AF of all things. then i saw that Shayne was playing as a druid warforged made of plants and his name was fucking Fernie and i sat my ass down and LISTENED. while i think Sword AF is currently lacking in its world and larger story, those things just. aren’t really what Sword AF is really trying to provide at the moment. it’s main focus is comedy, and the players are genuinely such a delight to watch play together and build off of each other. they mostly focus on bits and goofs for the sake of she show's comedic tone, but i still found it thoroughly enjoyable because every player embodies and performs their characters really well. idk Sword AF was an unexpected hit for me this month, i thought it was fun. and i love Fernie so much

Plastic Death - Glass Beach

so originally i wasn’t going to include music reviews in these roundups at all, but then i was entirely surprised by a new Glass Beach album and oh my god. holy shit. oh my fucking god jesus christ. holy shit. its preddy good

Plastic Death gets the low point of the album out of the way immediately. it starts with the “phone call/conversation audio” trope that i don’t particularly enjoy - HOWEVER despite me disliking this opening, 1. it sets up the overall themes of Plastic Death very quickly, and 2. the rest of the album blows this 40 second opening completely out of the water. from there, the album grows into something beautiful and uncontained, and i just. i really like it

Plastic Death captures the beauty of the temporary, asks what it means to be created for a cause you can’t fulfill, questions if you can reclaim yourself from cycles and constraints designed to destroy you. and is also about being transgender. the lyrics are abstract in a way that requires a conversation with the listener, many of the vocals obscured and smooth like waves - this album is definitely one that needs to be listened to a few times. i wasn’t sure how i felt about the vocal style at first before realizing the vocals were the main reason i was relistening to this album, allowing myself to find even more that i loved about it. the instrumentation is also incredible, i love the use of marimba in a number of songs - distant, eerie, almost skeletal. and the fucking. 8-bit section?? which kinda rules???? and that’s the only point in the album it ever shows up??????? incredible. a fleeting, somewhat silly moment that i love every time.

this album left my heart aching, in part from my connection to it and in part from the pure love and joy emanating from this music. i can feel just how much fun this music was to perform and create, a cohesion of time and sound that just clicked for me. Plastic Death made me miss playing music, which is something i haven’t felt in years. all from an album that starts with a conversation about CrankGameplay’s dead youtube channel. good lord

i like this album a normal amount. go listen to it a few times. my favorite tracks are cul-de-sac and commatose

Wish

i watched Wish with a couple of friends and knew i probably wasn't going to like it. with that in mind, i gave myself a challenge: i wanted to find one thing about this movie that i genuinely really loved. it could be anything, and loving it for ironic reasons was allowed.

here's the complete list of things i loved about Disney's Wish (2023):

i love the one shot where King Magnifico stirs an evil caldron evily. i thought it was hilarious. what was he cooking

i loved that the end credits included a reference to Dinosaur 2001 at all, and i loved that they paid homage to Big Hero 6 by showing the forgettable villain of that movie instead of their Baymax cashcow for some reason. my friends and i saw him show up in the credits and were like "who's the trenchcoat guy??"

you may notice that this list is very short and 50% of it is about the movie's credits. so yeah this movie is not very good

Wish is an empty husk of a movie. everything about it feels so, so hollow - lifeless town squares, uninspired character designs (to quote a friend: "i have all of these characters' hairstyles in The Sims"), characters whose existence is only justified to fill empty space or an overused archetype, and an "evil" villain who lacks charisma and spine in a futile effort to remind the audience of previous disney villains with actual character. even the artstyle lacks any sort of sauce, the watercolor effect they were trying to go for only makes the backgrounds and character textures run together, and the dull lighting makes things look even more faded. it's like disney was scared of making a movie that made its audience feel... anything. all to celebrate 100 years of Disney slop, baby!!!

Some YouTube videos I liked in January: 💥 An Exhaustive Look at Pokemon Brilliant Diamond 💥 TomSka's Guide to Plagiarism 💥 Paradise Bombed (this video is a great piece of journalism and i’m definitely not doing it justice by throwing it into the youtube vid list) 💥 Surprising Our Friends with Zoo Animals 💥 Did FNAF Ever Have a Good Story?

thanks for reading! next month’s roundup will be wild because i’ll likely be reviewing House of Leaves and Hazbin Hotel. can you guess which cursed house gives me a worse headache? WHO KNOWS! (hint: it's Hazbin Hotel)

[flanaganfilm]

Hi Mike! I created an account just to ask you questions. I’m a huge fan, and I’m a dollar baby filmmaker, I got to adapt King’s story Cain Rose Up. So many questions I’d love to ask you about the adaptation process because from what I’ve learned it’s a tough one. But I’ll just ask this.

Have you seen any dollar baby films? And what do you think of the dollar baby program itself?

I have another question… I noticed after Gerald’s Game your work started to have a different look to it. Cinematography wise. Your work previously was always in 2.35:1 with black bars on top and bottom. Haunting of Hill House all the way to The Midnight Club has been full frame. Was this something Michael Fimognari did or was this your input?

Best of luck with your movie! I'm very familiar with the Dollar Baby program, it's a great thing, and I hope you have a great time. As far as aspect ratio, this isn't quite correct. Michael and I make that decision together project to project for any number of reasons. Oculus, Before I Wake and Hush were 2:35:1 to take advantage of the theatrical experience, but Ouija: Origin of Evil was shot anamorphic and then cropped to 1:85. This was a decision unique to that movie because we wanted to emulate the horror films of our youth. We wanted anamorphic optical quality, but a more contained aspect ratio. We had experienced a lot of horror movies on VHS when we grew up, and a lot of those were shot scope and then crammed onto VHS through a hideous process called "Pan & Scan". It created this strange dissonance where we'd see anamorphic optics in a frame that filled our television sets, so we did a variation on that. Ouija: OOE is probably the only project I'd ever consider handling that way, and it was really fun to do.

Gerald's Game is back to 2:35 again because we preferred the look when we considered Jessie's blocking in the movie (sitting up with her arms fully outstretched). It helped her fill the frame while feeling the claustrophobia of the movie. Hill House was not full frame - in fact, it was 2:00:1 and still had subtle letterboxing. We wanted to go scope but Netflix had an internal policy that wouldn't allow original programming to have an aspect ratio wider than 2:00:1, because they were scared of subscribers watching it on their devices and kicking back on any black bars (this was a very stupid decision on the behalf of Netflix, and they've since backtracked on this). That locked us in to 2:00:1 for Hill House, Bly and Midnight Mass, but that was all about Netflix's policies. I would have shot Midnight Mass scope if they'd allowed us to. With Doctor Sleep, we opted to shoot 1:85 because that's what The Shining was, and strange as it sounds, we wanted them to work together as a double feature. Midnight Club actually employs a lot of different aspect ratios. By this time, Netflix had done away with their dumb aspect ratio rule, and we were free. So we opted to shoot 1:85 for the "A Story" of Midnight Club, so the world felt more ordinary and real, and so younger viewers would have their devices' screens filled. But for the "B stories" that the club members tell each other, we use a ton of different ratios. 2:35, 2:00, even 4:3. For The Fall of the House of Usher, we went back to 2:35. It has a very gothic theatrical feeling throughout. So there you have it - every project is different and we have a thoughtful conversation about what the right aspect ratio will be. There's really no overarching rule at all, now that Netflix's policy has changed. FWIW, Hill House wanted very much to be 2:35. They were wrong to jam us on that.

[seasonofscreams]

Until Dawn Fan Cast

Wanted to throw my hat into the ring of fan casting the new Until Dawn movie.

SPOILERS FOR UNTIL DAWN BELOW

(also just assume there might be bl**d & g*re depicted below)

I wouldn't be surprised if Kathryn Newton becomes the new scream queen so it makes sense for her to follow in Hayden Panettiere's steps. She was brilliantly versatile as her two characters in Freaky & has a natural charisma that would be great for Sam whose all-rounder character could fall flat in another actor's hands. Pretty much everyone agrees on Sam being one of the few left alive if not the Final Girl & I think Newton would excel in the role.

Mike is pretty conventional as a Final Guy - objectively attractive, resourceful alongside headstrong with a funny side. Tom Blyth displays these traits himself in his portrayal of the younger Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as well as a charisma that had many a watcher rooting for him despite portraying one of the most evil characters in The Hunger Games franchise. It would be interesting to see him tackle the complexities of Mike and even more fun to see him engage in the action scenes sure to be in the movie.

I never got into Stranger Things but from the limited amount I've seen Caleb McLaughlin is one of the best actors in the show. Matt is a contradiction to his own trope. He's a jock who is insecure in his relationship with Emily compared to how she feels about her ex, Mike, but also potentially wants to be seen as the hero. There's very much parallels that can be drawn between Lucas and Matt as well as enough differences and it would be really interesting to see how he would tackle the role.

Olivia Rodrigo is most famous for her music but her acting turns (admittedly in Disney & mv's, yes) have always been received pretty well. Emily is a hard character to cast especially when comparing to original actor Nichole Sakura since Emily is smart and resourceful whilst being blunt and - for a lack of a better word - wonderfully bitchy. There's a certain aura within the SNL performance for all-american bitch and music video of bad idea right? that gave me this feeling i can't shake that i want to see Rodrigo as the likely other Final Girl (I hope Emily survives to the end alongside Sam).

When Sweeney (as Cassie) was hiding in the bathroom in Euphoria, many people were desperate to see how she would fare in a traditional horror film - she plays terror great! maybe it's cheating to fancast her as Jess since she's played a promiscuously perceived blonde 'home-coming queen' type before but... if it ain't broke. I can't see a more perfect Jess to be honest.

according to luckyleftie on tiktok, Ashley's original horror trope was that of the stoner, rather than the academic - which clarifies the origins of the anxiety her character exhibits throughout. Personally, I'd love if they explored this in the film more (it's gonna be rated R after all). Sophia Lillis proved herself in the horror genre as Young Beverly in IT (2017) and would be really fun in the inquisitive/conclusion jumping Ashley. (Also I think she does resemble Ashley/Galadriel Stineman but that may just be me).

(Chris is deffo dying when Ashley doesn't let him into the house it's too potentially big of a scene to not do so) Tony Revolori is a funny actor and as self-proclaimed comedian of the group, I'd love to see his interpretation of Chris who pines after Ashley as well as how he could potentially approach the investigative chapter during Josh's 'prank.' Plus I loved him in Scream and wish we'd seen more screen time of him playing in the horror film.

Have you seen Hereditary? Point made.

in all seriousness, Alex Wolff is talented and plays awkward, yet charming alongside disturbed characters amazingly. Josh is quite an awkward guy ('party like p*rnstars' anyone?) and dealing with rapidly declining mental health as well as grief from his sisters' disappearance. Josh is a very complicated character whose actions cannot be justified but mental health cannot be ignored. Wolff could be a fantastic choice - especially if the mental health representation through Josh was updated with more advice and guidance from professionals.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!! I'd love to hear if you agree (but pls don't be rude about it i put a lot of time into these edits/fancasting choices/individually crediting where i got the photos so if you hate it pls just move on) :)

[coralinnii]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

If I’m being honest, I have been more into just listening to music during my free time more than anything and while I read a lot of manga, my goldfish brain would blank out if someone were to ask me anything about it. However, I will tell you my list of definite rewatch/reread series though some of them are pretty old or obscure.

My Top 10 (in no particular order)

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun (manga/anime)

At first, I watched it mainly for the fun aesthetics (cute colourful characters with spooky backgrounds) but I fell in love with the characters and world-building of this series. The whole cast, be it main or supporting, are absolutely amazing and capable of running a story arc of their own even without the main cast which is seriously impressive. And while the anime only just scratched the surface, the author really built the setting of this series with great thought, with its own politics, history, systems, and culture that impacts the story well. No random fact is without purpose and I love it.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (manga/anime)

I’ve been watching anime since I was 4 so I can confidently say that I’m familiar with many classic anime tropes and cliches. This series is like a kudos to longtime anime fans with its jokes and jabs as it follows a strong psychic boy being absolutely done with the insanity of his life as he tries to keep his powers a secret from his schoolmates like a sports anime jock, a shojou girl, delinquent gone good, etc. The comedy coming from this deadpan omnipotent high school student is just an absolute delight. I kin Saiki so much

Nope (movie)

I’m a real fan of horror movies, especially those with undertones that bring a critical element to humanity. While I love all of Jordan Peele’s current works, Nope has got to be one of my favourite movies overall. I’ve heard of some of the criticisms people had with the film (pretty ironic ones too) but I personally love the pacing and suspense of the film. While it’s fun to watch monsters and killers get crazy from the get-go (that’s why Saw movies and slasher films were popular) but Nope touched on that all-too-real fear of not knowing what’s going to happen. That fear where you’re afraid but you’re not sure of what yet.

