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hellerfanboy91 · 3 months ago

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Supernatural Revisited: My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)

Spoilers for the entire film, as well as mild spoilers up to series 2 of From After a lengthy absence, it is finally time to get back to my analyses, and what better time to finally publish my analysis of My Bloody Valentine that before the Supernatural episode of the same name.

Introduction

'Apprehensive' sums up my initial feelings before first watching this film ten years ago. Jensen was the only reason I bought this film on DVD in 2015, and exposure to Nightmare on Elm Street at a very young age meant I had and still have an aversion to slasher films. But it was the little leaflet inside the DVD case advertising Saw and Hostel which made me wonder what I was getting myself into. I had watched Hannibal and The Walking Dead at this point and been completely unperturbed by the blood, guts, and violence in them, but most of the gore in them was just dead bodies and bits thereof. In the case of Hannibal, it was frequently culinary violence.

Torture porn and graphic, gore-soaked depictions of people's slow, painful deaths, however, repulse me for involuntary neurological reasons. Had the gore been too much, the film would have been returned to its case in minutes. Quite unexpectedly, though, it was bloody hilarious. Few are the films which have had me laughing, and fewer still the ones where the hellishly over-the-top violence and silly gore has had me cackling so much that I farted. Without doubt this was not quite the response the filmmakers hoped to elicit from the viewer, but they almost definitely did not intend the film to be taken seriously. Imagine their surprise, then, if they were to read this analysis and see me doing just that.

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There is some merit in the criticism. The screenplay could benefit from considerable edits in certain places and the characters are generally not 'fun'. The nearest the characters get to the usual 'fun' youths is at the party in the cold open (which is also pretty much the story of the 1981 original). But the negative criticism leaves me wondering whether some people hoped for something more like Final Destination.

It is certainly no art house film, nor a meta-commentary on the state of the horror genre like Cabin in the Woods, and certainly no The Shining. However, I have watched it every Valentine's Day for the last decade and never turn it off feeling like I have watched irredeemable rubbish. Which is of course to say that it has its flaws, but generally it is a silly, fun little film that requires no thought. As I wrote above, it made me laugh a lot but it has always felt like laughing with the film rather than at it. I would have appreciated certain parts being treated better and for characters to have acted less stupid here and there.

Summary

A gas explosion in a mine traps a group of miners. One of the trapped, harry warden, kills the others with a pickaxe to conserve oxygen. He is ultimately rescued, but after spending a year in a coma he awakens on Valentine's Day 1999 and goes on a killing spree. The killing spree ends a a party in the mine shaft which previously collapsed. The man held responsible for the explosion, Tom Hanniger, narrowly escapes death at the hands of Warden. Police arrive and shoot Harry who disappears into the tunnels.

10 years later in 2009 (lots of jumping around at the beginning of this film) Tom Hanniger returns to the town after a long absence. His father who owned the mine has died and Tom wants to sell off his shares and thereby the mine. This coincides with a string of murders where people get their hearts cut out. Suspicion is placed on Tom, but as events happen it becomes apparent that sheriff Axel Palmer might also be the culprit: his ex-girlfriend Irene is among the first murder victims. Megan, the woman Axel is cheating on his wife Sarah with, ends up dead after he finds out she is pregnant. And the house his family owns in the forest is full of the heart-shaped chocolate boxes used to deliver fresh human hearts to the police station.

After a string of deaths with connections to both Tom and Axel, things come to a head in the mine when the killer is revealed to be Tom. It is never explained explicitly, but Tom is suffering with dissociative identity disorder caused by the trauma of almost being killed by Harry Warden at the party. After a fight, Tom is shot and some oxygen canisters explode. Axel and Sarah escape but Tom is left for dead, only to be seen, beaten but not dead, escaping before the credits roll.

General comments

One of the areas which a rewrite would have benefitted is the opening of the film. The first minute or so is simply exposition which gives the viewer the information necessary to understand events. It is functional, but not as engaging or immersive as seeing the events would have been. A real mine in Pennsylvania served as the set, and it really should have been taken advantage of. Rather than a series of headlines and static images appearing on the screen while a news report info-dumps on the viewer, the opening should have comprised of 5-10 minutes showing Tom failing to check the gas was properly invented (or whatever it was he neglected to do), the explosion, the deaths, and the miners being trapped, and finally Harry killing them to save himself.

This would function as a mini horror film, much as the first few minutes of Scream show the viewer the first of Ghost Face's murders. The viewer is thereby involved and hopefully engrossed in the story from the outset, rather than being told a load of things which are easily forgotten fifteen seconds later. The large-fonted headlines might grab the attention at first, but I have watched this film almost every Valentine's Day for the last decade, and I forget what precisely it was Tom did or did not do that caused the explosion and cave-in. What does 'bleeding the lines' mean? And where did the fire start?

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Consequently, the facts of the event are obscure. The viewer is told to believe that Tom was at fault for the explosion, and indeed the entire town blames him for it. Without having seen the actual events or being presented with conclusive evidence of culpability, there is only circumstantial evidence to pin the blame on Tom, which is no evidence at all. As a result, as far as the viewer knows Tom really did ensure the gas was properly vented and thereby did his job properly, only to be scapegoated and metaphorically crucified by the entire town. One is also left to wonder whether the responsibility for checking the gas was Tom's alone, or whether he had a supervisor who should have double-checked.

I have recently watched the show From where a man is held entirely responsible for his family's death in the cold open of the first episode. But for all Sheriff Boyd's anger at Frank's supposed negligence, I was curious as to why nobody else ensured that the windows were nailed shut. If that is a matter of public safety, surely safety inspections of all residences would be in order. At the very least, the mother was just as responsible for nailing the windows shut as the father. Not to mention the fact that both parents and the community in general should be responsible for making sure children know never to open the windows and doors at night. If Frank had to go in the box, then so should everybody else in the town (except Kenny. If Kenny dies, I riot). From also brought My Bloody Valentine to mind with the character of Sara, but more on that later...

The point is that the opening leaves too many questions without answers, thereby leaving it open to interpretation. This also complicates the matter of Tom's dissociative identity disorder, as discussed below.

The community

Harmony is a small mining town in the state of Pennsylvania, America. The entire town's economy is reliant on the mine. That is where the men work, and without it there would be no money going into the pubs, the shops, the hairdressers, or the diner. Such being the case, it is very much like any number of towns in whichever country you chose that is reliant on one industry. The slate quarries of Wales and the coal mines of England and Scotland come to mind and the communities entirely dependent on those industries (this is why we hate Margaret Thatcher, the stone-hearted bish *spits on her grave*).

Such being the case, Tom Hanniger selling the mine is... actually, not that important at all. He intends to sell his shares and thereby the mine, and the viewer is supposed to believe that this would be a disaster for the community. This in part fuels some of the animus against him as shown in the pub scene, but why would this be an issue? Is the company Tom intends to sell his shares to renowned for closing mines? Are they scared the new employer would fire everybody and bring in cheap outside labour? This is never explained. The mines would still be there and the new owners would still need employees. What is the issue then?

