#hellboy and the gatekeeper 9

[danielfeketewrites]

Script Reading Challenge 2024

Back when I was studying screenwriting at University of Suffolk, we had an online guest lecture. I won't name the lecturer but one thing he said stuck with me.

He asked how many of us read at least 50 screenplays per year.

Obviously, none of us did. Outside of writing and reading for classes, we would read a few screenplays every year at most. None of us really had the time or motivation to read more of them.

Then he proclaimed that we should be thinking about something else for our futures, because if you can't be bothered to read at least one script every week, you are not serious about the industry.

Now, this is obviously a huge, steamy pile of gatekeepy bullshit. You don't need to read a script every week to be a screenwriter. You should read scripts if you want to writer them, obviously, but this is just gatekeeping. Fuck that.

And yet... This somehow stayed with me. I kept thinking: Maybe, if I can track my reading, I would be able to do this. If you read quickly enough, it doesn't take that much time - a page of a script should take up about a minute, so thats two hours of reading for an average-length feature film. It's a lot less for an episode of a TV show. Maybe I can even occasionally read some other stuff for this, like comic book scripts or stage plays and count that towards the goal...

So that's what I've decided to do. I'm going to read 52 scripts in 2024. Just to see if I can do it. I'll also try to share some thoughts about them and link those posts here. You can join me if you'd like. Although I'm not confident about many people doing that, as I'm posting it this quite a bit into January. Or maybe just join me in spirit, by reading my posts about this challenge. That's valid as well.

List of Scripts #SRC2024

January

Week 1: Rick and Morty: The Ricks Must Be Crazy ("Battery World") by Dan Guterman (TV)

Week 2: Hellboy by Guillermo del Torro (film)

Week 3: Red Dwarf: Polymorph by Grant Naylor (TV)

Week 4: Mr. Robot: eps1.0_hellofriend.mov by Sam Esmail (TV)

February

Week 5: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode One by Douglas Adams (TV)

Week 6: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode Two by Douglas Adams (TV)

Week 7: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode Three by Douglas Adams (TV)

Week 8: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode Four by Douglas Adams (TV)

March

Week 9: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode Five by Douglas Adams (TV)

Week 10: Doctor Who: Shada: Episode Six by Douglas Adams (TV)

Week 11: Brick (film)

Week 12: ---

Week 13: ---

April

Week 14: ---

Week 15: ---

Week 16: ---

Week 17: ---

May

Week 18: ---

Week 19: ---

Week 20: ---

Week 21: ---

June

Week 22: ---

Week 23: ---

Week 24: ---

Week 25: ---

Week 26: ---

I'll keep adding links whenever I get around to writing posts about the scripts.

[rainbowchewynuggets]

Hellboy & The Gatekeeper (pt 9)

The monstrous ancestor has nearly closed the gap between itself and the exit.

Hellboy hops from the ledge and surfs roughly down the wet clay wall. He pulls his gun and fires at the thing’s cracked body. It appears that breaking its bones apart isn’t enough. It animates itself in disjointed pieces like the ghost it is. Hellboy skids to the ground and catches his breath. It’s hard. The oppressive atmosphere makes his lungs heavy and cold. He can barely feel his limbs. Realizing he’s almost out of time, he turns his attention to the creature’s head.

A lucky attack sends some more boulders his way. He throws them at the nest of spines that cover the ancestor’s skull. Only a few break off each time. An agitated roar fills the cave. Claws narrowly miss pinning him against the wall. Repeat.

His windows of opportunity get narrower and narrower, especially when the monster pulls in one of its other hands to try to catch him. But he’s winning. With so many spines cleared away, he can see light shining through cracks around the thing’s eyes and temples. He keeps going. One more hit. Then two. The second one leaves a large star-shaped fracture square in the center of the field of stumps on its forehead.

The creature lunges. Hellboy sees it coming, but his legs fail to fire in time. He nearly gets thrown back through the light. His wind escapes him again.

