#h.g. wells' things to come

[letterboxd-loggd]

Things to Come (1936) William Cameron Menzies

September 18th 2024

[dayo15]

[humanoidhistory]

Swedish poster for Things to Come, 1936, with Art Deco design by Moje Aslund.

[creepynostalgy]

Things To Come (1936)

[schlock-luster-video]

On May 2, 1936, Things to Come debuted in Hollywood.

[of-fear-and-love]

TV screens of the year 2036, from Things to Come (1936)

[rwpohl]

things to come, william cameron menzies 1936

[byneddiedingo]

H.G. Wells, Pearl Argyle, and Raymond Massey on the set of Things to Come

Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, 1936)

Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott, Cedric Hardwick, Maurice Braddell, Sophie Stewart, Derrrick De Marney, Ann Todd, Pearl Argyle. Screenplay: H.G. Wells, based on his novel. Cinematography: Georges Périnal. Production design: Vincent Korda. Costume design: John Armstrong, René Hubert, Cathleen Mann. Film editing: Charles Crichton, Francis D. Lyon. Music: Arthur Bliss.

Works of fiction that pretend to depict things as they will be in a specific place and year tend to look a little foolish when that year actually comes. The years 1984 and 2001 didn't turn out to be precisely as George Orwell and Arthur C. Clarke envisioned them. But neither Orwell nor Clarke expected them to: Both were extrapolating from what they saw about the times in which they were writing. Orwell was viewing with alarm the struggle for power in 1949, and Clarke was elaborating on thoughts he had about the relationship of man, technology, and nature -- for good or ill -- in a series of stories beginning with "The Sentinel" in 1948. It's significant that both of these writers were working from a post-World War II point of view. But Things to Come starts from a very different place: England just before the second World War. H.G. Wells's 1933 The Shape of Things to Come was a meditation on a utopia founded on science, replacing religions, and a world government, replacing nationalism. The adaptation of these ideas in Wells's screenplay involves a world on the brink of war at Christmas, 1936 -- less than three years before the world actually went to war. Wells didn't have to wait long to see the ideas in the film superseded by reality. In the film the conflict lasts 40 years, and is devastating to the old order of things. There arises a kind of technotopia, which then has to battle with (and triumph over) reactionary, anti-science forces. We no longer have the kind of undimmed faith in technology to solve all problems that Wells possessed -- in fact, if the atomic outcome of World War II is any indicator, technology presents as many problems as it solves for humankind. Things to Come is muddled but fascinating: It raises the right questions while providing unsatisfactory answers. The best things in the film are the ones closest to home. For example, Ralph Richardson's performance as the dictator known as "The Boss" -- a slangy translation of Il Duce. Richardson's eccentric manner is the key to the role, and he plays it to the hilt. Unfortunately, Menzies, a gifted designer, wasn't much of a director, and he surrounds Richardson with inferior performers: Margaretta Scott, who had a long career once she grew accustomed to film acting, here recites her lines as if reading them for the first time and assumes poses copied from silent film vamps. For contemporary viewers, the most interesting things about the film are the set designs by Vincent Korda and the fantasias about what people will be wearing in 2036 -- which in Wells's scheme of things is the year of the first voyage around the moon. The costumes are credited to John Armstrong, René Hubert, and the Marchioness of Queensberry. (Her given name was Cathleen Mann; a portrait painter and costumer, she was married to the 11th Marquess of Queensberry from 1926 to 1946.)

[kaydensb]

100% Legally Sourced Media (Google Drive)

Here is a link for a whole bunch of movies, tv shows and more -

Hopefully all the prior issues with getting things to open or show up have been fixed, but if not let me know specifically what isn't working and I will try to re-upload it.

below is a list of the things currently on my google drive, I may add more and keep updating this list periodically as things get put on the drive.

