#me: ok I know they’re like a cult leader but what do you mean nobody makes them chicken soup when they’re sick :(

[chialattea]

this is oddly specific but the one thing I can’t stand is making an oc and thinking that they’d have no friends— I’ll be creating the most backstabbing, mean little gremlin who like, punts children, but I have to give them at least SOMEONE who cares about them/they’re friends with. It just makes me feel so depressed if I don’t

[7thedisasterdyke]

Daimon

Disclaimer: the concept is not my idea

----

So I’m a demon, ok? Have been for, oh, I dunno, couple millennia? I get maybe three summons per month, get paid pretty well (about a thousand per summon, plus commission if I’m good enough, and I get to keep any souls I grab in the process). 

Anyways, that all changed about three weeks ago. I was doing a “haunted tea party” torture on a soul I had pretty much just gotten, nothing too evil (I don’t like actively hurting them, just giving ‘em a good scare, y’know?), when I get this nagging feeling in my head, the kind that tells me I’m being summoned.

I go topside, thinking it was going to be a cut-and-dry, normal cult summoning. Nope. It was this pre-teen, doodling in a notebook. Now, I may be a demon, but I have standards. I don’t respond to accidental summons from kids. So I go back to my place and continue what I was doing. 

About five minutes later, I get the feeling again. Not wanting to get up, I locate it. It’s the damn kid again. Typical. They find a pattern they like, and keep doing it, not even bothering to do their research on arcane symbols and demon summoning. I have a life, you know! So I ignore it. 

Now the thing about the nagging feeling in a demon’s head during a summon: it hurts after a while. There’s a reason summoning spells and circles are so hard to find, it’s because we don’t like constant headaches. 

But this fucking kid. They keep doing it. Every. Damn. Minute. Another headache. This has been going on for about thirty minutes, and the summoning migraine is killing me. I go topside to put a stop to this.

This kid. Has almost forty summoning sigils. In their notebook. I sigh, and stop time for everyone except the summoner (handy trick, really). I possess the person seated next to them, and yell.

“What the absolute fuck do you want!?”

They scream. Good. They deserve a scare for all the headaches they’ve been giving me. I flash my true eyes.

“You’ve been giving me a headache all afternoon, couldja maybe turn down the summoning?”

“What, the doodles? Those are summoning you?” The incredulity in their voice is genuine, and I start to feel bad for scaring them.

“Yeah, please don’t use that symbol unless you need it.”

“Oh. You could’ve popped in after a couple, I didn’t mean to annoy anyone.” They seem... hurt? Shit, I didn’t mean to do that.

“I suppose,” is the only reply I can manage.

“Would you mind if I summoned you to help me with the jackasses that bully me at lunch every day?”

“I don’t see why not, it’s the least I can do after scaring you.” It really is. 

“Well, guess I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.”

“See you around, kid.” I say as I exit my host and restart time.

---

The next day, the kid is all but forgotten. I just finish my lunch when my head starts to hurt. Nice. More money. I head on up. It’s the school. Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

Remembering what they wanted, I head to their location. Silently observing, I saw a level of torture I would never stoop to: demeaning the target’s existence. The bullies were relentless, and the summoning sigil is covered in tears. I move in, stopping time for the poor kid. I grab a random kid from nearby as my meatsuit.

“When you said bullies, I didn’t expect them to be this bad.”

“Please,” came their response through muffled sobs, “Just possess me and get rid of them. Or me. I don’t care as long as you make it stop.”

“I’m not gonna get rid of you, you don’t deserve this torment.”

“Possess me, please.”

With a sigh (it’s not often I possess the summoner, it leaves a lifetime bond), I switch bodies, then restart time.

The bullying resumes.

The bullies notice the body stopped making noises, and move in to try a more physical approach. I stand.

“The owner of this body is done. Leave. Them. Alone.” I growl.

I turn, and show only the tormentors my true head. Tentacles, teeth, eyes, the whole shebang.

The leader turns pale and shrieks, and I stop time again, for the bullies. 

“This person is under my protection. Leave them alone or face my wrath.”

The three of them pass out from fear, and I restart time.

Nobody is gonna hurt Daimon, not under my watch. The lifetime bond often leaves us demons with friends in the afterlife, but also provides the human with an extended life. We will protect those like Daimon, my newest friend. They’re genuinely one of the best humans I’ve ever met.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed

again, not my prompt.

[victorie552onepiecespeedrun]

Reading One Piece pt 185: MONKEY FAMILY DRAMA GET POPCORN

Chapter 432

Thoughts:

- Ok, here we got nice list of ranks in the World Government. First go World Leaders and we have a food chain of officers. Handy :) (why are there Petty Officers as an official title???)

- So, according to the chart, Grandpa Garp The Vice-Admiral is fourth in the chain of command (Aokiji is 2nd or 3rd depending if he’s a Fleet or Land Admiral but I think Fleet so 2nd)

- You know what, I think I see the resemblance between Garp and Luffy :D It’s all in that jaw structure tho eyes and nose are a little similar too. Yeah, that tracks. Welcome to the family, Grandpa (lol)

- “Hero of the Marines”, huh? Big names in your family tree, Luffy. On the wrong side of the conflict too I may add but eh, details

- …dude, what

- Well, that explains how Luffy got so strong in the first place but Tough Love MUCH??? I was also under an impression Luffy was raised in a barn, what’s up with that

- “I trained you to be a strong marine!” “I always said I wanna be a pirate!” YESSSS FAMILY DRAMA

- Lol, Garp just called Shanks a Bad Influence :D I mean, I guess :D but it’s still hilarious

- AGHFJKSGADSKHS THEY FELL ASLEEP WHILE FIGHTING I LOVE MONKEY FAMILY

- That scolding is hilarious :D

- LORE ABOUT SHANKS EVERYBODY QUIET

- Four Emperors. Holy shit, I finally know what an Emperor is

- (I recognize Shanks and Whitebeard but who are the other two? Also shit, will Luffy have to fight Shanks for the title of The Pirate King? I mean, as I understand it, right now you can become a Pirate King only by finding One Piece so Technically fights for the title aren’t necessary buuut you also need to be strong enough to, you know, keep One Piece for yourself (nobody even knows what One Piece is, lol, maybe possibly probably assumed to be weapons tho) AND strong enough for Pirate World to accept you and your position. I’m sorry but fights seem inevitable. Thought I don’t think Shanks would have a problem with Luffy as a Pirate King per se so we may avoid THAT disaster. But Straw Hats will fight Whitebeard and the other two for sure)

- Ok, before we go further, what was Shanks doing in any proximity of the grandson of Vice-Admiral, like what. What are the odds

- “The “Marine Headquarters” and “Shichibukai” exist in order to counterbalance these four! Their power is so influential that should these “three powers” become unbalanced, the peace of the world would crumble.” Ok, 1) Thank you, Grandpa Garp, I understand One Piece politics now (not like after Five Elders explained it, Grandpa is clearly superior in that aspect) and 2) MORE POWER TO THE PEOPLE if 4 guys are so popular and influential they can crumble your government THEN THEY SHOULD (it’s yet to be determined if Emperors fight for the people. I know at least Shanks isn’t AGAINST people but is he WITH them? It’s not like he printed and handed out papers with his political agenda on them)

- (…Damn, that election messed me up. I’m from EUROPE)

- (And again, what a weak-ass power balance it is. Elder Stars and World Leaders are OLD. Whitebeard is SUPER SICK. IT WILL ALL FALL APART ANYWAY CAUSE THEY WILL DIE FROM NATURAL CAUSES. That system has NO future and NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. THE WAR IS COMING NO MATTER WHAT YOU PREACH GRANDPA GARP BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS FLAWED)

- “I don’t really understand, but I’m happy to hear they’re fine. I miss them…” oh Luffy :D

- Lol, what a chain of events :D Zoro got lost while trying to get back to Straw Hats to warn them about marines and some guys tried to mug him so Zoro beat them up. After that, they had to show him a way back to his house. “And now they’re like “Sorry for almost mugging you” and he’s like “Don’t worry about it, thanks for the guidance!”. I love Zoro :D

Now, will he cause a commotion or what

- Huh?

- Looks like we got a fight here :D a friendly fight, clearly, go deck each other boys :D

- That marine (:D) can use Soru! (The thing Cp9 could do. It was for being faster I think but I won’t remember so whatever)

- “Chief Petty Officer! Petty Officer!” WHY ARE THOSE REAL RANKS IT’S TOO FUNNY

- “Long time no see” “Who are you?” lol

- It’s Coby!!! (from 2nd to like 7th chapter if you don’t remember) :D but yeah, he looks TOTALLY different. He looks like a teenager, not a child. Nice glow-up, keep it up, kiddo. (How old are you by the way because I kinda feel creepy right now)

- Luffy and Zoro can’t believe their eyes :D

- Why is Helmeppo looking kinda cool now? Still like an asshole but with a fashion sense? THAT HAIR WHAT’S WITH THE HAIR

- Ok, no, I’m not looking at them by myself, have a screenshot

- As marines go, they’re second only to Hina-san, like what’s up with that

- Lol, Zoro doesn’t remember Helmeppo

- “I’m the guy who almost drove you to the death penalty!!! Roronoa Zoro!!!” Nope, doesn’t ring a bell :D

- “I’m the idiot son who rode my father’s coat tails!” NOW THEY REMEMBER :D

- “Ok guys, enough. Go fix up that wall” Grandpa put the hole in, he will put the hole out :D with assistance :D

- Yeah, Luffy and him are super related :D

- “By the way, Luffy, I heard you met your dad” WHAT! WAS THAT BLACKBEARD GOD PLEASE NO NOOOOOOOO

- “I have a dad?” everyone has a dad, Luffy, come on. And you’re a shounen protagonist, you have like a Turbo Dad x20 Deluxe Edition

- (PLEASE NOT BLACKBEARD)  

- (at least we know it’s definitely NOT Shanks now. I mean, I knew that, but I finally got to the part in canon where it’s said loud and clear)

- “Oh what, he didn’t introduce himself…? I heard he saw you off at Logue Town!” …give me a minute

- …it’s either Smoker. Or Dragon The Cult Guy. And it’s NOT Smoker.

- Oh Luffy. I’m so sorry

- (AT LEAST IT’S NOT BLACKBEARD)  

- “Your father’s name is “Monkey D. Dragon”, The Revolutionary” why did they draw him like that, Cult Guy doesn’t deserve it

- (Monkey? Is he Garp’s son? Or did he took his wife’s name? Will I ever finish that chapter?)

- …What’s with marines reaction. Like chill guys

- “What’s up with this family!?” yeah, Vice-Admiral, Revolutionary, Future Pirate King… they don’t do things in halves, that Monkey Family

- Lol, Everyone’s panicking except Luffy and Zoro :D these two really don’t know anything :D just like me :D

- Ok Robin, hit us with knowledge

- Revolutionary Army, got it

- Ah. Ok.

- “Ack!!! Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything!!! Then nevermind about what I just said.” AHDJJDKJKAGDFSSGASDGFHSHK

*busy wheezing* GRANDPA FOR THE WIN

rOP 184  rOP 186

Dragon/Monkey family meta

[bondsmagii]

I mean to ask this genuinely, no hostility, but can you explain how you correlate scp to being in a cult? I dont disagree, I just cant articulate the reasoning as to why I dont disagree, and would like to see where youre coming from with this. Also, could you tag it with cults or cult discussion or something similar, please? Thanks! Have a good day.

OK [cracks knuckles] I will try and keep this as short as possible, but you have to understand I’ve been observing the wiki in the wild literally since its inception, so there is a lot of stuff to consider. anyway let’s buckle up.

[EDIT: after finishing, this is obnoxiously long. sorry. I encourage people to read it though, because yikes.]

I base this theory on a set of guidelines set out for spotting if an organisation might be a cult. generally cults are religiously based; obviously this does not apply here. as far as I’m aware, nobody sees the SCP wiki as a religion (yet). because of this a couple of the points regarding spotting a cult are irrelevant (they concern things like separation from the Church which obviously doesn’t apply) but nearly all of the others (even some religious ones) can apply if we provide context. so without further ado:

Signs You’re In A Cult and How the SCP Wiki Literally Fits Into All of Them

let’s start with the most obvious:

opposing critical thinking

something that has long pissed me off about the SCP wiki has been its complete inability to think critically. staff will literally ban people for criticising them, and the parameters of “criticism” have only grown wider and wider over the years. anything that is the “party line” is sacred; nothing can be improved upon because it’s already perfect, and Staff Knows Best. any policy changes are law, and any dissenting voices are silenced – even among younger staff members (length of service wise, not age wise). I have seen staff put on probation or demoted for arguing against pointless or pedantic policy changes; I have seen people of all levels banned for arguing with staff. if this doesn’t happen right away, arguing with staff over their decisions will absolutely get a target on your back, and they will find a way to ban or demote you as soon as they can.

any criticism on the wiki is frowned upon unless it comes from the Major Staff Members – these are people at the top of the hierarchy who can do no wrong, and as you can imagine, they’ve done some shit. staff has always had a problem with elitism, bullying, and even abusive behaviour (blah blah blah #NotAllStaff, but the ratio is quite concerning) and any criticism of their behaviour or even pointing this fact out is dangerous if you want to remain on the wiki. hell, I know many people who are aware of this who don’t speak up because they’re genuinely scared of retaliation. a lot of staff are really nasty people, and because of this attitude they are beyond criticism.

isolating members and penalising them for leaving

the penalising them for leaving part isn’t strictly accurate, because as far as I know, nobody has ever been bullied or threatened into staying on the wiki. however, I do remember a while back (2011/2012-ish) when the Foundation RP community began to show up on Tumblr, and the wiki began to get a fanbase that wasn’t contained on the site itself. staff were not happy about this and to this day they still constantly try and get a monopoly on all off-site locations. they have an official Offsite Outreach Team (yes, that’s its real name) who “reach out” to communities on other platforms (YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, etc) and set up an Official Presence there, and then they encourage everyone to use the Official Presence rather than the fan-made ones (which are often more established and better/more consistently run). there have been several off-site spats between staff and the fandom, because they arrive demanding the authority and respect they have on the wiki and get Big Mad when they don’t get it. just recently one (now ex) staff member, djkaktus, went absolutely primal on Reddit and banned a whole bunch of the community for daring to say that they didn’t like the new LGBT logo for pride month (many of these people were LGBT themselves and felt as though it was pandering/putting targets on their backs); several more years ago (2014, I believe?) I myself had a run in with the Outreach Team and it was one fucking hell of a headache that ended in a malicious smear campaign against me, so like. yeah.

as for isolating members, they do this via elitism. the above is an example of it (making everyone feel a sense of obligation or loyalty to the Official Presence), but a huge part of it has always been the elitist attitude prevalent on the wiki. the SCP wiki has high standards for writing (allegedly… I’ve seen some garbage on there tbh, same as any other website) and it uses this to bully and demean its users. criticism of writing is overly harsh but highly encouraged; anyone complaining that it was too cruel (which it often is) is ridiculed for being too sensitive. (staff have been working on this for years, but really nothing has changed; people have just gotten more between-the-lines about it.) this encourages a kind of desperation among new users to “rise up the ranks” and earn respect so they can be the ones dishing out the criticism instead; they will do so and then immediately act in accordance to their status, bullying others how they were bullied and sticking to their own “rank”. brief interruption: staff and bootlickers if you’re reading this and thinking of reblogging to defend yourself, the code word is yeet. if I do not see the word yeet in your reply I will know you have not read this thoroughly and tell me why I should then bother reading anything you have to say.staff themselves is incredibly removed and closed off from the rest of the community; they have a bunch of private chat rooms they hang out in, and inter-dating is common. they don’t tend to interact much outside the flock, and are the definition of cliquey. joining this rank is supposed to be an achievement, but really it’s probably the most dangerous place to be. I have seen so many staff members have literal, clinical mental breakdowns over the strain and treatment they suffer.

(there’s nowhere to neatly slot this in, so: I don’t know how many people have noticed this, but SCP fans, when you spot them on other platforms, are snooty. not casual fans, but those involved with the wiki? I can spot them from a mile away, because whenever the Foundation is mentioned, there they are, acting like they’re part of some cool club. some of these people are innocent (they’re just mimicking the behaviour of other members) but some of them really do seem to think that their site is somehow better than whatever site they’re on, and it’s really creepy to see.)

emphasising special doctrines outside of scripture

obviously this is religion-specific, but with context it can fit. if we take scripture to mean SCP lore, and special doctrines to mean differing headcanons, ideas, writing styles, etc… oh boy.

there’s something that’s often said on the wiki: there is no canon. buddy, there is. yes, you can write whatever you want technically, and you can disregard headcanons you don’t like and you can build on different things and theoretically people can just ignore your shit if they don’t like it, but that is not what happens. there is absolutely a canon, and deviating from it will get you downvoted into oblivion and even personally attacked. people will accuse you of the most ridiculous shit, like desecrating the wiki or betraying the universe or whatever. so where does the emphasising part of this come in?

why, it’s simple! if one of these special doctrines (headcanons or whatever) comes from staff or an Approved Member, it’s fine. go nuts. even if it’s something that anybody else would be absolutely slaughtered for, it’s fine if staff approves. there is no creative freedom on that wiki, and anyone attempting to carve a piece out for themselves will suffer for it. one of my close friends still gets hate for an SCP he wrote featuring heavy headcanons and building on existing lore about a well-known character, and some of this hate is because he didn’t set the fucking article out “how it should be”. 

seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders

oh boy. staff are god on that website. they’ll deny it, but they know it’s true. many of them are arrogant and, in my opinion, some of them are pathologically narcissistic. they think they are hot shit, and they encourage people on the site to believe the same. a huge majority of users on the wiki are high school students, so 15-18 years old. the next huge group are college-aged, so 19-22 or so. several staff members are in their mid-20s up to 30s, maybe even coming 40s or early 40s now. when you’re in your mid-20s, it’s very easy to look cool to a 15-year-old. it’s very easy to look at a young userbase and convince them that you’re hot shit, and that’s what staff do. they act like it; most users respond to it, and if anyone dissents? see point one.

staff have always had double standards. from the very beginning of staff, they have gotten away with a lot more than the average user. staff have been allowed to bully, ridicule, harass, dismiss, shit upon, and target people with reckless abandon, usually only meeting punishment when other staff members feel too inconvenienced by them. a lot of the time when they’re punished, it’s a lot lighter than it would have been for an average user (a month ban rather than a permaban, for example). this is seen as almost a point of hilarity for a lot of people, who think it’s cool and just a right you get when you’re staff. you know best, you’ve seen some shit – who can blame you for slamdunking a 15-year-old’s first SCP?

the amount of respect and adoration these people demand is ridiculous, and anybody daring to criticise them ends up on a shitlist. staff show up in other areas (Tumblr or Reddit) and expect that same amount of respect, even among people outside of the wiki who might just be casual fans. they act a lot more important than they are, and demand that everyone treats them appropriately. I’ve seen staff members throw shitfits because they didn’t get enough upvotes for their articles, and many staff members’ quality of work declines when they make staff, simply because they know that they’ll get easy upvotes as soon as people realise it’s a staff member who wrote it. downvotes are enough to get you put on a shitlist. 

publicly, their word is law. you are not allowed to debate with them in the forums if they put a “stop” on the topic; the same applies in the IRC chat. if staff says “stop”, you will be punished if you mention it again. you are allowed to discuss it with them privately, but I think that’s rather insidious, as staff have been known to twist facts and withhold information before. this gives them a public persona of always being right – and something else that cults do is silence dissenting voices so nobody who might agree can see other people saying the same things and feel encouraged/emboldened. 

crossing Biblical boundaries of behaviour

again, we’ll need to contextualise this. if Biblical boundaries are things like sins and all the stuff the Bible says Do Not Do, then in this context these are the wiki rules. staff (and their friends) will constantly cross the rules, as previously mentioned, and they will get away with it.

the wiki rules say “don’t be a dick”. I have caught staff bullying people countless times, and no doubt there’s more I haven’t caught. even out in the open, staff are argumentative, dismissive, rude, intimidating, and oftentimes plain nasty. the wiki rules say “don’t coldpost articles; get feedback”. staff is just out there throwing their shit onto the wiki and expecting an avalanche of upvotes in five minutes Or Else. policies are made that set parameters and staff changes them whenever convenient – for example, the long-standing rule that things that occur off-site are not the responsibility of the Disciplinary Committee (yes, its name.). unless, of course, it’s someone they don’t like. a major staff member bullies somebody on Tumblr? “sorry, it was offsite, not our problem”. someone staff doesn’t like gets into a brief spat on Reddit? banned for harassment. 

there are countless examples of this, from small things to major things like bullying, harassment, and even abuse (or enabling of abuse). staff will punish people for transgressions and then turn a blind eye to a fellow staff member committing a transgression that was ten times worse. they have even protected rapists and sexual predators in the past – another kind of behaviour common in cults, because that’s what happens when you combine narcissism and entitlement with total authority.

that’s the main bulk of it

but now the context has been established, here are a few more concerning things I’ve noticed (quickfire now):

cults shit on former members

and the wiki does the same. any staff member that’s grown fed up of the groupthink and the cliquey attitude and how nasty people are or who has been mistreated by staff themselves; any regular user who feels the same and vocally quits? shat upon. lauded as a bastion of whatever is wrong with the wiki. declared an Enemy and rallied against. it is so creepy.

cults use Us vs Them mentality, especially in language

broad declarations establishing a community and a community spirit in the face of adversity are common in cults. appeals to emotion and loyalty are used in a very manipulative way. catastrophising and fearmongering is common, too. I’m seeing this in how the recent drama with the legal issues is being handled. broad appeals to “defend the wiki”, hashtags being encouraged, emotional speeches from staff about how it’s a make or break situation… 

…and this is being reflected in the absolutely insane comments people are responding with.

this is a fucking writing website. the above is not a normal reaction at all.

the attitudes of regular users quickly grow concerning

people very quickly get obsessed with the wiki and it defines their lives. they seem to feel as though they owe something to it or they need to serve some kind of a purpose; many people try and “get the word out” and become voluntary spokespeople. they go around practically preaching, and I do not see the users of any other website doing this.

cults want full control over how they’re seen by outsiders

and the scp wiki does the same. as mentioned previously, when the fandom grew and spiralled off the wiki to other sites, staff debated for weeks over what to do. brief interruption the second code is shrek is life.they were not comfortable with the idea of the wiki having an independent fandom, and for years now they have been in constant struggle with offsite communities, trying to gain the same amount of control they have over the wiki. it’s impossible to do so thoroughly, and it’s clearly an annoyance for them.

cult leaders will let “lesser” members do their dirty work for them

and guess what staff does? rather than wade in there and get their hands dirty with internet arguments, they’ll sit back and let regular users dogpile on dissenters and say all the things staff shouldn’t be seen to say in public. note how even if this would violate the bullying policies, they’ll just get a warning so long as staff agrees. 

in conclusion

@ everyone on the scp wiki: yall know you’re in a cult, right?

[bellamygateoldblog]

THE 100 7X07 LIVEBLOG

Warning: Long. I’m sorry. I was excited.

• First thought, I'm being forced to watch without subtitles & and it might just be me but these actors are impossible to understand on the first listen.

• "The shepherd teaches us that winning the last war brings upon the final evolution of a species" so....aliens? ALIE? Ascending into a 'higher' form of existence meaning either life after death (ALIE style) or these people want to become Gods?

• They "believe in transcendence" so i must be on the right lines.

• Bardo have "different plans" for the two killers. Void!Echo might be cominggggg.

• "Death is life" / "may we meet again" / "death is not the end" — "winning the last war brings upon the final evolution of a species"???? I’ve connected the dots.

• I'm sorry but all this hyper-focus on Clarke and being "The Key to everything" is kinda embarassing me, like 😳 it's just so odd. That this alien cult from another part of the galaxy/universe is fixated on this random teenager born on a space station around Earth. I know, I know it's to do with Becca's tech, but it's still very much sounding like the "super important special protagonist" trope which I hate and until that detail about the code/tech is revealed it will continue to make me rme. LMAO.

• "Rise and shine errand boy" OK MA.

• Indra is out looking for their friends which confirms LGBT wrath squad literally told nobody they were leaving, and since Gaia was kidnapped, there's no news from them at all.

• Emori trying desperately to help Murphy stay out of hell. At first I thought she was reassuring him, but she was explaining why he needs to do these “errands,” because she believes in his ‘vision’ of hell last season.

• "besides [Murphy's] worshipped me for years."

• Memori is the inverse of Bellarke. There, I said it.

• "You don't know me very well-" / "i know you went into that tavern to save a child at great risk to yourself..." is the pretty much the exact same scene as Murphy's with Luna in s4: "you don't know me very well" / "I know you stole medicine to save [a child]..."

• Luna's spirit followed them across the galaxy/universe this season.

• I don't know anything about chess but the fear on Murphy's face when Slim Sheidy moved his Queen makes me think Emori is in danger this season for as long as he's still alive.

• Echo indirectly preaching "love is strength"

• "You don't talk about yourself much and you're a shapeshifter"

• Dude maybe Echo really is getting an arc this season.

• "Bellamy this isn't real" implies she's had to shut “this” down before, and that there's been something between them for a while. And Bellamy literally shut her up with a kiss, telling her and us that she’s being silly. Also, Echo was the one putting it off.

• Tall girlfriend short boyfriend rights!

• The shot of the ring becoming Echo's eye. Oh my GOD.

• "I know you're in pain Echo, I feel it" what a dumb fuck thing to say LMAO what gave it away?????? The way I'm crying right now in front of you??????

• "I'm the monster from Hope's bedtime stories"

• Octavia:

• WE'RE VOCALISING THE PARALLEL NOW HUH?!

• Octavia is telling EVERYONE else what we already knew. The parallel was NEVER to Finn. It was to Octavia. After Lincoln died. TELL EM.

• "I wish I hugged him instead"

• Octecho Murphamy parallel oh jesus.

• Octavia is like "no Murphy Echo! I'm not letting you go until you admit you're not useless! it's not your fault!"

• Octavia telling Echo love is the answer, love is what she needs, not death or violence. Love is strength. Here we go bitches.

• "YOU'RE MY FAMILY TOO"

• !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “YOU’RE ONE OF THE HUNDRED”

• Am i actually right with all these Echo theories i’ve had? I’m feeling so validated.

• It’s a shame none of these scenes will be edited and made into gifsets by fandom the way other Clarke/bellarke/anti-Echo-centred ones have been them with their none-existent Finn ‘parallel’ lmaooooo, because nobody cares for Echo and Octavia.

• Everyone is yelling for Echo. I feel that.

• Diyoza is checking her nails. I feel that too.

• "THAT'S DISHES YOUNG LADY" ajaksjajsjskasjsjdkskdjdj

• I'm so sad we're back in Sanctum😔😔😔

• Emori is fr pregnant.

• Are we really doing a sexism thing, here with Shiedheda and Murphy? I thought those things didn't exist anymore?🤔

• "how you respond to the loss of your Queen will tell me which you are (a leader or a follower)" — I'm going to be unhappy if Emori dies just so Murphy can become a "leader" by the end. Don’t. Especially not after this conversation about “not liking women very much.”

• Well there goes that theory of Hope favouring Murphy from the stories because she was told he was similar to her father. Sigh.

• "I like you John, you amuse me" is a pretty good way of summarising how his character has been used this season.

• "Everyone I ever loved was killed fighting in wars. Some that didn't need to be fought"

• "I LIKE OUR CHANCES" callback.

• Men who?

• "Violence and rage will only destroy your soul"

• “Revenge is a game with no winners” motherly advice vs “They loved people too. Where does it end?” / “it doesn’t end here. I don’t believe in karma” motherly advice.

• These quotes are making me nervous about void!Echo. I hope she gets brought back from the dark eventually. Or makes the dark her bitch.

• This Diyoza-Hope scene looks paralleled to the Octecho one! Thus Echo also wants to "go back to the way things were."

• "They took my mommy away" — Like ‘they’ took Octavia's and Echo's. Two other warrior women in the same group. Clarke dealt with the loss of hers. Madi with the loss of hers. There’s Gaia and Indra’s strained relationship. Emori + being cast out by her parents. The child sacrifices. Murphy + Sheidheda’s mother throwing him in the conclave meaning he doesn’t like women. Is this season about mommy issues?

• A little confused why he’s talking about Lexa as if she directly stole his legacy. Wasn’t he in power when Indra was a child?

• Octavia is laying there staring at a blank book.

• I'm dying at Octavia monologing, completely oblivious to Echo cutting her face with broken glass behind her. LMAO. She's become so accustomed to Echo's whimpering she's not even phased anymore.