Petshop of Horrors (manga/anime) and the sequel Neo Petshop of Horrors (manga)

Speaking of horror with critical undertones, I was obsessed with this manga series that came out in the late 90s. I would try so hard to find a way to read this series every chance I could growing up. It’s a sorta episodic style story that stars a mysterious petshop owner that often becomes a suspect in the deaths of people who have bought animals from his shop. I love the philosophy of each new story that touches on humanity and how different (or similar) we are to animals. It questions our societal norms, expectations, base desires, mythology, what it means to live, and what is “acceptable” in our world. Unfortunately, the series was never fully translated and only published fewer copies than typical manga series due to reasons I’m not too sure of (possibly conflicts with ownership and company copyrights at the time, think Baccano situation). The series had an anime but even that anime only had 4 episodes (I still highly recommend it however). I’ve managed to get a few volumes for myself and I know people are selling certain volumes online but I have to save for essentials so collecting them is unfortunately a lower priority now.

Pokémon (video game/manga/anime)

Is this a cop-out? Nah. To this day, I would still have to physically fight myself to not buy plushies and games when I’m already broke af. Pokémon might be one of the first animes I have ever seen (I have seen both sub and dub because my brother found a way) and I would still on occasion go back to rewatch literally any season and any movie of theirs, Nintendo really hit the marketing jackpot with this franchise. The creativity and design are so iconic and memorable that it’s so easy and fun to get into the fantasy of going on an adventure with your favourite Pokémon. There’s of course some nostalgia at play since I loved the moments where my older brother would watch the movies with me and my cousin and I would collect the figurines together.

One Piece (manga/anime)

Is this also a cop-out? Don’t care. I LOVE ONE PIECE! I will sacrifice my time and tears for this series. I have legitimately managed to rewatch this 4 times in my life (granted I started when it only had 400+ episodes so I had an easier time) and I would willingly cry over a flashback, a whale, even a boat over and over again. The action and story-telling of this series just keeps me running back for more even if I keep meeting dumb gatekeepers (yea, people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m a One Piece fan, what are ya gonna do?) I haven’t watch the Netflix live action yet but I probably will once I get my friends to watch with me (I like to fangirl with friends~)

Forget my Husband, I’ll Go Make Money (manhwa)

Despite my blog probably being best known for the villain/ess series, the banner of my blog is not an isekai villainess story but a fantasy series where a woman who can see the past, present, and future tries to make money while being married to a foreign prince before expecting a divorce (because she assumed he rather marry for love than for political reasons). Fun fact, this series was actually one of the foundations when I was writing the villain/ess story for Leona. The art and main couple are just absolutely delightful, I can’t help but reread it as it returns for a new season. Not only is the art just gorgeous, the main couple is just so gosh darn entertaining with their conversations, personal dynamics, and hilarious misunderstandings. Just beautiful.

Hotel Del Luna (K-drama)

Leave it to my interest in horror to love a romance drama with ghosts in it. It’s funny, it’s cute, and some of the ghost’s backstory is heartbreaking as well. This is a great story to just have a nice cry out. I love the story, I love the music, but most importantly, I love IU! She is my queen and every scene she is in, she kills me with her fashion, her haughty character, and her tragic backstory. She and the male lead was such a fun twist of the typical k-drama relationship where she was the powerful but broken character who ended up being healed by the kind, hardworking character. I've watched this 3 times at this point, but I still cry Every. Single. Time. No exceptions.

Hell Girl (anime/manga)

If I haven’t sold you on how I was probably that kid with creepy interests, maybe this will convince you. This was my go-to show back when I was in middle school. There is no excuse, I just really love the psychological horror of this series. In the show, there is a website you can access at midnight where you can ask Ai or Hell Girl to send your most hated person to hell, with the price that you will go there too when you die. While there was a linear storyline in the background, the episodes were always new people who requested Ai’s help with different cases of their own hell on earth. It touches on some really heavy real-life topics but what made it memorable to me was how sometimes I would feel saddened by the choices the people in the show made. Sometimes, they’re in the situation where all they can do is curse someone to hell but then was it really worth losing your chance at a happier afterlife? I watched this show with some of my friends who either saw Ai as a villain for sending people to hell, or a saviour who helped these people find an escape from their torturer, and that honestly made me think about what it means to have that much hate in you. I always wondered if I was ever in that situation, what would I do if given the chance?

Big Hero 6 (movie)

Arguably the first Marvel-Disney movie since Disney bought Marvel, I remembered people having weird thoughts on the usually cartoony company taking over the superhero franchise but I fell in love with everything that was this movie. It had Marvel-style action mixed with classic Disney wholesomeness and gut-wrenching emotional moments. I loved the message and warmth that was in this movie. Having an older brother myself, I couldn’t imagine how I could go on if I lose him but watching Hiro being so well supported by Baymax and his friends cemented within me the importance of helping others and that supporting those in pain can be as powerful as stopping bad guys (sappy, I know but hey I’m now learning to be a preschool teacher so this really stuck with me). Tadashi’s recorded message brings me so much comfort that I didn’t realize I needed. He may have been the closest thing to a Disney crush for me.

[elendsessor]

felt like talking about megaten demons again so here’s some official art of demons based on mostly american horror/sci-fi.

list of names n extra notes:

audrey (audrey ii from little shop of horrors), betelgeuse (beetlejuice from… y’know, beetlejuice), chris the car (christine the car from christine), nickelwise (pennywise from it), friday (jason voorhees from friday the 13th), franken (frankenstein’s monster from frankenstein), terminator (similar to the t-800 from terminator), scanner (likely a reference to the movie scanners), and hierophant (pinhead from hellraiser).

yeah hierophant is an alternative nickelwise which is why i’m putting it here despite the hellraiser franchise spawning from britain. idk how hierophant got that name since i don’t remember anything in at least the first hellraiser that could warrant the alternative name. (could’ve called it idk spikehead if they wanted to avoid copyright.) technically this might not be the first time a demon’s design was inspired by cenobites as lucifer’s infamous redesign for 4 closely resembles them. similar reasoning for franken, being an english work. like stated before, most of these are taken from american works, especially stephen king.

there’s more stephen king demons, though like many enemies exclusive to persona 1 and is/ep, only spritework exists, my personal favorite being carrie. kinda a shame there’s been no character or persona in persona inspired by her, since the og book and film adaptations are the trippiest “dangers of extreme religious worship”/child abuse is wrong/anti-bullying things i’ve ever seen. (there’s also a movie sequel that’s basically the first with less religious extremism and more goth icon/dangers of frat boy culture/really good rock backing tracks.) idk the concept of psychic girl who gets bullied a ton feels like it would be right at home as an atlus rerelease extra girl.

of course terminator sticks out too. when it comes to forgotten smt demon, terminator is an icon in that department. outside of the guns being the same and being (presumably) a robot (idk i haven’t gotten around to playing smt 2 yet but there’s a lot of more mechanical demons based on all the art i’ve seen), the name is the closest it really is to resembling the t-800s. idk to me it feels like it’s different enough that bringing it back in at least one future megaten game wouldn’t be that much of an issue compared to other horror icon references. they could just change the guns/ditch the guns altogether and change the name. really cool overall.

scanner is another weird one that i kinda wanna see again just because it sounds like it could be cool. dude only appears in smt 1, and while fan wikis aren’t super reliable sources, because it gave off that “this has to be some reference to a cheesy 80s movie” vibe, i dug into the origins more. yeah there’s a canadian fic called scanners and yeah scanner is 100% based on the whole idea of scanners in the film. never seen it nor heard of it, but hey the director, david cronenberg, also directed the fly so it’s probably a fun watch.

friday’s design is technically wrong though it’s also kinda not. despite jason most often using a machete (and preferring to kill horny teens), a lot of references have him using a chainsaw.

chris the car is technically not completely gone. of course the idea of ghost drivers and the like in media are nothing new (though the car itself is the killer in christine) so for all i know i’m overthinking it or it’s a coincidence, but oboroguruma—a demon exclusive to dsrk 1 and 2–seems to take some design inspiration, having a similar destroyed bumper/grill with an exposed motor.

lastly, while not pictured here or anything, something i found out one time is that lucifer’s favorite fake name, louis cyphre, is a reference to the novel falling angel/its film adaptation, angel heart, though none of the various disguises resemble how he looks in the film. idk i found that an interesting tidbit.

kaneko was apparently into western media (which is unsurprising) so that’s likely the reason there was so many of these movie references during the earlier days of megaten. what i’m sure is due to copyright, many of these older demons never appeared again. copyright law does vary in different places and i’m sure for the few jjba fans who are reading this, you know just how lax japan is in comparison likely due to being western stuff and most copyright holders don’t have that much of an international grip. unless you’re disney. with the whole localization effort atlus might’ve not wanted to have to change a bunch of shit which i don’t blame them for. though with the existence of nickelwise and hierophant coming from tokyo mirage sessions, a pretty recent game (released in 2015 and rereleased on the switch in 2020) that doesn’t seem to have run into copyright issue or had to take them out in the rerelease as far as i’m aware, it’s not entirely impossible to see anything similar again. it is kinda sad though.

[kidlit-queen-competition]

I would love to hear the mods top ten train media we should all be consuming if that's okay.

Well, I am no authority on what train media you "should" consume- anyone who is is probably several decades my senior and a lot more experienced with model railroading- but I can tell you some of my favorites! I'll do five fictional and five nonfictional.

Fictional:

Sunless Skies. this one is kind of cheating, but the main way the player interacts with the spooky, steampunk-y, alt-Victorian skyscape of the Reach is by driving their locomotive. it's also one of my favorite games in general, and I think a lot of people who follow this blog would adore it.

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett. Its main train was knocked out of this pole in round one, but I'm about three quarters of the way through this book, and it's one of the few I've read that really manages to capture the feeling of steam trains. It is, of course, fantastic in many other ways, but it's a standout piece of train media all the same.

Bullet train (2022). I love dumb action movies and I love shinkansens and I love murderous women in pink. 10/10, shapes and colors the likes of which I've never seen.

the Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). unfortunately this film is from 1953 and also British, but is a great little comedy all the same, and the special effects are very impressive for the era. I especially recommend this one to enjoyers of a certain 70+-year-old massive franchise about a little blue tank engine, because there are similarities in the humor I think they would enjoy.

Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth by Chris Priestley. this is another horror thing, specifically a children's book. Its framing device is a train trip, and well it doesn't go into like, indulgent detail about the mechanics of it, good use is made of it all the same, and the stories really stuck with me-I remember some clearly and still find them scary, and it's been more than 10 years since I read the book.

non-fictional:

basically anything from Network Nathan, my train vlogger fave du jour. I really like his presentation style and charisma, and I've learned a lot from his content that I probably couldn't have picked up otherwise.

The Train Book: The Definitive Visual History from DK. this is basically a picture book for adults, going from the early age of steam to roughly the 2010s. I like it because it's broad-scope and accessible, both of which are hard to come by in rail literature.

Steaming Eccentrics: Life on the Footplate by Stan Wilson. this has the previously mentioned problem of being British and old, but is still a good account of some delightful (and probably slightly exaggerated) railway shenanigans all the same. I much prefer memoirs to history books, so if you're similar, I'd recommend this one.

