#100 scariest movie moments

[buddiebeginz]

Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments (October 2004)

[talkaboutmovies]

Psyched to see the new "Nosferatu" later this year. This is the original one from "Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments". Highly recommended.

[penny-anna]

That post about Frozen had me on a rabbit hole bcos I had an idea Snow White was voted one of the top 100 scariest movies at some point and I was correct but now I'm just fascinated by the contrast between the US and UK lists from the above series??

[seaofreverie]

They Might Be Giants at the Roundhouse, London, 17th November 2024

Happy 35th to Flood, hooray!!!! So here's this thing that I've put together just in time for this occasion, my written record... I mean, my very lengthy and detailed review of the first and so far only TMBG show I’ve attended, on November 17th 2024 in London, so, the last show of the so-called “30th anniversary” Flood tour.

And yeah, I mean it that this thing is lengthy and mostly my personal insights on stuff but still, I wanted to share it since this was an event that I’d been anticipating for many many months, and I tried my best here to capture all the feelings this day brough and the whole magic and all the amazement surrounding it.

I’m also going to put here all of the 7 videos I took during the show, ranging in length from 7 seconds to 7 minutes. And they were taken from the front row, so the view is pretty great and something worth sharing I think!

So yep. Hope you enjoy!!

Every once in a while a day comes along in your life that feels like it’s been taken straight out of a movie. It’s hard to tell how often that happens, but probably not too often, since I can’t remember the last time it did before this. And what I mean here is that the day of my first TMBG show was pretty much nothing but moments that somehow felt just RIGHT, like everything was coming together just PERFECTLY, so that I could have the best possible experience and the best imaginable time!! Starting with my biggest wishes and hopes, down to all the extra details that I didn’t even think about previously. But anyway…

Before the show…

You’d think that I would start officially #freakingout about one of my biggest dreams in life coming true (seeing my favourite band, who are also one of my biggest special interests, in REAL LIFE, and enjoying one of their amazing live shows IN PERSON) earlier than this, but that only actually started on the evening of the day before the show. And because of that the entire next morning and afternoon felt really weird and tense in a way that I can’t really describe. But I hope you get what I mean. It’s like wow, it’s finally happening, but noooo wait hold on, I’m not ready yet…

And so my travel companions and I spent most of the day walking around Camden Town where the show was taking place, but for me that whole time was this really weird mix of feeling like I’m walking on clouds and like I’m just entirely somewhere else and also awaiting the scariest most important exam of my whole life.

We arrived by the venue sometime around 1 PM and when I saw the poster plastered on the wall that listed “An Evening With They Might Be Giants” among other acts, that was the moment when it maybe finally hit me that THIS THING WAS REAL. And maybe this is a good time to mention that the only thing left on the long list of all the things that could possibly still go wrong at this point, was managing to get a spot as close to the stage as possible, so, in the first row. And there were already two people just standing there by the venue when we got there and I actually couldn’t tell if they were already queuing up because, well, it was still so early. But I’m about 100% sure now that, in fact, they were.

Another important thing to note is that I was hoping to meet my friend at the show, who also attended the previous night’s show in Bristol, and me impatiently awaiting any sort of updates on how all of that went definitely added to all the nervousness I was feeling that whole day. And also, when I decide on something, well, I’m stubborn as hell so it HAS to go the way I planned it or I will be pretty much devastated.

But it was still super early and we had to get dinner and all that stuff so we left for now. And after some time I eventually got a message from my friend saying that NO, 5:30 will be too late for the first row, probably, and I was uhhhh, very on edge at this point. But ok. Better wait too long in the queue than regret not getting there earlier forever.

It was probably a pretty unusual sight to my brother (who I dragged along with me to the show) when I practically RAN to the venue when we were close to arriving there sometime past 4 PM. I swear I remember imagining that I’m already seeing a huge queue of people in front of me somewhere in the distance until I get closer and am relieved that no, no such thing happening, thank god. I mean, well yes, I was REALLY not even remotely chill about this whole thing guys. And yeah, it’s important to mention that I did travel over 1500 kilometers or so just for this show and nothing else. The whole trip and all the sightseeing I did in London in the days leading up to this day and afterwards was just an added bonus.

But alright, we got there. And what we were met with instead were maybe 15 or so people who were mostly scattered in small groups around the entrance. And a guy playing an accordion. Just in case I needed that extra confirmation that, yes, the gig I’m going to will be HERE and not in some other place. Yet I still had this worry as I started talking to one group of fans that waitttt, maybe they’re actually talking about some other band and I’m making a fool of myself…

But well yeah anyway, we were there, it was time to just wait for the big event now, time to be brave and use this opportunity to chat with other fans even a bit… And so I did, and despite not really having any opportunities to actually TALK in English to other people most of the time, I think I did pretty well. One thing that stuck with me the most for some reason was how these two guys were talking about how one of them doesn’t like BOOK and how that’s scandalous according to the other guy pretty much, and the other guy's statement on Synopsis For Latecomers was that whatever your opinion might be on the song, it’s still definitely a THEY song (I love that and I think about that all the time now, like man, it really is just They in a nutshell in a way).

And then my friend and their bestie arrived!! Just after we (all the people who were waiting already) decided to form some sort of actual queue. We found ourselves at the end of it, at least for now… And the remaining 2 hours of waiting for the doors to open were before us. It dragged on a bit of course but not TOO terribly, since I could catch up on all sorts of stuff with my friend, because we haven’t actually seen each other in oh, well over a year!

We talked about the Bristol show too among many other things, and I learned some important things, such as how Lie Still, Little Bottle got played already the day before, soooo… probably not much of a chance of it returning this evening (this might be like the only real thing I wish was different about this day because, AAAAHHH, THE STIIIIIIIIICK!!!!!! how I’d have loved to see that… But never say never, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be just YET!). And also how today the queue was luckily much smaller so, no being stuck in the third row this time!

Also, it started raining eventually, as it does in the UK, right, (it actually wasn’t rainy at all for most of the week I stayed there, just that day pretty much… another one of very few somewhat unfortunate things about this day) and it rained for probably close to an hour, and by god, did it get freaking FREEZING very fast. I inevitably had a huge cold for several days afterwards because of this, but well, what even is this sort of sacrifice, when in exchange you get the best possible concert experience. Because yeah, it definitely paid off to get there early, the queue never got SUPER long but still, wouldn’t have ended up where we did if it weren’t for that long wait.

And maybe now I should say some more general things about the wait, which is that this whole time, when I wasn’t feeling impatient, I was really just, truly soaking it all in (and not just the rain, lol). And a crucial part of that whole wait was that the accordion guy was still playing his songs, many songs of TMBG and at least a couple of John Linnell’s State Songs. I realize now that I should have written them down right after the show, because now all I remember him playing are Erase, South Carolina and West Virginia.

One funny thing that happened was when some guy walked by our (by then) pretty long queue and seemed surprised that there were so many people waiting for something. So my friend told him that we were waiting for a show and that it was a They Might Be Giants show, but what did he actually hear??

The guy: …Michael Jackson? But he’s dead!

So I guess that English speakers will also get the band's name terribly wrong sometimes, not just every vinyl vendor I’ve ever talked to back at home, lol. But yeah, he eventually got the name right but still, it’s really funny to think about… There May Be Giants, Michael Jackson… it’s all the same thing.

But alright, the last few minutes were drawing near… And then, at long last, we were in! And I guess I was so caught up in the moment (and also the fact that the security guy had a bit of an issue with my metal pins that I put on my jacket without really thinking about this possibly being a problem, oops) that I almost screwed up big time in a way because hey, we’re in, you’re free to go now, get your spot by the stage as fast as possible!! And so I got myself together, followed the example of my friend, and did that.

And ok, all in all, this was absolutely surreal to me. Only the very first of the many biggest this CANNOT be real moments of the night. Realizing that wow, we’re actually here… Nothing went terribly wrong in the end, we travelled all this way just to get here and here we are. And we’re in the first row!! OH MY GOD!! The folks who were ahead of us in the queue lined up by the left side and the middle of the stage, so we ended up to the right of Linnell’s keyboard and right in front of Marty’s drumkit. So we still had a very good viewing point if you ask me!

And I could NOT believe how close we were, the stage and all the instruments were SO CLOSE!!! This was actually my first time being in the pit at a concert, I’ve only ever known the balcony view… Meanwhile here they were, the legendary Main Squeeze in the REAL WORLD, the jackalope thingy on the drum kit that says They Might Be Giants… The pre-show music was blaring, everyone else was getting excited and I was suddenly HIT by all of it and how unbelievable and amazing and perfect it was and I was so so close to just crying right there because of it all…

But well, I collected myself and faced the fact that there was still at least an hour of waiting ahead of us (turned out to be an hour and a half, because the doors opened earlier than originally scheduled, but the show didn’t start until the original 8 PM anyway). But at least we were inside now, so no more freezing! And we could actually even sit down for a while finally (not that anyone besides me or my two friends did that from what I could tell, for once I managed to not care about how I appear to others and do what’s considered “normal” and it’s so great and important and such a big part of why this was such a wonderful evening in the end).

I also need to say that wow, Flansburgh’s intermission playlist really is so good. Not gonna lie that I was really excited for this part of the show as well, and I even had some very satisfying moments of recognizing a song or two and telling my friends about it (Funkadelic’s Can You Get To That will have a very special association for me now because that’s what was playing when we first got there). Some other memorable moments include when crew members were milling around the stage, and I’m pretty sure that none other than Stan Harrison walked in for a moment too?? Because those moments also served as constant reminders that THE GUYS will be here too, so soon…

Show time!!!

Set 1

Alright, time for what we all actually came here for. Time for the show. The lights went down for a moment, there were moderate amounts of screaming that made me feel like I’m back on a school trip visiting a theatre with other kids, who start screaming the moment it gets dark right before the play starts. But this time I was (even if just mentally) screaming along.

