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mk-wizard · 8 months

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Top 10 Spinoffs that really need to happen

Hi, friends. I may not be a fan of cheap sequels or prequels we don't want, I do think spinoffs are underrated especially if they focus on characters that are beloved and have interesting stories to tell. I mean, look at the success of Star Wars' many series especially its two diamonds being Clone Wars and Andor. I was inspired to make this list after seeing the trailer of Daryl Dixon.

In this list, I will my top ten medias that could it even bigger if they make these specific spinoffs.

Marvel's War Machine (Film/TV Series) - Nevermind Riri. Let's focus on this guy who was not only around long before her, but since the beginning. In time where we want more black representation than ever, I think War Machine is should be the next big thing. War Machine aka James Ruper "Rhodey" Rhodes is a decorated soldier to begin and Iron Man's right hand man. Despite the similar gimmick, his personality is much more serious, professional and mannerly. He can hold out on his own and he is a hero anyone of any type can look up to.

2. Marvel's Mary Jane Watson (Mini Series) - While she started off as Gwen Stacey's replacement and would alter become Peter Parker's main woman, she has now come quite into her own. She has even gone on adventures of her own, has become more capable and even became an ally in action for Spider-Man. While the comics have gone sour, maybe TV can bring us back MJ and Spidey as not only a couple, but as equals who both have exciting stories to tell.

3. Marvel's (REAL) Spider-Girl (TV Series/Film) - Speaking of TV redeeming MJ and Spidey as soul mates, last I remember, at one point, they were not only happily married, they had a daughter Mayday Parker who had the mantle passed down to her long before Miles Morales, the other Gwen Stacey (Spider-Woman) and all these other modern incarnations. She is a very underrated heroine who fell into obscurity no thanks to how Marvel broke up one of its most iconic couples. She needs to make a comeback because she is the true Spider-Girl in every way possible,

4. Disney's Goofy kid's show (TV Series) - For a while, the Disney gang made a big comeback since Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and almost everyone got their own spinoff or reboot. Everyone, but Goofy which I find is a waste because unlike all the others with the exception of Pete, he actually is a father. So far, the only independent works Goofy has gotten are Goof Troop, the two Goofy Movies and two animated shorts in some holidays specials. I think Goofy can make for a great host in a kid's show because despite his goofiness, he is a very capable and in fact, wise father. He would be a lot like Mr. Rogers or Mr. Dress Up where instead just playing with kids, he's actually teaching them and even comforting them the way a father does.

5. Resident Evil's Billy Coen (Video Game) - I don't think there's an RE fan out there who hasn't wished to see what became of this beloved one off character. Between you and me, I think he's still alive and kicking zombie, and I would love see what became of him after RE0. He not only came from one of the few prequel media out there that was great, but he is a total badass with a compelling backstory. We even got to see what happened to Sherry Birkin later one. I think Billy is more than worth a chance in the spotlight.

6. Silent Hill's Heather Mason (Video Game) - I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. While she got her own game (technically, two if you count the first ever SH game), I don't believe her story should have ended with SH3. The Mason family is the closest thing to a true SH main protagonist as there is I would love to her a now adult Heather Mason still fighting the Order as it is still out there wreaking havoc. She was a great heroine and an underrated video game character in general.

7. Jurassic Park for grown ups (TV Series) - It's had a few spinoffs so far and the only that is a big hit is Camp Cretaceous. I think another one should be made and this time, it should be aimed for adults. In the beginning, JP showed a lot of promise when it came to making adult oriented spinoffs with the comics and the sequel The Lost World, but after that, it became more and more about the action and less about the horror factor and dinosaurs. Even the revival trilogy of Jurassic World lacked that horror element that adults appreciated in the first two movies and most importantly, the book. We need to make a spinoff that is aimed for grown ups without it feeling like it wants to be Indiana Jones.

8. DC's Batgirl (TV Series) - Nevermind Batwoman, Batgirl was around first AND she was solo before joining the bat family officially. I mean, even her father Jim Gordon got his own spinoff series before she did and she's actually a super. And apparently, her film never saw the light of day because it was not up to standard. I say, we make a TV series that does live up to standard AND we make it animated like we did Harley Quinn. Barbara Gordon set the standard for a lot lady supers came after her and she iconic. EVERYONE knows who Batgirl is. Even people who don't read comics know who Batgirl is. What I don't know is why she hasn't starred in her own solo media yet beyond comics.

9. DC's Catwoman (Film/TV Series) - Speaking of iconic DC heroines, it is funny how one of its most iconic anti-heroines, love interest's to Batman and just recently, bisexual supers still hasn't gotten any independent media beyond her comics. If there's one woman who doesn't need no Batman (let alone man in general) to stand on her own two feet and have a compelling story to tell, it's her. The only thing we have gotten are two films. One which is imposter media starring Halle Berry and another no one knows about. Seline Kyle deserves so much more than that. I say she gets her own proper show or at the very least, a proper film. She's worth it.

10. Capcom's Dino Crisis (Video Game) - I think this franchise only got one spinoff (two if you count the third instalment that went off the rails), and it wasn't a hit. Dino Crisis was clearly inspired by the original Jurassic Park especially when it came to horror and the feeling of being genuinely threatened by the dinosaurs. This game felt like the long lost twin sister of RE. With that said, it should get a spinoff because it's worth a last hurrah and who knows? It mind revive this lost gem of a series. I say we go for it and put our best foot forward doing it. Let it be true to the lore, the setting and theme. None of the dinos in space silliness.

Anyway, that is my list. What is your opinion on it? Would you like to see these spinoffs or can you suggest another? Let me know.

Thanks for reading and as always, stay safe.

#comic #film #tv series #mini series #dino crisis #catwoman #batgirl #spin off #jurassic park #marvel comics #dc comics #selina kyle #barbara gordon #rhodey rhodes #war machine #goofy #goof troop #fandom

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tvrundownusa · 9 months

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tvrundown USA 2023.08.28

Monday, August 28th:

(exclusive): "The Conversations Project" (hulu, real round-table talk, all 6 eps), The Museum (BritBox, season 2 stateside premiere, all 6 eps)

(streaming weekly): The Chelsea Detective (AcornTV, season 2 opener), Futurama (hulu), Synduality Noir (hulu), Murdoch Mysteries (AcornTV, part 2/2, season 16 finale)

(specials): America in Black (BET, "March On Washington 60 Years Later", earlier 5pm), Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland (PBS, docuseries, night 1 of 3, 2hrs)

(original made-for-TV movies): "10 Steps to Love" (GAFam, 2hrs)

(hour 1): Claim to Fame (ABC, special time, 2hrs), American Ninja Warrior (NBC, 2hrs), Son of a Critch (theCW) / . / Run the Burbs (theCW), Stars on Mars (FOX, season 1 finale)

(hour 2): Claim to Fame (ABC, contd, season 2 finale), American Ninja Warrior (NBC, contd), Children Ruin Everything (theCW) / . / Bump (theCW), . / ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series (disney, shorts), BBQ Brawl (FOOD)

(hour 3): Breeders (FX), Miracle Workers (TBS, "End Times" series finale), BBQ USA (FOOD, season 2 finale), "The Ruling Class" (MGM+, "Peter Thiel")

(hour 4 - latenight): The Chelsea Detective (BBCAm, season 1 opener)

#NorthernIreland #ChelseaDetective #ConversationsProject #television

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corescorner · 4 years

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Deadicated Chapter One.

