#but he’s genuinely scary to me in that scene with billy and billy being that scared of him makes total sense

[ickypuppi3]

anyway the scariest character in stranger things, to me, is neil hargrove

because not only is he such an accurate depiction of an abusive parent who gets away with their actions by making their child look like the bad guy

not only is he the definition of a wolf in sheeps clothing who has the ability to fit neatly into society while causing unimaginable pain behind closed doors

not only does he have the ability to control the people around him like puppets, pitting them against each other and essentially being able to create his own narrative through this

but he also gets away with it all

he gets away with it in the show, he gets to leave as soon as his number one victim dies, he gets to sound sympathetic when they give a reason for him leaving

but he also gets away with it in how people talk about billy, he gets away with it every time someone minimises the harm neil did and pushes the entirety of the blame onto his son, every time someone pushes the ‘billy is a bad victim’ or ‘billy deserved it’ lines, he gets away with it every time someone compares billy to lonnie, brenner and vecna and neil’s own name gets left out

there were absolutely no consequences for neil’s actions in the show and there never will be

and isn’t that all very realistic

[slasher-fxcker]

Hihi! I was wondering if you can do billy and stu and just the slashers reacting to their someone being hurt at their job and trying to hide it?

A/N: Okay I was going to do this request for multiple slashers, BUUUUUUT I started writing for Billy and Stu and got carried away. I love them too much

Billy & Stu Reacting to their S/O being injured at work.

Warnings: Swearing, mention of blood, brief mention of killing (but I mean this is the slasher fandom so kinda expected lol)

This blog is 18+, Minors do not interact

GIF by casualwriters

You hadn’t been working at the video store for too long but you loved it, your friend Randy had gotten you the job when they were desperate for staff. It was great for the boys too; Billy and Stu would stop by all the time using the place as their personal hang out much to your managers displeasure.

Every Saturday night the boys would swing by and pick some scary movies to watch together after you finished, unfortunately for them you were going to be stuck doing inventory tonight. As usual Billy wasn’t impressed about having to share your time with anyone other than Stu, “Just blow it off what are they going to do fire you?” you rolled your eyes as you continued getting ready. “Yes Billy, probably.”

Stu got up from his spot in front of the tv to try to pull you back to the couch, “Come on babe, do you really think you should be out at night? Don’t you know there’s a killer on the loose?” You try to supress your chuckle as he raises his eyebrows at you, his usual smirk on his face.

You fake innocence putting on your best fear filled voice, “Oh no, what will I do if Mr. Ghostface comes to get me.” Billy laughs one of his rare genuine laughs before Stu steps closer to you placing his hands on your waist, “I could think of a few things.” Smirking as he notices the way you flush at the suggestion. You lightly smack his chest as he laughs at himself once again before you press a chaste kiss to his lips. You grab your bag, blowing a quick kiss to Billy before heading to the door. “I’ll try to get back in time for movie night, but don’t wait up.”

Inventory was fairly boring, you tried to get it done as quickly as possible while Randy spent most of the night showing you his favourite scenes from various movies. Shoving another handful of popcorn into his mouth he continued his rant, “Come on how can you have lived your whole life without watching this movie? Quick you're gonna miss the best part!”

“Randy unlike you I’m actually trying to get this finished before midnight, now are you going to help me or not?” He sighs before finally getting off his ass and heading towards the storage room, 15 minutes go by and he still isn’t back to help. “I swear to god Randy if you're napping on the kart again I’m going to kill you.” You mutter to yourself as you head to the storage room.

You see Randy sitting on the kart going through a box of movies, you try to get a closer look before he sees you. You noticed the box of X rated movies he was looking at. “Randy you perv!” You didn’t realise you had snuck up on him before he jumped up knocking you into the shelves behind you both. Before you could move a box came off the shelf and fell onto you. Your head immediately pounded “Oh shit, Y/N!” Randy hurries to help you up, moving the various tapes that are scattered around to get you back out into the store, sitting up on the counter Randy starts looking over your head. “Oh shit, you're bleeding. Billy’s going to kill me.” You feel him practically prod at your forehead as you hiss in pain and slap his hand away. He helps you clean up the blood and tells you to go home, “Ill finish up here, it’s the least I can do.” You can see how sincere he is when he apologises. Your only worry is how you're going to explain this to the boys.

You decide to head straight home, hopefully the boys will think you just had to stay too late and will leave you be until tomorrow. That way you would at least have time to clean yourself up and come up with a story.

Looking in the mirror the damage is worse than you thought, the red tint on your forehead of smudged blood, the dried blood in your hairline and the bruising that was already beginning to show around the cut that could definitely not be concealed. You sighed as you wet a cloth in the bathroom sink raising it to your head gently, the pain immediately making you wince at the contact.

You raised your hand to try again when you heard something in your room, you looked out the doorway and saw what you could only assume was the boys sneaking in your window. You panicked and slammed the bathroom door closed locking it behind you. You hear the taller of the two call out to you as he knocks on the bathroom door. When you don’t answer he tries to open the door, “Whys the door locked babe?”

“Sorry Stu, I’m not feeling too well.” You try to sound convincing. This time its Billy that answers, “Come out here and tell us what’s wrong.” “Yeah we will look after you.” Stu giggles as you can clearly hear Billy push him away from the door. You feel bad hiding from them, “No its okay, you should probably go home in case I’m uh infectious or something. Yeah.” Your voice wavers and you know you aren’t convincing anyone.

Stu is quiet for once but you hear the edge in Billy’s voice as he speaks, “Y/N don’t lie to us, get out here.” You know they won’t leave, part of you wonders if it would be dramatic to climb out the window at this point. “Don’t make me break the door down.” You would’ve rolled your eyes but you knew he probably wasn’t kidding.

You slowly unlocked the door before slipping out of the bathroom, still not looking at either of them. You try to hide your face but of course they can see it, Stu is at your side immediately trying to make sure you're okay. He gently inspects the cut careful not to touch it. You try to ignore Billy’s stare but you can feel his eyes on you, looking at him for a second regret fills you when you meet his eyes. Billy might be a murderer but everything he does is so calm and thought out, never out of rage. You wouldn’t know that looking at him now, fists clenched at his side as his eyes narrow at you, gaze shifting between your eyes and the cut on your head.

Stu takes you to sit down on the bed, unsure of how to help you. He might be the most caring person when it comes to you but he’s also kinda hopeless. Billy’s gaze doesn’t leave you as you move around the room. Eventually after what felt like endless silence he walks towards you taking your chin in his hand and turning your face to look at the cut better. “Who did this to you?” Any other time Billy’s over protective tendencies would make you feel secure but seeing him like this, eyes dark and glazed over in anger didn’t bring you any comfort.

“No one did this to me.” He cut you off as his grip tightened slightly, “Don’t fucking lie to me. Who did this to you.” You don’t know what to say, you pull your chin out of his grip and sigh, “I was working with Randy and…” Stu seems to pull you closer protectively as Billy raises his voice again. “Randy did this to you?” Billy hated Randy already for so many reasons but this time Stu is the one to speak up, “That little fucker is going to pay,” he stood up and tried to walk away before you grabbed him, “No! I mean please just stay here with me,” you plead him as you pull him into a hug again, you know just how to stop this big softy from making a stupid decision like trying to kill Randy.

“He’s right. You think he gets to hurt you and get away with this.” Calming Billy down was going to be a harder task, “He didn’t hurt me Billy, we were taking inventory and it was an accident.” He scoffed, “He accidentally sliced your head open.” You walk towards Billy and take his face in your hands making him look at you once again, “It was an accident,” he tries to turn his head away but you bring him back to look at you, “And I’m fine now. I promise.”

You watch him as his eyes flicker from your eyes down to your lips, bringing himself closer to you. You reach up to place a kiss on his lips, slightly surprised when he begins to deepen it. His hands wrap around your waist as he starts walking you backwards towards the bed. You know where this is going and as the back of your knees hit the bed frame you break apart smiling up at him as you think you’ve won this one. He gently pushed you back onto Stu’s lap, the kind look gone from his face as he turns to Stu, “Keep her here til I get back.” Stu only seems to nod and Billy starts walking back towards the window, you suddenly realise what’s happening and frantically try to get out of Stu’s embrace.

“Billy no!” you practically yell at him, stopping him half way out the window, “Please Billy, don’t kill him.” He doesn’t respond as he sends you a bone chilling smirk and disappears out of your room.

[cinephile-inc]

Session 9 Review (07/04/23-07/05/23)

⚠️This review will contain spoilers!⚠️

I'll start off by saying that Session 9 (2001) is indeed an underrated horror flick, and genuinely scary, too! The tension just goes up and up from the beginning without much relief from it once weird shit starts happening.

It is very obviously influenced by The Shining (1980), with particular references being the wife of the main character being named Wendy and a title card for each day that passes. (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc) There's even a sort of pseudo Kubrick Stare scene thrown in there. However, despite these glaringly obvious references, I think Session 9 still does a good job of standing on it's own two feet...

Except for the fact that I dislike the ending/twist. I think they were going for something supernatural, but it's not obvious enough for me to make a conclusive decision. Assuming they were going for a possession story, at least one of my initial thoughts was confirmed.

Synopsis:

Session 9 concerns an asbestos removal team being tasked with cleaning up an abandoned mental institution that was shut down in the 1980s. The leader of the crew and the main character, Gordon, promises that his team can get the place cleaned up in a week, which grants them all bonus pay if they get it done in time. It is clear from the beginning that Gordon has overbid himself with this task, as he is a new father struggling to adjust to a baby in the house. Tensions only rise when one of the crew members goes missing, presumed to have won the lottery and run off for Miami.

Meanwhile, another crew member has been digging through some of the old records; particularly, the files and recorded interviews with patient #444, a woman known as Mary Hobbes. Mary Hobbes was a patient with DID, with the host being Mary and her two alters being Princess, who appears to be a young girl, and Billy, who appears to be a young boy, though slightly older and more mature than Princess. There is also Simon, who we'll get into later.

Sometime later, Gordon confesses to one of his coworkers that he unintentionally hit his wife. When he had come home one night and went to greet her in the kitchen, she accidentally knocked over a pot of scalding water that had been on the stove and consequently burned his leg. Gordon is genuinely remorseful and doesn't know why he did it, as it was clearly an accident on Wendy's part, but he doesn't want the rest of the team members to know because it will hurt their salary. Unfortunately, his trust in this coworker almost immediately falls through as he quickly tells one of the other workers of this incident.

More is revealed about Mary throughout: something happened in her childhood that she has deeply repressed, though it resulted in deep and obvious cuts on her chest. While Mary does not remember the incident nor does she want to talk about it, Princess does remember... most of it. What she does not remember is Simon, and what Simon did. Billy remembers Simon, and Billy very much does not want to talk about Simon in an effort to protect Mary and Princess. It is clear Billy is very afraid of Simon.

Later, the seemingly disappeared coworker reappears and is seen by Gordon's nephew, Jeff, who is also part of his crew, who immediately alerts the others as the coworker is acting strangely. When the others follow Jeff to check up on the seemingly impossible reappearance of their coworker, he is nowhere to be found. This prompts the group to split up in an effort to find him. Gordon however is following something different, a deep, dark voice that he's been hearing since he first entered the building.

The final reveal in Mary's storyline is that Simon "offered to help her" after her older brother, Peter, scared her, causing her to fall down on a brand new china doll she had gotten for Christmas. The doll shattered under her weight, causing the scars in her chest. Simon urged Mary to "cut up" Peter like he cut up her, and this is where my theory that Simon is not actually an alter but a demon comes into play. With this reading, Simon possesses Mary and kills not only her brother, but her mother and father as well so "they won't get angry" that "she" killed Peter. Simon is the voice Gordon has been hearing throughout his days at the abandoned institution. Simon is cruel and condescending, and it hates people who are "naughty," like Peter, who hurt Mary despite Mary being so good and nice.

The final twist/reveal in Gordon's story is that Simon had possessed him as well and had attacked all the rest of his coworkers, even taking on the form of one of them to trick him into realizing what he had done. It is also implied that Gordon killed Wendy as well, but he could not bring himself to kill his baby daughter. The ending leaves Gordon, alone, in one of the rooms of the abandoned institution, speaking his remorse into a broken phone. He begs Wendy for forgiveness and laments that he wants to go home, and that he wants to hold his wife and daughter again. The movie ends with another snippet from the interview with Mary/Simon. Doctor: And where do you live, Simon? SImon: I live in the weak and the wounded, doc. (Context: Billy tells the doctor "Princess lives in the tongue, because she's always talking, sir," and that he "lives in the eyes, because I see everything, sir.")

To be truthful, I think the ending was good, it's just not how I would've ended it. Jeff and Gordon were my favourite characters throughout the film so it was annoying that Gordon was revealed as the killer when the red herring we got would've been so much better to be actually confirmed, and sad that Jeff was amongst the murdered.

With most of the evidence pointing toward Simon being a demon or other supernatural entity, I suppose one could say Session 9 at least tried to subvert the "villain with DID" trope (especially because Mary really didn't have anything to do with what was happening to Gordon and his coworkers, it was all Simon), which I think is pretty off the beaten path for a movie from 2001. However, I don't have DID and I can still be educated, so I don't think I really get a say in how it was handled in this movie. ^_^"

I probably won't watch it again, at least for awhile because again you basically get no breaks from the tension until it ends, but it was pretty good and I think if you like The Shining and abandoned places you should definitely check it out! It's not streaming anywhere but if you want the link to where I watched it, hit up my DMs. :0)

7.5/10 📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️⬛⬛⬛

[p-receh]

Ramadhan's over with my rants of Moon Knight!

