#the only people who seem to have copies of the tape are the actors and directors themselves

[stfrancisprayer]

STILL STRUGGLING (1986) is a lost feature film "about the pitfalls of acting". Some information about the film and its title sequence was posted on Facebook and some BTS footage was uploaded to YouTube, but much of the information about the contents and plot of this film are lost to time. STILL STRUGGLING is a film by Graham Fletcher-Cook, Dexter's late brother. Dexter Fletcher is listed as a co-producer. His brother, Steve Fletcher, also makes an appearance in the film.

[ratsoh-writes]

Hello y’all! Let me introduce you to baubletale!!!

This au is an underground au with a twist! After nuclear warfare decimated the land above, monsters moved underground putting up a barrier for protection. However over the years, supplies grew scarce, but any who dared leave and venture above quickly succumbed to the elements

Over time, some clever monsters found out a way to posses their creations. But there was a trade off. You change your magic to the new possession style, and and loose your ability to perform magic without your creation. However survival trumps their love for their own magic, and after a few generations every monster was a bauble creator. It became the norm for their magic, and kids born no longer preformed their own magic, only being able to transfer it to their baubles

How it works: simular to how the nomads use a sliver of their soul in enchanting their tools, the bauble monsters use a sliver of their soul in animating their creation when they finish making it. What happens afterwards is:

They can move the item, see through it, and in some cases speak and feel through the item as well.

The item aside from being possessed and mobile does not have any other special features, they are only as durable as the materials used to make them, therefore the majority of bauble monster creations are temporary

Bauble creations can also be programmed to do certain tasks without needing the monster directly controlling it. But it takes a large amount of energy and requires being renewed regularly

After the crash, with their possessed creations no longer needed for survival, many bauble monsters began creating for the sake of expression. Nowadays these monsters are associated with all kinds of services like doll cafes, animated servants, acting, and sometimes just plain old art.

Now let’s introduce y’all to the boys!

Stitches (baubletale sans)

Stitches is a tiny skeleton monster, standing only at 4’8 feet tall and aged 40. He has peachy pink magic and the swirly marbled magic of a bauble monster. He recently had braces put in to correct his crooked teeth from malnutrition growing up.

Stitches is…. Well he’s a character. He’s an eccentric monster who seems to adore the strangest things, yet is bored by others that the majority of people consider important. He struggles a bit with boundaries having been pretty isolated most of his life. He’s sweet and cuddly, but sensitive as well can can have his feelings hurt easily. Many perceive him as childish due to his personality, but he’s plenty capable.

Stitches is a voice actor!! His father had saved many tapes of old cartoons, movies and audio books for his sons before his passing. Stitches idolized many of the characters, learning to copy their voices and getting quite good at it. Nowadays he has a gig as a voice actor for a popular kids cartoon. He’s voices the sidekick, love interest and the little brother of the show. He’s also had one of his creations starred in a movie of said cartoon.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Stitches special ability is what he calls “sticky hands”. He can stretch the ecto of his left arm up to two feet to grab things out of reach!

Things he loves: bright wild colors, especially neon pink, tie dye clothing, vintage cartoon tapes and dvds, vintage cookie jars, thrift shopping, toy instruments, playing the keyboard, dyed rainbow roses, corn dogs, 80s pop and disco, crazy printed leggings, squishmallows

Tinker (baubletale papyrus)

The younger twin by a few minutes, he’s a 5’11 foot tall skeleton monster with pinkish purple eyes and the marbled swirled ecto of a bauble monster.

Tinker is a monster of few words. He’s always got his head in the clouds daydreaming about this and that and has trouble staying on track in long conversations. However when talking to a creation he’s possessing, he’s quite focused responding easier. He’s a very calm monster and is good at keeping his cool in scary situations.

Tinker owns an online shop where he sells crochet, embroidery and knit wear. Everything is an original piece, he never makes the same item twice. And he takes commissions! He also has a side hustle as a dishwasher for a restaurant he does on weekends. He of course sends a creation to do it as he hates the feeling of wet food on his hands.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Tinkers special ability is that he can posses up to three items at the same time that he made. When he does this though, he can’t move, and can only keep it up for about three hours before getting migraines.

Things he loves: the color dark purple, jello and boba teas, violet flowers, yarn yarn and more yarn, string in interesting colors, vintage clothing patterns, rag dolls, vintage lighters and brooches, old records, record players, jazz music

Side characters

Jigsaw: (baubletale Asgore) jigsaw almost didn’t accept his place with the royals, ashamed at how little he and his people had to give, but he was convinced by marionette and now works with the medical board. He funds and manages organizations that research cures and treatments for magical diseases like dimming and LV sickness. Jigsaw is a frail monster, but incredibly kind and compassionate

Marionette: (baubletale toriel) jigsaws best friend and his royal advisor before the crash, marionette convinced him to continue to take the title of royal, and was offered one for herself in turn. Marionette is a regal elegant monster with a heart of gold. She works closely with monsters researching fertility treatments and cares deeply for the humans coming into ebott. She’s one of the main royals who advocates for more immigrant rights

Nook-aster: (baubletale gaster). Technically aster died decades ago. Sick from the radiation on the surface, aster knew she wouldn’t live past her sons first birthdays, so she poured her whole soul into a tin doll she created. The doll, named nook, is merely a reflection of who aster was, it speaks like her, can preform basic tasks, but as time goes on, it’s magic fades away without its creator. Aster did end up living till her son’s second year of life, before she fell down and nook took over. Nook the doll did its best to raise the boys, it fed them, cleaned them, taught them to read and write, and even simple crafts. Thankfully the boys were intelligent, and as nook began to wear and slow, they filled the gaps learning more from the tapes aster left them. Nowadays the doll moves slowly, and only speaks a little at a time. But the boys still adore it and treat it as a true family member

[honoringthehorrific]

I watched Barbarian so you…might not have to?

🍼As always spoilers under the cut 🍼

First can I say this was beautifully shot? I loved the looming leering shots that really make you feel like a voyer. I want to be clear i did not hate this movie but i can tell its something that wont be everyones cup of tea. It deals heavily with themes of sexual assault and its got plot twists every turn. Every monster you think is the bad guy, isn’t. We get some really interesting commentaries on what i think is trying to speak about sexual assault. To be honest with you, i would ‘does the dog die’ this movie and go in blind and then come back here because even though I’m on the fence about it it’s still a good watch.

We start off with Tess, our final girl, she is shaky as she finds out that the air bnb she is at double booked her with Keith. Keith is this creepy…typical nice guy type? He’s very pushy and he is genuinely kind but he just wont take no for an answer. I love how the movie keeps throwing you red herrings, someone Tess is interviewing for her job when she says where shes staying for the air bnb says she shouldn’t be there but does not elaborate further.

The horror truly begins in the basement. A basement that continues to go farther and farther with each persons story we get to see how far it goes. Tess finds the filming room, which we later find is where the original owner brought women to rape them and film it. However she doesn’t get far beyond the filming room as she encounters a person i can only with good conscience call mother, and mother promptly dispatches of Keith. We cut to AJ, a Hollywood actor and rapist and who owns the house now, or well the deed. See AJ is everything a typical rapist seems like? He’s this stupid charismatic dude bro who, when confronted by an old friend, admits that the girl “took a little convincing.” His attorney advises against him leaving California to go to the air bnb but he does so anyways. When he gets there he finds Tess and Keith’s things and calls the people who rent it out to ask who the hell it is thats been staying here because he thinks its squatters. The woman on the phone tells him no one has been there in Two Weeks he gets aggressive with her and we sorta watch his decline. He calls the girl he raped, leaving her a backhanded apology for a voicemail. Now, AJ is crazy stupid and through the movie you might consider “oh he’s had a change of heart-“ I want you to nip that in the bud now. I think this movie makes it clear that a rapist is an irredeemable person and I honestly agree.

Something i think to be interesting is when we find Tess, she survived because mother just wants to pretend you’re her baby. Not to dig in where commentary might not be made but seeing AJ be so resistant to the rules to survive, the rules that helped Tess live, it sort of reminds me how as girls you have to learn to protect yourself at a young age, you have to learn to survive quickly while men, sort of just get to breeze by. And thats what happens…

We slowly find out that mother lives in this basement collecting people because she wants babies. The original owner has holed himself away in a deeper part and…mother wont approach his door when AJ finds his room. We are told mother is the result of the original owner breeding with his offspring over and over after raping women and them having his children. She is “a copy of a copy” whats shocking is that AJ when met with what hes done from an outside perspective, watching this disgusting old man’s tapes, he asks him what the fuck is wrong with him. The old man’s response is to kill himself with a gun that AJ promptly takes. See, in this time, Tess got free, Called the cops (who did nothing and i think thats also an interesting comment on rape), got help from a homeless man from earlier, hit mother with her car, and went back in to help AJ. And what happens when she goes back? He shoots Tess. Tess is brought out of the house with him but mother is gone and she is bleeding out fast. It is getting dark which mind you is one of the only times mother comes out. They make it to the homeless mans shelter who tells them he’s been living there for years and shes never bothered him here, however i assume because he has her babies, its different now. She attacks the man.

The final climax starts as AJ and Tess race up a water tower with mother in pursuit. AJ like the butterfingers he is drops his gun when trying to shoot her. Despite his heroic speech at the homeless shelter, he tells Tess HE can survive, but she will have to slow her down. He grabs Tess and throws her to which mother promptly dives after her ‘baby’ AJ runs down to grab his gun and finish the job but when he sees Tess is alive he immediately deals her excuses, and issues blame on her. “I didn’t even shove you you just started slipping, you understand right?” However once Tess slips off of mother, AJ comes to the rude awakening that mother also survived her landing and she promptly dispatches of the man who hurt Tess. We come to this final scene which ill be honest made me cry…

Tess grabs the gun while mother tries to motion her back to the house. Tess cannot be moved because of her wound and keeps telling her she cannot go back. She keeps trying to rub her face and say mama…she keeps nudging her to try and help and Tess shoots her point blank in the head… and while in some capacity i knew it had to happen it made me cry… mother had saved Tess’s life yet she had to die. She couldn’t live any other way…I’m not sure who the real monster is in this story wether its men like AJ or men like the original owner or maybe rapists in general. I don’t think mother was ever a bad guy…

I give this movie a 10/10. Even if i don’t fully understand it. It was gorgeous, the gore was great and looked great, it made solid commentary, and threw you for a loop every step of the way. I recommend watching it even if its hard to stomach at times. Over all it was a good movie and a good scare. The monsters truly are the friends we met along the way 💕🍼

[narratingvoice]

Dude I have literally counted like eleven entities at the very least in the Parable. Or adjacent. Or whatever. And I Keep Forgetting Someone!

The copy machine. Look at those papers on the floor. I think the poor thing is suffering.

Stanley. Ofc

You.

Creepy dude. Have you talked to Aman (as he's known in the files) yet?

Mariella. I usually forget her.

Curator. She left a lasting impression on me when the mod came out and I spent YEARS trying to find out where a voice begging me to stop playing as somebody wandered a broken level came from.

Roman or 432. Essentially went mad then ascended. Doesn't like you very much.

The Stanley Parable Adventure Line(tm) a creature that can go against it's own creator and get confused when they ask it(tm) to find the story when you are already in one is its(tm) own person. I will fight for line( tm) rights! Also is the only thing you initiate or create on screen so may be considered your child.

The bucket is alive and may or may not kill you if you bring it to the apartment.

There is a hypothetical wizard that may or may not exist and may or may not have killed the next guy. Gambhorra'ta is the name.

The tapes have this dude getting offed by a wizard after he speaks of monetizing the bucket. The creators seem to consistently say that's Joe in the AMA and a podcast so he might be joe. he'd be named after the voice actor then.

Stanley Jr., a small low poly rat model, has started to be seen in various places after a recent update. He may or may not be your son because of that..

Always forget Divine art! No I haven't gotten the ending and it's the only one I haven't. Pure torture, that.

Yeah. I know too much. I'll probably remember who I forgot later and two of those may not exist. Either way you are infested, my dude! And with vermin as well!

Well there you have it. We could practically put on an off-Broadway show in here. Maybe I could throw that birthday party after all. Even so, most of the time it feels like it's just Stanley and me. I guess a story written by a loner would end up full of characters who are loners, too. It does feel isolating sometimes, and yet I wouldn't want the Parable to be filled with voices that aren't mine. Other people are.... difficult sometimes. No offence to you, I just mean in general. I don't do well when I'm not dominating the conversation.

Oh no, you put the bucket on this list? For the last time, it was a joke! A running gag that ran a little too far. The bucket is not alive, it cannot talk, and it certainly has no means of killing anyone! I refuse to consider it a character and I will not entertain arguments to the contrary. Gambhorra'ta and the tape person are also part of the joke. None of this has any bearing on the story, it's just silly sequel content.

[borrowedtimeandspace]

Sunday Morning Research

12. Borrower

From this list of gt prompts.

AU: Unknown BAU; Sizeshifter!Stan storyline

NOTE: I had a lot of low-hanging fruit I could pluck from with a prompt like borrower. I went for a less obvious take that would give me a chance to gush about an adaptation of The Borrowers that I don't see talked about very often: The BBC mini-series!