A dark comedy zombie apocalypse Sanders Sides fic.

AO3

Word count: 2100

The outbreak started in the middle of winter. It was an icy day outside, too much so that Remus almost breaks his neck multiple times while running to his apartment. But run he had to; zombies littered the streets.

Getting into his apartment foyer and unlocking the door into the main hall to get to the elevator was an ordeal.

The ice might have sucked for him to run on, but it at least didn’t make things easy for the zombies either.

He paces in the elevator as it ascends to the top floor where he lives with his brother and his brothers boyfriend/his best friend.

The elevator door opens and Remus steps out slowly looking both ways before rushing to his door, then stops.

What if they’re zombies? He’s going to have to kill his brother and best friend!

He slowly turns the handle and peeks inside, the television is playing some Disney movie, Roman and Damien are seemingly asleep on the couch.

Remus slowly and silently creeps into the room and then hurriedly goes into hisroom to get his morning star (he got it at a ren fair a couple years ago to everyone’s dismay, but who’s gonna be laughing now when he beats zombie ass with it huh?)

He sneaks back into the living room, morning star at the ready. He whistles loudly to get the two (hopefully not zombies) to wake up.

Both jump awake, Roman falling to the floor with a squawk.

“What the hell Re?!” Roman shouts rubbing his nose in pain.

Dee is staring at him, wary and amused.

“I think your brother has finally snapped.”

Roman looks at his boyfriend “what are you talking-“ he looks at Remus “-abOUT REMUS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“Oh good” Remus sighs and lowers his weapon “you’re not zombies.”

The boyfriends look at each other with twin looks of confusion then to Remus in concern.

Roman gets up slowly, walking towards Remus like he’s a startled animal, they don’t have time for this they need to make plans and think about the freakin zombie apocalypse!

“Remus, are you alright?” Roman slowly asks, Remus rolls his eyes.

“Uh, yea but we won’t be soon” he gestures to the window.

“What do you mean by that?” Dee asks.

“Zombies! Why do you think I have my morning star? I was making sure you’re not zombies!” He throws his hands up in the air, taking the morning star with the motion and making the other two flinch away.

“Okay, okay just be carful with that thing!” Roman shouts.

Dee gets up and moves to the window, Roman puts his hands on his hips.

“You’re seriously not going to entertain the idea of this zombie thing are you?” He directs at his boyfriend.

Dee just stares wide eyed at the scene before him.

It’s a ridiculous notion, that zombies would actually exist, and yet here Damien is staring out of his fourth floor apartment at a small cluster of what has to be zombies (cause what else would they be?)slip on the icy road outside.

Roman and Remus are arguing in the background.

“Seriously, put that thing away before you hurt someone!”

“Um! I’m gonna be hurting zombies!”

“Zombies do not exist!”

“Look outside dipshit!”

“I’m not going to be fooled into one of you’re tricks.”

“Roman” Dee whispers, neither brother hears.

“Uuugh! I’m not fucking with you this time!”

“Okay sure, you just want me to believe that zombies are roaming the streets right now?”

“Yes! Cause it’s true!”

“Roman!” Dee says louder and both brothers look towards him. His face must convey the horror he feels cause Roman falls silent, his own face contorts to something Remus can’t put an emotion to.

Roman slowly walks to the window to stare out at the chaos. He shakes his head wildly, backing up and bumping into Remus, he jumps in fright and whirls on his twin with a manic look in his eyes.

He’s speechless, what is there to say about this situation?

Dee comes up to him slowly and wraps Roman in a hug.

“Don’t wanna say I told ya so, buuuuut like” Remus shrugs and motions to the window again.

“No, no no, this is a bad dream. This can not be happening, zombies aren’t a thing!”

Dee hums a soothing tone in Roman’s ear, Roman doesn’t take kindly to it.

He breaks himself out of the embrace, starts to pace and then turns to the other two, he feels like he’s about to explode! How are they so calm about this? Their world just changed! There are zombies for fucks sake!

“Why are you not freaking out with me?!” Roman yells.

Remus scowls, Dee just sighs.

“Roman, Starlight, Darling-” Dee starts as he walks towards a shaking Roman “-there’s nothing to do about it, yes it’s more than not ideal, but it’s a thing that has now happened and we need to deal with it as such.”

Roman scoffs “Yes, Okay sure! But can we not have a little freak out moment here! Everything has just changed and I don’t know if we can survive something like this!”

Remus has had enough of this, he goes to his room and rummages through his closet, he pulls out his large camping backpack and gets to work on making a getaway bag.

He moves around the apartment to gather up supplies, when he passes the living room to get to the kitchen he sees Roman shaking in Dee’s arms, he stops and rustles his bag.

“I suggest you two do the same thing, we have enough to survive here for a little while longer and we can go on runs to the store down the street if we absolutely need to but we should all have a getaway bag just in case.”

Dee nods while rubbing Roman’s back, the actor isn’t crying but he is shaking violently.

Roman stares at Remus like he’s seeing him for the first time.

“Re, how can you be so nonchalant about this?”

Remus sighs, moving towards his brother and hugging him.

“Look, Ro. Do you remember when we were kids and we were playing that silly game and you insisted you wanted to be the prince and since you were older you got to have the title?”

Roman nods, so Remus continues.

“Well, I said if I can’t be the prince I’ll just be your knight instead? Even though I so totally could have just as well stayed as duke?”

Roman nods again.

“That’s what I’m doing here, I’m stepping down a rank to be the knight until you can get your shit together.”

Roman lets out a small laugh “yea, okay. I’ll be back as the prince soon enough... just let me process a little longer?”

Remus nods “yea sure, we’ll rule again once you feel up for it Broman.”

“It’s a good thing we’re on the top floor” Dee points out.

The brothers look at him.

“What? I’m just saying, the poor shmucks on the bottom floor must be having a really bad time right about now.”

Remus laughs at that and Roman just scrunches his face a bit.

“Should we check the floor?” Roman asks in a whisper.

Remus hums “mmm, probably, we might get some supplies from looting” he says offhandedly then perks up a little bit, in a more joyful tone he says: “looting! I’ve always wanted to loot things in an apocalypse scenario!”

Dee chuckles “silver linings I suppose.”

As Dee gets together his bag, Roman following his lead, he jerks up like he just remembered something.

“I have to call our father!” Roman yells.

