#anyway i think charlie heaton knows this and is playing it that way

[itspileofgoodthings]

A Jonathan Byers Meta

I’ve been thinking so much about Jonathan Byers and I have some thoughts (again). (Feel free to reblog if you want but please be nice if you do so!) Jonathan is a person whose core trait, one of them at least, is that he responds so strongly to context and specifically to the kind of context he understands and wants, a trait of many oldest siblings I think. And in that context he can be so many things he is not necessarily in every area of his life. So much of that forward moving momentum he has in the first couple episodes of the show where he’s doing so much so powerfully is caused by it being a context he understands and has chosen to embrace and live out to the fullest- the context of him being the most responsible/capable member of the family. He loves Joyce and Will; he hates Lonny and is going to keep him away from his family at all costs; he considers himself the one in charge. And there is a softness and strength to that that feels absolutely luminous, that feels like nothing can shake it. And so as the show goes on and the lens widens to include more characters and perspectives it feels like Jonathan loses power/feels a little lost/drifts out of the center of the story. And for a long time I considered that a failure of the writers. They paid attention to him at the beginning, I thought, but then dropped him and that wasn’t his fault. But I rewatched Stranger things (seasons 1 and 2) this past spring and actually the thing I saw that surprised me is it makes sense on a character level that he loses that central ground and power so to speak because he is put into a context he no longer really understands or just as importantly doesn’t really want to be in. And yeah I’m talking about his dynamic with Nancy. His dynamic with Nancy in those first few seasons confused me the most and for the longest time because it began so powerfully and then felt like it veered off course. I loved it so much, shipped it so completely, and then lost interest as the show goes. And again I blamed that on the writers (in a way I still kind of do because they’re clumsy but more on that in a minute.) But I think there’s more going on on a character level.

The first beats of Nancy and Jonathan’s story feel so powerful because it’s actually part of that same context of compelling power in which we first meet Jonathan (and if you’re me fall in love with him fast). Will is missing and Nancy steps in to not exactly his place in Jonathan’s family but the position he occupied--and that’s because a) she is trying to solve a problem that is connected with Will’s disappearance, b) she needs help while doing so. Jonathan responds to that context effortlessly and powerfully. He joins forces with her and without any question or hesitation takes care of her physically when she’s in danger. It’s surprising and it’s moving and it feels at first like just an extension of that quiet competence and force of personality we witnessed in the first couple episodes but this time in a romantic context. But actually, it still isn’t romantic with him. It isn’t for him for a long time. Basically until the writers force his hand. And that’s because ---and this SHOCKED me when I rewatched the first two seasons a month ago, almost to the point of anger and quitting the show forever--the show never actually succeeds in establishing that he likes Nancy as a person! It’s clear that the writers intend the audience to pick up on that subtext (or I think it’s clear that that’s what they want) but they bungle it badly if so. The actual basic cues that would tell us Jonathan has a crush on Nancy and have us buy it as a believable emotional experience are missing. There isn’t a scene or even a moment where in any way Jonathan expresses any kind of romantic interest in Nancy at the beginning of the show. It’s not part of the establishing his character. His reasons for taking pictures at the party are muddled from the perspective the show is trying to force and it doesn’t work because all Jonathan has done is be vaguely polite to Nancy at school, caught her eye (quite frankly ACCIDENTALLY that one time), and disappeared down the hallway at the speed of light every time she turns around. She was far more intrigued than he was. The show gives us that moment with tears in his eyes where we’re supposed to believe (I think?????) that he’s so upset she’s with Steve but it’s incongruous and feels so weird and jarring you kind of have to throw it out. Because the show hasn’t done any work of telling us why that would be the case at all. No pining gaze! No mention! No conversation! The conversation they have in the hallway doesn’t communicate longing on his part, only a desire to be away from the cool kids. There isn’t even a time where someone else teases him about his crush on Nancy, the easiest way to introduce the fact of one character liking another. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that he hasn’t really thought about Nancy romantically at all. In fact it’s honestly a stretch to think he does. And there other reasons for his being there that make more sense--though I do think it’s bungled from a writing perspective. He misses Will, he’s out looking for Will, photography is his passion (lol), he doesn’t like the cool kids, he stumbles on their party “eh might as well take a picture and be the cool outside observer that he is.”

And because the writers didn’t give us a clear and unambiguous liking of Nancy from Jonathan as a starting point everything that comes after between them, even romantically or romantically-adjacent in that first season, hits differently once you watch it patiently and closely. It becomes clear that all of Jonathan’s care-taking of her is response not to her as a person he is romantically interested in, but response to context, to being the responsible one, the helper. He gets out her sleeping bag and puts it on the floor because he’s really not thinking with any part of his brain about how he’s in the room of the girl he likes. Because he’s not! He’s there as a larger part of the context the show established for him in the first couple episodes--his family, his role as caretaker. And of course that doesn’t mean that Jonathan couldn’t fall in love with her later just because the story never actually established that he liked her romantically when it thinks it does. Of course that could come later, come OUT of their interactions. but .... it doesn’t. It never really comes through. The most powerful part of their story together is the first part because it’s the only time in their relationship where Jonathan is moving with that characteristic firm decision making and competence. He’s very powerful when he’s saving her life. But everything else feels flat. And part of that is because he’s not a person who changes easily or very much at all. There are things about him that feel powerful and real and RIGHT and then there are things that just feel like him doing what the writers want him to do and those aren’t the same. Everything having to do with Nancy romantically feels like the second thing, like something the writers are making them do. The show even has to use Murray to get their romance actually jump-started because these aren’t really characters electrically drawn together. And so some of the stuff he says, the romantic stuff--it’s easy to handwave. And/or to find other reasons. And no this doesn’t have anything to do with shipping bias, though my shipping has been influenced by paying close attention to his behavior and actions. Because despite the power of Charlie Heaton in a gray sweater backlit by the red light of the darkroom with his hair falling over his face, nothing about it hits the way a Jonathan emotion should hit. And it should hit! The right stuff does! He’s brilliantly and truthfully acted and he’s layered and the right Jonathan moments SING. He’s not really a talker, not fundamentally, he doesn’t show his heart that way but in actions and only some of his actions with Nancy, the ones that really are just part of the context he’s comfortable with, really ring true. The point that I’m trying to get at is that when you look at those first few episodes really closely, emotionally there are only really three things that are actually--in character and in truth-- established about Jonathan’s heart. 

They are. One- he loves Will. Will is his person, his world, the center. The one he’s always going to protect first, think about first. Will tells us he doesn’t have friends and Jonathan protests it but that probably came from somewhere. His favorite person in the WORLD is Will. The context of Will’s disappearance highlights that so clearly of course but I think we’d see it even without that. The second thing is that he loves Joyce but he doesn’t particularly trust her judgment, considering himself more of an authority on what this family needs than she does. This establishes a distinguishing quality in him, a pickiness and choosiness and prickliness that is essential. He won’t love blindly and he certainly won’t let just anyone in. (When he says he doesn’t like people we should maybe perhaps believe him and not pass him off as a secret softie.) Joyce is part of his inner circle (I love their relationship a lot actually) but he is not uncritical even of her. This is someone who likes to keep people out because this is someone who doesn’t have endless patience for people and the way they do things. He wants things HIS WAY. His way is domestic and so is the context- he’s frying an egg and it feels so homey and good you want to say he’s a softie and a cinnamon roll- but it comes out of a character who knows what he wants. And the third thing, hilariously enough, is that he hates Steve! Somehow the Duffer brothers DO establish this in a far more convincing way than they establish him liking Nancy. He tells Nancy “he doesn’t like most people” and this is true but Steve is a little bit of an exception in a worse way, as the leader of the popular kids. He’s the figurehead for all that Jonathan dislikes and despises and wants to keep out of his inner circle. The fight that Jonathan and Nancy have in the woods feels far more about his disdain for the cool kids than it does about him really liking her and wanting to rescue her from that. The nerd lecturing the girl who wants to be cool and telling her she’s better than that is a stupid trope and one far less romantic than it thinks it is but because the show has established, intentionally or not, that Jonathan doesn’t really care about Nancy romantically all that comes through in a truthful way is that he doesn’t like popular kids. That emotion, that dislike and almost disdain that lives at Jonathan’s core, is expressed far more authentically than any warmth towards Nancy and it’s so telling that it’s that dislike that collides with the other strongest feeling of his life, loving Will, and leads him to half-killing Steve in the street. The warmest Jonathan ever acts towards Nancy is the warmth of context and the warmth of Will (in his absence) and when those reasons fall away you’re left with something curiously cold. And Jonathan, when he loves, is not a cold person. He’s not a chill person. And so watching him do things like give Will Nancy’s gift to him (a hilarious moment), make Nancy leave out the window (actually very dark and strange considering that Joyce knows they’re sleeping together), literally forget Nancy exists when Will comes back and it’s him and Joyce and Will again, ---you can try to tell yourself that that’s just how he loves. But it isn’t. Because we know his warmth in his hatred and in his loves. And for Nancy it really is just kind of “ehhh.” It’s indifference. 

tl,dr; the show thinks that it’s telling a convincing love triangle for sure. But because they don’t establish liking Nancy as a person as part of his character early enough and because he isn’t a character whose fundamental traits change or change easily they don’t actually build a convincing enough romance. It’s because Jonathan is a person who responds to context, even the wrong one, and because Nancy has her own journey and insecurities to work through (a different meta) they stay together for a long time. But it isn’t satisfying and it doesn’t work because it doesn’t actually strike deep enough in Jonathan’s heart. It’s not a context he really wants at his core. If he falls in love it’ll have to be with someone he wants to allow right into the very center of his life and heart and right now he’s not interested in anyone being in that place except his family. And so because he’s kind of stuck in this situation (of his own choosing, I’m not absolving him of that) because Jonathan likes routine and to keep doing the same things and is not self-motivated in the most powerful way to be able to get out of this romance—-he drifts to the edges and stops really doing anything interesting at all. He starts doing pot, won’t go visit Nancy on her spring break etc. He’s not really the boyfriend he could be in any way because I think fundamentally he doesn’t want to be. And the show may put other words in his mouth about this, I kNOW that the show doesn’t completely agree with everything I’ve written here. But it seems to me the only true way to read him in light of what he actually does and how different it is when he’s acting with his whole heart and when he’s not. 