Audiobooks and Audio Dramas

Fiction

1984 By George Orwell

A Tale of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

Animal Farm By George Orwell

Bleak House By Charles Dickens

Bridgerton Series By Julia Quinn

Chemistry By Rachael Sommers

Daisy Jones and the Six By Taylor Jenkins Reid

David Copperfield By Charles Dickens

Do Not Disturb By Freida McFadden

Dracula By Bram Stoker

Eve of Man Series By Tom Fletcher & Giovanna Fletcher

Fellow Travelers By Thomas Mallon

Frankenstein By Mary Shelley

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe By Fanny Flagg

Friends of Dorothy By Sandi Toksvig

Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn

Gothic Tales By Arthur Conan Doyle

Great Expectations By Charles Dickens

H.G. Wells The Science Fiction Collection By H.G Wells

It By Stephen King

Jurassic Park By Michael Crichton

Les Misérables By Victor Hugo

Little Women By Louisa May Alcott

Mansfield Park By Jane Austen

Me Before You By Jojo Moyes

Neon Roses By Rachel Dawson

No One I knew By A. J. McDine

Oliver Twist By Charles Dickens

Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen

Red, White & Royal Blue By Casey McQuiston

Sense and Sensibility By Jane Austen

Should Have Known Better By A J McDine

Stranger in the Woods By Anni Taylor

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection By Arthur Conan Doyle

The Exorcist By William Peter Blatty

The Forgetting By Hannah Beckerman

The Girl on the Train By Paula Hawkins

The Glitch By Leeanne Slade

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Honey Witch By Sydney J. Shields

The Invite By A. J. McDine

The Murder Game By Tom Hindle

The Picture of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde

The Promise You Made By A. J. McDine

The Woman in Black By Susan hill

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop By Fannie Flagg

The Wrong Sister By Claire Douglas

Think Again By Jacqueline Wilson

Torchwood

We Play Games by Sarah A. Denzil

When You Least Expect It By Haley Cass

Non Fiction

A Billion Years My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology By Mike Rinder

All I Know Now By Carrie Hope Fletcher

Apparently There Were Complaints By Sharon Gless

Bad Gays A Homosexual History By Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller

Barnum's Own Story By P T Barnum

Best Foot Forward By Adam Hills

Between the Stops By Sandi Toksvig

Beyond Belief By Jenna Miscavige

Black Mass By Gerrard O’Niell & Dick Lehr

Blown for Good - Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology By Marc Headley

Boy From the Valleys By Luke Evans

Che Guevara By Jon Lee Anderson

Church of Lies By Flora Jessop & Paul T. Brown

Coming Up for Air By Tom Daley

Dare to Dream By Izzy Judd

David Bowie Made Me Gay - 100 Years of LGBT Music By Darryl W Bullock

Deaf Utopia By Nyle DiMarco

Escaping the Kingdom of God By J. Andrew Robinson

Fahrenheit-182 By Mark Hoppus

Fathomless Riches By Rev Richard Coles

Freddie Mercury The Definitive Biography By Lesley-Ann Jones

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing By Matthew Perry

From Here to the Great Unknown A Memoir By Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