...yeah i could make the title a bit more sense but I just want to release my thoughts so I could move on to something in peace.

.

Okay, where do I start? Oh yeah, I genuinely don't know a damn thing about this series. I watched a little clip last year when it was aired on my television—that bathroom scene—and instantly pinned to my brain for 'need to watch' list. But shamefully, either I forgot or didn't have much time to do so.

I dunno I am a bit tired to watch mcu related shows after endgame. No, scratch that, spiderman: FFH(because TASM casts were back). I usually watched TV shows in jumbled episodes and then I moved on. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, but most of them didn't get my interest (I'm a fan of Hawkeye but didn't managed to finished it) and the last two years was a bit hectic for my college.

Gladly, this year I have more free time during Eid's Holiday so I finally take my time to watch and ... oh boy i didn't regret a single of it.

It almost felt like a nostalgic trip to the first Iron-man. Fresh from any cameos within mcu in which I surprisingly late to notice this after the show. Saving the budget for their own show is more important than forcing to add any related mcu cameos into the series. It is brave and clever decision imo.

Also I love this kind of show, showcasing multiple alter-egos of the person is one my fav theme. One of my fav shows were 'Split' and 'Do No Harm'. There's also the Iconic story of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. I also watched the documentary with one of them is 'The Monster Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan' from netflix.

The way media portraying DID in my view usually divided into 2 ver:

- Either Battling each alters in which who owns the body till the end.

- Or chattering each other like people with schizophrenia.

In which I don't know if it's well portrayed enough but most analysis video from phycologist expert youtubers usually hate the way media showed it...until moon knight, like for example this and that.

I myself once suffered as an autism with schizophrenia that almost having the same experience like Steven did the whole time. It was so bad that my mother actually invited me to the phycologist and did ruqyah method(a soul cleansing method by muslim community). So I kinda have a basic knowledge with that disorder.

ehem.

Huge kudos to Oscar Isaac playing his characters so flawlessly. And again I regret knowing him later after I watched the credits on the last episode because of my stereotype of him with his beard lmaoo XD

Goddamn his acting is superb! The way he differentiates his eye movements and body languages between Marc, Steven, even with Khonsu for a little time was really fascinating to watch. Look him in the eye at the moment and he could show you which alter he's doing without speak.

Like for real, I genuinely don't know about his alters let alone the third one at the mid-scene credits. My first initial thoughts was: "Huh... a new actor I guess...?"

....

*check goggle

*check tumblr

...

"HOLY SHIT THAT'S OSCAR TOO???!!!" O.o

Ugh I couldn't remember how many times I rewind in each scene, frame by frame. Always interesting to analyze what makes them distinguished between each other and learn something new every day. :D

Interestingly, May Calamawy should get the same praise tho. Their chemistry as a power couple developed beautifully well throughout the series. Being able to represent well that there will be a person who actually understand and help unstable person in need is fairly rare these days. Therefor, when she actually got her power, it's felt so rewarded. Also can we talk how good she acted that specific scene in ep 6?? :3

Ethan Hawke performance as a cult leader is also perfect. If Oscar's strongest suit was his face language, Hawke's strongest suit will be his speaking technique. You can almost indulged by his voice into his cult and It's scary lol.

somehow reminds me of Ralph Fiennes' perfomance of 'The Menu'

The visual effects...hm...might be not the best tbf. And I think this is one the series who has less vfx's scene. I can see they trying to maximizing their budget and focusing on what they need to add, and I think it's fair. I always love Oscar's summoned the suit moment(oh the details with the eyes...) and the gods really nice to look at.

Oh I forgot, kudos to Mohammed Diab showcasing a proper panoramic scenes of Egypt. Yes, finally! Less miserable yellow sand place but more of a beautiful dessert country for once. In fact it mostly built city within Cairo for the movie purpose speak a whole story. The crew knew exactly with their job and I loved every single of it(a bit sad they didn't get the permission to shoot in that country but I understand why).

Of course, not all of episodes are perfect, ep 3 and 6 are arguably the least one(whichever you might prefer the most). For me I choose the third one. Even though ep 6 is the shortest, that episode served it goal from the start. Where as ep 3, ...I dunno I kinda has love and hate relationship with it(?). It has my personal fav credits music, one of Marc & Steven's memorable moments. But...somehow the overall story and pacing are... not good. This is more like a filler episode...

I guess they wanted to use Gaspard Ulliel for future, but an unexpected sudden shift impacted the whole thing. I cannot blame them anyway so I'm genuinely fine with those minuses(RIP to the man btw. I love his acting in that episode)

But that's just me. I'm no expert, just a girl with opinions :/

The fight scenes were good though. Not much but when they did, they did right.

In back of my mind they will add those for the 2nd season. Clearly and brutally(like c'mon, the amount of blood from ep 1 yet slowly decreased until ep 6...surely they must be doing it on purpose, don't they?)

But nonetheless I can wait. As long as they confirmed with the tag 'season finale' and phase 5 road map.

Yeah I can wait :D

.

.

PS : I just don't get people thought Marc letting Harrow free is lazy writing or another usual hero antics 'that's the hero thing to do with mcu villain'.

Like I get it, at first I was surprised at that moment. But the second after he said, "Do it yourself" it just make sense. First and foremost, Marc's goal from the start of the series is to be free. Period.

He just didn't want to do that under Khonsu. Being just another slaver. Not only because Layla's reassurance imo.

Well I got satisfied in the end. Marc's vengeance was already been done by Jake and he's the perfect person to do that.

So it's still a win-win.

[adultswim2021]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #4: “Salame” (aka “Sitcom”) | March 4, 2007 - 11:45PM | S01E04

This one starts off with a true classic, Steve Mahanahan’s Child Clown Outlet, though this bit gets them in trouble these days by conspiracy theorists who believe that it’s a sly reference to real-life secret activities by Hollywood sickos. I don’t think that was the intent. This is later given a little sequel with Mike Mahanahan’s Child Clown Shoe’s Outlet. Tim gets a dumb haircut just for this bit, and that behind-the-scenes footage winds up being the “great job” card, but changed to “Salame” instead.

The hosting bit is pretty bare bones. It’s a simple, undersold premise that Eric has created the entire show himself on VHS. This also includes a brief outtake-seeming bit of footage where somebody seems to be angrily laying down the law to Tim and Eric. “I’ve said my piece, I’ll leave these on your desk” says the disembodied voice. Tim and Eric start harmonizing their response of “fair enough”. Hilarious. This segues into David Liebe Hart’s first segment on the show (previously seen in promos for the series premiere), where he sings about an alien race and their customs with a strange orange cat puppet on his knee. He’s not very good at ventriloquism, in fact he’s not even making an effort at ventriloquism. David Liebe Hart is a Los Angeles area public access television personality. His show The Junior Christian Teaching Bible Lesson Program has been on since, I don’t know when, but at least the 90s. I believe he usually acts as a puppeteer and not a ventriloquist on that show. Could it be that Tim and Eric cruelly promised to simply not film his face while doing the puppet’s voices? Who can say. 

David is an interesting character. He has been kicking around Hollywood since the 70s at least, and you can see him in the background of select episodes of sitcoms and the like (A Good Times background role can be seen here). He sincerely believes he’s been abducted by aliens, and is a devout Christian Scientist. He also likes to tour with a live “comedy” show. A friend of mine opened for him once, and he told me DLH vomited loudly in some outdoor seating area of the venue and then used the first part of his act to rage against the kitchen for poisoning him, claiming the food made him “spit up”. He also likes to claim that Tim & Eric are satanic pedophiles. I once heard an audio recording of one of these shows and it was genuinely troubling. I could barely follow what DLH was even saying.

This same friend called Tim during his internet show Office Hours, and reported this information of DLH making wild claims about him and Eric. Tim already knew about it, and was just sorta like “eh what can you do?” This was before the more recent attempt by right-wingers to do exactly the same thing. Oh yeah, before I forget: DLH is on the commentary track for this episode on DVD, and it’s good. 

This episode also has “Here She Comes”, where Weird Al (as Simon) escorts several dolled-up but nervous-looking elderly women to Tim & Eric. Tim & Eric are playing two straight-laced/evangelical-looking church men with long microphones and menacing auras. They whisper-speak the phrase “here she comes” as each woman is presented to them. Eventually Bob Odenkirk pops up from behind a podium to sing the “Here She Comes” song. They pick one and sing to her and make sort-of kissing smacks next to her head. It’s a very scary sketch. And… I like it.

“Making It” In Hollywood features an introduction from Billy Crystals, Awesome Show’s first foray into weaving gold from bad celebrity impersonators. The meat of the sketch is clips from a VHS series that teaches you how to make it in Hollywood, taught by Tim & Eric. Eric makes kissy faces at a beautiful woman in the class. Turns out she was TOO beautiful, because Tim Heidecker wound up MARRYING HER!! THIS IS WHERE THEY MET! ISN’T TRUE LOVE GRAND?? As for the sketch, this is pretty mid, and the humor is more on the conventional side. It’s still Tim & Eric though, so of course it ends with Tim & Eric bowing over and over while footage of DLH and his gross puppet fade over it, also bowing. 

Uncle Muscles presents Casey and His Brother with “Cops and Robbers”. DLH noted on the commentary that Tim & Eric are the first comedians to make fun of special education people. Tim and Eric give him a little pushback on both points of 1) no they weren’t and 2) Casey and his brother aren’t uh… uuuuhhhhh…. Hmm.

Pretty great, well-rounded episode, all things considered. So far the series has has very few weak spots. Season one MAY be perfect?

MAIL BAG

Hungry for more? Check out Edy's Ice Cream's official page to find your next favorite flavor. Edy's: Happiness By The Scoop.

What da fuq

I think you are making some of these mailbags up because some of your messages are just so crazy. Are you trying to get a show on Adult Swim called, "My Crazy Mailbag". It might just work!

I don’t make anything up, ever. I always tell the truth. The truth is - you stink. Just kidding. You don’t stink, and I like you

2023 is almost here. They say odd number years tend to be more soul-bearing than even ones. Although our calendar year system is a made up construct whose to say what year it truly is? Laugh out loud! Anywhoozle, any words of wisdom for Adult Swim fans about the future of this programming block in the coming year?

I think there needs to be more leftist causes being addressed on the air and less joking around.

What's the last thing you saw on TV that made you jump up for joy?

LOL - Nothing since Stuart MadTV (that is how I have him in my phone)

[macherswifey]

im aware that its kinda stupid to say i like hate billy cuz i mean stus psycho too n i love stu, n i mean yeai would absolutely hate him too if he wasnt played by matthew lillard, but i genuinely cannot stand billy idk what it is but everytime i see him i just feel immense hatred i hate him so much i dont like anything to do w him he ruins scream besides scream 1 literally being for no reason so scary ???????????? i actually cried watching the opening scene the first time i watched scream, there was no reason that shouldve happen i love horror movies but literally the stupidest one ever i cried n had to go sleep right after cuz i was terrified which is embarrassing but also like Huh???? when i watched 15 minutes of terrifier before having to turn it off cuz TOO MUCH GORE i still didnt cry, but i did at SCREAM!!!!! SCREAM????? SCREAM. ghostface isnt even scary but idk js the scene w casey hanging from the treee was so���………😞 ill still watcg the movie obviously but that was shockingly scary to me

[bisexualocs]

i watched american mary it was so awesome. i saw a lot of people complaining about the ending in the reviews but i liked it 😁

spoilers ahead & mentions of sa-> ok TBH i do think it wasn’t perfect the editing was a litttttle choppy and strange at times and the pacing was sort of jarring BUT i don’t think that was a huge issue bc the story kind of worked with the pacing. i saw ppl mad abt the time skip but i’m not mad there was a skip between when mary decided to quit med school + open her practice and when she was successful/experienced in said practice. bc like what is there even to show anyway. the things leading up to her r*pe were already her introduction to the practice and obviously show her slowly leaning into it. and then the r*pe happens and that’s the pinnacle moment where she decides to go all in. there’s no need to show her building up her business bc she’s already had her important character moments. it’s much more interesting and essential to see her at the height of popularity and the consequences of that.

