#i feel like i need to go all out for lisa frankenstein

[lovelaceisntdead]

Decided I will not get it cut she's just going to do my roots so that will make me feel better.

OKAY I'm supposed to be getting my haircut on monday but I'm thinking. I skip it.

[mossterious]

Something really poignant about Lisa Frankenstein, to be at least, is the fact that when the creature attacks Janet, it’s not when she’s being rude to her. It’s not when she’s just saying rude things, or beoittling Lisa, or anything. It’s when Janet says that she’s going to admit Lisa.

Because the creature is from the 1830s. And even if he knows about modern culture and inventions, which he sort of seems to?, he’s still FROM the 1830s. And when Janet says the word admitted, he hears the word committed. When Janet says Serenity Manor, he knows that that means an asylum. And he knows what asylums are. They are dangerous places. They are places where you’re stripped of all autonomy. They are places where you send people away to become someone else’s problem, and they normally don’t come back. And so he attacks. He protects Lisa.

And I think that draws a really important comparison between what asylums were, and what mental care is now. Because in a lot of ways, it isn’t much better. There’s still a lot of abuse in the system. There’s still a complete lack of autonomy. There’s still so much ableism and bias within the system. And people are still sent there to get them out of other peoples ways, rather than strictly to help them. And, sure, this movie is set in the 80s, so it’s not exactly modern. I mean, the movie points out that times are different. But with Janet, it almost seems intent on pointing out of similar everything is. Sending Lisa to a psych ward. The diet culture. The “intuitive person” thing. That one line about narcissists needing to be vanquished. And all these things are still a pretty big issue now.

There’s just a lot of comparison. ESPECIALLY a lot of comparison when it comes to disability and madness in these three distinct time periods. And like, it’s obvious that mental health was used as a weapon against people, and especially WOMEN, in the 1830s. But Lisa Frankenstein highlights that in the 80s, it was still a weapon! And that psych ward programs still poses a threat. Theres a comparison between how Janet and Lisa’s dad erase Lisa’s grief and say that she’s “acting out” compared to female hysteria of the creature’s time. There’s also the creature’s reaction to being physically disabled vs Lisa’s, with Patch and everything, but that honestly is another post entirely.

I just think that the discussion of mental health in this film is really important and, frankly, really well done. Especially especially especially through the lens that Lisa is a girl. And Lisa Frankenstein is a movie about GIRLHOOD. And so the movie took the extra step to talk about the denial of women’s feelings and specifically grief, and the pathologization of them. When women feel in a way outside of a norm, they’re wrong. They’re crazy. They’re dangerous. And idk I just think it’s done really well and the comparisons are all right there.

And this is all in a movie based on Frankenstein. This is all about a character based on Victor Frankenstein. The MAD scientist. So I feel like it all fits together incredibly well.

[vilebird]

BOTH TOO MUCH AND NOT ENOUGH

1) "I have been found wanting, Natalie thought; I have made myself unacceptable and am not worthy." - hangsaman, by shirley jackson

2) text: "meat must be beaten brutal into tenderness, that any body softens with violence, she grinds salt into the carcass, like a wound, a memory". image: a carcass of beef, cleaned, with the ribs on prominent display, painted in oils and rendered in thick strokes of red, orange, tan and white, on a plain dark red background. the text is cutouts on top, dark red text on light tan. - Family Portrait as Unfinished Meal, by Torrin A. Greathouse and Le Bœuf by Chaim Soutine. collage put together by @invisiblemonstrosity

3) a pale hand crushing ripe red strawberries, green leaves still attached, on a plain white background. - apparently by ouiloved on flickr, but they seem to have deleted.

4) bust photo of a tan person with a spotlight on them outside in the dark, head turned down, shoulder length messy wet black hair obscuring their face. their hand is raised to their chest and they are wearing a white tank top. fake blood is splattered and wiped around their chest and mouth. - i can't actually find this one all my attempts lead back to unsourced tumblr posts if you know where its from. help me

5: "You have no one who has any sort of consideration for you. You have had patience and endurance, and what have they done for you? Half-killed you." - carlyle’s house and other sketches, by virginia woolf

6: "try your whole life to be righteous and be good, wind up on your own floor, choking on blood" - sept 15th 1983, by the mountain goats

7: "such a waste of a girl, such rumination. i am obsessive. i contain nothing but the replay. i am blood and blood and replay. i am please don't go." - i put the coffin out to sea, by lisa marie basile

8: an image of a partially bald baby bird begging for food, drawn in the desaturated greens and black of a trailcam, on top, the text reads "i am asking you for something i need", on bottom, the text reads "why is it so hard to give it to me?" - trailcam baby, by @quezify

9: "was i raised without love? / or was i born unloveable?" - @psychwarded

10: "I, in my corner, with my monstrous needs." - As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh, susan sontag

11: "oh, i know that i'm not whole, and sometimes feel the flies swarming, like much of me is rotten." - roadkill ode, chad abushanab

12: a photo of a cut tree where much of the centre is rotted from fungus, accompanied by the text: "heart rot in pine. heart rot is the softening of a pine trees resinous heartwood, caused by an in-dwelling fungus. not all pines have it, but those that do make the excavation of a tree-hole next cavity easier for the red-cockaded woodpecker."

13: "rot made a home inside my body." - i know it's from "bloat" but cant find the authors name again. i think it starts with a c?

14: photo of an abandoned house in shades of brown and beige and orange, the walls are wet and scuffed and the drywall has been torn open in places, exposing the old lath. - abandoned, by @jaggedplains

15: photo of a mouldy strawberry, fading from bright red to grey-green fluff - Strawberry Gray Mold disease stock photo, by MediaProduction on gettyimages

16: "you ever feel like you were born with something rotten inside you and if people get close enough they're gonna find out" - tumblr post by @twoheadedfawnn

17: "we are meat, we are potential carcasses,' he once said. 'if i go into a butcher's shop i always think it is surprising that i wasn't there instead of the animal." - francis bacon

18: "you dangle on the leash of your own longing; your need grows teeth." - speeches for dr frankenstein, by margaret atwood

19: photo of a python hanging off a roof coiled around a black and white bird, poised to eat it - i heard some noise on the roof this morning, by candycane7 on reddit

20: "all that matters is that you want to hurt me. all that matters is that you want me." - when rome falls, by yves olade

21: "god told me i was forgiven and then he split me open" - god is made of hunger and i am made of dreams, by katie maria

22: "but this is not about love. once a pig is hung and cut straight, cut from rectum to neck, step inside her death like it is a room: that is how to touch her now. the lord said, you must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses. then came the end of the rib." - oh let's just be hogs, by gregory emilio