Steam Railways Explained - Steam, Oil & Locomotion: Steam, Oil and Locomotion by Stan Yorke. this is a great little explainer of railways, not just locomotives. It's easy-to-read and understand, and doesn't suffer the mind-numbingly dry tone a lot of railway nonfiction does.

tie between the YouTube channels Mid Hants Railway 'The Watercress Line' and Hyce. both are educational channels about steam locomotives/railway operation, and occupy very similar spaces. The former is British, the latter is American, so the engines they work with are very different, so I feel comfortable letting them share spot.

[synergysilhouette]

"Strange World" (2022) overhaul rewrite

I never expected to do a rewrite of this, despite my issues with it. But then I decided I should just do an overhaul of it. Be forewarned: I'm taking this in a VERY different direction--like, almost unrecognizeable; how do you feel about an Arthurian epic with aliens? As always, be kind--but if you have critiques/questions, I'd be happy to hear them!

Plot:

On a planet far away, there was once the mystical alien planet of Siyned. Twenty-five years ago, King Ursam of Lonava, a prosperous and mystical country on Siyned, disappeared without a trace, leaving his young son Taurus in charge of running a kingdom. For a time, all was prosperous, but now, a powerful sorceress named Niobe has come to battle for the throne, and threatens to engulf the kingdom in darkness and horrors unlike the world has ever seen. Together with his wife Iopeia, son Boralis and their band of allies, Taurus must navigate being a king as well as sorting out the secrets that come out with Niobe's arrival.

Important story/world details

As you may see, the storyline is inspired by the tale of King Arthur, inspired by the fact that Searcher Clade is from a land known as Avalonia, and my first thought was: "Man, a King Arthur-inspired story would've been so much better than what we got." This comes with certain important story/world details:

The cast is made up of aliens. Given the pulp magazine inspiration the original SW film takes from, I'd enjoy seeing a comicbook inspiration for the alien races here, as well as video game inspiration from the fantasy side of things. In the best case scenario, this would be a spiritual successor to "Atlantis." I'd enjoy seeing different races of aliens, though I personally do like the idea that Taurus looks human (though since his wife and son are POC in the OG story, making them appear inhuman might be a bad call if he still appears white). And excuse the use of AI art here; I just liked the video for it's use of 80s dark fantasy inspirations, which I'd also want to be the inspiration for the fantasy aspects of "Strange World."

2. The culture is more medieval/ancient--except for the technology (and maybe fashion). I like the idea that it takes inspiration from various world cultures similar to how "Atlantis" does.

3. The cast is obviously different.

King Taurus--A kind and intelligent king, albeit sensitive and sometimes overcome with his emotions due to unresolved feelings with his father (I thought that'd be a good thing to keep). He's a gifted mage, and I'm definitely getting Gale of Waterdeep vibes from him--albeit less problematic. He's also in his 30s, so slightly younger than Searcher Clade. Still, he's older than most Disney protagonists, which I think makes the film more accessible for an older crowd, and an established Disney romance between a husband and wife rather than two people about to get married or just getting to know each other carries nuances that you can't get with many "kid films."

Queen Iopeia--A scholar and trained warrior who managed to capture the king's heart, and they fell in love. While she doesn't have any magic per se, her physical abilities make her a threat to all who wish to harm her loved ones. She often serves as the emotional anchor when Taurus is frazzled, and on rare occasions, their roles are reversed.

Prince Boralis--The young man who dreams of adventure, a Hercules-type protagonist who has self-esteem issues given his family's legacy. Of course, his crush on Castelon, Niobe's lead soldier, weighs on his heart heavily, since they grew up together before he disappeared and decided to side with her, seemingly with no explanation a year ago. His conflicting feelings make it difficult for him to use his powers (either alien or magical) to full potential. Definitely think his style is more akin to Ekko's from "League of Legends."

Niobe--Vicious but sad, she is the powerful sorceress from the Lands Beyond, a realm of darkness that engulfed the lands west of Lonava. She is much more powerful than Taurus, but wants to destroy him emotionally before killing him, hoping to break him and make him give her the crown that is rightfully hers. She sees him as living the life she always wanted, and despises Taurus for "taking" it from him. She has an affinity for petrifying her enemies--and keeping their consciousness intact. It's later revealed that when Ursam discovered a prophecy that Niobe would bring about the kingdom's destruction, he left her in the Lands Beyond as a toddler. It's somewhat akin to how Cora abandoned Zelena in Once Upon a Time ("I have to leave you to give me MY best at life"). That said, given that many Disney fans want an unapologetic villain, I'd make her too bitter and angry to be swayed by Taurus' pleas, but at her defeat, it's brought to light that despite being a good king, Ursam was NOT a good person.

Serioph--A wise mage (our Merlin figure) who serves as a parental figure to Taurus and a mystical guide. He has the ability to change his form at will, and ocassionally takes on a female form following Taurus' mother's passing and seeing that he needed a mother figure as well as a father figure. However, despite his power, he is tied to the laws of neutrality: if he was to battle someone of great good or great evil, his magic would cease to exist--which includes his power of longevity, and he would cease to exist. He knows this, but uses his powers to harm Niobe and prevent her from killing Taurus, killing himself in the process.

Ienvy--Serioph's daughter, inheriting his magic by lineage, and thus not tied to the Laws of Neutrality like he is. Niobe is drawn to her and attempts to persuade her to join her side, but when Serioph is killed, Serioph curses Niobe to become undone, giving her a sense of insanity that makes it possible for Taurus and the group to defeat her. Despite her help, Ienvy feels guilt for what she's done after learning about Niobe's past, and imposes a self-exile upon herself after the battle is over.

Castelon--Boralis' crush and childhood best friend. He eventually left and joined Niobe due to being tricked into joining her service by failing to prove his selflessness (similar to the tale of Gawain and the Green Knight). As such, he has become warped, becoming a smug Namaari-type villain, so there's a lot of tension between him and Boralis. (Note: This goes without saying, but he'd get a major design overhaul. Some people say he looks like Frankie Grande, but he gives me Jay Manuel vibes from "America's Next Top Model" and I CAN'T STAND IT. I'd rather he looked akin to Lucio from "The Arcana.")

Different Design style FOR SURE

Part of me finds the looks to be too normal; the characters don't grab my attention because they look either too realistic or too cartoony. Even if they weren't aliens, I'd want new looks for their clothes, at the very least. And the non-human-looking aliens felt way too cartoony here, not really ethereal or interesting in the slightest. Honestly, THIS deserved to be a hybrid film, tbh; it'd help to sell the alien vibes, as well as the fantasy aspect. And in particular, if we're going for a more mature look.

Lemme know what you think! I may come back and tinker this a bit.

[bluegekk0]

I'm assuming based on your last post you are in college so I have 2 questions, one based on your personal life and one based on the AU. You don't have to answer the personal one.

What's your major and or minor? I would think it may be art related, but idk.

Based on a modern AU, if the Pale Household were to go to college, what would they study?

yes, i study at a university. and no, surprisingly is not art related, i'm completely self taught in that area. instead i study the english language. i think there's some debate as to how you would translate my major from polish into english, some say english philology, others english studies. but basically it's english linguistics, literature and culture, with a specific specialization in translation. already finished the bachelor degree in the same major, now i'm in my last year of master's

as for the modern au, hmm. i guess i'll start with those i've already thought about. also the difference between college and university is still a little confusing to me, i'm more used to the term university so if you see me use it, that's why

i know holly would be an art student, they already have an interest in drawing in the main au, so it seems like the most reasonable direction. during the modern au, they primarily focus on their degree, though i like to think they also do art commissions in their free time. i think they would lean more towards traditional art, they' would'd find the actual process of using canvases, paint brushes and other tools very relaxing, even if it's messy and time consuming

then there's grimm. i love the idea of him having a career in filmmaking. in the modern au he works in the film industry as a director (with divine and brumm as members of his film crew), so it's a reasonable assumption that he has a degree in that field. as for what kinds of films he'd make, i imagine he'd dabble in many genres but lean more towards drama or horror. that being said, i could also see him having some experience in theatre, perhaps he used to be an actor? i could absolutely see that, especially if i don't change their ages for the modern au and he remains as a vampire with hundreds of years behind him haha

fpk in the modern au works from home, i like to think that similarly to his main au self, he'd have a small business he operates from his house. since he has an interest in mechanical engineering in the au, my first idea was that he'd offer watch repairs, but depending on how "modern" the modern au is, that might not be the most lucrative business. though i do have a lot of nostalgia for early 2000s and i imagine that's the time frame in which the modern au takes place, so who knows. but another idea i had was that he'd instead go in an electronics repair direction. maybe something like computer repair? i love the mental image of him sitting in his office, hard at work, surrounded by a bunch of broken computers, laptops and game consoles, like a whole electronic maze on the floor. and to answer the question, he'd probably study something related to IT and/or electronic engineering. but i could also see him being mostly self-taught

now comes the part where i make things up on the spot since i haven't decided on anything for them yet

with hornet, all i know is that whatever she'd major in, she would be a member of her college/university's sports club (maybe she'd like football? or soccer depending where you're from). but she does have an interest in literature, so perhaps she would go for a degree related to that? i think the contrast between studying something seen as sophisticated and cultured, and then getting into fights with tiso at the sports club, is very fitting for her hahah

and then there's zote. i'm not really sure if he'd study anything, but perhaps he would opt for something related to music? i mentioned in a previous ask that i like the idea of him finding interest in playing a trumpet, so maybe he would want to expand his knowledge. though it's zote, i could also see him being so convinced of his skills that he'd claim that there's nothing for him to find there. maybe he doesn't study anything, maybe he's stuck in a fast food job or something. it could go either way

lastly, there's lewk. but he would be kindergarten age in the modern au. though he is interested in cooking and food in general, so perhaps in the future he'd aim for something like culinary arts? it's difficult to say, he's still very young so things may change

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Fics With Titles that Start With G (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

garden camping (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: They sit in Phil's parents' garden, sharing childhood stories and making plans for the future.

genre of choice (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Dan and Phil have a romcom meet cute at a horror con.

Gentle (ao3) - Lesbianphan

Summary: Phil doesn't really look at photos of their faces that much. Truthfully, there's only so many gifs and videos of people pointing out how utterly hopelessly in love you and your partner look at each other that you can actually absorb into your brain. Phil's brain feels like mush sometimes, with the amount of feeling right there, displayed for the world to see. This livestream was special though - in so many ways, - and he found himself transfixed by the animated images of Dan's gentle touching of his face, feeling some kind of cosmic shift happening on screen, the realization on the tip of his tongue. Just a fluffy thinkpiece on their current content, and all the little moments they decided to share with their audience these past few months.

get my good side (ao3) - watergator (orphan_account)

Summary: dan and phil try to film a sex tape (just for them)

give this thing a try (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan is a cashier at a grocery store, and Phil is his supervisor. One evening at work, Phil surprises Dan by asking him out on a date, and of course Dan, who's had a crush on Phil since forever, says yes. Cue, the freaking out and comfort ensues.

Glad to Be Home (ao3) - ticklishraspberries

Summary: Dan and Phil make up for the time they lost for intimacy on the tour.

Glitch (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Phil wrote a movie screenplay

Gloves On (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: “I can’t believe you ripped the costume off,” Phil says after the camera and lights are both turned off. He’s laughing, but there’s something in his tone that has Dan wonder if it means something other than I can’t believe you actually just got fully naked on the gaming channel.

A fic about accessories and antics.

go your own way (I'd give you my world) (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualweeb)

Summary: “I’m Dan,” said Dan.

Phil could not look away from him. He thought that Dan was probably the prettiest boy he had ever seen. “I’m Phil,” he said back, because it was polite to introduce oneself to people, otherwise they would remain a stranger. “Phil Lester.”

And so they became friends.

or: a Forrest Gump AU where Phil slowly falls for his best friend as the years go by, but Dan loses himself to the world and his past.

Going Forward (ao3) - softiejace

Summary: When Phil Lester signs his students up for a mental health workshop, no scenario he's prepared for includes running into his ex...