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Do you have any excerpts from the reviews of sp2 that require payment in the US to read? If so, can you share any comments on Charlie’s part? (BFI, The Telegraph, etc)

Hey sure! I linked to the times uk one bc someone asked for it but it wasn’t good and didn’t mention Charlie. Which BFI one—sight and sound or something else? I’ll put the whole telegraph one behind the cut—it’s a fun, descriptive review that loves the film, but it only has one line on Charlie in it (“animalistic one night stand”), altho it does talk abt Patrick’s film. Anyway here it is behind the cut (does have spoilers from part one):

How much can art ever help us heal? There’s no straightforward answer to that question, which is why The Souvenir: Part II never stops posing it, readjusting the viewfinder, and switching angles. A British heavy-hitter in Cannes, this sequel to Joanna Hogg’s cinematic memoir of two years ago has a dizzyingly playful and prismatic quality. For a film overshadowed by terrible loss, it’s remarkably elating and light on its feet – at once a comedy of filmmaking egos, a multi-layered exercise in creative therapy, and a grippingly honest confessional.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Part II is its sheer buoyancy as a companion piece, springing off the earlier film’s strengths and finding ways to circle back, to reconsider and even critique them. Where Part I had a shimmering poignancy as a tragic love story, this is busy and dazzling: Hogg has never made a funnier piece of work or come to us with such fresh provocations.

As we neared the end of the 1980s in Part I, film student Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) was confronted with the shock of her young life, as her boyfriend Anthony (Tom Burke) was found dead from a heroin overdose in the Wallace Collection’s toilet, having concealed the extent of his addiction from her over several years. Part II picks straight up from there, with a bedridden Julie wasting away in the Norfolk stronghold of her parents, played by Byrne's real-life mother Tilda Swinton and a brilliantly cast unknown, one James Spencer Ashworth, whose droll incomprehension typifies Hogg's deft touch with both seasoned actors and brand new ones.

While those two struggle to find the right things to say, Julie herself becomes preoccupied with what, artistically speaking, is worth saying. The main thrust becomes her determination to make a graduation film, which she decides to craft as a kind of memorial to Anthony. This project is so tentative, elusive and personal that it’s regarded with hostile bafflement by the supervisors on her course, who can’t find any through-line with her previous aesthetic and brutally retract their support.

Hogg’s satirical eye on film-school foibles is beadier than ever in such scenes, but there’s a touching esprit de corps among the student body, who may not always understand each other’s work but rally to help as far as they can. Julie, fumbling towards her vision, lacks experience, and the patience of everyone else on a film set is by no means inexhaustible. Her actors (Ariane Labed and Harris Dickinson) get stuck and vent about Julie’s work ethic while she eavesdrops; her huffy cinematographer (real-life d.p. Ben Hecking) throws a strop when she can’t make up her mind about shot choices.

Alongside Julie’s work in progress, there’s another film in production by one Patrick Le Mage (Richard Ayoade, expanding on his brief appearance last time) – an all-singing, all-dancing proletarian musical called The History of Our Youth, which looks absurd, and has just enough in common with the bang-on-period Absolute Beginners (1986) to make Ayoade’s scene-stealing pomposity feel like an insider joke. Tucked away here are some of the most exasperated film-set insights this side of François Truffaut’s Day for Night. The hard graft and impossible logistics of the medium get a thorough going-over. But there’s also a profound sense of the pleasure, and satisfaction, of making something, however imperfect, and however long it takes. For Julie, it’s this film. But Hogg adds in a tiny morality play about getting too wrapped up in your own passion projects to respect other people’s. It comes in the shape of a lumpy sugar bowl – the first fruit of a pottery class Swinton’s Rosalind has been trying.

Byrne deepens her whole take on Julie so movingly, especially in making her need for new intimacy a raw, embarrassing thing. She has one animalistic one-night stand (with Charlie Heaton) but otherwise succumbs to painful romantic drift, crushing on all the wrong people. Joe Alwyn’s emotionally supportive editor has to sweetly let her down by mentioning he has a boyfriend, at which point the camera catches her stricken, and the audience thinks, “oh, babe”. Swinton continues to know precisely who Rosalind is, of course, and flawlessly transmits her essence, with three springer spaniels as her scuffling entourage. The family scenes are perfect.

The Souvenir: Part II is already doing everything you could ask of it, and then it springs a wondrous feat of pastiche-within-pastiche, serving up a kind of dream ballet finale that’s close to indescribable. Suffice to say, the première where all the characters eventually congregate is our ticket not for a literal screening, but a leaping-off into Hogg’s (and Julie’s) wildest hopes and reveries. The sequence is a through-the-looking-glass spectacle which dresses Julie up like a 1940s glamour queen, and takes her through a series of portals – adventuring, as her own film has aimed to do, into the very mysteries of her soul. 

Even beyond this part, there’s a coup de cinéma waiting on the other side, which offers pointedly the opposite closing shot to Part I. It speaks not of any pat redemption through filmmaking, or an escape back into living once again, but of anxiety, and artifice, and selves that have merged to the point where real life and cinematic portraiture are hopelessly intertwined. From a healing point of view, this may not be quite what the doctor ordered. While entertaining us deliriously, Hogg pulls the rug out. Somewhere behind Julie’s camera, shooting into this gilded mirror, is a lost soul.

[antonfm]

can     u     believe     that     a     whole     entire     day          after     the     rp     opens          ,          i     finally     have     my     shit     together     enough     to     post     an     intro          !          can     u     fuckin     believe     it          !          anyways          ,          i’m     elliot          (          she/they          )          ,          i’m     20     n     i’m     a     supreme     dumbass     who     needs     2     get     their     life     together     on     so     many     levels          .  .  .          it’s     fine     though          !          completely     fine          !          totally     n     utterly     fine          !!!

(          timothee     chalamet          &          cis     male          )          who          ??          these     days          ,          it’s     all     about     anton     olivier          ,          who     comes     from     manhattan          ,          ny          ,          and     is     making     headlines     as     an     actor          .          he     currently     has     a     fan     count     of     45.9k          ,          no     thanks     to     the     rumours     of     them     being     vainglorious          !          but          ,          on     the     other     hand          ,          his     most     devout     fans     say     he’s     actually     retiary          .          last     i     heard          ,          he     caused     quite     a     buzz     when     he     was     caught     leaving     multiple     lovers’     houses     despite     being     in     an     allegedly     ‘     committed     ’     relationship          !          it’s     no     wonder     they     remind     me     of     inky     black     as     a     beautiful     contrast     to     stark     white          ,          tastes     of     fake     blood          &          bourbon     dancing     a     mistimed     tango     on     your     tongue          ,          stacks     of     literary     classics     like     small     mountains     on     your     living     room     floor          ,          abandoned     chastity     ring          (          ruby     red     gemstone          ,          isn’t     it     ironic          ?          )          ,          heat     -     slick     kisses     smeared     to     the     corner     of     your     mouth          ;          dark     academia          /          technicolour     ghost     disappearing     in     the     middle     of     a     crowd          ,          slipping     into     the     back     of     a     lecture     theatre     abound     with     rapt     attention          ,          pressing     bruises     into     not     -     yet     -     ripe     fruit     for     the     thrill     of     watching     it     wilt     beneath     satin     touch          .

𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯     𝔬𝔫𝔢     .          rudimentals          .

full     name:     anton     françois     olivier     . nicknames,     aliases:

ant     .

mon     cher     .          (          by     his     mother     .          )

age:     twenty     -     three     . date     of     birth:     october     fifteenth     . place     of     birth:     manhattan         ,         new     york     city     . nationality:     american     . ethnicity:     caucasian     (     french     )     . spoken     languages:     english          ,          fluent     french          (          spoken     in     household     more     commonly     than     english          )          .

zodiac     sign:     scorpio     . hogwarts     house:     slytherin     . myers     -     briggs:     infp     -     t     .

career     claims:     charlie     heaton     ,     some     of     bill     skargsard’s     stuff     .          (          i’ll     write     his     imdb     page     later     .          )

𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯     𝔱𝔴𝔬     .          physicals          .

height:     six     foot     three     . weight:     157     lbs     .

complexion:     pale     ,     scarily     so     .     nothing     medical     about     it     ,     just     a     natural     pallid     sheen     to     sharp     features     .     a     small     ,     light     dusting     of     freckles     over     the     nose     and     cheeks     and     forehead     .      face     shape:     heart     -     shaped     ,     incredibly     angular     .     sharp     cheekbones     and     jawline     ,     square     and     dashing     in     a     sinister     kind     of     way     .     very     thin     ,     very     gaunt     .      facial     quirks:     in     some     lights     his     left     eye     is     ever     so     slightly     lighter     than     the     other     ,     but     it’s     a     trick     of     the     light     .

hair:     black     ,     naturally     so     (     your     mother’s     hair     )     .     has     a     slight     natural     wave     that     sometimes     springs     to     a     loose     curl     .     recently     ,     you’ve     grown     it     out     so     that     it     curls     around     the     nape     of     your     neck     and     falls     into     your     eyes     .     typically     ,     strands     are     tucked     behind     your     ears     unless     they     fall     out     of     place     .     soft     ,     incredibly     so     --- -     cherry     blossom     shampoo     and     conditioner     ensures     that     . eyes:     bright     blue     ,     cobalt     .     golden     rings     around     the     pupils     ,     with     green     and     hazel     flecks     throughout     .     lashes     are     unfairly     long     and     dark     ,     a     prettily     sooty     smudge     against     the     high     ridge     of     your     cheekbones     .     brows     are     dark     and     expressive     ,     unruly     ,     arched     ever     so     slightly     .     dark     indigo     bags     underneath     your     eyes     aren’t     an     unusual     sight     ,     results     of     too     -     long     nights     and     a     strange     work     schedule     . nose:     your     mother’s     button     nose     ,     small     and     straight     and     ‘     lovely     ’     according     to     your     rabid     fan     base     .     nothing     much     to     say     about     it     otherwise     .     you     considered     piercing     it     when     you     were     fifteen     and     going     through     it     for     unknown     reasons     .      mouth:     relatively     normal     lips     ,     slightly     plusher     lower     lip     but     that’s     not     saying     much     .     chewed     ,     bitten     ,     chapped     like     nothing     else     /     favourite     flavour     of     burt’s     bees     is     pomegranate     .     teeth     are     white     ,     straight     ,     pretty     good     teeth          ;          indents     of     which     often     find     themselves     deep     in     that     lower     lip     .

scars:     none     of     note     .     the     typical     petite     white     scars     of     childhood     across     knees     and     elbows     ,     but     nothing     too     serious     . tattoos,     piercings:     none     .     there     are     plans     in     the     works     ,     but     currently          ?          nothing     . more     body     modifications:     again     ,     nothing     .     bitch     is     boring     .

𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯     𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢     .          biographicals          .

not     quite     your     typical     tale     of     boy     -     meets     girl          ;          art     gallery     curator     curator     watches     broadway     ‘     ingénue     ’          &          falls     head     over     heels     in     an     infatuation     that     borders     on     obsession     but     is     returned     tenfold     .     adele     st     .     croix     can’t     believe     her     luck          (          moved     to     manhattan     just     two     years     previously          ,          resumé     builds     beyond     belief          ,          engagement     to     a     big     name     is     imminent          !          )          and     pierre     -     louis     olivier     has     never     been��    so     deeply     in     love     before          .          the     courtship     is     wonderful          ,          twilight     walks     in     the     park          ,          regular     dates     at     terribly     romantic     restaurants          ,          soft     kisses     on     random     stoops     and     rough          ,          impassioned     kisses     on     your     own          .          the     engagement     comes     in     1995          ,          &          a     year     later          ,          marriage     is     a     cover     story     and     a     four     -     page     spread     in     all     the     glossy     tabloids     your     mother     loves     to     collect          .          

your     conception     comes     as     a     shock          ,          of     course          .          neither     wanted     children     so     early          ,          just     a     year     into     their     marriage     but     the     very     first     time     that     your     mother’s     silky     -     smooth     hands     rest     on     the     then     -     flat     expanse     of     her     belly     it’s     over          .          unspoken     talks     of     termination     that     weighed     uncomfortably     heavily     on     unmoving     tongues     are     quashed          ,          replaced     by     fluttering     anticipation     of     a     child          .          your     impending     birth     is     announced     three     months     after     your     parents     find     out     they’re     expecting     you          ,          &          soon     enough     your     own     infantile     chunk     of     their     upper     east     side     penthouse          (          a     grandiose     wedding     present          )          is     carved     out          ;          decked     in     earthy     tones     and     warm     creams          ,          pastels     of     all     shades     and     joy     woven     into     each     choice          ,          you     are     a     source     of     joy     to     rival     the     sun          .

birth     is     almost     perfect          ,          only     one     day     past     your     due     date          .          naturally     your     first     breath     is     a     noisy     one          ,          wailing     and     crying     and     oh          ,          how     they     adore     you     already          !          adoration     seeps     into     your     bones     from     the     first     time     mother     holds     you          ,          presses     a     kiss     to     your     head     and     breathes     in     that     lavender         ,         fresh     -     linen     new     baby     smell          .          from     that     very     first     moment     love     is     ingrained     into     every     single     pore          ;          love     is     what     you     breathe          ,          what     you     feed     on          ,          what     you     see     the     world     through          .          your     mother     and     father     are     almost     sickeningly     in     love          ,          true     dotage     in     its     finest     form     and     later     in     life     you     suppose     you’re     lucky     to     have     grown     up     with     such     a     wonderful     idea     of     what     true     romance     is     meant     to     look     like          .          they     love     each     other          ,          and     they     love     you          .

childhood     is     wonderful          ,          if     you’re     perfectly     honest          .          it’s     a     blur     of     ice     cream     at     fancy     parlours     after     your     mother     picks     you     up     from     school          ,          renting     movies     and     getting     wonderful     takeaway     and     laughing     until     your     sides     ache          .          it’s     freshly     -     laundered     uniforms     that     just     look     so     damn     precious          ,          school     ties     in     immaculate     windsor     knots          .          (          schools     are     all     catholic          ,          of     course          ;          some     things     die     hard          ,          but     your     mother     and     father’s     commitment     to     their     faith     dies     harder          .          )          church     on     sunday     mornings          ,          followed     by     brunch     and     a     movie          /          picturesque          ,          absolutely     perfect          .          ignore     the     paparazzi     trailing     behind     you          ,          though          .          ignore     the     fact     that     despite     everything          ,          a     childhood     dripping     with     luxury     and     privilege     is     not     really     a     normal     childhood          .          normal     children     don’t     dress     in     such     expensive     clothes     in     their     free     time          ,          normal     children     don’t     understand     the     complete     and     utter         hedonism     that     you’re     enabled          .          

it’s     only     a     matter     of     time     before     you     find     your     calling          ,          though          .          you     are     fourteen          ,          already     a     gangly     mess     of     too     -     long     limbs     and     charming     smile     and     curls     that     melt     even     the     iciest     of     glares          .          you’ve     sat     in     the     backs     of     theatres     while     your     mother     rehearses     for     your     entire     life          ,          and     stepping     into     the     harsh     spotlight     itself     feels     like     home     in     a     way     you     can’t     possibly     describe     in     either     of     the     tongues     that     crowd     your     mouth          .          your     first     performance     is     macbeth          ,          and     you     dominate     like     nothing     else          ,          tragic     figure     with     a     mouth     of     steel          .          for     the     next     few     years     of     your     high     school     education     you     always     score     the     leading     role          ,          not     through     anything     but     the     sheer     force     of     your     talent          .          acting     is     second     nature     to     you          ,          a     comfortable     set     of     skins     you     fall     into     like     it’s     nothing          ,          like     they’re     nothing          .

sixteen     when     you     get     your     first     gig     ,     a     guest     appearance     in     some     established     police     procedural     ,     but     it’s     a     rush     like     nothing     else     .     one     gig     leads     to     another     ,     and     another     ,     and     another     !     it’s     not     until     you’re     hired     by     netflix     to     do     their     biggest     hit     ,     some     then     -     untitled     sci     -     fi     horror     80s     thing     ,     that     you     take     off     like     nothing     else     and     god     ,     it’s     like     nothing     you’ve     ever     known     .     blockbusters     are     offered     to     you     after     your     second     season     airs     ,     you     find     yourself     in     cameos     in     fucking     marvel     movies     ,     &     yet     nothing’s     quite     as     thrilling     as     horror     .     something     crawls     under     your     skin     the     first     day     you     shoot     stranger     things     ,     and     it’s     stuck     ever     since          ;          you     make     a     good     archetype     ,     the     dopey     yet     helpful     boyfriend     ,     the     white     knight     .     you’re     barely     nineteen     when     you     decide     what     your     avenue     is     and     make     a     conscientious     decision     to     stick     to     it     .

and     now          ?          your     imdb     page     glitters     ,     cacophany     of     roles     quite     unlike     each     other     ,     bad     guy     and     good     guy     and     killer     and     saviour     ,     all     crammed     in     together     .     didn’t     think     you     had     time     but     somewhere     you     met     someone     ,     fell     in     love     ,     started     dating     ,     all     that          ;          but     that     bleeding     ,     genuine     heart     of     yours     can’t     be     contained     ,     falls     in     love     five     times     a     day     ,     catches     itself     upon     the     hooks     of     others     and     impulse     control     is     a     long     -     forgotten     acquaintance     .     newspapers     call     you     a     heartbreaker     ,     but     you     never     break     hearts          ;          you     simply     leave     your     scent     on     bedsheets     and     heartbeats     alike     ,     prettiest     kind     of     ghost     .     sometimes     you     play     up     the     ‘     arrogant     heartbreaking     dipshit     ’     spiel     for     interviews     but     with     you     ,     what     you     see     is     what     you     get     :     passionate     ,     driven     ,     emotional     .     a     fervour     .     a     lover     ,     a     romantic     ,     altruistic     kinds     of     chaos     .     the     prettiest     kind     of     confusion     ,     all     wrapped     up     under     that     surname     .     oh     darling     ,     you’re     the     nicest     kind     of     sweet     nightmare     and     you     don’t     even     know     it     .

𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯     𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔯     .          wanted     connections          .

the     committed     relationship     .

the     string     of     lovers     he’s     been     seeing     .

exes     ,     on     any     kinds     of     terms     .

school     friends     from     forever     ago     .

co     -     stars     .

rivals     !!!!

literally     anything     PLEASE

[ofapollok]

I BEG FOR ATTENTION IN SMALL DOSES

{ charlie heaton | he/him | cismale | 25 } | hey y'all look, it’s ( apollo knight ) strollin’ down bourbon street. last time i checked they worked as an/a ( co-owner of the lava java ). how long have they been here? i don’t know, perhaps ( 25 years ). they’ve been known to be a little ( caring ) and a little ( hot-headed ), but that’s okay because everyone is welcome here in the big easy. { moony | 20 | cst | she/her }

LEAVE THE SCENE SMELLING OF DEAD ROSES  

hey guys, it’s moony ½ of the admin team coming to you with ½ of my precious family. here’s apollo knight my little emo boy. so get ready bois. here he comes.  

cajun-french babe, is what you could use to describe this man.

he was born in the heart of the french quarter, taught all how to party at such a young age.

knows how to play three instruments, trumpet, drums, and guitar. he was in band for about three years, quitting his senior year because of all of the stress.

his parents died when he was 14 and that really sucked so now he lives with his nana. 

whenever his parents passed he inherited the family coffee shop, the lava java.

his parents passed away in a freak car accident, result of a drunk driver.

doesn’t get close to people because he just assumes that whoever he gets close to will just die anyway.

its a pretty morbid way of thinking, but such a great loss at age 14 will do that to you.

 on a much brighter side, he loves his job and is super duper nice to everyone he meets.

he’s in a jazz band where he plays lead trumpet.

please love him.