23: photo of a strawberry cut in half with its leaves attached. it is bright red, steel knife wet. the background is bright white and plain. - cut strawberry by liz west on flickr

24: photo of a handmade cloth sculpture of a dead autopsied pigeon, red zipper like an incision opening to its empty red interior, small cloth and thread organs arranged around it. - pandora: city pigeon, by jessica bartram

25: '"u need a therapist" actually i need to be euthanized' - tumblr post by deactivated user @122mg

[intrepidacious]

about that night (the bugs and the dirt)

summary: You never talk about that night, and Bucky never asks. Even though he can't help but suspect something is wrong.

pairing: bucky barnes x witch!reader

word count: 1.2k

warnings: past character death and vague mentions of blood (yk, spooky stuff); there's no actual dialogue in this and the characters are worse for it 💛 please note that my blog is rated 18+. minors dni. ageless/empty blogs will be blocked without warning.

a/n: it only took me three years but i finally managed to finish a fic in time for halloween 😌🎃 i genuinely don't know how to describe the vibes of this except buffy the vampire slayer season six meets "if lisa frankenstein was a drama" meets hozier's like real people do. have fun 🫶🏼

masterlist | read on ao3

Something’s wrong.

Something’s been wrong for a while, but Bucky can’t quite put his finger on it. It’s a fragile thing, this knowledge, this certainty, lingering at the back of his mind like the dim light of a forgotten lamp, shimmering, seeping through the cracks.

Whenever he asks you, you tell him that everything is fine, and he wants to believe you, desperately. You wouldn’t lie to him, you with your luminous eyes and your soft smile. Deceptions would taste foul on your lips.

But something’s wrong.

It’s all wrong.

He’s always been too smart for his own good, and he’s going to find out, you know he will, but that’s precisely why you can’t let him. He’s going to know how far you’ve fallen, and he’s going to despise you for it.

So he forgets.

Sometimes, when he wakes up, his tongue is heavy with bile and dirt, his eyes crusted shut with something worse than bad dreams. Sometimes, when he listens closely, he can hear the air humming with lost hymns that are not from this earth.

Maybe he should’ve gotten used to that, by now; your walls have always had ears and mouths and eyes, after all. That’s the price for loving a witch, you’d say, back in the days when your smiles came easy. Wherever you are, you’re never alone.

It’s different than he remembers, though, even through the cracked and blurry pictures of his memories, his foggy mind, but he can’t put his finger on why. Darker. Colder. Damp. It’s like something has left.

Doubt follows his every waking hour, even more so when he tries to think of that night.

That night.

Oh, that night.

The taste of blood on your lips when you kissed him, desperately, like you hadn’t seen him in months. The muddy streaks on your arms when he looked at you in the pale moonlight, the scrape of dirt underneath your fingernails. It had been raining. You smelt like pain.

What had you been digging?

He needs to forget about that night and what it actually was you’d dug up, then. You’d told him you’d had to bury an animal that had gotten lost and died in the garden, and it was a half-truth even by the most generous account.

Dark, evil things happened that night, and no matter their intent, you were the sum of them.

You’d sacrificed a lamb to dig up a wolf.

He doesn’t remember your answer now, but it must’ve been enough for him, then. It must have been.

So he doesn’t ask again, no matter how hard uncertainty tugs on his lungs.

On that old, familiar path, he follows you home and feels like a stranger.

The blood itself was the easiest to wash off, and maybe that was the worst part. In the human world, crime rarely disappeared without a trace, but magic always left its mark.

You remember tumbling on your way back, almost tripping over your doorstep, a sudden pulse of energy pulling the breath from your lungs. These were your own four walls, the ones you’d blessed yourself, tended to and looked after for years, and they seemed to recoil.

Bucky caught your arm without even looking, catching you like he always had, and you crossed the threshold together. You looked at him, then, for the first time since the graveyard. You could feel his pulse under your grip, his heartbeat strong and loud enough to be mistaken for your own, but his gaze so uncertain, like he wasn’t sure he actually belonged here.

With you.

You made up your mind right then and there. He could never know.

You stir your tea as you always do, and you’ve set out his cup on the kitchen table. Alpine paws at it before he can pick it up, a fierce growl accompanying the sound of smashing porcelain.

She’s been angry with both of you, and he doesn’t know why. She keeps hissing at him, and she refuses to sit on your lap when you study your books next to the fireplace like she always used to. Like she’s punishing you in whatever little way she can for a crime he doesn’t understand.

You sigh, and you repair the cup with a flick of your wrist, and then you don’t reach out to pet that spot behind Alpine’s ears.

It’s little things like that.

And it’s your tired eyes.

Of course, no one else can know either; it’s not a risk you’re willing to take.

If Bucky notices the phone’s been unplugged all this time, he’s never said a word. He’s never been much for talking, anyway, but he does it even less so these days. You’ve both turned quiet around each other, but the only thing that matters is that you’re both still here.

Even now, you can feel the dark powers humming through your veins, just like you could that night. You hear the whispers calling out your name and see the shadows at the very periphery of your vision. They follow you into your dreams until you give up on them, slipping out of the warm embrace of your bed to hunch over the tome again, again, just a little more.

Perhaps you should worry about repercussions, but what for? After all, everything you did that night, you did out of love.

Everything you’ve done, you’ve done for him.

Sometimes, he doesn’t notice them for a very long time, and then it hits him all over again just how exhausted you look. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, your side of the bed is empty and the roof of his mouth tastes like ash and decay. In those moments, he thinks he might still be dreaming; his bones are heavy and cold and unyielding, and he lies there like something forgotten, and all of his thoughts revolve around you.

He’s so worried about you.

He wants to ask if it’s something he’s done. He wants to know if he can make it better, make you smile again like you always did at the sight of him, every time. But he’s afraid of the answer.

You’ve not been yourself and you know it, but at this point, you feel unable to stop it. It’s too late, anyway. The dead already walk to earth, and you’re the one to blame. You’re the one to thank.

Sometimes, the thought does hit you that there’s something a little wrong with you these days. But then he looks at you and he smiles, and you’re young and foolish and in love all over again, that weight of all those weeks of screaming and crying lifted with every glance, every touch, every kiss.

This, the uncertainty, is the worst part of it. It becomes his closest companion, and it only lifts slightly when you return to him, if only for a moment. When you do smile, when you put your hands around his neck and kiss him and he can feel real again, feel like himself again.

He barely notices that you will only look him in the eye when it’s dark, when he can lose himself in your touch, foreheads pressed together, breaths heavy and mingling, the only real creatures in the world. The sweetest thing he’s ever tasted.

