#because we definitely got some body horror that last episode

[sunshine-dragon]

It’ll be interesting to see if they change the opening like they did with Jaune

[aloneinthehellfire]

The Introduction

A (possible) brand new series featuring Robin Buckley x Reader set in ST4

Summary: When Vecna comes to town, Robin and her friends need all the help they can get in the final battle. The gang searches for an old friend she's never met before. But what Robin didn't know, was that the help would catch her attention in more ways than one.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: canon deaths (mentions of vecna killings), reader appears at the end it is mostly a set up for the series, nothing really to report here tbh

[A/N: well hello there. I have *finally* storyboarded a new series that would be an episode by episode ST4 fic where Reader and Robin are endgame. It's something new and something I've been dying to create for a while now so I wanted to test the waters and see if anyone would be interested in reading this? I will literally take one person's yes and go with it, I am very persuadable]

The Introduction

Since when was it too much to ask for a normal spring break?

Robin had enough of the excitement in Hawkins last summer when she ended up in a secret Russian lab, tortured and shot full of some serum she was sure was unsanctioned.

The horrors of that day were flushed down that bathroom toilet along with those drugs, some kind of wave of reality hitting her hard when she realised she didn’t want to be alone anymore. She confided in her new friend, her closest friend, and hoped that it would end a horrible day with a weight off her shoulders.

And then she was crashing a car into a possessed guy and hurling fireworks at some freaky flesh monster. So, nothing good lasts forever.

But after that, it all had been pretty quiet. Robin worked Family Video every other evening and weekends, had Steve drive her to school for the first couple of weeks before it became a habit, secured her place in band and forgot that anything ever really happened. She didn’t want to remember. She wanted to graduate, to have that silly little crush on her bandmate, to save enough money to get out of Hawkins for good.

Then the first day of spring break hit. The first day. And she was stood there staring up at that TV, feeling nauseas in her uniform, knowing that the brutal death of a high school student wouldn’t be as simple as murder.

“So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news.” Dustin says awkwardly and Robin’s lips tighten, looking at where Eddie sat munching through Honeycomb cereal like it was his first meal in days. “How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie responds with his mouth full.

Robin shifts on her feet. It would be dishonest to say that Dustin and Max dragged her into this. All they had done really was show up demanding their computers and a name. She didn’t have to help, or find the address, or go with them anywhere.

The urge to be a part of something always had been a habit of hers. The only reason she joined the marching band was because she figured she’d be safe there. The Russian radio communication was only of interest because she craved involvement. And now she had Steve, her best friend. Where he went, she followed. Which is why she was stood here now, contemplating her decisions.

She was scared, afraid that last year would have only been the baby of all problems she would have to face in Hawkins. And it was understandable, she wasn’t built for pressure situations. If anyone could take a look inside her brain, they’d be questioning why she was even here in the first place.

She has this theory where her mind and her body act completely differently. She’ll rethink everything until she’s overthinking it, but her body will never not react immediately. Whether its her mouth rambling or her legs running, her mind and body haven’t been in sync for a while now.

“Alright, bad news.” Dustin shifts in his seat and Robin exchanges a wary look with Steve. “We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you.”

Eddie’s face falls and Robin hates seeing the way the light in his eyes dim even darker.

“Also, they’re, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.”

“Like, 100% kind of convinced.” Max chimes in.

“And the good news?” Eddie looks for Dustin’s answer but Robin spoke first.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet.” She says, resting her arm against a shelf. She really felt for him. He didn’t deserve this. “But if we found out about you, it’s a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.”

“Hunt the freak, right?” Eddie spits and Robin feels that little stab in her chest. Hunt the freak.

“Exactly.” She says and Eddie curses under his breath.

“So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” Dustin tries to bring a positive note, Eddie’s face remaining unswayed.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?”

“Yeah, no, that’s pretty much it.” He concludes, the older boy looking very unconvinced. Robin can’t help but think that Dustin almost was as bad as she was in these situations.

“Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have... a -a few times, and- and I have… once.” Robin adds, hoping that somewhere in her ramble there was a coherent message that he shouldn’t be afraid. “Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this.”

“Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers.” Steve follows her direction and Robin nods, “But, uh, those went bye-bye, so…”

Everyone’s faces start to scrunch in realisation.

Robin searches for words. “So, we’re technically in- in more of the…”

“Kinda…”

“Brainstorming phase.” Max decides and they all hum in agreement.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snaps his fingers.

“There… there’s nothing to worry about.” Dustin splutters and Steve nods along with him.

If Eddie had been following on at all before, he was completely lost now, looking at them like they were maniacs. They tried their best, Robin thought just as a high-pitched noise started approaching in the distance. Sirens.

“Tarp.” Robin immediately says, pointing to Eddie. “Tarp. Tarp.”

Everyone starts scrambling to their feet and rushing to the windows, Robin’s heart rate unusually high. She hadn’t even experienced what she would assume to be the worst of it yet and she was already hating every second.

Her eyes follow the police cars and the ambulances drive directly past the boathouse, further down the road. Towards the trailer park.

“Trailer park.” Steve mutters, on the same page as her.

“They might have found something new.” Max suggests, looking at her friends in worry.

“Or someone new.” Robin grimaces and they all frown. “The ambulance.”

“Shit, okay, we need to-” Steve turns around, “Hey, Eddie.”

The tarp comes flying off once again, his hair looking a little dishevelled as he still tightly hugged the cereal box.

“You gonna be alright here?” He asks, and the boy simply shrugs.

“We’ll be back when we find out more.” Dustin promises, nodding. “With food.”

Either he didn’t mind or was too freaked out to argue, but Eddie remained impartial on their decision. It was a matter of time before they’re all clambering into Steve’s car, following the same route the police had taken earlier.

“What if the place is completely cornered off and we can’t see anything?” Robin voices her worry, Dustin’s eyes flickering to hers in the rear view mirror.

“It’s too early for that. Plus Max lives there, we can just say we’re dropping her off.”

The girl in question nods her head, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth.

“Doesn’t look like we need to worry about that.” Steve says and everyone’s heads turn to look ahead, focusing on a familiar girl stood among the cops, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Once the car stops, their doors are opened and they all stand, patiently waiting. Even from a distance, Robin could see Nancy’s face light up with gratitude that she wasn’t alone.

Just as Nancy makes an excuse to walk over, Robin’s eyes are already scanning the place, actively ignoring the sheet covering something on the ground. There was this pit in her stomach, an unsettling mix of regret and panic. Whatever they were dealing with this time, she knew it was going to take more than an array of fireworks.

They were alone now, any help shipped away to California, and she was still barely caught up with their previous battles.

Robin really didn’t remember life before sitting around a picnic bench discussing freaky incidents that always seemed to link back to the Upside Down. Maybe that day in the lab had ruined her brain chemistry in a way that reduced her life before as meaningless. Or maybe her life before just wasn’t any better. Either way, a police report of a dead student wasn’t normally followed by a theory of some weird mind wizard from an alternate dimension. Then again, anything was possible in Hawkins.

“So you’re saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it’s from the Upside Down?” Nancy asks, but it wasn’t the same scepticism Eddie had.

“If the shoe fits.” Steve raises his brow with a sigh.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell, or... a curse.” Dustin says, “Now, whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don’t know.”

“All we know is this is something different.” Max frowns. “Something new.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Nancy mutters beside her, looking down.

“It’s only a theory.” Dustin defends but Nancy shakes her head.

“No, Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. I mean… why them?”

Dustin shrugs. “Maybe they were just in the wrong place? They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.” Max cuts in.

“We’re at the trailer park.” Steve comments, looking around. “Uh… should we maybe not be here?”

A shiver rolls down Robin’s neck as she peers around, the wind picking up at the worst moment. It was eerie here, even without the knowledge of two murdered kids.

“There is something about this place.” Nancy shares, “Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

Robin’s heart jumps. “Acting weird as in…?”

“Scared, on edge, upset.” Nancy explains, her brows permanently scrunched together.

“Max said Chrissy was upset too.” Dustin looks at her.

“Yeah, but not here.” She frowns. “She was crying in the bathroom at school.”

Robin’s mind began flittering around with theories, nonsensical ones for the most part until she pulled out something that felt comprehensible to their case.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?” Robin begins, forcing herself to reduce the speed of her words to ensure they were properly heard. “So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman.”

“Vecna.” Dustin corrects and she represses the urge to roll her eyes.

“I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” Steve expresses.

“Maybe they did.” Max theorises, “I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelley’s office. If you saw a monster, you… you wouldn’t go to the police. They’d never believe you. But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.” Robin finishes and the younger girl nods. “They keep files, right? Maybe something in Chrissy’s file will point us in the right direction of who, uh… Vecna is.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Max says and Dustin nods.

“But how are we meant to get it?” Steve frowns, “It’s the counsellor's office, wouldn’t they be locking that thing up tight? The whole school, even.”

“I can get the key.” Max says with confidence, “Ms Kelley said I could come to her house out of hours if I need it, maybe I can find where she keeps her keys and sneak out before she realises.”

Rather than question her alibi, it seemed like everyone was in agreement. They were off that bench in a second flat and following Steve to his car. Robin was trying to push away that fear of the unknown, the anxiety that they would find an answer they wouldn’t like.

She always loved puzzles, brain teasers, classic crosswords. Solving that Russian broadcast was a riddle she enjoyed, assuming it would be nothing but a small summer project to cure her boredom of the ice cream slinging world. But beyond games and word scrambles, she felt completely useless.

“Woah, woah, Nance.”

Robin snaps out of her haze to turn back around, her hand still steady on the passenger door.

“Nance!” Steve calls out and Nancy guiltily turns around from where she was straying from the group. “Nance, where you going?”

“Oh, there’s just something I wanna check on first.” She dismisses, her footsteps still leading her back to her own car. She looked like a woman on a mission.

“Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?” Dustin says and Nancy scrunches her face.

“I don’t wanna waste your time, it’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind?” Steve expresses and Robin’s eyebrow raises. “Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it’s too dangerous. You need… you need someone to…”

There’s a pause and Robin’s mind is already drifting when keys are suddenly being hurled at her, only catching them in the last second.

“Here. I’ll stick with Nance, alright? You guys take the car, check out the shrink.” Steve says and she blinks at the metal in her palm.

“I don’t think you want me driving your car.” She points at it.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.”

“Why don’t you have a license?”

“I’m poor.”

“I can drive.” Max suggests and Steve is quick to protest.

“No, no, never again. Please. Anybody but you, no.” His eyes drift to Dustin’s smile. “No chance.”

“Look, if it helps, I’m not gonna be alone for very long, okay?” Nancy interjects with a smile. “I… I need to call in a favour.”

“Call in a favour?” Steve frowns, “Who?”

Nancy purses her lips and looks down, shrugging. Robin notices Steve’s stance shifting into one she had labelled ‘the annoyed babysitter’; hands on hips, a slight furrow in the brows and a pouty lip. She had to refrain from pointing it out as she had done many times before, usually resulting in a random object thrown at her head.

“Y/n.” Nancy eventually says and Steve groans.

“No, come on. Literally anyone else.” He protests, shoulders dropping in defeat.

“What’s wrong with Y/n?” Dustin frowns, shaking his head.

“She’s just…” Steve sighs, not bothering to finish the sentence. Robin mouths your name, no familiar face ringing a bell.