If you've never heard of it, it can all be found on Youtube along with its sequel Series The Return of the Borrowers. They're six episodes each and follow the plot of the books pretty closely imho. Not to mention it stars Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton as Pod and Homily-- yes, Bilbo Baggins and Harriet Jones have to deal with all Arrietty's shenanigans, and they kill it! If it wasn't obvious, I highly recommend lol

~~~~~~

"Sta-an, it's on!"

"Coming!" Hastened by his older brother's teasing call, Stan Baker scrambled from the kitchen to the living room. The teen had a notebook tucked under one arm and a bowl of cereal in hand that nearly spilled as he skirted around the couch and plopped down in the middle of his brothers.

"Steady on!" griped Seamus, instinctively holding out an arm to shield his own book from potential milk splashes. "You don't have to rush, you know. We are taping it."

Stan shushed him, sitting forward so he could listen to the telly. The first few seconds of each episode were a recap from the previous one, but sometimes there was something new and Stan didn't want to miss a moment. Not if he could learn something.

Under the soft theme wafting from the television came the title card: The Borrowers.

Stan had always been a fan of the property, ever since he was young. He owned the whole book series and read it through dozens of times before he was quite suddenly able to become only a few inches tall.

Just over a year had passed, and while Stan had a stronger grasp on how to control his shrinking than he did in the beginning, he was no closer to finding answers for why. He was the only one out of his brothers who could do it; the other four had tried, and Stan even attempted to shrink one of them with him once. That one still stung to think about. Nothing about it made sense, and there was very little credible research to follow.

Taking notes on the silly little BBC adaptation of an old book series about tiny people was the closest thing.

Obviously there wasn't much for Stan to glean about changing sizes, but there was plenty he could learn about navigating the world while standing inches high. Stan knew most of the lore about the borrowers themselves from the books, and mostly he took notes on the little details. The materials used for tools, how the tiniest and seemingly most useless things could be adapted, what was safe for them and what wasn't.

Even Stan's brothers paid attention in the hope of learning how to best handle their occasionally tiny youngest brother. Though, they didn't grow up as closely with the books as Stan, so they had plenty of questions for him.

"Are they saying 'human beings' or 'human beans'?" Seamus had asked early on in the series. Stan explained that it was sort of both, and it was like that in the books.

"Is that what we look like to you?" the softspoken second youngest of the Bakers, Levi, wondered as the show went on. Stan had to admit that the camera angles were well chosen to illustrate just how large humans looked to people so small. The special effects, cheap as they were on occasion, did wonders to put the human actors in such a perspective that they seemed to actually be tiny.

Simon and Dylan, the two oldest, suggested on different occasions that they could totally make Stan a rope like the grapples Pod and Arrietty used in the series. "Knot it up, make it nice and safe, should be easy-peasy!" Dylan had insisted. Even so, Stan was reluctant. He couldn't say exactly why. It felt...odd to copy something used by people who were strictly tiny and had no choice but to climb everywhere to reach what they needed.

Fictional people, at that.

Levi was thinking along those lines during the latest episode. He brought it up during a commercial break.

"Do you think they could actually exist?"

He posed the question to the lot of his brothers, and based on their expressions, they'd been wondering the same thing. All eyes eventually turned to Stan, who flushed pink.

"I dunno," he mumbled, staring down at his notes. "Sometimes I think they must do. Or something like them. There's gotta be a reason I can be as small as them."

"A bit smaller, even," Dylan helpfully corrected. "That lot look about six inches high, and you've only just started measuring over three."

"Thanks very much, Dylan," said Stan flatly, giving his next-to-oldest brother a playful kick.

Dylan, the more athletic of the Bakers, snickered and easily blocked the kick with his own foot. "I'm just saying!"

"Whether they do or don't," Simon's gentle voice cut in, drawing the attention of his siblings, "we could all learn a thing or two. They might not be borrowers, but they've certainly put a lot of thought into all this."

Stan smiled as the show came back on. He had to admit that even if he weren't taking notes, he'd be enjoying himself. For all its occasionally cheesy tone, it had a lot of heart and was quite a faithful adaptation to the books. Stan noticed certain lines or scenes almost lifted directly from the page, and plenty more that were new material but never felt out of place. Everyone involved put in the effort to make the characters feel so real.

Stan couldn't ask for better research material.

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!

I’m so glad @littlestartopaz​ recommended this to me, because it was SO GOOD.

Yuta wants to start high school afresh: new school far from home, new classmates who don’t know he spent middle school acting out the fantasy of being the mysterious and magic “Dark Flame Master,” new him. But one of his classmates has delusions of her own, and after she accidentally discovers his embarrassing past, Yuta is unwillingly drawn into her life and a growing circle of friends with their own quirks.

The “chunibyo” of the title basically means “8th grade syndrome;” a phase in middle school where some kids inhabit and act out their own fantasy stories, positing themselves as dark magicians, magical girls, and other wielders of magical powers.

I had avoided this for a while, until it was specifically recommended to me, because honestly, it sounds embarrassing, right? It sounds like it’s gonna be an embarrassing manic pixie dream girl scenario. But what it actually contains is the story of how a mixed bag of students--some actively chunibyo, others not--become friends and develop very endearing close relationships, while arguing and frustrating each other because that’s what friends do.

Now, the idea of being the star of what’s essentially your own fantasy-action anime is embarrassing, but what’s notable is that the show doesn’t really hold the chunibyo characters up for mockery. Sure we might laugh at them, but hey--it’s funny to watch friends be silly together. And most viewers, just like some of the characters who have moved on from their chunibyo phases, probably easily understand the mix of soul-wrenching embarrassment and (mild?) fond sentiment that comes with remembering our middle school selves.

But let’s be real: the reactions the two former chunibyo students, Yuta and Shinka have to being reminded of middle school, are #RELATABLE

Rikka, our title chunibyo, in particular uses her fantasy in part to cope with grief, coming from an extended family that (without getting spoilery) didn’t help a young girl to deal with a very hard and life-changing time. Now that she’s in high school, her older sister blackmails Yuta (using an a voice recording of one of his chunibyo speeches) into helping deal with Rikka and things (like the cat she wants to adopt) that pop up.

One thing the show is very good at, though, is not making a single thing the reason behind a character’s chunibyo. One may have started their fantasy inspired by another person, or prompted by an event, but it’s also (while active) part of their personal narrative that influences how they spent their free time, how they see the world and keep blogs or diaries, etc.

But at the same time, they’re still teenagers, and their inner view of themselves...doesn’t always translate skills.

I said the show is primarily about friendship. A lot of that friendship is between Yuta and Rikka, but they accumulate a little group, mainly through Rikka’s attempt to start a magic club. Recruit 1: Kumin, a polite, quiet senpai with no chunibyo history or aspirations.

Kumin starts off seeming like a background character, but by the second season it’s clear she’s not just there for jokes about how she’ll take a nap anywhere. She’s perceptive, and genuinely enjoys watching the others act out their scenarios.

Compared to the other characters who are boisterous in their chunibyo activities (Rikka, Deko, Satone), or vociferously trying not to get drawn in to chunibyo activities (Yuta, Shinka), Kumin is happy to watch and offer encouragement, but she’s also willing to participate if a chunibyo scenario calls for a group.

Incidentally, the show does a really interesting thing where occasionally, we’ll be drawn “inside” the chunibyo world, seeing what Rikka/Deko/whoever see: a fantasy land, big magical weapons, anime-grade magical attacks. Occasionally we’ll also see what this “really” looks like--a couple people running around waving umbrellas at each other--but often we only get the fantasy version. It’s clear that Rikka and co. are legitimately on some level engaging in a shared imagination, and the times when a reluctant character (particularly Yuta or Shinka) willing steps in to the shared illusion are genuinely sweet.

Speaking of, Shinka (aka Morisummer) became one of my favorite characters. Like Yuta, she was chunibyo (”Morisummer the magician”); like Yuta, she chose a high school where she didn’t know anyone expressly so she could reinvent herself as a normal teen. And like Yuta, she’s getting dragged kicking and screaming into chunibyo again.

It would’ve been so easy to make her a bad character. She’s pretty, puts a lot of effort into being popular and likable at school, trying to keep up a good teen girl image, despite being fairly sarcastic at her core. And as loathe as she is to admit it, she likes her friends (even if she won’t admit they’re friends, even if half of them are actively chunibyo, even if she says she’s only hanging around so she can make sure all traces of chunibyo-Morisummer are erased from the internet).

Shinka gets drawn in to the group through Rikka’s apparently only pre-existing friend: Deko, a fellow chunibyo who follows Rikka (or “Eye of the Wicked Lord Shingan”) as her master, and is extremely devoted to the great magician Morisummer. So devoted, in fact, that she has several physical copies of Morisummer’s book containing all her wisdom...aka Shinka-Morisummer’s blog, which Shinka has tried to erase all trace of.

Needless to say, the two don’t seem to get along great.

Deko’s dedication to chunibyo and Morisummer irks Shinka; Shinka’s claim to be Morisummer irks Deko, who refuses to believe the great magician could ever be this sarcastic, mundane girl. Deko’s refusal irks Shinka, bringing out the sarcasm and bluntness Shinka tries to hide from the school at large.

Obviously, they actually become close friends, but heaven help you if you actually say so.

The entire series is an exploration of relationships, and Yuta’s developing closeness with Rikka (hey, we knew it was going to happen) is also sweet. He’s a genuinely likable boy, embarrassed by the vestiges of his former self he sees in Rikka, but often willing to meet her on her level, and both of them also learn/reaffirm the importance of doing things their way, and keeping both of them comfortable, rather than acting a certain way or performing specific acts just because their classmates think their relationship status mandates it.

Speaking of classmates--and I know this is getting long but I CAN’T HELP IT, I LIKED SO MANY ASPECTS OF THIS SERIES--the characters aren’t ridiculed at school. Sure, some people think they’re weird, but there’s no shunning, no arc involving teasing or bullies. Rikka’s often content as a loner, but when she attempts to join in a social circle, she’s welcomed. Shinka’s obsessed with reinventing herself and appearing normal and seems to think that otherwise she’ll be cast out, but multiple characters mention that others at the school notice how she behaves (oddly, on occasion) and there are no social repercussions. Truly nice for a show that has characters spending quite a lot of time in school.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and it’s got strong performances. Rikka’s voice actor in particular does a fantastic job capturing the difference between chunibyo!Rikka’s confidence and command, and regular!Rikka’s, well, normal awkward teenageness. (Plus, I also found her lower-than animegirl-average voice enjoyable.) (Double plus, I honestly think her English voice is better than her original Japanese voice at showing the difference between her emotions and chunibyo/reality.) Deko’s VA is fantastic showing the enthusiasm of the 9th grader (and what enthusiasm, Deko is like the Energizer Bunny), and Shinka’s VA manages to show her alternating annoyance, cheerfully sweet ideal self, and organizized leader voices.

Visuals: Fine, and I really liked the chunibyo designs for each character’s chunibyo phase. The contrast between chunibyo-vision (giant magic weapons; mysterious lights, fantasy landscapes) and reality (an umbrella or soup ladle; a strip of lights taped to the floor; a local park) was really well done.

Worth watching? Yessss. It’s very manageable--two 12-episode seasons--and while each season contains its own arc (you could stop after the first one, but why), together they make an excellent story. Heck, I think the second season is equal to, if not better than, the first, because the friend group is well-established and even more fun to watch.

Where to watch (USA, as of October 2020): Netflix (dub, sub); Crunchyroll (sub), HIDIVE (sub & dub, plus OVAs and film)

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[hamburgerhelpersotherhand]

Could you write an imagine were Yandere Randy Meeks being obsessed with an GN actor that stars in horror movies mostly?. He has posters , magazines of photoshoots that the reader has been in .Also he owns every movie that they've been in.

The reader goes to his school ,but since they're even more popular than Billy and Stu ,they never talk. One day the reader goes to one of Stu's parties , Randy finds the reader making out with Tatum (who is single)

I hope you accept my request!!!

Thank you for requesting! I’m really into Scream so, of course I’m jumping on any opportunity to write about it 😔💝

It’s cut pretty short but I hope it still meets your expectations 💕

Warnings: Stalking, mentioned non-con, and loose ending.

You weren’t a big name out there— in Hollywood- but you were the biggest name in Woodsboro.

You were this small town’s very own celebrity and you were one of the good ones, too. Not like those who move to big cities to follow even bigger dreams, no. You always came back for the new semester and you always stayed humble.

It’s admirable, really. And that’s just what Randy Meeks is doing... admiring. He’s a cinephile, after all. A movie buff. He’s gotta see every film at least once before he dies, so it’s a no brainer he’d see yours eventually.

You’re a horror actor. One the studio picked up to surprise audiences— nobody suspects the unknown actor to be the last one standing, after all. And holy shit do you look good covered in blood.

When your movies were turned into vhs tapes, Randy stocked them on the shelves of the local video store he somehow still worked at. He’d pocket a copy every time. You never stepped foot in there, to no surprise. During the fall season, your face was plastered on nearly every surface. It would creep him out too, if he was you.

Randy doesn’t read much, but he grew an unhealthy habit of buying any magazine that would simply mention your name. The teen issues always had posters. He liked those, but he enjoyed the exclusive photoshoots even more. They were mainly to promote the movies you starred in, but boy were they something else. You just can’t get away with the same stuff on a magazine poster. He kept those under his bed. To, you know... admire. But— you- you were never suggestive in any of them. The real teasing was from the movies themselves.

On a particularly cool night, Stu decided to host a party. Randy almost declined his invitation, ready to stay home and binge a series he’d seen more than once, until he heard you were making an appearance at the Macher residence. He doesn’t know how you had agreed to any of it— you always seemed like the type to avoid parties and you didn’t know a single person from his circle- but he was all for it. There was no other greater opportunity to approach you than that very night.