Remus, from the other room groans.

They haven’t spoken to Romulus in years, he doesn’t see why this should be any different, it’s not like they can get to him from where he’s probably all the way at the other end of the earth doing who knows what.

“No point Ro, he’s probably on some secluded island right now!” Remus yells.

Roman sighs, he supposes Remus is right. It’s not like he’d do the same for them. He hasn’t really been there for them much.

Dee picks up his own phone with a sick look on his face.

“Oh god, I hope Thomas is okay” he says lowly dialling his brothers number.

It rings once. Twice. Three times. Come on Thomas! Four times, the line picks up before Dee can hurl his phone across the room.

“Heya short stuff! Thomas is in the shower what can I do ya for?”

Dee sighs in relief.

“Remy, you and my brother need to not go outside, but scope out your place, please just trust me when I tell you the next thing I know it’s going to sound crazy but you need to trust me okay?” He rushes out.

“Sure thing Dee, what’s wrong?”

“Well, there’s no easy way to say this... the zombie apocalypse has come” he waits a beat for a response, but none comes. “Rem? Are you there?”

“Listen, that is like, super not cool to spring on a guy.”

“Remy, please you have to believe me” He pleas with his brother in law.

He hears noise on the other side, a sliding door opening he realizes.

“Remington! I swear to god if you become a zombie and kill my brother I’m going to find a way to bring you back and kill you myself!”

Remy laughs a little bit “chill babe, there’s a fence around the house.”

He hears Thomas’ voice faintly “who you calling babe on myphone?”

“Just your little bro” Remy answers and he hears Thomas fake gasp in shock.

“You’re cheating on me with my brother! Well, I’m sure Roman would gladly take me instead after both of us gets our hearts broken.”

Dee sighs, as much as he enjoys these moments and who knows when they’ll get more like this he needs them to take this seriously right now.

“Remy! Zombie! Apocalypse! Happening right now!” He shouts.

“Oh, right. Sure. Thomas your brother says a zombie apocalypse is happening.”

Good, Thomas will believe him.

He hears scuffling then the phone jostles and Thomas is on the line.

“Dee, are you sure?” He asks

“Yes” he hisses “of course I am, I’m watching them fumble around on the ice as we speak!”

When they were younger, they had a zombie movie marathon, both of them got unabashedly terrified of the prospect of it actually happening so they made a secret pact with each other, if one ever actually happens they have to tell the other and they’d believe them no matter what. It was a silly promise between children but both of them took it seriously, even in adulthood.

“Damien you have to come to Florida. I have a bunker we can stay there for however long we need, bring Roman and his brother too!”

Dee laughs out loud “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. But you have a bunker? Since when?”

“We have a bunker?” He hears Remy exclaim in the background.

“Uh, yea my paranoia got the best of me there, but! It’s a good thing it did cause I can sustain at least ten people for about five years in that thing!”

“I’ll talk to the twins” he says, Thomas let’s out a sigh of relief.

“Okay, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to stay in touch for. Please be carful Damien, I cant loose you.”

“Nor I you” Dee says back, both brothers hang up at the same time.

Thomas starts to gather up all that he can to bring it to the shed out back, which houses the bunkers secret entryway.

Remy follows his instructions without complaint, he kinda enjoys when Thomas gets all authoritative anyway.

When Dee turns around after his call, he sees Roman and Remus staring at him.

“We’re going to Florida” he simply says.

“I’m guessing Thomas is okay then?” Roman asks.

“Yes, and crazy as it may be he has a pretty well stocked bunker.”

“Sweet.” Remus comments.

“It’s not going to be easy to get to Florida” Roman says.

“No, but I’m sure we can do it” Dee says, semi lying. He does think it will be hard to do and he’s not sure that they’re going to be able to do it unscathed, but they have to try and they need their spirits up, so Dee will lie as much as he can to make them not loose hope. Cause really, all they have right now is hope.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #remus sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #deceit sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #emile picani #remy sanders #intrulogicality #roceit #intrulogical #logicality #moduke #sleepmas #zombie apocolypse au #deadicated au #coresfic

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conking · 5 years

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So hey con, what's this new anime/manga thing I see on your blog that you've been nonstop posting about? Looks actually pretty nice and the kinda thing I'd be into but I want to look a little more into it and find things out, like it's name for example, before I go diving into the cesspool of the internet for it

this is gonna get long so, tldr: ancient chinese gays! comedy! action! mystery! good meta! immortality! gods!

non-tldr: welcome to hell. specifically, mxtx hell, where a bunch of people yell really loudly about three different novels written by the same author (Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù, aka, mxtx). it’s not actually all the same thing, she just has some very specific aesthetics for her main couples dsfkjgsdfghs here’s a good way to differentiate them.

anyway i’ll give you a summary of the novels and if you find one interesting, please do enjoy your gateway drug because i’ve Never seen someone only read one of these once they start.

first up, Mo Dao Zu Shi / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation / Founder of Diabolism (it’s got a lot of names, i’m sticking with mdzs)

question: what is MDZS about?

a goth and a prep mutually pining for each other while fighting zombies and solving murders, accidentally adopting a riot of awkward teenagers along the way.

an uncomfortable look into the ethics of humanity, struggles with internalised homophobia and self-hatred, our stances both as a whole and individually on the complex issues around vilification, what counts as ‘the greater good’, the difficulty of forgiveness, and how ‘doing what’s right’ doesn’t always mean the same thing for different people.

magic and flying swords and family

answer: all of the above and hot damn is it fun. this is probably the one you meant when you said anime, cuz guess what? it has one and it’s GORGEOUS.

10/10. be warned, you WILL cry, you WILL want to fight the author, and you WILL love it. it’s incredibly angsty at parts and incredibly funny always and the romance kills me dead every time i think about it. slow toasty burn, with a super good plot that gets deeper and deeper as it goes. if you re-read the novel after you finish it you’ll find so many things you thought were insignificant on the first pass suddenly kicking you in the chest.

warnings for [SPOILERS]: dubious consent kissing, drunken touching, consensual rape kink. also starvation, slavery, genocide, gore, and body horror. mentions of incest and it’s consequences.

read it HERE, watch it HERE, listen to the audio drama HERE, watch the live action HERE

my favourite of the three is Tian Guan Ci Fu, or Heavenly Official’s Blessing.

tgcf is about a sexy demon pirate tagging along with a trash collecting disney princess who is very bad at staying in heaven (where he belongs). they go around systematically digging up every single piece of dirt on everybody ever - including, unfortunately, themselves. //sips tea/ delicious.

it’s basically an action/detective novel, heavy on the comedy and angst. read this for introspection, self acceptance, growth, forgiveness, endless torture, incredible pain, suffering like you’ve never known, the effects of war and genocide, results of abuse, beautiful imagery, Gundam, endless devotion, unconditional support, and the knowledge that hualian exists and invented romance. to put it another way:

if you like plot filled slow burn with healthy dynamics and a lot of trust, this is the series for you. 10000/10 i will take this novel to my grave PLEASE read tgcf. did i mention it’s also getting a donghua sometime soon?