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I expect that one of the reasons Tom wanted originally wanted to sell his shares was either revenge against his dad, or just simp0ly wishing to be rid of anything to do with his dad. A deleted scene set in 1999, the night of the massacre, shows Tom and Sarah trying to get Eli Hanniger, Tom's dad, to stop drinking. Eli refuses to go with them, and blames Tom for the accident. It is understandable that Tom would want to wash his hands of his dad's business.

Harmony is also a close-knit community where people generally know everybody else, or at least knows everybody's sister or friend. Harry Warden's killing spree would have torn huge gaps in the social fabric of the town. It is therefore understandable why Sheriff Axel got angry at the news reporter using the anniversary as an opportunity for a scoop.

The real Harmony

My Bloody Valentine was filmed on location in Pennsylvania in late spring and summer 2008. This accounts for the fact that the film is set in February but does not look like it is set in the depths of winter. The town itself apparently looks like pretty much any other small American or Canadian town (I have recently watched the film with Canadians), and looks like anywhere Dean and Sam have visited in Supernatural. The wooden, colonial style of houses put me in mind of the town in Gremlins, but the general vibe of the place is also very reminiscent of small towns and cities in Finland. They all look pretty much the same as each other.

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Most of the places used as sets in the film are still there, and some of them look almost identical in 2025 to how they did in the film. The pub where Tom got called a 'cocksucker' is still there, as is the diner, the motel, Axel and Sarah's house (though now with a fence around the garden), the police station, and the hospital. The hospital was actually two buildings; one used external shots, one used for internal shots. The canopy visible in the opening shot is no longer there. Neither was the police station actually a police station, but just another municipal building dressed up to look the part. Sarah's parents' supermarket is an actual supermarket which is still there, although the back alley where Megan's body was found is actually further up the street.

The mines also exist, though they had already been decommissioned and turned into a museum. some sets were remade using measurements from the actual mines, and some people working at the museum still remember the film being shot. While the actors seem to have enjoyed filming in the mines due to it feeling authentic, it was apparently a very difficult place to shoot in because of the moisture, lack of lighting, and the claustrophobic nature of the place. Having recently been down a copper mine in north Wales, I can attest to the fact that being in a place like that for hours on end and being expected to work would get wearisome.

Regarding Tom getting called a 'cocksucker', why precisely the slur 'cocksucker'? A random choice, or do they know something about Tom to which the audience is not privy?

Differences from the original 1981 film

Quite a bit was changed in the 2009 iteration of the film, both in terms of story as well as character and location. The original is set in 1980 in a small Nova Scotia mining town. A mining accident around the year 1970 led to miners getting trapped, and in order to survive Harry Warden killed and ate them. He was eventually rescued but went on a killing spree. One of the victims was the 10 year old Axel Palmer's dad, whom Warden killed in front of Axel.

The trauma of this led had a similar effect to Harry almost killing Tom in the 2009 version. After the killing spree, the town abandoned Valentine's Day and stopped celebrating it. The children were not as damaged by killing sprees and barely remembered it, meaning they did not understand the older generation's aversion to Valentine's Day. Because of this, they decided to throw a Valentine's Day dance at the school gym in 1980, but around this time the miner reappears and start killing people. He will keep killing people unless the dance is cancelled.

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Naturally, the dance goes ahead. Lots of teenagers and a few adults die until a climactic fight between Sarah, TJ (OG Tom), and the miner reveals that the killer is Axel. He ends up caught under a rockfall, but cuts his arm off and escapes into the mines saying 'Be my bloody valentine, Sarah'. No sequel ever came out of this for some reason, even though it was released at the height of the slasher trend and gained a cult following. Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Friday the 13th among others became long-running franchises and mostly people will at least recognise Jason, Michael, and Freddie Krueger, but the Miner remains in the shadows.

Axel being the killer in the original film meant that many who had seen the original would expect Axel to be the killer in the remake. The film also plays into this expectation, giving him plenty of reason to be the killer and showing him as an explosion waiting to happen

The original was also much more in the vein of other teen slashers. The main protagonists were teenagers and had silly teenage problems. The 2009 version, on the other hand, is focussed on adults in their late twenties. Their problems are a little more adult as a result, and the characters - Tom in particular - have more history and depth to them. Perhaps the criticism one commentator somewhere made about the characters being 'emos' was a comment on this fact: the characters are not hedonistic teenagers and the story is not entirely stupid fun.

I expect that the fact I was last a teenager in the year Supernatural series 6 stopped airing accounts for the fact that I do not care about teenagers in shows and find their problems difficult to relate to or be interested in. But for that reason, the characters in the 2009 version being well into adulthood, having families and lives of their own makes it more relatable and interesting to me. The fact that it is an extra 100 minutes of a Jensen project is also in its favour, but having watched Devour it is safe to say there are things which even Jensen cannot save.

A third version of the film was also confirmed in May 2024 to be in production. How far along production is is unknown to me, but with luck it should be out in a year or two. I will probably watch it when it comes out, though the fact it is billed as a remake rather than a sequel means that the originally-planned sequel to the 2009 version will likely be forever trapped at the script stage. ...Unless I take it upon myself to make a novelisation of it.

Tom's DID

One thing the film did better that the original version is Tom's mental health problems, though it does unfortunately get close to demonisation of the mentally ill here and there. The original hinted at this with Axel's trauma after seeing his dad get killed, but it was made clearer in the 2009 rendition. Tom in MBV 3D most probably suffers with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a response to severe trauma. Trauma here refers to psychological damage caused when a person is exposed to extreme pain, stress, or danger and is unable to escape or otherwise get out of the situation. The brain essentially turns itself off for a while in defence. This is dissociation. Everybody dissociates sometimes due to boredom, anxiety, illness, or whatever, and there is nothing inherently unusual about it. It is common for people to get drunk, become a completely different person for a few hours, and then remember nothing about it at all in the morning.

DID arises when, simply put, a part of the brain gets cut off from the rest due to stress. This causes the consciousness to become separated into two or more parts or 'personalities'. It can perhaps be likened to the sometimes drastic change in personality a person may exhibit when drunk. It might then be the case that a part of a person's consciousness gets separated from the rest when e.g. in a car crash or while being assaulted. That part will then always be there and it will almost be stuck in that moment and mind-frame. If somebody takes serious trauma at 8 years old and develops DID, there will be a part of the person's mind which is always an 8 year old no matter how old the person gets. The personality might also have certain beliefs or delusions about itself, such as being a dog. One thinks of the Red Dragon in the Hannibal series who thought he was becoming Satan.