• Dying again at Echo out of nowhere just going DO YOU KNOW WHY AZGEDA WARRIORS SCAR THEIR OWN FACES?

• Octavia, again:

• "We do it to symbolize that the pain is over. The wound is healed."

• That's such a good explanation. And here begins Echo's healing journey. As her wounds heal over the next few episodes so will she. And by the end her scars will symbolise that journey.

• Here Echo goes again being the smartest person in the room, always. "We're not prisoners, we're recruits."

• Tasya is making me super uncomfortable with the jittery, eery way Echo is moving around. I love it.

• The way Echo casually saunters out of the fucking room with not a single care in the world oh she knowsssss. AJDKSHFJSF

• Echo leading again!!! Making the decisions. Octavia following after her (literally) and backing her.

• "This is how my people show they're ready to go to war" — making everyone extremely uncomfortable and I love that for her. Also, "my people."

• Embracing her Azgeda-ness.

• Octavia understanding and jumping in to aid Echo's plan combined with the close-up of Echo's determined abliet slightly unhinged expression makes me believe Echo is leaning into her "spy" along with her Azgeda and going undercover, making them believe she's on their side when she's not. But there's still a part of me thinking Echo is spiraling and is going to war out of habit and because she feels she has nowhere else to go/ "no home." Aka, the detail to finish off the S7 O/E parallels: "this is who I am" / "I'm here for the war."

• Furthermore, her scarring herself could be a callback to Octavia telling Ilian to help her feel something.

• I love this season a lot.

• Back in Sanctum again😒

• How does a chess game take all fucking DAY?

• OH 🙂 That's how.

• Yeah it makes absolutely no sense Raven would ask about Octavia before Echo.

• Raven looking at Clarke when finding out Bellamy's dead as if she isn't the only one there who's his actual family, who spent 6 entire years with him + more. Raven Clarke-Prop Reyes strikes again.

• Clarke's like *sad confusion*

• The scene of Clarke finding out about Bellamy's death didn't feel so much about her as it did "well what does this mean for them now?"

• "From the ashes we will rise" becomes "from the ashes, through the bridge, the shepherd will rise" Gotta say, not as catchy.

• "please call me Bill" - No. No Bill. Only Cadogan.

• We're going back to Earth this season aren't we?

[heyyylittlemo]

Ask game

1. Where did you hide the body??

Me: *pause* No, where did you hide the body—

*police stare at me with disbelief*

Me: there’s no—there’s not a single body here—well stop looking at me like that, you’re the cop! You should know! Why are you asking me for! Body? Whaaaaaat. Ahaha.

*cops shake head*

*whispers to my friend* Guys I think I pulled that one off

Police: you know we can hear everything you’re saying

me: 👁👄👁

2. Favorite rock? The 1975. Dominic Fike. Arctic Monkeys. Bad Suns. The killers. Pale Waves. Etc. That good good shit 👌

3. Most aesthetic season? Fall. Love them orange colors. The leaves falling. Though spring is also neat if you have a bunch of flowers bloomin in shit and winter is only aesthetic when it’s snowing. Boring ass summer tho just be heating me up.

4. When texting do u shorten words or spell out? I used to write stuff out all the time mostly but now it’s like half and half bcuz its just faster and nobody got time for it 🤣🤣

5. Vintage stuff? Hell yeah, but maybe not anything too expensive since some old stuff IS hyper expensive.

6. Colors that pop or blend? Not sure I understand what u mean abt them blending ahaha u mean like when they’re so similar to another?? Well I think it’s nice but honestly I prefer a pop and a bang, y’Know?

- At this moment I realized I was answering the last few questions from a completely different ask and felt like a dumbass 😂 anyways the actual number we’re on is three so imma just kickback

3. Worst dream u have ever had? I had sleep paralysis but was imbetween that and a lucid dream. At first I was paralyzed and could see my bed but my eyes felt closed and open at the same time?? A giant dark demon looking dog had towered over me and began to tear at my neck. It looked and felt very real I started to try to scream and it felt like a scream was coming out but no sound exited. Then I went into a lucid dream where I was being chased by this dog and running for my life I was running by and nobody could save me nobody in the dream when it caught up to me I was back in my bed and it was trying to eat me again. I was so terrified I couldn’t sleep for a whole week.

4. Lyric that comes to your mind? “And I don’t think I can be there. I’m paralyzed,I’m terrified of being alone. When you said I deserved what had happened.”

5. Blood make u uncomfortable? Yes, I passed out once when getting my finger pricked and a VERY small blood sample and another when dissecting a fish.

6. Even or odd numbers? Well I like the number 5,7,9, 3 so odd. (Like me 🤣🤣)

7. Something I hate that I love? Anything I’ve ever loved becuz love can be frustrating. Bruh.

8. 1st initial of someone I hate? Hmm...do I hate someone tho? Not that I can think of...

9. *Skipping down the lane* NOPE

10. Corn dogs? It’s funny cuz when I think of corn dogs my mind will always go to when we first moved to our current house because at our initial town we never had Sonic and while we were getting the house fixed up and moving stuff we use to always get Sonic since it was the closest to us most times to eat and that was a bunch of corn dogs and hotdog days 🤣 so thnk u corn dogs for ur service

11. I’m not a huge movie person so...I looked up movies from 2005 and movies Inlike from this time are Brokeback mountain bcuz it’s gay af, Shark Boy and Lava Girl damn I rewatched the shot out of it when I was younger, Narnia and the Chocolate Factory(although it low key creeped me out as a kid, and idk why).

12. Least fav music genre? Most country, most EDM, dubstep, screaming/really hard rock, some pop music, mumble raping.

13. As someone who waits on tables, my job is my least favorite restaurant experience 🤣🤣 just dealing with ppl...like ok, I’m half Hispanic right?? But I look white. Well, I work at a Mexican restaurant and so sometimes racist costumers will say shady shit just bcuz I guess they think it’s appropriate to say it to me just bcuz I’m not Hispanic in their eyes?? But it pisses me off and I feel like I can’t say anything without causing a drama which I hate and when the “costumers always right” it can be hard to budge and stand up and say “bitch wtf did u just say??” And there’s just folks who take things the wrong ways or ask too much at once or give u a hard time or just say something that sticks onto you for the whole day. One bad move can turn my whole day upside down.

14. 3 things never come near me? Cockroaches, Needles, and close mind ppl

15. Worst way to die? With regrets. Something really brutual, random, or where something just happened to go wrong (accident). Being killed by someone u love.

16. Unusual habits? Doing a Michael Jackson esque “hee-hee” after every sneeze I make, being extremely clumsy and making every task 100% more difficult, having the ability to talk as if I have an accent that comes from nowhere in particular just stupidity also I can’t speak my own language half the time 🙃getting words confused or misusing them in a sentence so I sound dumb having a very weird imagination and thoughts, I swear it like I never went to school and don’t know how the world works, plus many many more

17. Clothing style u want? I want to dress in a way that screams who I am and is a blend of both femininity and masculinity. A little vintage. Grunge. Urban maybe?? What do I know abt fashion 🤣🤣

18. Song or artist that deserves more? Dijon, hands down. I love his stuff. He’s like Frank Ocean meets light-singing beautiful lyricist with a more rock vibe?? Hidden gem. I also think Durand Jones & the Indications needs more love along with BadBadNotGood they sound like old-times but are new!! Oh, and Pale Waves is like a female The 1975 and kicks it. Bad Suns is a good alt rock band that no one seems to recognize :,D Toro y Moi too! His song with Flume “The difference “ is a banger!! Kid Cudi is my man when I want a blend of rock and rap. Also Dominic Fike,King Krule, and Roy Blair, who are all amazing!! Ok I need to stop 🛑

Duck I answered the past questions from a different post I’m sorry 😐

17. Emoji never used? There’s a bunch since I reuse the same over and over again. Lmao

18. 3 sentence Gatorade horror story? A faint quiver overtook the small freezer the Gatorade lay in; no one had come by in days, hours, weeks; when was the last time he met the lips of a thirsty body? They’d forgotten about him, as his last sips remained glued to his hollowing entrance. ‘Help, ‘it wanted to say, but it’s frozen lips could not be moved; It’d stay here, die here...just like the rest.” What am I doing with my life 🤣🙏

19. Do u know what an old bay is? A bay that is old? And old ocean? Idk!!!

20. Can u dance? Sometimes I dance when I’m alone but nothing spectral lol

21. What first comes to ur mind when u see ropes? 2 extremes. Sex and death. Hm. Ok. Moving on.

22. Make an obscure reference. “Even a bra couldn’t hold these nipples” *Holds a water gun to chest*

23. Fav balloon color? Pink or yellow.

24. If u were in court would u be innocent or guilty? Depends, what am I in court for 🤣 lmao jk honestly idk bcuz I don’t think I’d wind up in there

25. Are u hungry ? Nope

26. Unlucky number? Hm I don’t think so but I have a lucky number “123”

27. What’s “JMD”stand for? I’m guessing...Jamming my d—- 💀lol jk ahaha why am so dirt

28. Random inside joke? *chirpy squeak* I’m making a double batch of cookies

29. What sends chills up ur spine? Seeing disgust food or smell disgust or talking abt disgust things like gore

30. How many questions are in ur inbox? A pathetic zero ahaha no one want to ask me anything 😂

31. Someone real who scares u. 2 of my ex friends. One when I was 10 said disturbing things and I was kinda forced onto the friendship and everything they said make me fear for others lives...and then a different ex friend who seemed normal at 1st but became both low key psychopath cult leader type stuff and I booed out of there—-.

32. Run or hide? Uhh probably hide because I’d say even if ppl say “u can run but u can’t hide” u CAN just hide! that’s the point of hiding they not find u xD also why not combine them? Hide then run somewhere far away once I got them off the trial.

33. Last person who made u angry? A frickin beetle that flew at me and pinched me in the middle of singing in the shed xD also my autocorrect

34. What’s going on in ur head? I should probably pee soon—

35. Little thing that makes u Smile? A lot of little things bruh.

36. Are u a descisive person?

Not sure.

*pAuse *

Ok, I guess I’m not then 🤣

37. Would ppl say I’m paranoid? Hm maybe about certain things social situations, singing in front of others what ppl think abt me etc etc

38. Store least likely in? Any southern clothes shop, Abercrombie & Finch types shit, lol

39. Do I like hats fave type? Hm not wear many hats but I think they’re cool any type is cool for different ppl and their aesthetici just can’t rock a hat.

40. Bow ties or ties? Don’t really care but now want to see more bow ties

41. Who? You.

42. What? Reading this shit

43. Where? In ur ass

44. When? Now.

45. Why? Not even u know why.

46. How? We all want to know

47. Do u collect anything? Vinyl records.

48. What tome is it? Time to get a watch

49. Fav transportation? My car or walk is possible

50. Would u ever kill someone to save someone? Don’t want to think about that

51. Make a joke. Yo, it’s time to make a joke—so the other day I was working. And I was practicing my Spanish, yes? Anyone whose trying to learn anew language k n o w s that sometimes words can be so close to another u just confuse then! So apparently churros in Spanish is a desert but if u say it more harshly (it literally sounds almost the same) it makes a whole different meaning—diharrea, but like I didn’t know that so I legit just walked up to this person and asked if they would like some shit to eat. So yeah, that was great. Let’s not forget that I mixed up blood, watermelon, and sangria which is a wine. I legit once said I had mixed wine in my vines and another time watermelon 🤣

52. I’m really confused so I skip

53. Would ur dash be confiscated SFW? By dash do u mean this account? Um not 😬

54. Do I like to cuddle? Hell yeah and manhandle ppl all the time it’s my affection

55. What makes u angry? Close minded ppl or ppl who jump too fast to conclusions, strict schedules just dumb stuff that people try to force when I just want to be carefree 😭✌️

56. How many voices are in ur head? 😐

57. Do U consider urself mentally stable? 😐

58. Are u easily offended? Well U just called me mentally unstable and asked it there was voices in my head!!

59. What’s wrong with taking the backstreets? Uhm...

60. Any questions u want ppl to ask u? Nothing in particular but it’s be nice if someone care to ask me something abt me from personal question to my opinions on shit to 19 days fandom related junk 😌

Woooo I’ve finished this game! Thanks to @seiji-amasawa for introducing me to this ^^

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Fanon characterization of the Calypso twins between me and The Wild West Pyro: 

We both have the strong sinking feeling that the twins are slowly going to lose it as the game goes on, so here’s our collaborated analysis of the two:

I’ll be in non-cool text, while The Wild West Pyro will be in italics, for easier distinction between us. [There will be slight edits and changes for cohesion]

“It would be pretty interesting if we found out the Calypsos/the cult started out with 'good intentions'.”

“Hell, you can see the populism kicking in there.What did the writers say? Ah. "Your poor bandits! You're kicked around and nobody likes you, but we can give you a purpose in life! We can make you feel appreciated and loved!" [This is a reference to the Danny Homan interview] Something of that line.”

“oh yeah! the twins are also providing them with food and weaponry. i mean i can see why a bandit desperate for something better would follow them.”

“I'm guessing how this goes: The Twins start off by winning people over by talking about how they want Pandora to be finally at peace after endless war and giving the bandits a new life where they're treated like actual people. Then once they've got enough people, they say that the Raiders have to go, the corporations have to go, with the Vaults seized the universe will see no more war. Actually, I'm predicting rn that they have a very, very cult-like end goal in terms of IRL parallels.What if they choose to "cleanse" the universe with whatever power Tyreen possesses? And once everything standing in their way is gone, they can create this ideal utopian peaceful universe where there's no corporations and no more fighting. Meanwhile the Eridians are panicking because they know it's a doomed plan and the Vaults do not work like that.”

“[this is very much a] large scale Opportunity situation. literally reverse uno card as to what jack was attempting”

“Yep. Paradise for the common man bandit. OTL parallels to what usually sparks communist revolutions or popular revolutions in general. So yeah, Tyreen could very easily justify herself in that she genuinely wants to bring peace to the universe, with all means necessary. Of course, internally, the Twins just want to be gods and play at being them and hold onto their power as absolute rulers presiding over an eternally-grateful populace.”

“definitely sounds like two teenage cult leaders to me ngl. i could see them not being too secure in themselves (behind the vvv confident personas they put on) and constantly second guessing themselves and reassuring that they're doing this for everyone's own good even as things just keep getting worse and worse. could [have] a tie-in to whatever tragic backstory they might have”

“Yep and yep. And there's this internal fear that they don't know what being a god entails, if they'll lose sense of who they are or not... but put that aside. All for the greater good! I'm actually thinking about this. People note that the Twins are basically streamer critiques, which is a yes. But if you want to take them to serious universe-spanning villain territory, I think that they'll absorb the knowledge from Elpis at one point. And they start to become more detached and more frightening, and a lot more eloquent as they really start becoming gods in the BL sense. While still being narcissistic attention whores who actually like killing people off with their powers but pretend to act benevolent. Essentially, you have the Greek Gods except there's two Zeuses, one is a girl and they've both got all of Zeus's worst traits cranked up to eleven.”

“oh god are they gonna dick everything that moves? oh no... cover ava's eyes! joking aside, that sounds accurate. especially given the borderlands universe loves to tie in its greek mythology. also also i am glad someone else agrees the twins are going to elpis. i refuse to believe they'd destroy it/blow it up before going there for the info. that shit is valuable! especially if you want to convince people you're gods?? accurately predicting the future is insanely good for doing that! plus all the other cool shit you can do by knowing exactly what's going to happen.”

“It also makes the Twins much more dangerous if they can see every outcome...unfortunately, Lilith is very good at playing 4D Chess by now.”

“lilith, putting on her sunglasses and cracking her knuckles: it's time to show them what a real military organization can do. ellie is her hype woman with the drink and a towel. also also lilith is probably kicking herself for not being fast enough this time to punch the vault symbol into tyreen's face.”

“Honestly, I'd love Lilith to turn out to be this really crafty, really charismatic guerrilla warfare commander. Like an Innie leader but they're hypercompetent, not a terrorist and also have Keyes's sheer talent for analyzing battles and tactics and adapting accordingly. Lilith sitting up in Sanc-III being BL!Keyes except a lady and specializing in ground warfare would be sick.”

“yes. fucking. please. gearbox please give lily all the character development, your girl deserves it. im glad because it does seem like she's getting there when you crash land on Promethea. and even the way she handles herself on the bridge is very smooth and confident.”

“tfw you can see the future and, yet, the lady you robbed of her siren powers is outsmarting you 24/7, 365 days a year despite you being able to see the future. also you're trying to fight fate and desperate to change reality so that you can't lose like the future said you would. joke's on you, you cannot fight it.”

“There is no changing it. bonus points if ty only saw the very end, so she is utterly clueless on how the middle bits play out. so lilith is kicking her ass across elpis and she's like ‘this is NOT how i saw this going’.”

“I'd seriously imagine that life in BL corporate society really is like life in Rapture or Columbia. The upper class profits immensely and reaps all the best goods, but they refuse to do the dirty work themselves so they rely on this huge workforce who they constantly cheat, lie and exploit. The few achieve huge power and stuff at the expense of the many. Looking at the Twins in the parallels of how revolutions go, they'll basically go from recruiting the bandits to recruiting the huge lower class of every planet.  Looking at records from all the planets, we've got people being screwed over again and again, corruption and other nasties. The Twins claim that they want all corporations to go, to bring some form of unified government back to the galaxy. And it works- their army size quadruples overnight and goes from there. By the time we get to Promethea, the COV are already recruiting everyone dissatisfied with corporate life. If they successfully seize control of Maliwan like I predict, they'll be a force to be reckoned with. The Twins will use the masses to achieve some sort of theocratic revolution, [they] claim that it's all for everyone's good. But in reality, they want to be absolute rulers of the universe, gods worshipped and feared by all.”

“Oh yeah, the twins are definitely feeding (maybe literally) off the huge numbers of dissatisfied people across the universe- the mega corporations are evil, no doubt there are millions of people waiting for something better. tbh, if gaige wasn't booted from the main game, I could see a whole side story of her having started a revolution somewhere, and then joining up with the Crimson Raiders once her entire party just up and joined the CoV. And [I would] 100% bet the twins started a campaign against DAHL and Atlas and suddenly nearly every bandit on pandora joined up with them. (also Athena was sitting in a chair clutching at the armrests and janey was like "don't you fuckin dare, hon" and athena is like "but... Atlas...")”

[We talk more about Gaige’s anarchist revolution and trying to topple the mega corporations in a less cult-y fashion here]

“... Bonus points 2: The COV fire up the memories of Jack to rally everyone into opposing Hyperion and suddenly Athena is like "OK I'm not going, mobilize the army." And Janey is like ‘Here we go...’.”

[we joke around a little bit more about Athena and Janey here]

“I can imagine Rhys's internal conflict, knowing that he has to make the galaxy a better place but at the same time, maintain his corporate power and control because without it, he's doomed. Then again, Rhys is no stranger to doing shady stuff. I think a lot of the Twins's evil will be in how they treat their followers.There's all the smooth-talking and promises of the future. And then when you actually get there, you're brainwashed into being another unthinking, 100% loyal attack dog for them. And you follow everything they ask you to do for 100%, even if they use you for power experiments or cannon fodder. And the game will remind us that these people weren't all bandits - over the course of the story, the COV includes people like former corporate execs, entire families, people who were just trying to get by day to day. And now we as Vault Hunters have to kill all these ordinary people to save the universe. Tough choices, eh?“

“Oh geez, you know that's a really fair point. i know borderlands likes to push the 'morally gray' aspect of things, but holy shit that's dark. (not saying i don't love it though, i totally do lol) You’re probably 100% right that rhys is struggling internally. especially after being so closely tied up with hyperion and even fiona and sasha, seeing exactly what hyperion did to people not just on helios but the people trying to live their daily lives and survive on pandora. im sure he has a similar reasoning to himself as the twins: im doing this for the better of the people. i can help so many more people with this money and power. somewhat similar to handsome jack, but hopefully lorelei (if she's not evil) helps ground him and keep him from jumping into the middle-to-deep end.”

“I'm still betting that Rhys will remain on the good side, if a teensy bit unscrupulous. I mean, the whole thing about the Twins is that they're social commentary of livestreamers and influencers and the incredibly toxic influence they can have. There are countless aspects of that to explore. If streamers can mobilize their entire loyal fanbases to bully the crap outta some poor chump or buy things or let their fans believe that they know the streamer 100% as a person and not a persona, the Twins can convince people to go to war.”

“Oooh yeah, it's not hard to imagine they probably don't even need the brainwashing for a majority of their cult, just the select few who are either on the fence or against it, but are [still] 'available'. irl streamers can be seriously fuckin scary, man, im not surprised this is the route gearbox is going for. now, it would be severely fucked up if there was a scene where tyreen demands someone kill themselves on the spot and they do without hesitation. if you watch the moze gameplay there seems to be a hint of something like that going on over the radio/TVs, she mentions something about their sacrifice or something, then you hear a dude screaming/gurgling.”

“Everyone's thinking that Tyreen will be this laughable, entertaining villain. But I'm constantly seeing hints and estimating that she is going to be far, far more scarier than we give her credit for. For one, Jack was a presence largely relegated to audio. We only physically saw him in BL2 twice. The Twins run a cult, which itself is frightening already. And it looks like we'll be seeing them in person very often.”

“Oh yes, tyreen is fucking terrifying. i mean even that she can steal siren powers is already a huge "whoa what the fuck" in my book. that one line at the end of the HBC where she's like "you're my most loyal follower vault thief, you just don't know it yet"? fucking scary, how her voice drops and gets all serious for a split second and then the hologram just cuts out. i was like "wh- wait hang on-???" i definitely think she is putting up a persona and as the game goes on we're slowly going to watch her lose it. troy will probably grow a bit distant from her as well if he doesn't lose it, too. definitely think ty is going to try and kill him once he's of no use to her, because he's just been a pain in her side because she had to keep him alive as the brains of the operation. but once the operation is done... whoops. sorry pal. don't need you anymore. they're the main villains, i can't see her holding the bonds of family in high regard at all. she could totally write off his death as like ‘he sacrificed himself for the Great Vault, now we pray to him every day and sacrifice ourselves in his name’ or smth”

“She puts up this fun-loving persona as a streamer, but she then decides the Vault Hunters get to see her true self. It is not pretty. It makes Jack look like a kitten-cuddling fluffball, that's how bad the real Tyreen is. It makes Piston and Vasquez sound like friendly guys you'd take out for lunch after work. It makes Hector's goals look very reasonable and sane. Also, perhaps she kills him and we never see how she did it, which ups the scare factor. It's like Troy disappeared and we have no idea how she killed him and how long it took for him to die. We just find a lot of irreconcilable proof that Troy is dead now and we don't know how. That is the amount of horror I'm estimating.”

“Oh man I love this. That's so horrible (in a good way), I can 100% see it happening. Jack swore revenge for us killing the person he 'loved'. Tyreen herself kills the person she 'loved' and we start to realize holy shit this is the real deal. She can't even pretend to care like Jack pretended to care (he didn't actually care about Angel as a person, but he did say things to try and make Angel think he did, just putting that out there cuz I don't wanna sound like I support him lol). There's just a complete contrast between her and Jack during the final levels of the game. Jack stops joking around "you feel that, child killer?", he's dead serious and ready to kill vs Tyreen laughing or just being off the rails bubbly for her 'streamer persona' while looking utterly unhinged”

so yeah, the convo teetered off after this a bit, but the general gist is that Tyreen is going to go absolutely off-the-wall by the end of the main story. this is somewhat supported by the Danny Homan interview that states the twins are going to have their relationship warp and twist.Tyreen is going to start going crazy with all the powers she absorbs and realize once the plan is over she won’t need Troy’s expertise anymore, and Troy is going to get sick of being relegated to the side when he’s the one with the master plan. We both have the deep feelings the twins aren’t going to stay as charismatic as they are in the little bit of promo material we’ve gotten of them. which i get, because in a lot of the official trailers, Troy looks pissed. Tyreen is always super smug no matter what shot she’s in, but Troy... he looks very angry in some shots we get. even when Ty is holding his forearm in that one shot, he rips his arm out of her grip. For example: “How many IRL streamer "friends" get into ridiculous drama and feuds with each other? Answer: a lot. Could be mirroring that with the twins. A lot of people are saying that the new villains will never match up to Jack. This is our take, and we're proud of it, and very confident in Gearbox's new writing team. ”

EDIT: some edits made by The Wild West Pyro

[chaniters]

PSYCHO

Continuing the Post-Retribution setting, this fic follows Sidestep through his day as the the-facto leader of the Rebellion, solving problems and attempting to carry out his master plan. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Good doctor, I know you haven't been completely honest with me" you speak as you continue to walk towards him. Confident. Intimidating. By now you don't need a mask to fall into your villain persona.

"Whatever do you mean Retribution?" he asks raising from his bench. His mind is a maze as usual. You're not sure what kind of chemicals is he using, but you haven't been able to read him so far. 

“These have all been temporary setbacks! The prototype will be ready in time" he adds

"Funny. I believe the prototype is ready right now, and you've been making up these delays because you're having second thoughts"

"That's not true" Mortum protests "I just need more time! You need to adjust the time-frame! You're asking for the impossible!"

"I thought impossible is what you do Mortum." You spit his own words back at him. "Perhaps you need a little incentive. Maybe we can bring Eden to one of our little chats".

"N... no" his voice trembles. "That.. won't be necessary"

"Good. Is there, or is there not something you can do to ready the device for a demonstration?" you ask.

"Maybe... maybe I can adjust some of the parameters to allow for early testing" he starts. Bingo. You knew something was up, but you went through the plans three times without finding any mistake. He’s too crafty for you to find the flaw with his work.  It took a threat to drive it out of him. Already he wants to betray you.

"Excellent."

"It won't be operative without incorporating the Hourglass technology!" he complains.

"I know that Doctor. Rest assured It will be acquired as planned," you say, heading for the door. "Just remember it was you who didn't want Eden involved" your let out before leaving, poison dripping from your words.

You can hear a loud noise. Even the preparations he made to cloud his mind from you can't cover the outburst. Your mind easily picks up on his rage, as he begins trashing the lab, flinging test tubes and destroying a computer. And then, he stops. And goes back to the test chamber, to start working again.

You can't help but feel some of his own frustration drip into yourself.

You have to keep going, removing each and every one of the obstacles ahead.  And all your plans fall apart if you don’t manage to master this technology. You hate doing this, but there is no choice. If Mortum fails to deliver, you will have to find someone who will.  

The new underground lair now resembles a small city. The abandoned bunker has been expanded with new tunnels and completely refurbished, and now holds most of your rebellion. It was originally created by a doomsday cult whose leader was exposed as a fraud all over the media almost a decade ago. The guy was not wrong, you ponder, but he had his dates mixed up.  

Your vehicle is ready, and a soldier regen drives you away through the tunnels, and towards the debriefing room. It's going to be another long day.

--------------------------------------------------

You rush through the corridor. Cestus follows you, reading the latest report as he keeps up the phase.

"Another skirmish in San Francisco. We lost seven soldiers" he goes on to describe the battle.

"Our Frisco team is low on manpower" he continues. "Their rangers again"

You sigh. "Order the lab to ... start growing a new battalion of them." He stops. You keep walking. He catches up.

"Cellex won't like this"

"Well, what Ceelex doesn't know, he can't complain about" you answer.

Soldier regenes. The farm has perfected a quick process to breed them in a matter of weeks. They are non-sentient and almost completely guided by their implants. You stole hundreds of them, still in their pods when you assaulted the farm. Everyone agreed to use them at the time.

But now your operations have gone nation-wide, even beyond the West Coast. And a few hundred soldiers is nothing compared to your enemies. The soldiers are highly effective, but Heroes keep killing them. They can sometimes be a bit predictable unless you have a sentient agent leading them.

So you ordered your labs to start growing new ones. Everyone was troubled by it, you didn't need to be a telepath to know. If you're growing regenes and sending them to fight, how are you different from the farm? But Soldiers are tools. They would never complain about this situation. It's what they're made for. You have the technology and none among the sentient regenes wants to die. Well, mostly none of course... In any case, having soldiers around makes it easier for the sentient regenes to survive the ongoing war. 

And of course, if you accomplish your plan, it will remove this moral ambiguity altogether. If only they were ready to understand it...

No one raised an issue in the end. No one but Cellex. And nobody liked it when you told him you would do it anyways.  Seeing how he was outvoted, he insisted on reviewing how many of them you use. He wants to put some sort of limit. And you can’t have that. Not if you want to succeed. You are becoming the villain among your people as well, perhaps sooner than you expected.

