#that bobby bit isn't in the movie though

[epickiya722]

Miguel 🤝 Yuji

Someone compares them to a real life professional mixed martial artist who specializes in kickboxing

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, me and @buckgettingstruck have been going back and forth since yesterday and we have reached enlightenment about bucktommy, and I'm here to share. This isn't an anti post btw, this is us trying to make sense of the relationship in the context of the show.

But imagine you're Tommy. You’ve been closeted for most of your life and you recently came out (yeah, recently, six years is not that long). You left your fiance and decided to come out, but since then most of your relationships — friends and otherwise — have been shallow. For some reason, you don't know how to turn off the instinct to keep people at arm's length.

Suddenly you’re helping your old coworkers rescue your former captain and his wife, and in come Eddie and Buck. 

You hit it off with Eddie. He’s very friendly and you have a lot in common, so you're hanging out with him and trying to get a feel for him. Maybe he’s into guys. Hanging out with him is fun, even if you still can’t find any actual reason to open up to him about your life. You go to fights, you practice Muay Thai, you play basketball. You have fun. 

And then there’s his crazy ass best friend — Buck. 

Buck is spinning out about the two of you hanging out for a few weeks for some reason. You kinda assume there’s something going on with him and Eddie and you try to apologize to the guy. Buck tells you that it's not because he’s jealous of Eddie, it’s because he wants your attention. It throws you for a loop (my attention? You two haven’t really talked since he asked for a tour around Harbor), but your interest is piqued. The guy is hot, and he’s cute in a rambly way so you decide to go for it and it works out in your favor. But in the back of your mind, you know that this dude has some very intense relationship going on with his best friend. You had to bring up Eddie’s kid to get him to warm up to you, after all. But for all you know Eddie is straight, and Buck says he wants your attention. You don’t want anything that serious — breaking off the first engagement was hard enough — and you don’t really have anything to lose by just seeing where this goes. You’ve only been out for six years, so you want to explore. Maybe this could be fun. 

The first date is a bit of a trainwreck, and the dude turns out to be too intense. Somehow Eddie showed up with that girlfriend of his he’s never really talked about, and Buck is spinning out. You decide to cut your losses and go home — even if leaving Buck on the curb was a bit of a dick move. But Buck calls you a few days later. You meet for coffee. He tells you he doesn’t know what he wants, but he wants to try with you. He invites you to Chimney’s bachelor party and his wedding to Buck’s sister as a nice gesture and you figure, what the hell? Why not? Maybe it’s a little much, but he’s trying. 

In your head, you're in a fun, casual relationship because you haven't had the conversation about it being serious. Since Buck doesn’t bring it up or ask you for very much at all, you believe he is on the same page. You keep him at arm’s length so it stays that way — when he talks about almost losing Bobby, the whole Gerrard mess. It’s subconscious, you think, but keep it light and surface level. You don't want something that deep, and he is following your lead. You maybe see each other once a week, considering you both work 24-hour shifts and have chaotic schedules. You go to dinner, you go to the movies, and maybe you make out a little. It's easy and it's fun, and you can stay that way as long as the Buck doesn't push you further. It’s been almost six months now, and beyond venting about Gerrard a few times, he hasn’t even nudged. 

It’s a little weird, though, how Eddie’s always there. And you really like Eddie, honestly, but he’s constantly around. Sometimes it feels like you’re the third wheel here. He’s already there when you arrive for Chimney’s bachelor party, dressed in a suit to match Buck’s and helping set up. Suddenly a few months later you’re being invited to Chris’s Zoom birthday party, where Buck looks just as defeated taking the decorations down as the kid’s father. Buck dislocates his shoulder — you didn’t ask why, and he didn’t volunteer the information — and Eddie is there tucked into the guest chair with a magazine and the shitty hospital coffee, asking about Buck’s recovery and return to work. You do get to stay with him overnight, on his uncomfortable couch and falling asleep as he talks on and on about the corpse he accidentally rented (and alright, why did Buck get mad at him for laughing and not Eddie?). When Buck wakes up with boils the next day it’s not even a question for him to call Eddie. Eddie talks him down a lot better than you could, even if the situation is a bit ridiculous. You don’t miss the way he snaps at you for calling him gross — mentioning your cousin gets shingles is apparently a crime — while he tells Eddie to call his appearance what it is and he’ll believe it’s stress if he says so. But hey, getting boils kinda sucks, and Buck is having a rough go lately, so you move past it. But you don’t miss how Eddie seems to sense that Buck’s picking at his face without looking up from his phone when you’re at the hospital a couple days later because of Hen’s kid. You don’t miss how everyone else gets the good news that he’s going to make it through. Everyone except for you. 

You kinda want what Buck has, if you’re being honest. He found a family at the 118, with really intense people on his six, and you’re hoping that when the relationship runs its course you can stay friends. Maybe you can still keep part of that. Maybe that’s still within reach, even if Buck won’t even show you the text everyone else got. 

Buck goes from zero to a million after that, because he finds out he dated your ex-fiance and his next course of action is to thank you for gay rights and ask you to move in with him.

Up to this point, you thought you were on the same page — light, casual, fun. He didn’t push, but then he shoved you both off a bridge and now you can't ignore the thing that's been in the back of your mind for the last six months. 

Honestly, you have no idea what’s going on with Eddie. The mustache is a choice, and he was doing some funny things with that ring pop back at the hospital, but for all you know, he’s a zero on the Kinsey scale. You know Buck has something going on beneath the surface with how he feels about Eddie, whether he realizes it or not. You knew there was an expiration date on this thing when you started, and you didn’t even mind. You kept it fun and light over the past six months. You kept your distance — maybe a bit too much, considering Abby never came up until now. You hoped maybe you’d get to keep some decent friends once Buck figured his shit out. You knew, even if you tried to ignore it. You tried to enjoy it while it lasted. 

You tried to convince yourself it wasn’t there for a while. Buck, as far as he knew, still knew, was telling the truth. He wanted your attention, your time, you. He’s still figuring everything out, and you thought maybe you had more time. Keeping it casual and slow could only go so far, in the end. 

Buck nudges once, pushes you to consider what it would be like to be in a relationship with him that's serious. He’s talking about living together and you’re panicking a little bit as a thousand scenarios run through your brain, but you can’t see an ending that's not him realizing he has feelings for someone else and leaving you. Another six months, a year, five years — it's all the same. 

You didn’t want to get hurt in this situation, but you will be if you stay. You’ve already hurt people by denying the truth before.

So you tell him — I know how this ends.

You didn’t want to. You never really planned on ending it because you figured he would, but you reached the point where you can't come back. He wants more, and you know that would just end in smoke. Not for him, but for you. 

So you have to break this guy’s heart. And you know if you break this guy’s heart, you’re going to become the villain. You lose the entrance to a family you wanted to be a part of. You lose the friendship you had with Eddie, who is just as goddamn weird and crazy about Buck as Buck is about him. You lose the potential friendship in Buck, in them both, in everyone. There’s only one way out of here now. 

Buck’s somehow still endearing as you end things. You try to nudge him for once, talking about firsts and lasts. He doesn’t get it. You throw in some line a parking spot because the second reserved one Buck got with his loft went to Eddie years ago. You step into the hall, out of Eddie’s shadow, and walk away with nothing.

[azaharinflames]

Sorry I need to rant for a tiny, little bit, because...

You know what I find particularly funny?

Their version of Buddie simply does not exist.

And I am not talking about how it is not canon, that is a given. But their version of it. The things they've claimed they do, or feel about each other, or think of each other.

(Disclaimer: I have my own opinion of their friendship and I do believe there are way better friendships within the show, including for Buck. But I do acknowledge they do love each other as friends and deeply care about one another. And that Chris is important for Buck. That is not up to discussion here. Okay, we can go on)

They have this whole "Buckley-Diaz is a family" that consists of Buck spending 99% of his free time at the Diaz house, of them having weekly movie nights, and of Buck taking Chris to school almost as much as Eddie does. And this is simply not true.

We do see Buck spending time at the Diaz house, of course. When he's hanging out with the Diazes (something that, might I point out, has not really happened since Season 4, as the few scenes we got of them hanging out since have been at Buck's loft - correct me if I'm wrong), helping Eddie out, in a group setting, and hiding from his sister and her helicopter babysitting. Movie nights- when is it even mentioned this is something they do weekly? Not once. And please correct me if I am wrong. Buck does not take Chris to school almost daily, not because he did after Eddie's breakdown does it mean this is a normal and usual occurrence. It doesn't mean it isn't, to be fair, but nothing in canon tells us otherwise. I will give them the zoo, however, because in canon we do have Eddie saying Buck takes Chris there all of the time.

What we got, however, was scenes showing how Buck has his own independent life. He has lots of scenes in his loft, as much as Buddies hate it, as we have never gotten an off-handed comment on how little he's spending there because he's at the Diazes all the time. We've gotten scenes of Buck reaching out to people who are not Eddie for help. And oh, of course - we have gotten scenes of his family (whether you like the Buckleys or not) having a family dinner. And guess who was not invited? Oh, right.