“Whatever she is, she’s saved our asses on multiple occasions.” Max spoke up, Dustin nodding in agreement.

“It’s…” Steve starts, shaking his head. “She’s not even in town, is she?”

“She’s visiting her grandparents.” Nancy shrugs. “Look, we don’t have time to argue about it, I’m heading to the library.”

“And what if you don’t make it there, huh?” Steve objects, “What if Y/n is busy? Do we really want to drag another person into this?”

“We need all the help we can get.” Nancy says.

“Do we really want to drag Y/n into this?” He rephrases and Robin watches Nancy’s eyes dart away. Whoever you were, you were a sore subject it seemed. But they didn’t have time to be arguing about this.

“All right, okay. This is stupid.” Robin finally breaks, snagging the exposed radio from Dustin’s backpack and thrusting Steve’s keys back at him. “Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us.”

Steve pulls a face at her and she laughs, already walking away.

“Be careful!” He shouts after her and she throws up a peace sign.

In all honesty, she was relieved to be heading to a library instead of sitting around in a silent car with her own thoughts. Anything but that.

“So, um… who’s Y/n?” Robin queries as Nancy starts up the car.

“An old friend.” She explains briefly, waiting until the others had driven off before following them out.

“She wasn’t at Starcourt, right?” Robin frowns, repeating your name in her head over and over.

“Uh, no. I don’t think you would’ve met her. She was with me and Jonathan, at the hospital, and…” Her voice trailed off, lips tightening.

“And?” Robin prompts but Nancy simply shakes her head with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter.”

As she looked over, she could just read a hint of guilt on her expression, a hard stare on the road ahead as she turns towards the public library. Robin wasn’t always the greatest at reading social cues, only when she was rambling and paying more attention on getting her thoughts out than how people were receiving them. There was something different about the way they were talking about you, however, like there was something unspoken.

The first thing Nancy did was find a phone.

Robin could just make out Nancy’s expressions in the payphone as she stood waiting by the car, her brows scrunched and mouth constantly moving. When she finally hung up, she wrapped her arms around herself and headed back to the Robin, nodding.

“She’s meeting us in a few minutes.” She explained, and Robin figured she didn’t want to talk about it any further. So, as she made a turn to the library, Robin decided on a different bugging query.

“Okay so, help me get this straight.” She starts as they climb the steps, the bell tolling above the building. She was recalling Nancy’s brief summary on the drive over. “Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he’s the one running around Hawkins committing all these murders?”

“Pretty much.” Nancy responds with a tight-lipped smile. Robin wasn’t finished.

“But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the ‘50s.” Robin frowns and Nancy pulls open the door.

“Well, ‘59.” She says.

“So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?” She continued as they walk up to the librarian’s desk.

“Yeah.” Nancy responds bluntly.

“Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old.”

“Yep.” She reaches out and dings the bell.

“So…” Robin keeps talking, occupying her brain with this theory so she didn’t have to worry about anything else. ���He’s a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air.”

Nancy takes a breath. “It doesn’t make sense. I know. That’s why I said it was a shot in the dark.”

She rings the bell again and, once again, Robin doesn’t catch the hint Nancy’s throwing her way.

“I know. I just thought that by ‘shot in the dark’ you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later.”

Nancy rings the bell twice this time but Robin barely registers it.

“But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who’ve been spun around 50 times.”

She starts ringing the bell rapidly and Robin looks down at it with a frown, finally realising she’s yet again talked too much.

“Coming!” The librarian calls out, carrying a stack of books.

“Hi, sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush.” Nancy smiles apologetically at her, “Could we get the keys to the basement archives?”

“Of course. Give me one sec.” The woman nods, turning away.

Robin stares down at her hands before the anxiety takes over.

“Did I come off mean or condescending or something?” She blurts and Nancy hesitates.

“No.”

“Right.” Robin sighs, still staring at her, “Sorry. It’s just, you seem annoyed. You don’t know me very well. I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues.”

“Okay.” Nancy whispers.

“So if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it’s a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily.”

Nancy nods quickly, pretending to be interested. “Got it.”

“Alright, ladies.” The librarian returns with a smile, holding out a set of keys. “Here you go. Have fun.”

“Yep.” Nancy accepts them, forcing a smile. “We’ll… try.”

She starts walking away while Robin remains there frozen, earning a grin from the woman opposite. Robin simply shrugs and begrudgingly follows Nancy.

The archive room was… dusty. A little too dusty to Robin’s liking. Everything was old and smelt weird. Nancy starting looking over some books, inspecting the covers before spotting the Microfilm Readers.

“We should probably get a start while we wait for Y/n.” Nancy says, sitting at the machine and Robin hesitantly leans against it, pursing her lips. Nancy notices and looks up at her, already anticipating another ramble. “Yes?”

“So… Y/n?” Robin holds out her hands, “I don’t want to keep being nosy but, uh… how does she fit into all of this?”

Nancy reluctantly turns towards her with a smile. “She’s been a part of our, uh, group for a while now. Since Will was possessed.”

Robin blinks. “Right.”

“She was the one who figured out heat was their weakness – the things that live in the Upside Down. I’ve known her since we were kids and she’s always been amazing at…” Nancy searches for a term, “Detective stuff.”

“Detective stuff, right.” Robin nods and Nancy slowly turns back to what she was doing. “So, like…”

Nancy sighs and Robin shuts her mouth.

“Sorry, I’ll shut up.” She raises her hands in surrender and Nancy scrunches her face.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… I haven’t seen her in a while so I… I’m not trying to be rude, there’s just a lot going on.” She explains apologetically, surrendering her attempt at scrolling through the machine. “I can’t believe I’m dragging her into this.”

“Why are you?” Robin asks genuinely and Nancy tilts her head in contemplation.

“She did a project a few years back on the Creels.” Nancy begins, resting her chin on her hand. “She was researching into small town murders. Y/n was obsessed with the unexplained ones. She likes uncovering truths, solving the mystery. I don’t remember how far she got with this but she’ll have more than enough information to get us started.”

“Right, right.” Robin slowly nods, thinking it all over. You weren’t the new addition she assumed you would be. In fact, she was the only one here who was really new to everything.“Should I be here?”

“Sorry?” Nancy frowns.

“I mean, it sounds like you two are pretty close. And I- I don’t want to ruin the reunion or whatever, I don’t even know how to- I suck at meeting new people, basically.” Robin stresses, holding up her hand when Nancy tries to protest, “I already know. Everyone I meet pretty much hates me from the get go. I’m already ruining it with you and we’ve literally met before. Briefly. But still, I- I don’t know this Y/n and I don’t want to annoy her out of helping you-”

“Robin.” Nancy laughs, “It’s fine. Y/n isn’t like that. To be honest… you’ll probably get along.”

“What does that-”

Her words are cut off by the sound of the door opening and slamming shut, the wooden steps creaking beneath the weight of descending footsteps. They both whip their heads to the noise to see someone stood there with a folder in their hands.

“Got here as fast as I could.” You say, letting out a breath and smiling Nancy. You quickly notice the girl standing beside her with a startled look on her face. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, you- we were, just- I’m Robin.” She stuttered, her face flushing with embarrassment before she turns away from you. Calm down, she begs herself.

Nancy looks at her in confusion, “Are you-”

“I’m good.” She insists and Nancy shakes her head, getting up from her seat.

“Hi, Y/n.” She smiles, walking over to you. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course.” You say, but your heart didn’t really feel in it. “I brought the project you wanted. It’s got the newspaper reports from the original killings. If that’s of any help.”

“It is, thank you so much.” Nancy takes it from your hands and starts flipping through, carefully reading each of your headings and findings.

You shift on your feet before glancing at Robin, her eyes widening slightly when you look at her.

“I’m Y/n.” You offer and she nods quickly.

“Yeah, I, uh, I know.” She laughs awkwardly, “Nice to put a face to the name.”

An incredibly gorgeous face, Robin screams inside. Of all the problems she was facing today, this shouldn’t be one of them. Monsters, Russians, that was pretty much up her alley right now. Sudden introductions of pretty girls that literally took her breath away? Not on her bingo card.

Robin noticed the tension in the air between you and Nancy, that same unspoken theory recycling in her mind. What happened last year? Why weren’t you there at Starcourt? Why were you back?

She didn’t really know if she would regret knowing the answers. All she knew was that you had been here all of two minutes and Robin already felt like you were going to change her life.

Because, you were. In more ways than one.

Update: The Pariahs That Saved The World

[if you want there to be more chapters, pls comment below or leave it in my asks to be added to a taglist, i don't want to post something no one wants to read <3]

[vladdyissues]

I once read the post where Vlad said: "This anime is obviously a romantic school comedy! Danny and I are the main characters, so it means we are love interests. (to Jazz, Tuck, Sam) You guys are the heterosexual support cast, so make sure do not across the line" (I saved screenshot but Idk how to add photo in ask). Developing the subject, how do you see this anime au? Sailor moon alike relationship? Should it also be a horror cause of creepy natural ghosts?

I've never seen Sailor Moon so I can't comment, but it definitely seems like Danny Phantom was heavily influenced by Yu Yu Hakusho, so it wouldn't take a lot of mental gymnastics to envision an anime version of DP being a lot like this, mixing humor and drama and the supernatural. I'd love to see some actual horror thrown in, though. Animes like Vampire Hunter D and Bio-Booster Armor Guyver come to mind. Guyver's not actually billed as horror, but there's enough body horror, gore, and horror elements in it to qualify, in my opinion. I mean, look at this thing, it's terrifying:

Aside: This ask got me nostalgic for Guyver and I went and watched a few episodes. (The last time I saw it was in the 90s on VHS.) I was floored. There is so much it has in common with DP that I wonder if Hartman wasn't inspired by it as well.

Compare: the black-haired, blue-eyed MC (Sho) who's not the best student, had a disfiguring experience involving something with lots of power and now has two different personas, human and non-human, the latter having incredible strength and unearthly energy that he uses to combat threatening entities that are Not Of This World; best friends are a glasses-wearing geek and a girl who's also the show's love interest, completing the trio. Of course Sho spends a great deal of time protecting his friends, but they also cheer him on from the sidelines and offer help when able, much like Tucker and Sam.

But get this: The only other person with a Guyver armor happens to be the villain (spoiler: not really the villain, it's all an act, and eventually they team up). This is the guy:

Long hair. V-hairline. Sideburns. Thick black eyebrows. The English dub isn't that good, but this guy's voice is deep and nice to listen to. He's supposed to be a student but looks like he's 35.

Anyway. DP anime.

I don't see much changing at all plot-wise. Upping the rating to at least PG-13 is definitely prescribed, so there can be things like blood and fantasy violence and adult humor. Let Danny say "hell", "damn", "bastard", and the occasional "shit", like in YYH. Naturally, Vlad and Danny would start out as rivals before laying aside their differences and teaming up to save the world—which is exactly the formula that YYH and BBAG follow in terms of enemies-to-allies.

I'm imagining a steady progression of saving each other's butts and fighting increasingly powerful enemies until it comes to a point that they both realize they'd die for each other. (Literally Kuwabara and Yusuke lmao.)

