#has more than one set of DNA. about the unfortunate coincidence with her name i came up with the idea of her being a chimera

[muckablucka]

how it feels to find song lyrics that fit your OC perfectly:

[theparanormalperiodical]

Is Stephen King's IT Based On A True Story? The 7 Real Life Stories of Evil Clowns

With autumn just around the corner, that can only mean one thing: Halloween season is finally upon us!

But you can snort your pumpkin spices and layer your scarves all you want. There’s only one thing I am in anticipation for this autumn.

It’s the horror flicks.

Every October, a chaotic mix of horror films hit the cinemas, leaving us paranormal fanatics spoilt for choice.

But only when you cut out the rushed screen time plays that were written purely to coincide with the most wonderful time of the year, that is.

I’m not here to talk about crap, however.

I’m not here to bitch about clunky jumpscares, and the movies with more holes in a plot than in your prep school tights (“Mum, they’re fine!”).

I’m here to talk about IT Chapter 2.

The IT sequel – alongside Stephen King’s other horror hits – is set to complete one of the cinema phenomenons of this decade, and its influence on pop culture is just one echo of the incredible story the movies tell.

If you’ve been trapped in the sewers with Pennywise for the last 27 years, let alone the Clown Craze that’s followed us in and out of cinemas, here’s a quick rundown of the book/film:

A rag-tag group of misfits start noticing odd patterns in their small town. Namely, kids start to go missing. And this tends to happen roughly every 30 years, just like clockwork. Cue some freaky shenanigans evoked by an evil entity who is represented by an image of a clown/whatever you fear, and here we are.

Now, the book/films sits on this 27-years rule. It’s set between when they were young, and when they were several decades older and once again face It.

We last see It half kinda dying (but if there’s a sequel y’all know that’s BS) in the midst of the 1980s. And the new film brings us screeching back to the phenomenon that is once again haunting Derry. 

Like I said – and as you will well remember – when the last flick came out, there was a Clown Craze. There was this cultural obsession, even a criminal wave using clown masks and attire to scare the innocent bypassers. Viral videos were scored with Pennywise-esque thumbnails.

(I’m pretty sure I even went a club night that was clown themed…)

So, it got me thinking: have evil clowns ever actually existed? Has anything ever emulated the character that titled one of Stephen King’s most famous books?

Unfortunately – in more than one case – the answer is yes.

Why does the answer have to be ‘yes’.

In today’s edition of the Paranormal Periodical we are going to be discussing why we all hate clowns, the cases of actual evil clowns, and urban legends that echo these cases.

Let’s get spooky.

Why are we so afraid of clowns?

I’m pretty sure that no one in the history of ever has liked clowns. In fact, that’s actually a key part of the book.

Pennywise supposedly thinks children love clowns, and that it will entice them so he can take them away for his feeding purposes.

And believe it or not, Stephen King wasn’t the first guy to write an evil clown into literature.

Clourophobia – or the fear of clowns – is a common phobia, and has been played upon since the 19th century by the king of horror himself, Edgar Allan Poe.

And only a decade before King published It in the 1970s, several mock comic books hit the stores with ‘Evil Clown’ blaring across the cover. ‘Frenchy the Clown’ as he was known might not be the malovalent entity that is core to King’s novel, but he does echo the dark themes we pick so easily out with clowns.

Even academics have outlined our unease when it comes to these supposedly comical figures.

The University of Sheffield did a study which confirmed this universal fear of clowns today.

In particular, they deduced that children don’t like clowns as they are unknowable. The thick layers of makeup, the potential threat that could be disguised by jokes and silly clothing.

And why wouldn’t they be?

*Ok, this has nothing to do with like spooky shit but can I just air my thoughts right why and how do clowns exist now like surely we teach kids not to talk to strangers who act weird and you don’t know and that’s literally the purpose of clowns and like yall can say I’m a trigger libtard whatever but a lot of the basis to clown makeup must be based on blackface look at the lips and the hair or even trying to mock disabled people by how they act*

Even academic figures lie Wolfgang M. Zucker take this point further. Zucker claims there are strong similarities between clown figures and the cultural depiction of demons and other terrifying creatures.

Deathly white faces, the freakish features.

This is what makes Pennywise the Dancing Clown such a standout character.

And it’s also what makes the following real-life stories of evil clowns quite so distressing.

Here are the 7 cases of Evil Clowns that you have to hear about:

This might be the Paranormal Periodical, but there is nothing supernatural here. And its probably the lack of ghost-based legend that makes these evil clowns so like Stephen king’s iconic character.

And we start with probably the most horrific case: John Wayne Gacy, aka Pogo or Patches the Clown.

From 1972 to 1978, John Wayne Gacy murdered, tortured, and raped over 30 underage and young adult men. Most of the bodies were buried around his home, and some were even disposed in a nearby river.

He even made plans to fill the crawlspace in his home – where he had crammed over 20 corpses – with concrete and essentially make a new mass grave on top of it.

This twisted and depressing tale carries further into the innocent image his community impressed upon him.

Gacy frequently performed as his clown alter-egos at local parties, charity events, and at children’s hospitals. Even outside of this, he met a First Lady, was active in politics, and was even awarded the title of Precinct Captain for his services to the community.

And if all this wasn’t terrible enough, the reasoning behind his clowning days further darken his tale:

Gacy claims his clown alter-ego allowed him to regress into his childhood which was fraught with emotional and physical abused from his father.

And so, the ‘Killer Clown’ label has been bestowed upon this case.

Interested in hearing more? Check out the full story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy

Our next evil clown doesn’t stray too far from the predatory behaviour of John Wayne Gacy.

The man behind Klutzo The Clown – A. Paul Carlock – was charged with the possession of child pornography and of child molestation back in 2007.

Like Gacy, he was a force within the community, working as a police officer and a volunteer for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters scheme. It was even noted when he was alive that he had a fondness for children.