(We have, also, gotten enough scenes with Tommy that we know post-going official, they spend most of their free time with each other. Thank you to Bobby for also confirming this. We love you, king)

With the Diazes, we got scenes that showed how Eddie and Chris exist on their own, without needing Buck there to complete their family. We got a whole ep where Eddie was dealing with Chris's new crush, and instead of making that be a Buckley-Diaz 'family' storyline, Carla was the one accompanying Eddie and being the other adult in the situation. We can say whatever we want about the dating debacle at the end of Season 6 (I also think it was a mess, but for the way they rushed it), but Eddie did not say: oh, Chris and I are fine, we have Buck. And he did not say it because it simply would not have made sense.

And oh, I could go on and on on how the Eddie they have in Fanon is also not the one we have, but this is way too long already. Do let me know if anyone wants to hear it though. Although I will probably write it down whenever I am bored enough.

Short story very long: Buck and Eddie are good friends. They respect each other and clearly enjoy each other's company. And the show has definitely played with the concept of family for them (looking directly at the elf from season 2 here), but never too serious. Never in canon. Outside of the 118 being a family (which I am not denying), at least for me, it has always been obvious how Eddie and Chris were very valued by Buck, but his close-knit family (nuclear family, if you will) is and has always been Maddie (now extended to Jee-Yun and Chim as well), and Bobby (something he's admitted in canon, before someone comes at me for this).

Now, thankfully, we have Tommy to join in in there as well ☺️

[forthegothicheroine]

Ah, Waxwork (1988)! The epitome of "I didn't say it was good, I said I liked it." A trashy horror comedy which became infamous among a very specific community of monster fuckers: those too hardcore for Edward Cullen and too squeamish for Pinhead.

I was going to just make a bullet-point list of my thoughts upon rewatch, but there's too much to say, so you lucky people get a full recap!

Our protagonist is Mark, a rich boy who for some reason attends community college. He lives under the thumb of his ridiculous sitcom-villain mother, and has to rely upon his butler sneaking him coffee and cigarettes. I suppose we're seeing what Bruce Wayne's life would be like in a world without alley muggings.

Mark getting sexually rejected will be a running theme in this movie, so let's meet the women who will be doing the rejecting: China and Sarah! These college classmates of his are that improbably 80s horror movie duo, the evil slut and the sweet virgin who are for some unexplained reason besties. China has exchanged Mark for a football player, and she smokes and wears sunglasses and comments on boy's bodies while Sarah acts mildly scandalized. They walk to school, discussing boys and just how promiscuous is too promiscuous, when they see something at the side of the street- a new Waxwork house!

Little do they know what darkness and delight await them inside.

Isn't this a bit outdated, the girls ask each other? You're telling me, I respond, as a former actress at a tourist attraction that was next door to Madame Tussaud's, I have no idea who buys tickets.

They are welcomed at the door by holy shit, David Warner? I really hope he filmed this directly back to back with The Company of Wolves. David Warner invites them to come to a special private opening with a group of up to six people- any more would be too crowded! And China, apparently having nothing better to do as a sexy party girl in the 1980s, agrees. Thus, the rest of the friend group is roped in to attending.

Mark is there, mostly to be hurt whenever China talks about how much fun she's having sleeping with guys who aren't him. There's a dating couple who will show up now and again late in the movie but don't really matter. There are, of course, China and Sarah. And then-

Oh my god. I hadn't seen Twin Peaks yet when I first saw this movie, but oh my god, that's Bobby from Twin Peaks. Doing the same movement tics and vocal cadence that he did as Bobby from Twin Peaks. This is so distracting, you have no idea how much.

Anyway, the gang go to the waxwork house and speaking of Twin Peaks, they are greeted by a small man doing the Peter Dinklage bit from Living in Oblivion ("Make it weird, put a dwarf in it!") We don't have too much time to dell on that, though. The kids hang out for a bit so China has more time to sexually insult Mark, and then they are finally allowed into the wax museum itself.

The waxwork is, all in all, actually pretty cool! It's a bunch of scenes from "history", by which we mean classic pre-80s horror movies. There's the Mummy, there's the Invisible Man, there's Audrey II, there's Jack the Ripper. Keep in mind that all of these exhibits, not just Jack the Ripper, will later prove to have been taken directly from real life events. The sequel muddies this with horror movie scenes that take place in alternate dimensions in a cosmos that weirdly resembles Moorcock's Eternal Champion mythos, but we're not talking about the sequel right now.

I wish I could write a novelization of this movie and just go nuts on the worldbuilding. My speculations would make for an epic of Tolkienesque length.

Bobby from Twin Peaks is the first to go exactly where you're expecting: into an exhibit to get killed. He stumbles into a scene from the Wolf Man (which oddly enough looks a bit like the 2010 Wolf Man but they're obviously trying to do either the original Universal or Hammer version.) He bitches about this, how it must be a hologram and a super lame one at that because there are, like, no girls in bikinis or anything, just some dick in a cabin telling him to run for his life!

(Put a pin in that, by the way.)

He should have listened. But hey, someone has to be the first bit of canon fodder.

The Wolf Man is, of all people, John Rhys-Meyers! He pleads with Bobby to run, but it's too late- his transformation has begun! This is not a bad werewolf look, as practical effects go; he's got a snout and everything. The extremely long ears are what bother me. I felt this way in the Into the Woods movie as well- Johnny Depp just looked like a really sleazy rabbit. But this Wolf Man is a real deal monster, and while Bobby cowers after taking a flesh wound, he sets upon a pair of hunters who have tracked him down, ripping the younger one in half straight through the head.

As goofy as it is, Waxwork gets pretty damn gory.

The older hunter, who's clearly supposed to be Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, ends his reign of terror with a silver bullet. And when the wounded Bobby starts to transform as well, Van Helsing puts a stop to that with a second shot. Fade out to the waxwork exhibit, which now has a half-transformed victim beside the Wolf Man.

So much for Bobby. But eh, fuck 'im, he wasn't much of a character. China, on the other hand...

China notices a display with a particularly handsome villain. She takes a step over the velvet rope to take a closer look, and thus seals her fate.

(Side note: I don't know if I'd survive the movie or be first to get killed, because I would be going "But we're not supposed to touch the exhibits!" the whole time.)

China emerges into a Christopher Lee-worthy dark castle, wearing a white prom dress that's good enough period attire for this sort of movie. Thus begins the Dracula sequence, the first reason this movie has a very specific cult following.

As a teen in the '00s, I frequented web rings of blogs that reviewed old science fiction movies. There was one sight which was dedicated to cataloging every vampire movie the author could find- her favorites were The Lost Boys, Mr. Vampire and Interview with the Vampire- and she listed this as the single sexiest depiction of Dracula on film. Naturally, I spent the next several pre-streaming era years hunting down a VHS.

And who do we have playing sexy Dracula? In yet another 'you're not gonna believe this' casting choice, Miles "How Much Keefe" O'Keefe! The man known to all MSTies as Ator, and to other shlock aficionados as Tarzan! I have no idea why they cast him, but you know what? That barbarian warrior cleans up pretty damn well.

China is too stunned by her surroundings to quibble, and takes the part of a gothic heroine staying at the castle, whose fiance "unfortunately had to leave just now." Dracula introduces her to his lovely lady friends and his brooding adult son Stephan, and serves her a meal of steak tartar in salty red sauce, the suggestive setup for a rather gruesome payoff later.

In-character, Sarah is cornered in her room by Stephan, who says that his father wants her for himself and that he'd be banished from the castle if it was known he put his hands on her first- but before he can get past the fangs-out stage of his assault, she flees down the hallway, as far as she can run, until she reaches a room out of a Saw movie poster, half-dungeon and half-kitchen.

Her fiancee- that is, the fiancee in whatever real-life story she stepped into- is chained up, with one leg gruesomely cut down to the bone to serve to his captors and his own unknowing bride. China tries and fails to unchain him while he runs her through a quick explanation of what vampires are and how to kill him, just in time for Stephan to catch up with her.

China is surprisingly heroic in this scene, given how completely unsympathetic the movie had set her up to be. Son of Dracula goes down with a cross burned into his forehead, while she takes out a few Brides via wine bottles through the chest. When the chained up fiancee turns, though, she flees, sobbing, though the castle, her white gown covered in blood.

"Going somewhere, my beauty?" Dracula asks. She turns and looks into his eyes- and now it is too late. She falls under his hypnotic trance, and he lowers her to the floor, ending her human life in an ecstatic kiss.

It's a better way to go than she would have gotten in most other dumb horror movies of this era.

Mark- remember Mark?- has finally noticed that two of his friends (such as they are) have gone missing. He figures they must have gone off to hook up, but that doesn't feel right- for some reason, he knows that Bobby is the one man that China would never ever want to fuck. Sarah is less concerned, as she's focused on a statue of the Marquis de Sade looking like a sexy pirate. When Mark does get her to leave with him, he shoots his shot, but Sarah says that while he's a nice guy and she likes him a lot, she's looking for something...different.

Sarah's whole deal, as you may have guessed, is that she's a virgin at least in part because she can only be satisfied by BDSM, a desire she learned about through secretively reading de Sade but has no contemporary sex ed language to talk about. To the film's credit, this very Clive Barker plotline isn't used to make her unsympathetic or deserving of death, but rather to enhance the theme of Mark getting sexually rejected.