warnings for [SPOILERS]: gore, cannibalism (kinda), plus child abuse and lots of body horror. gaslighting and manipulation feature pretty heavily in places (especially books 4 and 5). severe depression, anxiety, suicide, and self-depreciation are all dealt with as well.

read the first 21 chapters HERE, and you can find the rest on @ yummysuika ‘s pinned tweet, including the extras! the manhua is starting in a few days, and the donghua will be out next year!! wOOO

finally, we have the first book mxtx published, Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (i’m not touching the cn phonetics for that, we’re going sv for short).

to quote a tweet i saw one time, sv is about a shitty millennial litcrit who gets sucked into the novel he hates as the main villain, and how he struggles to survive while his overpowered disciple crytypes his way to true love. this is the fun one! [thinks about meta] …….the fun one [thinks about any character other than the mc] f-

it’s got a lot more web novel tropes and is generally an easier read. sv is full of hijinks and shenanigans and the tortured screams of a 21st century man who really just wants to lie around and eat good food, but keeps being dragged into everything against his will. comedic misunderstandings galore up in this bitch, character development and relationship growth gets Much heavier towards the end, and if you’re looking for a fun read to pass the time! this is the one! just don’t think about it. because it’s written from the perspective of an idiot with 2 braincells total, we also get to enjoy the Epitome of unreliable narrator syndrome.

overall 8.5/10, would recommend. it sets up and breaks a Lot of stereotypes, and the satire is *chef’s kiss*. don’t be fooled by the way the mc sees the characters, ya gotta look at it from their pov too. it’s getting a donghua in 2020, and the manhua will be out (again) sometime soon as well! yehaw!

warnings for [SPOILERS]: student-teacher relationship, forced kissing, some kinda dubious-consent touching, and a scene where one character thinks the other is going to rape them (nothing happens). additional warnings for violence, mentions of gore, slavery, bullying, and child abuse. (i haven’t read the last few chapters, but unless something Wild happens, that should cover things.)

read it HERE

one thing all mxtx novels have in common is the awesome side characters. you’ll probably end up loving a couple of them more than the protagonists and that’s just how it be. we’re all crying here. another thing they have in common is good plots. whether you’re interested in characters, plot development, deep conceptualisation, romance - it’s all there. just don’t go in looking for hot gay smex, cause that really ain’t what it’s about.

all of these are easier to get into if you have some knowledge of xianxia/wuxia/xuanhuan tropes, but it’s not a must! the translators provide great footnotes, so just google a phrase or refer back to them if you get stuck. you can read them in whatever order you want, they’re not connected at all, but if you’re new to the whole thing i’d recommend starting with the mdzs donghua or sv. as much as i love it, tgcf isn’t the best choice to start with.

#I REALLY RAMBLED HUH #SORRY ABOUT THAT #i've been so into mxtx for a while now that i just #[pours brain directly onto text]#anyway it might not be your cup of tea and that's fine too!#mxtx #whisperhome #answered the thing #[thinks about fgep] can i offer you some lesbians instead

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disneytva · 11 months

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youtube

Zed and Addison make a wish that summer would NEVER end, but when their wish comes true, their summer dream turns into a nightmare.

#Zombies #Zombies The Re-Animated Series #Zombies: The Re-Animated Series #Zombies The Re-Animated Series Shorts #Zombies: The Re-Animated Series Shorts #ZTRAS #Disney Zombies #Aliki Theofilopoulos #Jack Ferraiolo #Disney Channel #Disney+#Disney Plus #Disney+ Original Animated Hybrid Series #Disney Plus Original Animated Hybrid Series

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deeply-unserious-fellow · 9 months

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Lowkey the Zombies shorts are kinda giving me kid-friendly South Park vibes? That is by NO MEANS a diss, SP is an incredibly funny and well written show with or without the adult subject matter, but it's still worth pointing out I think. Because I like analyzing things.

I think it has something to do with the story structure? Because the formula for all the shorts(barring Robot Space Bear, Endless Summer and kind of Solstice Slasher) has been: Introduce an incredibly normal situation the main characters are in, something crazy funky happens that derails said situation, MCs deal with the threat to the best of their abilities, and then everybody acts like it was no big deal and go about their business as usual. Which is also how I would describe most South Park episodes. Mostly the early ones.

They also have pretty similar senses of humor, too. Like obviously South Park is a LOT raunchier then the fuckin DISNEY CHANNEL ANIMATED SHORTS, but outside of the adult jokes? It's very much the same kind of dry humor. The whole word order bit from Robot Space Bear is a good example. South Park's done the whole "casual conversation while something batshit insane and/or dangerous is happening" bit LOADS of times. Also a lot of it depends on line delivery. That's how it is with most comedy's, but I think Re-Animated and South Park both rely on line delivery more then a lot of other shows I've watched.

Some other similarities would be how they're both musicals, they both have some b a d takes on current politics, and Bucky and Cartman. Just. Bucky and Cartman. I really wanna write an essay comparing and contrasting how those two are written and why Cartman is an objectively better written character but my motivation is failing me pls send help-

At the end of the day, this means absolutely nothing other then *maybe* the people writing Zombies: Re-Animated like South Park. I just like comparing and contrasting my current fixations :)

#gal points out the obvious while pretending her interests are Normal and she is Not Insane For Liking Them #zombies #disney zombies #z-o-m-b-i-e-s #zombies: the re animated series #south park #analysis #meta analysis #late night ramblings #gal overanalyzes random shit

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secondscratch17 · 5 years

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weird asks that say a lot

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? All of them. I drink tea in coffee mugs and teacups. I love drinking wine. I like that I can recycle soda cans

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? chocolate

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? bubblegum if the flavor lasts long

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? the stereotypical quiet, obedient, smart, goody-two-shoes kid

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? somehow I like the aesthetic from soda bottles

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? hONESTLY I can dO ALL OF THE ABOVE in the span of days. Went to work one day wearing beach-y clothes for spirit day. Returned to pick up a friend to go see a metal concert in VERY metal concert attire. I own short, sweet summery floral dresses and gothic dresses, too

7. earbuds or headphones? Earbuds, they allow me to be more mobile

8. movies or tv shows? movies

9. favorite smell in the summer? Fresh cut grass. The smell of the ocean. Churros at the fair

10. game you were best at in p.e.? Soccer, obvs. Somehow would always last until the end of the game in dodgeball tho because I was small and no one could hit me

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? Cereal

12. name of your favorite playlist? Don’t have one.

13. lanyard or key ring? Key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Smarties!