As it is common to have no or little memory or what one did when drunk, a person with DID will dissociate and (for lack of a better term) become a different personality with little to no memory or the other personality or personalities and what they did. Some people with DID are completely aware of their situation and manage it as best they can, but others are unaware and not in control. This brings the discussion back around to Tom Hanniger.

In the opening of the film, the whole town blames him for the accident and his friends abandon him to his death rather than driving the car forward and killing Harry. Even before Harry tries to kill Tom specifically, he is kicked out of the herd and left to fend for himself. This would be the helplessness aspect of traumatic events as discussed above, not to mention the violence and gore he might have seen in Harry's wake. He was then attacked and almost killed which is precisely the kind of thing which can cause PTSD and result in DID.

I infer from what the film shows me that Tom dissociated during and after the attack, and that the part of his mind which failed to come back ended up believing that it was Harry Warden. How exactly this happened is beyond my abilities to explain, but a few thoughts come to mind. whether or not he is 'responsible' for the explosion and cave-in, he probably believes it was his fault and that he got all those people killed. Survivor's guilt is also a likelihood. He is primed to think he is a bad man and that he is ultimately a killer. Maybe that combined with the image of the miner's mask as he was about to die resulted in that part of his mind believing it was a murderer. I am also reminded of Faith in Buffy who 'chose' to believe she was an evil person who did evil things rather than entertain the notion that she was originally an innocent victim who did not deserve the things which happened to her.

The complications arise from whether or not Tom is responsible and whether he 'knows' he is or not. If he 'knows he is, then perhaps 'becoming' Harry Warden was a defence mechanism like Faith in Buffy. If he is not responsible and does not know or believe he is, then perhaps having the entire town, including his friends, nail him to a proverbial cross in order to have somebody to accuse left him both powerless, betrayed, and full of bloodthirsty anger.

Whatever the case, what happened seems to have been traumatic enough to fracture his mind beyond repair.

One video analyst contested the idea that Tom has DID based on the fact that there seems to be some shared memory between the personalities, as Tom remembered the words 'Be Mine 4 ever' written above Megan's dead body. However, the different personalities are not always completely separate. Somebody can have memories of what their alters have seen, said, and done, but the memories are vague and feel like something somebody else told them about events. So Tom remembering some stuff he did as Harry would not refute a diagnosis of DID.

If Tom does have DID, the scene where he is locked in the cage while the miner kills Red is an interesting visual representation of the condition. Tom is locked in a cage and incapable of controlling anything his body does, but still has to watch while 'Harry' kills people. This is also very much like demon and angel possession in Supernatural.

That said, he might not have DID. Psychosis and schizophrenia might also produce the same results in extreme circumstances. DID fits, but it is always important to have several possible explanations rather than going with the first one that fits. But he almost definitely has post-traumatic stress disorder, itself a serious condition which Tom, unfortunately, clearly was not receiving proper treatment for. Whatever the doctors and psychiatrists did to him in the 'institution' was useless. Was he perhaps in the mental hospital as Dean and Sam were in Supernatural 5x11 Sam, Interrupted? The one with Dr Dildo? They seemed sufficiently useless.

Something I would have appreciated having more consideration put into it is the depiction of mental illness in this film. DID is not inherently dangerous to others, and I have three friends who deal with it. It would be overdramatic to say that Tom is a demonisation of people with DID, and it would be naïve and foolish to claim people with DID, psychosis, or schizophrenia can never be a danger to others. But the presentation of Tom is that he is a bad man and a dangerous, insane killer. Axel claims as much over and over again, only to be proven 'correct' in the last few minutes of the film.

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The sad thing is that Tom in 2009 is the result of a long string of psychiatric and medical failures, as well as perhaps a scapegoat for other people's failures. His illness is a danger to others and himself, as mental illness like this can be sometimes. While I do not wish to portray him as a helpless little victim, his friends betrayed him, his community turned its back on him, then the mental health services he sought help from failed him. None of this is explored in the film, but rather the viewer is perhaps encouraged to come away from the film thinking he is just another psycho. The one line in particular which drove this home was the scene when Axel spoke to Sarah on the phone after Tom had taken her out of the hospital. Axel told her to get out of the car because Tom had spent the last seven years in an institution.

No shit! really? A guy who survived a massacre and almost got killed needed to spend time in a mental hospital? The absolute horror! Oh, he must be crazy! Pfft.

As mentioned above, Sara in From put me in mind somewhat of Tom. The different format (television series) and genre (horror-fantasy rather than MBV's horror) allow for further exploration and more nuanced depictions. In the hopes of not spoiling much (though much of this is present in the first episode), Sara is driven to kill people by voices in her head which tell her that killing people will help save everybody. She is held accountable for her actions by the community, but with the knowledge that she was pushed to do it by extremely abnormal circumstances. She is not completely vilified or demonised, but is shown as a character struggling to deal with the things she was 'driven' by external forces to do.

Tom is in a vaguely similar situation. It is not 'Tom' killing people, but rather the part of his psyche that got separated and trapped in 1999. A deleted scene from the very end of the film shows Tom on the ground in the mine after the explosion, trapped by fallen wood and rock. As a rescue worker wearing a gas mask approaches Tom, Tom is shown shaking and scared because he thinks Harry Warden is coming to kill him. It is then that he picks up a pickaxe and kills the rescue worker. Whether this was in self-defence or not is ambiguous. As the pickaxe is shown shattering the gas mask's visors, Tom's face also changes to indicate the Harry personality is now in control. The reason this alternate version of the scene should have been kept in the film is that is humanised Tom as scared and suffering an illness nobody can help him with, and the monster which he has to share his body and mind with.

Before moving on from the armchair psychology segment of this analysis, it also shows us more of the aftermath of Tom's near-death experience. In the immediate aftermath of the initial attack, he was stunned and dissociated (also temporarily deaf due to the gunshots), but he probably woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night many times. The 'trauma' of the event might not have even hit him for weeks or months afterwards, but ten years later and it is still close to the surface. There was a human in there who needed help, but assistance was not forthcoming.

That said, the script for a sequel was written and would have righted some of these wrongs, but that too will be left for later.

The Violence

Gore in shows is generally a turn off for me, and I have never understood why people enjoy it. But the majority of the violence in My Bloody Valentine is rather ridiculous and comically over the top, something I expect was intentional. A lot of the gore and guts in the film is also posthumous, i.e. dead bodies and bits thereof are shown, but the miner is never depicted graphically hacking somebody's chest open and ripping out the heart. The closest to this was Red's death, but that was mostly shown at a distance. Even the deaths in the film were all quick, with no lingering torture or bits of bodies being hacked off before death. It therefore does not bother me in the slightest and frequently made me laugh. The miner killing the motel owner and pinning her to the ceiling, for instance, was hilariously silly. Although since the miner has the gas mask on, there is no way he would have heard Irene whimpering under the bed.

