#literally the only zombie media I like is warm bodies

[figofswords]

I started watching the last of us and I’m having a struggle because there’s the half of my brain that will do anything to watch some good found family and then there’s the other half of my brain which is: deeply squeamish. hypochondriac. freaked out by disease/epidemic (this far predates covid). freaked out by gore. freaked out by any plotline that involves people being eaten. can’t do horror At All. and dislikes almost all zombie media. I’m just sitting here watching this feeling increasingly stressed but unable to stop send help

[shepherds-of-haven]

hey Lena, feel free to ignore but;

I read your “nerd lectures” when you posted them and I literally couldn’t stop thinking about them, even months later! I explained to my friends the vampires and zombies depictions and they’re meanings, and we all thought it was awesome, so I wanted to take the time to say thank you for doing that.

I am curious, though. When you stated that our current fears are reflected on today’s media, would you be willing to expand on this/provide examples? I think it’s so interesting!

Hi anon, thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you enjoyed my little lectures, haha! Vampires and zombies are here, if anyone else is interested in reading my talks on those!

So my running thesis is that most horror media constantly reflects its society and audience's current cultural fears, in some way. (Kind of feels like a no-brainer when I put it that way, but to be honest, a lot of academic waffling can...) I was teaching my class around 2014-2017, so a lot of my examples are a little dated, especially since our most prominent anxieties can shift so quickly (and especially so in the last few years). I'm also not as up-to-date with what's airing and what's popular today as I was back then, so take what I say with a huge grain of salt! This is all sort of just my own interpretation and by no means a broad statement on "society's fears": I can't presume to accurately know such a large, nuanced, variable concept as just one person, but I do think it's fun to analyze popular trends with that sort of lens!

So the 90s to 2000s saw this really interesting shift where blockbuster movies and shows were repurposing and reframing traditional monsters and villains into protagonists and sympathetic characters. Aliens were no longer just the terrifying Xenomorphs stalking Ripley through the bowels of a spaceship, intent on ripping her away from her adoptive daughter: they were also E.T., a friendly foreigner being pursued by a sinister government intent on detaining him and preventing him from returning home (or acclimating to a new one). The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park weren't the true villains; it was the greed and carelessness of the Ingen corporation and Dennis Nedry, whose gluttony and avarice let them out: the "monsters" here were innocent, only let loose to do as nature intended them to do by the negligence and callousness of capitalism. Vampires were no longer blood-sucking ghouls representing antiquarian fears of sexuality and sensuousness: as our society's values shifted, vampires then became embraced as objects of desire (Twilight, True Blood), figures of sympathy and even comedy (What We Do in the Shadows, Let the Right One In), or alluring fantasies about attaining power and superhuman abilities when confronted with the fragility of human life. Even zombies underwent their own axis shift (Warm Bodies, iZombie), and in most zombie narratives of today, the ringing statement tends to be: It's not the zombies you should fear, it's the people around you, the selfish horror and inventive cruelties that only humans can create when trapped in desperate, cannibalistic systems. (Train to Busan, The Last of Us--even the Walking Dead's tagline for a long time was "Fight the Dead, Fear the Living.")*

So if traditional monsters were sort of shifting into these greyer areas and were no longer reliable hallmarks for our current fears, the question had to be asked: who are the actual villainous forces of today's horror media, and what do they represent? Pick the most popular shows and movies from the last five years that you think of when you hear "horror," and you can sort of start to pick things apart through that lens.

Back in 2016, I had a few bullet points that I could reliably point to when watching most any horror movie or show. At that time, the big hitters were:

The true horror is the government, not the monster you think it is. This anxiety and mistrust of the government (at least in the US) has been exponentially increasing since 9/11 (whereas much of our media in the 90s and before was extremely patriotic and more fearful of foreign governments, the Soviet Union, foreign spies in our midst (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), etc.); and you can see that fear and criticism really ramp up through the horror media that's come out since then; whereas the government (or its extension, the police) was once the authority that you waited for to come save the day at the end of the movie, it has now become the cause of much of the horrors that people are dealing with in our stories of today (Stranger Things, Super 8, The Host, etc.). See also movies like The Purge: Election Year, which came out in 2016. You can put it together...

There were also a lot of preoccupations with social media, the isolation or terrors of the Internet, and its effects on people as a cause for horror and anxiety back then: this was when things like Unfriend, Black Mirror, Creep, and Searching were hitting the peak of their popularity.

Another common theme that year was not being able to trust the people you think you can trust or the people you think you know well: It Follows (sexual partners), The Boy (employers), The VVitch (family), The Invitation (friends/ex-spouse), The Gift (husband of many years), etc. Each of these featured their own specific monster that wasn't any of the above things; but the protagonists were only put in those terrifying positions by the people they thought they could trust, who explicitly went out of their way to let them down or fuck them over. I think this indicated a general wariness and anxiety about traditional authority figures (if you can’t trust your loved ones to protect you, how can you trust large-scale institutions?), or that secrets, betrayals, and scandals were more on the cultural forefront that year (this was right before #MeToo)—but I’m not as sure on this one (or it’s not as clear to me) as the other themes. Could also have just been a coincidence!

Since then, I think some of those trends have remained consistent, but I've also noticed a sharp uptick in horror movies that explore or reflect extremely prominent anxieties regarding mental illness (Lights Out, Split, Hereditary, Midsommar, The Babadook, The Blackcoat's Daughter, They Look Like People, I'm pretty sure Malignant but I haven't seen it, etc.). I'm not saying I condone any of those depictions, or the vilification or demonization of mental illness, because a lot of those depictions mentioned are very damaging and harmful; but they (and their critical or financial success) do seem to reflect certain anxieties that we as a society are becoming more preoccupied with—they’re clearly resonating with audiences in some way—so they support my "thesis" that that's what horror films are the vehicle for. I've also noticed a comeback in religious and cult horror (The Nun, The Ritual, Midsommar, Midnight Mass, Yellowjackets, The Society), obviously more emerging films about race and the horrors of white abuse and racism (Get Out, Us, Lovecraft Country, Them), as well as explorations of addiction (Killing of a Sacred Deer, Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass).

I definitely think the anxieties of 'being trapped in a household/confined space with people you come to find you don't know as well as you think or can't trust' are on the rise in media, and will likely spike for a little while post-COVID, unless the market is already saturated with such stories (The VVitch, The Lighthouse, Bird Box, His House, Don't Breathe, It Comes at Night, Head Count, etc.; Night House (2021) is also a perfect example for this). 

So, uh, yeah! That's my ultra mini-condensed version of some of the stuff we were talking about in class! TL;DR - you can really interpret any number of things from trends in today’s horror media: just look for the narrative patterns or common threads between popular horror entries, and what’s selling well or talked about a lot, and you’ve probably found a cultural vein that these movies and shows are tapping into, either subconsciously (because the filmmakers are, of course, just as influenced by the anxieties of the times as their audiences) or purposefully.

I hope that was an interesting read, and thanks for your kind words and question!

*If you want to follow another really fascinating thread, think also of how zombies have also somewhat evolved from the slow, shambling dead of the Romero era to the violent, aggressive, running zombies of much of today's zombie media. Arguably this was kickstarted and popularized by Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, in which people are infected with an incredibly contagious disease called Rage that takes over the entire country in less than a month and incites entire populations to insane violence and infighting--and this released in 2002, one year after 9/11.

[hatchetfieldtheories]

Return to Hatchetfield-Town – The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals Part 1

Alright settle down kiddos. Get comfy, find a warm blanket and hug your favourite fwendy-wend as we start our Return to Hatchetfield-Town series.

I’ll be rewatching all the Hatchetfield scripted content (i.e. not livestreams or interviews) and jotting down what happens, explaining some concepts and delving into some of the key theories in the series (and using the word “implications” that often it will cease to have meaning).

Even though I’ll be doing the rewatch by show in order they came out, there will be spoilers for all Hatchetfield content that is available as of the rewatch.  

I’ve also linked to a number of other blog’s theories here because they are amazing, but if you aren’t happy with your theory being included I will be more than happy to remove it!  Just let me know.

[Part 2]

The Guy Who Really Hated Brigadoon

TGWDLM starts off with the greatest song ever to feature dancing zombies… at least I can’t think of any other notable ones.

In the title song, the cast of singing and dancing zombies explain to us that all great stories have to have a hero, someone who knows right and wrong and that the best way to do this is through singing and dancing in musicals.  This with the later line of “they evoke the philosophical” make me think that Pokey took a class in Campbell’s Hero Myth in College and became that guy.

Hatchetfield Challenge: try not to shrug your shoulders along with the music at the chorus. Its impossible. No wonder the Hive spread so quickly.  Literally killer dance moves.

So then they introduce us to an awful Grinch named Paul and we hit the first point in the show where I laugh out loud every single time I watch.

I know TGWDLM was not originally intended to be the first Hatchetfield show but starting this series with a song which sets up the story so well is truly spectacular.   And is there anything more Starkid than introducing your main character by having other characters sing about how awful they are?

One thing I have noticed while writing, reading and collating Hatchetfield theories is that while most Black Friday and Nightmare Time theories are usually about the overall Hatchetfield lore, most TGWDLM theories are usually quite self-contained and focused on this one show.  TGWDLM – while so fully within the Hatchetfield extended universe, is definitely the show that can best stand-alone without the others.

It’s the end of the world, Paul

If you don’t sing

This is the bridge, Paul

Where we globalize everything

And the words will come to you

We swear we will teach you

What it means to love

What it means to obey, Paul!

On a first watch this is very funny.  On your 10th watch this is terrifying.

CCRP Technical: No-one here knows how to use their printer

Following the absolute bop of a title song we find ourselves in CCRP Technical and all feels very… normal. It’s very weird following all the revelations in subsequent Hatchetfield media, to be watching a show where there was genuinely nothing obviously fishy about CCRP.  We’ll obviously discuss CCRP more when we get to Nightmare Time, but for now all we know is that Paul works in the technical department of CCRP – an unknown corporation, with some key characters, Charlotte, Bill and Ted.

We also find out more about Grinch Paul’s personality and honestly, Paul is me pre-pandemic just outright avoiding social interactions and suddenly going for coffee in the middle of the work day. (I have become a changed woman in lockdown – someone please invite me somewhere… anywhere!)

For all the dark humour and death in the Hatchetfield series, Starkid do know how to bring the joy – I love how excited the town of Hatchetfield are for a touring production of Mamma Mia.  

Fake Fact: TGWDLM is actually an allegory for Europe in the 1970s, when we all became mind-controlled by Abba’s Waterloo.  (Find me a better explanation for Eurovision, I dare you!  The sequins were just too shiny!)

“The idea of sitting there… trapped in a musical.  That is my own personal hell.”

Two words: Emma Perkins – need I explain any more?  

Ah Hot Chocolate Boy.  I really look forward to finding out more about him.  Where does he come from?  He just appears out of the ether. What’s his story?  How old is he? How many hot chocolates does he have per day? I know we have since had some confirmation on who he is, but they raise more questions than answers. For now I will just point you to a gorgeous Mood Board by @hatchetfieldmoodboards which features a bit of a spoiler. 

For real though – is it just me who would love a full version of “I’ve been brewing up your coffee”?

Hatchetfield Challenge: Try not to sing “Shut the f*ck up” along with Emma.

“Watching people sing and dance makes me very uncomfortable”- oh boy Paul… you’re not going to enjoy the next hour and 40 minutes.  Also, Paul, you’re making me uncomfortable watching you throw your brand new coffee around as if you’ve just been given an empty cup.  There’s imaginary coffee everywhere.  Hopefully, HCB won’t slip on it before it’s cleaned up… he’s already having a bad day.

“Thunder and Lightning… very very frightening.  But a big rock hurtling through the clouds is no biggie.” – all the residents of Hatchetfield apparently.

