#i just Know andrew was an absolute horror to deal with the whole time neil was away

[singt0me]

what i really want to know is how much convincing it took andrew to let neil travel to california alone with his uncle

[kazzyboy]

Have some monster headcanons because I get these all the time for some reason

- Andrew hates clowns. Like, really hates clowns. Aaron knows this and uses it against him at any chance he gets

- Neither of the twins can whistle properly

- Kevin is ticklish and he hates it

- Andrew doesn’t quite smile and he doesn’t quite laugh, exactly, but if he did it’d be so ugly and I love that

- Renee and Neil are the only two who can get Andrew to actually laugh (even if it’s not long or loud, that’s the extent. His “laugh” around everyone else is just a huff/snort)

- Nicky and Kevin get really stupid and buddy-buddy when drunk

- Aaron loves horror movies/games and every Halloween he goes to a really freaky haunted house. Nicky goes with him so he has an excuse to grapple Kevin, who is only there because Andrew is determined to prove he’s not afraid of it (he is). Meanwhile Neil’s just listing off everything that looks too fake (“You actually wouldn’t be able to see that artery on a decapitated head.” “That brain matter is too pink.”)

- Andrew really likes origami. One time when Aaron was mad at him he snuck into his room while Andrew was out and put googly eyes on all of his origami animals (foxes, swans, etc) and gave them angry eyebrows

- Andrew isn’t as emotionally constipated as everyone thinks he is, he just doesn’t explicitly express himself verbally. So when he’s trying to apologize he’ll make an origami star or get you food or let you pick a song in the Maserati (as long as it’s not absolute trash)

- Neil really likes frozen blueberries

- Neil doesn’t get lost, per se, but he’ll disappear by accident. God forbid you take your eyes off him in a crowded mall. You’ll spend six hours looking for him and then he’ll pop up right next to you at the food court or smth

- So it’s a pretty popular hc that Andrew hates bugs. I say he does, but the best part is that Aaron loves them. He’ll pick a spider clean up off the floor just to go torture Andrew with it (peep the twinyard sibling behavior)

- Speaking of bugs, Kevin’s the tallest and has the biggest feet so his shoes are always used as bug squashers and eventually he just stops cleaning the bug legs off them (he’s lost at least one shoe to the spider legs)

- More bugs. Nicky is terrified but hates when you kill them, so he’ll get a cup and scoop it up and put it outside, screaming the whole way

- At first everyone calls Andrew in to deal with said bugs because “aw mean knife man emo, no scared of little bug” but he is, in fact, terrified of bugs, so it’s always left to Kevin and Neil (both indifferent to bugs) or Aaron (loves them). He’s left Nicky to deal with a bug on the several occasions he’d called Andrew to come save him

- Aaron won’t ever admit it but he and Renee actually get along pretty well (she likes snakes and he adores the little black corn snake she sometimes watches for a friend)

[youaremysunshine-court]

Okay okay okay I've had maybe 8 hours of sleep over 3 days but an aftg hc will fix me thus I present

The foxes' fav podcasts

Aaron

the beef and dairy podcast

he's a basic bitch - listens to it on the way to work/ college

refuses to argue about it, clearly his opinions are the only right ones

he will occasionally listen to a podcast on exy if it covers on of the foxes

Andrew

welcome to nightvale

he started listening in high-school and never stopped

like Aaron, he knows his opinions are the only right ones, but he will not hesitate to verbally decimate someone who disagrees

(yes it helped him accept his sexuality)

Kevin

tends to jump podcasts depending on his current obsession

also tends to listen to podcasts in random order, again according to what interests him most, but it annoys everyone around him

doesn't listen to fiction, mostly talk shows, exy players interviews, and history podcasts (Loves Revolutions, will pull out his socialist trousers at any time)

Nicky

listened to one (1) dnd podcast bc he thought it would draw him and Andrew together

normally listens to Crime Junkie and then calls Erik bc he can't sleep

loves the new watcher podcast, but will always be a buzzfeed unsolved fangirl at heart

(like Kevin, he jumps around but prefers to be caught up on a podcast beforehand)

Neil

he doesn't care for podcasts as a whole, but strangely he's the one who enjoys dnd podcasts

he found one (1) he liked his last year of college

binges them at the gym and on running days

he is SO picky, the vibes have to be just right or he will not listen

(he once dropped a podcast bc one of the players' characters 'gave him bad vibes')

Dan

bechdel cast fan all the way down

sometime she renee and allison will lie around in the dark with an episode playing

goes down the list in chronological order, until she catches up and then listens to each episode the day it drops

writes up a detailed review of each episode and posts it once she's finished

Allison

again a bechdel cast fan, listens to them with dan

on her own, she listens to Mabel

devoted fan, even when they dropped off the planet for YEARS, she stayed there listening to old episodes

absolutely overjoyed at the new episodes, she can't wait for them to meet

(shipping them may have tipped her off to her own bisexuality)

Renee

true crime/horror fan

not podcasts, but she goes down the strangest wormholes trying to find 'real paranormal experiences'

listens to slightly unreal podcasts like Alice isn't dead, welcome to nightvale (her and Andrews first bonding experience), and the magnus archives

she has so much lore on the undead, the fae, vampires - it's not even funny bc sometimes she points out people in cafes and goes 'he looks...' before allison shushes her