Hellboy’s arms tremble as he hoists his frame off the ground. He rests on an elbow and readies the gun for one more shot. An earsplitting clamor erupts from the thing’s throat, but falls dull on Hellboy’s ears. The vibrations shake his arm. It doesn’t matter. His target is wide.

The muzzle flashes. A bullet rockets through the air toward the glowing cracked forehead.

It passes through without a sound, as if it were a mere projection in a horror show.

Hellboy looks at his gun. His fingers and the rocks beyond him are visible through the heavy gray steel. He looks at himself. He’s barely there.

Hellboy: Ugh… crap.

The monster opens its overfilled jaws even wider and bellows noise, as if to laugh.

The man stares at it with contempt. He can’t will himself to do much else.

That’s when he notices a tiny purple-white figure cresting the creature’s head. He squints to focus his tired eyes. It’s the Gatekeeper.

They climb unsteadily, either from keeping one hand around the long narrow support beam or from the powdery substance that falls from their body in sheets with every movement.

When they reach the damaged frontal bone of the ancestor’s skull, they plant their feet and stand up at their full height. They look to be closer to their original height, if a bit taller. The little Keeper raises the beam over their head. Big chunks of the possessed form fall away from their body like plaster. Angry tears stream from their eyes.

Gatekeeper: BEGONE!

The Gatekeeper plunges the rod through the wound on the thing’s face. Its skull collapses with a hollow sound. Its body instantly erupts in a flash of light. Its voice is gone in a clap of silence.

When the flash passes, the room is dark purple and lightless. The Keeper tumbles to the ground in a mass of wet dust. They get up in their old body again with a few more tendrils and warts than before. There’s a long thread growing just under their right eye. They rub it with their wrist as they run over and help Hellboy get to his feet. Everything is violently shaking.

G: We have to get out. Now!

Hellboy follows without the breath to answer.

They both step out of the dead world. The big man instantly finds the energy to move himself and lets the Keeper lead at a run. The floor of the temple violently undulates. Pillars as wide as oak trees shatter and crash into each other. Massive sharp chunks of overhanging coral fall all around them as they head back to where they came in.

Out in the dim valley, the same thing is happening to the townspeople. They pull each other out of their homes and run together in groups to evade the rapidly terraforming land.

Up in the Gate temple, the sand moves in waves so steep that the Keeper and Hellboy must leap from peak to peak and slide down the sides of mountains. The floor takes the walls with it as it bucks and rolls so that it becomes impossible to tell up from down.

They reach the coral forest. The entryway has been turned on its side, swallowing down the sand and whatever else like an open mouth.

The ground evens out at the bottom long enough for Hellboy to get his bearings among the shadows of the branches. The Keeper isn’t there. They shout down to him from where they've perched on the horizontal archway.

G: Go on! We’ll find our way somehow. When you get back, tell them… tell them all I’m sorry.

A beat passes between the two. The Keeper expects any variety of damning responses. But Hellboy only raises a hand in valediction.

H: Take care, kid.

They’re separated in falling rubble. Hellboy gets thrown headlong through freezing, burning dusty sand as the dimensions pull apart in waves of purple fire that grade to red and orange. Dust washes over him again and again, burying him deeper until there is no movement at all.

Deprived of air, Hellboy jerks awake.

He shoves his hand through the dust and touches open space. Worming his way out, he finds himself in the actual completely normal abandoned farmhouse basement, having emerged from a pile of purplish gray dust and ash. The evening light streaming through the hole in the ceiling casts a yellow silhouette over the empty stool and the charred stone floor.

He gets up with some difficulty and drags his aching carcass up the short staircase to fresh air.

The sun is about to set. Regina is still there, leaning on her truck to stretch her good leg. She spots him coming out of the basement doors and balks at his injuries.

Regina: Jeez. Did you get that thing, or did it get you?

H: Yeah, I got it.

R: You need a ride to the hospital?

He casually brushes the dust off of his shoulders.