The next sequence happens so fast and we get introduced to a lot of characters.  Notably Greenpeace Girl, Alice and Deb, Sam, and Hidgens (though we don’t find out his name until much later). This scene impresses me because they do such a great job of very quickly bringing out so many characters who nonetheless are memorable when they return later in the show.

Peanuts the Hatchetfield Pocket Squirrel is an Eldritch Being. I won’t go into Peanuts theories here as that could be a whole post in itself – and many a person more brilliant than I have written some fantastic theories on this. You can learn all about how a Squirrel took over the fandom in the following posts:

@dahlialupine : x

@frombothofmyhearts​: x

@abiimaryy​: x

And finally mine which is definitely a serious theory: x

It’s… A… Musical!

Now to remember we are actually watching a musical.  La Dee Da Da Day is such a happy joyful song performed spectacularly by a throng of the undead.

The song is about the Hive singing about how much of a great time they are having now they are tap-dancing zombies, and trying to find ways to convince Paul he should join them too. So the grins on all their faces are not at all terrifying.

 It’s worth noting also that according to the laws of the TGWDLM world, only those infected by the Hive can hear the music in the background.  This becomes important later when it becomes clear some characters have started being infected before they are fully turned into zombies, but for now it just paints quite a funny picture of what Paul must be witnessing. I definitely think for him, this whole scene just sounds like this clip of Greased Lightning without the music: x

The important thing here however, besides Mariah’s singing, is that the Hive leave Paul alone.  They don’t actually attempt to turn him at this point.  I have a theory on the implications of this, but note this has big spoilers for the end of the show and Black Friday.  It was written before we knew that the Hive (Pokey) was related to Wiggly but the content still stands: x

Charlotte, Honey, you don’t need that much sugar – you’re sweet enough

For reference:

@melchron​  noted that the lyrics for La Dee Dah sound very similar to the incantation for soul transferal read out in Jane’s a Car, which leads me to two possible implications.

The Freaky Furbies have a language other than English that they use for their incantations so this is why they sound similar.

There is soul transference happening to the souls of the bodies the Hive take over.

Or it’s just Starkid using similar sounding words for their content…. Three! There are three possible implications…

Paul – just print off another copy of the report

From this point on the musical numbers really do come thick and fast.  We move on to the first instance of Jeff Blim encouraging Paul to talk about his feelings, which I am sure is not important and isn’t worth discussing.  Paul goes through a musical rendition of a promotion interview, which is actually the Hive attempting to find out if he will be the “hero” of their story.  They picked out Paul for the role from the start. That he was chosen was inevitable.

What do you see for this company? I'm looking for someone with strong ambition Someone to sell their specific vision Someone to share with precise precision their thoughts 'Cause I want you to want…To want

So it turns out these will be looooong, so I will end here and see you in part 2!  I’m not sure yet what the upload frequency will be.  It takes quite a while to go through the show like this but it is a lot of fun!

Hatchetfield High Homework:

Where do you stand on the Peanuts the Hatchetfield Pocket Squirrel debate?

Why do you think that the Soul Transference Spell and La Dee Dah sound so similar?

Go follow all the lovely people mentioned in this post!

Bonus points if you know the reference in the post title.

[Part 2]

[yoongi-sugaglider]

Forget Me Nots

A wealthy young man falls overboard while vacationing with friends only to find himself with amnesia and a pretty young wife who seems determined to remind him what hard work and dedication really mean.

Warnings: Strong language, angry Min Yoongi inaccurately portrayed based upon the writer’s imagination,angst, eventual super fluff.

Pairing: Eventual Min Yoongi x reader

Word count: 2304

A/n: Wow, it’s been forever and almost quite literally a year since I revisited this. Apologies for taking so long to update it. I ran out of inspiration and then put it on hiatus just because I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take the story. It’s pretty obvious by the tone of this chapter that fluff is the way. And I knew it was meant to be because as I was typing the last sentence So Far Away came up on random on my itunes lol. I will warn there’s mention of Yoongi in a towel down there at the bottom somewhere so prepare to be semi blinded lol. Other than that, no she’s not off hiatus (the story) But there is more content made available in the form of this chapter! Lemmie know what ya’ll think yeah? Any feedback is always appreciated~

<<Chapter 7---Chapter 9>>

As the evening wore on y/n offered to cook dinner while allowing Yoongi to take a shower, citing that he might want to wash off the antiseptic funk of the hospital.

“If not for your sake then at least for Champ’s.”

He’d chuckled, eyes gazing at the two goofy dogs in adoration before he finally agreed that the hot embrace of a shower sounded good to him.

She hummed as she worked,cutting up various ingredients as she went about making up a quick stew. A thought gave her pause though and filled her with a moment of panic as her eyes darted to the dark recess of the hallway leading to her bedroom and the showering man beyond.

“Shit...what if he has food allergies or something…” The moment of panic had her scrambling for the purse that lay forgotten where she’d discarded it in search of her phone. Memory served her well enough in that he was an idol and therefore surely his food allergies had to be somewhere online. Things like that spread far and wide in the social media frenzy that was idol worship in modern society.

Thankfully her search eased her anxiety as it turned out that he seemed adventurous when it came to trying new food so long as it had plenty of meat. She smiled to herself, glad that she’d decided on a stew. 

There were plenty enough sites that had different facts about him that would come to be useful later on so she bookmarked a few before returning to the kitchen to finish up the meal.

“Angel? You wouldn’t happen to know where my deodorant is?” His deep rumble of a voice sounded from behind her and she thought for a moment as she scraped a cutting board full of chopped carrots into the large pot simmering on the stove.

“Um...I don’t remember. Hang on and I’ll come help you find it.” She finished adding the last of the carrots before turning to his voice.

The cutting board dropped to the floor and she let out a tiny shriek of embarrassment at the sight before her. He stood, leaning against the fridge with his arms folded over his bare chest, large white towel wrapped snug around his waist and nothing else on.

His sugar pale skin seemed to glow under the lights of the kitchen, and the little she’d seen of it before she turned away to hide the glaring flush of her cheeks was enough to burn the image forever in her mind. He wasn’t overly muscular by any means. But he seemed to be lean and well built,barely any body fat to be seen as if he spent a large amount of time dancing or something along those lines.

Well toned arms reached for her, slowly turning her to face him as he voiced his concern.

“What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

“Ah...n...no nothing’s wrong.” She gulped, steeling herself and mentally bracing as she slowly looked up to meet his worried gaze. “I just, wasn’t expecting you there is all. I thought you had gone back to the bedroom.”

He tilted his head, pink tongue darting out to wet pale lips as he contemplated her still flushed face.

“Hmm...sorry I scared you.” He dropped his hands, brow still furrowed as he watched her hurriedly step out of his grasp and head towards the bedroom.

“S...sorry. I’ll go find your deodorant.” She squeaked over her shoulder as she disappeared into the bedroom.

***

Dinner was spent in relative silence. Him complimenting her on her cooking to which she replied with an appreciative squeak and her avoiding his questioning gaze as much as she could without it seeming rude.

He wondered at it as he stood at the sink, having offered to wash dishes though she’d fought him on it up until he’d insisted after a yawn tripped her up mid sentence. She’d finally relented with another yawn tearing through her and said she was going for a shower herself before retiring to bed.

After putting away the last dish he’d taken a moment to let the dogs out into the spacious backyard. They’d raced around for a while, taking care of their business before spending a bit sniffing at as many nooks and crannies as they could find in the dim light cast on the darkness from the open back door.

By the time he’d made it back inside she was already curled up and asleep in bed, hands tucked into the crease beneath her thighs similar to the way he himself slept. He’d smiled to himself, offering her sleeping form a gentle kiss to her cheek to which she sighed.

Sleep didn’t seem forthcoming and so he decided to spend some time in the living room, comfortably sprawled on the sofa with Kaia tucked between his legs and a pouting Champ sleeping on the floor beside him as there’d been no more room for him.

It felt at once comfortable and yet unfamiliar and a wave of sadness washed over him. Memories begging to flood to the surface and yet still hidden away from him causing him to groan in frustration at their elusiveness.

What was it that had caused his wife to act so strangely towards him? She’d seemed flustered and shocked when he’d come from the shower in just a towel. Surely she’d seen him at least naked before if not at least partially so. They were married after all right?

And then it came to him. She’d mentioned before that the night he’d been injured they’d been fighting. Was it possible that they’d been having a rough go of it? Was it possible that he’d been pushing her away before everything went down and that they could have been on the verge of divorce?

Though he couldn’t remember much he knew that he wasn’t exactly an easy person to get along with. It was just a feeling he had, that he wasn’t the easiest to approach, or like right off the bat for that matter.

Was it possible that she’d been acting that way because they had become estranged in their marriage?

It didn’t sit well with him. Much less so because she seemed to be such a sweet and loving person. The dogs alone attested to that, not to mention the way she’d been caring for him the past few days.

He spent some time staring at the ceiling, eyes unfocused as he thought over what he could do to fix this. To fix their marriage, to fix whatever he could have possibly done to cause her to be so uncomfortable around him.

“It sticks a little.” He remembered the issue he’d had with opening her car door, as well as the front steps and the other issues she’d mentioned about how the roof leaked and how the front step was dangerous to walk on.

“This won’t do.” He muttered to himself as he sat up, disturbing a sleeping pair of pups in the process. After a few whispered words to settle them back down he got up, determination filling him as he began to look for the tools he would need to fix his home, and maybe even fix his marriage.

***

The next morning dawned bright and filled with life. Dew glistened on the window panes, sunlight reflecting off the tiny water droplets in a sparkling dance that shimmered with iridescent prisms off the walls and greeted her with a warm and welcoming feeling.

Her arms stretched high over her head and she let out a groan of appreciation at the pleasant stretch of muscles and sinew. The smell of fried eggs and warm toast filled the room, causing her stomach to grumble and complain that she hadn’t gotten up yet to investigate.

A moment of confusion filled her, trying to place who could have cooked for her. Rose and Dev hadn’t slept over so...who?

“Angel? You awake?”

A sleepy eyed Yoongi peeked around the partially open door, shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips as his eyes met hers.

Ah, right. Her “husband”. 

Her heart fluttered at the sleep tussled state of his hair, spatula still in hand as he motioned for her to follow him.

She shuffled from bed, smoothing the overly large t-shirt she’d gone to bed with over her curves as she shuffled down the hall and around the corner of the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of breakfast. Yoongi stood at the stove, spatula in hand with one of her frilly pink aprons tied around his small waist as he patiently awaited the browning of what looked to be chocolate chip pancakes.

“Well..good morning?” She moved into the kitchen, taking mental note of the sudden shade of pink gracing the tips of Yoongi’s ears.

“I...ah th...thought you might like some breakfast? There’s coffee made if…”

“Oh gawd yes!” Y/n groaned. Moving forward like a zombie looking for its next meal she made grabby hands at the steaming mug Yoongi’d pointed to with his free hand. Leaning against the counter she sighed, eyes closed as she inhaled the scent of roasted bean water filling her nostrils.

Yoongi watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he flipped a pancake. A soft almost fond smile threatened to creep over his features as he hummed along with her.

“I don’t remember but...you seemed like a cream and three sugars kinda girl...I hope it’s…”

“It’s perfect Yoongi, thank you.” The smile that lit up her whole body as she gave her thanks was doing all sorts of strange things to him. For one his palms had suddenly grown incredibly sweaty, making holding the spatula that much harder as he slipped the now cooked pancake onto the ever growing stack on the plate beside the stove.

For another it seemed his heart wouldn’t stop racing, not that he wanted it to stop at all. It was just… the racing of his heart seemed to have caused a migration’s worth of butterflies to awaken in the pit of his stomach.