Help I S*xted My Boss By William Hanson & Jordan North

Karma By Boy George

Letters on Motherhood by Giovanna Fletcher

Mama’s Boy By Dustin Lance Black

Notorious by Raphael Rowe

Once upon a Tyne By Ant & Dec

Our Story By Reg and Ron Kray

Over Our Dead Bodies By Todd Harra & Kenneth McKenzie

Rainbow History Class By Hanna McElhinney

Scientology: Abuse at the Top By Amy Scobee

Sh**ged. Married. Annoyed By Chris Ramsey & Rosie Ramsey

The Church of Fear by John Sweeney

The Doomsday Mother By John Glatt

The House of My Mother By Shari Franke

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine By Rashid Khalidi

The Mayor of Castro Street By Randy Shilts

The Peer and the Gangster By Daniel Smith

The Phantom Prince By Elizabeth Kendall

Under the Banner of Heaven By Jon Krakauer

Under the Bridge By Rebecca Godfrey

Documentaries and Docudramas

A Lion Called Christian

A Very British Sex Scandal

Abused By My Girlfriend

Accused - The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax

Aids - The Unheard Tapes

Alex Brooker: Disability and Me

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

Bad Influencer - The Great Insta Con

Bowie - The Man Who Changed The World

Boyzone: No Matter What

Children of the Underground

Dancing for the Devil - The 7M TikTok Cult

Daughters of the Cult

Desperately Seeking Soulmate - Escaping Twin Flames Universe

Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke

Dinosaurs - The Final Day with David Attenborough

Dirty Pop - The Boy Band Scam

Driven - The Billy Monger Story

Escaping Polygamy

Escaping Twin Flames

Freddie Mercury - The Great Pretender

Frozen Planet

Frozen Planet II

Good Grief with Reverend Richard Coles

Hatton Garden - The Inside Story

Hell Camp - Teen Nightmare

I Am Not A Rapist

I Cut Off His Penis - The Truth Behind The Headlines

Ireland's Mother and Baby Scandal

Killing Patient Zero

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

Lewis Capaldi - How I'm Feeling Now

Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal

Living Every Second: The Kris Hallenga Story

Lord Montagu

Mama's Boy

Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction

Murdaugh Murders - A Southern Scandal

Murder Among the Mormons

My Wife My Abuser - Captured On Camera

Pennywise - The Story of It

Planet Earth

Planet Earth II

Queen - Days Of Our Lives

Sacred Soil - The Piney Woods School Story

Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice

Scientology: Going Clear - The Prison of Belief

Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica

Stolen Youth - Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence

Strike - An Uncivil War

Strike! The Women Who Fought Back

Striking with Pride: United at the Coalface

Surviving Amber Heard

Take Care of Maya

The Bambers : Murder at the Farm

The Boys - The Sherman Brothers' Story

The Exorcist Untold

The Family

The Krays - The Mafia Connection

The Menendez Brothers

The Millennium Dome Heist With Ross Kemp

The Movies That Made Us

The Pembrokeshire Murders - Catching the Gameshow Killer

The Program - Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

The Settlers

The Times of Harvey Milk

Tom Daley 1.6 Seconds

Uprising

Waco - American Apocalypse

Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil

Wonders of the World I Can't See

Films

A Haunting in Venice

About a Boy

All of Us Strangers

American Psycho

Armageddon

Bad Tidings

Basic Instinct

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Thing

Beetlejuice

Boy Erased

Boys Don’t Cry

But I'm a Cheerleader

Chicago

Child's Play

Chocolat

City of Lies

Clue

Contagion

Cool Runnings

Corpse Bride

Dallas Buyers Club

Dawn of the Dead

Death on the Nile

Deck the Halls

Die Hard

Dirty Dancing

Donnie Brasco

Downton Abbey

Edward Scissorhands

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Fried Green Tomatoes

From Hell

Gone Girl

Gremlins

Hairspray

Handsome Devil

Heathers

Heathers - The Musical

Home Alone

Hot Fuzz

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

IT

Jaws

Jingle All The Way

Jumanji

Jurassic Park

Kill Your Darlings

Kindergarten Cop

Kinky Boots

Labyrinth

Legally Blonde

Legend

Les Misérables

Les Misérables: The Staged Concert

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Women

Love Actually

Mean Girls

Midsommar

Milk

Minamata

Miracle on 34th Street

Moulin Rouge!

Murder on the Orient Express

Murdered for Being Different

Newsies

Oliver!