ANYWAY mary was seriously so cool i really loved her and she is such an interesting character. and the themes ugh the themes. was the anti-misogyny message revolutionary? no of course not, there are plenty of movies like that. but it’s not a bad thing to repeat the same theme. sexualization and assault by men are huge problems that affect women everyday, and honestly there should be 1,000,000,000 movies that are solely about women taking revenge on men who assaulted them. like that scene where lance was like don’t devalue your work mary. you make sure they deserve it and don’t look back. ughhhhhh SOOOOOO true. i love that mary wasn’t really portrayed as a villain like. yeah she is ruthless but she’s genuinely just helping ppl make their own bodies how they want ANDDD giving a r*pist what he deserves. she is so real for that and that professor deserved everything he got 🤘

EXCEPT that one scene where she scared that blonde lady in the bathroom. that made no sense to me when i watched it because her motives were so unclear. she did not show any sign of being into billy like he was into her so it’s not like she was mad that the blonde lady was giving him a blowjob. and she had no personal vendetta against the blonde lady and in fact she doesn’t seem the type to scare a woman like that. but after thinking about it more i think the intention was that mary was showing billy that she is capable of being intimating/scary right after he doubted her ability to be. and in turn she is reassuring herself of that same fact and that she is in control (because i think a big reason for mary being attracted to her new job is control. she had no control in her life before; she had no money, no friends, she was in a field completely dominated by men and she had to suck up to them constantly, she was literally r*ped by her own professor who was encouraged by her own residency teacher which of course means she couldn’t even expose them for what they did without risking losing her degree). so the scene does make sense in hindsight but i think it could have been a bit clearer.

ok anyway i neeeeeed to talk about ruby and beatress. they are such interesting characters and their roles are so important. i really love that beatress initially seems strange and frightening, but you realize that she genuinely means well and just wants her and her friend to be happy in their bodies. and ruby is the same way, she gives mary gifts purely out of gratitude and both of them are just really nice sweet people. it’s setting the basis that mary’s clients are not bad scary people, they’re just regular people who want to express themselves in unusual ways. ALSO that part where mary meets ruby for the first time and ruby explains that she wants to look like a doll purely for herself, not to be a sexual object. she wants to literally get rid of the sexual aspects of her body because she doesn’t want men to look at her as something to fuck. she just wants to be herself and feel beautiful. and this is early on in the movie, it’s so great for introducing that theme of men sexualizing and assaulting women just for being nice to them or just having a “nice” body. it’s really interesting that ruby, in creating a beautiful, conventionally attractive body, is also purposefully making it non-sexual, so that it is not for men. and i think mary agrees to do it partly because she sort of understands it, because she spends literally every day around a ton of creepy men who view women as objects.

and this finally leads me to why i do not hate the ending 😌 it’s unfortunately very fitting that beatress, ruby, and mary would all die at the hands of a man who was pissed that he couldn’t have sex. a man who saw his wife as a sexual object and got so upset when she took that away from him that he killed her and the women who helped make her that way. that brief scene where ruby shows him her body, looking so happy with it, and then it just cuts to him with an expression of pure anger and disgust, and right as he begins to move it cuts away to a different scene. that was literally so chilling because you just know that he did something horrible to her. and yes it is very abrupt at the end when he suddenly attacks mary, but i think that’s also fitting. mary was at the height of her career and holding firm in her practice. but then it suddenly all crashes down as a result of her very first operation, as a result of the very first time she helped a woman feel completely confident in her body. i honestly don’t think mary needed to overcome anything or learn any lessons because she has already learned the harsh realities of the world and it made her into what she is. she becomes more ruthless, yes, but she also is finally able to take control of her life and do something where she can make her own terms and help people in her own way. the film definitely critiques the mentality behind many surgeons, who have huge ass egos and don’t actually care about the people they’re saving, they only care about the power they get from holding someone’s life in their hands. mary doesn’t want that kind of power. she only wants power over her own life and her own body, as anyone would, but sadly isn’t a reality for a lot of women. the point is i don’t think the film needed a big third act conflict where some villain messes with mary or when mary fucks something up, bc that would defeat mary’s character growth. the sudden attack and death are actually a good ending imo because, again, they reflect the reality and the overarching theme that was set up in that very first scene with ruby. that’s not to say mary is perfect, because she isn’t, but the more important thing is what she represents.

OKAY i think i’m done it’s 5am. it was a really awesome movie everypony 😁👍

[somethingpoetichere]

lovebug- caliban imagine

sup. fic inspired by my favorite song in THE world. not as soft mushy as it may sound I promise caliban is a nice lil sarcastic SHIT with a big ole crush. mild sabrina bashing but its funny in context and I think it’s the way family behaves. reader is a Spellman, not a witch but DOES know about the supernatural/is part of the supernatural world. here with my once in a blue moon post lol. feedback would be appreciated!

called her for the first time yesterday

finally found the missing part of me

felt so close but you were far away

left me without anything to say

Caliban was not an idiot- he knew not to underestimate the Spellman half-witch that had gone and declared herself queen of hell. So he’d taken the liberty of learning everything he could about her, noting her habits and schedule and the people she surrounded herself with.

And then he found you.

You weren’t a witch- at least, he hadn’t found your name in his diligent searching through the Book of the Beast- but you were something. That he was sure of. There was something slightly off about your presence, tinged a little glittery, though not altogether unpleasant.

No, not unpleasant at all, he mused as he watched you make your way towards your car. Tucked into a little yellow sundress, you stood out like a ray of sunshine in the wave of doom-and-gloom that hallmarked high school. The school bell rang out behind you, and Caliban felt his knees go disgustingly weak as you smiled brilliantly at Sabrina through the crowd.

It was a stupid, stupid decision that Caliban would never have made in the right state of mind, but he reasoned that pissing off Sabrina was validation enough to get your attention. He ducked into your path on purpose, taking advantage of your momentary distraction as he gently bumped into you. oops.

You collided with a solid wall, books tumbling out of your hands as strong arms reached out to steady you. You let out a surprised yelp at the collision, peeking up curiously as the wall you’d hit laughed.

Oh, well that was a sight for sore eyes.

The golden haired stranger holding you was, well, gorgeous. Bright blue eyes peered down at you as he grinned, and you felt the whole world shutter around you. You’d definitely been watching too many soap operas with your auntie, but goddamn it if you weren't positively putty.

“Hi there, stranger.” You giggled nervously, and Caliban suddenly remembered he’d had his arms around you for far too long to be acceptable. He reluctantly retreated, feeling something claw a little uncomfortably in his chest.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He apologized, moving to pick up your books as you bent down to retrieve them. He ran a hand through his hair in barely concealed bashfulness, unsure of why he felt so... unsettled, all of a sudden. 

“It’s alright, my head was in the clouds.” You waved off his apology, accepting the books he offered you with a grateful smile. “Are you new here? I don’t think we’ve met.”

“He’s new here!” Sabrina’s shrill voice interrupted, training her icy glare on Caliban, who fought back a smirk. “This is Caliban- he’s from... Australia! Yeah, down under!”

“Oh, I can show you around tomorrow! I know how scary it can be to be new here.” You patted his arm sympathetically, ignoring Sabrina’s stream of indignant protests. “I was with student council all day. If you’re a senior, we probably have most of the same classes.”

Caliban had shit to do. Caliban had trials to plan and souls to torture. But you were looking at him- all warmth and sunshine, and Sabrina’s look of pure horror only sweetened the deal.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow then, sunshine.”

so worth it.

now i'm speechless, over the edge

i'm just breathless

i never thought that i'd catch this love bug again

hopeless, head over heels in the moment

i never thought that i'd get hit by this love bug again

Caliban didn't understand why the mortals all bemoaned high school as hell on earth. It certainly wasn't so bad once you got past the wave of body spray and the questionable cafeteria food. In fact, darting to class with a pretty girl beside him was pretty enjoyable, all things considered. 

You’d spent the day introducing him to the other students, passing him silly notes in class, and had even tugged him from the lunch room to hang out with your friends in the library. He learned that you pretty much did it all- student council, cheerleader, top of your class- all while managing to somehow know the name of everyone you passed with a smile in the halls. You were silly and sweet— smart as all hell with a wit that certainly kept the clay prince on his toes.

and he was smitten.

The groan that escaped your painted lips was delightfully sinful as you slumped in the seat beside him in english class. “I hate Romeo and Juliet. How do two people fall in love in a few days anyhow? And Mrs. Willows always makes us reenact the scenes, and it’s so corny.” The blush that colored your cheeks as he looked at you in concern was something he did his best to commit to memory- cheesiness be damned, Caliban was enjoying himself far too much.

Caliban smirked, skimming through the booklet he’d been passed as the teacher droned. The prince of hell had a certain flare for the dramatics, and Sabrina’s glare burning into the back of his head only fueled his antics. He had one scene in mind, and it was the scene that was certain to kill four birds with one stone- totally make you fall in love with him, he would somehow manage to kiss you (that part was a work in progress), piss off Sabrina, and also- piss off Sabrina.

And kiss you. So maybe five parts. Damn it, Caliban was going to have to make a list.

“Partners?” He whispered softly, gently tugging at your hand as the teacher sat back down. Caliban’s eyes were alight with a tinge of mischief that you either failed to notice or were simply amused by- and your answering nod was more than a little bashful. “We can do my favorite scene.”

“If you say the first kiss scene, I’m punching the daylights out of you.” You warned, playfully nudging his knee with your own. “It will be unkind and I will not feel bad.”

“My lady wounds me.” He dramatically rested his hand above his heart. “And we absolutely have to do this scene-” He raised his hand to silence your half-hearted protests- “because Billy told the guys in calculus that he was specifically going to be pissed if we did this scene.”

Okay, so maybe he’d stretched the truth a little bit. But Caliban knew that the mention of your seedy ex-boyfriend (who you’d enlightened him about during lunch) would absolutely get you to agree to the scene. And it wasn't like he’d lied— Billy Marlin’s glare was nearly as icy as Sabrina’s. And, it wasn't like the way Billy looked at you- with something akin to possession in his eyes- totally made Caliban want to fast track the kid to damnation right then and there. Nope.

“We can meet up later today to practice? I have cheerleading practice after school, but I’m free after that!” You grinned at him, and he felt the tension ease out of his shoulders as you rested your hand on his arm. The gesture was so effortless- but to Caliban, who’d never really experienced connection like this- you reduced him to all but clay again.

“I can drive you home after practice?” Caliban offered, enjoying the yelp that Sabrina let out from the back of the classroom. He shouldered your bag as the bell sounded, noting the way your eyes softened even further at the gesture. “We don't really have cheerleaders down under, you know.”

“You’re welcome to stay and watch.” You shrugged, ignoring the way your heart thudded erratically as he walked you to the locker room. “It won’t be too long today, and Sabrina has a date with Nick after, anyways.”

it was really just too easy.

i can't get your smile out of my mind

i think about your eyes all the time

you're beautiful but you don't even try

(you don't even, don't even try)

modesty is just so hard to find

Caliban wasn’t sure if he regretted his earlier offer. Sure, the sight of you tucked into the tight cheerleading uniform (did they make them that short on purpose?) was pretty much the pinnacle of male fantasy, and the smiles and winks you’d thrown his way whenever he caught your eye during your routines were something else altogether.

But getting the sight out of his brain as you rambled aimlessly in the car about today’s chapters of Dante’s Inferno, while he simultaneously tried to focus on the road and definitely not the way your skirt hitched on the leather seat...

Yeah, Caliban was pretty sure he was in love.

You weren’t too far off, in all honesty. Caliban’s large hands had a firm grip on the steering wheel, and you took the time to admire further up his toned arms as he drove. His hair fell in loose, windswept waves, and his side profile looked like it was sculpted by the freaking gods. Every so often he would glance your way, his perfect lips parting to reveal his perfect teeth and perfect smile and gods-

Yeah, you had the lovebug bad.

“So how did you meet Sabrina?” You questioned innocently enough, and Caliban had to restrain the urge to spill all of the hell-related gossip to you. How Sabrina had managed to keep all of her throne-seeking from you was beyond him, but it certainly added a thrill to his pursuit of you.

“I had some administrative issues the other day and ran into her. She doesn’t like me too much, I’ve gathered.” Caliban was careful not to lie- his entanglement with you had the added perk of pissing off your dearest cousin, but it was genuine on Caliban’s end. He found he didn’t really want to lie about things.

“Sabrina is... touchy.” You offered carefully, shifting in your seat as you pointed out directions to your home. “I don’t really understand why she doesn't like you, to be honest. I was actually going to have a word with her about being nice- you’ve been so sweet, and I was the new kid too a few years back. It's hard to find your place in the established dynamic of a small town.”

Caliban doubted you’d had too much of an issue, with the way the halls seemed to light up around you, but the accompanying smile you gave him was bright enough to soothe his imagined woes. “It’s alright, I reckon she’ll get used to having me around.”

“Used to you?” You mused with a giggle, leaning on the console in a gesture that brought your face much, much closer to his own. He was overwhelmed with your floral scent- something soft and summery and altogether you.

“I plan on being around you a lot, sunshine. If you don’t mind.” He grinned, turning to face you momentarily at the stop sign. Your eyes were wide with hardly concealed surprise at his words, and he watched the realization of the close proximity of his face flicker through them.

It happened so fast that Caliban was almost certain he imagined it- but your eyes had definitely glanced at his lips. The blush that tinged your cheeks as you pulled back confirmed it, and in a moment of calculated risk, Caliban moved to rest his hand on your exposed thigh. 

“No, I wouldn’t mind at all.” 

If Caliban squinted, he could almost picture that he was a normal teenage boy, driving a beautiful, normal girl home from school. The sinking sun was peeking through the windows, bathing you in an ethereal glow, and - at least for right now- everything was perfect.

you were perfect.

now i'm speechless, over the edge

i'm just breathless

i never thought that i'd catch this love bug again

hopeless, head over heels in the moment

i never thought that i'd get hit by this love bug again

Caliban draped himself across your bed, a languid smirk on his lips as you kicked haphazardly placed piles of clothes into your closet.

“I promise I’m not usually this messy,” you apologized with a sheepish smile, shoving a mass of shoes under your bed, “okay, that's a lie. I’m always this messy, I just didn’t expect company.”

Caliban hardly minded. It was adorable how embarrassed you were, and he took the time to take in your bedroom (drawn from his reverie only by the occasional delighted shout when you found a shirt you’d thought had been sacrificed to the laundry gods, or worse, Sabrina’s room).