Something which struck me watching this after Supernatural was the equal-opportunities nature of the violence. I also noticed the same in From: violence is not gendered in that show as it is in Supernatural and The Boys. I found that refreshing and made the shows feel more realistic. I always come away from Supernatural and The Boys with the sense that they were made to avoid making people feel uncomfortable. As I have said many times in my Supernatural analyses, violence against women and girls on screen makes people infinitely more uncomfortable than violence against men and boys. Having the first two deaths in From be a mother and her daughter, and to have their mutilated bodies shown on screen soon after the opening credits, made things feel much more realistic. Everybody is in danger, and everybody keeps being in danger.

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It is a similar situation with MBV. Women and men both fall prey to Harry's and Harry!Tom's axe with neither sex apparently being over- or under-represented to appease the audience's discomfort. However, some have complained about Irene's nude scene, but the funny thing is that the nudity was entirely the actress's idea. In the script, she was supposed to run out of the motel room with a sheet wrapped around her. The actress had other ideas though, as she thought Irene would care much more about getting the camcorder and the sex tape back than she would about being naked in public. That was the actress's choice, and whether or not it was in the script in the first place, it was ultimately quite respectful. She was not objectified or degraded, nor portrayed as weak and helpless: she put up more of a fight than most of the other victims, and she did it while naked and in heels. Frank (played by the writer of the film) took advantage of Irene, called her a whore, then got instantly killed for being a douche.

Although to be honest her death scene was a little stupid. She ended up against the wall with only a metal bed frame between her and the miner. In the film, she stands there, shouts at the miner, and tries unsuccessfully to dodge his attacks before coming a-cropper. What she should have done is run at the miner while holding the bed frame in front of her. That would have got the miner and his axe tangled up in the bed and given Irene time enough to run to safety.

Nudity

Apropos Irene and Frank boinking, the slut mirror on the ceiling was hilariously sleazy. I have written a bit here about Irene's nudity, but in spite of her lack of clothing my eyes were on the other half of the screen. Considering he is a writer, the actor playing Frank had a very impressive body. Perhaps the nudity was unequal because Irene was shown full-frontal (by the actress's own volition) but Frank was not. But with female full-frontal nudity, nothing is really shown because women's sex organs are internal. If there is pubic hair, even less is shown.

With men, though, everything is visible because men's sex organs are external. Men are harshly judged if their flaccid penis is not 9 inches long and 6 inches in girth. Have you seen pictures of Jude Law naked? His flaccid penis looks completely normal for a white man, yet he was ridiculed publicly in newspapers for, apparently, having a small penis. Because clearly nobody knows that flaccid size is no indication of erect size. And since most people cannot deal with more than 6 inches anyway, why is this important?

Cue 'small dick energy' comments in 3...2...1...

In more current shows, it has become far more common to see men full-frontal than women (and HBO apparently has a male-only full-frontal policy). This avoids the possibility of women's groups protesting possible exploitation of women, and also means they can still claim to be edgy and adult without having to worry about anybody getting up in arms. Because men generally do not see themselves as part of a group the way women seem to, and generally will not get up in arms. In fact, the objectification of Michael Fassbender and more recently Jason Isaacs regarding their nude scenes proves nobody cares about causing men discomfort, and will bully and shame them if they call people out for being creeps.

The point being I see male and female nudity as both fundamentally different, but also just nudity. Britain is far less prudish about these things than the hegemonic American culture forced down everybody's throat, and I have lived in Finland for over 11 years altogether. Here a human body is just a human body and it is completely normal for people to go to the sauna naked with their family and friends. Everybody has seen their dad's penis and their nan's boobs and nobody bats an eyelid at it. It is much healthier than the Puritanical nonsense Americans have to deal with.

But regarding the nude scene: it was unnecessary, but it did make the scene more real and gritty than it might otherwise have been. I would not have felt I was missing out on anything if they were partially clothed.

Some stupidity

- Why did the miners think Tom killed Red when Tom was locked in the cage?

- How was Meg's death so quiet?

- Why did neither Sarah or Megan smash the fire alarm the moment they got into the office?

- How did Harry manage to kill so many teenagers in the mine without anybody hearing?

- Sarah says that Tom 'just left' after the massacre, neglecting to mention the fact she, Irene, and Axel left him behind in the mine. 'You just ran away' --> pot kettle black, Sarah.

- How did the retired sheriff know the miner was in Axel and Sarah's house?

- Tom hallucinating the miner's lamp and stumbling across Axel's house was convenient

- How did Axel just happen to appear from behind a curtain when Tom told Sarah he was planning to stay in town? Had Axel been hiding there?

- How did the photo of Tom and Sarah end up at the house in the woods? Did Harry!Tom steal it when he was in Axel and Sarah's house? If so, why did he put it there?

- How was Harry Warden able to move his legs after being in a coma for a year?

Harry Warden

That brings the discussion neatly round to Harry Warden. On a strictly utilitarian basis, is what he did in the mine wrong? On an ethical and moral basis, it is doubtful anybody would condone his killing of his fellow trapped miners, but had he not done so, the oxygen would have been used up much faster. By the time the rescue team found them, they would all have been long dead.

The miners would have had no idea how long they would have been trapped, but after a few days they must have started feeling that time was running out. Morals etc aside, one could argue that Harry killing all the others was the only way they could be sure at least somebody might survive. The expositional info-dump nature of the opening also means that the viewer does not know what actually transpired once the miners were trapped. Instead, the film tells us what news reports claim happened. This is the classic show vs tell problem.

Whatever the case, Warden ended up in hospital for a year (no, Americans: 'in hospital' is not a mistake anymore than saying 'at church' or 'on holiday'). He spent the year comatose, only to wake up and miraculously have full use of his limbs, as well as the strength to murder many, many people.

My question is not just 'how', but 'why?' Why would he feel it necessary to kill the nurses? Was he having a psychotic episode? Did he think he was still stuck in the mine? This is something the film really should have explained, but it gave no indication of why he did what he did. The only thing he did in the opening which made sense was trying to kill Tom whom he blamed for the accident in the first place.

The sequel

A follow-up to this film was planned and a script was written by the same writer of MBV 3D. The film would have begun a few hours after the first film ended, and the opening scene would have involved Miner!Tom killing Sarah in hospital in front of Axel. After Sarah's death, Tom would have taken control over his body again and realised what he had done. Declared legally insane, he would be sent to a mental hospital where he would remain for an extended period of time before being deemed 'healed' and released.

The story would have been about Axel trying to find Tom to get revenge for his dead wife Sarah (who, you remember, was also once Tom's girlfriend). Tom rescues a group of miners trapped in a mine, and generally seems to be trying to make up for the wrongs his Harry alter-ego committed. But the people he saved turn on him during a celebration, which leads to Tom losing control and Miner!Tom resurfacing and another killing spree. The killing spree would have included the mental hospital where Tom spent a year, and I really hope it was Dr Dildo's hospital because those people were useless.