Maybe you are wrong. Maybe you are wicked and evil and rotten to the core, and maybe there’ll be hell to pay for it yet.

But you’re not sorry.

hearing hozier perform "like real people do" as a duet with victoria canal changed lives y'all

thank you for reading!! if you want to see more of my writing, check out my masterlist or follow @intrepidacious-fics for update notifications!! also, comments are trick or treats that last all year long. just saying 💛

oh, before we leave, here's an extra shoutout to @brandycranby for telling me this was fun and the perfect length. i accidentally made it longer again. love u 🫶🏼

[barrencelenny]

I feel like fic recs tend to be things that are complete, so I thought I'd rec some things that haven't been updated in a while (>a year) or abandoned, but I still like to go back and reread

with links and comments under the cut <3

Poured Over Ice in an Old-Fashioned Glass by prepandemicwriting (bealeciphers) [2016-02-04, 28k]

-classic bartender!barry fic. they're both kinda disasters all around? hilarious

Run Away With Me by asexual-fandom-queen (2016-05-23, 14k]

-the only time asking someone to run away with you has ever worked lmao.

Painting the Roses Red by Solarcat [2016-07-01, 20k]

-Family of Rogues but there's a third snart sibling that Len's got to protect. Lucy Snart that only exists in this fic and my brain ily <3

I bet these memories follow you around by MissSugarPlum [2017-06-07,5k]

-Lisa and Barry in high school at the same time, Barry being tiny and full of rage, Lisa being reluctantly charmed, mwah. chef's kiss.

Bolt from the Blue by town_without_heart [2017-06-16, 170k]

-pre-canon meeting is always delicious to me. eobard being aware of it is the cherry on top (what a creeper)

The Good in You (the Bad in Me) by blue_wonderer [2017-08-02, 26k]

-I have a soft spot for fics where Barry and Lisa are friends what can I say. set pre-canon, and barry is a goddamn delight

Get Me Through The Night by Mentalrebel [2017-08-07, 11k]

-super interesting formatting. it's a lifeline au? I have no idea what that it, but it's fun

Ties and Barricades by yersifanel [2017-09-01, 10k]

-pre-canon meet-ugly where len kidnaps his soulmate as part of his getaway.

Realignment (time & company) by writerdragonfly [2018-02-13, 12k]

-me? rec a time travel fic? of course. time traveller's wife au. gives some really interesting backstory to Len's mother/family

Unexpected Development by nirejseki [2018-04-05, 20k]

-it's so funny it's practically a crack fic. calling the reverse flash Mr. Banana is an inspired choice

since I can remember I've been runnin' from you by youmakemesoangry [2019-01-26, 14k]

-barry getting haunted by post oculus len yes oh yes

Sticky Fingers by MoriartyMastermind [2019-03-05, 18k]

-barry stealing wallets as the flash is like objectively funny okay

Resonance by Moriavis [2019-06-16, 40k]

-looove a soulmate fic and this one is so unique. Barry and Len meet when Barry's still a child, and it ends before they meet as adults, so really it's mainly a Leonard snart character study

Ice and Lightning by vomitingwords [2020-03-26, 2k]

-potentially the only figure skating au for this ship?

Zero to Sixty by scrubmarine [2020-06-26, 25k]

-barry meeting len out of costume because he's running away from Iris is a hilarious set up, and he kind of deserves it

Just Friends by Thundersnow [2021-08-11, 168k]

-a classic fake dating au, trying to figure out how a blueberry coffee could taste good has been a question that has followed me for years.

Shiva by crestfaller [2021-11-07, 17k]

-I always need more fics dealing with the loss of Henry tbh, and this is a really good exploration of grief.

What It Might Cost by Kateera [2022-05-17, 20k]

-a classic deaging fic, len is heartbreakingly cute

Stand Still by Taste_of_Bitterness [2022-09-15, 25k]

-len doesn't go on the waverider after running to stand still. Barry's kind of a mess here, tbh?

I Think I Love You by youmakemesoangry [2023-05-03, 67k]

-it's post Len and mick's legends trip, and they're helping out team flash. there's a truth spell involved. It's a classic trope. (also there's this bit where mick's reading Frankenstein and he calls creature victor's kid, and that's such a mood, my gothic fiction class spent like an hour talking about his daddy issues once)

[thebowieconstricker]

HIIIII, I noticed you are writing Lisa Frankenstein/ the creature and I just wanted to give u like a writing idea ( also the creature is SO FREAKING UNDERRATED AND HES SO FINE)

What if the readers just had a bad day, didn’t go as planned ect and the creature takes them to dance in the backyard (like in that one scene) and ends it all with him laying on the readers chest and it’s all cuddles n kisses. Like idk he seems the cuddly kind

masterlist

AN: THIS WAS SUCH A LOVELY REQUEST UGHHHH

He is SO the cuddly kind, he loves making his partner feel so special and I’m certain that after being in a grave for so long, the poor baby is touch starved.