Despite his doubts from the previous night he was sure his heart was trying to tell him something. The domestic feeling that spread through him as he turned off the stove and fondly watched his wife walk over to the dining room table and curiously lift the lids off of several of the dishes he’d prepared for her felt so foreign. Maybe his fears had been right and their marriage had been strained. He shook his head, attempting to dispel the thoughts and the looming headache that came along with them.

“You made all this?” She asked, eyes sparkling like diamonds as he brought the plate of pancakes over and sat them on the table before sitting down himself.

“I couldn’t sleep last night so I worked on a couple things. By the time I was finished the sun was coming up so I figured I’d make you breakfast to surprise you.” He shot her a bashful smile, scratching at the hair on the back of his head before nodding at the food in front of them.

“Worked on some things?” She tilted her head, confusion lacing her words as she pulled the bowl of eggs towards her. Yoongi had covered everything with bowls to keep it all hot and fresh for her and he smiled, proud to know that the ploy had worked.

“You mentioned that the passenger side door stuck on your car so I thought I’d take a look at it. Turns out the latch had a bit of rust on it so I took care of that.” He looked up from the piece of bacon he’d been placing on his plate to see her staring at him wide eyed.

“Oh...but Yoongi the doctor said…”

“That I needed to take it easy, yeah. I managed that and getting the step on the front stairs fixed up before the dizziness set in. I took a break after that before making breakfast I promise.”

She shook her head, frown tugging her lips down as she sat back in her chair. “OH...Yoongi you didn’t have to do all that.”

Anything he’d have said was interrupted by a large shepherd snout wedging its way into his lap, chocolate brown eyes staring up at him from beneath the table. “Well hi there handsome.” Yoongi chuckled. Slender fingers threaded through the fur on top of the goofily grinning animal’s head.

“I don’t know buddy, I’m not sure Momma would appreciate you sneaking my bacon from me.”

He glanced up at y/n through his eyelashes, smirk barely restrained as he watched the subtle dusting of a blush raise to her cheeks.

“Mo..he...I…” She cleared her throat, clearly trying to force her flustered state down. “It’s fine just...don’t let Kaia have any...she’s on a diet right now…”

“Hmm…” Yoongi shook his head, a deep rumbling chuckle rising from his chest as he slipped the begging dog a morsel. “Poor girl’s being deprived of my excellent cooking. Really a shame isn’t it Miss Kaia?”

The lab in question gave him a loving flop of her tail from the pillow he’d placed for her in the warmth of the early morning sun. He winked at her conspiratorially, having shared a few bits of cooked unseasoned egg with her earlier.

A joined sigh escaped the two as they continued with their meal, unbeknownst to either of them as they enjoyed the quiet and peace of the morning. Neither realized that they were both sharing the same thought, that they could get used to living like this if it meant enjoying the shared company of the person sitting across from them.

[butchniqabi]

so my mostly spoiler free sorry this is super spoilery assessment of “the girl with all the gifts” movie is that i literally have no way to properly describe my feelings. this is probably the first time that i consumed a piece of media where the protagonist was someone who could be described as “good” while their existence was fundamentally dangerous to all the other main characters. i mean like. “warm bodies” vaguely comes to mind but not only is there a zombie cure its not as intense or tragic as this movie. there are many themes and motifs in the movie that make me scream on the inside, but the strongest one is that everyone is just trying to survive. melanie, the people on the base, the “hungries”, and the children, all of them want to survive and that oftentimes means that they hurt or kill one another to do so.

i adored the subversion of my expectations! for the first part of the movie melanie has a lot of restraint and tries her best not to hurt anyone and you, as the viewer, can trick yourself into thinking “well she’s not like them, she’s different”. which is in a way true, but then we see her kill those soldiers who hurt her teacher and we realize, no she is like them. as viewers we tend to think of character as being good/bad, but parks makes a good point during the film by saying that he “never knew any good or bad people”. even though melanie is undeniably a zombie (of a kind) her character is not “bad” because of this, it is simply who she is.

it’s really difficult for me to put into words all my thoughts mostly because i dont want to write an essay on the topic lol, but at the end of the movie you’re left to parse out your own feelings. melanie is excited and optimistic at the prospect of the new future ahead which is juxtaposed by her teacher, helen’s, sadness at what life will look like now.

anyways, im gonna lay down for the next 3 months to process...

[tlbodine]

Essential Zombie Media

A thing that’s come up over and over again in early reviews for River of Souls is the sentiment that it’s not-like-other-zombie-stories. And that was certainly my intention. But you don’t get to make a good deconstruction without a healthy knowledge and appreciation of the genre you’re twisting around. 

So here is a list of what I would consider essential zombie media -- whether you want to write a story that plays it straight with the tropes, or one that twists everything around, or you just want something new to watch/read. 

Your own suggestions and ideas are more than welcome in the comments! Please reblog with your own favorite zombie book/movie/TV show/comic, I’d love to discover some I haven’t seen. 

The Origins

The generally agreed-upon first zombie movie is White Zombie (1932), starring Bela Lugosi, but I think it’s safe to skip it on account of both obscurity and some troubling racism. The Haitian-Voodoo zombi mythos and tradition is something best kept separate from our modern ideas of the walking dead. 

Instead, start your journey with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), which starts codifying the tropes that persist well into modern media (including, like most modern stories, never using the word ‘zombie’). 

Then compare and contrast with the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend (1954), which is ostensibly about vampires but I think basically invented the modern zombie genre -- from the post-apocalyptic setting to the spread of undeath by way of disease vectors. 

Follow that up with Dawn of the Dead (1978), where George Romero revisits his Living Dead universe with the help of Dario Argento (if you’re interested, there’s a 2004 remake that’s decent, but unnecessary). And then, just to wrap up the trilogy, skip on ahead to Day of the Dead (1985). 

For extra credit, play the videogame Dead Rising (2006), which draws liberally from Dawn of the Dead and also allows you to beat zombies to death with literally anything you can find in a shopping mall (I can’t speak for the sequels as I’ve never played them). Dead Rising is far from the only game franchise to use zombies (more on that in a bit), but it pays homage directly to the genre in a way that many others don’t. 

The Zombie Renaissance

For a long while, zombies sort of fell out of fashion. Oh, there were some decent takes on the concept, like Re-Animator (1985) and Dead Alive (1992) but by and large zombies in the 1980s and 90s were played for laughs. 

But then they made a great big comeback, stronger maybe than they had ever been before. What happened?

Well, for one, they stayed close to the public conscience thanks to video games. Games and zombies are a perfect fit. Their shambling movement and slow, stupid behavior makes them a great choice for imperfect AI programming. They’re people-shaped, which makes them easy to animate, but they can be gross and deformed and scary, which makes them fun for your art team. And since they’re inhuman and dead, you can kill them in any way you’d like without feeling bad about it. 

Which is probably why zombies have been part-and-parcel of the gaming world since Entombed (1982) was released on the Atari. Doom (1993) was wildly popular, and just a few years later we’d start the Resident Evil franchise, which became both hugely influential as games and films. And lest we forget, Blizzard was giving us undead in Warcraft by the early 2000s, rising to greater prominence by World of Warcraft in its heydey (especially Wrath of the Lich King).  

But I’d argue that the number one single most important ingredient in the horror revival was Danny Boyle’s 2002 film 28 Days Later. 

28 Days Later was huge because it breathed fresh life (pun intended) into a genre that had gone stale. The monsters in 28 Days Later aren’t the walking dead at all -- they’re just people infected with a virus similar to rabies that makes them deadly (compare and contrast with The Crazies, both the 1973 original and 2010 remake, which deals with a similar concept. 

But thanks to being an excellent film with some wonderfully creepy-gross effects, 28 Days Later reignited fearful imaginations. It also introduced the world to the idea of fast zombies as an alternative to the usual shambling monsters. 

A couple years later, zombie content exploded. Aside from the Dawn of the Dead remake in 2004, and some Resident Evil and Doom film interpretations, we got Shaun of the Dead (2004), which is both hilarious and an exceptional zombie film. 

There’s also 28 Weeks Later (2007), a sequel to 28 Days (there is much debate as to which is better, I’m in the Days camp) and Planet Terror (2007), a personal favorite and one of the two films in the special Grindhouse double-feature. I’d also like to shout out Pontypool (2009) and, of course, the horror-comedy Zombieland (2009). 

ZOMBIE MANIA 

Probably nothing has been as influential in drawing zombie discourse into the public as AMC’s hit TV show The Walking Dead (2010), drawing on the graphic novel series of the same name. With a level of gore and violence rarely seen on network TV, a cast of memorable characters and an anyone-can-die narrative, it ignited a zombie fervor greater than anything we’d ever seen. 

The Walking Dead overlapped with a cultural apocalypse zeitgeist. Doomsday prepping started to go mainstream, and people started to plan their own personal zombie apocalypse survival plan. Hell, the CDC adopted zombie apocalypse language as a way to talk about real-world applications of survival knowledge. Zombies and survivalism now go hand-in-hand, for better or worse. 

No discussion of a zombie apocalypse is complete without Max Brooks’ World War Z (2007), which bears little resemblance to the film that shares its name. We should also make a shout-out for his more comedic companion volume, The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), which laid a foundation for what followed. 

For extra credit, play the TellTale Games: The Walking Dead (2012) and compare/contrast with the TV show and graphic novel. Then compare that with Train to Busan (2016), a Korean film that plays some tropes straight while turning others on their heads (it’s also one of my favorite films on this list). 

SYMPATHETIC ZOMBIES 

While the zombie apocalypse narrative took root and captured the imaginations of many, others started to look at things from a different angle. 

What if, they asked, the zombies were the heroes rather than the villains? 

John Ajvide Lindqvist, who you might know for the vampire story Let the Right One In, was ahead of his time with this on: Handling the Undead (2004) is a book that’s simultaneously heartbreaking and deeply unsettling in its portrayal of the dead returning to life and what that might mean to those they’d left behind. Compare and contrast that with the TV show Les Revenants (2004), which deals with a similar premise (there was an American remake, but I can’t speak for it as I didn’t watch it - seriously, just watch the subtitles and enjoy the French show). 

But not every zombie-protagonist story was so heart-wrenching. Look at Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies (2010), and the film adaptation. There’s also Breathers! A Zombie’s Lament by S.G. Browne that is both hilarious and scathing. 

Follow those up with Diana Rowland’s My Life as a White Trash Zombie (2012) and the comic book/TV show iZombie (2015), both of which feature pale-haired, witty female medical examiners with a taste for brains. 

And finally, a shout-out to The Santa-Clarita Diet (2016), a hilariously dark and over-the-top gross show featuring Drew Barrymore as a zombie trying to get her life back together.

[nosferatyou]

I was tagged by @lazingonsunday and @shes-outta-sight to do one of the long tag, get to know them, type of things. Which I absolutely love by the way. I don’t talk about myself much.

What was the last thing you read?

Well I was editing the latest chapter of my fic of that counts? If not some random josh one shot a couple hours ago lol.

Favorite Movie?

Man it’s ever revolving. It was Django Unchained for a long ass time, but now I think it’s Baby Driver.

Favorite Book?

Misery by Stephen King. I read it years ago and I have a lot of good memories tied to it. Me and my friend became closer through his works and this was the first one I read. It’ll stay close in my heart.

Dream Date?

It’s one I’ve been on before but just Vinyl Shopping. It’s simple and easy but music in a relationship is important to me. I gotta make sure they have good picks. But there is something so soft about it all.

Do you have a crush?

Sadly no. But I’m fully in Joshes lane rn if that means anything?

What are your hobbies?

Oof okay. I mostly draw like all hours of the day. But I very actively keep up with guitar and bass. I write as well. I make videos for my friends. I collect old and beat up vinyls. Lot of art stuff

Favorite time of day?