Unfortunately, this film never happened. It would have humanised Tom and given him an opportunity to at least try to redeem himself. Of course a lot of people would still have left the pictures thinking him a crazy psycho, but then a lot of people who watch From think the same of Sara. Some people are apparently just incapable of looking beneath the surface and unwilling to understand people whose brains do not work like their own. It would also have given Jensen a chance to be in a series which is not Supernatural or Kripke's puerile The Boys.

The idea for this sequel was pitched a few weeks before the film was released, but in spite of the film's staggeringly successful worldwide takings, the studio apparently stopped returning the writers' calls. The executives still wanted to make it, even years later, but the writer speculated that the studio Lionsgate had had no faith in the film's success and had not therefore secured the rights to a sequel, wherefore it never happened.

Nigh on seventeen years after it was filmed and over sixteen years since it was released, it is unlikely that the film will ever receive this sequel, if it receives a sequel at all. The writer confirmed that all the actors were willing to return for it, but the fact so much time has passed means that everybody looks older and the story would not work as it is. With the purported remake being made by Blumfield studio, the franchise is set to have at least one more outing, but given the rotten luck up to now, I remain doubtful that a sequel will ever be produced.

Unless I write one. I really should. Perhaps that can be my retirement project. In the meantime, you can read more about it here.

Jensen's acting

Jensen's acting in this film is another thing I have seen criticised. Essentially it boils down to something along the lines of Tom is just evil Dean and Jensen cannot act as anyone other than Dean. This one is harder for me to empathise with than other criticisms because the only similarities I see with Dean are Jensen's physical appearance. Some might say things like 'Tom has a car' and 'Tom has a bad relationship with his dad' or 'Tom has mental health problem', but those things describe the majority of people who ever peopled.

And before you suggest it, this is not simply a case of a fanboy trying to cope. I can see that Tom looks a lot like Dean. This was filmed between Supernatural series three and four, and there was no time for Jensen to grow his hair out. The show-runners could at least have suggested he let his facial hair grow for a few weeks before filming and to not cut his hair in order to make Tom look more visually distinct. But I do not see 'Dean' anywhere in the show, and I am very good at spotting his mannerisms.

Others would disagree. A few years ago somebody did a short and not very good review of the film, and claimed that 'for me, Tom was Dean in this movie'. Times like this made me wonder whether there truly is something fundamentally different about my sensory processing compared to others. It can feel mildly alienating, actually. Tom is a different character than Dean; he just happens to look identical. His facial expressions are as different from Dean's as Jensen's are from Dean's. Tom is far more withdrawn, quiet, and nervous than Dean is. His clothing is different, the way he moves is different, and even his voice is different.

Then when his Harry alter takes over, his face, voice, and mannerisms change completely. His voice drops significantly, his facial musculature becomes far more tense and serious, and the way he walks is far more determined and measured. And when Harry!Tom was strangling Axel at the end, his eyes bulged and he looked very ugly. Dean has never looked like that. ...And Jensen's bow-legs which I almost never notice are more apparent in Tom's Harry alter-ego.

I expect that the actual reason people 'see Dean' or 'evil Dean' (really?) is overfamiliarity with Supernatural. I suppose people are not really paying all that much attention. Still, how can people not see all these things? Is this one of those cases where autistic people are paying attention to every minute detail to analyse their meaning whereas 'normal' people are just getting a general vibe? The same happened with the confession scene in Supernatural 15x18 Despair: a lot of people called Jensen's acting wooden because he did not howl, beat his breast, or pull his hair out, but lots of us also saw every single micro-expression and knew precisely what Dean was thinking in that scene.

Some trivia

Kerr Smith (Axel) and Jensen were both on Dawson's Creek. Kerr Smith's character was one of the first gay protagonists in a teen drama, and had one of the first mainstream on-screen kisses a year or two before Willow and Tara in Buffy.

Supernatural 5x14 My Bloody Valentine makes a few references to this film, as it was shot almost a year after the film's release. The title is an obvious reference, but more easily missed ones are the hearts in boxes at the morgue, as well as Dean saying 'Be my Valentine?'

The mines would probably be running all night: if the men are working underground anyway, it makes no difference to them whether it is daytime or night-time outside.

Final thoughts

This is a rather silly film which is fun to watch if your expectations are low. It could have been improved with the inclusion of some of the deleted scenes, another pass or two with the script, as well as giving Jensen time to not look like he just came from the Supernatural set. It does, however, keep the viewer guessing right up until the end with several possible killers, each with probable motives. It is not game-changing or groundbreaking, but almost ten years to the day since I first watched it, it is still one of my favourites and gets watched every Valentine's Day. My sister has visited Finland twice in February and has been forced to watch this film, and I inflicted it on my Canadian friends this year. So far, nobody has complained.

Thus concludeth the analysis. You can read more of my analyses here:

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Sundry

#supernatural revisited #edvard's supernatural guide #supernatural #my bloody valentine #mbv #my bloody valentine 2009 #tom hanniger #harry warden #jensen ackles #meta analysis #my bloody valentine 3d

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komotionlessqueenmm · 4 years ago

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Imagine # 878

Picture NOT mine.

*Axels the blond in the middle if you don't know. Also this was a 100% self insert fic. I have this obsession with taking care of my man from time to time like he deserves. The way everyone deserves!

Warnings - Nudity and implied smut, but no actual smut happens. This is mostly just fluff with Axel.

----

The sound of a truck (Y/n) knew all to well approached, a smile bloomed on her face. And just as she exited the kitchen, where she had just finished preparing dinner, the front door to the humble abode swung open, a grime covered hand quickly catching the doors edge before it could hit anything. Her smile widened a faint giggle escaping her lips, making the man in question smile as he entered the home, his dirty face a wonderful sight to her eyes. "Hi honey." (Y/n) called to her husband, who made quick work of setting his things aside and entering the house completely, gently pushing the door shut with his foot. "Hey sugar." He cooed back as he neared her, intent on stealing a quick kiss. "Oh Axel you've got dirt on your lips." (Y/n) protests with a laugh, teasingly swatting at his firm chest. "Just a quick kiss?" He begged with puppy eyes and a pouty lip. To which (Y/n) rolled her eyes playfully before kissing his lips, a squeak escaping her when he tugged her flush against him, deepening the not so quick kiss. Axel laughed against her lips when (Y/n) grasped his coller firmly, her desire for his love making his heart swell with joy and adoration. "M'sorry." Axel murmured as they pulled apart, a dopey grin on his face. "I couldn't help myself." He added as he attempted to wipe the dirt away from (Y/n) face, effectively only smearing it and making (Y/n) snort with laughter. "I'll bet you couldn't." She sassed playfully, before quickly rushing out of his grasp, and halfway up the stairs before she looked back to Axel. "I'll start the bath, then I'll have to go store dinner in the oven to keep it warm. Take your boots off and make your way to the bathroom." (Y/n) instructed before continuing her journey to the master bathroom. "Yes ma'am." Axel mused as she reached the top stair, watching her retreating form with a grin on his face.