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? I remember re-reading Holes over and over just to make my book reports easier since I knew the boo so well. The Kite Runner was phenomenal and unforgettable

16. most comfortable position to sit in? idk?? I really can’t sit still in one position for too long

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? Currently my hiking/outdoorsy shoes. Also my black Nikes that I play pickup in and wear to the gym

18. ideal weather? Sunny and 65. Maybe one or two clouds. The tiniest of faint breezes to cool me down.

19. sleeping position? Any I can get into and fall asleep in quickly

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? Laptop. I can edit easier.

21. obsession from childhood? Probably any cheesy show on Animal Planet. The Most Extreme, Meerkat Manor, Big Cat Diary, etc

22. role model? I have a lot of different ones. Role models for athletics, role models for career and ambition choices, artistic role models...can’t pick just one

23. strange habits? Spelling words with the tips of my fingers

24. favorite crystal? Aquamarine

25. first song you remember hearing? how in the FUCK am I supposed to remember that. I do remember my parents playing The Beatles for me when I was a toddler

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? Soccer! (futbol)

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? Sledding, making hot chocolate, or playing indoor soccer haha

28. five songs to describe you? Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been by Relient K, Proud by the Icarus Account, Land of the Dead by Voltaire, Always Leaving by Mayday Parade, Wavin’ Flag by K’naan

29. best way to bond with you? Listening to my favorite music with me or watching the US Women’s national soccer team with me

30. places that you find sacred? Belfast, Maine. Gold Camp Road. Newport Beach

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? Tight jeans with holes in them, fishnets, and a crop top

32. top five favorite vines? Vines still exist?

33. most used phrase in your phone? “tbh”

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? O O O O REILLYYYYYY’S autoparts

35. average time you fall asleep? around 9

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? I don’t remember

37. suitcase or duffel bag? suitcase

38. lemonade or tea? Is it warm outside? Lemonade. Is it cold outside? tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? PIE!

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? Zombie hunting or my professor cutting lab a half an hour short to go look at some Cedar waxwings

41. last person you texted? I think it was Robert

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? Pants pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? Jean jacket

44. favorite scent for soap? Anything fruity

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? Fantasy. It depends on how good the sci-fi movie is

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? as little as possible lmao

47. favorite type of cheese? Parmesan

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? A raspberry

49. what saying or quote do you live by? A great amount of good is always evened out by a great amount of bad

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? Honestly Daniel knew how to make me laugh better than anyone. There are a couple of memories with him that I don’t remember entirely but I know that I ended up cry-laughing so hard that my head hurt. There was a time during my orientation camping trip when a bunch of us were playing ultimate Frisbee, and Jesse went to catch the frisbee in the most perfectly lateral horizontal position and the expression of focus just frozen on his face had me laughing so hard that I couldn’t see

51. current stresses? Sam. Jobs that I can apply for starting in May of 2020. Sam. STUDENT LOANS. Bills. Car payments. Wondering how fucked up my car has gotten since I’ve lived here on this ranch. Sam.

52. favorite font? Anything that looks fancy and sarcastic

53. what is the current state of your hands? Need to be washed.

54. what did you learn from your first job? The world is cruel and bad things happen without warning

55. favorite fairy tale? Uh....the Pied Piper?

56. favorite tradition? when my family visits for Christmas, eating lots of traditional Chinese food with them

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? Heartbreak. Staggering rejection from the field I majored in. Probably a lot of body image struggles in there as well

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Writing, futbol, adaptability, flexibility. I think the last two are just traits but I don’t have a lot of talents I can invest in

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? Let’s make like a baby and head out

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? No idea

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? Though we are far apart, our spirits share the same earth and the same sky

62. seven characters you relate to? Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, Data from The Goonies, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Eliza Thornberry from The Wild Thornberries, Raven from Teen Titans, Isaac from Teen Wolf

63. five songs that would play in your club? ANYTHING by Within Temptation. I wouldn’t be a good club owner. The catchy and pump-up songs from Hamilton.

64. favorite website from your childhood? Wasn’t allowed much computer time. I was allowed to visit educational sites and occasionally the Disney site

65. any permanent scars? some self-harm scars. Probably the one on my right leg that I got from CO parks and wildlife. I stepped on a barbed wire fence that had been plastered to the ground, but the metal sprang up when I stepped on it and ripped through my skin

66. favorite flower(s)? Plumerias

67. good luck charms? I’m not sure if I have any.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? earthworm flavor from Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? uh...Something about not being able to spray silly string on Halloween in Hollywood

70. left or right handed? Right handed

71. least favorite pattern? wtf

72. worst subject? anything math related, I really struggled in GIS.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? I...have no idea

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? 2. I’m a baby

75. when did you lose your first tooth? I was 6

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? chips and fries

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? a succulent

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? sushi from a grocery store, the quality can surprise you

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? Both are terrible

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Jewel tones

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? I hate bugs

82. pc or console? PC

83. writing or drawing? Writing, I’m terrible at drawing

84. podcasts or talk radio? Not into either

84. barbie or polly pocket? I had both

85. fairy tales or mythology? God!!!! Like hearing about both but mythology I guess

86. cookies or cupcakes? Cookies

87. your greatest fear? Being forgotten. I also have a terrible, horrible fear of drowning

88. your greatest wish? In the times I’ve struggled I often find myself wishing for peace. Not only for myself, but for others to easily feel peace with everyone else

89. who would you put before everyone else? Sierra

90. luckiest mistake? Mistake? There’s been lucky accidents but I don’t think any of my mistakes have been lucky

91. boxes or bags? It depends on what I’m packing and where I’m going

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? Sunlight

93. nicknames? T, Tear, Tear-tear, T-Dog, Miss T..a few of my recent favorites from soccer: Ronaldinha and Thierry Chun

94. favorite season? Fall! Shit, especially in New England

95. favorite app on your phone? I don’t know

96. desktop background? A picture of a simple dock leading out to sea

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? My parents’ and brother’s

98. favorite historical era? Victorian era, for sure

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undeadimpulsereviews · 6 years

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The Problem with the Horror Genre (Editorial)

Warning: There will be spoilers for many different things throughout this. I will be supplying as much as I can find to get my point across so if you don’t want to be spoiled then I’d steer clear.

Before we jump into things I want to state something about this and the future stuff to come regarding these pieces. Everything I’m writing, especially with this piece, is pretty much all opinion based. I’ll try to pull as much facts as I can to back up anything I feel needs clarification. Though, ultimately, this is just something I wish to talk about. My views may be extreme to some but, they are just that, they are my views. Agree or disagree, I just want to get the ideas out there.With that said let us begin.

When I look at genres and sub-genres there is always at least one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Thanks to studios like Disney and Marvel, Superheroes have risen in popularity. For video games, the platformer and first person shooter still holds a place in peoples hearts; and both anime and manga have the Shounen style story down to a fine line. Though for each of these mediums and more there is one genre that struggles year after year.

