#texas chainsaw anime girl figure

[redlipstickcigarette69]

:3

[lnkedmyheart]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

In no specific order. Did i take this opportunity to post pics of these characters? Yes.

Revy (Black Lagoon)

A dual wielding gunslinger from Roanapur. She is badass and deeply unhinged. A seriously traumatized woman with solid character flaws and a weirdly pseudo romantic relationship with the guy she kidnapped for a ransom and is now desperately trying to protect without realizing that she can't save his innocence, because he was never innocent and pure.

Fredrica Sawyer (Black Lagoon)

A cleaner from Roanapur, uses a chainsaw as her primary weapon, cannot talk due to a severe injury to her larynx and uses a voice synthesizer. An adorable and creepy goth girl who may or may not have in universe ties to the Texas Chainsaw massacre. Which yes, implies that black lagoon is set in the same universe as the TCM movies.

Dazai Osamu (BSD)

Love the depiction of depression and mental health problems with the guy. Love how he is constantly present everywhere and is seen through everyone else's perspective and yet we know so little about him. He is a dork and a brat and so annoying. He is usually aloof and distant but deep down has the capacity to be tender and kind that is only seen in the rare moments of vulnerability. But he is so hopeful and yet completely convinced he deserves nothing.

Chuuya Nakahara (BSD)

He's such a tragic character like his life is one compromise after another as he gets pushed further and further into a bad situation but he will not let that stop him from making the best out of his situation. His compassion and empathy for even those who hurt him is so powerful but his brutality and intelligence is another aspect that makes him stand out against the other characters of his kind. And then you have his incredible loyalty where he will cross all boundaries to protect those he considers his people. Gorgeous characterization honestly.

Yato (Noragami)

Another extremely tragic character and one who is trying so hard to change his fate despite everything. My guy does NOT catch a single break through the centuries he has been alive and he is still so hopeful. Not to mention letting Bishamon despise him for so long just to protect Kazuma, a guy he barely knew at the time. UGH. And his whole thing for Hiyori and his affection for Yukine. Kill me!

Yukine (Noragami)

This was the first time I cried honestly. His backstory had me curled up in my bed unable to eat for an entire day. And his growth from an annoying unlikeable brat to one of the most lovable characters is crazy. Also no, I will never not cry over Yukine calling Yato 'dad'.

Jeremy Pascal (Tales from the Gas Station)

I didnt realize how much I liked him till I thought he died. In that regard I'm like Jack I guess, neither of us realised how much we cared for this adorkable himbo ex cultist. The fact that he is genuinely heartbroken that his suicide cult abandoned him and committed without him is so...oddly endearing and just the energy he adds is charming. He's also such a great friend to Jack, man better start appreciating him more.

Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)

This is my son. And my sun. He is the most precious, sweetest boy to me. Aside from being ridiculously gay about Mikleo, the guy is what you'd think is a typical hero figure in such a setting. Pure, celibate, sweet and even tempered etc. But he is snarky as hell, constantly teases others, is NOT oblivious contrary to popular opinion. He is also irritable. I also love that he is an archaeology nerd.

Irma Lair (W.I.T.C.H)

I dont remember too much about her but I always really liked her. Enough that she is still amongst my absolute favorites. It probably helps that she was made wlw in the tv series and has some shippy moments with Cornelia in particular.

Balalaika (Black lagoon)

Listen, she is an ex military woman, who went MIA with her entire squad of loyal soldiers and now runs the fucking mafia in Roanapur. Woman is gorgeous and has acid burn scars all down her face and body. And she is terrifying. She will break necks with a smile and values loyalty and efficiency above all else. But she is such a deeply damaged woman who deserved better. But see, the people in Roanapur are there cause this is their last stand before they end up dead.

[souvenirsofsurgery]

monty’s horror movie list

no one follows me for this but i’m back in my horror movie obsession era so here we go. some of them are good, some of them are bad (but I love them), and some of them are kind of unacceptable, like, morally tbh, I’m sorry

anyway, in no particular order:

mother!: I just watched this one today so it’s on my mind. get ready to be stressed out by deeply uncomfortable social situations for like, the first hour and a half and then genuinely disturbed for the last twenty minutes. i finished this and then sat in my room mouthing “what the fuck, what the fuck”. v good, 10/10

Orphan: What if you adopted a kid but they sucked?

Absentia: I was really impressed, cause this was like a low-budget, crowd funded movie but it’s so so good. This one is about a woman whose husband went missing years ago, a creepy tunnel, and family relationships. V quiet and sad

Possum: Not very much happens in this movie for a long time but the atmosphere is so good, and it’s genuinely creepy. The ending also made me so uncomfortable I almost couldn’t watch it, so there’s that

The Wolf House: Incredible unsettling stop-motion animation, and I’m a sucker for good animation. Makes more sense if you know a little Chilean history, but it’s interesting even without that context

Amityville: It’s About Time: Jumping right from that foreign arthouse film into cheesy schlock, what if a clock made people evil and fucked up?

Hell House LLC: More! Schlock! This is a fake documentary/found footage movie about people trying to make a haunted house in an old hotel... but what if it was haunted for real??

Host (the 2020 shudder original): Unfriended if it was good

Hereditary: Made me sad :( This was one of the first movies to genuinely scare me in a while, and my sister-in-law won’t even let anyone talk to her about it. The story about a family dealing with grief and complicated relationships is also just so interesting to me, this one’s in my top 10

Anything for Jackson: Reverse possession movie: they try to put a spirit IN someone! Hell yeah. So many good, weird ghosts in here, I love some good, weird ghosts

13 Ghosts: (the early 2000s remake) Speaking of good weird ghosts. What if your estranged uncle died and left you a house but there was a ghost jail in the basement? I just rewatched this movie with my little brother and remembered how much I love it. Very schlocky, Matthew Lillard’s acting is off the fucking walls and I love it, why does he act like that??

Kindred: One of the only “is it in her head, or is it real?” movies where I actually really wasn’t sure. It’s about a woman whose husband dies right before she’s about to give birth, so she ends up staying with his family and slowly starts to question their motives

Parents: What if you were just a little kid and you started to suspect your parents were eating people?

Basket Case: I’m not crying over a B movie, I’m not crying over a B movie. In this one, two conjoined twins are surgically separated against their wills, with one of them getting thrown in the trash. As adults, they start hunting down the doctors who did it to them

The Poughkeepsie Tapes: Very depressing fake documentary about a serial killer. Just fucked up and sad

The Taking of Deborah Logan: One of the few found footage movies that I think is actually good. A small documentary crew goes to film a woman and her aging mother who’s suffering from dementia, but they start to think that... huh, maybe this is something a little worse than dementia...

Ju-On: The Grudge (the original Japanese one): this movie just freaks me out, I don’t like how Kayako moves around, I don’t like the sounds she makes, and I don’t like her weird little son

The Ring (the American remake): I saw this movie when I was like 8 bc someone recorded it over the Willy Wonka VHS I’d gotten from the thrift store, and I’ve been fucked up ever since. In it, a woman sees a cursed tape that will make you die in seven days, and has to try and figure out how to save herself before then. GREAT atmosphere, very creepy

Sadako Vs Kayako: What if the girl from the Grudge and the girl from the Ring fought each other? Hell yeah. Plus, love that a ghost hunter comes to help with the situation and he’s got a random mean little girl with him. People are like “why is she here?” and he’s just like “she’s my associate” okay?? Where did she come from??? I’m obsessed with this movie

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A classic. Rancid, nasty atmosphere, just feels gross, 10/10 

Society: Rich people suck so so bad and are very fucked up

House of 1000 Corpses: I love this movie and I’m sorry, its just some disgusting, campy fun. Like, what if your car broke down the night before halloween and ended up in a house with some terrible (but very entertaining) people?

Oculus: The idea of being a little kid, stuck in the house while your parents are slowly losing it, or potentially being possessed by something evil, is really scary to me. This movie does it so well. It moves back and forth from the main characters going through that in their childhoods, to them as adults, back in the house where it happened, and it’s so so good

Hellraiser: You tell me it’s about the blurry line between pleasure and pain and I watch it. The designs for the cenobites are so good. I like this first one a lot, but I also really enjoy the second one bc the torture dimension looks like MC Escher designed it and it’s sick as hell

The Others: This is one of my favorite, like, classic haunted house kind of movie. A mother keeps her kids inside an old mansion, with all the curtains drawn, because they have an illness that means they can’t go in the sunlight. Very, very creepy

The Blair Witch Project: This one just feels so real, I’ve never seen another found footage movie that reached this level. The actors knocked it out of the park, how am I so freaked out just by a couple of people wandering around the woods? It’s the blueprint, honestly

A Nightmare on Elm Street: You guys know this one, he gets you in your dreams! Probably my favorite of the classic slashers, I love some good old practical effects. my brother actually just bought me the WHOLE box set for my birthday so I’m gonna start working though the ones I haven’t seen yet 

Jennifer’s Body: What if your best friend, who you have a very homoerotic relationship with, started eating dudes? Iconic. No, but seriously, this movie has a lot more going on than you might think 

House of Wax (the 2000s remake): Bad, but so good. It’s really got that uncanny valley thing going on, love that fucked up wax museum

Ichi the Killer: Pretty unacceptable, I can’t in good conscience tell you to watch this movie, but it’s definitely an experience. Very very very violent, like super violent, but in the wildest fucking ways. Basically, what if you were a masochistic Yakuza member with a weird joker mouth and you just wanted a sadistic vigilante to beat the absolute shit out of you? Anyway, I think there’s something wrong with Takashi Miike and probably also me

Black Christmas: This is one of the og og slashers. It’s about girls getting killed in a sorority house, but surprisingly it’s like, not really an exploitation film, and I really like the characters. Good, unsettling killer, too

The Baby: WEIRD. Weird and uncomfortable. I’m not trying to kink shame anyone when I say this, but it’s probably definitely a fetish thing. In it, a social worker takes on the case of a family with an adult son who they��re claiming has the mind of a baby. This one’s probably kind of unacceptable too, to be honest with you

[insilenceandbloodysong]

In silence | A Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Thomas Hewitt x FemSiren!OC | Enemies to Friends to Lovers | Chapter 5: Discovered

~~

It was in the nature of prey to run when their lives were under threat. To scramble, to hide. But Tommy was a hunter, his family's provider. It was in his nature to care for them, protect them. To do anything in the world to make sure they were well taken care of.

But that did not mean he didn't enjoy the thrill of the chase. The pounding in his heart at their fear. The pure entertainment he found in their meager attempts to run from him. There was a beauty to the death when they squealed and struggled on the meat hooks. There was familiarity to the hum of the chainsaw, so wild in any other hands but his own.

Hoyt and Momma Mae had brought four home for him to slaughter. Three females and a male. Two of the females had been easy, effortlessly hoisted and gutted like squealing pigs they were. The other two managed to escape and run.

"Go on Tommy!" Hoyt was hot on his heels. The gun in his hands went off with a crack. "Go get them bastards! We gonna eat good tonight!"

They rounded the back of the house and made a break for the open field. Tommy dug in his heels and chased after, easily keeping up despite his size and the heavy equipment in his hands. The female looked back and screamed when she saw how fast he was gaining on them. Wailing cries of mercy fell from her lips and in her blind panic she tripped and fell.

Her death was anything but swift and painless. Her screams were beautiful and familiar as he tore into her. Meat and viscera spilling out onto the ground and pooling into the water of the nearby pond.

Her friend could only freeze in terror. As if instinct told him it was hopeless to run. He was next and he knew it. Hoyt grabbed the remains of the girl when Tommy was finished it. Hootin', hollerin' and egging him on as if he needed any more of a reason to finish the job.

Tommy stalked him, pushing him back until there was nothing left but the water of the pond at his feet. And he could be forgiven for forgetting about the woman living in the water.

He certianly remembered when she exploded from its depths. With a hiss, her tail wrapped around her victim. Her claws tore through the shirt and pierced his chest like paper. A hiss escaped from her mouth before razor sharp teeth sunk into his neck.

He screamed.

He screamed and screamed until she seized her body and the sound of bones breaking filled the air. And his screams died when he hit the ground and she unceremoniously pulled his body into the water.

"What in the fuck!" Hoyt was stunned, the same gaping expression on his face that Tommy had once had. Tommy watched as the pond's surface quieted to a bubble. Blood pooled to the top as they stared. Tommy cut the power on his chainsaw and scoffed,

"Not a gator."

"No shit, shithead. How long she been livin' in our fuckin' pond, boy?!"

Tommy rolled his eyes and only offered a shrug. Sooner or later Hoyt would learn his helpfulness stopped at the name calling. So instead he hoisted the chainsaw and grabbed the last body from his brother. That man belonged to the woman now, and he was too damn tired to chase her in the water. And Momma Mae would yell at him if he didn't prep and persevere the meat before it spoiled.

"Where the fuck you think you're goin'? You're just gonna leave some damn trespasser on our land?!"

Tommy didn't answer as he walked away.

"Fuck it, I'll just shoot the bitch when she pops her damn head out. She's gotta come up at some point."

Tommy couldn't help but chuckle. He was looking forward to the nasty surprises Hoyt was in for.

~~

She gorged herself until she wasn't able to fit anymore in belly. She hardly remembered how she'd managed to drag the body into the water. She'd been hungry, anger and aches clawing at her stomach as she paced. She hated the idea that she was going to starve to death in this stupid little pond.

How had it come to this? What spirit had she angered to be punished like this?

She knew that if she didn't act soon she would die. The family had brought home meat from their hunt. As risky as it was, she would have to break in if she wanted to live.

It must have been providence when she tasted blood in the water. She looked up. She saw the blurry figures of humans above her. This one was much smaller than the big human from before.

Prey...

She slowly pulled her way up. Just breaching the surface. The big human was cornering him. His feet were in her pond.

And she was so very hungry.

She lunged from the water and wrapped herself around him for the kill. His bones broke and his flesh tore in her teeth. Blood filled her mouth and drove her into a feeding frenzy. Her victim was dead by the time she dragged him beneath the water.

His heart was the first to be eaten. She could feel the life giving sustenance make her blood sing. The water bubbled and cleared around her as began to pick him apart. Most of his torso was gone by the time she was full.

Instead of throwing the body away she coaxed the roots of the reeds to hold him. Better to have him nearby so she could feed. By using her own essence she could keep the corpse fresh for a few more days. At least now she had a reason not to break into the nest.

Something fast hit the water as she finished storing her corpse. She hissed and pulled herself flat, glaring up at the old human male still standing at her pond.

Her carelessness had revealed her. She loathed the idea of having to now deal with another human.

Another crack and another splash. She knew he was trying to draw her out. He'd kill her if she so much as showed her face. But she had more of her essence to use now. He'd learn just like his bigger companion.

She was not prey.

With a flick of her tail and a spin the water rose up around her. Muffled cries came from above and she laughed as the water she'd animated knocked the human off his feet. His weapon clattered to the ground, and she seized the opportunity to take it from him.

Out of the water she dove and quickly grabbed it. He was scrambling to his feet and yelled out a curse as she easily broke his weapon. Then, with little preamble, she threw the broken pieces at his feet.

"You little cunt!" He charged forward, as if was going to come in after her. She simply hissed at him. As soon as his feet touched the water she moved. Like the corpse at the bottom of the pond, she lunged. Yet she did not wrap around him. This one was small. Insignificant; and she had no intention of killing him.

If he died there would be retribution. She needed this family in order to feed.

But cracking his head against the ground would serve as warning enough. He grunted with each slam, and when she was through with him she simply tossed him away. As soon as he hit the ground again noises from the nest brought her attention to the old female matriarch.

She slid back into the water, but did not disappear in favor of observing the female. The old human eyed her cautiously as she approached her pack mate, kneeling down to pull him to his feet. Muttered platitudes and whispers followed them as they both retreated back into their nest, leaving behind a peaceful silence.

Satisfied that she'd be left alone now, she slipped back into the water.

~~ Support me on my Kofi!

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Busy Halloween? Anime Shorts Are Easy To Watch And Full Of Horror

  One of my favorite animated horror sequences comes from a forgotten 2010 Gainax series called Hanamaru Kindergarten. The tenth episode’s ending sequence tells the stand-alone story of the show’s protagonist, a kindergartener named Anju, who from the back of a bike sees a mysterious house populated by rabbits and is drawn into a series of horror vignettes. We’re given several quick references in succession that no kindergartener could ever hope to recognize: The Exorcist, The Shining, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and even David Lynch’s Inland Empire. Anju escapes to the other side, the rabbits receding to become a distant memory. But then it’s revealed that the teacher giving her a ride is in fact a vampire! Horror of horrors!

