#things you should watch

[thewatcherreviews]

Hell House LLC (Spoiler-free review)

TL;DR

Movie Warnings: Sexual harassment (A male character uncomfortably pursues a female character in a few scenes, she is implied to be uncomfortable)

IMDb rating: 6.4/10

My rating: 8/10

Worth it?: Yes!

Full and SPOILER-FREE review under the cut

I have always had a soft spot for found footage horror. Creep was one of my first horror movies, and one of (if not the first) that I liked. I wanted to watch Hell House LLC the moment I saw it- I like campy haunt attractions and found footage. It's the kind of movie I should've jumped on the moment I saw it- and I didn't. I neglected to watch it until I signed up for Tubi and saw it there.

Hell House is a mockumentary about a group of friends (or coworkers) who make haunted houses every year. This year, they're making a haunt in an abandoned hotel in the town of Abbadon (no, it's not worrying that it's named after a demon- I promise). In the beginning of the movie, we see news footage telling us that on opening night, 15 people died, including most of the haunt crew. The rest of the movie is mostly camera footage documenting the setup of the haunt and their stay in the abandoned hotel. Things start to go wrong- props begin moving when they're not looking and they discover that the basement has a pentagram drawn on the wall and a bible sitting on the floor. Then they hear a rumor from an actor who lives in the area. The movie continues to hint that something bad happened on opening night, and the police are hiding what really went down.

I went into Hell House with relatively low expectations. Having three sequels doesn't make it a good series. The plot is cliche. I was very pleasantly surprised by it. The acting and effects were great, the dialogue felt natural, it felt very real. The characters really felt like a group of friends messing around. The clips were connected enough to have a clear story, but not so connected that it broke the immersion that comes with found footage.

I wouldn't say it's a particularly scary movie. There's a couple moments that might startle the weak-hearted, but it's not in-your-face gore or corny jumpscares. It's relatively subtle, like a scary figure in the back of a shot, or turning a corner and something is there that isn't supposed to be there. It does a decent job of building up action, working its way from a mundane home video to something much more freaky.

One of the few reasons that I took points off was... the characters. I didn't like the characters. I either found them annoying, or they were extremely forgettable. A few of them also acted a little strangely towards the two female characters and it's visibly uncomfortable, but I think it's added in to feel more like real guys with only two women in their group. It is unfortunate, but it is realistic. The other reason I took away points was because it was very predictable. There's not much I can say, but I knew what was happening pretty early on.

Overall, I think Hell House LLC is a good movie for a Halloween party with friends or if you're just looking for something a little eerie. It's a fun movie, not profound or disturbing, just fun to watch. I would definitely recommend it, even as a beginner found footage horror because it just isn't that scary.

[calllay]

Just finished Kaleidoscope on Netflix, the heist show where the episodes are presented in a random order and you piece together the full picture. I really liked it! It’s fun to be more active in putting things together, and some revelations are more striking because of what you have or haven’t seen before (while others feel a little on the nose because I already get it, but that’s okay.)

It’s no Immortality (which you can play for free if you have Netflix, I hasten to mention) but I thought it was very cool.

[lazylittledragon]

some domestic shadowlachs <33

[av-club]

a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)

BOTTOMS (2023) written by Emma Seligman & Rachel Sennott

[akanemnon]

I don't like this place. It's turning everyone edgy and sad.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[boysborntodie]

TUA S4 proved that Netflix cancelling their shows after the first season is actually a good thing

[a-most-beloved-fool]

makes me a little sad when star trek ignores IDIC. like. vulcans are logical. that is true. But 'logical', for vulcans, does not amount to 'without compassion,' and it definitely doesn't amount to 'racial superiority.' Belief in 'infinite diversity in infinite combinations' should NOT result in the weird racist/speciest stuff we're getting in some of the newer treks. It does make sense that some vulcans are discriminatory. They're still flawed. But that should not be common or expected, like it seems to be in SNW. If it is, then it's a race of hypocrites, which. doesn't seem very true to Star Trek's message.

I think TOS Spock does a pretty good job of embodying this. Not always, it was the 60s, after all, but mostly. He was often trying to find non-violent routes, and get by without killing - even if they were in danger or had already been attacked. (See: the mugato, and the horta (until Kirk was the one in danger, lmao. t'hy'la > IDIC), the Gorn ship). Kirk, in his eulogy, calls him the most human soul he's ever known, and I've always read that as Kirk calling out Spock's overwhelming compassion.