You stop by the reinforced door.

"Get it done Cestus" "Of course Cyrus," He says looking down You put a hand on his shoulder "Hey. It's ok. I know It's a lot I'm asking of you. But we need to use the tools we've been given if we want to win" you reassure him, adding a slight mental touch to get him on board with it. "O.. ok," he says looking up, some light returned to his gaze. "I know Cyrus.. it's just hard" "You can do it. I always trusted you Cestus" "It's not about trust... Say...  Are you going to see charge again?" he says looking away. The question reeks of envy in his mind. "I need to ask him some questions about the Frisco Rangers" you lie. "I don't want a repeat of today" "Alright," he nods. "See you back at your quarters," he says as he leaves.

You just want to scream in frustration. But you can't. You brought this on yourself. Cestus and you were secretly together back at the farm. And now that you're together again. You need his vote on the council you lead. It is as simple as that. You still feel... something for him, but it's certainly not love. And maybe it never was.  

But you smile and kiss him, and let him be with you because then he'll be completely loyal. And you are going to need loyal badly very soon. And then there's Ortega. Your prisoner. Your enemy. All you had to do was get rid of him. Maybe a prisoner exchange. What did you do? Keep him close. talk to him. Give him a (supervised) job in your base. And end up in bed with him while at it. That's you. Self-destructive to the core. His game is clear. First, he thinks he can convince you to go back into the good path, deluded idiot he is. Second, obviously wants to "Seduce the villain" to get you to make a mistake. The worst part? It's actually working. You've curved down the unnecessary deaths and try to keep civilian casualties down where you could thank to his insistence on the subject.

Some in your council questioned your decisions. You justified yourself saying you want there to be peace after your side has won the war.

Win the war... It's shocking just how easily they bought all your lies about the glorious victory of the rebellion. Casualties will come in the end. They are just irrelevant right now.

------------------------------------------------------------- You nod to the guards at the cell's entrance, and the open it for you...

"Well if it isn't my favorite Psycho?" Ortega speaks sarcastically as you enter the large cell. It's more like a small appartment now, with several amenities like a TV and insulated gaming consoles.

"Had a rough day" you begin "Yeah, I saw. You blew up a shopping mall in San Francisco with a nanite weapon" he accuses you.

"It was empty. Like the museum"

"It doesn't matter if it's empty! You're causing panic in the city!"

"Well, that's on them. If they would agree to my terms, none of this would be necessary. And I needed to show them HELIOS isn't my only weapon.

"So you're resorting to terrorism"

"Stop," you say "The only deaths were on our side anyways"

"You're sending your people to die then," he says glaring at you.

"Stop" you repeat, wrapping your arms around him. It's surprising how physical you've become now that every threat to your existence is gone. "I would electrocute you, If your scientist hadn't disconnected my emitters, you know," He says, not stopping you. 

"But you can't. And my scientist did disconnect your emitters"

"Well maybe i found a way to reactivate them, you know?"

"Zap me then. Fry me right here. Stop the leader of the revolution." You hold him tighter, inviting him to act on his threat. 

Nothing happens.

He frees himself from your arms. "You're the one who needs to stop. I'm not your bitch, you can't come here and..." "Maybe I AM your bitch after all Ricardo. That's what the media used to report all the time about your little sidekick, didn’t they? Sidestep was just that" You say with a cynical smile "Do you remember how they made fun of me? How they... " He gives you a murderous glare, and then spins you, holding an arm behind your back, painfully. He pushes you against a wall, pinning you down. "Oh...bossy. I like it" you say with a snort, your face against the wall. "Shut up!" he says adding pressure. You choke a gasp of pain. He might break your arm if you're not careful or call the guards. But you won't. You want to provoke him He let's go, walking away. Cooling down. That's not what you need. "What's the matter, Ricardo? I destroyed a fucking shopping mall. Big deal.  Doesn't the Hero in you want to give me a lesson?" You taunt. "I remember how mad you got when I crashed your car's window so all those years ago."

And then it all happens too fast. He lifts you... and flings you. You fall on the bed. He closes in, and climbs on top of you, holding your wrists down, a furious expression overtaking him.

And you kiss him. And he kisses you back, pinning you down. Taking your clothes off. Exposing the tattoos.

He's going to make it hurt. And you deserve it. Especially after what you did to Mortum today. That's why you provoked him in the first place. It won't matter in the end. Nothing will. You may as well have as many moments with him as you can before your plan comes to a conclusion.

Before you set things right.

Before you put an end to it all. You. Him. Everyone else.

.....................................................................

“What’s with the names?” he asks as he lays exhausted by your side. He always does this. String you from some more information. And you let him. Tease him for more next time. 

“What do you mean?”

“Cellex. Cybra. Cestus. Cyrus. I am noticing a theme?”

You smile. Of course, there’s a theme. 

“Infiltration regenes like me are called Cuckoos. At some point after my second capture, I started promoting this... rebellion. We decided to give ourselves names, not just serial bar codes. They’re the ones who helped me escape the second time”

“So the C stands for Cuckoo?” he asks

“It was Cellex’s idea. To be proud of what we are.”

“And are you?” He says looking at you.

“Of course not.” You say wondering how can he even ask that. “They made us to be slaves. They had us kill people. They owned our bodies. They did... terrible things to us Ricardo” you can’t stop thinking about Cybra. About how she can’t speak at all now. The sole idea makes your skin crawl with anger.

“I talked to Celise” he lets on. 

“Oh.” You ponder. Celise. She’s one of you, but she’s been content to stay on the back lines of your rebellion. Her power isn’t offensive or suited for combat. She is likely working the tunnels... just like Ortega. 

“She told me something of what happened... how they took you for experiments... for whole days. She tells me it was pretty bad every time they took you back to your cell.”

You can’t help nausea. “Pretty bad” doesn’t begin to describe it. 

“They were animals” you let go. “That’s why I killed every single one I could when we took the farm.”

“But why... why the focus on you?”

“I stopped the Nanosurge, Ricardo. And when no one could stop Heartbreak, I just walked in and shot him. They were impressed”

“Oh?”

“The Farm’s funding had been cut in half prior to Heartbreak. The whole program was always a risk if it filtered into the media. The government was focusing on mods instead. There were even talks about closing it. And then, they got me, and they shifted all their attention to my powers, and how could they create others like me to fight their wars. They stopped at nothing... they figured out my emotions had to do with my ability. What they did to me...It was beyond torture... it was hell.”

“Shit” Ortega says holding your hand. “Do you... want to talk about it?” he asks.

Fuck. For a moment, he had you. You had begun to forget where you were. THat he was your prisoner. 

You raise from the bed, dressing up, letting go of his hand. 

“Perhaps another time Ricardo” 

You leave the room.

--------------------------------------------

The guards lock the cell behind you. You got what you wanted from him. And he got answers, for whatever those are worth.

You walk to the elevator and enter. This one has a mirror.

The reflection glares at you with a murderous expression.

Is this who you are now? It strikes you how little is left from your old self, the naive youngster who thought he could have a life by just escaping the farm.

Deluded fool. It took you some time to realize your past self was the cause of it all.

"Cyrus" a voice in the intercom speaks. It's Cellex.

"What is it?" You ask in your most neutral tone.  Did Cestus tell him about the new regene soldiers you ordered? This might be a problem.

"We've found objective one" he speaks calmly. "The Hourglass Armor"

"Really?" you say containing your breath. "Where?"

"There is a freak calling us. Calls himself Psycopathor. He really wants to talk to you"

"Well fuck me," you say annoyed. "I'll be right there"

"I assume you're not on good terms?" Cellex asks sarcastically.

"I'm coming! Don't call him again until I'm there! You don't know that guy, he's a...

"...a psycho?" Cellex asks with a snort. You are just frozen, staring at your own reflection. The elevator doors take an eternity to open, and you leave without looking back.  

______________________________

My Fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero    

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[praphit]

Batman, Cults, and me in Red Latex

Getting back to my roots of writing here! No movie to speak of; just pure rambling!

I started writing way back in the MySpace days. I'd get insomnia, and so stay up and ramble about stuff while drinking rum - which in retrospect is prob a lil reckless:) I found that was the way to go for me - maybe that could be the way for some  of you as well, if you ever struggle with such a thing. 

Writing and rum, baby! 

And if you're under the legal drinking age, just tell your parents that the praphit says it's ok. 

And if the police somehow get involved, tell them... 

Nah, wait, don't mention me... say some random, rambling, black dude said it was ok. And if they ask "Was this "random black dude" the rambling praphit on Tumblr, tell them "Noooooo, he actaully said to... NEVER DRINK... EVER. And that you officers are doing an ok job out there."

Writing and rum!

It works!

Like I said, I don't have a movie this time around; I'm not even sure how I started writing about movies.

I guess I could have gone with "The Lion King"

Which btw can we talk about this scam Disney is running? - telling the same story in a live-action package. And with this one it's still animated; it's not like it's done like one of those "Planet Earth" type shows - THAT would be interesting. I remember watching a clip of a lion eating a zebra, while the zebra was STILL ALIVE! The zebra wasn't even fighting back or crying out anymore... it had totally given up, as if the lion was devouring the zebra's soul and will to live with each juicy, bloody bite. Hey, Elton John, sing a song to that. #circleoflife

What if they followed real wild animals around in Africa, and watched the true circle of life. You could have the actors/team improvise the script depending on what's happening, and due voice-over. I feel like with real animals,  the "Hakuna Matata" scene might go differently.

I'm not shaming anyone for going and enjoying these movies. I had a plan to see "Aladdin", but somehow ended up seeing "Child's Play" instead 

(funniest movie I've seen all year btw). 

I might still go see Aladdin. BUT, it's still a scam. Toss in a lil controversy every now and then with the casting to inflate numbers... that mouse knows what he's doing. It's a good scam! What's next? - telling the same stories, but using puppets... sock puppets; that would be a new low.

But, somehow I feel like we'd still flock to the theatres. We love that Mouse!

I don't blame him. Kinda makes me want to run some type of scam within in music (my industry). What would be the music equivalent of what Disney is doing? I don't think that there is one. Anytime you change a song a lil bit, it's totally changed. 

If I decided to do a cover set of Miley Cyrus songs, exactly the same way that she did them, it would still be totally different. Btw, if I ever do that, please stop me. It'd be clearly a cry for help. Imagine if I started mimicking every vid she ever did as well - same choreography and outfit. 

Don't imagine that.

I guess artists put out remastered stuff sometimes, but I feel like those never sell.

...

...

Sorry, I'm distracted... still thinking about redoing Miley's vids.

I DO have a wig that matches what she has going on there (you don’t need to know why:) , and red sunglasses.

And how about me rockin some red latex??! Yeah! 

Nah, I wouldn’t do it. Only cuz I think that the chafing would be too intense, OR maybe I’ll like the way it looks and feels too much, and decide that’s simply going to be my regular look from now on... making everyone around me uncomfortable... with my intense sexiness. Don’t imagine that either; it may be too sexy from some:)

Ugh... is the fact that I'm even joking about it a cry for help?

The industry for an artist is the real scam. The music industry always wins. The game is rigged. That's why I've been thinking that we musicians should all go on strike. Everyone in music would have to be in on it though. 

Imagine your life with no music:

- no playlists (though that would have to involve some serious hacking, but imagine road trips without them) - no music in movies or shows - no sexy music to get into "the mood" - y'all would have to sing to each other -  Though I guess Aladdin and Jasmine got down like that, so y'all might be ok. New mating ritual.

- no background music anywhere you go (festivals, restaurants, strip clubs:) - we won't even sell any instruments NOTHING! Gotta go extreme sometimes to make people listen.

Maybe we'll toss people a song every now and then out of mercy. But, we'd only allow annoying songs - "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls

"My Humps" by BEP :)

It would take true power to make that happen.

I had thought about ruling the world once. I had a plan to take over the world; it was actually in motion. Yep! It would have worked too, cuz no one would have seen it coming. You would no longer call me your rambling praphit, but OVERLORD!

Like I said, no one would have seen it coming. 

Thanos... and whoever tried to dominate in Justice League in that movie. What was his name? Idk, no one cares, he was terrible. Those guys went too big. You've gotta Keyser Soze it! Play chess, not... Idk, professional wrestling.

I stopped my plans because I figured that I'd just get bored. I get bored easily. Ask anyone I work with - there are times when I'll just leave and go to the movies, or the mall, or the bar, or... on some sort of quest:) Sometimes, I'll dump a project all together cuz I'm simply not feeling it anymore.

Now, DESTROYING the world, THAT seems like it'd keep my attention. Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt the people... unless they stood in my way.

I'd make sure to ship them off to... Saturn or something... can we live on Saturn? Hmm... maybe I'll need to get help with that part of my plan. So, maybe I WILL still take over the world. Once I'm bored ruling after like a week, I'll get my man Elon Musk to ship y'all off to a planet safely, and then the fun begins!

I imagine that there'll be some resistance, though Idk why. Let's be honest, this planet is doomed anyway. We can fight about how and why, but... c'mon we all know it'll eventually burn out. So, just let me have my fun! I'll make sure that there's plenty of big screens wherever Elon sends you to for my big show:)

But, if people want to fight their first and last Awesome Master Overlord on it (I think the "Awesome Master" in the front is better, don't you?), then we can go.

You won't stand a chance though. I'll have all of the best action stars fighting by my side. That's right MY SIDE. They're used to winning; what you think they're gonna fight with you? Psssh, I'll have all of the weapons and tech... plus I'm sure I'll be some type of cyborg, mutant... wizard as well.

But, I'll also have Keanu, Statham, Denzel, Liam, The Rock... I'm realizing that the action hero world is very male dominated. I'll fix that once I'm your Awesome Master Boombastic Overlord. Which woman can I put on my team?

How about Rihanna? 

Yeaaaaaah...

I know what you're thinking - that I could have found a more... suitable pic. Annnnnd you're right.

JUST LET ME HAVE THIS! I mean look at her... DAMN!

FINE!

Scratch that. Rihanna’s not really an action hero anyway, I guess... at least not that type of action. Ooooooh! Haaaaaaa!

No?

C’mon, that’s funny

Whatever. I’ll move on.

The strongest woman in many respects that I can think of off the top of my rum filled brain is Serena Williams. So, we'll say her,

Amanda Nunes ( who doesn't get enough credit for how awesome she is btw)

Megan Rapinoe? I don't know if she can fight or not, but she's tough. I feel like if I put the arsenal of Rambo at her feet, she could save the day all day!

Annnnnnd Alyssa Milano? Idk her stance on violence or guns (though I'm sure she'd have no problem letting me know:) So Idk about her fighting, but she's resourceful though... maybe use the power of sex strikes or something.

(She’s like “Keep on joking and see what happens.”)

Where was I??

I don't remember.

I did want to address those chants from a week ago though "Send Her Back!" I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while, but those chants brought it back fresh to me.

Don't worry, I won't be getting into the politics surrounding it. - I mean what's the point? We never listen to each other anyway. I just want to say this, I have a lot of experience when it comes to cults (I know this seems like it's irrelevant, but stay with me) -

I know cults (don't ask, why let me horrify you:)

But, there are a handful of things that are foundational in cults. I'll bring up two of them:

1) Having a leader (or leaders) who is more concerned with their vision than they are about their people. So, the individuals pain, loss, abandonment, etc means nothing in comparison to their plan.

2) Having people who are all in on a person, ideal, or cause, to the point that they no longer care about the details of what leaders say, do, or sometimes don't do.

Now, the people described above aren't always meaning to be malicious. For example #1 - I've known many pastors who are good people, pure hearted, I might even call them friends in some respects, but they're blinded by their own vision (or "God's vision for them"). They're not trying to hurt others, but they do.

And #2 - they're are certainly people of admirable zeal in a variety of areas (ex. patriotism). They might not be "bad people", they might even think their position is righteous, but when we start to ignore facts, harmful behaviors... when we make ANY person (all of us being imperfect) a symbol of our "righteous cause", we've lost our way.

It's scary (especially being a minority) to see a whole nation exhibit these tendecies. And this is me being gracious (prob due to the rum I keep drinking).

BUT, enough of that... there's something else that is heavy on my heart - BATMAN (our next one that is)

Cuz... I mean... really?

Robbie P?

That's a damn shame! Nobody else wanted to play Batman? We've got the pretty boy, emo, glittery, vamp? What has he done since then? What has he done that has ever been intimidating? Even as a vamp he was lame.

And the Winter Soldier wants to play the Riddler? I don’t think that’ll happen or if the Riddler will even be in the next Batman. But, let’s say that it did. Wouldn’t it feel like they got those two roles mixed up? 

I don't even think Robbie P is intimidating enough to play The Riddler honestly. Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) is kinda ripped right? 

He's gonna have to lose some of that muscle before he goes up against Robbie P. I can see right now - The Riddler planning out an elaborate puzzle/trap for Batman, then seeing that it's Robbie, and being like "what do I need theses riddles for?" and then beating the living snot out of Batman. It'll be a worse beating than Bane gave him. 

Filled with rage cuz he knows HE would make a much better Batman.

Now, to be fair, I was wrong about Ben Affleck. I actually liked Ben's take on the role. It made me long for a more old, grizzled, out-of-touch Batman - hear me out:

I'm thinking old Batman, but kinda hulked out. Is Stone Cold Steve Austin still around and kickin to play this Batman?

  Gimme a hell yeah!

But, this Batman I'm envisioning is stuck in the old wmindsets of misogyny and racism - stay with me, cuz this will be an awesome Batman... well, movie... and awesome Batman MOVIE:)

To balance Batman out and keep the angry Twitter mob away from him, he'll have a team of "wokeness". Batwoman will be played by AOC.

Robin will be played by Jimmy Kimmel (you know you want to see him in those tights).

And Alfred's last wish in his will (after being mauled to death by a pack of bunnies... in the first scene of this movie) was to have his brain put inside of the body of a black woman. And that black woman will be Beyonce (cuz this movie will need a kick ass soundtrack).

Think about THAT sitch!

Annnnnd Ben Carson will play himself - he'll be Batman's token black friend/informant.

Already, the best movie ever.

I could see a scene going down like (Bats and the Woke Gang are in a bar... cuz my Batman will be an alcoholic... this Bats has a lot of problems, but he'll be real and raw... YES!)

Batman (after having the waitress bring him two more shots of whiskey, slaps her on the butt and says "Thanks, Sweetness.")

WokeTeam: "Batman! You can't do OR say that!"

B: "What?! Why?!"

WT: "It's ...just awful."

B: "What? If I don't smack her on the butt, how will she know that she did a good job? I'm being helpful!"

WT: (lots of arguing)

B: "Ok, ok, I won't do that... or call her that I guess... how about lil lady? is that ok? or Sugar Plum?"

WT: "Her name is Lisa"

B: "I got it! BIG BOOTY"

WT: "What is wrong with you? - that's ridiculous! Look, we'll deal with that later. Let's hurry up and get to the crime scene. And on the way we want to talk to you about the confederate flag on the Batmobile...annnnnd the Kaepernick sticker that calls him a Son of a Bitch"

B: "Why? He hates America. And there's nothing wrong with that flag!"

WT: "Bu, Batman..."

B: "No, no, I know there isn't, let me call Ben."

Sooooo, there are scenes like that, BUT he's also out there kicking major ass! It'll be like "Matrix" action meets "Sin City" action. And we'll update the villains -

Bump N Grinder

Fyre Man

 and his side kick “The Sucker”

“The Comedian?” (that question mark is part of her name)

Keep the classics of course

Annnnd his arch nemesis Iggy Azalea 

- ruining Hiphop wherever she goes.

And in the end asses are BRUTALLY kicked, sure, but Batman also learns some important lessons... or... or simply blows his brains out. Cuz let's be honest, some of us would rather blow our brains out than try to change.

Hey, DC... call me.

My next movie will prob be "Once Upon a time in Hollywood" 

cuz of my main man Leo! - though idk about the premise. Now, if they were making "Fight Club 2" with this cast, then definitely! What if Leo and Margot Robbie (who’s also in this) are also in Edward Norton’s head; duking it out. YES! Imagine if Quentin Tarantino directed Fight Club with his typical bloody style; we’d all still be horrified). 

So maybe "Hobbs & Shaw" 

 - those two of course, but Idris Elba is in that too! I love him!

He would have been a great Batman! I bet he could have gotten that role if he had tried. He def could have gotten that James Bond role if he had tried. But, nope, instead he decided to do "Cats"

I'll leave y'all on that thought.

[teamwindsorroyals]

I am personally annoyed as hell with the people saying shes faking the pregnancy. I don’t care for Markle but she is pregnant no doubt. I do think she was padding early on though.

Another note, I don’t like some of the articles that have been put out against her as some have had racial undertones but others have been legit criticisms that Kate has also gotten and people still label that as racist which it isn’t. I even had one person accuse me of jealousy and racism when I said that Meghans spending was bad optics. Apparently saying something is “bad optics” means your jealous and racist. I understand royals want to look like “royalty” but there’s simply no reason to spend 500k on clothes in less than a year on clothes.

I think it’s sad to see her fans have this misconception about royalty and think royals have to spend thousands on top designer brands just to look ‘royal’ when that’s simply not the case. It’s like they think the royal family is the live version of all the disney films where they need to be in jewels all the time or something. It’s like they don’t realize that’s there’s good brands, good quality clothes that don’t cost thousands and you can still look like a royal. It’s not just the clothes, it’s also the way the royal carries themselves and takes care of themselves. Showing up to an engagement with a messy bun and ill-fitted clothes isn’t a good look. People think it’s “chic” but this is royalty not hollywood or high school. They also say that her spending is justified with the amount of engagements shes doing but that is also NOT justified. This is where Meghan needs to take a page out of Kate’s book and realize that there are certain events that do not require a 5k outfit. The other excuse is “building royal wardrobe” like really? No other royal has had the need to spend 500k in one year on clothes & they do more engagements than she does. 

My other note, I don’t think the marriage will last. I never thought it would last since the statement was put out. Harry always seemed like the type who would be the one to divorce atleast twice. Hes not stable like his brother & unfortunately never has been. I definitely see divorce rumors by next year. 

I don’t consider myself one of those crazy tinhatters but I didn’t need anyone to tell me this marriage was doomed from the beginning. They both rushed into things and had too many misconceptions about married life. There’s too many other red flags as well. It’s a shame. 

I’ve stood up for Meghan regarding some of the racial undertoned articles but in regards to the sexist & classist articles, her fans should be looking in the mirror with how they treat Kate & the Middletons before bitching about the “sexist & classist” articles against Meghan. The shit they’ve called Kate & the Middletons is disgusting especially when they turn around and bitch about a “sexist” article against Markle, like really? Kate has been bashed for over a decade, so Meghan fans need to grow the fuck up and realize that all royal wives get hammered by the press. 

Cont.

I’m not saying all crap articles against Meghan are warranted but her fans are absolutely atrocious. 

They’ve called Kate & Carole sluts, hags, crinkly bitches etc all over twitter and then five minutes later will tweet an article thats “sexist” against Meghan and will go into pure rage. Clearly these fans haven’t seen the crap Kate has been put through and those who say that they have, yet still complain on articles about Meghan, are the biggest liars. 

Her fans refuse to accept any ounce of negativity towards Meghan and that right there is toxic and the definition of a cult! It’s unhealthy.

Her fans think she’s been treated unfairly yet she got an engagement with the Queen right off the bat, a more expensive wedding than the future King/Queen that the RF paid for no less, christmas with the RF as a fiance as well as other engagements as a fiance that nobody else got, she got quite a few patronages from the Queen within 6 months of marrying. Shes gotten so much that others haven’t, her fans have no room to complain. She’s spending more than any other royal and her fans say shes being treated unfairly? PU-LEASE!!

ok I’ve done my rant for the day.

************

Hi, Anon, Thanks for your submission 😊 I’m just going to edit in my reply.

*********

OK, I resorted to going on my desktop as my phone was driving me crazy.  Probably better as I’m a fast typist.

I started my Tumblr five years ago. When Cressida and Prince Harry broke up, I chose to not rebrand my Tumblr.  I’m happy with the various themes I tend to share.  Of course if there is anything about Cressida that I want to share, I do.  I thought she was (and she is) a class act and her family are fascinating. They’re this fascinating, blended (as in half siblings) family who are related by marriage to the equally fascinating Bransons.

So five years ago and later, I did check Twitter more.  But TBH I prefer Tumblr as people curate interesting content here.  Some of it is recent and some of it is historical. And some of the Tumblr users in the Royal Fandom are extremely knowledgeable.  I’ve learnt a lot!  I also prefer the more visual format.

I do use Twitter just a touch and recently I had someone send a tweet my way with vitriol about CB?  Why? What is CB to this person?  I checked that person’s Twitter feed and it was a whole bunch of obsessive nonsense in support of one Royal and against everyone else. I think if you’re thinking about a celebrity or royal that much, you simply have too much time on your hands and you need a hobby.  I don’t even bother engaging with such people.  It’s an immediate call for blocking.

I was surprised the other day to read someone’s comment that they were too young to remember PW and the DofC’s wedding.  Wow!  That set me back a bit.  Lately, people have been sharing videos showing what the DofC went through with the hoardes of paparazzi while she was dating for the better part of a decade.  I think it’s important to know that about her. Chelsy also had these issues.  And for two years Cressida had to struggle with it as well and still experiences the after effects of her dating PH years.

I think that you can compare the Middletons and MM. Both sides are self made in their own way.  The Middletons are the British version of living the American Dream. MM made a meteoric leap from being a suitcase woman in a slinky dress to a supporting actress and aspirational lifestyle blogger/Instagrammer.  From there she parlayed her way into circles in little ol Toronto that included every person in town who knows PH.  Plus she was chummy with JT (Justin Trudeau).  She certainly knows how to work her social connections.  So if you don’t like the Middletons for their “rise” in society, then you can’t like MM, and vice versa.

I’m not sure why people choose to hurl such vitriol at the Middletons. And with such language.  And I’ve seen the B word put under MM’s photo too along with a lot of critique about her looks.  I always cringe when I hear the age 40 hurled at her as if it’s an insult. If these people are not someone’s cup of tea, fine.  Then focus on something else.

As for MM, it was PH’s choice to want to get married after a relatively short courting period that was mostly done at a distance.  I think that they should have waited longer. But they made the decision and now they need to make it work as they continue to get to know each other.

My rule of thumb is to never write anything about anyone  - including Royals - that you wouldn’t say to their face.

Also, I think if you are fan and you want your favourite Royal to survive in the BRF over the long run, you should encourage harmony and getting along.  On the side of the fandom and hopefully wishing for the same within the BRF.  You should celebrate the positive and not encourage division.

Of course there is room for constructive critique.  MM said she wasn’t really aware of the BRF before she got married. (TBH I don’t believe that.)  But many fans have been following the BRF for years and even decades.  Of course that is looking in from the outside.  But they’ve seen all the drama unfold and know that while it’s not easy to marry into a large and affluent family, it’s even harder to marry into something like the BRF.  As is the case with most large and wealthy families, individuals are in their own silos looking after their own concerns and interests.  You have to tread carefully so as not to threaten anybody or step on their toes. So if MM is making repeated missteps and outsiders can see them, it’s fair to call out the problems.

Leaking to the press?  Not a good idea.  Being seen to be more demanding of staff members or spending more money than others?  Also not a good idea. Of course these just might be spin jobs from other camps but we know how perception is 9/10s of reality as far as onlookers are concerned.  I think it’s better to put your head low and keep a simple profile.  They say a good leader will join a company and will spend six months walking the halls and getting to know the employees before making any major changes.

It’s also been my observation that whether you’re Prince Philip, Princess Diana, the Duchess of Cornwall or the Duchess of Cambridge, if you’ve married into the BRF you can’t take the spotlight away from your spouse.  That’s just how it works. If you choose to not heed this advice, you will encounter push back.

The fashion part is an interesting one. I don’t like this notion of “oh there’s an event tomorrow.  Let’s see what the young and senior female royal is wearing”. They aren’t clothes hangers.  Their first priority is to visit a charity or represent a charity.  Promoting a fashion brand (hopefully from the Commonwealth) is an extra perk.  Many of the senior BRF wear expensive clothes - both casual and fancy. The Duchess of Cornwall is very well dressed and is a leading example of looking fabulous in her 70s. Even the casual clothes they wear can be expensive. EG boy are the Le Chameau rainboots that the DofC wears expensive.  But then for the average person, most of those clothes are expensive.  Even a L350 dress would seem too much. And if the Royals had to wear dresses under L100 for example, like most of us do, they would have to choose from over priced and poorly constructed dresses made out of thin fabric. (Such is the reality of fast fashion these days.  The struggle is real when we hit the shops.  I prefer thrift stores, as a result.)