In fact, he was categorised as a ‘Christian clown’ before the accusations were brought to light.

He was hired as a police officer in 1973, yet they only found evidence (pictures on his laptop when he returned from an overseas trip) in 2007.

Upon finding the evidence of his predatory and paedophilic behaviour, he immediately began to show signs of illness, dying 39 days after his arrest. And its for this reason that his case is seen in a different light to mine.

The disgusting details tend to be overlooked as his death brought in a lawsuit regarding whether he was neglected and mistreated after his arrest.

Following on from this, we have Martin Evanick.

His clown alter ego, Vlad, certainly expressed a killer-clown vibe synonymous with Pennywise, but it seems his intentions didn’t actually stray to far from the character he sought to emulate.

This metal-band drummer pleaded guilty in 2013 to creating child pornography. He was also found prior to this to be a child molester and rapist.

Another clown to fit the bill of evil is actually a relatively recent case.

Back in 1990, a woman opened the door to a clown who promptly handed her balloons and a floral gift.

The clown then proceeded to shoot her, leaving her for dead.

For 27 years, there was no answer for this bizarre and deadly attack.

Well, until now, that is. Sheila Keen was charged with first-degree murder. She married the husband of the victim, and the later developed DNA evidence provided the key to the case.

Unfortunately, evil clowns don’t always act alone.

And it’s these next cases that vouch for this.

Across many countries in the last few years we have witnessed random groups of people dressed as clowns or donning clown masks who chase, harass, and even attack innocent people seemingly in broad daylight.

One of the most documented cases of this is actually from France. Back in 2014, the French were apparently terrorised by a group of clowns who physically attacked anyone who just so happened to get in their way.

One of these clowns was arrested for beating a pedestrian with an iron bar whilst clad in a clown costume.

A student even had a severe cut to his hand whilst defending themselves from a clown wielding a axe, and Schoolchildren were eve chased down the street by a clown following close behind with a chainsaw.

Shit bro.

But it was only in 2016 that the phenomenon was fully realised.

The 2016 Clown Sightings – which even feature on Wikipedia, now – summarise the frequent reports of people disguised as evil clowns.

However, as this is evidently a broad case, we cannot pinpoint the extent or nature of the ‘evil’.

For some it appears a practical joke, possibly even playing on the build up to the 2017 release of IT.

But the original cases have actually been traced back to 2013, from which a creepy clown was spotted in Northhampton. It was eventually found out to have been created by filmmakers to drive up traffic and fame for their Facebook page. In fact, they used the ‘sightings’ to evoke the fame they sought.

From scary clown pranks littering Youtube, to urban legends feeding on upvotes from Reddit, it appears it has not been grouped as an ‘evil’ or ‘criminal’ set of occurrences.

Even on October 25, news outlets in the US reported on threats of a potential ‘purge-like’ event carried out by clowns on Halloween. The only attack resembling this – which I assume was merely a hoax – was an attack carried out by 20 people in clown masks on a family in Florida.

No arrests were made.

There were many cases in the UK, but these only amounted to petty crimes, threats, and scaring people passing by.

But the widespread nature of it certainly confirms it as a phenomenon. 80 percent of US states witnessed this phenomenon, and the Wikipedia page is crawling with country-by-country listings of ‘killer-clown’ cases.

Do you remember the Clown Craze?

And do you have a personal tale to share about any creepy ass clowns?

Make sure you let me know!

[isagrimorie]

[initial reactions] Doctor Who 11x11 - Resolution

(of the Dalek)

Now that is what I’m talking about!

Also, I don’t care how BBC numbers this episode, for me this is the season finale for series 11. It’s written that way in a way that DW 11x10 never felt like.

Things in bullet points:

WAYNE YIP. I knew he won’t let me down as a director! I loved the episodes he directed in Doctor Who but especially in Class: ‘Detained’ and ‘The Metaphysical Engine or What Quill Did’. Those episodes together with the Class season/series final made me care for Class in a big way. And its part writing and its part directing/editing.

I think more than anything, this series proves to me that a good director is crucial to both the pacing and feel of a Doctor Who episodes. Jaime Childs, bless him, is more comfortable directing very intimate and cozy stories than in Big Event Cinematic stories. Unfortunately, his directorial vision set what Series 11 would look like, and a lot of the next few director followed his directorial cues.

Jaime Childs directing ‘It Takes You Away’ is right in his wheelhouse because it’s a small cast, in a very closed setting. It’s theater. Jaime Childs directing very big set pieces like ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’ on the other hand? Aside from some nice tableaux is really outside of his wheelhouse.

‘Resolution’ makes TBRaK feel tacked on and makes me wonder what the writing schedule/bts is behind the production of ‘Resolution’ and TBRaK.

Speaking of TBRaK, remember the Doctor’s ‘Don’t quote me, I always change the rules’. I knew that would come back, and I knew it would be significant because already, the Doctor’s changed the rules on them. I don’t know if the Chillest Companions to Ever Companion noticed but there was a great deal of heaviness to the Doctor’s ‘Me and a Dalek? It’s personal’. And, I know the Team was distracted because of Ryan’s Dad but the moment the Doctor acquiesced to the the Dalek’s demands and said ‘Fine’ with that flat but cold look in her eyes, the same look she had in ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ as she watched Tim Shaw absorb five DNA bombs, I knew The Doctor was up to something, and it wasn’t good.

True enough. She was and did fling the Dalek straight into a supernova.

‘I learned to think like a Dalek a long time ago.’ I went ‘ooooooooooh’. Because, mate, DUDE. More than anything else, that tells me a lot about the Doctor and how they really think tactically. She’s no longer going there for a first and practical option like she did when she was Twelve (Bill’s hurt and judging voice still echoes to this day ‘have you killed anyone?’), but that kind of cold, strategic thinking is still there.