  Storyboarded and directed by Masahiko Murata, who directed this year’s To Your Eternity, this sequence works on several levels. It’s a love letter to cinematic horror, cramming in as many references as the staff could fit into a minute and a half. It realizes those influences in a loose and cartoony style that still captures horror’s expressionist appeal. Finally, it successfully grounds itself in the perspective of Anju, a kindergartener to whom everything happening here might be nothing but a faintly remembered dream later in life. The sequence resembles the nightmare of a child, plunging its heroine into fragmented scenarios from which there is no explanation or escape. Despite having never watched Hanamaru Kindergarten, I find this sequence deeply creepy and nostalgic. After all, serial killers, houses of rabbit people, and other creatures of the night are statistically rare; but who hasn’t been a terrified little kid at one point?

    Another key element of this sequence: it’s short. At just 90 seconds long, this ending sequence packs in more unnerving atmosphere and scares than you’d find in many “horror” anime several times the length. I’d personally even rank it over some full-length horror dramas. So what gives?

  When it comes to horror, a shorter length can actually be an advantage. It’s no coincidence that for centuries, horror literature consisted of short stories rather than novels and films rather than TV shows. It’s just that much easier to build and release tension when you have your audience trapped within a limited space, wholly subject to your whims. In recent decades, authors like Stephen King figured out how to successfully produce long-form horror narratives and rode that innovation toward popular success. But these projects work in part because they combine horror with other elements, like character drama or mystery. Pure horror itself remains tough to sustain over a long period without either wearying the nerves of your audience or breaking their trust completely.

  Image via Eve

  Anime has its own tradition of horror “short stories,” from the long-running series Hell Girl to Kenji Nakamura’s bizarre visual experiment Mononoke. Several of these are quite good — I especially love Mononoke, which looks like almost nothing else ever produced. But you don’t need the full length of a 24-minute anime episode to scare somebody — some of the weirdest and most unsettling Japanese animation out there is less than five minutes long. One of my favorite recent discoveries is Eve, a former Vocaloid producer whose YouTube page is full of music videos featuring talented independent animators beloved by Twitter’s sakuga circuit. The spookiest of them by far is 2020’s How to Eat Life, an orange and black fantasia where a boy is pursued through a city where time is mutable and everybody wants to eat you (and you want to eat everything). Animated by Mariyasu, the film is packed with motifs that appear throughout Eve’s work: giant monsters, doomed cities, and far too many hands and eyes. There’s a new fixation on cannibalism that will turn your stomach and an ending that avoids catharsis for something messier and more fraught.

  Watching How to Eat Life is like coming in at the climax of a long-running anime series with no other context to understand the sensory overload happening on-screen. I can’t help but ask questions about what exactly is happening here: Who is this boy and what is the purpose of his fanged case? What does the city’s giant headless monster want with him? These questions frustrate me, but that’s the point. Like many videos released under the Eve banner, How to Eat Life works because of, rather than in spite of, what it chooses to leave unexplained. Those unresolved associations stick in your craw only to resurface while rewatching the video, while watching other Eve videos, or, worst of all, in your dreams. One of the great advantages of short-form horror is that lack of context, forcing the audience to fill in the blanks themselves. Often what they put in those blanks can be nastier or more personal than anything you’d write in yourself! That’s the fun part.

  Image via Eve

  Another advantage of short-form horror is stylistic: unusual, off-kilter experiences are often more feasible in smaller packages than larger ones. One such example is My Little Goat, a 2018 stop motion short created by Tomoki Misato. It recasts the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats” as a modern tale of surviving abuse and trauma. The goats are adorable, fluffy little creatures, but having been cut out of the belly of a wolf in the opening minute, all of them are burned or even disfigured to varying degrees by the wolf’s stomach acid. The main character, a human boy abducted from his family to replace the goat mother’s missing child, hides under a wool cloak but is feared and distrusted by the other goat children. Despite being adapted from a classic fairy tale, My Little Goat keeps you guessing throughout its eight minutes. Will the goat children descend on our protagonist and tear him to shreds? Will the wolf come knocking on their door? The film ends on a relatively warm and sentimental note, but there are hints that the goat family’s happiness won’t last forever.

  My Little Goat could have been told in another format but I’m glad it was done through stop motion. The tactility of the goat puppets heightens both their cuteness and sense of creepiness. The practical transformations and matter-of-fact magic tricks (like the moment a goat abruptly transforms into a picture frame) add to the film’s fairy tale nature. The start-and-stop movement of stop motion itself is a fantastic tool for generating unease, as it has been employed through the career of master director Jan Svenkmajer. But stop motion is both costly and time-consuming, due to the nature of its production. My Little Goat’s length of eight minutes must be a practical measure as much as it is an artistic one. All things said, the film never wears out its welcome and finds new ways to surprise you up to its final seconds. Tomoki Misato must understand the value of punchy, creative shorts, since he rode that very train to success with this year’s hugely popular comedy series Pui Pui Molcar. 

  Image via Tomoki Misato

  Two connections between My Little Goat, How to Eat Life, and Hanamaru Kindergarten’s ending sequence come to mind. The first is a sense of mystery or ambiguity. That the wolf in My Little Goat is both a man and a beast, or that the lore of Eve’s music video universe is suggested rather than explicit. The second is surprise. There was no reason Masahiko Murata had to turn in a horror masterpiece for an ending credits sequence, but that’s exactly what he did. You might ask: Does a credits sequence really count as a film in its own right? Not a traditional one. But then again, like a well-executed jump scare, good horror can appear just when you least expect it. All you need is a good eye.

  Do you have a favorite horror anthology? What’s that thing standing behind you? Let us know in the comments!

      Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't recommending that people check out The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at: @wendeego

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a feature, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Adam Wescott

[bisexual-horror-fan]

I’m looking for some good horror movie suggestions! Could you list a few recommendations? (The List can be as long or as short as you’d like haha)

Oh FUCK yeah buddy I gotchu!

Aight Imma drop my faves on you all here, dunno what you have and haven’t seen so let’s get a good smattering of a lotta different options! 

The Obvious Ones (course I would suggest these like HI do you know me?):

Scream series (amazing, meta, one of my first big loves, Billy and Stu are amazing but Sydney is one of my fave final girls ever.)

The Nightmare On Elm St series (I love them all but the first three and new nightmare are top tier, also like have you seen my blog? Course this is on here. Say what you want but Freddy IS a horror icon who is inseparable from the genre)

Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel I owe you my life. Meta, so fun, so engaging, basically required viewing for any horror/slasher fan, and I will recommend this movie for the rest of my life probably.)

House Of Wax (2005) (Again, have you seen my blog? We love the Sinclair’s in this house.)

Re-Animator (So damn fun, so enjoyable and again Herbert West is just an amazing character, let’s give it up AGAIN for Jeffery Combs cuz DAMN!)

Less Obvious (coming from me anyway):

Friday The 13th series (We love Jason in this house.)

Texas Chainsaw series (Love that cannibalistic fam.)

The Halloween series (Micheal Myers is a big quiet bitch that we love.)

The Child’s Play series (I love them the longer it goes along and get’s more crazy and out there, Bride, Seed and Cult are my faves personally.)

Silence Of The Lambs (Hi amazing film and Hannibal Lector is one of the few men I would call daddy if he wanted me to.)

Big Personal Faves Of Mine (These get descriptions because I am BIG LOVE for these):

THE FINAL DESTINATION SERIES! A series all about cheating death, a group of people in each one avoids a big accident and death comes after them one by one to get them, very intense, even watching every movie multiple times, the tension still gets to me. (My FAVE movie series! I could legit go on and on about it, behind the scenes things, actors, trivia, characters, details for HOURS I love it so much.)

The Perfect Host. A man robs a bank and while trying to lay low from the police sweet talks his way into staying at Warwick Wilson’s home while he is preparing for a dinner party and the night gets pretty wild, our bank robber get’s much more than he bargained for. (Such, such, SUCH a good movie and I see like NO fans for it on tumblr which is upsetting because I love it a lot, don’t want to give away anything but it takes some turns and deserves more fans. ALSO David Hyde Pierce kills it in this movie.)

Dead And Breakfast. A group of friends get lost on the way to a wedding out of town and end up stuck in the small town of Love Locke after a murder takes place in the bed and breakfast they stayed at. (I have made mention of it before but this movie. Thiiiiiis movie is one of my all time faves, campy, out there, funny, ZOMBIES! Also we STAN the cowboy narrator who comes in and sings what is happening throughout the movie.)

Club Dread. Island get away resort for college kids, run and hosted by very obviously supposed to be Jimmy Buffet, Coconut Pete, is being terrorized by a killer that is only going after the staff. The staff have to do their jobs and act normal or the killer will start going after the guests all while trying to figure out who is behind it. (I re-watched this recently and was reminded JUST how much I love it? It’s done by Broken Lizard the same people who did Super Troopers and it is very funny and very dumb in the best way. So many iconic lines in that movie and Bill Paxton is always a treat. “This is great. There is a killer on the loose and you are throwing a bloody pinata’ party!” “....The slash on the body was left to right, left to right, I’m lookiNG FOR THE LEFT HANDED KILLER YOU IDIOT!” “...ah.”)

Planet Terror. An experimental bio-weapon is released causing zombie like creatures and a group of people have to try escape the effected area. (I love this movie...SO DAMN MUCH! Like it was my fave movie for well over three years and just it is too good? I had my young gay awakening to Rose McGowan in this movie, her portrayal of Cherry Darling is just amazing and Robert Rodriguez is one of my fave directors just EVER.)

Repo! The Genetic Opera! In the future organ failure has run rampant, Gene-Co comes along to save the day and provide life saving organs for people, after paying to get a law passed that says if you miss your organ payments they can be repossessed however things get wild. (THIS MOVIE! AH! It is a musical, there needs to BE more horror musicals. It is terrible and wonderful and amazing and just I cannot with how much I adore this movie?!)

Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Man is thrown out of London so a terrible corrupt judge can try to steal his wife for himself, 15 years later our man comes back to take revenge. (Another horror musical, MORE HORROR MUSICALS PLEASE! I love it, all the songs are amazing, Pretty Women fucks me up to this day, big recommend.)

Quick Round Of Zombie Faves Because I AM A Slut for Zombie Movies:

Dawn Of The Dead Remake. Shaun Of The Dead. 28 Days Later. Zombieland. Undead Or Alive. Zombie Strippers. 

MY GOD THIS IS LONG! But yeah here you go, hopefully this is long enough you can find SOMETHING that you like in here! ALSO THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS!!!

[littlenightma]

Um, hi there...Thomas Hewitt with a female victim that he keeps alive. Mainly because, she was actually kind to him. And, he becomes attached to her, in a way.

Note: Hello, @ladysalvage! I had so much fun writing this.

Warnings: Major fluff

Title: The Promise

Fandom: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) + (2006)

Pairing: Thomas Hewitt x Fem!Reader/Leatherface x Fem!Reader

Template: One-Shot

Topic: Anonymous request, Thomas Hewitt x Fem!Reader

The Promise

The smell that permeated the room was putrid: blood, salt, sweat, and the smallest amount of of a flavor that she swore smelled like barbecue. It was dark and she was scared. Scared because of the people upstairs who seem so polite were able to do all those horrible things to the people - no - bodies, in front of her.

Was this a punishment? Was God punishing her for every wicked thing she had done? No, she didn’t do them, her father made her do them. At least, that what she told herself to feel better.

The room could be compared to a suana in hell. Her clothes stuck to her like glue, sweat slicking her skin from the hours, or was it days, since she was brought here.

The room itself was no where near inviting with the imposing metal instruments that looked too well used hanging on hooks on the walls.

The upstairs door opened and a pair of loud, stomping footsteps barreled down the wooden steps. She cowered in the corner, hiding as close to the wall as possible, hoping that the sliver of a chance the two men wouldn’t see her was on her side.

They came into view with drastically opposite auras about them. The one in front was an older gentleman with greying hair in an Army cut and a stern face. He was wearing a sheriff’s outfit, but he wasn’t the sheriff she recognized around the town and he hadn’t been seen in a while. The other was bigger than the first, by height and weight. He wore a half mask around the lower portion of his face made from old leather of some sort. She recongnized him as the one who killed the others.

“Did you kill them all? I thought I told you to leave one of them alive for dinner, Thomas,” the older man snapped. Despite the size difference, the masked man, Thomas, shrunk his shoulders slightly before scurrying around the basement with large, obstructive steps.

She recoiled back as far as she could to no use. Thomas spotted her within seconds, grabbing her by her shirt and forcing her on her feet. He unlocked her cuffs before pushing her forwards.

“So you did keep one alive. Good, good. Nice job, son,” he commented with the most evilest smirk she’d ever witnessed. He stepped closer, raising a hand so his fingers could glide down her cheek. It made her sick.

“And aren’t you pretty thing,” he whispered with a sly grin.

She gulped silently, twisting her hands together from the anxiety that was curling in her stomach. Instinctively she took a step back, her back hitting Thomas’ chest. Hoyt straightened his back, nodding his head towards Thomas in approval.

“Bring her up in a few hours. She’ll make a fine guest.” he smiled wickedly, giving her one last leering stare before his figure disappeared up the steps.

She felt the push of Thomas’ hand as he shoved her back to her little corner. He sat down on a wooden stool, starting to cut hunks of meat from an animal - or was it human? She imagined the table had once been a beautiful, pure white instead of the rusted, blotted red it was now.

After an hour of listening to the sounds of meat being sliced, she needed to hear someone’s voice even if it was her own.

“He shouldn’t be so mean to you, you know.”

He stopped his actions for a slight second telling her he had heard her. He didn’t reply and he didn’t move. Was he surprised? Confused? Contemplating how he would ground her up like all of the others?

She continued, “My father used to yell at me, too.”

Her words fell weak at the end as the memories of her father ran through her head, reminding her of the terrible past she had experienced with her own family.

Thomas listened, remaining still. He wasn’t sure why the girl was talking to him instead of screaming curses or begging for her life like all the others did. He was uneased by her calm demeanor though and even moreso by her eyes that cut him to the core for some reason. They held an innocence to them that he’s never seen before in a victim. It made him want to...protect her.

“You wear that mask, may I ask why?”

Thomas’ body tensed. She bit her lip instantly knowing she crossed a line by mentioning his mask.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I guess I just wanted to know more about you before I die, but I shouldn’t pry. It’s rude.”

Thomas peered at her again. This time he stopped all movement. Wanted to know more about him? Wanted to know about his face? The girl was weird, kind, but weird. Thomas rarely found anything weird. He’s found things interesting, confusing, even dangerous, but weird? He couldn’t remember a time.

Mama told him once that one day he’d meet someone that would be humble enough to see past his mask, past the horribleness that he bore. Someone who’d make his heart thump loudly like when he’d chase after those people that’d managed to get away. The girl had his heart thumping loudly, just like how Mama said. And she had manners! He wondered if Mama would like her.

She sat quietly in her own ocean of a mind, the waves of thoughts washing onto the shore. Thomas didn’t put back on the cuffs. Was this a trick or simple fact of forgetfulness? Either way, she had no intentions of running away. Crazy. Absoutely and undeniably insane, she knew, however she had nothing to go back to. She had no money, no clothes, no other family to seek safety to.

“Thomas, bring her up. It’s time for dinner!” Hoyt yelled from the top of the steps. She frowned visibly. Dinner sounded too nice, too normal for this kind of place.

Thomas was the closest thing she had to a companion then. He was like her in some ways. He did what he felt he had to do, just like her when her father demanded things from her that were beyond her control. Did it for the family.

Thomas walked over to her. He didn’t grab her as harshly as he did the first time, gently grabbing her arm and hoisting her up. When she stood, he noticed that the chains were not around her ankle.

“You didn’t put them back on me,” she spoke, hoping he wouldn’t become angry.

He should know better than to forget something like that. Had he been unlucky, she would have ran and he would have been blamed for it. Strangely, she actually didn’t attempt to run. She never even moved an inch from where he’d placed her hours prior. It had to be a trick.

He ran his hands over her body trying to detect any sign of a weapon hidden in her clothes. She allowed him to search her. Not like she could have stopped him anyways. When he found nothing, he took a step back and cocked his head as if to say ‘why’?

“I don’t have anything to run to and I mean, you would have caught me before I made it up the steps. Or the sherriff would have,” she frowned again, averting her gaze to the floor.

The idea of her being caught by Hoyt bothered Thomas. He disliked the thought of anyone else touching her. The worst part of it was, he had a good feeling she wouldn’t fight them if they did like she didn’t for him.

“Thomas? Promise me you’ll protect me from the sheriff? Please?” she asked softly, her eyes pleading. Standing this close to Thomas, the material of his mask could be seen better. It wasn’t leather like she had pressumed; it was dried human skin. She was not afraid. Not of him, everything else but him.

Thomas stared, considering.

She prayed.

And his eyes glimmered.

And she hoped.

And then saw him nod his head.