Matt

behind the bastards fan (sometimes he drives Kevin around while they both listen to Robert Evans smooth voice)

will punch a nazi despite the podcasts repeated pleas to fight them in more official ways

Renee introduced him to horror, but he prefers subtly unsettling to outright horror - he listens to 12:37, folxlore, and middle:below

he likes listening to mabel with Allison, but sometimes can't deal with the raw emotion

Seth

Didn't listen to podcasts

He couldn't process words by themselves, if there was a transcript sometimes he'd listen to a podcast at x1.5 speed

huge buzzfeed unsolved fan (not the supernatural ones, just the true crime ones)

pretty into american history, but not in a frat boy way, more like oh yeah the appalachias used to be covered by water there could be pirate ghosts there

fucking loved old gods of appalachia, but was too scared to listen to more than one episode a month

And that's that! (Buzzfeed unsolved is an honorary podcast I will fight you)(all these podcasts are from ym personal curated list bc im picker than neil) :)

[ash-rabbit]

Reading Recs for Each Entity

When Magnus ended, I thought back on different media that I've enjoyed, some of them fit very neatly into the dread powers, unsettlingly so in some cases, others not so much. If you enjoyed the show for it's horror, and want more of that, then I've got a list for you.

Assume everything here is rated M and has some gore, death, and general dark themes.

Beneath the cut, because there's 15 of these fears. Feel free to add on if you like. By the way, I'm citing writers, not directors when there's a movie.

Beholding

1984 - by George Orwell: Classic surveillance society. Very boring to start off with classical lit, but it was and still is a relevant commentary on society.

Psycho-Pass - by Gen Urobuchi: Has anyone read Hobbes' 'Leviathan'? It's like if that met psychological horror. This anime engages in what it means to live in a world where crimes can be stopped before their ever committed due to the Psycho-Pass system. This system allows authorities to monitor ones emotional state and likelihood of turning violent. I think there's a brief mention of sexual violence, but it's been a hot minute since I've watched.

Panopticon Theory - by Michel Foucault: Yes, political theory. I've read it multiple times (not by choice) and it offers some interesting insights into the world of the Magnus Archives. It's greatly influenced how I regard the dread powers, that being that Smirke's 14 is incredibly limiting.

Buried

Nutty Putty Caving Incident - A real life news story. The only time I can say I've felt properly horrified and deeply unsettled. If 'Lost John's Cave' was the statement that gave you nightmares, avoid this. It's true and it's tragic.

Corruption

Fate/Zero - by Gen Urobuchi: Another anime by the Urobutcher. If you thought Jane Prentiss was excellent this is the show for you. It's excellent for all sorts of reasons, and engages with other avenues of horror but when I heard the Prentiss statement, I was brought back here. Living hives, magical evil wasp larvae writhing beneath someone's skin, it happens. Your warning is that anything bad that can happen to a child, will happen to children here. I mean it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - by Oscar Wilde: Moral decay, and it's just a damn good read. It's not conventional Corruption material, but the corruption of one's soul in the pursuit of beauty and pleasure is somewhat fitting I should think. I like it, so it's here. Also Jonah Magnus vibes.

Dark

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - by a bunch of people: it's a movie. Not an orthodox choice but I feel the dark deals better in ignorance then the literal. Err, no spoilers, but nothing particularly bad happens, it just sort of tugs.

The Flowers - Alice Walker: A short story about innocence and ignorance. Not particularly spooky, but it hits you at the end.

Allegory of the Cave - Plato: Just a good preliminary reading that provides an alternate lens. It's not spooky, I just like it.

Desolation

All is Quiet on the Western Front - by Erich Maria Remarque: The effects of war on the youth, child soldiers, and the death of innocence. It's bleak, and miserable, but it's honest and Remarque and his family were persecuted by Nazi-Germany because the book carried 'anti-german' (anti-war) sentiments. There's a movie as well.

Pan's Labyrinth - by Guillermo del Toro: Also anti-war, with bad things happening to good people and children. A bit heavy handed with it's symbolism, but hey it's a two hour movie. Also be prepared to read subtitles. It's very good, and if you haven't seen it, I don't want to say too much.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - by Ken Kesey: There's a more popular movie version as well. Corrupt systems, cutting people down until they fit into a socially appropriate mold. It's fairly dark, and has lobotomies since that was what, the 60s? I watched this in my catholic high schools film studies class, so I don't think there's anything overly egregious. But an interesting lens for the Desolation.

The Count of Monte Cristo - by Alexandre Dumas: For a fun revenge romp. The titular count gets his revenge after everything he's ever loved has been stolen from him and looks to do the same to his betrayers. Err sexual violence happens here as well. A bit of background that might inform the reader: Dumas' father was half black and affected by the 1802 discrimination laws, causing him- a high ranking military officer to be dismissed. The precursor to Monte Cristo, 'Georges' deals more heavily in themes of colonialism and racial discrimination.