H: Nah. I feel better already. But I could really use a phone.

R: There’s one at the bar in town.

H: Perfect.

————

Next

Prev

First

(Epilogue on Halloween! 🎃)

Index

[eddycurrents]

BPRD: Being Human - “The Dead Remembered”

Story: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie | Pencils: Karl Moline | Inks: Andy Owens | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in BPRD: The Dead Remembered #1-3 | April-June 2011

Collected in BPRD: Being Human

Plot Summary:

In 1976, Professor Bruttenholm takes Liz with him to investigate a haunting in Massachusetts that may have ties to the witch trials. While there, Liz experiences her first real crush, trying to come to terms with her powers and the ghosts that haunt her, both from the past and the present.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything found in the issues or collections.)

pg. 1 - Interesting cold open, on the confrontation of a “witch” by a mob threatening to do her ill. The terror in her eyes is aptly captured by Karl Moline, Andy Owens, and Dave Stewart here in the art.

It’s also interesting in that in our current understanding and hindsight, witches as envisioned by witch hunters, priests, and such during the height of the Salem Witch Trials don’t exist. These women were generally falsely accused out of politics, jealousy, spite, etc. or in the rare case where they exhibited some natural or scientific knowledge. No magic powers. No communion with the devil. So, in general, we often find stories in which these women are accused, the women are given a sympathetic outlook, because we don’t believe they’re actually “witches”.

In a world like Hellboy though, magic witches and demons do exist. The women can actually be what the people accuse them of. As such, it adds a certain level of doubt as to the veracity of the claims that otherwise wouldn’t be there. So you wonder, is she really a witch? And, if so, is she a good witch or a bad witch?

pg. 2 - And we’re into the present of the story in 1976. I absolutely love Hellboy and Bruttenholm here interacting as adults. It’s an interesting dynamic, also when it comes to Bruttenholm getting nostalgic about young Hellboy. It is funny to see a kind of inversion of HB wanting to go on a trip.

pg. 3 - It’s also great to see Hellboy acting like a big brother.

pg. 5 - One hell of a nightmare to carry around with you as baggage. Compared to the somewhat neutral palette (other than the vibrant reds), it’s interesting to see this explosion of bright colour for Liz’s memory from Stewart. It gives a very nice impact to how overwhelming it can be to Liz.

Also, there’s an idea put forward here that her “minders” are terrified of her. That’s got to do one hell of a number on a kid.

pg. 7 - Hellboy’s probably the most human and humane of any person at the Bureau. You really get the impression that he wants Liz to succeed and be “normal” (whatever that normal may be).

pg. 8 - I hate this car game. I have a few friends who do it still, and I always see it as a kind of gatekeeping and flouting of knowledge rather than the sharing of information that I know at least one of them means it as. I’m probably guilty of it in some regards as well.

The song is “Loves Me Like a Rock”, by the way. Which is kind of interesting since it involves the devil and being fooled.

Though Liz’s response of ultimately diving into reading is the perfect teenager reaction, regardless of time period.

pg. 9 - The Father’s dilapidated house is interesting. Who puts a priest out to pasture in the middle of nowhere?

pg. 11 - The incorporation again of Henry Hood is nice, as is the possible ties to the Whittier family we met earlier in The Whittier Legacy. That gives further credence that Anne perhaps actually is a witch.

I like the simple purple wash Stewart uses for the flashback.

pg. 13 - I like that the priest is building the possibility here of Anne’s innocence throughout the terrible ordeal. It sets up the idea that this could be a revenge haunting.

pg. 14 - It’s somewhat funny that the witch, or whatever it is at this point, would use fire to spook Liz. It feels like something intentional that a spirit would utilize in order to sew doubt in Bruttenholm.

pg. 15 - Which seems to have worked. You get the impression that Bruttenholm thinks that Liz caused the fire.

pg. 18 - Why is it always smudging? There are other ways to cleanse and purify an area, especially when you consider that Bruttenholm is a stodgy Brit (even if he has been living in America for at least 30 years at this point).