The Dalek!Control of Lin was terrifying and excellent use of a Dalek. I actually prefer this over the Dalek hybrid in terms of horror elements and body horror. It’s a really great horrifying moment on par with the body horror in World Enough and Time in Series 10.

“Now do that again to my face.” Chills man. Also, the whole microphone scene, both BAD. ASS. and also, like the Doctor playing to a crowd (which she was — the Doctor’s established this).

“You don’t have to come.”

“‘Course we do!”

“We’re always with you!”

Again, that look on Thirteen’s face. More ambivalent, more and more it seems like she’s not liking that unquestioning Ride or Die mentality both Ryan and Yaz have. Especially here, against a Dalek but she keeps quiet. But the first chance she got to come face to face with a Dalek, she dispatches them away.

The dark mirror of a Dalek!Controlled!Lin building the Dalek Casing and Thirteen making her own sonic. Amazing.

“Except. I’m not human, have a scan!” The swaggering bravado. The ego. “Aw, mate. I’m the Doctor, ring any bells?”

And the Dalek backing away. The most dangerous being in the universe. And it backs away from her, because everyone who is in the know knows that the Doctor is the most dangerous being in the universe.

There’s that savage joy there at being recognized. The sheer glee she has at being recognized (without the grandstanding), and how much dark joy she has at tracking the Dalek. Pure Predator of the Dalek coming out but with the Humans there, kept firmly at bay.

“I tried, I gave it a chance.” Oh, Doctor, seeking absolution. Seeking an excuse and this team, not knowing about the Doctor’s history with the Daleks gives it to her. And even without flinging the Dalek into a Supernova, the fact that she’s to melt a Dalek in its shell…

‘Rules change all the time’ and ‘think like a Dalek’ indeed.

Jodie Whittaker is enjoying playing the action hero! She never gets to do stuff like that as Britain’s Number One Grieving Mother. The slide! The unnecessary roll!  In my head Jake Peralta went: ‘Unnecessary’ and then Thirteen’s Inner Rosa Diaz replied with: ‘Disagree’. (If you think Jodie didn’t imagine the same thing in her head, then you don’t know Jodie’s deep, abiding love for Brooklyn Nine Nine).

I’m currently watching the First Doctor’s first encounter with the Dalek and the The Doctor and the Team ganging up on the Dalek is a visual callback to the time when the First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian did the exact same thing to a Dalek! Chibnall, you nerd!

“I was thinking… Everywhere.” I know this was similar to the TBrAK ending but IMO, this was better, which again, begs the question, when was TBrAK planned?

Other Things of Note:

I can’t help but laugh at how UNIT was scuttled because of Brexit and possibly because Trump. Although pfffft. Anyone who knows Kate ‘Bleeding’ Stewart knows she’s not going to let an issue like ‘funding’ get in the way and she’s operating an underground taskforce right now. But the Doctor’s face at the stupid money stuff was amazing.

Also, Kate Stewart is a Chibnall creation, I bet she’s coming back next season, at the most opportune time, just when the Doctor needs her.

I hope the ‘Order of the Custodians’ comes back for series 12! That feels too awesome an organization/name to use just once.

Speaking of, the proliferation of three letter companies in series 11, aside from Kerblam… coincidence or something more? GFB in Rosa,  JLR Disposal in Arachnids in the UK (okay, that’s a stretch), and MZD weapons research here.

The scene between Ryan and his dad, and Graham and Ryan’s dad. I really like the quiet moments. I hope we get more Yaz in series 12 as Chibnall said during the press briefings.

The music, as Jodie would say, is ACE!

Who was the narrator? I need to look him up in IMDB.

THE SCARF. PLZ BE MORE PART OF THE DOCTOR’S OUTFIT!

[thewaywedo33]

Wynonna Earp 2X10 Thoughts and Faves

I’ll be honest, I was expecting an episode with a complex plot and crazy reveals.  Instead, we got  an episode that was so simplistically beautiful in its focus that it took my breath away at times.  Don’t get me wrong, I know over the course of the final two episodes we’ll find out things are connected in all sorts of crazy ways we didn’t see coming, and big ‘ole twists will happen, but this week the focus was on the individuals and their relationships. So many quiet truths about the characters played out on screen over the course of the hour, and all I can say is, Andras & Co. can throw my expectations out the window anytime they like.  

This week’s opening scene might be my new favorite of the entire series. We had three women on screen dropping sassy one-liners while fighting, and I was grinning right up until that “Baby, stay with me” heart punch.

(This is Rude)

I loved Waverly and Nicole fighting like hell for each other.  It doesn’t mean the issues between them disappeared (as we saw acknowledged in the hospital), but it does mean they have each other’s backs when things go down.  They’re willing to throw themselves into the fray to protect the other.  I think the scene is a glimpse of what we could get in Season 3, once Nicole is finally fully integrated into the team.  Waverly now knows keeping Nicole at arm’s length doesn’t do a thing to protect her.  Danger literally came knocking at Nicole’s door despite her efforts.  The best way for them to protect each other is to fight side by side, but it won’t always be enough, as was the case this week.

The hospital scene before Nicole gets put under was such a quietly poignant exchange.  Nicole gets her chance to properly apologize for hiding the DNA results, and Waverly is able to express that she doesn’t give a shit nugget about that right now, given the circumstances.  Nicole surviving is ALL that matters to her, they can work the rest out later.  The best of themselves and their relationship comes out in the span of a few seconds.  Nicole is earnest and sincere, and Waverly is whimsical and sweet.  Together they just work, like two puzzle pieces. Even though they’re cut with completely different angles and edges, they fit perfectly with one another.