I don’t think they have to wear clothes from Britain and the Commonwealth all the time but, if you think about it, there’s a vast array of options from Britain and the Commonwealth.  There are some gorgeous clothes out there that could inject interest into Brand Britain and also designers from other countries.  MM has worn some Canadian brands and that’s great.  But it’s a good idea to switch it up and not look like she might be connected to Jessica Mulroney’s business interests.  That perception is out there strongly and that needs to be axed.  If JM is offering styling advice for free, you have to ask - what is the benefit for JM financially?

I’m a bit surprised by the amount of negative press circulating right now. Maybe that’s the reality of having so many more fast moving and soft news outlets like social media. I hope that it will get better after the Sussex baby is born.  Maybe having the Sussexes move off into a little cottage in the woods of Windsor is a good idea after all.

Thanks for your submission. I hope I expanded on the main topics you raised.

[velvet-tread]

Unfiltered 506 word fest because I can

I’m going to say this now before fandom burrows into my spinal column and puts me into an alkaline coma: that was p much everything I have ever wanted from an episode of the 100.

Literally every single fear I had about the show’s handling of various sensitive topics has been assauged. Whatever happens now…I mean there’s still time to fuck it up, I should never underestimate the show, but whatever happens now they’ve done the groundwork to do this right.

Let’s lance the boil first.

The Becho? Handled. That was wall-to-wall screaming of BELLAMY AND ECHO ARE IMPORTANT TO EACH OTHER.  

Physically, emotionally, everything. They committed. *weeps* The show actually committed to a storyline rather than dancing around the edges and chickening out at the last minute. This may hurt to think about but Becho is REAL and when it DIES like a SUPANOVA it will MEAN STUFF. And that is WHAT WE WANT. It’s what we SHOULD want if we want a story that makes us feel things not an Insta story with a pretty filter.

And mannnn… just allow me to gush for a moment.  506 gave us so many nods to Bellamy and Echo’s evolution over the course of the show. The show has not forgotten their history and I am so glad – it does nobody justice to erase the past. And it gives credence to the scale of Bellamy’s forgiveness and character development. It makes it REAL.

Octavia screaming all of Echo’s sins at Bellamy, and Bellamy just NOT having it and reminding her of her own sins? Gold. GOLD.

I can’t scream about how intensely I love Echo because tbh its late and we’d be here forever but anyone who puts a flash drive in an open wound is a mf badass. And can we just agree that all the theories about Becho being secret, Echo being “just a love interest” and Echo not having an established relationship with Spacekru all got jossed? We can? Great.

Bellamy refusing to leave her? Echo refusing to let him die for her? Romantic. See above about conflict having meaning.

“We found each other in a cage, we can find each other again.”… I stfg that is one of the most romantic lines we have ever had on this show, and I know I say this approximately 4 x each day but I’m not ready for the agony.

And just so we’re clear: that love scene was SEXY AF. HOT DAMN PEOPLE. Take a chill pill and enjoy this aesthetic with me you’ll thank me later.

Talking of aesthetics: the Blake sibs sword fighting. *happy crying* Perfectly choreographed, perfect dialogue. Bellamy verbally skewers Cooper with a cutting riposte, Octavia skewers Bellamy with a Gina reference, Bellamy retaliates with a leg swipe and a walk out. Season 5 is the season of economical dialogue that knocks me dead.

(Over the hiatus I told some friends  that if Gina got namedropped I’d do a thing that I’ve now forgotten so I’ll have to think of something appropriately commemorative.)

Bellamy SAYING HIS PIECE with Octavia. Finally. F I N A L L Y. I love Octavia, I love the Blake siblings and the prospect of them in conflict when Bellamy has enough self-love to actually challenge her is the kind of quality content that makes me tingle a lot I am here for.

Oh, and just fyi in case you hadn’t noticed. The show is giving us actual conversations, actual emotional beats. The Memori conversation did ACTUAL EMOTIONAL ANALYSIS EXCUSE ME WHILE I FREAK OUT. What is this show I don’t know her. It’s almost like they’re writing super smart scripts and people are putting it on television.

I hope Memori get to bang after they torture McCreary that seems appropriate. Perhaps they’ll make him listen to them dissecting their relationship piece by piece, with a test at the end and punishment by shock collar.

A genuine twist re Niylah and Gaia that I didn’t see coming and I am intrigued. I have long been passively meh about Niylah and actively meh about Gaia so this is an interesting development. I am ready to love batshit Gaia and get intensely creeped out by Wonkru cyborg Niylah *grabby hands*. Or the other way around. Just make me feel stuff.

Madi – god I cannot express how intensely I love Madi. Her awestruck “gross” when Clarke treats Octavia makes me want to paint her nails purple and teach her how to boulder. When I say Clarke Griffin is a babe, I don’t mean she’s hot (although she is) I mean she’s the coolest and I want to hang out with her. And Madi is a CLARKE GRIFFIN BABE-IN-TRAINING.

And she doesn’t always do as she’s told! I love her! She’s Octavia without the brat factor (i.e. Octavia without the life-long trauma).

You can tell that Jason has an actual daughter to model Madi on, because Madi is real af OK.  Not only does she have a mind of her own and a get-shit-done mentality (thank you for that Mama! Clarke), she also loves and respects Clarke and listens to her.  Clarke doesn’t parent with boundaries only…she’s a mentor. It’s so beautiful. The moment in the tent where Clarke is breaking the news about the Danger that comes with idolising a cult leader with red eye makeup? It brought actual mf tears to my eyes facts only.

And Clarke. CLARKE. My wonderful Clarke.  Can we talk about that slow-mo run? Bisexual bob bobbing, eyes focused, Bellamy gawping out of shot. I MEAN. I ship Clarke with that bob (and fucking hell it is so hard not to talk about the bob without capping up to Bob). Clarke x Bob = endgame.

I am so enjoying this Clarke, guys. This Clarke is suddenly terrified of everything. Fearless Clarke Griffin. She’s terrified of Octavia, of Dioyza, of Bellamy and the gap between them, of WHATEVER THE HELL IS GOING ON RN. She’s so full of love and terrified of losing it and terrified of what lies ahead. And she’s YEARNING for what she can’t have. It’s so relatable and I have never been more invested in Clarke than I am right now.

BELLARKE ACTION pt 1 fuck me they broke down an actual door and suddenly a hole opened up in my life that can only be filled by an X Files Bellarke au

And like? Tree Adam’s score went HELLA SCI FI when Cooper walks out of that room. Can she squeeze under doors? Is there a red light blinking in her eyes? Can I get a space opera?

BELLARKE ACTION pt 2 – Clarke’s teary eyes while watchin Becho kiss HOLY CHRIST SHOW we’re really doing this huh.

BELLARKE ACTION pt 3+?? They are so obviously?? On the same team?? Still?? The angst?? Is around the fact that they don’t connect the way they used to??  They don’t understand each other as much?? The distance of time and people?? But they can’t help being on the same team?? Forever??? They’ll always have each other’s back???

Final miscellaneous thought: does Kane know Echo is an Azgeda spy? I thiiiink you do, my friend and if you snitch on my problematic panda we’re going to have a problem you and I.

There’s probably more and I KNOW I KNOW I FORGOT ABOUT ELIGIUS AND DIOYZA SORRY you cannot expect to me to focus with this level of nudity on my show.

[cursedmouthgall]

Gall’s Kidnapping Part Two

Here’s the next part to Gall’s October event, staring Garrison Charles, Myle Macey @alabastercharlatan and Belle Vunderbar @a-page-of-sanctuary It’s a long story under the cut so be prepared and enjoy the show!

Tree

Garry stood on the outside of the alleyway panicking softly as he tries figure out what to do. "Fuck fuck fuck this can't be happening, there's no way she should have been able to find them, dear god this can't be happening" He mutters to himself as tears fill his eyes as he fruitlessly pulls out his phone and dials Gall's number one last time as back in the alleyway, a cracked phone lying on the ground began to ring showing a picture of Garry and Gall smiling on it

Silver

“Who? Who found him, Garry?”Belle’s voice wavered and her hands trembled as they clumsily tangled into her hair.

Tree

He takes a deepbreath and walks over to pick up the phone and stares down at the picture of them before sighing "His grandmother..." He says as he opens the phone and finds the messages left by Miss Macey as he raises an eyebrow in confusion "Uhh who's this Macey chick? She texted Gall a lot last night." He says showing her the messages

Silver

“I think she’s his girlfriend?”

Tree

For a brief moment a look of annoyance flashes on Garry's face "He never mentioned her before..." He says softly before he careful sends a text using Gall's phone [text] Hello?

Queen

The phone stayed quiet for a moment, and then the screen turned blue. Two seconds later, a white hand shot out of the screen, immediately grabbing Garry's shirt. Miss Macey's arm reached out of the phone as she used the screen like a portal, clawing her way out. "You stupid blue mother fucker, I'm going to kick your ass!!! We are SO OVER, YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?" she screeched as she pulled herself out of the phone and clawed at Garry's face.

Silver

Belle jumped and screamed,”JESUS FUCK!”

Tree

"FUCKING SHIT!" Garry screams as he narrowly dodges her claws dropping the phone in the process as he hastily scrambles away from the portal "W-WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!

Queen

Miss Macey finished crawling out of the phone portal and stood up; her face was smudged with runny mascara and eyeshadow and she had crazy, murderous eyes as she pulled a gun from between her breasts and immediately pointed at the two strangers. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY EX BOYFRIEND?" she snarled, starting to cry and shake again. "Who the hell are you two?"

Silver

Belle reached into her bag and pulled out a box of tissues,”I’m Belle.” She holds it out to Macey,”I’m a friend of Gall’s.”

Tree

"I-I'm Garry, also a friend of Gall and uhh we were going to ask you that question but after seeing this I think I know where he went" Garry says as he points up at the demonic symbol burnt into the wall behind him

Queen

Miss Macey squinted, and then looked up at the strange markings on the wall. Her ears pinned down as she lowered her gun and flicked the safety on, hugging her nightie closer to her chest. "What the hell is this shit?" she asked. The fur on her tail had begun to fluff out.

Silver

Belle looks over the markings and takes a breath,”If my extensive reading is correct, this is a high level Demonic Sigil. Possibly Fury Class but Gall and I haven’t found out what kind of demon he is and if this is his Grandmother we’re dealing with, then I don’t have a steady idea.”

Tree

"Well...I might have an idea about that." Garry says as he gets to his feet and dusts himself off "Truth be told Gall isn't an ordinary demon. He's the decedent of an ancient demon of Hell, one with a large following of obedient followers."

Queen

"I tried to suck his demonic powers into a Beholding Shard and it didn't work; so yeah, he's strong." Miss Macey sniffled as she took a few of Belle's tissue and wiped her nose. "Let's hunt down Grandma Cunt-Pants and bazooka her into next week. I took out a demon last week with a Subaru and a Tommy gun, so how hard could an old lady be?"

Tree

"Well...you know those obedient followers I mentioned? Well they're a group of ancient magic users who've been trying to revive the original Demon using guinea pigs from the family...guess who's the leader and guess who's the guinea pig?"

Silver

“If she’s as high ranking as Garry says, a shitty car isn’t gonna be enough. I could ask Hades and Hecate for help but I don’t know how much they can do to help us.”

Queen

"I could ask Satan." Miss Macey said bluntly, blowing her nose and then pulling a cigarette out of her boobs and lighting it with a small snap of her fingers. "He doesn't owe me any favors but he visits like, once a year."

Tree

Garry stares blankly at her in confusion "...You serious?" He says looking at her like she's crazy as he silently wonders what drew Gall to this crazy woman

Silver

“Uhhhh, I don’t feel comfortable dealing with....that.”

Queen 

"It's a long story but that bastard is the reason I'm even here to begin with. I think if I asked him to save my boyfriend in exchange for nine more lives of serving his will on this hellscape of a planet, he'd agree." she huffed, dragging on her cigarette until only half was left. "So let me get this straight, his Grandmother, a cult leader, kidnapped him to try and wake up the demon that's been piggy-backing on his physical body, and if we want Gall back we have to get to her first."

Tree

"Well it's actually more like...he is the demon, she's been experimenting on him since he was a kid to turn him into the demonic creature, but we managed to stop it for a brief period by escaping and using magic to erase every trace of her from Gall's memory severing any ties he had to her so she couldn't find him. I don't know how she found him now or where she could have taken him..." He mutters with a worried sigh

Silver

Belle froze,”The picture....” her heart sunk,”This is my fault.....” she teared up,”I was hanging out at his place, looking at pictures and I pointed out a weird picture of him. He got migraines but we forgot about it while we were researching Demonic entities at my place.....She found him because of me!” She started crying.

Queen

Miss Macey groaned and spat out her cigarette, flicking the safety off of her gun and aiming it straight at Belle's head. "Gimme one, just one good reason why I shouldn't blow that stupid horn off your face, since this is your fault." she said tiredly. "He's probably dead, I'm sure he could use a friend where he went."

Tree

"What?! N-No that couldn't do that how could just looking at a photo-" He says looking confused as he reluctantly starts trying to console her before immediately steps in front of Belle and Miss Macey's gun "OK LET'S JUST CALM DOWN FOR A MINUTE! That was probably the most powerful memory spell around as far as I know, just looking at a photo shouldn't have brought back his memories and if something showed up in the picture it means the spell was already fading, there was supposed to be no trace of her.""Besides Gall definitely wouldn't want his girlfriend killing one of his friends"

Queen

"Gall's not here." Miss Macey said, cocking the hammer back.

Silver

She grabs the gun and presses it against her forehead,”You decide.....Me and my little brother are all that’s left. My parents and little sister were murdered. I saw them turned into meat confetti. I had to bury them. I had to fight for my brother’s custody to keep him away from my hellish uncle....but I’ve wanted to be dead for 3 years. If you want to shoot me, go ahead. You’ll be doing me a favor.” Belle says seriously, her mismatched eyes unbreaking from Macey’s eyes.

Queen

Miss Macey was abit taken aback; she was used to people begging for their lives to be kept, not ended.

Tree

The seven foot monster lets out an angry growl before grabbing the barrel of the gun and clenching it tightly as loud crunch could be heard as the barrel gets crushed"Nobody's shooting anybody. We're finding my brother, we're murdering that evil bitch who's taken him and then we're getting the both of you some therapy. GOT IT?!" He snarls angrily at the both of them as he glares at them before taking a breath "Ok...we just need to find some way to track him. There's blood all over, some of it might be his so either of you know anything that could track him?" He says trying to stop the two women from killing each other by focusing their minds on something else

Queen

Miss Macey glared at Gary when he destroyed her gun, and she tossed the useless weapon aside. "I can hunt down men dead or alive when they owe me something and Gall owe's me an apology and sex. And you owe me a new gun." she said, pointing at Gary as she headed over to the blood stains and squatted down to observe them. "What's all that shit about you being his brother? Ya'll couldn't be more opposite, with the fur and the colors... and who the fuck are you s'posed tah be?" she asked, glancing back at Belle.

Silver

“Brother’s aren’t always blood.”

Tree

"And this is one of those cases. Long story short, I've been Gall's friend since childhood, his parents basically raised me so I consider him my brother." He says glaring down at her

Silver

She reached into her purse,”As for me, Gall’s said he thinks of me as a sister.” She pulls out a notebook and a pen.

Tree

He grins at her and gives her a small hug "Then makes us siblings too then!"

Queen

"Ya'll are gonna make me vomit with that sister-mister shit." she said, making a tiny portal and reaching through it. She pulled out a small baggie with glass shards and took one, scraping at the bloodied ground with it and then  staring through it. "I'm willing to bet five bucks that when I scry with this it's either blocked, or murky." she said aloud, walking back to Gary and Belle. "Or, he's in a coffin six feet under and it's all dark."

Tree

"Then you can just dig him up and bring him back with your voodoo or whatever this crap is." He says with a frown

Silver

Belle draws a symbol and scratches off some dried blood onto the paper. She sets it on the ground and pulls out a lighter,”I’m gonna ask Hecate for guidance. She has ties to the Underworld.”(This symbol to be exact)

Queen

"I don't bring people back from the dead, I just raise undead smart ass. It ain't the same." Miss Macey huffed, watching Belle for a moment. "Eh, you're a witch too?"

Tree

Garry leans back against one of the walls luckily not the one with any weird markings on it as he silently watches them work

Silver

“Yep.” She says,”Baby witch though. I’ve only been practicing since February. Hecate says I’m one of her more powerful followers.” She lights the paper and a steady plume of smoke raises. An elderly woman’s voice could be heard from the smoke,”Hello, my little shapeshifter. I sense your distress.” “My goddess, I need your guidance.” She says seriously.

Queen

"Pfft, more powerful my arse..." Miss Macey muttered under her breath. A hint of jealousy sprinkled her tone like parsley on steak.

Silver

(Sure)Belle looked to the fire,”Hecate, my goddess, my friend is in danger. I need to know how to save him. I can’t lose any more family.” The voice paused for a moment,”Normally, I would make a joke about you being uptight. But this is a dire situation.” Through the smoke came a dark blue staff with flecks of gold. At the top of it, it looked like a sign pointing in three different directions. “Take this, shapeshifter. With this, old memories will be new, and ancient instinct will be second nature.” Hecate spoke gently,”Trust your power. That goes for your friends who are listening here.”

Tree

Garry stares at tge goddess in shock as he seems at a loss for words

Queen

"That made as much sense as a homeless man under house arrest." Miss Macey said. She had lost all ability to speak with respect to others. "What does that mean, what do we do with a stick? Is it like a compass, is it gonna show the way?"

Silver

“Maybe if you paid attention, you would understand.” Hecate said bluntly.(That actually made me laugh)

Tree

Garry stifles back a laugh "W-Who knew the gods were sassy" He mutters under his breath

Queen

"All of them have their great golden halos so far up their butt, the colonoscopies are blinding." Miss Macey muttered. "Whatever, thanks for the staff- Let's go kids. I need to change into my hunting boots."

Silver

The old woman laughed,”My my, Macey, you certainly don’t sugarcoat anything.” A red drawstring bag came out of the smoke,”You two will be needing your own tools.” After that, a shimmering shield came out,”Miss Macey here gets my bag of magic tricks. The object you need will come when you need it, as for you, Garrison, I pulled some strings and borrowed the Shield of Ares. Hellfire shouldn’t be an issue as long as you’re behind this.”

Tree

"Thank you ma'am I really appreciate it." He says gratefully as he bows politely to the goddess

Queen

"What if I need a gram of cocaine and some beer, will it gimme that- Actually I'm going to shut up. Would hate to get cursed." Miss Macey said quickly as she observed the bag.

Tree

"A gram of co- Jesus Christ Gally what do you see in this woman?!" He mutters to himself in utter confusion

Silver

“Good luck, Children. You have a difficult task at hand.” Hecate says in a truly serious tone. “I thank thee, my goddess. My beseechment has ended. Good night and blessed be.” Belle says, waving her hand in a certain motion and the smoke dissipates. She takes the staff and inspects it. She didn’t seem to recognize the type of gemstone it was made from, she could feel an odd buzzing sensation as she held it,”Oof, this is really something.”

Tree

Garry meanwhile picks up the shield and checks it out "Hmm not bad, plus she said it could block hellfire, I don't know if Gall's flames are that powerful but just in case..."

Silver

“She knows what she’s doing.” Belle says, the only thing she’s seemed confident about.

Queen

"So then. What now?" Miss Macey asked, still holding her scrying glass.

Tree

"Well didn't she say that staff could help us find Gall? So uhh go ahead Belle, turn it on or something."

Silver

She paces for a minute,”I don’t know how.”

Queen

Miss Macey glared at Belle and reached for the staff impatiently. "Here, give me that! Jesus.." she spat angrily. "You might lose that too so just had it over."

Silver

Belle felt her chest ache with guilt.

Tree

Garry growls angrily at her and smacks her hand away "Knock it off bitch! You aren't helping by acting so high and mighty so shut up or actually come up with a plan"

Silver

Belle looked at the staff and inspected it. She lifted her glasses to look at the three way sign on top,”Crossroads. We need to go to the crossroads. Specially, the three way of Hirsch Street, Craven Road, and King Avenue.”

Queen

"I can borrow a hell hound to help us track his scent. I've got a Chevy Crusade we can take, and snacks. And weed." Miss Macey said, raising her head and glaring at Garry. "You. Touch me again and I will shoot you in the arm."

Silver

“I don’t smoke....also, your gun’s kinda been turned into play dough.” Belle said with an awkward shuffle.

Tree

He glares angrily at her "When we find him and If I find out you're even a fraction of how you are right now with him you better hope you can shoot fast enough to stop me." He growls at her

Silver

Belle’s ears begin to twitch,”What’s that noise?” Neither of them could hear anything other than wind.She started to walk away.

Tree

"Belle?" Garry says looking confused as he follows behind her

Silver

“This way!” She said, seemingly drawn to something.

Queen

Miss Macey followed along, making a small portal to pull out s fresh pack of cigarettes as she went, and a jacket to slide on. "Your ears are twitching- whatcha hearing?"

Silver

“It sounds like.....drums? But hollower. Thunder almost. But not quite. Steady like a heartbeat, but angrier.” She says, stopping at a crosswalk. The light changes and she keeps going.

Tree

Garry rushes after her mostly to make sure she doesn't get hit by a car as a thought enters his mind "Could it be...Gall's heart beat?"

Queen

"How come she ca hear it and I can't?" Miss Macey yawned as she lit her smoke and followed along. Someone looked sideways at her and she glared back, making the womans pants drop as she walked past. "Bitch... Anyway, where is it coming from, and do I need more guns?"

Silver

She just keeps going, until she reaches the three way. She looks towards the abandoned house that rested in the corner of the three roads. It was drastically out of place between the larger buildings the city offered. “A liminal space. If there’s a portal to hell, it’s there.” She pointed before looking at Macey,”If you need a gun, it’ll be in the bag. Hecate is the Goddess of Magic, she knows what she’s doing.”

Queen

"I have guns at home, I don't need no magic bag; I'll save it for an emergency." Miss Macey huffed. "Now before we go barging in there, might I suggest that we all go somewhere quiet and sit and actually think out a plan of what to do when we find Gall?"

Tree

"She could have a trap waiting for anyone who finds her, so maybe we should try and sneak inside? I don't know if they'll be more people in there with her, when we were kids from what I could overhear, the cult was falling apart and she was one of only a few loyal members still left but that was over a decade ago who knows what power she could have..."

Silver

Belle was thinking hard, she reached into her purse and pulled out a book with images of different demons. “I don’t know why, but I think if one of us could disguise ourselves as another demon that’s part of this cult. All three of us should be able to enter and get an idea of the layout. Hopefully, we can reach Gall before anything drastic happens and we won’t have to hurt him.”

Tree

"Hmm that could maybe work, but who should do it?"

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 10:48 PM

Miss Macey stayed very quiet, and then slowly raised her hand. "It uh... won't be so much of a disguise as my true image, but it might be passable." she coughed.

SilverSongLast Saturday at 10:48 PM

“True image? Are you wearing a Glamour?”

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 10:49 PM

"I've got a Glamour, and like..." she paused and counted on her fingers. "Like, at least 3 hexes on me at all times babe, it's kinda how I uphold this luxurious, Goddess-like beauty~ But yeah."

SilverSongLast Saturday at 10:52 PM

“Oh, Arcadia does, too.” She said with a shrug before stopping on a page,”If you’re not comfortable doing it, I can alter myself enough to look like this.” She turned the book to show a tall looking demon built for strength. It was black and blue with feathery fur,”Thunderghast. A storm demon.”

TreeLast Saturday at 10:56 PM

"Hmm well that could work, what about me? She might recognize me if I go in."

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 10:57 PM

The white cat groaned and rubbed her face as she smoked. "Can we please go back to my place and think of an actual plan." she growled. "I'm not standing out in public in my pajamas with you two any longer if I don't have to."

SilverSongLast Saturday at 10:58 PM

“Uhhh, ok.”“Which way is your place?”

TreeLast Saturday at 11:03 PM

"Wait those are your pajamas?" He says looking confused "Also if it helps my shop isn't too far from here, Gall's apartment is right next door so we could probably hang out there I've got a spare key after all"

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:04 PM

She glared at them both, still looking like garbage, and opened a home portal right in the street; a dark room was on the other side, and a fish tank burbled in the background. "Get in. I promise on the Oath of Ghosts, you won't get shot by my guys. Also I have a Keurig and snacks. C'mon."

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:05 PM

Belle awkwardly steps in.

TreeLast Saturday at 11:07 PM

Garry reluctantly follows after her with a shrug

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:10 PM

Belle rolls the staff in her hand. Unsure of what to do.

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:11 PM

As soon as Miss Macey stepped through after them, the portal snapped shut, and she clapped twice to turn her lights on. The room was more like a large office with scattered bins of paperwork, order forms, a few packages, and a huge fish tank with what looked like a giant, blood-red eel that had a skull for a head as it swam around. It opened it's maw wide in greeting when it saw Miss Macey and she waved at it, immediately heading for the wall cabinets and digging around. She didn't seem to care about her guests as she started to pull on a change of clothes. "So, we know where Gall is near. Thanks to... Becky? Whatever." she grunted, pulling on all kinds of leather and black clothes. "What we don't know is who we're fighting, how powerful they are, and how many. So we should assume the worst and go in guns blazing, literally and figuratively. Ya'll two fight at all?"

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:13 PM

Belle suddenly looked very uncomfortable,”I have super strength.....dangerous strength, even.....I hoped I’d never have to use it against anybody.”

TreeLast Saturday at 11:16 PM

"I mean I don't know about super but Gall always acts like I'm a hero or something whenever I have to lift up my car when something rolls underneath it." He says with a shrug "I mean my car's not even that heavy I've been able to lift it with one hand for years now, but I can handle myself in a fight."

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:18 PM

"Okay, so super chick will be helpful, and the hairball might be helpful. Either of you two know how to kill demons and angels and supernatural beings of the like?" she asked, tying her boots and then sitting at her desk. Without a care in the word, she took out a prepackaged needle of.... something, and stabbed it directly into her stomach, sitting back to finish her cigarette and check her phone. "I'm willing to bet money there are dozens of protective seals, locks, hexes, and Illusions in that place. I can probably break most of them with my magic, but if not, I hope your fancy God-Stick can." she said to Belle.

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:20 PM

Belle huffs,”It has to do something. Hecate said it’s a key.”

TreeLast Saturday at 11:20 PM

"Only demon I ever fought with was Gall and that was usually just to get the remote but I mean it's usually just get something holy and hit them with it right?"

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:21 PM

Belle takes off her selenite bracelet and holds it out to Macey,”You might need this.”

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:22 PM

Miss Macey's jaw twitched in a snarl, and she pulled the empty needle out and threw it; it stuck in the wall right behind Gary, with a small tuft of his reddish fur caught in the needle. Luckily it hadn't hit him, but her aim was impeccable. "It's not as easy as that, hairball. I'll get you a gun." she scoffed, leaning forward to take the bracelete from Belle. "Wassit?" she asked, pupils narrowing to the size of periods as the drugs woke her up.

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:24 PM

“Selenite. It should protect you, since it’s a holy stone. I’m pretty sure Gall would want his girlfriend safe and I’ve got a feeling.”

TreeLast Saturday at 11:25 PM

Garry didn't even flinch but inside his head he silently thinks to himself "Gallius Hinikuni you are so lucky right now or both me and your mother would have a few words to say to you about this crazy bitch you're dating" He thinks before calmly prying the needle out of the wall and tossing it into the trash(edited)

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:28 PM

"I'm surprised he hasn't told you that his girlfriend can protect herself." Miss Macey scoffed, shoving the bracelet back and then leaning down in her chair; she hauled up a big black lock box, and popped it open, starting to pull out small handguns and loading them, checking the safety. "So, we go back. I've got lives to spare for my little Blue berry, so I'll take off my Glamour, my Common face hexes, and I'll go in to see if I can't cause a distraction, or find us all a way in. I have ear peices around this place somewhere, but... I'm not sure where."

TreeLast Saturday at 11:30 PM

"Then me and Belle will sneak around the back and search for Gall, once we find him. We'll alert you Macey and then start knocking out anyone who stands between us and the exit. We grab our blueberry in distress, snap his grandmother's neck somewhere along the way, then we all go out for drinks so I can interrogate him about you two"

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:31 PM

“I’m not particularly stealthy, but I’ll do my best.”