The first thing Caliban noticed was the books. While your clothes lay in scattered piles, all of your books were meticulously organized and lovingly tucked into shelves that took up an entire wall of the room. Sabrina may have answered that Caliban’s only hobby was torturing babies (or her, which was the same thing, really— and also, what the hell? Caliban may have enjoyed the occasional soul flaying, but only when it was well deserved!)— but Caliban loved to read.

What was one lifetime in one world, when he could learn of a thousand others in just as many universes? Immortality could grow dull, and eternity had to be spent somehow. Caliban tried not to smile as you precariously placed the book that had found its way onto your nightstand back into its place, and supposed that it might be far more enjoyable with someone else.

You seemed satisfied with your damage control, and slumped onto the bed dramatically with a groan. It was then that Caliban’s hand found a stray victim of your clothing massacre.

“Nice.” He grinned, and you peeked up from your playbook to find him dangling a pink lace bra.

Shit.

“Give me that!” You lunged, but Caliban was too fast. He quickly moved them from your reach, laughing wildly as you wrestled him desperately for the bra. 

“You are the worst.” A groan escaped you, and you huffed in fake-defeat as Caliban smirked victoriously at your retreat. You leaped at the chance, tackling Caliban with all your might. While momentarily surprised, he reacted quickly and shifted so that he was now pinning you to the bed, his hair dangling wildly in your face as you both laughed.

Caliban’s face was so close that you could see the flecks of green in his eyes. For a moment, his eyes seemed to flicker to your lips, but in the seconds it took for you to find your voice again, you’d lost your nerve. 

“We should get back to the scene.”

The moment was broken, and Caliban retreated with a bashful look on his face. He ran a hand through his hair and moved to sit across from you, his cheeks tinted a little red as he politely handed you back your intimates and pretended to shield his eyes when you tossed it somewhere. You’d never been so freaking embarrassed in your life, but Caliban was smiling so softly at you, like you were—

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” He motioned around with his hands dramatically, tone playful and light.

You were so dead. Caliban was freaking made for this romantic swooning nonsense that you’d tried to protest nearly the whole ride home, Billy Marlin be damned.

Giggling nervously in what you hoped seemed scene-appropriate, you tried your best to forget being a horny teenager to instead play a horny teenager. “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this, for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.”

Caliban’s voice lowered, a smile still tugging at his lips as he took your hands in his own. “Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?”

“Ay, pilgrim.” Your own voice softened in turn as Caliban began to trace mindless patterns on the backs of your hands with his thumbs, “lips that they must use in prayer.”

“O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.” Caliban’s eyes were soft, and you imagined that Shakespeare had pictured the man in front of you when putting the words to paper. The words fell so naturally from his lips and he seemed engrossed in the scene— he was, for lack of a better word, enchanting.

“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.” Your voice was hardly more than a breathless whisper, the proximity of your faces and the intimacy (however imagined) stealing the air from your lungs.

Caliban paused, his eyes meeting yours intently as if searching for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to find it as he took your face in both of his hands.

“Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.” 

It was all too much. You could hardly be blamed for kissing him as fiercely as you did.

It was like fireworks, like every cheesy romance novel and play (cough, Romeo and Juliet) claimed it would be. You’d had plenty of kisses before, but never one that melted your brain like this. You forgot all about the scene, about how not real this was supposed to be as your hands tangled in his windswept hair and he pulled you onto his lap.

It was Caliban who first pulled away, only just so that your noses were touching. He was breathing heavily, eyes blown wide— and you felt your whole face turn red as reality consumed you again. “I am so sorry, I’ll just—”

“Where do you think you’re going, Juliet?” Caliban’s hands firmly gripped your hips, preventing you from moving away. His fingers thumbed the band of your skirt, and his next words were a whisper against your lips. 

“Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.”

kissed her for the first time yesterday

everything i wished that it would be

suddenly i forgot how to speak

hopeless, breathless, baby can't you see?

Caliban was in love. He’d spent the next three weeks with you reciting Romeo and Juliet, sharing shakes at Dr. Cerberus, and tugging you into empty classroom and closets at every opportunity to kiss you senseless.  Every moment not spent with you was at least somewhat occupied by the thought of you, and Caliban found he wasn’t the least bit upset about it.

And Sabrina was pissed.

If she’d hated him before, she positively loathed him now. It was the latest point of contention between yourself and your darling cousin, who’d you taken to threatening with various kitchen utensils and promises to tell the aunties she’d been sneaking out to make her behave. And Caliban, for his part, was perfectly polite— even though he still had every intention of taking the throne from the inexperienced witch who promised to destroy the balance of heaven and hell.

Which presented Caliban’s own latest dilemma. He was going to have to tell you eventually— and in a way that didn't make you totally hate him. He had a plan. Okay, maybe a skeletal plan. Or no plan. Yeah, Caliban was going to wing it. 

After today. He just had to make it through your reenactment of Romeo and Juliet with no demonic catastrophes or maiming Blly, and then he would tell you everything.

But even that was too much to ask.

Sabrina burst through the english classroom doors, yelling in barely concealed panic that there was a BIG problem and the principal needed Caliban now.

Caliban moved to leave with an apologetic smile in your direction, which you were absolutely not having. Despite your current frustration with Sabrina, she looked downright terrified, and you were both concerned for your cousin and overwhelmed with a gut feeling that something was up.

After a few moments, you excused yourself to use the restroom.

You hauled ass to the gym, where the screaming sounded to be coming from. When you entered, you were met with the strangest sight.

The gym was filled with winged... rats? And at the center of the chaos was Sabrina and Caliban, back to back and armed with what appeared to be lacrosse sticks. Caliban’s shirt was tattered from the rats, and you took a fraction of a second to banish the completely innappropriate and untimely thoughts from your head.

“And no one thought to call me?” You shouted angrily through the swarm, snagging a baseball bat from the rack and smacking it around with reckless abandon. Caliban hooted, laughing loudly as you took your place beside them. Rats tore at your clothes, but you were more frustrated that Sabrina had called your boyfriend (or whatever he was) over you.

“Why did you get Caliban! I was right there! Is there something wrong with you? Were you dropped on the head as a child? He’s not even from here Sabrina, he has no idea what-”

“For hell’s sake, he’s not the new kid! He’s not even from Australia! He’s a stupid clay prince from hell who is trying to take my throne and raze humanity, and his stupid plague king sent these after me, and now he’s dating you!” Sabrina spat out the word dating as if it was even more disgusting than the winged vermin tearing at your clothes. 

“Will someone please explain what the hell is going on here?” 

You were no less frustrated when Sabrina revealed her trek to hell and the all ensuing madness she’d partaken in, but you remained calm enough to not turn the bat on her clearly empty skull. 

“And you’re the clay prince of hell... challenging her throne?” You questioned with a sharp glance at Caliban, who nodded reluctantly as he swatted a rat hurtling towards you. 

“Do you even have a driver’s license!” You screamed, waving your baseball bat around wildly.

“I’m a demon prince of hell made out of clay, and you’re worried about if I can legally drive?” Caliban shouted back in astonishment through the wave of shrieking rats. The lacrosse stick he’d snagged was surprisingly effective.

“I was getting to that part, thank you for reminding me!” You hissed, debating whether to smash his face in with the bat. “How about we start with how you completely lied to me, and how our whole relationship or whatever it is a lie! Were you ever going to tell me? Or was this all part of some throne grab?” 

“It wasn’t a lie!” Caliban demanded hotly. “You were not a lie!”

“Really!” You whirled on him, eyes alight with anger. “Because I sure feel like one!”

The rats numbers were dwindling rapidly, and you smacked the last one heading towards you directly at Caliban’s face. It collided with a satisfying shriek, and you threw your bat down as you stormed out of the gym.

Sabrina and Caliban rushed after you, but you’d disappeared in the hall.

now i'm, yeah, oh!

now i'm speechless, over the edge

i'm just breathless

i never thought that i'd catch this love bug again

now i'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment

i never thought that i'd get hit by this love bug again, (oh)

love bug again

You’d remained collected until you’d transported into the middle of the living room, collapsing into auntie Hilda’s arms in a puddle of tears as you told her everything. She’d muttered a stream of ancient curses about Sabrina, but beyond that merely smoothed your hair and told you that all boys were awful— especially demonic princes of hell.

“I hate him.” You glared half-heartedly into your cup of steaming peppermint tea. You couldn’t believe you’d been so stupid. Falling blindly in love with a stranger who had only sought you out for some elaborate game with Sabrina. Screw Caliban and his perfect hair, his perfect smile, his perfect— “I want to bash his face in.”

“No you don't, love.” Hilda smiled knowingly. “You’re angry, yes— and hurt. But you care for the boy. I’ve never seen you so happy as you’ve been these last few days. I think you ought to cool down and hear what he has to say.”

“I never want to talk to him again.” You groaned, burying your face in a pillow. “I’d rather die.”

And because the universe was truly conspiring against you, a knock sounded at the door.

“Well, best get over that quick.” Hilda warned, ignoring your stream of indignant protests as she hustled to the door. 

“Caliban! Yes, do come in love. Oh, yes, we will be having a little chat later, but for now I think it’s my niece you must be speaking to.” Hilda’s cheerful voice trailed in from the foyer, and you jumped up to make a break for it. 

You were halted by a familiar pair of strong arms tugging you back by the waist.

“Get off of me!” You shouted, pushing Caliban away harshly and ignoring the warmth that lingered where he’d touched you. “I want my baseball bat. Somebody get me my baseball bat! I’m going to bash your stupid pretty face in you asshole—”

“Five minutes.” Caliban pleaded desperately, “just give me a five minutes to explain, and then I’ll give you back the baseball bat to bash my face in, okay?”

You considered his offer for a moment, swallowing the sob crawling its way up your throat as you nodded reluctantly. If it made him leave faster, you’d do anything. 

His shoulder sagged in barely concealed relief. “Okay. I am Caliban, Prince of Hell. I am not from Australia, clearly, and am not a transfer student. I am trying to take your cousin’s throne. She does not understand the realm of the damned— she thinks it needs to be generous, rather than a fair judgment of life. I am not her father, and I do not believe in reckless or cruel damnation. I do not wish any harm on Sabrina, and I’ve managed to keep the worst of the plague kings from her. Even if you were to reject me now, I would continue to try to protect her— you have my word.” Caliban paused as you released a breath you did not know you were holding. Your eyes finally dared to meet his, and you nodded for him to continue.

“I agreed to attend Greendale because yes, it did piss off Sabrina, but you were there.” He raised his hand to halt your protest. “You intrigued me, and I wanted to know you better. I will be fully honest that it had the added bonus of irritating your cousin, who I so delight in irritating, but my primary focus was you. You... enchanted me. I had never found myself so invested in anything before as I was in spending mundane days at high school— of all things— with you. Truthfully, it confused even me at first. And while the past you knew is false, I am real— and my feelings for you are true.”

“That is such bullshit, and you know it!” You exploded furiously, smacking his chest with untamed rage. “You knew exactly what you were doing. Who agrees to go to high school because they like a girl? Are you unhinged? Who doesn't just ask someone out if they were so interested, huh? No, you came here with your stupidly perfect little ‘oh I’m Caliban, and I’m so dreamy’ act, knowing full well that it would make me completely abandon all rationality. Well guess what, I did! I fell stupid head over heels for you, and it was all one big lie.”

Your voice broke on the last few words, anger shifting to broken sadness as you continued to pound relentlessly on his chest. “I was a lie.”

He caught your hands, holding them against his chest as he pressed you against the wall. “You weren't a lie, Spellman.” 

His words were breathless whisper, his beautiful eyes pained and desperate as he gripped your hands harder. “I fell for you the moment I saw you. I enrolled in high school because you smiled at me. I learned every line of Romeo and Juliet to recite them to you. When we first met, you wondered how Romeo and Juliet could possibly fall in love after a mere few days, but I understand it now. I have never been driven so completely insane by anything or anyone like this before. The power you have over me is unmatched. I am completely and wholly yours. If you were to ask me right now to leave, to never bother you again, I would leave my heart with you and spend my eternity in endless sorrow. I would think forever of the way you smiled at me, the way you kissed me, how soft your hair felt in my hands, and how my heart raced every time you laughed. I would never forgive myself for the pain I had caused you, and you would haunt me every day, every waking moment, every dream.”

Caliban moved your hands to his lips, nearly kissing them as he pleaded to you with tears in his beautiful eyes. You were motionless, turned to stone by his heavy gaze.

“So please, don’t become my specter. If I am a stranger to you now, let me make you fall for me all over again. I would do it a thousand times, if you'd let me. I could think of no sweeter way to spend my eternity.”

When you’d thought that Shakespeare had been imagining Caliban when he wrote, you’d been wrong. There was no poetry, no book, no lyric that could possibly compare to the way he spoke to you— the way his eyes so desperately tried to convey his anguish.

You removed your hands from his, and his whole face seemed to shatter.

“You’re not a stranger,” you muttered softly, moving to take his face your hands. His face remained guarded, but he leaned instinctively into your touch. “You’re Caliban.”

When you kissed him, it was like falling in love all over again.

And you supposed you did.

“But we are having a long, long talk about everything.” You warned as you pulled back, poking his chest sharply as he nodded profusely. “And if you ever, ever lie to me again, I’ll set something worse than flying rats on you. I’ll let Sabrina have you.”

Caliban laughed wildly, picking you up and spinning you around as he kissed you over and over again in sheer relief and joy. “I love you, Spellman. Anything you want, it’s yours.”