My heart broke a little when Nicole said she loved her, and Waverly couldn’t say it back in the moment.  I get it, she felt like it would be an admission that Nicole won’t make it.  But the longer she’s goes without speaking the words, the more I’m convinced she’s afraid to say it.  That if she does, Nicole will be ripped away from her somehow.  Because that’s been her main experience with the people she loves.  Wynonna left her behind for years, Curtis died, Gus seemingly handed her a check to take the place of her love and support as she booked herself a one-way ticket out of hellsville. But now that Nicole has survived this ordeal, I suspect Waverly will realize life is too short to holdback anymore.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Nicole tells Waverly she loves her more than she’s ever loved anyone shortly before Shae shows up.  Nicole’s a smart cookie, she probably had an inkling Shae would get called, but when you’re writhing around in burning pain on your deathbed it’s not really the time to finally have the talk with your current girlfriend about how you got married on a whim and haven’t finalized the divorce yet.

Let’s talk about that wife reveal.  How perfect that Ms. Pleat-in-her-pants lost her mind for a short while and tied the knot in a Britney/slots induced euphoria.  It actually fits with her personality.  Some of the most level-headed people in the world got that way by doing impulsive things and learning from them.  I’m not sure if we’ll find out exactly why she and Shae aren’t divorced yet, but I suspect Nicole headed to Purgatory to make a fresh start, advance in her career, and had zero intention of getting romantically involved with anyone for awhile.  She probably figured there was no rush on the divorce paperwork.  But then Waverly Earp took her by surprise and completely upended her world.  

The way Shae’s eyes widened just a tad when Waverly gave her name reads to me like she knew who Waverly was, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find out Nicole called her recently to have a little chat about that divorce paperwork.  Nothing announces you’re serious about the new girlfriend like mentioning you’re dating, and hey, could we maybe push that divorce through asap? Plus, Waverly never said her last name, yet Shae referee to her as Waverly Earp later in the episode.  Maybe she heard it while around the hospital, but I think the info might have come from Nicole.  

I didn’t expect the Earp sisters to wind up on opposite sides of handling an issue so soon, but boy did this set up nicely.  I understand both sides.  Waverly is still reeling from her fight with Nicole and the kiss and Tucker, and she’s tired of having the things she loves ripped away from her, damn it.

(Waves has had it up to here, and quite frankly, she gives a damn)

Wynonna is tired of being burdened with a curse and all the repercussions she didn’t ask for.  The third seal represents a chance to finally take control of things for once.  She can raise Demon Clootie when she’s ready, and end the curse before it ends her and everyone she loves. Unfortunately she made a unilateral decision again, to hide the seal without telling anyone else on the team where it is.  The face Waverly made when Wynonna revealed she had the seal suggests it was going to be an issue even if it hadn’t turned out to be prominent in saving Nicole.

(Mayday, this is not the face of an angel)

Yes, Waverly made a poor choice.  It was impulsive, and in the end Wynonna came through with the antidote as promised, but I can’t blame Waverly for feeling like she had to exhaust every possible avenue, no matter how ill-advised.  The woman she loves is on her deathbed, that alone is going to cloud her judgement.  And while Waverly does trust Wynonna implicitly with her own life, it make sense for her to have doubts about her ability to save Nicole.  Because Wynonna was convinced she could save Willa, told Waverly she was going to get her back, but ultimately had to shoot her.  I know, the situation was different.  Willa went all evil and was being pulled into the ground by a giant tentacle, but those are the sort of demonic curve balls that get thrown at them all the time, so I find it forgivable if Waverly couldn’t quite bring herself to believe Wynonna would pull off getting the cure.  

I don’t believe the Earp girls will stay at odds for long.  Waverly's choice feels like something pre-curse Wynonna would do.  It’s all well and good that Wynonna says she would have trusted her team to deal with the situation, but that seems like a place she arrived at roughly fifteen minutes ago.  Waverly is going to have to do things on her own learning curve, and I’d like to believe Wynonna will realize that eventually.  Also, I just plain need the Earp sisters to not be at odds for a long time, because they are very important to me.

In regards to Waverly making a deal with Greta, all I can say is, of course Waverly trusted Greta, because it’s who she is.  She didn’t believe Tucker was the total dumpster fire he was until he tried to kidnap her.  It’s kind of a tragic flaw of hers.  She probably should have gone to Wynonna once she found the seal, but the clock was ticking.  Couple that with Dolls essentially giving her permission to hand over the third seal to Beth, and I can’t really blame her for the choice.  

Speaking of Dolls, his “You’d do anything for the woman you love, right?” didn’t seem like he was just talking about Waverly with Nicole. I’m pretty much done making predictions for future episodes, because I’m batting about .125 with this show, but I think he’s referring to himself with Wynonna too.  I have to wonder if he WANTS Clootie to rise so they can break the curse sooner rather than later, and the woman he loves can focus on her baby and making a real life outside of the constant danger and hell.  

Nedley was such a good this episode.  I’m regularly impressed by the show’s ability to give even the side characters meaningful development and arcs. We’ve come so far from Wynonna flipping him off in the pilot to trusting him with the seal.  I like that we got to see him use his cop smarts, too.  Mentioning his barstool altar and then casually asking Widow Mercedes where her altar is was well-played.  And because there is apparently not a single villain in any fictional universe who can resist giving up really useful information while monologuing, she gives him info about where the ritual will go down.  

Nicole and Nedley displayed a similar awareness in this episode, even while in pain/being tortured.  Nicole, when the first thing she thinks to tell Wynonna is what Mercedes said about the law, and Nedley, with his alter question.  It fits well now that we know Nedley handpicked Nicole as his successor.

Rapid Fire Random Thoughts:

-I wonder if Jeremy’s aversion to using Rosita and Dolls as guinea pigs has anything to do with what happened to his mother?

-It took Doc approximately .001 seconds to be ready to saddle up and go into battle when Wynonna told him Nicole was dying.  The entire team really showed how much they care about her this week.  I can only hope her found family makes it clear to her in future episodes, since, you know, she spent this one on her death bed and isn’t really aware of how everyone reacted.