In fact, just do a DP/YYH wardrobe swap for all the characters, because Dan Dan Phantom Show is something I'd pay money to see 😂

[centaurianthropology]

Okay, that was a GOOD episode.  The first episode definitely had some pilot difficulties, but it seriously feels like they’re hitting their stride with this one.  I am totally in love with what Laura’s doing with Arlo, and Ashley is a delight as Auggie.  Anjali’s performance as Charlotte gets more and more nuanced and tragic, and I can’t wait to see where she’s going with it.  They were all so compelling this time around, and taking some major hits and poor roles meant that they all got shaken up a lot worse this time around.

Matt’s DMing also felt a lot more tuned into the horror side of things this episode, with the monster being intensely Soulsborne-y (the mass of bodies glommed together is such a Dark Souls thing, but I love it!), and had a lot stronger of an eldritch horror vibe, with some Hunger Beyond Time coming after everyone because of an artifact.  I really, REALLY hope they get sent to Oldfaire next episode, as it’s their last for this Circle, and I really want to see that part of the city, given how much it’s been hyped up, and how likely it is to intersect at least with Arlo’s backstory, and possibly also Charlotte’s (and maybe Howard’s too??).

But there was one stand-out tonight, in an episode in which everyone was on top of their game, and that was Robbie Daymond.  Holy shit, no one heard “you are in a horror game” and took it to heart quite like he did.  He’s going full Reanimator, and I love his choices.  His self-trepanning scar was horrific in the best possible way, and then there’s whatever happened at the end with him.  Who is Dean?  Was that his reason to get into Candela?  And what the hell does it mean that the phantasmal force just dove straight into his head??  He is getting more and more unhinged as we get into this story, and I am so here for it.  I get the feeling he’s the most likely character to die in the next episode, with Charlotte very close behind (”You have to give everything” has a very ominous ring to it), and I think Arlo and Auggie might make it out to make later reappearances, but who knows?  They rolled like ass tonight, so hopefully they saved a lot of sixes for next time.  I’m honestly only sad that we only get one more episode with this Circle, but then again it makes sense.  Horror campaigns generally have to run short, because they lose the scares the longer they go on.  And I can really hope that next episode is downright terrifying.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the level up for the next game.  The more I see this system play, the more I really want to pick it up once the Core Book drops.  The flavor of Newfaire is great, and I think it would be great for short campaigns with friends who really want to dig into some gnarly horror material.  

Man, that was a fun episode.  I am seriously going to miss these characters, as they’re all so delightful and vivid.  The players are great, and they’re a fantastic intro to a system I now really want to buy once it comes out.

[frankendykes-monster]

Countdown to Halloween 2023, Ranked

43. Swamp Thing (1982)

42. Curse of Bigfoot (1975)

41. The Haunting (1999)

40. Orca (1977)

39. Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958)

38. The Beast (1975)

37. Don't Go in The House (1979)

36. Countess Dracula (1971)

35. Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)

34. Beware! The Blob (1972)

33. Alien Space Avenger (1989)

32. Baby Blood (1990)

31. Shriek of The Mutilated (1974)

30. The Mutations (1974)

29. Phase IV (1974)

28. Curse of The Faceless Man (1958)

27. The Sadist (1963)

26. Jennifer (1978)

25. The Wasp Woman (1959)

24. Noroi: The Curse (2005)

23. Girls Nite Out (1982)

22. The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

21. The Cat and The Canary (1927)

20. Tell Your Children (Reefer Madness, 1936)

19. The Company of Wolves (1984)

18. It's Alive (1974)

17. The Wolf House (2018)

16. Michael Jackson's Halloween (2017)

15. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

14. The Omega Man (1971)

13. Gamera: Rebirth (2023)

12. Student Bodies (1981)

11. Night Caller From Outer Space (1965)

10. Inhumanoids (episodes 1 - 5, 1986)

9. Blind Woman's Curse (1970)

8. Maniac (1980)

7. The Child (1977)

6. Zombie 3 (1988)

5. Return of The Living Dead (1985)

4. Spider Baby (1967)

3. Basket Case (1982)

2. Messiah of Evil (1973)

Godzilla (1954)

Woof. Okay. This has been a mostly disappointing viewing experience.

Critical difference between this year's countdown and the past two is that now that I have stable employment, there is far less time to be watching horror films. I normally begin the countdown in September but we started in July of this year and still barely managed to crack 40, with my original goal being a full 100 this year. Timing. As such a lot of my plans and possible viewings were cut short and compared to last year specifically we fell back on a lot of "seen it already" at least for the top of the list.

This year's batch of viewings were largely blah, but a step up from the shitshow I put myself through last year (watching nearly every Texas Chainsaw sequel does things to a person). As such it'll be difficult to conjure up words for a decent chunk of these mostly because yes, these movies exist, I watched them, I would not recommend that you yourself watch them. That is all. If I write briefly on a given film that's not necessarily an indictment of its quality as there a decent number of these that I saw and enjoyed it's just their impact might be a bit fleeting. You will know which ones I actively disliked. I mostly just want to write about the top five or so but I will play fair.

Our grand loser this year is Swamp Thing, the DC Comics adaptation by Wes Craven. I watched this pretty much entirely because I finally got the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run in paperback this year after quite some time of having it on my to-buy list. Longtime Rachael/Ray/Ratchet fans may recall me reading it in early 2019 alongside [REDACTED]. Still one of the best Moore comics, and a second volume of Swamp Thing wouldn't have been possible without the success of this film. For context I did read the early Swampies by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and my general reaction to those was a'ight but there was definitely material for a serviceable film adaptation there. This is not that serviceable film adaptation. I'm not hung up on details like how Abigail has no connection to Arcane now despite being his niece in the comics, but this film is just kind of painful in how relatively unambitious it is which is saying something for Swamp Thing sword fighting another human mutation at the end of this. It's just silly and stupid and not scary or awe inspiring or anything, the Swamp Thing suit sucks, the action sucks, any sense of pathos is not there or gone, it stretches for 30 minutes too long like it's a padded TV pilot, the only highlight is being able to see Adrienne Barbeau's breasts. Fuck this it's a miserable experience to sit through. My mistake for watching a Wes Craven film that doesn't have "Scream" in the title.

Our next shitter is the two-for-one abomination that is Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958) and Curse of Bigfoot (1975); these are the same movie except Curse of Bigfoot has a 25 minute opening scene framing device that is bizarre given that "The Thing" of the original film is a Native American mummy of some sort unearthed by a group of white high school students. It's the rare personal pet project movie made for fun by some locals but the only highlights are the occasional kill scene, Curse of Bigfoot ranks lower just for making me sit through it longer. Blah.

Speedrunning through a bunch of these because theyre all varying degrees of bad and I don't want to spend any longer writing about these than you probably do reading about them: The Haunting is awful and I don't even super care for the original film so adding shitty CGI monsters and a moral lesson of "it's about family!" doesn't help. Orca is a shitty Jaws cash-in that's like a reverse Moby Dick where the sea animal hunts down the human, nice finale where the orca and shitty poacher guy are fighting it out in the Arctic but otherwise avoid. Don't Go in The House is a mysoginistic torture porn movie that really doesn't sell the "seemingly normal guy is a closet nutcase" thing even though movies made before and after have done it well (see Maniac several paragraphs below). The Beast is advertised as this really scandalous porno film but most of it is French aristocrats sitting around in stuffy rooms arguing about real estate. I think I only watched Countess Dracula for its inclusion in the "if this is her vibe I would fucking cum" meme and it's barely worth bringing up at all. Hillbillys in a Haunted House has an absolutely lovely Tennessee country soundtrack that I wish I could listen to without having to watch the actual movie which is devoid of both scares and laughs. Beware! The Blob gives off the feeling of sitting at a funeral for a family member that was just distant enough for you to be aware of them but not actually be upset but it's still a funeral so it's not like you're smiling, stick with the 1988 Blob film. Alien Space Avenger has some decent gore effects but that's all I can recall from it. Shriek of The Mutilated has one of the best titles for an otherwise uninspired yeti movie that has a needless third act twist about it being a cover for a cult and blah blah blah fuck you. Baby Blood has an alien mutant whatever crawl up a woman's vagina into her womb and she has to eat people to feed it and yeah I'm actually struggling to remember what happens here. The Mutations has a scene where a guy cuts into a tree and it bleeds, I think he's played by Donald Pleasance. Yeah, it's like Freaks except it plays to the freak show straight so you get to laugh at all the outcasts of society, no thank you.

Some odds and ends that I'd say are decent-to-pretty-good: Phase IV has some footage of ants and synth music. All you need is some footage of ants and synth music. Curse of The Faceless Man employs a rarely seen archetype of the living statue monster, it's cute. The Sadist is another starring vehicle for Arch Hall Jr., who was also the star of last Halloween's Eegah! (1962), though this film is a bold trendsetter for the 1960's with Hall being a unhinged killer holding people for ransom until they can fix his car and he can make a getaway. The film lives and dies by Hall's performance and it's mostly the latter until we get to an absolutely superb final act with him hunting down his remaining victims, it makes the whole film worth seeing. Jennifer is an oddball that plays out mostly like a character drama ("It wasn't my fault Daddy it was that stupid hillbilly bitch Jennifer") that suddenly remembers that it's supposed to be a cash-in of Carrie (1976) in the last 20 minutes and cue our titular character being able to summon and control snakes to send after her tormentors. Girls Nite Out is a plodding meandering slasher that's oddly hypnotizing considering so much of it takes place in pitch-black night and the killer is wearing a bear mascot costume with serrated knives hidden under the glove, not sure what fully to make of it. The Monster of Piedras Blancas is made up of leftover parts from the Gillman, Mole People, and Metaluna Mutant, but still manages to star in a decent enough film that gives a sense of what a series of monster attacks would do to a small seaside community. The Cat and The Canary is "cute" for lack of a better term being a horror comedy before the former genre had fully crystalized. Reefer Madness is horror adjacent more than anything but a hilariously good time about how the use of "marihuana" will drive today's youth into becoming crazed fiends and get involved in organized crime.

We can do this.

The Company of Wolves has an excellent story book like setting an atmosphere that you can't get in films nowadays and it's a shame that it's mostly remembered for its transformation sequences. it's Alive is the best Larry Cohen film by default of not sucking but it's still not "great", genius however for playing the concept of mutant newborn killer baby completely seriously without any sense of humor to the proceedings. The Girl Who Knew Too Much is almost a parody of giallo films which is interesting given those hadn't fully sprang up in 1963; absolute highlight is the main character being interviewed in bed by doctors and reporters and the like that yes she did see a murder and no she doesn't drink. I've always been fascinated and haunted by I Am Legend and while The Omega Man doesn't really capture the novel to a superb degree it's so beautifully shot that it lands high in the rankings for that alone. Night Caller From Outer Space is hilarious to me because of how it shifts halfway through from a Hammer-esque mystery about a meteorite with radioactive properties to a film about an alien that lures women in through a modeling advertisement. Blind Woman's Curse I've mentally confused with Irezumi for a while now (haha all 1960's Japanese genre films where woman have large animal tattoos on their backs are the saaame), and it's one I mostly watched for being directed by Teruo Ishii, but there's enough bloody yakuza fights and cats licking up blood for me to stick around; not the strongest Meiko Kaiji vehicle compared to Female Prisoner Scorpion or Lady Snowblood. Maniac I find mostly interesting as a precursor to American Psycho (2000) but also it's probably the only serious film to successfully pull off it's ending trope (which I will not spoil here). The Child is an absolutely lovely 1970's only-a-dozen-people-made-this-and-not-much-more-watched-it horror that oozes atmosphere, I could watch stuff like this all day. Aaand Zombie 3 is far and away the best film that Lucio Fulci has been involved with that I've ever seen. I love random scenes and set pieces of ghouls just massacring people that are shit out out of luck.

