#Imaginary Friend Review

[jaspersreprise]

Laughing Jack retrospective and rewrite

(WARNING:) This content BRIEFLY mentions of interpersonal situations, negligence, implied misanthropy, deaths and gradually worsening hallucinations! I am not here to GLORIFY real life misfortunes as that is viewed derogatory and disgusting towards people that had fallen victim to the content here that I state down; if it turns out that way, I am so sorry.

This is quite inspired by @freezingmcxn and @seireitonin! I recommend following them, they both make great content, analysis, and hcs.

I do not really like the sound of his backstory as it doesn’t make sense. I wont lie, every Creepypasta stories does need a retrospective and a little rewrite considering that they’ve been made from years ago, and especially when its mainly published by minors! So I do not blame them, haha

also, I am not supporting his creator. I just like his character. And I’m glad that I’m not the only one that thinks his story and creator share some similarities.

Apparently, Isaac was so, so lonely that a guardian angel had to manifest an IMAGINARY FRIEND for him. That is embarrassing!!

Well, lets change a few things here, in this version, Laughing Jack had still been manifested by a divine being and had been sent to Isaac; but to add more sense to it, lets just say that Isaac had developed a profound fascination with whimsical clowns when he was still a youth, especially a clown he called ‘Laughing Jack’. In his time of solitude, he’d usually draw the brightly colourful man to convey a more joyful demeanour. Which he wore suspenders and baggy pants, and is perceived to be excessively tall. To Isaac, Laughing Jack served as a comforting and solacing figure, providing entertainment in the midst of Isaac’s hardships. 

Isaac’s inability to form true bonds made him yearn for more, the absence of love and affection in his life made him crave an interpersonal relationship. And with his parents becoming more preoccupied with hating each other rather than loving their child, Isaac felt an increased sense of loneliness.

As Isaac’s longing for affection grew, he began incorporating Laughing Jack into his drawings as a replacement for the familial bond he longed for. Soon, these illustrations caught the eye of a divine being, manifesting the being Isaac wished to be real. The angelic figure sent him as a jack-in-the-box on Christmas,  and then you know how it goes. Isaac rotated the crank as it plays a familiar nursery tune, playing ���Pop goes the weasel’. Then, once the tune hits ‘Pop’, nothing came out. The box just opened, but there was nothing in there which led Isaac to release an exhale of disappointment. He left the box in his room for now, doing whatever shit he does instead of staying in his room, then coming back to see Laughing Jack. (I am so sorry you can tell that I’m not writing all this stuff 😭) 

You know how it goes here. They played pirates, sometimes hide and seek, and share some laughs!!! His parents took him for an overactive imagination that later manifested when Isaac began to get completely immersed in the fantasies he made up, and once Jack had accidentally killed a cat, Isaac used his imaginary friend as an excuse to the cats death which his parents responded with skepticism. And as to discipline this child, they somehow managed to get Isaac enrolled into a boarding school despite being poor af?? Lets just be ignorant of them being poor at this time and say they gained money somehow. Blah blah blah you know how it goes again, 13 years of solitude in Jacks box, his brightly coloured attire gradually faded, got insane and adapted the same way Isaac did when coming back to inherit his aged home. 

Then Isaac died 😂

Few of these statements are not canon but it is how I depict Laughing Jack. As a result to how he mutilates and disembowels his victims, he would develop an extensive understanding of human anatomy and utilises it to inflict agony upon his victims. Not only that he is interested in human anatomy to efficiently harm people, but because he doesn’t have his own internal organs considering he is a stuffed clown. This one is quite inspired by @freezingmcxn! He would be ‘an organised-disorganised killer’ according to the FBI’s Crime Classifications! This means that he is someone who plans his crimes very meticulously and is driven by fantasies, but also is somewhat disorganised, messy, and leaves a lot of evidence behind at the scenes of his crimes. He would have become more methodical and cautious in his approach, learning from past mistakes and using his intelligence to plan out his killings with greater precision. He is often portrayed as incredibly intellectual and skilled in the art of psychological manipulation, able to prey on his victims’ fears and weaknesses before striking. The the idea of him being an organised-disorganised killer is greatly pertinent to his cunning character. 

He would scrutinise his victims demeanour and/or appearance to perceive if they have traits that were pertinent and ideal conditions of manipulation, most commonly seen in children he comes across to murder. A technique most killers use to lure their victims’ to their death is what we call ‘insincere’ or ‘superficial charm’, which works efficiently as people still remain naïve and don’t possess self-preservation when they are unbeknownst to the fact that a killer is in front of them. This technique is most helpful and advantageous towards killers as it doesn’t let people apprehend their truest intentions. 