The recording of the song They Might Be Giants started playing, we watched a short animation on that huge screen at the back of the stage, and then, the scariest and most unexpected thing happened. The whole band walked in and after a couple seconds launched right into Synopsis For Latecomers. And I’m saying this kind of as a joke but actually though, can we agree that the emotion that comes with the first time you see *your band* in the real world is just something else completely and kind of impossible to describe. Because in a way it’s also just so funny: you arrived here specifically with the intention of seeing these guys and then, when that actually happens, it feels like the most shocking event of your entire life. A little MIND ERROR moment, wait hold up kind of moment, or even… a Brain Problem Situation, if you will.

But ok, I also need to admit that it didn’t help when I got distracted over the fact that less than half a minute into the song, someone from the crew walked onto the stage to fix something about Danny’s guitar. And with all that stuff put together I was only half aware of what was even happening and being played most of the time, and like a second passed before we got to the horns part of the song, and the horns entered the stage (accompanied by cheering from everyone). And it was all just. Happening. Right in front of me. Like it’s nothing and no big deal at all.

But anyway. While I’m still on the topic of this song I need to say that out of all songs played this one still stuck with me probably the most in a sense. Because days after the show I could still hear it still playing in my mind aaaaaaaall. the. damn. time. So all in all, this was definitely a total BLAST of a first impression. This is an amazing live song, and a 10/10 show opener, which I think is also fully supported by my reaction to it, as documented here. And the horns!!! The horns, ladies and gentlemen!!!

After the first song we got greetings and an introduction from Flansburgh, who said that this was the last show of the run of Flood shows… and that they had to figure out a way to include all songs from Flood in the show. So what got played next was the obligatory Particle Man, something that I found myself being all sort of like “alright, of course…” about at first... I mean… it is funny and don’t get me wrong, this song is great live, and I loved the whole “Triangle Man, take off for the planet, for the planet VENUS!” bit of course (oh it was really really great and GRAND and loud), but I guess this also shows how very quickly I got into this whole spirit of a regular TMBG show goer of sorts, who already sort of resents one of the most played songs… even before actually hearing it.

Next up was Meet James Ensor and here’s another really funny thing: how surprisingly hard it can be to identify the song that’s being played during a show. You know them all and know all the lyrics, and yet you aren’t aware of what you’re actually singing??? *HOW* does that work!! Because the whole time I thought it was actually James K. Polk, later I couldn’t remember which of the two it was actually… And I only realized which song this actually was on the next day, when a random bit of conversation reminded me that yes, those were the lyrics of Ensor that I was singing yesterday.

However, you must forgive me for these follies, because it’s hard to think clearly when you have to catch up with the fact that without pause, the next thing played is The Famous Polka. It’s like oh my god it’s actually THE Famous Polka. The infamous Famous Polka stage collapse incident (so, the first thing that comes to mind concerning this song, to me) aside, another notable thing about this song is that it’s SUCH a blast of energy live. I want to say that around this point of the show I started really getting into it and singing along and stuff (well, not singing yet on THIS song) and I’ll add some more general thoughts of this nature at the end of the post but by god, is the pure energy and excitement of a TMBG show impossible to convey in any recording. I think you just really have to be there to really understand what it’s all about. And a song like this one might be one of the finest examples of that.

And now, for something completely different… Moonbeam Rays! Lovely song that mostly helped me get into the mood of how beautiful this whole moment was, you know… I might be wrong about when exactly that was, but I got seriously close to crying once more during the show, and it’d be probably a fair guess to say that it was sometime during this song. And afterwards, we got some more insights from Flansburgh.

JF: This is the last show of the Flood show thing. (audience makes a sad “oooooh” sound) Yeah, it’s a little bit sad… it’s a little bit *excellent!* (audience laughs)

And then the Johns started talking about how they “started doing this pre-pandemic…” And it delighted me SO MUCH that they pointed this out because I could never get over how the Flood anniversary tour started when the album turned 30, and at the time of the last show of the tour it was two months away from turning 35!!

JF: It’s taken more years to celebrate the anniversary of Flood than it took to *make* Flood.

But as Flansburgh said, it was time to move on to some other, less popular things… And also he shared with us that he walked through a beautiful part of London today, wondering how it would feel to have enough money to “belong there”. Linnell said that he was resting up for the big flight, and that he was actually resting up for it RIGHT NOW.

JF: There’s nothing John Linnell likes more than a *paid rehearsal*.

JL: It’s a sweet ride… When you get to be *this* age…

JF: Nothing matters at all.

JL: Every day above ground is beautiful.

If you ask me, that last sentence deserves to be immortalized as one of the most iconic stage banter moments, and in a way it already has, because it inspired this wonderful piece of art, and who knows what else.

The following songs were Letterbox (and a short break from singing from me, because that song is already impossible to follow with, and then you add all the excitement of the moment and it’s impossible impossible) and Twisting!!! This started a long series of songs where the moment it starts I get super excited because I KNOW this song is a huge deal and a favourite but it takes me at least a couple of seconds to get to WHY this is a huge moment… through remembering and recognizing the song. And AAHHHH this song was so amazing, the bridgeeee, and then also the extra outro with the guitar solo and all, the energy!!! God, it truly is incomparable. And I totally didn’t expect that outro so that made it all an even better time.

And so we were well into the Flood songs segment, because next up was another of my top favourites from the album, Someone Keeps Moving My Chair! And another wonderful sing-along moment, but honestly, which of all these songs was not… (other than Letterbox, but that was just because of my lack of practice with that one). Chanting the title of this song, especially that one penultimate, elongated CHAAAAAAIIIIIIIR, kind of healed something in me I think.

After that was done, the Johns gave us some more insights into the performer’s life and all the things that they’ll never get used to, such as crowds that continue beyond your line of sight.

JF: …So you sort of think like: “I gotta get these people going, I gotta rock these people…” And then it’s like: (said in a silly, high-pitched voice) “But there’s no end!...”

Flansburgh remarked on the special challenge that they had come across this time, which was that we were all in a circular room, which is exciting, but means that people continue past where the stage is…

JF: I hope you guys got your tickets on Stubhub or something. I mean, can you even see us? I can barely see *you*. In a hockey match this would be unacceptable.

Another thing that Linnell would never get used to was when there’s a huge crowd of people, all of them happy and singing along, but then there’s one guy “who’s got this sort of Charles Manson expression”. This one really made ALL the people laugh. The Charles Manson guy included I hope.

JL: Never got used to that! For some reason.

JF: Tomorrow: Get. Linnell.

(JL pretends to be writing something down)

JL (addressing the audience): Not to put any ideas in your mind…

But moving on, as I said it was more Flood time indeed, with Whistling In The Dark. Me calling each single song amazing and a blast and so much fun is probably already getting a bit repetitive by now, so one special point of interest with this one and its live version is when near the end we get this little vocals only moment and then the horns come in again, then joined by everything else with such fanfare… simply triumphant.

Also, maybe this is a good moment to say that man, on one hand thinking about this show and how I’m going to hear THE ACCORDION was always a huge deal, but even then, I wasn’t prepared for how cool the accordion really is in person. It sounds kind of different from what I’m used to from recordings, and definitely makes a heck of a great impression all in all. One could wonder why it’s not more popular in rock music, because really, just how amazing is it?? And it can create all sorts of moods.. which is something I’m just about to get into properly too. Also, speaking of horns, Flansburgh gave a special shout out to the horns at this point, and began to introduce the next song.

JF: This next song is called The D-... uh, I forgot what it’s called, but… (JL laughs)

Even if it weren’t for this slip-up with the name, I already could tell from how Flansburgh went back to talk about how this was a song put together by Stan Harrison and introduced all the guys individually… That *IT* was in fact happening, one of my biggest hopes when it comes to songs I wanted to hear in person the most. The Darlings Of Lumberland - THE horns song to beat them all. And at this point I had to get my camera ready and start recording because well, this would definitely be one of the most preservation-worthy and outstanding moments of the show.

I was not mistaken of course, the way all the instruments complement each other here, most importantly the horns and the accordion, is something beautiful. This is one of the best examples of how the studio version just sounds so WEIRD to me now, even though it’s been my big favorite for a long time in that form as well. All in all a hypnotising moment, and coming back to my earlier question, maybe THIS was the only other song that you don’t really sing along to, because you have to just. Take it all in. Soooo much going on. And yes, no less important, THE CHOREOGRAPHY - *EVERYONE* did the hand thing!!! So you know, another good reason to have this one specifically caught on film.

Anyway, I was going to put my phone down for the time being but THEN... could it be, another of my top wished-for songs?? Cause yeah, without a pause we got the one and only screaming introduction to Let Me Tell You About My Operation from Flansburgh and oh boy, is this yet another song I could talk for many minutes about. First of all, I had very very high hopes for one of, what I think is often referred to as, Flansburgh showman moments. So, songs such as this one, Lie Still, Little Bottle, She’s Actual Size, and a couple others.

This song is a whole new story live, alright. Again, you have to be there to really get what it’s all about I think. JF’s energy is very infectious and awesome here to put it just mildly, and the horns add a whole lot, the whole song is just one big moment of old-timey big band-style musical bliss. And then there is also time to shine for all the other guys in the band, with awesome solos from Dan and Marty (ok, it appears that there was no special Danny time though?? Sad), AND the horns on the horns. Also Linnell doing this sort of thing on the keyboard where he plays all the notes quickly, sort of sliding down or up all the keys… Ok, I looked it up, I think that’s called glissando? So yeah, that also stuck in my head especially, because it was so fun. One of the top 5 moments of the show, without a doubt.

And now, alright, When Will You Die? is not a song that ever struck me as much of a favourite, besides being a very outstandingly hilarious and real song when it comes to lyrics of course, but I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t very happy to hear this one too. Singing these lyrics in a room full of hundreds of people who did the same was an incredibly grand moment, ok.

And then… then we were met with the haunting sounds of the intro of Road Movie To Berlin. A song that���s still, even after dozens of relistens, a whole experience each time I hear it when listening to Flood, and, as you might expect, it’s even more of an experience live. And I’m of course mostly talking about this whole sort of breakdown section near the end, but just the whole entire thing really hits anyway.