It took me a while to get around to writing ‘cause I needed inspiration (aka today sucked and I needed comfort lololololol) anyways our beloved Creature is here to love and comfort!!!! Y’all enjoy <333

~~~

Whoever said senior year was gonna be “different” was a liar.

Three lousy years of stressing over tests, dodging shoulders in the hallways, and crying in your room for what? More homework? More essays? More friends distancing themselves from you and all you can do is watch?

It was hard to make friends in the first place, never mind keep them. You’ve never been the pinnacle of extroverted-ness, so when you thought you’d finally made some pals, you were grateful.

Even if it felt strange sometimes, like when you were always the last one to find out about parties. Like when they always forgot to save a seat for you, or wait up for you.

Like when you had found out they had all planned a movie night tonight without you.

“You can come if you want?” The only thing they could say.

Bullshit, you thought.

So, you weren’t going. You didn’t want another night of awkward small-talk and laughing at inside jokes you were on the outside of.

You had homework, anyways.

Walking to your front door, you noticed your parent’s cars weren’t home. They both had to work pretty late, but you wondered how late tonight would be.

However, this didn’t mean you wouldn’t have company.

You see, through a pretty complicated series of events, you had managed to raise a little hell of your very own. Currently living in your house was a creature, a once living man who had risen from the grave, caked in dirt and grime with electricity coursing through his veins.

A terrifying prospect, one would imagine.

Nay. He was actually just a huge dork.

You never completely understood why he had taken up such a fascination with you, but what you did understand was that the two of you shared a connection. You got each other in ways no one else had. So, after you had gotten over your initial shock at his existence, you had cleaned him up and offered him a place to stay.

Anyways, you opened your door, only to immediately hear the faint sounds of gentle piano. You smiled to yourself.

“I’m home,” you called, somewhat defeatedly. A voice grunted back. You walked to the living room and there your monster man sat, hands gliding ever-so-elegantly across the plastic keys of your keyboard. He paused his playing to look at you. Immediately, he smiled, his eyes brightening. He gave you a small wave, which you returned with a grin that didn’t reach your eyes.

Somehow, he noticed.

He quirked an eyebrow, then pointed towards yourself.

You okay?

Embarrassed, you looked away. Yes, you knew emotions were valid and all that, but it didn’t make you feel any more comfortable sharing your feelings. Avoiding eye contact, you took a breath.

“It was a long day.” That’s all you said.

You heard a gruff sigh in response, which you took to mean I understand. What happened next surprised you, though.

He actually stood up from his piano. You looked back to him and watched as he made his way over to you. He then offered a hand.

You looked at his face. When you had first met him, it was covered in sludge and moss. His face had been completely unreadable. Now, although he was still unnatural looking, his expression was compassionate. His eyes twinkled with kindness, with pure intentions. He was trying to help.

You took his hand, the small grin on your face never leaving. He nodded and gave it a soft kiss, ever the gentleman. Then, much quicker than you expected, he dragged you to the backyard.

You laughed following after him, making exclamations of “woah, wait, slow down!” He continued, and soon, the two of you were in your family’s fairy-light illuminated backyard. It was dark enough to see a few stars in the sky, but what shone the brightest was the moon. You looked out at the dark realm and, once again, your eyes fell upon the creature. He seemed at home in the darkness, a welcome sight.

He looked at you with a grin and bowed.

You giggled. “Wait, if we do this, we need music.” A small radio sat on the sidewalk around your backyard, and you quickly bent down and clicked the play button. The first few notes of one of your favorite songs rang out.

You then looked back at the creature, who flexed his wrist towards you.

Well?

You raised your eyebrows, enjoying the sass. You bowed in return, as regally as you possibly could.

And then, you were swept into his arms. The music was upbeat enough that soon enough, the two of you were twirling each other around. He lifted you into the air by your hips, looking up at you like you’d hung the moon. You raised your arms towards the sky, ‘woo’ing and laughing. Once you were back down, the two of you moved to a more gentle rhythm, lightly swaying back and forth. You steadied your breathing and he smiled looking at you.

After a while, the two of you ended up lying down side by side on the fake grass, staring up at the stars. You had leaned your head on his shoulder, finding comfort in his presence.

“Thanks for… this.” You said in a sigh. He hummed beside you. “No, seriously. This was-“ suddenly, your eyes were watery and you sniffed.

Concerned, he sat up to look at you. “Oh, no, I’m fine.” You tried to stop the tears but suddenly, they were here. Sitting up, you wiped one from your cheek. “Shoot, my makeup.” You whispered to yourself. He quickly moved his hand to gather your other tears, taking care around your eyes. His eyebrows were knitted together with so much worry.

“Sorry, I just- I really appreciate this.” You admitted between tears. His eyes widened, and then he nodded, smiling. He took your hand gently, so so gently, and gave it a small squeeze.

Once again, you leaned your head on his shoulder, then wrapped your other arm around his, a new desire to hold him taking over. His grip on your hand tightened as his thumb caressed it.

The two of you sat in silent understanding, watched only by the twinkling stars above. As the music faded into the night, you felt comforted. This horrible day was over, and now you were safely in the arms of someone you loved.

Loved. You hadn’t thought that word before.

You snuggled your face into the crook of his neck, making yourself comfortable. He laughed lightly to himself at your antics. You felt a soft kiss on the top of your head, making your face warm.

Later, you would find yourselves in a pile of pillows and blankets, stargazing. You laid upon them, fingers tangled in your love’s hair while his head rested on your chest. You’d giggled to yourself when he first put it there, but it seemed right. As one of your hands played with his hair, he traced patterns on the other. Occasionally, it received a soft kiss. As you rambled endlessly about friends and classes and anything else, he listened. Even though he was silent, you knew he listened.

Loved, you thought to yourself.

Sounds about right.

[mswyrr]

finally saw Lisa Frankenstein

SPOILERS BELOW

i love that this movie is about true love and the writing has no compunction about needing to pretend like true love has to be between moral people - soulmates can be kind of selfish assholes who are nonetheless absolutely perfect for each other and tender and good to each other

and i love, after choking on so many heroines who are so pure it's inhuman in recent YA (which I largely only read for canon f/f) for Lisa to just be... so id-tastic and her story to be driven by the intense feelings of teenage girl coming-of-age stuff that gets prettied up and erased

she was internalizing her pain the way a good girl is "supposed to" -she was hurting so much that she wished she was dead with him. instead, he comes to her and they BOTH come more and more alive as he kills the people who hurt her. in increasingly "unfair" ways because it's not about right & wrong

he's kind of her dark side, speaking to and expressing the things she's shoved down inside along with her will to live - as he acts those things out, as she is complicit and eggs it on, covering for him and feeding him the attempted rapist as a victim, her will to live comes back

but they don't do the "maleficent" (and the whole "bad girl but in a safe way" kind of story) thing of making Lisa's dark side "safe" and her only fairly getting revenge - the darkness the Creature speaks to and acts out is not fair, it is not safe or contained.