Night time. Like from hours 10-3. That’s my true alone time and it’s something I cherish and look forward to everyday.

If you could look like anything, what would you like to look like?

I don’t wish to change anything about my body. I think I’d be silly to. But man I wish I could actually afford clothes I’d like to wear. Real bellbottoms you know? I want that vintage shit.

Are you romantic?

In a secure relationship yes. I show too much emotion too fast in the beginning. But boy oh boy when I get romantic. I get very touchy feely. Man date ideas. Lot of carefully curated playlists.

Favorite type of weather?

That time in like August/September when I can wear jeans and maybe a light jacket. But it’s still warm, you know?

What do you like talking about?

Music. I talk about it all day long. The foundation behind it. The artist. I could discuss guitars and instruments with people all damn day. I just. I love everything about it. But also GVF is my hyperfixation rn and my friend is ready to shoot my head off if I speak another word about Jakes guitar playing.

What are your turn ons?

Ngl I’m akin to a boy with long hair. It’s my vice. I’ve only dated long haired musicians. But I just want someone who radiates some kind of light you know? I’ve seen too much darkness. I want someone genuine and real. Is it too much to ask for a positive person?

What are your turn offs?

I’ve dealt with a lot in my past. Basically anything that’s negative. Ignorance mostly. I don’t want someone who refuses to learn. It’s stupid. I just want honesty and someone with an open mind. Anything else is a no go.

If you got a tattoo what would it be and where would you get it?

Okay so. I really want tattoos. I designed something about a year ago I want really badly but it’s so expensive. Thinking rationally. Right now I’d really like some line art of bust. Idk what tho.

Do you have any pets?

3! 2 dogs, Ruby and Nellie, both too six year old mutts. Nellie is the weirdest god damn dog I’ve ever had. And ruby is basically a fox dog. And then there is Friday my cat. He can be a bitch boy but he’s a sweet boy who’s just being a cat. (I also have ten plants but most people don’t consider them pets)

Dream Job?

I’m still searching for that. Recently my heads been floating towards playing live shows as a guitar or bass player. But I’m no where near the point of even considering. I’m pretty shitty. But how Cool would it be to play that violin bow with my guitar on stage?

Dream place to live?

Not considering any potential jobs. I just want to live in a big log cabin somewhere on the outskirts of a town. Out in the wilderness and free to just live.

Dream vacation?

I’ve never been to Europe. I’d love to just road trip around in a van honestly. But before that visit my great grandfather grave in Scotland. He was a kings hand and did a lot back in the day. I’d be cool to see. But then I’d fuck around in Europe.

Do you have any piercings?

I’ve got my nose and ears pierced. I’m pretty happy with that

If you had kids what would you name them?

Man I don’t even want to think about that.

What are your best traits?

I’m a great listener. I’m extremely compassionate. Will do anything to help friends. And I feel like my music taste isn’t half bad.

Worst traits?

The compassionate thing tends to bite me in the ass. I’ve got a lot of emotions. I also have 20 things I want to do all at once all the time. I loose sleep because of it. There is more but I’d go on too long.

Worst fear?

Weirdly enough any type of natural disaster. When I was way too young I watched “The Impossible” and then shortly after learned about techtonic plates and I never forgotten about it or where they are.

What do you want to eat right now?

Brownies. And a fucking burrito.

Best vacation you’ve been on?

I went on a road trip to Chicago recently and I just makes so many good memories. I saw ninja sex party’s 10th anniversary, which was fantastic. But I got to visit a friend all weekend. But my favorite part was the ride back. The whole time we just talked but also sang to old 50s songs and just had this moment of unity. I still think about it

Favorite City?

I haven’t been to too many places yet so I’m gonna go with my hometown, Nashville. If you look past all the tourists. It’s got a very rich musical history and in certain places you just feel it. I loved living there and it made me who I was.

Favorite social media platform?

Tumblr. It’s really the only one I ever check anymore. Plus I’ve made some great friends on here.

Favorite article of clothing?

My fucking bellbottoms. I wear them whenever I can. They give me so much confidence.

Do you play any sports?

Fuck no. I have no coordination whatsoever.

Favorite meal of the day?

Lunch. You have a lot more options. Plus I just like the vibe

What are you excited for?

Starting the tenth I have a lot of good things coming my way. In that week I get to finally end this semester, the new Harry styles album releases, I get a new bass, and I get to see fucking Greta Van Fleet. None of you know how excited I am for that. Pit tickets. Jesus it’ll be good.

Not excited for?

Finals. And an um.. upcoming funeral.

When was the last time you cried?

I honestly can’t remeber and that really scares me.

Dream house?

I basically answered this earlier but gimme that big ass log cabin.

Something you hate about this world?

Don’t get my started. I hate that everyone hates themselves all the time when they have no reason to. I hate that 8 people have most of the worlds money and are doing nothing to help global warming. I hate the man that’s in power and what he’s helped cause. I hate everyone who refuses to accept literally any fact. I hate that my future is bleak because of some old ass white men.

Something you love about this world?

I love the light that radiates off of certain people. I love that our generation has hope and that some people are actually trying to make change. I love the raw creativity I see in others and I love that we are bringing back the resurgence of peace and love.

What scents do you like?

Old records and books. Its the simple pleasures.

What kind of sleeper are you?

Typically heavy but sometimes I Sleep so little it feels like I got nothing at all.

Cat or dog person?

Don’t make me pick! I grew up with both, and very partial to both.

How long would you survive in a zombie Apocolypse?

I wish I could tell you. I’d like to think I’d live awhile but I would probably be the ones who look like they have hope and then accidentally get taken out.

Are you trusting?

I used to be. I realized recently how thick my walls really are.

What fictional character do you identify with?

Sorry to be boring but nothing is coming to mind. But then again I never felt akin to anyone really?

What labels do you commonly get?

In high school I was called “the quiet one” if that tells you anything.

What song would be your life anthem?

Sunshine on my shoulders by John Denver is the only one coming to mind. I think I just want the feeling it gives me to be what I feel all the time.

What issues are you dealing with right now?

Two friends in the last month Um. Took their own lives. One being an old friend. I’ve never dealt with death. My brain doesn’t know how to handle it. I also think I might have ADD. But. That’s the tip of the iceberg rn

How can someone win you over?

Typically I’m drawn to people who are the loudest in the room. I like that their confident and can speak their minds but what wins me over about them is when they really open up. When I learn about the real then rather than the face that they put on. Most of the time it goes that way.

What’s something people don’t know about you?

I’m making a short film with some friends who go to Columbia. Should be out soonish.

I tag

@pvre-mourning @peacelovekiszka @fretavangleet @aint-no-denying @sosozoso

[nyxshadowhawk]

Goth Tags

I know this is a YouTube thing, but I wanted to do these two lists, so I’m going to do them.

Ways in Which I’m Stereotypically Goth:

I’ve got the romantigoth aesthetic down. I love spooky, pretty things! I love gargoyles and ravens and black roses and moons and weird occult stuff and dark forests... I’ve got three Joseph Vargo posters in my dorm room, and I’ve run out of space to put resin statues in my bedroom. I wear lots of long, flowy black clothes and the occasional Goth Princess gown. I’ve also got an entire box (made of black wood with pentagrams carved in the top) full of silver and pewter jewelry, and Black Phoenix perfumes.

I really love spooky interior design and architecture. I loved Voltaire’s Gothic Homemaking and I drooled over Haunt Furniture. My dream home would probably be a Victorian-style, Addams-like mansion in the middle of nowhere (for when I become a world-famous writer...). I also REALLY love castles and old buildings, especially with gothic architecture and gargoyles. I really liked seeing old castles and churches in Scotland. Medieval Europe is 10/10 my aesthetic.

I’ve always really liked bats. When I was a kid (around six), my favorite episode of The Magic School Bus (for whatever reason) was “Going Batty.” That set off a bat obsession! Reading Stellaluna in seventh grade just reinforced it. I used to pretend to be one and wrap myself up in my blankets like wings. Bats are cute! I recently got back into them! There’s an adorable little plush one hanging above my bed. “So dark of wing and keen of craft, of all night flyers the master’s a bat.” (Actually, the master of night flyers is totally Prince Astor of Umbragard.)

I like horror stories and gothic literature. Back when creepypasta was big, I’d casually read collections of horror stories on Quotev. Now, I really love Nox Arcana’s “Tales from the Dark Tower,” Poe stories, Grimm’s fairy tales, and the like. I actually have a pretty strong stomach. I also genuinely love gothic lit. The Picture of Dorian Gray is my favorite. I didn’t make it through Frankenstein, though, it was too sad.

I’m introverted and a night owl. I wouldn’t say I have a “stereotypical” Goth personality, because I’ve been trying to be more optimistic and happy, and I’ve attempted to make friends, but one of the reasons I like Raven from Teen Titans is because I tend to be the isolated girl in dark clothes who’d rather be left alone. I’m not exactly stoic-- I’m an emotional wreck, but once you get me talking about a topic I’m interested in, I’m all moonlight and fireflies. I’m also a “tortured artist,” and I come alive at night. I stay up until at least 2 AM most nights. I ate breakfast at one today. 

I have a black cat named Edgar. I did not name him! He was given that name at the shelter. All the kittens in his litter were named after gothic writers, because they were all black! (His brother was “H.P.” after Lovecraft.) I was thrilled when my parents said we were getting him, and equally thrilled when they decided to keep his name. He’s such a sweet cat, and I love him.

I like vampires, but I have a complicated relationship with them. You’d think I’d be the kind of girl who’d be obsessed with vampires in middle school, especially if I loved the Vampire Friz episode of The Magic School Bus! But no. I wasn’t into vampires because they killed people and that was disturbing. (That’s why I independently created psychic vampires.)  However, since getting into Castlevania last Halloween, I’ve started to really warm up to vampires. I dressed as Lestat last Halloween, read Carpe Jugulum, have been consuming more vampire media than before... I’m still not obsessed, but I like them now. Still would hate to be one, though. SHADOWS FOR THE WIN!

I LOVE Halloween! I was devastated the two years it was canceled (freak snowstorm and Hurricane Sandy. Oh, by the way, my reaction to the current hurricane was, “He put his soul in a hurricane, now?!). I really miss trick-or-treating. I convinced my parents to throw an annual Halloween party, which gave me an excuse to get even more decorations for my room, and they pretty much can’t host it without me. Everyone shares my aesthetic during Halloween season!

I’m really into witchy and occult stuff. The more cryptic and spooky, the better. I was Wiccan-ish for a while, I don’t think I am anymore, but I’m still exploring my spirituality (through books like Nocturnal Witchcraft and Shadow Magick Compendium) with guidance from Hecate and Dionysus. 

Whether my music taste is truly “Goth” or not, it is certainly very spooky. Nox Arcana all the way! I really go in for the church organ and glockenspiel and chiming bells and melancholy piano and strings and harpsichords and minor keys. Listening to spooky music makes me happy. I have a whole list of creepy waltzes. Neoclassical is my thing. I also like Adrian von Zeigler, Peter Gundry, Two Steps From Hell, and fantasy music in general. 

Un-Goth Confessions:

I don’t like gothic rock. Some would say this means I’m not Goth, and it felt alienating for a while. Siouxsie and Bauhaus just aren’t really my thing. I don’t really like industrial and darkwave, either. The closest I get to traditional Goth music is Voltaire (I love the songs of his that I listen to, but I only listen to a handful), and a few songs by Dead Can Dance. I’m much more into Nox Arcana.

I don’t look stereotypically Goth. I joke that I look like Aurora and dress like Maleficent, because it’s true. My cheeks are permanently rosy and not easy to cover with white makeup (I don’t wear makeup often, anyway.) I have big blue eyes and wavy, golden hair (that I’m not going to dye). I don’t have any piercings— when my sister went for her second piercing, she encouraged me to get my ears pierced, but I broke down crying because I’m afraid of pain. I’m an adult!