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:32 PM

"His ass had better be alive when we get to him, or he's dead meat, and so are you two." Miss Macey growled. She grabbed a small harness to strap two guns beneath her jacket, another to her thigh, and she added a small explosive to her waist as well. "We ready to go? Ya'll need any juice, coffee, Adderall?"

TreeLast Saturday at 11:33 PM

"Got any shotguns?"

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:35 PM

“No. I’m good. I’ve got everything I need in my purse.”“Plus, I don’t like guns.”

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:36 PM

"Tough tits, sugar." Miss Macey headed over to the tank and reached into the cupboard beneath it, grabbing a box of shells and a double-barrel with the end sawed off. She flicked the safety on and tossed it to Gary. "Here. Don't blow your hands off, and aim low because the recoil is a bitch."

TreeLast Saturday at 11:37 PM

"On it." He says with a nod as he tests out the sights on the shotgun as he grins eagerly "Let's kick some ass." He says with a smirk

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:40 PM

Belle only pulls out the handle for a large sword and pockets it. The handle had no blade and no apparent mechanism to pop one out.

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:41 PM

"This is gonna suck ass. One sec." She hurried back to her cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, downing a few gulps and then walking back to her boyfriends friends to open a portal back up on the street, just a block away from the strange buildings. "Do me a favor, don't get killed? I might feel responsible."

TreeLast Saturday at 11:42 PM

"Same goes for you. Gall still won't let me live down killing his goldfish when we were 12, something tells me, he wouldn't let me live down killing his first girlfriend." He says with a nod

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:43 PM

“Mage, Bard, and Warrior. Looks like a great party.” Belle says in a weak attempt at humor.

TreeLast Saturday at 11:45 PM

"Does that make Gall the princess in need of rescue?"

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:47 PM

Macey barely cracked a smile; it was kinda hard not to, but she kept her stone-faced expression and began to shed her Glamour. Her clothes moved with her body, keeping all but the one gun on her thigh concealed. She grew a few feet, and jagged, broken horns began to curl out of her head, stopping a few inches out from her hairline. Her jacket had two hidden slits, and two scarred, ugly feathered stubs jutted out. Her features smoothed out, and her muzzle stretched out a bit, giving her a very ancient, ethereal look. When she finished, she popped her neck and glanced down at Gary and Belle. "Yes. He is a princess. Are you guys ready?"

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:48 PM

“Y-Yeah.” Belle stammered, a hint of blush on her face.

TreeLast Saturday at 11:49 PM

"Ready let's do this." He says patting Belle on the back before stepping through the portal as he rests his shotgun on his shoulder

SilverSongLast Saturday at 11:50 PM

Belle steps through and hears the sound again. This time, it’s more defined.She can almost hear words.

Queen MotherLast Saturday at 11:53 PM

Miss Macey had to duck through her portal this time, and she grabbed Belle's shoulder to steady herself. Her paws had been taken over by sharp white spikes that didn't quite touch the ground. "Where's my entrance at, sis." She muttered, squinting at the buildings.

TreeLast Saturday at 11:55 PM

The front of the building looked abandoned as the front door had been boarded up long ago along with most of the windows, however off to the side a wine cellar door could be seen with a new looking lock on it as Garry silently points at it "Over there, I'm gonna walk around and see if any of the windows are uncovered." He whispers to them before walking over

SilverSongYesterday at 12:01 AM

Belle walks over to the cellar doors,”This is just a steel lock and this is the way down.” She squats down and puts a hand on it, humming ‘Hellfire’, her watery magic covered the lock before it melted into slag. “No noise, no fuss.”

TreeYesterday at 12:07 AM

After a couple of minutes Garry comes back "No luck with the windows but I was able to peek inside a few times, I think the house isn't being used it must just be the cellar"

SilverSongYesterday at 12:08 AM

Belle stands up,”You’d be right. I still hear the noise and it’s coming from down there.” She points to the door, the lock now melted off.

Queen MotherYesterday at 12:14 AM

"I'll go first; y'all wait here for me and I'll come get you if the coast is clear." Miss Macey said. She didn't quite speak, rather thought directly to their minds. Her large form crouched by the door, and then she slid through it like a ghost. On the other side, she sensed for traps or magical seals, anything hinting at danger to the mortals.

TreeYesterday at 8:54 PM

Garry nods as Macey goes downstairs, she finds herself in a long corridor with various doors on either side of her. So far there were no traps but she definitely detected something very powerful down at the end of the hall

SilverSongYesterday at 9:02 PM

“I hope everything’s ok.” Belle said, twisting her braid into a bun and tying it with a hair bow.

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:03 PM

Miss Macey crept closer to the first door and carefully pressed her head through it to see if Gall was right there- that'd be too easy, but it never hurt to hope.

TreeYesterday at 9:06 PM

The room was empty but looked like it used to a bedroom for someone, inside was a simple metal cot and a desk both covered in years of dust. A dark black and red robe hung weakly from a hook, almost devoured by moths. - Garry sighs softly and nods "Yeah...she hasn't had him too long, I'm sure he's probably fine..." He says trying to lighten the mood with a smile but his tone showed how worried he was

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:08 PM

"So far so good." Miss Macey spoke to both Garry and Belle's thoughts as she pressed on, checking each door to see if it was a way down, until she was at the end of the corridor, and trying to use her Spiritual sight to sense any living aura's other than her two friends.

TreeYesterday at 9:13 PM

Each room was more copies of the first room, empty dorms with old faded robes seemingly abandoned for years, except for the second to last one. The room was much larger than the rest and looked very tidy and lived in. Covering the walls were various ancient texts speaking of demons, a few times the symbol on the wall could be seen and finally on the desk stood a lone crystal ball and a family portrait Belle and Garry might recognize. Finally the last room held was a large metal door looked like it was built to contain a beast inside she could sense a faint but familiar aura inside along with one more aura that seemed a lot similar to Gall's but different, both auras were projecting incredible magic power but Gall's aura seemed...odd it seemed like his power was not a part of his aura but trying to swallow it

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:19 PM

Miss Macey pressed against the metal door cautiously, but the aura inside made her uneasy. Even she knew better than to face off with a demon with that much power. And with her wings, and her halo, she was only as strong as it would be, if not weaker. "He's here.... I think. But something is wrong." she called to her two companions as she floated back to the door and opened it from the inside. It took some fiddling with the lock with her larger hands, but she finally broke it off and swung it open for Belle and Garry

SilverSongYesterday at 9:20 PM

“What’s wrong?” Belle asked anxiously.

TreeYesterday at 9:21 PM

"Is he okay?" Garry asks also looking anxious

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:26 PM

"How am I supposed to know? You two stay three paces behind me while I go look." she growled, heading back down the long corridor to the steel door. Very slowly, she pressed her face through the door, just to peek.

TreeYesterday at 9:26 PM

The room was a large dark room, there didn't seem to be anything inside except for a certain someone with his arms and legs chained to the roof and floor...

TreeYesterday at 9:30 PM

Gall stared blankly at the floor blood slowly pouring from his eye, a strange robotic look on his face as the symbol on the floor pulsed with a demonic red light. A voice from the shadows calls out to the group "Well don't be shy dearies, come on in. I've been so eager to meet some of Gall's friends~" A sweet but cold voice says as a figure steps out of the shadows in front of Gall...

An older looking woman dressed in the dark red robes with a sweet grandmotherly smile on her face smiled at the door as she waits patiently for the trio to step inside

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:32 PM

Miss Macey growled deep in her chest, and the air around her vibrated as she pressed through the door, forgetting to open it for her friends. Her entire form loomed over the sweet old lady beneath her, and her bloody wing stubs were starting to bleed again as she huffed and snarled. "I'm going to dissapoint Gall here in a few minutes." she snarled.

SilverSongYesterday at 9:33 PM

Belle feels a shudder in her chest,”Garry we gotta go in there, NOW! MAGNUS RUSHES IN!” She shouts as she barrels down the steps into the cellar.

TreeYesterday at 9:35 PM

Millicent chuckles as Garry slams his shoulder hard into the door sending it open with a loud crash only to stop in horror when he sees Gall "N-No...Gally..." He mutters as Millicent turns to him "Oh my little Garry is that you? Why it's been so long you've grown so big and strong...it's a pity it wasn't strong enough to save him, isn't that right deary?" She says as she turns to Gall who replies obediently "...Yes Grandma..." and then goes silent again

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:37 PM

Miss Macey glared down at the old monster and felt herself coming unhinged, raging, raging, fucking raging on the inside. Her eyes flashed violet as she tried to read Gall's Aura, to see what was going on, to see if he was even in there. Her entire form was emitting a faint light, and a large crack had begun to form on her chest. "Good thing there's three of us..."

SilverSongYesterday at 9:38 PM

Belle runs in, staff clutched in hand and gasps seeing Gall in this state,”Oh Brother, my Brother, Gall!”She glared at the woman,”Nice to meet you, let me introduce you to my god damn hoof.”

TreeYesterday at 9:45 PM

"You would really do that to your own brother's grandmother?" She says in a mocking tone as she smirks before calmly walking over to Gall "As much as I would love to get to know Gall's sister and his girlfriend...I'm afraid I'll have to let him do the talking, isn't that right deary ?" She says raising her hand as suddenly the symbol glows brightly and Gall roars out loudly in pain as a loud sickening crunch is heard as another wing bursts out of Gall's back and the chains holding him down snap as his teeth grow long and fang like and his eye turns dark and demonic. Miss Macey could see Gall's aura swallowed up by the power surrounding him as he shakily gets to his feet, growling and snarling like a savage beast. Millicent smirks and points at them "Deary, please take care of them for your old grandmother won't you~?" She says in a kind voice with an evil smirk on her face as Gall only growls in response and charges the group at an inhuman speed

SilverSongYesterday at 9:55 PM

Belle lets out a combination of a scream and an operatic note and a thick shield of violet ice wall went in front of the three. She almost looks surprised by how big it is.

TreeYesterday at 9:58 PM

The wall doesn't last long as Gall slashes and hacks away at it with his claws before crashing through, snarling like an angry beast as he lunges for Belle only to get blocked by Garry's shield as he struggles to hold his ground as Gall pushes against his shield "G-Guy's he's really strong, I-I don't think I can ho-" He starts to say when Gall smacks him aside sending him flying into the nearby wall knocking him out as he drops his shield and it lands at the group's feet as Gall turns to glare at Macey and Belle

Queen MotherYesterday at 9:59 PM

Miss Macey gently put her hand in front of Belle, and when she looked down at her she looked... heart broken. "Make sure if I go down, he knows I didn't enjoy this at all." she murmured, procuring an astral spear from the crack in her chest and steps in front of her.

SilverSongYesterday at 10:03 PM

Belle nods and grabs the shield, running over to Garry to check him.

TreeYesterday at 10:04 PM

Garry was luckily just out cold groaning softly, meanwhile Gall turns to Miss Macey and snarls as he gets on all fours and lunges at her like a savage animal

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:05 PM

She ducked down to all fours to take his hit full force, and her claws screeched against the floor when he ran into her and shoved her back a few feet. She wrapped her arms around him and shoved the spear through one of his wings, attempting to pin him to the floor. "Gall, wait, wait wait!!!" she roared. "It's me! It's Macey!"

TreeYesterday at 10:08 PM

Gall roars out in pain as his wing gets pierced as he huffs and pants heavily glaring angrily at her before freezing for a moment as if he forgot something. For the briefest of moments Macey could see a flicker of Gall's aura inside the raging inferno of power but it was for only a second at he shakes his head and snarls again before pushing her off of him and swiping at her with his claws

SilverSongYesterday at 10:09 PM

Belle took note of his moment of hesitation.

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:11 PM

His claws raked over Miss Macey's face and down her neck and she shoved him against the floor. Her tail lashed as she drew back a hand and a light emitted from it. The blast would feel akin to acid splashing against his skin, but no outward damage could be seen. "I'm sorry, babe, just wake up so I don't have to hit you!" she begged.

TreeYesterday at 10:15 PM

Gall screams out in agony as he struggles for a bit before stopping as he stares up at her as his eye softens a bit "M...a....c...e...y...?" He says looking confused before Millicent finally pips up "Deary you stop playing with your friends and get back to work~" She says as Gall's expression turns back into his feral one as he snarls and attempts to snap at Macey(OH SILV I JUST HAD AN IDEA(WHAT IF GALL'S GRANDMOTHER KNOWS ABOUT THE KNOWONES?!

TreeYesterday at 10:19 PM

Millicent looks over at Belle and studies her for a bit before a look of realization hits her "Ah, so that's where I've seen you from deary! You're one of them!" She says with a nod "I had only read about them in legends since they've been gone for about 200 years now but I would have never guessed that there might be one here on Earth."

SilverSongYesterday at 10:22 PM

Belle looks thrown off,”Excuse me?”

TreeYesterday at 10:24 PM

She smirks evilly "You don't know do you deary? You have no idea what you are...what power you posses~" She says looking at Belle suddenly as if she had just found a new piece of meat to dissect

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:24 PM

"Yeah, double excuse me?" Miss Macey grunted, trying her best to keep Gall down. She wasn't as strong as she had hoped to be, and he managed to sing his fangs into her throat, making her choke and lurch upward suddenly. "Oh fuck-"

SilverSongYesterday at 10:27 PM

“MACEY!” She called out. The Staff sends a burst of energy up Belle’s arm as a voice rang through her head,’Go on. You know what to do.’ She takes a breath.

TreeYesterday at 10:28 PM

Gall snarls and pulls away blood dripping from his mouth as he stares down at her and goes to raise his claw to deliver the final blow only to freeze up for just a moment

SilverSongYesterday at 10:30 PM

“Gallius......” Belle says before gripping the staff.“GALL! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!”

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:34 PM

Miss Macey let out a choked gasp as Gall pulled away from her and immediately clasped a hand over her throat. "Jesus.. fucking christ, where did you get the b-balls." she choked, making an astral sickle as fast as she could. When he froze up, she swiped down; effectively cutting his hand off in a single movement. No worries, she could stitch it back on with a spell later. For now, she just needed to weaken him enough that he wouldn't hurt Belle... she could feel herself bleeding out faster than she could move, and her vision was blurry.

TreeYesterday at 10:36 PM

Gall's hand falls to the ground with a thud as he screams out loudly in agony clutching his wrist tightly as tears well up in his eyes, only instead of water it was blood that poured down his cheeks

SilverSongYesterday at 10:38 PM

Belle was shocked at the sight.

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:43 PM

Miss Macey threw the weapon down and it dissipated, and her hands pulled awy from her throat as she grabbed Gall with both sets of claws, starting to squeeze him. She was crying too, and her grip was gettting weaker. "Belle, I hope that staff has some fire behind it." she choked out, blood spilling out of her lap and onto the floor. Her light was fading, and before too long she dropped Gall, falling to her knees. "Fucking hell."

SilverSongYesterday at 10:46 PM

Belle kicked the shield over to Macey before walking to Gall,”You missed movie night, Gall.....I found a great bootleg of the original cast for Heathers and we were gonna watch it and talk about how much we hate ourselves....” She says, the dark blue staff slowly turning the same color as her magic. She was trying to pull him out of whatever was eating him,”I don’t wanna hurt you.”

TreeYesterday at 10:48 PM

Gall turns to look at her still clutching his head as tears pour down his face as he gets pained tearful expression on his face "I-It hurts B-Belle...e-everything h-hurts." He says his voice sounding weak and strained as if he was straining to speak from far away

Queen MotherYesterday at 10:48 PM

"Keep hurting his- Gah- Emotions." Miss Macey rasped. She was laying down now, jaws working up and down as she tried to suck in air, but it was very evident she would die from her wound, and within seconds, she had stopped moving. It would take at least ten minutes for that life to end, and for her next life to start up.

SilverSongYesterday at 10:53 PM

She starts to sing a low, sad sounding song. “Doubt comes in And strips the paint Doubt comes in And turns the wine Doubt comes in and leaves a trace Of vinegar and turpentine Where are you? Where are you now? Doubt comes in And kills the lights Doubt comes in And chills the air Doubt comes in and all falls silent It’s as though you aren’t there Where are you? Where are you now?” As she sings, magic seeps from the staff and watery tendrils wrap around Gall, they were cold but it was a soothing cold. The emotion of the song was seeping into whatever power was trying to take Gall. At the same time, more water washed over Macey and began to heal her wounds.

TreeYesterday at 10:57 PM

Gall begins to calm down as his body begins to steam as some of the changes to his body began to reverse, his claws grew shorter, the long mane of hair shrunk down until it only went down to his shoulders, however no matter much magic she applied to Gall, he wouldn't turn back to normal. The only thing that changed was his eye turned back to its usual yellow however now his eye looked more like a cat's pupil.

SilverSongYesterday at 11:01 PM

Belle stopped singing and hugged Gall tightly.

TreeYesterday at 11:02 PM

Gall weakly hugs her back as he begins to shake and sob softly into her shoulder "I-I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He mutters over and over again as he sobs softly

SilverSongYesterday at 11:03 PM

“Shhhh, it’s ok, Bro.” She says gently, glaring at Millicent.

TreeYesterday at 11:06 PM

Millicent steps back from them in shock as she stares at Gall who eventually slowly pulls away from Belle's hug "D-Deary? Deary please listen to your grandmother...Gallius Hinikuni you will obey m-" She orders as Gall slowly walks over to her only to be cut off as Gall's hand is shoved through her chest as she stares at him in shock and mutters a faint "D-Deary...?" Before falling dead on the ground as Gall turns and begins to walk back to Belle before collapsing onto his knees

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:07 PM

Miss Macey's giant angelic form shuddered once as her life was restored to her, and she groaned as she began to stir. Her neck wound was closed up when she rose back to her feet, creating what looked like a giant, angelic bow, or perhaps a strange harp. She notched an astral arrow into it and pointed it at Gall. "Is he... fixed?" she asked, speaking only to Belle's thoughts.

SilverSongYesterday at 11:09 PM

‘In a sense....’ She thought back, hugging him tightly and doing her best to comfort him.

TreeYesterday at 11:09 PM

Gall weakly looks up at Macey and chuckles softly "Guess I'm not the only one who looks fucked up right now huh?" He mutters to her with a weak smile before passing out in Belle's arms as Garry slowly came to and sees Gall passed out and rushes over to him "I-Is he okay?!

SilverSongYesterday at 11:10 PM

“I think so....How about you? Anything broken, sprained, or bruised?”

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:11 PM

"I died, and you're asking if he's okay? Does he look okay??" Miss Macey snarled, lowering her weapon and gliding over to them. Her giant form crouched over the three smaller monsters, and her eyes began to water again. "C-Can I have him, please?"

SilverSongYesterday at 11:11 PM

She nods and holds him out to her.“In fairness, I did try to save you. It just wouldn’t take.”

TreeYesterday at 11:13 PM

"A bit of a headache but otherwise ok- IS HE MISSING A HAND?!" He says as Gall is passed over to Macey as he weakly wraps his arms around Myle and a faint "I'm sorry for missing date night..." could be heard

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:14 PM

Miss Macey choked back a sob as she gently took Gall in her hands and pressed him to her chest. She began to shrink down out of her True form as she remembered to replace her Glamour and her hexes, and when she was back to normal size she hugged him as close as she could, crying and kissing on his face feverishly. "I'm sorry I cut off your hand, babe. I'll get you a new one." she promised through her tears.

SilverSongYesterday at 11:20 PM

Belle looked down at the bloody mess and followed the trail of blood back to Millicent, she went over to the body and stared at it quizzically,”What were you talking about, Lady?” She said out loud.

TreeYesterday at 11:24 PM

She coughs weakly and takes a moment to stare at Belle "Y-You really don't know about your kind...a-about the Knowones?" She asks weakly her life slowly fading as blood drips out of her wound

SilverSongYesterday at 11:26 PM

She raised an eyebrow, Dahl had said that name before, she just thought he was insulting her,”No Ma’am. But it seems I won’t be getting answers from you.”

TreeYesterday at 11:27 PM

She chuckles weakly as she slowly shakes her head "Deary...you're not listening, they are called the Knowones. You must learn to listen when an elder is speaking..."

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:28 PM

"Hey, Genius. She's saying it like to 'Know' something. Know-One." Miss Macey sniffled. She was ugly-crying all over Gall's, poor thing.

SilverSongYesterday at 11:30 PM

“I get it.” She said flatly before looking back at Millicent,”I would ask questions, but I don’t think you have much time left.”

TreeYesterday at 11:32 PM

Gall was out cold in her arms blood tears dripping down his cheeks, he looked a bit pale as his dismembered arm hung limply from his side as Millicent chuckles and nods "Yes deary I'm afraid I can't answer your questions, but as a parting gift, feel free to look through my room there are a few books that mention your kind in there...and if possible...tell my dear Millie...I'm sorry..." She mutters before she finally passes as Garry glares at her "As if she would accept your apology after what you've done to her son..."

SilverSongYesterday at 11:34 PM

“I’ll tell her.....May judgment be fair to thee.” She says in a shockingly respectful tone.

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:35 PM

"Hey, where....w-where's my baby's hand? I need to put it back on his arm before he bleeds out." Miss Macey sniffed, pressing her muzzle to Gall's head in a strange sort of kiss.

SilverSongYesterday at 11:37 PM

Belle turns around and picks up the severed hand,”Here it is.” Something in her head told her to use her teeth, she gives the hand to Macey before digging around in her purse,”Here’s a first aid kit, too.”

TreeYesterday at 11:39 PM

"I uhh should I call the cops or something? I feel like they should clear this place out or something, anyone know a cop?" Garry asks as he watches Gall get patched up nervously

SilverSongYesterday at 11:39 PM

“My boyfriend’s a cop.”

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:41 PM

"I got a few crooked ones on the eastside." Miss Macey offered, taking the hand and the first aid kit. She started a simple, but very much illegal spell to stitch Gall's hand back on and reconnect the sinews, tendons, and muscles. It wasn't the best job in the word, but in a few days he'd have his hand back to normal in no time. Possibly with side effects.(edited)

SilverSongYesterday at 11:43 PM

Belle reaches into her purse once again and pulls out a small vial, she pushes her fang against the edge and shimmering gold liquid came out. It filled a little of it and Belle looked surprised,”I didn’t think that’d do anything. Here, this might help him recover.” She held out the vial of Gold Venom to Macey.

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:48 PM

Miss Macey had a very sudden, shocking realization, and she hissed through her teeth as she took the vial. "Oohhhh my god you're Cadie-bugs sister. Holy shit." she whispered, tilting the vial to Gall's mouth and tipping in a single drop. "Jesus fucking hell. Holy fuck nuts. Damn. What??? What- You're a- okay."

SilverSongYesterday at 11:49 PM

“You know Arcadia? She’s actually my cousin.”

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:49 PM

"She's my druauaaa Driving Instructor, she helps me get used to a new car whenever I buy one." Miss Macey said quickly. "Yeah, I know her."

SilverSongYesterday at 11:50 PM

“So that’s what she does. Huh.” She said with a shrug.

TreeYesterday at 11:52 PM

"Think she could teach me how to drive?" Gall groans as he finally starts to wake up "Cause after today I'm not walking anywhere ever again..."

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:53 PM

"Baby cakes!!!" Miss Macey gasped, crushing his face into her boobs and starting to cry all over again. "Oh thank god!! I thought I was gonna lose you for a minute!"

SilverSongYesterday at 11:53 PM

She half laughed,”Sure. I’ll see what she can do, Bro Bro.”

TreeYesterday at 11:55 PM

Gall struggled to breathe as he weakly flails trying to get Miss Macey to loosen her grip before finally pulling himself free and gasping for air "G-Guess you really missed me huh?" He says trying to tease her before he tears up and gives her a sad smile "I-I'm sorry for worrying your honey" He mutters before hugging her tightly

SilverSongYesterday at 11:56 PM

“I’ll give you two a minute. C’mon, Garry, let’s give them some space.”

TreeYesterday at 11:57 PM

Garry nods as he sighs softly and gets to his feet "Uhh didn't the old bitch mention some books you might want? Maybe we should search her room for them, so at least some good can come from all this."

SilverSongYesterday at 11:57 PM

“My thoughts exactly.”

Queen MotherYesterday at 11:59 PM

"You ever scare me like that again and I'm turning you into a vintage leather purse for a week." Miss Macey said as she shifted and helped Gall to his feet. "Oh, my darling demon, what did she do to you?" she whimpered, cupping his face gently with her hands.

October 15, 2018

TreeToday at 12:04 AM

He groans softly as he shakily gets to his feet "From what I'm starting to remember nothing out of the ordinary for her. Just trying to tap into my buried demonic powers and turn me into a killing machine under her control. You know just normal Grandmotherly things." He says with a sarcastic chuckle before he gives her a sad and slightly scared look "I was almost too far gone, Macey. I-I felt like everything that was me was being burned away. E-Everything hurt, a-all I could see was darkness, I-I felt like any moment I would be swallowed whole and then I would be gone...no more Gall just a monster..." He says as tears stream down his face as he shakes softly

SilverSongToday at 12:08 AM

Belle could hear this as she and Garry walked to Millicent’s room. She wanted to put this whole ordeal behind her.

Queen MotherToday at 12:10 AM

"If it makes you feel any better, you snapped out if without having to kill yourself or anyone else." she said, leaving out the fact that he had accidentally rippd her throat open. "You're okay now, sweetie..." she purred softly, hugging him against her gently and running a calming hand up and down his back. "Hey... you want a double Gordita crunch wrap from Haco Taco?" she asked him. "You love those!"

TreeToday at 12:13 AM

"Make it three, I haven't eaten since yesterday." He says not realizing he's actually not eaten for two days since he lost a day while under his grandmother's control "...A-Also..c-can I stay at your place tonight? I-I don't feel safe being alone right now. I-If not I can ask Belle or Garry if it's too much of a hassle." - Garry also listened from outside clenching his fists tightly as he tries to control his anger. He was supposed to be Gall's best friend, the one who would keep him safe, yet he couldn't even keep him safe from a senior citizen. He tried to distract himself before searching through the room as he tosses books off the shelf over his shoulder in Belle's general direction "Any of these any good?"

SilverSongToday at 12:16 AM

“I have no idea. My best option is to take everything and study it at home where I’ve got my own protective wards set up.” She says, placing her purse on a nearby table and opening it. Looking inside, you could see absolutely nothing......not even a bottom to the relatively small handbag.

Queen MotherToday at 12:17 AM

"Of course you can stay the night with me!" Miss Macey huffed. "Please, after this? You aren't leaving my sight unless it's to go pee. Got that?"

TreeToday at 12:21 AM

"Yes ma'am." He says with a large grin as he hugs her tightly "Just uhh...can you keep your doctor stuff in a closet or something? I think I just finally figured out why I'm scared of needles." He says turning around to point at various tools and needles on a nearby table unaware that on his back carved in with a knife was the very demonic symbol that had was on the floor, slightly ruined by the two demonic wings folded up on his backGarry glances over her shoulder into the bag as he gets a curious look on his face "How deep does this bag go?" He asks before fishing a quarter out of his pocket and dropping it in

SilverSongToday at 12:23 AM

“Not sure. Think of it as a Bag of Holding. As long as I can carry it, it’ll hold it.” She says, looking over the titles,”It’s heavy, so it’s hard to steal. Go ahead, try picking it up.”

Queen MotherToday at 12:24 AM

"Do you want to keep those wings?" Miss Macey asked, hoisting Gall into her arms and heading for the cellar door to get out. "I can have a surgeon get them off if you don't want them."

TreeToday at 12:25 AM

He gives her a confused look before glancing back over his shoulder and flexing his wings "Wait when did I-? Right right demonic stuff and uhh I think I'll keep them. Like I said, I'm not walking anywhere after this so if they work then I'm flying."Garry nods and goes to try and pick up the bag one handed as he grunts and struggles to even lift it as he uses both hands and can barely lift it even a quarter of an inch off the table(edited)

SilverSongToday at 12:28 AM

She makes an amused sound,”Try seeing some scrawny purse snatcher take that.” She joked before grabbing an armful of books,”I might take some journals, if there are any. That way I can see what Granny Quack was up to.”

TreeToday at 12:29 AM

"Sounds like a good idea." He says with a nod before peeking out into the hall and seeing Gall and Macey heading towards the door "Here let's load up, looks like the lovebirds are trying to ditch us"

Queen MotherToday at 12:30 AM

"I will smoke your liver through my crackpipe hairball." Miss Macey growled. "Watch yourself..."

SilverSongToday at 12:31 AM

Belle snorts,”It’s been grand meeting you....though, I would’ve preferred better circumstances.”