(Also, Mark paid his ESL housekeeper to write an essay for him, which was demanded by a history professor who was weirdly into Hitler. To his dismay, the essay read "I do not like dictators. They do the shouting and wear the small mustaches."

Well. She's not wrong.)

When China and Bobby fail to reappear the next day, Mark and Sarah go off to investigate. A mean cop tells them that lots of people have recently gone missing, and ends up investigating on his own- an investigation that ends with him being killed by the Mummy while the theme from Swan Lake plays in the background. (The title music in Universal's original Mummy and Dracula! The music I walked down the aisle to at my wedding! It's a little detail I liked.)

China's jock boyfriend also shows up to get killed by the Phantom of the Opera, while David Warner shakes his head in surprise to learn that he knew the character from a movie. "They'll make a movie of anything these days!" he says. However, I found myself focusing on the brief close-up where we saw that the Phantom had a mustache. A well-maintained mustache. Half-covered by a half-mask. Does he shave and maintain it on the deformed side, too? These are the kind of questions my novelization would go into.

Mark and Sarah get a quick rundown on everything from a professorly type of guy in a wheelchair who's basically the Criminologist from Rocky Horror. He tells them that via something something dark magic, victims are being given to evil men who are long dead to revive them and then something something destroy the world. For all I joke, it is my fondest dream to be this kind guy- a librarian who could give the protagonist exactly the book they need to fight Dracula.

Remember that pin I had you put in the Wolf Man pleading with Bobby to run? That brings up the question of what this movie considers "evil men". The Wolf Man really didn't want to kill anybody, but his body was taken over by the curse! And what about Audrey II? I'll grant that the plant sure was a dick, but was he a man? And what about all the ghouls in the zombie exhibit? The first time I watched this I also quibbled about the Marquis de Sade being here alongside actual murders, but I'll let that slide this time- the sheer scale of his imagination for evil was impressive enough, even if he didn't get to do most of it.

Mark and Sarah go to burn the waxwork down, but the temptation to fuck the Marquis is too much and Sarah just willingly goes right into his wax exhibit. Mark falls into the zombie exhibit, where it goes black and white in a pastiche of Night of the Living Dead as he fights off walking corpses and crawling disembodied hands.

Sarah has a better time. Now we see the second part of why this movie has a very specific cult reputation.

The Marquis de Sade, as portrayed in Waxwork, is dashing man with long dark hair, a puffy shirt open to reveal a very hair chest, wearing leather boots and gloves and always carrying a whip. He is entertaining a man (blonde and similarly good-looking, played by the director) whom he calls "your majesty", who will later to be revealed as Prince George of England, the future George IV. This struck me as absolutely hilarious.

For the prince's entertainment, he offers the sole virgin in his stable of beauties- Sarah, of course, stepping forward to have her arms affixed over her head proudly and eagerly. He leans in and whispers his intentions to Sarah- to whip her bloody, hand her over to George and his men for their enjoyment, then torture her to death- and she kisses him and swoons into her chains.

This scene is interesting because of how it's shot. There's no nudity in this movie- the only skin Sarah proceeds to expose is her back. I don't want to use terms like "male gaze" or "female gaze" because the former is a greater scale film theory term and the latter isn't really a term outside of tumblr, but this scene and the one with Dracula are presented as bodice rippers. Whether or not women went to see this movie, let alone enjoyed it, both scenes but especially the one with Sarah and de Sade are portrayed as female sexual fantasies. We don't see much of Sarah's body, but we see many close-ups of her face, perspiring and biting her lip as she waits for each sting of the whip.

Britain's "Video Nasties" list from 1984 banned many gory horror movies as obscene. Waxwork has far less gore than Evil Dead or Bay of Blood. As far as I know, it has never been banned under any obscenity laws.

By the time Mark (remember Mark?) gets out of his exhibit and into Sarah's, we are told that she has taken more whipping than any other woman the Marquis has ever seen, and enjoyed every bit of it. Mark saves her, but she pushes him away and runs back to the Marquis, kneeling at his foot and grasping at his boot. No, she protests, she wants to stay here! Smirking at the polo-clad dork from the future, de Sade said the line that dropped my jaw to the floor when I first saw this in my impressionable youth.

"Don't be angry just because she had her first orgasm at the end of a whip and not by your touch!"

Somehow not shriveling up and dying from that insult, Mark persuades Sarah that they should go because this setup did kill their friends and Your Mind Makes it Real and ugh, fine, Sarah will go back and save the world if she really has to. de Sade promises Mark that they'll meet again, though. ("How much did the Marquis de Sade know about this whole time and/or dimension traveling thing?" is another great question I would have expounded on in my novelization.)

But the kids have not yet saved the day, and their two friends from the very beginning are sacrificed in their places. The stars are right, the sacrifices have been made, and it's time for all the monsters and assorted villains to come to life and something something destroy the world! Thankfully, backup has arrived in the form of the wheelchair-bound expert from before and a while gang of his elderly and heroic friends, including Mark's totally-not-Alfred butler. Let the big chaotic fight scene commence!

Blood sprays left and right. Mark kills a zombified former friend, and weeps when his butler kills the vampirized China. Sarah tosses the small minion guy right into Audrey II. Dracula gets perhaps the lamest death onscreen he's ever had, surpassing even Scars of Dracula where he was randomly hit by lightning.

And the Marquis de Sade, who apparently is quite the swashbuckler, is flitting around with rapier and whip, having a grand old time. (At least it's better than what he supposedly did during the storming of the Bastille...) He beats Mark easily in combat, but makes the mistake of doing a gloating monologue before driving his blade through the boy's throat, giving Sarah the chance to break his spine with an ax. Let's hope Mark appreciates the sacrifice.

David Warner still must be confronted, however. Mark demands to know why he wants to destroy the world, and he smiles and responds "Somebody has to."

I guess you can't argue with that.

The elderly gentlemen give their lives to kill Warner, and the whole building goes up in flames. The only survivors are Mark, Sarah and a crawling disembodied hand who is off to set up the events of the sequel. Mark and Sarah embrace, but nothing more, at least not until the sequel.

Is Waxwork good? No. Is it scary? Some of the gory bits did make me wince. Is it funny? Sometimes on purpose, sometimes probably not on purpose. Is it offensive? We see a brief glimpse of what looks like a very racist tableau with an evil witch doctor or something, the role of the small minion is not exactly a great part, and China and Sarah were plucked right from the virgin-whore archetype with only somewhat more depth.

But do I watch it, fascinated, as if it is an esoteric text containing the secret alchemical formula for gold? I sure do.

[nitrateglow]

Spooky Season 2024: 6-11

Targets (dir. Peter Bogdanovich, 1968)

Targets follows two parallel stories that eventually intertwine. The first involves elderly horror star Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff), disillusioned with his professsion and the real-world violence around him, and intent on retiring from film. The second involves Bobby (Tim O'Kelly), a disturbed young man obsessed with guns who goes on a murder spree. Both points converge at the drive-in premiere of Orlock's newest film.

Targets caught me offguard. The violence in the story involves a mass shooter and so it has a lot of real-world parallels. The killings are presented in a matter of fact way, without spectacle or blood geysers. It makes all of it feel more real and upsetting, especially since we've seen our share of Bobby-like killers over the decades.

My youngest sister watched this one with me and kept calling Karloff's character "Babygirl" and that isn't wrong. Though crabby and cynical, Byron is really charming and likeable. The arc he undergoes is really powerful, particularly as it pertains to his relationship with his secretary Jenny (Nancy Hsueh).

Though the tensions of the late '60s are a major part of Targets, it also deals with the gulf between the old school horror movies represented by Orlock and the more violent fare of the dawning New Hollywood era. I feel like there are just so many layers here. I really need to rewatch it. It's a fascinating movie and I would highly recommend it.

The Phantom of the Opera (dir. Dwight H. Little, 1989)

Modern singer Christine Day (Jill Schoelen) is sent back in time to a previous life as an aspiring opera singer in 1880s London. Her mentor is Erik Destler (Robert Englund), a disfigured composer who made a deal with the devil that left him immortal and embittered. He also has a habit of skinning people and then stitching the flesh on his ugly ass face. The opera management wants to build up another diva's career at the expense of Christine's. Erik doesn't like this. People start getting killed.

The 1989 The Phantom of the Opera is such a mixed bag, but I enjoy it anyway. The script is a mess. It frames the story with this weird time travel/reincarnation/isekai plot that doesn't add up to anything. It introduces interesting concepts-- like the relationship between Christine and Erik reflecting Erik's own deal with the devil-- without fleshing them out. Also-- and if Letterboxd is anything to go by, I'm in the minority-- I'm not crazy about Jill Schoelen's Christine, though I think that's more due to the way Christine is written than how she plays the role.

But then you have the glorious production design, stagebound but dripping in gothic candlelight and late Victorian grime. Best of all, you get Robert Englund's Erik Destler, one of the best onscreen Phantoms of all time.