instead of internalizing her pain, Lisa shares in externalizing it and making other people hurt and she blossoms into herself. and who she is is a bit cringe in the best possible way? she's embracing her own life energy, or own crazy selfish lustful weird set of desires.

it's about Lisa's feelings and what she WANTS, morals enter nowhere into it. except when it comes to Taffy - the one person who really tried to love her at her most broken. everyone else abandoned Lisa emotionally--including her father--but Taffy tried to be there, as awkward as that could be at times

speaking of which: Taffy and Lisa make an interesting contrast to Needy and Jennifer from Jennifer's Body (also a film by Diablo Cody and she says they both take place in the same storyverse). both Jennifer and Lisa decide that what makes them feel most alive is embracing their inner monster, but Taffy doesn't go all "i have to kill the beast" the way Needy does. i like this much better. Taffy is wearing Lisa's mom's rosary at the end and, by doing so, accepting Lisa's "I love you" despite everything Lisa did. whereas Needy ends up ripping off the BFF necklace and rejecting Jennifer's love. In my mind the two films are a tale of two necklaces now lol - one where the "good" girl rejects the monster girl and the other where she accepts that love and carries it with her.

[allegg]

Lisa Frankenstein has got to be one of the best films I’ve seen recently. (Slight spoilers)

First of the colours used throughout are gorgeous, even in scenes where it’s just daylight the vibes of it all are so gothic and just jaw dropping.

That scene when so goes from the party to the graveyard then to that dream? Perfect 10/10 it tell you all you need to know by doing so little but with so much style.

I also just love that lisa betters herself throughout the film. She finds a guy who loves her and praises her so she starts to believe it and try out new things and she gets more confident, she opens up to her step sister who she wasn’t able to confide to before. She goes from scared and nervous to confident and charismatic. Genuinely an amazing arc. It’s simple but well executed.

The creature itself was amazing, people have already pointed it out how he uses parts of the people who have hurt lisa, the step mothers ear for not listening, that guys hand by hurting her with that hand and that guys dick that she wanted to fuck but betrayed her by sleeping with her taffy instead. He truly loves her and wants her to feel safe and happy.

Their relationship is just so pure and healthy? Like bitch I want that!!! I want a zombie boyfriend!!!

Btw the costumes were fantastic. Especially Lisa’s which you can tell were inspired by magenta from rocky horror. Also her movements in that final outfit were so graceful I felt like I was about to cry.

This movie is brilliant so if you haven’t seen it then please go watch it

[memelleity]

lisa frankenstein sentence starters

i think it’s really peaceful and quiet.

____ says it’s a waste of time to try and fix a boy. it’s better to just accept a guy’s flaws.

i wish i was with you.

we killed two people! i could get the clink for life or the electric chair!

you have so much potential.

how will i ever repay you?

things have been moving fast, but i want that.

i know when something’s wrong.

i thought that was gonna last forever, but it didn’t, you know?

i’m okay. i’m fine. it’s okay. i’m good.

not until we bury the body.

i’m not crazy!

“time heals all wounds.” but that’s a lie. time is the wound. takes you further and further from that place when you were happy.

i want to take you somewhere that’s very meaningful to me.

you love me?

it’s okay. one step. right foot, left foot. hold my hand.

i don’t play with dolls anymore.

how about i drive, since you’re not feeling so good?

don’t tell ____ i said this, but it’s actually kind of nice not having her in town.

have you been here before?

not that kind of cure. it’s a band. they can’t make you better. i mean, they can, but… emotionally.

let’s find somewhere for you to sit for a bit, yeah?

you said sisters share.

this whole place gives me the creeps, okay?

you act like you’re happy for me and you care about me, but you’re not really happy for me.

i can never ever talk about it. for personal and legal reasons, and i also pinkyswore.

i knew. i always know. i’m an i.p. intuitive person.

thank you for being nice to me when no one else was.

what happened to your neck?

is it peaceful down there?

i don’t know why i’m talking so much. i haven’t said this many words in a row in forever.

you don’t think i should do it?

is that a rad new trend or something?

you want to be the smart one who likes cool stuff, and you don’t want your girlfriend to like cool stuff. do you know how uncool that is?!

i hate to say it, but you are either crazy or you’re just goddamned inconsiderate.

people are so afraid of death, ‘cause they don’t know when it’s gonna happen to them. it could be an axe murderer, could be the flu, but they don’t know and they hate that.

your boobs look great, by the way.

i don’t know what you’re talking about.

you fixed your bangs! you know, i wasn’t gonna say anything, they were such a mess… but you look amazing now!

i don’t think i’ve ever heard you talk this much.

how about an apology?

it just was never gonna work out between us.

i do wax rubbings of all the tombstones. i have a favorite.

how do you know my name?

i have to get, uh, dressed.

it doesn’t even hurt anymore.

why me? why must i feel so strongly?

you have no idea how scary this is!

let’s not jump to conclusions.

i mean, you don’t need one of those to be a man. it’s actually, like, the least important part, really.

it’s been a difficult day.

i don’t know how i was ever afraid of you.

i’m sorry if this is too much. i know it’s all so new.

i tell you everything.

it’s your fault we’re screwed!

i’m not afraid of death anymore.

i hate parties like this.

did you love her?

this is an active crime scene!

sorry, how do we know each other?

that was an accident.

i feel like i want to apologize for what may have happened last night.

i don’t want to die a virgin.

they’re just things that make you different.

i’m sorry. i don’t mean to be rude. i just didn’t get much sleep last night.

you’re being so dramatic.

i gotta go change my pad.

you’re a great person, ____. and i’m sorry i hurt you.

what do you think happened?

i swear, i would never do that to you.

why are you here?

um, that’s like a… it’s like a back massager.

i’m psychic. also, i think it’s gonna rain.

do you know what happens to people who act out?

that’s really weird, ____.

i love you.

who’s your favorite director of all time?

you should probably get up.

that does sound like the exact description of the hamburglar.

oh, come on. you’re not gonna tell me?

i wished i was in the ground, dead.

what is wrong with you?

you saved me.

just give it a chance.

after ____ died, everyone was in such a hurry to go back to normal. and they kept acting like i had a problem because i couldn’t stop missing her. started to feel like i was going crazy.

shit is transpiring, man.

oscar wilde said, “to define is to limit.”

oscar the grouch said, “scram.”

why didn’t you tell me?

we all have to spend more time together as a family. how can we brady if we don’t bunch?

i just don’t think anyone should be forgotten.

you know i’m usually pretty cool about things, right? but i have a bad feeling about this.

will you cover for me?

i tend to his grave and leave him flowers and… i talk to him sometimes.

you have everything! you couldn’t let me have this one thing?

is there pizza left?

i want to help you. i really do, but i don’t know how.

you don’t want to hold my hand?

i’m really sorry you got electrocuted.

[artbyblastweave]

It's always tickled me how Butcher's backstory is so similar to Lisa's from Worm