Philadelphia

Pirates of the Caribbean

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Prayers For Bobby

Pride

Pride and Prejudice

Red, White and Royal Blue

Rent

Scarface

Scream

Scrooged

Secret Window

Shaun of the Dead

Shelter

Sister Act

Sleepy Hollow

Star Wars

Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

The Addams Family

The Amityville Horror

The Blair Witch Project

The Conjuring

The Craft

The Crow

The Exorcist

The Full Monty

The Greatest Showman

The imitation Game

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Santa Clause

The Shawshank Redemption

The Sixth Sense

The Sound of Music

The Tourist

The Woman in Black

Three Men and a Baby

Three Men and a Little Lady

Titanic

Transcendence

Twister

Uncle Buck

Unicorns

West Side Story

What We Did on Our Holiday

White Christmas

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Zola

Stand Up Comedy

Adam Hills

Chris McCausland

Chris Ramsey

Daniel Howell

Daniel Sloss

Dara O'Briain

Ed Byrne

Fern Brady

Greg Davies

John Bishop

Rhod Gilbert

Sarah Millican

Sean Lock

TV Shows

90210

Agatha All Along

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled

Apple Cider Vinager

Being Human

Big Night of Musicals

Bridgerton

Celebrity Race Across the World

Code of Silence

Criminal Minds

Cuckoo

Daisy Jones and the Six

Deadwater Fell

Desperate Housewives

Doctor Who

Downton Abbey

Dynasty

Eyewitness

Fellow Travelers

Fire Country

Friends

Good Girls

Good Omens

Good Trouble

Heartstopper

I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

Interview with the Vampire

It's A Sin

Killing Eve

Looking

Mary & George

Mid-Century Modern

Midnight Mass

Missing You

My Family

My Wife and Kids

Nevermind the Buzzcocks

One Tree Hill

Parenthood

QI 

Queer as Folk

Shameless

Sky Med

Sleepy Hollow

Switched at Birth

Taskmaster

The Alienist

The Artful Dodger

The Clearing

The Couple Next Door

The Fosters

The Haunting of Bly Manor

The Haunting of Hill House

The Jetty

The Midnight Club

The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan

The Pembrokeshire Murders

The Perfect Couple

The Society

The Stranger

The Unofficial Science Of…

The Watcher

Torchwood

Toxic Town

Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Bridge

Virgin River

WandaVision

White Collar

White House Farm

[onion-souls]

I remember reading that in some of Lovecraft's later letters, he had a profound change in his racism and otherwise unpleasantness. Do you know what I'm talking about? Might you know where to find those specific correspondences?

(Going to be citing letters throughout this, which can easily be found by googling Lovecraft letter to [named correspondent] [date]. Don't have time at the moment to hyperlink everything.) I wouldn't say profound, but he mellowed out. His most extreme racism shows up largely in his 1910s to 20s writings, which is when he was talking about a "Teutonic master race" of which the Anglo-Saxon was the superior breed, the genetic inferiority of the Celts, and praising the KKK. This started to diminish largely due to exposure to people. He learned he was partially Welsh, and he began a deep friendship via correspondence with Robert E. Howard, who, like many Irish-Americans of the time, had a strong connection to a fantastical image of his Celtic ancestors revived through the late Victorian imagination. His anti-Celtic statements were always something of an affectation of British Imperial attitudes rather than anything that really made sense for a turn of the century Rhode Islander, and they were the first thing to fall away. His antisemitism also shifted after his meeting with his wife of seventeen years, Sonia Greene, and friendship with Robert Bloch; apparently he would still say dumb shit but they were quick to call him out on it. In his November 8, 1934 letter writer John Vernon Shea, he expresses embarrassment on some of his older and then still lingering views and specifically asks Shea not to quote them at Bloch. Possibly the most influential figure in his social circle, however, was James Ferdinand Morton, Jr., an anarchist political writer, Baha'i convert, and NAACP member frequently who took Lovecraft to task for his racism and basically helped him see that the KKK was a terrorist organization. Lovecraft had hideous views but he was also a rather soft sort - not from an anti-racist angle, but actual violence was a thuggish act unsuited of a gentleman. This was also what was causing some of his shifts in his antisemitic statements in that 1934-37 period; he was still bigoted, but didn't like the news that coming out of Europe.

But he also never dropped his anti-Black racism, and I would recommend looking into his correspondence to Morton, particularly his March 23, 1931 letter, where he dismisses Franz Boas' well-evidenced skepticism towards the then fashionable anthropological racial divisions. He was willing to change and even deconstruct his views on everyone else, but kind of put his foot down when it came to Black people. By 1934 (and note that he died on March 15, 1937), his attitudes had largely shifted to a kind of Anglo-Saxon Cultural Supremacism mixed with his growing sympathies with non-Marxist Utopian socialism (somewhat of the Edwardian progressive H.G. Wells sort), best expressed in his November 22, 1934 letter to poet Natalie H. Wooley [Collected with his letters to Robert Bloch] and a January 18, 1931 letter to Morton . He basically started to ease up on the genetic racism (though the anti-Black racism never went away, at least not in anything recorded his writing) and pivoted to a notion that anyone could plausibly achieve an equal level of civilization as the WASP/"Nordic," but he still had a strong streak of racial/societal separatism, expressing a distrust of "cultural mongrelism" as late as January '31 [to Morton]. The one thing I would push back on is the common statement that he was unusually racist and antisemitic for his time, which really isn't true considering that his most extreme statements were also platforms of mainstream political parties in the 10s to 40s, and the pulp fiction published alongside his works were pretty much just as shitty, if not worse. It's just that he and Howard are some of the few pulp magazine writers from the period that we still read, so the cringe lingers. He was always a bigot, despite some evolution, but what's particularly interesting about him is that he was willing to maintain a social circle of people who would call him out on it. Complicated guy, but I think a lot of this is wondering what he would have become if he lived to see the 40s to 60s and kind of hoping that he would have kept changing.