I love how Englund's Erik is both an excitable schoolboy, almost squealing with delight while Christine kills it at Faust, and a violent, vengeful monster who doesn't take his will being defied lightly. I like the skin-grafting angle for the mask and that Erik ventures out into the London underworld at night. These are all fresh elements and I wish they could have been combined with a tighter, more focused script.

Still, this is a fun movie.

Murders in the Zoo (dir. A. Edward Sutherland, 1933)

A zoologist (Lionel Atwill) is pathologically jealous of his younger wife (Kathleen Burke), and so starts killing any perceived rival to his possession of her. Very pre-code violence ensues.

I'm going to be blunt: this movie did not live up to the hype. A lot of pre-code fans vouch for it as the nastiest horror film of the era. That is likely true. The first thing we see is a man getting his mouth sewed shut, a bit of nastiness that would shock in a recent film, let alone one from 1933. There are some gruesome killings throughout.

Too bad the story is sluggish and dull. There's a lot of corny comic relief that stops the action dead. The direction is flat. It's definitely not a movie I can see myself revisiting. There's barely anything there to sustain interest beyond the occasional creative murder-- no atmosphere, no anything.

Other than the murders, the only thing that stood out to me was Kathleen Burke as the tragic wife of the crazy zoologist. Burke is best remembered as Lota the Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls. Her career fizzled out quickly, which is a shame because she has great presence and no shortage of talent.

The Black Room (dir. Roy William Neill, 1935)

In a Tyrolean town, an ancient prophecy swears that the ruling house will be destroyed when twins are born and the younger brother kills the older. So when the baron is presented with twin sons, he does everything he can to prevent the prophecy, such as sealing up the Black Room where the murder is supposed to occur. The boys grow up different as can be: the older brother Gregor (Boris Karloff) is cruel and sensual, abusing the locals and his own power, while the younger Anton (also Karloff) is gentle and kind. Despite his twin's sweet nature, Gregor is still concerned for his life and his continued domination of the town. He hatches a devious plan to cheat fate, but can he?

For some reason, I thought I had seen this movie long ago, but apparently not. What a delightful gothic story this is! It's filled with all the old school tropes played straight: an ancient prophecy, a lecherous nobleman preying on innocent maidens, a torture chamber filed with corpses, a dark and gloomy castle. There is a subtle sense of grim humor throughout, but it never descends into parody when it easily could have.

If you've ever doubted Karloff's capabilities as an actor, this movie should remedy that opinion. He plays two distinct characters, and at one point, gives a performance within a performance. All three performances feature their own unique body language, line delivery, and business. It's astonishing throughout.

Equally impressive is the direction from Roy William Neill. Best known for helming the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies, his direction here is so dynamic and impressive, not in the least stagey or inert.

One last thing: for a post-Production Code movie, it has a surprising amount of violence and sexuality. Gregor is clearly using the local women for his sexual gratification before murdering them, and his interest in Marian Marsh's lovely aristocratic girl is 100% carnal. There's a pit full of corpses and we get to look into it rather than have its presence alluded to offscreen. It's all nasty stuff. It really feels like the filmmakers got away with a lot, even if it seems tame by modern standards!

The Bells (dir. James Young, 1926)

Innkeeper Mathias (Lionel Barrymore) hopes to become burgomaster of his village. He hopes endless credit and free drinks will sway the populace to support him, but this comes close to killing his business and destroying his family. Desperate, he murders a wealthy guest, destroys the body, and uses his pilfered gold to pay off all debts and influence his way to power. However, both the crushing guilt and a mesmerist (Boris Karloff) with mind-reading powers threaten to expose him.

This is one of those movies that has a great premise, but the execution is very underwhelming. The filmmakers waste a lot of time on the romantic antics of Mathias' pretty daughter and goofy comedy. It's like they were timid about leaning more into the gothic, distressing elements of this dark story and it makes the film drag.

Still, Barrymore is good, especially once he commits the murder and starts going all Telltale Heart. But the best thing in the movie is definitely Boris Karloff. He had been in movies since 1919 and it wouldn't be until Frankenstein in 1931 that he became a star. But it's safe to say, The Bells gives Karloff his first standout role.

Karloff's character doesn't show up a lot, but he is the biggest threat to Mathias' power. Though his Caligari cosplay is hilarious (for real, the filmmakers didn't even TRY to hide the Caligari influence), he has this creepy shit-eating grin that really leaves an impression.

Is Karloff enough to make this worth watching? Eh, I don't think so. There are far better silent thrillers you could be watching.

The Sorcerers (dir. Michael Reeves, 1967)

Elderly Professor Montserratt (Boris Karloff) and his wife Estelle (Catherine Lacey) use a mind control procedure on young stud Mike Roscoe (Ian Ogilvy). Able to experience everything he feels and to control his behavior if they wish, the two vicariously experience the thrills of Swinging London through their test subject. However, Estelle gets drunk on power and starts using Mike to engage in multiple crimes, including murder.

This movie was hyped to me, so maybe it's partially my fault I was so disappointed by the end result. With the exception of Estelle, the story lacks compelling characters. There's no sense of pathos to Mike's victimization and downfall because he's bland as hell and passive, a deadly combination if you want me to give a damn about your narrative.

Everything about this movie feels drab, both the visuals and the filmmaking itself. Big setpieces like the hypnotism scene or the telepathic motorcycle ride are supposed to be kinetic and exciting, but they just feel like the product of an enthusiastic amateur. I've seen low budget movies that have real personality and verve despite their lack of resources (see Blast of Silence), but The Sorcerers just feels cheap and uninspired in every way. I struggled to finish it even though it wasn't even an hour and a half long.

It's a shame because I like the central premise: two elderly people use this device to vicariously experience the fast life of swinging London. But it's done so poorly. It's hard to believe director Michael Reeves' next film would be the masterful Witchfinder General.

[wwe-supernaturalxbands]

Star Crossed Lovers

Summary: Buck has been into Eddie for years, he assumed his feelings were reciprocated, just the timing was always wrong. However, Eddie begins to date Ana and Buck begins to distance himself and begins to move on after meeting reader when Ana was expected to be introduced to the firefam

Word Count: 2128

Eddie had started to date Ana Flores and for some reason he was hesitant to introduce her to his family and the 118, he knows it probably has something to do with the way his heart flutters around Buck but he needs to think about Christopher and how his mom had reminded him that Chris needs a mother. He knew Ana was getting impatient and wanted to meet those close to him. He also started to notice that Chris seemed to get sad. Chris also stayed hidden in his room on Fridays and it was because Eddie would cancel Movie Night with Buck so that Ana and Chris can bond but Christopher seems to not want to bond with her. Ana told Eddie it might help if Chris sees that she is here to stay by having her meet the 118. 

The day before the monthly BBQ at the Grant-Nash house Eddie looks at everyone sitting at the table eating, "Hey I'll be bringing Ana tomorrow is that ok?" Everyone looks shocked, they assumed the reason Eddie hadn't brought her over was because they weren't serious and Eddie would soon realize he is in love with Buck. Bobby is the first to recover and quickly looks at Buck who just continues to eat but looks down at his food, "yeah Eddie, she's welcome to come" and Hen and Chimney glare at Bobby while Eddie pulls out his phone to text her. Suddenly Buck gets up and leaves the loft, before anyone can follow him the bell rings. Since Christopher hangs out with Buck during the Ana/Eddie dates, Buck and Chris talk. Chris admits that Ana treats him like a baby and he doesn't like her but his dad won't listen and keeps trying to force them to have movie nights together. Buck also tells Chris that with Eddie and Ana becoming so serious, Buck won't be around as much as he used to but he'll always be a phone call away. Christopher understands, he knows Ana doesn't like his Buck, he heard her complain over the phone with her friend about how Buck is always there and the more her and Eddie date the more she is going to convince him to stop bringing Buck home. 

The day of the BBQ Christopher is done getting ready and walks to the living room where his dad is waiting for him, "we need to go pick up Ana and then we will head over" Eddie explains and Chris just sighs and walks out the door. Eddie is able to tell Chris doesn't like Ana but he really hopes tonight will change that, maybe if he sees Buck accepting her he will too. Eddie feels a pit in his stomach though at the thought of Buck and Ana meeting each other. He kind of hopes they won't get along but he also knows he needs them to if he wants Ana to stop mentioning that he should stop hanging out with Buck. After picking her up they arrive at the Grant-Nash house and walk in. Right away Christopher goes over to Harry and Denny where they begin to whisper and all three boys glare at Ana, the adults not knowing that Buck had texted Chris and informed him that he won't be able to make it tonight. Chris knows it's because of Ana. Eddie notices the adults are all sitting and have their plates ready, "you're late" Athena chastises him. Eddie looks down, not wanting to explain it's because Ana took forever to get ready because she had to make a dramatic appearance. Eddie gets himself and Ana plates and sits down, he notices Buck isn't there and gets upset so he sits next to Karen. "Everyone meet Ana my girlfriend, Ana meet Karen, Hen, Chimney, Maddie, Athena, and Bobby" Eddie introduces. They all are pleasant with her but Eddie is able to tell they don't like her, especially Athena and Maddie who can't seem to stop glaring at Eddie for some reason. He is itching to text Buck and ask why he's late but he knows Ana will get irritated. After a bit of conversing he takes the plunge and asks, "where's Buck", everyone looks shocked, assuming Eddie would be the one to know. Chris who was sitting and eating with the other two boys hears his dad and says "he's not coming" before turning back to his friends. Everyone but Eddie (even Ana who can tell Buck's in love with Eddie) know the reason Buck isn't there is because he couldn't handle the heartache of seeing Eddie in a serious relationship. Karen decides to change the topic of conversation.