I still like horsies and unicorns and other cutesy things from my childhood. I was really into Gen 3 of My Little Pony. I still have some fairy and ballerina stuff, even if I don’t display it. My bedroom is still lavender (and always will be). I definitely wasn’t spooky in childhood, and I’ve still got a non-spooky side. (It was kind of a big deal when I dressed as a rainbow unicorn fairy when I was seven, and then a dark sorceress when I was eight.)  I danced in my company’s adapted kiddie production of the Nutcracker until I graduated. I’ve got fluffy stuffed unicorns right next to my Spiral Bat Cat.

I HATE DIY. I don’t trust it! I don’t want to ruin my clothes with fabric paint or rip holes in things or in any way risk it turning out poorly. My style is tough to DIY anyway, but yeah.

I’m not really into the macabre. I only got into skeletons because of Undertale, and I don’t like, for lack of a better phrase, “the death aesthetic.” Blood, body horror art, the zombie look... I don’t really like anything morbid or sad. I’m iffy on graveyards and coffins.

I don’t like most horror films. I like spooky movies, like Coraline, but not horror movies. Although I like horror stories, I don’t like horror films, less because of the horror and more because they tend to end badly. I don’t like “everybody dies” stories, especially if it’s one where sympathetic people get killed off one by one, or slasher flicks that rely on jumpscares. Old-school gothic horror could work, though. I also like psychological thrillers like The Sixth Sense and Black Swan. Is Interview With the Vampire a horror movie? (I probably underestimate how strong my stomach is. Aladdin used to scare me. Look at me now!)

I still wear a lot of color. About half my wardrobe is black, which is still a lot, but not as much as most Goths. I’ve still got a lot of purple, and other colors.

I’m not a huge fan of Tim Burton. The only film of his that I really love was Corpse Bride. Beetlejuice wasn’t my style and didn’t contain enough of Lydia, Sweeney Todd was a bit too dark and gory (although I did like that one), Dark Shadows wasn’t as good as I was hoping, Alice in Wonderland was cool aesthetically but not a very good film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a dumpster fire... and The Nightmare Before Christmas doesn’t count because he didn’t direct it (and though I like it, I wasn’t blown away by it, either). My reaction overall? “Meh.”

I still contain a childish exuberance. I squealed and bounced up and down when the new Nox Arcana album was released. I will probably do the same before and/or after watching Season 3 of Castlevania, and when Grimoire of Souls is released. This is how I know that Goth stuff is part of my true personality. 

There’s a lot of Goth clothes that I don’t wear, in addition to not dying my hair, not wearing makeup, and not having piercings. I’d wear black heeled boots like Dracula’s, but not platform shoes. I don’t like fishnets. I hate ripped clothing. Not a fan of hoodies. I also will not wear leather clothing. And spiked collars? No no no. I’m pretty much strictly a Romantigoth. Maybe that doesn’t make me less Goth. But it makes me less stereotypical, especially when so much of the Goth stuff online is geared toward that end of the subculture.

And I don’t know if this makes me more Goth or less Goth, but I have one outfit from Hot Topic. And an epic “House of Belmont” t-shirt.

Okay, that was interesting.

“I’M SO GOTH, I LITERALLY DARKEN A DOORWAY!”

[miaiplier]

Friends from Dangerous Places

(Teamiplier x Reader) (ZomebieApocalyspeAU!)

Request: Zombie apocalypse with teamiplier and fellow survivor reader

A/N: I really loved writing this, it’s longer than I usually go, but I had a lot of fun thanks for requesting @belladonnachaos

This was it. Everything moved too quick. Your legs were about to give out, your hands were shaking, and there was a low hum in your ears. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping you from passing out at such a drastic injury. Every part of yourself was trying to run, but the exhaustion and pain you had were too much to bear. You were so close to just giving up, letting yourself go. You had run enough, fought enough. That’s what you were thinking just as a loud shot rang throughout the large store.

The huge disgusting beasts that were so close to ripping you to shreds turned their attention towards the newcomer. Giving you a sign of escape, yet at this point, the pain in your leg was so bad you had fallen to the ground. You clutched onto your bag for dear life as you tried to make a measly amount of progress at escaping. You could hear groans coming from the zombies and the sounds of slashing and gunshots. Bodies of the undead falling to the floor.

Suddenly a girl, ran up to you. You immediately pulled your empty gun, pretending it was loaded. You aimed it straight at her, she put her hands up “Hey it’s okay, it’s cool. I’m just trying to help you” she said. You didn’t budge trying to keep your hand from shaking or from gritting your teeth in pain. You kept a cold hard gaze as she continued to talk “your leg doesn’t look so good, can you walk?” She tried once again to get you to confide in her help. You stayed silent once again “I know you don’t want to, but you have to trust me, let me help you. Your leg is bad, you won’t get out of here alive please let me help you.” She was pleading for your cooperation, this stunned you almost everyone you had met since the apocalypse started was cold and selfish. “I’m Amy,” she said holding her hand out to you, hoping that if she introduced herself it would speed up this process. You looked over at the depleting hoard of zombies, noticing she was a part of a large group. You looked back to Amy, her eyes now held an urgency. You pulled the gun down slowly, tucking it into your waistband. You outstretched your hand and grasped hers “(Y/N)” You introduced yourself as she pulled you up to your feet. You shifted all your weight over to your good leg and Amy put her arm around her shoulders. “Nice to meet you (Y/N), I’ll get you out of here my friends can handle the rest” she spoke so nonchalant about everything that was happening.

You shuffled out avoiding the commotion and made your way to the exit. She set you down onto the cold ground earning a low groan from you and began inspecting your leg. “Why are you helping me?” You asked her. “Why not?” She said and you smiled a little at that. “Here I have a first aid kit,” you said rummaging around in your backpack. She smiled and began to stitch up the wound in your leg using the measly makeshift medical supplies. You looked around trying to distract yourself from the pain, seeing nothing around but trees and a long road. You turned to her, her hair was dark brown it hung against her face sweat evident on her brow. “Are you sure your friends are gonna to be okay? You can go help them you know” she shook her head in response “no they’ve got it, they can handle it” it took another few minutes for her to finish and although your leg was covered in dried blood it was closed. “Thank you, I’m sorry I was stubborn in the beginning,” you said as she was packing up the supplies. She smiled “it’s okay, we all have to be weary in this age.” She handled your stubborn nature with such ease you already knew you liked her.

The next thing you hear is Amy’s group coming out of the worn down store. The group consisted of three boys and two girls counting Amy. They wore smiles as if they hadn’t just faced a horde of dangerous zombies. The main dude who looked like the leader, jogged over to Amy and you “Hey Ames you good?” He checked on her, holding her hand as she smiled at him. “Yeah I’m fine I got (Y/N) out safe and I stitched her wound up” she explained and looked over to you. “(Y/N), this is Mark, my boyfriend” you smiled slightly “Hey, thanks for ya know saving me and stuff” “ah don’t worry about it, you good can you walk.” He held his hand out and you took it, he hoisted you up and you shifted in pain. But you managed and began a slow limp over to the others. “(Y/N) this is Tyler,” he said as he pointed to a tall dude with curly brown hair. He carried a bag on his back and his gun was tucked into his waist he waved slightly smiling. “Ethan” next Mark pointed to a shorter dude he seemed to be the youngest he had light brown hair and carried a large bat in his hands he gave you a large smile. “And Kathryn,” he said and pointed to a girl, she wore dark-rimmed glasses on her face, her hair was up in a loose ponytail and she had a literal ax in her hand. “It’s nice to meet you guys” you awkwardly greeted. It was a rush to be talking to some nice decent people, you had been on your own for a long time. “Thanks for saving me I really am grateful.” They all were being so generous they continuously brushed off any form of thanks even though you stubbornly persisted.

The group had insisted that you tag along with them to their camp to rest and heal. As you all made the journey they had explained their lives before the whole apocalypse. The group were all friends, they were popular on YouTube and were in L.A when the epidemic spread. You described your life before, telling them how you were at home when suddenly all the news outlets and social media told everyone to stay inside. It only caused more panic, you rushed out of the city first chance you got. It was weird how comfortable you were around these people with Ethan constantly making puns that would annoy Mark to no end. And Amy and Kathryn talking about all the embarrassing stories they have of the guys.

It was night now and Tyler had set a small campfire to keep warm “Hey (Y/N) so how did you get that cut on your leg anyway?” Ethan asked pointing to the stitched wound. “I was just trying to get some supplies ya know, I opened what I thought was a supply closet and got ambushed by a bunch of zombies. When I was running away I snagged my leg on some piece of glass and it cut pretty deep. Then I ran out of ammo so I couldn’t really do much else. I was lucky you guys came.” You said. Amy looks up suddenly from her place beside Mark. “Heeeey... YOU POINTED AN UNLOADED GUN ON ME!” She said realizing how you had tricked her. The group started laughing really hard, it was the hardest you had laughed in a while.

The apocalypse was still fucking awful but you had a new crew to hang with, they seemed nice and trustworthy. You were going to be staying with them for a while. It was nice to actually have some friends to stick by you now.

[majingojira]

Monsters of the 20th Century

I had this odd notion.  A (brief) analysis of the origin of various supernatural creatures, as I wondered what ‘new’ monsters/supernatural beings had been created in the 20th century (roughly).   I’ve completed some of the research, and I’d like to share it with you all.  I’m also gonna tag @tyrantisterror because he is one of the more knowledgable people about monsters I know about on tumblr and I’m sure he can correct me a bunch in this!

1. Frankenstein - 1817 - The oldest literary monster and outgrowth of the concept of the Homunculus and Golem as an artificial being.  So pervasive is its reach, western ideas of Tulpa are tainted by it (every time you read about a tulpa ‘going out of control’, that is the influence of Frankenstein). 

2. Dinosaurs - The Dragons of the age of science entered pop culture in 1854 at the latest with the opening of the Crystal Palace Park.  Other prehistoric animals had captured people’s imagination before, and they didn’t start to enter fiction until 1864 (”Journey to the Center of the Earth”) and a short story by C. J. Cutliffe Hyne had an ancient crocodilian in his story “The Lizard” (1898).  Ann early Lost World style adventure, “A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder” by James De Mille in 1888 has the first true dinosaurs in them.  There, Antarctica has a warm spot where prehistoric monsters and a death cult lurk.  In 1901, Frank Mackenzie Savile’s “Beyond the Great South Wall” had a Carnivorous Brontosaurs worshiped by Mayan remnants.  “Panic in Paris” by Jules Lermina had dinosaurs attack a city, but it was published first in France so few saw it.  Finally, we have Conan Doyle in 1912 with “The Lost World” which solidified dinosaurs as a thing in fiction. 

3. The Evolved Man/Mutants - After “The Origin of Species” is published, it wasn’t long until Evolved Men or Mutants started showing up in fiction. “The Coming Race” and (1871), “The Great Romance” (1881).   They are generally big-headed and often have ESP of some sort.  In “Media: A Tale of the Future” (1891), they can control electricity too. It wasn’t until 1928 (”The Metal Man” by Jack Williamson) that Radiation was thrown in as a cause for Mutation.  Cosmic Rays would follow in “The Man Who Evolved” by Edmond Hamilton (1931).  After that, we have “Gladiator” by Philip Gordon Wylie (1930) where we have an engineered “Evolved Man”, and “Odd John” by Olaf Stapeldon which grants us the term “Homo superior” followed by “Slan” by A.E. van Vogt which has Evolved Humans as a persecuted minority.   And with that, everything that makes the X-Men what they are is collected.