The party started off slow, not a lot of people were keen on arriving early (or while the sun was still up), but sure enough the number of guests soon snowballed. Randy had spotted you when you had arrived and kept his eyes glued to your head. You were greeted by so many people, it was almost impossible to miss.

Randy took a swig of his beer.

Tatum split from her friend Sidney quick and approached you quicker. Her hands were all over you in a second, dragging you around the house. It was supposedly to show you around, but Randy didn’t feel good about it.

He followed at a distance, pretending to converse with Stu’s other friends.

Tatum was basically glued to you the entire night, giving Randy no room to get you alone. It made him want to squeeze his glass bottle ‘til it popped.

Before he knows it, you’re drunk and she’s sitting you on the couch.

At this point, people had started to leave. Things were settling and Stu wanted to pop in a movie while everyone else finished up the snacks.

As Stu was fiddling with the VHS, Randy watched Tatum gradually get closer and closer. Way too close.

You both lean in... and there’s a peck.

Randy has a white knuckle grip on his drink as he watches with widened eyes. He’s mad.

Sidney grabs his arm, only partially taking his attention off of the events unfolding on the couch.

“Have you seen Tatum?” Sidney asks him.

Randy points with his drink and Sidney spots the two of you getting a little too comfortable out in the open.

She sighs and pulls on his arm again.

“Could you drive me home? Tatum was my ride.”

“I hitched a ride with Stu. Don’t have a car.” Randy replies in an almost whispery fashion. He wouldn’t want to drive Sidney home anyway, not when Tatum is taking advantage of you like that. It boils his blood to see it, but he hasn’t the courage to intervene.

Stu finally gets a movie playing and snatches the remote. He plops down on the sofa, right next to the couch where you and Tatum are having your disgusting little make-out session.

It’s not the beginning of the film, actually very close to the end. The scene... he’s watched your films so many times that he recognizes it almost immediately and it would seem you do too.

You pull away from Tatum, while she attacks your neck with love-bites, and watch the screen.

The scene before you is from a movie you’ve starred in. And it seems to be making you uncomfortable.

“Oh, that’s in poor taste.” Sidney says, watching the television.

The contents of the scene are very graphic, Randy would even go as far as to say the implications at the end are even worse. But... the sequel lets you make it out alive, give or take a couple sanity points.

Stu sees your discomfort and laughs.

“Look at the way the big bad groped you! Doesn’t feel like acting to me.”

“Stu, leave them alone. You’re making things weird.” Tatum speaks out, probably because Stu’s butting into her kissing session.

All the while Randy is watching your reaction to the screen. You genuinely look hurt as you watch the scene play, it makes him wonder what really happened on set.

“I’m going home.” You finally state and Randy’s heart starts beating again.

Tatum whines, tells you she’s sorry about Stu and Stu just gives you a haunting grin. Sidney doesn’t talk to you, just waves, and neither does Randy, though he doesn’t wave. They then watch you get up, grab your coat, and leave.

But, this is his chance. Randy could approach you right now and comfort you. Could he do that? Does he know how to comfort someone right now? He’s not sure but, a couple minutes after you leave, he tells everyone he’ll be right back.

On his way out the door, he wonders if he’s a bad liar.

[hopetofantasy]

CPM REWATCH - SEASON 3 - VLOGS (1)

Ah, yes, the season everyone is waiting for. This one was less focussed on the socials and real life events, but more on the Broerrrs YouTube channel. So why don’t I start with an analysis of them? Yup, here we go!

°

Vlog 1: ‘Can you stick someone to the wall with duct tape?’

Perfect parallels: 

Jens and Robbe goofing off in the alley (climbing the wall, teasing each other) in this vlog before S3, Sander and Robbe doing the same (hanging off the ledge, taking weird pics) on their insta after S3. 

Robbe’s “It smells kinda like graffiti here, doesn’t it?” and him starting off his season with a graffiti spray session where Sander spots him.

Nod to the OG: Robbe hanging like Jesus on the wall and Jens stating ‘It smells like sins’, both references to the religious undercurrent of the original S3 (birth, rebirth, homosexuality seen as a sin, Isak’s religious mom, OHN, ...)

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo deliberately touching Robbe’s private area ‘as a joke’. Him also making ‘duct tape tits’.

Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +2, falling off the wall whilst ripping out his leg hair with the tape.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Robbe mouthing "Help" towards the camera. 

°

Vlog 2: ‘Can Robbe and Moyo actually dance?’

Perfect parallels: Jens referencing Fortnite as a game they like to play in this vlog, seen by the various scenes in S1 and in S3 where they mention/play the game.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Moyo catching the dance moves pretty quick, mainly because the actor (Noa) is a professional dancer - yet tries to act like he can’t.

°

Vlog 3: ‘Can you make a rapsong with random words?’

Perfect parallels: 

The boys making the rap ‘Eenvoud’ in this vlog because of the random words challenge, but actually producing the music video later on.

Jens saying "Is it Friday already?", because he does ‘#vettigevrijdag’ on his insta, where he eats fatty stuff on Fridays. Which Robbe and Sander later stole after S3 with #vettigezondag (= 'fatty sunday').

Lost in translation: 

Almost all words rhyme in Flemish, but not in English (= Broer-Roer, Wisselkoers-Broers, Wijzers-Ijzers, Sneeuwwitje-Ritje-Hitje).

“Ik heb slaaptekort, want ik slaap te kort”: Meaning he has sleep deprivation (’slaaptekort’), because he’s sleeping ‘too short’ (’te kort’). It’s a play on words and doesn’t rhyme if translated to English.

“Matti’s” is slang for the dialect word ‘maten’, meaning ‘buddies’.

Funny coincidence: The words they pull out: ‘sleep deprivation’, ‘creative’, ‘iron’ (surname: ijzermans - ironman), ‘Saint-Nicolas’, ‘Broerrrs’ coincidentally refers to a lot of things in Robbe’s season. 

°

Vlog 4: ‘Can you eat a sandwich while wearing a mouthpiece?’

C is for culture: 

“Uw moeder is een hoer” (= "Your mom’s a whore"): A wildly spread expression to either joke with your friends, hurt people's feelings or try to stir up fights. It’s the Flemish equivalent to the ‘yo momma’-jokes.

"Sandra Kim": The only Belgian winner at Eurovision Song Contest. She won with ‘J’aime La Vie’ in 1986, while she was only 13 years old. To this date, the singer still holds the record as youngest participant/winner, because they lied about her age before any restrictions were implemented. 

Lost in translation:

“Breedbek-kikker” (= "broad mouthed frog"): slang for someone who is very talkative and boast about themselves (= has a ‘large mouth’).

“Pollepel” (= "ladle"): dialect word for serving-style spoon.

Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +1, spilling on himself during the challenge.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo and Jens joke that Robbe wants to show his D to the boys and viewers.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The sandwiches are with choco (spread).

°

Vlog 5: ‘Do Robbe and Moyo have make-up skills?’

Where’s Wally? Moyo mentioning Keisha, it’s been a while since we’ve seen/heard of her.

Oopsie: They’re claiming that it’s Keisha’s make-up, but in reality she would’ve had a different color of foundation, because of her darker skin.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Jens scoffing to Moyo “Are you sure this make-up isn’t yours?”, because he’s got some applying skills.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it/Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +2, Robbe blowing on the eye shadow at the beginning, getting some in his face and coughing. Smudging his own cheeks with mascara.

°

Vlog 6: ‘Which hypes are overrated?’

C is for culture:

“Wat hebben we geleerd vandaag?” (= “What have we learned today?”): A catchphrase made famous by Piet Huysentruyt, a former tv chef. In his program ‘S.O.S. Piet’, he went to people’s houses to try and fix the mistakes in their recipes. He always ended every episode with a summary on what they learned. 

The planes flying over so closely: An indication that they’re near the airport in Deurne (district of Antwerp). This is the smallest of the five Belgian airports. There has been controversy around this infrastructure, since it’s build too close to residencies (a lot of noise/carbon emissions) and originally planned to be removed. However, in recent years, more airlines chose the airport as an option and thus got more visitors. The future of Antwerp Airport remains unknown.

Perfect parallel: Jens calling Robbe a ‘biologist’ since he seems to know a lot about lemons in this vlog, him studying biology with Yasmina in S3. 

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo copying Robbe’s hand movements, because he did it in a ‘feminine’ way.

°

Vlog 7: ‘How agile are Moyo and Robbe?’

Funny coincidence: Robbe saying “Who do you think I am? Spiderman?”, whilst his surname translates to ‘Iron Man’, another Marvel character.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo and Jens joking that it’s *again* Robbe who knows what ‘downward facing dog’ is. Both of them making subtle, underlying innuendos, due to Robbe's weird face when Moyo rubbed his temples. Jens' “That’s how you like it”, when Robbe said “I’ll be the bottom one”. 

Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +3, Robbe hurting himself whilst somersaulting, constantly falling backwards in a yoga seat position and falling down hard from Moyo’s hands. 

[bunnymcbunnister]

SPN Spoiler Sheet, Update 8/15

Since filming is underway this week, this seemed like a good time to put this back out there. I don’t see the utter hysteria on here about the ending, (particularly involving Cas) on Tumblr here like I do on Twitter but why not have this be out there in the universe for all instead of only on my google account where I hoard spoilers like a squirrel. 

I am a teacher prepping for online learning, so I haven’t had time to link sources other than “I saw this on social media” so DON’T TAKE THIS TOO SERIOUSLY FOR F*UCKS SAKE. Also, if you could not copy and paste this unto your bullshit journalism site, that would be awesome. Ahem. Certain person. 

Under the cut...

DISCLAIMER: This is gathered info from various sources. This is not confirmed information. Stuff in this WILL be wrong. Don’t take this too seriously. This is for fun. Also, if you use this info for another publication, please let me know as a courtesy. Don’t be a dick. It's all out there, but it hurts to see my same phrasing on other publications after all the work I’ve done to consolidate it…  

General Info (oldest to newest). This is a blend of pre-COVID and post COVID, so some might change. 

They are adding a whole extra day to filming to do the final scene. They will film the final scene last.  (Implies logistics- lots of returning people?) PRE COVID SPOILER,I would imagine that is no longer the case

In an interview, Kripe indicated that the series ending would have “peace” for Sam and Dean

Not much new at the TCA’s, but it was said it is “unlikely” Jeffery Dean Morgan will be back since his last appearance was such a good end note. There were some jokes about a Castiel spin off. 

There will be a special tribute ep (Post COVID talk seems to indicate this will still happen)

Misha will be in 15 out of 20 episodes this season (he’s missed 3 so far and I suspect will miss 14 and 16, unclear about 19). 

Cas’ deal with the Empty may come up later in the season. 

Jack will be a critical part of the ending of the show

Dean and Amara’s connection will be explored

There will be a bunker themed episode (MarySue article)

In one of his cookbook interviews, Misha used the word “we” several times when talking about the final scene of Supernatural. He said that would be the last scene they shoot. It seemed to imply that he was in the scene, but that could be open to interpretation. 

JaxCon/Vegas Con spoilers: 

Misha said the ending was “happier than he expected” but also had some sadness. He later used “sad and redemptive”

Misha mentioned that Claire will be mentioned on the show, but as of yet not appear. 

Dean says the line “stop killing my people” (to god?)

Jensen said he doesn’t see how the story could continue past this season, but Jared said its more of “a see you later”

Misha confirmed he’s in the final scene, but he also indicated he had one week of filming left (total?) PRE COVID SPOILERS

Al Cal posted a pic of a “thrown away” call sheet that seem to indicate Micheal, Lucifer, and a character named “Betty” interacting in the bunker. Unclear as to the validity. 

There will be a flashback episode

Charlie (original flavor) will return

Filming will resume on Aug 18th. Per Canadian policy, they must quarantine for two weeks. Those quarantining seems to include:

Fairly Clear: Jared, Jensen, Jake Abel (Micheal), Rob Benedict (Chuck/God)

Unclear/Rumored: Misha (he is being deliberately cagey), Alex Calvert (Jack- AlCal lives in Vancouver so does not need to), Mark Pelligrino (Lucifer), Osric Chau (Kevin- but likely for another project, he was a week ahead of everyone else)

Reasons Unlikely: Sam Smith (chemo treatment), Kim Rhodes (working at a camp during quarantine)

Jensen said sp 19 is more of a season finale, while 20 is a series finale. Repeated in interviews/livestreams. 

Megan Fitz. (Dabb’s former assistant/writer) complimented both Dabb’s and Glynn’s writing on twitter. Not sure if it is in reference to rewrites or the special retrospective that is planned. 

Jensen indicated that the ending did change per COVID protocols. Unclear how much.

Misha is being very, very cagey about where he is. Some live streams seem to indicate he is not at home, but he has yet to confirm- his presence in 19/20 is hard to track.  In an interview with Metaverse, he was in bed in a hotel looking space and you could see mountains in the background. 

Misha has thrown around the words “final”  and “what he <Misha> would have wanted” per Cas’ ending, “Sad/Proud” and “poignant” were also used. 

Episode 15x14

Title: Last Holiday

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) discover a wood nymph (guest star Meagan Fey) living in the bunker who is determined to protect her family, at any cost. Eduardo Sanchez directed the episode written by Jeremy Adams (#1514). Original airdate 3/30/2020.

Written by: Jeremy Adams

Director: Eduardo Sanchez

Filming Dates:1/15- 1/24

Airdate: unknown- October?

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? eh… I don't think so Jack ? yes

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha mentioned being at an airport the first day of filming, maybe he’ll miss this one

The director shared a BTS shot with AlCal’s chair in the background. He also posted on that looked like the statues in hell. Lots of filming at the bunker. A few impala shots were shared as well. 

In an EW article, a mysterious woman gives Sam and Dean every holiday they ever missed. Based on the title, I’m guessing this!

 Episode 15x15

Title: Gimme Shelter

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: ?? Davy Perez???? They seem to be keeping it under wraps for some reason

Director: Matt Cohen

Filming Dates: 1/27-2/5

Airdate: unknown. October?

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ?yes  Jack ? Yes

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

There was some filming done at the crossroads with only Misha. 

Alex and Misha filmed together

It seems as if J2 didn’t film at all the first week, Misha filmed six or seven days, this is a Cas centric ep

Episode 15x16

Title: Drag Me Away (From You)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Megan Fitzmartin

Director: Amyn Kaderali

Filming Dates: 2/6-2/17

Airdate: unknown

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? I think so… briefly? Jack ? not sure either. 