So when it started I definitely had a little moment of “oh shit, here we go, THE moment is here…”. Something akin to this happened over and over during the whole show obviously, but still, I feel like it was especially big here. Another thing is how later my friend laughed that they once again felt like they were the only person singing the secret third verse. Well, at least one more person did (me). Anyway, all in all it was just, magical, truly.

So, uh. Now, enjoy some top-notch banter that followed.

JL: So, uh, what’s going on here.

JF: We’re in London, John.

JL: We’re in London, we’re doing songs from Flood.

JF: We’re in yet another circular building.

JL: Right.

(a moment of silence)

JF: We’re doing songs from Flood. This is one of them.

(some people in the audience make clearly audible “wooo” noises)

JL: We get to woo.

(people laugh and woo even louder)

JL: There’s this thing in Britain where people get creative with the interactive thing. And it’s kind of good and it’s kind of, like… it worries us. The drunken part of it. It’s a problem.

(someone in the audience laughs in a very pronounced drunken manner)

Ok, Women And Men, that was the next song. Not much to say about this one to be honest, or like, anything at all really. And then more Flood, in the form of Your Racist Friend, which totally rocked, and we, I mean WE specifically, had the pleasure of standing where we could enjoy how Jordan Katz played his trumpet solo right in front of us. Honestly, this was kind of the only major downside of standing where we stood, that the horns were kind of hidden from our view for the most part… So this was a GRAND moment.

I have found that no matter how many times I watch recordings of it, the way Stellub gets introduced at these shows is always extremely funny to me, so here’s, like, almost all of how that went this time.

JF: Folks, we’ve got a very special treat for you right now. When we first embarked on doing these Flood shows, we thought: what can we do to make the show a little more challenging, a little more of… an endurance test. So we thought, we’ll take the time out to learn a song *sonically in reverse*...

(a long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: …present it to the crowd… who might not enjoy that. (audience laughs) But then, we’re going to record it, on our very special fancy video recording machine, and we’re going to reverse the tape, and present it to you at the top of the second set, which will be… *pure entertainment*.

(audience laughs and woos. claps, also)

JF: …so think of the next two and a half minutes as a *musical investment in your future* (audience, well, laughs). If you brought friends here, we understand; they might be looking at you, going: “WHY?” (audience laughs some more) “Why this, why now? Life is complicated enough, why do bands *insist* on performing songs in reverse?”. But I can assure you, it’s a huge payoff. Especially if the machine works.

At this point I should give a shoutout to my uninitiated brother, who is not a fan of TMBG and whom I sort of dragged along with me here, although well, he did agree to this whole thing (besides the standing in the rain for two hours. He says that’s the part that he didn’t need to experience but well, what could *I* possibly do about that). Because he told me later that yes, the song in reverse thing was pretty cool. Well, I guess I could say as much anyway from how he definitely seemed very amused by Flansburgh’s introduction. But he also told me that if they didn’t say anything about this song being played in reverse, he wouldn’t even be able to tell, because it didn’t sound all that different from all the other songs. So I guess that answers my question of how newcomers may perceive TMBG’s lyrics, in a way. At least in the live show environment. It must be a lot to take in at once.

But anyway, the Johns joked about this whole thing some more (and how the screen was unusually huge for them and had this whole sort of 70s delay effect) and Linnell informed us that he would kick one of his shoes off at the end of the song and that we would also see THAT backwards.

JL: It’s just gonna be CRAZY! It’s gonna look… can’t even describe it.

JF (in silly gruff voice): Tonight! On video tape!

So, Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love. You know, it’s just yet another of those things where I’ve been awaiting THIS MOMENT, IN REAL LIFE for so long. Very fun and at this point I sometimes even feel like I might be more familiar with the reversed sound of this song than the original… Like, it comes to mind more often. “stiiiiillub rah-fahs”, “stosh-nog, stosh-lut-sip” and similar phrases followed me around for days after the show. And I love how expressive the Johns are during this song, it’s just this whole theatricality of it that makes it very funny and awesome.

My favourite moment was when, in spirit of, well, all of this being performed in reverse, Marty also did the counting down to the start of the song with his drumsticks, but at the end. I read later that Linnell also used to sometimes instruct the audience to applaud before they start playing the song and damn, I wish he still did that because that's just hilarious.

And could this really be… the last song of the first set already - Brontosaurus. One thing about this song is that I used to not care about it much, until I saw a recording of their first live performance of it all the way back sometime around the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023, when I just about cried from the wonder of it all. This song is just a whole new thing live, in huge part thanks to the horns of course. Cathartic maybe is the right word for it. One of those songs that I could be pretty much 100% sure I would hear on this day but even despite that, when it actually came to it… Very very beautiful moment. Maybe this is when I almost cried again actually? Well, there were many contenders.

Set 2

So as you just read here, there was an abundance of stuff in the first set already that had me all like “this is the BEST!!!”, yet… We had this little moment of doubt with my friend, because: a) they were hoping to still hear at least a couple of songs that they didn’t already hear the previous night, b) I, having “analyzed” the setlists from this leg of the tour so far, in order to assess how likely I’d be to hear some of my favs, and if there’s any logic to how they change from night to night, decided that there’s two main setlist that the band alternates between. But based on the first half of the show so far it seemed to me like this was going to be a very similar set of songs to last night’s, and out of those two variants, the one I was hoping for less than the other… It was mostly them playing Darlings today once again that made me think this.

And all in all in my head it was like, well, I’ll probably get either the show with Darlings & Lie Still, Little Bottle (+the STICK!!!) OR the show with lots of miscellaneous songs that were very high on my wishlist. So, in either case I’d be happy, but maybe a bit more happy if we got the second option here…

Anyway. What I’m saying is that, keeping all of the above in mind, and how my expectations for the second set were shaped by that… I really can’t overstate how much of an UNREAL NO WAY YOU GOTTA BE JOKING THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT??? time it turned out to be.

So let’s get right into why. And boy, there’s a lot. In a way this is when this show REALLY started for me, not that what was earlier wasn’t incredibly fun and amazing already but. This was just a whole different league. It’s like, I could say that earlier I felt at moments like I’m sometimes transported into some alternate dimension, and from here on it was all just, being transported into that joyous alternate dimension for the whole duration of the show. The TMBG dimension. I’ll get back to this, but being here was really just something like, a different type of existence, so different from the often bleak daily life that I’ve been way too familiar with until then.

One thing that sort of added once again to this whole “it’s all perfectly falling into place” feeling, even before the show started up again, was how I tried to pay attention to the intermission music again, and remembered from my days of watching many live show recordings in late 2022 how someone pointed out that when this one specific song plays, you can tell that the show will start in just a moment. And yeah, they were right. Girl Don’t Come started playing so I knew…

And so the second set started with the reversed recording of the Stellub performance of course (how many times have they performed it by that point? Over a hundred? But yeah, it was scarily accurate, as always), and the alternate version of Hearing Aid with this whole little animation thing, which was also a lot of fun to watch actually.

And so the band was back for the second round… with Memo To Human Resources! So I’d known for a while that this song has been a pretty oft played one recently, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any recordings of it live? And to be honest my memory of this song is really blurry, so it’s still kind of an enigmatic moment to me now, all in all I’m sure though that it must have hit the same way Moonbeam Rays or Brontosaurus did, and that might explain this whole effect it presumably had on me, heh.

And now, ok. Man, It’s So Loud In Here will never ever feel the same way to me again. Because actually nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it was live. And I didn’t even particularly anticipate this one, but when we got to it… I knew already that it was going to be a blast.

I remember thinking that this is one of those moments that you simply can’t capture in any way, you’re just fully here in the moment and you live it there and remember it forever. I was also thinking about the meaning of the song, about this classic TMBG fashion of singing this song in this huge room full of people, a song about how it’s so loud in here. And I was wondering if that’d be another of those little confusing moments for people unfamiliar with TMBG because yes, I suppose it’s pretty silly… On top of being an incredible and actually moving experience. I’m shedding a tear just thinking about it all now.

So now, more Flood time! Minimum Wage, a song that, per Linnell’s words, they’ve been playing “for 40 years”...

JL: …And we just got to the point where we all end at exactly the same time. We had so much integrity for so long… And now we’re just sleek… robots up here.

JF: Yeah, that AI showbusiness stuff. Nobody likes it - you gotta do it, you know. It’s the way people DO IT!

JL: I’ve got six fingers…. (JL demonstrates how he has six fingers, apparently)

JF: Yeah, yeah… (with emphasis) *AI*.

(long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: It makes its own punchline!

But um, what was next on the agenda (John)? More songs from the Flood album, oh yes! Let’s give the people some more of what they want!

JL: That feisty… that album by that bunch of maverick… young… rulebreakin’... (pause) But those days are gone.

JF: Well, the one thing that remains is the barricade putting eight feet between us and the front row. That’s the important thing. The distance.

JL: And you know, it’s not for *our* protection, it’s for *yours*.

Alright, so here’s another song. Here’s another song from Flood. And that song is We Want A Rock. What I remember the most about this one is, once again, the beauty of being able to sing these “ridiculous lyrics” when everyone else is doing the same thing, when we’re all singing about how everyone wants a rock to wind a string around and about how everyone wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads but someone in this town is trying to burn the foreheads down. At some point I just couldn't help having a little laugh over the joy of it all. And also, *boom boom boom* “ooooOOOOOOH!!” *boom boom boom* “oooooOOOOOOH!!”

Then it was Marty time, starting with the drum intro and the BUZZER, for it’s time for Hot Cha! Which becomes even more of a blast with the HORNS of course, and at the very end, can you believe it, I forgot that they change the last line of the song to “please come home” live, so I was slightly taken aback by that. Yes, that’s important to mention here, somehow.

Flansburgh introduced the next song as a song from the Lincoln album and for some goddamned reason the only song I could think of at the moment that fit that criteria was Shoehorn With Teeth.