-We got such a good tidbit with the reveal that Nicole doesn’t speak to her parents.  I’ve felt deep in my bones that was the case ever since episode 1��07 (Hey, I got something right!).  Something about her reaction to not being invited to Waverly’s party struck me. Sure, she was crushing on Waverly, and looking for new friends in this wackadoodle town, but it smacked of more than that.  She also admitted in 2x08 she still struggles with feeling like an outsider with the Earps. I think Nicole harbors a deep desire to have a family who accepts her unconditionally, and it’s a truth easy to miss with all her confident swagger.

-I’m really going to need WayHaught to stop asking Wynonna to make impossible decisions. (1×13 handing over Peacemaker to Willa/2×10 Agreeing to end Nicole’s life if it comes to that).  I also need Scrofano to stop doing that thing with her face when she tells them ‘Okay’ because it makes my heart break for Wynonna.  Widow Mercedes could not have been more wrong when she said Wynonna doesn’t care about anyone but herself.

-Rosita the Revenant is stealing my heart a bit.  Wynonna threatens her to get her to help save Nicole’s life, and Rosita responds by letting her know all she had to do was ask.  You could tell she meant it too, and it wasn’t coming from a place of guilt, just compassion and a growing care for this group of people Doc thrust her into.

-I got Angel feels when the Order mentioned taking Wynonna’s baby in. Dolls better not get any crazy ideas about handing Wynonna’s baby over to them, because no one needs a moody boy coming back through a portal and bringing all the storylines and characterization to a screeching halt.  (Ahem, sorry, still bitter).

-Everything about Nicole’s house is exactly the way I thought it would be.  And after seeing her in her natural environment, I’m calling even more bunk on that giant purse she had in 2x08. Because come on, someone who wears cool Puma kicks, a blue button-up with the sleeves rolled up, makes an Ikea reference, uses soft blue-tones throughout the house, and has that collection of boots lined up?  Not a gal who’s carrying around that purse.  (Pursegate 2017 is the fictional hill I’m willing to die on, apparently).  Also, I feel personally attacked by the Wynonna Earp styling department for putting Nicole in that outfit.  It’s like one of them overheard me yelling in a bar about all my lady fashion weaknesses (which happens more often than I care to admit).

See you next week, after what I’m sure will be a ho-hum penultimate episode, because that’s what this show does best.  

(J/K, this is me heading to the TV in my excitement...also, it’s never a bad time to use this Gif)

[ervtreiaarchive-blog]

The door opens with a creak, the light coming from within blinding even when the torrid sun of a Wrotham August shines in the sky. Eretreia tried to picture what she was going to find but nothing prepared for what laid waiting -- the pristine room, bigger in size than she was expecting, was occupied only by a chair and a table but there was something else, too. Wires and a monitor, green lights blinking tirelessly, unphased by her presence. Her eyes finally dart towards a mirror -- no, not a mirror. Glass. Eretreia approaches it, ignoring the chair and the table, tempted to make the lights blink red for a little while longer. She knew they were watching. They always were, on the ship, with their vague messages and cryptic greetings. It didn’t change one bit now.

She stayed facing her reflection for a little while longer before smirking and taking a seat at the table, wiring herself. “There’s no way out of this, is there?” She wasn’t afraid which surprised even herself. Confrontation was never something she had to face, until now.

Hello, ERETREIA. Let's start with something easy, just to find our balance. Please state your name, age, height and place of birth for the record.

“My name is Eretreia. Just Eretreia. Turns out there aren’t a lot of them around the galaxy so you don’t really name a last name.” She shrugged before moving on. “I’m twenty-seven, as far I know. Sometimes I forget to count the cicles. I’m 5’5’’ and I was born on the Mining Colonies.” The blinking green lights stopped blinking for a second, the daunting green keeping its full color for a minute before returning to the its usual flashing. It seemed to satisfy whoever was watching behind the screen, as they quickly moved on to the next question.

Is that your true name and age?

Eretreia shifted in her seat, the readings on her heart rate changing just slightly, not enough to trigger any acute sounds, thank goddess. She took a breath, as silently and quickly as she could before darting out. “Yes.” As expected, the blinking stopped but this time it wasn’t green that flashed. “Your machine is broken.” Her eyes rolled before she added, “I told you I sometimes skip cicles, so I’m not sure if I’m twenty-seven or not, anymore.” It was an excuse, really. The problem wasn’t in her age and she knew it.

While it wasn’t entirely false that she had long forgotten or cared to celebrate the day of her birth, she still kept count on it; stupid human tradition, to be sure, considering nowadays some people don’t even look their real age but, Humans always had a fascination with outliving the years they were supposed to live, long after birthdays lost their meanings. Of course, if not the age, the persistency of red on the screens could only mean one thing.

While she tried her best to keep check on her age, the name she was born with was something she shed on her thirteenth birthday, the sound and familiarity of it so lost it didn’t feel like a memory of hers anymore. Underneath her tongue, the metalic taste of it felt sour and heavy. No matter how much she tried to roll her tongue into saying it, it got stuck.

Instead, she pulled herself together, took another deep breath -- this time, not caring who or if it was heard. “It’s a Gegku word. Eretreia,” her heart continued beating, unruffled. “It means stardust. It is my name. It’s the name that was given to me.” This time, she did not dare look at the lights. She just waited for a minute, looking directly at her reflection in the two-way mirror, until the voice moved on.

After six months on a mission, do you regret accepting being part of this crew?

She knew this answer was standard but she couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, it wasn’t exactly a choice. Although from what I’ve heard, I had a lot more to lose than anyone else by refusing your kind offer.”

When she first stepped on the Concord, her recruitment was very different from that of the other members. She wasn’t selected for her particular set of skills, she wasn’t invited in exchange for some unburdening of circumstances; she didn’t have a (known) weakness for the Benefactor to explore and black-mail her with. Nothing except her life to lose, and even that wasn’t much worth. A blemish in the carefully thought-out plan of the Benefactor. It was interesting to think, for a moment, despite the consequences that came after, she had an advantage over him. “I never apologize for it. For ruining your plans.” It couldn’t hurt now, to feed on that gleam of hope one last time.