Meanwhile Buck is at the grocery store, buying ingredients so he can make Eddie's abuela's chicken soup, his new comfort meal. As he's going through the isle he accidently bumps carts with another person. "Oh I am so sorry" the person apologizes, turning to look at Buck. Buck immediately finds this person comforting and beautiful, "oh no my apologies!" They look at Buck and can tell something is wrong, "I know we don't know each other but how about we go get some Mexican food, you look like you need a friend", Buck looks shocked but ultimately agrees. 

After the BBQ and grocery store day, Buck had told everyone (but Eddie) about Y/N, the quirky woman he met and how they were getting closer. Everyone was happy that he was beginning to move on. Chris could also tell there was something different about Buck but he didn't ask because nothing about them changed. He still made sure to make his dad drop him off at Buck's every weekend that Buck didn't work. Eddie was struggling, Ana wanted to make things more permanent by wanting to move in but he kept dodging it. He could also tell that Buck was talking to him but there was a distance between them now. They no longer basically sat in each other's laps, they no longer had lingering touches, they no longer hung out together after work. It was driving Eddie insane because he needed Buck in his life and although he knew he'd never have Buck in the way he wanted because Chris needs a mom, he still hoped they would still be close but it was beginning to seem like that was not the case. 

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

"We haven't had a day at the zoo, just you, me and Chris, so I expect us to go tomorrow, see you at 8am" Eddie tells Buck in the locker room on a Friday, it's been weeks since he's been with Buck in a nonwork related way. Ana had told him that he needed to prioritize her and he agreed because he knew he loved Buck but had to give Christopher a mother. Buck sighed, "You sure you want to come?" He asked surprised, he was planning on taking Christopher to a brunch place Y/N had introduced him to, so that Chris and Y/N could finally meet. He'd talked to both previously and they were both excited to meet each other. Chris was nervous about meeting Y/N because he was afraid she'd take his Bucky from him but Buck told him Y/N knew and accepted that Chris came first. Eddie nodded and walked away. 

*Next morning*

As Eddie was getting everything ready for when Buck came to pick them up, Ana walked in, she was still trying to convince him to move in together but he was still saying no, he knew the moment he said yes, he would absolutely lose Buck forever. "What are you doing here?" Eddie asked surprised, before she could answer Chris walked out, excited for his day with both Dad and Buck, he missed these. As soon as he saw Ana his smile was wiped of his face, "I thought Ms. Flores wasn't coming" Chris asked, and Eddie knew in this moment that maybe Ana wasn't the best option for Chris. Maybe everyone had been right in telling him to follow his heart. He thought with time Chris would come to love Ana but the fact that he refused to stop calling her Ms. Flores and refused to spend time with her was a major red flag. After the BBQ Bobby had admitted that when he was talking about moving on, on the q word day, he was actually talking about Buck. Now though, he noticed that no one talked about Buck in his presence, when he was at work, it was all professional, he was losing his family thanks to his attempt to make his parents proud. He decided that after the zoo he would convince Buck to have Chris sleep over so that he could break up with Ana tonight. After, he would come clean with Buck about why he started to date her and admit that he actually loves Buck. "Where are we going" Ana asked happily, while also going to help Chris with his shoes even though he didn't need the help. "Buck and I are taking Chris to the zoo" Eddie tells her firmly, she looks at him with her lips pursed, clearly upset. "I thought we were going to take Christopher to the zoo next weekend" she asked. "NO THE ZOO IS FOR ME AND BUCKY" Chris yells and walks back to his room. "Maybe he shouldn't spend so much time with Evan" Ana told Eddie for the millionth time, she also refused to call him Buck, because "it's childish". Eddie sighed. Suddenly, Chris walked out of his room with his phone and handed it to his dad, "it's Buck, he wants to talk to you" and then walked back to his room. Eddie grabbed the phone, "hello" he asked confused, wondering when Buck would arrive to pick them up. "Chris mentioned Ana is coming? I figured we could just meet at the zoo instead then. I'm about to head over there instead since I was almost at your place, see you soon" is all he says before hanging up. Eddie gets upset, he was looking forward to finally being in Buck's jeep again like old times. Great, he muttered. "You're not coming, today is all about Chris and Buck. You and I will have dinner at around 8pm" is all Eddie says to Ana, she smiles thinking it's going to be a good night, in their many months dating, they've only slept together about 3 times, but she was patient, she didn't know it was because he felt like he was cheating on Buck. Eddie goes to Chris' room and explains it's just the 3 of them and that they would meet Buck at the zoo, which didn't lift Chris' spirit much. 

When Eddie and Chris finally arrived at the zoo, at the entrance they noticed Buck was talking with someone, Eddie immediately got jealous. Buck spots them and frowns, wondering where Ana was. "Chris buddy! I have a very important friend here who's been wanting to meet you forever" Buck tells Chris. Y/N hugs Chris right away, "Christopher it is so nice to finally meet you! Listen, Buck told me about your fears but just know that if he EVER tries to put me before you, I will leave him right away! You come first! Also we're not official yet because I need to make sure I have your approval, so after the zoo just let me know if you approve or not and be completely honest, ok buddy" she tells him truthfully, which Chris likes, so he can tell he'll get along with her right away. "Oh Eddie, you haven't met Y/N yet, Y/N this is Eddie" Buck introduces his 2 partners. Y/N knows all about Eddie and Buck's unrequited love. She also knows he's finally healing and moving on from Eddie. Eddie gets jealous, has Buck found someone? When did this happen. "When did you meet" he can't help but ask. Buck gets flustered, he knows the moment he tells Eddie, Eddie might figure it out. "The day I didn't show up at the Grant-Nash get together, when you wanted to introduce Ana to all of us" he says. 

That's when Eddie's world collapses. He realized the reason Buck didn't show up was because of the heartbreak of seeing Eddie with someone else, that same heartbreak Eddie is having by seeing Buck with someone. Eddie pushed Buck into the arms of someone else that unfateful day. Here Eddie was hoping to have a fun day at the zoo with his boys with the promise of tomorrow professing his love for Buck and asking him on a date, only to find out Buck has slowly began to move on from him after Eddie made his relationship with Ana serious by introducing her to the team. 

[buddiebeginz]

Omg, so I was readin someone elses reaction to the finale and they said this and a light-bulb went off possibly in my head.

What if the "but you think I do?" (Have daddy issues") and "god I hope so" (T kinda muttered into his wine glass) is that Tommy thinks the only reason Buck is into him or could be into him is because of said daddy issues and he's actually insecure about it.

Like that would kinda connect to his snide remark about closet space on their first date. Just saying.

Like their communications are just a little bit off. But instead of saying something real, again Tommy is hoping that Buck will understand his subtle jab about something without him having to come out and just say it.

Like Tommy thinks possibly the only reason Buck is with him is because of his Daddy issues (because Tommy is older etc) but they've never talked about it.

Also the jab about the closet space on their first date? Buck thought they were still going to see a movie until a car showed up & it was only for Tommy and Tommy left him stranded in front of the restaurant. What if they're still there, relationship-wise?

Tommy said Buck was adorable and all that, but still left him there. Like he might legit want this 'ship to work, but they just don't seem to be like in the same place in their lives. Ya know?

Does any of this even make sense? Did I connect shit? XD (*insert that gif in here*)

I guess tl;dr : Tommy really does want it to work with Buck but thinks Buck might only be with him because of his "daddy issues" and he'll take it because he likes Buck. But they just suck at communicating and want different things/aren't in the like same place in their lives.

Also they communicate differently. Tommy does snarky jabs & dry "humor" hoping people (or Buck) will understand what he means without him having to come out and say what he actually means. And Buck idk, likes honesty and talking upfront? Idk. And so a lot of the snark might go over his head? And a massive people-pleaser.

I hope this makes sense!

Sorry it's taken me a bit to get back to this.

I do think you're onto something about the communication issues but my feeling about B/T is this:

I personally think T*mmy was originally pursuing Eddie. When you watch 704 T*mmy is all about Eddie. By the end of the ep T*mmy has figured out Eddie isn't available/still in the closet and Buck tells T*mmy he was trying to get his attention. But even T*mmy knows that's not true. I'm positive T*mmy knows there's something between Buck and Eddie. Still I think he likes Buck and thinks he's hot and decides to go for it with him.

But you can see in pretty much every interaction that T*mmy has with Buck that T*mmy does not see him as an equal. In 704 When Buck came to the hanger for a tour T*mmy didn't tell him ahead of time that he was going to be leaving to go with Eddie. Eddie just showed up and T*mmy took off. T*mmy called Buck kid (you know like Bobby does). T*mmy calls Buck Evan even though there's no sign that Buck ever asked him to do that and we've been told quite explicitly from Buck himself (to his parents) that people who really know him call him Buck.