TreeToday at 12:34 AM

Gall gets a look of realization as he looks between the two of them "OH right I uhh forget to introduce you guys. Bit late but I might as well do it now. Guys this is Myle Macey, my girlfriend. Myle this is Belle and Garry Charles. My Brother and sister...who are very understanding and won't tell either of my mothers what happened here today?" He says as he notices Garry crossing his arms and giving him a stern frown

SilverSongToday at 12:34 AM

“I make no promises.”

TreeToday at 12:36 AM

"Me neither." He says with a frown as Gall sweats nervously and chuckles nervously "H-heh heh well uhh I'm tired hungry and I'd really like to lie down how about we head home before we have to answer any questions!" He says quickly

Queen MotherToday at 12:36 AM

"How about they go to their homes and I take you home with me." Miss Macey suggested sternly, though her tone implied that it was more of a command.

SilverSongToday at 12:37 AM

“Fair enough. I’m packing up these books and bringing them to my place.”She finishes putting the books into her bag and closes it. She picks it up and goes to grab the staff.

TreeToday at 12:39 AM

"I think I'm gonna head home too, I need a nap. Gall call me later when you get home safe."

Queen MotherToday at 12:39 AM

"Well, Gall's friends, it was a pleasure meeting you." the white cat said as she cuddled Gall closer. "Unfortunately I hope I never have to see your faces again. Especially you, Hairball."

TreeToday at 12:41 AM

"Likewise Hairball, remember what I said." He says cracking his knuckles threateningly as Gall sighs "So much for introducing the love of my life to my friends." He mutters softly under his breath

SilverSongToday at 12:43 AM

Belle walks over,”Don’t be so optimistic.” She joked,”Hopefully, I’ll have answers. Either to your questions or mine.” She glanced down and saw that Macey still had Hecate’s magic bag,”Huh, you didn’t need it.....Might wanna hold onto that for later.”

Queen MotherToday at 12:51 AM

"Oh, definitely." she sneered. "God-tier items? No way I'm losing it."

SilverSongToday at 12:52 AM

Belle’s ears twitch and she looks into the room where Millicent is, she sees the Ares Shield disappearing,”I guess Ares needed his shield back.”

TreeToday at 12:55 AM

"Not like I had much use for a shield." Garry says with a shrug "I would probably end up using it as a plate and that would probably just piss him off" "You know you wouldn't have to do that if you washed some dishes." Gall says with a frown "Like how you haven't picked up your laundry in weeks now?" He says as Gall frantically tries to shush him

SilverSongToday at 12:57 AM

Belle just rolled her eyes, moving her bangs from her blind eye to scratch under it for a second,”Let’s go, before my adrenaline fueled brain remembers it’s afraid of dead bodies and copious amounts of blood.”

The End.

[Gall is now available for questions again]

[betelguwuse]

So I just finished VHS and I absolutely loved it. One of the shorts was a bit lacking to me, but even that one was enjoyable to watch. The only big criticism I have is that like at least half the shorts showed a lot of unnecessary tiddy (the only one that didn’t feel totally unnecessary was the one where the whole plot is dudes tryin to make porn) but I mean it’s found footage and I get that irl people do show off to each other on video calls and yknow,, porn. So I can let it slide but I’m not gonna enjoy it lol. Also this goes for most found footage I’ve seen, but sometimes it’s really hard to make out who’s who and what’s going on. But overall it was really good.

There were a few comments (I watched it on shudder lol) calling the movie misogynistic, which I don’t get? I mean unless they were talking about the tiddy issue, but even that I don’t think was meant to be framed as a good thing.

Like the movie is 5 shorts in between breaks of an ongoing story of some dudes breaking into a house. They’re trying to steal some tapes, and what’s on them is the bunch of shorts we’re shown. So the overarching story of the guys in the house has nothing to do with women, except one scene where they gang up on and try to strip a woman in a parking lot, which I’m pretty sure is clearly meant to be a bad thing? I mean throughout the movie we’re shown that these guys are assholes (filming harassment of women for money, excessively saying slurs, breaking into a house for more tapes that could get them money). Yeah the characters are misogynistic from what we can tell, but that doesn’t mean the movie or director is condoning their actions.

Ok onto the actual shorts (I don’t know what any were called but I’m pretty sure theyre all in order in my head lol). I want to pick out whether the individual shorts were misogynistic at all (because I have literally nothing else to do) so for that I might have to spoil. Any spoilers will be crossed out so they’re at least a bit harder to read. And like, I’m no expert in feminism (I don’t consider myself one, but I’m not exactly anti either) but being a person with a brain and opinions I’m going to talk about it.

1: This was the only one I had any previous knowledge of going in, and I was absolutely terrified of watching this whole movie because of the jumpscare and bits of creepiness I’d seen lol. So it’s about this group of guys who are trying to make some porn, so they pick up some girls, take them clubbing, and then go to a hotel to smash. Without spoilers, one of the girls acts really really friccin creepy and I think this one scared me the most overall, even knowing the basics of what would happen. Honestly I’m surprised the internet hasn’t turned her into a meme or waifu like some people did with Momo lol. I for one really want to draw her now (but also I’m terrified of looking up reference photos 👊😔). I think I read that they made a full movie-length version of this story but I could be wrong.

Spoilers: So what happens is this creepy girl is some kind of monster who lures men in to have sex with her, so she can eat them and rip their dicks off and all that fun shit. So like a siren, but on land? Honestly I don’t even know if it’s accurate to say she lures them in, because she really didn’t do anything, the guys kinda just found her and decided to use her? Also I think she had wings?? But again, handheld camera, hard to see everything. I think that what makes this one is that while she is creepy, she doesn’t really seem dangerous, or even like she wants to be there at all. Like when the guys give her and another girl drugs, the other girl seems ok with it, but it seemed to bother the creepy girl a bit. She had this innocent vibe to her that just makes her even more creepy. And then it’s even more shocking when she starts eating these bois. So yeah I don’t think this one was misogynistic at all. The male characters just wanted to exploit her and profit from her body, and she didn’t say no but she didn’t say yes either, which is pretty interesting to see. It’s not like she tricked the guys because she never actually consented to sex. All I remember her saying was “I like you” a few times. 10/10 we love a lady who eats her attempted rapists.

2: This is the one I wasn’t entirely satisfied with, but it was very good and enjoyable nonetheless. It’s about this couple on a road trip in,, I wanna say Arizona? I’m Canadian, I’ve never heard of a state in my life. So anyway they’re at a hotel in the middle of the desert, there are a few parts that were pretty creepy but didn’t actually mean anything in the story, like there was this fortune telling machine that I thought would be something supernatural, and a scene where they’re climbing around a canyon which was just generally anxiety inducing lol. But what the story is actually about is that someone is stalking them. This one I can discuss the misogyny levels without spoilers. There’s one bit where the guy is trying to get the girl to take off her shirt, and she says only if you turn the camera off. Which he doesn’t, and after a little argument he finally accepts the no. So like, dick move, but only a tiny part of the story.

Spoilers: there are some creepy scenes of the stalker recording them both while they sleep, and stealing their money and stuff, and then later stabs the guy in the neck. But then it’s revealed that the stalker is actually two people and they film themselves making out in the bathroom mirror. I couldn’t tell if it was a guy/girl or two girls, and since it was that hard to see their faces it just occurred to me that one of them might’ve actually been the gf? Like we didn’t see what happens to her after, and it’d definitely be a more satisfying ending for her to have betrayed her bf and not just some rando stalkers. Hm. Still unclear but good.

3: This one was really fun, it’s these 4 college aged friends who take a trip to the woods, it’s pretty tropey like cabin in the woods, there’s the final girl, the slut, the nerd, and the popular jockish dude. Which I’m pretty sure was on purpose since it’s kind of a slasher. Otherwise I’d be a bit more critical of the ‘slut’ character who Literally Never Shuts Up About Sex in this short lol. But I think that was meant to be a comedic choice. Idk. Other than that, no issue. So basically final girl has kinda organized this whole trip but she starts acting weird and saying creepy stuff about things that had happened in the forest. This one really felt like a creepypasta, but like the best kind. I really love what they did with the bad guy. I really don’t want to spoil this one, so don’t read the spoilers unless you’re sure you’ll never watch it. It’s great.

Spoilers: So the twist is that final girl had been here before with her friends and was the only survivor of a massacre by some monster in the woods. So now by taking these new people on the trip she’s trying to lure the monster out using them as bait, because nobody believed her after the last trip when she told people it wasn’t human. So we get a bunch of cool deaths, and that sweet sweet betrayal. I was kinda surprised by how much they lingered on some of the gore but that’s not really an issue for me. It did suck to see the main girl die, but I mean it’s found footage not ‘I killed a monster and totally got away, here watch’ footage.

4: This one was actually really cool in terms of like ~feminism~ or whatever. I mean it doesn’t even have to be read as some kind of feminist theme, but that was just the vibe I got. I really don’t think I can go into detail on those themes without spoilers, but the basic premise is that this girl is video chatting her bf (who’s away for school or something) and she’s worried that there are ghosts in her apartment. There’s a neat backstory about something similar happening to her when the guy was away during her childhood, like weird bruises and other injuries she doesn’t remember, so it definitely keeps you interested. Also another one I reeeally don’t want to spoil because the twist is so cool.

Spoilers: So the truth is the guy actually was nearby the whole time (possibly in her place because he rushes in the room pretty quickly when she’s attacked), and it turns out that it’s not ghosts, but aliens, and the bf is using the gf to put trackers and alien babies in her, and tricking her into thinking she just got in some weird accident and forgot, which leads her to get misdiagnosed with something like schizophrenia. I mean it’s a perfect metaphor for gaslighting (he’s not hurting me, I’m just crazy), and while that’s not an exclusively feminist theme by any means (both genders are capable of abuse, and both genders are capable of being victims!) it being a theme here shows that this short is absolutely not misogynistic at all. Honestly I’m surprised I haven’t seen more people talk about this one. It’s really really great in terms of the plot, twists, and underlying themes my dumb brain came up with.

5: This one is really really cool, at first I was a little bored with it, but then you’re kinda like hm what’s going on, and then you’re like oh okay that’s going on. Coolcoolcool. So basically these 4 dudes are going to a Halloween party and they’re kinda lost, and they end up at this huge house, so they go in and it’s empty but really big and creepy so they’re like ‘maybe we’re early, or it’s more of a haunted house than a party’ stuff like that, so a bit of it is just the guys exploring the house and vaguely creepy stuff happening in the background. I’m just gonna leave it at that because like, it’s not exactly a twist but it is really unexpected.

Spoilers: So they hear people talking upstairs in the attic and they’re like ‘o nice we found the party’ but no it’s a literal cult chanting and beating up this girl they have tied up. The cult leader is like ‘wtf get outta here’ and the guys kinda get chased away, but one dumbass just had to be like ‘no man we gotta save her’ (king tbh. ur sacrifice will be remembered) so they all go back up there, beat up the cult guys, and get the girl out of there. But that’s when the really creepy stuff happens in the house, like dishes throw themselves at the guys and arms reach out of the walls (I’d actually seen this bit before in a try not to be scared compilation, but I didn’t know what it was from lol) but they do get out and into their car. But then the girl just disappears and the car stops working, and then they see her out the window and she looks kinda demony, and oop their car is stopped on a train track aaa. This one I’m kinda torn on, like about the misogyny thing, because yeah having the only female in the cast being a demon and justifying the cult’s treatment of her is iffy, but at the same time...dude she’s literally a demon, I’d be chaining her up too lol. So yeah I’m definitely leaning toward the not misogynistic side.

Overall I don’t see this movie as that misogynistic at all, and it’s otherwise just a really really good time. Definitely recommend.

[bbreferencearchive]

Final Words

Documentary Film (for Reelz network)

Title: Charles Manson: The Final Words

Written by: James Buddy Day

Produced by Pyramid Productions, Calgary, Canada

 FINAL EDIT SCRIPT, September 9th 2017

EXT. CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON – DAY

 AUTOMATED RECORDING

You have a collect call from ‘Charles’ an inmate in California State Prison, Corcoran, CA, to accept say or dial 5 now. BEEP. 

CHARLES MANSON

Hello.

CHARLES MANSON

They’re still sending me naked pictures of Sharon Tate all stabbed up saying “There’s blood on your hands” and “you did this and you did that.” There’s a lot of ways of crucifying somebody without hanging them on a cross --

AUTOMATED RECORDING

You have sixty seconds remaining.  

CHARLES MANSON

You being a producer it’s like, you kind of got get in the heads of everybody. Have you ever trusted anyone? 

PRODUCER  

Have you? 

CHARLES MANSON

That’s what I’m doing in here.

(laughs)

NARRATOR  

This began a year ago when Charles Manson, a man thought to be the embodiment of evil, started calling. 

CHARLES MANSON

If you can find a way to get me a cell phone where I can use it and call. (yeah). Let me get in the game and you can find a way where we can do what you want to do. But as soon as you get there you’re gonna have 15,000 people who are covering up what they’ve already been stealing and doing. 

NARRATOR  

What do you say to one of the most infamous mass murderers of all time when given the chance? We asked for his story in his own words.   

CHARLES MANSON

I don’t give a fuck about telling my story. My story has already been all over the world, 1,000 times, 1,000 times. You are for you, right. Right on, as long as we understand that, this is not based on friendship, not based on brotherhood, it’s based on guns and knives, it’s based on revolution and war, politics and governments. Survival. 

NARRATOR  

Though decades have passed since his conviction, the obsessive interest has never waned. Manson, of all people, appreciates his notoriety.

CHARLES MANSON

I’m the most famous human being not only that is alive, but the most famous human being that ever lived. And, I’m not even dead yet. – What do you think the fuck is going to happen when I die?

STEPHEN KAY

The problem is Manson is famous. The kids nowadays, they don’t look behind to see what it is he did.

 BLACK.

BOARD – THE CRIMES OF CHARLES MANSON  

NARRATOR  

In the late sixties, Charles Manson was convicted for the brutal murder of actress Sharon Tate and eight others. He was sentenced to death for all of them. When the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in nineteen seventy-two his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

CHARLES MANSON

The reality of it is, beyond the bullshit, is on death row. I’ve already done that been there. The people that haven’t done it and haven’t been there, they don’t understand it, you know, they have no respect for it. I got respect man.

NARRATOR  

Manson’s murder spree took place in the summer of nineteen sixty-nine. It was the peak of the Vietnam war, and a time of civil unrest. It’s said that Charles Manson was the leader of a cult called The Manson Family. They lived outside of society indulging in a constant stream of drugs and sex.  

CHARLES MANSON

We went where nobody had ever went before, not thinking about it, it just, it just happened man. I wasn’t nobody’s leader.

CHARLES MANSON (CONT’D)

All I was doing was fucking everybody I could. The sexual revolution everybody was doing I, was just getting my share that’s all.

NARRATOR  

The first murder took place in July of nineteen sixty-nine. Manson was convicted of ordering three of his disciples to kill an associate in a plot to extort money. After they stabbed the victim to death Manson’s followers wrote on the walls in his blood.

NARRATOR  

A month later the murders escalated.  The official account from the Los Angeles District Attorney is this; Charles Manson sent out more cult members to an isolated house in Beverly Hills with orders to kill everyone inside. It was the home of a beautiful and pregnant movie star named Sharon Tate who was spending the evening with friends.

PHIL KAUFMAN

 (Lived with Manson Family)

How could they drive up to that house, get out and know what their gonna do, nobody was going to leave that house alive. It boggles the mind. He says alright go out and do this and then you’re all in the car together going ok we’re going to do it, nobody says, man should we be doing this? Is Charlie right? They did what they did.

 NARRATOR  

At Charles Manson’s trial the prosecution stated:

 “On the evening of August, the eighth, nineteen sixty-nine, Charles Manson sent his robots out on a mission of murder. There is no evidence that he actually personally killed any of the victims in this case”. 

CHARLES MANSON

If you had to get up and hunt and kill your food every day, you’d be a hell of a warrior man.

NARRATOR

Before they left one of the killers wrote on a door, this time using Sharon Tate’s blood.

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

They wanted to - shock - the public

NEWS FOOTAGE(OS)

In a scene described by investigators as reminiscent of a weird religious ritual, five persons including actress Sharon Tate were found dead. Among the other victims we’re Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring. One officer summed up the murders when he said “In all my years I have never seen anything like this before”.

SHARMAGNE LELAND-ST.JOHN

  (Jay Sebring’s girlfriend)

I was in the kitchen and the phone rang. He said they think Jay and Sharon have just been murdered. I remember just sinking down, I was standing next to the sink and I just sank down to the floor, like I’m melting, I’m melting just, I was stunned. I was shocked, I was in hysterics.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

  (Manson Family Attorney)

When the murders took place, people were buying Gatling guns. The whole town bought guns they we’re frightened to death for months.

SHARMAGNE LELAND-ST.JOHN

  (Jay Sebring’s girlfriend)

But for someone to hang up the phone on their boyfriend and the next morning hear that he’s been brutally murdered with three of his friends, it’s horrifying.

NARRATOR

Manson’s crime spree wasn’t finished. The day after the murder of Sharon Tate and others, Charles Manson took members of his group out again. This time they went to the home to an affluent couple named Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Allegedly, Manson ordered three of his followers to butcher the couple, leaving more messages written in blood.  

CHARLES MANSON

They never lied about me. all the broads said is “I THINK he said go in there and kill those people”. Well she can think a pink elephant, that’s hear-say.

SHARMAGNE LELAND-ST.JOHN

  (Jay Sebring’s girlfriend)

It’s like a horror movie, like those movies where you wonder who’s going to be next.

CHARLES MANSON

People will put the bad mouth on somebody, for all kinds of psychological reasons. Jealousy is a big reason people maneuver.

NARRATOR

When Charles Manson and his family were arrested, and charged, it became the longest and most expensive trial in the history of Los Angeles.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

  (Manson Family Attorney)

The fright in the town was so gigantic and he looked like the devil sitting in court. That trial was like a circus. I mean it was insanity. 

NARRATOR

During in the trial, Manson carved an "X" in his forehead, which he later turned it into a swastika and shaved off all his hair. He says to symbolize his desire to be discarded from society. His followers all did the same.

CHARLES MANSON

They don’t realize that the X on their heads means the head is gone, man. You know, they still think that person’s there because they got a head, you dig? But I took the head. I got it on my belt.  

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with Manson Family)

Every time I went to court, everyday they’d be out there singing ‘Charlie, Charlie’ with the swastikas on their head, shaving their hair. You know that’s not normal, you know looney tunes right there.

NARRATOR

For half a century, Charles Manson’s bizarre behavior has continued, and speculation over his unspeakable crimes has only intensified. But the question has always remained, how did Charles Manson get these people to kill for him?

BLACK.

BOARD – HELTER SKELTER  

CHARLES MANSON

That’s what that stupid -fuckin’ district attorney did, convicted me for the fuckin’ ‘Helter Skelter’ thing that he was thinking. And it took me 40 years to figure out what a cult was.

NARRATOR

When speaking to Charles Manson the topic of Helter Skelter comes up and frequently, and Manson’s answer is always the same. He maintains that Helter Skelter was invented by the prosecution. The Manson Family’s prosecutions were led by Vincent Bugliosi who wrote the book Helter Skelter which became the best-selling true crime book of all time. According to Bugliosi, Helter Skelter, was the name Charles Manson gave to his own bizarre philosophy which he derived from the name of a Beatles Song. 

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

One of their favorite things to do is they would sit around on acid and listen to the Beatles White album. They determined that what the Beatles were doing is they were sending messages to blacks to rise up and start a revolution.

NARRATOR

Manson allegedly convinced his followers that he foresaw the race war prophesized by the Beatles and told them they needed to slaughter white affluent victims to further inspire the black revolution.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative reporter)  

Helter Skelter, a social uprising between the blacks and the whites. The start of a race war. The apocalyptic end, if you will. Charlie and the family will hide underground. They will be the remaining ones left.

NARRATOR

The prosecution claimed that Charles Manson and his followers planned to hide in a secret cave located in Death Valley and wait out the war. When the dust settled, they would emerge and Charles Manson believed he would rebuild of the world.   

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

To say that it was an unusual motive is an understatement. But I can tell you that was the motive. 

SHARMAGNE LELAND-ST.JOHN

  (Jay Sebring’s girlfriend)

Nothing could have been more horrendous than what happened that night to innocent people who didn’t even know their murderers.  And the reasons that this maniac orchestrated this whole thing was just looney tunes.  

CHARLES MANSON

I mean goddamn, this is not what I wanted to be. It doesn’t matter what I wanted.

NARRATOR

Manson insists that he’s been misjudged. He says Helter Skelter is a myth and that the true story behind the murders is one that remains untold.

CHARLES MANSON

And I’ve been deep in thought for almost 40 years, thinking what the hell does all this mean, how does that work? And the stuff that I’ve come up with, it’s just unbelievable, it’s fucking totally unbelievable.

NARRATOR

When speaking to Charles Manson, the most famous mind controlling mass murderer of all time, you have to be careful not to take him at his word. But after months of conversations, questions began to emerge.

CHARLES MANSON

The precious point is that the Helter Skelter that the DA made into what he was doing was wrong basically, when they lose control, they don’t admit that they lost control. They just lost face and they make another movie, like you’re doing. 

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

People who have looked into the case, beyond just a superficial level of reading of Helter Skelter, don’t believe any of that stuff. In fact, most of the media do believe he was trying to start a race war called Helter Skelter, and the whole thing. 

NARRATOR

We spoke with authors, researchers and people who know Manson directly. Charles Manson personally put us in contact with people who know him, others we found on our own. We sought to speak to anyone who was there when the crimes took place, all to unravel what actual happened.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative reporter)  

Back in 1969, we didn’t have access to the police reports, we didn’t have access to autopsy or the FBI files so we’re more inclined to believe the official narrative.

CHARLES MANSON

You’ll find out man. Have a good day, brother man.

BLACK.

BOARD – A CONVERSATION WITH BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

AUTOMATED RECORDING

This is Global Tel Link you have a pre-paid call from ‘Bobby’ an inmate at the California medical Facility, Vacaville California, this call and your telephone number will be monitored and recorded.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Hello.

BOARD – BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL, SERVING LIFE SENTENCE FOR FIRST “MANSON FAMILY” MURDER

NARRATOR

Bobby Beausoleil was the first person arrested and accused of being member of the Manson Family. He’s been in prison since nineteen sixty-nine.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

It is extremely important that people understand what happened. We don’t want the same things to happen again we have to understand them and we can’t understand them in the context of Vincent Bugliosi’s little horror story. He did more to victimize Sharon Tate than Charlie Manson ever did.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

It’s the same regurgitated Helter Skelter nonsense. That is so far away from the truth. I don’t care, I won’t say that, I will never, to get a parole, say that what Bugliosi said was true. Never…I’d rather die in prison than get out on a lie.

Part of it was the times and the desperation that had set in, in 1969. The events got out of hand. A lot of his attitudes and beliefs that he had been engendered while he was in prison became expressed. And again, I’m not defending him, he was a sociopath for sure. Not genetic, but something that had been developed - you know his compassion and empathy had been beaten out of him by the system that he grew up, in which was the juvenile justice and criminal justice system. 

NARRATOR

Manson’s told many people many stories about his childhood but certain aspects of his upbringing are irrefutable. His birth certificate from nineteen thirty-four identifies his mother as Kathleen Maddox. A fifteen-year-old single mother who struggled with alcoholism and was often arrested. 

CHARLES MANSON

My mother and my uncle did time. She was a throw away. 

NARRATOR

Sometime around nineteen forty-four, When Kathleen couldn’t care for her son or when she was arrested, Manson began what would become a lifetime in prison. Michael Channels has known Manson personally for twenty-five years and has quite possibly spent more time face-to-face with him than anyone else. 

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Supporter)

If there is a “Charlie Manson”, Charlie Manson was probably created the first time he went into those boys homes. That kid went through some hell in there, and some of the things that he told me. He would never admit to being raped by men or anything like that. That’s just one thing he just don’t do, he don’t.

CHARLES MANSON

In Boys Town, you’re a juvenile. You go in when you’re ten years old and you play ping pong and if someone beats you, you gotta give the table up to them unless you want to fight ‘em. 

CHARLES MANSON

Everything is about fight. If you don’t fight they’ll fuck you in the ass.

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Supporter)

He’ll tell you about being taken down in the basement and put on the table and they make him get naked and then beat him with a strap. That’ll turn you into something that your starting to think ok…

CHARLES MANSON

They’ll take everything you got. And you’re raised up like that. So, you learn how to box and you learn how to fight. And then some guy gets a dagger or a knife or an ice pick and it’s a different kind of fight. You graduate and you grow up.

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Supporter)

That puts you in a whole different mindset. It’s about life or death where’s he’s at.

CHARLES MANSON

I’d only been outside a couple years when I caught this case here. You figure that if you get locked up in reform school when your nine years old and you don’t get out until your twenty, in your brain you’re still nine years old on the outside. Can you see that?

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Supporter)

He don’t trust nobody. He doesn’t even trust me. As long as I’ve known him as a pen pal, visited him in jail, talked to him all the telephone for some twenty-five years now. He doesn’t trust me as far he can spit.

CHARLES MANSON

Anybody that helps me is helping themselves, and I don’t get much help because their ‘aint nobody there. You see it. So, it’s like, everybody that’s using me, they’re not helping me, they’re just riding on me. 

NARRATOR

Police records reflect that by the time Charles Manson was twenty-four years-old, he’d been arrested more than thirty times. Among his numerous offenses he’d been caught driving stolen cars across state lines, broken his probation, escaped from a federal prison, was convicted of check forgery, mail theft and even pimping.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

The first time I visited him and he walked out of the back, prison was just radiating off of him. He’s from prison. He’s not from your world and my normal world out here.

NARRATOR

Those like George Stimson who’ve spent time visiting Charles Manson in person insist that his view of the world is defined by his life in prison.

CHARLES MANSON

Prison is a mind. The mind is prison. That’s why they haven’t been able to break me because there’s no such thing. They’re in a fantasy. They don’t have a reality. Had I not done 22 years in prison before I got arrested this time, I would not have survived. The only reason I survived is, I’ve been through everything in prison ever since I was nine years old.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

It’s hard to understand. I mean, unless you really kind of have an understating of how things operate in prison and how selfish people tend to think when they’re in that environment.

NARRATOR

Leading up to the summer of nineteen sixty-seven, Charles Manson was in Los Angeles serving time for check forgery in a federal prison called Terminal Island

BLACK.

BOARD – TERMINAL ISLAND PRISON

NARRATOR

Two years before the murder spree Phil Kaufman was arrested trying to smuggle Marijuana into the U.S. from Mexico. He ended up in prison alongside Charles Manson.

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with Manson Family)

I got arrested in Tucson, Arizona. I got to terminal Island. I had just gone through the A&O, admission and orientation, before I was allowed out in the yard. There’s this guy with a guitar. Being in prison you gotta be careful who you associate with, and Charlie was a good guy to hang out with because he did give a fuck and he played music.

NARRATOR

Phil Kaufman knew Manson on the inside before anyone ever associated the name “Charles Manson” with the devil incarnate. Kaufman recalls the man he called “Charlie” as a laid-back inmate fully comfortable in prison life, to the point that he was completely unwilling to reform.

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with Manson Family)

If you get five years in a federal penitentiary and they don’t give you any incentive, you’ll just do five years and your uncontrollable. But when you’re sentenced they give you good time so a five-year sentence may be only forty months… But Charlie didn’t do that, he did all the time. He didn’t program. You know he got five years, Charlie did five years.

NARRATOR

According to prison records Charles Manson has received countless reprimands. He once described a prison confrontation in the sixties when a common punishment was for the guards to have the inmates ‘give in’ by putting their “nose to the wall”.

CHARLES MANSON

We fought for 48 days and 48 nights trying to make me put my nose on the wall. I told him “I ain’t putting my goddamn nose on that wall, fuck you”. And they’d come in and rush me and throw me up against the wall, like it or not. Then I’d slide down the wall. Next day they’d come, say, “Get up against the wall”. I’d say “No way”. Here we go again. Yeah, they can beat me but that can’t eat me.

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with Manson Family)

He was playing his guitar and so a guard comes up to him and said “Manson, you ‘aint never gonna get outta here”, and Charlie just kept playing his guitar and said “outta where man”, and just kept going.

CHARLES MANSON

I was a federal prisoner, DEAD, I got out of Terminal Island. Can you understand that? You know it’s like, I had played that game and won every pocket.

NARRATOR

Manson’s release paperwork from Terminal Island is dated March twenty first, nineteen sixty-seven. Vietnam was at the forefront of the American consciousness and a large segment of the male population was either at school or war. Many of the women left behind were embracing what would become known as the summer of love.   