“But, really, turns out you had everything to gain by letting me stay,” she pointed at her head and then waved her hands in front of her face. “These two are very good at finding things. All kinds of things. Maybe even ancient, never before seen, artifacts.”

Do you believe in what this mission is trying to accomplish or are you here for different reasons? If so, what are they?

“Well, I happen to like life and living. Sounds a lot better than being spaced, huh? That’s the main reason.” She tilted her head, something she picked up with DATA’s beloved romcoms. The main female would always do it when they were trying to be enticing although Eretreia’s was a different shade entirely. A mockery of the innocent, doe-eyed girl society expects you to be; in that sense, it hasn’t changed much. “It’s hard to be supportive of something you have very little clue about. If you expect positive answers to this question, you might want to start giving your employees some more information of what exactly it is we are trying to accomplish.”

Do you have any friends on board? Any enemies?

Mind travels to the emotions felt six months ago: fear, trepidation, dismay for the fifteen strangers she was forced to face. Most of them were not pleased to find a rat sneaking in their vents, they themselves still complete strangers to one another but in that moment they were all a crew and Eretreia was not a part of it. A problem. Something that needed fixing. She would have easily gotten over it, never expecting to make a lasting impression on either of them, if not for the fact that her curiosity got the best of her and she ended up learning more than she should. It’s still unclear, even to herself, in this moment, as she struggles to find an answer, if she’s still just an outsider or finally part of the crew.

“It’s the human nature, isn’t it? If you find yourself in a confined space with fifteen other strangers, you’re bound to make some friends and a lot of enemies.” She shrugged, her question grayscaled. However, the persistent blinking light turned, once again, red, unsatisfied with the response.

It took her a while to think about it. Friend was not a word nor a feeling she was used to, simply because she never settled down long enough to get attached to anyone at all. Friends were family and she had long ago vanquished that notion, the feeling of it lost in time and space. But, as she thought who and what categorized someone as a friend, a single person rushed into her mind.

“Pyre never wanted to space me.” That was, thus far, the kindest gesture anyone extended to her on the ship. “DATA and Theon, neither.” She let the corner of her mouth tug into a faded smile, quick to fade again. “I think Thane has warmed up to me, too. Everyone else seems to not care about me in the slightest.”

Are you loyal to this crew?

The two questions went hand in hand. Loyalty meant being faithful to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity. Did anyone, besides the ones mentioned above, deserve it? The answer to this question had been, so far, incredibly redundant but never straying far from the implicit (or otherwise, very explicit) no. And while in any other situation, that would not require her to answer honestly, she would also have blurted out a no as an answer, what she realised in that very moment was completely, astoundingly, different. “Yes.”

Perhaps none of them were truly deserving of fidelity on her part, but it was her wish that they would be, in the future, that lead her to that answer. If they were to survive, they would have to start relying on each other, all animosities forgotten.

Interesting. Very interesting. Now, if you don’t mind, let’s skip ahead to some more personal questions.

At the mention of personal, thick eyebrows turn into a frown. What could they possibly know about her?

To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

The unforeseen question sends a jolt of laughter through her throat, a mixture of relief and genuine amusement at this first question. If this is how personal they are going to get, she will leave this room far more content than previous crew members.

However, upon reflection, she knows The Benefactor is not a merciful person and every question lies an innuendo that can either mean everything to the beholder or nothing at all. To Eretreia, it feels like a twisted way to have fun, to prey on her vulnerabilities and claw at her past; she won’t have it.

“Does anyone truly have power over their lives?” When Eretreia first stepped on the ship, it was pure coincidence. Fate, a silly word but one humans still liked to flaunt around as if now, more than ever, their lives weren’t being manipulated by puppet strings, the invisible hand of some all-mighty puppeteer guiding our every move.

Have you ever seen something otherworldly?

Otherworldly is something that defines the entire galaxy. Even after we’ve conquered most known planets and made them our own (for less than noble reasons, unfortunately), the desire that drove men to seek the stars and wonder at its first sight is never lost on our dna. Eretreia was born a long way from the original planet, a long time after the exploration and yet she still had the desire for the stars carved in her heart. It’s what made her such a good scavenger. To that, she just answered. “Everything.”

If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

At the mention of the word slave her head jolts forward, wide eyes facing in her in the mirror, the reflection of her bewilderment staring back at her. Do they know it? No, it’s not possible. How could they? It’s not irony, she knows it, or a coincidence. Behind the glass, there’s too much power to simply hint at things that could be instead of things that were.

Her heart races, too much this time and under the table her nails crave unto flesh, too hard to leave a mark, almost too hard to feel the wet, warmth of blood tainting her fingernails. The lights turn red and the loud, beeping, urgent sound coming out of the machine makes her jump out of her chair, making her lose balance. “I-” she begins to say, trying to fight the memories rushing to her head, the greasy hands of someone against her skin, the heavy shackles weighing her down. Eretreia bits the inside of her cheek and sits back down, too frightened to look in the direction of the mirror; hair falling on her facing, hiding her features. “Nobody deserves to be enslaved,” she looks up, hair falling on her eyes, the face of a hurting, threatened animal. The smell of blood from her palms sends her back to one last memory: thirteen years old, orphan, shackles free, a skull bashed at her feet, blood running down to meet her feet. Freedom can be taken away but in the process there’s only one thing we learned from being caged: survival.

Do you consider yourself heroic? Why? Do you think hiding from the corporations while your parent’s bled out to death was heroic?

She frowns at the beginning of the question, still trying to regain her composure after the last question. “I never-” she speaks over the voice, meaning to slow it down, meaning to get this over with and move on, go back to the Concord and grab a drink, curl up in bed and never think or discuss the events of this day ever again. However, the last bit hits her like a fist in the stomach and she feels promptly sick.