Okay, now for the ones I actually want to write about.

The Wasp Woman is one that sticks in my head way more than any other random monster movie that Roger Corman directed in the latw 1950's. I've said on here and Letterboxd that it could have served as a standard pop-feminist piece about how the cosmetology industry is built on misogyny and invariably a monster is accidentally created because of that, but this most recent viewing has made me sort of "get it" because that might be what the film is going for considering Susan Cabot's performance leads me to believe that she is aware that she is becoming a homicidal wasp monster but views it as a tragic means to an end where she still has the ability to have a new advertising campaign with her as the star. Tragic. This is why you don't wear make up.

Both Noroi: The Curse and The Wolf House are ones I didn't care for whatsoever but I put them in places on the ranking that I thought were fair given that people should probably watch them regardless of my personal thoughts. Noroi's format didn't really lend itself to the escalation of tension and reveal of information that the plot demanded and I found myself thinking it meanders quite a bit. The Wolf House was an odd one where everything that was happening onscreen bounced off of me mostly because I felt intimately aware that I was watching a movie, that someone had made something and that I was now being shown it. Blah. People like these so don't let me stop you.

Our animated offerings this year...

Michael Jackson's Halloween more than anything feels like an unlicensed creation that later had an English fan dub commissioned, not something that actually aired on CBS twice. Any laughs that I found in this thing were the unintentional type as we open up with Bubbles talking and being Jackson's chauffeur; you know exactly what you're getting into. Very little of the plot is explained but I'm assuming Jackson (who has no lines given this was made posthumously) orchestrates a dark fantasy adventure to hook two...teenagers? People in their late 20's? And convince them to follow their dreams of performing instead of working a deadend dayjob. I'm not sure who the actual audience for this was given it feels like so much of it was made for children but I will say anything that has this much of Michael Jackson's music in it can't be all bad, though I'm not sure why they didn't largely stick with tracks from the album Thriller (in the contention for best album ever, I don't care).

Gamera: Rebirth is one I feel like I'm on the outside on compared to most other tokusatsu fans because I didn't really *love* to a serious degree even though, yes, Gamera is finally back. The first three episodes are mostly just kind of a slog for me with the backhalf not doing enough to retroactively make me think highly of it, though giving off End of Evangelion vibes may make me consider that a second viewing must be in order down the line. Rebirth's strongest attribute is that it feels like it takes into consideration and influence from every prior era of Gamera, no stone is left unturned, and it's a marked contrast from how every recent Godzilla property only captures a single facet of their respective character. But that also creates unique issues like how a lot of criticism of ongoing US military presence in Japan is undercut so there can be a white kid in the main cast (because white children were always present in half of the Showa series) or having the ancient civilization that genetically engineered the kaiju now being malicious and actively sacrificing children as a means of reshaping the world gives me vaguely anti-semitic tones, I don't know, Gamera is still here, I guess.

"I was just a little twerp who liked Scooby-Doo and Smurfs, now I was viewing Cthulhu mutants ruin the Earth."

Everyday that we have Inhumanoids is a gift. Inhumanoids is another Hasbro/Sunbow production like G. I. Joe, Transformers, or Jem and The Holograms, and it is truly tragic that it never got anywhere near that level of attention compared to its siblings. The fact that a 1980's action figure tie-in cartoon is named for its antagonists is only the start; the series follows a small paramilitary outfit of scientists named Earth Core that are tasked with more or less saving the world alongside the Mutores, elemental beings, when the Inhumanoids, eldritch abominations, are unleashed. The degree of world-building beyond your typical "good guys vs. bad guys" affair is astounding with villainous humans and virtuous monsters abounding, but Inhumanoids is mostly magical and remembered for saying fuck all to any type of broadcast standards. Seeing giant monsters destroy cities, undead armies, and spelunking deep into the Earth (where nightmares begin...) are just standard fair here, as are witnessing the actual Inhumanoids such as Metlar (basically the devil) or D'Compose (giant undead entity that can zombify people by touching them and uses his ribcage like a jail cell) in action. The first five episodes here are the pilot movie of sorts for the series which only lasted thirteen overall, and they get more grissly from here on out, but maybe it's best that Inhumanoids is the short lived cartoon and no the cartoon that went soft as early as its second season. I will never not love this show, to this day it's one of my favorite animated series from any decade, much less the 1980's.

Back to our regularly scheduled live-action programming...

Student Bodies is a fascinating film for a myriad of reasons the first of which is that there were somehow enough slasher films by 1981 for there to be a comedy poking fun at all the already established genre-cliches. It's essentially Scary Movie (2000) a full 20 years ahead of the curve only actually funny in spite of the subject matter frequently being as juvenile and prejudiced; but it also reminds me quite a bit of Scream (1996) with stuff like two killers working together. All I know is I was in for a decent time when the film opens with three identical shots of a house just with different framing text: "HALLOWEEN," "FRIDAY THE 13TH," "JAMIE LEE CURTIS' BIRTHDAY" and then the killer, The Breather, calls the opening kill girl doing nothing but breathing heavily, she hangs up, he calls back with "I SAID [heavy breathing]."

Return of The Living Dead is one of those films that should have destroyed the any artifically-imposed boundaries between "high" and "low" art. Every aspect of this film is brilliantly made, it just so happens to be made for stuff like Scooby-Doo music overlaid on top of thunderstorms over graveyards where one female character is stripping to the concept of dying. Media involving ghouls is incredibly oversaturated, and this was still the case in the 1980's where a film like this had to redefine the rules to make it so killing ghouls was basically a non-option. It only recently struck me on this viewing that that's the whole purpose of removing virtually all weaknesses they have, to keep the characters as the nail instead of the hammer. Compared to the Romero films, there's never a point where anyone is in control of the situation, it just escalates further and further until there is literally no way out. Taking that into consideration, there's no way this film couldn't have been a comedy that frames people getting swarmed and eaten by ghouls as hilarious.

The soundtrack and the faux-punk sensibilities lend this a daft feeling of "you shouldn't be watching this" in spite of it not being one of the MOST gory horror films of the 1980's. I still don't get how this never broke into the mainstream. I mean somehow people know that ghouls (in this film) speak and only eat brains but I can't go down to Target and get a Tarman action figure like I can one of Michael Myers. As such Return of The Living Dead remains a criminally overlooked film regardless of its subject matter. It's made me laugh and cringe and feel disgusted and revolt at the concept at dying but mostly it's made me feel a delicious sense of joy at seeing corpses rise out of the ground to the tune of "Do you wanna party? IT'S PARTY TIIIME!" Some of you need to sit in the corner and think about your life choices for making stupid shit like Re-Animator (1985) or fucking Shaun of The Dead (2004) more popular than this, fuck you.

The act of watching Spider Baby is like discovering the missing link. For as much as 1960 gave us an explosion of horror (Eyes Without a Face, The Ship of Monsters, Psycho, Jigoku, Black Sunday, etc.) and Night of The Living Dead (1968) reins as the perennial transition point of the genre, Spider Baby is the road by which we go from The Cat and The Canary and The Old Dark House to the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eraserhead, it's magical finding an essential piece of a genre you love so much. Both the former and latter points of comparison are apt as a family of now only children [and their butler] suffering from Poe-esque hereditary illness have their condemned house set upon by distant relatives and everything slowly unravels.

Lon Chaney Jr. is an actor who for the longest time I felt never got a proper chance to shine wherein the last 25 years or so of his career was spent playing as side character actor in independent films. Spider Baby is his crowning achievement. Seeing him smile through almost tears on several occasions as he has to play bridge between worlds of sanity and madness and lie to everyone that he has some sense of control over the situation is brilliant in ways I always knew he was capable of but had never seen before this point. Bravo.

I will never not love Basket Case with everything I've got. This is the epitome of 1980's horror and my clear pick for best of the decade. It has everything from being a grungy putrid grindhouse spectacle to being an intimate character drama to everything presented through a wry ironic lense where you can't tell if any "bad" performances are all done on purpose. Between this, Brain Damage (1988), and Frankenhooker (1990), there is literally absolutely no reason why Frank Henenlotter shouldn't be more popular than Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, and Lloyd Kaufman *combined*. It's tragic that the world of cinema being enclosed and captured by studios again in the late 1980's prevented us from getting more from him, but realistically could we ask anymore than what we already got from Basket Case? I could watch this every day and never grow tired of it. I will never stop making more and more people watch this.

If Basket Case is the apex of 1980's horror, then Messiah of Evil is the same for 1970's horror. This is one of the most efficient horror films ever made in how not a single frame is wasted, the opening scene is literally a guy running from unseen force, seeking refuge, getting his throat slit, cue title card with synth music that then leads us to a sunburnt hallway as our narrator descends into acceptance of complete lack of control of the situation. Every night shot in this film must be 50 - 75% completely black with whatever headlight or store front there is just making the scenery look like a dollhouse that our characters are trapped inside. There's so many shots of people running away or walking down streets that make them look tiny as the camera is so far.

Every scene is an exercise in building up dread. There's no point where the film relents, something awful is not only coming, it's already here and there's nothing anyone can do. What I love particularly is that the mystery being laid out doesn't offer any answers because there's another mystery on top of what our characters find out only too late. Layers upon layers of dread that even the titular Messiah of Evil isn't the center of. The world is a cruel fucking place where this film languishes in obscurity whilst shit like The Exorcist enjoys mainstream attention. A lot of my taste amounts to "why isn't this thing I like more popular" and cases like Messiah of Evil vindicate me.

"Godzilla is the son of the atomic bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the sacred beast of the apocalypse." - Tomoyuki Tanaka

Generally a yearly trend is that a #1 pick for Halloween is self-evident to me and this year it was Basket Case for all of 30 seconds until I picked Godzilla back up.

There's something to be said how Godzilla isn't quite a horror monster? Terrifying but not necessarily creepy, but what power do things that go bump in the night have against the destruction of everything you know? Everytime I watch Godzilla is like the very first time, when flashing lights out at sea destroy fishing ships I have no idea what happened, or at least any much of a clue as anyone in film does when we're told that the entire ocean exploded.

Godzilla is a reptile, but lacks scales and its entire body is coated in keloid scars. In 1954 Godzilla must have been the largest monster every committed to film, trains are derailed from running against its ankle and bell and radio towers are throttled for being a sensory inconvenience. Godzilla's first on-screen appearance on Odo Island is obscured by a hurricane but the impression is clear; you can't fight Godzilla in the same way you can't fight a natural disaster. When Tokyo is reduced to complete ruin amidst a sea of flames, it's an onslaught of destruction never before seen in a film of this genre. Survivors being afflicted with radiation poisoning shows that Godzilla will claim victims long after being driven back to sea.