T*mmy is the one who jumps in and kisses Buck first. Which I know was written to be this passionate moment but at the same time it also shows how T*mmy is controlling most things in that relationship. T*mmy plans their first date and where it's going to be. T*mmy seems annoyed when Buck is nervous on the date. T*mmy chooses to end the date without much explanation and leaves Buck at the restaurant.

The coffee date is one of the better interactions between B/T and may come across on the surface like they're on equal ground but again it's mostly T*mmy here that is in control. Buck is the one waiting at the restaurant not knowing if T*mmy is even going to show up. Then Buck asks T*mmy to be his date for Maddie's wedding and has to wait on T*mmy for an answer. Also T*mmy laughs at Buck when he asks him to be his date. Which I know wasn't supposed to be this harsh judgmental reaction but still this is the first time Buck is asking a guy to be his date to something important and this is T*mmy's (initial) response.

At the bachelor party T*mmy chooses to not wear anything remotely on theme and is then dismissive when Buck seems hurt that he didn't care. He's also on call and can't stay. I'm not sure how far in advance Buck asked him to go to Maddie's wedding but I assume it was far enough that T*mmy could have asked for that time off so he could be there but he didn't.

In 709 Buck is excited about the award ceremony and T*mmy responds to him by saying "enjoy it while it lasts". This is Buck's first big award as a firefighter he should be on cloud nine and the guy he's seeing should be thrilled for him but again T*mmy just comes off like he doesn't care. Some would argue that's just his general demeanor but that just highlights how different T*mmy and Buck are.

In 710 there's the dinner scene. Where Buck is trying to open up about his fears of losing the only real father figure he's known in Bobby and T*mmy's reaction is to again be dismissive, make it about himself, and change the subject to something sexual.

Again you're right Buck and T*mmy do communicate differently too differently in my opinion but I think they're very intentionally being written that way. Particularly in scenes when we've had Buck, T*mmy, and Eddie together like in 706. We're meant to see how much T*mmy just doesn't get Buck and how much Eddie does.

I don't think T*mmy is worried that Buck is with him because of his "daddy issues" rather I think T*mmy likes the idea of being in control both in an outside of the bedroom and that's the main part of the attraction for him with Buck. But much like Taylor when things aren't physical there is very little substance to their relationship and Buck will come to realize that.

I think because T*mmy is connected to Buck figuring out his sexuality and how new and exciting all of that feels to Buck he's lumped a lot of his feelings for T*mmy in there. So everything with T*mmy right now feels new and exciting and fun but eventually Buck will have to take a long hard look at this relationship (just like he had to with Taylor) and realize that this person doesn't really make him happy and doesn't really get who he is as a person.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

I want to start reading the X men comics so bad but there’s so many and i don’t know where to start T_T do you have any recs?

i always say try visiting your local comic shop, poke around, and take a peek at stories that might interest you and go from there! of course asking friends (like meeee) is a good option too :]]

personally i've been having fun reading the original 60's run. some people may tell you to skip them since They're So Old And Arguably Relevant but I FOR ONE. love em ...

if you want to see more of the x-men team you're probably more familiar with (scott, jean, hank, storm, wolverine, gambit), then chris claremont's Uncanny X-Men 70's series is a good place to start

speaaaking of claremont though, i'm a fan of what i've read of the 80's New Mutants series featuring a team comprised of moonstar, wolfsbane, cypher, cannonball, sunspot, karma, and magik :] this team isn't super explored in movie or cartoon media so it might be a bit foreign, but i think them kids are worth it ! (especially when it gets time to see magneto try to be their headmaster instead of charles)

if you do like the OG5 (scott, jean, hank, bobby, warren) though, then the First Class series by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz is a pretty fun, modern series !

i've been meaning to check out House of M's run. I've only read bits of it to answer asks, but it's got me intrigued..... so maybe try beatin' me to readin' that if you'd like 😏

then of course there's the krakoa era that ended Semi-Recently: you can check out my reading list for that era here WITH an additional recommendation to check out Jonathan Hickmen's X-Men series after Krakoa :]

but uhhhh this list went on a lot longer than i thought !!! i hope i didn't stress you out more ....

[spideyhexx]

bull run review hot off the press!

okay, so, it was a lot of fun. i'm not really sure how to get into this but it is definitely a finance movie. there was a lot of business jargon that took some getting used to, but it was also pretty fast paced so it all just sort of glossed over really needing to know what they were talking about. (and as the director/writer said after the film, it really isn't necessary to understand the technicalities).

the next big thing i need to mention is the editing. holy sound effects batman! there's a lot of cutting to stock-esce footage and sound effect over sound effect and sometimes absurd editing and cutting. but besides being a little jarred in the beginning not knowing what i was getting into i think it really worked for what they were trying to show here.

i just can't tell you how wonderful it is to see tom on a giant screen again, i missed this. having tom talk to you for an hour and a half was glorious! gah his voice ☺️🥰 it was very ferris bueller-esce in that way. also he says fuck quite a bit in this film and that was a wonderful treat haha

but it wasn't just bobby (tom's character) who i liked, i grew to really generally enjoy the other characters in the movie. tom has a lot of funny moments of like jim from the office looks to the camera or through his 4th wall breaking, but there are also some really funny moments from all the characters

side note: my fav side character was farouk played by ashwin gore. so keep an eye out for him, he was hilarious. (also the actor showed up to the screening in-character and it was genuinely one of the funniest things ever. he did a song where he mentioned "where is tom blyth" and the little audience waved flashlights.)

anyways, i think there's also a lot of good fic potential for this character, i really want to explore MORE with him. especially since this was more of a fast paced comedy and not like a character exploratory piece

OH ALSO, i really wish they had kept the og title "discussion materials" especially bc it is mentioned in the film several times and i think it would've been a neater bow than bull run.

(sorry this was so long lol)

DONT APOLOGIZE FOR IT BEING LONG I APPRECIATE THIS SO DAMN MUCH YOURE AN ANGEL AND I HOPE YOU HAD THE BEST TIME

yeah it seemed like smth that would be fast paced and glad to hear you don't need to really dwell on the jargon, that's honestly how im feeling reading the book like it's littered with so much jargon but you don't necessarily need to know what it all means

interesting about the editing??? that sounds like it fits the vibe though, im very curious!

thank you for confirming he says fuck a lot, that's actually vital AND SEEING HIM ON THE BIG SCREEN AGH im so happy you got to see it anon!!!!

WHERE IS TOM BLYTH ARE YOU KIDDING GHUFGHUKJG thats so silly i love that, will def be watching for that character too

jim from the office comparison best thing you could have said dear god

and interesting about the title!!! I think bull run honestly works better cause it's quick and punchy so I get why they would change it, but from what you said, I get you

FIC POTENTIAL IS GREAT yk we will explore bobby, I will even if only four of us are writing him lmao

ANON THANK YOU AGAIN I HOPE IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE i really need this movie soon I am so excited

[differenteagletragedy]

i was reading through your blog and omg musicals!!!! a theater kid, myself, i'd love if you'd write some headcanons about a broadway/musical star mc, if its not too close to your famous mc headcanons! also, i'd love to hear if you think the ol1 boys can sing and who would help mc practice (both lines and singing)! also who would sing along with mc while they're doing chores/housework/etc or if they'd just listen/hum/etc! you can just assume theyre poly with mc for this, if it makes it easier! :)

Listen. Listen. I love this so much. I am also a theatre kid (so much that I am forced to spell it with the "re" at the end) and I have many thoughts.

Also, Bobby from Company is Baxter after he reconnects with MC and friends, with an MC that ends up with Cove or Derek and this is just a fact. Evidence:

This is a video of single Baxter with his ten friends in five couples: Cove and MC, Derek and Tamarack, Terry and Miranda, Jude and Scott, and Qiu and OLNF MC.

ANYWAY.

-- Cove is such a fanboy. He's there to see your shows literally every time he can make it and will be disappointed if he can't come. He knows all the words to all the songs and a lot of the dialogue too. He is so proud.

-- Did you get to make a recording of your show? Try to get Cove to play something else in the car, I dare you.

-- Derek is also a big big fan, he is telling anyone who will listen about how he's your friend/boyfriend/husband. Jorge might have to tell him to chill a little bit but he's just so EXCITED.

-- He will make a point to pick you up after your evening shows. The crew knows him, so he just comes backstage after and will walk with you out the stage door. It's late and people are unpredictable, and he wants to keep you safe.

-- Baxter, surprise, also a big fan! If you started Broadway after the breakup in Step 3 then he may not figure it out, Broadway stars aren't as mainstream as movie or pop stars, for example. But he'll obviously find out when you're brought back together in Step 4 and he'll have some much research to do on you during those lost years!

-- He'll be streaming your recordings and just feeling so many things.

-- But maybe in Step 3 you've decided to pursue your theatrical dreams! A last summer at home before you move to New York, perhaps. Let Baxter take your headshots for you! He will be so good at it. He will also style you.