It's just so much more interesting when Vulcans get to be radically compassionate. I want them to believe that everything and everyone has value. I want them to respect all ways of being. I want them to find ways for even very non-humanoid aliens to exist unfettered in society. I want them to see hybrids and think that it's amazing. Also, like, disability rep. I want Vulcans to have The Most Accessible Planet and available resources because they want everyone to feel accepted and valued. It makes for better characters and more interesting stories.

[ocelotrevs]

I really enjoyed this show.

It’s her. She’s our new guitarist. You sure? She’s the one.

We Are Lady Parts, season one, based on this post

[transformativeworks]

Australian Social Media News

Australia has passed a law that bans anyone under age 16 from using social media starting late 2025, fining tech companies up to A$49.5M for non-compliance. While intending to address mental health concerns in kids and teenagers, the law raises significant risks for privacy, digital access, and the freedom of expression, raising questions about the boundaries of digital censorship.

With that being said, we don’t expect this decision to affect the OTW or any of its projects, including AO3. However, as the OTW, we are against all forms of censorship and will be releasing a detailed statement about the matter soon.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/australia-passes-social-media-ban-children-under-16-2024-11-28/

[fleabagdiaz]

boat show remains awesome btw. john stamos had two boyfriends + autobrewery syndrome and a gay couple ate so many yams they almost died and the one straight couple on the boat birthed a giant premature baby to bob the drag queen performing I’m coming out. and they’re literally doing a slow burn will-they/won’t-they throuple.

[hiding-under-the-willow]

anyways. What

[zodiac-monkey]

[flwrkid14]

Eternal Bonds: Tim and Danny’s Infinite Realms Marriage

In the Infinite Realms, marriage is an unparalleled commitment. Unlike the mortal world, where love can be fleeting and easily undone, marriage in the Realms is something far more sacred. It’s not just about vows or ceremonies—it’s about merging souls, creating a bond that not even the vast stretches of time can sever. The very idea of marriage in the Realms is rare, almost mythical, because it requires two beings to love each other so profoundly that they’re willing to bind their very existence to one another.

For the ghosts and entities that reside in this realm, eternity isn’t just a poetic idea—it’s a reality. Time is meaningless when you’re no longer alive, when your very essence is bound to the afterlife. And because of this, relationships are viewed through a different lens. There’s no such thing as divorce, no “time apart.” Once a couple is bound, their souls are intertwined forever. To dedicate your entire being—past, present, and future—to another means accepting that their joys, sorrows, triumphs, and failures will be yours too. It’s a partnership where breaking the bond is simply impossible.

It’s why marriage is such a rare occurrence in the Realms. The ghosts, who have already lived one life and often seen the frailty of mortal promises, don’t enter into this kind of bond lightly. It’s only for the strongest of loves, for the most steadfast of commitments. Because once you marry in the Infinite Realms, that bond holds through eternity itself.

And yet, despite the gravity of it all, Tim and Danny find themselves willing to make that very commitment. Tim, a mortal tied to a world where things end, where nothing lasts forever, steps into the unknown. His love for Danny is so deep, so unshakable, that he agrees to a traditional Infinite Realms marriage. He knows full well the weight of it—he’s not just vowing to love Danny in this life, but in every life after. In swearing to this bond, Tim is offering his entire being to Danny, for now and all of eternity.

For Danny, this choice means even more. As a halfa, he exists between two worlds, knowing both the mortality of the living and the permanence of the ghostly afterlife. His love for Tim is powerful enough that he’s willing to make this eternal commitment, knowing that there’s no one else in any world—mortal, ghostly, or beyond—he would rather be tied to. For Danny, the bond is as natural as breathing. It’s a connection that deepens their relationship in a way that transcends the limitations of their two worlds.

Their marriage isn’t just a declaration of love—it’s a merging of souls, a binding that makes them two parts of the same whole. It overwhelms them with the sense of safety and belonging that they’ve both craved in their lives. In each other, they find the kind of love that doesn’t just endure life’s difficulties but thrives beyond them. Their bond ties them together forever in a way that no one else could understand, but to Tim and Danny, it’s everything.

They are each other’s home. And in the Infinite Realms, there is no greater honor, no stronger connection, than to be bound by love for all of eternity.