3. Man-Eating Tree - First reported in 1874, the idea of man-eating plants grew since then to encompase many monsters, but started as Folklore about ‘Darkest Africa” (Madagascar) in the New York World.  They’d print anything back then.

4. Hyde - While it is tempting to link him to Freudian Psychology, Freud did not publish his work regarding things like the Id until much later (he didn’t even coin “Psychoanalysis” until 1896).  What is springs from, I currently cannot say without more research. 

4. Robot - Though there were automata since the days of the Greeks (Talos), the first Robot in modern fiction is from “The Future Eve” by Auguste Villiers de I’lsle Adam (1886).  THough the term Robot is not invented until 1920 with “Rossum’s Universal Robots.”  They definitely offshoot from Frankenstein, but with a more mechanical bent.  

5. The Grey Alien - The modern idea of an Alien has it’s first antecedents in the 1800s.  Specifically with the essay “Man of the Year 1,000,000″ by H. G. Wells (1892-1893). He speculates what humans will evolve into, and basically invites the Gray by accident.  It wouldn’t achieve it’s alien attachments until much later.

6. Morlocks - With the Evolved Man, there is also the ‘Devolved Man’.  That is what the Morlocks are. They are, as the name implies, tied to Well’s “The Time Machine” (1895), and the word has become a catch-all for subterranean monster-men, be they Mole People, CHUDs, or straight up Demons (’GvsE’). 

7. The Martians & Their War Machines - The First Alien Invader, and the first Mecha can be traced to “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells, 1897.  Not much more to say as far as I’m aware.

8. The Mummy - The 1800s saw an Egyptian craze in England, leading to some really nasty habits (google “Mummy Powder” if you need ipecac).  1827 saw “The Mummy!: Or, a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century” which is more a bit of futurism with an ancient protagonist.  Though “Lost in the Pyramid” (1868) by Louisa May Alcott predates it, it is overshadowed by Conan Doyle’s horror story “Lot No. 249″ (1892) which has the classically animated mummy going out and killing people under control of another.  The former is a “Curse” story rather than a monster.

9. Cordyceps - Everyone these days knows the Cordyceps fungus as a great source for making zombies, and I’m lumping that fungus in with these other monsters because, well, fungus’ that take over humans is a monster of the 20th century.  Best known for Toho’s film adaptation “Matango” (1963), it is inspired by a short story from 1907 by William Hope Hodgson called “The Voice in the Night”.  There, the poor victim doesn’t realize they’ve completely become a fungus monster, acting as a warning for those near the island.    

10. Aerofauna - Conan Doyle strikes again with “The Horror of the Heights” (1912).  A pretty tight little horror story of a whole ecosystem high above our heads in the clouds.  Many a sky tentacle owes its existence to this one.

11. Lich - Possibly derived from Kosechi the Deathless of Russian folklore, the idea of undead sorcerers became a staple of the works of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smyth, dating back to 1929.  Though Gary Gigax coined the idea together for D&D and based it on Gardner Fox’s “The Sword of the Sorcerer (1969)

12. Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster - I lump these cryptids together, because (thanks to a ton of research by Daren Naish, Daniel Loxton,  Donald R. Prothero, and others) we can trace them back to the same source: King Kong (1933).  The idea of prehistoric animals being out in the world in hidden places goes back to Conan Doyle’s “Lost World” (1912), but Kong made it widely popular.  And between the giant ape and the Brontosaurus attack (and the timing of sightings picking up), we can blame Kong for this.

13. The Great Old Ones - Lovecraft’s primary contribution to fiction first appear in “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926) and expand upon from here.  As near as I can tell, he made a LOT of monsters.  These include “Ancient Aliens” & Shoggoths (1936 - “At the Mountains of Madness”), Gillmen (1931 - ”The Shadow over Innsmouth”), & The Colour Out of Space (1927).  14. The Thing - The Ultimate Shapeshifter.  It first appears in 1938′s “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell, Jr.  Though Campbell's square-jawed heroes literally tear the Thing to bits, it reached its zenith of horror in adaptation.  I can think of no earlier shapeshifting humanoids of such variety at an earlier time, or of such fecundity. 

15. The Amazons - The Amazons do indeed come from Ancient Greece, but it was a way for the Greeks to rag on Women.  It wasn’t until later that women co-opted the image of the Amazons as a source of empowerment, and that was codified in 1942 with one character: Wonder Woman. She helped spark the Amazons further into the culture, or at least, Amazon women who have superpowers (as they did in those early stories).  From there, we get a more recent direct descendant that was part of the reason I started this list: Slayers from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

16. The Hobbit - Though ideas of ‘Wee Folk” are part of worldwide Folklore, Tolkien took them out of the realm of Faerie, and made them... idyllic middle-class Englishmen with his 1937 book of the same name.  With the Lord of the Rings following in 1954-1955.  His works also gave us other monsters and supernatural beings: Orcs, Ents, & Balrogs. 

17. Gremlins - An Evolution of the wee folk once again, this time adapted for the mechanical era and of a more malicious bent. It became slang in the 1920s, with the earliest print source being from 1929.   They were popularized by Roald Dahl in”The Gremlins” (1942).  Later they were used to vex Bugs Bunny (1943′s “Falling Hare”), and then they got their own movies in the 1980s.  The rest is history.  

18. Triffids - There are a LOT of fictional plants out there, and a lot of carnivorous ones, but the Triffids were the first to be extremely active in their pursuit of prey.  From 1952′s “Day of the Triffids” by John Wyndham, the story is a keen example of the ‘Cozy Apocalypse’ common in British Fiction, sort of like the whole ‘schoolboys on a desert island make well of it’ thing that “Lord of the Flies” railed against. This paved the way for everything from Audrey II to Biollante.

19. Kaiju - 1954.  You know what this is.  Between Primordial Gods and Modern Technology, the Kaiju are born.  The difference between a Kaiju and a Giant Monster is a complex nuanced one, sort of like what makes film noir. But, in general, if the story has Anti-War, Anti-Nationalist, and/or Anti-Corporate Greed leanings, it’s probably a Kaiju movie.  If not, then it probably isn’t.

20. The Body Snatchers - Another horror of 1954 from the novel “The Body Snatchers” (1955), which includes aspects that the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” did not.  Like that the Duplicates only last 5 years and basically exist to wipe out sentient beings with each planet they infest.  Clearly drawing from the idea of the Doppelganger, these Pod People have evolved into a new form.

21. The Blob - That 1958 movie has one catchy theme song.  The whole thing was inspired by an instance of “Star Jelly” in Pennsylvania, circa 1950.  It was tempting to shift this under the Shoggoth, but I think they are distinct enough.

22. Gargoyles - Longtime architectural embellishments, they did not become their own “Being” until 1971 with “The Living Gargoyle” published in Nightmare #6.  The TV Movie “Gargoyles” came soon after in 1972, firmly establishing the monster.  Though it was likely perfected in the TV Series “Gargoyles” (1994). 

23. D&D - From 1973 Through 1977, D&D was formulated and many of its key monsters were invented.  Partly as mechanics ways to screw with players and keep things lively.  This brought us Rust Monsters (1973), Mindflayer (1974), Beholder (1975), and the Gelatinous Cube (1977). 

24. The Xenomorph - Parasitoid breeding is applied to humans to wonderfully horrible effect in the 1979 film “Alien”.  It became iconic as soon as it appeared. 

25. Slasher - The first slasher film is often considered to be ‘Psycho’ (though the Universal Mummy films beyond the first prototype the formula).  The idea of an undead revenant coming back to kill rather randomly started in the film “The Fog” (1980), but was codified by Jason Voorhees in either 1984 or 1986.   I am no expert on this one, though, so I am not fully certain.

26. The Dream Killer - Freddy Krueger first appeared as a killer in dreams in 1981, but there were other dream killers before him.  They could only kill with extreme fear, though.  Freddy got physical!  I think.  Again, more research is needed.

27. Chupacabras - This is another cryptid inspired by a movie.  In this case, “Species” (1995). No, really.  This is what it comes from.   I know a lot of these are really short down the line, but the research for this one is thorough and concise! 

28. Slender Man - The Boogieman for the Internet Age.  An icon of Creepypastas and emblem of them.

Needs More Research: The Crow/Heroic Longer-Term Revenants, Immortals as a “Group” (might go to Gulliver's Travels, but I’m trying to track Highlander here) are also on the list, but they are proving extremely difficult to research, so I thought I’d post what I have at the moment.  Shinigami might also be on the list since they are syncretic adoption of the Grim Reaper into something more.

[osmw1]

Crowbar Nurse   Chapter 2 — A Gun, A (Zombie!) Virus, and an Out of Place Hottie

“Argh, Sera this time?! This isn’t some sort of web novel! What is happening in here?!”

Barrelling into the room was an unbelievably handsome guy. By “unbelievable”, I meant it quite literally. He was unrealistically handsome.

“… huh? Kiryū?!”

I was just as shocked seeing him as he was seeing me… that's because he’s definitely a fictional character.

Kiryū Sōichirō. The most popular character from the hit dating sim released in 2014 on social media platforms, Rainbow Dreams High School☆Fantasia.

His dark brown eyes, black hair, and a soft smile gives off a clean-cut look. When combined with his calm demeanor, it made for a perfect young mastermind character like him. Kiryū would act as your mentor, guiding the player along with hints and tips. Because he helps the player perhaps a little too much, he would always come out on top of the character popularity rankings.

… but he was a secret unlockable love interest.

In other words, Kiryū is only unlocked after clearing all other routes first.

Players would begrudgingly clear characters they weren’t interested in to finally get the chance to date him… well, not that this really matters though.

“Hey, stop spacing out! I’ll explain everything later, but first, we gotta shake off these zombies!”

Kiryū lifted me up by the shoulders right as he shouted at me. He sure is strong in real life, I thought to myself.

“Can you move?” “Mm… I’m really sleepy, so… maybe?” “You shoulda gone to bed earlier last night! Oh, whatever, just hide behind me!” “Uh… okay!

I was shocked when I first saw him, but now I was stunned at how he spoke to me. It was completely wrong. The Kiryū I knew was soft-spoken and perceptive. But this guy was snappy, if not brusque.

Weird. It’s as if it were someone else in Kiryū’s body…

—hmm?

—wait, zombies?

“… whaaaaaaaat?!”

Just as I screamed out loud, Kiryū grabbed a crowbar lying nearby and then struck a zombie with it.

Blood splattered down onto the ground… along with various other fluids.

A single swing of the crowbar was enough to silent any groaning zombie. He then kicked the dead-again zombies aside to create a path before forcefully grabbing my wrist and dashing through the door.

—his hand was so warm.

I had questioned whether this Kiryū was a figment of my imagination, but the warmth of his hand seemed to prove otherwise. And even though I realized I was in a dire situation, his warmth was comforting.

He seems so used to fighting. Wait, was Kiryū a bad boy-type character?

We ran through the door together as I questioned my memory of the game. The familiar nurses’ station should be just on the other side… except, it wasn’t. Instead, my eyes opened wide as I found an unfamiliar alley in a busy, cloudy part of town.

…! No, I recognize this! I’ve been here before!

“—run!”

He grabbed my wrist and started running before I even had a chance to reply.

“H-Hold on!”

I hadn’t been eating or sleeping nearly enough. I might actually die if I suddenly broke into a full sprint…! Or so I thought, but I actually felt quite agile.

… huh?

In fact, I felt great running. It’s as if the exhaustion I felt until were but mere lies.

Strange… I don’t feel tired at all. No way I’ve had enough sleep to feel this good…

That’s so weird. Was I in the afterlife? I confusedly scanned my surroundings while running.

A narrow alleyway. Worn-out walls.

The buildings are so decrepit, they made me wonder whether they were still structurally sound.

Countless air conditioning units and broken gutters were dangling on the side of them.