I promise

[littlebitoffanfic]

Each Other

Fandom: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Character: Thomas Hewitt Relationship: Thomas/reader Request: “I don’t care what you look like, I never have! I love you for you. but you push me away and I cant take it anymore.” For Thomas Hewitt please? You waited at the bottom of the stairs, your knee bouncing as your anxiety soared with each second. It was now dark out and everyone else had gone to bed, but you were waiting up for him to come up from the basement. Every time you heard the slightest creak from down there, you would sit up in anticipation. But Thomas never came up. closing your eyes tight, you tried to stop more tears from falling. Childhood sweethearts growing up, you longed for more from him. You never cared about his face, never seeing it as an issue until he started to. It wasn’t till he was in his late teens/early twenties and started working at the slaughter house and he started hearing the whispers and snide remarks from the others. Hoyt and Luda had tried to keep him sheltered from that sort of hate but they had also installed a hate from those who were outside the family apart from you. So he started wearing the masks. At first, you didn’t mind it. If it helped him deal with those horrible people as well as allow him to continue without feeling self-conscious. But then he started wearing it around you, and it placed a barrier between you two. You felt like he no longer wanted you around, and wouldn’t seek you out. Sometimes, you would see the glimpses that he still loved you, but then he would retreat away from you. You could trace most of why he acted like this to you back to once when you visited him at work. You followed the assistant through the factory, looking around you as you did. It wasn’t the most clean factory but it was a necessary part of the town. “Hewitt! You got a visitor.” He called and you looked forward into the room the guy had guided you into. Standing at one of the empty work benches was Thomas. You smiled at him, walking past the guy toward your old friend. “you forgot your lunch so I brought it up.” You hold up the small bag which contained a sandwich and a few other items for him to eat. you saw the kindness in his normally harsh eyes as he smiles down at you from behind the mask they made him wear. A leather muzzle, you thought, but Thomas really didn’t seem to mind it. “How’d you think an animal like that god a girl like her?” you heard one of the guys say to the other who had been walking past at the time. You heard it, and so did Thomas. He looked down, away from you. it was enough to break the sweet moment as Thomas took the bag from you and turn his back on you. --------time skip ---------------- You huffed a little, looking at the grand father clock in the hallway. Just then, you heard movement from below and the sound of stairs creaking. he was coming. Sitting bolt up right and twist to look over your shoulder, you couldn’t help but hold your breath as the doors slide open. Thomas walked out from the basement and started towards the stairs. The second Thomas’ eyes fall on your figure at the end of the stairs he froze, obviously debating whether to retreat back down stairs and if you had seen him or not. “Thomas?” you called out to him, grabbing onto the railing so you could pull yourself up to stand on the bottom step. “Its late. Are you finished?” Thomas seemed unable to look you in the eyes. He glanced down at his clothes. He was no longer wearing his apron and he had undone the first few buttons of his shirt. Looking over his shoulder. The basement was dark, and he had already turned off all the lights. He knew you already knew the answer, but he shook his head anyways. Something drew his eyes up to meet your own, and he instantly regretted it. He could see that sadness in your eyes as you swallowed. He could see the redness around your eyes and the way your cheeks glistened in the low light from your tears. “Cant you come to bed?” You stepped down the stairs and walked towards him but Thomas couldn’t help but take a step back from you which made you freeze. A soft sob left your lips that you instantly covered with a shaking hand. Fresh tears ran down your cheek as you stared up at him in confusion. Thomas couldn’t take any more of it. He turned on his heel and headed straight back to the basement, closing the door before you could follow him. Thomas held the door closed as he heard your footsteps running to the door as you attempted to open it but he was stronger than you. He heard you let out a mixture between a hiccup and a sob as you tried and failed to get to him. “Please Thomas. Don’t do this.” You begged through the door, knowing he was on the other side holding it shut. He gritted his teeth together as his whole body felt conflicted between keep the door shut and throwing it open to let you run into his arms. He felt you give up and slide to the ground as you cried against the door. Proper sobs that made him fall to his knees. He held the handle so hard it made his knuckles turn white even though you had given up. This was for your own good, he told himself. You deserved so much better than this, than him. He would be alone for the rest of his life, that he could deal with as long as you were happy. You pressed your forehead against the cold metal door as you made small gasps for air. “Thomas.” You whined his name and he flinched from behind the door. ““I don’t care what you look like, I never have! I love you for you. but you push me away and I cant take it anymore.” Thomas squeezed his eyes shut, determined not to let tears fall from his own eyes. He could feel the panic building from within his chest. He had fought so hard to have you, to keep you. he always tried to show you he truly loved you to the moon and back. Thomas didn’t know how long he sat there. He didn’t know how long he waited in the dark for you to leave. Eventually, he pressed his ear to the door and heard a soft snore. Pushing himself to his feet, he slowly pulled the door open to find you had passed out on the floor. He stared down at you for a moment, knowing how important his next move is. he knew he should leave you. Retreat back down to the basement and wait till morning. You would wake up and remember what happened and maybe leave him. You had said you couldn’t any more of this. Or he could scope you up into your arms and carry you upstairs. Thomas knew what he should do. But he couldn’t. he couldn’t leave you on the floor like this. No matter how much he knew you deserved more. Bending down, he picked you up bridal style. You were fast asleep but you instantly cuddled against him. He could feel you were cold and you still hiccupped a little when you were breathing. you dozed on his shoulder until he started climbing the stairs. On the final step, the floor board squeaked and Thomas’ head snapped towards you. your eyes fluttered open and instantly found his own. Your arms wrapped around his shoulder and you buried your face in his neck as you drifted off. You weren’t awake for long and probably didn’t remember exactly what had happened. All you saw was him and you instantly responded with affection. Thomas held you close as he carried you to the room he normally shared with you, although he hadn’t really slept in it properly for a few months now. When he entered, he couldn’t help but feel at home. Your soft fragrance filled the room and it had always been the nicest room in the house. The bed was still made, meaning you hadn’t just woken up and went to see him. You had stayed up to see him. Thomas stood in the middle of the room with you in his arms. He had never been so conflicted in his life. Apparently, you didn’t fall straight back asleep. Your fingers moved into his hair and to the ties of his mask. He didn’t realise you were aware of what you were doing until his mask fell away. But he couldn’t do anything since he had you in his arms. You pulled back from his neck to move in for a kiss. One that surprised Thomas but he was unable to restrain himself from kissing you back. If you were a snake, this would be your killer bite. Because he knew this was enough to shatter his will power to walk away from you right now. You kissed him with more passion than he deserved. Thomas felt his knees going for the 3rd or 4th time that night. He turned and lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed before he dropped you both. You were quick to move and straddle his hips. His hands never left your body before settling on your hips as you ground against him. Thomas couldn’t help but moan against your lips as he felt your hands slip round to cup his cheeks tenderly. “I love you.” you whispered when you pulled away from the kiss for breath. And Thomas broke. The sobs raked his body as he ducked his head away from your loving gaze. He felt too embarrassed to even look at you right now. He opted to buried his face in your neck as you had done. His arms wrapped around your waist and he held you tight against his body. After everything he had done, after how badly he had deteriorated over the years, you would happily throw yourself into his arms. he tried to nod, to respond to your words of affection with his own but he couldn’t. You didn’t question his actions, but allowed him to cry for as long as he needed. Eventually though, you drifted off. -----------time skip ----------------- When you woke, it was morning out. The sun shone in the window and through the curtains. The skin under your eyes were sore and tender to touch as you sat up and avoided rubbing your eyes. The second you remembered what had happened the night before, you looked to the side of bed that was Thomas’s. but it was empty. You almost cried out, feeling your heart break in two. Until you heard footsteps outside your room and the door opened. Thomas entered the room and in his hand was a bouquet of flowers from the garden wrapped in a ribbon. He paused when he saw you were awake but came in anyway. He wasn’t wearing his mask, and you weren’t sure where it had dropped to the night before. Thomas walked around to your side of the bed and sat down. He reached out a hand to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing over your sore undereye. You instantly leaned into his touch, smiling as your raised your own hand to cup his own. When your eyes met his, you could see the regret and sadness in his eyes as he stroked your cheek lovingly. You opened your mouth to say something, but then closed it. Because that was the beauty about Thomas. He didn’t require you to say a word. He was able to communicate to you with a simple touch and motion of his hand. His eyes were filled with his emotions and he was able to tell you everything you needed to hear right now. Maybe he couldn’t explain why he had turned from you for a while, or why he would never feel worthy of you. but he could show you how much you meant to him. In that simple moment, you didn’t have to worry about the outside world and their words. Just about each other.

[tyrantisterror]

TT Liveblogs Evangelion Masterpost & Final Thoughts

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Final Thoughts after the cut!

By reputation, I had a strong feeling that Evangelion was not going to be my kind of story, and now that I’ve seen it I can say that both kind of is and kind of isn’t the case.  The character writing is incredibly strong (even if I feel End of Evangelion has a few major wobbles), its approach to its cosmic horror conflict and uncanny monsters is incredibly interesting, the animation is gorgeous, and the plot is compelling.  It’s way more tragic than I usually prefer my stories of this length to be, but I feel it earns that tragedy and has a point to it.  At the very least, it ranks among works like Heart of Darkness and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I respect for their artistry even if I struggle to stomach their content.  I would say it’s objectively great, even if subjectively it doesn’t always suit my personal tastes as far as stories go.

Given the two endings Evangelion (both the original show’s last episodes and the alternate ending offered by End of Evangelion) has both explore the idea of there being different realities than the one we’ve watched, I almost wonder if my discontent is a feature rather than a flaw.  I feel like Evangelion invites you to consider the possibility of this story going very different ways - if we’re supposed to leave it longing for a better version of these events, like a player hoping there’s a new game plus after watching the depressing ending of a JRPG.

 As a person who’s struggled with self loathing his entire life, this series spoke to me in its analysis of that particular psychological problem.  As the final episodes of the show take great pains to make clear, this is a show about how we understand and define ourselves in the context of others, and the myriad reasons why our self definitions can become toxic and hateful.  Hating oneself should, after all, be rather counter-intuitive, so why are we prone to it?

Evangelion posits that it comes down to the Hedgehog’s Dilemma - this (probably not biologically accurate) idea that hedgehogs want to huddle together for warmth when it’s cold, but can’t because their spikes will stab each other if they do.  They need their spikes for defense, of course, but those same spikes can also hurt people trying to help them, and thus the hedgehogs suffer alone in the cold.  Every character in this show - human and, I would argue, angel alike - is this allegorical hedgehog: they crave warmth and affection, but are kept lonely and cold by the defenses they deem necessary.  The problem isn’t just that they’re denied warmth by others, but that they also fear hurting others in the process of seeking that closeness - that they are both helpless and incapable of helping those they wish to protect.

Every character in this show has different spikes, and every character is desperately hoping that someone will reach out and understand them despite their defenses, or that maybe, just maybe, if they reach out to someone they won’t end up stabbing them in the process.  That’s the real crux of this two-fold problem: people hate themselves both because they have been denied both love and the act of giving love to others in turn, all while knowing deep down that they are the reason they have these damn spikes in the first place.

And yes, I extend this to the monsters as well.  While most of the angels in this series are destructive and openly antagonistic , three actually try to communicate with humanity in their “attacks.”  The first two are unsuccessful because the humans are incapable of understanding them, but the third actually manages to speak humanity’s language.  He expresses regret at the fact that angels and humans can’t coexist, and even urges Shinji to destroy him because it’s the only way Shinji can live - and the angel, despite knowing it means his death, prefers the idea of Shinji surviving their conflict.  While we ultimately don’t learn enough about the angels to say anything concrete about their motives, the glimpse that Kaworu gives into their psyche paints them in a similarly depressing light as humanity.  They lash out with their figurative (and sometimes literal) spikes not because they hate humanity, but because they believe they have no option.  They can’t have warmth.  There is only the path of spikes, the act of violence.  Whether they want to or not, only one can survive.  They have succumbed to the bleakness of the hedgehog’s dilemma.

I love the ending of the show because it focuses on its psychological problem which, ultimately, is the true conflict of the story, and examines it in depth with all the main characters, and especially Shinji (which makes sense, as his psycholgical state is the most detailed and well developed of the entire cast).  In the final episode, Shinji finds the solution to the hedgehog’s dilemma that no one else was brave enough to come to.  He realizes that, yes, it is impossible to interact with others without both getting hurt and hurting others in turn - that he can’t get rid of his spikes, nor can anyone else get rid of theirs.  But as much as he hates the pain he’ll both experience and inflict, he realizes that he has the courage to try to reach out anyway - that though he may hate himself now, he might be able to love himself as he loves others, and that being imperfect doesn’t mean he’s worthless.  Despite all the pain and the guilt, despite the prick of the spikes, Shinji decides to keep trying to find the warmth that he and those around him need, because if they all keep trying together they can find it.

Evangelion ends with Shinji, surrounded by his peers, determined to recover.  He refuses to be destroyed by his depression.  He refuses to die in the cold, and everyone is there with him when he does.  It’s not an incongruous moment - for all the angst that people tend to define this show by, there are always moments, small but notable, impactful moments, where they come together.  Few people on this show are beyond saving, and in at least one ending - esoteric and weird as it is - they have that chance.

I’m less keen on End of Evangelion as an alternate ending.  Where the original show gave Shinji that moment of recovery, End of Evangelion seems deadset on destroying him and every other character in the show as utterly as possible.  Shinji gives in to his absolute worst impulses in this movie, and every other character is similarly destroyed by their faults - Misato tries her hardest but fails to ultimately protect Shinji from doom, Rei is used as a tool for someone else’s designs without ever truly understanding what they are or claiming her own independence, Asuka dies trying and failing to prove her worth as a warrior, and on and on it goes.  The most iconic scene of the film is scored with a song whose lyrics are a suicide note, which is fitting for a movie about depressed characters succumbing to their worst impulses and being destroyed for it.  Though Shinji once again gets to survive the end of the world and create something new from the ashes, it’s not uplifting as it was in the show - instead, with only Asuka by his side (who he then tries to strangle), he slumps down into a puddle of self misery.  The last word he hears isn’t “congratulations” this time around - it’s “disgusting.”

I’m not saying this is a wrong ending, or an objectively bad one.  You could argue this is just as much where the story might have been heading as the show’s ending - or even that it’s more congruous, that this was always going to be a story about failure and self destruction, and that any hope these characters could have for a better life could only be achieved by fucking with the nature of their reality on a fundamental level.  Objectively, End of Evangelion is valid.  But for my personal tastes... I liked those kernels of hope.  I’ll take Congratulations over Digusting.  I want these kids to heal.

One final bit: a common thing I’ve heard about this series is that the allusions to Abrahamic religion and folklore are purely aesthetic and have no actual deeper meaning, and having watched the series I think this is at best an over-simplification and at worst completely wrong.  Like most allusions in literature, I don’t think they work as a direct 1:1 comparisons - Adam in Evangelion is not literally the same as Adam in the Bible, Angels in Evangelion are not literally the same as in the Bible, etc.  But there’s still a lot of meaning behind how these Biblical references are used that can’t be mere coincidence.  For example, towards the end of the series it’s revealed that human being are actually half angel (or rather the spawn of a different angelic being than the angels in canon, it’s a bit more complicated than this but let’s simplify it for the sake of making this intelligible), which is why the “pure” angels are trying to wipe us out.  In the book of Enoch, a fairly obscure non-canonical Biblical text, some rebel angels come to earth and crossbreed with humanity, creating the nephilim, a race of half human/half angels.  Enoch posits that this is the specific crime that makes God destroy the earth in a flood.  Now, how does End of Evangelion end?  With humanity being destroyed and the earth flooded with their liquid remains, save for one surviving pair that is composed of one boy and one girl.  It’s not a 1:1 allusion, but it would be one HELL of a coincidence that this story is so similar to an obscure non-canonical Biblical work.

And if we do accept the allusions as having some meaning, they actually work with the show’s themes fairly well.  The Book of Enoch’s whole purpose is to explain why God hated humanity enough to destroy it, and the feeling that a higher, cosmic power hates us for some inexplicable reason is at the core of Evangelion.  Evangelion’s whole purpose is to find an answer for why we hate and destroy ourselves, and how we, like Noah, might find a way to save ourselves from this seemingly inevitable flood of doom.  Making an allusion to another stories that try to explain that - not just the Book of Enoch, but to similar Biblical stories about the origin and nature of humanity’s sin and God’s scorn, like the Genesis tale of Adam and Eve (or, as Evangelion substitutes, Adam and his semi-canonical first wife, Lilith) - is inherently meaningful.  It’s on topic, and in the context of these allusions we get a clearer view of what Evangelion is trying to say about human nature.  It’s not necessarily a Christian story, but its allusions to Abrahamic religion aren’t devoid of meaning.

[xo-dailypier-blog]

[Post 3 of 3]: Cheater, Cheater, Booty Eater!

I see you all are still on a natural high following Summer Crush, but I come baring sad news.

Unfortunately, this will be a tragic reveal of the ugly secrets that have been going down behind our backs. And it is no laughing matter ....

I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts that this town is boring. Well apparently you’ve all been smoking the same crack rock as our problematic fav, because the headassery JUMPED OUT! I said last time that I would place myself on the scenes of the lives of our fav Santa Monicans and that exactly what I did during Summer Crush.