This is a headcanon I made up! When he was first manifested, he did not have bandages around his waist, wrist, and palms. He started wearing bandages after a few situations with the involvement of sharp murder weapons he used to disembowel his victims. He is a stuffed clown with porcelain skin, but he had been created to be physically strong as to not make him very frail. So, when few of his victims have not been prevented from moving, they took that as an opportunity to swiftly grab the nearest object and slice Jack in the wrist, palm or waist. Mainly on the waist, though. It did inflict harm but it wasn’t enough to make Jack stumble down, this simply made Jack furious as his psychological state ever since was very unstable. After finishing off with his victims, he sewed up where he was imperceptibly torn off at; additionally using bandages as to prevent the fluff from getting out easily. 

Jack resents the guardian angel who created him. He has a profound grasp of the impurities inherent in mankind, and his sole predestined purpose was to provide assurance and company to those children who have been hurt. The first child his purpose was made to look after for was a child who left him for a decade before returning as a morally bankrupt and deranged person. He was exposed to violence and perverted behavior, which initially left him adapting to the behaviour as well. He spent his life amongst children, which instilled a childish demeanour and an immunity to emotions like remorse or guilt when manipulating others. He lacks empathy and finds fulfillment in pursuing his own desires as he does possess Machiavellian tendencies. Whilst he finds his life’s purpose worthless, he sets his own meaning and prioritizes his needs. Still, Jack questions the purpose of his own existence, his motives, and why he was created. Although he tries to ignore these existential thoughts, as he continues to pursue his ongoing goals (which is literally murdering people)

—

The hallucinations

From a psychological perspective, hallucinations are typically a symptom of certain mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. In such cases, the person experiencing the hallucinations may experience sounds, sights, or sensations that appear to be real but are not. The brain may create these hallucinations as a way to make sense of its surroundings, or as a result of an underlying condition that affects the brain's processing abilities.

Being familiar with Laughing Jack’s character and the made-up stories of him, the experience of hallucinations would likely be particularly intense and jarring. Laughing Jack is a demonic entity that is originally known for causing a variety of disturbing and unsettling experiences, including hallucinations. His presence would likely create a sense of confusion, disorientation, and fear, which would be compounded by the distorted perceptions and experiences that the hallucinations would cause. These distorted perceptions would likely include distorted sounds, sights, tastes, and sensations, which would be further warped by the presence of the demon.

Example: 

The visual hallucinations would often depict an antiqued-like jack-in-the-box. It would suddenly appear out of nowhere, often leaving behind a ghostly silhouette that can be sighted at any moment. His claws may leave scratches on tables and walls, an ominous reminder of his presence.

The auditory hallucinations induced by Laughing Jack's presence are even more disturbing. Macabre and piercing, his laughter is a haunting echo that is often heard. A distorted rendition of Pop Goes the Weasel periodically plays, further escalating the fear and tension. Cries of suffering children, voice boxes of crying dolls and messages sent to the subconscious mind are intended to drive the victim insane, sometimes the messages could be like this: „Oh, poor little lass.. not even psychological institutions can help you with your situation. Well, boohoo, that’s too bad now!! Ehh off you go then. I’ll come back another time.” ☠️

This is all the information I could provide you guys with for now, I am thankful if you had perused all of this. I hope that there are no mistakes here, and I’m aware that it is not as perfect, but I had fun writing all of this down! It’s enjoyable delving deeper into complex characters.

[sintaspeaks]

i think its fair to assume that ITZY is going to transition into a new concept identity. with NMIXX in their roster, sassy teen girl crush falling out of fashion for the time being, and ITZY's vocal synergy at its best ive seen in years, I think JYP plans to differentiate ITZY from the others by increasingly switching their sound from the typical bombastic girl crush sound to softer indie-pop influenced songs as evidence by this comeback. I'll be honest that while I've always liked ITZY as a group, I've always felt their older songs (the ones at the peak of their career) were not actually my type? but stuff from Kill My Doubt EP onwards has genuinely resonated with me. It's 100% because they've been slowly leaning into more vocals-focused songs and its really opened my eyes to how sweet their singing can be when they're not just like...chant-singing and doing catchy one-liners it might be too much of a reach to suggest this is the company's way of making ITZY 'grow up' or 'mature' but their mellower vibe and persona has definitely implied it to me.