Going Nuts (ao3) - schnaf

Summary: Dan is going nuts in Manchester. But one midnight trip to the supermarket changes everything.

gold (ao3) - catboyhowell (bloodyscarab)

Summary: i got bipolar confidence

wake up like 'shit,' then i feel like the shit

so i guess i'm the shit

gold by brockhampton

Golden Boy (ao3) - hygge

Summary: Phil takes a drawing class in university and needs a subject for his drawing final.

Gone are the days of Wine and roses (ao3) - Lizzyboo

Summary: Dan knew it had to happen eventually. And logically, he knew it was his fault. He was the one who broke it off between them all those years ago. He didn’t expect Phil to be single forever, not really. But he also kind of expected to move on himself by the time Phil would start dating.

------------------

or the one where Phil starts seeing a girl and Dan understands that maybe he still has feelings for him.

Good Girl (ao3) - Absolutefilthimsosorry

Summary: Phil calls Dan a good girl and Dan really likes it.

good night bear (ao3) - loveforlester

Summary: “good night bear i love you”

dan howell loves phil lester.

phil lester loves dan howell.

you know the story two soulmates who met on the internet. just something is different.

dan can’t sleep without watching phil’s videos. oh and phil stopped filming videos

Good To The Last Drop (ao3) - Boardgamedanny

Summary: A bloody fic about Daniel Howell and Philip Lester

Gotta Get An Upgrade (ao3) - your_starless_eyes

Summary: Phil notices Dan becoming more and more aloof and obsessive as the tour continues on. He ends up talking to a high school in New Jersey's resident "stoner" after a fatal mistake is made on stage.

Green Sofa (ao3) - Scuddleduck

Summary: This might be Phil’s favorite place in this house to fuck, he thinks. The beds are nice, and they’ve certainly tested the integrity of the office chairs a time or two, but this green couch in the nerd cave, it really is his favorite.

Grey Sweatpants (ao3) - Absolutefilthimsosorry

Summary: Set after the filming of the fall guys dvp where dan was wearing grey sweatpants.

Grow as we go (ao3) - Mangomelions (orphan_account)

Summary: After ten years of being best friends, Dan decides he can't take it anymore. He moves out, claiming he needs to find out who he is without Phil, and that he can't stay like this forever. Really he just got sick of waiting for Phil to realise they should be more than friends. Very angsty but fluff to come. Based on Ben Platt's song Grow As We Go.

growing up or just going down (ao3) - SylvesterLester

Summary: Phil is 15 years old today. He's going to have the best birthday of his life, to kick off the best year of his life.

Right?

Guilty Pleasure (ao3) - ThoughtaThought

Summary: Dan and Phil meet at a BDSM club and decide to play. Dan is a rigger and a masochist. Phil is a sadist and a rope bunny. It’s perfect.

Guilty pleasure or: In the devil we trust (ao3) - Fearain

Summary: Basically Dan being obsessed with amazing piano music (and playing said music) and Phil slowly understanding why. Plus some friendship talk about trust, fears and dreams.

Guy Fawkes Night. (ao3) - 221bPhan

Summary: When Dan and Phil have to go to Phil's parents to celebrate, Martin's kids are put into the hands of Dan and Phil.

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

What I'm Watching 2023: May

Evil Dead Rise

GAAAAAHHHHH HOLY SHIT I LOVE THIS FRANCHISE! I ended up watching this twice and while I would have loooooooooved more body horror, the story more than delivered in my book. So it's a wash. You know the drill, franchise rant someday, etc.

Gerald's Game

Fun fact, I passed out the first time I watched this. I think it's a trend of mine with Mike Flanagan works to enjoy them exponentially more upon revisiting, because I was middle-of-the-road with this one the first time and got my socks knocked clean off this time. Might have to do a Flanagan ranking thingamajig sometime...

Evil Dead 2

GAAAAAHHHHH HOLY SHIT I LOVE THIS FRANCHISE! Hot take, but this one is my least favorite of the franchise. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic and you can see where Raimi and Campbell have grown between the original and this. There's a reason why it's most fans top pick.

The Simpsons Movie

It's been almost a decade since the last time I watched this, and it's...actually as good as I remember.

The Babadook

I love this movie more every time I watch it. The performances, the sound design, the practical effects, etc. Different parts hit harder every time, but the same parts always have me bawling.

Scooby-Doo: Mystery, Incorporated

I'm finally watching this after hearing so many good things about it. I don't care how old you are, you are NEVER too old for Scooby Doo.

Requiem For A Dream

By several metrics, this is one of the most unique films I've ever seen. I didn't find it quite as depressing as I've heard it made out to be, but it's still a tough watch. And it certainly sticks with you. I still have the theme stuck in my head.

Doctor Sleep

I'm going to need a bigger post to talk about this movie. It's special. It's devastating. I took it way too personally and I'm still fucked up over it. And if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry about it again.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

This movie is every bit as good as I hoped it would be, and it lived up to the hype. You can't go wrong with it. If you know D&D, it's a fun campaign. If you don't, it's a fun movie. Good humor, great story, excellent cast, practical effects, and I'm pretty sure everything has a payoff. I'd have to watch it again to be sure, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Gunpowder Milkshake

I'm not usually one for straight-up action movies, but this cast was too good to pass up. The script was a little iffy at times, but that's just one tiny nitpick. The rest was a blast. Beautiful sets, badass fight scenes, great soundtrack, and did I mention this cast? 😍

[foxieflower]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wANmsHNInQo

(You can remove the link if you want to)

Kinda tired of gluskin fans, fic writers etc being accused of something. Also funny how she calls Blaire a cute baby, dude, you can dislike Gluskin, of course he is not a saint, but Blaire literally gets advantage of people with some mental illness and child abused victims, and even use their trauma, allowing beatings AND rape, for the experiment to success. People sympathize with Gluskin and Walker since both were victims at some point. Trager gets a pass, despite him RAPING women willingly (though people like him because his design is cool and his BUDDY) before the experiments, and as far as we know Eddie never targetted children or raped women, he mutilated them during some kind of psicosis

I'm gonna be very straight forward, but I cannot stand to watch videos that just berate things I enjoy, so I will not be watching the video for greater context but will however respond to the actual information you sent me directly.

I absolutely agree in the points you made. I find it incredibly contradictory to find people who like one character disgusting but then immediately turn and love the character that's just as bad (or worse). I have gone at length for my dislike of Jeremy and you put it out plainly that is simply due to the fact that he is the one actively creating these monsters. And he knows what goes on within the walls of that asylum. He's a terrible man, but it does make him an incredible villain, so I can totally understand why people enjoy him, I simply do not.

Something important about this game is that it's very blunt, red barrels does not beat around the bush, if they want you to know something about a character, they will directly tell you. So it's easy to very much note that none of Eddie's crimes are that of the sexual nature. He has some wild dialog and very handy in game movements, but if they had wanted you to know of him as someone that executes crimes of that nature, we would have seen in in those flashes of life during the locker scene. Instead we just continue to see a delusional and violent man. Which is a very important thing to note, as when anyone takes part in horror films and enjoyment of the slasher genre, the fact people die is meant to be scary but it's never meant to be some sort of damnation of the monster that is doing it. Or else you wouldn't see so many people enjoy characters like Jason or Michael. Where as if a horror film takes note of a rape scene, it's meant to feel much less like an action scene for your to scream and get an adrenaline rush from, and is very much a tone shift to make you feel uncomfortable and distressed. And not in a pleasant way, it's something entirely different in film versus a villain killing someone.

Now it's to note that from here, it's pointed out that it's obvious that these people in the asylum are essentially just a bunch of slashers, aka, the fact they are killing people is just meant as actions/excitement. It's what you are expecting to come from playing these games. And instead what you are meant ro focus on, story wise, is the underlying information. I'm just going to focus on Eddie to make it easy, but you find his papers that say he has a terrible home life and was assaulted by his father and uncle, you learn that he mutilated women but never did anything uncouth with the bodies, you find out through Waylon that... the scientists are just as gross as his father and uncle were, and that he wasn't cooperative with the obviously bad therapists and would lie to try and get himself in a better situation. People chalk this up to him trying to be manipulative bit it feels much more obvious as a defensive tactic. He's scared and wants out. You are meant to feel for those in the asylum, just like Miles and Waylon do. When he dies, he gifts you with a weakened and delusional message.

Jeremy on the other hand, you get little to no secondary backstory to him, you are meant to see him directly as he is. The man with the money that is making all of this happen and knows it is happening. You are meant to just see him as the man making this asylum work, this terrible place exist. He is only there to kick Waylon at every chance for his escape, to tell him that he wants him dead, he is not there for you to sympathize with. He is supposed to represent the reprehensible company you want to see fail. That's the entire point of Waylon's and Miles' characters, to be the breaking points to destroy this company. When he dies, he is destroyed, he stabs you and then is mutilated by the walrider. He doesn't give you anything to sympathize on.

Now this is not to say that I wouldn't allow people to give him sympathic headcanons, I have read some, I have enjoyed them. They simply aren't my takes on the character and that's fine. I would never send hate to those that like him, but it is fun to bully him as the villain he is.

What does all this rambling mean though? It means that anyone that viscerally hates Eddie snd those that like him while actively saying how much they like Jeremy is entirely missing the point of the first game. The point is that no matter how terrible of people all these variants are, you are still supposed to hate what is happening to them, you aren't supposed to think they deserve to be there and should be without help. No, you are meant to see this as the greater ide aof how mental health is often toyed with and overlooked, how people are often let down and made worse by how terrible many systems are. How money can make those with just as devious thoughts be CEOs while those without are just tossed into a dirty box to be laughed at and prodded, destroyed further. It's meant to show that power imbalance.

You aren't supposed to agree with Murkoff, the point of the game is to see them as the villain. And if you instead are siding with the evil company at the end of the game, either you didn't play it right or you need to execute better critical thinking when enjoying media.

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? -Family Video's Booming Business

Chapter 19/? - - - Read it on AO3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Word Count: 9,603

Summary: The doors of Family Video start seeing quite a few newly familiar faces. Eddie Munson, Vickie Nelson, Nancy Wheeler... They all show up looking for different things though.

More ST Fics

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The weirdest things happened over the next few days.

Well, it wasn't necessarily weird on the scale they'd all somewhat become used to. Just weird on the scale of their regular lives and what they'd come to expect from those.

Eddie had gone back to crashing with his uncle after the first sleepover he'd shared with Steve, but then he started to come by Family Video. Often. And he was really good at being there right when Robin wasn't. When it was just him and Steve and not even a single other customer in the building to focus on.

The first time it happened was on Sunday. Robin wasn't in for opening - her parents were still pushing hard on the early-morning-Mass-thing - so it was just Steve. Thumbing through the newspaper and wondering if the folks at the corporate office would fund an ad for hiring since the sign out front wasn't doing much legwork to fill the hours.

And then, without any real warning, Eddie was there.

He pushed open the door, and the bell rang through the shop. Steve was on his way to snap into customer service mode and tuck away the paper when he looked up and realized who it was. The infamous metal-loving, drug-dealing, half-dead outcast…

“Oh. Hey, Munson.”

“Well, that was a bit of a bitter welcoming from an employee,” Eddie noted.

And that's how it started.

Eddie made a game of it on that very first day. Who knows if he really classified the game as “Annoy Steve Harrington” or if that just happened to be the result of all the pestering, but that was essentially how it worked. Eddie would walk into the store, see he was the only one, and then start slowly bumbling around. Wandering in circles through the isles with no real intention. Like it was all just to waste time. Maybe it was.

And then he'd start asking Steve questions. And not questions about Steve, or the certain secret situation they were both a part of. No, they were questions about the movies. But not the kinds of questions anyone really asks. Not the kind Steve ever really had an answer to.

He'd pelt Steve with an inquiry about almost every movie on the shelves. Despite how many times Steve would tell him that he hadn't seen most of them. Eddie would just pick up the most obscure-looking tape and ask something like…

“Do you find the prominent themes in this film in line with the state of American politics today? Literal or metaphorical, I'm not picky about the presentation of the ideology.”

Since it was about the fifth question like it he'd asked, Steve rolled his eyes,“ So, the joke here is that you’re trying to sound like a pretentious asshole. Right?”