There's a sheer apocalyptic dread to all of this sensed by all the characters. Love tries to exist on the edge of annihilation. There's nothing that can be done but persevere and maybe hope tomorrow will be better. A scene that always strikes me is when Serizawa is adamant about not using the Oxygen Destroyer until forcibly confronted with the results of one night of Godzilla making landfall in Japan. The absolute pain felt by everyone in the finale starts here, things couldn't play out any differently as the "scientist of the century" can't join in and celebrate his victory.

Godzilla is a rare perfect film. I will never tire of it.

[wellhalesbells]

TAG SOMEONE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND/OR SOME OF YOUR BESTIES

Tagged by @kikiroo - thank you, my darling!!! *friendly shark bites at you*

Last song: Probably either The Man or Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift. I just spent a week with my sister on vacation and she had just watched the Eras Tour movie so she was getting both of those stuck in my head all the time, and then we'd have to listen to them ofc.

Last movie: It was Host by Rob Savage (or at least it was when I started this, lol). I watched it 'cause I saw something on Insta about the Top 10 Scariest Movies according to what the average resting heart rate is for it. I didn't find it very scary (got me at the end though, woo boy) but I did love it - but then I love things that use the pandemic well and this definitely did imo. Plus it's all structured around (and shot through) a Zoom interface so it's only, like, fifty-seven minutes long because that's all you get when you don't pay for Zoom, haha.

Currently watching: Goosebumps, Last Week Tonight, The Fall of the House of Usher, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Our Flag Means Death and Ghost Files and I am half-assing all of it. I've either only started the first episode or only watched the first episode on all of those. I have no staying power these days. Though I am only one ep behind on Last Week Tonight \o/

Other stuff I watched this year: Unfortunately for you guys, I write fucking everything down and it is now the tenth month of the year. I GOT RECS. Well, Meg 2: The Trench, which is a cinematic masterpiece and I will take no questions on that (unless they're Joming related). (Cognizant of the month) Here are spooky things I watched this year and liked a lot: X, The Black Phone, The Menu, Terrifier and Terrifier 2 (this is definitely only for gore fans though), Bodies Bodies Bodies, Cocaine Bear (also a cinematic masterpiece, also not taking questions), Interview with the Vampire, Wednesday, Severance, Evil, The Last of Us, Over the Garden Wall, Magpie Murders, What We Do in the Shadows, and Shining Vale (haven't started the second season yet!). Also really liked: Paddington, Nimona, Barbie, Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, Vivo, Derry Girls, The Bear, The Boys, Mythic Quest, Only Murders in the Building (I haven't watched the new season yet though but I expect great things), Reboot, Tuca & Bertie, Los Espookys, Barry, Extraordinary, Crashing (I literally watched it three times in a row - watching Sam and Fred fall in love 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 plus I fucking love Jonathan Bailey - I consistently find him ridiculously charming), Hacks, Avenue 5 (so sad this got canceled when I feel like it just hit its stride), Staged (I've watched it probably six times now), Abbott Elementary, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Ted Lasso, I Think You Should Leave Now (just for that one sketch, you know the one and, if you don't, I am HAPPY to tell you about it!), Unstable (petition for Fred Armisen to be in everything though, right?), Black Mirror, Central Park, Elite (I haven't watched the new season yet!), Reservation Dogs (ditto), The White Lotus, Good Omens, Letterkenny, Minx (what's ditto but for the third time?), Heartstopper, Sasaki and Miyano, and The Other Two.

Shows I dropped/didn’t finish: I'm behind on everything all the time so I'm only going to answer for shows I dropped and I don't think I've dropped any this year?

Currently reading: The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey (about halfway through), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (I'll be reading this until I die, I think), Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (nearly finished!), The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (decided to do a reread of the IwtV series this year since I never actually finished it and only got to book ten and I read it way too long ago to remember anything that's happening if I just picked it up now).

Currently listening to: My calendar alarm telling me to go to my dog's vet appointment.

Currently working on: getting at least a third of the way through My Darling Girl

Also absolutely no pressure tagging @andavs, @callunavulgari, @piratefalls, @clotpolesonly, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[lastlymatt]

Alex Rider Rewatch S1 Ep 1

I already mentioned this, but the fact that Yassen rolls up with the name Gregor plastered all over him is peak comedy.

The whole scene between Michael and Parker Roscoe is just the right amount of off. They are clearly not close, but you can tell it's because Michael Roscoe is creeped out by his son (for a good reason). I really like the setup to his death and the rest of the plot, but his death is so out there?? With hologram technology, that's only going to be mentioned once more and be instantly forgotten, which is a major shame.

And we have our first Yassen murder! 6.5/10 not that visually exciting, but the method was cool, and so was his outfit.

The opening song IS SO GOOD. I've been listening to it on repeat.

I love how Alex's first line is "not doing it", my precious reluctant spy boy. Also, this Tom? Chef's kiss, amazing, great energy, great outfit, but I have the constant urge to pull his beanie down over his eyes.

"But the laaadiesss", and then Alex proceeds to get absolutely zero concrete romance plots. No kisses for him, and I find it rather refreshing.

We get a showcase of Alex's skills, and it's a fun teaser for what's to come. Also, he has definitely broken into school before.

Oh Ian, why do you have to be such an ass? I'm glad that we do get to see him interact with Alex and Jack before he dies, and I like just how mundane his last interactions with them are. It's more than what we got in the books. Also, this Jack is amazing and a major mood. Ian is some spy, though, if he doesn't notice he's being served takeout.

The back-and-forth between the party and the warehouse is an interesting contrast. Martin is immediately shady as hell. I don't have much to say about the party outside of the fact that it captures the feeling of normalcy very well, which is kind of the point.

But the warehouse scene, oh my god. It's Yassen's 2nd murder! 10/10 Ian, we barely knew ye, but that Yas hit like a gut punch. Also, absolute bastard behaviour towards Wilby. I support that 100%. I enjoy how ominous Yassen is if you haven't read the books.

Alex hearing the news is such a good scene oh my god the acting is amazing. Someone wrap him in a blanket.

Is anyone else reminded of vultures when Jones, Blunt, and Crawley are standing over Ian's body?

"First his parents, now his uncle" I like this line to bring all viewers up to speed on the Rider's history in espionage, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think his mom was a spy too.

While I did watch the series first and read the books second, I am very happy with how they modernised it because some things feel very dated, especially in the first few books, and the seatbelt thing was always weird to me. Going over the speed limit makes a lot more sense, and the way Alex discovers what happened is incredibly smart and well-adapted.

Not sure where the decision came from to make mi6, not really mi6?? Why is it The Department now, and why do their headquarters look like they belong in a horror game? Alan Blunt, my beloathed.

THIS FUCKING SCENE

JUST BRILLIANT

The confusion, the chaos, the way Alex doesn't even need to call for them to all instantly disappear. Now that's a scary scene. I am stealing it for RPG purposes.

8/10 amazing first episode if I didn't know whump was coming, I would've been hooked anyway.

[shyvioletlife]

I've finally started watching the live action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender and 22 minutes in I'm already... frustrated with some of the decisions the creators made about how they want to frame the story. It is clear that they are going all in on the martial art action packed side of atla and want to highlight the cool fighting by starting out with back to back fight sequences. This is definitely a choice to make and is obviously a deliberate attempt to immediately set the gritty realism tone that they want to achieve, distancing themselves from the kids show. It is legitimately hard to say this show is for kids when a person gets burned to death and you see their body drop on screen within the first five minutes.

Yes, it sets up how bad the fire nation is willing to be, and yes it establishes Sozin and, subsequently, his line, as cold-hearted and willing to do whatever they can to achieve power. Sure. But then they immediately take it one step further.

Immediately we go to the Southern Air Temple and get to meet Aang, with the threat of violence hanging on the horizon but for a moment we get to see a normal, calm day. For the most part, they keep the spirit of the scenes beat to beat on the original flashback we got of Aang's life here, before reaching the point that I am especially frustrated about.

Tell me, oh tell me, why we have to witness the genocide of the air nomads? It feels like the thought process is "oh its a cool fight scene between airbenders and firebenders" but is it a cool fight scene when the entire point is how one sided it is? We know that every single air nomad dies - and that's not even a spoiler because the title of the show is Avatar: the last airbender. So I ask again, why do we have to see it? To experience the horror of watching these characters die? There are other equally effective ways to do that without showing the attack onscreen, including using the time spent on the fight scene instead fleshing out and dwelling more on the culture and people in the temple. Give us more interactions with the monks and we will feel their absence and the loss of their culture all the more keenly than witnessing the violent way that they died.

The only explanation I can think of is that the creators are trying to set up the horror of the comet, and truly make the viewer dread the prospect of the comet returning by centering it at the forefront of the story. A shorthand for 'hey you gotta get your head in gear because its about to be BAD." But they're only conveying this message to the audience!! Aang still leaves before the attack and he misses everything that happened. If they're trying to really drive home the terror of the comet, they could have rewritten the scenes to be where Aang leaves because he was forced to flee in the middle of the siege rather than 'going to clear his head' before it even happens. At least in a fleeing for his life scenario we get a similar dynamic of survivors guilt and struggle as the original story, where he ran away to avoid responsibility. They could even have introduced a situation where they were trying to evacuate all the young monks but because of the storm, only Aang was able to survive because he's half Spirit.

At the end of the day, it doesn't bode well to me that so much effort went into the fight scenes at the start of the episode and so much money was clearly spent on making the deaths look horrifying to witness.

[lovecanbesostrange]

"#(also B'Elanna honey remember that technically you and Janeway and Tuvok are xBs" I keep wanting to forget that happened. And how easy they just removed the implants. Although I wish Seven got to talk to Tuvok more about that experience since he had the hardest time. #SevenTuvokBestFriend Agenda

I like that it happened. *Unimatrix Zero* was so batshit crazy on all fronts. Getting assimilated as part of the plan, relying on some fun neuro-whatever inhibitor? Hilarious. BUT it needed to have dire consequences. Something lasting. That moment when Tuvok hears the Collective and gets distracted? Fantastic. More! MORE! MAKE THEM SUFFER!

I need a better balance. I definitely want my Trek to be mostly stand-alone episodes. No season long arcs (especially not the-universe-will-explode-type-of-stuff). BUT give me constant development, build it up, make it connect more. It's VOY's biggest failing, it needed to be more like DS9 in that specific regard. Oh, I could write essays. I love the ship lost in the Delta Quadrant with all my heart and damn can I agonize about the wasted potential.

Janeway infiltrating/robbing the Borg was a fun hobby. Got really good at it. The escalation though. Ahahahahahaha. Because we didn't get to see a few lasting effects it minimized the trauma in the worst way. I like that we had the Borg kids, Icheb & Co. And it was handled well - within the format of the show - that they hadn't been with the Collective that long, still maturing, easier to get out. Icheb could also adapt to living without the whateveritscalledexactly implant in his brain that Seven needed.

On the other hand, we get S2 of PIC and suddenly Seven is full human, zero implants whatsoever and the writers missed to fully showcase this drastic change. It's more than just a few metal thingies on her face.

Anyway, back to *Unimatrix Zero* itself. Like the idea, hate the execution. They needed to lean in more into the body horror and not make it less frightening! I was so here for Tuvok to struggle mentally with this and thus talking to Seven about it. Their friendship is special.* Meanwhile let B'Elanna have more follow-up surgeries, let it take some time to get her voice back to normal. Of course the Doctor does have a lot of experience by then. Have to give him some credit there.

