#i had so thoroughly convinced myself that we wouldn't get this far this fast that I'm just feeling surprised how much plot we covered today

[demonslayedher]

It's... it's ok, I didn't have my hopes up for fluffly filler content for every single Hashira or anything, or seeing any of Mitsuri's family or pets or flashbacks or additional antics or anything, I'm fine, I love the manga canon content done straight justice and brought to life, I'm not dealing with a sense of loss, I'm fine, everything is fine

[itstypical]

Longlegs 6.5 / 10

I like to word vomit a lot about horror movies and I think the best place to put my thoughts and horror movie collections will be here for now.

Initially when I watched the movie it was a fresh 8 out of 10 coming out of the theater but now that I have time to let it sink in and revisit the imagery, symbolism, directors influences, etc. I've settled between a 7 and 6 making it a 6.5.

Things I did enjoy:

I enjoy a lot of analog/found footage type horror films. I think placing this (mainly) during the 90s for the "Satanic Panic" was a wonderful and appropriate time setting for this film. Not only that, but there is something about "older" horror movies do to the lack of "modern/fast" technology makes things more tense. We notice Lee Harker sometimes pulling out a phone during her investigations but obviously they weren't as reliable as they are now. When you're in a pinch you can't just whip that phone out and call fellow detectives or local authorities for backup as easily, you chose to fight or flee.

I know a lot of people hated the dead space scenes, I quite enjoyed them. The visuals were stunning, and I did like the open space to enjoy the beautiful wide shots of 70s to 90s American Gothic landscapes. It gave the viewer time to tense up, wonder, question, and sit in the anxiety the movie was meant to give you. I'm not a huge fan of cheap jump scares. Using a jump scare shouldn't be the basis of a good horror movie unless that's what you're 100% aiming for.

I'm also a big fan of the symbolism that it did show! There was a good nod to Glam Rock and how that tied into the Satanic Panic of the 80s-90s. Longlegs (according to the makeup artist) had remodeled their face via botched plastic surgeries of the 70s to impress the Devil. Longlegs wanted to stay youthful for the Devil. It very much gave me that impression. Initially I thought Longlegs did it to themself, as they are a doll maker, but I wasn't far off. Longlegs did give off a youthful energy, seemingly wanting to stay childish and innocent forever by the way they acted and tried to look. This is also referenced by Lee's mother (Ruth Harker), during the scene where she tries to get the truth out of her mother regarding her past birthday when she was younger.

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed Maika Monroe (Lee Harker), Blair Underwood (Agent Carter), and Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) performances. I love to see artists play roles that are different from their "normal". If you can take me out of your past roles and convince me that you are now a brand new character, I think you've done great. I will be fair though, Maika has done several horror films so this may not be "new" to her. However; her meek, monotone, and expressionless character gave me the chills especially when she did have moments of passion/expression (ex: Lee Harker screaming in the car on the way to Ruby Carter's birthday)

Now to the things I didn't care for / wish they expanded on:

There were several religious motifs that not all viewers understood (myself included). I did see nods to Dante's Inferno, Revelation 13:1, religious iconography such as the obvious "666" and snakes. However, if you're not fully religious (or practice a different religion entirely) perhaps the casual viewer wouldn't catch onto those pertinent details. They quoted several times a passage from The King James version of Revelation 13:1, which is from the Protestant branch of Christianity. I think the director failed to go into more detail in regards to that, so at least more casual viewers can understand. I did notice a huge discrepancy on ratings and how a religious viewer tended to enjoy the movie more BECAUSE they understood the religious symbolism, iconography, and passages...versus someone who did not.