“Steve!” Eddie threw a hand over his heart. Shock painting his features as his voice rose an octave higher,” I can’t believe you would say such a thing to a PAYING CUSTOMER OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT! I am simply asking a relevant question in relation to this business you run so I may improve my overall customer experience.”

And then it happened again on Monday too. Turned out that Eddie decided to skip the first two days back since he had that concert Tuesday anyway and could get away with it. He was still resting up, as far as the front office was concerned. And somewhere around his stroll through the horror section, Eddie called to him from the display.

He held up a copy of Halloween, pointing to it while he asked,“ Would you call this one a classic for any old family of five to watch together, or would you recommend a more private viewing for mom and dad without their little one’s peering eyes?”

Steve only shrugged and flipped the page of his magazine,“ I don’t know, haven’t seen it.”

And maybe in a more practical conversation, Eddie would've been focused on the fact that Steve Harrington hadn't seen Halloween yet. Would've more honestly insisted that he needed to as soon as possible. Would've made a fit about “How can we really be friends if you don't know about Michael Myers?” But Eddie was playing a game. And his character was more like a suburban mom than the alternative guy he actually was.

So, instead, he set the movie back down and demanded,“ Well, you must know! You are an employee of this company. If I can’t come to you to make sure I don’t let my little Timmy, dear sweet Sally, and… my… my little guy…” he struggled for a third name,” Reginald?” It'd have to do. “If I can’t trust you to advise me so I don’t expose them to something untoward, then who can I trust in this world?”

“The only babies you have are named Dustin, Mike, and Lucas.” Steve counted them off on three fingers,” And they’ve seen way worse stuff than any of these flicks might have.”

“Excuse me! I also have a claim to Erica and am going through the legal procedures to gain custody of Max, Will, and El to make them my own too.” Eddie was starting to lose focus on the game, but he didn't mind that much.

“Yeah, yeah, good luck with that.” Steve hummed with a stretch of his tense shoulders.

Eddie drifted over to the counter. “I’ll win ‘em over,” he declared, leaning on an elbow and narrowing his eyes at Steve,” Won you over, and that was supposed to be the impossible part.”

Steve finally straightened up from his magazine,“ Oh? You think you’ve won me over?”

“You think I haven't?”

Eddie was even there on Tuesday. He'd mentioned the show was that night, and he had a whole drive up to Indy to make, but the rest of the band had to get let out of school before they'd head out. So, of course, he pulled that '71 Chevrolet into the parking lot right outside the store windows and set about killing time with the game that never seemed to get old.

He threw open the door, Steve greeted him with a familiar “Again?” and then he nosedived for the inspiration to kick off the day's questions. It all went how it usually did. Eddie would ask something, talking way too fast in convoluted phrases that Steve didn't even have any hope of figuring out. They were practically setting a routine.

And it might've bothered him more if it was someone else doing it, or someone doing it in a different way. If the game felt like it was about making Steve seem stupid. But it was obvious he wasn't supposed to get it. The joke wasn't “Steve Harrington is unintelligent.” The joke was that Eddie was being obnoxious and Steve was unable to walk away since he was the only one running the register.

He was “trapped in the clutches of capitalism” and “the bearer of lonesome responsibility” Eddie had said once when Steve asked how he was getting his kicks out of it.

It made the time pass by, at least. Eddie had already been running around and playing his game for over half an hour when he'd migrated back to the scary movie section. He hung around that part of the store most often, to no one's surprise.

That time he'd grabbed The Shining off the shelf and deemed it his latest victim (aside from Steve himself).

“How would you rate the special effects? Is the fake blood too runny or too bright or does it look pretty accurate? What about the madness- or even the violence itself? Does it look real enough to make someone like you squirm in your seat?”

“Don't know, don't care,” Steve said, pretty much automatically. Then his face scrunched up as he thought,” And I've seen real violence, I don't think I'd be squirming over something playing on a tv screen.”

Eddie's arms fell down and he rubbed his nose bridge. “Okay, come on. That one was a total bait pick. You're seriously telling me you haven't sat down to see the rivers of blood drown out the hotel's hallway?”

“Well, it sounds like to me you just spoiled the whole thing, so I guess I'll never need to.” Steve reasoned.

“Steve! That is not a movie-ruining giveaway and you need to watch some of these!”

“I watch some of 'em…”

Steve was getting grumbly when, just as Eddie was gearing up to demand a horror-movie-marathon or something in that vein, a customer walked in.

A high schooler. Even though there was still some time before classes let out. But it was Ashley Brahms and she was sort of known for finding ways to skip out at the end of the school day. She strode in under the bell, her purple sweater puffing around her hands where they pushed open on the handle of the door. She quickly noticed both Steve and Eddie being at the same place at the same time. Something to be considered an oddity in the days of Old Hawkins before its latest tussle with monsters.

Course, the common people didn't know how much had really changed.

So she just looked at the two of them. A slight wideness to her eyes as she took in the strange sight. “Huh, first time to see the twin victims together,” she commented. Quietly, almost under her breath. Something she was saying mostly to just herself as the glass door came to close behind her.

There was also that.

They became the “twin victims” to explain the scars. Everyone had figured it’d only be a matter of time before Steve got with a girl and she’d notice the massive expanse of newly traumatized tissue he'd collected over the last few weeks, so they started a story to excuse it. Said he was camped out in the woods with everyone during the whole Eddie-on-the-run thing, and they ran into a bear. A black bear, Dustin had insisted. Course, he “fought it off,” but not before it did some damage. They added that Eddie fought it with him too, seeing as he had the same scars, and it could only help his image to have nearly died protecting sweet girls like Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley.

Well, that was one rumor circulating around town. There was a second that started just after saying that they’d just gotten so drunk that they passed out and something more like a badger tore into them before they woke up, and the bear was just a coverup to make them seem cooler. Which was fair, seeing as they don’t really get bears anywhere in Indiana or most of the states around it. Plus, the point of the bear story was specifically for people to discredit it with a more truthful idea to make smaller rodents like what they'd told the hospital seem that much more likely.

But, surprisingly, there were a few faithful girls who would whisper about how even a bear migrated across some great distance for a taste of Steve Harrington. Which was a compliment. And probably should’ve boosted his ego a lot more than it actually did. It didn’t do much except remind him how uninterested he was in meaningless sex those days.

But that whole train of thought was way beside the point.

The point was, Steve and Eddie had sort of been tied together that way. In the eyes of public opinion, they were paired together as the reckless boys who went into the woods and got themselves fucked up before the earthquake. It was a fine cover story. But it did feel a little awkward just having some person say it like that.

Eddie pushed off of the counter and said he should probably head off. It was almost time to pick up his crew. Steve just gave him a wave as he went out the door, empty-handed. He never really rented anything, no matter how much time he spent asking fake questions.

Whatever. Eddie Munson's business was Eddie Munson's business. At least it made a couple of shifts go by faster when Steve was without Robin.

It was never about movies. There was never any intent from Eddie's side of things to check one out. It was about not being alone.

Eddie didn't want to go back to school yet, but he also didn't want to be alone. Sitting on his ass, waiting for something to happen to give him a reason again. He might've been going a little crazy, but there were a few times he was laying in that hotel bed, empty room because Wayne was still pulling overtime shifts, and he sort of missed the way he felt when everything was falling apart.

Not the bleeding out. That part didn't feel good. But everything leading up to it...

He was scared out of his mind. Thundering heartbeat and sweaty palms. Terror was at the forefront of every thought. But… there was purpose. He had something to do, something important. Something that mattered. People counting on him.

And in those minutes before the bats circled up, he'd have been lying if he said he didn't sort of want to laugh through some tears. It was a confusing blend of adrenaline that pumped through his bloodstream. But there was that tiny little part of it that felt good.

But it probably wasn't a good idea to linger on too much. Becoming an adrenaline junkie wasn't really a good life plan. As if that was even the only part of it that Eddie remembered fondly.

When the bell rang through the building, echoing into the tiny teacher's parking lot out the back, there was something else to think about. The sound just barely leaked beyond the school's walls, but it wasn't very long until the double doors were thrown open. His merry band of freaks poured out with backpacks slung over their shoulders and radiant smiles spread across their faces. Only took about five seconds of freedom for Bruce to shake Jeff by his shoulders and let out some kind of battle cry as they made their way over to Eddie.

The Corroded Coffin team was trailed by the young members of the wider Hellfire Club. They all circled up on the van and beat open hands against the outside until he climbed out. They were all hyped up and bursting with energy and excitement. Eddie almost felt bad for the teachers that had to deal with them towards the end of the day.

“Duuuuuude!” Gareth yelled, grabbing Eddie by the arm and yanking him the rest of the way out onto the asphalt.

“Duuuuuude!” Eddie responded with the same inflection.

“It's happening!” Gareth continued, wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas morning.

“I know it is!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” he screamed with the biggest grin while Josie slung an arm over Gareth's shoulder and started yelling with him.

It was going to be one hell of a road trip on the way up to the concert, that was for sure. Eddie was close to accusing them of robbing a candy store and riding a sugar high the whole way. Well, the five members with tickets were smiley and sweet. Some others were a little more sour.

“It's so not fair,” Dustin said from the side. Grumbling. Standing between Mike, Lucas, and Will watching the older kids start to celebrate their plans for the night. The plans they didn't get to join in on.

To be fair, the freshmen weren't on the guest list for the evening. They hadn't really been invited, so sure, they had a little right to be grumbly. But, come on, it was more of a field trip for the band. It just so happened that every member of the band was also in Hellfire Club.

So they'd only been, like, halfway excluded.

“Hate to break it to you like this, but none of you kids even showed up to auditions. Much less make the band and scored an invite.”

Plus Eddie was considering this a little bit of a send-off before he buckled down and finished off the year to break for the graduation stage. And with Jeff, Gareth, Josie, and Bruce, he'd known them more than a couple of months.

He liked his little sheepies, yes. Didn't mean they got to come to a show on a school night with him. He didn't want to play babysitter with all his free time.

“Well, do you have concert money?” Jeff countered the kid's bad mood,” And not just the amount we paid in advance, you kids would be paying door prices if they even still have any left.”

“And it'd be rude not to pitch in for gas and road trip snacks,” Gareth added.

“And you'd need to get last-minute permission from all your parents. Cause I am not getting hit with a kidnapping charge after all the shit I just got off my record.” Eddie leveled the last of any complaints they might've had.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if there might be an opportunity for something with The Party. A closer show with a lot more notice. He'd keep his ear to the ground. But that night was not about palling around with the kids who almost watched him die. It was about getting away from all the shit for just a few hours.

“Grow up a little in time for the next one, and then we'll talk.” Gareth teased.

Mike only huffed when Jos told him that going green with envy wasn't a good color on him.

Will didn't have much dog in the fight. He was still new. Finding his footing. And Lucas didn't seem to be getting as much of a kick out of Dustin's play protests. He was probably more focused on getting back to Max's bedside than earnestly going to a rock show.

“I just said it wasn't fair.” Dustin bristled.

“Dusty, Dusty, you'll survive.” Eddie chastised him, his hand finding the boy's head of curls,” It's not even really your scene, lil' man. Study up until you stop wanting to change what I play in the van and maybe-”

“Who cares!” he was getting defensive. “Well, we're all going to hang out, and you should really be jealous of our plans!

Bruce was the only one that didn't really bite back his laugh. Eddie just nodded for them and started trying to turn them around. Point 'them back to the school so they could go, find their bikes, and head off for home. Behind him, the bandmates started climbing into his van.

“Send tonight's babysitter my condolences. And ask your folks to spring for a raise for the poor fucker, yeah?”

“Lucas, Will, you're our shining roses between the thorns! Don't forget that and get crabby like the other two!” Josie yelled, hanging out from the back door while Eddie ran to hop into the driver's seat.

“They are plenty crabby!” Mike argued. “They just act nice for you!”

“And we thank them for that.” Bruce agreed with the slam of Eddie's door,” See ya!”

Eddie only turned around long enough to promise “We'll tell you all about it and show off our merch tomorrow! Make sure you're all tucked in by bedtime!” before peeling off from the school.