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with Manson Family)

There was a lot of runaways at the time and a lot of people disenchanted with the status quo and they were easy marks, especially up in San Francisco.

The acid you know the pot and everything, they we’re looking for love and Charlie was selling it whole sale.

NARRATOR

This is when it’s been reported that Charles Manson formed a cult called The Manson Family. How did he transition from a chronic petty criminal to a psychotic villain capable of mind control? Until this point in his life, he’d never been charged with a violent crime and no one had ever described him as a guru or spiritual leader so something had to change in the summer of nineteen sixty-seven.

BLACK.

BOARD - THE MANSON FAMILY 

CHARLES MANSON

You see in they call it. In prison, they call it a run. When I get out of prison I run until I’m back in prison again.

NARRATOR

According to Manson, right after prison he spent the first year going back and forth between Haight Ashbury in San Francisco and Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles. 

CHARLES MANSON

I went to ‘Frisco and I was talking to this supposedly great holy guy. You dig? And he’s telling me when you can sit and be comfortable and at peace with yourself that you’re just in harmony, you dig? Now check this out. I figured a lot of things out. I figured this out. I figured it would be easier not to understand anything and keep your mind open and never make your mind up about nothing.

NARRATOR

Charles Manson’s mix of sixties culture and prison jargon attracted young women. Communes were abundant in California in nineteen sixty-seven. This is when Manson met the first two members of what would become known as the “Manson Family”; Mary Brunner who later gave birth to his child, and Lynette Fromme better known as “Squeaky”.

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Remember these weren’t ordinary people. And I get upset with the historians that refer to this group as hippies. They weren’t hippies. Hippies were flower children, they believed in “Make love, not war.” The Family referred to themselves as ‘Slippies.’ They said they were going to slip under the awareness of society. They were very violent. It was a religious cult.

NARRATOR

At trial the prosecution stated the family was nothing more than a closely-knit band of vagabond robots who were slavishly obedient to one man and one man only, their master, their leader, their god Charles Manson. One member of the group was Catherine Gillies. She adopted the nickname “Capistrano” or “Cappi” for short after fell in with Manson in the spring of nineteen sixty-eight.

CAPPI

I mean none of that shit was real, ok. We we’re trying to step out of society is what we we’re trying to do. We didn’t have stabbing practice on Saturday and hang Charlie from a cross on Sunday. I mean none of those things are real. We didn’t call ourselves ‘The Manson Family’, okay. That was, that was the press. We called ourselves a family but we meant that because we were brothers and sisters not because we were ‘The Family’ we were ‘A’ family.

NARRATOR

Another member named Sandra Good collaborated on a book with her partner George Stimson in which he talked about life inside the so-called Manson Family.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter’)

A lot of people do that when you’re young and you’re living like a family, but you know, it doesn’t have the connotation that Manson Family does, capital M, capital F.

NARRATOR

This contention appears to be supported by the trial transcripts. In many instances Vincent Bugliosi says clearly that the group called themselves “the family” but no one ever refers to them as “The Manson Family” the label often reported, which according to George Stimson is significant.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter’)

The thought that he was actively recruiting people to set up some kind of organization to carry out his homicidal aims is just ridiculous.

NARRATOR

But the reality is that they did commit homicidal acts, however, according to several individuals who were part of the group, the label THE MANSON FAMILY was only used by the press and not consistent with how they interacted or viewed themselves at that time.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

You know most of them we’re inexperienced with communes prior to joining that one. So, their only experience with communes would have been with Charlie.

AUTOMATED RECORDING

You have sixty seconds remaining.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

They were always free to leave.

CHARLES MANSON

You know it’s weird man, it’s like you see a bunch of people and their coming along in your life and they’re doing what you’ve already done. I noticed this about people when they think I’m a hippie cult leader.

NARRATOR

The group was made up primarily of young women. Contrary to the common picture of Manson being a master manipulator who recruited them and controlled their minds, Bobby Beausoleil related that they came together much differently.  

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

What most people don’t understand is that it wasn’t Charlie’s charisma that attracted more women. It was once he had the two women together, the women attracted the women. Women who like a community of women, and that was the attraction in that group.

NARRATOR

How they came together and viewed themselves genuinely matters because it’s the first part of understanding whether Manson and the others were a hippy commune or a religious cult. The Helter Skelter theory is dependent on Charles Manson being a brainwashing cult leader, but people who were part of the group deny that dynamic. Is there another explanation for their heinous acts other than Manson dictating that they murder on his behalf?

CHARLES MANSON

I never ordered nobody to do anything but other than what the fuck they wanted to do. Do what you want, if you’re with me you’re free like me. I do what I want to do. You do what you want to do. Be careful with this phone call and don’t use it cause any more persecution to my friends, my family. Peace, I gotta go. My phone time’s up.  

BLACK.

BOARD - THE MANSON GIRLS

NARRATOR

The media has characterized the women who participated in the murders as middle-class and virtuous. They’ve been described as girl scouts, or good students, or Sunday school teachers, that Manson transformed into serial killers. Why would young women with good backgrounds leave their homes to live with an ex-convict who just wanted sex and death?  

Leslie Van Houten was nineteen when she met Charles Manson. The following summer she joined two others in the slaughter of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

RICH PFEIFFER

  (Leslie Van Houten’s Lawyer)

The problem people have is how can you go from a homecoming queen to being a Manson follower? Her childhood was really good until her parents got divorced. Back then it was very different than it is now. It was a big social stigma. She ended up with the druggie kids and the less desirables and she ended up doing drugs at that time. She got pregnant. Her parents pretty much pressured her into having an illegal abortion in the home, and they buried the fetus in the back yard, and that’s something she couldn’t get away from. After that the drug use escalated.

PETER CHIARAMONTE

   (Leslie Van Houten’s former  

  Boyfriend).

She was looking for a spiritual leader and she had home already left home and went out on the road. Bobby takes her to meet Charlie. I think it might have bothered him – that she would challenge him, she and Pat were really the only two that would.

NARRATOR

Patricia Krenwinkel, nicknamed Katie, was with Leslie Van Houten the night they killed the LaBiancas. Krenwinkel also participated in the Sharon Tate murders. At parole hearings, she’s described that her sister was a drug addict who died from an overdose at the age of twenty-nine. Before her death she introduced Patricia to drinking, drugs and alcohol. When Krenwinkel met Manson, she was nineteen. She’d left home to live with her heroin addicted sister in Venice, California.

One of the most infamous murders was Susan Atkins who took the nickname Sadie. She brutally murdered Sharon Tate and used her blood to write PIG on a door. 

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Susan Atkins had a terrible childhood she was abandoned by her parents, she was molested. 

NARRATOR

When Susan Atkins was fifteen her mother died from cancer, sending her home life into a spiral. When Atkins met Charles Manson she’d already worked as a topless dancer, been arrested for car theft, stolen property, and was a heavy drug user.

SUSAN ATKINS

I used to think you came down off an acid trip after 12 hours. Every time you drop acid you get a little bit further away from reality.

CHARLES MANSON

Susan’s pretty, she’s me actually. You see me is all there is, there’s nobody but you.

SUSAN ATKINS

I took so much acid that I was what I would term spaced, and it took me many years to, what I would term now, re-enter, and that was just through not having any acid and having to deal with reality every day.  

NARRATOR

If these were not perfect young women, plucked from society and corrupted solely by Charles Manson, did he actually brainwash them or were they working alongside him in a common motive? What was life like inside the so-called family the year leading up to the murders?

BLACK.

BOARD - THE SUMMER OF ’68  

NARRATOR

When you ask Charles Manson about life in the group before the murders, he talks about sex.

CHARLES MANSON

Everybody walked around naked. We’d all get together and just have a big bang man.

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with “Manson Family”)

I lived with them for almost a month. He’d say you know everybody has to make love. Love. It’s love, spread the love, you know. It was like sex on demand.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter’)

When you’re inside you have nothing, and all of a sudden he’s out and, you know, he said it was a prisoner’s dream come true.

NARRATOR

Another member of the group was Barbara Hoyt who like many of the others was seventeen when she ran away from home after an argument with her father. 

BARBRA HOYT

I met Squeaky. Sandy was pregnant. Sadie, we talked about the hypocrisies of life.

CHARLES MANSON

Nobody’s been able to get women together with each other. They’re jealous creatures, it’s hard to get two women together. And here comes along a nobody from prison who ‘aint even been out of prison long enough to spell his name right. He’s got thirty-five women up and doing whatever, you dig? 

NARRATOR

If Manson had found the dream life of an ex-convict, why would he indoctrinate them to murder people?

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative reporter)  

These murders did not happen because there was not going to be an apocalyptic race war, that’s not why this happened, the victims weren’t chosen at random.

NARRATOR

Brian Davis has spent more than a decade speaking to anyone involved in the events surrounding the murders on his online radio show. From his viewpoint, the key to understanding what happened is Charles “TEX” Watson because he was the person that actually led the murder parties on both nights, and killed more than anyone else.

CHARLES MANSON

Tex was perfect. A solider, a solider who’s in service is righteous and real. There’s no in between.  

NARRATOR

At trial the Vincent Bugliosi said Manson had “total and complete domination over his family including the actual killer Tex Watson”. How did Tex Watson come to be with Manson and perhaps fall under his control?  Brian Davis recounts that in nineteen sixty-seven, Watson left Northern Texas to live with a friend in Los Angeles, finding a part-time job at a Hollywood wig shop. 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

I talked with the guy that worked with Tex. He said Tex was an all-American boy. After about a year, Tex started to hang out at parties and smoke marijuana, grew his hair out a little bit and at that point he said Tex started to turn. So, all this was going on leading up before Tex ever met Charlie.

NARRATOR

Tex Watson met Charles Manson when he was invited to a never-ending party that was being held at a Pacific Palisades mansion. The house was owned by the drummer of the Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson.

 BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

Charlie crosses over into that because of the girls, Pat and Ella Joe Bailey we’re out hitchhiking and Dennis Wilson picked them up.

NARRATOR

The Beach Boys fifteenth studio album Twenty-Twenty, features a song co-written by Charles Manson called “Never Learn Not to Love”. During that time Manson befriended a record producer through Dennis Wilson named Terry Melcher.

Leslie Van Houten interviewed by LAPD, November 26th, 1969

LAPD: Tell me about Terry Melcher. Remember him?

LESLIE VAN HOUTEN: Terry Marshmallow?

LAPD: Mel- Melcher. Terry Melcher.

LESLIE VAN HOUTEN: I call him Terry Marshmallow.

LAPD: Oh, is that what you call him.

LESLIE VAN HOUTEN: I don’t know really. I knew that he said he could get us recorded and that he had known one of the Beach Boys.

NARRATOR

When he met Charles Manson, Terry Melcher lived on Cielo Drive in the same house that was later rented to film director Roman Polanski and his movie star wife Sharon Tate, after Melcher moved out. This is a direct connection between Manson and the Sharon Tate murders. Prosecutors claimed that Manson was an ambitious musician who aspired to be like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, so Dennis Wilson introduced him to Terry Melcher, but Melcher rejected him.  When Manson decided to begin a race war by killing random white people, he chose Terry Melchers house. According to the prosecution the residence was symbolic to Charles Manson and particularly the establishment’s rejection of him. Phil Kaufman worked in the music industry and recorded Charles Manson shortly before the murders took place. This is an audio recording from nineteen seventy made as part of the investigation.

Phil Kaufman interviewed by Aaron Stovitz, January 27th, 1970.

Up to this point he had recorded at various studios, and being as transient as he was, he never stayed around long enough, you know, to consummate a record deal. So, every time he recorded no one could ever release his music because he never signed any contracts. 

PHIL KAUFMAN

  (Lived with “Manson Family”)

‘Cause he had a good thing going for him, you know. Money wasn’t even involved in anything. He didn’t have to earn a living, he had girls going out and getting him food, he was having sex, playing his music you know. Life was good for him.

CHARLES MANSON

I could have been a rock and roll star. I could have been a movie star. That’s a slowdown. I don’t want a fuckin’ job. I’d rather have a vine of wine on the beach and be free as a dog looking for a place to sleep under the bridge rather than go to work. I was trying to get away from civilization.

NARRATOR

If Manson wasn’t rejected by the music industry, and Melcher’s house didn’t represent the establishment to him, then what was the real reason for Tex Watson taking three women over to Terry Melcher’s house and killing five people?

We put this question to Charles Manson directly.

CHARLES MANSON

Tex wasn’t wrong, you understand what I’m saying? Tex had to do what he had to do, and he said that. He didn’t say I told him to do a damn thing. They said the girls said it but the girls didn’t say it. She said, “Charlie told me to go do what Tex said.” You know why the District Attorney put the race war on me?

AUTOMATED RECORDING

You have thirty seconds remaining.

CHARLES MANSON

You got the whole damn fuckin planet against me.

NARRATOR

Charles Manson’s answers are not always straightforward, and he denies involvement in the Sharon Tate murders, but the missing factor may be the song Charles Manson contributed to the Beach Boys.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Charlie was told that he would be compensated for the use of the song, and the amount he was told was $5000. Now he didn’t care so much about the money. If you’re in prison and you owe somebody and you give your word and you don’t keep your word, that’s a justification for, you know, being killed. So, he sent Tex to kill Terry. Not a house full of five people. See that’s what’s so critical here. He wasn’t picking a house full of innocent people, he was picking Terry Melcher. The people that were there are the ones that took the brunt of what Tex Watson brought there that night.

NARRATOR

Charles Manson seeking retaliation on Terry Melcher for breaking his word, contradicts the motive laid out by the prosecution because it changes Manson’s intent from starting a race war to vengeance. According to the Helter Skelter Theory, Charles Manson planned to inspire a race war by killing affluent whites, so he sent his follower to Terry Melcher’s house. During the war, Manson would hide with his followers in a secret cave located in Death Valley. Afterwards, they would emerge and Manson would lead the victorious black army.   

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

When members joined the Family, he was telling them how Adolph Hitler was his hero for what Hitler did to Jews in World War II. He was a follower of Nietzsche. You know, just sick stuff.

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Acquaintance)

They say Manson wants to have a race war. He wants the black people – they’re going to rise up and kill all the white people. For a supposed person that hates black people why would he now want to be in charge. The story kind of loses me all over the place.

NARRATOR

Some have proposed that the prosecution made-up the Helter Skelter theory in order to more easily convict Charles Manson through a sensational conspiracy narrative. Another theory exists which some believe can explain the murders without the race war motive.      

Brian Davis

I’m not supporting Charlie Manson at all. I’m supporting more of the truth.

NARRATOR

If the prosecution did construct the Helter Skelter Theory, is convicting a man like Charles Manson so essential that any means of achieving it is acceptable?   

Brian Davis

It’s not about proving Charlie innocent. Even if it’s Charlie Manson. The law has to work for everybody.

CHARLES MANSON

This thing is so vast. I don’t know whether you can accept it. 

BLACK.

BOARD – AN ALTERNATE THEORY   

NARRATOR

Another theory proposes that the murders were the culmination of events centered around Charles Manson. Charles Manson had been released from prison and had formed a commune of lost souls. Several months before the murders the group had moved to a farmstead built as a backdrop for western movies and television shows, called Spahn Ranch.

CHARLES MANSON

I never realized it but the reason the ranch was so cool was that nobody ever lied to each other, man. We all got a long with each other, man. Everybody was straight up, there was no bullshit. We had a pretty nice group of people there. 

GRAY WOLF

  (MANSON SUPPORTER)

When I went to the ranch, I felt it was just the most mellow place I’d ever been. There was no ambitions. It’s a lot different than what the media might portray. 

NARRATOR

The ranch was owned by an eighty-year-old blind man named George Spahn, who lived in the main house which was located here. The ranch burned down in nineteen seventy-one but at the time extended along the Santa Susana Pass, isolated by the hills overlooking the San Fernando Valley.  

CHARLES MANSON

Everybody at the ranch was one. There was only one moving thing on that ranch, that was George Spahn, the old blind man. George was the boss. You know it’s like the horses ruled the ranch. We all served whatever was capable of service. A slave understands it’s master much more than the master understands the slave. 

BARBRA HOYT

Charlie told Squeaky to take care of George so they could stay at the ranch, and she did. 

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

She didn’t like having sex with other men. That’s why she got into that for Charlie. She took care of George and that became her thing. She wanted to only have sex with Charlie, and so she put herself in that position where she wouldn’t have to have sex with anyone else. She was a caretaker. 

BARBRA HOYT

She loved him. I think he wanted George to will the ranch to Squeaky. 

NARRATOR

Records reflect that while living at Spahn Ranch Tex Watson was arrested on a drug charge in April of nineteen sixty-nine, three months before the murders. 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

It was business for Tex, you know, he partook and he sold. That’s how he made a lot of his money. You go back before the murders, Tex has got the history for dealing drugs, and making drug deals, you know. That’s what Tex does.

CHARLES MANSON

I said don’t lie on this ranch. Other than that you can do anything you want here. Just don’t hurt nobody. 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

This is the connection. This is where it all connects.  

Tex Watson had a dope dealer. Tex Watson describes the drug dealer in his book as a mafia connected guy who owned a vending machine company that he used as a front for his dope business. 

CHARLES MANSON

Episodes like that happen every day in the drug world. 

NARRATOR

On July first, Tex Watson spoke with his vending machine dope dealer who was looking to sell twenty-five kilos of marijuana for two thousand five hundred dollars. Watson didn’t have that kind of money so he called his girlfriend in the city. She introduced him to another drug dealer named Bernard Crowe who was thought to be associated with The Black Panthers political movement. It was then that Watson came up with a scam. He would buy twenty-five kilos from his vending machine dealer for two thousand five hundred dollars, then sell twenty-two kilos to Crowe at a mark-up for two thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. That way Watson could buy the drugs from the vending machine dealer, and deliver what he promised to Bernard Crowe, all the while keeping the difference in money and drugs for himself and his girlfriend. To make that work neither of the drug dealers could meet, so Tex Watson planned to have Bernard Crowe pay upfront.

CHARLES MANSON

As the convicts say, if you do all the talking you got to be all the right. Lying’s what gets everything fucked up.

NARRATOR

When the time came, Crowe wouldn’t hand over his money to a hippie he didn’t know, so he kept Tex Watson’s girlfriend as collateral while Watson went to pick up the drugs. When this complication arose, Watson burned them both.  

CHARLES MANSON

He just promised to deal some drugs for them, and took the money and ran. 

CAPPI

What happened was Tex made a deal with him evidently, and then fuckin’ bummed out on the deal. We didn’t get anything out of it, it had nothing to do with us. It was all about Tex, trust me.

NARRATOR  

After that an enraged Bernard Crowe set out to find the man he knew as Charlie Watson. 

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

When Crowe called the ranch, and asked for Charlie, meaning Charles Watson, TJ got Charlie Manson on the phone because he knew Watson as TEX. And when Crowe said I want my money and I’m coming up to the ranch to burn the place down and rape all the girls there Charlie said no you’re not. I’ll come down and talk to you about it.

 CHARLES MANSON

To deal drugs you gotta be real. That’s underworld. Underworld means anybody can take that away from you and there’s nothing the laws going to do about it. Before the cops catch drug dealers, drug dealers catch drug dealers.

CAPPI

He was worried about us getting killed. We had babies there and all kinds of stuff, and all these young people, okay and they we’re trying to kill us. And that’s why Charlie went to Bernard, to stop him before he killed somebody.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

Bernard Crowe had Tex Watson’s girlfriend tied up, and I guess words were exchanged. And Charlie pulled out then gun a shot him.

CHARLES MANSON

Yeah, yeah I shot the Crowe. She said that Bernard was going to kill her. So we went down to help her, and ended up shooting him to help her. 

CAPPI

Bernard Crowe didn’t give him a chance. He had to shoot him or he was going to get shot, and Bernard Crowe just said “You better shoot me now, do it,” you know, and Charlie shot him.

NARRATOR

Bernard Crowe survived this shooting, although as Manson has often detailed, he was unaware of this.

CHARLES MANSON

That’s the difference between the underworld and being righteous with the underworld. In other words you don’t get caught off base or you get tagged out. It’s a simple game.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

He saw all the people he was with as children. They were weak they wouldn’t know how to hold their mud. Rather than try to convince them that they should, he just manipulated them to try to make them so complicit in violent crimes that they would not snitch on him. 

NARRATOR

In the alternate theory, Charles Manson’s shooting of Bernard Crowe left him with two problems. First, he had to be sure no one in the commune would talk to the police. Accordingly, he encouraged them to commit violent crimes for the group just like he had done.

CHARLES MANSON

I play cards. My family’s cards. My family are righteous; They can’t get away. They’re dead. Everyone in my family is dead like me. 

NARRATOR

Manson’s second problem was that he believed the Black Panthers would retaliate for the shooting, something he told members of the group.

 BARBRA HOYT

He was very worried about the black panthers attacking the ranch. It went from happy go lucky fun. It got so intense, so fearful. It makes me nervous just to talk about it.

CHARLES MANSON

We were in trouble with everybody that was against us. Anybody that didn’t like us, we didn’t like them. We we’re fighting all the time man.  

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Charlie, when he had that situation with Crowe and I went out there to hang out, I didn’t know what I had happened. And he told me, he pulled me aside and he said, “Man, you know I don’t have enough guys here, you know. I’m expecting a retaliation from the Black Panthers and I need more guys here”. So, you know, I was a young kid and that sort of appealed to my ego. 

CHARLES MANSON

Everybody likes everybody else dead. Nobody likes anybody.

BARBRA HOYT

I heard Charlie was recruiting the Straight Satan’s to be guards. 

NARRATOR

To protect the commune and himself from the Black Panthers, Manson enlisted a motorcycle club called the Straight Satans. In this audio recording with the L-A-P-D, the Straight Satans former president, Al Springer, described their arrangement.

AL SPRINGER interview with LAPD 11/69

Charlie says, “Now wait a minute”, he says uh, “maybe I can give you a better thing then you got over there.” I goes “What’s that?” He says, “Move up here. You can have all the girls you want, and all the girls”, he says, “are all yours.” 

NARRATOR

Three days after the Bernard Crowe shooting, Linda Kasabian arrived at Spahn Ranch for the first time. 

BARBRA HOYT

Linda was, she was a nice girl who was looking for, I don’t know if she was looking for Jesus or, um, she was just looking for life, and what was real and what wasn’t. 

CHARLES MANSON

You don’t find too many women who will stand up in any kind of fight. 

NARRATOR

Linda Kasabian’s account is critical because she was one of the four directly involved in the Sharon Tate murders. When she was later arrested, Kasabian gave her first statement to her lawyer Gary Fleischman. 

GARY FLEISCHMAN

I heard her version of it the first night they brought her back.

None of it made any sense that’s the problem. It was nonsensical and that’s where Vince came up with the Helter Skelter theory. But I never heard that theory during the period I was representing her, she didn’t know anything about it. 

NARRATOR

Days after the Bernard Crowe shooting Bobby Beausoleil committed the first murder. The prosecution said that Manson “needed money” but the specifics of this motive were never fully explained. The motive was described as generally related Manson’s preparation for the race war.

 STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Manson wanted money. He wanted money because he was preparing for the revolution.

NARRATOR

The prosecution contended that Manson sent Bobby Beausoleil, and two women, Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins, to the home of an acquaintance named Gary Hinman. Their orders were supposedly to retrieve money from Hinman and kill him if he refused. 

CHARLES MANSON

It’s all crap. You don’t have to look it up, you just have to look at it.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Nobody sent me over to recruit Gary to the family. He was as much of the so-called family as I was and I wasn’t a part of the family.

NARRATOR

Bobby Beausoleil contends that in the aftermath of Bernard Crowe shooting, Manson’s arrangement with the biker gang made them a constant presence at the ranch. Two weeks before the Sharon Tate murders, Beausoleil says the Straight Satans were looking for drugs. Beausoleil sold them mescaline he got from his former roommate Gary Hinman. Beausoleil maintains that the day after the drug deal the Straight Satans demanded their money back claiming the drugs were bad.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

I don’t really believe you I think they were trying to get the drugs for free. They were playing me for a sucker. There wasn’t any bad drugs or anything like that.

CHARLES MANSON

Beausoleil was a strong individual. Yeah, he was in trouble with the motorcycle gang. And, we were dealing and wheeling underworld man. That’s what motorcycle gangs do, you know. In other words, the strongest survive. 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

There is a property report of Gary Hinman. And in that property, report they list homemade scales with white powder. They didn’t test it for it mescaline, so we don’t know if it was or not. To me that’s evidence.

NARRATOR

With the Straight Satans threat looming, Bobby Beausoleil claims he went to Gary Hinman’s house to retrieve the money from the drug deal and return it to the biker gang.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

I went there for one thing and that was to collect the money. And ‘cause they asked to come along, Mary had a relationship with Gary, and I don’t know why Susan Atkins asked to come along. I didn’t see any problem going there. I figure it was going to be no problem to get the money back and, you know, and come back and give it to ‘em, and it was going to be done.

NARRATOR

As recalled by Bobby Beausoleil, when Gary Hinman refused to return the money the confrontation escalated. Along with Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins, Beausoleil stayed at the house for two days. Beausoleil thought he could reason with Hinman to give up the money. They wrestled over a gun which went off but hit no one. During the confrontation, someone called the Ranch to ask for help. At some point, Bobby Beausoleil gained the upper hand and made Gary Hinman sign over his cars.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

So he had these two old wrecks and they were, I figured between the two of them they were worth maybe a grand. The grand that they were saying I owed them. 

NARRATOR

With the pink slips in hand they prepared to leave. As they were walking out the door Manson unexpectedly rushed in with a sword and cut Gary Hinman across the face.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Charlie had slashed his face and left me with the problem. And I didn’t know how to get out of it, you know, I didn’t know how to get away without getting arrested, unless I killed him.

NARRATOR

After the murder, someone wrote on the walls in Gary Hinman’s blood.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

To be honest with you, I don’t remember a lot that happened immediately after my having killed Gary. That really devastated me. My memories of what happened afterwards have never really been clear.

NARRATOR

A black panther paw print was drawn on the wall along with the words POLITICAL PIGGY.  

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

It was in everyone’s minds. Everyone believed Charlie had killed a black panther, according to what he had told everyone. There was an intent to throw the investigators of the trail.

NARRATOR

From this perspective, Gary Hinman’s murder was directly related to the Bernard Crowe shooting. They staged the crime scene to frame the Black Panthers because they feared retaliation. At the same time, Manson’s intent to make the others complicit had been unexpectedly furthered. This prevented members of the group from telling the police about what Manson had done. According to police records on Wednesday, August sixth, two days before the Sharon Tate murders, Bobby Beausoleil was arrested in one of Gary Hinman’s cars. 

CHARLES MANSON

I was in San Diego when that happened.

BARBRA HOYT

I heard he got arrested for murder. I thought that the police had just made it up. No, I didn’t believe it.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

I think it’s important to look at the timing of this. You’re looking at these murders that happened on Cielo and Waverly are like two days later, and it’s very important that they happened then rather than a month later or two weeks earlier. So, that indicates that they we’re a reaction to Bobby’s arrest and the idea of getting him out of prison by committing copycat murders. 

  NARRATOR

In the alternate theory, two days after Bobby Beausoleil was arrested the group planned to commit another murder. This turned out to be the murders of Sharon Tate and those who were at her home on August eighth. The group planned to stage the crime scene to make it appear as if Gary Hinman’s killer was still on the loose. They reasoned this would compel the police to let Bobby Beausoleil go. Charles Manson admitted that this was their thinking.

CHARLES MANSON

He was in prison. He was in the LA county jail when it happened. See we we’re all in a brotherhood. We were all in one family and we were helping the brother. It happened to be Beausoleil. 

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

He told other people he was trying to send a message to me, and others make the police think that they had the wrong person.  

NARRATOR

According to Bobby Beausoleil this is not the entire picture but reaffirms Manson’s deeper motive. Committing a copycat murder to free Beausoleil would make the others complicit, preventing more members of the group from potentially talking to the police about the Bernard Crowe shooting.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Depending on the orientation of whoever he was talking to he would say things that would support some sort of agenda that he had.

NARRATOR

Manson’s agenda comes full circle when you consider that he still harbored a grudge against Terry Melcher for the song Manson had contributed to the Beach Boys. According to the alternate theory, this is why four members of the commune ventured out to Terry Melcher’s house, two days after Bobby Beausoleil’s arrest, on August eighth, nineteen sixty-nine.

BLACK.