(This is about Butcher from The Boys, not Butcher from Worm) Oh yeah, the parallels are super strong- they're both seasoned manipulators (relatively in Lisa's case, but the dynamic is present) with a cloak-and-dagger info-mongering approach to asymmetrical warfare against the Powers That Be, who take a directionless, traumatized and inexperienced neophyte under their wing, try to play the Morpheus role in introducing them to the Way Things Really Work, using them as a morality pet-slash-replacement goldfish for a deceased sibling. The distinctions are interesting too. Lisa is a manipulative Infomonger because that's how she likes to do her business- she lives for the Sherlock thing, she needs to be the smartest in the room. It's not purely instrumental for her. Butcher, by contrast, is similar to Taylor in that to the extent that he's subtle or clever, it's purely because he doesn't have the luxury of just annihilating the problem with overwhelming firepower- and indeed, the second he gets it, subtlety went out the window for him. Another interesting thing is that Lisa is, by most measures, probably a better person than Butcher, even though Butcher's conflict with Vought is, in the abstract, much more morally straightforward, with fewer moving parts, than any conflict Lisa ever has with the Heroes; the gray for Butcher is in terms of the horrible depths he's willing to sink to in order to beat the evil monolith of Vought, while the gray of Worm is in how everyone kinda sucks but most parties are genuinely working towards what they see as a greater good. And of course there's the Frankenstein thing with Lisa; a "what-have-I created" moment where her greatest failure is that she feels like she greased the wheels on Taylor's upward spiral, that her attempt to reach out and help someone really just enabled her to deal out and suffer damage at a level far in excess of what Tattletale herself ever got up to. Whereas with Butcher, a major recurring theme is that he simply can't or won't drag Hughie down to his level. In the comic Hughie's allergy to efficacy went hand-in-hand with the fact he was the only member of the main cast capable of existing happily outside the nightmare horrorshow of the cape scene; (possibly) the only one who made it out and got to live happily when all was said and done. Moreover Comics!Butcher (the show's not there yet) was pretty clearly aware of this and thought it was pretty nifty that his protégé was fundamentally a better person than him. IIRC he considered it a success that he didn't turn Hughie into another Butcher. I feel like dumping either into the other's setting would be an interesting hook. Butcher's instincts about superheroes wouldn't be misplaced per se on Earth Bet, but it's a much more genuinely multipolar dynamic; there's powered infighting in the Boys, but fundamentally Vought gatekeeps the arena, Vought is the Arena, even more so than Cauldron, and the lack of a singular locus to attack- indeed, his comparatively easy access to powered assets who'll help him attack whatever he ultimately chooses to go after- might break Butcher's brain a little. Lisa in The Boys, is interesting for a similar reason; As an outside freelance agent, she's the perfect opponent for Vought- a target big enough to be impressive or fun, morally bankrupt enough that she'd feel good about herself positioned opposite them, and dysfunctional enough that they'd genuinely have a hard time rooting her out if she plays it smart. It'd be like a meat pumpkin for her.

[puppyluvfics]

Creature | Lee Jooyeon

Okay so I just finished watching Lisa Frankenstein for like, the 8th time, and once again, I NEED to talk about Creature!Jooyeon. Now I have a platform to do so!! So let’s talk about it.

no proper formatting on this one bc i just needed to put it in the universe... also uhm, spoilers if you haven't watched Lisa Frankenstein yet... you should do that. WC: 729 but it's a lot of photos and gifs so... long post.

Creature!Jooyeon who doesn’t talk, not because he can’t but because he likes listening to you talk and ramble about things… and also because he forgot how to talk idk

Creature!Jooyeon who lets you dress him up in whatever you want and puts on a fashion show just so he can see you smile and giggle, even if he hates it

Creature!Jooyeon who makes soft little noises of appreciation when you comb his hair, or even wash it for him

Creature!Jooyeon who picks out cute things for you to wear, and when you do, his eyes light up so bright and he smiles so cutely

Creature!Jooyeon who listens to you talk about your day and shares little candy snacks with you 

Creature!Jooyeon who invented simping for you and doing anything you asked because he just wants to be around you all the time

Creature!Jooyeon who lays his head in your lap and asks you to play with his hair just so he can feel you scratch his scalp and feel your warmth

Creature!Jooyeon who draws little things on your hands as an excuse to hold them, but also as his own little way of marking you

Creature!Jooyeon who, despite loving you, won’t laugh at your stupid jokes… but WILL laugh at the silly, awkward silence that follows right after

Creature!Jooyeon who lets you sit in his lap whenever you do things at your desk because one (1) time, you complained that your chair made your ass hurt

Creature!Jooyeon who notices all your little quirks when you focus, like how you bite your lip or stick your tongue out, how your head tilts to different sides depending on what you’re doing

Creature!Jooyeon who’ll never pass up a free moment to spin you around and dance with you, even though you both suck at dancing, especially ballroom… but he’d never, ever let you fall

Creature!Jooyeon who’ll play bass for you at any given moment, happy to learn any song you asked him to learn, be it by ear or sheet music

Creature!Jooyeon whose eyes light up when you sing along to whatever he’s playing, no matter how off key you are

Creature!Jooyeon who loves going through your stuff and hearing you tell stories about the life you had lived before he entered it

Creature!Jooyeon who’ll give you back massages and who listens when you tell him where you want to be touched and how !!!!!

Creature!Jooyeon who sleeps next to you and is always happy to be the big spoon, so he can play with your hair and smell the last little bits of your perfume or your shampoo after a shower

Creature!Jooyeon who nuzzles his face into you every night, keeping you as close as possible

Creature!Jooyeon who lets you play with his hair when you talk with him late at night in bed, leaning his head on your shoulder so you don’t have to reach so far

Creature!Jooyeon who would always rub your cheeks before he kissed you, cupping your head in his hands gently

Creature!Jooyeon who’d always kiss your knuckles

Creature!Jooyeon who’s playfully put peach rings on your fingers and bite them off playfully, and who’d let you do the same thing

Creature!Jooyeon who’d always carry you to bed whenever you were too tired to walk

Creature!Jooyeon who’d kiss all over your face before bed and every morning because you are just that precious to him

Creature!Jooyeon who is constantly looking at you with so much love in his eyes

Creature!Jooyeon who would never ever just “have sex” with you, it would always be slow, gentle and sensual

Creature!Jooyeon who helps you get off and never expects anything in return, and won’t stop until you come at least twice, genuinely. 

Creature!Jooyeon who’d cut someone’s dick off if you asked him to (LOL this is just a silly one sorry)

Creature!Jooyeon who would read to you while you laid in his lap if you were restless

Creature!Jooyeon who loves you more than life itself

CREATURE!JOOYEON, DEATH IS TEMPORARY, I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!!!

[kiri-cuts]

Wooing a dreamboat's grave in "Lisa Frankenstein"

Warning! Spoilers! If you’re my type of person, then you likely relate to a scene in ‘Lisa Frankenstein” where Lisa (Kathryn Newton) steps awkwardly into a party and immediately recoils in disinterest at its prospects: Normies, popular people, jocks, bad jokes and even worse conversation. Awash in a sea of coddled conformity and vanilla personalities, Lisa wants to disappear. And she does – via a drink spiked with PCP and its vile consequences. 