[bi-apps]

Accepted - Remus Lupin

whatwouldfrogsdo

submitted:                                                    Remus Lupin Application            

OOC Information:

Name/Age/Timezone- Steph / 26 / GMT

Activity Level- A solid 7. I’m not currently self-isolating and work in a grocery store so don’t see myself out of work even as COVID-19 carries on but everything else in my life has been cancelled so I should be on most days.

Ships/Anti-Ships- None in particular, though I prefer to play Remus as a closeted gay and generally reluctant to get into a ship at all. He plays his secrets off each other, using not being ready to come out of the closet as a reason to break things off with prospective partners just before the Full Moon. In terms of keeping things canon with his future marriage to Dora, I see that as being more a case of him having lost everyone by then and probably it being a more queer platonic relationship, however Marauder era RPs rarely end up covering that, especially where Andromeda and Ted are characters in the RP.

Did you read the rules? Yes!

IC Information:

Character Name- Remus Lupin

Age/Birthdate- 19; 10th March 1960

Faceclaim- Charlie Heaton, Tom Holland, Charlie Rowe.

Occupation- Unemployed.          (( Remus has already had multiple jobs since leaving Hogwarts but none last long. He was a dish washer at the Leaky Cauldron for all of two weeks before they asked him to work a Full Moon and fired him when he couldn’t give a good enough reason not to. The manager of the Magical Menagerie was suspicious of him wanting a lowly shop job despite his six NEWTs and thought she was doing Remus a favour when she gave him a pile of applications for the Ministry of Magic and let him go. Remus stopped turning up to his cleaning job in Knockturn Alley when the owner of the lot started dropping hints that they knew what he was. His longest job so far has been as a receptionist in a Muggle office but after his second period of sick leave without a doctor’s note within his two month probationary period they had no choice but to let him go. ))

Blood Status- Half-blood (Half-blood father and Muggle mother)

Positive traits:   + selfless: Remus would do anything for his friends no matter the cost to him.  + compassionate: Possibly an odd trait for somebody known as a prankster, Remus sees the good in those around him and empathises with them. He would take the side of an underdog over the easier but less righteous choice. His compassionate nature also helps him to forgive people when they have done wrong.   + astute: While Remus generally has to work at being book smart, his sharp perception of the world comes naturally. He can think quickly and intuitively to turn a situation to his advantage, whether that is in finding loopholes for the next marauder prank, in assessing a situation that might be about to turn sour or in identifying somebody who needs a word of encouragement.

Negative traits:  - people pleaser: Remus has a tendency to look the other way when the other Marauders are breaking rules. He might not participate if he doesn’t really agree with what they are doing, particularly in the past when James and Sirius would bully others at Hogwarts, but he certainly didn’t do anything to stop or stand up to his friends, because as the first people who showed him real friendship, he doesn’t want to lose that by disappointing them and spoiling their fun.   - self-deprecating: Remus hates everything that reminds him of his lycanthropy, especially the parts of his personality which are shaped by his condition. Though the support of his friends has helped him come to terms with his fate, Remus is still prone to some doubt and shame over the werewolf part of him, especially when his friends aren’t around.  - vengeful: While Remus will forgive somebody for one wrong if they show contrition, if somebody earns his anger then they should beware. On the wrong side of him, Remus is a force to be reckoned with.

Patronus- Wolf. He has successfully managed a corporeal patronus and is now teaching himself how to hide the form of his patronus as he hates any reminders of the wolf.

Boggart- The Full Moon. This is representative of Remus’ fear of what he becomes each month, his dread of each upcoming Full Moon and the way each that has passed leaves scars mental as well as physical.

Key Points-

CHILDHOOD: From the night he was bitten, Remus grew up in isolation units and hospital wards and the confining four walls of his bedroom. His life would forever be shaped by that monthly pattern and a fear of others finding out. His home-schooling involved not just basic numeracy and literacy but also Astronomy and muggle physics and an extensive education into what it meant to be a werewolf. His father taught him about all the magical creatures he encountered at work and his Healer taught him about home remedies and the properties of various herbs, because a side effect of his condition was a childhood riddled with illness and a struggle to make ends meet. His parents poured every last Galleon that they owned into searching for a cure or moving to another town after their latest neighbours started to suspect something was amiss with the family, only a few spare coins each month for each of their vices (Italian coffee and books; cigarettes and music records; chocolate frogs and colouring pencils). In between other lessons, Lyall Lupin did everything he could to ensure Remus would be prepared for a nomadic adulthood — a life on the streets, friendless and penniless — deaf to Hope’s pleas that they try and help him get back to some notion of a normal life.

HOGWARTS: Having been pulled out of muggle primary school when he was bitten, it never occured to Remus that Hogwarts might ever be an option for him. He was so excited when Professor Dumbledore visited the family personally to discuss the possibility that he barely noticed his parents’ worried exchanges and fears. It was only after Professor Dumbledore had left and Remus started to compare the next year’s Full Moons to his new school calendar that it dawned on him just how complicated this would be. Yes, Dumbledore had promised him special provisions, but what of his dormmates? What of that very first weekend of his first year when he would have to feign a very different illness to explain away his disappearance so early in the term? It was his mother who suggested that he could say she had a chronic illness and that he was visiting her whenever there was a Full Moon but he had not known James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew for long before he realised they would not buy that as a reason for skipping classes or being absent from the dorm every month like clockwork. Remus, glad to finally have friends and terrified he would lose them if they found out the truth, made up different and increasingly more elaborate stories but he wasn’t a good enough liar to hide from his best friends and soon they had a bond closer than Remus could have ever hope for. He had a pack.

BETRAYAL: Everything seemed to go wrong at once. A betrayal from his best of friends — his only friends — revealing the secret his life had been devoted to keeping for the purpose of a cheap and fatal prank. Remus felt convinced all three of them were in on it because they always were. He avoided and argued and was the most miserable he had been since starting Hogwarts. It was during this period of low that he had a careers meeting that highlighted how dim his prospects after Hogwarts would be and Remus was reminded of what his father had tried to impress on him all these years — that werewolves weren’t supposed to have the sort of life he had been playing at, with education and friends and happiness. The next Full Moon was during the Easter holidays and unable to bear sitting in the Shrieking Shack alone, he went home. He asked his parents why him. Unable to fob him off with any more half-truths or excuses, his father finally opened up about Greyback. Remus had to hear how his father had once held the same prejudices about werewolves as the rest of the wizarding world and make his own conclusion that maybe he still did. After all, he had almost stopped Remus from living his life after the bite, no matter how much he claimed it was for Remus’ own good. The resulting argument was brutal but soon cut short by hacking coughs and Lyall turning on his wife and snapping at her to stop smoking those damn things. Her hand was shaking as she ignored him and tried to light the cigarette anyway. Remus noticed for the first time that she looked very ill, so ill that his using her as an excuse all those months appeared to be coming back to bite him.

MARAUDERS: They had been his first ever friends and when Remus returned to school he knew he could avoid them no longer. He needed them. Life would be much too lonely without them and, besides, he had grown too used to their being by his side during transformations. He missed them so deeply that he melted when he saw them again. Barely had he stepped into the carriage on the Hogwarts Express did forgiveness fill his heart. He reminded himself of what he had always believed: that he wasn’t good enough for them. That he was nothing more than a monster and at least he should be grateful that they still wanted his friendship. He was indebted to them. How could he keep pushing them away when they equalled the happiest moments of his life so far? Even with that awful Incident, none of them were a part of the worst moments of his life. So, he let them fall back together and patch up the cracks in their friendship with jokes and pranks and throwing themselves towards war, knowing that it didn’t matter to him how they felt. They could pity him and fear him and be prepared to brush him away without a second thought again. He would die for them anyway.

THE ORDER: Despite good grades, a stellar reference from his Head of House and three years in the role of Prefect, Remus was not surprised to find it hard to find or hold down a job after school. Employers wizarding and muggle alike did not look kindly on him taking sick leave less than a month after being hired and inevitably after the second month he was circling ads in the newspaper again. Sometimes it didn’t even take that long, as Remus found himself prioritising the Order of the Phoenix more and more, slipping seamlessly into the role he now knew he had been raised for: the Order’s spy amongst the werewolves.

Changes/Extra Info- No changes, and I think I’ve included any extra info I might want to give elsewhere but as I’ve played variations on Remus’ character for years I have tons of headcanons so if there’s anything extra/different you want to know or clarify just shoot me a message!

Para Sample

(scars cw; minor body mutilation cw; non-deliberate self-harm cw)

It had been three days. Three days since the moon was full. Three days since Remus had only barely avoided becoming a murderer. Three days since Snape had found out his secret. Three days since Remus had spoken.

He had been avoiding nearly everybody, curled up in his bed in the corner of the Hospital Wing, the curtains drawn around him as Madam Pomfrey shooed any visitors away with claims of his having dragon pox. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had both visited to talk about The Incident and ask how he was recovering but even then Remus had stared at the ceiling and acted like he couldn’t hear them. When they had suggested he get back to lessons and try to find a normal routine, his eyes had snapped to Madam Pomfrey, who had insisted that his injuries from the particularly difficult night and the mental strain from the trauma meant she wouldn’t be discharging him from her care just yet.