The boys were still yelling after all of them. And they erupted in laughter in the van as Eddie made for the highway. Josie was fanning her face, saying she didn't want to laugh so hard she cried and ruined her eyeliner so early in the night. Jeff was Eddie's co-captain in the passenger seat, twisted around to look at the other three in the back and picking which tape they were going to begin the drive up on. Bruce mused about poor Mr. Hank bartending at the hideout. Having to make it through the night without his usual Tuesday entertainment. They all laughed and agreed he was probably going to make some comment the next week about not really missing his usual headache while they were out of town.

“It was weird, Rob. We were just having our usual banter-”

“Still getting used to the idea that you and Eddie have “usual banter” when I'm not around.” the girl commented from her perch on the counter.

“Whatever.” Steve moved on,” It was just any other day, he showed up to annoy me - had been doing so for a little while - and then Ashley walked in. Like twenty minutes before school let out.”

“Brahms?” Robin quirked her head to the side.

“Yeah, obviously Brahms. And she just paused, looked at us, and whispered under her breath 'Oh, look at that. First time seeing the twin victims in the same place. That's new.' Or whatever. And then Eddie turned tail and left me alone to fend for myself. I swear she was just silently staring at me the entire time she pretended to browse.” Steve feigned a shiver,” And she only got out of here right before I needed to close shop for a few to run and pick you up.”

Robin put on a big pout,“ Did scary Ashley give you the heebie-jeebies?”

“Ugh. You could at least have a little sympathy for me. Turns out I'm a 'twin victim' now. A victim. They made me sound like some weak pushover.”

She could only shrug,“ We knew our story would run wild through the rumor mill and probably change a little. Word of mouth is hardly a sure thing to bet on.”

“Fine. I'm still mad about it.”

“What were you hoping for? Something more like Steve 'The Bear Slayer' Harrington?”

“No. But being twin victims with Eddie Munson was not my idea of a happy ending.”

“The unforeseen consequences of postponing the end of the world.” Robin hummed to herself. “You were looking for a change of pace with how people usually regarded you anyway. I think this is an opportunity-”

But Robin's thought was quickly swept away when the bell above the door rang. Immediately, she started to slip off of the counter and welcome the customer, but then she saw that it was Vickie. Her Vickie - well, not exactly her's - but Vickie Nelson. And the girl walked in like a vision, backlit by the sun streaming in through the windows. Her short red hair sticking out from her face in its cute little curled-up-at-the-ends sort of way.

Steve was still just beside her, but she almost forgot. Because Vickie was there. Smiling. Cheeks dusted in a red-tinted flush. Her teeth just barely peeked out as she tried to control her grinning lips. Big doe eyes looking up at her with a pretty shade of blue.

“Hey, Robin,” she said as she came closer. Stepping up to the counter that separated the two of them.

Okay, Robin. Don't ramble. Try to focus and keep it together.

“Hey. Hey, Vickie. So you found where I make a living.”

That was a dumb, dumb thing to say. Why couldn't she think of anything cool to say? Why was she so woefully understocked on witty one-liners? Was it too last-minute to ask God to throw a couple down for her?

“Well, yeah.” Vickie nodded slowly,” You did mention it on Saturday.”

“Right. Of course, I did. Sounds like me. Always talking about my job with my bestest buddy.” She elbowed Steve with more force than she was trying to, speaking over his low grunt,“ Welcome to the video store. The Family Video store, to be specific.”

It just kept getting worse.

Vickie looked a little put-off. Maybe not exactly displeased by the welcome, but more like it wasn't what she was expecting. Maybe it wasn't what she was looking for after showing up.

She tried to cover up her expression of slight confusion. “Thanks? I'll, uh, I guess I'll take a look around…?”

Vickie had just gotten around the corner of their rom-com display when Steve grabbed Robin's arm and yanked her a few more feet away. “You're crashing and burning, Buckley,” he whispered behind his hand.

“Don't say that to me right now!” her hushed tones came over fast and panicked, just dampened enough to not be overheard. “She surprised me! I haven't planned for her ambushing me here! What do I do? What if she wants to check out a tape and I have to cash her out and then I accidentally touch her hand in a way that's too much or not enough and she figures it out-”

“Chill out.” Steve's hands squeezed tight on Robin's shoulders.

She didn't have a game plan, and she was already spinning out of control. She wanted a strategy and to have it all figured out before she did anything, but Steve was starting to think she was only getting in her own way. He took a quick glance at Vickie before making his own decision.

Something about momma birds having to push their babies out of the nest to make them fly.

Steve shoved her away so they weren't so crowded into each other's faces. “Uh, hey, Robin?” he said, loud enough to reach across the store.

“Yeah?”

“Don't you think it's time for your fifteen?”

“What? I just got here-” She didn't get the hint until Steve's eyes widened to a worrisome degree, and she realized he wasn't blinking. “Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could take it now.” She finally got on the right track and started to walk back toward the counter.

But then she turned back around to him,“ You good here?”

He could've almost rolled his eyes. “We're still a downtown deadzone. I'll be fine.” Steve told her, unwilling to let her talk her way out of it.

“Okay. Okay.”

Vickie was back beside the register by the time Robin turned away from her co-worker and started shrugging off her work vest,“ So, you're getting off for a few?”

“Yeah. Fifteen-minute break. Gotta take one every shift. Sometimes two if it's a long one.” Shut up, Robin. She got that part.

She smiled wider and Vickie let her eyes wander a little to the side,“ Well, since you're free, if you don't already have plans for-”

“I don't.” Robin sounded a little too eager. “No plans. I'm free for anything. Anything that takes fifteen minutes or less. Obviously.”

Short statements and strict posture. All her effort trying not to ramble through run-on sentences before she really planned where they were going was making Robin sound snippy. And she didn't want to sound snippy. But it felt like the only two modes she had were the hyperaware quips or the mindless rambles.

If she and Steve could just fuse together and even out their personalities already, she have let the Steve half take control for that part. But that science fiction dream wasn't a reality yet. She didn't have the option to step back and let someone else carry the responsibility of her love life.

She just had to try on her own. Win or lose, it was going to come down to her. And that was scary. Really, really scary. But at least Vickie sort of seemed to be helping out. Making the first move.

“Okay. We could go on a stroll down the boardwalk then? In-In case you need to stretch out your legs?”

Vickie reached her hand up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. Robin had the passing thought that she wished she could've been the one to do it. But, more importantly, she needed to accept the offer.

“Yeah. Totally. If you're cool- I mean, if you wanted to get a movie first then we could do that and then-”

“Not really. I more so just came for the company.”

Was that…?

“Cool. Uh- yeah. We can go on a walk then.” Robin had to get out of there. “I'll be back, Steve!” she called over her shoulder, following behind Vickie as she pulled back the door.

“Yeah, I know you will. Now get out if you aren't going to stock shelves.”

And that comment felt as close to a proper send-off as she was going to get. Robin waved behind her without looking. Trying to focus on the girl in front of her, and just trusting that her best friend would watch her back while she stepped up to the high dive.

What? So, she picked up a couple of competitive swim references? Big deal.

The two girls stepped out onto the sidewalk together. Letting the door close behind them with the quiet jingle of the bell. Most of the businesses on the strip were still pretty empty. The Downtown Deadzone, Steve hadn't been wrong. It was a pretty apt name for the time being.

They walked alongside the street. Robin on the outside, between Vickie and the road. Passing by the arcade and its vacant parking lot. The laundromat across the way. The newspaper office was back behind them by the sandwich shop and general store. Further down sat a pizza parlor on the corner and a local butcher. A UPS store. A hair salon.

They were all these little points of contention for the small town. Spots that used to be lively and bustling, but faded from view when the mall opened up. And then that went out in a blaze, so their downtown came back to life. Like a little shock from the defibrillator. And then it all died down again. Because the world ended for like forty-seven seconds, haven't you heard? Most of the city got scared back into their homes.

So it was quiet. Almost felt private, despite being on a city street. Cars used to pass by these buildings all the time. But at that moment, none of them were.

“Thanks for stealing me away from work for a bit.” Robin eventually said. They'd both gone a little quiet after they left the store. Maybe Vickie hadn't planned it all out beyond getting Robin all to herself.

“Well, you were going to get the break anyway,” she excused,” With or without me.”

Robin curled the hand in her pocket into a tight fist. She told herself she'd only get so many chances. She had to be a little bit brave with some of them.

“I definitely prefer it this way, though.“ she said.

Was the water steady enough? Was her taped-together boat going to capsize or survive the current? Was she going to be ripped to pieces by the rapids? Lose, to the rushing river, all the parts of herself she'd barely scraped together enough to hope with?

“I do too.” Vickie returned.

Maybe she wasn't. Maybe there weren't any rapids at all. And it was more like a smooth summer lake. Like Lover's Lake, when it was being used as an actual date spot and not as a hub between planes of existence.

“Well-” Vickie started to backtrack,” I stole you away from your job, so you aren't doing the same thing for me - I didn't really have anything better to do right now in comparison. Not to say that I just see this as something to do over having nothing to do and that's all - and if I did have a job, I'd be more than happy to let you convince me to take an early break!”

When Vickie looked back at Robin, she was blushing. Furiously.

“Sorry. My point is, I prefer spending my time this way too. With you, over not with you.” She paused, rucking in a gulp of air before she dare asked,” You know?”

“Yeah. I know.” Vickie's face softened in response,” I agree. I agree to your agreeing with me. Because I've started liking spending my time with you too. A lot.”

“Good. I feel bad, I'm taking up all your time bumbling on about technicalities-”

“Don't. I'm trying really hard not to become a runaway train of words too.” Robin assured her,” But it's really cute when you do it. I feel like I sound like a skipping record when I really get going. Buzzing around and jumping between my sentences before I've really finished any of them. I can really become a mess that's hard to nail down or keep up with.” Robin laughed through her words at herself,” I was just talking to Steve about it the other day. We were saying it'd be good for the both of us to split the difference between the two of us. I could take some of his cool, suave, impressive traits- and he'd get my dashing good looks. Obviously.”

Robin was anticipating a laugh. Or a chuckle, or a giggle, or some kind of sound to tell her that her comedic timing wasn't off. It was only when she didn't get any that she turned her gaze back to Vickie. To see the girl watching her. Seriously. Eyes full and attentive.

“I don't think you need to split any difference with Steve Harrington.”

Wow. How was Robin going to survive Vickie saying something like that?

She felt her chest swell up. Warmth settled into her lungs and she wondered if she was breathing right. If her face was about to go blue because of the short circuit making her switch to manual efforts. Every step, every breath, every blink, every move, every beat of her heart was pulling her attention.

Did she need to pinch herself and make sure she wasn't dreaming?

“He's just better at the whole 'talking to pretty girls without digging yourself into a deep hole' thing than I am. Sometimes I want to steal that skill of his.”

Okay, she might've been focusing a little too much on the blinking part, because that was more than she meant to say. It was more direct than she intended. More outwardly sapphic than she planned.

But it was out there. And it was up to Vickie how it landed.

“Pretty girls?” she asked,“ I'm a pretty girl you need to worry about impressing?”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a more scared Robin was warning her it was a trap. That it could all go wrong. But louder than that little version of herself, there was a newer version pushing her to go for it. A Robin she didn't know she could be until recent months.

So Robin slowed her stride and she said to the sweet little redhead next to her,“ Would it be bad if I said you were?”

“No.” Vickie spun around on her heels to look back. And there was this look that Robin had never seen before. Never been the recipient of. It was hard to define, but it was so, so special.

She stepped a little closer, daring herself to get to that big question she'd been advised to ask.

“Vickie, where is this-“

But before she could get the rest of it out, before she could ask where that thing between them was going, her lips were stilled by Vickie's. She had suddenly rushed in on Robin to steal a kiss. Edging onto her toes, eyes closed, hands on Robin's arms. It wasn't much more than a peck, but for Robin, it stopped time.

It was her first kiss.

Her whole world turned over in an instant.