[jisreal64]

So I saw the movie “IF” last night with my grand father, and surprisingly, I ended up loving it. The movie has a very fun and whimsical feel to it and is filled to the brim with creativity and child-like wonder, and even managed to make me cry during certain scenes from it’s themes of loss and anxiety. But there is something I want to note about the film, and that is the striking similarities to the Cartoon Network show “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”.

I always felt that the movie was going to be similar to the show regardless because of the fact that they’re both about imaginary friends, but it ended up having more in common with the show than I thought it would (it’s like my view of the Barbie movie ripping-off the Fat Albert movie all over again), both are about an adolescent helping retired imaginary friends find new kids and involves the protagonist visiting a home for said imaginary friends founded by an elder (and one features a character named Bloo and the other features a character named Blue). So, I created a theory that this movie was originally going to be a live-action film adaptation of Foster’s, but Warner Bros. either wouldn’t green light the movie or didn’t give John Krasinski (the film’s director) the rights, so he rewrote the movie to be a non-ip based film and got it picked up by Paramount instead. But even with the similarities to Foster’s, I still think the movie is great on it’s own and also features elements from other movies and TV shows like Monsters Inc and Drop Dead Fred.

Other than that, I’d give this movie a solid 8/10, and I really recommend it if you suffer from either depression, anxiety, or loss.

[agentnico]

IF (2024) review

Seems like John Krasinski wanted to apologise to his kids after scarring them for life with A Quiet Place.

Plot: After discovering she can see everyone's imaginary friends, a girl embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten imaginary friends with their kids.

One must ponder the question WHAT IF John Krasinski decided to make a good movie? Okay, that’s harsh, but in all seriousness IF isn’t a great film. About 30 minutes into watching this, I realized it wasn't going to have the broad, universal appeal of many films in this genre. It's extremely sad in parts, and then shifts to total silliness, then back to sad again. Films can be a lot of things at different times, but it was sort of whiplash here going from silly to sad and back again. As such it begs the question who this movie is intended for? Naturally one would think children as it’s got goofy imaginary characters and a lot of slapstick and stupid jokes, but then there are genuinely depressing and hard-hitting moments where it seems to connect more with adults and their traumatic experiences. The film suffers a huge identity crisis that is its primary downfall.

Also IF is boring. The plot just sort of wanders and things happen that bear no purpose towards progressing the primary narrative. The characters are also poorly written without, dare I say, much imagination, with Cailey Fleming as the little girl protagonist being extremely monotone and lifeless, and for someone who’s supposed to be inspiring and helping these imaginary friends find a new home, she lacks any energy to motivate. I recall she was way more likeable and charismatic as Judith Grimes in The Walking Dead and it’s not like that show is known for great writing, especially in the later seasons, yet there she left much more of an impression than in this film. Ryan Reynolds is enjoying his cool uncle era, yet even he felt really restrained here. Like it is still Reynolds doing his shtick, but it was missing something which I can’t put my finger on. As for the imaginary friends themselves, there are lots of voice cameos featured throughout, but again not many of these creatures actually had that memorable of a personality. Steve Carell is trying his upmost best as the big purple fluff that’s walked out of Monsters Inc., but I was finding him irritating more than anything. Of the more amusing ones there was Richard Jenkins as an Art Teacher and he has the most delightful voice, Bradley Cooper as a glass of ice which I found more entertaining than I should have, and Sam Rockwell as a superhero dog deserves a movie of his own. And again why the hell is Awkwafina in this? She’s voiced characters in like a gazillion animations in the last decade but her voice is so grading.

Usually I would admit to not being the right target audience for a movie that’s billed as for children, however in this case I feel the movie doesn’t really fit for anyone per se. It does seem that John Krasinski works best when there’s less dialogue like with his spectacular horror A Quiet Place, yet here IF seems to miss the mark. I’m certain this is done with good intentions, and maybe I’m being overly cynical here, but IF does not paint a solid case for imaginary friends.

Overall score: 3/10

[nyxxlikeskpop]

Imaginary Friend - ITZY

I can see why people might like this track more than Gold. Its very beautiful and a little haunting. I just genuinely think the song is one of their best yet.

[thebrownssociety]

I.F. 2024 Review

So I saw I.F. today...it's had a bit of a divided response so far, with most detractors saying it's a live action adaption of Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends. Having been an avid fan of Fosters when I was younger, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

I LOVE this film. It is emotional, it had me crying in the first twenty minutes and throughout, because it just spoke to me. I think I.F. has a certain audience and even though it's marketed at family's I think it's for everyone. More specifically adults/older teens who has imaginary friends growing up, who are creative who through np fault of their own have had to grow up and adapt to a world that frankly is not made for them.