Guest stars:  IMDB credits Lisa Berry (Billie/Death)

Other Spoilers/info:

Alex got a cast of his face around the filming of this- so this ep or the one after

Looks like we get Dean in a robe!

They filmed at Rooster’s Sunrise Hotel for 3 days/nights

This might be the flashback ep

Episode 15x17

Title: Unity

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Meredith Gylnn

Director: Catrion McKenzie

Filming Dates: 2/19-2/28

Airdate: unknown

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars: Rob benedict and Emily Sparrow

Other Spoilers/info:

Chuck and Amara trailers were seen on set when filming in a garden

Jensen was in NOLA Friday, possible Monday

“Uriel” was around for filming (Post COVID update: Misha seemed to indicate that this was because the actor was nearby filming? Not sure if this is to cover up the spoiler or the truth)

Alex and Jensen filmed in the imala

Episode 15x18

Title: The Truth (this might have changed?)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: BOBO

Director: Speight

Filming Dates: 3/2--3/11

Airdate: unknown

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha and Alex filmed near the impala. J2 showed up later that night. This was the source of the “last time they all filmed on set” photo)

An really emotional scene was filmed with Misha and Jensen. Jared was definitely not there, but Alex was on the flight they took with Rich, so its possible he was too. This was revealed at a con in which the four of them were on a plane that had an in-flight problem.

Filming watchers saw a bro hug

Tape Ball posted a shot of field that looks like were dean came back from hell

Misha indicated this was his “favorite episode” in a recent interview

Episode 15x19

Title: Inherit the Earth

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: bucklelimg

Director: 

Filming Dates:: 3/12-3/23/cancelled for COVID and then 8/18-8/26?? Unclear if they could use the two days they filmed or not

Airdate: unknown

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? Jack ? 

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

Production shut down as a precaution for coronavirus on 3/13, two days into filming. It is scheduled to start again on Aug 18th. 

Jensen indicated there might be some re-writes for this ep to account for COVID protocols.

Episode 15x20

Title: Carry On

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: I assume Dabb

Director: 

Filming Dates: 

Airdate: unknown. November per Misha. 

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? maaaaybe? Jack ? maaaaybe?

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha is in the final scene, per pre COVID interviews. 

Jake Abel used a “we” when he tweeted about getting back to work as soon as the virus scare ended, indicating Adam/Micheal would be part of the finale. He is quarantining, so this seems likely. 

[hollywooduniversityalumnus]

7. all filled up with things benign

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Much like any other university, Hollywood University required a metric fuck-ton of paperwork to be submitted for approval of an extended leave of absence from classes. However, unlike most universities, Hollywood U encouraged such leaves, under the condition that they were for career-related endeavours, like a six-week film shoot overseas or back-to-back tapings of a new television show being optioned for one of the many streaming services. Not only would the student receive invaluable “real world” experience, a credit for their resume, and financial compensation, but the university could leverage the experience for positive publicity (and, therefore, receive financial compensation as well).

Though Hollywood U professors stressed the importance of finding work in the industry while studying, most of the students attending the university stuck to using their class projects as resume builders and spent their free time partying and cavorting around California. Those students typically found themselves scrambling to find work once they did graduate, as they had not built enough connections and rapport to be personally contacted for a job. It was sad to see aspiring directors and actors with untapped potential head back home with their heads down and dreams dashed.

Still, Thomas thought, if Hollywood U wanted faculty and students alike to enthusiastically take part in school-sanctioned leaves, they ought to consider making the paperwork less tedious.

He stared down the stack of paperwork that Miss Schuyler had so kindly left for him to deal with. It wasn’t as thick as the stack Priya had once left him – a list of complaints and observations about the students she shared with him, which he promptly recycled, because even he had a limit to his negativity – but it was daunting to look at, especially since he knew that he had to carefully read every word of it to ensure that his student’s participation in Penn Cattrall’s yet-to-be-titled film wasn’t going to end the same way her experience with Clash at Sunset did.

And, of course, to see what he had to do to keep her on track with the rest of her peers. Of all her professors, he had been the obvious choice to administer the work she would need to complete whilst filming, and he was not looking forward to the extra work he would have to do for it.

Knowing there was nothing else to do but dive in, he set down his mug of coffee and situated himself in his seat, taking a moment to adjust the lamp on his desk before pulling down the first of the many stapled stacks.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Two and a half hours later, Thomas set down his third coffee refill and rubbed between his eyebrows. Behind him, the world beyond the window grew dimmer, and the hallway around his office swallowed up in silence. Certain he was the only one still in that wing of the school, perhaps even on that side of campus, he took a moment to get up and stretch, mind still whirring over everything he had read.

She was due to leave in three days’ time for France. The contracts he read didn’t say anything about the plot of the film she was leading, but he guessed by the extra paperwork regarding health and safety liabilities while filming in the catacombs of Paris that it had something to do with the horrors of being lost in a claustrophobic, labyrinthine setting surrounded by the dead.

Along with the liability clauses, there was a lot said about the safety of the stunt work she’d be performing herself, which he’d flagged with a sticky note. More sticky notes were used to mark certain lines that he needed further elaboration on, and parts of the contracts that seemed impossible to enforce from far away.

It had taken him what felt like eons to get to what was the most relevant part for him: the continuing education contract.

But the words that were so important for him to digest, as he would be the one to hold her to them, swam in front of his eyes as he quickly became lost in thought. Still stuck on the tidbits of information sprinkled within the documents, breadcrumbs that piece together a vague picture of what Miss Schuyler was to be doing during her six-week leave. It bothered him that he was so bothered, but he couldn’t help it.

How was she going to react to being in the depths of the catacombs? She had difficulty just sitting in the dark for too long.

And then: does she even know what she signed up for?

Penn Cattrall should’ve given her a copy of the script. Should’ve given her a head’s up of what was expected (including the stunts that she was apparently doing herself). Should’ve gotten to know her before giving her such a challenging role.

Thomas’s fingers hovered over the keyboard of his laptop before he even realized he’d opened it.

I should warn her, he thought. What if she doesn’t know?

And then that pesky second opinion in his head, another side of himself, countered, She has to know already. After everything that happened with Anders Stone and Richard Sheridan, she would have read everything Penn Cattrall’s people sent over with a fine-toothed comb. She wouldn’t agree to this without knowing.

But what if she did?

Thomas slowly lowered his laptop’s screen and stared at the brand logo on the back. The edges of a small sticker, one from his college days that he’d stumbled upon when sorting his attic, were peeling off, and he pressed his fingers down to try and flatten them. It was a simple rectangular sticker of a quote. A memory of Yvonne purchasing him that sticker at a street fair near their campus bubbled up, but he pressed down with his fingers as if to pop it.

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

Though he was remarkably awarded for a fairly new director, Penn Cattrall did not yet have the power behind his name to blow dozens of millions of dollars on a single film. It had taken Thomas two films and just as many Audrey Awards to get there himself. Though the estimated five million dollar budget for the film was nothing to scoff at, Thomas knew that, after taking into account the portion of the funds that would be exchanged for access to the off-limits areas in which they’d be filming, as well as all the equipment that would be used to capture the film and keep the cast and crew safe down below, the true budget of the film was going to be quite tight indeed.

That would be a limitation, a box that would force Penn Cattrall and his crew to think outside of it without breaking the bank or disrupting the production. It could be done; after Spielberg and the Jaws crew sunk so much money into creating the mechanical shark that famously rarely worked, the director’s decision to omit the sighting of the shark until much later in the film became one of the most memorable techniques to build suspense in film. Limitation worked then.

But Margot . . .

Since that night on that gaudy set, he wondered how she coped with the memories of her past. He’d seen her sitting in darkened rooms before – like in the auditorium watching Spencer Yamaguchi’s one-man musical – but there were still light sources, still a feeling of being among a crowd, of safety. But he’d also seen – well, heard - her on that set, crying to herself.

How would she react to long hours of being deep below ground, surrounded by the remains of those who passed long ago? Penn Cattrall wouldn’t be so cruel as to make her film in complete darkness, but the catacombs definitely weren’t known for making people feel safe. Nor, Thomas guessed, would the characters be in the catacombs with perfectly working light sources, if this was a horror film like all his others. Sure, there had to be breaks where they came up for air, food, and sunlight. But what of those hours of filming in near darkness, amongst death and decay?

Was her past her limitation?

More importantly, would – could – she work with it?

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“Miss Schuyler. Thank you for arriving on time for once.”

Displeased with being called into his office on a Friday morning, Margot lazily fell into the chair opposite his desk, her hands already tapping mindlessly on her thighs. Immediately diverting his gaze from her thighs – and the skirt she somehow considered appropriate enough to wear for such a meeting – Thomas cleared his throat.

“I’ve read through the paperwork for your extended leave,” he began. “Most of it is in order. I’ve already forwarded the very little I have issue with to be further reviewed by Penn Cattrall and Hollywood U’s lawyers.”

“Great,” Margot said, her voice flat and tired. “Is that all?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I do hope you don’t show this kind of attitude to Penn Cattrall, or you’ll be fired and blacklisted in this industry faster than Megan Fox in her Transformers days. This is a tremendous opportunity for any actor, and even more so for a newcomer.”

In the silence that followed his words, her head lowered. Her lower lip trembled. And his stomach twisted.

Where was the confident, cocky young actress determined to take Hollywood by storm? It was almost as if they were back on that damn set, drinking Snapple and letting their guards down little by little. This time, he could see her face, and he knew that the issue was not what he had just said to her, but something else. Something had been bothering her before she’d even come into the room.

His voice softened. “What happened?”

Margot immediately shook her head. “Nothing.”

“I know you,” he said before he could stop himself. “This ‘nothing’ is a ‘something.’ What is it?”

And when she finally looked up at him again, he stood at the sight of the tears spilling from her eyes. He moved quickly, taking the box of tissues he had set upon a shelf and maneuvering around his desk until he was standing by her side. Handing her a tissue, he leaned against the desk and took in her body language, noticing with grim certainty that she had been feeling off long before he’d even thought to discuss the paperwork with her.

She blew her nose. Then, with another tissue, she dabbed at her eyes and swept under the lower lashes, the tissue picking up some makeup on its way.

“Take your time,” he said.

Take your time? a part of him repeated. Since when did you get so soft?

Margot let out a deep, shuddering breath. Then, focusing more on the steadily growing pile of tissues she accumulated in one hand, she spoke.

“Up until a week ago, Penn Cattrall was sure that we were going to be filming entirely on a sound stage.” Her voice trembled, and she took a deep breath. “I – I was fine with that. A sound stage means that the lights come up, you step outside for some light, you know, no problem at all. But then . . . I don’t know how he got permission, but . . .”

She promptly pulled another tissue from the box and blew her nose into it. Thomas crossed his arms over his stomach, holding in his impatience.

Don’t rush her; let her find the words.

“I don’t think I can do it,” she admitted, and then it was a rush of words like a flood headed downhill. “I’ve been trying – I mean, I’ve been practicing, rehearsing in my room in the dark, just a headlamp and a flashlight, all by myself but – I can’t do it, I can’t do it in my own bedroom, let alone the fucking Parisian catacombs with the bones and the tunnels and – what if I get scared and then lost? What if – he said we’d be safe, but no one’s ever been permitted to film in the off-limits areas till now, and I – I’m terrified.” She buried her head in her hands. “How can I call myself an actress if I can’t get over this?”

He looked over her in silence.

“I’m going to ruin my career, and it’s just begun.”

Her words fell on deaf ears. Thomas began breathing slowly, deeply, and, while it clearly annoyed Margot, she caught on to what he was doing and matched his breaths. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, repeat. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, repeat.

When it seemed like she’d finally calmed, Thomas sighed. “The pressure you’re putting on yourself is not helping you. You will gain nothing from considering yourself a failure from the start. Your performance will be impacted by your thoughts. You will lose your starring role if you let this go on.”

“How do I stop it?” Margot cried. “You’re my teacher. Teach me.”

Thomas grimaced at the reminder.

“How do I get over this?” she asked.

“You don’t,” he said bluntly. “You simply learn to roll with it, as many other actors and artists before you have.”

Margot rolled her eyes. “Oh, great, another anecdote from your days on Battlefield Earth. I would’ve thought you’d told them all in class by now.”

“Mar- Miss Schuyler.” Thomas blinked a few times, reminding himself of decorum, of the rules he had to adhere to as a faculty member speaking to his student. “You’re not the first, and certainly not the last, actor working with their traumas and fears to complete a production. A simple Google search will tell you that a multitude of actors admit to feeling emotionally and mentally drained from the work they do that involves at least some aspect of their fears. For some, it is claustrophobia when filming in confined spaces for the majority of a film. For others, it is continual exposure to creatures or things that they may associate with terrible memories or have faced before and nearly lost. Fear of heights in an action film. Fear of large bodies of water and drowning after seeing such a thing happen in their childhood. And yes, fear of the dark and the unknown shrouded within it.”

She dabbed at her eyes with another tissue.

“You are not alone in your feelings. More to the point, you are not – and will not be – alone. You will never be alone like that again.”