End

Masque of the Red Death - by Edgar Allen Poe: You know why this is here. Warning for plague allegories and people not properly social distancing.

Nothing in the Dark - (Twilight Zone): No words needed, it's the Twilight Zone.

Death Parade - by Yuzuru Tachikawa: This is your fun suggestion. It's light for the most part, but there are scenes and moments that will absolutely hit you.

Extinction

Godzilla - A whole bunch of people: Atomic bomb fear during a time of censorship. Everything is an allegory.

Flesh

Tokyo Ghoul - by Sui Ishida: It's the most Magnus-y out of all my suggestions and I desperately want to see a crossover between them. The manga is better as the anime tends to brutalise plot points and water down the horror. Deals with becoming a cannibal, the nature of humanity, and other things. Warning for mentions of child abuse. Kaneki has a sort of - if Martin was the Archivist vibes. Not 1-1 of course, but if I had to make a comparison, that's the one.

Lamb to the Slaughter - by Roald Dahl: Arguably more slaughter, but hey I'm not giving you any warnings. I read this short story for ninth grade english, so I'm sure you can survive this one.

Hunt

Se7en - by Andrew Kevin Walker: A movie about a detective hunting serial killer. It's excellent, there's gruesome murder scenes. It's from the 90s go watch it.

Frankenstein - by Mary Shelley: From the perspective of Mr. Frankenstein it's the terror of being hunted, from the monster's perspective it's the horror of being alone. It's good, a pillar of sci-fi written by a teenager, don't snub this because it's classical lit.

The Bone Collector - by Jeremy Iacone: Another detective hunting a murderer. Also from the 90s and also excellent. Look, the 90s don't pull their punches, it's got blood and lots of it. A favourite film of mine.

Lonely

The Metamorphosis - by Franz Kafka: Turning into a big bug does not a corruption/flesh story make.

Passengers (2016)- by Jon Spaihts: I hate this movie, it's clearly a horror, but they try to pass it as a romance. Anyway, for psychological lonely horror and manipulation, this is a movie for you.

Slaughter

Go watch a classic slasher film. I don't care for senseless violence, so I don't like most of this sort of media.

Read up on a war or a riot. Learn how your nation's government discriminates and persecutes minorities historically and today.

Sweeney Todd - by Hugh Wheeler: The musical is the better known version. Some flesh horror here as well. It's not really senseless, as I think the Slaughter should be, but hey, we need substance here.

Spiral

The Giver - by Lois Lowry: A utopia that is not quite right. Read for school when I was nine, I'm sure you can all live without a warning list.

The Matrix - by the Wachowskis: Reality is an illusion, and the Universe is a hologram.

Truman Show - by Andrew Niccol: You know why this is here.

Stranger

Coraline - by Neil Gaiman: The scariest children's book. Other!Mother and all that jazz are so very Strange.

The Landlady - by Roald Dahl: Taxidermy.

Vast

Lovecraft: I'm sorry, I can only think of him. No one else is so ignorant as to be able to capture the horror of things beyond their ken.

Web

Medea - by Euripides: The God's suck, it's a Greek tragedy, bad things happen to everyone without discrimination. Children are harmed, Medea is dosed by Aphrodite, Jason is literally the worst.

Animal Farm - by George Orwell: It's anti-authoritarian and deals with the mutability of laws and how uneducated masses are sheep. . . literally. You will feel horrified, it's a short read.

There's also some children's story about a spider/snake(?) and gluttony that I've been looking for, for the past year. It's pretty similar to Mr. Spider, but the villain consumes so many victims that he becomes too large to leave his den and is blockaded in by those he terrorized, and it's heavily implied that he starves to death. For the life of me I can't remember a title, but then, it's been 15 or so years.

[100storiesin2020]

Chapter 9: Fallout of nightmares

Chapter titles are hard to come up with sometimes. Come read on AO3!

**********

Ronan hated the feeling of being frozen. He hated laying there in fear, watching the night horror moving for his throat. He struggled to fight, to defend himself, to not be helpless - but it was in vain. This may be the end for him, today. One bad dream where the old guilt resurfaced, bringing the night horrors in waves. Here, off the leyline, more drunk than he really ought to be, it was harder to control what he brought back with him.

The night horror dragged a claw down his face.

Suddenly, Sargent sprang to life beside him. He'd forgotten she was there. He'd griped about having her in the bed with him but in that moment he could have kissed her, girl or not. She kicked with both feet, knocking the thing off the bed. With a cry she jumped after it and drove a knife into its chest, kicking it in the gut for good measure. It collapsed. She approached it, raising the knife one more time, The door opened to reveal the two shady boys. Ronan didn't trust a single person from this whole fucking team, but these two were the worst. Sargent drove her knife into the eye of the beast, but Ronan couldn't relax with the midget's eyes on him.

He knew this could end in only a few ways, and he wasn't happy about any of them.

**********

Renee was just about to go back to sleep when her phone started to ring. She'd been awake for several hours in the night, bad memories stealing away her precious sleep, but she'd been listening to Allison breathing beside her and it had brought some calm back to her soul. Of course she would be getting a phone call now, and from Andrew no less. She gently reached past Allison and hit the silence button before her Andrew-specific heavy metal ringtone could wake her up. "Hello, Andrew. It's early."