By the time (Y/n) was coming back downstairs, Axel was beginning his journey upstairs, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek as they passed. (Y/n) began humming a melody as she entered the kitchen, after storing dinner into the oven she turned to the fridge, where she proceeded to grab a beer before heading back upstairs. As she entered the bathroom Axel was just entering the tub, his filthy jumpsuit discarded on the floor in a forgotten heap. "Hey how about knocking next time." Axel taunted playfully, making (Y/n) hum in thought, pondering his request for a moment. "No I don't think I will." (Y/n) shook her head in disagreement as she made her way to the side of the tub, cracking open the beer before handing it to Axel. Who was grateful for the cool drink, while he sat in a rather hot tub of water. A temperature required to not only relax his aching muscles, but also to properly clean away the grime of the mines stuck to his skin. "They always taunt me for leaving the mines like this." Axel suddenly mused aloud, a grin on his face as he sipped his beer, and (Y/n) began scrubbing his skin with a tender touch. "I like when you come home like this, I love it actually. Gives me the perfect opportunity to take care of you for a change." (Y/n) admitted, her response making Axel chuckle. "You take care of me in many ways." He pointed out, a playful grin on his face. "Oh hush, you know what I mean." (Y/n) splashed a little water at his face, the smile on her face deceiving the scolding tone of her voice. "I'm serious sugar, you take great care of me. You tend to the house while I'm down in the mines, you cook me dinner every night, you remind me about upcoming appointments, plus you do an incredible job of taking care of my more primal needs." He teased with a laugh when she splashed him again. "And you love me more than I thought possible." The sincere tone of his voice, added by the fuel of his words froze (Y/n) in her work. "You spoil me with this, but I know it makes you happy, so I don't mind the guys teasing me, they'll never understand because they'll never have someone as incredible as you." Axel grasped her hand, idly playing with the wedding band on her finger.

"Look at you Axel Palmer, covered in filth, and yet pure gold dances passed your lips, encircling my heart and making me love you that much more." (Y/n) mused as she leaned her forehead to rest against his, eyes filled with joyful tears. "Nonsense dances passed your lips I'm afraid." Axel joked, making (Y/n) snort before she pulled away to continue her work. "Perhaps it is nonsense, but you can't seem to get enough." (Y/n) retorted playfully. "I'll never get enough." He agreed before tugging her to join him in the tub, laughing at her panicked gasp as she landed perfectly in his lap. "You goof!" (Y/n) huffed with a small glare, her annoyance washing away in an instant when he decided to kiss her again, his face still dirty. (Y/n) pulled away begrudgingly, placing a hand against Axels chest when he tried chasing after her. "We need to get you cleaned up, then I gotta change my clothes, and we've gotta eat dinner." (Y/n) reminded him with a playful warning glare, a smile blooming on her lips when he leaned back and allowed her to do as she pleased. Grasping Axels jaw in one hand she tilted his head to allow the light to shine along his features. "Kiss?" He murmured with puckered lips, making (Y/n) chuckle softly as she began gently scrubbing his face clean. "After you're clean." (Y/n) hummed back with a smile, chuckling again when a pout tugged at his lips. "But you kissed me before." Axel pointed out. "I was weak." (Y/n) teased before pecking a kiss to the clean spot of his left cheekbone. Axel puffed his cheeks out like a child pouting, making (Y/n) coo at him as she continued her work. "Such a delicate thing in my hands." She mused making Axel smile just a little, the smile only widening when she placed a quick kiss to his now clean lips. "You make me soft." Axel tilted his head back to grant her access to his neck. "You don't always have to be tough." (Y/n) countered, smiling when he only hummed in response.

"Well there is one place you always make me hard." Axel snickered as he grabbed handsfull of (Y/n)'s ass, her giggle music to his ears. "Calm down tiger, we've still got a dinner to eat after this." (Y/n) reminded once more, arching a brow when Axel shrugged casually. "It can wait." He tried, only to have (Y/n) yank ahold of his still dirty arm. "So can you." She sassed with a challenging smirk. "I don't think I can." Axel whispered as his eyes drank in the sight of his adoring wife, her clothes sopping wet, sticking to her skin, and going unnoticed as she continued to fret over him instead. "Now stop playing around, the waters getting cold and I'm nearly finished." (Y/n) insisted making Axel smile warmly, no one had ever cared for him as much as she does, no one has ever been so patient with him like her, so understanding. "I love you (Y/n)." He breathed out, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face. "And I love you more." (Y/n) replied before leaning forward and kissing him, giggling when Axel jumped at the sensation of cold water being dumped onto his head. "Almost forgot my favorite part." (Y/n) giggled before lathering up his hair and massaging his scalp tinderly. "Ready to rinse?" (Y/n) asked as she filled the bowl she used before with warm water from the tap. "Mmhmm." Axel nodded his head, closing his eyes and tilting his head to grant her better access. "Such a good boy." (Y/n) praised quietly, a giggle passing her lips when she felt Axel pinch her butt. Once the suds were washed from his hair, (Y/n) made an effort to get out of the tub, but her footing was a little off and she nearly tumbled out of the tub instead. Luckily Axel was quiet quick and quiet strong, easily catching her and effortlessly hoisting her out of the tub. "Thanks honey." (Y/n) cooed as she leaned up to reach his lips for a kiss. "You're shivering." Axel pointed out instead of closing the gap, suddenly aware of her rattling form. "No kiss?" (Y/n) pouted this time, making Axel chuckle. "Be patient." He sassed playfully as he stepped out of the draining tub, making quick work to remove (Y/n)'s wet clothes, he then wrapped her in his towel, more focused on her than the fact that he was stark naked.