The scene is in stark contrast to an earlier one, which establishes Lisa as a romantic goth whose happy place is to sit beneath the handsome bust of an expired hottie’s grave and read poetry to it. Dead or not, Lisa is in deep with the dead. Her comfort zone isn’t with people. Hell, it’s not even amongst the living. All she needs is the fantasy of a cute guy – pulse be damned. For many teen girls, dead celebrities make for the perfect untainted crush: Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, Tupac, River Phoenix, Elliott Smith Aaliyah, James Dean, Jeff Buckley, Anton Yelchin. For decades (hell, probably centuries), teen girls have been able to project their fantasies onto the pin-ups of the formerly living – the more tragic, the better. Dead celebrities can’t age, make gross missteps, or date someone you hate. As a result, they can never disappoint you or let you down. They simply remain beautiful and idealised – a butterfly pinned within a frame. “Lisa Frankenstein” takes this fantasy to the ideal next level. Lisa’s wooing of a corpse and her unbridled passion for him is so gigantic it’s almost a cosmic event. Sure, it’s the lightning bolt of a storm that wakes The Creature (Cole Sprouse). But to anybody who’s ever swooned so hard that their heart has felt big enough to swallow the whole universe, there’s an obvious truth: Lisa’s love was so electric that it woke the dead. 

Stories rarely allow women to not only fantasise in this way but to take the opportunity to make their fantasy flesh. There are countless stories about lonely, misunderstood, and horny men who see their most potent sexual and romantic dream babes conjured into a living, breathing fuck machine: “Weird Science”, “Ex Machina”... “Splice” (though, good grief, how I wish that last one didn’t go there). While other movies like “Poor Things” and “Frankenhooker” approach this tale from a perspective that pokes holes in such tropes and empowers the object of affection, such a story nonetheless persists. Outside of an episode of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” where Sabrina uses a dubious ‘Man Dough’ recipe from her chronically single aunts to create a date for the dance, I’m stumped as to recall any others. (Since I know you’re intrigued, Sabrina adds too much enthusiasm into the mix, and a supremely cute but overly perky Brian Austin Green pops out of the oven like a young Nick Cage on “Wogan”. He’s no Harvey Kinkle, that’s for sure). In “Lisa Frankenstein”, our titular heroine very actively indulges her romantic and sexual feelings toward The Creature. Tongueless and speechless throughout the film, Sprouse’s character exists solely for Lisa’s gratification. As she helps rebuild and restore him to the living, she also restores herself. Previously, Lisa, too, had developed reactive mutism following the murder of her mother. But with The Creature, she confidently begins to get her voice back – even if she does use it to enthusiastically encourage the occasional cold-blooded murder (hey, nobody’s perfect). 

By the end, it’s just like my boy Nietsche says: She who fucks a monster might take care lest she become a monster. Except Lisa’s pretty okay with having the abyss gaze back into her. That abyss is her happy place, and that monster is her boo. This is the place where poetry becomes born into flesh and blood, creating the cutest boy she could have ever hoped to have sewn a severed penis onto. A place where love – even the mere fantasy of it – is all a person needs to sustain them. Pulse be damned.

[mariusperkins]

for the writing asks: 2, 10, 28, 33, 41, 42!

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

honestly I think more than what they say about my fics, they accurately represent my need to make my AO3 tags as businesslike as possible lol

10. How do you decide what to write?

It can be a lot of things, I mean, I'm sure we're all familiar with watching an episode of something (or reading a book, or watching a movie, or whatever) and thinking like "well, okay, but what if THIS had happened" or "but what did THIS OTHER CHARACTER think about what happened", but apart from that it can be almost anything - cool fanart (honestly SO much of @wereshrew-admirer's art but most recently for relax we've time to spare (friends at the table)), a character I wish got more screen time (never did run smooth (the artful dodger), Rita Minute: Origins (the penumbra podcast), hand in glove (bridgerton)), a line in an episode (Five Calls Between Thisbe and The Witch In Crystal (friends at the table)), a fan theory that didn't pan out in canon (the long journey through the void of life (fantasy high)), or just plain ol' "can't stop thinking about this thing" ( I'm Not An Angel But At Least I'm A Girl (hello mary lou: prom night 2), Greetings From Nowhere (wish you were here) (lisa frankenstein), Final Girls Club (friday the 13th movie series), social media strategy for the unknown (knives out)) - really, I kind of just write whatever idea I can't stop thinking about. Whenever I get a new idea it goes in it's own google doc with as many notes as I can get down about the idea at the time (with links to whatever inspired it, if it's linkable), and then if it gets fleshed out enough (aka I'm so obsessed with the idea that I start writing it immediately) it goes into the spreadsheet I use to plan out my posting schedule.

28. Does anyone read your fics before you post them? If so, who?

I post too much to put someone through that schedule lol

33. If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

This is going to sound very like, horribly algorithmic, but when I'm writing out chapters or a multi-part thing, I try to make it so they're all of about the same length (generally, at least 1k, although if it's something that's multi-chapter it probably means it need the room, so likely around 3-4k). It's less of a like, 'optimising people's calculated reading time' venture capital bullshit and more like, I think it helps my pacing not go totally off the rails or spend more time on one character over another if I'm wanting to do an even-ish pov split.

My ideal length chapter to read is as much as there is written, read multiple times over until the next update (you'd better believe I do this with all of @msharmonycobel's gilded age fics).

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

I truly do go back to Reciprocation (merlin) by astolat any time I'm trying to write someone falling in love without knowing it, I feel like this fic does such an incredible job of cluing you into what's actually happening without it ever going out of Arthur's pov. It's funny, it's sexy, it's got heart! Areas of expertise (It) by dudski is another one I return to all the time, it's so funny and light and mostly outsider pov, touching on meta jokes about the It fandom and fandom/how internet culture snowballs (positive) as a whole, and all the voices really shine. And I really should say All the Worlds Between (x-men first class) by manic_intent, a role-swap fic that I would recommend to anyone trying to write role swap fics, it does such a good job of figuring out the points that would need to diverge from canon without it feeling like a complete personality transplant for either character, and figuring out the ways they would still align and fit together.

Also, if it's not to cliche to say since everyone who came within breathing distance of early marvel fandom heard about this fic, but 4 minute window (CA:TWS) by Speranza - if I can write anything that affects someone as profoundly as I feel when I get to the line "I can hold the line at two dogs" I will leave this earth feeling as though I have accomplished all I needed to (I mean, even setting aside the worldbuiling and fleshing out this fic does of canon, the layers it gives everyone inside it, it's the first time in the fic we hear Steve say something hopeful about the future! Something without this ragged edge to it! It lives in my mind and heart every day, rent free).

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

Any comment that I received on Blue Moon (les miserables) during it's literal ten year hiatus between chapters - just the fact that people came across it (or even came back to it!) over the -again- literal ten years that it did not update... it means so much to me. I mean, every comment does, really. I've been doing this for a while but it still kind of blows me away that people want to ready anything I write, let alone more than once. I mean, I like what I write, but I also think the movie Waterworld (1995) is the greatest movie ever made, so I cant trust my judgement.

ask me!

[constellationmelody]