"I need to talk to Natalie."

Shit. Renee eased out of the bed and went into the kitchen. "What happened."

"Where in Columbia would you hide a body?"

Natalie hummed. "Lake Murray, probably. It's got 500 miles of coastline so there's bound to be a few nooks and crannies that could work."

Andrew hummed. "How do we get blood out of the carpet?"

"Andrew, did you kill someone?"

"Nicky had it coming," he deadpanned. "Actually, Sargent here produced the body."

"Who was it?"

"You'll have to ask her yourself. How do we get blood out of the carpet?"

Renee sighed. "Okay, he'es where you start..."

**********

Blue tried to wipe up the blood as best as she could while Andrew talked on the phone. He seemed to be doing a lot of listening. She wasn't sure who this Natalie was, but hopefully she'd be able to help them out. And keep her mouth shut.

Neil had, surprisingly, been fairly useless. "What do you mean, you don't know how to dispose of a body? Wasn't your father a serial killer?"

"That was Lola's job - his favorite," he explained. "I was too young to help out with cleanup before we were on the run. Plus, I think she preferred acid. Where would we even buy that?"

Ronan wasn't helpful either. "Either I bury them in the field or I make Declan deal with it," he snarled. "I never fucking leave home, maggot. How should I have expected this?"

Andrew stomped back at that moment, having hung up the phone without a word. "You two have a lot of explaining to do. But first, we're taking this thing to Lake Murray."

Neil nodded. "And the others?"

Blue shuddered before Ronan spat, "Nobody else gets to know. It's bad enough with you two." Blue nodded in fierce agreement.

She watched as Andrew and Neil looked at each other for a minute, silently conversing, before Andrew sighed. "Nicky can drive the others home."

"I'll tell him Ronan barfed in his room and that we will clean it up before coming home." When Ronan spluttered, he added, "It's the only way I can think of to keep him out of the room long enough. Got a better idea?"

"We could throw him in the lake, too," Ronan muttered, drawing a laugh from Neil and a minute twitch of the lips from Andrew.

"Tempting," was all Andrew said before he turned and left the room. Blue noticed that Neil was watching him go.

Neil produced a long knife and started grinning in a very unsettling way. "This thing will be easier to move in smaller pieces," he said. "You two go clean up." Blue and Ronan left him there, knife spinning, a serial-killer grin splitting his face.

They headed to the bathroom. Blue shoved Ronan in first, then locked the door behind them. "Why the absolute fuck did you invite yourself?" she demanded. "I had this in hand. All I had to do was answer a few questions and not be suspicious and now here we are, night horror dead in the other room and suspicious as fuck."

Ronan glared at her. "I don't fucking trust them," he growled. "Matt told me some things about what they've done in Columbia. They drug people. Matt was an addict. They sent him into relapse and you were stupid enough to go with them? By yourself?"

Blue softened. "I don't trust them, but I didn't know those things. Thanks for looking out for me." She gave him a quick hug.

"Get off me maggot." He pushed her away. "Go get me some clothes, now I have to wash your foul stench off of me." She laughed and ducked out of the room in search of their stuff.

**********

Ronan finally started to relax as they drove to this Lake Murray place. They were following the GPS on the phone he'd dreamed up for Blue on her last birthday, as none of them had actually been there before. He always felt powerful behind the wheel of a car. The speed, the control, the impending danger: they were soothing.

He looked over at Sargent, curled up in the front seat next to him. She was shaking. He groaned a bit; she had seen worse than this. He turned on his music and "SQUASH ONE, SQUASH TWO" started to ring through the car. She groaned and reached for the power button just as they both heard a "the fuck is this?" from the backseat. Ronan batted away her hand with a grin and turned the song up even louder. He knew it was only a matter of time before he had to spill his secrets, so he may as well start getting his revenge proactively.

**********

Blue hated this.

They were standing in the sand at the edge of the lake, crowds swirling around them. The lake was a popular place on Saturday in late June, which meant that they looked like just another group of college students with their backpacks. Never mind that their backpacks contained pieces of night horror.

Neil stared out toward the center of the lake, eyes almost unseeing, breathing hard. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tried to light one, but his hands were shaking too hard. Andrew reached out and put a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down slightly. "You are Neil Josten," he said softly. "You are a Fox. She is dead."

"I am a Fox," Neil replied, leaning into Andrew. Blue looked away, terribly lonely for Gansey in that moment. It was too much. She was already falling apart, already on edge from killing a living creature - even a night horror - and the fear and adrenaline of possibly losing one of her Raven boys again, and then, seeing Andrew and Neil together in that moment, she wished she had Gansey beside her.

Ronan elbowed her. "No time for tears, maggot. We've got a body to dump." Blue wiped her eyes as best as she could and took a few deep breaths. It would have to do. Once all of them were composed, they started to walk down the beach. Soon enough they came on a dock with a boat rental booth. After talking to the owner, they learned that they could, in fact, rent a speedboat for a few hours, but they needed to be at least 23 to do it.