BOARD - LOS ANGELES, AUGUST 8TH, 1969, NIGHT OF THE SHARON TATE MURDERS 

BARBRA HOYT

I remember after dinner in the backhouse, and I remember Charlie and Tex talking in the corner, and it was like there was black around them. It was just like evil around them, a black cloud around them.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

There were people at the ranch who owed Charlie favors, and he said you owe me, I’m collecting. Do something to get Bobby outta jail, I don’t care what you do but do it.

CHARLES MANSON

I gave my life to what I thought was a brother. Every time I do that man I always end up on the short end of everything because I’m, I’m stupid. I can’t do school books stuff. I’m a stupid hillbilly is what it boils down to.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

I know he told Tex Watson, “You either take care of the problem or get on the road.” Tex Watson could have just left the ranch and there wouldn’t have been any “Tate-Labianca” murders.

CHARLES MANSON

Tex didn’t say that I told him to tell him anything. I told him four or five different ways.

MICHAEL CHANNELS

  (Manson Acquaintance)

He don’t tell nobody to do nothing. He don’t tell you to do anything today. He can convince you that that’s your idea, because usually it is your idea.

CHARLES MANSON

You can do what you want to do when you make up your mind and you decide that that’s what you’re going to do.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

What they didn’t volunteer to do was something they didn’t understand which was his need to protect himself. He manipulated them.

SUSAN ATKINS  

I remember when we first went in, one of the people said ‘who are you’ and Tex said, ‘I’m the devil and I’m here to do the devil’s business”. I don’t think Charles Manson’s mind was in control of Tex’s mind that night. Charlie’s human too, and his mental powers are just as limited, maybe not as limited as other humans, but there was an evil force in control of Tex that night.

BARBRA HOYT

They died so horribly, I don’t know if people really think about how. You just how much they suffered. You know, I think about Sharon Tate and she must have been insane with fear by the time they got to her.

PHIL KAUFMAN

What does it take to have somebody tell you to go and kill people, for what reason? I couldn’t conceive what could allow them to be influenced to go down… They didn’t kill people they butchered people, and these are the people that I’d been sleeping with.

NARRATOR

When Susan Atkins used Sharon Tate’s blood to write on a door, it appeared to call back to the murder of Gary Hinman. The police never made this connection. 

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Sherriff’s homicide was handling the Hinman murders and two of the homicide investigators went to the Tate investigators and said look we have this murder of Gary Hinman, blood on the wall, in Hinman’s blood. So they said, look we think these are connected, the LAPD investigators sent them away said, nah, they’re not connected.

 NARRATOR

The prosecution maintained that the events of that summer were not connected. They claimed that Charles Manson led a religious cult and was trying to start a race war called Helter Skelter, inspired by the Beatles.

DIRECTOR (OS)

If they’re trying to frame black people, why aren’t they writing “kill white people” or something very obvious?

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Probably because they didn’t think of it. That of course, you know, people would connect blacks because of the Beatles white album, so some black would figure it out and tell somebody, oh ya know (cough), Beatles, this is part of the murders--

DIRECTOR (OS)  

It just seems like a lot of dots to connect.

 BLACK.

BOARD - LOS ANGELES, SATURDAY - AUGUST 9TH, 1969, NIGHT OF THE LABIANCA MURDERS

NARRATOR

If members of the group killed Sharon Tate and others as a copycat murder in order to free Bobby Beausoleil, then why did  they commit more murders the next night?

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

The second night at the LaBianca’s was to cover up for what he had done the first night, which was kill a house full of people. He didn’t realize it was gonna be this big thing that had unfolded up there at the house on Cielo. He didn’t know that Terry Melcher had rented the place out so it basically turned into a fiasco.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

It was the weekend so, he’s going out the next night because he’s gotta cover up those Tate murders, because that’s going to get out and that’s going to be nasty.

DIRECTOR (VO)

Who did kill those people? 

CHARLES MANSON

The people that told you they killed ‘em. They said on the witness stand, yeah I killed ‘em.

NARRATOR

On the second night, another member of the group became complicit; Nineteen-year-old Leslie Van Houten.

PETER CHIARAMONTE

  (Leslie Van Houten’s former  

  Boyfriend).

Tex was Leslie’s boyfriend, ok, at the time. When Pat is explaining, what happened to Leslie, as I understand it, Pat was shaken by what she’d done but Leslie felt that she had to prove herself now, we’re gonna go out again and this has to be done. She must have been told at that point the line, “We’re doing it for Bobby.”  

NARRATOR

Catherine Gilles, also known as Cappi, recalls seeing Leslie Van Houten get into a car with Patricia Krenwinkel and others.

CAPPI

I had no idea where they were going but Katie and Lulu were the closest people in the universe to me. That girl was my other me and Katie was like our big sister. And they were in the car, and they we’re going somewhere without me, you know, and so I tried to get in the car and they wouldn’t let me. I didn’t know why. They were protecting me.

NARRATOR

Manson often speaks in riddles. This ensured many members of the group were not aware of what was going on.

CHARLES MANSON

What’s real has different levels. You could go on certain levels of reality, that other people don’t really understand at all. And they call it insanity.

NARRATOR

The group drove to Los Feliz and parked near an intersection on Waverly Drive. Inside the home to the west was an affluent couple who owned a chain of grocery stores, named Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

PHIL KAUFMAN

It was a place that they knew. They had been to Harold’s house which is right next door.

NARRATOR

This audio recording from the LA District Attorney shows that the house next door to LaBianca residence was once occupied by a man named Harold True, who knew Manson and the girls.

Harold True interviewed by Aaron Stovitz, January 27th, 1970:

They called and asked if they could spend the night in the house. And we let them stay the night. At Waverly? Yeah it was a big house, a lot of people stayed there. “Now how did he get your… have your phone number to call?” I don’t know. I guess maybe I gave him a map.

PHIL KAUFMAN

When I skipped the country and the time of my marijuana bust, Harold True gave me his passport. He had never had a passport so I got a passport in Harold’s name. And then when I got out and I went to see Charlie, I took Harold along. Harold was a big old lumpy guy and you know he thought he might get laid.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

They were camping out with the bus there and living at Harold True’s place, and the neighbours called the cops.  They had to leave there because the neighbours called the cops. And the neighbours were the LaBiancas.

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL

Charlie picked people he had grudges against. He didn’t just pick people at random.

NARRATOR

This adds to the alternate theory that on the second night Manson continued manipulating the others.  It wasn’t because he would rule the world after a race war, instead it was a series of interconnected events. It began with the Bernard Crowe shooting, which led to the Gary Hinman murder and Bobby Beausoliel’s arrest. This culminated in the Sharon Tate and LaBianca murders. A significant amount of the commune became complicit and Manson’s outstanding grudges were satisfied. There is one additional piece that appears to support this theory, Charles Manson’s actions after the LaBianca murders. According to Tex Watson’s account, summarized from numerous public statements, he and Charles Manson went up to the LaBianca house and broke in through the back door. Manson woke up Leno LaBianca and tied him up. They retrieved Rosemary LaBianca from her bedroom and tied her up, before threatening to kill the couple in the living room. Manson disputes Tex Watson’s version of events.

CHARLES MANSON

What has he told you about me? Everything that’s going to help him, right? You are for you. I am for me. I’m for Charlie. I didn’t kill nobody.

NARRATOR

It’s undisputed that Manson drove to the LaBianca house and that he went into the house for some period of time. According to the trial transcripts, Linda Kasabian is asked; Question, how long after he left the car did he return to the car? Answer, I remember we all lit up cigarettes and we smoked about three-quarters of a Pall Mall cigarette, however long that takes.

The question is, what did Charles Manson do once he left the car?  

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

If you’re looking at three quarters of a cigarette, it’s five minutes. When you’re looking at what Tex says, there’s just not enough time.

NARRATOR

Manson and Tex Watson went up to the house. After a few minutes Manson returned, at which point Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten went into the house. Manson then drove away with the others.

Those in the car claim that while in the house Manson had retrieved Rosemary LaBianca’s wallet which police later found twenty miles away in a gas station bathroom located in Sylmar.  

According to the prosecution Manson conspired to plant the wallet in a black neighbourhood, reasoning a black person would use the credit cards and be connected to the murders. This would help spur the impending race war. But this motive is contradicted by the evidence. Census data from the nineteen seventies shows that Sylmar was not a black neighbourhood.

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Obviously, he got screwed up. The wallet got planted in the wrong city, I mean there’s no point in planting it in a white area and having a white person use the credit cards. That defeats the whole purpose of blaming the murders on the blacks.

NARRATOR

If framing black people wasn’t Manson’s motive, then what was he trying to achieve in the few minutes that he was in the LaBianca house? And, what was the reason for taking Rosemary LaBianca’s wallet? 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

My theory is, Charlie goes up to the house. Tex Watson says in his book when they get in there Mr. LaBianca says “Hey, what do you all want, you all want money? I can get you money.” Let’s say Charlie did accept the money offer. My Theory is Charlie got the money and then he left, that’s why he left.

 NARRATOR

No one disputes that once Manson left, Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten stayed in the house and murdered the LaBiancas.  

 STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

With Leno LaBianca there was a carving fork protruding out his abdomen and Krenwinkel had written on his abdomen WAR. They found a knife with the handle sticking out of one end the blade traversing his neck, severing a carotid artery and part of the blade sticking out of the other side.

NARRATOR

During the LaBianca murders, all agree that Charles Manson took the rest of the group to Venice. The prosecution insisted that Manson went to Venice to get his followers to commit another murder. Once again, the motive was to frame a black person and fuel the race war. According to trial testimony, Manson allegedly took his followers to the apartment building located here. 

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

The address to that apartment building is, you could literally say a stone’s throw from the Straight Satans clubhouse in Venice. You mean that Straight Satan biker gang that Charlie owed money to? Yeah that biker gang, they were in Venice. 

NARRATOR

In the alternate theory, after Manson shot Bernard Crowe he feared retaliation and enlisted the Straight Satans for protection. Bobby Beausoleil compromised this protection by getting into a conflict with the Straight Satans over a drug deal.  

If Manson took enough money from the LaBianca residence, he could have gone to Venice to settle the debt that Bobby Beausoleil owed the Straight Satan’s from the Gary Hinman drug deal. This would’ve regained their protection from the Black Panthers.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

It’s what, 4 in the morning, 3 or 4 in the morning? They didn’t go back to ranch, they went to Venice. That’s how pressing this was for Charlie. They could wait until Monday to do business. I think they went to Venice to pay off the Straight Satans.

CHARLES MANSON

When you’re in the know with somebody that’s in the know. You don’t play games with them. 

BRIAN DAVIS

That next morning Charlie sent Linda Kasabian down to the jail with a message for Bobby Beausoleil, don’t say anything, everything’s cool. Why all of a sudden is everything cool? By Monday before any court proceedings started they get a message to Bobby, everything’s cool, we’ve taken care of everything. Don’t say a word about nothing. We’ll have you out of there soon. 

NARRATOR

By Monday morning seven people were dead but the string of murders was not finished.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

The neighboring rancher, he didn’t like the Manson family. So, what was going on then is, they we’re trying to get them off the ranch. 

NARRATOR  

It’s been long speculated that the neighboring rancher may have recruited a ranch hand named Donald “Shorty” Shae to rid Spahn Ranch of the group. Manson believed Shae had tipped off the police leading to a raid.

BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

You know there was definitely no love lost between Shorty Shae and Charles Manson as far as I can gather. 

NARRATOR

On August sixteenth, nineteen sixty-nine, twenty-six members of the commune were arrested for suspicion of auto theft. Because of a date error, the search warrant was ruled invalid and all were released. The police had no idea that they were connected to the murders making national news. When they returned to Spahn Ranch, Donald Shae was never seen again.

BARBRA HOYT

I went to sleep in a little trailer. I heard a scream, And then I heard more screaming and it just didn’t end and it was horrific. It was horrible, and it kept going on and on and I recognized Shorty’s voice.

NARRATOR

After Donald Shae’s disappearance, Manson and the commune left Spahn Ranch.  

 BRIAN DAVIS

  (Investigative Reporter)  

Cappi suggested that her grandmother had a place out there in Death Valley, when he was looking for a place to go. They went out there and looked at it. He fell in love with it. And he said this is it. This is it, this is our utopia.

NARRATOR

The land in Death Valley was an isolated mining property owned by Catherine Gilles’ grandmother. After the murders, Charles Manson and the group stayed there until October of nineteen sixty-nine.    

CAPPI

We went to the desert because of me. My favorite place besides the ocean. I was born on the ocean and I lived in the desert, and I love the desert so I offered up the desert.

NARRATOR

Just like authorities had in Los Angeles, Inyo County officers raided the Death Valley ranch on August twelfth, nineteen sixty-nine for suspicion of auto theft.

Twenty-four members of the group we’re arrested and once again police had no idea they were involved in any of the murders. The killers were imprisoned except for Patricia Krenwinkel, who went on both nights, and Tex Watson.  

 GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

After the murders, Pat Krenwinkel went back to Alabama, Tex Watson went back to Texas. Nobody was holding them around. 

NARRATOR

Records show that Linda Kasabian was bailed out by her parents and left California. Before anyone else could arrange for bail, Susan Atkins confessed.  

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

Susan Atkins is the one that broke the case. I mean they didn’t know that it was Charles Manson or Susan Atkins or anything until she blabbed.

PHIL KAUFMAN

That was her, that was very much her. Charlie would have been better killing her and he probably would have gotten away with it a little bit longer.

NARRATOR

While inside the country jail, Susan Atkins told her cellmates that she was involved in the murder of Sharon Tate. One of the first people Atkins confessed to was a call girl named Virginia Graham.  

VIRGINIA GRAHAM

Susan Atkins, she plopped herself down and she sat on the bunk and we started talking, and she presumed to tell me how stupid the police were, and they were dumb. She said to me, “You know those murders up benedict canyon?” She said you know who did it don’t you and I said no, and she said cold as can be “you’re looking her”.  She didn’t say Helter Skelter to me. I found out about, Helter Skelter, later on. But I don’t recall her telling me Helter Skelter.

NARRATOR

Susan Atkins was denied compassionate release in two thousand and eight, and died from brain cancer in prison. However, in nineteen sixty-nine the DA was willing to overlook the brutality of her actions.

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

The deal with Susan Atkins, the prosecution was going to let her plead to second degree murder. Sharon was begging for her life. She was being held by Susan Aktins and – she said “Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me. I just want to have my baby.”

SUSAN ATKINS

I felt nothing, I felt absolutely nothing for her as she begged for the life of her baby.  

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor) She said “Look bitch, I don’t care about you or your child. You’re going to die and I don’t feel a thing behind it.” Having Susan Atkins as the witness that wouldn’t have gone over to well with the jury.

NARRATOR  

The prosecutor who was working out the deal was the author of HELTER SKELTER, Vincent Bugliosi.

DANIEL SIMONE

Vincent Bugliosi was an outstanding prosecutor. But if one really we’re to dig much deeper, what emerges is he was a womanizer. He loved attention, he was over-ambitious

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

He had a guy sitting in court that I thought was a reporter but it turned out he was Curt Gentry, who Vince had hired to write a book on the case. He didn’t tell me that he was writing a book during the trial. So, yeah, he didn’t tell anybody it. This was gonna make him rich and famous.

CHARLES MANSON

It’s all underworld solider. Who you think the president is? Where you think his office is, in my cell?

NARRATOR

This is the Helter Skelter theory that was presented to the jury in the Charles Manson trials.

NARRATOR

Manson formed a cult of obedient followers who wanted to drop out of society. Their connection to the Bernard Crowe shooting is unknown as the motive and was not explored by the prosecution.  

Manson wanted to be a rock star and was obsessed with the Beatles. He had also met the Beach Boys.

Through the Beach Boys, Manson came to resent Terry Melcher and considered Melcher’s house a representation of the establishment.

Manson believed the Beatles were predicting a race war through hidden messages in their songs, and he needed money to supplement his preparation.

Because of this, Manson further brainwashed his cult to believe in the race war and ordered them to kill Gary Hinman.

Meanwhile, to start the race war, Manson decided to murder white people and frame black people. He indirectly ordered his followers to kill whoever lived at Terry Melcher’s house.

Manson also chose another house at random and ordered its occupants to be killed.

Manson’s plot was to frame black people by having his followers leave indirect references to the Beatles White Album at the crime scenes. Manson believed that both the police and black people would understand these references, and this would lead into the race war.

Once the race war began, Manson and the family would hide in a secret cave in the desert. After the war, Manson would emerge and become the leader of the victorious black army. At that point he would rebuild the world.  

This is the theory that convicted Charles Manson and others, and gained prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi fame, and a best-selling book.  

CHARLES MANSON

That’s what the DA said. Everybody will tell you what they think about me, according to what they want to use me for. All I’m looking for is someone to help me. I’ve always been by myself alone.

Phil Kaufman interviewed by Aaron Stovitz, January 27th, 1970.

Anything on the recordings that you know of whereby he speaks of his philosophy of Helter Skelter, the ruination and damnation of this world? No.

PHIL KAUFMAN

I was really not a friendly witness. I was on parole for one thing, I really didn’t, you know, want to get connected with these people. And this DA comes out to my house and tries to get stuff out of me that wasn’t there.

CHARLES MANSON  

They know how to milk the cow man. And they do it so well the cow don’t even know it.

NARRATOR

The Helter Skelter theory is not only sensational, it establishes the elements of murder and conspiracy under California law. To be found guilty, the defendant must agree to commit a crime as well as commit an overt act in furtherance of that agreement.

GEORGE STIMSON

  (Author – ‘Goodbye Helter    

Skelter)

Without proving the Helter Skelter motive there was no evidence whatsoever that Manson wanted these murders to happen. You have to be a party to it, you can’t just know about it.

 CHARLES MANSON

I didn’t break the law because I’ve been in prison all my life and I know the law. I know what conspiracy is. I’m not going to conspire to do something. That’s kind of stupid isn’t it? I’m not a stupid dude. I’m dumb but I’m not stupid.  

NARRATOR

This is the implication of what Manson is saying. It’s not that he wasn’t involved in the events of the summer of sixty-nine. Manson admits to shooting Bernard Crowe, his involvement with drugs, the Straight Satans, and the motive of getting Bobby out of prison. But when it came to the murders he maintains he purposely kept himself at a distance. 

GARY FLEISCHMAN

I thought it was a horrible case against him. Remember he was not at the scene. He was forty miles away when the murders took place so he was an armchair murderer.

NARRATOR

The Helter Skelter theory was how the prosecution demonstrated that Manson was guilty of conspiracy and murder under the requirements of the law. They described a scenario where he ordered the murders without actually saying the words.

STEPHEN KAY

  (Manson Family Co-Prosecutor)

I mean they all knew about Helter Skelter but we didn’t have any evidence from that specific night that Manson said go out and start Helter Skelter. He just said “Go with Tex and do what Tex tells you to do”. 

CHARLES MANSON

They still won’t admit the truth. They had no evidence against me, none. 

NARRATOR

There was no evidence that Manson himself killed anyone. The prosecution said that Manson was guilty under the rule of “vicarious responsibility”. The notion that Manson’s plot to start a race war made him responsible for all the crimes committed to further it.

BRIAN DAVIS  

Remember, Vince is trying to push the agenda that Charlie just came out of nowhere and said, hey, we gotta start a race war -  Bernard Crowe, drug dealing, grand theft auto, none of that has anything to do with this. If Vince introduces anything outside of that it starts to wash away the Helter Skelter theory. Then you have that reasonable doubt creeping in. Well maybe it has something to do with the drug deal? And Vince doesn’t want you going down that road. 

CHARLES MANSON

People don’t want to look at it from the point of view that brings them to something they don’t like. 

NARRATOR

The prosecution used the race war as the basis of their legal argument. If the alternate theory is correct, might they have ignored the true nature of events to gain a conviction? Whatever Manson’s crimes are, do the ends justify the means?

GARY LAWYER  

I think if he had had a competent lawyer, he would of either walked on the trial or walked on appeal because there just wasn’t sufficient testimony to convict him of anything.

NARRATOR

To convict Manson the prosecution’s entire case depended on one of the murderers corroborating their theory. On December second, nineteen sixty-nine, four months after the death of Sharon Tate, the last of the murderers was captured. Linda Kasabian surrendered in New Mexico and returned to California. She immediately met with her attorney Gary Fleischman.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

I talked to her and the only conversation I can tell you, I said keep your mouth shut and keep it shut in that jail. Don’t talk to anybody about this ever. I can’t tell you the conversation I had with her but I was lead to believe that the murders up there started long before the Tate-Labianca case. I can’t describe what she told me but it was scary, the whole thing was scary.

NARRATOR  

At that time, Linda Kasabian had few options because Susan Atkins had already turned state’s witness. According to Gary Fleischman, he had Kasabian sabotage Susan Atkins’s testimony to bolster Kasabian’s bargaining position with prosecutors.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

I had Linda pass kites to her, in the jail. A kite is a little letter, saying in Charlie talk, Charlie talk being ‘the DA is your lawyer, Charlie is the DA’. And this Atkins was a little nuts, and she then refused to testify. So now they we’re left with Linda, period – and then negotiations started.

First they offered me murder in the second degree, I said no, then they offered me voluntary manslaughter, I said no.

She was technically guilty of first degree murder before and after the fact.

NARRATOR

Linda Kasabian was one of the four who participated in the Sharon Tate murders and was with Charles Manson the night of the LaBianca murders. Prior to that, she had only been with the group for about thirty days and had spent little time with Manson himself.

CHARLES MANSON

Nobody ratted on me, except, she didn’t rat because she didn’t know anything. What they did was, they got some of the women that didn’t know me. I can’t get in their mind.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

So, we typed up an immunity agreement and the immunity agreement said, Linda Kasabian will receive immunity if she testifies to the truth in the so-called Manson murders. The truth is as follows. I knew exactly what was necessary to convict him, and whether that was true or not it was wasn’t my business to decide. That was Vince’s business. I said Linda if you testify to that you’re going to walk out of that courtroom. 

 NARRATOR

Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Charles “Tex” Watson and Leslie Van Houten were all charged with murder and conspiracy. Tex Watson was arrested in Texas and faced extradition to California. With Linda Kasabian ready to testify, Watson was not brought back in time for Manson’s trial.

BRIAN DAVIS  

Tex sat out a whole year and watched that trial develop. If he had brought Tex in with him there’s no way he would have got that conviction.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

They wanted to get rid of me. I had gone to Stanford. I was really the only lawyer in the place who knew what the hell was going on. We filed a very detailed motion to get the case out of LA county.

It had like a hundred newspaper clippings and I claimed that the bad publicity was instigated by the prosecutors and that’s enough to get the case dismissed at least on appeal.

That case should have never been tried in Los Angeles county. But when we went to make a deal we withdrew the motion.

CAPPI

You should have seen my face when, when I was sitting in the in with the demure act this whole gold cross that she was fingering, and got up on the stand and said “I’m just an angel sent here from Heaven, to tell the world that Charlie’s the devil not Jesus Christ”.

CHARLES MANSON  

Listen and learn. The courtroom shows our justice. The courtroom is the eye of the social consciousness. You’ve got to go along with the courtroom. Right or wrong doesn’t have anything to do with it. I’m a mass murderer in the courtroom. 

DANIEL SIMONE

In this case, Bugliosi was brilliant. He had no rivals. It came down to who the jurors believed and Manson’s own conduct which was absolutely absurd.

CHARLES MANSON

They think they’re stealing me but all they’re doing is stealing what I’ve left for them to steal. In other words, they’re plagiarizing all my dreams but I left those on the bus stop.

BRIAN DAVIS  

It literally branded Charles Manson the most evil, dangerous man in the world.

CHARLES MANSON

There’s no end to my insanity. My insanity is so much genius I’ve got five heads in one hand.

DANIEL SIMONE

None of the defense attorneys challenged that Linda Kasabian’s testimony remained uncorroborated.

CAPPI

I know how involved she was and I won’t say, but she was definitely involved, yes. 

NARRATOR

When the trial wound to a close, those associated began to fear for their lives. Many changed their names in fear of reprisal.  

CHARLES MANSON  

Live and let live. You don’t let me live, you don’t live. That’s all. If you let me live, you live.

I you don’t let me live then you get your own judgment. Everybody gets to judge themselves. I didn’t want the job, you know.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

Charlie went like this to mean, meaning I’m going to cut your throat. And I said to him “Charlie, when you get out of jail I’m going to have a turkey neck and bring you a sharp knife to cut it.” He started laughing.

PHIL KAUFMAN

They came to my house twice to kill me. My neighbor said you know guys have been crawling over your fence.

STEPHEN KAY

One night during the first trial on my way to the parking lot where I had parked, Squeaky and Sandra Good snuck up behind me and said they were going to do to my house what was done at the Tate house. 

NARRATOR

Leslie Van Houten’s attorney, Ronald Hughes, went missing during the trial. Many have speculated about his disappearance.

STEPHEN KAY

I remember we broke for the weekend on a Friday afternoon. Manson pointed directly at Ronald Hughes and said, Attorney, I don’t ever want to see you in this courtroom again.” His body was found six months later but it was so badly decomposed that they couldn’t tell the cause of death.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

I’ll bet your bottom dollar that he said something that got under Charlie’s skin, and Manson had him killed. I mean, he went up to (something) hot springs, and all of sudden he’s dead. I don’t believe it was an accident.

NARRATOR

After the first trial the Manson Family became infamous. Vincent Bugliosi published HELTER SKELTER the best-selling true crime book of all time. This began decades of movies, books, and TV shows, portraying Charles Manson as the incarnation of evil.

BOBBY BEAUSOLIEL  

It’s such an insidiously created book - It’s a curse having to live with it.

CHARLES MANSON

The DA fucked up man. Convicted me in the press, didn’t convict me in court. I got my own media.

NARRATOR

Charles Manson and the rest continued on through the courts. They received additional death sentences for the murder of Donald Shea based primarily on the testimony of Barbara Hoyt.

Tex Watson received a separate trial for the Tate-LaBianca murders and was sentenced to death like the others. The following year, the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty and all of their sentences were commuted to life in prison.

BRIAN DAVIS

The first trial, everybody was brainwashed, Tex was brainwashed, everybody went and killed for Charlie. But when Tex gets to trial he wasn’t brainwashed, he acted on his own.

NARRATOR

In November of nineteen sixty-nine, Bobby Beausoleil was tried for the murder of Gary Hinman. This was before the DA had labelled Charles Manson as the mastermind. Beausoleil’s first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict. There was no mention of Helter Skelter.

BOBBY BEAUSOLIEL

The first trial was just a quiet little trial in Santa Monica, the Jury was hung 8 to 4. I didn’t even testify because the case was really very weak. 

NARRATOR  

In a second trial, which took place after Manson was charged, Bobby Beausoleil was rebranded as a “member of The Manson Family”. He and Susan Atkins were sentenced to death alongside Manson for the murder of Gary Hinman.

BOBBY BEAUSOLIEL

They brought up this race war thing and all of that. It was horrible, man. They did a lot of insidious things.

NARRATOR  

Many of those convicted for the Tate-LaBianca murders remain in jail. Leslie Van Houten has been granted parole on numerous occasions but because of her association with Charles Manson her parole has been continually overturned.  

STEPHEN KAY

I don’t think that she deserves to get out. They we’re all lucky that they didn’t suffer the death penalty.

RICH PFIEFFER

I’m going to get her out. The DA is not operating fairly. Just follow the law, that’s all I’m asking.

NARRATOR

Lynette Squeaky Fromme served thirty-five years in prison for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford. Fromme was paroled in two thousand and nine. Vincent Bugliosi died in two thousand and fifteen. His book HELTER SKELTER has become gospel in terms of information on Charles Manson.

NARRATOR

Manson remains in California State Prison, Corcoran, where he will almost certainly live for the remainder of his life.

CHARLES MANSON  

That’s hard for me to believe that all this time has gone by man.

NARRATOR

Charles Manson is not an innocent man but does it matter how we know that? Should those in power be allowed to construct their own truth in the pursuit of justice?

CHARLES MANSON

I see things as they really are in truth. You got a constitution in the United States, and they read and study it in school but they never really understand the validity of it, and how powerful it really is.

GRAY WOLF

I don’t care who it is, if somebody doesn’t get a fair trial then we’re all in trouble.

GARY FLEISCHMAN

Do I think he’s suffered an injustice, not really (laughs), not in my heart of hearts. But as a matter of litigation, yes he did suffer an injustice. Whether morally he suffered an injustice I don’t think so.

NARRATOR

This leaves some to ask, if the prosecution had pursued the alternate theory with its brutal but less sensational elements, would anyone even know who Charles Manson is? And, would he be sitting in jail today? 

MANSON

I believe what I’m told to believe. Don’t you?

THE END