The world slows down and her ears ring, like a bomb just exploded nearby. Senseless, catatonic on the outside while her insides seemed to be twisting, growing too big for her body to hold. She didn’t want to hold it anymore, wanted nothing more than to lay it all down on the table, shrink unto herself and, like dust, be blown by the wind. But a boisterous knock on the glass brought her back to reality, her feelings returning all at once.

The voice coming from her didn’t sound like her own, rasp and low. “They murdered my parents.” She rises again, feral animal, teeth showing. “They murdered me that day, too. I died.” Eretreia rips out the wires from her skin, a flat line appearing on the screen where her pulse used to be. She approaches the glass, her movements too slow, terrifying when compared to the look on her face. “I died at thirteen and no corporation gave a damn about it,” she fights back the lump on her throat, the tears starting to cloud her vision. “I died, again and again but I came back just as many times. So yeah, I’m fucking heroic. My own damn hero who doesn’t hide behind a glass or masks their voice,” she catches her breath, tearings falling down her face, already dried. “You tell me, what’s so heroic about that?”

Thank you for answering our questions honestly. Please direct yourself to the next room and pick your new armour. Welcome to the crew.

                                                                                          [ ARMOUR ]

[penniesforthestorm]

The Mountain (2019)

Early in Rick Alverson's film The Mountain, a gaunt woman in a hospital gown sits on a bed in a stark, empty recovery room. We are somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, sometime in the mid-1950s. Across from her, a young man in a brown plaid jacket adjusts a heavy camera, balancing it on his knee. He pauses, looking at the woman. He sets the camera down on the floor. He gets up and sits on the bed next to her, and then, with great tenderness, leans his head against hers.

The young man's name is Andy, though we don't hear it until at least fifteen minutes in. As played by actor Tye Sheridan, Andy is a lost, gentle soul, searching for kindness in a cold world. The cold is frequently literal—Andy's father Frederick (played by Udo Kier) is an ice-skating coach, and with his white hair, pale blue eyes, and Alpine accent, he seems to have been born out of the unforgiving surface of the rink. We get the sense, watching the two of them interact, that Andy has been flattened into silence and caution by his father's domineering temperament. Is it any wonder, then, that after Frederick's sudden death, Andy takes up with the first stranger who speaks warmly to him?

The stranger is Dr. Wallace 'Wally' Fiennes (portrayed by the internet's favorite kooky uncle, Jeff Goldblum), and he and Andy have a connection. Andy's mother has been in a psychiatric institution for some years, and she was briefly under the direct care of Dr. Fiennes. Unfortunately, the doctor sorrowfully informs Andy that he no longer works at that hospital. Instead, he offers Andy a job: come on the road with him, and take photographs of his patients. You see, Dr. Fiennes is one of the pioneers of a new and revolutionary surgery: the frontal lobotomy.

I've been thinking recently about the explosion of scientific research in the years following the Second World War. Obviously, the tensions of the Cold War led the development of military weapons and the 'space race', but we also had (to name a few): the beginnings of DNA and human-genome research, the Leakeys' research and other forays into understanding human evolution, the Kinsey report, the television boom, and advances in mass agricultural engineering (Norman Borlaug, etc.). Adjacent to all of that, there was the more esoteric stuff: ESP, UFOs, people like Edgar Cayce and Emmanuel Bronner (paving the way, of course, for the '60s 'counterculture'). The Mountain is very much a portrait of that aspect of the era, and Dr. Fiennes, with his bizarre combination of erudition and sleaze, fits right in the middle of the Venn diagram of scientist, Svengali, and quack.

As for poor Andy, he becomes increasingly reluctant to follow along with Dr. Fiennes, after realizing how brutal and precarious the procedure is. At the various institutions they visit, he wanders at random through the wards, occasionally interacting with the patients. He's troubled by unsettling dreams and complicated yearnings, and eventually reaches a breaking point. After that, The Mountain blossoms from 'uneasy' to 'bizarre'—it's unclear how much of the final act is 'real', and/or whether that matters to the story Alverson is telling.

The Mountain is beautifully made—its wood-paneled motel rooms, upholstered restaurants, and deserted highways evoking Edward Hopper and Frank Lloyd Wright. There's a strong David Lynch atmosphere as well, from the misty pine forests to the preponderance of heavy red curtains. The electronic score, interspersed with jazz and popular music from the period, keeps the pulse of unease going. The pace is deliberately slow, and I can see where people might find it too alienating. Let me put it this way: as weird as you think it's going to be, I promise you, it's weirder than that.

Speaking of weird, there is one more thing I want to mention. As I was walking into the theater, Van Morrison's "Moondance" was playing over the sound system. At a party the previous night, a friend of mine had played and sung "And It Stoned Me"—a pleasing coincidence. The morning before I went to see the film, as I was making breakfast, I'd been idly singing "Home on the Range" to myself; it just popped into my head. In the film, a version of "Home on the Range" appears several times. Again, total coincidence, but I think if you watch the film, you'll understand why I was rather unnerved. (I was also reminded of the 'plate o’ shrimp' monologue from Repo Man, for whatever that's worth.)

[ddtriohub]

"Soulmate discourse."

Subject: Shugarl's opinion on the concept of soulmates. This one is long, ranty, and just him being a bitter melon. (The other 3 aren't as long as this so no worries. I'll post those later.) Let's be real, we expected this out of the bitter melon.

“Tell me with scientific evidence that such a thing as soulmates exist. Love is just a series of chemical signals being sent through your brain, and a harmony of your hormones working along with the said chemical signals. Most lustful desires are oft misattributed to being ‘love.’ Explain to me how out of billions of people that you are expected to single out the one person that you were ‘destined’ to fall in love with.”

Shugarl was not convinced. A man who believed in cold hard facts, he thought the existence of ‘soulmates’ was ludicrous. Normally the man wouldn’t be so harsh about the subject, as mainly he was neutral, but considering what was happening in the Country of Rouves, his bitterness over the situation was starting to get the better of him.