"That's alright," Ronan said, slapping an ID down on the counter. "As you can see here, I am 25." The cashier raised an eyebrow and clearly didn't believe it, but shrugged and pulled out the paperwork. Soon they were throwing their bags into a slightly beat up speedboat.

"So why do you have a fake ID that says you're 25?" Blue asked.

"One of Kavinsky's pranks."

They hopped in the boat and Blue drove it out. She definitely didn't trust any of these boys to drive, and with how often she had watched Orla do it she felt fairly confident. They poked around a few inlets for an hour before they decided to just dump them into a distant, quiet part of the lake. Dream objects were heavy. The night horror would sink.

Andrew finally dropped the question as they headed back to the docks. "So what was that thing?" Rather than respond, Blue hit the gas, speeding up until it was much too loud and bumpy to hold any kind of conversation. Ronan laughed and tried to fist bump her, but they hit a wave and he cursed as he reached for the nearest handhold. Blue laughed. Andrew was glaring at her and Neil was looking kind of green, but Ronan looked the happiest he'd been all day, wind in his face.

Eventually they got back to the dock and returned the keys to the boat. They climbed back into the car and Ronan paused for a moment.

"That was a night horror. I pulled it from my dreams."

There was a long silence in the backseat. "So magic is real, then?" Neil asked.

"Yes," Blue replied, "but not like, wizard magic. Psychics, tarot cards, leylines, those sort of things. Those are real magic."

"And dreams."

"And dreams, yes."

"Are the dreams always this dangerous?" Andrew asked.

Ronan growled under his breath. Blue forestalled the venom she knew he'd spit out. "Night horrors, like those things, are rare these days. Usually he brings cool things back. Magic things. Things that shouldn't work, but do."

"And the occasional annoying bird," Ronan said almost fondly. He'd left Chainsaw at the house, not trusting her to not attack Andrew and Neil in the backseat.

Andrew seemed satisfied, but Neil continued to ask questions as Ronan started the car and headed back to the house. "Are any of the rest of you magic?"

Ronan laughed wickedly. "I'm the only living dreamer I know."

"That wasn't my question." Shit, he's clever, Blue thought.

At that moment all four of their phones went off simultaneously. Ronan never answered his phone, Blue didn't recognize the number, and Neil only laughed when he saw who was calling him, so it was Andrew who answered. He listened for a few seconds, gave a terse "they're alive," and hung up before turning his phone off. Blue's phone started to ring again.

"It's probably someone from the team," Neil said. "Renee called Andrew and Matt tried to call me. You should probably answer. Five bucks that they ask if we tried to murder you."

"I'll take you on that," Blue replied. "Hello?"

"Oh, thank god," Dan said. "Are y'all alright? They didn't kidnap you or anything?"

Blue laughed. "We kidnapped them, actually." Neil laughed.

"Where are you guys? The other monsters got home ages ago."

"Don't call them monsters," Blue snapped.

"But-"

"Don't." Neil gave her an appreciative nod.

Dan sighed. "Fine. Where are you guys at?"

"Almost back to their house. We need to grab our stuff and then we will be right back. Should be about an hour and a half, right?" she directed to the backseat.

"Around that, yes," Neil replied.

"Then we will expect you around then." Blue hung up the phone.

"Speaking of teammates," Blue said, "was anyone going to inform me that Columbia with y'all had potential to be hazardous to my health?

Neil snorted. "You two are the most dangerous thing that's ever happened on a trip to Eden's," he said with a grin.

Ronan cackled. "Damn straight."

[that-one-smartass]

The Creation of the Andrew Minyard Defense Squad

An idea that started with @apprenticedmagician listening to my ramblings.  And turned into my contribution to Twinyard Appreciation Week.

Aaron is irritated. It’s not like this is a rare state for him to be in.  He’d spent much of his life irritated.  And the source isn’t new either.  But spending an extended amount of time with his brother’s fuck buddy is a new kind of torture.  Baring the one short conversation at the cabin last spring, Aaron and Josten had made a point of avoiding each other.  Until now.  Because of course Josten just had to mouth off to the press about the Ravens.  AGAIN.  And of course the cult that makes up Ravens fans had to start sending death threats. So of course the Foxes must protect sweet, baby, gonna-get-all-of-them-killed Neil.

Aaron had been content to leave the matter alone.  Either Josten’s smart mouth finally got him killed, or he would come back from the dead again with more scars.  But Andrew had asked Aaron to escort Josten around campus when Andrew couldn’t.  And Andrew—he had never asked for anything.  It irked Aaron that of course when he did, it was about precious Neil.  But Aaron found he couldn’t turn his brother away when faced with a genuine request—even if it had been in the usual monotone.

So here he is. Escorting the idiot to his Spanish class across campus.  To an outsider, it would look like two strangers just happened to walk side-by-side on the thin sidewalk.  Content to ignore Josten and be ignored in return, Aaron starts to pull out his phone to see if Katelyn’s out of class yet.  

A shout of “WESNINSKI” stops him.  His head snaps to the right where a group of football players stand in a huddle.  The ring-leader in the middle of the group grins over at Josten.  It is not friendly.  Aaron looks to Josten as well and notices that he hasn’t stopped.  Quickening his pace just a bit to catch up, Aaron keeps the football players in his peripherals just in case.