In fact, I took it an extra mile by planting cameras in all of the hook-up huts, the cabanas, and even the fantasy suites. So me pretending to be “shocked” when I found out that June got #Dic, was pure theatrics. Though I was actually shocked that she had it in her. BUT I RETURN TO MY POINT...

I’m sure you guys noticed a certain hot couple was missing from the countdown, and what I found out about these two was truly disturbing...

So here we go…

ooc: I do make jokes about The Amish community, but if it gets out of hand in this post, please let me know. And apologies in advance. 

I think the most asked topic, by far, is between Shark Boy and Lava Thot (Yes, I’ve changed the name, sue me). Most of you have simply asked, “Butt Stuff?” And so I decided to get to the bottom I decided to get to the TRUTH of the situation. Just a recap for those who missed it: Myles ditched the strap provided by his Amish girlfriend, Jasmine, for a real lug of MEAT. The rumor was that Myles Bennetover began having a SCANDALOUS affair with Julian Stark. I thought that it was complete MADNESS! Myles “Thicckie Minaj” Bennet would never let down the people that he loves, like his girlfriend, AND ME! But I was wrong. Myles is, after all, a man, so that makes him an idiot.

I followed Miss Bennett to the bar where he went to go met up with Julian one night, before Summer Crush had COMMENCED. The conversation that took place was one that sounded like a break-up. “This ILLUSTRIOUS affair can go on no longer”, Myles said (well he didn’t actually, I’m paraphrasing). Heartbroken, Julian SUNK into himself. All these passionate nights between them, and the entire time, he was only a booty cock call. We know that Julian has no feelings (clearly, he fucking a man in a relationship), but he took this one to heart. He was (is?) in LOVE with Myles, but the two could no longer be together. Julian got up to leave but Myles STOPPED him! In that very moment, he had a change of heart. He then GRABBED the washed up surfer by his shirt and pulled him in, the two began to MAKE OUT in the middle of the bar. But it doesn’t stopped there. They proceeded to MIGRATE to the bathroom where Myles proceeded to sit on Julian’s ... Iron Throne. I didn’t stay long to watch, I was too heartbroken. I did hear the kissing, and moaning, and grunting. And I heard Myles shout out “Sweet Sassafras” (Paraphrasing), upon first penetration. But I had to leave. It was too much.

All I could think of was Jasmine. How she’s been tirelessly WORKING to remain free from the MENNONITES of her VILLAGE that have continued to OPPRESS HER. And it’s SUPER shady that he’d do this TO A GIRL WHO DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE A COMPUTER!!!! I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE YELLED A GIRL LIKE THIS!

So after that night, the two men decided to call it quits. Their bathroom shuffle was their Last Hurrah. In fact Julian ordered Myles to come and collect his ugly ass plaid shirts that FILLED his humble abode and the two swore they would never speak to each other ever again … but then Summer Crush happened.

Their plans to end everything completely fell through once they had to be in each other’s company night after night. Their secret convos, locking eyes across the rooms, disappearing into the FUCK HUTS to BANG — completely cancelled out their plans. I could go into explicit detail about it all, but basically … they still have the hottttttttttts for each other.

After a bit more digging, I’ve found out that this affair has been going on for a while at this point. According to source close to both Wink (Myles) and Wonk (Julian), they met each other during Julian’s Washed Up Surfer Reunion (who even keeps up with surfers anyways) the two formed a connection and … well..

And that was TEN MONTHS AGO! So for TEN MONTHS!! fjhcdcjkdsacjk

I have to say that I am … speechless.

Not necessarily because of the affair itself, but because I’m never wrong. I honestly thought Myles was better than this. Julian? Not so much.

It’s interesting to look at this in retrospect. Knowing that this has been going on all this time while MYLES BENNETOVER was texting sweet nothing to Jasmine by day and was BENNENITOVER by night for #DemonDICK. Watching Jasmine on a date with Julian completely oblivious to everything that was going on, while Julian sat there in knowing what he’s done to her .. It’s actually evil ... and at this point … I nominate MURDER as the solution.

So Jasmine (or people who know Jasmine, cause she probes won’t see this) LISTEN UP, here are a few solutions I think would work, or at the very least, get even. NOTE: IN ORDER TO GET AWAY WITH THESE HYPOTHETICAL THEORETICAL SCENARIOS, JASMINE HAS TO CONTINUE TO BE OBLIVIOUS TO MY BLOG, IT’S HER ONLY ALIBI. MOVING ON...

(Least Recommended) Jasmine dresses up in a beige trench coat and black thigh high boots (see: Ring The Alarm - Beyonce (Preferably the VMA performance she did, the mob of girls and choreographed dance is optional, but would be appreciated)). Hidden in her trench coat is her weapon of choice. A gun is too basic. A knife isn’t a guaranteed kill. A CHAINSAW would be just right, in my opinion. Whatever she decides to use, Julian is the first casualty, obvi. Myles would be the second. After they are DISMEMBERED, feed them to the sharks. (The reason I’m not to keen on this is because it’s to messy, odds are Jas would not be able to get away with it. But the way they kill animals back home in her village, I figured it’d be the easiest for her.)

(Not highly Recommended but better then #1) Go to Whole Foods and buy a bunch of cherries, Google the recipe to how to make homemade cyanide out of cherries, or ask a friend to do it for you, I keep forgetting she doesn’t know how to use a computer. No one would suspect the sweet girl buying cherries is using it to murder her boyfriend and his mistress. After they are OUT drag them to the ocean, tie Wink and Wonk together (using Myles plaid shirts) and throw them into the ocean. Again, the Sharks will do what they need to do. (No guarantee of getting away with this, they might break free from the plaid chains. Maybe I just want the plaid shirts to be gone. Plus side though? You can still wear the Ring The Alarm number).

(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) COMBAT ALL OF MYLES’ HARD WORK BY DEVISING A PLAN TO RID THE OCEAN OF SHARKS! MAKE SURE HE KNOWS THAT THE REASON YOU’RE DOING THIS IS BECUSE YOU MADE HIM! SO IN THE END, IT WILL BE ALL HIS FAULT THAT THE SHARKS ARE DEAD!!!! ONCE THEY ARE ALL GONE MYLES WILL NOT HAVE A JOB NOR WILL HE BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH HIS TRIFLIN’ LIFESTYLE SO HE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE BACK TO BUMFUCK, TEXAS (POPULATION: LOSER!!!!) WHERE HE WILL HAVE TO PICK SHIFTS A FUCKING BASS PRO SHOPS LISTENING TO NICKELBACK’S GREATEST HITS ON REPEAT WHILE HE CHECKS OUT SOME HILLBILLY BUYING AN ASSAULT RIFLE.

Jasmine, if you are reading this, I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I would totally suggest a guy for you to ditch Myles for, but ... all the men in this town ain’t SHIT. Maybe, the mennonites will have you back in your village where you will be free of the evils the outside world has to offer. 

As for Wink and Wonk? I SHIP IT! I hope you guys run off and live happily ever after ... In the depths of hell where you belong!!!!!!!

So this it guys, SWIMMING in at NUMBER 1 are Shark Boy and Lava Thot and their tragic love affair. 

I hope you’re pleased with yourselves boys. You’ve broken a poor Amish Girl’s heart and WORST OF ALL? Julian and his #DemonDick fucked Cutny Westwood, who was (almost) dating Jamie ALL because he was on the oust with Shark Boy, so EVERYONE in this situation gets played. Tragic.

 I guess this is what happens when the #DemonDick takes host.

#PrayerCircleForJasmine (and Jamie too, tbh).

xo, DP

[fulldreamsahead]

Cold Feet Cold Body

So we have our players, 3 girls and two boys. In my dream they did not have names so I will just retroactively give them names that I think fit them. My name is Maria. My female friends’ names are Tina and Janine. Tina is a dyed blond with her roots showing, she likes to do smokey eyes but never really washes away the rest of her makeup correctly and it always ends up looking a bit too smudged. Janine is a yes girl with a big mop of curly black hair on her head and warm-toned skin, she is always beautiful and on point. I never get to see myself but in snippits of movement I can see I have dark-ish skin and thick dark colored hair. Our men are Travis, a man who looks like Adam Devine in a Anders Holm-style hat, and Jared his associate, a man that is tall and jacked.

Our plot begins with me being invited to be a bridesmaid at Tina's wedding. We’re living in a relatively metropolitan area that is skirted on all sides by farmland (much like DFW) and her dream, even though she has NO REALATION WHATSOEVER to the country, is to have the ultimate country wedding. She has always liked the idea of barn raisings and such. In her wedding preparations she has become a 'country girl' and even adopted a slight southern twang even though she is from California born and raised. I find this detestable but am very polite and smile through the fields of fake. I want to believe Janine is my guiding light, I try to take her aside to talk about it but in dipping my toe into the water I realize that she cannot even tell the difference and is just elated to be maid of honor. I am at a loss. While preparing for the wedding realize the most perplexing thing; I have not met or heard of the groom, a man by the name of Timothy. For some reason I find it weird that no one is allowed to slang it to Tim, his visage seems too elegant and I am suspicious. Timothy is apparently loaded and rents us out a mansion-like air bnb in the middle-of-nowhere farm country to do our wedding preparations. The wedding itself will be held at a neighboring farm, ONLY 20 miles out and the preparations there are going smoothly. The groom and the groomsmen will be staying at that location, but it is not as updated as our location, and he wanted us to be pampered and have a girls spa weekend prior to the Sunday wedding.

  On Friday morning we arrive, I park and find mysterious Timothy helping his beloved move all her things into the air bnb. It turns out he is actually my high school boyfriend TIM who dumped me after cheating on me with some 'skank' at a party. I found out via an old friend Bernice, who had been at the party and showed me photos of him macking on some blond chick in a skimpy pink tube top and then taking her into one of the bedrooms. We do a flashback of the scene and me dumping him while pouring an entire route 44 over his head. Back in the present I make pleasantries with him. He doesn't seem to remember me but I am not surprised. It's been about 11 years since then and we only dated a few months in freshman year. Tina giddily grabs his arm to officially introduce us and of course Janine asks the stereotypical question of “how did you guys meet?” It turns out that Tina was the 'skank' at the party and we have another flashback revealing so. She refers to the 'me' in the story as 'some bitch' that she gladly stole this hunk away from. She says they lost touch after their one night stand but then by fate they met up again about 6 months ago and the sex was 'just as good'. I am furious, I have been friends with Tina since high school. I know for a fact she knows what I went through, she was with me while I was ugly crying in the high school bathrooms. I am already on edge when she brings out a dog. A big fluffy husky who turns happily at the sight of his owners (Tina and Timothy). My fists clench. That is my dog. This is where it gets really strange, apparently. I lost my dog earlier that year having a bad time (maybe there can be a bad year montage at the beginning of the movie) and Tina offered to help me look. She was the one who insisted that I finally give up after about a month, but I was heartbroken nonetheless. I mention that out loud that he looks just like my Archduke Ferdinand. I can see the cracks in her glass smile as she says “oh hun, not this again, I just loved your sweet pooch so much I had to get one of my own! Is it too soon?” She turns to Timothy to ask him to take the dog with him and I insist it's ok. I have a sure fire way of figuring it out, I just need a moment alone with the dog. After hauling in the rest of the belongings, I say goodbye to TIM much to his discharge.

  We spend the rest of the morning setting up the house and taking stock. There are some farm animals in the house and, while from the outside it looks like a regular old fashioned country two story, on the inside it is a totally decked out fully modern gorgeous property. The backyard has endless greenery rolling up to a crashing wave of cedar forest lining the property. There is a gnarly hundred-year-old oak tree on the eastern half of the property. As Tina is setting up her expansive makeup collection in the bathroom and Janine has decided to lay down on the couch and take advantage of cable, I met up with 'Fluffykins' in the yard. When I had Archduke Ferdinand, I had him micro-chipped. Out here in the middle of nowhere I can't actually get it checked to see if he’s mine but I do remember that he was mistakenly micro-chipped in his butt instead of his back due to his eagerness. I doubt anyone else would make a similar mistake. He follows me eagerly (remembering me?) and I go to investigate a local shed on the property. Opening the door looks like a scene out of a horror move; you see my silhouette power stance in the doorway of the dark and cobwebbed palace of yard instruments. While a stud finder can't identify any microchip information, it can ping you to its location in the dog. A quick swipe over the butt and I hear the ping. I drop to my knees and shed a few tears and hug my dog. He struggles and licks my face in confusion. After I am able to recollect myself I am furious, the rages of Satan burn in my eyes and we have a montage of some stupid things that Tina has done to me over the years. “Oh yeah, those bangs totally suit you!” “No girl that dress does not make you look fat.” “Oh honey, there is no way a man can resist a girl with frosted tips.”

  Oh why did I let her go with me to the salon more than once. This 'bitch' has been ruining my life for years and I am done. I breath in, sigh, and Ferdinand follows me out of the shed and I lock up shop. I go inside and put on my customer service smile and greet Tina who whines at me and asks me where I have been. I tell her that I was just getting some fresh air and she makes a note about how she doesn't want the humidity to throw off my hair because we all have to look in sync. The corner of my mouth twitches but I stay focused.  I ask about food options and she sighs haughtily saying she couldn't get the host to feed us so we are going to have to send someone to go get food. I offer quickly and she thanks me with a fake sickly sweet sound. Everything about her looks like a cracked up doll: the eyes too big, the smile too painted on, and I can't take it. I go down to a local 'grocery store' or shall I say dollar mart and pick up what can be turned into meals for us for the weekend. This is where we meet Travis and Jared. They are bumming it in the back of a pickup in the parking lot, drinking monster energy drinks and doing chew. I put my bags in the car and approach them. They begin to puff out their chests like birds to hit on me and I stop them right in their tracks. “Hey fellas I have a fucked up idea, want in?” They deflate immediately and seem a bit scared of how abrasive I am. I tell them the gist of what is going on and Jared is particularly passionate about taking another person’s dog. I thank him and I ask him if they could pull a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre and come over to scare the shit out of the girls tonight. That will teach Tina to be in a place she doesn't understand and crack her fake-ass exterior. They seem reluctant so I offer them each 50$ and they are in. The plan is they go at the house Strangers style, with no intention of actually entering the house and we will disconnect the phone lines prior. I make a mental note to unplug the girls’ phones and tamper with the lock screens to keep the brightness on so they lose battery and we are 'trapped'. They understand their limits and not to hurt anyone and we are golden. I give them the address and we are set. 

I return with the food and Tina nitpicks my choices while Janine makes the best of it. The rest of the evening is uneventful, while Tina complains that she wishes she had catered a sushi platter to us instead of the burgers we were forced to eat because the meat goes straight to her non existent flat ass. As it gets dark I put my phone plan into action and convince the girls to watch a horror movie to really set the mood. We watch Friday the 13th and at 11 p.m. the fun begins. I hear the boys shit truck putter by on the highway, they honk just driving past the house to alert me that they will be parking down the road and on their way. The movie still has 15 minutes and this could not have been planned better. As the movie winds down the boys make it to the property. First they disconnect the power. The girls scream in the dark and I follow suit, I’m a pretty good actor after years of putting up with Tina's bullshit. As we head as a group for the breaker box outside the house, a light hung just above the small scary shed to make it even more erie is still on and tall Jared is standing under it in a mask. Tina is terrified and runs back inside the house, Janine pulls on my should and screams we need our phones. We run back in, lock the door, and the girls run for their cells phones finding them all to be drained and dead. They also cannot seem to find the cords to their chargers. Tina immediately blames me for my shitty unpacking for some reason and I snap at her in the heat of the moment that her dumb-ass fiancee must have misplaced them! Janine is crying, poor girl, she does not deserve this but she is an innocent bystander in what must be done. Ferdinand is pacing by the back glass door whimpering. Tina asks him what's wrong. He barks and a sickle shines just right and scratches down the glass. The girls freak out and run around the house. Tina makes a beeline for a neighboring bedroom instead of the master for some reason. Meanwhile the boys are laughing outside about what a good job they are doing, they are over in the barn with the other animals laughing about why a sickle is even on the property. “Are they harvesting wheat like the slavery ages?” Travis has a great idea to let the animals out and Jared is skeptical, he doesn't want them to get hurt. Travis says “Why would they? It’s a closed property. They'll probably just run amok.” So Jared agrees and they open the barn and all the cages. The horse runs out first and they snicker about which windows they should harass next. 