It was not Shoehorn With Teeth. It was the song that came back to live rotation earlier in 2024 during the spring US tour, but seemed to fall from it afterwards once again, which was a shame, because it’s like, probably my favourite TMBG song to be honest and its newest live rendition was absolutely breathtakingly amazing from what I’ve seen from recordings online. I’m not sure if I was aware by that point of how it miraculously returned as an encore at the show of the night before…

But still, this was like the biggest “this can’t be real actual and happening right now” moment of the night, and maybe. of my. entire life?? And it of course took me a couple of seconds to recognise the song STILL, besides the instant punch of that *feeling* that happened the second the song started. Yeah, Where Your Eyes Don’t Go, played live at my show just like I dreamed about, no big deal, everyday stuff, haha.

The song really IS freaking amazing live though. Where would we be without THE HORNS!!! And honestly I could say a bit more about this “fav song” situation, because not only is it of course among my most beloved ever songs at this moment and has been for over two years, I also remember distinctly that it was the FIRST TMBG song that I loved and couldn’t get enough of and replayed over and over, and it’s a big reason behind why I became a fan in the first place. So, the extra beauty of the significance of it all, it just blows my mind completely.

So, Lucky Ball And Chain was a short little break for collecting myself again, because obviously we were far from done with all the biggest wonders of the night still. And I’m not saying that the song wasn’t a good time, it of course was just like everything else here, so it’s safe to just assume that without me specifying each time. Lol.

But, as I said, the break was short. I would have put seeing Spy live somewhere at the top of my general life goals / bucket list thing, if I had one, that is. I had been very vocal about wanting to see THAT song in particular in discussions with my friend, so the excited glance we exchanged the moment this song started was absolutely priceless and a thing of pure wonder.

Anyway, we all know Spy. We all know that it’s one of the most often played live songs of theirs, and that the reason behind its live durability is the several minutes long improvised jam band section at the end. And I might be one of those maybe rare kinds of people who wouldn’t mind hearing it a hundred times more. It IS improvised after all, so… different each time, ha! It was also very vital to me that I get to take part in the audience participation segment of it… and this is also what was granted to me on this magical evening by whatever godlike forces exist above.

So yeah, this was yet another among the top 5 show moments of course… The biggest highlights here were when Linnell did this sort of old-timey speech (“THIS! Is the *sound* of the thirties. The sound of the SWING ERA!”) that’s probably a reference to something that I’m completely unfamiliar with so that only makes it funnier, and the whole audience conducting part from Flansburgh at the end, because man, he was having a total BLAST with this, it was such a joy to see. And we were all also having a great time, by doing our part and screaming as if we’re in hell. All I’m trying to say here is. I love hellish noise, I love cacophony. This is my perfect kind of show experience, I won’t be hearing any arguments about this.

Ok, so what was the next thing that the Johns prepared with the intent of dealing the biggest emotional damage imaginable to us? Well, remember how Last Wave had never been played live until earlier this year and then they never played it again. Guess what happened now. Well, that’s yet another of the huge and one of the earliest personal favourites of mine returning onto the setlist on the previous evening actually.

This song is. Augh. I just love how it has this sort of elegant, but emotional sound that kind of sets it apart. It’s a completely singular song to me in every sense and I always wondered why they never played it live, but now I’m just glad they finally started playing it. Gotta love yet another AMAZING trumpet solo from Jordan Katz and the Johns’ overdramatized delivery of the lyrics, it’s so much fun. And this song also provided us with some more epic Marty moments, especially the solo and the ending, both just like on the studio recording technically… So maybe that’s why they were so great to see recreated in real time too?

JF: I think we were all a little stunned by the majesty of the ending of that song.

Two days before the show I went to the Natural History Museum here in London, and that's actually very relevant here because when I saw the exhibit that was entitled “Mammals” in that museum, that was when the SONG Mammal started following me around in my mind, for like, most of the remaining time of that day. And I had the amazing realization that oh, it’s not impossible that I could hear this song this next Sunday, played live, so awesome!!

So yeah of course, they played Mammal next. And honestly I’m not even that attached to this song, I do still love it though and it’s one of those situations where I see myself become excited over songs that I feel like are big fan favourites and something that other people are probably very happy about hearing, heh. But maybe even more important yet is that this meant APOLLO 18 representation!! So special to me.

Now I’ll just say that it’s worth it avoiding spoilers sometimes. Like, show spoilers, because I guess I didn’t actually watch that much recent footage and so I had no idea about what other awesome fun stuff was just about to happen.

JF: Folks, folks… we’ve been informed by the people who work here that every single person in the audience tonight is carrying a silly little phone with them. And we'd like to take full advantage of that right now…

We were instructed by Flansburgh to get our phones and open our camera and set it to selfie mode! And then Turn Around, Turn Around, (there’s a thing there that can be found)…

JF: We can see you now and I can tell that nobody is doing what I’m talking about.

You know, so this is when you get to live that wonder of actually BEING THERE once more. And enjoy the way that specifically TMBG shows are, because I’ll be real, I can’t think of any other concert where I could see something like this happening.

JF: Everybody, spin around for just a little bit, get a selfie and we’re gonna photobomb your selfie.

JL: Which we tried to do last night and nobody was getting it!

JF (interrupting): That’s not true! On social media you’re gonna see some very good evidence that some people got together over the course of the twenty minutes we dedicated to this portion of the show.

So yeah, now I can even keep on living my life knowing that I technically have a photo with my favourite musicians in the world. Definitely not something I expected to gain after this day.

JF: We’re gonna take a lot of time doing this. This is possibly the least important thing we’ll be working on…

So that was awesome!!! BUT WAIT THERE WAS MORE!!!!!!

JF: Ok folks, this the second part of the test: see if you can find the flashlight portion of your phone - the more traditional rock portion.

That “more traditional rock portion” part must have been lost on me then, because this was still a singular moment to me (I haven’t been to many live shows before this anyway), and I could only really think of one other thing that this immediately reminded me of. I like yearning for all sorts of things, including those that are in the past now and that I never even could have had a real chance of participating in. Such as the Hollywood Bowl show in 2023, where TMBG opened for Sparks, and during the Sparks show and the song All That everyone in the audience took out their phones and there was this whole sea of lights, people swaying with their phone torches to that song. So, yes, I was NOT expecting either that I’d get to experience THIS as well. After all.

At first I wasn’t even aware that all the stage lights had been turned off for the next song, because with all those torches facing the stage it was so bright in here!! And the song that got this special treatment was Dead - very fitting I must say. The large procession waved their torches AND sang, and I can hear it on the recording of this song especially that the audience was really into the singing part. Loud and beautiful and touching to be there.

And then it was time to thank the band, since the end of the show was actually drawing closer and closer, as absurd as it may have seemed to think about… (not that there was really time to stop and think about that anyway). And I think the Johns did some sort of jab at Elektra Entertainment here, but I unfortunately couldn’t catch what they were saying, rip. Anyway, it must have been very funny I’m sure.

So what songs could possibly still be left and ahead of us now? Two more songs from Flood, here we go.

Why is the world in love again? Because it's time to be marching hand in hand and singing Theme From Flood! And once again being reminded of how WE'RE ALL HERE TOGETHER. All in all, the moment of this song, and it going right into Birdhouse In Your Soul, yes, that was just as ethereal and unreal as I imagined it would be. Even now, as I'm thinking back to it, I start to feel overwhelmed with the excitement, how I was just sort of going “YES YES YES!!!” in my head, after the “I'm your only friend” bit, when it gets kind of quiet for a second and it starts up again we're all jumping and cheering. I could only try to picture an approximation of this scene in my mind months earlier, so thinking about how this actually happened is still absolutely surreal to me. There's just nothing else like Birdhouse.

…

Damn it, I still have a bit more of the show to write about, it’s not the time for tears, brother.

I didn’t want the song to end and it almost seemed like the band didn’t either, because Linnell kept singing the “soul” at the end for several more seconds and also making it goofier still.

Encores time

End of show? No, two encores now. The encore waiting and clapping time until the band comes back on stage felt much much shorter than it always did when I watched recordings of shows. Shouldn't be surprising but everything here felt like it took 10% of the time it actually lasted.

So it was time for the most wondrous thing, a John and John only performance as a duo! This wasn't a total surprise to me, because I knew they switched up the way they play this particular song once again, on some nights at least, but I couldn't be sure that I'd be blessed enough to witness it myself too… And here it was, about to happen!!!

People were screaming Istanbul a lot. I could’ve been easily more annoyed by that, but you know what, I think this is necessary too. How could this be a REAL concert experience without a bunch of presumably drunk people shouting out the titles of songs and being annoying. Maybe if one of those people was standing close to us I'd be talking differently, but… It's part of the charm, sorry.

It was in fact Istanbul (Not Constantinople) time. I’ll be honest, if it weren’t for the duo format I would have not cared for this song any more than I did for Particle Man. But it turned out to be one of my favourite things on this show, yeah, this evening subverted so many expectations in every sense, alright.

You could argue about the significance of the duo format here because OMG, it’s just like in the old days!!!! The good old days or whatever. But no, it’s also just… I don’t know. Even to me, who obviously hasn’t known TMBG for that long, it was another of those kind of touching moments. And what made it all even better was when soon after this show, I happened to watch a video of a Flood show… from 1990. Like wow, this really is kind of just like the 1990 duo days. EXCEPT it’s much cooler now actually.

I didn’t record this song but definitely would have if our view for it was better. Well, thankfully someone else took care of that anyway. And I think that instead of me trying to describe it here, everyone should just do themselves a favour and watch it. I can't get over how beautifully unserious and funny this performance was, watching that must have been the most fun I've had in a looooong time. Again, top 5 moments of the night, maybe top 3 even.

Now, what were the funniest bits. “Peoplejustpeoplejustpeoplejust…” and the Get In The Car bit. And the “yeeeeeees”. And the “noooooo”. And the “istanbuuuuuuul…. ouuuuu…. oouuuuuu…”. You get it, right.

Can’t Keep Johnny Down was the second song of the encore and this performance is the only reason why this song suddenly became like, a literal favorite. The power of live shows! Now whenever I hear it I'm just like. OOOOOH Johnny. Save me Johnny, save me.

Linnell told us “thanks so much, you guys are great!” before they all left the stage :) And of course there was still one more song that I had to hear today. So after more clapping and cheering they were back on stage again.