“I just want you, clay boy.”

[godidontevenknowwhat]

Genuine question here, what do you consider as anti Billy?

I wouldn't consider myself an anti but I don't excuse Billy's action like many pro Billy blogs do. Like when we discuss Billy's behavior and bring up Billy's abuse of Max and racism towards Lucas I was being called an anti even though I was pointing out Billy's canon behavior.

I get why he does act the way he does and recognize his abuse from Neil but it doesn't give him a free pass to be abusive to other people. Does this really make me an anti? Pro Billy people usually babify him to a point where he does feel like a completely different person than what is portrayed in the show and I feel like if you have to alter a character to a point where he isn't recognizable anymore you're more of an anti than people who don't try to excuse everything that makes the character the character.

First of all thank you for not being a shithead and presenting this question in a regular mature way, I appreciate you coming to me with this

Short answer: I consider someone a Billy anti when the blow his actions out of proportion and turn a complex character with a heart wrenching abuse story into what the duffers originally wrote him as: a racist antagonist and jerkwad bully. Note that I'm not saying his actions were excusable because of the abuse or that how he behaves isn't written with the intentions of him being racist towards Lucas.

Okay long answer now:

I'm definitely guilty of 'babyfying' Billy, mostly as a joke to annoy Billy antis, but I'm aware that I do it to the point that it's probably hard to gauge how I truly feel about Billy and his actions.

Billy is not a nice person. Billy is an asshole. But Billy isn't an irredeemable villain who is completely evil and everything he does is out of pure evil like a lot of Antis like to present him.

However I think being Pro Billy Vs Anti Billy is understanding that no one is truly evil. 

I don't think Billy treating Max the way he did is excusable nor will I try to pretend that he was good to her. But I will say that he most certainly is NOT treating Max like that because he's a nasty bully wah wah wah. 

Also despite how it might seem, when Billy was first introduced I actually didn't like him. Then the scene with Neil happened and it broke me.

The reason I'm pro Billy is because I see myself in him. I'm currently 21, I'll be 22 in March, so I'm by no means far off what age Billy was in season 2 where a lot of his actions inspire antis. 

4 years ago I was angry, I was mean, I would say nasty shit to people and I would do things that 4 years later I'm not proud of in the slightest and it was all because of the aggressive physical abuse I received from my mother and the emotional abuse I received from my sister. The physical abuse was so bad that at points my mum would hit me so hard my ears would ring and she would literally take out chunks of my hair from pulling on it. Seeing Billy pinned against that bookshelf by Neil and finally being able to see my abuse from a third party perspective I actually cried and nearly had a panic attack. So I began to see Billy differently, I can recognise a lot of his actions as the anger of an abused person trying to get control over an aspect of their life outside of the home because that's the only place he has control. I think a lot of Antis fall trap to hating Billy because he's angry and mean and they don't think for a second that it's a reaction to the abuse and they dub him irredeemable and say he deserved to die. 

So.. I deserved to die then? Every abuse victim who reacts with anger and mirrored behaviour and violent outbursts deserves to die? 

No, no fucking way. 

We deserve the chance to grow and become our own people independent of the abuse. In 4 years I've become a different person, I've grown and started shedding the anger and resent that has built up in me. I still see signs of it for sure, I get angry incredibly quickly to the point it's scary and it disgusts me every time it happens because I hate that part of myself but I'm working on it.

I'm pro Billy because I think he deserved a chance to work on it.

Also sorry if this seems like a brain fart ramble, It's 6am and I woke up and saw this and needed to respond asap while it was fresh

[rigginsstreet]

When I first joined the fandom, all I heard about Billy was scary shit- and like... all the man did was grab his sisters arm, yell at her, push a kid against the wall ("you are so dead" is literally something my friends and I have said, its not literal- and like ignore the fact that Jason is a whole ass cop in that scene 💀), be gay, and try to deal with the shitty hands he'd been dealt... like the dude was in tears for the majority of his screen time.

I thought he was supposed to be a fucking villain- 😭

Maybe it's just my own past shit, but I genuinely don't find him scary- he's about as scary as a fucking cat.

People saying his actions traumatized them... and then tell me their trauma was worse than what he did... it doesn't make sense. Not to invalidate, but istg these people act like he ran over ducklings or some shit.

I honestly think the duffers leaving so much "up to interpretation" played a part in this, because the viewers are as *cough cough* intelligent as the creators themselves.

The part about him being as scary as a cat is so funny to me because I’m terrified of cats cats are so much worse than billy 😂

[mallgothed]

just finished stranger things 4 and. hooooooboy i have THOUGHTS

ok i'm going to get my complaints out of the way first. i think overall my main Thing about this season is that there are simply…too many plotlines. like it feels like they’re trying to up the ante from last season and make everything scarier and higher-stakes, but it lowkey has the opposite effect—we don’t always get a lot of time for the plot points to really resonate because immediately after something happens we’re rushed to a new and completely different thing.

like it seems like there’s way too many villains? we have Vecna, football Jason and his vigilantes, the Russians, shadowy government agents, AND Brenner. I’m not saying there can’t be more than one source of conflict, but this all feels very chaotic. like if they’d picked like 2 from the above list and spent more time really establishing them, i feel like the impact would have been a lot more solid.

also going off of that I feel like the way they handled El’s capture arc was kind of convoluted. like, the cops show up and arrest her for the roller skate thing, and it’s really scary and it seems like this is going to be a huge problem. but then no, haha, forget all that, now there’s a scary lady with scary high heels stopping the van in the middle of the desert. but wait, nvm she’s fine actually, but then there’s these OTHER government agents who are REALLY evil. also brenner is there. idk it just seems like they needed to separate El from the guys and get her to Nina and they did that in the most complicated way possible.

my last problem is that, with so many fast-paced plotlines scattered across the country, it feels like our characters don’t get enough time to just like…breathe. hang out. talk to each other. i mean they DO, but everyone’s so isolated within their own little subplots that we’re missing the Group Dynamic, which is really the heart of stranger things. i was sort of expecting that because they split up the group and moved el and will to california, but idc i miss the squad

THAT BEING SAID. the moments we do get of the kids hanging out and being friends are really good. steve and max making fun of each other? steve and dustin making fun of each other? lucas and max reconciling? ROBIN?? mwah. i love u all. 

and i REALLY like how they handled Max’s post-Billy arc. the impact his death left on her is not glossed over–she’s pulling away from her friends! she’s noticeably different! those are realistic reactions to a traumatic event!--but the show also interrogates how complicated her feelings about him are, how she is deep down relieved that he’s gone, and how his abuse hasn’t been erased just because he died. plus the running up that hill scene was AMAZING. if nothing else i love that they made max a kate bush enjoyer

i like suzy’s insane siblings. especially the one named cornelius who’s always screaming. king

dustin’s little bounce when he’s convincing the others to go out on the lake. your honor i love him 

ARGYLE. “at surfer boy pizza, all our ingredients are fresh! except for our pineapple, which comes from a CAN!” had me genuinely rolling

i also liked fred and chrissy a lot. for the two seconds we got to see them alive. rip guys 

anyway please talk to me about this season bc i love stranger things and i also love picking apart storytelling decisions <3

[atlafan]

Boo!

a/n: alright, I think this is the last Halloween fic I’m gonna due, I had one more in me. Thank you to everyone who sent me requests. I tried to sprinkle them all into the four different fics I wrote. This one was mostly inspired by someone who asked for a scared neighbor, and someone who asked for one of them to work at a haunted house! Reblogs and feedback are always helpful! Enjoy! (not proofread)

Warnings: pining, fluff, and smut at the end

Words: 6.6K

Y/N was a scaredy cat, plain and simple. She loved Halloween, and the fun that came with it, she just hated the things that absolutely made her skin crawl like jump scares, fake blood, movies that were made with the sole purpose of scaring you, and haunted houses. Never has she once wanted to go to a haunted house in her life. She went when she was a little girl, and she ended up being one of this kids that just screamed and cried the entire time. She somehow made it through both It films, but had nightmares for weeks, so she just stays away from these things.

She was a recent graduate, just starting her master’s program, and living on her own for the first time. She loved her flat a whole lot, getting to decorate it however she wanted, and only having herself to blame if the dishes got stacked up or if the bathroom needed tidying. Another reason she loved her flat? Her very cute next door neighbor. She wasn’t sure if he was also in grad school, or was just from the area. She learned his name was Harry one day as they were both checking their mailboxes, and from there they would exchange pleasantries in the elevator or if they saw one another coming or going.

Harry was a tad mysterious in that he was quiet, but his smile always let Y/N know she wasn’t a bother. She had no idea if he was single or not. His apartment was often quiet aside from the occasional person he might bring back with them. She only ever heard muffled giggles, and the sound of his voice lowering an octave, but her bed wasn’t pressed up to the wall they shared, so she really didn’t pay much attention to it. It did make her more mindful for when she brought someone home, though, not wanting him to hear her.

Y/N always liked the little interactions she’d have with her sweet neighbor. It made living alone a little more exciting. She’d have her friends over when she could, and sometimes they got a little glimpse of Harry, and then they’d understand why Y/N couldn’t help but word vomit about him sometimes.

One day, a couple of weeks before Halloween, Harry spots her in the hall just as she’s keying into her place. He grins and comes up behind her.

“Boo!”

“Ah!” She turns around and nearly decks him. “Jesus Christ, Harry!” She clutches her hand to her chest.

“Shit, I didn’t think you’d be so jumpy, I’m sorry.” He rubs the back of his neck.

“No offense, but you’re a large man coming up behind a small woman to scare her on purpose…I think anyone would be scared.” Her face flushes with embarrassment.

“When you put it like that…yikes.” He clears his throat. “Um, I’m glad I caught you, though.”

“Oh?” She perks up a bit. He had genuinely wanted to talk with her?

“Yeah, I work seasonally at this haunted house downtown every year, it’s a lot of fun.” He takes a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I’m supposed to give out some coupons, if you bring a group of five you get a discount, see?” He hands her the coupon and she looks it over.

“You…you work at a haunted house?”

“Just seasonally as a side gig, it pays pretty well. Plus, I get to dress up as different things and scare people.” He smirks.

“Well, I can see you definitely enjoy doing that.” She chuckles slightly.

“I really am sorry about that.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s a charity thing, so half the proceeds goes to UNICEF…if that persuades you at all.”

“I’ll, um, I’ll see if my friends want to go, thanks.”

He smiles at her and nods.

“Well, have a good one.” He says, and continues his way down the hall and to the elevator.

Y/N goes into her flat, and sighs heavily. She was fucked, absolutely fucked. She knew her friends would be down to go, but she more so worried about needing to wear a pair of depends or not because she was sure to wet herself at a haunted house.

//

“Why didn’t you just tell him you don’t like haunted houses?” Billy asks her over coffee.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Niall says to the group. “It’s the first time the guy’s said more than a few words to her, she wasn’t going to turn it down. Isn’t that right, Pet?”

“On the nose, Ni.” She sighs. “I looked like enough of a wimp when he scared me in the hall, I didn’t want to look like a total baby by telling him they scare me. Maybe we could go and I could just putter around outside.”

“Why don’t like you like them again? They’re harmless.” Sadie says as she sips on her tea.

“I don’t like the jump scares. I wanna see everything clearly in front of me. I also feel bad for clowns.” Y/N pouts.

“Clowns?” Rob questions.

“Yeah, like, clowns are supposed to be sources of joy, and they’ve been turned into these scary monsters for no good reason.” She takes a bite of her lemon-poppy scone, and swallows. “So…I mean, I have the coupon, would you all come with me? At least he’ll know I have friends.”

“What’s his name again?” Sadie says, taking her phone out. “Harry Styles?”

“Yeah, don’t bother looking him up, he doesn’t have any social media. Or if he does it’s all super private.” Y/N says.

“Of course you’ve tried to look him up before.” Niall teases her.

“Well, he is my neighbor, I wanted to see if I was living next to a creep or not.”

“I think we should go.” Billy says. “We haven’t done anything spooky this season yet.”

“That’s because you’re all too grown to come carve pumpkins and bake cookies with me.” Y/N huffs.

“Tell you what, you roast the seeds from the pumpkins and I’ll come bake with you.” Sadie says, throwing an arm around her friend, and they both giggle.

Later that day, Y/N happens to get into the elevator at the same time as Harry, and she was excited to give him the good news.

“Hey.” She smiles at him. “Um, I talked to my friends, we’ll be at the haunted house this weekend.”

“That’s great! I’ll be there Saturday night for sure.”

“What will you be dressed as? Will you be walking around outside, or will you be inside doing the real scaring?”

“If I told you any of that it wouldn’t be much of a surprise, now would it? No built up suspense.” They both get off the elevator and head down the hall. “See you then.” He winks at her, and she stands by her door a moment going over the interaction in her head.

She just wanted to prepare herself as much as possible. She knew half the fun for the stuff was to actually get people scared, but there was a difference between jumping and laughing at something, and genuinely screaming to the point of tears. Would she actually survive this?

//

Saturday evening, Y/N and her friends head downtown for the haunted house. There was a lot to do outside, so they stop off for candied apples before getting their tickets. She shows her coupon to the cashier, and the group gets their discount. It was just starting to get dark outside, and there were tons of people in costume walking around outside. Some people were taking pictures with them after getting spooked, and Y/N started to feel herself getting nervous.