Back in the house shit gets real when Tina pulls out a fucking gun from the top of the extra bedroom closet on the second floor. Both Janine and I are twice as on edge. “When the fuck did you get that?!” Janine asks (a huge anti-gun person). Tina says “Shut the fuck up Janine, you know they could have stopped Sandy Hook if the teacher would have been armed.” Janine is furious and Tina loads the gun and holds it loosely in her hand, the two of them bicker and I am panicking. I have to tell the boys to get out as soon as possible this has gone tits up and that is when I here a smash of glass downstairs. Tina takes front position and we all get dead silent. I panic realizing we never set up a safe-word and knock over a decorative vase in the hallway. Tina pivots the gun at me and I shout a little too loudly for her to GET THAT FUCKING GUN AWAY FROM ME, hoping to alert the boys and also scolding myself remembering that I told them specifically not to come inside the house. We reach the bottom of the stairs and we hear some non-specific crashing in an adjacent room, we move around the corner and see nothing and then, jump-scare, it’s the fucking horse, his eyes illuminated red with the flashlight we found in an upstairs bathroom sink cabinet. Tina fires the gun instantly, missing the horse and the thing goes fucking nuts, kicking and neighing destroying everything. We collectively lose our minds and scatter. The boys are on the east of the house and contemplate if that was a gunshot. Jared says “This shit is too much” and that they should bail. Travis agrees and as they pass the gnarled oak they hear a sound and turn. It’s a mother raccoon. Jared punches Travis for scaring him and comments on how cute it is. Travis tells him to fuck off and screams at the animal hoping to scare it off for scaring him. It full on attacks him and he runs careening around the corner of the house with Jared cursing under his breath to help him.

A lot of other high-jinks ensue over the night and in the morning we are all wrecked. Especially Tina whose hair is a rats nest and her smokey eye has become a smokey face. We trapped the boys at some point and somehow by the grace of god they do not blame me, they just say they were trying to have some fun with city girls and something about gentrification of air bnb in the area, surprising everyone with their wit. I took the gun away from Tina and am rubbing my temples with it in my hand. She was too trigger happy anyway. I end up sighing and saying fuck it and come clean about everything, going from screaming to tears, Tina is sympathetic and right when we are about to make up there is a crackle in the tree line and something gray comes running at us in full speed. In total automatic reflex Tina grabs the gun an fires at it thinking its the raccoon, but its Ferdinand, he is hit. Everyone goes into fast motion at that point, we bring him to the vets office and in the waiting room Tina and I have a screaming match and everything comes out.  

Unfortunately like most dreams there is no real ending... Though I wish there was... 

[basic-braining]

Hey, you said some stuff about Bobby earlier and i was wondering...whys he gotta be deep and complex? Can't a bully just be a bully for no reason?

I can’t tell if this is serious or not, but I’ll bite because I love to talk.

It’s because, it’s all there, if you look!

Bobby is messed up! A lot! Like hey, I’m all up for asshole characters being assholes just cause they want to be, but Bobby isn’t the case! Nils is the case of someone being an asshole because they are, Kitty is the case of someone being an asshole because they are, Maloof is the case of someone being an asshole because they are. They all live in wealthy families with caring parents that spoil them and let them do whatever they want. But Bobby… Bobby has problems.

And he has a lot of them.

The movies on Bobby’s profile aren’t just “lol, he’s edgy” garbage, you can very easily draw lines from Bobby to the characters in those movies. Take Texas Chainsaw for example. The hitchhiker they pick up in the beginning is carrying around roadkill and pictures of dead animals. Guess who has pictures of roadkill and dead animals on his Campster profile? Guess who could be found, in-game, torturing animals? Bobby. There is a connection you’re supposed to draw here. This character is someone who Bobby identifies with.

And assuming that Bobby identifies with this character, you could see that he is troubled. This character is horribly abused by his father, he is absolutely messed beyond repair due to the trauma he was put through. However, this character is not sympathetic, none of the characters Bobby identifies with are sympathetic, not in the slightest.

Especially, especially Tony Montana from Scarface. There are a lot of parallels to draw from him. You just have to look and put 2 and 2 together:

They both have a lackey they treat like shit.They are both criminals that have gotten time.Most importantly, they both love a girl they really, really shouldn’t be around.And they both drive every man away who gets a little too close to her.

And seeing as how they have this much in common, what else is there? Tony has parental issues, again, like the hitchhiker in Texas Chainsaw. He visits his mom and she chases him out of the house, saying “Why do you destroy everything you touch?” and I bet this is really upsetting for Bobby to hear in the movie. It gets him right in the heart, he’s heard things like that uttered from his own mother.

Again, Tony is not sympathetic, at all. He is someone with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He’s not someone you want to be, he’s not someone you want to identify with or look up to. But there is not a doubt in my mind that Bobby sees himself in him.

And while I don’t think Bobby identifies with anyone in Hellraiser a lot, he does recognize the disordered family, the father who didn’t help his daughter when she needed him, the mother who allowed her uncle, who molested her, to come and snatch her father’s skin and threaten her again.

Even if you want to ignore the movie parallels, there are STILL a ton of things in-game and on Campster that show that he has major problems. You just need to look a little beyond the surface. 

Bobby is messed up. He bullies ruthlessly, treats his one friend like shit, tortures animals. He has 1, single redeeming quality, and it’s that he wants to change. He’s willing to, he tries. And the only person who can help him is Chloe. He just has to be good, he has to learn to behave. To not hurt people anymore.

The fact that he wants to be better, to change, says a lot. Someone who’s an asshole just because they want to be wouldn’t want to change. A spoiled, ungrateful brat wouldn’t want to change. Only someone who is troubled, who was raised with a certain mindset governed by unkempt trauma, who never thought there was another way to be would want to change.

“But, Morry! He just wants to change so his crush will like him, any normal person would!”

But here’s the thing, if his parents loved him unconditionally, spoiled him rotten, then why on Earth would he change for one stupid crush? If people are going to love him no matter what, he could get any random chick he wants! Why change for space case over here? Spoiled brats are more likely to want others to change for them.

At the end of the game, when Augustus shows up, Bobby is shown crying. Why would they show a shot of Bobby crying if it wasn’t relevant? Why not Dogen, or Lili, or even Sasha? They’re all main characters with father issues too, so why Bobby of all characters? Why have it at all?

Just a random shot of Bobby crying at Raz’s loving father, who came to help him. Think what you will about Augustus, I won’t go into detail about him, but this is what Bobby knows about him at this time, and it makes him sad that he didn’t have that sort of figure in his life.

Look, I know characters could be interesting without having to be super complex or have any sad, tragic backstory. Heck, my favorite camp kid is Franke! There’s nothing complex about her! There’s nothing really sad or angsty about her! She’s just a dumb gay valley girl and I absolutely love it! But Bobby’s case is not simple, at all. He’s traumatized, and messed up in more ways than one. And that’s the canon. Me saying “he’s traumatized as hell” isn’t “uwufying” him or making you sympathize with him, not unless you’re projecting, which is something I strongly, strongly discourage.

The fact is, Bobby has a story, and people need to utilize it better, because it really, truly is something interesting.

[reynardiine]

                            —   ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴ † ʏᴏᴜ·ʀᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ.

SO MANY THINGS BOTHER ME ABOUT THE FILM, starting and ending with the massive plot holes that litter it like a minefield. Of course ( as I’ve mentioned ten times by now ), the movie was created by a group of indie college filmmakers for a midnight film festival and just happened to be bought out by Lionsgate. While horror is my bread and butter, I also live for realistic content. Ninety percent of this movie doesn’t fall in that category, so it’s time to work my magic. THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU’RE NEXT IS THAT IT HAPPENS TO BE based on a true story. And just like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, The Haunting in Connecticut, Zodiac, The Conjuring, etc.; a lot of artistic freedom was utilized in its telling. In the end, it became a much more campy retelling, akin to the liberties taken in The Town That Dreaded Sundown’s trombone stabbing scene. Of course, just as everything else “true crime”, anyone can find real articles using Google — amazing :

          “  The quiet town of Fulton, Missouri was shaken on the night of April 9th, 2010, when cops were called to the scene of a grisly homicide. Nine people were found slaughtered in their summer home. The only survivor of the attack remains anonymous to this day.           ‘ No one could have seen this coming, ’     the witness reported. She claims that the Davisons simply wanted a nice weekend with their family, but that quickly turned sour.     ‘ It all happened so fast. We were having dinner. Crispian and Drake began fighting, but that was normal. AND THEN TARIQ DROPPED. Before we could figure out what was going on, everyone was in a panic. ’           Three men in what were described to police as ‘reinforced animal masks’ picked them off, using tactics often found in hunting. The witness also claimed that one attacked her in the kitchen, but a past in survivalist training saved her life.           She told the media,     ‘ It should have killed him. I grabbed the closest thing in my reach, and I just kept hitting and hitting. ’     The man wearing a tiger’s face was downed and unmasked.     ‘ It was hard to tell how old he was, there was so much  b l o o d . But he was white, somewhere between his mid-twenties and forties, and had to be almost six foot in height. ’           Though she had close encounters will all three of the men, not much more information could given on the other two killers, with the exception of each having DEEP SOUTHERN U.S. accents. On them, they carried weapons of all sorts, including a machete, an axe, and a crossbow. They also set traps around the house using proximity detectors, razor wire, and bear traps, though no evidence of these things were found when police arrived, nor was the man behind the tiger mask’s body. All bank accounts belonging to the family were drained that same night.           Calvin Trubiano was the first responder on the scene.     ‘ I’ll never forget, there was one girl who’d been beaten so bad, she didn’t look human anymore. It was like the guy tried to play golf with her head. ’     He now claims the Davison case to be the reason he turned in his badge.     ‘ I knew that day that no matter how much GOOD I tried to do for this town, I’d be living in the shadow of this case until the day I died. It’s one of those things, you know. You just can’t shake it. You close your eyes, and the only thing you see is another body. ’           — Among the deceased are parents Paul and Aubrey Davison; their sons Drake, Crispian, and Felix; their daughter, Aimee; and three significant others whose identities have never been released. The killers were never caught nor heard from again. And now, this weekend, the horror film based on the night’s events, You’re Next, is hitting theaters.                                           REMEMBER TO LOCK YOUR DOOR.  ”

[newkpopships]

Ship with 17 (hip-hop unit) pretty please~.

I’m a Female Libra who is 5'5 with long caramel colored hair (it’s over 3 feet long), bluish-green eyes (they change color sometimes their green, sometimes their blue) & like 80-90% tomboy. I love blogging, singing, archery & just being myself 100% of the time. I’m a bit of a thrill seeker/adrenaline junkie so I absolutely love doing things that most people wouldn’t/would be too scared to do because I have 0 fear/am not scared of anything. I’m the type of person who will willing ride all the crazy rides at a Carnival or an Amusement/Theme Park lul. Though I do have a bit of a calm/relaxing side where I love being outdoors in nature when I can be (aka when I’m not blogging), cooking & baking (not to mention I’m great at both of them) & listening to music as well as singing whenever I can (which is basically all the time lul). I have 3 older brothers, so not only am I the youngest, but also the only girl in my family (besides my mom lul). My eldest brother I share a birthday with (we were born exactly 12 years & 12 hours apart lul). I have a (very) high pain tolerance & currently have a total of 6 ear piercings (3 on each of my ears) & my end goal is to hopefully have both of my ears pierced all the way up & around. I also hope to one day get a few tattoos. Though I want my first one to be of an ombre blue & red water dragon on the outer side of my calf on my right leg (to match my eldest brothers one that he has on his upper arm). I have a very laid-back/casual sense of style/fashion. When I’m lounging around the house I prefer wearing a baggy t-shirt & yoga shorts/short shorts (or a baggy t-shirt, a baggy hoodie & yoga pants depending on the season lul). Though when I go out I’ll wear a simple t-shirt with a tank top & shorts with wedged sandals/flip flops (or yoga pants with a baggy hoodie & wedged shoes/boots depending on the season). My favorite colors are black & red (like legit 90% of my clothes are black lul). My favorite season is Autumn, my favorite holiday is Halloween & I’m a big fan of Horror/Gore movies (go figure right lul), but I do like other types of movie genre’s too, just Horror has & always will be at the top lul. My all time favorite Horror movies are all of the Halloween, Friday The 13th, Chucky, Texas Chainsaw Massacre & Nightmare On Elm Street movies & I’ll be glued to the t.v whenever their on t.v (especially if it’s a marathon of them lul). I absolutely adore/love all types of animals/pets & they seem to adore/love me right back because once an animal sees me it won’t leave me alone/leave my side (tbh I prefer being around animals then people). I currently have 2 pets, a Black Lab/Collie mix dog (Sparky) & a Sugar Glider (Midnight) whom I both love very much. I tend to mask/bottle up all my emotions/feelings & have a hard time trusting people as well as letting people in due to a lot of personal issues I’ve been through in the past. I tend to give off quite a cold/bitchy & mysterious vibe since you never know what I’m thinking or what I’ll do next (I’m basically the Queen of Resting Bitch Face lul), but I’m a very open minded & extroverted person who has no filter & always speaks her mind. I like to keep things real without sugar coating it & call it how I see it which is why I got the nickname Queen Bitch from my close friends. I have a very fiery temper with a short fuse & a silver tongue so when I go off it gets a bit nasty/chaotic (a kind of “red rage” because all those bottled up emotions/feelings I have come out), but I do have a very bubbly, sweet & caring 4D personality that makes up for it all. I absolutely love skinship & pda whether it be giving or reviving it & once in a blue moon if I’m in a good enough mood I’ll even end up breaking out some aegyo (it’s rare, but it does happen sometimes lul). I will say though I have a bit of a soft spot for guys that do/try to do aegyo (even if it’s “failed aegyo” I’ll still find it adorable). I may get a little too clingy at times, but there are also times where I like to disconnect myself from the world & everything around me & just keep to myself (i.e I’ll just go really quite/stop talking & won’t talk again for a little while) & enjoy the quietness of life while being left alone to ponder my own thoughts & to just let my mind wonder. ~Extra~ I’m an INTJ~ I’m Straight Edge (I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs) I’m a “textbook” definition of a “Kuudere” I’m a Creature of The Night/100% nocturnal (I don’t go to bed until 8 or 9 am, but I will take a 1-2 hour nap if I get really exhausted/tired at night) I’ve always been known to be a “lone wolf” (tbh I don’t really mind it lul) I have a “kitten-like” sneeze (it’s cute, but does scare people who don’t know about it) I’m more of a leader than follower (I absolutely hate it when people try to boss me around or tell me what to do) Sun: Libra Moon: Gemini Ascendant/Rising: Aquarius Mercury: Virgo Venus: Leo Mars: Leo Jupiter: Capricorn Saturn: Aries Uranus: Aquarius Neptune: Capricorn Pluto: Sagittarius Mid-heaven: Sagittarius

Sure dear here you go! ♥︎ @katiekittybones (I usually don’t do units though~)

Seventeen (HipHop Unit)

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[captainbobbin]

Final Dissertation -

A STUDY ON THE GENRE OF BODY HORROR, FOCUSING ON THE CULTURAL INFLUENCES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

Word Count -  8396.

Its a long essay, its under the read more!

INTRODUCTION

“Horror entwines spectacle and reality in an indeterminate scene of effects and affects that, further, engage and repulse audiences in the staging of often overwhelming and unbearable images.” (Bottling, 2011)

           For as long as people have spoken, stories have been told and as long as stories have been told so have cautionary tales. Horror is a genre that has dates back to first being documented in the 18th century and as our ability to tell and show stories have developed, so has the genre of horror as a whole.

           The Oxford dictionary describes the genre of horror as one that is concerned with arousing feelings of horror…. fear, shock, or disgust, (Oxford Living Dictionary, 2017), while author Rick Worland states that horror ‘achieves its greatest impact when it exposes or flaunts cultural taboos’ and ‘aims foremost to scare us’. The genre of horror ‘evokes deeper, more personal psychological fears in the starkest terms’, despite other genres, with examples of ‘a war story, disaster movie, or crime drama’, also invoking powerful emotions to affect the audience. (Worland, 2007, p.3-7).  If any form of media, whether it be film, animation, short story, or prose, that intends to frighten or unnerve its audience can be classed as a part or in a way a family member of the horror genre.  J. A. Cuddon described horror stories as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". (Cuddon, 1992, p.11)

           Many horror films focus on mythical beings such as ghosts, monsters, vampires, cryptids and beings from mythological backgrounds, and the overall genre of horror can branch into many subgenres, such as Found Footage, ESP/Psychic Horror, Psychological horror, Sci-Fi Horror and even Comedy-Horror, but this dissertation will focus on Body Horror. Body Horror is a subgenre of the horror genre - while horror as a whole can contain aspects of gore, monsters, mutation and such, Body Horror focuses on the human body forcibly being mutated, mutilated and manipulated to grotesque proportions to unnerve the audience and, specifically, to make them uncomfortable. Many forms of body horror film utilize both visual and computerized special effects to ensure the audience remains disgusted and intrigued.

           The adaptation of ‘the primal scene, the scene of birth’ is one of the key aspects in sci-fi horror, and while this is true in the genre of sci-fi, it is also true for the subgenre of body horror; the tissue is being formed, or reformed, created from either nothing or from something familiar, fleshy, obscure but altogether something human, but not entirely (Creed, p.17). A rapid expansion of flesh or slow mutation of cells is the central part of any body-horror film, and the theme of being reborn or made into something new is a constant cliché of these films.  