JL: Yes! Thanks a million. No! Two million! (in a bit of a jokey voice) …I’ve never thanked that much before.

And you know what, I choose to believe that he meant it.

The last song of the night was Doctor Worm. I don’t know what else I can say about this song now, just that upon relistening to this whole show again I’m realizing that I could just. call this song kind of a perfect live song. Maybe I associate it with live shows more than anything else since it's not featured on any studio album and I've definitely heard it wayyyy more times in the form of live recordings than the studio version. And also maybe I lied that Synopsis haunted me the most after the show, Doctor Worm must have been even more insistent in that sense, and I had no issue with that honestly.

And so, with the last one “They call me Dooctooor WOOOOOORM!!” and a finishing BWAAAAA from the horns, the show was over.

After the show

Don’t worry, there’s much less to talk about now in terms of the after show stuff compared to before the show. Just this one important thing that, yet again, as if this wasn’t ENOUGH ALREADY…!!! We had to hang out by the stage for a bit longer still, because there’s a chance of ending up with a SETLIST. Or a drumstick. But I guess the setlist was more important.

And Marty walked over to us. And handed us the setlist. I mean, it was my friend who grabbed the setlist, but to me that was just like we all were chosen, it really didn't matter to me who actually had it. So it was a win! I really couldn’t ask for anything else by that point. I got it all.

Then we had to wait for a bit by the merch stand because lots of folks gathered there and thankfully, there was still lots of stuff to choose from! I would have loved to go a bit more crazy with this maybe, but since I still had to keep in mind having to travel back with all this stuff, flying, customs and all that… I settled for a tour shirt, because yeah, a shirt with the dates of the tour I ATTENDED printed on it? I needed that, that would do as the only physical souvenir even, no need for anything more (well, I actually did get a bit more, because the very next day I went by a random record store here in Camden Town in hopes of finding THE album somewhere in London still. and guess what I found….., but that’s a whole different story so let me just limit myself to only the day of the show in this post). The shirt is a total slay by the way, I love the burgundy color.

After we left the venue we still managed to bump into more folks going back from the concert. And like 3 different people in total who asked us about the setlist and where we arrived from, said that woooow, you deserve to have it then. Thank you people for also appreciating all the hard work that went into this.

My brother & I had a very short way back to our hotel now, so in the end it really felt like we just returned from a quick little fun event just down the street. Even though we travelled pretty far to get here, you know. So it didn't even feel like some huge endeavour or anything all that unusual, and I mean that in the best way possible.

So my day ended with my head full of thoughts and images and fragments of songs looped ad nauseam. And also with an aching back and no energy left in me to stand for even one more minute. The tiredness was very real but I must say that tired-happy might be one of the best emotions / states one could have to deal with. I hope I can do all of this again someday, because I’m actually so serious that I wouldn’t mind going to a TMBG show every other evening if I could. That’s the dream actually.

Miscellaneous T(houghts) time

Ok, I swear I’m almost done. Just a couple general / finishing observations about the show as a whole now.

● First of all, I want to come back for a bit to that TMBG dimension thing. Because this whole thing really was sort of like entering some sort of different mode of existing. The Johns are very funny guys and the whole band’s energy is extremely infectious, but I also think it’s a very special thing how their stage presence creates this whole atmosphere that’s just completely laid-back and fun in the purest form of fun. Even when there’s a big crowd and we’re in an “important” venue. Because you sort of really feel at home, like you’re exactly where you belong. And earlier I could imagine it being more like, oh the stakes are so high, because this is THE EVENT, finally. And in reality this was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a very long time. And I was almost painfully aware of how I was watching it all with sparkly eyes, hoping that it’s maybe not too obvious because waaaah, embarrassing, it’s not like I’m having the best time ever right now or anything, please.

● However, all of the above definitely had a lot to do with how the audience was at the show, and I was just really surprised by how very awesome the audience's energy was. Like I could imagine it being maybe less enthusiastic after all because uh well, maybe a lot of people actually could be here more for Flood and Birdhouse and all that rather than the actual band… Shouldn’t have underestimated this fanbase, because the audience was so responsive to everything and just made it feel even more like the explosion of joy it really was. And I really felt like I was with *my* people, and, especially when it’s a huge group like this.. that’s very rare and special to me.

● I’ve discovered that in TMBG dimension time isn’t real because I swear, when the first set was coming to a close, I felt like maybe only 20 minutes passed and we’ve only heard maybe 6 songs so far, instead of the actual. 17 songs. 17?? damn, that's a lot of songs. I actually haven’t counted them until now. And it was 33 songs in total, 36 if you add the intros and reversed Stellub, huh!

● You people weren’t lying about the Linnell stare. Actually, related to this, another worry I sort of had before this was that should I end up close to the stage, I might feel too awkward about being possibly perceived by the band in any way to truly enjoy myself. But that actually wasn’t the case at all, not counting like a couple of moments only where I’d make maybe-imaginary, maybe-real eye contact with someone from the band and have to look way fast because noooo, don’t perceive me actually, lol.

● And again, you people weren’t lying either that these guys have unbelievable amounts of energy that make you feel like an old man who can barely stand for a couple hours in comparison. This is coming from a 23-year-old, maybe not the most athletic person in the world, but still. Also, Marty really is the guy of all time, loved watching his antics. And one more special shoutout to the Tricerachops Horns, because yes, these songs I’ve loved for a while already CAN get even better and simply epic and beautiful.

All in all, best show ever! Honestly, I don’t know if any other show could possibly top this. I would be very happy to be proven wrong of course, especially if that were to happen because of another TMBG show. Thank you Johns and everyone else for this evening, it was a dream come true and I’ll never forget how out of this world and amazing it was!!

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

SUMMARY: A recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.

The mod hasn’t seen this movie but has watched Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments special and this was number 10 (I think) so perhaps it’s worth checking out.

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

Tessa Gray 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 33, 48, 50 🤍

Tessa's kind of hard for me because I like her in a starkly different way than the canon seems to want me to, so I'm basically tugging at her arm and attempting to pull her out of literally everything written post-TID, lol. I love her but also. Yeah. That being said:

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on -> Will wrote her a series of 100 letters while he was alive, one to open every year on her birthday for 100 years after he died. She loves this and looks forward to it annually.

3. Obscure headcanon -> She and Ragnor have absolutely taken a beachside vacation together, just the two of them. Probably pretty shortly after Will died, and it's there that they became more comfortable with each other.

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book) -> Turning into the angel in CP2, like I could not adore her more. (Also, the drawing room scene, but I'd consider that more a Will moment than a Tessa one.)

11. Faceclaim for the role -> Adelaide Kane!

12. Crack headcanon -> She and Catarina kissed once while they were drunk. Neither of them remember it.

14. Most heroic moment -> Turning into the angel in CP2 yet again.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves -> Oh God okay well Tessa is 100% absolutely terrified of living forever and doesn't think she wants to live past Jem's death.

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry -> Dog movies. For sure.

48. Scariest moment of their life -> Probably when she was kidnapped by the Dark Sisters and forced to change. She was just a kid and had 0 knowledge of the Shadow World, so anything supernatural that happened after it would automatically have been easier.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out -> Nate dying in her arms. She 100% has just Repressed That Shit.

[asdcats]

Week one of my horror movie marathon i watched

Horror Express(1972), M (1931), The Fly (1986) (read the original short last year), Les Vampires: The Severed Head (1915) & 100 Years of Horror (1998)

I also re watched Bravos 100 scariest movie moments

[volturialice]

Do you have any dark gothic/horror book recs? I’m trying to get out of thrillers at the moment. also looking for some dark classics. any ideas?

I was waiting to answer this until after the Bella's Book Club summer reading reclist went live and now it's live!! and I must say, full of some Choice gothic recs. But I'll list my personal faves here!

Dark™ things from my part of the BBC reclist:

Jamaica Inn (and My Cousin Rachel) by Daphne du Maurier - iirc I described Jamaica Inn as gothic + adventure in my recs, and yep, that's what it is. definitely part of the specific "the book cover shows a woman in a nightgown running from a scary building" gothic heroine tradition. I also gave a brief nod to My Cousin Rachel because it's another of du Maurier's works which I think is underrated (that one's more of a slow-burning gothic mystery featuring a hero of the 'little wet babygirl' variety.)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia - Also as I said in my recs, it's very like Jamaica Inn in structure and genre, though of course the writing, the specific characters, and the central mysteries are different. But MG is (of course) Mexican and has more fun Get Out/Ready or Not vibes with its themes of class and ethnicity.

Girls Running from Houses by tanaudel on redbubble

Perfume: the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind - Villain protagonist villain protagonist! This one I love mostly for its flowery prose and sheer aesthetic commitment. You're telling me this 18th-century French serial killer turns his victims into perfume?? Say more

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey - Seriously the most underrated YA series of all time. Also so gory and terrifying I sometimes cannot believe it's YA. To this day some of the scariest written horror my eyes have beheld, not to mention it's got banger prose. Most people know Rick Yancey from The 5th Wave which is such bland cookiecutter 2010s YA dystopia love triangle nonsense that I just want to shake everyone and go NO, READ THIS BRILLIANCE INSTEAD! ngl the last book in the series is Not Good (you can 100% tell he had switched all his energies to 5th Wave, which is a shame) but the first 3 are absolutely good enough to make up for it.

Other people's reclist recs that I too have read and enjoyed: Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier), We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson), Dracula (Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

More classics: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (short and easy read!), The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (a must-read for aesthete gays everywhere. I mean cmon it's Oscar)

Extremely melodramatic "classics:' I loved reading Louisa May Alcott's little known "flops" A Long Fatal Love Chase and Behind a Mask (short story collection.) I might make Book Club read Love Chase at some point because I think we'd have way too much fun with it. We'll see.

My personal favorite that I think everyone should read: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (short story collection of gothic fairytale retellings!)

Not exactly what you think of when you hear 'gothic' per se but definitely Dark and it's my OTHER favorite: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (I never shut up about this book and it's for a reason. Very different from the movie, which I also love!)