That morning, however, he had lost his ally in Poppy Pomfrey. She had sighed down at him and admitted that she couldn’t let him hide there any longer. It had been three days and he was risking falling into a depression if he refused to do anything any longer. Besides, his injuries were little more than shining scars, now, that would bother him no longer except for the reminder of how terrible that night had been. Even the bruise down the right side of his body from where the wolf had thrown itself at a wall in its desperation to reach human blood had faded to yellow and no longer hurt.

“Do you want me to leave a bandage around your wrist?” Pomfrey asked, as Remus reluctantly dressed. He looked down at the scars. The skin was no longer raw but the scars didn’t look as old as they sometimes did after three days of werewolf speed healing. Remus shook his head. It looked bad and somebody would surely jump to the conclusion his extended stay in the hospital was due to something much darker than dragon pox, but as it was he could pull the cuffs of his jumper or robes over the marks. A bandage would only draw attention.

“I wish there was a way to stop you chewing on yourself. The scratches are bad enough but—“ She trailed off with a pained expression and Remus knew she was thinking again of the state of his wrist when she had found him at dawn and how much worse it could have been. She shook her head and pressed a bottle of scar reducing cream into his hands. “Run along to breakfast, now, and I expect not to see you back here at all this weekend.”

“Can’t—“ Remus’ voice came out scratchy from disuse. He swallowed painfully. “Can’t I have breakfast here and go straight to Potions?” Or just skip Potions. He didn’t need to go to Potions, surely. He couldn’t deal with Slughorn on top of Snape and Black and Potter and Pettigrew. He couldn’t deal with the smells and fumes that always threatened to overwhelm him in the dungeons. He couldn’t deal with struggling through his worst subject and unwilling, unable to ask for help.

“Don’t be silly!” Pomfrey, the traitor, said. She handed him his cloak and pushed him towards the door.

He didn’t go to the Great Hall. Instead, his steps turned to the basement. House elves were buzzing with activity in the kitchens but with breakfast open upstairs Remus was the only human there. The elves didn’t seem to mind him weaving between the tables and plating up a breakfast for himself before the platters went up to the Hall.

He wouldn’t have long to run all the way upstairs, get his school bag, and return down to the dungeons before Potions but Remus couldn’t find the motivation to eat any faster. He was dreading seeing the boys who less than a week ago he would have called his best friends.

“Mr Lupin.”

Remus tensed at Professor McGonagall’s voice. It was still too early for them to be hunting him down for being late to Potions, so what—

They changed their minds, Remus concluded. He had been too dangerous. He had nearly hurt some of his fellow classmates and Snape didn’t want to share the castle with him and he had broken Dumbledore’s trust in telling his dormmates how the passageway into the Whomping Willow worked and it had all been a huge mistake. Perhaps Padf—Black had said something, too. About how he had come to his senses and not known how else to break up a friendship with a monster.

“P-Professor?”

“Good morning, Remus. It’s good to see you out of the Hospital Wing.”

Remus glanced around the kitchens in confusion. Her tone was much too kind.

“I— I’m sorry I didn’t go to breakfast upstairs, Professor, but I—“

“As long as you aren’t making a habit of eating here, I think we can let this slide for today. Given the circumstances. In fact, I believe you will be joined by Misses Fawley and Frazer this evening if you still wish to eat away from the rest of your classmates. You won’t ask either of them what their extenuating circumstances are for choosing to eat down here and they will not ask you, either.”

“Oh— okay? So I’m not being expelled?”

“Most certainly not, Mr Lupin. You were in no way at fault for the events of the other evening. Why, even Mr Black will not be expelled.”

Remus flinched. Professor McGonagall noticed — she must have done, because her eyes narrowed and she seemed to consider her next words very carefully before she spoke.

“Remus, whether you choose to forgive Mr Black or not is your decision and yours only. I will neither judge you nor try to tell you what to do. However, I will not be allowing any changes in dormitory arrangements, nor any more hiding in the Hospital Wing instead of returning to your common room while you are healthy. Now, you missed your Careers Advice meeting yesterday and I have told Professor Slughorn that you will be missing Potions this morning to make up for it, so finish your breakfast and meet me in my office.”

Remus stared at the door that closed behind her. He had forgotten all about the careers meetings in the chaos of the week. He had no idea what he was going to say. His dreams were unachievable and his realistic plans non-existent.

*

She poured him a cup of tea when he arrived at her office and offered him a biscuit despite knowing he had only just had breakfast. Remus nibbled nervously around the edge of his ginger newt. Nobody else had mentioned tea and biscuits for their careers meeting but, admittedly, only a couple had gone to theirs on Monday before Remus fell ill and he hadn’t talked to anybody since.

“This meeting is supposed to be to talk about any career ideas you might have,” Professor McGonagall started and Remus tensed. She stopped in her flow and rested her hands on the table in front of her, observing him with keen eyes. “However, we might have to approach things a little differently with you.”

“You can say I’ve no chance of getting a job, Professor. I’ve made my peace with it.”

“It may be difficult for you to get a stable job, especially in the wizarding world but I believe you have done some Muggle education?”

Remus nodded. “My mam insisted on it. I will be taking my Muggle O Levels this summer, shortly after my O.W.L.s and the end of term but Muggles will still be suspicious of me missing work so regularly and I don’t want to have to use Obliviate or Confundus on my bosses.”

“That’s true,” Professor McGonagall conceded, “But whatever you choose to do, Remus, you can be sure you will have a stellar reference from me.”

Remus frowned. “Professor—”

“Remus Lupin, you are a good student and an even better person. If I had the power to appoint you as my teaching assistant I would do it today but as it is you’ll have to apply through the proper channels when you have your NEWTs.” Her mouth twisted in sadness and Remus knew it was because that wasn’t possible. Even if Professor Dumbledore had let him come to school, how could he hire a teacher who would have to miss so many classes to turn into a dangerous monster? “Any employer who would turn you away just because you’re a werewolf would be missing out.”

It occurred to Remus that Professor McGonagall was the only teacher besides Madame Pomfrey who called him a werewolf. Professor Dumbledore had this habit of talking around the issue or calling it Remus’ lycanthropy, while most of the others avoided talking about it altogether or didn’t know. He preferred it when people just called him a werewolf. His mouth twitched into a smile but it fell when he looked into his still-full cup of tea and realised the meeting was far from over.

“Professor, I know you have to do these meetings with everybody, but I don’t think I can—” He trailed off and blinked against tears.

“I do hope the world will be kinder to you one day, Remus.” She looked up at the clock, then back to him with one of those rare McGonagall smiles. “We still have time so unless you really want to get to Potions—”

“No!” Remus blushed at how quickly his objection came out. “I mean—���

“Actually, the main reason we do Careers Advice in fifth year is to help narrow down NEWT options and whether you believe you’ll be able to secure a job that requires NEWTs or not, it would still be a good idea to think about your subjects. Perhaps we can talk about that?”

She seemed to be enjoying herself far too much. Remus was sure she wouldn’t normally encourage skipping a class. He had never told anybody of his feelings that the Potions master was prejudiced against him but he now suspected McGonagall knew. “Oh. Sure. I hadn’t thought about it at all, yet.”

“Looking over your class marks, you have the choice of any subject you desire. The only subject you would have to work particularly hard at to raise your grade would be Potions. You’re currently only just scraping an Acceptable and you would need an E to be eligible for the NEWT class.”

“I don’t want to take Potions. I’d definitely like to take Transfiguration and Charms and probably Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, looking over the notes in front of her. “All of which you have Outstanding marks and I know Professor Flitwick and I would both be delighted to have you in our classes. Only probably for Defence?”

“The changeover of teachers makes it harder to know. Some years I’ve loved it and others not so much.”

“Understandable. I trust you have kept up with the news of what is happening outside the castle?”

The war. For it was very much a war by now. “Yes, Professor. Defence might be useful, mightn’t it?”

She looked at him with the same prideful glint in her eye as she did when he got a question right in class. “You also have exemplary marks in Astronomy,” she added, looking down. “However—”

“I’m not sure about Astronomy,” Remus admitted. “Sorry, Professor, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Go on.”

“My parents taught me Astronomy before Hogwarts. I find the lessons easy but that’s because I already know a lot and it’s not useful in the same way as some subjects.”

“It’s probably for the best as the Ministry has a tendency to set the final practical exam on the night of a full moon.”

Remus sighed and nodded. He didn’t want to take Astronomy but hearing how he probably couldn’t because he wouldn’t be able to take the exam only made him feel more frustrated with the conversation about his job prospects fresh in his mind. Which led him to another subject he had been unsure about. “I like Herbology too, but wolfsbane is on the NEWT curriculum.”

“Does it affect you over a distance?”

“I honestly don’t know, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall hummed thoughtfully. “I will talk to Pomona and Poppy but I’m sure we can sort something out. You would be wearing gloves to handle it anyway.”

“I don’t have to be certain of my subjects now, do I, Professor?”

“No, I will confirm your subjects with you on the first day of your sixth year.”

Remus nodded, happy that he could have some time to think about it but not choose there and then. He slipped into silence, sipping his tea and wondering how long he could get away with staying there before he was dismissed.

Much too soon, the teacup was empty and Remus couldn’t avoid his teacher’s expectant gaze any longer.

“How about you go to your dorm before your classmates finish Potions and make sure you are ready to join them for Charms?”

Going back to lessons seemed so difficult but he had to. They had decided to keep him here even after all the risks had been highlighted and Remus was now under even more pressure to excel and show he deserved his place there.

Professor McGonagall must have sensed his reluctance because she added, “I’m sure Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew will be happy to see you.”

“I don’t want to see them.”

She looked shocked. “Remus, they didn’t do anything. Mr Potter is the reason nobody was hurt.”