“Will you then tell me if by some horrible accident someone dies, that they’ve left their partnered to be alone for the rest of their days? What if they fall in love with someone else? Have they then stolen someone else’s Soulmate? Then it becomes the rainy Umbrella situation. Someone’s Umbrella gets stolen so then they opt to take another person’s umbrella. The cycle repeats until one lone person is without an umbrella to peruse. Even in the highly efficient human body, an error for every Billion pair of nucleotides added is made. There are roughly 7.3 Billion people on the earth. You mean to tell me that humans, a faulty race, are more efficient at correctly pairing with their Soulmate than your body is at DNA Replication?”

Downright ludicrous. The absurdity. “Similarly, many people assume that their ‘fate’ has been decided for them. If you were destined to die early, were you even given a soulmate to begin with? If your soulmate dies, will you die because you were destined to be together? Would you die alone? Would you be given a new soulmate to make up for your loss? All these questions and no answers. How can you even assure yourself that you’ve found, ‘the one’? You can’t. You can’t see this ‘thread’ to even ascertain your lover is your ‘destined’ one. Then how is it, that you have the AUDACITY to claim that the high ranked official was fated to his destined one and then was bewitched by another woman? Who died and made you the experts of who is fated? Can you see these strings? Is there a ceremony you must go through to find out? Why is it that only the woman is given the heat of this situation? Why not the man who was led astray with his probable lustful desires? The man who only thought of himself and not the problems he causes others. Has he taken responsibility for his actions? Can you prove they had a happy marriage? How do you not know the man simply hadn’t married the wrong woman? If he’s left his wife, who is to say he hadn’t had plenty other affairs? Maybe there are many more you don’t know of. Disgusting feeble minded men who have nothing on their mind than to satisfy their own desires.”

Shugarl had now gone on a personal tangent as he recalled the bitterness he felt over his own father indulging in multiple affairs. “Not to forget that I’d assume that you may have met your soulmate too early and thus dismissed them. Your Prefrontal cortex does not finish developing well into your mid-20’s. This, as you know, is largely attributed to your personality creation. This is why most marriages of young adults fail because once their brains have matured, their personalities have changed and settled. Unable to handle how their lovers have ‘changed’ they file for divorce. There is a reason most advise you to get married after you’ve hit the age of 25 at a minimum. In fact, most young couples as of late are much too impatient and instead settle for a divorce rather than attempting to work things out. Perhaps if they’d tried to salvage their relationship, they’d come closer together than they were before.”

Once you contemplated on various ideas, it was hard to truly credit such an idealized idea. Shugarl was highly skeptical on top of bitter. He’d personally been broken by the false premise of being one’s ‘soulmate’ to then realize it was all just a lie. In fact, she was dared to make him fall in love with her. A DARE. Shugarl would be the first to tell you that some women were horribly excellent actors. Even they could act well enough for you to fall in love with them and falsely believe they were the ‘only one in the world’ for you. It’s a trap.

“Going back to the subject of whether or not a ceremony can tell you if you are properly paired up with your soulmate, how do you not know this isn’t a government conspiracy much like how the concept of ‘Valentine’s day’ is over marketed in order to drive up sales for the chocolate economy, or even how ‘brand names’ are utilized in order to jack up the prices of certain items due to them being luxury items. They’re the same damn product. For all you know, you are being brainwashed into believing this Hogwash so they can control you. I’m sure that you can ‘fall in love’ by simply believing you are and ignoring the facts. Like a placebo effect of patients believing they are improving with the ‘new’ medicine they’ve been given when in fact they’ve only been taking discolored water. Love is a series of chemical reactions and anyone can act in a way to make you fall in love. Some, are so good at it, that they can get a demon to fall for them before they grow tired of them and toss them to the curb.” Personal experiences talking once again. He truly did love that girl. She would tell him that she believed them to be soulmates. That she wanted to be with him forever.

FOREVER HIS ASS. She used him, and lied to him. She betrayed him. Soulmates? HA! Just a ploy to fool you into being someone’s play thing until they don’t want to deal with you any longer, more like.

“I find it amusing and very convenient for your soulmate to always be easily accessible to you. Out of Billions of people, multitudes of countries, and islands, how laughable is it that your Soulmate is most likely in the same country as you. Many people will never set foot in another country, and they’ll always find their ‘soulmate’ who conveniently was living in the next town over. How many people live on this world that you can expect such a coincidence to repeat itself? I pity those who were unfortunate to have their soulmates on the other side of the world and they’ve no means to meet them. Your destined mate you are to marry, was it? Watch how easily fate can easily get crushed by the harsh force of reality, a seductress, or an unfaithful rotten man who only thinks with his lower half.”

Was it clear by now how Shugarl felt about the concept of Soulmates by now? The stress of people arguing over such petty squabbles because of a man who was caught being unfaithful was absurd. “Whether you believe in the existence of soulmates or not is up to you. I do not care, however, bringing one’s petty relationship problems into politics and causing unrest among the residents is poor ethics. How sad it must be that such a common story of a man being unfaithful could break a country in two like this.”

Did that make it clearer for you to understand? Just in case it wasn’t clear yet:

“So NO, I will not join this absurd Rally. I have papers to grade. That’s an even better use of my time and energy.” Having sat through that entire tirade, his co-workers never dared to ask him about what he thought about Soulmates ever again. Feeling awkward by this situation, they’ve scampered out the first chance they got.

That being said, if he fell in love with someone, and they believed in the concept of Soulmates, he may feel inclined to believe it then. Anything to make his lover happy.

He didn’t mention this before when the others were around listening to him, but the main reason he didn’t believe in the concept of Soulmates: Wouldn’t you feel bad for the one who was fated to a Monster? If Soulmates existed, he’d hope for his partner to find someone else and truly find happiness.