Fosters had a young child who could see imaginary friends as well and tried to help them find new placements. The difference is that Mac had Blue. Bea does not have a imaginary friend, she's grown out of them. She is to grown up for them. But she is 12, a 12 year old who has had a hard life and is forced to grow up to soon. Just like Mac was forced to give Bloo up to Fosters, Bea has pushed away her creativity for 'adulting' because she's had to, and the film is about her connecting with her innocence again.

SPOILERS:

Both works have a theme of reconnecting. In Fosters Ed reconnected with his all grown up kid, as did Wilt and Mrs Foster never gave up Mr Herriman.

In I.F. Blue reconnects with his kid, Blossom reconnects with hers. In Blossom's case her 'kids' dreams are expanded upon briefly and it's shown she regrets not being able to do what she loved. Like how with Fosters Ed helped his kid stand up for herself and Wilt helped his with basketball, Blossom represented her kids desire to dance. Did it work? No. Does that mean the kid had an unhappy life? No, I don't think so.

Lewis - who runs the home - seems to have been waiting for Bea to come along and help change. He wants Cal and Bea to reconnect. Obviously he knows Bea is Cal's kid and wants Cal to realise she still needs him. He's a lovely kind character - a literal giant teddy bear for crying out loud! - and although he wasn't really given a lot of limelight [hard when you've got so many characters] he seems to really want well for his residents. Like Mr Herriman from Fosters - although a lot less uptight and without his own 'kid.' From what I remember Mr Herriman might get annoyed with the residents sometimes, but he'd never truly change them or Fosters and Lewis seems to be similar. Cal clearly trusts him implicitly, just like how in a pinch the residents of Fosters will go to Herriman.

Character wise, the main difference is that there isn't a Frankie in I.F. Cal's sort of set up to be one, but he's not the cleaner or admin or general dogsbody like Frankie was. And of course he turns out to be an imaginary friend. [I know some people theorise Frankie is a I.F. herself, I disagree with that theory, in Fosters when they had an episode centred around if a human-looking I.F. was just a normal human or not the I.F. turned out to have an elephant nose. As Frankie was never shown to have anything strange about her I think she's not a I.F..]

Anyway, I strongly suggest seeing the film. It was heartwarming, tearjerking [A few laughs, but not humour-focused] and above all gorgeous with the C.G.I. The characters look amazing!

[bizarremoon]

A little review for some new cartoons coming out 😁

[emeto-film-critic]

IF - 2024

SAFE/Caution - A,V,M•

Approx. •A,V• Cal watches one of the IFs, a marshmellow, start to melt. His eye falls down on the table, and Cal g* briefly.

•M• Mentions of t*u, and feeling s but nothing happens.

[chaerry-ave]

ITZY ‘GOLD’ Album Opinions

1. GOLD (title track)

It had to grow on me at some parts but overall I liked the rock and celebration vibe. I think it rlly fits the album and what it represents. I wish there were adlibs(?) during the dance break but overall i’d give it a 7/10

2. Imaginary Friend (title track)

It took me a little to “get it”. I liked it from first listen, I just don’t typically listen to calmer songs like this one. It has since REALLY grown on me! The simplicity of the song really lets their vocals shine and it’s such a breath of fresh air. Just so beautiful. easy 9/10 cuz no bridge

3. Bad Girls R Us

UNDER FUCKING RATED!! I don’t know why I never see anyone talk about this song, it’s SUCH A VIBE!! It’s so smooth and cool and everything! EASY 10/10

4. Supernatural

This is a good song but not my vibe all the time. I don’t listen to it often cuz Imaginary Friend is right there. This is a more upbeat version of it. It feels a bit repetitive to me so I don’t go back to it often despite liking it sooo 6/10

5. FIVE

THIS IS ITZYs ANTHEM!!! *ahem* back to business… I really like this song, not only does it mean a lot to me as a midzy that survived the ot4 era (aka ot4 “midzy’s”) but I also LOVE how fun and nostalgic it feels! Just BEAUTIFUL, another 10/10

6. VAY (ft. Changbin)

This song isn’t the kind of vibe i go to ITZY for but I’m happy they got to collab with Changbin. It’s a good song but I don’t go back to it often. It feels cool but with a masculine vibe that Bad Girls R Us doesn’t have which is why I go back to that song more than this one. Besides that I’d give it a 7/10 cuz i love their voices together