[humanoidhistory]

A rough landing in British illustrator Reg Hill's pre-production art for The Shape of Things to Come, 1979.

[lazyflower48]

I'm getting quite impatient waiting for the next episode, so I'm just going to list all the possible s5 endings that I can think of along with the popular ones that I've come across

▪︎ The good ending AKA the delusional ending

Verlaine, Natsume, Yosano, H.G. Wells or someone- ANYONE shows up to save the day and then everything gets resolved and returns to normal. And so everyone lives happily ever after

▪︎ The sad but hopeful ending

Aya's ability is revealed, Bram's backstory followed by his death, which results in the vampirism being nullified. The DoA loses. Fukuchi dies/gets caught. Dazai has a plan. He and Chuuya take down Fyodor together in true Soukoku fashion. Fyodor dies/gets caught.

▪︎ The fake out ending

Dazai dies, Fukuzawa dies, basically anyone who is on the verge of death of death, dies BUT someone finds the book or the page (someone from ADA? Atsushi?) and brings them all back.

▪︎ The bad (sad) ending

Fukuzawa dies and everything falls apart. Atsushi loses control of his ability. It's the end of ADA (Goodbye Twilight theory- The ADA oversees the twilight so it's a goodbye to the agency)

▪︎ The doomed bungover ending

The whole world ends, and everyone just freaking dies. *55 minutes flashback intensifies*

▪︎ The Ranpo ending

Ranpo has a plan beyond the whole "trapping Fukuchi in Poe's novel" thing (in Ranpo we trust)

▪︎ The best ending

It's a rightfully deserved beach episode! (The past 2 seasons were not real. All the characters are alive and well, being silly as usual)

If Asagiri is involved in the making of the next episode (which he most likely is), then knowing him, he's probably gonna defy our expectations and write the most unpredictable ending for this season

[schlock-luster-video]

On May 6, 1938, Things to Come debuted in Italy.

[tylermileslockett]

HERMES

“I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing messenger of the deathless gods. He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she had made with Zeus, -- a shy goddess she…. And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have begun: now I will turn to another song! Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide, and giver of good things! (-Homeric Hymn, translated by H.G. Evelyn white)

HERMES (HUR-meez), is the trickster herald and messenger of the gods, as well as god of diplomacy, commerce, travelers, and trade. He is one of the few deities with the power to move between the earthly and underworld realms. Initially he was portrayed as middle aged with dark beard and long locks, but later he was portrayed as a beardless youth. He created the first musical instruments, the lyre and flute, and, interestingly, was the father of goat legged Pan. 

Hermes is a psychopomp; (a leader of spirits into the Underworld.)  He also appears as an ally to mortals in a number in myths:. Hermes assists Perseus by providing an adamantine sickle sword to behead Medusa, and in the Odyssey, Hermes assists Odysseus by providing a magic herb to protect the hero against the witchcraft of Circe. 

Hermes mother is Maia, one of the PleiadesPleaides, who eventually became constellations. With this ancestry, Hermes has associations with both Astronomy (sky constellations) and astrology (zodiac signs surrounding his herald’s wand). He was also the god of sleep, and could put mortals to sleep or wake them up with his wand. Being the god of travelers and herds, at the bottom we can see stone markers called Herma, and a herd of sheep.

Want to own my Illustrated Greek myth book jam packed with over 130 illustrations like this? Support my book kickstarter "Lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in early 2024. check my bio LINKTREE

[rwpohl]

things to come, william cameron menzies 1936

[deathtodickens]

Later...

Claudia: Why do you look like that, man?

Pete: I can't get this bronzer to come off.

Claudia: Did you get the temporary stuff?

Pete: Tem... porary?

Claudia: Dude.

Pete: Huh, well that explains that.

Claudia: Why do you even have it on to begin with? And so much?

Steve enters the kitchen, stops and stares at Pete.

Steve: Who won an Oscar?

Claudia laughs, pointing at Pete.

Pete: Ha ha very funny.

Claudia: It was.

Pete: Hey, leave the jokes to a professional, okay? Of which, I am.