“Don’t worry, Y/N.” Niall throws his arms around her shoulders. “Bill and I are gonna make a little sandwich with you so you’ll be right between us to grab onto while we walk in.”

“Thanks.” She says.

“Do you see him anywhere, or do you think he’s inside?” Rob asks.

“He wouldn’t tell me when I asked, so I have no idea.” She sighs.

“Well, let’s go get in line, it’s starting to fill up.” Sadie says, and they all head to the line to get inside.

There was someone dressed up like a witch scanning the tickets, and reminds everyone it is single file as you enter the house. Everyone nods, and Y/N grips onto both Niall and Billy’s hands as they form their line.

Harry was outside at the front of the line scoping out the scene. He was taking a little fresh air break before he needed to get back into his room. He was dressed like a dirtbag with a fake chainsaw in his hand. As he scans over the crowd in line he spots Y/N. His eyes widen as he practically sees her trembling. He watches as one of the boys she’s with raises her chin with their finger and says something to her. She smiles at him, and kisses his cheek. Harry furrows his brows in disappointment, and goes back inside.

It’s dark as they all step inside, and her death grip on the boys grows stronger.

“Y/N, close your eyes if you need to, we can guide you in.” Billy says to her as he grips her shoulders.

“Yeah, don’t feel like you even need to-“

“Ahhh!!” She screams when a few ghouls pop out at them. She nearly jumps on Niall’s back from it. “I should have just stayed outside.” Her bottom lip quivers.

“We’ve got you, just keep going.” Sadie says from the rear.

It really was just the jump scares and the darkness. The rooms they were walking in weren’t that scary. Some of them have flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder, creepy music and floorboard squeaking. Harry’s room was up next. All he had to was pretend to saw into someone’s neck, and let some fake blood out. The only thing was, his room was pitch black, so no one could what was happening until he ripped the cord for the chainsaw.

He recognizes Y/N’s pitiful scream instantly. Usually he gets a kick out of it, from anyone, but when he glances over at the group, and sees her cheeks stained with tears, he feels terrible. The scene is supposed to last a little longer, but he gives a signal to the lighting crew and they make it go dark again. His room was last, so Y/N practically gasps for air once she’s back outside.

“I’m sorry if I ruined it for you all.” She sniffles and wipes her cheeks. Niall sighs and helps her clean her face up.

“You didn’t, Lovie, it’s fine.” He says to her.

“You actually did a lot better than we thought.” Rob says.

“Are your panties dry?” Billy asks.

“Well…yeah.” She giggles.

“Then you did amazing!” Sadie says. “I have to say, I’ve been to my fair share of haunted houses, and that one was fucking scary.”

“Can…can we go get some pizza or something? Maybe some hard ciders? I need a fucking drink.” She jokes, and everyone agrees. She wished she had Harry’s number so she could at least text him that she actually showed up. “Wait! I just wanna go inside and leave a note for Harry.”

Everyone waits outside as she goes back up to the ticketing register. She asks if she can leave a note for him, and the girl at the register all but squeals, and says yes.

Made it through the house, just wanted you to know. Thanks again for the coupon!! – Y/N xx

“I’ll make sure H gets it.” She smiles at Y/N.

“Thank you.” She says, and out the door she goes back to her friends.

Harry felt even more gutted when he received the note. He had been part of the reason she was crying. Why would she have gone if she really didn’t like being scared? Did she go just for him? No way, that other guy she kissed had to be her boyfriend, right?

//

For about a week Harry contemplated knocking on Y/N’s door. He even thought to slide a note underneath, just to be cute, but he chickened out. One night he was getting some studying done when he heard a loud yelp. His head turns in the direction of the sound. Did she have someone over? He’d occasionally hear the squeal of her bed, but in all honesty Harry had a feeling Y/N wasn’t exactly getting her shit rocked. Either that, or she was just one of those really quiet girls. Not a minute later does he hear a quiet tap on his front door. He gets up and pads over to it to look through his peephole. It was a shaking Y/N.

“Y/N?” He says as he unlocks and opens his door. “Are you alright?”

“N-no, I…I don’t know what happened, um, I think something short circuited, and I…I feel so stupid for saying this but I don’t know where the breaker box is.”

“Oh, Pet, you’re not stupid. Took me forever to find mine, do you want some help?”

“If you don’t mind.”

He follows her out into the hall, and into her place.

“Gave you a bit of a fright, didn’t it?” He asks softly.

“Y-yeah.”

Poor thing must have been embarrassed. She was in a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt, clearly not wearing a bra. He thought she looked adorable, and just wanted to scoop her up, but he couldn’t. He uses his flashlight on his phone, and she involuntarily latches onto his wrist.

“I’m sorry, I’m petrified of the dark.” She tells him.

“It’s alright.” He shifts so he can hold her hand. “The breaker box should be in your pantry, that’s where mine is anyways.”

He heads her over to it, and she lets him open the door. She had a tidy flat, nothing to hide. He opens the box, looks away, flips the switch, and the lights all come back on. She lets out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god. I thought I was going to be without heat! Thank you, I have no idea what happened. I don’t have anything overly plugged in.”

“No problem at all.” He smiles at her. “Sometimes it happens at my place, it’s not exactly the newest building, Love.”

“Right.” She swallows and lets go of his hand. He looks in the direction of her kitchen and sees she has a couple of pumpkins on the table.

“What are you up to?”

“Oh, well, I was going to get some cookies in the oven, and then carve some pumpkins. My friends aren’t really into it, but I like it.”

“So you don’t totally hate Halloween then?”

“No, not at all! I…I’m just not a fan of the scary stuff.” She chews on her bottom lip. “Would you…would you care to join me?” It was bold. He probably had plans, or probably just didn’t want to hang out with her.

“I’d love to! Can’t remember the last time I carved a pumpkin.”

“Oh! Well, alright then.” She smiles and leads him into her kitchen. “I have those sugar cookies with the pumpkins and black cats on them. I was about to slice them up before the power went out.”

“I love those, can I help?”

“Sure.”

She preheats the oven and gets a baking sheet out with some parchment paper. She lets him slice up the roll with the black cats as she does the ones with the pumpkins, then she pops them in the oven. She grabs a couple of bowls to place on the table and he raises an eyebrow at her.

“My friends like when I roast the seeds, so we need one bowl for all the guts, and then one for when we separate them.”

“Gotcha.” They each grab one of the little carving knives and cut open the tops of the pumpkins. “Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t like the scary stuff then why did you come to the haunted house?”

“Oh…well…I didn’t want to disappoint you. You invited me, and…well….I’ve always wanted to get to know you better, so I thought that would be a good start.”

“You have?”

“Well, yeah, I think you’re the only other young person on our floor.” She laughs. “Are you still in school?”

“Yeah, I’m in grad school.”

“Me too!” She says excitedly and starts scooping the guts out of her pumpkin. Harry does the same.

“You could have just told me, you know, I was using the coupon as an excuse to talk to you.”

“R-really?”

He nods and starts separating the seeds. She watches as his fingers work nimbly. She frightened when she hears the timer go off for the oven.

“Jesus, Y/N….I feel terrible that you’re so jumpy.”

“I think I’m just still a little worked up from the power going out.” She takes the cookies out of the oven and puts them on a cooling rack.

She comes back over and sticks her hands in the bowl of guts along with Harry’s, and they brush together. They look at each other and blush.

“Y/N, do you have a boyfriend?”

“No, do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

Everything sort of happens quickly from there. Without caring about the mess, Harry cups her cheeks and pulls her into a tender kiss. He backs her up against the wall next to the fridge, and she groans into his mouth. Her messy hands tug at the collar of his shirt to pull him down more to her so she can wrap her warms around his neck. He smiles against her.

“Were you eating some of the cookie dough earlier?”

“M-maybe.” She giggles. “Why?”

“You just taste really sweet.” He leans down and sucks her bottom lip between his teeth, and lets it snap back. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while, to be honest with you. You just seem like such a nice person.”

“I’ve…I’ve wanted to kiss you too.” Her heart was beating like crazy. Her eyes glance over at the pumpkins. She really did want to carve them. “Um…would you…would you like to get the pumpkins carved? And then maybe we could watch a movie while the seeds roast?”

“I’d like that.” He steps back from her. “I got your cheeks covered in guts, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” She chuckles and grabs a paper towel, wetting it under the sink faucet. She wipes her cheeks and continues to separate the seeds with him.

Harry begins carving his pumpkin while she lets the seeds rest on some paper towels. They munch on cookies, and giggle as they make horrible designs with the pumpkins.

“Okay, hold on.” She says and grabs two little lights to put inside the pumpkins. “Aw, they look so cute.”

“How come your friends don’t like doing this? I had a great time.”

“It’s a lot of work to them.” She shrugs. “Kinda glad they’re not here, wouldn’t have needed you to rescue me.”

“Guess it all worked out for the best.” He smiles at her.

“Go get get comfy. I can make us some tea while I ge the seeds in the oven if you like.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

It was a Wednesday night, Harry had class tomorrow, but he truthfully didn’t care. He was enjoying getting to know his neighbor, and he was hoping to get to know her a bit more.

“Alright.” She sets the mugs on the coffee table and grabs the remote. “I don’t know about you, but I’d love to watch Halloweentown.”

“A classic, throw it on.”

She feels almost giddy at his willingness to humor her. She flips the TV to Disney+, and puts on the movie. Just as she’s biting into another cookie after the opening the credits, she asks him the question that had been rattling around her brain over the last week.

“So, are you going to tell me who you were dressed up as at the haunted house?”

“Oh…I was the chainsaw guy at the end…”

“Oh.” She says quietly.

“I had them end it quicker when I saw how scared you were, I felt terrible.”

“Great, so you saw me crying like a baby.” She sighs.

“Hey.” He smiles at her. “I think it’s really brave that you went through the whole house.”

“You’re just saying that.” She pouts at him.

“No, I mean it.” He lifts a hand to stroke her cheek.

“You never responded to my note.” She says, just above a whisper.

“I…I didn’t know how. I didn’t know if one of the guys you were with was you boyfriend or not, and I didn’t want to just slip a response under your door.”

Her body relaxes under his touch, and she smiles softly at him.

“The guy who willingly scares people to the point of tears was too shy to slip a note under my door?” She smirks, and he lets go of her with a scoff.

“I resent that. There’s a crazy amount of confidence you get when you dress up like someone else”

“Sort of like stage presence?”

“Yeah, sort of.” He puts his arm around her and pulls her close to him. “Be quiet and watch the movie, would you?”

She giggles but listens to him. After she pulls the seeds out of the oven to cool, they get especially cozy on the couch with him laying behind her to spoon her. It was incredibly cozy, and everything she could have hoped for with him. The kiss earlier was nice and all, but she was hoping this was the sort of guy Harry was. One to be okay with staying in and watching a classic movie with a plate of cookies close by.

//

He was reluctant to leave, giving her smooch after smooch at the door, but he didn’t want to be groggy for class, and she had class too, so it was best for them to part ways. He did, however, ask for her number so he could ask her on a proper date some time and she happily gave it to him.

Y/N told her friends about the previous night, and they were really excited for her. They couldn’t believe the two had kissed over pumpkin guts, but hey, whatever works, right?

“You should invite him to my Halloween party.” Sadie says.

“He probably has to work at that stupid haunted house.” Y/N sighs.

“You won’t know unless you ask. Besides, it’s not like that place will be open super late. He could meet up with you.”

“That’s true. What if he thinks my costume is lame? I’m only dressing up like a witch.”

“The cutest witch as that, he won’t be able to resist.” Niall winks at her and she rolls her eyes.

“Okay, I’ll text him.” Her eyes grow wide as she takes out her phone.

“What is it, Peanut?” Billy asks her.

“He texted me this morning and I missed it!” She scrambles to open the message and text him back.

Harry: morning, beautiful, I had a lot of fun last night. Can’t wait to do it again…8:09AM

Y/N: so sorry for just responding, I’m horrible at texting! I had a lot of fun last night too. Do you have plans on Halloween??...11:17AM

She sets her phone down with a sigh, taking a sip of her tea as her friends continue to chat about Sadie’s party. She sees her screen light up and she smiles.

Harry: lol no worries, I’m sure you’re a busy person. I have to work the day shift at the haunted house, don’t worry, we tone it down for the kids, but I’m free in the evening, why?

Y/N: oh, well, maybe I should have gone during the day then haha my friend Sadie’s having a party and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me? It’s okay if you don’t…

Harry: don’t be silly, I’d love to go! I’m assuming it’s a costume thing?

Y/N: great! Yeah, it’s a costume thing, but it’s not like over the top, I’m just going as a witch

Harry: bet you’ll be the cutest witch there 😉

Y/N: oh stop 😳

Harry: I mean it! I definitely have plenty of costumes, so I can pull something together. What time’s the party?

Y/N: I was hoping to get there for 9

Harry: works for me, see you then!

Y/N: see you then

“Oh my god.” She giggles to herself.

“What?” Sadie asks. “Is he gonna come with you to the party?”

“Yup?” Y/N grins. “And he thinks I’ll be the cutest witch there.”

“Oi, I literally just said the same thing to you!” Niall says.

“Yeah, but…I’m interested in him romantically so it means more.”

“Piss off.” He says with a glare and it makes her laugh. She throws her arms around her friend and kisses his cheek.

“Don’t worry, Ni, you’re still my number one man.”

“Mhm, sure.” He scoffs, and everyone else laughs.