Edit: Wait, let me spell it out once again, because I can. B'ELANNA TORRES & SEVEN OF NINE NEEDED TO BE CLOSER FRIENDS!!!! (that's the most important message of that gif set)

[thecrackshiplollipop]

tagged by @phoolhearty

1. are you named after anyone? yes! both of my grandmothers. although my mom likes to joke that my dad's lucky his mom had the name she already picked out for me, because it was going to be my first name one way or another. she's a virgo, she plans well.

2. when was the last time you cried? according to my cry tracker....last night. we watched the latest ted lasso. i think i've cried at 8 out of 10 episodes of the latest season.

3. do you have kids? i was once a step-parent, but not anymore. and i don't plan on having any.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot? often! i actually remember learning how to use it as a kid and i became insufferable because of it.

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people? it depends. if i'm immediately close to someone, i notice their smell, if they're wearing perfume, if their skin/hair products have a specific fragrance. but if i meet someone with distance or online, speech patterns/speaking behaviours (do they talk with their hands? move their body/facial features a lot?).

6. what’s your eye color? green

7. scary movies or happy endings? why not both? i love a HEA, but i also enjoy the thrill of a scary movie. also, scary movies that have a nice, tidy happy ending are nice. a reminder that you can survive The Horrors.

8. any special talents? i'm very good at learning and retaining a wide and varied trove of knowledge, and i'm also very good at finding information i don't already have quickly and easily when a question is posed.

9. where were you born? central texas~

10. what are your hobbies? writing (currently finishing a book); computer games (valorant, fortnite, sims 4, loads of sons of the forest lately); watching valorant pro games with my wife (currently watching VCT americas); photography (expanding into film rn!); kpop girl groups (more of a special interest at this point)

11. have you any pets? what a fun way to ask this question. yes, i have two dogs, a beagle and a beapitt (beagle-pitt mix). i really want a cat, but we have some logistic concerns to resolve before we can do that :C

12. what sport do you play/have played? i played tennis and golf, i also technically did shotput and discus but like i was bad at those, even though that was the only time i was on an official school team.

13. how tall are you? 5'4" baybee

14. favorite subject in school? at the time i was in school, it was a toss up between english and french. in hindsight, i definitely got the most enjoyment out of creative writing, science, and orchestra, but i was really bought into the image of being literary and scholarly, even though i actively hated writing essays and struggled to finish the books in time for discussions.

15. dream job? ehhh like leah said, i don't dream of labour. i have had a really hard time figuring out what i want to do with my life, to the point where i keep stalling out on whether or not i want to get a degree because i don't know what i would even go to school for. i'm just certain i want to publish my book, so. published author would be nice.

tagging @sarah-crewe @punk-aziraphale

[hellfirehope]

Master of Bats 🦇

Ch. 2 ᯾ Ch. 1

E.M x Henderson! Reader

Summary: You and your boyfriend Eddie narrowly make it out of the upside down (with some help from your friends) after Vecna is presumed dead.

Authors note: Reader is Dustin’s sister. This story differs from the plot of volume 2, but definitely includes similarities. There’s also one original character, Helena, that will be in the next episode. Our flight got delayed sooo I made this way longer than I planned. I’m splitting it into 2 parts (maybe more if u like it? 👉👈) The internet where we’re staying is spotty so I’m sorry if anything doesn’t look right or if the pics don’t load.

Warnings: angst (no Eddie death-you’re safe here), graphic descriptions of injuries and blood, descriptions of a physically strong metalhead reader (sorry if that triggers the incels 😘), Steve having no taste in music, and, of course, some signature fluff. No Stancy because I don’t feel like projectile vomiting.

“Do you think we bought enough time?” Eddie asked quietly.

What?!” You yelled in disbelief. He repeated his question. “Yes, of course you did, Eddie! Let’s go, please just please come back up.” You started to cry. Eddie hated nothing more in the world than to cause you tears, but was afraid his guitar skills, while amazing and ahead of his time, were not enough to help everyone he was fighting for. You, most of all. “I’m going to buy more time, ok, baby? I’ll come right back! Just a few minutes!” He promised, knowing full well that was not something he could guarantee. “NO!”You shouted before he could even finish. “I have to do this, Y/N. For Hawkins. For Chrissy. For our friends. For you.” He sounded so poetic, but his words were angering you to the point of smashing things. “No, you don’t! Hawkins doesn’t deserve your help!” You cried pathetically. “Maybe not, he smiled. But you do.” He let go of the rope and looked up at you, blowing you a kiss. “I love you, Y/N. More than anything. I’m coming back for you. Just wait here. Do not follow me.” Before you had a chance to react, he ran out of the trailer, taking your heart with you. There was not a second that went by before you were back on that rope, not caring that Eddie had moved the mattress to try and discourage you from coming down. You hit the ground, hard, but it didn’t hurt. The only thing you were focused on was Eddie. Getting him home. You looked up at a Dustin, wio had fully lost it at this point. He, like you, had been screaming and begging for Eddie to join you, not understanding why he stayed behind. He had tried to grab you as you dove back to the upside down, but you were too fast, moving like an animal hunting her prey. “Dusty. I love you. I will always love you. You’re the best brother in the world. And I’m coming back, ok? Just stay here. STAY. HERE.” You ordered frantically, taking one last look at your tear stained brother before you were rushing to find Eddie. The door to the trailer swung open and you searched the nearby surroundings. “Eddie!” You called out. Finally, you spotted him riding a pathetic looking bike, some 200 feet north of you. You spotted a bike laying haphazardly on the rotting earth (or lack thereof) and pulled it away from some debris. You hopped on that bike and peddled as fast as you possibly could, trying to catch up with Eddie. You knew your body would be absolutely aching after this, but the adrenaline was numbing the fire burning throughout your body. There were too many bats surrounding Eddie, and he could no longer keep up. They started landing on him, biting him, causing him to fall off his bike. You let out a shriek of horror, the loudest sound to ever leave your body. Eddie managed to get to his feet, trying to use his makeshift weapons to hold off the advancing swarm of vicious, albeit very metal, bats. You advanced on Eddie, who while giving those bats hell, was becoming exhausted. You began to use your own weapons to hinder the bats from further attack. You swung at them with reckless abandon, but rarely missed. You were a good shot with great aim. Deadly. Even though you definitely didn’t look the part. Eddie had taken account of your presence and his distraction caused him to fall to the ground, bats instantly swarming his tired body. “There’s too many!” You cried, trying your hardest to get the bats off Eddie, while simultaneously keeping them from overtaking you. “Y/N! RUN! Please go!” Eddie begged between bites and yelps. “I’m not leaving you! Never. I can’t live without you, Eddie. I’d rather us both die than leave you!” You admitted in between swings. He tried to protest but he was too weak. If you couldn’t get them off of him soon, he wasn’t going to make it. You were exhausted, but couldn’t stop fighting. Because you knew if you did, you’d both die. It was possible to run away, back to the trailer, to Dustin. The bats would be too distracted with Eddie. You’d have a pretty straight shot if you stopped now. But that was never something you even thought to consider, happily choosing death over abandoning the love of your life.

A bat took a deep bite into your shoulder, while another focused on your arm. You screamed in pain, and the bats used your moment of weakness to overtake you. You covered your body over Eddie’s, trying to shield him from further attack. He was half here-half gone. He just stared into your bloodshot (y/e/c) eyes, convinced you were an angel bringing him to heaven. You were sobbing uncontrollably, tears falling onto Eddie’s face. “Why didn’t you go…” he croaked, as several bats attacked your uncovered backside. Nothing could hold a candle to the pain you were experiencing now- not your 4 tattoos, several piercings, or broken bones. You continued to sob as Eddie lay limp on the ground. “Please. Please. Don’t leave me. I can’t-I can’t..I need you.” You begged hysterically. As if some god above had heard your prayers, the bats began falling to the ground, one by one, mewling pathetically. It took you a second to notice the bats had stopped attacking, since the pain hadn’t. You could hardly move, but you mustered all the strength you had left to pull yourself up. “Eddie!” They did it! We can go now! We have to get you help!” Eddie just sighed, not fully able to understand what you were asking of him. “I can’t... I’m too tired.” He admitted lamely. “I know baby, I know.” You tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and kissed his bloody forehead. “But we have to. We have to get home.” You got to your feet and attempted to pick Eddie up. You were strong, especially for a young woman. Much to the dismay of your parents and peers, you took weightlifting in school (Eddie had to cuss out the gym teacher to get them to accept a girl), worked part time helping your uncle’s construction company, and loved to run and hike. Still, your body was torn up and frail after the recent in. You lifted Eddie off the ground with extreme difficulty. He tried to argue, but with his lack of energy it just came out as light moans. Suddenly, a figure was running towards you. You immediately froze, worried there was, of course, a new monster you’d have to face. But as soon as the figure advanced, and you saw his curly hair and ridiculous battle outfit, you let out a sob of relief mixed with anguish. You, of course, didn’t want Dustin down here any longer than necessary, but couldn’t carry Eddie back by yourself. Dustin noticed you were seconds away from dropping Eddie, and sprinted to help you. With Dustin on Eddie’s left, it was much easier to get him back to the trailer. Dustin didn’t say anything at first, knowing you probably needed a minute. “Dustin….”you whimpered. “Thank you. W-We would have died down there.” Dustin would have said normally something along the lines of I told you so, but held his tongue due to your current situation. You weren’t too far from the vine- consumed trailer, but it felt like miles. You were worried, not for yourself in the slightest, but for Eddie. His normally playful smirk and doe eyes were replaced by a distant pained expression. Would you be able to get him help in time? And how in the world would you go about doing that? As much as you hated it, Eddie was still a wanted man. You had no idea the logistics of your plan, too fixed on getting Eddie and Dustin to safety. Dustin dropped one of his arms from Eddie’s limp body and pulled the door of the trailer open.

Ok I’m actually kind of digging this (hope u are too!) so I’m going to continue. Thank you for reading- please ❤️ or reblog if you enjoyed! Wishing you all the best vibes this weekend!

Blessed be

Hope

[gayhenrycreel]

a lot of horror writers are actually kinda shit at body horror. as the last post i reblogged said, something is not inherently scary if its got "too many eyes" or "too many legs", because not everyone has a natural fear reaction to spiders and millpedes. its better to emphasise the reaction your character has.

(spoilers for the southern reach trilogy)

take the Southern Reach trilogy for example. the moaning creature in the swamp is... well i suppose it could be described as a human that has had its form twisted into the shape of a crocodilian. The Biologist thinks the ecosystem of area x is beautiful. but then she sees the moaning creature, just as it begins to die. her view of it is influenced by her view of the rest of area xs lifeforms. of course this creature relies on uncanny valley for its full effect, but we experience it through The Biologist. she feels sorry for it. its a being that never should have been created. its body looks painful, even if it was previously in perfect health.

it wouldn't work as well if the Biologists reaction wasn't central to how the audience experiences the moaning creature. it makes me wonder; was the noises it made a trap, or were they screams of pain? was it aware that it was once human? screams of physical pain or screams of sorrow? the horror becomes less about this thing looking unnatural, and more about the situation its in.

another approach to body horror is The Deer Episode of Adventure Time. i cant remember the title but if you search "deer episode adventure time" you will find it. this whole episode is psychological horror with a body horror twist.

a deer runs wild throughout the candy kingdom. in the commotion, Finn and Jake get knocked out. Finn wakes up in a candy kingdom hospital. his legs are in casts. no one is around. no princess. no candy citizens. he finds a wheelchair and looks for the missing people. eventually he finds Jake, who has a bandage around his head and says its his birthday and he knows that the reason no ones around is because they are planning a surprise party. he says he and Finn have to pretend everything is normal or the surprise wont happen. he wont let Finn near a tunnel entrance.