She nodded.

And Thomas, quickly turning back to his desk, procured some papers from his desk and changed the topic.

“So, about your homework . . .”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 1:

Within the Parisian catacombs, there is a sign that says (according to Penn Cattrall, who translated it for me): “Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead.”

They are not wrong.

To say that I am far beyond my comfort zone is an understatement. More accurately, I’m far beneath it (twenty metres or so, in fact; thanks, tour guide Jack/Jacques).

Penn had arranged a special tour for the cast and crew, which was done in staggered batches of ten with a guide in front and a guide at the rear to keep everyone together. Honestly, they didn’t need to arrange it like that; I doubt that anyone, when within the Empire of the Dead, would branch away from the group when surrounded by dust and bones and stale air. The tour was apparently the same as any regular tour, though the “special” part of it came into play once we had reached a certain point within the catacombs, when the guides took us through a clearly marked off-limits area to show us one of the many places we’ll be working in under the direct supervision of several officials and safety officers.

You think, once you’ve walked around in a cavern made of cadavers for forty or so minutes, you’d be relatively numb to the sight of another area stacked high with bones.

I just . . . didn’t expect the first shots we’ll be filming to take place within such a microscopic tunnel.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Thomas Hunt’s comments on Production Progress Journal Entry 1:

I am not surprised to hear of the extensive security and safety detail.

I am surprised that you didn’t expect to film in areas that may trigger claustrophobia.

Have you done anything at all to help mentally and physically prepare for the shoot?

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 2:

On the plane ride to France, I’d started listening to the podcast “How to Find Peace Within Yourself: A Guided Meditation to Alleviate the Darkness and Manifest the Light.” Once settled in my temporary hotel home for the next six or so weeks, I made space on the floor and did partake in some of their suggested activities, including mindfully making a cup of tea and waking up at ungodly hours to sit in front of the window and focus on how the light of the sunrise felt creeping up my body.

At about seven in the morning today, we made our first descent of many for this film into the catacombs.

Approximately nineteen minutes later, a safety officer had guided me out, where I’d narrowly managed to reach a trash bin before I’d vomited up my breakfast.

Manifesting the light through mindful tea making is bullshit.

Thank fuck it was only a rehearsal.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 2.5:

Just got out of a last-minute meeting/admonishment talk with Penn. From what memory serves, he told me that he was worried we’d both bitten off more than we can chew with this ambitious project. I know he’s trying to soften the blow of the underlying warning of his words.

He is unimpressed. He has every right to be.

Whatever he saw in me when he chose me is not present now, and I don’t know how to come back from this.

I am not the only cast member who has to take frequent breaks from below; my co-star, Oliver Abel, is extremely claustrophobic. He has a scene planned for filming tomorrow that involves him squeezing through the aforementioned tunnel, and I honestly don’t know how he’ll pull it off.

I hope he can do it.

I hope we all can do it.

I don’t want to lose this opportunity.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 3:

I don’t know if I can do what Oliver did.

He’s managed to use his fear to power his performance, sobbing desperately and clawing at the tunnel walls. First take, best take, and while I’m proud, I’m also nervous.

The past few days, Penn has allowed me to focus mainly on above-ground scenes while the crew gets more comfortable with working underground. But we’re running out of filler scenes to film. Soon, it will be my turn to wiggle atop a pile of bones (supplied by Penn’s affiliated prop company, and not the real bones of dead citizens) and plea for mercy.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it.

Especially if my headlamps malfunction, plunging me into darkness, as mentioned in the final draft of the screenplay I got a few hours ago.

Help.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Thomas Hunt’s comments on Production Progress Journal Entry 3:

You are too busy worrying about yourself that you are not learning from those around you.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The phone call came just before eight p.m.

Thomas had reclined in his favourite armchair, beat after a day of marking subpar assignments. His red pen had run out of ink halfway through an essay that was more a waste of paper and ink than an acceptable analysis on auteurist theory, and he’d had to switch from coffee to scotch after ripping apart Lance Sergio’s paper on Sophie’s Choice.

Really, how is that boy still enrolled?

The floor lamp positioned by his armchair went dark, and Thomas turned his head to look at it. He’d have to buy a new bulb for it. Been meaning to for a while now. Another thing to add to his ever-growing list of responsibilities and errands.

He blinked slowly at the shrill noise that broke the comfortable silence, realizing seconds later that it was his cell phone ringing. A number he didn’t recognize, with an area code he couldn’t place off the top of his head.

Still, he answered.

“Who is this?” he asked simply, leaning back into his chair.

Her hushed voice had him jolting straight up again.

“I can’t do this. Help me.”

Though he felt as though his blood has run cold, he kept his voice even as he asked, “How did you get this number, Miss Schuyler?”

“I have my ways.” She sounded on the verge of tears. “I’m scared. I don’t – I don’t think I can do this.”

And Thomas, being the level-headed, critical, highly regarded and rewarded director, actor, professor, and screenwriter that he was, sucked in a deep breath before replying.

“Yes, you can.”

“I can’t, I-”

Thomas’s voice was stern. “Margot. Did I not stand for you during your hearing? Do you think I said any of those things falsely? You have shown tremendous growth in such a short time. You led and assisted in multiple school projects. You have acting and producing credits for films that have been nominated – and won – awards.”

“I never had to do any of those things underground,” she argued, her teary voice giving way to a spark of anger. “I’m fine in front of a camera and behind it. I’m happy to be in the spotlight. But I can’t cope with this. Have you ever been to the catacombs? How lonely and suffocating it is to be so far below, hidden away from the world? I close my eyes for too long and it’s like I’m right back in that fucking shed my mother pretended was a house.” Her voice broke on the last few words, and Thomas’s chest tightened.

Her words were met with silence until he had gathered his thoughts on how to assure her.

“The camera crew is there. Mr. Cattrall will be there. You will not be alone. At the first sign of distress, they will halt filming so you can regain composure.” His voice hardened. “You cannot quit now. You have just begun to soar.”

“I’m going to plummet face-first into bones and debris.”

Thomas huffed. “Perhaps. But you will get up again.”

She sniffled.

“Have you considered a therapist?”

“It’s a little late for that.”

“It’s never too late to take care of yourself,” Thomas admonished. “A podcast and meditation are good starts, but the way you react to things that remind you of your trauma is rather unhealthy and will stunt the growth – both personal and craft-wise – that you have already made.”

She said nothing.

He cleared his throat. “Does Mr. Cattrall know?”

She snorted. “All he knows is I’m a failure. I can practically hear him calling for my replacement as we speak.”

Thomas checked his watch, then strained to remember the time difference. Eight p.m. here was . . .

“Are you calling me right before your shoot starts?”

He heard her take a sip of something. “I could barely sleep. I’ve felt sick to my stomach all night.”

“Margot, you are not making this easy for yourself.”

She snorted again. “It’s not going to be easy, period.”

Thomas sighed, running his fingers over one of the arms on his chair. “You need to tell Mr. Cattrall. A good director knows their performers. I’m sure he’ll be more lenient on you if he knew.”

“And be called a crybaby?” Margot snapped. “No, thanks.”

Thomas let out a huff of annoyance. “Margot, why are you even calling if you don’t want any of my advice?”

“Because . . . I don’t know anyone else who would care.”

Silence.

“Margot-”

“Miss Peaches is gone, and I can’t remember the breathing technique she taught me.” Her voice grew higher, hysterical. “I sleep with a lamp on because I can’t handle the feeling of being abandoned again. The few things I’ve filmed in darkness were done surrounded by dozens of crew members on sound stages where everything is predictable and there’s no threat of cave-ins or collapses.”

“Margot, listen-”

“You heard me that night on the set. You know how it makes me feel.”

“I do. I did hear you. I know what you’ve been through.” Thomas’s voice, once again, became strangely soft, soothing. “Margot, you cannot let this hold you back forever. You will face it again and again. It’s not something one simply ‘gets over.’ You have to learn with work with it, and make it work to your advantage.”

She sobbed, and his throat went dry. “How?”

Thomas closed his eyes. His fingers pressed firmly against the arm of his chair, as if smoothing down the edges of a peeling sticker.

“‘The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.’”

He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until Margot spoke again, her voice shaky but still understandable.

“Orson Welles.”

He hummed. “He was my father’s favourite filmmaker. My parents rarely let me stay up to watch movies, but when a Welles was on, well . . . he made the popcorn, I sliced the jalapenos, and we sat together under his spell. It was one of the few times we actually got along.”

“You put jalapeno slices in your popcorn?”

Thomas smiled. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“I’ll stick with Reese’s Pieces, thanks.” She sounded a bit more upbeat, which he found encouraging.

So, while it wasn’t something he normally advertised, he admitted, “My father named me after him, actually.”

The sound of Margot’s laugh was like a burst of sunlight on his skin, warming and comforting. “Really? How so?”

“Orson is my middle name.” Thomas failed to keep the smile out of his voice. “I understand why he did it, given Welles’s impact on cinema, but it was tough just learning how to spell it when I was a boy.”

“I’m trying to imagine you as a child. All I see is a scowling little boy in a suit.”

“You wouldn’t be very far off.”

“So you’ve always worn suits?”

“My mother dressed me to impress. And to get made fun of.”

Every time she laughed, the weight on his chest lifted a little more. And he found that he couldn’t hold back his own laughter, even as he shook away the memories of playground bullies kicking dirt at him and scribbling on his sleeves with markers.

“Thomas?” Her laughter had died down, and her voice was timid.

“Yes?”

Margot sighed. “Thank you. I feel a little better now. I’ll try to remember what you said, about taking care of myself and getting up again.”

He nodded, as if she could see it. “Don’t forget the quote.”

“Right.”

There was a pause.

“Could you . . . elaborate further on that?”

Thomas rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Limitations breed creativity. They foster growth beyond its restrictions. Take your co-star for example. Claustrophobic, yet he filmed his scene well. You wrote that his fear powered his performance, made it stronger. You feel limited by your trauma. But could you work with it and use it to add verisimilitude to your character’s journey?”

Margot, wherever in Paris she was, took a deep breath that sounded like a gust of wind into his ear. “I – I’m not sure.”

“You’ve fuelled your performances before with your pain.” Thomas thought back to the first acting project she’d helmed since Clash at Sunset’s premiere, when Anders Stone tricked her out of millions of dollars. She’d played a fiery sidekick to her classmate Erik’s cliché cowboy, effectively stealing the show with how genuine her actions seemed to be. “You’ve used anger to your advantage. Pain is part of that realm. You do not have to be sure. You only have to try.”

In the background of her side of the call, he could hear someone talking to her. Then, Margot’s voice came back on the phone, apologetic.

“I have to go. It’s time.” She paused, then added, “Thank you. Really. I’ll try to make you proud.”

Thomas smiled to himself and said, “Don’t forget to do your progress report.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Long after she’d hung up, he stared at his phone in silence.

I’ll try to make you proud, she’d said.

You already have, he wanted to reply.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He poured three more fingers of scotch into his glass and carefully selected two perfect ice cubes from the steel container on his drink cart. Flicking on a random channel, he attempted to absorb the film that was already midway through. Instead, it was a flashy, action-packed thing for his eyes to watch while his mind whirred behind them.

He wished he could stop replaying their phone call in his head. The way he’d told her his middle name, admitted he’d been bullied for being different, and encouraged her to use her vulnerabilities to her advantage.

The sound of a gun firing temporarily shook him from his thoughts. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he raised his glass to his lips.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

There had been a time when, if Thomas strained his ears enough, he could hear the echoes of Yvonne’s laughter, her voice crooning for him to join her on an impromptu adventure as an attempt to make him socialize more. He rarely willingly tortured himself with the memories, but on a night like this, with too much scotch in his system and the living room’s burnt-out lamp bulb shrouding him in partial darkness, he settled into his seat and closed his eyes, expecting his mind to conjure up the image of the woman he had once loved and chose to lose.

He saw his fingers running through her long dark locks that stretched far beneath her shoulders, framing her face in gentle, inky waves that shone impossibly beneath the night sky.

Her eyes, framed by dark lashes, dark brown irises shockingly bright and intent on his face.

Her cheek pressing into his palm, eyes fluttering closed as she leaned into it further, as if his touch soothed.

A silver-blue gown’s skirt twirling around her legs as they danced.

A different ethereal silver-blue gown rendered diaphanous by the rainfall.

Her angular face, flushed from breathless kisses, illuminated by the bright colours of the fireworks display.

Her voice was a whisper that reverberated within his skull, words overlapping with different emotions.

“Hunt?”

“Please, Thomas . . .”

“My feelings for you are not fake.”

His eyes shot open.

No.

No, no, no.

What did Yvonne look like?

What did she sound like?

What was her last name again?

Does it matter anymore?

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 4:

A wise man once told me that another wise man said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”

(Orson Welles, in case I have to give credit. This is a school thing, right? Do I need to put this in MLA/APA/whatever?)

The things I associate with darkness, particularly being along in darkness, are my limitations. They make me feel sick to my stomach, bring tears that burn in my eyes until they fall, and make me want to avoid any and all scenarios in which I’d have to face them.

I’ve fueled performances with my emotions before. I’ve used heartbreak to write a best-selling song and anger to light up a performance about a vengeance-seeking cowgirl. Certainly, I could do it again with this emotion, this sadness and pain.

And I did.