This I felt more so-so. I noticed Longlegs was a huge fan of Glam Rock, specifically a lot of Lou Reed's album Transformer was plastered everywhere in Longlegs little basement home. I'm not sure how much the director wanted it to be known (that's why I feel so-so about this). I know some viewers questioned the sexuality and gender identity of Longlegs. They did use he/him pronouns for Longlegs. I did not personally believe that was supposed to be a focus of the movie. That's why I feel so mehhh about it. But I know the director did add that in due to his own personal life struggles of his own father living a double life. One as a married straight man with a wife and kids, and the secret life of his father being Bisexual / Homosexual. If you didn't already know, Anthony Perkin's is the directors (Oz Perkins) father. Since Anthony was in the legendary movie Psycho, during the 1960s being in his height of popularity, I could only imagine he chose not to come out due to homophobia during that era. Glam Rock had the tendency to reach that edge of Queer tropes though. (Which I do wish they expanded on more, because a lot of people missed that.) Glam Rock was seen as the Devils music because of its purposeful flamboyance. It had always teeter on the edge of femininity and gender non-conformity. I mean, Lou Reed's "Transformer" album was about the struggle of gender and sexuality....if it wasn't a hint enough from the song "Walk on the Wild Side", in some interviews Lou had mentioned being a "transvestite", Lou's muse (Rachel) was an out and open (at the time considered) transsexual female and Lou had surrounded himself with that community as well. I don't think Longlegs is meant to be transgender, but I do think Longlegs fucked with gender non-conformity(who really knows). I know some people might think it may have made the movie itself transphobic, but if we look at who the killers ARE. It's straight cis males who killed their wives and kids. So this one, I think I would have liked to know a little more, instead of piecing it together through tiny details. But also it begs to differ, maybe the fact that the gender and sexuality is UNKNOWN and will remain UNKNOWN, and in general the UNKNOWN is what scares people, and what makes others demonize it. (and yes I know they use he/him pronouns for Longlegs)

Final thoughts, If you're going to make a full new symbolic demonic alphabet and advertise that in your trailers for the movie....why not use it? I was SO excited to learn more about that, but they never once touched on that which was so disappointing to me. The name Longlegs, the imagery of actual long thin legs, and the demonic alphabet they made for the "movie" was essentially all for the trailer to get you hyped. Because NONE of that was explained or shown in the movie. Even the director noted they used the moniker Longlegs to evoke some cool 70s evil imagery, but it really did not mean anything in the long run.

Thanks for reading if anyone did. I just love to write my thoughts down, despite a reading or lack there of....BYE!!!!!

[emeraldeyes23]

Fictober/Fantober2020 -

Day 9 - Baking

"I don't think the rain will stop anytime soon." Ash looked out of the window where heavy rain was falling endlessly, and such dark clouds dominated the sky that it was highly doubtful that the sun would ever return. Ash sighed dramatically while he turned to look at Eiji.

"It's fall, Ash. What did you expect? New York in fall isn't any different. Only the wind in Izumo is much stronger and blows relentlessly. Let's just stay at home."

"That's too bad. I wanted to buy some new books. What are we going to do instead?"

Eiji watched him with some amusement. Ash was terrible at doing nothing. He was too smart and needed something to keep his mind busy. If he had nothing to read, he couldn't sit still and complained that he was bored like a three-year-old. Eiji would never get his photo projects done if Ash was bored and would constantly walk around their apartment, trying to find something to do.

Then, an idea crossed his mind. Something he had planned to do for a long time but had forgotten about, and it would make more sense in fall or winter anyway.

"Can you bake?", Eiji asked him out of the blue. Ash looked at him as if he had just lost his mind, staring at him in surprise.

"What? It's what you do before Christmas when the weather is cold outside. I've always wanted to bake some cookies or something else together with you. It will be fun.", Eiji tried to convince him with smiling eyes.

"As you know, I can cook some simple things. But I've never baked anything before. Why are you asking that now all of a sudden?", Ash asked, removing some blonde strands out of his face. "And it's only fall, not winter. Christmas is still far away.", Ash reminded him. "Isn't it a bit too early for that?"

Eiji crossed his arms and turned away from him, pouting. "You're no fun. There's always time for cookies.", Eiji insisted but couldn't help but feel disappointed. Cooking or baking was much more fun together.

"Fine, then. I'll do them myself. But you won't get any of them.", he added stubbornly before leaving the room. "There's still natto in the fridge for you.", he called out to him.

At lightning-fast speed, Ash followed him and grabbed his wrist to stop him, then put his arm around his shoulders. "Come on, Eiji, don't be mad." Eiji turned away, feigning to be offended. He wouldn't give in this easily. Ash had to try harder than that.

Ash let's go of his shoulder and turned his face towards him, giving him his most brilliant smile. That smile that made his eyes light up like emeralds and that Eiji couldn't resist. When Eiji finally looked at him and couldn't hide his smile, Ash grinned like the Cheshire Cat, knowing perfectly well he had won.

"Let's make a deal. If you make some avocado shrimp salad tonight, I'll bake some cookies with you. If you teach me how to do it, that is."

"Really?", Eiji beamed at him while he flung his arms around him, pulling him close.

"Ok, I promise. This will be so much fun!"