I instinctively looked over my shoulder and realized that there were zombies staggering—or rather, scurrying—and chasing us. It probably wouldn’t take more than ten seconds for them to catch up to me if I had stopped running right now.

No surprise that one hit with the crowbar wasn’t enough to take them down… we probably have to do something about them though…

Even though I still didn’t have any idea of what was going on, I knew that we definitely didn’t have the time to sit and think unless we killed the zombies first. I looked at my surroundings once more as I tried to calm myself down.

—I have definitely been here before.

I… remember seeing this area on a map before.

 … we’re in a game…

Realizing the truth sent shivers down my spine. The streets and the area around it were just how I remembered… we’re in a level of Dead Man’s Conflict 3. The 1998 game was a Japanese classic in which the player has to slay hordes of zombies while trying to escape from the infected Confi City.

“Downtown”.

This was the first stage of Dead Man’s Conflict 3. The graphics look a lot better, but otherwise it was the same. The door to Uptown should be just a little farther ahead.

The roads here twist and turn like a maze. It sure makes it difficult for beginners…

I remember how tough it was all those years ago where I would be lost in these streets while being chased by zombies and ultimately being eaten over and over and over again. But perhaps thanks to that, the layout of this town had been deeply burned into my memory…

… hmm? Hey, hold on, you can’t go this way…

I blinked at the path before me. The road ahead splits into three… and the middle path that Kiryū headed towards was the wrong way. I panicked and yanked at his hand to stop him.

“—whoa, hey! What’s wrong?!”

He looked down at me in confusion.

“We gotta hurry, or else the zombies—” “That way is a dead end, my dea—err, Kiryū!” “What?!” “I-It… it’s this way!”

I pulled Kiryū towards the left path as I told him which way we should go.

“Wha—but isn’t that way a dead end? I can’t help but feel we shouldn’t go where it’s clearly marked ‘KEEP OUT’, y’know…?” “Normally, it’s only open after you complete the second week in game! We’ll… rip through the tape!” “What?! Rip through it?!”

If this were a game then there would be no way to get past the black and yellow tape with “KEEP OUT” written in big, Helvetica letters. This path is locked until after the second week is finished. The tape doesn’t budge no matter how much the player cuts or runs into it.

“Hyaaa!”

But seeing how we’re not bound by the rules that the protagonist should be, I easily torn down the tape.

“Just who are…”

Kiryū blankly stared at me but now’s not the time to care about that. It took me five seconds to take down the tape before we could hurry on through.

—I haven’t touched a single game in this past six months.

All I did after getting home was either check social media or pass out. But… my body remembered. Dead Man’s Conflict 3 is second nature to me.

“But Sera, we can’t open windows in this world.” “Windows are another story!”

A large window was on the wall right beside us. I hooked my fingers on the frame and pulled on it, but it did no more than jostling it. It’s a little weird how he addressed me as “Sera”, but that’s not important right now. Neither pushing nor pulling the window had any effect so I resorted to borrowing Kiryū’s crowbar and smashed away at the window. … crowbars are heavier than I imagined.

“Aaaaargh!” “… you some sort of runaway gorilla or something…?

I ignored Kiryū’s comment on how I’m swinging at the window. I sure am glad to have played all these zombie games and have researched all the strategies. Having been swamped by work for the past half year, the gamer didn't get to unleash all the knowledge I stored for future use, until now!

“Can we really go through this?!” “Yes, we can! Just be careful of the broken glass!”

We crawled through the window and into the room, and if my memory serves me right… there it was! The corpse of an old man (which I couldn’t smell in a game unlike now) sat on a dining chair and in his hand was his assault rifle with unlimited ammo!

It tough enough to pry it out of his hand, but the old man suddenly turned into a zombie as well. I delivered a swift kick to his head before sending bullet in his brain. It was an instant kill. It’s not like I did it because I’m actually that savage in real life. The protagonist had to do the same thing else he gets eaten by the old man.

… I never knew rifles were this heavy either.

“Tch, still alive, huh? Why don't you stay dead already!” “… what in the world are you…”

Kiryū was dumbfounded after seeing me like that and muttered to himself again, but I didn’t have the time to respond. The zombies should have almost caught up to us by now.

“… crap! The damn zombies are here already!”

I flashed a smirk just as he shrieked out. Just as I expected, the zombies were here.

“Don’t worry… the old man’s dead for good but let me clean up the rest of them!”

My skirt fluttered as I whipped around. The zombies came crawling and lumbering to meet my machine gun.

—blam blam blam!

The sound of gunfire masked the sound of the zombie falling over after being shot between the eyes. Not only did I flip the fire selector switch to burst, but by also going for headshots, I should get double the points. I acquire my next target and fired. And at the next zombie. And the next one…

“Just what kind of creature is she…?”

Kiryū seemed to be taken aback at how casually I’m slaying these zombies. He stood there with a with his mouth wide open.

“You can’t hold back when dealing with zombies, Kiryū. They’re tougher than you might think. They will pretend they’re dead and then ambush when you’re not expecting it… they’re sneaky bastards, eh?!”

I kicked each zombie as I said that to make sure none of them were feigning death.

“When the zombies in this game don’t bleed after keeling over, that means they’re just faking it. Then when you walk close to them, they’ll get you and bite your legs. Be careful about that, okay?”

Right after I felt like I cleared this area, I came back to my senses.

“…”

Then, Kiryū—who was standing there speechless—and I looked at each other.

“…” “…” “… umm, uhh, Kiryū! We’re good now! We’re safe!”

 Kiryū could only fake a smile as he stared wide eyed at me as I switched back from the gamer me to being a proper human being.

■This isn’t some sort of web novel!

Web novels are novels which authors post online on dedicated forums or personal websites. Many authors do not have editors to help and instead tend to upload whatever they scribble down. But because of that, there are many elements in their writing which may represent the authors' desires and frustrations. Some may be off-putting, but many readers appreciate web novels for that very reason (and of course, many don't). When Kiryū mentioned to "web novels", he alluded to the popular theme of everyday characters being transported into game worlds for reasons unknown.

contents: /ch001/ /ch002/ /next/

(leave me a tip on Patreon?)

[aion-rsa]

Army of the Dead: How Zack Snyder Is Revolutionizing Zombie Movies

https://ift.tt/3tf3SQg

Since long before Zack Snyder or Army of the Dead, zombie movies have proven to be one of the most surprisingly versatile subgenres in film. George A. Romero pioneered the form with the incisive, socially conscious Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, and since then we’ve seen an ever-growing menagerie of zombies and zombie movies. More than a few times, the undead ghouls have been reinvented to frighten and fascinate audiences across the world.

So it’s probably fair to wonder at this point whether we’ve just about seen it all when it comes to zombie flicks. Innovative takes on the genre like Shaun of the Dead, Train to Busan, and Warm Bodies have taken the zombie myth and twisted it in unexpected ways. And Zack Snyder’s own remake of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was an amplified homage to the original with a wry sense of humor. It received praise from fans of the genre, and to this day is considered to be one of the best efforts in Snyder’s oeuvre.

Now, 16 years later and after an eight-year stretch of superhero movies for Warner Bros., Snyder is returning to his zombie roots by partnering with Netflix for Army of the Dead, a heist/zombie movie mash-up that he hopes will take the genre to new heights in several ways.

The story is set in a zombie apocalypse that originated in Area 51. Six years after the outbreak, Las Vegas is essentially quarantined, with a wall built around it to contain the zombie hordes that have taken over the city. The government plans to nuke Vegas to end the zombie outbreak for good. In this time of chaos, a former casino boss, Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada), hires a group of mercenaries led by zombie war hero Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) to infiltrate the city and extract $200 million that’s sitting in his vault underneath the strip before the city is pancaked by the government. The team should have plenty of time to get in and out before the bomb drops, but once they’re inside, they learn that the president has moved up the drop date to appease his supporters, giving the team little time to get out of the drop zone before the city is blown sky high.

Worse, while on their way to the vault the team will have to fight off a massive army of undead led by Zeus, a highly intelligent and combat-savvy “alpha” zombie who started the outbreak at Area 51. When Zeus bites someone, they become a deadly alpha like him; when an alpha other than Zeus bites someone, they become a more traditional “shambler” zombie.

Netflix invited Den of Geek to the set of Army of the Dead back in 2019 where we had the chance to sit with Snyder and the cast to get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie.

“From the first conceptualization of the movie, [we knew] there were going to be these evolved zombies,” Snyder explains as he sits with members of the press on his lunch break. “I thought it would be cool if there was a way to have a little bit of sympathy for the bad guy. It’s hard to have sympathy for a normal zombie. In a way, the guys who kill them seem like they’re doing them a favor. I thought if we were able to create this other class of zombie that was semi-conscious, treating them like a wolf or dog, like, they can’t talk, but they can organize.”

This highly evolved class of zombie gave Snyder and co-writer Shay Hatten more creative opportunities when laying out the story, lending emotional depth to the traditionally one-sided human-zombie conflict. The government feels that they’ve imprisoned the zombies in Vegas, but perhaps the alphas and their shambler offspring would rather just be left alone.

Alphas aren’t the only new form of zombie that you’ll see in the movie. Las Vegas is home to all manner of bizarre creatures, both animal and human, and you can expect to see a wide variety of gruesome undead versions of Vegas oddities and eccentrics as the mercs battle their way to the center of the strip. Zombie Elvis impersonators, zombie male dancers, zombie tigers, zombie brides… it’s all very Vegas, and reflective of just how much fun Snyder had making the movie.

“Zeus rides a horse!” Snyder gushes. “He’s the smartest of all of them. Whether he has hopes and dreams, I’m not sure. But our humans give zero fucks about his world. It’s kind of a fun relationship between him and the team.”

As for the team’s interactions with each other, Snyder assured us that while the movie is as fun and bombastic as you would expect, the character work is the spine of the film and informs all of the action. 

Bautista’s Scott begrudgingly lets his estranged, activist daughter Kate (Ella Purcell) join his crew in the film, and they’re forced to work out their issues as they carry out the mission. Joining them are Scott’s friend and adept mechanic Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), helicopter pilot Marianne (Tig Notaro), expert zombie-killer Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), reckless social media influencer Guzman (Raúl Castillo), the casino’s head of security Martin (Garret Dillahunt), and Scott’s “ride-or-die” compatriot, Chambers (Samantha Win). The film also stars Nora Arnezeder, Theo Rossi, Huma S. Qureshi, and Matthias Schweighöfer

“At its heart, it’s a relationship movie,” Snyder says. “[Scott] and his daughter are trying to mend their relationship over the course of the movie. She shouldn’t have been on the mission but she kind of tricks him. It’s this small relationship movie inside of it all about a father who kind of abandons his child and tries to make it right. On top of that, it’s pure genre insanity.”

From what we were shown on set that day, the movie certainly looks to deliver on the genre goodness, for both the zombie and heist fronts. Snyder and company had rented out the entire casino floor at the Showboat hotel in Atlantic City, and they spent several days filming frantic zombie-killing action scenes involving a ton of wire work and big, loud guns (which Snyder test-fired himself with childlike giddiness). There were dozens of zombie extras running around, and the casino floor was so littered with inanimate zombie bodies that we had to watch our step virtually everywhere we went. Rest assured, the movie will be action-packed.

Another way Snyder and his team are attempting to make Army of the Dead a progressive entry in the genre is with its deliberately diverse cast. 

“Something that was really important to us was to have a global cast,” says producer Deborah Snyder. “Being on Netflix, the majority of the audience is international. There’s no reason the cast should be all American, all white. And it was really important for us, and me especially, that the women are as strong as their male counterparts. That’s something that I’ve been striving for, especially in action and genre. Their characters have depth.”