Horror is the elephant in the room; if each genre of visual and written media was a type of music genre, then Horror is coming close to being the Disco among them all. When I look at horror, all I see is an entity that is slowly dying; yet, it tries to stay relevant for as long as it possibly can. Though over the years, horror just doesn’t hit home. Now I’ve said before that I am not a fan of the horror genre, and there are many reasons for this. These reasons are why I think the genre ultimately fails in the end. Though I can’t clump together every piece of horror media. For every five failures, the genre does manage to provide some spine chilling content. However, the spread is too great.

Lets look back to Marvel for a moment. Not everyone is going to like every hero film they provide, but even if you don’t care for the Marvel film there is a level of praise those movies deserve. They have the formula down and it shows. This is not the same for Horror; after years of making films or games under this genre, the formula just becomes more psychotic. It’s harder to follow and ultimately ends in something boring. However, this is different for each type of medium. In my opinion I think that Movies have the best chance of providing a horrifying experience. Past this though, it starts to get difficult. Video Games used to be one of the best mediums for conveying horror, but now it’s fallen far. Sitting at the bottom of the spectrum is Anime and Manga. Anime does horror a little better than manga, but each have their short comings. So why is it that Horror is such a hard concept to grasp? Lets start from the basics.

Horror: An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. Something that inspires feelings of dread or dismay.

This is one definition I pulled on what horror is. Though everyone has their own special interpretation. For me the best definition is something or someone that brings about a feeling of fear. When I go to the movies to see the newest Halloween, or re-play a game like Until Dawn; One of the main things I’m looking for is a series of good well placed and thought out scares. However, this is one definition among a society of many. Each person has their own take on horror, but should we really call it horror? Take anime and manga for example; a good amount of stuff, that falls within the realm of horror, latches on to two key words in the basic definition. Shock and disgust.

Take, for instance, Ajin. For those who don’t know, briefly speaking, Ajin is a horror manga series that was adapted into an anime a little later in it’s life. It’s about an entity of demi-humans, or Ajin, that have special abilities from normal human beings. Thes beings live among normal humans and believe they themselves are in fact normal humans.

There are many moments in the manga where the Ajin are experimented on by the Japanese government. While not showing everything, they show and elude to enough in an attempt to produce shock value. Yet, the rest of the manga just feels average. The monsters aren’t frightening and the events that take place feel out of place in terms of it’s genre. This is one of the biggest problems when it comes to horror for both Anime and Manga. While video games and movies have a level of disgusting or shocking scenes; there is still an attempt made to frighten the viewer.

One of the biggest growing contenders of this is any series involving Magical Girls. Japan has been fascinated with making more mature stories involving magical girls. One of the best example of this comes from the series Madoka Magica.

This series is one where you would never want to judge the book by it’s cover. It may seem like the cutesy little girls tale, but there is a lot the show is hiding. I myself have never watch Madoka, but I know it’s grown into quite the craze over the years. So much so that many mangaka and studio would want to try their hands at this. However, each one of these starts to lose the flair that Madoka presented. One of the things that made Madoka work was it’s art. The mature themes are never shown to the audience unless they watch the show or read the story. It works, much like how Gakkou Gurashi could make a Zombie story interesting with it’s first chapter.

The idea can work, but it should be done sparingly. Though Japan doesn’t follow that logic. There are more manga under this sub-genre than ever before, and each one goes to far in what it’s trying to do. They throw the horror in the viewers face from the beginning; as if they’re screaming “Hey, this is a horror story involving schoolgirls/magical girls! It’s a dark story that you don’t see every day!” Though at this point it’s become old news.

What happened? What did magical girls do to come to this? The cover alone already doesn’t make me want to read this and it’s among a massive amount of manga that follow this trend. Though if I said this I’d be judging this solely on one image. So I looked into things regarding some of these series and just like Ajin it’s filled with disgusting scenes. Though I wouldn’t call it disgusting to the point that it’s horrifying. Instead, for me, I was so disgusted at what was present that I lost all interest to ever read anything that involves horror and magical girls. The girl is bullied by pretty much everybody at school and then goes home to an abusive family member. There is needless rape, and violence that goes beyond the definition of bullying. Then the main character gets magic powers out of pity from a character that looks like it belongs in Mob Psycho (nothing against Mob Psycho).

What is that? It’s looks so disconnected from everything else I’ve seen in the series. I haven’t even seen the first episode and yet there is nothing that makes me want to start. Long story short, this “girl” gives the main character a magic gun that she can use to make people disappear; or actually teleport to a place where they will die outright. That was so much to take in and now I wish I never did. What is appealing about this? Why do series like this go silently, but then you have an anime about a man who kills goblins as one of the biggest controversies currently for anime.

Ranting aside, The point I’m trying to get across is that I don’t see how anime can show shocking or disgusting scenes and have it considered as horror. I look at these like I look at videos of surgical procedures. It’s not frightening or horrifying; it’s just gross. So why consider it horror, and this is a serious question for people who genuinely enjoy these stories. What makes Ajin, Magical Girl Site or Franken Fran horror? At their core most of the attempts of horror comes from the disgusting and I just can’t understand what makes them fall under the genre. Enough about that however, there is still a lot to cover.

The Bleeding Line Between Horror and Thriller

Keeping in the trend of anime and manga, another big problem stems off of understanding just what is horror. When I see horror or thriller with anime I tend to see that there isn’t a clear divide among them. Take for instance the Hellsing series.

For me I’d say that Hellsing is a Thriller; it has dark themes, but that doesn’t make it an instant horror. Though, for those who don’t know what Hellsing is, the story is all about the Vampire Alucard and the Hellsing organization. They must take down monsters, and ultimately fight a a Nazi regime. There is a level of outlandish and over the top content that I wonder, how could anyone consider this Horror? The only truly dark scene is later in the series when it’s implied that Alucard was raped in his childhood; maybe even countless times. Past this it’s just a lot of over the top violence that would prove to much for a shounen series. Another series that falls victim to this is the Parasyte series.

You could probably make a better argument as to why Parasyte is horror, but from what I’ve seen of the series I would at the least also put this as a thriller. This view goes both ways and it sometimes effects anime more than manga. The manga for Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul look like horror manga at face value, but the anime, to me, don’t share that feeling. There are moments in many anime that can truly be horrifying, but the big picture doesn’t convey this. Movies struggle from this sometimes but, again, I mainly see it in anime. Though, this isn’t a dig at the anime or manga industry. What does the other side have to answer for?

How much is too much?

Video games and movies aren’t safe yet. One of the biggest problems with modern horror is how much and how varied it all is. What do I mean by this? Well the easiest examples I can use are the Saw movie series, and the Five Nights at Freddies game series.