Steve: Not at all shockingly, you truly believe that.

Pete: It's the first day of October. I'm just trying out a few costumes before the 31st, to see if I can get H.G. back into the spirit of Halloween.

Steve: I wish you were lying.

Claudia: Do we want H.G. back in the spirit of Halloween? I recall the last Halloween that she was into being a bit too spirity.

Pete: Of course, we do--

Steve: Not. We absolutely do not. Do you not remember what happened?

Pete: Yeah, we all went on an amazingly awesome adventure in the Warehouse, together, as a family. We fought off animated Halloween decorations that stalked us in the dark. Myka used the zip-line upside-down like a bad ass to save her wife from encroaching darkness. And then we blew up every light in the warehouse to level an army of murderous, soul-snatching plastic skeletons--

Steve: That took us days to clean up...

Claudia: I'm still changing lightbulbs...

Pete: --and I'm not so sure all of those skeletons were plastic.

Claudia: It was kind of fun blowing up the Warehouse. You know, in a not-destructive kind of way.

Steve: No, no. It was destructive. It was a very destructive kind of way.

Claudia: Right. Sure. But we didn't have to artifact it back.

Pete: What's another warehouse explosion amongst friends, huh?

Claudia: I mean, I do still have some light bombs stashed away in my room. Don't tell Artie.

Pete: That's the spirit!

Steve: I just want to drink hot tea, read a book, and watch the weather change from the comfort of my own bed, in my own room. Is that so much to ask?

Steve does not wait for an answer. He turns and leaves the kitchen.

Abigail enters in his place, she stops and stares at Pete.

Then bursts into laughter.

Abigail: I really thought Myka was pulling my leg when she said you'd lathered yourself up in bronzer, just to play a prank on Helena.

Pete: It wasn't a prank. It was encouragement. She loves Halloween!

Abigail: She loved Halloween. I think the soul-snatching skeletal remains of a Spirit Halloween clearance sale sucked that love right out of her.

Pete: Well. She liked my costume.

Abigail: That's not what I heard.

Pete: Then you've heard nothing but dirty, rotten lies.

Abigail: Did she seem amused when you revealed your costume?

Pete: She didn't seem entirely unamused.

Abigail arches a skeptical brow at Pete.

Claudia: What was the prank?

Pete: Not a prank.

Claudia: What was the not-a-prank?

Abigail: Apparently, when Helena questioned him about (Abigail gestures toward Pete with her hand) this, he said, very enthusiastically, that he'd been bronzed.

Claudia: Peter Jenkins Lattimer.

Pete: That is not my middle name.

Claudia: The woman has trauma!

Pete: It was inspiration!

Claudia: Fueled by nightmares!

Abigail: I don't think the woman who spent a century encased in bronze needs to be inspired. Like, at all.

Pete: That was a century ago.

Claudia: No, it started a century ago. She's barely been free for one decade.

Abigail: You do know she remained conscious the entire time.

Pete: I know she remained conscious the entire time.

Claudia: And was so fucked up when she got out, all she wanted to do was destroy the world and everyone in it.

Pete: I mean, I was there. So yeah. I do recall her attempting to, at one point in time, destroy the world and everyone in it. Thankfully Myka's hotness saved our asses.

Claudia gasps.

Pete: What?

Claudia: You did bronzeface!

Pete: What? No. That's not a thing.

Claudia: You're doing it right now!

Pete looks to Abigail.

Abigail: Don't look at me. I was born this way.

Claudia: I can't believe you did bronzeface at H.G.

Pete: Stop saying it like it's a thing.

Claudia: People from the bronze sector do not deserve to be mocked in your incessant quest for validation and frights.

Pete: They are literally criminals.

Abigail: Wow, Pete. I really thought better of you.

Pete: You know what, I'm just going to go take a very long and very hot shower until either the bronzer or my skin comes off. Whichever happens first.

Pete exits.

Claudia, laughing and calling after Pete: Hey, maybe try painting yourself blue tomorrow instead. Pretty sure none of us has ever been Smurfed.

Claudia and Abigail fall into a fit of laughter.

Somewhere between the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom, Pete retrieves his phone from his pocket and says, "Hey Siri?"

She appears.

And Pete whispers into his phone, "What is bronzeface?"