And, when that instant passed, Vickie stepped back onto her heels. She opened back up her eyes and seemed to take a second to realize what she just did. She let go of Robin's arms while the girl was still love-struck and dazed. Mind slowly working over the incredible news that being kissed by Vickie carried. And then Vickie started panicking.

“Oh my god-” her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open, her jaw shaking just the slightest,” I-I am so sorry, that was-“

But then Robin kissed her.

Deeper. Sweeter. Longer.

To stop her from regretting or retracting what she just did.

Robin cradled Vickie's face in her hands. Feeling her burning cheeks on her fingertips. Reaching back to just barely touch the little wisps of her hair where it came untucked. Their noses pressed beside one another's. Vickie leaned her head over, and they both heard the little plastic clack of her earrings.

Robin swept the girl up in the moment as they turned further around the corner of the building at the end of the strip. And Vickie pushed harder back against her lips. Soon onto her toes again, despite Robin ducking her head down to make them the same height. Vickie's arms wrapped around her shoulders, wrists crossing behind her neck as the two of them came closer and closer together.

Robin's second kiss was pretty great too.

It was amazing. It tasted like strawberry chapstick. It smelled like powdery floral perfume. It felt like the sun on her skin and Vickie in her hands.

And Robin had never been so thankful that an earthquake cleared half the city to make it all possible.

Nancy Wheeler could feel each of her limbs hanging heavily off her body. Every inch of her was exhausted. Her eyelids kept trying to fall, her eye bags had to weigh almost ten pounds, and soon enough her eyeballs were going to burn so bad she'd entertain stupid, senseless, insensitive thoughts like “I'm almost jealous of all the Vecna victims” because at least none of their eyes had the ability to hurt anymore.

Yeah, she was sort of reaching her limit.

Sleep still wasn't coming easy. If she managed to fall asleep at all, it was restless, and she was back up, covered in sweat, after just a few hours. It was wearing her thin.

A person needs sleep. Especially when that person likes to usually have a good attitude about things. Or, at least, when that person likes to seem like the kind of person who has a good attitude about things.

In any news, Nancy was in a bad mood and feeling the full brunt of so many sleepless nights layered on top of the stress of responsibility hanging over her head.

She was starting to run out of hope. But, the one thing she knew was that she was tense. She was freaked out, and on edge every time she started to doze off. Even more so every time she snapped back up. So, her tactic - since the hot baths and counting sheep, weren't working at all - was to try something that might not have been relaxing, but shouldn't let her stay all tensed up.

Maybe something funny would help?

That was the latest theory, at least.

So she decided to swing by Family Video before she went home. To find a comedy she could push into the tiny tv in her bedroom and watch on low volume until her eyes finally closed again. Honestly, maybe she was going to be so delirious by the time it happened that it'd be funnier than anything she'd ever seen.

She pulled her car into the lot between two others. One was Steve's and the other looked a lot like the car she saw Vickie drive just a few days before. She really needed to get her faculties straightened out if she thought she was seeing the same car all over town all of a sudden. What was that called? Synchronicity?

Nancy climbed out of the station wagon with a huff, brushing back her bangs from her face and setting her mind to its task: find a funny movie, say 'Hi' to Steve and Robin, get home, make it through the next few hours, and crash.

She really, really wanted to crash already.

“Oh. Hey, Nance.” Steve greeted her. A friendly face, if not a little surprised, as she walked in the entrance.

“Hey, Steve,” she responded politely,“ Got anything good around here?”

“Well, that depends. What're you looking for?”

“A comedy. Something funny. Light-hearted.” And something in the back of her mind said she needed a reason. An excuse. Something to blame her need on. “The Wheelers are setting a new family tradition. Movie night.”

“Ah. After all the running around, your folks decided they wanted to keep an eye on you and Mike on a… Tuesday night?” Steve's voice peaked at the end. Like he just thought about how Tuesdays were a bit of an odd day to start something like that. Fridays or Saturdays would've been the most obvious pick. Obviously, Nancy.

She resisted the urge to rub away at her tired eyes and just shrugged,” My dad said he got the idea from a guy at work yesterday and told me to pick something up this evening.”

“Fair.” he nodded and eyed different parts of the store while he thought,” Okay, moving on, so we're also looking for something age appropriate for Holly…”

“Maybe,” Nancy grumbled, thinking that a flick more Holly-themed might just be a drag to put herself through.

Steve smiled and laughed a little,“ Well, I'm assuming she's invited to the family movie night?”

“Of course. Duh. She gets to come. She just- uh- she falls asleep like five minutes into anything on the tv after seven. So if it's a little less kiddish, that's fine. Don't need cartoons to cater to her or anything. Just… something funny. For a change.”

“Okay. Sounds like we'll be checking out this section of tapes then. You guys want something new or one that's been out for a while?”

“It's fine if it's been on the shelves. Maybe something with some nostalgia would strike the right note.”

“Alright…”

Steve sorted through some of the tapes for a few minutes. Picking one up and weighing it against another, offering Nancy a couple that seemed to fit the bill. Eventually, they settled on Freaky Friday. Steve walked them over to get her checked out. Punching in keys on the computer and opening the register. He was handing Nancy back her change when she realized something.

“So, where's Robin? Thought you two said you were pretty much always on the clock together.”

“Oh, we are-”

“Is she not working today?”

“No, she is-”

And then the bell behind her rang. With a glance over her shoulder, Nancy found Robin. Right next to Vickie. So that was Vickie's car out front.

Good to know she wasn't losing it.

And Nancy couldn't tell why she felt more annoyed than she did five minutes before. But she did.

The two of them strolled in together. Looking at each other and giggling with bright red cheeks. Maybe she was just in that kind of bad mood where people in good moods seem that much more irritating. Maybe she just didn't have the bandwidth to have a good attitude or pleasant disposition anymore. Maybe she just needed to get some goddamn sleep so she could be a good person again.

When Robin tore her eyes away from the girl at her side, she finally saw Nancy standing there at the counter.

“Hi, Nancy!” she greeted.

“There she is. Just getting back from her break.” Steve finished his thought.

“Ah. Makes sense.” Nancy responded. Trying for as much energy as she could muster at the moment. “Hi, Robin.”

“Picking out a flick for the night?” she wondered,“ Hosting a get-together?"

“The Wheelers are going under house arrest for at least… “ Steve checked the back of the tape case before handing it over with Nancy's receipt,” Ninety-Five minutes tonight.”

Robin nodded wisely,“ Ah. A family movie night. Supplied by the Family Video store. Adds up.”

“Yup. We're a pretty sensible bunch.”

Vickie didn't wait very long to chime in,“ Anyway, I better be off.”

Steve was just starting to ask,“ Are you sure you don't want something?" when she insisted otherwise.

“I'm good. Have a good shift guys.”

“Thanks! See you tomorrow?” Robin wondered, a sort of soft lilt to her voice as she did.

And Vickie glowed as she agreed,“ Sounds good.” Sparing just a second to extend the goodbye to the other girl in the store,” Bye, Nancy.”

“Bye, Vickie.”

Nancy returned the sentiment. It would've been bitchy not to. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to remind herself of that before she did. Maybe she really, really was at her limits with her no-sleep thing.

But she was still attentive enough to catch the way Robin and Steve eyed each other. Like they were speaking without words. She sort of felt excluded. But immediately after, Robin shook out her shoulders and looked back at her.

“So, what's on the night's docket, Nance?”

She held up her purchase without further delay.

“Ooh! Freaky Friday, I haven't rewatched that one in forever.” Her mind ran for a moment before she continued,“ You know, as unrealistic as the whole prospect is, we see insane stuff so often enough that I feel the need to worry. About being in that spot myself. All the money in the world wouldn't be enough to make me okay with switching bodies with my mom.”

She leaned against the counter beside Nancy. Probably envisioning the chaos Miss Theresa would wreck spending a day in her shoes. Steve wasn't far behind in entertaining her hypothetical. Equally displeased by the idea.

“Agreed.”

“Obviously it'd be even weirder for you, mister.” she reached forward to shove his arm. “Mrs. Harrington in your teenage boy jeans? That's gross. But, more similarly, what about body swapping with your dad?”

That was all it took for Steve's whole face to twist up in a cringe,“ Ugh, please don't ever put that idea in my head ever, ever again.”

“What? It's a fair question! Keeps the stakes the same, anatomically, I mean. Don't you think so, Nance?” Robin looked to her for backup.

“It's reasonable enough.”

“See! And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Getting cursed with the big switcharoo with your mom. Sound like the worst day ever or just kind of an inconvenience?”

Nancy let out a weak, pitiful, awkward sort of huff,“ I think I'd rather fight the demobats again than watch my dad lean in for a kiss with his morning coffee.”

“Oh my god, I wasn't even thinking about that part.” Robin practically squealed. Diving her face into her hands to try and block out the idea. The sight made Nancy laugh something a little bit more real.

“You know,” Steve posed,” Now that we're all unpacking this, maybe that movie belongs in the horror section. Nance, want to find something that actually counts as a comedy?”

“I think I'll just take my chances with this one. Thanks.” Nancy smiled,“ So what movie did Vickie get?”

“None. She just kept me company on my break for a little bit.”

“Oh. Sounds nice.”

Then, from behind her, Nancy heard the doorbell ring again. Steve smiled past her and welcomed the customer that just came in. It was some adult she didn't recognize. Whatever. She got what she'd come for anyway.

“You know, I should probably head out too. Have a good one.”

“You too. Hope the movie's good!” Robin called after her as she backed up to the door.

“I hope so too. Bye.”

Nancy waved and pushed herself outside. Turning around and tossing her tape into the passenger seat when she got into the car.

She was having a bit of a time putting a word to it. How she was feeling. Whether it was better or worse after coming to the store. Maybe it was more like a rollercoaster with a couple of lifts and dips to her mood. Maybe she was just stuck feeling all muddled in her emotions until she got some rest. Maybe this was her new normal.

She threw that thought away and turned the keys in the ignition.

Her current state lasting much longer? That sounded like the real nightmare.

It took a little while for the store to clear back out. But, once Steve knew they were alone, he couldn't very well help the fact that he had to know what happened when Robin and Vickie went on their little walk down the street. He say the way she absolutely glowed when they walked back in together. Steve had never been good at waiting for what he wanted, and what he wanted was an update on what was possibly the first lesbian love story blooming in their small town.

“Spill.” That was all he needed to say. Demanding tone laced with so much pure excitement it couldn't come across even a little bit mean. There was so much hope and optimism.

And in the most surprising turn of events, Robin had the ability to live up to that optimism.

But, she still liked to tease.

“A girl doesn't just kiss and tell.”

Steve almost got mad. He had just enough time to start gearing up to push and insist otherwise when it clicked for him.

“No way.”

His best friend looked back up at him, a smile sitting brightly on her lips, cheeks bunched up at the apples, looking just about as happy as she could possibly get. And she started to spill. Going over every detail and the way it lit her up. The way it sent a buzz through her whole body. Made things start to slip into place. Some things at least.

Robin, by some miracle, wasn't going to die unkissed anymore.

And they laughed, and he cheered her on. She told him that about five minutes after that first and second kiss, where she was gushing to Vickie and asking if it was okay to tell him it happened. She couldn't keep such a big thing from her most favorite person in the world. And Vickie giggled in her sweet little Vickie way. Then she gave her permission to talk about them with Steve Harrington, as long as they kept a lid on things. Which Robin absolutely understood and agreed with.

But it meant so much to not only have that perfect moment between them, but to know she'd have just one other person she could talk about it with. Telling Steve that she got to kiss Vickie Nelson made it real. It happened. Just down the road, around the corner of an empty building. Recklessly out in broad daylight, but luckily out of view of anyone else.

Just secret enough and just real enough.

She did mention it was a little stupid to have let it happen right there in the open. She wasn't going to get away with that sort of play again. Probably, at least. But Steve said he was happy she got to experience a little bit of some classic teenager, hormonal, loss-of-thought, stupid-in-love, impulsivity. She deserved some.

Just one taste of getting caught up in the moment and letting a dream take you right to the edge.