Saw is one of the most well known horror movies among films like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. When the first film came out it was pretty different from other horror films. Instead of an ax murderer chasing someone through the woods, or a masked man hunting down people in a little town on Halloween night; Saw is a movie about a man who killed people he saw as “evil.” People who he believed deserved to be punished, no matter how psychotic that may have sounded. The first movie released back in 2004; since then there have been a total of seven more films. The catch being that each film is pretty much the same thing with a different cast. A man kidnaps people, he talks to them through a puppet and puts them through traps and trials as a sort of test. Even horror films that are regarded as classics have way to many movies in their franchise. Hollywood is running out of ideas and instead they decide to use any semblance of life in the current existing ideas rather than look for new life. Friday the 13th went to Space, but ultimately it’s still a slasher film about Jason Voorhees

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Both movies and video games take the skeleton of what was previously established and just slightly alter it’s shape and design. Movies do it a lot more than video games; however, games have started this trend recently not just for horror, but for all genres. Though, that’s another story for another time. The biggest offender of this with Video games, in the horror genre, is the Five Nights at Freddy’s Series.

When the first Five Nights came out I wasn’t interested in playing the game myself, but I could sit here and say that the game has potential as a horror title. It had a nice atmosphere and ideas that aren’t normally explored. Out of all the things that can produce fear, animatronics at a knock off Chuckie Cheese was not something that really came to mind but that was an interesting aspect. After the first game however, the rest of the series started to take a terrible downward spiral. Each game is pretty much the exact same as the last, save for a few that tried to take a slightly different spin on things. Sit in a chair and watch cameras to make sure the animatronics don’t come to kill you. Your capabilities are limited and you need to survive for a certain amount of time. Second game is the same but there are new machines with new tricks, the third game is the same but only one machine really matters, the fourth game is the same ideas but instead you’re a child who needs to peek out doors and in the closet. This cycle goes on for a total of six games in the main line. The only game that changed the formula was a spin-off, turn based RPG. Though that game doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The gameplay has minor alterations, the characters change appearance and new animatronics are introduced over the course of the games, and the story just starts to feel like background material. It’s all just jump scares that try to scare through appearance instead of gameplay and atmosphere.

Nothing about Five Nights is scary anymore. We’ve been through it six times and it’s common knowledge that these machines will jump at us when we fail. Not to mention that, when the player fails, in some cases there is a long pause between the failure and the jump scare. Don’t make me wait, I lost. Making the player wait destroys the atmosphere. Gameplay aside, it’s the visuals that really start to destroy this game. How do you top unsettling machines with a mind of their own? Add more teeth, add more heads randomly placed around the body, make them look broken and demonic. That will put the fear in the player; except it won’t, I don’t look at the picture of Freddy above and think this is the thing of nightmares. I see someones head canon fan art that I could find on Deviantart or Pixiv. It’s like the people who make gross creepy fan art for Sonic the Hedgehog found new anthropomorphic animals to do whatever they want with. The whole thing that made the idea of animatronics frightening was the movements and the lifelessness. Plus, the skin of the characters makes for a scarier experience. I don’t want to see the frame of the machine. Seeing this...

Isn’t frightening, it’s the equivalent of Freddie Kruger chasing you through the dreamscape if Freddie was an average man in a mo-cap suit. The reason Five Nights is the worst offender of the recycling idea is because the creator said countless times that “this one will be the last game,” “After this no more Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Each time a big fat lie. There’s a movie in the making for crying out loud. The Slender movie was a flop so how will this fair?

I get it; Hollywood and game designers alike are running out of ideas. Disney is remaking all their films and Capcom can’t seem to find a way to stop porting Resident Evil 4 on every platform. However, the saying is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; these things have been in pieces for years now. The warranty may be up, it’s time to “FIX THIS!” Now, I’ve said a lot on the subject and there is still a ton of things I could talk about on the horror genre, but not enough to dedicate a segment on them. So I have one more reason I believe horror has fallen over the years and it all stems from the atmosphere.

There’s a build up, but no pay off.

So for some mediums, getting a certain level of atmosphere is hard. Manga I believe has the hardest time. It’s always been simpler to build tension in the visual format than the written. Though even anime, movies, and video games have struggled to reach an understanding of the levels of atmosphere. How much is to much and when should the build up reach the cap. If I had to rank them, omitting manga, I’d say that video games are still at the top barely, while anime struggles with this idea the most. Now this is all opinion of course; fear effects everyone differently but, in my experience, not many anime can reach a good level of tension. There was one that managed to produce a very horrifying atmosphere for me, but we’ll get to that a little later. First, why is it that anime can’t grasp the aspect of tension building and atmosphere. I believe it’s because the horror genre, especially for anime, is too predictable. A long while back, when I was experimenting with what to watch when it came to anime; I tried my hand at the show Another.

I didn’t get far into Another; the build up wasn’t that great out the gate, but I wanted to give it a chance. My viewing of the show ended at the episode with the first death. Throughout the anime every person is telling the main character to steer clear of the girl with the eye-patch. She’s bad news and only misfortune will follow. However, the boy didn’t listen of course. Scene after scene past with nothing happening, until a girl from the boys school is leaving and her attitude changes after she catches a glimpse of the other girl. At this point I knew, I sat there tired and done. I watched as this girl ran down the hall and all I had to say was one sentence. “She’s gonna die,” I sat there repeating these words over and over; until she fell down the stair and was impaled on an umbrella.

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I couldn’t continue the show after this; when nothing happens the camera tries to focus on things that seem unsettling, like dolls in a dark antique store. Then when things “pick up” the scene takes to long to get to the payoff. You’ve tried to build up the tension; don’t hold the final product in front of my face. Teasing the audience with the end product only proves to destroy all progress made to get to this point. It’s not that hard of a concept in my opinion; it should be just like building to the climax. Though, instead of reaching one huge climax, it’s more like carefully structured peaks that don’t keep the viewer waiting to long.

For me, the best example of this doesn’t even stem from a horror series. Around the same time as mentioned before I also tried to watch an anime named Kino’s Journey, or Kino no Tabi. In one episode the main character finds there self in a town with a few mysteries surrounding it. At the center of the town there is a huge tower that is being built by the civilians that live there. This tower has been worked on for over two hundred years. When the main character asks them why they build the tower they don’t know themselves.

As the episode goes on, and more interactions are had between the cast, tension begins to grow and it feels like the people of the town aren’t as hospitable as they once seemed. There is so much unknown about the situation that is presented that the viewer feels that something could happen at any moment. Though, the episode reaches it’s end with the tower cracking and falling to the ground. The people of the town resolve to build the tower again and the journey continues. While the tension never truly reaches a huge climax, it still manages to feel unsettling. Kino’s Journey is not a horror series, but I’ve felt more tension in it’s atmosphere then I’ve every felt in a horror series I’ve watched or read.

Though, anime has always had a tricky experience with Horror, and I know that anime and manga isn’t always made with everyone in mind. It’s Japanese in origin and I can understand that something scary to me may not be scary to a Japanese viewer, or vice versa. However, games and movies don’t always have that cultural luxury. Movies also can be extremely predictable, especially the classics. Yet, movies don’t just suffer from being predictable; movies, surprisingly, struggle with realism.