pg. 19 - Liz is also downright mean to Teddy here. I mean, it’s understandable given what just happened with the professor, but wrong target.

pg. 22 - Now that’s just creepy. The bullet hole in the back of her head just makes it even more terrifying.

pg. 24 - You’d think that this happening in the woods would clue the professor and the priest that it’s not necessarily the house that’s the problem, but no.

pg. 25 - It’s also kind of sad that Liz is effectively being unheard, disbelieved, and denied here. It would only further her feelings of alienation.

pg. 28 - It ultimately didn’t seem to stop Teddy, though...

pg. 30 - Teddy emphasizes that it always does seem to be the kids who know the truth. Also, that adults tend not to believe the kids.

pg. 31 - There’s something about those shell wind chimes.

pg. 33 - I think it’s kind of weird that Bruttenholm is still pursuing the ghost as if it’s in the house and not tied somewhere else. Sure, there are manifestations within the house, but his previous attempt at purification didn’t even get a little bit of cupboard rattling.

pg. 34 - Being concerned about occult methods now is a weird quirk.

pg. 36 - It would have to be scary to find out that you’re developing pyrokinetic powers. Add that to the usual problems that any adolescent goes through and this is just a recipe for a firebomb.

pg. 39 - It’s a wonder that Liz didn’t go into a permanent state of shock from this. Actually seeing the full flashover event that caused the death of her family, friends, and more is just horrifying.

pg. 40 - Also the guilt from knowing that her mother knew about her lie is clearly eating at her.

pg. 42 - Awkward...

pg. 43 - More about those wind chimes. Also, regardless of whether Anne Caldwell was guilty or not, the mob “justice” is just nasty. 

pg. 44 - The repetition of “Behold, I am against thee, saith the lord of hosts.” is interesting.

pg. 46 - I like the seeds of doubt planted as to who or what the ghost is, though Bruttenholm still seems to be looking in the wrong direction.

pg. 47 - This has got to be hard for a kid to understand. Also, Bruttenholm really isn’t great at interpersonal skills. He does at least seem to be trying.

pg. 48 - Third time’s the charm, right?

pg. 49 - It is good, though, that Bruttenholm seems to have finally clued in on what Liz really needs. Locking her up and treating her like a feral animal definitely isn’t good for her.

pg. 51 - I do like that the kids are taking the approach ultimately that the witch was the wronged party here.

pg. 52 - Or maybe she is evil.

Also, if this was what happened the first time I ever tried a cigarette, I’d never smoke. Ever. (I don’t and never have, but you get my point).

pg. 53 - The increasing severity of the storm is wonderfully depicted.

pg. 54 - Definitely evil.

pg. 55 - Just great art from Moline, Owens, and Stewart. The horror feel is intense.

pg. 58 - Liz being forced through the stages of Anne’s death in the present is very weird. It gives the impression that the witch wants her to experience something, 

pg. 60 - There’s an interesting line here about power. Giving you the impression that maybe Anne wants Liz as a vessel.

pg. 62 - That’s an impressive column of fire.

pg. 64 - Poor kid.

pg. 66 - Good on them. This is sweet.

Final Thoughts:

Liz is probably my favourite character outside of Hellboy himself. For a character who was going to die because Mike Mignola didn’t know what to do with her, she’s come very far, suffered a lot of adversity, come to terms with her own agency, and become the fire. This origin story, delving further into what happened regarding the death of her parents and also some of the formative events that clearly imprinted on who she became, paints a complicated picture out of fear, self-doubt, and building an abrasive personality in response to it.

It’s also really nice to see more art from Karl Moline. His art on the Liz-centric issue of War on Frogs was wonderful and he, with inks here from Andy Owens, was the perfect choice to come back to flesh out this period in her life. Also, his witches are creepy fantastic.

d. emerson eddy does not want to burn the witch.