           In the Western world, perhaps the most prominent and important filmmaker in the subgenre of body horror is David Cronenberg, director of cult classic body horrors The Fly (1986), Videodrome (1983), Dead Ringers (1988), and Shivers (1975). His usage of repulsive physical effects and the device of building tension throughout his films has concreted his status as one of the greatest body horror auteurs. Meanwhile one of the most popular and prominent body-horror movies from the east is Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988), an animated movie that gained a cult status and mass following due to its creative style and graphic content. Written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, the film is based on Otomo's manga of the same name which was originally a series in Shonen Jump Magazine. The film focuses mainly on the first half of the story in the manga, with an alternate ending, yet is famed for its intriguing imagery and fluid animation style.  Akira went on to inspire multiple significant films, including other body horror flicks such as Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

           The first chapter of this dissertation will show and explore cultural between the east and west and the ways in which film and animation shows the themes of the body and the mutation of such within the genre of horror. The inspiration for horror movies often stem from cultural fears, experiences and influences and so the first chapter will define the specific fears that divide the East and West and how films have adapted and become microcosms of individual societies.

           The second chapter will outline the aspects of Cronenbergs works that highlight the popular tropes of the genre and explore what makes his films so poignant and effective within the overall genre of horror, and what specifically makes his works focus on the body.

           The final chapter will explore the film Akira, specifically, one of the strongest contenders of the title of most influential movies of our generation, animated or otherwise, and the techniques used to push this feature film from an animation adaption film into a body-horror classic.

 CHAPTER 1:

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND INFLUENCES BETWEEN THE HORROR FILMS OF JAPAN AND AMERICA

“There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don't understand. Internal is the human heart.”

- John Carpenter, (2011)

“I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. Films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. Just because you're making a horror film doesn't mean you can't make an artful film."

- David Cronenberg (1997)

           While West and East, specifically the U.S and Japan, separately have different views on horror, individual areas have their own views.

           Wetmore describes horror as a genre that “concerns the fears and anxieties of the society that produced it,” (Wetmore, 2008, p48), meaning that a society creates film, books, and all kinds of media as a microcosm of the issues surrounding the creating society. For example, a society fearful of starvation may create a piece of media about a character struggling to survive in a desert. Thus we need to examine cultural differences between the U.S and Japan in relation to the genre of horror in order to understand how they produce and show differences in body horror.

           Eastern parts of Asia often use folklore and religious traditions for tales, including creatures with the ability to transform; most famously the Japanese kitsune or Chinese huli jing that are traditionally wise and compassionate, whereas the Korea foxes in folklore are traditionally malevolent and cunning, going as far as to devouring human organs to achieve power and become human itself (Perise and Martin, 2013, p35).

Korean horror film focuses on the wonhon, a 'cliché of Asian horror films' (Perise and Martin, 2013, p23). The wonhon is a female spirit, trapped within our realm that aims to seek revenge on the typically masculine figures that wronged her in life. This trend was prominent in the 1960s, when 'film uses the female body as a metaphor for a nation that suffers from repressive expectations about gender, sexuality and the family' (ib33). Her appearance is based on purity and confliction; a white gown to symbolise ‘the chastity of a widow’ and a link between the realms of living and dead while having bedraggled, uncontrollable long hair which signifies a rejection of Confucian customs as well as adding to the sinister overall look of the spirit. During the time period of the 1960s in general, Korean cinema was heavily informed by its traditional views of socially acceptable behaviour; purity and having an untainted body were the ultimate conditions of marriage, while infertility, jealousy, adultery and corruptibility were ‘fatal attributes’. Utmost purity and righteousness was quintessential in Korean horror tales, and while the body may not be a paramount aspect of this subgenre of horror, the underlying feeling of purity versus impurity still makes the body an important part of this cliché (Perise and Martin, 2013, p24). The wonhon is very similar to the Japanese trend of angered spirits called kaidan, which is further discussed later in this dissertation.

           Many American films, like European horror films, are able to be traced back to folklore, short stories from the times of Gothic fiction, true stories of crimes and witness reports of supernatural beings and occurrences. Some examples, including the works of Edgar Allan Poe, have been re-imagined and shown in different mediums since their first publications. Some examples of these adaptions include readings from famous horror stars (Christopher Lee, Vincent Price and James Earl Jones being the most prominent examples of readings of The Raven), film and television adaptations and even a comic book form. This may possibly show that despite the original source materials and texts being over a century old, American audiences still appreciate the slow build of tension. Some examples of 'true' stories being adapted into popular film include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974), which is very roughly based on the Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, The Girl Next Door (Wilson, 2007), which is loosely inspired by the death of Sylvia Likens, Wes Cravens The Hills Have Eyes (1977) which is instilled by the legend of Alexander 'Sawney' Bean, and David Cronenbergs Dead Ringers (1988), a film influenced by the discovery of the dead and decomposing bodies of 45-year-old twin gynaecologists.

           Valerie Wee describes American cinema as historically seen as an 'extension of photography’, as 'a new way of taking pictures', where photography was a way of capturing and representing lifelike familiarities (a trend which body-horror frequently embraces, the sensation of mixing familiar and too familiar to create discomfort), and so classic Hollywood cinema, leading from silent films, embraced this, creating a protagonist that focuses on getting to a singular goal with a cause-and-effect style of storytelling to create a 'neat narrative closure'. Around the 1960s and continuing into the 70s, movies began to embrace a more ambiguous feel, open endings where hints of humanities fallings linger in the distance or its efforts to eradicate a creature of evil endures, possibly unlikeable protagonists to challenge audiences and minimal plot developments; this shift may be a reflection of 'cultural paranoia' and It possibly could also be inferred as part of a larger affinity with Western cinemas habit of implementing foreign films' ethos as 'the New American Cinema movement' begins towards the 1970s. (Wee, 2011, p53)

           However many American horror films can be traced to European and Japanese cinema, adaptations and tweaks on Eastern and European stories and films are surprisingly prominent in mainstream media. Some may argue that America homogenizes cultures into part of its own; as a society it frequently takes desirable sections of other cultures and adapts it to shape to fit into their way of thinking.  Historically this idea is hard to argue with; taking the land from Native Americans, introducing slavery and the adaptation of cultural aspects that non-American born immigrants bring to the country as examples of ways the USA has taken aspects of alternate nations.

Examples of the homogenization of Eastern cinema by include The Ring, adapted from the Japanese horror Ringu (1998), The Grudge (2004) which was adapted from Ju-on (2002), and even several American remakes of Gojira (1954), turning it into the famous Godzilla along with several reboots and sequels over time.

           This leads into films from Japan specifically. 'Often based on kabuki stage pieces,' (Newman,1996), Japanese horror is an important cultural presence with the genre and its global significance is far-reaching. Japanese horror movies generally fell into two dominant genres: ghost stories or 'kaidan', "dominated by the onryou (avenging spirit) motif", and the disaster movie” (McRoy, 2008, 6), populated by monstrosities named ‘kaiju’ intent on destroying Tokyo and other large cities within Japan. When considering Japanese Horror movies, or J-Horror as it is often referred to, a western audience often imagines movies such as Ringu and Ju-on, due to their identifiability and very Eastern style – ‘The revenge of the female ghost is a cliché of Asian horror films. (With a) female ghost in a white gown with long black hair’. (Perise and Martin, 2013, 23). This is a parallel to Korea’s wonhon. The kaidan is a ‘flexible trope’ in Japanese horror, but typically a female entity focused on exacting revenge on a living person after being wronged. The popularity of the kaidan may be the result of the emergence of more and more women becoming single parents and active members of Japans workforce as Japan has become more industrialised. (McRoy, 2008, 11) Cinema is an outlet for people; we produce media content that represent our needs and fears and so we create movies that mirror the society and culture of the nation that produces them. Japan was aware of women changing roles within society and so used this as fuel to create a new branch in the horror medium.

           Nevertheless the monster movies became famous with the creation of Gojira in 1954, nine years after the nuclear bombings on Japan.  

           In 1945, the USA dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. The destruction and devastation of the fallout clearly impacted Eastern culture, shown through the medium of film;  Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959), and, most famously, Gojira (1954) are just three examples of Japanese films showing the devastating effects of nuclear fallout in one form or another. Gojira is a prominent film in film history, Asian or otherwise, which arguably can be due to the destructive undertones. The Kaiju is awoken by H-bomb tests in the beginning of the movie, its footprint is monitored for intense radioactivity and newscasters repeatedly call Gojiras ability to breath radioactive fiery breath a 'sea of flames', recalling Nagasaki and Hiroshima. (Brothers, 2011) Gojira is a metaphor for the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs, annihilating all structure within Tokyo and having no regard for human life. McRoy describes the relationship between the bombings and the creation of the kaiju as a “devastating incident followed by decades of exposure to US military exercises and atomic tests in the Pacific, these mutated monstrosities aquatic and aerial assaults seem only appropriate,” and Susan J. Napier describes Japanese stories as “often reveal(ing) a much bleaker world view that such western fantasies as star trek or even Terminator". (Napier, 2005, 90,  McRoy, 2008, 7)

           This leads into one of the catalysts for the body horror genre; causing horrific mutations, monstrous entities and graphic imagery is nuclear fallout and radiation.  The Toxic Avenger (and its sequels) is one of the most prolific examples of radioactive interference in the body horror genre, but there are others including The Incredible Melting Man (1977), the Fallout video game series (1997-present) and Spontaneous Combustion (1990).

Tropes of radiation and nuclear activity continue throughout Japan’s history, from small nods to more direct referencing. For example, the popular Mega-Man (1987 - present) franchise of Japanese video games has Dr Wily as its main antagonist, a character who creates machines of destruction and whose appearance is based on Albert Einstein; Einstein’s theories led to discovery and creation and nuclear energy and then weaponry and so it can be argued that he, through association, lead to the Japan bombings and can be seen as a villainous character.

           Akira itself can be seen as a metaphor for the bombings, though not an entirely subtle one; the manga and animated movie, (the movie opening with an enormous, all-consuming blast of energy,) are both set in a post-apocalyptic futuristic Neo-Tokyo where the central characters are parentless adolescents fighting for a purpose. Tetsuo, while a member of the gang, is still a low member of the pecking order and feels like he cannot achieve anything purposeful as he has limited potential and a lack of education and structure besides that of the films prominent street gangs. Tetsuo could be a metaphor for children of the bombings struggling to survive in the fallout post-war.

In the manga, the vaporizing of 1980s Tokyo by the first psychic bomb spurred reconstruction and urban development; by the twenty-first century, Neo-Tokyo has been rebuilt on a vaster scale around the Akira bomb crater, a massive urban sprawl circling an empty center (just as the Tokyo destroyed with firebombs in 1945 had emerged from its ashes on a vaster scale by 1983, and just as Hiroshima and Nagasaki were reconstructed after the atomic bombs). Thus Akira inexorably links nuclear destruction and economic reconstruction.

-          Lamarre, 2008, 136

           Tetsuo’s eventual mutation into a fleshy, grotesque mass may also be a representation of the effects of nuclear fallout. While radiation sickness does not tend to induce growths or mutations shown in popular media form and instead cause illnesses including infertility, blood disorders, tissue damage from heat and a heightened rate of cancer, the rapid and graphic explosion of Tetsuo’s flesh in the final scenes of Akira may be an exaggerated representation of the gratuitous devastation nuclear destruction has caused. While “his monstrous transformation occurs because of his rampant desire” in the manga and film, he Tetsuo may be a representation of the trauma that occurs when ‘rampant desire’ from hostile countries cause.  (Miller, 2008, 145-166)

           However, East and West view nuclear powers and its attributes extremely differently from a cultural perspective.

The U.S has different views on nuclear activity in cinema compared to Japan, however, particularly the horror film. It appears that the United States did not receive any negative back-lash from the bombings, and so while Japan sees nuclear devices as weapons that devastate and decimate innocent lives, America used them as a pre-emptive liberator, a means of keeping an enemy away and glorifying their military might. The USA didn’t experience any of the nuclear fallout or destruction from the bombings on Japan, only a sense of superiority; hence their viewpoint of nuclear radiation is one of positivity rather than desolation.

           The aforementioned Toxic Avenger is a prime example of nuclear energy (radioactive waste in this case) mutating and transforming the protagonist into a super-human character. Famous comic-book and film characters originating from U.S sources often have nuclear energy and/or radiation as a positive part of their back-story and reinforce of identity; the Hulk, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Fantastic Four, Spider-man, the Battletoads, Superman and many of the X-men characters are revered as popular and famous heroes to an American audience and feature nuclear radiation, and many of these characters have multiple back stories, reincarnations and reimaginings to keep them appealing to a younger audience in a possible attempt to reinforce the idea to children and impressionable Americans that nuclear involvement and radioactivity has multiple benefits.  This is a clear example of America homogenising the history of nuclear power into positive stories and culture. Winkler describes a ‘wave of enthusiasm’ rippling through the United States after the Hiroshima bombing that was only ‘periodically’ tainted by discomfort at the thought of the destructive potential of the bombs. While this may be due to the fact officials and policymakers chose only to release specific information and highlighted the positive aspects concerning nuclear weaponry, Americans believed the bombs' role was one of benefit to the U.S., especially as President Truman reinforced the idea that the atomic blast was one that ‘had to be used to end the unnecessary slaughter on both sides.’. Winkler confirms this in saying that despite the ‘carnage’ caused by the bombs dropping, it was ‘justified in the end’ when comparing the lives of Americans saved. (Winkler, 1993, 25-27)

           To some extent, some may argue that David Cronenberg's character Seth Brundle from The Fly mutates through radiation. However, in this instance the radiation acts as a double-edged sword; Brundle experiences superhuman strength, agility and feelings of euphoria, but this quickly descends into feelings of addiction and rapid deterioration. Perhaps this is a nod by Cronenberg to show that he does recognise how negative radiation impacts on individuals and is a way of de-glorifying the stigma of nuclear activity.

           It’s very possible that while the nuclear bombings, as the most gratuitous and devastating attack in Japanese history, led into inspiring a series of horror movies, terrorism of the U.S has also had an impact on cinema. The infamous attack of 9/11could be seen to perpetuate a series of American horror films revolving around themes of gory ‘torture and imprisonment’ such as the Saw series (2004-present), The Purge series (2013-2016), Hostel (2005) and The Human Centipede (2009), where audiences view characters subjected to ‘physical’ and ‘psychological torture’. US cinema reflects the fear or terrorism, especially in films showing depictions of claustrophobia, faceless malevolent entities and the feeling of being trapped to reflect the effect 9/11 had. This is not to mention the slew of 'dystopian future' set films, video games and novels that contain corrupt or non-existent governmental societies, a possible vision of fear from a society that wants security and sustainability.

           “After 9/11, nihilism, despair, random violence and death, combined with tropes and images generated by the terrorist attacks began to assume far greater prominence in horror cinema,” States Wetmore (Wetmore 2008, 72-82). He goes on to describe that typically in American disaster, action and horror movies that New York is seen as “‘ground zero’, a term usually associated with nuclear destruction.” While the 9/11 attacks did not destroy the entirety of New York the way the bombings destroyed entire cities in Japan, the imagery of destruction of the 11th of September is all-too familiar – ‘deserted streets, and conversely larger crowds fleeing, combined with grey ash, dust and debris covering everything and everyone’ was the overriding image of New York as a destroyed city flooded with catastrophic ruin. ‘Ground Zero’ is a term used to specify ‘the heart of an attack’ and the heart of New York was truly shaken by these attacks. While previously Los Angeles was the ‘preferred’ city to face destruction in cinematography, this changed rapidly after the turning of the millennium - New York had always been a familiar setting within film, including horror, Wetmore states that ‘9/11 made it the site of horror’, which is a very concrete statement when regarding the films produced since. (2012, ps.3 and 24)

           Even Gojira made its way to New York, when the 2014 remake was released; while the main introductory setting of the film is Janjira, Japan, (a possible homage to the original source material), we also have scenes of San Francisco, California where civilians are evacuated, the Golden Gate Bridge is decimated and the threat of a nuclear warhead violently detonating hangs over the city. It could be argued that this is the USA reshaping and familiarising the trauma of the nuclear blasts of Japan with America; perhaps the shift from New York to San Francisco was to avoid the reality of the destruction of a famous landmark reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks being all-too familiar.

Post-9/11 United States and post-bombed Japan are both in periods of cultural adaptation and transition, coping with the emotional, sociological and psychological trauma that both events caused the nations by using cinema as an emotional outlet and a way of coming to terms with “the irrational, the horrific, the uncanny, and the issues with which we are most concerned in the post-industrial era: family, the economy, identity, terrorism, etc.” (Wetmore 2008, 73) American adaptations of Japanese (and other cultures) horror films monopolize on the familiarity and creativity of the original idea but adjust the narrative, techniques and style of the original concept to best represent American ideals and fulfil the sociological needs of the post-9/11 USA audience.