“HEY WESNINSKI I’M TALKING TO YOU,” rings across the grass as the group starts towards them.  Aaron can see Josten’s knuckles clench around his book bag strap and his jaw clench, but otherwise he gives no reaction.  “Hey Butcher, I was just wondering if you know that Serial Killer 101 is that way,” the asshole says when he gets closer, his friends snickering behind him.  Josten just keeps walking so Aaron follows suit.  When a hand reaches out to Josten, Aaron expects a reaction similar to Andrew’s. Maybe a pulled knife or a punch. What he doesn’t expect is for Josten to neatly side step the grab causing the football player to trip.  He also expects that fucking mouth to get them is more trouble.  What he doesn’t expect is Josten to continue walking to the course of disgruntled shouts behind him.  

“Since when do you ignore that kind of shit?”  Aaron feels compelled to ask as they leave the group behind.

Josten rolls his eyes, “That’s hardly the worst I’ve heard in the last year.  If I stopped for every person that said shit like that to me, I’d never make it to class.  Or practice. Or a game.”

Aaron studies his face intently, wondering if Andrew knew what his fuck buddy apparently deals with. He almost asks, but at that moment they reach the Language Arts building and Josten disappears inside with a small nod back.

So he can control his mouth.  Why the fuck can’t he keep it shut any other time.

Now that Aaron is tuned to it, he hears the jeers directed Josten’s way constantly.  Josten doesn’t seem to care.  Why Aaron cares is because Andrew does.  Any time his brother is in the vicinity when the calls of ‘Wesninski’ and ‘Butcher’ follow Josten, Andrew steps up to whoever just took their life into their hands. Andrew who doesn’t care about anything puts himself in danger for some broken, impulsive, lying thing.  Aaron hates it.

Aaron gets it—gets Josten—months after that first incident.  They’re playing Breckenridge in the death matches. The game started ugly and it’s only continued to escalate.  It’s the fourth quarter, Aaron is dripping sweat under his armor, his brother is at his back, and Breckenridge is making one final try for the goal before they’re out of the championships.  Aaron steps up to the brute barreling towards him but is met with a wall of six-five muscle that he can’t break.  He watches from the ground in horror as that same wall crashes into his brother.

Aaron sees red as soon as Andrew crumples to the ground in his goal.  The buzz of the goal barely registers as he staggers to his feet, intent on making the offending striker pay.  Before he can get more than two steps, a blur of orange passes in front of him. The Breckenridge striker hunches over before Aaron can register that Josten just dealt the stricker a fierce blow to the abdomen.  He rears back for another punch when a small “Neil” comes from the goal.  Josten immediately drops his fist, pushes the striker to the ground to get him out of the way, and hurries over the Andrew’s slowly moving form.

Aaron breaks from his stupor to continue towards the two.  Josten barely spares him a glance as he hovers over Andrew.  Aaron locks eyes with his brother as he gets to his feet. “Alright?” comes the breathless rasp.

“Yeah,” Aaron answers automatically.  Whistles are blowing as red cards are handed out to the striker and Josten.  Not that Josten is paying attention.  His eyes are scouring over Andrew in search of injury.

“Idiot, go away,” Andrew scoffs, shoving at Josten.

He stays for another minute as if making absolutely sure that Andrew is fine before he shrugs. “Worth it,” he says as he begins to walk off the court.  To Aaron he says, “Don’t let them do that again,” as he passes.

“Obviously.”

They win the game.

Later, at Eden’s, the whole team is drinking to celebrate the advancement to championships.  Aaron and Neil drew short straws to get the next round.  They’re waiting for Roland to fill up two trays when the loud ramblings of some drunk reaches them.  “…and he’s a psychotic little shit.  That one. The blond over there.  Offered to buy him a drink once and the psycho pulled a fucking knife.  Still think he just needs-”

Aaron turns and plants a fist in the asshole’s stomach.  The dick crumples with the hit as Aaron straightens, “That’s my brother you shit for brains,” he says with a snarl.

“And someone like you doesn’t deserve to be in the same club as him, much less buy him a drink,” Josten drawls from Aaron’s left.  His eyes blaze with the same fury that often gets him death threats.  They turn back to the bar as one to grab the trays and make their way back to the table.  They throw back a shot simultaneously and take a seat.

“The fuck was that?” Andrew asks watching them both closely.  “Hate spending time with each other that much?”

Josten rolls his eyes and settles back in his seat.  Aaron stands to head to the dance floor, but as he does Josten looks over.  They share a single nod.

Aaron and Josten talk now, but it is only ever about Andrew and only ever in passing.  It’s a relay of information.  

“Heard that striker say to aim for Andrew’s ankles.”  A stretcher is called onto the court soon after for Belmont’s striker.

“That asshole two tables over was talking shit about the trial.”  A deliberate hip to a table later and the asshole no longer has a working laptop.

Small exchanges back and forth with increasing frequency.

”The fuck is going on with you and Neil?” Andrew asks as soon as Aaron stumbles into the kitchen in search for coffee after a night at Eden’s.