The cast being led by Bautista makes sense in that he’s a big star, but what perhaps goes under the radar in many people’s eyes is that he’s essentially the first Filipino-American to lead a diverse cast in the history of major motion pictures.

“Dave has been amazing. He’s awesome,” Zack says of his leading man. “My movies are pretty popular in the Philippines anyways, so I’m excited about this added bit that’s really going to take it to the stratosphere, I hope. He considers himself this anti-action hero but he can do any of the action! It’s cool. He’s not afraid to be rough and not look good all the time. That’s what’s cool. And he can be vulnerable.”

When sitting down with Bautista on set, the actor describes a deep sense of duty and fulfillment in representing Filipinos on the big screen.

“I’m getting ready to have the Filipino stars tattooed on my chest, front and center, really big!” Bautista shares. “It speaks to where my pride is as far as being a Filipino. I’m half-Filipino, but I embrace it completely. I’ve never been embraced like I was when I went to the Philippines. It means a lot to me. I want to represent something and I want to inspire people. It means everything to me.”

Read more

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In addition to the film’s cast representing a wide range of communities, Snyder harnesses the strength of zombie movies as socio-political commentary by weaving statements about the current state of the United States into the fabric of the narrative.

“There’s zombie-infested Vegas, and then what happened was they built this refugee camp at the outset of the zombie plague to quarantine,” Zack explains. “Six year later, the camp still exists, so now it’s this political tool that the government uses. If you have contradictory political views, they’ll stick you in there. They have a heat gun, and if you’re below 98.6 degrees, that’s probable cause to put you in.”

The director continues, “A lot of the people in the refugee camp are disenfranchised. Whether it’s a statement about immigration or the literal refugee camps around the world, it made sense to me to have an internationally diverse cast because of the centerpiece of the movie. This group that goes in are a mish-mash… they’re mutts. They’re rogue samurai.”

For Snyder, the feel of Army of the Dead was inspired by some of the most classic genre movies from his youth, though as in his previous work, he attempts to build on the concepts they introduced by subverting expectations and putting his own unexpected twists on genre conventions.

“When we did Dawn of the Dead, it was a slightly genre-buster movie in that I was a fan of the original, and I didn’t want to remake the movie, exactly,” Zack says. “I was trying my best to pay homage to the movie but I was always only referencing the original as opposed to a straight remake. I find that to be a fun area to be in.”

He continues, “Army of the Dead was really inspired by Escape From New York, [James] Cameron’s Aliens, Robocop… that world. It’s very much a genre deconstruction in the sense that I love all the genre tropes, and so I’m constantly trying to subvert the tropes by having them not finish as they typically would.”

After spending eight years in the superhero movie making business, Snyder felt that going back to intimate, genre storytelling would be exactly what he needed to reinvigorate his creative mind and passion. He needed a change of pace, and he missed being hands-on with the filmmaking process.

“Your relationship to the photographic process, even the actors… you grow further and further away from it,” he says of making big superhero movies. “I was still drawing the shots, but they were getting made further away. That’s kind of true of all aspects of the movie. This movie, for me, is a 100 percent organic experience where I take hold of it as a filmmaking process, as a writing process, photographically, as a director. It’s a joy to get up and work on. There are no real politics. Just make the movie as cool as you can, that’s it. In that way, it’s super refreshing and inspiring.

Snyder’s proximity to the tactile, hard work of filmmaking was evident from my time on set. In addition to directing, he acted as the movie’s DP and B camera operator and was interacting with the actors constantly, all while quite visibly having a lot of fun. It’s difficult to imagine he was as playful and loose on the sets of his DC movies. According to Snyder, while Army of the Dead certainly took a lot of hard work to make, he was constantly inspired by the material and embraced the challenge.

“Every movie is a struggle, right?” says Snyder. “I love that about moviemaking. The smoothest movie in the world is a shitfight. But with this movie I could make a subversive movie but no one would have to reach for the symbolism. It’s right there. It’s a genre that is about that, right? A good zombie movie, all the great Romero movies, they’re all mirrors. The zombies are us. For me, that was a great place to dig my teeth in.”

And working on a smaller scope means that this is the most personal movie Snyder has made in quite some time.

“It’s a giant movie, but I’ve tried to get at it in a super intimate, personal way,” he says. “This is not a movie that’s made by committee. It’s personal, singular, my eye seeing the movie.”

Army of the Dead hits select theaters on May 14 and Netflix on May 21.

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[wannawrite]

🌷WANNA ONE MASTERLIST🌷

a compilation of works done by the admins 

⚠️ trigger warnings will be used

legend 🌸 - fluff 🌺- angst

updated: 5/12/2018

🌙 Wanna One

Wanna One - Zombie Apocalypse

2017 Halloween special

Wanna One Christmas Collaboration Wink Wonk Masterlist 

2017 Christmas special 

The W1 Clan - vamp! AU

BJY |  HMH |  LGL | OSW | OSW2

Our Two Lips - flower boy! AU

LDH | PJH |  PWJ |  KJH |  LGL | OSW

The Royals - mafia! AU 

PJH | PJH2 | KD | KD2 | PWJ 

Yoon Jisung

You’re My Sunshine

fluff;🌸

 bf! Jisung comforts you after a rough day

When You Love Someone 

angst, fluff;🌺🌸 

based off ‘When You Love Someone’ by Day6

Lights On

fluff;🌸 

 part of the collaboration with my girls @onlyjihoons and @hwinkinghwi

Jisung is in charge of running a huge, high class, world recognised flower garden 

Ha Sungwoon

Siloso Vibes

fluff;🌸 

part of the collab with @onlyjihoons and @hwinkinghwi 

a day at Sentosa with Sungwoon + added Christmas spirit 

honeysuckle TW

fluff, angst;🌸🌸

isn’t love supposed to taste like honey after all? 

hanahaki! AU

Hwang Minhyun

I Latte You Very Much

fluff;🌸

barista! AU

you seem to be spending more time at this new cafe, especially when there’s a cute barista around

What’s In Your Lair?  TW

angst, fluff;🌺🌸 

vamp! AU

you wonder why your neighbour is so warm yet so cold…literally

Ong Seongwoo

Time Will Tell [ on hold ]

pt.1 |

angst, fluff;🌺🌸 

soulmate AU

time speaks, you just need to listen, but it also appears that time is running out of things to say to you

Don’t Play 

fluff;🌸 

flower boy AU + added Christmas spirit 

Seongwoo is playful, that we all know, but he won’t play on the job and especially not with your feelings

sweet crazy love TW

pt.1 | pt.2

angst, fluff;🌺🌸 

vamp! AU

experiments don’t always work out…. and when they don’t, they go to the psychiatrist 

not my type

fluff;🌸 

University! AU

you don’t date younger guys,,,but you just might ;)

Kim Jaehwan

If Voices Could Kill…

fluff;🌸

flower boy! AU

Kang Daniel

I Hate You, I Love You TW 

angst, fluff;🌸🌺

you can’t stand Daniel and neither can he. but some things just pull you together and Daniel isn’t that big of an asshole

I Know

angst, fluff;🌺🌸

Daniel gets jealous when you start to hang out with his younger brothers....

Crushing On You

fluff;🌸

idol! AU

Daniel has a major crush on you and as fellow idols, you’re bound to bump into each other backstage

Work Your Body, Let’s Dance

angst, fluff;🌸🌺

you’re invited to the elite 101 party and there, you meet Daniel

All You Would Ever Be

fluff;🌸

bffs to bf 

you like Daniel and so does he and Ong is going to get you two together

Double Trouble 

angst;🌺 

weeks leading up to prom, someone has been dropping love letters into your locker 

you’re certain about who you’re prom date is going to be….or are you? 

The Royals - KD 

pt.1 | pt.2

angst, fluff;🌺 🌸 

mafia! AU 

you’ve always known he could break bones, but you never thought Kang Daniel was capable of breaking your heart 

Crownless - KD  TW

angst; 🌺

pre-mafia/The Royals! AU

Park Jihoon 

Jealously Got The Best Of Me TW

angst;🌺 

bf! Jihoon gets really jealous when you hang out with Daniel super often and he isn’t the best at containing his anger

Not Falling For Your Jeojangs

fluff;🌸

flower boy! AU

you aren’t the slightest bit impressed by your best friends new summer job

The Royals - PJH TW

pt.1 | pt.2 

fluff;🌸 

mafia! AU

you never knew such dark secrets lurked within your neighbourhood 

Park Woojin

Noona, I Like You

pt.1 | pt.2

fluff, angst;🌸🌺 

Woojin is in love with his ‘noona’

plot twist, Daniel likes you too

Sweeter Than Candy

fluff;🌸

you adore your summer job for a couple of reasons and one of them is ‘Park Woojin’

Dance Boy? Flower Boy?

fluff;🌸

Woojin doesn’t know what he got himself into but he’s glad you’re there for him

Colourless [ completed ]

pt.1 | pt.2 | pt.3 | pt.4 | pt.5 - finale 

fluff, angst;🌸🌺 

the world you live in is colourless until you find your soulmate 

just when your world begins to take shape, his falls apart

Welcome To My Highschool 

fluff;🌸 

HS! AU

three

angst;🌺 

it’s the goodbye you two never wanted 

it’s the goodbye that’s for the best 

it’s the goodbye you’re both tricking yourselves into believing it’s a ‘see you soon’ 

The Royals - PWJ TW

pt.1 | pt.2 [ coming soon ]

angst, fluff;🌺🌸

mafia! AU

what secrets does Woojin hide up in the clouds?

Best Of Both Worlds TW

fluff; 🌸

who said love and evil don’t mix? 

love-hate! AU

Bae Jinyoung 

I’ll Be There TW 

angst, fluff;🌺🌸

Vamp! AU

trouble seems to be following you, but so does a mysterious hero

Let’s Just Laze

night | day 

fluff;🌸

lazy nights and days with your boyfriend, Bae Jinyoung

The B In Baejin Is For Boyfriend Material

fluff;🌸 

how Jinyoung would be a boyfriend in college

Head Over Heels 

fluff;🌸 

Jinyoung finds himself falling for a tomboy - kinda like Amber - pinwheel anon

Lee Daehwi

Plucking Petals

fluff;🌸

flower boy! AU

you don’t get the hype about flower boys and Daehwi’s determined to change that

The Cold Calls For Cuddles

fluff;🌸 

warm cuddles with Daehwi on a cold Autumn day

One With Water TW

fluff;🌸 

mermaid! AU 

the type of merman Daehwi would be

cirque

fluff;🌸 

circus! AU

it’s all fun and games until you catch feelings

Lai Guanlin 

Are You Jealous? TW  

angst;🌺

you get jealous when bf! Guanlin hangs out with soloist, Hung Aeri even if it’s only for work. right ? 

Surprise, Surprise 

fluff;🌸

bf! Guanlin throws you a surprise birthday party with the help of his hyungs

but that isn’t the only reason why that day is special

This Isn’t Part Of The Plot 

angst, fluff;🌺 🌸 

actress! reader 

who knew co-stars in a romcom would dislike each other so much

Taiwan’s Treasure

fluff;🌸 

flower boy! AU

so there’s this cute Taiwanese flower boy who changes his flower crown every few days……

Can’t Tell If It’s An Imitation 

fluff;🌸 

stressed by the pressure from your family, friends and media, you sign a contract to have a fake boyfriend

bite TW

fluff;🌸 

vamp! AU

Guanlin was already dead when he met you but maybe you brought him back to life

To Each His Own 

pt. 1 |

angst;🌺

christmas gift for admin L, a beautiful human being and the hugest linlin enthusiast who ult of ults him

hunger games! and flower boy! guanlin

Crystals In The Night 

fluff;🌸 

part of the collab with my babies 

orchard road Christmas activities with Lin Lin 

All For One 

fluff;🌸 

bffs with the Cube Chicks