“I don’t want to see them,” Remus snapped and he knew his eyes flashed amber. Prongs— Potter was the only one Black listened to so he should have stopped it sooner. Pettigrew always went along with their plans, Remus knew, and if the teachers were convinced he didn’t know anything about it then he must have been hidden in rat form.

And if Prongs was there, you could have hurt him. You could have killed James.

The little voice in his head taunted him but anger was more natural than fear. He shouldn’t worry about Potter. Not now.

“Remus—” He wasn’t used to hearing such sadness and distress in Professor McGonagall’s voice.

“Thank you for the meeting, Professor,” he forced out before he fled the room. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t trust them. His father had warned him of this from such a young age. Don’t trust anybody. Even if they seem friendly, they could one day turn around and shove you into the mud. Werewolves couldn’t have friends, just as they couldn’t have jobs or lives or happiness. Remus should have been more careful.

[johnnymundano]

Shut In (2016)

Directed by Farren Blackburn

Screenplay by Christina Hodson

Music by Nathaniel Méchaly

Country: France, Canada

Running time: 91 minutes

CAST

Naomi Watts as Mary Portman

Oliver Platt as Dr. Bennett Wilson

Charlie Heaton as Stephen Portman

David Cubitt as Doug Hart

Jacob Tremblay as Tom Patterson

Clémentine Poidatz as Lucy

Crystal Balint as Grace Mitchell

Alex Braunstein as Aaron Hart

Peter Outerbridge as Richard Portman

Shut In is the kind of glossy, well-acted mainstream thriller I sometimes feel polite society would rather I waste my eyes on, rather than ancient, less than salubrious Italian chillers no one normal cares about. Of course when I do watch a glossy, well-acted mainstream thriller like Shut In I often find they are crap, and thus feel a lot better about watching a paraplegic Donald Pleasance solving crimes with a straight razor wielding chimp. Or whatever the hell was going on in Phenomena (1985). Fun Fact: When I first typed the title of this post it came out of my fingers as Shit In. Subconscious much?

If it was my cheeky little subconscious at work it would be quite apt as that’s what they call “psychology” and Shut In concerns Mary (Naomi Watts), a female child psychologist. Mary works from her isolated home since she also has to care for her step-son Stephen (Charlie Heaton), who is in a vegetative state following a car accident in which his father died. That’s a hard row to hoe, so Mary is herself receiving counselling from Dr. Wilson (Oliver Platt). Things may be starting to look up for poor Mary, as she is contemplatively flicking through care home brochures for Stephen while cautiously reciprocating amorous advances from burly Doug (David Cubitt). When Tom (Jacob Tremblay), a patient Mary has become attached to, goes missing Sarah begins hearing strange noises and dreaming strange dreams. As the days pass Mary starts to fear she is losing her mind, and as a snow storm closes the stage is set for a confrontation as predictable as it is silly.

If you want to enjoy the terribleness of Shut In for yourself you should stop reading there (or here, I guess) as I am going to SPOIL it by talking about how awful it is. Unfortunately it is impossible to get across quite how offensively dumb Shut In is without SPOILING it. Or at least, I’m not going to bother finding a way because, hey, life’s too short. And, let’s face it Shut In SPOILS itself by being awful. The set-up is good but, c’mon, who can’t see what’s coming?  In the interests of fairness I tried to hide it in the synopsis, but if you watch the movie it’s as predictable as the fact this sentence will end with a full stop. The whole movie is a kind of exercise in flop sweated desperation as it frogmarches its plot into the ridiculous convolutions required to make this insipid bullshittery “work”. And for all its huffing and puffing Shut in still doesn’t work. It’s not even that you can see what’s coming, a Gay Pride float in a Gay Pride Parade has more subtlety, it’s that it all makes no sense whatsoever. In comparison Body Double (1984) looks like a documentary. Shut In doesn’t just require you to suspend your disbelief, it requires you to hang it by the neck until dead.

Shut In is set in a world of idiots, where someone can be diagnosed as being in a vegetative state following a car smash, with the only check being that they haven’t moved much since they were admitted. Apparently nobody has done any tests on Stephen during the 6 months since the crash other than looking at him and deciding he hasn’t moved. Cunningly though, Stephen only moves when nobody is around. He just, you know, “knows” when nobody is around, and so has never been caught once in 6 months. He must be the only teenager in existence who has never been surprised by his parent when doing something he shouldn’t be doing. During those 6 months Mary has been taking care of Stephen’s every need; feeding, bathing and whatevering him. At no point during the 6 months of Mary pushing baby food into his mouth or sponging his Gentleman Jim in the bath has he once broken cover. As Stephen Charlie Heaton (from TV’s ‘80s nostalgia bath and merchandise generator Stranger Things) is okay, but he plays an impossible character. “Evil man-child with preternatural levels of self-control” would task anyone to imbue it with believability. He tries, bless him but ends up as just a common or garden movie nutter.  

Naomi Watts is fantastic, but Naomi Watts is always fantastic. Unfortunately for Naomi Watts being fantastic isn’t enough here. She’s like a solid core of believability around which a load of noisy, ridiculous bullshit revolves, constantly reminding you that Naomi Watts should be doing something better with her time. Maybe she took the role as some kind of audition tape, she does get to do a whole load of acting after all; doting mother, crazy lady, fierce protector and drug addled goofball. Because for Shut In’s plot to work (it doesn’t) Stephen has to slip her his pills which cause her to get way spacy. Okay,  I’m not a medical professional so maybe they do medicate shut-ins with the kind of drugs Stephen uses to put a crimp in Mary’s reality. Sure, it’s possible that shut-ins are basically doped up and tripping balls all the time in there, but I doubt it. if any medical professionals would like to take the time out of their busy schedule to defend the use of medication in Shut In, you know where to find me. Oh, and poor old lovable Oliver Platt plays a psychiatrist who provides face-time therapy before the script forces him to emulate the Scatman Crothers role in Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). At times, in fact, you can almost hear Shut In grunt with the effort to emulate The Shining, but all it does is make you want to watch The Shining rather than Shut In.

What’s worse is how nasty the (barely sub-) subtext of Shut  In is; it seems, intentionally or not, to be that as soon as they reach adolescence you should maybe give some serious thought to killing your kids before they kill you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie as fearful of children growing up. And I’ve seen Christine (1983) more than once. And, yeah, Stephen is Mary’s step-son not her birth son, but that’s obviously just pathetic cowardice on the scriptwriter’s part. It all gets a bit Oedipal in there towards the end, which would be supremely creepy if he was her natural son, and Shut In just isn’t that low class, thanks. It would have been better if Shut In had grasped the nettle and gone low, because supremely creepy is at least interesting. And the movie ends up being supremely creepy accidentally anyway, with its emphasis on kids being monsters once they won’t let you chuch their chubby cheeks anymore. The “feel good” ending is truly horrible. Mary ends up adopting the tiny, cute moppet Tom after killing her own son, Stephen. A smarter movie would have gone in hard on this nastiness and left you uncertain about whether she’ll be violently trading in Tom too once his balls drop. Basically, Shut In needed to be a lot nastier and far smarter, it needed someone like Brian de Palma to work. But there is no one else like Brian De Palma, and so Shut In doesn’t have Brian De Palma, and so it doesn’t work.

Seriously, Shut In is so bad it’s baffling. It looks like the kind of movie mums and dads like, it’s got a great cast, it’s civilly filmed and there’s an onus on suspense rather than gore. I’m not averse to that myself on occasion, but then I am a dad. But, Christ, the plot to this thing is so ridiculous it should star George Hilton and Edwige Fenech and come in a banana yellow blu-ray case, with a commentary track by Troy Howarth consisting of him just laughing for 91 minutes. 

[fireandgloryrpg]

Congratulations Dana and welcome! We’re so happy to accept your application to play Puck Cooper with the faceclaim of Charlie Heaton in Fire & Glory RPG! We can’t wait to begin roleplaying with you so please remember to look over our checklist! 

Out of Character Information:

Name: Dana

Pronouns:  she/her

Age: i’m 24 and my birthday is April 30th.

Timezone: EST

Activity: I mean right now my activity is about like a 5/10 because of work and the holidays but I’m definitely on once every other day or every three days so it’s fine it’s all fine.

Anything Else?: It’s great to be here amongus you again lmao.

Original Character Application:

Name: Puck Robin Cooper

Age and Birthday: June 1st, 1997. 20 years old.

Faceclaim: main fc: Charlie Heaton    Backup fc: Landon Liboiron

Heritage: Puck is a son of Hermes who’s mom named him after the fucking mischief elf from midsummer night’s dream because he is also a “merry wanderer of the night” .

ABILITIES: Puck has all the basic demigod abilities of being super strong, being able to heal faster, and having improved senses. Being a son of Hermes, he can run faster than most of his other demigod friends. Puck is also pretty persuasive when he wants to be but he tries not to persuade people that he actually like into doing things.

Affiliation: Puck is a member of the fifth cohort thanks to his older cousin who is a child of Fortuna vouching for him to the best of her ability. She was about to vouch for him enough to get him into the fifth cohort but that was good enough for Puck since he had a place to live and was still able to wander to the best of his ability.

Headcanons:

Puck lived with his mom in Bridgeport, Connecticut until he was 11 years old and went to Camp Half Blood after being attacked by empousa. Puck was claimed at age 13 by Hermes and one of his friends made a joke about how that explained why all of his candy had gone missing a few weeks previously. Puck remained at CHB until age 16 when the travel bug hit him and he left CHB without telling anyone. A few weeks later, he managed to get in touch with his mother and she begged him to go somewhere that would be safe for him so he took his things and headed to find New Rome where his first cousing was living as she had offered to his mother that she would take the teen in and keep him safe.