           Wee describes how J-horror shifts slowly away from its traditional views of genre; the movies involving kaidan ghost maidens motivated by vengeance, anger and a need to punish their wrong-doers in life slowly amalgamated into movies such as Toshiharu Ikeda's Evil Dead Trap (1988), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Red Room (1999), House (1977) and Jigoku (1960). These films shift from the 'familiar, iconic images and conventions' that originate from the tropes and settings from theatrical stage performances and classical influences from contemporary Japan and instead embracing the more Western tropes of gore, entrapment and confined spaces. It may be that while American film is adapting aspects of Asian film and J-Horror into a conglomeration of culture, perhaps in its own way, J-Horror is slowly doing the same through adapting aspects of Western-centric movies rather than full on adapting entire films -

        (Ringu) also reveals the influence of the Hollywood horror tradition, perhaps most   clearly in the visual and narrative borrowings in the film's opening sequence and in the inclusion of narrative developments that privilege the female survivor and the enduring power of the monster.  

-          Wee, 2013, 97

            -  while McRoy iterates that J-Horror of the 1980s ‘was painted in bright streaks of red, spurting from gashing wounds and blood-spouting intestinal spillings’ that was an extreme contrast to the movies that took over in the 1990s where horror was more subdued yet ominous with ’young women simply standing there with hair hanging over their face.’ This may be a metaphor for the transition in radioactive presence in society (McRoy, 2008, 9).

Nuclear activity in a military sense has diminished over time. The ‘gashing wounds’ and ‘spillings’ McRoy describes above could signify the outright casualties of the World War II bombings, of the heavily wounded and permanently disfigured survivors and ‘bright streaks of red’ a visceral reminder of the death and destruction overall.  The 1990s ‘young women’ could possibly be a representation of innocent lives ruined by the devastation of the attacks, but their anger is now subdued, dulled by time.  (Wee, 2011, 59). The horror of the nuclear attacks is still there, still fresh, but subtle and perhaps not as prominent as it once was. A dull buzz that is still a part of day-to-day life, but no longer an open wound, but instead a fading scar.

   CHAPTER 2:

THE WORKS OF DAVID CRONENBERG AND HOW THEY HAVE INFLUENCED AND IMPACTED THE GENRE OF BODY HORROR

 “I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. Films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. Just because you're making a horror film doesn't mean you can't make an artful film.”  ― David Cronenberg

“The redundancy of flesh, he thinks, the helplessness of meat, how can we conjure spirit from a bone?”  ― Ian McGuire, The North Water

            David Cronenbergs films are some of the most widespread and symbolic in the genre of body horror.  

           Hawker calls Cronenberg a 'body artist', a 'visceral and cerebral filmmaker' who can utilize the body 'in all its sticky, treacherous, terrifying complexity, with its vulnerabilities, drives and tendency towards transformation'. She goes on to call The Fly ' a soulful yet grotesque vision' and states that Cronenberg creates 'provocative challenges to the status quo' to intice and shock his audience. (Hawker, 2017)

           One of the aspects that ensured the popularity and timelessness of his work is the usage of physical and practical effects in lieu of special and computer generated effects.

Some of the earliest examples of horror movies using practical effects include The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Frankenstein (1931), The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and Gojira (1954), where make-up, crude stop-frame animatronics and foam suits were essential in creating deformed monsters and on-screen beasts.  As time went on, however, practical effects advanced alongside horror movies - as the 1970s emerged The Exorcist (1973) and Alien (1979) became two classic films that feature incredibly impressive physical effects that are unparalleled to this day. Special make-up effect artist Dick Smith, known as “The Godfather of Makeup”, achieved masterful effects by overlapping foam latex to ensure actors to have a full range of facial expressions and created Reagan's (Linda Blair's) neon green projectile vomit by creating a system of tubes that fitted into her prosthetic cheeks. Stan Winston learnt his craft from Smith and directed Alien, where sheep and cow innards were used to replicate human organs in the infamous chest-burster scene while the alien spawn was a puppet.  The use of fake blood and puppetry using hosing was a concept entirely unknown to the cast and so the hysterical response of actress Veronica Cartwright was entirely honest. (Barnes, 2014)

           Some modern day horrors, while still having computer-generated effects present, incorporate practical effects as an homage to the classics of the past and to emulate the too-close-to-real-life feel that many (such as animator and illustrator Nick Criscuolo) argue CG cannot quite give. Criscuolo explains that 'practical effects have the advantage in being made from real things' and so one of the only downfalls with using practical effects is using the correct materials, explaining that the effects can look false if used by 'the wrong thing pretending to be something else' while acknowledging that while computer-generated animation and effects in film can look very polished and perfect, it has to 'not only does it have to look realistic, it also has to look as though it belongs in the scene' which can be where computer generated effects can seem subpar to well-made practical effects (Criscuolo, 2012)

            Todd Masters, who also learnt his trade from the aforementioned Smith, worked on the physical effects of Slither (Directed by James Gunn, 2006), a body horror revolving around an average man becoming infected and then controlled by an alien parasite that slowly and gorily transmorphs him into a fleshy puddle of tentacles and gooey appendages' in a style incredibly reminiscent of the work of Chris Walas, the effects supervisor on Cronenbergs The Fly and Naked Lunch (1991).

            It could be incredibly plausible that Gunn took inspiration from Cronenbergs work, particularly The Fly; both films feature the main character, (Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle and Michael Rooker as Grant Grant) mutating slowly over each passing scene into a non-human, or rather part-human, entity as Brundles DNA is replaced with that of the titular Flys and Grant being slowly eaten from the inside out by the sentient extraterrestrial within him.  Both characters start their mutation with feelings of positivity: increased appetite, sexual vigour and athletic capabilities. However as time passes their flesh starts to reflect the decline of their humanity as growths form over their bodies and their skin decays rapidly after initially appearing sallow or inflamed.  Both characters tear themselves away from the female lead (Geena Davis as Veronica and Elizabeth Banks as Starla in The Fly and Slither respectively) in favour of an alternate woman in order to instil the same rush of positivity into the alternate female. This is shown as Brundle (or Brundlefly) has a sexual encounter with Tawny (Joy Boushel) and then proceeds to try and force her into undergoing the same transformation as him before being stopped by Veronica and Grant lures in Brenda (played by Brenda James) with the intent to have sex with her, only to forcibly impregnate her with alien parasites which cause her to mutate also. Eventually both protagonists-turned-antagonists mutate beyond their control and become more alien entity than human.

           The usage of practical effects in both of these movies have concreted their statuses of cult-classics; the usage of foam and latex reminiscent of flesh and muscle and food substances for bodily fluids (Brundleflys vomit consisted of honey, egg and milk) have aided in giving these movies (and other cinematic pieces using practical effects) a timeless quality, in comparison to using digitally animated effects that arguably can look dated and less believable as time passes.

            A good example of CG having less impact than practical effects is the body horror film The Lawnmower Man (Brett Leonard, 1992). While Stephen Kings The Lawnmower man is a body horror revolving around the usage of technology to manipulate the brain and body (and so the usage of computer generated effects are entirely justified and make sense), it follows similar trends to Cronenbergs The Fly, as Slither does. Jobe (Jeff Fahey) undergoes experimental treatment by using computer-generated virtual reality to become more intelligent and the movie follows the pattern that Cronenbergs The Fly lays out perfectly; Jobes experimentation is initially successful and he becomes more intellectual and experiences sensations of increased confidence, athletic capability and becoming sexually active. However, as time passes his abilities become more aggressive and he becomes obsessed with using virtual reality to increase his grasp on his newfound telekinetic and pyrokinetic powers, similar to Brundles obsession with his own developing mutations.

           The original The Fly (Kurt Neumann, 1958) used practical effects. A small animatronic figure with a moving head and arm was used for actors Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall, spider-webbing was creating from superglue being strung from pieces of wood and a mask made of latex sponge pieces, beads and metallic framework created the head of the titular Fly (Biodrowski, 2007). It is an interesting point of discussion that in the original  The Fly, it is only the head of Andre Delambre (David Hedison credited as Al Hedison) that is altered, possibly due to technological and restrictions of the time period, whereas Cronenberg alters the entirety of Goldblums body in his remake. It could be argued that this is a sign of the audience developing to expect more from horror movies, to want to see more visceral action rather than the more subtle horrors history has given them.

           While The Fly, as one of Cronenbergs most prolific pieces, has been the main portion of this discussion so far, it is notable that Cronenbergs other works follow a familiar method.

Dead Ringers, Cronenbergs 1988 film about twin gynaecologists, shows throughout the theme of the body being something whole and human despite its flaws, eating and being sexually active as normal and natural occurrences, and while a mutation doesn't occur to manipulate the protagonists outlook drugs do alter the mindset of Beverly, played by Jeremy Irons. Beverly has nightmares of his body being physically conjoined to that of his identical twin, Elliot (played also by Irons). The connection is a fleshy grown extending from twin navels, and is severed by a bite by their bed mate Claire (Geneviève Bujold) which results in Beverly to wake up screaming, frantic, before taking more prescription drugs.  ' Shaw explains that the 'dream is an obvious embodiment of Beverly's fears of being separated from Elliot', and goes on to explain that if we follow the Freudian theory that dreams are expressions of desire that there is a possibility that subconsciously Beverley wishes to be forcibly separated from his brother. (Shaw, 1996)

            As Beverly continues to take more mind-altering drugs, more visions of bodily harm appear to the point where Beverly has metallic gynaecological tools created to inspect women's bodies that he deems 'mutated', claiming that "the patients are getting strange. They look alright on the outside, but their insides...they're deformed." showing how altered his view of reality is. As his reliance on drugs grow and his brothers attempts to sober Beverly fail, we see this movie become more of a psychological horror with body horror elements rather than a body horror with psychological elements.  

           As both twins become drugged and despondent, however, they attempt to 'separate' themselves using the aforementioned gynaecological tools in a scene that cements Dead Ringers firmly in the body horror genre.  Beverly traces his hand over Elliots stomach before carving into it with the sharpest of the tools, claiming that "separation can be a terrifying thing." We see Elliot die before Beverly plunges the tool in further with a resounding 'squish', the entire scene more subtle and playing on the viewers senses and fears rather than outright gore (initially).

           Despite the scenes almost spontaneous nature, the clinical feel created by Beverly's preparation and medical tools plays on needle and doctor phobias, separate Dead Ringers from The Fly, which has a more monstrous out-of-control feeling

           As Beverly awakes sometime later, confused and disconsolate, he repeated Elliots nickname continuously while refusing to look at the almost autopsied body of his brother that lays prominent in the background. Beverly redresses, the act seeming sinister and a juxtaposition to the procedure just witnessed, and yet the aforementioned clinical feel withstands, as perhaps Beverly is given a moment of clarity enough to control his body in a 'normal' way. He attempts to all Claire, who asks "Who is this?” which has been an overarching theme throughout Dead Ringers; the concept of unknowing whether the twins who they say they are, or even if Beverly knows who he is anymore. He walks back to his brother in a zombie-like state, catatonic, as panning shots of the bloodied needles and tools are shown. His confused and vacant mind leads him to lay against his brother’s body and the pair are reunited in death. (Cronenberg, 1988)

           It is a credit to Cronenberg in that despite following similar methods of the mind and body declining together, the physical and mental aspects connected just as the twins in Dead Ringers are, that in each of his films there is a unique spin on what triggers the initial downfall of his characters. The decline of mind and body and connected entities together is a theme throughout Cronenbergs work that has extended to be a part in almost all pieces of the body-horror genre; it is hard to name a piece of fiction in the genre that does not follow the ideology of the mind and body being connected as that as one deteriorates, mutates or is manipulated, the other follows in some form.

   CHAPTER 3:

AKIRA AND TETSUO; AKIRAS INFLUENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL IMPACT IN COMPARISON TO FLESH

“Japanese medical people are traditionally very strange and creepily poetic.”

― David Cronenberg, Consumed

"I see technology as being an extension of the human body."

- David Cronenberg, Cronenberg on Cronenberg

             Katsuhiro Otomos Akira was released in 1988 as an adaption of the popular series published in Weekly Young Jump Magazine under the same name that ran from 1982 to 1990. While the film differs greatly from its original source material in terms of character development and its ending point, the theme of the body mutating is prevalent in both the manga and animated movie.  Napier describes anime as a genre that often focuses on the process of bodily change, ‘from cyborgs to superheroes on the positive side, and from mutants to monsters on the negative,’ (Napier, 2005, 37)

           Akira revolutionised the way the world viewed eastern animation and became known as the cinematic adaptation that inspired visual effects and animation in many films. Some films influenced by Akira and its content include the Dragonball Z series (1989) with the characters ‘powering-up’ by yelling and manipulating the landscape around them, The Matrix (1999)  with Neo dodging bullets and using his mind as a weapon, Parasyte (2014) which is a series revolving around body-snatching creature that mutate the body into fleshy weapons and even television series Stranger Things (2016), a series involving a young child learning to control telekinetic abilities. Marvels release of Akira even became the first Japanese manga to be translated into English and released in the west and is widely renowned as the film that caused manga and anime to become popular in the west.  (Christmas, 2015)

Akira is animated on ones (meaning it is animated at 24 frames per second, rather than the standard 12 frames per second. This leads to the final animation being incredibly fluid,) and utilizes the entirety of the characters faces, techniques rarely used in eastern animation due to how much time animating would take This is often the case due to dialogue being recorded post-animation, whereas Akira had all the sound files ready before animating any facial synchronisation. However this works for Akira, as we can see into every instance of the character’s emotions and mindset rather than the typically mouth and eye only movement that prevails eastern animation.

The film opens with shots of Neo-Tokyo, 31 years post World War Three, the prevailing theme of war and terror already an undertone within this body horror. However the main over-arching theme throughout both the manga and anime of Akira is that the mind and body are linked and that as one expands, the other must expand with it.

           As Tetsuos physic abilities are first awakened in the film, the concept of body horror is purely conjectural; he has premonitions of his body rapidly expanding and his internal organs erupting out of his stomach as the ground collapses beneath him at several different points. This can be seen as a matching concept as in Dead Ringers, with Beverly’s dreams of his body being physically conjoined with Elliot. For a film-goer, these forewarnings are a welcome thing; showing hints of the climax of the film to keep the viewer interested in seeing how the gore and visceral imagery of the film develops as the film progresses.

           While both the animated movie and manga show aspects of bodily mutation, they portray Tetsuos downfall in different ways. In the film Tetsuo remains intact and human as his abilities develop; he takes medication to subdue his head pain as a way of keeping his powers at bay - the usage of drugs are a point of interest in the film; unlike Dead Ringers, where drugs are a catalyst that create the body horror element and leads to the protagonists breakdowns, Akira shows drugs as one of the few things restraining Tetsuos chronic migraines that lead to his bursts of telekinetic energy and therefore his eventual mutation - but as the climax unfolds he connects technological aspects into his arm for structure before his body rapidly expands and mutates into a fleshy childlike entity as a visual metaphors the lack of control over his telekinetic powers despite trying to retain in charge of his own body. In the manga, however, the mutation is drawn out and slow. ‘(A)s Tetsuo becomes more and more powerful, he also becomes less and less human.’(Anderson, 2015). In the manga Tetsuos body doesn’t explode rapidly as a way of reaching the climax of the story but instead mutates slowly as his abilities increase; as his telekinetic powers increase, his body increases in size (along with amassing technological elements) as a way of amassing ‘inorganic matter to contain the absurd amount of power awakening inside him.’ (Cinefix, 2015) Tetsuo still ends up becoming a fleshy mass and then eventually turns into pure telekinetic energy, but the process is much slower and shown in more detail in the manga compared to the films rapid finale.  He is even shown to have some control over his transformations, going so far as to willingly mutate rapidly to force bullets out of his body.

           ‘He metamorphoses into a pulsating, pustulating mass of flesh and machinery that explodes outward, absorbing or consuming everything in its path.’, writes Bolton, describing Tetsuos mutation. (Bolton, 2014, 304) The linkage of organic and synthetic materials is a curious aspect of body horror and is shown interestingly in Akira; Gottesman explains that in 1988, the year of Akiras release, Emperor Shōwa was close to death and was ‘only kept alive by machines’, Japan was facing financial and economic ruin and its structure as a country was in flux. The Emperor was seen as a symbol of traditional values and his connection with machinery to elongate his life shows a realistic view of ‘melding of machine and man’. Gottesman goes on to explain how Tetsuos bodily presence is ‘overwhelming’ and that “rather than celebratory, the force of technology in Akira is purely destructive, as the atomic bomb was in Japan…” This links back to my previous points of pieces of media reflecting the culture they come from; Akira represented Japan and its fear and fascination with the body becoming conjoined to technology in times of need. (Gottesman, 11)

           The linking of technological materials and human matter is one that Cronenberg also explores in the ending scenes of the Fly: as Brundles mutation into the Brundlefly is complete and his mind-set is altered he fuses himself with the teleportation pod itself, the prosthetic fly flesh connecting with chunks of metal similarly to Tetsuos fluctuating arm merging with protruding wires. The connection of flesh and metal is a fusion that, while not present in every body horror, helps in creating the aspect of perversion in the genre; a connection that is unnatural yet is something partially human that fits right into the uncanny valley of what the viewer perceives as both familiar and comfortable yet also alien and unnatural. Body horror as a genre aims to arouse disgust ‘- and in its own way pleasure –‘ and the combination of human and non-human is the perfect way to both intrigue and trepidation. (Hurley, 1995, 203)

Akira inspired a live-action film called Tetsuo: The Iron Man, a film revolving around a man slowly devolving into a pile of metallic scraps. The use of practical effects is Cronenberg-esque, possibly showing that despite being an Eastern film the usage of decent practical effects with the intent to disgust and instil terror is overarching despite cultural differences, as well as cementing the fusion of man and metal as a body horror principal.  While the animated Akira has inorganic matter as only a smaller part of Tetsuos fusion, Tetsuo: The Iron Man has metal as the films prominent source of repulsion and horror. The jarring flickering effect of the camera twinned with the haunting monochrome adds to the sense of Tetsuo being in the uncanny valley, further repulsing the audience, but the rotting of flesh and replacement with machinery is truly where the audience's discomfort lies.