“Fuck are you talking about?” he mumbles while rummaging through the cabinet for a mug.

“The two of you were whispering like a bunch of school girls last night,” comes the bland response.

Coffee finally in hand, Aaron turns to face his brother.  The memory of some dicks talking shit about Andrew comes with the first sip of coffee.  The memory of orchestrating their very full drink tray tipping to the floor with Neil comes with the second sip.  A shrug is all he gives in response.  The usual bland look sharpening into a glare tells him that Andrew knows exactly what happened.

“Thinking to protect or defend me is a useless delusion.  I’m not sure which of you infected the other, but the stupidity ends now,” he states in that way that says he expects to be obeyed.

“We disagree.”

An eyebrow quirks up, “Oh, it’s we now, is it?”

“We.”

A stare down.  Then, unbelievably, a scoff.  A concession.  “You’re both idiots.”  A small quirk of lips.  It takes Aaron a moment to recognize it as a small smile.  The first he’s gotten from his brother since the drugs.  Since Drake.  Since he finally became the protector.

Worth it.

[mfmagazine]

Sarah Butler

Article by Michelle Nelson

Photo by Frankie Batista

Sarah Butler is nothing short of hardcore in the role of Jennifer in the remake of I Spit On Your Grave. The original version of this film, released in 1978, sparked a great deal of controversy.  Some viewed the film as a powerful feminist movie that dealt with rape and male sexual violence against women.  Others viewed it as exploitative and unnecessarily violent.  The film was actually banned in many countries until the late 90s.  Sarah Butler plays the role of Jennifer Hills, a writer who decides to spend the summer alone in a cabin to try to get some work done and is brutally raped, attacked and left for dead by a group of men.  Hills’ reaction to this attack was revenge and she went from being a victim to going on a killing/torture rampage against her attackers.  Butler took on this challenging role with courage and versatility and transitioned from being a victim to being an avenger seamlessly.  I was able to talk to Butler about the experience of filming I Spit On Your Grave, the challenges of playing the role of Jennifer, and Meir Zarchi’s motivation for creating the original movie.

Are you a big horror movie fan?

Ahh...the dreaded question.  I'm actually not.   Not that I dislike horror movies, I've just never watched very many.  I get really scared watching them.   Would you like to act in more horror movies in the future?

Definitely.  It would have to be the right role, and the right timing, but I think horror movies can be really fun to shoot.   Being in a horror film seems like it could be pretty emotionally, as well as physically, draining.  Was that the case for your while filming I Spit on Your Grave?

It was more the case with this film than almost every other horror movie out there.  I know that's a bold statement, but I'm sticking by it.  Portraying a character who is humiliated, tortured, and gang raped was the most physically and emotionally draining experience of my life.  And then I had to turn it around and become the avenger, which required just as much effort.  To hold onto that intense rage through the shooting of all the revenge scenes was so unnatural for me.  It really took it out of me.  I went home to visit my family in Washington for thanksgiving afterwards and immediately came down with the flu because my body and mind were so exhausted.   This was your first time being the lead actress in a movie. Were you nervous?  What was it like preparing for the role?

Yes, it was.  And yes, I was nervous.  But I was resolved to do my best, and I had been preparing for a chance like this for a long time, so I knew what I needed to do to carry the film.   Hopefully I pulled it off.  The crazy part was that I didn't really have much time to prep.  I was cast and left for Louisiana to shoot two weeks later.  Unfortunately, when you're that down to the wire, it's hard to make time to prepare for your role.  I pretty much shut myself off to my friends and used every spare moment I had to go over the script.     What would be your dream role to play?

If I could compare to a role that's already been played, Elizabeth Swan from Pirates of the Caribbean.  I love fantasy and adventure films, so that kind of thing is right up my alley.   Also, Keira Knightly got to be beautiful, feminine, smart, emotional, but also, a bad-ass pirate chick!  I'm jealous.  I've heard there's a Hansel and Gretel project out there, and I've got my eye on that.  It sounds like it's going to be amazing.   Before being cast, had you ever seen the original I Spit on Your Grave movie?

Not before being cast, but once I was cast I ran right out and rented it.  The guy at the movie rental shop, a tiny, non-corporate place that went out of business about a month later, went to the back and found it for me.  He was reading the back of the DVD case as he walked up to me, and then he said "I think I'll watch this when you return it.  It looks funny."  I was like, "Dude, I don't think so.  But yeah, watch it!"  It was definitely NOT a funny movie.   The original film stirred up quite a bit of controversy.  Some people thought of it as a feminist film, some thought of it as brutally and unnecessarily violent.  What are your views of the film?  