[horrorhodgepodge]

Imaginary [31 Days of Horror: Day 1]

🦇Summary Tonight, we’re kicking off our October horror marathon with Imaginary, a chilling new release that explores the blurred lines between fantasy and reality. A young woman’s vivid imagination takes a dark turn, unleashing terrifying creatures into her life. 👾 Prepare to question what’s real and what’s not in this mind-bending psychological thriller. 🤯 📚Themes & Topics: Monsters, Imaginary…

[georgelthomas]

Book Review: Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Book Review: Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky #ReaderCommunity #ReadingCommunity #BookCommunity #Reading #Books #BookReview #Review #ImaginaryFriend #Horror #Fantasy #Imaginary

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. Today, I am reviewing Stephen Chbosky’s Imaginary Friend. Imaginary Friend was published in 2019 by Orion and is 720 pages long. The PlotThe story follows a young boy named Christopher who goes missing in the woods for six days, only to return with a mission from an otherworldly being called ‘The Nice Man’.…

[garden-of-mancers]

Review #2 - Tideland (2005)

ID: Movie poster. A dead tree grows out of the ground. The image is upside down, with the movie title spelled upright with the tree roots underground. A young girl is sitting rightside up on one of the tree branches. End ID.

Genre: Horror/Fantasy

Content Warnings: Child abuse and neglect, drug use, needles, isolation, csa and related trauma symptoms, sexual abuse perpetuated by an intellectually disabled person, overdose, parent death, loss of a child's comfort item, toy destruction, unreality.

Spoilers Ahead!

Summary: In a grim and abstract retelling of Alice in Wonderland, young girl Jeliza-Rose is isolated in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere after both her parents die of drug overdose. Her only connections are her off-rocker neighbors and decapitated doll heads which act as Jeliza-Rose's imaginary friends.

Where are the imaginary friends in this? Jeliza has decapitated doll heads that she uses like finger puppets to accompany her throughout the movie. They're voiced by Jeliza, but their autonomy and sentience varies; they definitely have their own personalities, but the way they behave is entirely informed by Jeliza-Rose's reality, so they're clearly in the "manifestation of her subconscious" genre of imaginary friends. Their participation in the story also varies; they're mostly background characters except for a few key scenes.

The Imaginary World: So, it took me over an hour to realize this movie was a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. The movie itself blends fantasy with reality with a few trippy sequences, but the overall theme and purpose of the movie is to depict a young girl surviving in a world where everything is as backwards and disturbing to the general audience as possible.

These incidents do exist in reality! Children are neglected, they have parents who are addicts, their parents can die of overdose, they can be abandoned and fend for themselves, etc. But these experiences aren't universal. The point is that Jeliza-Rose is isolated and grew up in circumstances that a lot of people couldn't imagine growing up in. Her perception of reality is warped because of this, hence making the real world into Lewis Carroll's Wonderland.

The dynamic of pretend play during trauma: Jeliza's world is bleak, which means her pretend play is bleak as well. Her IFs are as mean and disturbing as the rest of the world, but I think that makes this movie a good example of what it looks like when a child in distress makes their own companionship. Not all imaginary friend movies are about losing whimsy or growing up. In this film, the IFs replicate the darkness and meanness in the world around their creator. Don't get me wrong, I love Crenshaw. I love IF (2024). But I think exploring the other side of the coin where "an abused child is NOT comforted by her entirely kind, soft, unproblematic IF" is a good submission to the imaginary friend movie genre.

[xarliclub]

#IF #ImaginaryFriends una historia de amistad, imaginación y monstruos imaginarios que nos recuerda un poco a las películas de #Pixar

#xarliclub #movie #movies #film #films #cine #cinema #peli #pelis #pelicula #peliculas #reseña #review

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

IF (U): Splashes of Spielbergian Magic But Trying Too Hard To Please All Audiences.

#onemannsmovies #film review of "IF". #IFMovie, #ImaginaryFriend. A family film that's good fun but didn't blow me away. 3.5/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “IF” (2024). “IF” stands for “Imaginary Friend”. If in a year or twos time you are a parent picking a DVD for a sleepover, it’s vitally important that you don’t get this film muddled with either Lindsay Anderson’s “If” from 1968… or even worse, “It” from 2017! Of all the films previewed in the first half of the year, THIS is the one that all of my older…