Puck is someone who can be very persuasive without making people do things for him. He’s not one to beg someone to do something for him, but he is one of those people who can say “wow it would be really great if you could give me some of your lunch” in a tone that would make you want to give it to him. There’s, of course, the option to say yes or no unlike if someone is effected by charmspeak. This is part of why Puck is so quiet.

Biography:

Puck Robin Cooper was born to Olivia Cooper on June 1, 1997. He was born nine months after Olivia had taken an end of summer vacation with some of her friends to Puerto Rico and just happened to meet up with another tourist. She had no way of knowing that he was a Greek god at the time and even if she did, she probably would have hooked up with him anyway because that’s just how she was at the age of 20 with no responsibilities. Puck was one of those children who had “sticky fingers” from a young age; occasionally leaving a store with a candy bar that his mom didn’t even notice he had until they were already in the car on the way home.

That didn’t stop Puck’s mother from spoiling him to the best of her ability even though the two of them weren’t really that well off. When he went to Camp Half Blood, it was one of the happiest days of his life. Sure, he loved his mother more than anything but he wanted to go to summer camp and if it was somewhere that he wouldn’t get made fun of for his ADHD or get in to much trouble for taking candy, then that was on of the best things for him in his point of view. Imagine the weight off of his chest when he was claimed two years later. Finding out that his father was Hermes meant that there was nothing wrong with him when it came to his compulsion to steal little things. It wasn’t exactly the most normal thing either, but he still had siblings and other people he could ask for advice on how he could handle his compulsions.

Wanderlust was something that hit him harder than he could ever imagine and again it was something that he could blame on his father. The fact that he got attacked by another empousa? Totally his father’s fault and not his own for leaving the safety of Camp Half Blood without telling anyone about it. He’d heard about New Rome and Camp Jupiter before and he wasn’t too thrilled to go there to live with some cousin that he’d met all of two times in 16 years of living. Much to his surprise, he found his cousin to be entirely welcoming compared to some of the horror stories he’d heard from older campers at Camp Half Blood. In fact, a lot of people were.

Since coming to Camp Jupiter, Puck has done a pretty good job of keeping his head down and making only a few close friends. He’s usually seen as being quiet and reserved but he won’t hesitate to speak up if something happens to someone that he cares about.

Para Sample:

When Puck had called his mom from an old payphone in Massachusetts, the last thing he expected her to do was to send him off somewhere far away from home. It didn’t calm him down anymore to find out that the person she was sending him to was a cousin who barely made contact with the family only to find out that she was a Roman demigod all along. But much to his surprise, she was more than excited to welcome her younger cousin into her home.

His cousin had told him exactly where to go but she hadn’t warned him that people would be standing guard around it. Just his luck too, since he was being chased by a few of those dreadful things that had almost killed him the first time he’d ever seen a monster. Empousai. Just the thought of the name made him want to shudder but there was no time for that. He almost didn’t see the two other people coming until he heard the girl shout something about Edward Cullen.

Puck had heard a lot about Romans in his time at Camp Half Blood and that was the last thing he expected. The next thing he heard fit right in line, however. “Go back to where you came from, stupid graecus,” the man said just loud enough for Puck to hear, Clearly it was some poor attempt at a jab and Puck just gritted his teeth as he dodged another swipe at his head.

“You know what? As much as I would love to stay and chat, I really don’t feel like becoming a gyro for some fucking monster if you don’t mind,” he snapped right back. To his annoyance, the other demigod kept firing insults at him as he watched, struggling internally about whether to help the girl or keep up the arguing.

One particularly annoying comment about how he was the reason the monsters were attacking really got to him and Puck, for once, fired back in a loud voice. “Oh sorry! I forgot that I totally meant this to happen,” he stopped as other Roman spoke and caught his attention. Shooting a glare at the other young man, he pulled out his celestial bronze sword and raised his middle finger to the other. “At least where I come from, we don’t let someone fight on their own because we want to be petty.”

With a roll of his eyes and a few quick steps, Puck was quick enough to block an attack coming at the girl from another angle while the other monster kept her distracted. “Listen up, Twilight, I think your popularity has really run it’s course.” He was relieved at how easy the rest of the fight seemed to be with him actually having back-up. That didn’t mean that the others were going to forget about him being a Greek or anything right away anyway, that was pretty clear from what the guy said in a low voice. Puck couldn’t help but complain as he shuffled along behind the two Romans. “Don’t be an asshole. Please, just let me in? I’m hungry and tired and I was almost vampire dinner.” You would think that would earn him a little sympathy, but apparently he’d overestimated the humanity of the other man.

He stopped dead in his tracks when the girl cut off the asshole who seemed to hate him so much already. “What’s your name, Speedy?”

His heart lept a litte at the nickname and he couldn’t keep himself from smiling a little bit as he introduced himself, “Puck.”

“Cool . I’m Celia.”

Celia.

[gossipnetwork-blog]

Stranger Things Officially Renewed for Season 3

New Post has been published on http://gossip.network/stranger-things-officially-renewed-for-season-3/

Stranger Things Officially Renewed for Season 3

Get ready to go back to Hawkins!

With plenty of unfinished business lingering as Stranger Things 2 came to a close, Netflix has announced that the Duffer brothers’ highly-popular ’80s homage will officially return for a third season in 2018. The streaming giant made the announcement via Twitter on Friday, Dec. 1, first opening things up with a poll of its followers, asking, “Should we make another season of Stranger Things?” 

They followed that up with an answer to their own question: “FOR THE LOVE OF STEVE, DUH! So hold tight baby darts — season 3 is officially happening.”

FOR THE LOVE OF STEVE, DUH! So hold tight baby darts ? season 3 is officially happening.

— Netflix US (@netflix) December 1, 2017

When season two premiered, creators Matt and Ross Duffer told E! News that they were only two days into writing the new season, but they were able to confirm one major detail about the new set of episodes. “There will be a time jump for sure,” they told us. For more of what we know about the new season (so far), read on!

Netflix

Halfway There?

The Duffer Brothers are still waffling on exactly how long the series will go, but four seasons seems to be the idea so far.

“I think, you know, four to five seasons is likely where we’ll end up, but who knows?” Ross Duffer told us at the premiere. “I mean, none of this official, and we know where we want to go. We’re trying to figure out still how long it’ll take to get there, so we’ll see.”

Matt Duffer added, “It’s hard, like four seems short, five seems long. So I don’t know what to do.” 

Netflix

Another Time-Jump

There will be a time jump for sure, the Duffer Brothers confirmed to us.

“We don’t know how long, but the kids are growing up,” Matt said. “But it’s good, it makes the story evolve.” Translation: expect about another year time-jump.

  Netflix

Welcome to High School!

Get ready for high school, nerds. Yep, the kids will be entering high school in season three, as Matt confirmed on Beyond Stranger Things. (“We will be needing new teachers!” director Shawn Levy said.)

And fans can look to the final scene, set at the Snow Ball, for clues as to what’s ahead for our group of kids, according to the show’s costume designer, Kim Wilcox, who said their outfits are signs of  who they “might be becoming” in future seasons. 

“It’s a bunch of kids who are just on the cusp of becoming adults, it’s their first time at a lot of these things,” she told us. “There’s a little bit of awkwardness, but it was really fun to see where each boy’s personality might take us in the fitting, see what was right for them.”

Netflix

Wanted: Eleven

Though she eventually saved the day, Eleven’s big hero moment in the finale may come back to haunt her…as she seriously pissed off that monster.

 “This thing is very aware of Eleven,” Ross said during Beyond Stranger Things. “I would be worried about Eleven. You slammed the door on him.” Millie Bobby Brown simply exclaimed, “I’m screwed!”

Aside from dealing with monsters and closing gates, Eleven will also be facing—gulp!—being a teenage girl. “It’s a little bit of a complicated dilemma with everyone wanting her to live a somewhat regular life,” Matt said. “She’s becoming a teenager with increasingly intense powers. I could see a lot of things going not so well.”

Netflix

The Shadow Monster’s Goal

The Duffer Brothers are still keeping the big bad’s ultimate goal a secret, but Matt did tell Vulture, “It’s implied that it wants to take over Hawkins, and continue to spread beyond that. In that way, it’s very much like a virus that could take over the whole planet.”

Netflix

More Numbers!

After meeting Kali (aka Eight), fans can expect to meet more of the children that were experimented on in future seasons. “I can’t imagine that the world will only ever know Eleven and Eight,” Levy told us at the premiere. “I think we’ve clearly implied there are other numbers.”

Netflix

More Billy!

Dacre Montgomery stole many scenes as Billy, Hawkins’ new resident bad boy and the show’s human villain. But he was actually supposed to have a “bigger role” in season two.

“We ended up having so many characters it ended up, in a way, more teed up for season three than anything,” Matt revealed to Vulture. “There was a whole teen supernatural story line that just got booted because it was just too cluttered, you know? A lot of that’s just getting kicked into season three.”

As for that now-iconic cookie moment with Mrs. Wheeler? Everyone is hoping for a hook-up in season three. “I feel like the word needs that,” Levy said during Beyond Stranger Things.

“I think it’d be hot…Ted is not satisfying her,” Matt said, with Ross adding, “She’s lonely, if you notice she always has a glass of wine!”

Netflix

More Erica!

Speaking of scene-stealers, let’s all take a moment to bow down to Erica, Lucas’ sassy little sister, played to perfection by Priah Ferguson. Originally, she was only supposed to appear in one scene, but after filming it, the Duffers kept finding ways to add Erica. 

“There is no version of season three where Erica doesn’t have a majorly expanded role!” Matt told Vulture. “She’s got to. She’s too good.”

Netflix

Jopper FTW?

Is that Joyce and Hopper’s ‘ship name? Anyway, their chemistry will continue to be on display in future seasons, after Bob’s (Sean Astin) death. “There’s definitely something there. Part of it is that they’re comfortable with each other and they’ve known each other for a long time,” Ross told Vulture. “In my mind, Hopper still has some growing to do before that can happen. But [the chemistry] is definitely there.”