My favorite gothic/horror authors:

Shirley Jackson - I've definitely talked about her before but both The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are straight bangers (and short, easy reads to boot!) Do NOT think you can watch the Mike Fl*nagan Hill House show of the same name and call it a day—they're completely different stories. (also let the record show I'm censoring his name out of personal dislike he hasn't done anything 'problematic' afaik calm down)

Stephen Graham Jones - Insanely good writing oh my god. I have so far only read the My Heart is a Chainsaw books but his entire oeuvre is on my TBR because he cannot lose. Also he lives in my town and I'm starstruck just knowing this fact. Indigenous (Blackfoot) author who writes about indigenous characters!

Kelly Link - Writer of banger short fiction. I particularly enjoy Pretty Monsters because it's 100% written for the Twilight girlies and clearly made with love and silliness

Grady Hendrix - I didn't loooove Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but I adored Hörrorstör and especially My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is a total masterpiece IMO. Another writer whose entire oeuvre is on my TBR.

[kmze]

Thoughts on 7x01 - 7x12 welp the best way I can describe it so far is weird, this is the weirdest this show has ever felt for me. The biggest issue is the heretics and how the show tried to make them the main characters without putting any effort into making us care about them. They tried to do what they did with the originals but the difference with that was we were slowly introduced to that fam, this was basically six new characters at once! And it doesn't help that it's very obvious by episode 5 Valerie is getting the screen time Caroline usually would have. Whether that's because Candice was preggo (like she doesn't do much but walk, sit or stand around) or Dries' sabatoge I don't know but I didn't like it! I do give the writers some credit for at least trying something new with the FF but I just felt like I was watching a completely different show for most of these episodes. The good news is once we move onto the huntress and the phoenix stone it gets better, again all my bitching below and accompanying meta about the bane of my existence!

7x01

In retrospect EL OH EL that right after Stefan talked to Caroline on the bench he walked by Valerie.

“She’s going to want to know how Ric died of alcohol poisoning” don’t threaten me with a good time Bonnie!

The whole bomb idea is incredibly dumb but the scene where Caroline and Stefan talk about it is great. I love that Caroline just picks up the bomb and Stefan is like "what are you doing!" like those memes of all the brain cells leave my body when I'm around my man LMFAO

This episode just feels off, I can’t really explain it, it’s kind of like 4x01 like the writing for everyone is just weird. Some stuff just sounds soooo dramatic and I just want to roll my eyes, especially the diary voiceovers.

“What would Sheriff Forbes do” let Damon kill everyone!

I do love the “you make me happy” scene and the kiss is great but it’s cut up so weirdly it feels rushed and choppy, fucking Dries.

I think my biggest problem with the heretics is that it was too many at once. They should have only had like 2-3.

See this is why I don’t fuck with Enzo!

7x02

Yo Stefan walked in mad! I love how NOT HERE for Damon he was in this whole episode lol he was so pissed off as he should be!

Damon and Lily crack me up!

What Bonnie sees when she touches the phoenix stone looks like a scene from Event Horizon which is the scariest movie ever. So I agree with Bonnie! Like absolutely NOT! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!

"I'm just saying when a guy's willing to let another guy die so his girl can live, there's usually something cooking in the kitchen" that was 100% shade at Stefan letting Elena die so Matt could live, you can't convince me otherwise!

Why didn’t Damon just snap Enzo’s neck?

Who ever shot the scene of Stefan walking in to save Caroline, I hope you step on a lego.

The skin to skin contact joke was so cheesy, dork. I do love that Stefan is always teasing Caroline when he flirts with her, he's been doing it even before he realized he had feelings for her.

Bringing people back from the dead with a stone is just a line I would not cross. I know it’s a supernatural show but like nah, that’s too ominous to mess with. No thank you.

I agree with Matt this is all Damon’s fault!

There’s just no way I can believe Matt is letting Stefan and Damon live at the Lockwood mansion. I know it’s because of limited set pieces but there’s just no way!

I really love the “I don’t want to hear the name Stefan Salvatore EVER again” scene, like she is so mad! Then she walks away all dramatically until the moment she stops and catches her breath and breathes out to calm herself (like he taught her) and the look on her face where she thinks 'he came back' and all the emotion that hits her with that realization. So much credit goes to Candice on this scene too, she plays it to perfection.

7x03

Prime example of Dries weaponizing the FF, they had to have Stefan say the car line to Lily because he burned his car in the future (which why?) so he wouldn't say "tell those brats to stop torturing Caroline" first so it wouldn't hold as much weight. Hoe.

"So you know what it's like to have a completely unforgettable place in someone’s mind" I can't believe how much Val played herself with that line! Because she learned that Caroline had a completely unforgettable place in Stefan's mind (7x18).

I can’t believe they killed Oscar he was the only interesting one!

Stefan thinks showing a girl his mothers grave is romantic HE IS SO WEIRD!

You’re in trouble now Damon! Fuck Ric too! And furthermore why does ever Bamon scene have to have Ric there too!

They DEFINITELY hyped up the SV flashbacks lol. Apologies to the anon who said this and I couldn’t remember how OD the whole thing was, you were right. But it’s also so boring so it’s really hard to care as much they (Dries) wanted the audience to feel this. They tried to do what they did with the Stebekah flashbacks in 3x03 and it fell incredibly flat IMO.

Stefan and Caroline inadvertently worked together to get Caroline free by being honest with Lily. All the razzle dazzle of these flashbacks but the true team is still Steroline.

The fireplace scene is still one of my favs. I love how they each got zapped because they keep forgetting the spell because of their love language is touch. Lots of honesty in it and I really love that Stefan says "you're here and you're safe and you're with me" because that's the opposite of what's going on in the FF and it works as a full circle kind of thing that he gets that back in the finale.

7x04

LIZZIE AND JOSIE!!!

I remember I was so confused why Damon seemed so mad at Ric in the FF and now I realize he was just being proactive of his OTP!

Baroline you are both so adorable!

Stefan and Caroline’s other love language is shenanigans!

“Torture” this man wants sexy Caroline time SO BAD

VERVAIN NEEDLE AGAIN! CRYING

I am very here Stefan manipulating Mary Louise and being ready to kill her so he could have sex with Caroline! Then Caroline appears so we know it was their plan all along. The whole sequence too parallels with their no-humanity first time which was so important because it showed that their first time still had their essence. Like Steroline's relationship revolves around them being vampires, I always felt Caroline helped Stefan accept his vampire side more and that’s why the duo off arc was so great for them (and no other ship got that). This episode was so good for them.

Paul and Candice were so great in the scene where they burst into Caroline’s bedroom to have sex. Stefan sounds so out of breath lol and he’s smiling and so desperate like he needs to touch Caroline everywhere now! Candice does such an adorable look when Stefan says “I’m thinking about you” and like melts into his forehead. I love it, just wish the lighting wasn’t so dark, overall this season's lighting is super dark like S1 again.

7x05

Why does Ric think Bonnie is here to be his assistant GET AWAY FROM HER!

The morning after scene and even Damon barging in is all completely adorable and hilarious! Stefan teasing Caroline about how well he knows her, the kiss is super sexy and sweet. Damon picking up on Caroline’s ‘tude about Valerie and making Stefan more and more uncomfortable. The part where Stefan mouths “SHUT UP” at Damon clenching his fist then smiling up at Caroline! A+ comedy!

The lyrics to the song playing are “can’t forget the sex we had” this show is too much sometimes lol.

HA! Julian and Stefan both committed murder sprees on CHRISTMAS!

“Will you please just shut up” CRYING Stefan is ready to kill him!

Told you that stone was evil! The "who's soul is it really" was a cool plot.

The Bonenzo scenes in this episode were surprisingly good! I wish they had kept the momentum and not done Lily/Enzo. Then they could have teased Bonora too! This is how they shot themselves in the foot with the FF though, this show never operated on a structure of showing you what happens and building up to that. The timeline is always chaos, sometimes it’s a day between episodes sometimes it’s a week, hell the 2nd season was 3 months in total!

Valerie pretty much orchestrated all these dramatics so she could reveal the truth to Stefan and ruin his date with Caroline. She heard him making plans with her at the gas station and looked right over in jealousy so you know it affected her. And Stefan falls for it because he always has a weakness for a crazy bitch with a sob story. But I think there’s more nervousness over his kindness than when he would sympathize with Katherine or Rebekah because of the FF (and the sabotage against SC scenes). We know Caroline hates him but we don’t know why and we know he saved that journal.

Damon is diabolical! Do love this Bamon scene though and finally they get a scene without Ric!

7x06

The manipulation kiss scene reminds me of the scene in 6x19. The dopey lovesick face Stefan makes as Caroline puts her arms around him is so damn cute! Even though their scenes are too few and have been played down on purpose, it feels like them. I've liked every scene since the fireplace scene in the 3rd episode.

Stefan’s murder face!

Credit to Damon for figuring out his brother was an unhinged maniac with murder on his brain so fast.

“Wow that was a wonderful story Hemingway” CTFU

Matt working with unhinged Stefan! Plot twist!

Caroline so appalled at Valerie’s complete lack of tact lol.

Bonnie’s styling is at its best this season though so at least there’s that.

Beau’s character is… a choice… I S2G there’s never been more proof there’s no black people in the writers room than having a black character who can’t speak appear as a “servant” to a bunch of old white witchpires. The optics are HORRIBLE!

I do kind of dig Julian and Lily and that kiss was hot!

Really nice Defan scene where they talk about being Dads and Damon agrees to help Stefan commit murder.

Caroline’s scared BB face!

7x07

Still can’t believe after all that we never got to hear the broadcast!

I do not remember this plot with the people being compelled to sit around Mystic Falls on an IV.

Show why are we acting like vampires being “older” makes a god damn difference on this show now. As if 1000 year old Klaus wasn’t constantly being outsmarted by literal supernatural teenagers.

Stefan always has to do psychological torture with a theme, last season it was the B&B now it’s murder thanksgiving! I love how Damon just grabbed a plate ready to sit back and watch Stefan play his little mind games.