           The joining of flesh and machinery creates a sense of new-ness despite corruption; both Tetsuo and Brundlefly end up being fused with technological aspects in an attempt to strengthen and purify themselves in some way, yet 'the emphasis is much more on the protagonists dehumanization by the alienating powers of technology', describes Napier. While some depictions of human and robotic fusions focus on the protagonist learning to control and use their mechanical aspects for benefit, such as Robocop (1987) or Megaman, pieces of media like these tend not to be focused on the horror aspects of the body, whereas the ungodly 'fusion of human pilot inside armoured machine' in (typically Eastern) body horror media show how unnatural the synthesis of organic and inorganic matter can be. Technology, while initially having the potential to be something positive, ultimately ends up corrupting its hosts humanity more than anything and leads them to their inevitable downfall in the majority of body horror films the usage of it is a staple in. (Napier, 2005, 90)

           Ultimately, the animated Akira is an incomplete companion piece to the manga, but this does not take away from the widespread cultural and cinematic impact it produced. Akira gave the western audience a glimpse into the future and created a wave of new ideas and stylistic challenges that continue to this day, it inspired classic movies that will forever be hailed as success stories, and will likely be seen as a pinnacle point in cinematic history for many years to come.

  CONCLUSION

“I am a man. I am good and not a beast. I am an animal with reason. I have flesh, I am flesh, I am not descended from flesh. Flesh is created by God. I am God. I am God. I am God.”  ― Vaslav Nijinsky, The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky

            "Cronenbergs images, it was said, might be shocking, perverse, even disgusting, but they revealed a fascination with the myriad ways that we can be betrayed by our minds and bodies." Writes Morris (1994) is his description of Cronenbergs work, and the same can be said for Akira and other works of the body horror genre; the aim of body horror is to repulse its audience but also spark a primal intrigue. As a species we are fascinated with seeing how far our bodies can be pushed, and the genre of body horror encapsulates this fascination in all its gory, twisted, unnatural glory. Whether through slow build up or sudden expansion, body horror is genre that causes 'recoil and repulsion' but also a feeling of interest and perverse wonder, 'something incomprehensible', (Botting, 2011, 148) and whether the film comes from East or West, body horror will always invoke these feelings.

           Society creates media to reflect itself.  The fact that cultures of all kinds depict versions of the body mutating surely represents that through humanity faces different hardships and struggles depending on what part of the planet the media is produced, we always fear ourselves, the over arcing theme throughout the human race is the fear of loss of control of oneself, whether it be piece by piece or all at once. Both Akira and Cronenbergs work share themes of the mind and body being linked and as one grows, the other joins it - whether this is growing in size or growing unstable.

           Cronenberg is aware of Western society's primal fears and plays with them to gauge a response. Despite its daily usage in our everyday lives we fear technology overtaking humanity, and so body horror films with that aspect show machinery corrupting the flesh and eroding humanity away, Western society being left behind, and so Cronenberg shows Brundle merging with the teleportation pod and portrayed man melding with technology in Videodrome.

           Otomos work on Akira represents Japans fear of instability, of a loss of traditional values and lack of control. The culture of Japan was fluctuation with new technology overcoming traditional values, and Napier describes animation at the time as being the ' ideal artistic vessel for expressing....[Japans] obsession with fluctuating identity’ (Napier 2001, 12).  Tetsuos fusion of flesh and nonorganic matter is a "metaphor for the loss of control" (Gottesman, 2016, 110) during Japans capitalistic and fascist period and his expansion into the famous mechanical flesh-baby could be seen as a metaphor for Japan rising from that period of time and being reborn into a society that embraces technological advances in its culture.

           Perhaps as modern-day technology continues to advance to higher planes each passing year, the next generation of body horror cinema will continue to show grotesque fusions of man and machine. As cinema continues to develop, adapt and reflect society's ever-changing views, it can only be assumed that the future of the body horror genre will continue to strike fear and fascination into the hearts of its viewers.

[wickedweeklywonders]

Movies to watch

-virtigo -green room

-gangs of new york -drive -the master -interstellar -django unchained -cannibal holocaust -audition -apocalypse now -natural born killers -gummo -300 -gladiator -phantom of liberty -enter the void -tree of life -8 and a half -the mirror -resevoiur dogs -mishima -slaugter house 5 -the sweet here after -inside luan davis -dead of night -before the ring -basic -last year at mariumba -go -mr nobody -hero -j f k -rashmon -5 by 2 -eternal sunshine -irreversible -memento -peppermint candy -casino -melancholia -eve -good fellas -citizen kane -amande chord -nashville -short cuts -babble -21 grams - paris jai taime -AJAMI -the godfather -the fountain -the atlas -dias de gracias -intolerence -woyoming for men -before sunset -Broke -1993 -high noon -jaws -neighbors -young and beautiful -the raid -ginger snaps -the nice guys -the shallows -ginger and rosa -frank -sinister -predestination -another earth -chappie -enemy -the girl king -the danish girl -hush -chicago -sucker punch -spy -the boy -carrie -lights out -wolf of wall street -Apocalypse Now -Childhood of a Leader -the fugitive -under seige -coal miners daughter -the client -no country for old men -hope springs -cobb -miami connection -upstream colour -tickled -kingdom of heaven -hoffa -the producers -blazing saddles -young frankenstein -minority report -shaun of the dead -the kingdom of dreams and madness -the story of jt leroy -hunger -alien -boogie nights -primer -children of men -127 hours -zombie man -lights out -jason bourne -dances with wolves -memoires of a geisha -ex machina -the witch /the vvitch -battle royal -star wars series -the departed -moneyball -oceans eleven -pretty woman -edge of tomorrow -hercules -muppets movie series -the fugitive -disco pigs -peaky blinders -breakfast on pluto -girl with the pearl earring -the wind that shakes the barley -following -momento -mr man -anthropoid -when the wind blows -friends of H -west world -cloverfield -chronicles of riddick -pitch black -the blair witch (2) -30 days of night -event horizon -pandorum -Blade -amityville horror -children of the corn -hell raiser -night of the living dead -dawn of the dead -survival of the dead -day of the dead -psycho sequels -final destination -army of darkness -texas chainsaw massacre -resident evil -paranormal activity sequals 4 and 5 -the omen -28 weeks later -hostel -fright night -sinister -sausage party -moana -pk -ran de basanti -about elly -the chaser -godzilla -dredd -oceans 11 -true grit -10 to yuma -footloose -the departed -thing -the fly -cape fear -brave heart -what a way to go -25th hour -annie -good fellas -weird science -wallstreet -point break -all that jazz -the apartment -resevoir dogs -royal tanonbombs -river runs through it -true romance -colour of night -rocky -first blood -back to school -raging bull -full metal jacket -vanilla sky -dogville -big fish -virgin suicides -planes trains automobiles -shattered glass -the last seduction -12 angry men -network -before the devil knows ur dead -the killing -paths of glory -ace in the hole -the rules of attraction -sulivans travels -oh brother where art tho -that thing you do -dog tooth -lobster -make this town go round and round -payback -the 5th eye -after the storm -all these sleepless nights -another country -apple pie -aquarius -as i open my eyes -author the jt leroy story -bacon and gods wrath -being 17 -beware the slenderman -bleak street -burden -captain fantastic -certain women -chevalier -dont call me son -the butterfly effect -the eagle huntress -endless poetry -figure -the first monday in may -the first the last -green room -happy hour -the heart of the matter -high rise -julieta -les demons -long way north -lost and beautiful -love song -the lure -michael smither the portrait -neruda -the pissy tits street gang/ -personal shopper -the qeen of ireland -the red turtle -sixty six -suburra -tanna -ten years -a touch of zen -under the shadow -variety -when two worlds collide -the wounded angel -zero dark thirty -the killing joke -sicario -napoleon dynamite -north by north west -aqua marine - nu pogodi -MARIE ANTOINETTE -SPICE GIRLS -13 GOING ON 30 -BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS -CLUELESS -THE CLIQUE -LIZZIE MCGUIRE -southbound -once -kubo -the lobster -neighbors -nice guys -ex machina -morgan -cash only -creative control -low and behold -embers -kicks -dont think twice -sleep walk w me -the strangers -joy -american hustle -imagine you and me -life partner -the abyss -dr strangelove -bronson -cool hand luke -the good the bad the ugly -once upon a time in the west -lolita -gilda -goodfellas -dirty harry -sexy beast -M -laurence of arabia -young frankenstein -the producers -bonnie and clyde -suffragette -the danish girl -nathan barley -the lobster -cloud atlas -im not there -bright star -brideshead revisited -paddington -lilting -holiday -ginger snaps -blaire witch 2 -we are what we are -southbound -green inferno -knock knock -they look like people -hush -the hallow -the darkness -the other side of the door -the boy -the forest -the nightmare -the houses october built -the visit -sinister -eden lake -honeymoon -the lazarus effect -starry eyes -the village -the sacrement -american mary -the woman in black 2 -haunt -all the boys love mandy lane -tale of two sisters -uninvited -true lies -the revenant -operation avalanche -fear -boogienights -rumble fish -something wild -manhatten -mad max originals -great gatsby original -the champ -midnight express -the deer hunter -eyes of laura mars -lenny -lifeforce -the black cauldren -desperately seeking susan -purple rose of cairo -arrival -hocus pocus -what lies beneath -a dangerous method -like crazy -jeff who lives at home -young adult -stand by me -gone with the wind -the third man -lost in translation -la dolce vita -me and you and everyone we know -harold and maude -departures - The Librarians -Warehouse 13 -The River -Paranormal Witness -american horror story - Specter -Splinter -The Autopsy of Jane Doe -american horror story -star wars - Session 9 - The Call of Cthulhu - Martin - Cemetery Man - At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul - Let’s Scare Jessica to Death -Ouija -Silent Night, Deadly Night -Only God Forgives -Amelie -The Royal Tenenbaums -The Tempest -Upstream Color -Event Horizon -From Dusk Till Dawn -The Devil Inside -Below -Hush -return of the living dead -the town the feared sundown -30 days of night -the invitation -the woman -my bloody valentines -grabbers -invasion of the body snatchers -the gift -12 angry men -anomalisa -young frankenstein -ex machina -das boot -under the shadow -blackfish -the bicycle thieves -city of god -old boy -downfall -holy motors -blue is the warmest color -i am love -beyond the hills -a hijacking -lore -the great beauty/ -the hunt -amour -Transsiberian -Robot & Frank -the bay -celeste and jesse forever -like crazy -perfect gateway -europa report -hard boiled -el mariachi -the hunt for red october -apocalypto -super 8 -close encounters of the third kind -melancholia -upstream colour -primer -buried -primal fear -sicario -the gift -bound -millers crossing -the firm -jackie brown -almost famous -american psycho -high fidelity -AI -memento -city of god -million dollar baby -children of men -the departed -this is england -zodiac -boys in the hood -men of children -shawshank redemption -the departed -on the waterfront -snatch -my cousin vinny -true grit -big lebowski -hunger -the naughty nineties -lucky number sleven -guildernstern are dead -grand budapest hotel -inglorious bastards -the third man -double indemnity -true romance -resevoiur dogs -hateful 8 -the master -the lion in winter -doubt -glengarry glen ross -steve jobs -the big chill -magnolia -end of tour -coffee and cigerettes -my dinner with andre -before sunrise -primer -before -end of watch -you can count on me -house of games -manhatten -the nice guys -heist -get shorty -lethal wepaon -kiss kiss bang bang -lock stock and two smoking barrels -withnail and i -in bruges -seven psychopaths -casablanca -the apartment -the girl on friday -the big sleep -horse feathers -duck soup -animal crackers -kind hearts and corronets -monty python -day of the triffids -assault on precinct 13 -chinatown -the invaders -nightmares -fear and loathing in las vegas -dr katz professional therapist -the big sleep -leviathan -earth vs the flying saucers -american graffitti -things to come -terror vision -the dain curse -brazil -the towering inferno -the third man -dead ringers -dark star -midnight cowboy -spies like us -get crazy -the dirty douzen -little shop of horrors -the man who wasnt there -rumble fish -gleaming the cube -fruitvale station -dancer in the dark -cries and whispers -in the mood for love -oceans eleven -the gold rush -spartacus -gladiator -platoon -do the right thing -saving private ryan -swingers -marathon man -nightcrawler -happiness -10 cloverfield lane -anomalisa -do lavon -room -waltz with bashire -blower -inside lou and davis -blow up -a serious man -mirror -synochechy new york -stalker -spring summer fall winter spirng -gataga -the fountain -devils rejects -half baked -jupiter ascending -devils advocate -the abyss -the accountant -american honey -iron fist -ipman -dragon -green hornet -chocolate -kungfu hustle -the man from nowhere -awake -creep -the girl in the photographs -beneath -honeymoon -let us prey -the houses october built -starry eyes - Lawrence of Arabia (1962) -Amelie (2001) -Withnail and I (1987) -Do the Right Thing (1989) -Hairspray (1988) -The Virgin Suicides (1999) -Morvern Callar (2002) -American Psycho (2000) -Life is Sweet (1990) -Barry Lyndon (1975) -The Riot Club (2014) -Samsara (2011) -BBC Panorama: Inside North Korea (2013) -The First Movie (2009) -Lessons of Darkness (1992) -Wadjda (2012) -From Russia with Love (1963) -Meek’s Cutoff (2010) -Selma (2014) -Moana (2016) -Tale of Tales (2015) -A Matter of Life and Death (1946) -Two Days One Night (2014) -Leviathan (2014) -The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) -A Clockwork Orange (1971) -Ed Wood (1994) -Final Segment: The First Movie (2009) -man on the moon -magnolia -beginners -wet hot american summer -hot rod -airplane 1 and  ii -blazing saddles -dr strangelove -steamboat bill jr -when harry met sally -my cousin vinny -the jerk -the discreat charm of the bougousie -pineable express -theres something about mary -monty python football -young frankenstein -inglorious bastards -rat race -weekend -in bruges -animal cracker -naked gun -the naughty nineties -spaceballs -harold and kumar -planes trains and automobiles -super troopers -his girl friday -ace ventura -doubtfire -high fidelity -anchorman -caddyshack -best in show -some like it hot -top secret -hot rod -this is spinal tap -the producers -22 jump street -bruce almighty -office space -city lights -project a -kung fu hustle -duck soup -pork pie -lego batman -fences -hidden figures -moonlight -it comes at night -cure for wellness -kedi -i dont feel at home in this world anymore -the lure -okja -john wick -trainspotting 1 and 2 -baby driver -it -hell or high water -the bad batch -split -the belko experiment -the accountant -lion -embers -under the skin -stalker -adaptation -the taking of deborah logan -noroi -invisible 2: chasing the ghost sound -the good neighbor -they look like people -monkey bones -the searchers -shane -forty guns -high country -high plains drifter -the ox bow incident -rancho notorious -winchester 73 -unforgiven -the assissination of jesse james -one eyed jacks -outlaw josey wales -pat garret and billy the kid -butch cassidy and the sun dance kid -high noon -tombstone -my darling clementine -true grit -rio bravo -the man who shot liberty valance -the shootist -the wild bunch -el topo -hell or high water -lonesome dove -paris texas -mccabe and mrs miller -a bullet for the general -the great silence -fistful of dollars -once upon a time in the west -sholay -tears of the black tiger -good the bad and the weird -sons of great bear -the proposition -sukiyaki western django -black god white devil -whity -yojimbo -shanghai noon -red sun -serenity -big trouble in little china -serenity -from dusk till dawn -cow boys and aliens -my left foot -spotlight -hush -magic -dead of night -may -hannibal rising -red dragon -youree next -the step father -halloween -night of the living dead -john wick -counte of monte christo -the sacrement -the wicker man -the craft -are you afraid of the dark -wayward pines -texas chainsaw mascare -invasion of the body snatchers -alien -jacobs ladder -return of the living dead -the thing -audition -the mist -martyrs -let the right one in -monty pythons meaning of life -cemetary man -the frighteners -bill and teds bogus journey -the adventures of barron ma -skyfall -a few good men -training day -the last of the mohecans -the omen -