The pile of bones scene was terrifying, especially with the headlamp flickering on and off. But I knew I wasn’t alone, that despite the setting we were filming in, I was safe and seen. I was still scared, but I knew my character would be, too. I’d spoken to Penn Cattrall before filming the scene, and he’d told me that the pain I felt, if translated as well as Oliver’s claustrophobia was to his performance, made the struggles of my character real. He’s rewritten Oliver’s character to be claustrophobic, and he’s going to work on mine so that I can work through my fears.

In half an hour (I’m on break with Oliver right now; enjoying a panini from a nearby café) I’ll be filming a scene with Oliver in another area of the catacombs, a microscopic chamber with a hole in the wall. We’re both terrified. And we’re both excited to try.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Author’s Note:

Hi, friends. It’s been a while, I know. “Real life” got a lot busier than I expected.

But anyway, just wondering if it’s worth it to keep posting the chapters of this story on Tumblr. I’m already posting it on AO3 as it is, and to be quite frank, there’s really no engagement here so I’m not sure if I’m just clogging the tags.

Please let me know what you think :)

[danganronpaheadcanons]

Theory: Danganronpa 53 wasn’t made by the actual stakeholders of the show, it was a “copycat” ‘dark web’ show made by people who were dissatisfied with how the show ended in season 52.

-In prologue, Rantaro is the first one to catch on what a group of high school students, particularly 16 students being gathered could mean.

What he says in reaction to seeing Monokubs is that is “けど、誰の仕業なんすか？どうして、こんなふざけた真似事を―” (“Kedo, dare no shiwaza nansuka? Doushite, konna fuzaketa manegoto wo―”) which was translated as “But who’s behind all this? Why the ridiculous theatrics―” in the NISA translation, but “真似事” (manegoto), wherever you look it up, has the meaning of “1. imitation; copy; make-believe; pretence; sham​

2. doing something in a way that only superficially resembles the real thing​”

Which points to him both recognizing “highschoolers suddenly kidnapped and trapped” setting AND seeing the “knock-off Monokuma” Monokubs, which points to someone making a “knock-off Danganronpa”, so asking who was behind it.

He also reacts “I can give you my name. My name is Rantaro Amami. Let’s leave it at that for now.” which, seems like a weird thing to say, as Kaede responds with “Huh? Um… Okay.” but would make sense if he was in Danganronpa 52, an actor in an actual reality TV show before the franchise ended, so being used to people asking for a signature or more, worrying about a possible fangirling/fanboying reaction that would distract from the situation at hand.

-During Trial 6, some comments talks about they have been waiting for a long time, one in particular saying “It’s been three years!” which points to 3 year gap in between Season 52 and 53, which wouldn’t make sense if it truly was a franchise so popular and still going strong, loved by the world, like Tsumugi claimed.

-It would also make sense with the “copycat criminal/cosplaycat criminal”, as Tsumugi would have run a copycat crime of Junko Enoshima, a fictional character in a franchise she is obsessed with. If “deaths” up to V3 were just “acting”, something similar to Survivor in our universe, it would make sense for someone so obsessed with the franchise being one of the people advocating for a “Real Killing Game”.

-It would also make sense with why everyone seems to be from a different school in the prologue. If it was indeed made by people who are connected on the web, fans of this show, with possible profit angle to it as a dark web show, if they kidnapped people they know to have some talent they are working on and are fairly good at (as Kaede says she has a talent she devotes herself to but wouldn’t call herself amazing at, as unlike what the translation translated it as, the term “Ultimate” doesn’t come up until Monophanie says they look more like Ultimates post wardrobe change, and Kaito and Shuichi says it’s same for them as well) from completely different places, so that it would be harder to track who was behind all those seemingly unrelated kidnappings.

-Alternatively to the last point, they could have auditioned to be in Danganronpa 52 or 53, again the Survivor audition type of “talking bold about things they would do to get accepted into it”, but with the company going bankrupt/people losing interest in the show at that point and the show sizzling out, if they weren’t a really big fan of the show, they would have forgotten about that.

In either case, whether their 'pregame videos’ were recorded by a cosplaying Tsumugi who cosplayed as a version of them that doesn’t exist in the real life, therefore a “fictional” character, or if they were real, would mean that their prologue selves still were their “real” selves, as an audition tape for a show you know to be scripted and acted wouldn’t say anything on what you would do and feel in a real death or life situation.

Tl;dr With Rantaro’s reactions in the prologue, added to it taking a bit for others to recognize the setup and giving not exactly most positive reactions to it, added to fan comments at chapter 6 and Tsumugi’s own comments of being a “copycat criminal” who was “cosplaying”, it is a plausible scenario where “Danganronpa being a popular show not everyone is a fan of but heard of exists”, “V3 cast didn’t join for an actual killing game and their reactions in the prologue were genuine” and “Rantaro gives reactions of someone who is fairly familiar with the setting, acts like a celebrity that’s going 'no pictures’, calling the setup a 'ridiculous knock-off/sham/imitation” can coexist together, with a slight twist.

[goodbye-toallthat]

David Byrne - How Music Works

The constraints make the piece vs the “romantic” notion of creativity

“I believe that we unconsciously and instinctively make work to fit existing formats.”

“In a sense, the space, the platform, and the software “makes” the art, the music, or whatever.”

“It seems that creativity, whether birdsong, painting, or songwriting, is as adaptive as anything else. Genius—the emergence of a truly remarkable and memorable work—seems to appear when a thing is perfectly suited to its context. When something works, it strikes us as not just being a clever adaptation, but as emotionally resonant as well. When the right thing is in the right place, we are moved.”

“We do express our emotions, our reactions to events, breakups, and infatuations, but the way we do that—the art of it—is in putting them into prescribed forms or squeezing them into new forms that perfectly fit some emerging context.”

On performing and its relation to recorded music

“What was originally a simulation of a performance—the recording—has supplanted performances, and performances are now considered the simulation.”

On the power of music: 

“Music tells us things—social things, psychological things, physical things about how we feel and perceive our bodies—in a way that other art forms can’t. It’s sometimes in the words, but just as often the context comes from a combination of sounds, rhythms, and vocal textures that communicate, as had been said by others, in ways that bypass the reasoning centers of the brain and go straight to our emotions. Music, and I’m not even talking about the lyrics here, tells us how other people view the world—people we have never met, sometimes people who are no longer alive—and it tells it in a non-descriptive way. Music embodies the way those people think and feel: we enter into new worlds—their worlds—and though our perception of those worlds might not be 100 percent accurate, encountering them can be completely transformative.”

“Not only could recordings bring distant musical cultures in touch with one another, they also had the affect of disseminating the work and performances of singers, orchestras, and performers within a culture.”

���Classical music has been piped into 7-Elevens, the London Underground, and the Toronto subways, and the result has been a decrease in robberies, assaults, and vandalism.”

Responsibility in the creation of music: 

“It would be impossible for the listener to establish at which point the authority of the performer gave way to that of the producer and the tape editor, just as even the most observant cinema-goer cannot ever be sure whether a particular sequence of shots derives from circumstances occasioned by the actor’s performance.” - said by pianist Glenn Gould

“Just as theater is an actor and writer’s medium, and cinema is a director’s medium, recorded music often came to be a producer’s medium, in which they could sometimes out-auteur the artists they were recording.”

On lyrics in a song: “When some phrases, even if collected almost at random, begin to resonate together and appear to be talking about the same thing, it’s tempting to claim they have a life of their own. The lyrics may have begun as gibberish, but often, though not always, a “story” in the broadest sense emerges. (…) But at times words can be a dangerous addition to music—they can pin it down. Words imply that the music is about what the words say, literally, and nothing more. If done poorly, they can destroy the pleasant ambiguity that constitutes much of the reason we love music. That ambiguity allows listeners to psychologically tailor a song to suit their needs, sensibilities, and situations, but words can limit that, too.”

What is music? 

“…before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context. It was pretty much all tied to specific social functions. It was communal, and often utilitarian. You couldn’t take it home, copy it, sell it as a commodity (except as sheet music, but that’s not music), or even hear it again. Music was a singular experience, something connected to a specific time and place. It was part of the continuum, the timeline of your life, not a set of “things” that lived outside of it.”

“Music is made up of sound waves we encounter at specific times and places: they happen, we sense them, and then they’re gone. The music experience is not just those sounds waves, but the context in which they occur as well. Many people believe that there is some mysterious and inherent quality hidden in great art, and that this invisible substance is what causes these works to affect us as deeply as they do.  This ineffable thing has not yet been isolated, but we do know that social, historical, economic, and psychological forces influence what we respond to—just as much as the work itself. The arts don’t exist in isolation. And of all the arts, music, being ephemeral, is the closest to being an experience more than it is a thing—it is yoked to where you heard it, how much you paid for it, and who else was there.”

On art

“Dissanayake writes that art that engages the mind and the hands, that is not just passive connoisseurship, can act as an antidote for our contagious and alienated relationship to our own societies. She sees art making as capable of instilling self-discipline, patience, and the ability to resist immediate gratification. You invest your time and energy in your future. … There’s a growing movement, a real turning away not just from the passive absorption of culture, but from art and music as mere vehicles for expressing concepts. The hand has been brought back into the lives of a new generation.”

For the Japanese tea drinking was art - “There’s a lot for a cup of tea, but one can see that elevation of the mundane in a lot of areas of daily activities in the East. The poets, writers, and musicians of the Beat Generation were inspired by the Eastern idea. They too saw the transcendent in the everyday and saw nobility in the activities of ordinary people. This is an almost Cagean view of the arts—that it’s all around you if you merely adjust the way you look and listen.”

[gayboysero]

god its been like ten years since i watched naruto but you know that one arc where they’re taking a test and the point is that you have to use your ~ninja skillz~ to cheat without being caught?? well imagine that but with 1-A

(and like the goal instead of being “pass on ur own” is that all 20 members of the class have to pass)

ofc the point is that the questions are so ridiculously hard that there’s no way anyone can answer them legitimately (except yaomomo but we’ll come back to her in a minute)

like midoriya and iida and bakugou realize that they’re fucked just from looking at the problems, so they’re trying to figure out what angle aizawa is playing at, but while they’re doing that kami and mina begin their standard cheating operation. midoriya watches sero kick a note to kami when he realizes. they have to cheat!

he coughs a few times which uraraka picks up as the Dekusquad Distress Signal. she starts absently humming the girls’ panic tune, so mina and jirou also realize whats up. mina makes a lil “WE HAVE TO CHEAT” sign which she passes to kami, who (using sero’s tape) sticks it to the back of ojiro’s tail so the rest of the class can see.

so yeah they’re all working together to share momo’s answers with everyone. momo starts making little answer cards pop out of her legs, which dark shadow picks up and distributes to the people around him. jirou uses her earphone jacks to hear yaomomo mouth the answers, while shouji splinters a bunch of tiny eyes off behind him to peek, then hands to write.

baku doesn’t like relying on the rest of them, but his explosions aren’t gonna help him so he decides to make a distraction. he asks to go to the bathroom and once he’s outside he swallows his pride and texts todoroki to come outside as well. todo is a shit actor but he tells aizawa he’s feeling sick and uses his quirk to heat his face up so it seems like he has a fever. right as he’s leaving the room baku comes back in and purposely bumps his shoulder, then he starts getting bakumad about it and pulls todo out into the hallway, ostensibly to fight. it’s not super convincing but it does make aizawa go outside for a few seconds to stop them.

while that’s happening, tsu,  shouji, and dark shadow distribute tiny answer cards momo made to everyone and they all start frantically copying. they’re all gonna do great- except todoroki, who can’t actually finish the test because he’s at the nurse. however, in the few seconds aizawa was out of the room, sero had grabbed his test and managed to fill it out for him. the only issue is that they have to get it back onto todoroki’s desk.

people start passing in their tests- iida and kouda first, then aoyama. but as aoyama turns around to go back to his desk, he sees sero with todoroki’s test give him an Uh Oh look. so he whips his lil ass around and tells aizawa he has to ask a question about one of the problems. aizawa says he already finished and he can’t un-hand it in, so aoyama starts arguing with him. its only a few seconds, but its enough to let sero underhand todoroki’s test to dark shadow who flings it onto todoroki’s desk.

and they all pass!!

[missholson]

SHIP HISTORY MEME

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’ fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Tagged by the sweet @unwillingadventurer​, thank you girls! <3

Hoffmann & Tennstedt (Das Boot) The baby face & the stone face. :) The biggest reason for this series is my sister, who tried to lure me into the fandom already last summer by showing the first episode. Sadly it was a far too distressing experience. The story is about a WW2 German warfare, so it isn’t very light entertainment for Saturday night. The show seemed like a worth watching production, though, but I doubted if I could ever watch it completely. After visiting Berlin now in February 2020 there was no hesitation anymore. The story focuses on the Nazi German submarine, U-612, and the occupied city of La Rochelle in France. However, not everything is as black and white as one might expect. One of the biggest messages of the show is that war is always brutal, no matter which side you fight. The innocent are always suffering. It also shows how the ideal thoughts of warfare crumble, if it comes at the cost of greed, deception, health or life. There is disagreement among the leaders on boat, too. The new commander, kaleun Klaus Hoffmann, is young and inexperienced but kind-hearted and wise. Next on the scale, IWO Karl Tennstedt, is an experienced sailor and an glory-seeking soldier, who envies Hoffamann's position. He regards Hoffmann as incompetent and a disgrace to Germany. So, there is plenty of tension between these two!