And Jopper’s No. 1 stan is Hopper himself, with Matt saying, “David [Harbour] is really into the idea of a Joyce-Hopper relationship.”

Netflix

Love Triangle Continues

By the end of season two, Nancy seems to have chosen Jonathan over Steve, who became the world’s favorite babysitter. But judging from the lingering look Steve gives Nancy in the finale, the complicated romance situation between the three seems far from over.

“I don’t think it’s the end of the story,” Joe Kerry told us. “But I do think that the second season was a lot about him growing up and learning how to put people before him a little bit more. I don’t think it’s over… I think how they leave it is realistic.”

Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder,David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Cara Buono, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, and Sadie Sink.

What are you hoping to see in Stranger Things season three? Sound off in the comments below!

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[ethanalter]

'Stranger Things' postmortem: Sean Astin reveals the secrets behind Bob Newby

#JusticeforBarb is so 2016. After binging on Season 2 of Stranger Things, the battle cry we’re rallying around is #JusticeforBob. That would be Bob Newby, the ultra-nerdy, ultra-normal Radio Shack manager played by geek icon Sean Astin of The Goonies and Lord of the Rings fame. Introduced as Joyce’s new beau in the first episode of the second season, good ol’ Bob quickly endeared himself to us with his “aw shucks” attitude and obvious affection for his trauma-plagued girlfriend (Winona Ryder) and her two kids, Will (Noah Schnapp) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Even his name — Bob — speaks to his personality as the ultimate square-jawed nice guy dropped in the middle of a crazy situation.

Unfortunately, that name also hinted at his ultimate fate. “I think the Duffer Brothers named him Bob because it started with a ‘B’ like Barb,” Astin tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And if you weren’t 100 percent sure about it, they finish it up with ‘Newby.’ I’ve never asked them, but the comparison is not lost on me. Bob kind of plays the role that Barb played [last season], but Bob lasts a lot longer!” In fact, Bob lasts all the way until Season 2’s penultimate episode, when he’s finally fed to the Demodogs as the love of his too-short life escapes. It’s a heroic fate that’s already earned him lovingly-penned “In Memoriams” and Twitter tributes like the following:

You grew on me so quickly. A true hero. #JusticeForBob pic.twitter.com/rLyqoYk8Ux

— Clay (@claytoon253) October 29, 2017

HE DID NOT DESERVE IT !!!#justiceforBob #StrangerThingsS2 pic.twitter.com/NyAdFuKL46

— Mary (@SpicyInternet_) October 27, 2017

when you get to the penultimate episode of #StrangerThings #justiceforBob pic.twitter.com/wslL1fBprD

— Karen Esperanza (@karenesperanza_) October 29, 2017

For his part, Astin feels that Bob’s seemingly bitter end couldn’t be sweeter. “His death is heroic and satisfying for me as a performer,” he says. “Bob doesn’t need justice — he just needs a nice salute for a soldier doing his job.” We spoke with Astin about his big death scene, and why he’s a Joyce/Hopper ‘shipper at heart.

I have to admit, up until his last episode, I kept waiting for Bob to reveal that he was a bad guy all along. He just seemed too nice! I guess I see that. I stepped into the role when they hadn’t 100 percent decided what they were going to do with Bob, so I guess that possibility could have happened. Who could possibly be that nice, right? [Laughs.] But I think Bob serves a function for the show in that he’s the one person in Hawkins who isn’t in the middle of all that stuff. It’s flattering that you’re glad I didn’t turn evil because the other option is that I could have turned bad and lived! Would I rather be alive and bad or dead and heroic? I think it went down exactly as I would have liked.

So Bob’s fate wasn’t completely decided when you initially joined the show? The Duffer Brothers had a lot to think about, so it wasn’t like figuring out Bob was the most important task. The earliest hints were, “You’re not going to last long!” But they liked what I was doing and Winona [Ryder] liked it, and they saw there was a vibe between us. I think you could feel the energy that suggested there was something special that Bob could contribute. The only thing I said out loud to them was: “I would love it if Bob did something heroic.” And that was at a time where they didn’t know what the heck Bob was going to do! They may well have gone there anyway, but that’s what I was advocating for.

Was there a version of the season where Bob died even earlier? I think so. I mean, I say that without having been in the writers’ room or inside the Duffer brothers’ head. They may have been committed to killing him sooner, but I think they were open to seeing where it went. That was part of the fun for them with that character; he’ s not on the spine of the plot, so they didn’t really need to figure it out 100 percent. They wanted to see what Bob did for Joyce and Will [as characters]. There’s that great scene [in episode 3] where Bob tells Will how to get through his nightmares and ends up almost getting him killed. You’re just like, “Oh, Bob.” With friends like that, who needs enemies? [Laughs.]

What are the Duffer Brothers like as collaborators? When I would ask them a question or throw out an idea, it was incredible to see them think about it and give an answer. It’s highly entertaining to watch them feel their way through this stuff. They’re like puppy dogs: They look so young and yet they have all this responsibility. And yet, you have absolute confidence that they know where the story is going, and that they’re confident enough in their storytelling instruments. I never saw them have any self doubt even though I’m sure they did because otherwise, they wouldn’t be human beings! Hopefully, the audience will continue to embrace the show, and give them a chance. I want to see what happens in the third season! It’s not over for me in my mind even though I’m over [in the show], and that’s the sign of great storytelling.

Let’s talk about your death scene in the eighth episode where the Demodogs make a meal out of you. What was it like shooting that sequence? The Duffers luxuriate in their storytelling, building suspense and creating those jump out of your skin moments. For the running stuff, I’d either chase a golf cart down the hall or the golf cart would chase me, with a camera rig on the side. To watch it [on set] you’d just think, “Oh, it’s just a guy and a golf cart.” But when you’d look through the monitor, it would look so cool! The magic is in the cinematography; Tim Ives [the director of photography] is as much a character in the show as Eleven. The biting scene was exhausting for everybody. It took a long time to shoot, and there was a lot of screaming and writhing on the ground. They put dots all over you, and at one point one of the writers got on top of me and I writhed with them so that my clothes would crinkle up. They painted them out so all you can see is me. Then they brought in this crane thing for the blood spurting out of the mouth. It was a big sequence to do, and a heck of a send-off. I remember hoping that if I got killed off the show, it would be memorable. I think there’s a chance that people will look back at Season 2 and go, “Oh right — Bob’s the guy who got eaten by the dogs!”

Since you have Paul Reiser in that scene telling Bob where to go, I half-expected him to die like Reiser dies in Aliens: cornered in a confined space. Since being on the show, I’ve changed my profile description on Twitter to read: “I guess I’m meta.” I love Paul and I love Aliens, which is one of the greatest horror/action movies ever made. To have Paul Reiser in my ear telling me which way to turn while running down hallways with a gun like I’m Ripley… I guess I’m meta! [Laughs.]

It’s also great that, before his death, Bob saves the group with the power of BASIC. Were you a coder back in the ’80s? In 1984, when the season is set, I was shooting The Goonies and was more of a “run around the neighborhood” kind of kid. But my brother Tom had a big career writing code and software. If I’m just doing a scene about a guy writing code, I can survive, but not doing it myself.

As an ’80s kid myself, it kind of blew my mind to see Mikey from The Goonies in a relationship with Lydia from Beetlejuice. Did you and Winona Ryder reminisce about the old days? I don’t think there’s any difference between Bob hugging Joyce and Sean hugging Winona. It’s the same thing. We have such affection for each other, and we relied on that shared experience. Some people have high school reunions, but visiting with her feels like visiting with my childhood.

Had Bob lived, do you think he would have convinced Joyce to come away with him to Maine? You know, I was a fan before doing the show, and I was always rooting for Joyce and Hopper. So when I got cast as Joyce’s boyfriend, I was like, “I don’t know if I’m rooting for myself or not!” [Laughs.] I don’t know that I ever reached a moment where I thought that Joyce would be better off with Bob. There are certain moments, like when they’re dancing on Halloween night or when he’s offering to move with her to Maine. Maybe in real life that’s what should have happened; it would certainly be in Joyce’s best interest! But I don’t know if that’s what should have happened on the show.

I love that you didn’t want your own character to come between Joyce and Hopper!  There’s that moment [in episode 5] where we rescue Hopper in the tunnels. He gets his knife, stands up, looks over at me and goes, “Hey Bob.” I don’t know if it comes through in the show, but with just those two words, all of a sudden I was back in the AV club in high school and he’s gonna get the girl because he’s so a tall and powerful guy. And she’s on the other side of me, so I’m not even next to her! I felt bad for me there.

This season is set in 1984; if they jump ahead to 1985 in Season 3, are you hoping for some Goonies cosplay like we got with Ghostbusters this year? I hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it would be an outrage if they didn’t do it! [Laughs.] Or at least hear the Cindy Lauper song in the background! The Duffers told me after they hired me that they had a conversation questioning whether they should hire me. When they saw my audition, they were like, “That’s our Bob.” But they also thought, “It’s also Sean Astin, which is maybe too much.” The wanted me to know they hired me for who I am in this moment, that Bob was deserving of a casting hire that wasn’t just a stunt. Hopefully, it all fits!

They did avoid any overt references like having the kids say something like, “This is our time!” Yeah, but they weren’t afraid to have me point to the X on Will’s map and go, “Hey, is that a pirate treasure map?” [Laughs.] So I don’t think they went over the line, but they went right up to it.

Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter One recap: Return that frown to the Upside Down  • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Two recap: Going crazy together • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Three recap: Reunited and it feels so slimy • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Four recap: What happened to Baby Jane? • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Five recap: Tangled and Strangled • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Six recap: They’re heeeere • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Seven recap: Baby’s day out • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Eight recap: Blackout forever • ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Chapter Nine recap: Ward and savior