-- If this is the case, that you move after Step 3, I don't think Cove will move too. He could! But I can't picture him leaving the California coast. Long distance love. He and Cliff come in to see your big shows.

-- Cliff cries. Cove does too, he got it from his dad.

-- Maybe Derek will blow off a big game because it's his only chance to come see you. He feels bad about it, but he's not going to miss your big moment.

-- I haven't thought about this too much shut up

-- Boys at the Tonys! Baxter is going to KILL IT. I've talked about this with the general famous MC stuff lol, the awards show stuff, but he's going to dress to impress. So will Derek, this is very important and the boy who wore a polka dot bowtie at 13 isn't going to pull out any stops.

-- You're going to have to tell Cove to button all his buttons though, it's not the time for your cleavage baby

-- I think Baxter is the only one who could carry a tune, but he wouldn't try to get technically good. Cove is bearable with his singing. Derek really is not, but he has so much fun with it that no one would ever tell him to stop.

-- They'll all help you with your lines. Derek might actually learn lines instead of reading them from a script so he can help you practice while he's driving or something. And yeah, that's a lot, but that's just who he is.

-- If you're just having fun singing, in the car or doing chores or whatever, then they'll all sing with you. But if they catch you really going for it in the shower or something, they will all just stop and listen because oh my GOD

[shrinkthisviolet]

🐦‍⬛🦤🦅🕊️

🐦‍⬛: a great quote of dialogue

“Kreese wasn’t always like that,” Bobby insisted. “I mean, he was always hard on us, but I don’t think any of us realized how much. But at the tournament, he told me to take you out of commission, and he told Johnny the same…and then while you were recovering, he was clapping.” He looked disgusted. “He said he hoped you stayed down for the count. We were horrified. That’s not the kind of thing you expect from your sensei, you know?”

~CK AU interlude fic

humanizing the '80s Cobra kids!! We see in the movie that they're downright horrified at Kreese's clapping (at least the few that we see reaction shots from), so I wanted Bobby to point that out to Sam (who, for obvious reasons, did not see that)

🦤: a quote you had to delete :(

She and Dad were staying in a hotel for the time being—he refused to let her stay with Tina, despite her insistence. “I’m sure she’s quite busy, Starlight, especially with her tachyonic research. Do you really want to make more work for her?” “I’m not work.” “You’re not work to me,” he agreed, “but you’re not her daughter. You are work to her…or at least an obligation. You know that, don’t you?”

in the original version of "i still love you (I promise)", quite a few things were different. One of them being that originally, Hartley was going to attack Eowells's house as he does in canon. I changed that, though, because I realized it makes no sense for Hartley to risk hurting his ally (especially since he has noble goals here, this would tilt a bit too much into cruelty even for him)

So if Hartley was originally going to attack and wreck the house, Eowells and Morgan would need to live elsewhere for a short while. This scene (which is longer than just these few lines) takes place while they're moving into a hotel room temporarily

It kinda hurt to cut this because having a moment where Eowells outright says to Morgan "you're not [Tina's] daughter" definitely helps cement the insecurity Morgan feels about Tina (which comes more into play in s2 but is definitely a contributing factor now, regarding why she tells Tina that things are good with Eowells now). Morgan's not Tina's "real" daughter, Tina's only being parental out of obligation to Tess (Morgan thinks), so Morgan feels like she's just a burden and should make as little trouble for Tina as possible :( but there will be other times when I can emphasize this

🦅: an angsty quote

Joe had confronted Dr. Wells on Barry’s behalf, trying to reunite him and Morgan…but Dr. Wells had snapped in return that he should “focus on your own family situation, Detective, instead of involving yourself in mine.” Mine, he’d said. The message was clear. Barry wasn’t welcome…and of course, Dr. McGee would’ve gone along with that. Barry felt no small amount of bitterness that she hadn’t even followed up about abandoning that promise, but…grief did manifest in strange ways. Maybe she’d just decided to shed everything relating to Tess Morgan…including every person Dr. Morgan had ever met.

~CF AU reunion fic

BARRY it's not what you think! It's so much worse 😭 and it's not Tina's fault!

🕊️: a sweet quote

Morgan started giggling, and Iris shushed her but started giggling too, as did Cisco. Caitlin shushed them, but Morgan’s adjusting vision could make out a slight smile on Caitlin’s face.

~1x15/1x16 fic

Caitlin is a sweetheart who isn't nearly as strict as she sometimes pretends to be, pass it on!

quotes ask game!

[caretaker-of-the-toys-au]

The nose boop ask reminded me of this

https://youtu.be/aZHlys9rJB4?si=Fb43TKXi3vQAW5si

I think all the toys could benefit from something like this, getting to chose how much physical contact they want in a greeting. But it's also fun and cute!

The actual ask, what would each of the toys most commonly ask for? Even if they might have days they might want something else.

Oh that is so cute!!! Yeah, a lot of them are not very touchy, Huggy specifically isn't all that touchy-feely, he's just not used to it. He has to initiate it himself. I think the most touch-based toy is Bobby, she craves it.

That said.... Let's seeeeee.... That's a tricky one, huh?

Dogday doesn't ask for much but when he does, it's usually on behalf of one of the other toys, mostly Catnap.

Catnap's thing is blankets, anything soft he can tunnel into, he gets a new one every so often.

Hoppy and Kickin both either want new games or new toys. Balls or frisbees or something to play with outside.

Picky is food, duh, not very hard with that one (she really likes chicken-)

Bubba runs out of books fairly often, his bookshelf is overflowing but he always wants more!

Sunny and Moon? Treats. Always treats. Sunny loves sweets though he's not allowed to have chocolate. He usually ends up with a sugar rush and gets the zoomies though. Moon has more refined taste. Call it stereotypical but he adores salmon. Picky cooks it in small bits and Catnap sneaks him some when no one's looking.

Poppy has an ever-growing horde of dress, actual doll clothes or stuff Miss Rosie makes her. Her favorite color is blue.

Kissy can't really ask for things in the traditional sense but when she wants something, she starts booping Devin. It's usually nothing fancy (most of the time she's just asking for help with things). She collects ribbons so she always wants more.

Ollie is a smart kid. He's content with how things are, honestly. He doesn't usually ask for physical things, more like bonding time. Devin and Poppy teach him how to read and write, he's already fantastic with math. He asks for 'movie night' every night. (His favorite movie so far is the old disney Robin Hood)

as for Huggy... He doesn't know he can ask for things so he doesn't. Poor guy's got a loooong way to go

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

This is my post for tonight's movie presentation at the D23 Expo, which I'll edit/update as the news comes out, and after I formulate thoughts and whatnot... I have already seen some of the stuff for ELIO and ZOOTOPIA 2 revealed earlier today and yesterday, and will integrate my thoughts into this.

10:23PM EST (Approx): Looks like MOANA 2 will be the focus of their first announcement tonight. A real 180 from the 2022 D23, where they saved all the animation stuff for the last half hour and breeeezed through it.

10:30 PM EST: Trailer drop. Promises epic adventure, more pig, a very natural kind of villain, and worldbuilding/expansion of this South Pacific setting. I dig, I dig. Looks very movie-caliber to me. If it was never said that this began life as a D+ show, I don't think most would see a difference.

10:35 EST: The Rock is involved with another Disney movie, a live-action called MONSTER JAM. About... Monster trucks. Documentary or picture that isn't a remake? No release date given.

10:37 EST: 'Kay, we're jumping right into the AVATAR movies now. From water to monster trucks to water... I guess we'll be jumping around a bit tonight.

10:42 EST: AVATAR 3 is AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH. Not THE SEED BEARER, as previously rumored. Hitting all the elements.

10:44 EST: Alright, Pixar time, what's a-cookin'?

10:46 EST: Kicking off with DREAM PRODUCTIONS, the INSIDE OUT Disney+ series that had been previously talked about in interviews. TBD 2025. Takes place between the two movies, so a little bridging of the gap.

10:48 EST: FINALLY! A WIN OR LOSE release date! December 6th!

10:50 EST: Trailer for WIN OR LOSE. Looks like a lot of fun, love the different animation styles for each players' perspectives.

TOY STORY 5 is being directed by Andrew Stanton after all. Concept art shows Woody, Buzz, and the gang all together, in Bonnie's room. She's playing with a tablet. Apparently the story about toys dealing with... Electronics. Smartphones and computers and tablets... Is this a midquel?

A bunch of malfunctioning Buzzes... 50 of them... Is the antagonist. Kinda dipping into the unmade Circle 7 TOY STORY 3 well for ideas, is we?

10:54 EST: Pixar original 2026 is called HOPPERS, starring Bobby Moynihan as a beaver. Not a movie about a clone army of the A BUG'S LIFE villain. Logo gives secret agent/spy vibes. Critter comedy meets action?

It's about a girl who switches brains with a beaver, while her town's mayor (voiced by Jon Hamm) threatens to destroy the beaver home... Love this. Wacky-sounding and perfectly Pixar.

10:58 EST: Zoe Saldanha is starring in ELIO, as the titular kid's aunt. The story doesn't sound much different from what the mid-2023 teaser promised...

The little girl is HOPPERS is putting her brain in a ROBOT beaver, correction. This stuff comes at you so fast. No director named, but I'm thinking it's Daniel Chong?