Louis & Philippe (Versailles) I started watching the show sometime in 2015, but found it quite distasteful. It was more brutal than expected, and I was overwhelmed by people's greed and dirty behavior, so I stopped watching after a few episodes. Every now and then I saw pics/gifs on Tumblr, especially of Monsieur and Chevalier, that I finally wanted to give another chance in January 2020.  This time the experience was the opposite, and I got a better grip on the story. I was surprised how little I liked the popular Monchevy pair and, instead, so much the quarreling brothers. I was very moved when they joked with each other and showed brotherly love. In the scenes of conflict, I missed their compassion. I haven't watched the rest of seasons 2-3 yet, so I don't know if they get better. I hope so because together they would be a powerful duo.

Matt & Cherry (Red River) I had recorded Red River (1948) on my set-top box, and the closing date was expiring in December 2018. It was Montgomery Clift’s breakthrough movie, so it was a must see. The movie was a refreshingly different western, where the hero is not a macho cowboy and John Wayne a bad guy for a change. But most of all, I was amazed how Cherry Valance's behavior towards Matt Garth was so heavily double entendre. At first they are presented as challengers and opponents of each other. Slowly Cherry starts to show admiration for Matt, and increasingly talks about his gun. In return, Matt needs Cherry's shooting skills to herd cattle. Eventually they become each other's trusted ones. I always find it fascinating, if tension begins to develop between the opposing characters. If the story has a couple that doesn't change, develope or lacks dynamics, it probably won't arouse interest.

Fritz & Dr. Frankenstein (Frankenstein) I had seen a Tumblr gif of Renfield crawling in Dracula (1931) in August 2018. It was Dwight Frye’s breakthrough role. The movie inspired me to watch other Universal monster movies, of which Frankenstein (1931) became my favorite. The work pair of the story, these two outcasts of society, melted my heart. For unexplained reason they have joined their forces and seem to be working well together. They have a mutual partnership, where they can act naturally without fear. Their work is unique, e.g. digging the graves or snatching hanged bodies, but they treat it like any other dayily job. Somehow, I like this way of approach. Actually I have written about Fritz already earlier, where I take a closer look at their relationship. The text can be read here.

Adrian & Antony (Sebastiane) Well, this couple is a specialty of its own. They are another ones found through Tumblr. I saw a picture of them in June 2018 which led me to watch the film. In terms of story or acting, it's not a very special movie but technically professional level. First of all, it was shot under the blazing Sicilian sun on 35 mm film. The light is a vital factor when using a film camera, so the pictures look very rich. The scenes, where these two are having fun together in slow motion, are breathtaking. I had never seen anything like it before and, in my opinion, stole all the attention of the story since they were just characters in supporting roles. It was like a gay paradise on earth.  Here I realize the importance in the way how the characters are presented. The technical presentation can play a surprisingly huge role when we try to read and understand the characters. It can influence us either to share their thoughts or to move even further away from them. Bonus points I give for Latin, which the entire cast is speaking in the film. I would also like to clarify that this is not a p**n movie or a family movie either. It’s a gay erotic story with some full frontal nudity.

Reinhold & Conrad I’m not sure if this is a ship or fandom, but I feel extreme warmth and joy for this pair (the Berlin trip may have something to do with this). They are also the only people from real life instead of characters. I’d like to share my story about them, unfortunately it's very long (I've never been a fluent writer) but explains my interest in more detail. I got to know Conrad Veidt already in high school at the turn of the millennium, the time before DVDs. Near the school there was a buy-sell-exchange movie shop, where my sister and I visited regularly. Somehow we ended up with the idea that we wanted to see The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), so we went to the store again. There was no copy, as expected, but the seller said he would keep in mind if one came up. Months passed and after a long break we visited our regular place again. This time, the man had news for us: he had received a copy and kept it in safe for us. We couldn’t believe our eyes and ears. First of all, the kindness of the man made us speechless, and secondly, we never thought we would get our own copy of such popular rarity. At that time movies were not re-released as often as they are today. It was a VHS cassette, bw, not tinted like the original version, and its quality was far from the 4K richness and sharpness. My sister still has the tape and is one of the treasures she will never give away. For years the film was the only Conrad movie we saw, along with Casablanca - until the digital age and the social media arrived. Again I have to thank Tumblr, where I found the actor Anton Walbrook. One of his most famous films, Viktor und Viktoria (1933), is directed by Reinhold Schünzel, whom I knew from Conrad's film Different from the Others (1919). I began to study Reinhold's background more closely in December 2017, and it turned out that he is a forgotten multi-talent in the film industry: He was a versatile performer in comedies and dramas, a prolific director and an idea-rich screenwriter. He had an eye for creating stories that were told in the minds of people in addition to acting and lines. He questioned gender roles and built juicy plot twists around them. He loved theater and was a popular celebrity in 1920’s Germany. He was also a colleague and friend of Conrad. They began their film careers at the same time in Richard Oswald's films, shared the ups and downs, even their wardrobe, and reached fame. Eventually they both had to emigrate from the national socialist Germany, so their paths parted. The following reunions were always a joy, “like the meeting of comrades who fought in many wars together”. Reinhold was supposed to direct Conrad’s first film at MGM in Hollywood, but the plans were changed. They never got to work together since the German years, when Conrad died suddenly. “Part of my life is gone forever”, as Reinhold wrote in his tribute to Connie's death in 1943. He returned to Germany in the end of 1940s and died in Munich in 1954. This is why they are so precious to me and why I find it important to share the memory of these two lifelong friends. The picture is from Eerie Tales (1919), one of their earliest movies together with the director: Reinhold, Richard and Conrad. Reinhold’s full tribute can be read here.

I’m tagging: @wohlbruecks, @perfides-subjekt, @kennyboybarrett, @chapinfan69​, @electricnormanbates​, @ars-historia-est​, @suchamiracle-does-exist​ and anyone who likes to do it. Would you like to share your stories behind your otps? :)

[chucklestheechidona]

Red Dwarf: USA

AKA: One week into isolation and a Welshman drunkenly types out his most controversial opinion

One of the first sci-fi shows I ever watched, at least, without realising it was science fiction, before even Star Trek, of which I vividly remember seeing Patrick’s face and voice on my thick arse grey heavier-than-sin Television, would have been that of the 1988 comedy - Red Dwarf.

I didn’t watch it live of course, I was born in 1993, by the time I could actually start remembering things the show had already ended. Like many people, I watched it on someone’s recorded VHS tape, among others in our house such as Duckman. Like Duckman, Red Dwarf was a bit out of my depth, but I liked it all the same. Some of the jokes landed and the slapstick and (not)aliens were enough to capture my attention.

Of course, I grew older, my appreciation for the show changed over time. The jokes obviously landed a lot more, but what I appreciated more was the character building, the acting, the writers and the cast having an appreciation, even through troubled shooting or grievances, towards what they were working through.

As anyone would expect though, I have my thoughts on where the series’s high’s ended, can see the flaws in some writing and some episodes, and overall the direction it headed after series 6, but yet, it still holds a special place in my heart.

Something I didn’t figure out until I was much older was the existence of a USA version. There was a pilot, then a failed attempt at another pilot/episode 2, and it was never heard from again.

Anyone from Britain could have told you this was a terrible idea from the start, anyone who’s watched it will tell you how awful it is.

In a DVD extra on one of the boxsets, both writers lamented what could have been if things went right, the misery of working in an American environment which didn’t appreciate the British insight. Rob, who plays Kryten, speaks about how the American cast thought the script the American execs were pushing on them to be terrible. But Rob got paid a lot of money to eat food and do some scenes, so he enjoyed it for the most part.

But if you like Red Dwarf, you already know this. If you didn’t, thanks for staying with me.

There are many reasons for why Red Dwarf USA didn’t work. “You can’t just take a British thing and try and localise it.”

Yet The Office USA is a massive hit, and has its fan-base here. 

Craig Charles, as in, Lister’s actor, reckoned it was because of a lack of a class system, although Doug, one of the writers, would disagree.

I get Craig’s feelings, mind you. In the UK, I have more in common with people who are on the same pay-grade as me than anything stupid like race, sex or religion. Which isn’t to say there aren’t those divides in the country, but the class system is very heavy here. The Lower and Working class bond knowing they’re working harder than those above for not as much pay.

But as Doug says, the people on Always Sunny/Malcolm in the Middle aren’t the same people who are on Friends/Frasier, for example. He uses a different example, for it’s an old documentary, but the point still stands. There is class in America, even if it’s implemented differently in media and IRL

(As an aside, Malcolm in the Middle was fantastic.)

Craig Bierko (the USA Craig and the USA Lister) said it was just a mistake to do, that they shouldn’t have even tried to localise an exceptional program. I mean, he partook in it, but the actor had to eat and food isn’t free.

But after all that, here’s the thing.

I think it could have worked.

It would need heavy editing mind you. A proper look into why it didn’t work in the first place. More of a look into an American future, rather than a future which was (despite original intentions) still heavily British. 

The jokes would need localising, the actors would need a bit of a workaround in terms of personality, but here’s why I started this.

Where the story would go next.

Dave Lister (UK) was a happy-go-lucky carefree scouser, who worked as little as possible, chased impossible dreams while playing a guitar he never put any actual time into learning. He got along with people quite well, despite being on the bottom of the pecking order. He got in trouble with authority, but he was doing it out of good intentions. 

This was mostly to balance out his bunkmate, Rimmer, who was in every way opposite. He was a stressed pent up ball of worry and anger, who had one dream and one goal only, of which he failed constantly. He was liked by no-one, the only person he was above (Lister) he took extreme measures to exercise the little power he had.

On an aside, UK Lister wasn’t conventionally attractive. Craig Charles is a good looking bloke mind you, he’s not ugly, but his looks managed to sell the underdog achiever. He looked very much the part of a low-life Liverpudlian drunk. (despite being a wordsmith and successful poet in real life, not to mention his impressive DJ’ing)

USA Lister however, was played by this HUNK.

Dave Lister USA was shown to be the same kind of person, but hinted at was his more roguish cheeky nature. A more... American view. While Lister UK, when talking to his crush, would be almost awkward, never really sharing many words with her, despite being madly in love with her, Lister US had gone out with Kochanski.

(True, UK did past series 5, but a retcon to match the books is still a retcon)

Lister US was cheeky, cocky, a bit arrogant to Kochanski. He hadn’t taken the relationship seriously. She was a Flight Navigation Officer, he was the lowest rank on the ship, a Third Technician. He had no aspirations, no dreams. He had a plan, much like our Lister, but hadn’t even seemed to save up pay for it. He mentions it once in passing to Kryten at the start, but the way he talked to Kristine, the way he spoke about it to Kryten, it seemed that he’d given up, more than our more hopeless UK Lister. 

UK Kristine knew Lister but had hardly shared words with him, and it was all Lister’s fault, as Kris would have been kind enough to actually talk to him. UK Lister’s story overall is of a man who had the chance to be better, but gave himself excuses why he couldn’t, or didn’t. UK Lister could have talked to Kris at any time, but had been his own obstacle.

USA Kristine however, had had USA Lister actually get her to go out with him. It was nice, they still talk. But Kris had ended it. Kris had career aspirations, and Lister had not.

(This kept close to the UK books, but UK Kris had somewhat used UK Lister as a rebound. It was still a nice enough break-up, but Lister then careens down into depression. Unlike AmeriLister who’s optimistic he can pick it back up. Gotta love America and their hope.)

This culminated in the final scene we see of pre-accident Kris, where she sees David did a noble gesture by sacrificing himself to save his cat, and (even though oddly paced) tells David she loved him.

Heat of the moment it may be, but USA Lister immediately cracks, telling the crew that he’d give up the cat’s location. It’s played for laughs obviously, but maybe this is what’s more important to USA Lister.

But these very differences, like angles, could stretch further than just copying the show. By leading on from what made AmeriDave different than BritiDave.

What I would do

First, we make USA Lister stand out more. His dress attire seemed Han Solo-esque, so let’s put a bit of that personality into him. This Lister, would have been an under-acheiver his whole life, maybe after the event, he wouldn’t be. This Lister would be brought back with a new sense of determination. He has to prove to Kochanski, Rimmer, his Cat and Holly that he’s no longer this Third Technician, he was capable of getting back the human race.

Where UK Lister (at least, in the show) would try and see in what ways he could kill time, in a sobering kind of malaise that strikes a man three million years into deep space, USA Lister would be trying to get his head around how to get back. In the final part of the show, after they see their future selves, he knows he actually has to do something. Back to earth? Sure, he wouldn’t know, and finding out would be hard, but USA Lister would actually have to learn to apply himself early. 

This doesn’t sound like Lister! (or more accurately, isn’t this just the Book Lister) British people like seeing despair. We long to see Del Boy fail, we want to see Basil Fawlty have a meltdown. Americans have hope. They want to see Ross get with Rachel, they long to see their hero win. Or if he can’t win, have a snarky comment about it. We want to see UK Rimmer and Lister fail in their attempts to get back, because it’s funny. USA have hope. They’d want to see Lister get home.

USA Rimmer would make learning hell for USA Lister. Rimmer, thinking he knows more, would foil the attempts at Lister, but not out of malice, out of incompetence on Rimmer’s part. “Thermodynamics, let me teach you, Dave, no-one’s taken that test more than I have!” Que the failed test.

Unfortunately, the Cat, Kryten, Holly and Rimmer in the US version are almost all carbon-copies of their UK counterpart. I haven’t thought this through enough, obviously. They’d have to be changed, Episode 1 would have to be rewritten, but with changes in mind.