Now I know that realism shouldn’t be a factor is horror movies, but that all depends on the movie. If we’re talking about a movie like the exorcist, then realism needs the be there to a point. It can be loose because we’re dealing with the supernatural, but facts still need to be present to some degree. Movies that don’t have anything supernatural to them, however, need a lot more if they want to succeed. The best example of this is the Purge series.

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When this movie first came out I would have said that the idea of a president creating a day for everyone to do as they please without laws was overly far-fetched. Now I can’t really say much with the current society we live in; however, I will say that the idea that people would just go out and murder their neighbors for no good reason is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why do all these people have the weapons to go around killing? How did this seem like a good idea? What are everyone’s motives in all of this? The story of this series is so shaky and full of holes that it's popularity baffles me.

As far as predictable goes; there are many horror movies, from terrible to the classics, that have their predictable moments. There was one, and I’m sorry the name escapes me, where a girl is being haunted by someone in her family that died by unknown means at the moment in the film. Most of the movie is filled with terribly place jump scares, but the worst of them all was one where it was a bright day and the main female character was walking along until she comes to an opening in the woods. Instead of walking on, she is pulled into the woods for whatever reason. There is nothing really calling to her and she sees nothing from what I remember, but she’s drawn to one spot in the opening where she finds and unborn fetus in the ground. The fetus is perfectly in tact and the scene just kind of hangs in this back and forth until the fetus opens it’s still developing eye and a huge piano note rings in the background. I sat there knowing the jump scare was coming. I still jumped, because of the loud startling sound, but it was clear as day something was coming.

Where is the tension? I can’t feel frightened when the atmosphere either makes no sense, even in the context provided, or when the movie paints out every scare on a giant canvas for all to see. Horror is meant to make me scream, jump and even, for the most extreme, cry in fear. It’s no longer like that, horror has become one of the most sad and boring genres alive. When you find the one game, movie, etc, that breaks the mold and truly embodies what we know as horror; it deserves to be placed on a pedestal. I believe that video games has the best chance of doing this but even good horror games are scarce.

Predictability and realism aren’t the big issue when it comes to games. Instead, it all bubbles down to the payoff. Games have an easier time of building tension and atmosphere than most mediums in my opinion. It’s the payoff that it fails to grasp. This has become more of an issue in recent years with indie horror games. Games like Agony, We Happy Few, Call of Cthulhu. Do they hit the mark? What is the payoff and how long did it take to reach that goal. Was the build up paced in such a fashion that the game didn’t drag on? This is what games struggle with the most in the horror genre and the best example of this is Layers of Fear.

The game has it’s moment where tension can build, but there is never any pay off. The game focuses to much on trying to build a compelling story about an artist who slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, spirals into a state where he pushes his loved ones away and hurts his family in an attempt to reach his goals. Most of the game is the player walking around the characters estate while they interact with the things around them. Every so often the player will find something that progresses the story and gives some insight into what exactly has happened or what is currently unfolding. That’s all this game is, it doesn’t even attempt to jump scare the player. It attempts to horrify the player through the atmosphere alone. The only problem being that it never delivers. This style of game has become a frequent trend, known as the walking simulator. The whole game is walking from point a, to point b, to point c, and so on. Never reaching any payoff that feels satisfying. The most tense scenes, if you can call them that, are scenes that play on where you are facing. Say for instance you look at a painting; the next moment you look away to an empty wall. Look back and the painting is now disgusting and decaying. So frightening, I need a moment to collect myself. This is boring, I didn’t buy a game to literally watch paint dry; but, with Layers of Fear, I can do just that. Plus, can someone tell me why every indie horror game feels the need to take assets from the public access art gallery?

Scooby-Doo had more realistic art pieces in their haunted houses. Why does every indie horror game need to have some form of “horrific” art hanging in every room five inches from the other. These are humans we’re talking about, not Hannibal Lecter. Sure maybe the main character in Layers of Fear painted the pictures but no one in their right mind would ever say “yea lets hang these demonic painting in our living room; that sounds very welcoming. Nothing says family like a father eating his child”.

If I wanted to experience a poorly delivered and paced story about a painter who is currently undergoing his mid-life crisis. To the point that he possibly abused and neglected his family and may or may not have killed the family dog in a drunken rage. Then sure I might play Layers of Fear, or I might just go on Garry’s Mod and download some hastily made horror map that does the same exact thing for free. I don’t want my horror games to be some attempt at an artistic and complex story on human flaws. I want to be scared.

This shouldn’t be difficult and in fact, many games still can manage to bring fear into their games. Take for instance Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight.

Now I’ve said my piece on both of these games a while back, but if there is one thing I need to give both of these games credit for is the ability to scare. In both games it’s one versus the group. One killer is controlled by a player and this adds a level of unknown danger. They are powerful and can appear when you least expect it. Over time when you’ve play the games enough the fear factor will probably die down, but the initial tension hits hard because it’s instant. Both games waste no time putting the player in a terrible situation. You’re placed in a random location and it’s as if the game is telling the player, “Alright, someone is hunting you; good luck, and try not to die.” Sure both games have their problems through bugs or other factors but, when you look at the games from a design stand point, they work really well.

Another two games that really know how to build tension and produce payoffs are Until Dawn and Dead Space 2.

One of the most memorable moments for me with Dead Space 2 was near the beginning of the game. You’re going down a dark corridor and you’ve already been presented with the enemies that are hunting you down. You may be armed, but there is no guarantee that you can survive even with your weapons. You keep moving and yet nothing jumps at you. At any moment a necromorph could come and try to kill you. You enter a room with the only light source being a flickering T.V. The music starts to ramp up and as it reaches the it’s height... a balloon pops. While the payoff may not seem amazing, the timing and pacing was done really well in my opinion that, even with your guard up, there is a level of unexpectedness that hangs in the air. You know there are enemies out there, but the space station is their oyster. You are almost always at a disadvantage, even with some of the more advanced weaponry. It’s a jump scare, sure, but even jump scares can pay off to provide breaks in tension without them being terrible immersion breaking game overs.

Until Dawn was a more recent example of how to build tension and deliver upon the atmosphere. The game was a play on the old classic horror films we all know. Though the player is the camper, or the unsuspecting victim. Though instead of presenting the player with a villain from the start, the game never truly reveals what the greater evil is. Also, the game plays heavily on player choice and the idea that each thing you do may end up being the death of a character really hits hard. You’re not just afraid of what may attack you, but also afraid of how your choices may spiral into terrible outcome after terrible outcome. Plus, even when the player succeeds or fails the payoff is still rewarding. The tension isn’t just tossed to the side if the problem was avoided. It’s used and then we start again. Tension rises and a new dilemma is presented. If you want a horror game that can truly capture the genre then Until Dawn is definitely one of the best contenders.

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