11:01 EST: INCREDIBLES 3... Whoaaaaaa.

HOPPERS is Daniel Chong's Pixar movie. Makes sense... Bears, now beavers...

Per INCREDIBLES 3... "Brad Bird is developing it right now." Directing? Writing? Producing?

Pixar presentation OVER. INCREDIBLES 3, I guess, will bow in 2027 or 2028.

11:05 PM EST: ZOOTOPIA 2 time. Ke Huy Quan voices a snake named Gary in the film. Reptiles, sea creatures, and more are now in the city.

11:09 PM EST: FROZEN III, 2027. Not 2026. FROZEN IV confirmed. Disney's "Four Seasons" quadrilogy, it seems.

Jennifer Lee says an original comes from WDAS in 2026... Doesn't say what... yet?

11:12 PM EST: Not announced at D23. Adrian Molina was removed as director from ELIO, it was taken over by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian... More on this shocking development later.

11:15 PM EST: They're onto stage stuff now, musicals, etc. No word on the WDAS original slated for 2026. Surprised, but also not surprised. The furthest Pixars tend to get announced before the furthest WDAS movie... Still very shocked about ELIO, though. First director removal of Pete Docter's era... He said in an interview that Molina is still at Pixar and had been moved to a "priority project"... ELIO must've really hit a wall, or something's afoot...

Stay tooned...

[stormyelliotwritez]

okie dokie so here's the fandom list and the characters i'll write for. i will update this at times so yeah, here we go.

supernatural (dean winchester, Castiel, balthazar, bobby)

911 and 911 lone star (tk strand, carlos reyes, evan buckley, eddie diaz, paul strickland, owen strand)

stranger things (eddie munson, steve harrington, robin buckley (platonic only), nancy wheeler, jonathan byers)

house md (gregory house, james wilson, lisa cuddy and i can write foreman, chase and cameron but i can't promise it will be good.)

doctor who (any new who doctors and companions and friends tho coz im writing male reader bill, jenny and vastra will be platonic only coz otherwise that just feels weird also probably platonic for yaz and 13. also any masters because i love them and am obsessed with them)

hannibal (just hannibal and will coz im only on like the first season so it'll be based on vibes mostly)

star wars (like anyone basically just not palpatine and the creepy bad guys like the blue one or moff gideon. i am obsessed with clones and bounty hunters so yeah!)

batfam and dc (anyone basically coz ive got a pretty good grasp of most of their characters. if anyone requests the joker, i will probs mean like lego batman or the animated tv shows joker so the one who isn't an ass and is a bit gay. if they're lesbians (even if its just that i hc them as lesbians), it will be platonic though.)

marvel (anyone like please just give me ideas of marvel stuff to write. i will need like a really good idea to be convinced to write for tony because he pisses me off sometimes. also team red and loki tv show are like my favs so i will write actual masterpieces for those)

criminal minds (the bau gang)

good omens (aziraphale and crowley also like any of the other characters besides metatron because i wanna murder him in his sleep (: so yep)

marauders (the marauders obvs, the Valkyries and the Slytherins)

sherlock bbc (sherlock, john, jim)

star trek (the one with chris pine) (bones, kirk, spock, scotty)

the addams family (im talking like the live action movies and the animated because i watched one episode of wednesday and it sucked ngl so yeah. ill write for the whole family so yeppity yep)

gravity falls (anyone basically except for gideon and his dad)

hades the video game (anyone tho i don't think anyone would request this)

the x-files (mulder, scully, skinner, the lone gunmen)

spiderverse (hobie, miles, gwen, noir, pav, peter b parker, miles universe peter, miguel (only if you wanna get into a fight with him))

Law and order: SVU (the whole crew tho im only on s12

Dead boy detective agency (anyone but niko and jenny will only be platonic coz lesbians)

x-men universe (gambit, charles, erik, peter maximoff, hank, victor creed, scott)

deadpool and wolverine (well… deadpool and wolverine, ig. i think cable and colossus both count in this one so them. also platonic negasonic teenage warhead and yukio)

also i will write for miguel in a not fighting way if you want him and poolverine coz that ship infected my mind tho i don’t have enough grasp on it yet so it would all be headcanons

i think thats it so yeah! :)

please send in requests!!!

[queerfables]

Thoughts on 911, start of s3

3x01-3x03

I really like these big city wide disaster episodes. There's lots of room for high stakes, low resources and unexpected complications

Jeeze this show is really written to pull on parental heartstrings. I really like how much of a focus they put on the characters families and how the kids get to be fleshed out characters. But also I think it's clear (and interesting!) how the target demographic of this show is a little older than a lot of the action-y shows that get popular in fandom.

Tbh my feelings on Buck and Eddie through s2 have been like, "sure they're both pretty and they have a few moments but I'm not quite feeling that 'spark'"

But there really isn't anything more profoundly meaningful than "there's no one I'd trust with my kid more than you" so. There's that.

Buck loves Christopher like crazy it's really important to me

I would like to see more of Buck and Eddie quietly losing it over the other one being in danger though. Like not every episode. Obviously they are both extremely competent firefighters who trust each other's skill and experience. Just, you know, occasionally.

3x04

Oh Chimney, don't make this about you. Of course Maddie is going to freak out sometimes if she's reminded of her past relationship. She knows you're nothing like Doug (she wouldn't be with you if she didn't know that) but her brain and her body are wired to protect her from a situation she's not in any more. Just give them some time to catch up.

I really appreciate how this show will show Maddie is traumatised without making her seem fragile.

Oh my god they replaced Buck with the lady I'm pretty sure is Eddie's new love interest? That's hilarious.

Wow the Buckleys are not batting a thousand this episode. Buck do not sue the city because your boss wants you to take a little more time off work, there are approximately a hundred other ways to deal with that which don't burn every bridge in your life down? And Maddie don't stalk your caller and really don't RUN A MAN OVER that is UNHINGED. If nothing else, what if you're wrong??

Was Buck actually fired? I really thought he was just on leave?

3x05

Buck's lawyer is really tearing into everyone

Jesus this is miserable

Buck you're a dumbass what did you think was going to happen

Wow I'm extremely fucking gay for Eddie's new lady friend

Buck and Eddie having a domestic at the grocery store is extremely funny

Eddie doing some dumbass fight club thing what a dork

3x06

Oh we're doing movie homages for this Halloween episode? Delightful

Don't be mean about the bird, Chimney, crows are great

I do feel like Bobby was a bit overprotective with Buck in not letting him come back to work (even though Buck massively overreacted)

Buck what the hell did you expect after suing everyone come on now it'll take some time

Oh Eddie is pisssssed at Buck

Maddie I know you wanna help but all of this is a BAD idea

Maddie I'm sorry but Chimney is super right this whole thing is so bad you have GOT to stop

Lmfao Eddie is SO mad

"I'm not mad," says Eddie, madly.

Aw thank God both Buckleys are doing a little better. Now I just need Eddie to find a coping mechanism that isn't underground cage fighting

[grfn-btbtas]

Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Five Easy Pieces (1970) reminds me a bit of Taxi Driver (1976) - much more common to see Taxi Driver before Five Easy Pieces, I imagine. It's interesting because while it's much more subdued than Taxi Driver, it's a lot less ambiguous in its condemnation of the protagonist Bobby Dupea, relative to the overall stakes of the movie. Taxi Driver has a child prostitute, some sleazy politician, some commentary on society as a whole and references to the Vietnam war, and a violent shootout as the ending; it's an emotionally charged film and the stakes are very high. Because of this, it feels at least possible to make this claim that Travis Bickle is redeemable somehow, even if he's obviously a really messed up guy. He literally does save a child prostitute, he literally does go through with an elaborate heroic plan, he does kill the bad guys. I'm aware the intention of the movie is to create the irony that if he had gone through with his plan to assassinate Senator Palantine, he would not be a hero; that the underlying impulse to assassinate is the same as his desire to save Iris, etc etc. But he does do something unambiguously heroic. Just by contrast, Five Easy Pieces has Bobby Dupea start out as pretty unlikable - unfaithful to his girlfriend, emotionally distant, insulting and abrasive to everyone he lives and works with, and attempts to soften you up to the character as he displays Jack Nicholson-derived charisma, aggression, drive - but then ends with the big reveal that Dupea really is just alienated. The softening happens with his vulnerability at his (unfaithful) affair with a woman who matches his social class, his defense of his (low-class) girlfriend to some pretentious Freudian-materialist type, his attempt to confess to his catatonic father the state of his life. All of these scenes are compromised in some way, but all represent Dupea trying to be, or naturally being, a human being with real emotions and attachments. Because the stakes aren't has high as Taxi Driver, Dupea isn't capable of being either shockingly heroic or depraved, so the movie settles on Dupea being just kind of a dick.

I liked it though. In some ways, I appreciate a movie being about Heccin' Consenting Adults making choices in their relationships that are unambiguously wrong - I think movies like Taxi Driver, with their shocking high stakes, have distracted people from the fact there are all sorts of very subtle ways to be fucked up and alienated in your relationships without introducing political figureheads, violence, prostitution into the mix.