[to-be-a-dreamer]

I can’t stand that TikTok trend that’s like “just saw Hadestown and my boyfriend is walking the entire way back to the hotel without looking back at me to prove Orpheus was a chump” because not only do they not get the whole point of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth they also Were Not Paying Attention to the musical they just saw.

Hate people who see WSS as “just a Romeo and Juliet retelling”. Hate people who see Hadestown as “Just an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling”.

Hate people who watch a musical that takes a classic story everyone knows and uses it to explore/critique our modern society and only see it as a funky retelling.

Not Getting The Point of WSS is one thing because it’s more subtle and it can be really easy to just see it as a modern R&J, especially if you don’t really know R&J.

How the fuck do you watch Hadestown and see it as just an O&E retelling? It is one of the most heavy-handed political musicals out there how are so many people missing the point?

Orpheus has to fail. Not because that’s how the Greek myth ends but because that’s the whole point of the message of Hadestown.

Social reform is hard. Changing the world is one of the most challenging things you can try to do. So often we see people try to make a difference in society, to change some kind of injustice in the world. And so often we see those people fail. It can feel so impossible to actually do some good in this fucked up world because we see these people who are smarter and stronger and more qualified than us fail over and over again.

Why do we even keep trying?

Because we have to.

Because one day, someone will try and they’ll succeed.

One day Orpheus won’t turn around.

One day the people of Hadestown will get to see someone escape and they’ll know they can escape too. Only then does the world get to change.

So we have to try. We have to keep singing the sad song, no matter how many times Orpheus turns around, because one day he won’t.

In the Greek myth, Orpheus fails because he loves Eurydice.

In Hadestown, Orpheus fails because we fail.

We try and we fail to make a difference. We try and we fail to change the world for the better. We try to see the world for what it could be and it keeps letting us down.

But we don’t give up. We don’t stop singing.

Hadestown is genuinely one of the best musicals ever. Full stop. This musical is one of the reasons i wish I was smarter because I would love to be able to do an entire thesis on this show and all the themes and messages in it. Some of them are subtle. Some of them aren’t.

It is not just an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling. I am begging people to hear the real message.

Never stop trying to change the world.

One day we’ll make it out of Hadestown.

We just have to keep singing the song.

[bunnieswithknives]

OK JUST A LITTLE THING BECAUSE IM INSANE @cubbihue

Song: Plastic by Cheekface

[gothra]

I’ll never forget when I was arguing with a person in favor of total prison abolition and I asked them “what about violent offenders?” And they said “Well, in a world where prisons have been abolished, we’ll have leveled the playing field and everyone will have their basic needs met, and crime won’t be as much of an issue.” And then I was like “okay. But…no. Because rich people also rape and murder, so it isn’t just a poor person thing. So what will we do about that?” And I don’t think they answered me after that. I’m ashamed to say I continued to think that the problem was that I simply didn’t understand prison abolitionists enough and that their point was right in front of me, and it would click once I finally let myself understand it. It took me a long time to realize that if something is going to make sense, it needs to make sense. If you want to turn theory into Praxis (I’m using that word right don’t correct me I’ll vomit) everyone needs to be on board, which mean it all needs to click and it needs to click fast and fucking clear. You need to turn a complex idea into something both digestible and flexible enough to be expanded upon. Every time I ask a prison abolitionist what they actually intend to do about violent crime, I get directed to a summer reading list and a BreadTuber. It’s like a sleight-of-hand trick. Where’s the answer to my question. There it is. No wait, there it is. It’s under this cup. No it isn’t. “There’s theory that can explain this better than I can.” As if most theory isn’t just a collection of essays meant to be absorbed and discussed by academics, not the average skeptic. “Read this book.” And the book won’t even answer the question. The book tells you to go ask someone else. “Oh, watch this so-and-so, she totally explains it better than me.” Why can’t you explain it at all? Why did you even bring it up if you were going to point me to someone else to give me the basics that you should probably already know? Maybe I’m just one of those crazy people who thinks that some people need to be kept away from the public for everyone’s good. Maybe that just makes me insane. Maybe not believing that pervasive systemic misogyny could be solved with a UBI and a prayer circle makes me a bad guy. But it’s not like women’s safety is a priority anyway. It’s not like there is an objective claim to be made that re-releasing violent offenders or simply not locking them up is deadly.