//

Y/N never really fretted over a Halloween costume before, and she felt silly for being so nervous, but she just wanted to look…sexy? She sighs as she changes her outfit about three different times. She also wanted to be comfortable. She slides her legs into a pair of black slacks that come up just over her belly button, and had a slight flair at the bottom. She pairs it with a black lace bralette so only a sliver of her torso was showing. She curls her hair and brushes it out to look wavy, and applies some fun makeup to make her eyes pop. Last, she puts on her small witch’s hat, and waits for him. When she hears the knock on her door at ten of nine she takes a deep breath, grabs her purse, and opens it.

“Oh, Babe, you look amazing.” He says almost immediately, giving her a hug. She smiles up at him when she sees he’s dressed like a casual vampire. Donning similar black attire (slacks and a button up), along with some fake blood painted at the corners of his mouth.

“Thank you, is that what you wore today?”

“Yeah.”

“Way less scary.” She chuckles, and locks her door.

“Do you wanna wear my jacket?”

“Maybe later? I’m okay right now, but thank you.”

He nods as they step into the elevator. He casually takes her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. The walk to Sadie’s doesn’t take too long, and Y/N lets herself in when they get there. It was the usual group, plus some other friends from school and work. She introduces Harry to all of them, and get the two of them some sherbet punch.

“It’s spiked, is that alright?” She says to him.

“Yeah, thank you.” He takes the small cup from her and takes a sip.

Harry gets on with Y/N’s friends way better than she expected. It eased a lot of her anxiety because it wasn’t often she brought a guy around them so soon, but she talked about the him enough that they all already felt comfortable around him. He was also really funny, so that helped.

It was a great night all around. Y/N won a couple of round of Cards Against Humanity, and partnered up with Niall for a game of beer pong. Somewhere between midnight and one in the morning, Y/N and Harry decide to call it a night, he had worked all day after all.

“Care to come to mine for a nightcap?” He asks her as he shimmies his jacket off his shoulders and onto hers for the walk home.

Normally she wouldn’t yes so quickly, but they lived right next door to each other, and they had already gotten the first kiss out of the way, so she agrees. She was also curious to see how he had set up his place compared to hers. He leads her inside, and she stays wrapped in his coat as she goes to sit on his sofa. He comes back shortly with two glasses of red wine, only a little in each.

“Thank you.” She says as he hands her a glass. He sits down next to her, and grabs two coasters for his coffee table before setting his glass down.

“I had a lot of fun with your friends tonight. They seem like really nice people.” He sits with one leg underneath himself, and an arm slung over the back of the sofa.

“They are! I couldn’t ask for better friends, honestly.”

“Maybe you could meet mine sometime.” He blushes. “I don’t have as big of a circle as you do, but the friends I have are great.”

“I’d like that.” She smiles at before taking another small sip and setting her glass down. “I can’t believe I’ve been living next to you since June and it’s taken us this long to get to know each other.”

“Feels silly now, doesn’t it?” He reaches to tuck some hair behind her ear.

“Yeah.” She inches closer to him, and looks up at him with wide eyes. “Would you kiss me again, I really liked it last time.”

He smiles at her and leans in, pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes flutter closed as she tastes the sweet red wine pass from his lips to hers. He tugs her onto his lap to create a more comfortable position, causing his jacket to slip from her shoulders, but neither seem to care. She laces her fingers into his hair, and opens her mouth for him. He licks into her as his hands splay on her back, not wanting to be too grabby too soon. Their tongues swirl around each other, and she moans softly into him. He had the first few buttons of his shirt undone already, so it was easy enough to kiss from his jaw to his neck. He holds her close to him as she mouths at his sensitive skin. She moves to his collar bone, and bites down, sucking on him. He groans and squeezes at her back. She moves to look up at him, biting down on her bottom lip.

“Would you…like to see my bedroom?” He asks, clearly testing the waters.

“Yes.” She says, much to his surprise. She was full of surprises tonight. He pecks her lips, and lets her get off of him. He takes her hand and leads her to his bedroom. “It’s nice in here, Harry.” His bed was made, and his desk was tidy. A few clothes on the floor, but that’s much to be expected.

“Thanks, the, uh, comforter is new.”

“Looks comfy.”

“It is.” He cups her cheeks and kisses her. Her hands go to his love hands and she squeezes him.

They make their way over to the bed, and they lay down with him hovering over her. She wraps her legs around his waist while he kisses on her neck. His lips move down between the valley of her breasts, and nipping at the parts of her that were spilling out of the lace.

“This is such a sexy outfit.” He says, hot breath against her skin. She groans and pushes her hips up towards his to feel his growing bulge.

“What, um, what do you feel like doing, Harry?” She runs her hands through his hair.

“Honestly, I’d like to fuck you, but-“ She yanks his face up to hers so she can kiss him. He chuckles as he pulls away. “We can, uh, wait if you want.” He clears his throat.

“Do you want to wait? I wouldn’t mind if you fucked me.”

“Well, look at you! The girl who’s so bloody afraid of the dark and haunted house and all things spooky is up for a little shag?”

“I may be scared in the streets, but that’s not how I am in the sheets.” She grins at him and his eyes darken a little.

“Alright, then.”

He sits up and takes his shirt the rest of the way off. She gazes up at him and runs her hands up and down his stomach. He was toned, yet soft, the perfect mixture. She reaches to undo his belt, and unzip his pants. He gets them the rest of the way off, and then kneads her breasts through the bralette. She arches up into him, and moans when he sucks on her nipple through the fabric.

“Can I take this off?” He breathes.

“Please.”

She sits up a little to help him, and he tugs it off of her. His large hands cup her breasts, and he goes back to sucking on them, leaving little love bites behind. He works his mouth down her stomach, and his hands work to undo her pants. He looks up at her and she nods, lifting up her hips to help him get them off. He leaves her underwear on for now, kissing on her hips, and opening her legs up. He sucks a bruise on her inner thigh, and she gasps. He kisses her over panties before hooking his fingers into them, and dragging them down her legs. She blushes as she opens herself up for him. She had done a full body shave, and now she was regretting it because she must look like a child to him even though she was the same age as him.

“I…I’m sorry, that must look weird.” She chokes out.

“What?”

“M’like a little too smooth, don’t you think?”

Harry runs his fingers over her folds and up her pelvis.

“Listen, whether you look like this, have a full bush, or something in between, I wouldn’t really care. It’s all about comfort, right? Does being shaved like this make you more comfortable?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Okay, so, no problem, Babe.” He smiles. “It’s actually kinda cute.”

“Harry.” She whines and runs her hands down her face. “Will you get on with it?”

He nods and lays between her legs. He uses his thumbs to spread her apart, and starts by licking at her clit. She gasps as he flicks the tip across the bud, and then laps around her folds. He licks over her center, and presses circles with his thumb into her clit. He dips his tongue inside her, only for a moment, before looking up at her. He runs a fingers around her wetness before pushing it inside, and putting his mouth back on her clit. She watches him with her mouth hanging open.

“God, that feels so fucking good.” She praises him, and he moans against her in response.

He gets a second finger inside her and makes the ‘come here’ motion over and over, petting over her front wall and pushing against her g-spot. His tongue continues to work her clit, and she starts to feel her orgasm approaching.

“Oh, oh my god, oh my god, Harry, fuck, I’m gonna come, ugh, don’t stop, I’m…I’m, fuck!” She all but screams as she releases around his fingers.

He fucks her through it, removing his mouth, but still pumping her slowly with his fingers. She was unraveling for him, and he loved the sight. He retracts his fingers and cups her cheek with his other hand.

“Liked that, huh?” He smirks.

“Felt amazing.” She smiles up at him dreamily. “Do you want me to, um-“

“As much as I’d love to get those pretty lips wrapped around me, I really just wanna fuck you, is that okay?”

“Works for me.” She chuckles, and watches him reach into his side table for a condom, which makes her smile grow more.

He slips his boxers off, and her jaw drops as he rolls the condom on. She was definitely thankful he fingered her first. He gets back between her legs, and runs his tip between her folds. Her hips buck up towards him, just wanting him to put it in already.

“Want me to fuck you?” He says.

“Yeah.”

“How bad?” He says as he just presses his tip against her and then pulls it away.

“R-really bad, Harry.” She nearly begs. “Please, fuck me.”

He presses his bulbous head into her, and she moans out from the stretch. He feeds her, inch by inch, and bottoms out. Her nails dig into his forearms.

“M’gonna move.” He says and she nods.

He rocks his hips in and out of her at first, letting her adjust, and then he grabs one of her ankles to throw over his shoulder, and he drives it in deep. Her mouth falls open, but no noise comes out. No one had ever filled her up like this before. He grips the head board with one hand and continues fucking into her. She moans out, maybe a little too loudly, but it wasn’t like his neighbor was home. No wonder she could hear whoever he brought home sometimes, he really knew what he was doing. With a stroke of boldness, she slides her hand up to his neck, and grips him lightly. He looks down at her, a little shocked.

“Is this okay?” She pants.

“Yeah, do it harder.”

She groans and does as he says. He grunts and moans as he starts to hit her g-spot again. It was quite the hot sight, seeing her small hand around his thick throat. Her other hand moves to rub her clit, and he almost loses it watching her.

“Y/N, I…fuck, I don’t know how much longer I can go, I’m s-sorry.” He bites his bottom lip to try to focus on something else.

“I’m almost there, almost there! Just keep going, please!”

Her back arches as he gives her a sharp thrust and she comes around his cock. He spills into the condom not too long after and collapses on top of her. She hugs him to her chest, and runs her fingers through his now damp curls. He lifts his head to kiss her, licking into her mouth. She welcomes it, molding her tongue to his. If he wasn’t so sensitive he’d probably grow hard again. She winces as he pulls out, and he quickly goes into his bathroom to get a warm rag to clean her up.

“You don’t have to do that, I can just use the bathroom.” She says as her legs lay limp. He chuckles as he runs the rag over her.

“I know you can, but I thought I’d help out a bit.” He knees back on the bed to lay next to her. “Will you stay the night?”

“You really want me to?”

“Yeah.” He runs his fingers up and down her torso, raising goosebumps over her body. “I don’t know about you, but in about ten minutes I for sure could go again.” Her head turns to him and she scoffs. “Or…not, we could also just cuddle if you like.”

“Mm, I like the sound of that.” She rolls over onto his chest, and he kisses the top of her head.

“Did I go a little too hard?”

“Maybe, but I like it like that so it’s fine.”

“You’re full of surprises, I like you a lot.” He blurts out, and she looks up at him.

“You do?”

“Mhm.” He smiles.

“Good, because I like you too. I’m glad you’re not a proper dick and didn’t kick me out.”

“Couldn’t do that to you, Babe. In fact, tomorrow morning, I’m gonna make you a big breakfast.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, and then we’ll get cozy and eat it in bed. Have a nice lazy day…you know, if you want….”

She giggles and moves to straddle him. He grips her hips and looks up at her confused.

“You’ve sold me, I can go again.”

[serceleste]

doctor strange in the multiverse of madness

Saw it a couple weeks ago! Had been really looking forward to it, for a lot of reasons. I liked it, but tbh I wanted to like it more than I actually did.

- The main issue for me was that I didn’t buy into the central premise of Wanda as the villain, post Wandavision. It’s not that I don’t believe she has the potential because she 100% does, after all, this is the same character who in the comics went “no more mutants” and in the MCU mind controlled an entire town. It’s that they didn’t convince me that the Wanda who understood the wrongs she committed in Wandavision and genuinely regretted her actions would then immediately turn around and go full ‘I don’t give a shit who I have to murder to steal this other woman’s life and her kids’. I gather the Darkhold was negatively influencing her but IMO they didn’t sell it all the way as ‘this is why, it’s not really Wanda’, and even if they had, honestly I find that a cop-out. So anyway it was hard to appreciate the movie for what it was when the whole time I was just thinking ‘this is not Wanda wtf’. Which is a shame, because I think a villain Wanda I believed in would have been great, and she certainly was pretty scary.

- But I did like a lot of parts of the movie! Especially just Stephen himself. I LOVE HIM.

- I loved America, and I loved her relationship with Stephen. So good. (And at least they kept her moms, though I’m honestly not surprised they managed to avoid yet again showing a character as LGBTQ+.)

- Wong is so great. I was about to be so fucking mad that they killed him off, in my head I was just like ‘no they didn’t no they didn’t he’s FINE’ until finally they showed him okay. Him trying to get Stephen to bow to him was the best.

- Loved the Illuminati! And what a fun way to include some AU things we don’t have in the main timeline, like Maria!Captain Marvel, and Captain Carter (CAPTAIN CARTER OH MY GOD SHE WAS SOOOOO COOL). Xavier in his hover chair! With the cartoon music! I was so surprised to see what’s his name as Reed. (I always think of him first as Emily Blunt’s husband, lol.)

- There were some really cool visuals, notably the montage where America and Stephen are moving from universe to universe. I also liked the fighting with musical notes, and Wanda fighting through reflections.

- Zombie Strange was fucking weird but I liked it.

- I think they used Christine well, and I believed that Stephen genuinely loved her but couldn’t figure out how to be with her, and I believed in her importance to him. I really liked the last scene of him and the other universe’s Christine together, where he finds a sort of closure and peace.

- Also loved Stephen being faced with all the other Stephens’ bad choices, and then being able to make better ones himself, even to the point of saving America when she herself was at peace with that not happening. I got a little teary when he helped her find her own control.