Well, it was the beginning of a great opportunity for me, so I can't say a bad thing about it.  It gave me the greatest role of my career so far, and for that I will be forever grateful to Meir Zarchi.  I understand every point of view regarding this film.  I can definitely say it's not for everyone.  But it helps to know why this film was made in the first place.  Meir was living in New York City in the mid 70s, and one night, or very early morning, he was driving through central park on his way home.  A woman, naked, bloody, beaten, and almost dead stumbled into the road in front of him, screaming for help.  She had been brutally attacked and raped by multiple men.  Meir put her in the car, took her to the hospital, and then wondered for many months after what she must have gone through emotionally after that terrorizing experience.  I think his original film explored the darkest fantasies of violated women.  As humans, it is part of our natural healing process to dream of revenge, even though most would never really attempt it.  If you can accept this film as a very honest depiction of a sad reality of society, that women are attacked and raped, then maybe it should even be praised for bringing light to a subject that is normally kept in the dark.  Women who are violated in this way shouldn't be ashamed to come forward and seek justice for their attackers.     Do you think that playing the character Jennifer made you have a different outlook on the movie than if you were just someone watching the movie from a totally outside perspective?

Of course!  Totally!  I would have most likely never watched this film, or the original, if I hadn't been cast in it. I probably would have been part of the masses that immediately dismiss it as exploitation without even watching a frame.  That's ignorant.   Becoming Jennifer absolutely brought the subject closer to home and created some of my stronger opinions about it.   The original version of this movie features a good deal of nudity.  How was nudity handled in your version of the film?  How comfortable or uncomfortable were you with it?

Yes, there was an awful lot of nudity in the original, which probably contributed to getting it labeled as "exploitation".  I truly believe that although there is full nudity in our film--and not too sparsely either--there is not one exploitative frame featuring my nude body.  There is a wipe up my midsection as I get out of my car fully clothed in one of the first scenes of the film, and I joked with the other cast members that that shot is the most exploitative in the whole film.  It's true though, when I'm naked, never for a second is it sexy.  It is heartbreaking and sickening, and my skin is shown just enough to evoke the sense of pity that is necessary, and nothing more.  Meeting my director, Steven, for the first time, completely eased my fears about the nudity in this film.  He is such a good man, a family man, and a very normal guy.  So when it came time to shoot these scenes, I felt very comfortable knowing that he would use nudity in only the most necessary and respectful ways.  He outdid my expectations.  He handled it exquisitely.   How does your version of I Spit on Your Grave differ from the original movie?

The biggest change is my revenge on the men.   We've lengthened it, and added some torture elements to even out the cause and effect sides of the movie, and to give the audience something to cheer about in the second half.  It worked!  I don't use my sexuality to avenge the men.  In the original, Camille Keaton's Jennifer actually slept with some of the men before killing them.  Just about everyone on the production team was opposed to this, so instead of sex, I use twisted mind games and rusty gardening tools.  Other than that, we've added a character, a sheriff, played by the brilliant Andrew Howard, and updated the look of the film through the amazing hand-held stylings of Neil Lisk, our director of photography/camera operator.   What were some of the things you did to prepare for your role in this movie?  Did you do any special research?  Any special physical training?

I didn't have time.  But I did practice going to very dark places, almost animalistic, to prepare for portraying the post-rape Jennifer.  Living in the woods, and a very creepy abandoned old house with no windows, doors, electricity or plumbing I think anyone would turn a little strange, not to mention the emotional hell Jennifer went though during that time.   Where was the movie filmed?  Is there anything interesting that you can share about the environment or the set where the movie was filmed?

The movie was filmed in beautiful Shreveport, Louisiana.  There are lots of films being shot out there because of the amazing tax benefits to production studios.  There were at least three others while we were there.  But our film actually should have been made there regardless.  Everything from the run-down houses and trailers of the rapists to the beautifully haunting swamplands were absolutely perfect for the look of our film.  The one location that really sticks out to me is the shack, as we called it, or the abandoned house I performed my revenge in.  That place really gave everyone the willies.   It was very cold inside and genuinely had a bad vibe to it, almost like you could tell something really bad had gone down there.  When the crew was setting up they found dozens of children's shoes out back in the shrubs and vines.  Some of the local crew said they might remember something in the news back in the 60s about a child molester in the area.  I didn't like being there, but I have to admit, sitting in that environment probably helped bring out some of the darkest parts of my nature.   Whose idea was it to remake this movie?  How did the idea come about?

I wasn't really around for that part, but as far as I know, Cinetel films acquired the rights to the original a couple years ago.  Apparently, many had tried to buy the rights from Meir Zarchi over the years, but he didn't trust any of them until he met Lisa Hansen.     Are you currently working on any other projects?  Is there anything exciting you have in the works that you would like to share with our readers?

I wish I could say yes, but I'm currently just waiting for the right next thing to come my way.  I've had some offers but nothing that strays too far from this film.  I started my career with a huge challenge (this film), and I want to keep up that trend.   I'm not interested in fluffy roles, or roles that are too similar to ones I've already played.  Maybe I'm being too picky, but I'm sure something will come soon and sweep me off my feet.   How did you get involved in acting?  Do you have any formal training?

I've been doing it since I was about 10 years old, in my driveway with my best friend putting on plays for our parents, in school plays, and later community theater.  I moved from Washington State to Los Angeles at 18 to major in theater at the University of Southern California.  I left there to act as Belle at Disneyland, and left that to seriously pursue an acting career in Hollywood.  I've taken classes with some of the best, including Lesly Kahn and Harry Mastrogeorge.  It is my life, and I will continuously be studying it.