Matt’s face at pregnant vampire CRYING

Damon wasn’t really the best person to send to protect Lily Stefan LMFAO

Well Valerie you don’t make it easy to trust you!

Man this was some other Dries bullshit trying to fracture Matt and Bonnie’s friendship and for what!

This Defan scene is one of my favorites and Ian does such a fantastic job, I love how he says all three of them will never change. When he says “I don’t want to know the whole story!” CHILLS

I know everyone hates the baby plot but I really love that Caroline got to be a Mom and as someone who watched Legacies I love Lizzie and Josie and that the school and the girls were her endgame. So I’m just accepting the nonsense part of it because I do love what it gave to Caroline.

7x08

I find the huntress/stone plot line way more interesting than anything with the heretics. I also feel Defan/Lily wasn’t explored enough because so much time was wasted on them.

Oh here's an example of “Things Dries took from me” there was supposed to be a convo between Stefan and Caroline talking about the SV baby and it was cut because she’s the worst, and this goddamn scene was the perfect spot to put it in!

IDK why but this show just loved doing proposals in the final seasons lol. There’s been four so far and if my calculations are right there’s seven all together, Stefan had four alone!

Forever love how Julie retconned the greenhouse to be on the Salvatore plot instead of this random house in this random episode lol. This was a nice scene where Valerie tells everyone the truth, I honestly don’t hate Valerie at all she’s shady and crazy but she isn't annoying.

The Stefan and Lily scene warms my heart, it’s just so good! Stefan finally getting that one last day with his Mom and being able to ask her for advice about the girl he loves. And I always felt Lily’s words stayed with him about Caroline sacrificing everything for her girls, I thought it was a big part of why he sacrificed his relationship with her to keep the girls safe. Also LOL at Stefan being like “Damon give me the you’re dead to me look on a weekly basis” you get used to it.

The I love you phone call is great, I like that it was a subversion of what happened in 6x15, Stefan made sure to tell her in time.

My god it took Lily a long time to die due to plot contrivance!

7x09

Makes zero sense that Stefan wouldn’t take Valerie with him since she’s super powerful and all. So it was definitely because he didn’t want her there if he was going to get the chance to see Caroline again.

FUCK THIS SNOW SCENE! I will never not be bitter that Caroline didn’t go to Lily’s funeral for this shit. God they even parallel Stefan and Caroline with how they say goodbye to their mother with “I’ll make this all right” “I’m going to be alright” and how their choices after were anything but that FOREVER BITTER!

At least Damon makes me laugh.

God Mary Louise is the most insufferable of the heretics. We should have just had Valerie and Nora last past the 2nd episode.

BONORA SUCH SEXY WASTED POTENTIAL!

The theme of this episode is crazy vampire people who won't just sit and talk about their problems or feelings!

Caroline visiting her Mom's grave is so sad but I love that they're showing how conflicted Caroline is about the babies and what she feels for them. In her head she thinks it should be easy to give them up because their not hers but there's a part of her who feels something for them. I actually love the way Klaus phrased it as "it's okay to love something you can't explain" (it's a good line I cannot lie).

They needed to make it more obvious but Valerie was waiting for Stefan's call. Because in the next scene you see Caroline arrives at the boarding house because Stefan called Caroline instead after Damon was stabbed because he finally broke out of his revenge-fueled haze. He admits he should have let it go and Caroline assures him she knows what it's like to not be able to move on from your Mom's death. Really love the moment where Caroline touches Stefan's should and he has such a reaction to her touch, like he's been craving it to soothe him. That is at least back to the essence of who Steroline is, which was very much missing for most of these episodes, thank god it gets better after this. Eat shit Dries!

Honestly Stefan kinda needed to take a nap, in hell!

7x10

"They tell us to only send good news, but I cannot. The days grow darker in Mystic Falls, and my heart darker still." ADSFJSHBFEWGDG KILLS ME EVERYTIME! THE DRAMA!

See now THIS feels like the show I had been watching for 6 seasons, besides 7x04 this is the only episode that felt like the usual Mystic Falls shenanigans of yore. Neil Reynolds is the hero we needed this season.

The way Bonnie stood up ready to fight Stefan CTFU I told you she don't really fuck with him! Mama bear had to step in!

The groundhog day sequence is great, I am a sucker for that plot device.

The Defan scene with PS!Stefan is really great too, this is honestly a very good season for the brothers and their relationship and really dives into how off balance it is.

7x11

Caro with the vervain needle this time!

The whole derelict Mystic Falls taken over by Julian’s goons was not my favorite.

Two great parallels with 2x02 in this episode! One where Hallucination Damon almost stabs Caroline on the Steroline date is filmed like when he tried to stake her 2x02 (plus it’s literally brought up). Then the scene where Caroline takes Stefan into her room to calm him down mirrors when Stefan brought Caroline into the bathroom to calm her down in 2x02. Caroline even repeats some of his words like “you have to try” “it’s the only way” etc.

I cannot believe Damon killed Tyler. He deserved so much better.

Honestly I kinda dig watching Stefan and Damon go a little crazy pants this episode.

God this scene is so frustrating. Because I’m watching it and I’m like YES STEFAN YOU GET IT when he says he’ll never be happy until Damon is out of his life. And he makes so many god damn strides in doing that from the end of this season into next season and the finale just crushed all of that. Notice as well that Hallucination Damon keeps trying to kill Caroline because that’s Stefan’s happiness. This episode is a bright light in a sea of dark.

Ending FF with “you’re the easiest way to get to Stefan” while the whole episode the Phoenix stone was using Caroline being in danger to get him to learn the lesson. Good tie-in.

7x12

Bless this cute scene with Caroline eating fries and Stefan giving her heart eyes I haven’t seen the heart eyes since episode 4! It’s also very cute when he takes her hand and says she scared him for a minute.

Damon’s such a maniac lol.

You know what the Stefan Valerie coffee scene didn’t bother me I thought it did in the past. The Steroline coffee scenes were always about Stefan bringing a coffee to Caroline so doesn't feel the same.

Omg Julian never stops talking! Thank god Stefan kills him in this episode but like 3 episodes too late my lord.

The huntress stuff is truly interesting and I am enjoying Bonenzo way more than I did the first time I watched. I really like how front and center Bonnie is with that storyline (foreshadowing her becoming the huntress) and she’s getting dual attention from Nora and Enzo.

Oh wait the huntress was activated by Enzo I take it back he still sucks.

Again good FF tie in with Stefan not getting to Caroline in time both in the present and future.

Lines that made me laugh:

Damon: At which point, we kill said person, storm the castle and save your damsel (Stefan's right he was having so much fun at Stefan's expense it's so much better when they aren't in love with the same girl)

Damon: Bastard links his life to my mom's and then engages in a duel. What is this, Hamlet community theatre? (I love on the nose jokes!)

[trollprincess]

Anybody want to drop everything for three hours and forty-two minutes?

[screenspirit]

55 years of George A. Romero’s political horror masterpiece Night of the Living Dead

Starring Duane Jones and Judith O’Dea in one of horror’s most acclaimed scripts, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, released 55 years ago as the filmmaker’s first feature-length film, still holds up as a chilling, entertaining grizzly and layered zombie horror classic. Co-written between the director and famed screenwriter John Russo, Night of the Living Dead focuses on a town’s desperate attempts at survival after a never ending sea of Undead ghouls rise from their graves due to radiation brutish attack. The townsfolk don’t know why the dead are leaving their graves or if or when they’ll go back. All they know is the ghouls want to feast on their flesh and bites can transfer the ghoulish state.

Romero’s work is credited as the first modern onscreen depiction of the now cliched zombie trope even though the film never directly refers to the creatures as that once. Additionally, the classic script drew minor influences from Richard Matheson’s 1954 prose I am Legend in its depiction of a nightmarish disease infecting and decaying a civilised society that was also influential in the zombie apocalypse style. “I thought I Am Legend was about revolution. I said if you’re going to do something about revolution, you should start at the beginning. I mean, Richard starts his book with one man left; everybody in the world has become a vampire,” Romero told Cinema Blend in 2008. “I said we got to start at the beginning and tweak it up a little bit. I couldn’t use vampires because he did, so I wanted something that would be an earth-shaking change.”

He added: “Something that was forever, something that was really at the heart of it. I said, So what if the dead stop staying dead? … And the stories are about how people respond or fail to respond to this. That’s really all [the zombies] ever represented to me. In Richard’s book, in the original I Am Legend, that’s what I thought that book was about. There’s this global change and there’s one guy holding out saying, wait a minute, I’m still a human. He’s wrong. Go ahead. Join them. You’ll live forever! In a certain sense he’s wrong but on the other hand, you’ve got to respect him for taking that position”

Romero’s interpretation of a growing story was made under a budget of $114,000 and was able to gross a total of $30,236,452 worldwide through word of mouth broadcasting its blend of suffocating suspense and stomach-churning carnage. Night of the Living Dead persevered against initial controversy and negative reviews that focused heavily on its explicit violence and gore, refusing to see its artistic and contextual potential, to earn a cult following who did recognise these underlying properties and become one of horror’s greatest and most influential. Romero’s work has also established a prosperous franchise, comprising five sequels that were released between 1978 and 2009, all of which were directed by Romero and an authorised 1990 remake of the original alongside numerous unofficial re-tellings due to the work’s public domain.

Night of the Living Dead utilised its stark black-and-white cinematography, attentive mise-en-scene suspenseful narrative and engaging performances to create a milestone in horror filmmaking. Furthermore, Romero’s direction, despite seemingly working on a gory tale of people being eaten alive, actually commented on the social and cultural developments that were taking the 1960's by storm and this is reflected in the concept of people being hunted by cannibalistic ghouls. The Undead reflect the new generation flourishing with progress and openness and the victims are the older who are restricted by tradition. During Bravo’s 2004 miniseries 100 Scariest Movie Moments, Romero instructed viewers to think of the ghouls as the “new generation devouring the old” in a symbolic sense of cleansing the past with merciless force to seek out something extremely new and different. This coded meaning is evident in the terrifying “feast” sequence which sees the ghouls devour the flesh and organs of one of the character’s charred corpses in a car. Romero’s camera focuses on wide shots to capture the group of ghouls approaching the car and tearing the body apart, before tightening into close-ups of individual ghouls feasting on body parts to accentuate the gruesome horror. This is the exact gore that shocked audiences in 1968 and it’s understandable, given the blunt presentations of internal organs being pulled out of a dead body to be eaten on the spot. However, this carnage can easily be interpreted as a metaphor for the conflict between ideology in generations and the disastrous aftermaths of nuclear action as radiation is the cause for this blood bath.