"Come on let's get you into some dry clothes." He insisted as he scooped her up into his arms, making note of how her shivering had slowed down a little. "Look who's talking." (Y/n) teased making Axel aware of his own nakedness. "Well since we're here, I know a great way to warm you up real quick." Axel smirked as they entered the master bedroom. "You're so ornery." (Y/n) giggled as he laid her down on the bed, hovering over her with adoring eyes. "Well come on then, what kind of wife would I be to deny my sweet husband." (Y/n) teased as she opened her arms to him, giggling when he practically pounced on her. "A cruel wife I'm afraid." Axel teased as he wrapped his arms securely around her waist, as he lay nestled between her legs. "Careful now." She warned playfully, making Axel snicker as he kissed and nipped at her neck. "Oh Axel." (Y/n) sighed dreamily as he kissed his way down her neck, across her collarbone, between the valley of her breasts. A hum of approval escaping her throat as he began his journey back up her body, smiling like a dope when he finally kissed her awaiting lips. "So what did you make for dinner?" Axel suddenly asks, making (Y/n) glare at him despite her small grin. "Oh really now you're interested in dinner huh? When you finally get me right where you want me, and you ask about dinner." (Y/n) laughed when he gave her a goofy grin. "Figured I'd ask." He shrugged casually, his fingers idly tracing patterns into (Y/n) side. "You're such a difficult man, why on earth did I decide to marry you?" (Y/n) joked making Axel click his tongue. "Beats me." He chuckled before tinderly kissing her lips. "But dinners getting cold." Axel whispered making (Y/n) laugh as he got up from the bed, pulling her up along with him. "Cruel man. Get me all hot and bothered, then insist on eating dinner instead." (Y/n) pouted as she allowed Axel to dress her in one of his flannels and a clean pair of panties. "I told ya I'd warm you up didn't I?" Axel teased as he slid into a pair of pajama pants, choosing to go without a shirt. "Oh you're such a tease!" (Y/n) sighed with a pout, a giggle betraying her mood, when Axel scooped her up into his arms. "You'll just have to wait until later dear wife." He smiled before kissing her temple as they exited the bedroom, his words making (Y/n) roll her eyes playfully.

----

*God I freaking love Neil's version of Axel so fucking much! Anyways hope you enjoyed this piece, and don't be afraid to leave a comment, or reblog this of you really enjoyed it. It really helps out you know.

#imagine #Picture imagine #extended #Axel Palmer #Axel Palmer imagine #Axel Palmer x reader #My bloody valentine #My bloody valentine imagine #My bloody Valentine x reader #harry warden x reader #harry warden #Harry warden imagine #Neil affleck #Neil affleck imagine

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prismagirlart · 2 years ago

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#the miner #my bloody valentine 1981 #my bloody valentine #axel palmer #harry warden #i know that the masses tend to prefer harry... but honestly I think this image is funnier if you imagine it as axel

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tawneybel · 6 years ago

Photo

Imagine running into the last person you want to see while trying to escape from the Hanniger Mine. You freeze when the beam of light from Harry Warden’s headlamp hits your face. He must have already met your boyfriend, because the killer has your n/u/d/e Valentine photos fanned out in one hand. The other hand is violently pumping an erec/tion.

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theyreonlynoodlesmike · 4 years ago

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Well if we’re going the slasher route, FMK, Jason, The My Bloody Valentine guy, and Brahms Heelshire?

Did I,,,,,,,,did I tell you guys about my mask kink,,,,,,cause like,,,,,,,,,,,,,,all of these characters wear masks and,,,,,,,,,,,,,anyways-

Marry Brahms cause did you SEE his house???? Fuck Axel Palmer for,,,,,,reasons,,, and kill Jason cause I cannot imagine him ever having sex like I think this dude believes in celibacy even after marriage

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beardcore-blog · 6 years ago

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Mothpoint #9- Family Feud

*It felt wrong, locking them up, but Simon didn’t have any other choice. He was sure if he let them go, they��d kill him. Or, he’d have to kill them, and he couldn’t live with himself if it came to that*

Thawne- -name is Chronos.

Simon- Huh?

Thawne- *sigh* The time traveller on Pike’s payroll. I should have known.

Simon- Who… who is he?

Thawne- A long time Atom foe, went off the grid a few years ago. Palmer, that is the Atom, damaged his time belt, stranding him in the void. A space outside of time, when a timeline has been overwritten. Spent a millennia there before he managed to break out, and when he did… he was different. Picked up some temporal abilities, clairvoyance, the usual. Made him even more annoying

Simon- This Chronos guy, why would he help Pike?

Thawne- Why would you?

Simon- What?

Thawne- She’s still breathing. It would have been one less thing to worry about, now wouldn’t it?

Simon- I’m not you.

Thawne- And they’re not them. Stop treating them as such.

Simon- *They* are my family.

Thawne- Touching. But wrong

*No. Thawne was wrong, he was a trickster, a liar and a monster thought Simon. He had to get through to her. He knew if he got through to her, then the world was fixable. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he just knew. While he waited for her to wake up, he was working on a new costume. Old costume? It would be the same style he wore up to the City of Fear incident. Very classic. Bright pink and yellow, trunks, eyes instead of a visor. It was his most “heroic” look, even if he preferred his current suit for a myriad of reasons. He was hoping he’d finish before she awoke, but alas he heard her struggle against her bonds behind him as he worked, and he managed to turn around and face what he’d done only when he heard the chair fall over. He walked over and gingerly righted her. She spat at him.*

Emi- Get me out of here. Now.

*He closed his eyes, took a deep breath.*

Simon- Emi-

Emi- Go on then, how do you know my name?

Simon- We’re… Emi, this is going to sound crazy, but… Emi, you and I… We… we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. In an alternate timeline.

*Suddenly Emi laughs, loud, harsh, a sound Simon had never heard from her, not like this. It was a cruel laugh, sarcastic*

Emi- I’m not buying it. You think I’m stupid enough to go out with you? In this, or any time!

*He sighed, and returned to his work station. He’d been in a lot of crazy scenarios before. But altered timelines? That was new. He had thought himself immune to that all-encompassing phobia, the fear of change. He had thought wrong. Maybe, when he fixed everything, he’d visit Arkham and ask Doctor Crane about that… Or Professor Strange? Maybe there was a psychiatrist somewhere in Gotham who wasn’t insane…*

Emi- Look, freak, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Green Arrow’ll be here any minute and ohhhhhh man we are going to have some fun with you.

Thawne- You’re referring to your tracking device? The one you hid in the heel of your boot? First thing the kid did was destroy it. Waste of parts, if you ask me…

Simon- Could you-?

Thawne- Sorry, should I leave you "love birds" alone?

Emi- Ok, so maybe you do know my secrets. What good’s that gonna do ya? Do you even have a plan, or am I just gonna die of old age?

Thawne- I have a plan. No idea what the kid’s is though.

Simon- Really?

Thawne- I’m going.

Simon- Sorry, he’s… it’s complicated

Emi- Seems like a recurring problem

Simon- Well, I …am working on a plan. You’re not actually part of it – yet! If you’d like to help me, that’d be great, but for now, I just wanted to have someone to talk to. Not him, I can’t… You, I wanted you to talk to. Or I’ll just listen to you. Even when you’re being mean, I can’t not love you.

*He was pretty sure Thawne put his palm to his forehead at that point. Admittedly, it wasn’t Simon’s best line*

Emi- Oh. My God, you are by far the most naïve supervillain I’ve ever dealt with. How the hell are you one of the best enforcers of Gotham’s underworld.

Simon- That’s what I’m saying, I’m not.