[panicbox]

For the get to know you thing: 5, 9, 16, 18, 46, 65, 98, 99, 148, 190, 198, 200, 208, and 218. Hope that's not too many. :D

5: Book/series I reread? - I can't think of anything specific, but I am thinking about rereading the Harry Potter series9: Favourite flavour of anything?- Peach16: TV show I always recommend? - Schitt's Creek or Invader Zim18: Movie I watch when I'm feeling down? - Big Fish or Hellboy46: Do I play any instruments? - Yup. I can play the guitar, drums, harmonica and ukulele. 65: What fictional universe would I like to be a part of? - I bet a lot of folks would expect me to say Fallout but no no no lmao. I'm gonna go with Pokémon. 98: 3 things I love? - Music, my pets, and concerts 99: 3 things I hate? - Donald Trump, People who gatekeep in the punk community, and the Nick Valentine/Hancock ship 148: Which fictional character do I wish was real? - Preston Garvey. The world needs more people like him. 190: If I could time travel, where and when would I want to go? - I'd travel back to old gigs I've been to a see them again. (Discounting any heavy stuff here ocourse) 198: Zombies or vampires? Zombies200: Dragons or wizards? Dragons208: Do I collect anything? - I collect vinyl toys, ukuleles, Fallout/Elderscrolls/band merch, mewtwo memorabilia, enamel pins, art.... lots a stuff, really((Couldn't find the last question I'm afraid D:))

[rainbowchewynuggets]

Hello, and welcome

For everybody’s convenience, I’m gonna try to keep an index of quick links to the stuff I’ve made pinned to the front of my blog for the time being. I figure it’ll be a little more universally accessible than separate pages, given how wacky navigation can be (especially for mobile users). Lemme know how I can make improvements.

vvv INDEX UNDER CUT vvv

ORIGINAL WORK

NEW!!!

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE - 7.28.24

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE - 7.28.24

THE NIGHT FESTIVAL / CHUNCHO

- Chuncho Pic Archive:  1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

THE GREATEST BATTLE (ANIMATIC from my old blog)

BFF, BEAUTIFUL SOUND (ANIMATICS)

RAGS

POSTER

sketches: SK1 - SK2

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NIGHT HUNTERS (COMIC)

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STORY NUGGETS (TEXT)

Friends at War - Easy Magic

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UNSUCOTH

Characters

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FANWORKS

TMA: ENCORE (COMIC)

COVER - PART 0 - PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4 - PART 5 - PART 6 - PART 7 - CHANGE OF PLANS - PART 8 - PART 9 - PART 10 - PART 11a - PART 11b - PART 12 - PART 13a - PART 13b - PART 13c - IMPORTANT MESSAGE - PART 14a - PART 14b - PART 15 - PART 16 - EPILOGUE

sketches: #4 Sks - The Hands - In Reverse - Jon n Bruno - Dance With Me - Really, Jane? - Lyrics - Gerry, L.E. - Mike n Niko - Umbrella - Tim n Sasha - Sketchy Sasha -  Martin :3 - Jon Comp - Beanie Baby - JMart - Jude’s Fuse - Jon Smol - Those Guys - Tim’s Shirts - Jane Cometh - Fanart Kiss

HELLBOY & THE GATEKEEPER (COMIC)

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4 - PART 5 - PART 6 - PART 7 - PART 8 - PART 9 - PART 10

PSYCHONAUTS SIDE BLOG (COMICS, MISC.)

WWDITS (GALLERY)

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DELTARUNE (COMICS, MISC.)

KRIS’ DRESS - SPAMTON (AND GUEST) - CH.2 SKETCHES

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NIER AUTOMATA (COMIC)

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SPIDERSONAS

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OTHER ART

MY SON, GNASHER - MY SECOND SON, SPECTER - 

MY FRIEND, CROWBOBOT - PRIDE :) - HER - FELIX

THERE’S WAY MORE ON MY WEBSITE - note: My website is currently down because I’ve left Wix in support of Palestine. For These Reasons.AN