Finn decides to investigate the tunnel. Jake wont let him go near it and gets very upset about it. Finn asks Jake how long hes been waiting.

6 months.

hes been waiting 6 months for a surprise party. Finn knows that something is definitely wrong. he breaks out of his casts and runs towards the hatch. he climbs down.....and the entire population of the candy kingdom is stuck to the walls, slowly liquifying. surely the only reason this was allowed to air is because theyre made of candy.

the deer appears out of an offshoot of the tunnel, and removes its front hooves, revealing humanlike hands. it picks up a candy citizen (peppermint butler if i recall correctly), and licks the dissolving sugar. Finn defeats the deer and frees the candy people, and a knock to the head makes Jake come to his senses.

this whole episode raises questions, some of which have terrifying implications; did Jake know about this? is that why he wouldn't let Finn near the tunnel? is there more than one deer? is this just a threat these people live with? why didn't they have proper defences? why does it have human hands? the fact that it had fake hooves to hide them implies that it planned the attack. the deer is smart. is Jake really that easy to manipulate?

the deer is a one-off character, and was so well done that i remember this episode vividly, all these years later. its rare for a one-off character to stick with me so clearly they did something right here. the deer looks just like any other deer, until it reveals its hands and stands on its back legs. even though its a cartoon, its really uncanny.

its a cool piece of world building too. perhaps Ooo has legends about this creature? princess Bubblegum seemed to have an idea of what it was, maybe this was not the first attack? (she suggested it was harvesting sugar). the deer could be a cryptid of sorts. it seems rare enough that most people wouldn't believe its real.

adventure time does the occasional horror episode, and does a really good job of it.

the best thing about the deer is, that it makes you think, its just an animal until its human in the wrong ways, and poses a real danger.

my favourite kind of horror is that which focuses on the characters reaction to the horrors (which adventure time also does), and horror where the Scary Thing could easily be mistaken for something innocent.

[madlymine]

Episode 6 - Recap

♠ MAIN CHARACTERS: Aono the ghost (ML) Yuri the airhead (FL) Fuju the victim (ML's best friend) Mio the horror-enthusiast (FL's potential best friend)

♠ EP6: Yuri and Fuju meet at Mio's house to discuss possession theories. *points at the picture below* Mio thinks that the ghost left Yuri's body because of impurity the 1st & 2nd time. 3rd is related to impurity because of Yuri's nosebleed during that disgusting kiss. But the trigger for the 4th possession of Fuju's body is a mystery to them.

~back to teen-fiction~ [Aono & Yuri in her bedroom] In order to lie about the reason for the meeting, Yuri tells Aono that they talked about ghosts in general and the theory of ghosts flying if they strip... Of course, our leading lady and her puuure thoughts. Never disappoints.

A: "should we test to see if I can take my clothes off?"

*Aono starts unbuttoning his shirt, while Yuri staaaares*

A: "you'll keep watching? it's embarrassing." Y: "you're right. I'll face the wall so take it off please. A: "eeeeh"

Anyways, she turns her head away and he continues with the shirt. This must be the most unanticipated moment in my entire life... sorry kid.

A: "isn't it unfair for only me to strip? won't you strip too?"

LOL! damn. teen hormones over the top. God grant me patience.

*Yuri pretends to be shocked but internally giddy*

A: "to keep it fair." Y: "are you embarrassed to strip alone?"

HAHAHAHA what is this conversation! I need air.

A: "I am." Y: "it wouldn't if I did it too?" A: "YEsh." (he didn't show enthusiasm but he is definitely excited..)

&nd the undressing begins. at least they are not facing each other so that's something.

A: "can I turn around?"

Well, we all know that he can't undress and he used this method to see her naked :p BOOO~ He sulks afterwards because Yuri refuses to continue undressing.

A: "I can't look? one more layer? I'm getting nowhere here..."

The girl feels bad for him and gives him a back-hug and tells him to put his hands on hers. Then she moves her hands on his body and he follows (while imagining that she is touching him)... alright, kids, lets move on before I go to hell for this. The manga must be much worse.

[NEXT scen-o] Back to the Blue Cheer squad, where Yuri invites her friends to spend a day out with her and her ghost. Fuju and Mio both opt-out.

Fuju: "let it be a date. it will be more fun with you 2 alone, right? you can go to a hotel afterwards." *Mio and Yuri shocked* Fuju: "I'm kidding."

Love him. honestly, the whole thing is ridiculous and he knows it lol

Y: "we can unexpectedly do lewd things..." F: "how? you can't touch him." Y: "creative ingenuity..." F: "do you masturbate while he gives you directions?"

Another shock for the girls. Fuju go easy on them. Mio changes the subject by bringing snacks and the gathering ends shortly after.

[Aquarium date] near the end, Aono tells Yuri that his little brother got lost in this aquarium. but he is glad he made happy memories with her here. she gets upset that he didn't tell her beforehand so they can change the date place. he apologizes and promises to share all his thoughts in the future. she feels bad for sulking. & I want to kill myself but lets move on from this very important happening.

SKIPPING SOME CHEESY LINES for your own good.

[last scene] we get introduced to a new female character talking to Yuri's mother at home asking about Yuri. the mother tells her she is out with friends. the good-looking stranger: "she has friends?"

END.

a year ago

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 6: AHS 5x05 Room Service

Tough afternoon for me but I did enjoy watching AHS

Tough afternoon for me but I did enjoy watching AHS. I didn’t find this episode particularly scary, but I thought it was feel good, which is honestly more of what I’m looking for right now anyway. And it had its moments of humor, unlike the last one.

The weakest part of today’s ep was definitely the vampire kids story line. I vaguely remember feeling increasingly dissatisfied/annoyed with Alex over the course of the season and maybe feeling a bit like her story went off the rails at some point in a way pertaining to the vampires and that’s coming back to me now. I was remembering her becoming their ‘nanny’ but had totally forgotten the measle-vampire-middle-schoolers thing. I don’t know, man, I liked Alex a lot but I lost a lot of respect for her in this one. Impulsively turning herself into a vampire, okay. It was well established that she would do anything to be with Holden again. But turning this unvaccinated child into a vampire? The consequences of that were very predictable. And a lot of time was spent on them, given how predictable they were, how minor all these characters were, and how over the top the concept was.

The strongest part was Liz Taylor’s back story. This was honestly the story that I remembered the most from the series as a whole, and it does hold up. It… does not really match genre with the rest of the show. It’s not horror. It’s uplifting, feel-good, even empowering in a way. A little tear-jerky at certain parts. I got the distinct impression that Lady Gaga wasn’t the Countess so much as she was Lady Gaga but you know what, ultimately, it’s fine. It’s an enjoyable story, just like Iris (who so recently we were supposed to view as the Worst Mother and Also Person Ever) finding herself and ‘really living’ is enjoyable and uplifting and cathartic. Yes, I wanted her to eat the hipsters. Yes, the hipsters were very purposefully very edible. It was still satisfying.

I didn’t entirely get how the timeline of this episode was supposed to match up with the last. For the most part, I’d say they were simultaneous: most of the last episode focused on the Detective, most of those on everyone else. But then there’s that scene of him getting fire about midway through… The scene with Sally I get, as something that could have happened later in the day or evening, but the scene with his boss really seemed like it was happening earlier, which implies to me that actually the two episodes are consecutive. (Honestly it doesn’t really, it’s just funnier to say that because the beginning of this one includes the morning of Halloween, implying that last episodes’ monsters’ ball or whatever was actually at 6 am or something.)

My favorite humors moments were Iris and Liz disposing of the bodies (“You think I went too far?” / “Not at all.”) and the vampires examining Iris like they weren’t sure what was different.

Also, even though we didn’t get much of her, I was glad to see even just a scene of Ramona Royale.

I’ve been writing this off and on over a long period when I should have been showering and sleeping, so! Good enough. Off to bed.

[bungajurang]

A Stratum of Nightmare

This episode of Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre left me feeling nauseous and uncomfortable. I hope it won’t turn into a traumatic memory. I will never see sedimentary layers the same way again.

These pictures below are screenshot from the episode. Beware of spoilers, I literally retell the whole story here. Warning: body horror.

Title of the episode: Layers of Fear

The episode started with a group of researcher, which I believe are a group of archaeologists, found a unique sediment layer. One of them pointed out how the strata looked much like a human face.  

Different human tradition treat those who deceased differently. Some of the funeral rites that’s ever recorded in human history are ground burial, cremation, and aquamation. The body of the deceased may be put inside a coffin, a casket, or wrapped in a plain cloth. However, there were (maybe there’s still) tradition where the deceased are covered with layers of clay or being mummified to preserve their body.   

Naturally, a sediment layer formed by a weathering process which loosened minerals such as pieces of rock and biological matter like trunks, leaves and corpses. In this case, the group of archaeologist found a sedimentary layer which has a trace of the burial process using clay. The body that was buried there affected the formation of sediment layer.

For a second I forgot that I was watching a horror animation series. I got carried away by the opening which remind me of my field practicum in my sophomore year in college. My group of class went to a natural laboratory in Magelang where we learnt about soil and sedimentary process. For that matter, we were taught about how to dig a site of observation. We dug a rectangular shape which pretty much looks like a tomb, but larger and deeper, and we got inside to analyse each stratum we found. 

It was revealed later in the episode that one of the archaeologists took home the skull they found. He didn’t know the skull was cursed. A fecking classic; a scientist found something interesting in the field, take it home and get cursed. The curse was passed on to his family. But only his daughters got the bane, it made their bodies become layered. The first daughter has a layered teeth. But he and his wife never realised that their second daughter is also cursed. 

Long story short, the daughters and the mum got into a car accident. It was this scene that scared me: the accident tear the second daughter’s face, but she’s fine because there were layers inside her body. To put it clearly, her body is made of layers of skin. It is as if she has no organs inside her, yet she still bleeds. The layers indicate her age, just like how it works on a tree. She’s 20 years old, so there were 20 layers. 

The horror doesn’t stop here. 

The mum started hearing her daughter’s voice when she was 2 years old. The 2 years old version sounded in pain and wants her mum to free her as she was located in the deepest layer. The mum peeled her daughter’s body layer, one by one. After she reached the last layer, the 2 years old that keep calling her was just the head, the remaining parts are the present body version of her daughter. The mum got frustrated and started to tear her own face, thinking that she might get cursed too. Well, unfortunately, she was normal. Poor the first daughter, as she has to take care of her sister (or what is left of her sister) and the mum with her face wrapped in wound dressing. 

Regardless of the body horror and painful scene, I have to admit that this episode left me in awe. Junji Ito is a crazy genius. This episode is his most gory animation in this series, closely followed by the Tomie episode (honestly I can’t decide which one is the goriest. Both are fecking terrific). The scene where the mum peeling away her daughter's face, and the painful screams of her daughter together with the excited yells of her 2 year old version, is a terrific macabre scene and definitely will not leave my mind for a while.