*He had finally got the antennae on, those were always the trickiest, and thus the costume was complete. He stepped out of the room to change, then leapt back in with a dramatic “Ta-da!” Upon which Emiko burst out laughing, again.*

Simon- You don’t like it? You always liked it before…

Emi- AhahahahohmyGod. Oh my God. That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.

*Simon looked down, dejected, then pulled a chair over, in front of Emiko. He sat down, removed his mask, and looked at her.*

Emi- What do you think you’re doing?

Simon- -I need to know that…that you’re my Emi. Maybe I’m wrong and I can’t fix everything. But Jay, Jay always told me you-you get the lightning rod and that keeps you grounded and so if I can-can get through to you I’ll be able to fix everything.

*The words were hard to get out. The idea that maybe he couldn’t fix everything, that maybe he couldn’t get her back. It killed him.*

Emi Get me. The fuck. Out of this cell. You stupid. Piece of shit.

*He dropped his mask on the floor, put his head in his hands, and started to weep. He would still try and find a solution, but he wasn’t going to get through to her now, was he?*

Emi- Oh my God, you’re crying? Over some mean wittle words? Geez, what’ll you do when I throw you in Arkham?

*In that moment, he bolted up from the chair*

Simon- Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!

*He had never yelled with that much anger…ever. And certainly not at her. He saw the brief flash of fear in her eyes, even as she hid it. What did he look like to her, he wondered. Was that that other him, breaking through, or was he always like this? Was this what was always beneath the surface? No wonder Charaxes wanted him… He reached back for the chair, tried to sit down, instead he just fell down on the ground. He lay back fully, put his hands over his eyes and began to laugh. The laugh became a scream and then, silence. He stood himself up, picked up his mask, looked at her one last time, for now he tried to tell himself, then he put on his mask and left the room*

Thawne- *Sigh* Young love…

*Simon wanted to hit him so badly, if only he had speed… Then he could kill him, like he killed him, over and over and over. But then he realised that it simply wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t worth it. Right now Thawne was his only hope. Emi wasn’t going to help him. And so, he slumped out of that room too, ignoring his companion’s mocking "tutting," defeated to be met with his father’s face. Kinda. It was peculiar. His mask bore a striking resemblance to the Arkham Moth’s; both were green, both had dark rebreathers, and both had yellow, tinted visors Simon was sure hid an inner pain. Perhaps that was how, if not to Emi, he could appeal to his dad. Perhaps*

Drury- Went well, did it?

Simon- What was in the vial?

Drury- It doesn’t matter, does it?

Simon- It matters to me.

Drury- *You* don’t matter. If you don’t mind, I’d rather await my impending doom, then listen to you right now.

…

Simon- I know about your friends. Gar, and Mira-

Drury- Don’t you speak their names. Don’t you dare. What, did you think we’re equal or something, you think we can talk now because you know my tragic backstory? The friends that I’ve lost-! … Who told you anyway, your pal Carson?

…

Simon- I’m… I’m sorry.

Drury- Hnh. I don’t care.

…

Simon- Carson’s not my friend or anything. In case you thought-

Drury- Hmph.

Simon- He blew me up once.

Drury- You look pretty good considering.

Simon- What happened Drury. What really happened?

…

Drury- I was drunk. Gar was drunk. Miranda was- We were all drunk, we were on our way back from a play, Les Miserables- yeah, don’t look surprised, I’m a theatre buff. The radio was glitching in and out… thought it was a horror channel, turns out, it wasn’t.

Simon- The Blackest Night.

Drury- I wasn’t watching the road, in-between arguments with Gar, and trying to switch off the radio, I swerved, careered off of a cliff. I got off alright, but them? Miranda had fallen, she wasn’t going to make it. And what about Gar, eh? Well. Heh.

*He takes his mask off, his face shadowed. He wipes a single tear from his eye, and continues*

Drury- He hadn’t got out the car, don’t know if he even coulda, heck by that point it was on fire, blazing even. But he wouldn’t move. He just… sat there, seatbelt still buckled- burning, entranced by the flames. I tried pulling him out, I really did, but it was too late. I shoulda watched the road, yet I- I killed them. And then, then they came back. Black, grey, dead, like the rest of those so called ‘Black Lanterns’….

*Drury takes a step forward, Simon a step back, he knew it was coming but there it was. His dad’s face. Scarred, burned all on one side, not unlike Two-Face’s, one eye dead, the other filled with regret. Never before had Simon felt so much… pity for his father*

Drury- I watched them die, then I watched them be perverted, transformed into zombies by some necromancer, and they spoke to me. Mocked me. Blamed me. And y’know, they were right. Was that what you wanted to hear?

…

Drury- I’ve answered your questions, suppose it’s my turn. Who, are you?

…

Simon- My name is Simon. Simon… King.

Drury- Simon. I always liked that name…

Simon- You ever considered naming Ax- your son that?

Drury- My son-? I… I put my kids into foster care. They deserve better than I could give them. Axel, and Kitte- Katie. Heh.

…

Simon- I didn’t grow up with my father, but… I idolised him. I still felt like I knew him. Every news report, every article, I watched it all. My dad was one of the "greats"… Two years ago, I finally met him. He wasn’t that legend. In fact, he was better than I could imagine.

Drury- Why’s that?

Simon- He was kind. He was good. Yeah, he did bad crap, yeah he hurt people, but he always did it for his family, and for his friends. He was there for them. Like you should be for your kids.

Drury- I don’t deserve them.

Simon- They deserve a father, don’t they?

…

Drury- Your old man, what happened to him?

…

Simon- I lost him. ==== *It was for the best, he knew that. But it hurt all the same, like a bullet in his chest. Granted, he did have a bullet in his chest, so that might just be that that stung, but he doubted it. He had spent a good minute staring at that keypad, going back and forth on it, before finally, he put in the code he’d set. It was her birthday*

Simon- You’re… you’re free to go.

Emi- This is a trick, right?

Simon- No. Please.

*Emi stared at him, and the pain returned- having her look at him like he was nothing was worse than any wound, that was now a certainty. She climbed out the window, and then, she was gone. Simon walked quietly back to the main cortex*

Thawne- Did you do it?

*Simon doesn’t say anything. Thawne smiles, and nods*

Thawne- Good boy. This, is our key to getting out of this mess.

*Thawne picks the courier up from the workbench. It’s heavily modified*

Thawne- This is a hypertime tracker. Alone, it’s useless, but combined with DNA, it can track that person’s movements across time, to the last place they travelled.

Simon- Then, it’s nearly over…

Thawne- Aside from your daddy issues, the Fireflies and Bane, yes. Yes it’ll be over, but first, we need Chronos.

——– Credit to Brute, who wrote the framework of the Simon/Emi conversation back when this story was just a concept. It’s been heavily adapted since, as new characters and plot lines were introduced

Posted by Duncan C. Young on 2019-02-09 14:16:23

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