- And for all that this way of doing villain Wanda didn’t work for me, I still cried when Billy and Tommy were scared of her and she realized she had become their monster. That really got me.

- I want Young Avengers Billy (and Billy/Teddy!!) SO MUCH but I was still pleased to see the Wandavision versions of him and Tommy again because the child actors are so charming.

- I loved the goat dude. Glad he’s okay!!

- CLEA! CHARLIZE THERON! CHARLIZE THERON AS CLEA!!!! Oh my fucking God. I almost jumped out of my seat and cheered. Marvel, thank you for this gift, holy shit.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Twilight (2008)

Twilight is not the 0-star picture so many people claim (or want) it to be. If you like it, I can understand why. That said, those who call it a great film are doing so because of their affection for the source material, which itself isn't particularly robust. This is getting overly complicated. Let’s just get to the review.

Seventeen-year-old Isabella “Bella” Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to the small town of Forks to live with her father, Charlie (Billy Burke). At her new school, she gets along with everyone… except for the enigmatic Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). The boy seems almost repulsed by her but Bella is drawn to him. As it turns out, he - and his feelings for Bella - aren't what they seem.

There are some undeniable faults in this picture. The performances, for instance. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have proven themselves strong performances but director Catherine Hardwicke stifles any emotions that might've been present. Not helping is the screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, which directly quotes the novel by Stephenie Meyer often. You'll find plenty of clunky, overly wordy exchanges, the kind that comes from an author spinning their wheels, trying to buy time before a big reveal three chapters later by busting out their thesaurus and endlessly re-writing the same dialogue until it becomes a garbled mess.

Twilight is also a bit too ambitious for its budget. The special effects aren't convincing. It made me think back to the Smallville pilot, which would've been a good thing was this a TV series or non-theatrical movie, but someone should’ve looked at the fast-motion effects and recognized how silly they looked.

If you’re reading this segment of the review, you know that Edward is a vampire. Not the scary Nosferatu type, but a hundred-year-old glittering, sullen-faced, creature of the night that falls head-over-heels in love with Bella Swan. People will call this ridiculous but this is where I'll defend Twilight. Yes, the glittering thing is dumb, but it’s a detail. Considering every vampire in this film has a different superpower (which is an elegant way of blending the various myths about vampires), you can just pretend that’s Edward’s. I will also stand up for the relationship between the lovers. Bella and Edward have something about them that genuinely WOULD make them a good couple. When Bella comes to school, she’s basically loved by all. The boys want to date her, the girls want to be her best friend. All, except for one guy. Why? because Edward can read minds. No one in the world is a mystery to him. Holding a conversation, even with his fellow vampires is redundant but he can’t hear Bella’s thoughts. She's the only person in the entire world he could sit down and have a chat with.

There’s a germ of a good idea here. It’s the execution that's at fault. Perhaps the source material too. You might have to squint a bit but you can find scenes in the film that are good. The best example is a moment when the Cullens play baseball. It shows them as real “human beings”. People will call the scene where Edward admits that he likes to watch Bella sleep “creepy”, but that’s because he can't express himself well. As a vampire, he doesn’t sleep. He's been forced to live only with his kind and always drifts further away from normal human behavior. He hasn’t seen someone sleep in ages. He’s not “keeping an eye on her” at all times, he’s fascinated by every aspect of this young woman. Many of the interactions Bella has with her friends are charming and Billy Burke does good work with his role.

Twilight is harmless. It will appeal to those who've enjoyed the book and is sure to ensorcell young teenage girls. Unfortunately, the source material's weaknesses shine through, and neither director Catherine Hardwicke nor writer Melissa Rosenberg do much to improve upon it (trust me on that). This makes it nothing special for the rest of us but hardly a plague upon cinema so many people have declared it to be. I don’t see why it’s gotten such strong reactions either way. Perhaps the sequel, New Moon, will make it clearer. (Theatrical cut on DVD, December 9, 2016)

[pop-pop-pop-popculture]

‘Stranger Things’ Season 4

I started on May 27 at 11:00 PM and finished yesterday at 8:10 AM… 

I am honestly speechless, and I mean that in a good way. This was season was so fucking great! The acting, the visual effects, the script, storyline... everything. This season was just as good as season one (if not better). It was a combination of suspenseful, funny (the timing was perfect and all of it was genuine instead of forced), scary, eerie, sad, and shocking. Kudos to the entire cast and crew!

HIGHLIGHTS

Argyle and Murray. That’s it, just them. I enjoyed watching these characters a lot.

Eleven not knowing what weed is

The first time we see Jonathan is when he’s smoking weed. That scene sent me.

Jane Hopper

Rink-O-Mania

Eleven getting bullied (not only by her classmates but also at another “location” that is not in California) 😭

Jim Hopper being called ‘(the) American’

I love how Jim and one of the Russian guards, Enzo, started off as enemies, but then eventually had each other’s backs. The chemistry between the characters was really sweet, and powerful. It was a neat thing to witness.

However, I still think Jim should have died in the third season instead of live. I’m sorry, but his entire subplot had nothing to do with Vecna and the high schoolers (and each group) as well as Eleven and her subplot, so it kind of took away from the main storyline.

Robin Buckley my pretty, talkative, and witty queen. 👑

Robin and Nancy teaming up together and eventually becoming friends.

Steve Harrington.

Max’s letter to Billy and everything that goes down while she’s at his grave.

Will singing for a little bit followed by Mike and Jonathan realizing what, uh, step to take next (I don’t know how else to word that...)

Joyce is still a badass.

The references to previous seasons was neat.

Dustin, Lucas, Steve, Eddie, Robin, Nancy, and Max finding each other through the use of a hanging lamp / Lite-Brite was beautiful and clever. The visuals were stunning. It was a nice reference to Joyce finding Will through the Christmas lights in season one.

The cliffhanger! There’s a lot more I could (and want to) add, but I’ll leave the list at this. The last two episodes will be released on July 1.

▪️ May 29, 2022 ▪️

[bellaslilpapercut]

Eclipse reread part 2! This is gonna cover a lot of chapters because I forgot to include stuff from chapters 4, 5, and 6 in part 1 (in my defense your honor, this book is very grating to read). Awayyy we go:

1. so chapters 4-6 really could have been one chapter tbh since the plot is: Bella ditches work at Newton’s Outfitters to hang with Jake and then writes some graduation invites with Angela. She pushes her rusty old behemoth as fast as it can go through driving rain but then hangs outside with Jake the whole time so I don’t really know where the rain went. She also manages to hear Jake gasp through her closed car door! Super sonic! Anyway, Bella insists that Edward is a good guy, Jake makes Bella hold his hand, Jake explains imprinting (yuck we can skip that), and then Edward drives threateningly past Bella while she’s on her way to Angela’s house. Angela reminds Bella that, at his core, Edward is a teen boy who is Totally Jealous of how Ripped and Sexy her 16 year old best friend is. Then Alice kidnaps Bella. Fun times!

2. During the imprinting convo it becomes very apparent that Meyer thinks the worst thing that can happen to a girl is getting broken up with. Somehow Leah got the “worst end” of the Sam/Emily/Leah fiasco despite Sam turning into a “monster” and Emily getting literally mauled in the face. What’s worse is later in the book, during the “Legends” chapter, when Bella wonders if Leah thinks Emily’s scars are a form of “justice.” Yea, Bella, that’s justice. 

3. I love this Rosalie quote but hate the entirety of they way meyer writes her story. Others have mentioned it before but Meyer writes Rose's dialogue there as if Rose is an author and not like...a person telling a story. An easy fix would be to format Rosalie's story "flash back" style rather than have her narrate all the way through. Then you can include all the superfluous details of exactly what everyone's voice sounded like and all the excessive dialogue tags you want.

I also Violently Abhor this quote here:

Yea, meyer, the Hot Girl hates your self-insert because her stupid ass brother didn't have the hots for her. It just reads like weird middle school revenge fantasy "I only hated you because you were so Special!!!" Sure, sure. Also "all those females!" People don't talk like that @stephanie

4. I do love the scene when Bella “escapes” from Alice with Jake (I don’t know why i put escape in quotes, Alice could definitely murk Bella) but then that whole adventure ends with Jake telling Bella he’d rather she die than turn into a vampire. And yeah, fair buddy, but also you’ve known Bella for a long time. This should not be a surprise to you at all even a little bit. a) she mentioned it before, b) you knew she would never get over Edward even if your plan in NM had worked, and c) you’ve known that she’s fully obsessed with the Cullen’s since you started hanging out with her again. The last time you guys hung out she went on an impassioned rampage about how lovely and good and fantastic Edward is (footage not found) I really don’t know why you’re surprised that this hard-headed girl is prepared to commit to vampirism for him. She is not normal lmfao.

5. The legends chapter. Oh boy. Stephanie, Meyer, Smeyer. Honestly it might have been less offensive if she had just made up a whole new tribe to give these backstories to, for all that they have in common with real Quileute legends but actually that would still be offensive and terrible anyway. I don’t know how to describe this adequately but if you’ve ever seen G.I. Joe’s portrayal of indigenous people that’s exactly what meyer made Old Quil and Billy’s dialogue sound like. Just absolutely dripping with Mystical Native/ Magical Native trope from the content to the tone. https://mthg.org/ Because it can’t be plugged enough.  

6. The legends chapter ends with this Wuthering Heights quote:

I have no qualms with it's inclusion, if you really want to push the Edward is Heathcliff and Bella is Cathy agenda, I don't believe it but fine, whatever. But those last two paragraphs are such a dumb way to end a chapter. Every chapter ending should make the reader want to turn the page: this makes me want to shut the book (actually I did take a long break after this lmfao). Anyway, just end the quote on "drank his blood," bold those three words, and end the chapter there. Don't go back and say "the three words that stood out were... Anyway it could have fallen to any page I believe in coincidence teehee!!" That's just annoying.

7. Okay guys I hate to say it but Edward does get a lil bit of ~character growth after the first few chapters. He comes home after having Bella kidnapped (she decides not to be angry, surprise surprise) and is all "so I've been thinking about it and you're right my Beloved Angel Face or whatever, please hang out with Jacob but also wear a helmet on your motorcycle my Beloved Dumb Idiot or whatever" (paraphrase). And he also says this in chapter 12:

Which is like, man I hate when I agree with Edward but I agree with Edward here. Now I know from MS that he only wants Bella to stay human because he's creating an Unfolding Drama in his head but this bit of dialogue is really sweet. And it's funny that he thought Bella didn't want to marry him because she just wanted to use him for immortality but it's also a Dark Reminder that he's literally only romantic with her because he can't read her mind and can't tell that she's just as obsessed with his looks as the other Teen Girls TM.

8. uuuh Jasper’s Backstory Time. This is so infuriating to read for so many reasons. So we know that smeyer got Jasper’s name from a confederate memorial/ listing (from a New Moon Q&A but the link isn’t secure so I can’t share) so I know that his backstory was always meant to be Confederate Soldier which makes everything else about his characterization just baffling. Again, he was the only Cullen that was genuinely kind to Bella besides Carlisle for the entire first book and he’s still incredibly kind during Eclipse (which is another issue I have though because no one mentions again that Jasper tried to eat Bella and they stand close to each other and hang out and Bella’s never like “this is scary, this dude tried to kill me” but i digress). The point is: smeyer knew he was going to be a confederate from book 1. She never addresses that this was bad, she never has Jasper mention that he regrets his role in the war, he is the only Cullen that’s actually capable of empathizing with humans anymore (Carlisle cares but I would not categorize him as empathetic), it just... None of these pieces fit together. This is a fraught and bloody history that smeyer throws in with no thought to how it might alienate black readers (though tbh she constantly emphasizes “white beauty” throughout the series so I doubt she cares) and the editors don’t question it either. No one, at any point in time, said “Hey, steph, you know confederates fought for slavery, right?” Every black american deserves reparations. White women and men who glorify the civil war should be the first to pay up. 

9. I’m gonna jump back to chapters 9 & 10 here (target & scent, respectively) to say: no tension is being effectively built. I get it, someone stole your clothes. You’re annoyed because you have nothing to wear and Victoria is scary. But where is she? Where is the volturi? Move it along, please! This is one of the challenges of 1st person narrative because the author is stuck in the eyes of, usually, the person who knows the least. Meyer is not a talented enough author to make this interesting. Not to bring up THG again but Suzanne Collins really knew how to work 1st person. Everything that Katniss asserts with certainty throughout the series gets either confirmed or denied by the narrative, keeping it interesting. She assumes the worst of the people around her so we’re pleasantly surprised when people violate those assumptions. We’re kept on edge by how little Katniss knows and SC never gifts Katniss with more knowledge than she could be expected to have. Bella is constantly gifted with knowledge and her assumptions are rarely proven wrong. You can dig into the canon a little bit more, read the lexicon and the guide, and find all the examples of Bella being unreliable or making wrong assumptions. But within the narrative she is rarely incorrect. She doesn’t get opportunities to grow out of her false assumptions (while Edward does, at least in Eclipse). So to keep the Victoria debacle interesting, smeyer has to plant seeds like- during these two chapters- Bella thinking of Laurent and Victoria while the cullens discuss who could have been in Bella’s room. That just doesn’t cut it for me. 

This is hella long and I’m only halfway through the book. I probably should split the second half into two parts as well but based on how talented smeyer is at stretching out the mundane, especially just before the climax, I probably wont need to.