Night of the Living Dead earned historic status in casting a black male, Jones’s Ben, as his courageous and resourceful protagonist, something nearly unheard of by ’60s standards and further illustrates the feature’s concepts of and push for change. Ben is a true horror hero; headstrong, observant, ambitious and willing to fight till the end. Such a presentation of a black character was considered controversial by 1968’s standards due to bigotry and the film was subsequently linked to the Civil Rights movement. Romero told Bravo that the night he finished filming the project and began driving down to producers, he heard on the radio news that activist Martin Luther King Jnr had been assassinated, a chilling echo of Ben’s unfortunate demise in the film’s conclusion at the hands of rednecks who mistake him for a ghoul. Writing for CineAction in 2018, writer Mark Lager commented that the “connection between Ben’s demise and the racial violence besetting the Civil Rights Movement was all too clear. Night of the Living Dead (a low-budget horror film) had dissected American society in the 1960s more truthfully and unapologetically than any mainstream Hollywood movie.” However, the director was persistent that he did not consider race when casting his protagonist or any of his characters. Instead, he simply cast the actor who impressed him the most during auditions.

A bleak and nihilistic picture that still manages to garner entertainment for horror lovers, Night of the Living Dead is one of the touchstones in the social thriller, something now explored by modern filmmakers such as Jordan Peele. It’s a timeless and unforgettable piece that has allowed several original areas of the genre to take flight.

[conform-to-my-sins]

Audition (1999) Directed by - Takashi Miike

Took me a couple decades since hearing about this to finally watch it. I heard about "Audition" for the first time, from "Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments" when I was a child... Now that I think of it, this show greatly influenced the movies I watched for decades to come! Now here I am watching Audition for the first time and I absolutely love it. An incredible slow burn, that shows our leads in a realistic light, making us sympathetic toward both of them. The fever dream third act, is up to interpretation but is heartbreaking, to say the least. The film gives me slight Michael Haneke vibes... I have no clue if he was an influence, but maybe that's just me 🤷

Takashi Miike has a lot of range as a director. This really shows that he can be a master of suspense, but can also manage to fuse his nasty side in perfectly. Not sure how close to the source material this film is, but I got a lot out of it! I will be revisiting it soon. Just ordered the Arrow Video Blu-ray 💪

[pongo90]

Now rewatching Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments because someone posted the full thing on YouTube. Clive Barker circa 2004? Total babe 😍

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter - Monday, July 31st

BUFFY: (to Willow) Your costume is perfect. (Whispers) Nobody's gonna know the truth. You know, about you. WILLOW: (bemused) Costume? BUFFY: (pouting) You're already in character! Oh, I shoulda done that!

~~Restless~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Giles, T) by Will_Conqueror1

Bloodbath (Spike/Buffy, M) by Apache Firecat

passing through (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Amina

Does that taste funny to you? (Buffy/Spike, PG) by To Be Hers

[Chaptered Fiction]

Girls Invented Punk Rock, Not England Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Dynamite

Salmagundi Chapter 53 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by MaggieLaFey

Don't Fall for Rock Stars Chapter 91 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by scratchmeout

Rigor in Research Chapter 74 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Soulburnt

She's a Hoot Chapter 19 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Desicat

Dawn the Vampire Slayer Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, R) by LJ94

100% pure fluff (ish) Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Amina

So, what's new with you? Chapter 14 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Amina

do you wanna dance? Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by sunshine-of-my-lifetime

Hi Daddy Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by SzmattyCat

Doing my best to get back to you (Ain't nothing I'd rather do) Chapter 25 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Fortes775

Word of the Day Chapter 26 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Nupalie

Sweet Childe of Mine Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by Chopper01

The Time Between Chapter 28 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by JayeMaru

Blackout Chapter 54 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by bewildered

Stab in the back Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by MelG_2005

Jigsaw Chapter 27 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Dusty

The Roads not taken Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lluvia

Closure Chapter 14 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by The Danish Bird

Truces Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Amina

Best Wishes From San Francisco Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Kanita

Through the Years Chapter 31 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by DarkVoid116

The Time I Dated a Puppet Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, R) by ClowniestLivEver

Flukes Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by MillennialCryBaby

Keepsakes Chapter 37 (Buffy/Spike, G) by violettathepiratequeen

Shall We? Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Ginger

Part of the Family Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Harlow Turner

Creative Solutions Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Harlow Turner

Dream Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Dusty

[Image, Audio & Video]

Video: Giles Video by TheScholarlyStrumpet

[Fandom Discussions]

Do Watchers choose their jobs? by cvscvs2

Funny spike moment by Flimsy_Reveal4399

Just realized that Vincent Kartheiser... by Particular_Ad_1435

Episode: Passion by aeryn1227

The Tara/Buffy moment in Season 6 by Sorrymomsdead

How did you discover buffy? by Dappich

did the writers intend for OMWF to actually be sexual assault by redskinsguy

The Buffy movie is a dramatization of Buffy's origin story as told by Tucker's brother by jamjamboba

Warren was the scariest villain by HopeMikaelson69

A Thought I Had by Seer77887

Anyone else love "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie? by jdpm1991

What could have made "The Initiative" better? by Extrospective

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: The 20 Best Series Finale of All Time by AV Club

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Join the editor team :)

[harrison-abbott]

If you’re from the UK – do you remember when Channel 4 used to do those Best Films shows? As in, there would be Top 100 Films, or, Top Scariest Moments and so on, and they would get the public to vote for them?

I remember one of them was Top 100 British Films or something like that. They came out when I was very young, so I hadn’t seen many of the movies. Mostly because they were adult movies. But, anyway, you know how they would show clips of the films? As in, the famous bits of each movie?

One of the films that came up was Trainspotting (1996). And I hadn’t seen it before. I was only about seven years old. And – they showed the scene where they find the dead baby in the cot.

I recall realising that the baby was dead. And this heaviness came in my throat. My father’s partner was in the room. I saw it and I just had to get up and leave the room, because I wasn’t comfortable about crying in front of her. She noticed that I was upset but she just kept her eyes on the TV and didn’t say anything. And I went through to the kitchen to where my Dad was. And told him why I was upset.

He held me and he told me that the baby would’ve been all right: that they would’ve used make up, and so on. His words didn’t totally help get over the shock of that scene. But, he did his best.

I’ve seen Trainspotting loads and loads of times, since that time I saw that horrible clip. It is a fantastic film. But that scene with the baby, it still harrows me every time.

Do you have any similar memories with certain films?

[cutielando]

dating headcannons | lando norris

synopsis: in which you think about your relationship

my masterlist

you would meet at an after party for one of the Grand Prix

he would immediately take an interest in you as soon as he would see you in the busy club

you would exchange numbers and stay in contact afterwards 

took you on 4 dates before officially asking you to be his girlfriend

would be the sweetest boyfriend ever

you would keep your relationship a secret for a few months to make sure that what you had was the real deal

he was skeptical to introduce you to his fans because of what happened with his ex-girlfriend

but they all ended up loving you to death

they could see how happy you made Lando and how much you loved each other

you often interacted with them on social media, posting more Lando content for them to see and sometimes exposing him

he would spoil you rotten

he had the money to do it, so he bought you every single thing that you would look at for more than 5 seconds

jewelry, shoes, clothes, purses, books, perfumes

it didn’t matter what it was, he would buy it for you

buys you flowers with every occasion 

brings you with him to every Grand Prix that you’re able to attend

loves showing you off to the entire paddock, making sure that everyone knew how beautiful and loved his girlfriend was

Zak would oftentimes have to physically separate you two whenever he would have a meeting and wouldn’t want to separate from you to attend it

you and Jon would 100% be besties, staying in touch on a regular basis

his family loved you, happy to see that someone loved their son as much as they did

you would talk with his sisters and mother on a daily basis, more than he does. Would definitely have a group chat just the 4 of you

he would sometimes get jealous because you would pay more attention to his family, but in reality he was just grateful that you got along with them so well

you loved watching him race, but you also worried like crazy every time he would get into the car

being there with him when he crashed in Las Vegas had been the scariest experience you’d ever had

he reassured you that he would always find his way back to you, no matter what

his lando.jpg account would turn into a fan account dedicated to you

he would always take pictures of you, no matter where you were or what you were doing

lazy days, lazy days, lazy days

you two enjoyed every little moment that you had together, seeing as you didn’t get too much time to relax during race weekends 

would spend the entire day cuddled in bed, watching some crappy movies or just talking about anything and everything for hours on end

you would move with him to Monaco almost after one year of being together, not wanting to be apart or do long-distance anymore

goofy, silly mood all the time in the apartment

he would make it his mission to make you laugh constantly, your laugh being his favorite sound in the whole world

Max would love you, you got along like brother and sister 

you would be a very known face on his Twitch streams and featured in Quadrant videos 

his friends accepted you into the group like you were one of them from the very beginning

the grid would call him a “simp” because he wouldn’t be able to stop talking about you

you and Oscar would be besties, often making fun of him or teaming up to pull a prank on him

the McLaren team loving you like you were part of their team, which essentially you were

they would sometimes ask you to film videos with Lando for content, which you would always happily film because you loved the team and you also loved Lando

goes wild in bed

he spends hours upon hours worshiping every part of your body

very passionate lover, focused on your pleasure and your pleasure alone

you would keep him grounded, being his solace during the hard times

after a bad race, he didn’t need to say anything for you to know that he just needed to be held and coddled

you two loved each other very much, fitting together like two missing pieces from a puzzle

soulmates, all the way

married, children, a house, you would go all the way

happily ever after

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