I never posted here but I watched Lisa Frankenstein when it came out in theaters and I absolutely love it! A movie specifically aimed for those weird girls who rather fall for monsters and and monsterfuckers. Others have much better say on just how wonderful this movie is in detail and I assure you, They are all true. I love Lisa, when she meets the weird, she finds herself. I hope to be like that... Find something that feels like you can be yourself and embrace it despite going again the flow. It was also hilarious, So many times I laughed throughout that movie especially the bedroom confrontation with Lisa's sis, the guy Lisa liked, Lisa, and her undead Victorian lover. I screamed. My most favorite thing about the movie is its aesthetic. The colors, Lisa dream sequences, the 80s vibes, the art direction is great and one of the most unique. Diablo Cody needs to make more movie like that.

[sadpearonmars]

Do you have any advice for how to deal with world events that make you feel helpless? I want to stay informed and, you know, stay woke, but it's so hard to not get swept away with doom.

So these are just my thoughts, as a person who grew up obsessed with the news and being informed and also a person who got so burnt out and hurt by it all. So don't read the editorials and don't read the comments.*

The news is often horrible. The vibes out there are really fucked and a lot of this stuff can get personal. I find the worst part of reading the news is the sense of hopelessness it can spark. How do we do anything in a world so dark? I'm afraid the answer is to be as much like Samwise as we can. To try, no matter how hard it is, because we care.

Pick something. Pick literally any action you can take to make the world a little better, that does not involve staring at your computer/phone screen soaking in the horror. It does not have to be the most important issue, it only has to be one you can do something about. Tackle that and make it something you do regularly, so every week or month or whatever you can say "Well, we live in hell but I did X this week and that's not nothing."

I personally have the luxury of a yard and despite having zero knowledge or aptitude for it, I'm getting into plants. I planted a bunch of flower bulbs just because I wanted something beautiful. I planted a bush because it will have berries to feed the birds and support our native ecosystem. I'm going to kill a whole section of grass and plant native seeds for grasses and flowers, a project that will no doubt horrify the sweet old man on my block but will be good for the bees. I cannot fix the absolute horror show of climate change myself but I am trying to make my tiny place in the world more hospitable for the creatures I share it with.

It doesn't have to be the plants. It can be volunteering to walk dogs at the shelter or Meals on Wheels or being a crossing guard during the school year. It can be knitting hats for a fundraiser or just for people you know need them. It can be donating to your local library. It can be taking a walk in your neighborhood and picking up trash along the way. It can be playing cards with the vets down at the VFW hall on Fridays or being a clinic escort or doing admin work for a nonprofit. Just find something, no matter how small it seems, and do that. Write it down so you can show yourself later when you despair that last week you did something. It's not nothing. It's something. It helps you, it helps someone else.

(Of course, if you have the ability to do bigger work like advocacy, protesting, campaigning, do it! I tried to focus on the very specific personal quality of coping with the news in this answer)

*I broke this rule only to read the comments on the Washington Post review of Lisa Frankenstein just to verify that I was not crazy and it truly was a bizarre take on the movie. But otherwise, I have managed to avoid the comments section for twenty odd years now.

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Lisa Frankenstein

Often the question the same question comes up in cinema. Why don't we have any more romantic comedies? Where are the quirkie coming of age films that tackle the age old themes of teen life struggles, social constructs within the popularity of each group or just the classic build up to a date to prom? Where are those films?! Well, here's a film that illustrates why that film genre has been buried and is slowing being unearthed. Like many of you, I enjoy a darker and off beat rom com from time to time and how it reflects the current youth lifestyle. Unfortunately, most of today's youth is online instead of in the real world. It was refreshing for this film to strip away modern tech and go back to the often romanticized era of the 80's and fully embrace the sorely missed awkward teen trope and macabre tone of early Tim Burton films. This film excels in that many times when it focuses on that vary grove it tries to stay in. Where it falters is in its weird pacing issues and lack of personal identity. It ultimately had nothing to say that I haven't heard already and it rushed its way through the magical nature of the heartfelt story that exists inbetween the seams.

Kathryn Newton was fun as the shy and distant teen Lisa Swallows. What I liked in the beginning was her innocence and sort of quiet demeanor in the way she would interact with people in her life. For a few moments she had a mystery to her that gave her that needed silent edge. She was a teen of very little words and when she finally finds her confidence, that's when the character really comes to life. I wish we could've played with her psychological decent and how she copes with things. Liza Soberano was really perky and loving as her lively sister step sister, Taffy. I liked their dynamic and how Taffy is always lifting up Lisa from her more secluded nature and gets her to come out of her shell more. The chemistry between them was really good and made for a lighter version of an almost "Heather's" situation. Joe Chrest was good and essentially a little more attentive version of his character from Stranger Things, Ted Wheeler. Carla Gugino was fantastic as always and as Lisa's stepmother Janet Swallows, she was very much the wicked stepmother from Cinderella. Now the real standout of the film and the most charming character was Cole Sprouse as The Creature. His beautifully tragic story was told expertly in the opening credits and he was a joy to watch once he comes back to life. The physical comedy and sometimes micro expressions he made were brilliantly executed and I loved every second he was on screen. The chemistry between him and Lisa was the heart of the film and even though not a word is spoken from him, his intentions are clear. The two of them together bring out the Edward Scissorhands love story aspect of the film and it felt like a gothic fever dream at times.

The score by Isabella Summers was good and serviceable, but I wish she leaned more into the horror a bit more which was also a problem with this film. For the majority of the film, I felt as if the film was really living its namesake. It was a greatest hits collection of all the best parts of the 80's horror comedies and early Tim Burton love stories that had so much heart, but this film failed many times to stay focused on those tropes. Where it was succeeding was when it would go down the implausible and fantastical fun of the love story, but it makes sharp turns away from it as things started to get more serious. The best way I could describe my feelings here is if you just look at the first trailer for this film. You get that exact macabre and comedic horror feel the film wanted to be. You get that, but it feels more watered down. Maybe if the film just focused on her coming out her shell and got rid of the stepsister and the other goth girl bully in the film, then maybe this would've been what that trailer promised. Also, I don't know if it was the theater I was in, but the sound mixing in this film was atrocious in the first 20 minutes of the film. The dialogue and score was turned down so low that I had to really focus on what was being said and I almost lost a god chunk of the story. Overall, this was a gothic rom com that had potential to be a new standout among the other same type of films we get each year, but I think it was bogged down by too many characters and the lack of expertise in the field. It could've been so much more. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!