"We'll see...", Ash replied skeptically before following him into the kitchen.

"What about making some chocolate chip cookies? I always wanted to make some myself."

"Fine with me. What do we need for that?", he asked him.

Eiji looked up a recipe on his smartphone. "Let's see... We need white and brown sugar, softened butter, large eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, hot water, salt, flour and chocolate chips.

Ash rummaged through their shelves and put everything on the kitchen counter while Eiji took the rest out of the fridge.

"Fine, you can start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Then we need a bowl that is huge enough for all the ingredients."

Ash placed a large bowl on the counter next to the prepared ingredients after switching on the oven.

"Okay, measure 1 cup of white sugar, brown sugar and butter, then put it into the bowl.", Eiji instructed. "I'll do the next step."

"Why?", Ash frowned at him. "You don't trust my cooking skills?"

"No, I don't.", Eiji stated honestly.

"I think your cooking skills have improved immensely.", Eiji said proudly while standing on tiptoes, looking over his shoulder. "But I'm not so sure about your baking skills. I've never seen them, after all." Meanwhile, Ash had put the sugar, brown sugar and the butter into the bowl and had creamed them together until they were smooth. Ash turned around and smirked at him, giving him a sidelong glance. "Is the result to your satisfaction, Chef de Cuisine Okumura?, Ash asked, referring to the title of the head chef of a kitchen, a smug look on his face but enjoying himself. "Not bad for a Sous-chef, Mister Callenreese.", Eiji countered, referring to the title of a second chef, working under the Chef de Cuisine. "But this was only the first step. Let's see if you can crack an egg without destroying it. Let's take another bowl for that.", he suggested, taking a small bowl out of the shelf while putting the larger one a bit to the right. "Why do we need an extra bowl for that?", Ash asked curiously. "If you had done that before, you wouldn't have asked that.", Eiji replied, grinning knowingly at him. "Ok, I'll show you how it's done. He took an egg, hit it against the edge of the bowl repeatedly but softly until the egg cracked. Then he slowly opened it at the crack and let it flow into the bowl without any eggshell falling into the bowl as well. Then, he put the egg into the large bowl for the cookies. "Now, you try it.", Eiji encouraged him. "You have to do this with gentle moves. If you use force, the egg will break. The aim is to put the egg into the bowl without any eggshells.", Eiji explained to him. Ash nodded and tried. But at the first attempt, he used to much force and destroyed the egg. "Fuck, that's harder than it looks. Sorry, Eiji." His eyes darkened as a sad look crossed his face. Ash was used to succeed at everything at the first try. Failing was a new experience for him. Eiji gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "It's fine. Try again. I think no one ever manages that at their first try." Ash tried again. Eiji gave him some tips and watched him closely. He loved how hard Ash concentrated. When he did I that, he always got that cute little frown on his forehead, and his eyes dimmed slightly. Eiji secretly loved that expression. This time, he managed to do it, but a little piece of eggshell fell into the bowl along with the egg. "Shit, there's eggshell in it. Do I have to start from the beginning?" "No, you can just take this teaspoon and remove the eggshell." Meanwhile, Eiji had stirred the bowl with the first egg, ensuring the batter was mixed thoroughly. "Now put the egg into the bowl and stir it while I measure the vanilla extract. After a moment, Eiji added the two teaspoons vanilla extract. Ash kept stirring while Eiji dissolved the baking soda in hot water and added it along with salt into the bowl while Ash kept stirring the bowl until the batter looked clean without any lumps remaining. Then they switched sides. When Ash wanted to add the flour, he did so a bit too fast, and a huge cloud of flour blew back into their faces, covering them. After his coughing fit was over, Eiji burst out laughing until tears were filling his eyes. "You've really never baked anything before. I believe you now.", Eiji smirked before cleaning his face. "Everyone knows you have to add flour slowly for that very reason." Ash was still coughing because he had gotten most of the flour into his face so that he couldn't reply at once. "You look like a ghost now.", Eiji chuckled while wiping his hair and face with a towel. Ash glared at him, his eyes flaring up dangerously. "You did that on purpose!" Still, Eiji saw the amusement in his eyes and how he couldn't hide his smile. "That's certainly possible.", Eiji admitted, a devilish sparkle in his eyes. "But I couldn't resist. And you were enjoying yourself. I could see it in your eyes." "Whatever..." "Okay, let's add the rest of the flour slowly, and then we'll add the chocolate chips.