He kept saying stupid romantic stuff like that. Maybe under different circumstances, Robin would have walked that back and brought it around Steve's love life. But for that day, the moment was hers. Her love life was the topic of conversation. And not in just the length of a few wistful sentences. Not of only wishes and small limits of hope.

There was substance. There was something to say. There was a future to think about, and events to be excited about, and so much to discover for herself. So much to experience and feel and finally know for herself.

Robin's love life was something to talk about. Fully. And that was so much to have for the first time.

Steve was the first person Robin got to even have honest conversations about crushes with. And on April 8th, 1986, she got to tell him about her first kiss. And the one that came after. And all the others she was looking forward to having.

At least, she got to tell him all about it until the next customer stopped by. Then it was time to get back to the work that paid them.

The van hauling Corroded Coffin up north spent about three hours on the highway before they hit Indy. They didn't even have an hour to spare before the show was set to start. So they all sped and clambered around for food in the city right before they ran over to the Market Square Arena. Proudly displaying their tickets at the entrance and getting let inside for the big event they'd been looking forward to for weeks.

And before Ozzy was set to take to the stage, there was Metallica as a special guest. The opening act. Eddie couldn't really explain why he screamed as loud as he did when the end of “Battery” turned into the beginning of “Master of Puppets”. The guys didn't know it was a song he'd sort of bet his life on twelve days before. But it was a fan favorite, so at least the crowd ramping up around them helped distract from the fact that he might've gotten just a little emotional during the instrumental.

And through the rest of their set and into Ozzy running out, they yelled and sang along, and jumped and jostled against each other. Bumping arms into sides and knocking shoulders into their neighbors. Sticking out tongues and banging their heads. Howling into each other's ears, and still unable to drown out the amps and speakers buzzing on full blast.

Each person fanning the flames of everyone else's burning energy and excitement.

It was a rock show of epic proportions. It was adrenaline and sweat and life mixing together in a cauldron and being thrown all over the place in visceral ecstasy. It was a dizzying frenzy of pure uncensored existence.

Or, halfway uncensored, at least.

There was this moment. It was during “Killer of Giants”. Eddie stopped swinging his hair forward and whipping it back. He slowed down long enough to look back at the people next to him. Jeff, Gareth, Bruce, and Josie. They looked younger than he remembered.

Younger than he thought they looked before he faced everything he faced.

It was almost like an out-of-body experience. He just stopped moving and watched them have fun. There was so much joy just coming off of them in waves. Like that show, that moment, was the only thing on their minds. And Eddie thought he felt like that before. Even just minutes before when he let himself get swept up in the event. But… there was also this other part to him now.

The part that's seen death, seen people narrowly evade it, seen the world around him when he thought he was done. Seen the look in Dustin Henderson's eyes when the boy thought it was over for him.

And that stuff changes a person.

Eddie Munson could still have fun. Could still put in the effort to pretend like the world was as simple as he thought it was before Spring Break. But there was also this gnawing at the back of his mind that reminded him otherwise. That it wasn't still so simple. And he had to push it down.

Censoring himself.

Which was weird in some ways. Because Eddie Munson hasn't censored much of himself since he was a middle schooler. Since he decided he would take the title of “town freak” and wear it with pride. Since he decided anyone who cared about his bad reputation wasn't worth having around.

Eddie said pretty much whatever he wanted to say. But he couldn't say some things.

Supernatural trauma joined the short list of “things we don't talk about” that he held quietly behind his ribs. Secrets cradled gently in the space next to his heart. 'Course, he got to talk about it with The Party.

He was keeping a few other secrets too. Ones that only really had one or two other keepers. So the Upside Down wasn't the smallest whisper he had to his name.

Jeff was cheering when he turned and saw Eddie processing. He must've been thinking on all of it for a while. His eyebrows creased together. And Jeff asked him, quiet under all the rumble of “Iron Man” being covered on stage and the audience's ecstatic reaction,” Hey. You okay, man?”

His hand found Eddie's shoulder. Clamping down with enough pressure to remind Eddie where he was.

“Yeah, man. Just got thinking about stuff for a minute.”

“Do you need to get some air?” Jeff pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the exit.

“Nah… nah. I just- things were crazy you know.” Eddie decided that was a good enough way of putting it. “Just appreciating that we all made it here after everything.”

Jeff dropped his head like the idea was ridiculous,” Even if you croaked in that hospital bed we woulda made Wayne come up with us on your ticket and bring your ashes with or something. We wouldn'ta let you miss this.”

Eddie reached over and shoved Jeff back by the chest.

“Shut up. And thanks.”

“Of course.”

The song faded out from the band. And then Ozzy brought the mic up to his lips. Throwing his head back as he bellowed out through the stadium “ALL ABOARD!” followed by his wicked, throaty cackle.

Jeff's eyes lit up. “Oh my god! Fuck yes!” His mouth fell open as he wrapped an arm across Eddie's shoulders and turned his attention back on the performance. “Come on, dude!”

And Eddie was pulled along with the joy. With the excitement. With the electricity.

“Crazy! But that's how it goes!” he sang along with the crowd.

Deciding to try and get lost back into the haze of the regular people again.

[musical-shenanigans]

Show #43

Title: Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire

Show Release Date: April 12, 2023

Hello everyone, and this will be the first time a blog is posted at the same time as a show.  So, it may require editing, updates, or just some good old fashioned fixing at a later date.

The good news, is that the editing is still fresh in my mind as I have just completed it and made my notes to what I want to say here.  There are more references and uses of songs that need to be addressed, and a lot has changed since the third show that I last posted about on this site.  But, follow us on Twitter and you will find out when I post about the older shows.

So, this is possibly the 43rd show we have recorded, and that includes any of our holiday specials or any other odd thing we did.  By the time I update the shows betwixt the third and this one, I should have the counts straight, so we will say 43 just to get through this post.

Unlike previous posts, I am going to drop references as they come up, so this may look a little different.  Much like the show, this site needs some tweaking on format and will absolutely change around as we go.

First, you might be wondering about the title of the show, even after you've heard the show, you may still be wondering about it.  Well, it is a lyric from the song "The Plains in Spain" from "My Fair Lady".  There is another hidden meaning, but I will come back to that at the end of this season, as all the titles have a running theme - which you may or may not have guessed.  The main reason for this lyric is that Scott makes a rather astute parallel of Amy Winehouse to Eliza Doolittle.  Absolutely fantastic.  So, I really wanted to use that bit.

Our first round matchup is between Carole King and Lauryn Hill (Tapestry #25, and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill #10).  We start with Carole an the many songs she has written for other artists in the Brill Building.  The Brill Building was discussed in Show #10: Frank Sinatra: The Tenth Wonder of the World  when we discussed Laura Nyro. And take a look at the Wikipedia page showing all of the songs that Carole King has written and the artists that made them popular - she was even sampled by the friend to the podcast, Kanye. 

In our discussion, we referenced the Rocky Horror Picture Show and its executive producer Lou Adler.  Lou is responsible for bringing the stage version to Los Angeles, giving us the cult classic film, and unfortunately he also gave its sequel that should have never been made.  But in case you are curious, the entire movie can be seen here on YouTube.  You were warned, so send your complaints elsewhere.

There follows a short spot for the podcast Fancy Bread Miami - go check them out.  They are really great guys and their show is well done.

Next up is Lauryn Hill.  Dave brings up the lawsuit with musicians that played on the album that were not given and credit.  This article came out in August of 2018 discussing the lawsuit that took place.  We also make fun of how I totally mispronounced the OutKast's album title "Aquemini" in episode #16 (or possibly 17): Podcasting in the Name of. 

There is a joke about how many songs Michael McDonald is featured on, and my estimate is way off.  Check out this page to see all of his contributions.  Also take a look at James Taylor and Joe Walsh.

The middle quiz game will get its own blog page.  Please watch this space for it.

The second round begins with Amy Winehouse and the brilliant reference to Eliza Doolitle - watch this clip from the movie and it will all make sense.  And you have not heard Amy Winehouse speak, watch this.

There is a documentary film about Amy Winehouse, and I highly, highly recommend it.  It is tragic, but it is done very well.  It is called "Amy". 

We move onto Aretha and I mention the movie that goes along with this album is fantastic.  I could not find a clip of everything her father, but if you see the movie, you will hear his phenomenal, oratory voice and the love he has for his daughter.  Also, "The Old Landmark" was in the Blues Brothers film and the song is led by James Brown, and you can watch it here - I promise you, the best six minutes of your day!

Note: for our next show, I say that we are going to cover Eric Church.  And, he was voted off the island before the next show was recorded, and we failed to address it.

Thanks for coming out!

Songs used:

Title: Entitled "Comedy Theme" by user Hagfilms at freesound.org

Carole King - "It's Too Late"

Lauryn Hill - "Doo Wop That Thing"

Amy Winehouse - "Me & Mr. Jones"

Aretha Franklin - "The Old Landmark"

Outro - "Touch Me There" - a silly piano bit I made

[nandinip]

Movie Posters representing Gender, Race, and Disability

Background!

Movie posters are a visual aid used to draw audience in to watching the film. Movie posters are like a trailer that help provide information to the viewers and gets the viewer curious about the movie.Movie posters contain basic information like the title of the movie and names of actors, directors, and producers.

In 1890, Jules Chéret, was the first to release a movie poster! And since then movie posters have been a hit and many cultures around the world started using posters to attract an audience.

first movie poster!

How is gender represented in movie posters?

From 1950 to 1960, men were not represented in posters rather the posters only contained images of non-gender category or women posters.

From 1970 to 1980, no women were represented on posters rather it was all men. And in the 2000s men still are represented more than women.

It is interesting to note, that when a women is showcased on a poster, it is always of her being half-naked and wearing makeup. And this was to attract the male audience to the film. However, when males were/are showcased as hard workers, being adventures, and having high roles in societies such as officers and doctors. Sadly, this trend still continues.

Children are exposed to film and posters from a young age so to have females present as sex appeal and males as the dominant ones, it establishes unspoken guidelines in children and causes them to adhere this thinking when older. If we want to bring a change in thinking in the future generations, we need to stop creating harsh gender roles in film and film posters and start treating all genders as equal and not sexualzing one.

As seen in this poster, the women is half naked where as the man is fully clothed. Even though, she is holding a weapon in her hands, she is not taken as seriously as the man. She is present for the sex appeal more than her character in the movie. When looking at the man, he seems to have an important and dangerous job due to the weapon in his hand. But at first glance, the man seemed to have an important role due to him being fully clothed.

How is race represented in movie posters?

Movie posters exclusive have caucasians and not many African Americans. In this section, I will provide you with some examples for race being represented in film posters.

America's black culture represent in poland

1950s to 60s a lot of B-rated movies were produced by black indie companies

Asian Representation in movies (we watched this in class!)

How is disability represented in movie posters?

There are three main types how people with disabilities are represented: he helpless victim, the evil villain, and the inspirational hero

The helpless victim: usually depicted as having little happiness in their life and wanting to live a "normal" life. This character usually deceipted as needing saving from their disability. And usually is there to evoke emotions of sympathy in audience. These types of posters causes people to have a false assumption about people with disabilities as now the audience believes that people with disabilities cannot live a "normal" life and also establishes an inexplicable power difference causing people with disabilities to not get the same respect or treatment as people without disabilities.

The evil villain: Deceipted as dangerous and untolerable. This character is often seen in horror films, such as the Unbreakable trilogy and Gerald’s Game. These types of posters and films causes the audience to walk out with a lot of misinformation and fear about people with disabilities (physical and mental disabilities).

The inspirational hero: deceipted as someone "overcoming the odds". These types of posters and films are used to motivate people through a disabled individuals journey. Even though, this creates a positive stereotype it is still a stereotype. This also causes people who do not have disabilities to have an expectation that people with disabilities can overcome their disability if "they are hard enough".

movie where a woman is met with a severe accident but after the accident she learns to work with her body and get back on her feet by herself.

In this post I have explore how movie posters affect our perception of gender, race, and disability in society. People first are exposed to movie posters and they already have a mental note on the type of movie and the characters of the movie. So movie posters are always made with care and a lot of thought.

Citations:

Thank you for reading!