I’d have USA Lister be an actual hero, but a kinda useless one who takes a while to get things done, consulting with his equally useless crew. Rimmer, to be a dick, but with a lot of the bitterness taken out (because American’s can’t really pull it off), but with the same inferiority complex. He’d make hell for Lister, but under the genuine reason of “I want to see you do better. (cause right now you’re an embarrassment to the human species)“ The last human, trained by the best of what was left of humanity. Or at least, Rimmer would see it that way.

The rest of the cast could be figured out later. Honestly, too much like their counterparts. I guess that was the point of the show when they tried to release it, it was only a localisation after all.

Conclusion

We’ll never know what Rob and Doug wrote that the other actors liked, I doubt a copy was kept after it was butchered by the Americans.

But I think what little made it different, was the bit where it shone. Sure, shone as in behind 4 panes of glass and a sheet of paper, but still, it could have been something.

I’m a sucker for “What could have been.” Even for money-grabbing USA executive schemes such as trying to make RD: USA

And hey, maybe it could have. And I like all that alternative stuff. When Mortal Kombat actually included bits from the movies, that made me smile. If Sonic ever had a nod to Fleetway, I’d be happy enough.

Maybe one day we’ll have an alternative Lister played by Craig Bierko, and he’d be an actual space-wanderer hero. And then our UK Lister can call him smug smeghead. And he’d be right.

(About USA Lister, not Bierko)

Final Conclusion

The word count on this went way out of hand. This killed an afternoon and I’m stuck in my house, I have a backlog a mile long to go through

Need to finish ‘Off’, ‘Torchwood’, DW, and possibly watch some Red Dwarf before the new one is out.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Smegheads

[jeanvaljean24601]

Unsolved Mysteries

”Unsolved Mysteries“Boss Offers Updates on Cold Cases and Talks Tackling Ghosts in Upcoming Episodes。Since its debut “Unsolved Mysteries” has been sitting atop Netflix’s “Top 10” queue and while executive producer Terry Dunn Meurer is obviously “thrilled” with the reception of the streaming revival, Meurer also admits the production team “would be happier” if they could have solved the majority of cases explored within.

But perhaps they still can. The 33-year-old series never had the online support of millions of armchair detectives on social media before, nor quite the international reach of streaming giant Netflix. These things combined make for a pretty impressive army of concerned citizens looking to right a wrong.

Despite the decision to ditch its previous formula of actors recreating each mystery in favor of additional interviews with family members and other loved ones of victims, the purpose of “Unsolved Mysteries” remains the same today as it did when it began: to investigate cold cases and reignite hope when there often is none. And occasionally, it will even continue to dip into the paranormal, such as with UFO cases and ghost stories, the latter of which will be included in the upcoming batch of episodes Muerer says have been shot, edited and delivered, and are going to be released “sometime later this year.”Here, Meurer provides Variety with updates on some key cases and offers a look ahead at the next batch of episodes, including whether or not they will look into ghosts.

How do you go about choosing each case?We get story submissions, and we have a database of hundreds of story submissions. It is really challenging to figure out which cases to produce. We knew that we had an order for six [episodes]. So, out of that six, we wanted to make sure there was a variety of categories. There’s unexplained deaths and a missing person and a murder and paranormal. It’s always important to have a variety of categories — there’s something for everyone. Then we wanted to add in some international stories. Out of the 12 [episodes] that we’ve produced, three of them are international. Two of the international stories will be in the second [batch of episodes]. Then we look at every other kind of diversity: We’ve got international versus domestic, we have rural versus urban, we have age diversity, we have ethnic and racial diversity. They all have to have a lot of twists and turns and need to be very intriguing. If they’re intriguing to us, we know that they’re going to be intriguing to an audience.android box

There are also stories like the case of Patrice [Endres]. Is it an unsolved mystery? The internet seems to believe her husband Rob did it.It’s totally an unsolved mystery. Jeremy Jones has not been ruled out as a suspect in this case, and neither has Gary Hilton. We really try and present balanced cases. As far as I’m concerned, Rob is innocent until proven guilty. We take everyone’s interview at face value. Rob’s a character, but he was very, very honest with us in his responses to the interview, and we believe him. We respect him, and we respect everyone we interview. As Mitch Posey, the investigator says, “Everybody remains a suspect until the case is solved,” but it is an unsolved mystery. Who abducted and killed Patrice? That’s the mystery.

What did her son Pistol [Black] think of Rob’s interview?

We haven’t spoken to Pistol. We’ve spoken to Pistol’s dad, Don, but we haven’t spoken directly to Pistol. We know he’s doing fine. With any of these stories, there’s always information that we can’t include. I wish there were a few other things that I wish we could have included. I think he’s pleased with how the story came out, but we haven’t gotten any comments from him about Rob.

How has social media changed the reception of “Unsolved Mysteries” in 2020?

It didn’t exist when we did the original episodes. The show would air on a certain day at a certain time on a network, and you could watch it once. You couldn’t rewind it. I guess you could tape it off the air. And then it would air again, usually in the summer, and that was it. Now the old episodes have been streaming, so people have an opportunity to look at those in more depth again if they want to. We didn’t have the kind of commentary, and the kind of armchair detectives who jump in and really do try and solve these cases and come up with theories. It’s been amazing to see the reaction on social media.

How many email tips have you received?

There’s probably around 2,000 tips and comments at this point [on unsolved.com] but not all of those are credible leads. Somebody asked me, “How many credible leads have you gotten?” I don’t have an answer for that because I don’t know. We pass the leads if there’s law enforcement involved. Like in the Alonzo Brooks case. We’ve been sending leads to them for Alonzo. I’ve been working on the [Rey] Rivera case. And then the lead for Endres is going directly to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. We know they’re working the leads we’re giving them, and I’m sure they’re getting leads of their own, but we just don’t know. There’s just no way to quantify how many credible leads there are. But a lot has come in. It’s been very active.

How do you assess a credible tip?

If someone names a name, that would be a credible tip [or] if somebody said, “I was a witness.” If somebody who was at the party where Alonzo was said, “I was a witness to what happened to Alonzo,” that would be a credible tip. We haven’t gotten that yet, let me be clear about that. Anything that has specific information is great. If somebody called and said in the Rivera case, “I own that money clip” or “I know where that money clip is,” that would be a credible lead. Or in Endres, if they said, “Oh, I know that blue Lumina with the wildlife tag.”

There’s some vague tips that come in that are very difficult to follow up on: “I know who killed Ray Rivera.” We email back and we say, “Could you give us more information? Can you give us some details?” We don’t pass those leads onto the FBI or to the law enforcement because we know there’s nothing they can do with them. We try to get whoever submitted the tips to give us more specific information as they can. We would rather have law enforcement vet the tips. We’re not investigators, and you never know what they’re going to see in a tip that we aren’t experienced to see.

How many people do you have reading tips on staff?

There’s a team of about five, six people on different shifts so that we have somebody on the website all the time, going through the tips. And we still have tips and leads in cases getting solved from the original shows. There’s a 30-year-old case, it’s probably going to get solved in the next month or two that we’ve been working with a detective on. I kind of always refer to it as a living, breathing television series where it has a life of its own. You never know when you’re going to get a phone call from the French police and they say, “You know what? We found Xavier [Dupont de Ligonnès].” That’s the mission of the show is to solve these cases. That’s the goal.

What’s the old case that you think is going to crack soon?

There was a young man who committed suicide in a church in Idaho. He’s a John Doe — he’s been a John Doe for 30 years. And the investigator in this police department of relatively new investigators decided he wanted to try and solve this case. My understanding is he went to the file, which was in a box, and the only thing that was in the box — the only information in the box — was a VHS copy of “Unsolved Mysteries.” He reached out to us and said, “Do you have anything? Do you have the note this man left behind? Do you have any of the details from the case?” And we actually had it, which was surprising to me after all these years. We gave him the information we had, and this investigator has been working on it. He just recently, in the last couple of weeks, reached out and said, “I think that we might have figured out who this man is.” My heart goes out to people who don’t know what has happened to their loved one. Even if they’ve passed away, they need to know. Solving these John and Jane Doe cases are really, really important to me.

Can we run through each new case? The world is really eager for updates on every episode. What’s happening with Rey Rivera?android tvbox

There’s been a lot of conversation around the note that he left behind, and also the helicopter theory. When you have a case this mysterious and you cannot figure out how Rey came off of that roof and landed where he did — I was up on that roof and I’m baffled — I think people look for stuff. “Well, what other theories are there if he didn’t come off the roof? Well, maybe he was dropped from a helicopter.” That theory has been circulating.

I know with Patrice Endres, the GBI hasn’t shared the tips that have come in on that particular case. [People are] hoping to find Patrice’s wedding ring or somebody who knows what happened to that. Or the blue Lumina. Somebody could connect that to someone that. That would be great, but we don’t have any specifics on that case.

Alonzo Brooks was probably [the case] we’ve received the most emails on. Lots of theories that we had already heard when we were producing the episodes, but there are some new names that have come in and that we forwarded onto the FBI.

Has no one come forward who was at that party?

There were a lot of people there at that party, somebody witnessed what happened. We just hope that they’ll come forward. The FBI offering that $100,000 dollar reward, which they just announced in the last month. That was so incredible and hopefully motivates somebody to come forward with what they know in that case, because somebody knows.

Was the Brooks case reopened because “Unsolved Mysteries” was digging around? [Editor Note: The reward was announced before the show launched.]

We’re told that, when we were producing the episode over a year ago, the FBI started to look at it again and reopen it. But they just recently made the announcement that it was reopened and that the reward was being offered. Because we reached out to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the FBI about the case. At the end of the episode, Billy Brooks, Alonzo’s brother says, “This case needs to stay open. It should never have been closed.” And then, there you go. The case was reopened right before the show premiered. We feel like there might’ve been a connection, and we’ve been told there was a connection, our producers.

Yeah. You know, people always say “sad” and they say “tragic” and that’s really true, but the show gives people so much hope. And the Brooks family has hope — Maria, Alonzo’s mom; everyone has hope. Rodney [English], who was his childhood friend, reached out to us by text and said, “Are there really a lot of tips coming in?” They’re so excited. I hope that their hopes aren’t dashed, but that’s what the show does. I think the audience hopes these cases will get solved. They get invested with these characters and they want to see closure. We want it for the families, but we also want it for the audience.

Do you personally feel that Brooks was where he was located the whole time, despite not being found by the KBI?

I go back and forth on that, honestly. That’s one of the most mysterious aspects of this case. Was Alonzo’s body there all the time, and was it underwater and then [it] popped up when a rainstorm came along? Or was his body placed there? We just got a tip from an entomologist, she was looking at these photos of Alonzo’s clothing and there were maggots on that clothing. She said those maggots often can tell a story of how long that body had been exposed. We passed that on to the FBI, and hopefully they have somebody in their system that could take a look at that. It’s probably not going to solve the case, but it could answer the question that you’re asking, which is: “How long was Alonzo’s body there?”

And what is going on with Lena Chaplin’s case?

Well, Lena, we just would hope that someone would come forward and say where Lena is buried. That would be the dream in that case.

Xavier, we got the most interesting tip. Somebody was actually in Chicago, I think they were on Lake Shore Drive, and they heard this guy talking French and they looked at him and they had just seen the episode. They sent us a photo, and it really did look like Xavier. It was striking. So we sent that tip on. But again, this is just a stranger — we don’t have a name, we don’t have anything specific. In the Xavier case, what we’re hoping for is that he’s remarried or he has a girlfriend or he lives next door to somebody or he has a coworker who absolutely 100% knows that’s him. We need a very specific lead, because those leads come in from all over the world. Xavier looks so much like so many other people. With Netflix’s global reach, if Xavier is going to be found, we’re really hoping that the Netflix audience will find him. If he’s alive. That’s the mystery. Did he kill himself after he went through the elaborate work that he did, or is he out there somewhere? So we’re hoping he’s catchable if he’s alive, because of Netflix reach, global reach, or national reach.

In the next six episodes, will there be a ghost episode?

Yes. But I’ll qualify that and say it’s an unusual ghost episode. That’s all I’ll say. It’s different. A bit different.

How has working on this show for so long changed you?tvbox

I don’t know that it has. I guess it makes me more cautious about myself and my children. I think that the scarier stories for people are the ones where somebody is doing everything right, and something goes wrong. But I’ve loved “Mysteries” from the time I was very, very young. I was a Nancy Drew fan and Agatha Christie fan. Recently in looking back, I’ve thought, “How lucky am I that I could take this passion of mine, which is mysteries and intrigue, and twists and turns, and actually have that be my career and almost my life’s work?” We’ve been producing “Unsolved Mysteries”, involved with the brand, created the brand and then been managing the brand for 34 years. That’s probably unusual in the television business where you’re involved with brand for that many years. So it’s been very gratifying, the number of cases that have been solved and the people that we feel like we’ve helped. We just want to keep it going. We just want to keep following more cases. I still have hope. I don’t think it’s changed me a lot. I still have as much hope as I did back when we did the first special that we’re going to solve a case. And I still get that same feeling of excitement when we do solve the case and we get some leads come in. It’s very exciting. And we just very hopeful. So we may maintain the hope that we’ve always had that we can keep solving cases.

“Unsolved Mysteries” is streaming now on Netflix.