[tsrookie]

Always In My Heart

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Alyssa Brooks)

A/N: On today’s episode of ‘I have no idea wtf I’m doing’, we have something that I cooked up because I had terrible WiFi and no other app but Google docs would open up.

Trope: Fluff, but a tiny bit of angst?

Rating: General

Word Count: 2.3K

Warning(s): Mentions of character death

Summary: Their son has a very important question to ask.

——————————

The delicious aroma of chicken and rice wafted through the Brooks-Ramsey household. The couple worked side by side in the kitchen as they had all those years ago, the only difference being that it was now a dinner for five and not just two.

Allison Dolores Brooks-Ramsey came into their lives nine years ago, and while it was earlier than they would have wanted, they didn’t regret a second of their lives ever since they first heard her voice.

The twins on the other hand, were planned, but nothing had prepared them for the chaos that Nathan and Natalie would bring. A new broken object every week, a dozen fights for the TV every day, and yet were nothing short of tiny tornadoes when they joined forces.

It couldn’t be more perfect.

“What time did Jackie and Emilia say that they would bring the girls back?”

“6:30, I think.”

“Ah. So we have time till 7:00.” They shared a knowing smile. Two aunts taking their nine and six year old nieces to the mall meant a complete raid of the toy store, and a new guitar.

“You need to stop letting everyone spoil the girls just because you have a soft spot for them, Ethan. Ally’s grown old enough to understand that she has her daddy wrapped around her finger, and we don’t need Nat coming to that realisation as well.”

“I don’t- I can’t believe you would accuse me of not loving all my children equally!”, he exclaimed in mock offense.

“Mhmm. So why did I have to come up with an explanation to tell Nathan why his dad wasn’t on board with ordering dessert when he asked for it, but relented once his sisters kept bugging him for another five minutes?”

He opened his mouth in protest, but decided against saying anything for his own good. “Well what can I say? They’ve inherited their mother’s persuasiveness. And I can’t really say no to you, can I?”

Alyssa’s lips curved upwards at that. The playful look in her husband’s eyes caused her to finally break into a grin. “At least you’re self-aware.” Stuffing the rice into the bird she added, “But I can’t exactly tell our son that his dad is too in-love with his mom that he sees her in his daughters and hence can’t say no to them. He’d gag in disgust.”

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head in the crook of her neck. “That he would. Alright I’ll try a little harder to resist their charms. Wouldn’t want my only son to end up hating me.” He said it without a hint of worry over it becoming true someday. Over the years, he’d learned to put aside his fears of not being a good father, and with the help of some therapy, and Alyssa’s unwavering love and support, he’d locked up his insecurities in a box and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean.

They took the stuffed chicken and put it in the oven, washed their hands and plopped down on the couch for some rare downtime.

“Crap.”

“Everything okay?”

“Fred’s mom got called in, so she’s dropping Nate off on her way to work.”

Ethan sighed. “There goes the hour I planned to spend with my wife, who I barely get to spend enough time with these days.”

“I swear, you were never this busy when you were chief. I have no idea why my workload’s ten times bigger.”

“I do.” Ethan smiled with pride. “One usually does have a lot of work when they’re at the front lines of the battle for making free healthcare accessible for every single person in the country. My brilliant wife, though she could choose to leave most of the work to her very competent team, opts to take it all upon herself. So that’s probably the cause behind all the extra workload she complains about.”

She smirked and perched herself onto his lap. “Well your very brilliant wife also knows that you called my team very competent just to avoid hurting my feelings, and that you and I both know that they’ll be running around like headless chickens without me taking care of things.”

“I know, love. But you can still make them do a little more instead of working yourself to the bone while still making sure that you have at least one meal with the kids every day.”

She sighed. “Yeah, to make sure that they don’t forget what I look like.” She leaned in closer. “Besides, are we really going to spend our last few minutes of peace talking about work?”

Just as she uttered the words, the door burst open, and Nathan kicked off his shoes and jumped onto the couch as Alyssa slid down from Ethan’s lap. She shot him a look that very clearly meant What did I just say?

Ethan gave her an apologetic look and ruffled his son’s hair. “Hey buddy. How was your day at Fred’s? I know you wanted to spend more time with him.”

“I did, and we were just about to open his new LEGO set when Mrs. Watson told us that she had to run up to her office for some emergency meeting.”, he pouted. “But it was a nice day. We watched Thor: Ragnarok and Luca, and we would’ve watched another movie if his dad didn’t tell us that two movies were enough for a day.”

Alyssa shot him a mildly stern look. “Well he was right. You’re too young to have movie marathons just yet. Two are more than enough, unless you want to have a headache.”

“But mom, I’m not too young! I’m a big boy! I can swing along the monkey bars at the park faster than Natalie, and soon I’ll swing across buildings just like Spider-Man!”

“Well Spider-Man got bitten by a yucky spider before he swung across buildings. Do you want to be bitten by a gross and poisonous spider?”

“Mommy, not all spiders are gross and poisonous. Dad told me that when I was four and got scared of them at the zoo.”

She rolled her eyes. Leave it to her husband to convince her kids that insects were anything short of creepy and disgusting. In reality, they were, but as someone who ran a mile away at the sight of a butterfly, she wasn’t going to accept that.

“That’s right, Nate. Some of them are certainly very poisonous and dangerous, but that doesn’t mean that you should be scared of them. If you maintain your distance and admire them from afar, there should be no problem at all.”, he said with a pointed look at Alyssa, who just huffed in annoyance.

Nathan giggled, his brown eyes lighting up with amusement. He loved watching his parents playfully bicker. It was way better than seeing them- ugh, kiss.

“We were pretending to be superheroes and Fred used his full name for his pretend name cause it sounded cool, and it is. Fredrick Anthony Watson sounds like something from that show you and mom watch with the guys in the stuffy suits.”

“When did you see us watching the show with the guys in the stuffy suits?”, asked Ethan with a slight hint of concern. Whatever he and Alyssa watched on their free nights was definitely not kid-friendly.

“I don’t remember. Maybe a few months ago.”

Their year old puppy, Ivy, woke up from her nap and bounced into the living room to jump onto her favourite person. Nathan squealed with joy as the fluffy hair of the dog tickled his nose.

Ethan and Alyssa smiled at each other. Getting another dog after Jenner was a decision that took a lot of convincing, but their kids were responsible enough and it was impossible to say no after two years of constant pestering.

“Fred told me that he was named after his great-grandfather William, and that he was this really cool guy who saved a bunch of guys from getting mugged in a dark, dark alley.” He turned to look at his parents as Ivy snuggled into his lap. “Who was I named after mom?”

The question caught her off guard, and she glanced at Ethan for backup.

When they knew that they were having a boy, they immediately knew what to name him. They hadn't, however, anticipated Nathan Daniel Brooks-Ramsey to ask such a question this soon.

Seeing his wife at a loss for words, Ethan spoke up. “C’mere Nate.” He pulled him closer and pressed a kiss atop his head. “We once had a friend named Daniel. He worked at the hospital as a nurse, and he was close to your mom and Aunt Sienna when they were interns.”

Having found her voice, Alyssa joined in. “He was an amazing friend. He was the only nurse in the hospital who helped me out when things got messy, and cheered up Aunt Sienna when no one else could. He’d join us for picnics and movie nights, and you could always count on him if you needed something at the hospital.” She took a deep breath, and Ethan nodded. “Things were going well, but then in my second year, something really bad happened.”

“Oh no.”

“There was this bad guy, who wanted his revenge on another bad guy, and he was ready to risk his own life, and the lives of everyone around him to do so.”

“That’s horrible! Who would want to do something like that?”

Ethan smiled wistfully. “A lot of people in this world actually do. You’re a good person, so you know that it’s wrong. But some people aren’t, and they don’t care about other people getting hurt because of their actions. That night at the hospital, Danny tried to tell the bad guy that it was wrong, and to think things through. But he didn’t listen, and did something that hurt both himself, Danny, Uncle Raf, another friend of ours, and your mom.”

His little eyebrows creased with worry, Nathan asked, “What happened then?”

“He… he died. Along with our other friend, Bobby. Do you remember what we once told you about an autopsy?” Nathan nodded his head. “Well Danny asked for his body to be autopsied, and thanks to him, we were able to find out what was wrong with mom and Uncle Raf.”

He fell silent for a moment, remembering the horrors of the day, and how eternally grateful he was to Danny for being the reason he didn’t lose everything. He couldn’t imagine a life without the love of his life and his children, and he wouldn’t have either if not for the sacrifices that were made.

He looked up at Alyssa, and she squeezed his hand in support. “We’ll tell you more when you’re older, but to make it short, you’re named after a hero too. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have you, your sisters, or mom here with me.”

Nathan wriggled out of his dad’s arms, and set Ivy down so he could hug his mom as tightly as he could.

“Well… if you can hear me Mr. Daniel, I just wanna thank you. Thanks for saving my mom. I love her so much and I’m so thankful that I got to meet her because of what you did. I wish I could’ve met you, you sound like a really cool person, and I’m sure you were. So yeah, thanks. A lot.”

Alyssa’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears, and she held her son as she expressed her silent thanks along with Ethan.

What they had was precious.

Fifteen years had passed since they first met, and yet each day they fell in love a little more like they did when they held hands for the first time in the dim light of the NICU watching over little Ethan, or when she finally got to see the real him the first time she visited his place; the first time in years he let someone know a little of the worries residing deep in his heart.

With all the odds against them, it was a miracle that they survived, even more so that they managed to raise three perfect children who had more love to share than they could ever comprehend.

And they’d never forget all the reasons that made it possible for them to survive.

Ding!

The timer on the oven went off, and they got to their feet to get the chicken.

“Was he a good cook dad?”

“I… don’t really know, Nate. Your mom knew him better than I did.”

“Well there was this one time where he helped Aunt Sienna bake an amazing cake, so I guess he knew his way around the kitchen.”, Alyssa recollected fondly. It was for Jackie’s birthday, one of the few nights where the competition was completely forgotten about.

Nathan’s face melted into a glowing smile. “I love cake. So I guess I really would’ve loved him.”

She mirrored his radiant expression. “You definitely would’ve.”

“Why don’t you go play with Ivy while mom and I get the food ready? You can help us with the dessert later.”

“We’re having dessert?!”

Ethan grinned at his son’s excitement. “You bet we are.”

“Yay!” They watched as Nathan ran off to go play fetch with Ivy in their enormous backyard.

Ethan pulled Alyssa in for a sweet, lingering kiss as soon as he was out of sight.

“You’ve been wanting to do that for a while now hmm?”

“Something like that.”, he murmured as they broke apart.

She could see the ever-increasing strands of silver in his brown hair, and the faint wrinkles along the sides of his forehead, but his clear blue eyes were just as loving and devoted as she remembered from over a decade ago.

“We have a pretty good life, don’t we?”

Ethan kissed her again. “No, we have the perfect life.”

——————————

A/N 2: Aaaand I’m going MIA again. Honestly though, to everyone who’s read so far, thank you so much for sticking around. Means the world💙

P.S: I finally chose Chyler Leigh as my face claim!

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