#yes I went on a little rewatch spree

[scarefox]

oh there was an affectionate biter all along

[botslayer]

Horror Theory: Just Men Behind The Masks

So I just rewatched Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon. A 2006 deconstructionist horror film. And I have a thought for the rest of the horror community to chew on:

A lot of people mention idly that this is a "Shared universe" film. That this is a universe where Chucky, Michael, Freddy, and Jason (All of whom are name dropped) exist. Which heavily implies the rest do, to. I have a different idea.

This is a universe where those STORIES exist. Fred Kruger may have been a real person. Jason Voorhees drowned at camp that fateful summer. Charles Lee Ray was gunned down in a toy store. Maybe even Michael Myers went to the asylum and got out.

Here's the kicker tho: If you pay attention, at least, it's implied that the characters as we know them are fake. The only one I'd be willing to say exists properly from the first movie is Michael.

Spoilers ahead but the guy up top is the titular Leslie Vernon... Except no. He isn't.

The Dr. Loomis to Leslie's Michael (The in universe term is "Ahab.") is Doc Halloran. Halloran reveals and Leslie later admits he is not Leslie Vernon. His real name is Leslie Mancuso.

(Incidentally, yes. That is Robert Englund as Halloran. A+ casting.)

At the end of the movie, after carving a bloody swathe through a bunch of people, Leslie is "killed" by the survivor girl, Taylor. When asked if Leslie is dead, she says "I don't know what he is." Halloran reflects on the idea that Leslie was "Just a man."

We spent the entire movie up to this point getting into Leslie's head, learning how he does things. Seeing all the preparation not only he, but the other slashers put into the things the do. Why is Jason's Machete indestructible but all the other tools around break with one swing? Sabotage. Why are windows usually stuck? Nails. Why do tree limbs break right away and cars not start? Also sabotage. Stuff like that.

We also find out that Leslie Vernon was very likely a real person but has been dead for twenty years. At the very least Leslie Vernon is a popular folk tale around the town, Mr. Mancuso is just piggybacking off it to do some murder in the interest of making his survivor girl stronger and doing good for the world through evil.

(Pictured: Leslie Mancuso as Leslie Vernon during his killing spree)

The story of Mr. Vernon, the dead man, is that supposedly a bastard kid was born to a married couple (possibly through rape.) They worked him like a slave, forcing him to till fields with nothing but a hand scythe until he murdered both of them. The town found out and a mob of people drowned the boy after the murders and his body was never found as the water was too cold, so he never came back up. Turtles picked his bones clean.

Twenty years later, Mancuso took on the name and started plotting to murder people at that farm house. The rest of the movie is the set up and execution of that murder plan.

So what does that say about people like Michael, Jason, Freddy, and especially Chucky?

We'll start with the man who started it all. One tragic night in 1963, a young Michael Myers murdered his older sister with a kitchen knife. No one knew why. No one understood his motive. But the fact remains he did it. A little before Halloween night 1978, Michael escaped the mental institution he was in and went on a killing spree for reasons not everyone will know but was injured and eventually stopped by Dr. Loomis and a local baby sitter, Lori Strode.

I see this as being the thing that inspires that most horrible of things in-universe: Copycat Killers.

They mention directly that Michael has done his attacks on Haddonfield at least 4 separate times. I don't know much about Halloween as a series so I don't know what movies that number specifically is referencing but I'm willing to suggest the first two movies are billed together as one attack because it was basically one protracted occurrence. At the end of which he was blinded and then set on fire, burning to death.

Later movies retcon that death but logically, the real Michael is dead in this universe. Later instances where HE supposedly attacks are the works of more calculating, crazy people like Mancuso. His whole deal is "We set things up like this, we figure out how to do that and yadda yadda."

You could easily apply most of what he says and does to people who can act out just like he does. Bullet proof vests, gel applied in spots to stop bleeding. Breaking into people's houses and cutting the power and telephones, etc. I think the other supposed three attacks in the BTM universe are people who took on Mikey's coveralls and a replica mask, were in some way stopped or got away, and then were either replaced by new fakers or maybe continued being Mike a time or two before being stopped. This could also theoretically riff on the idea of Michael using body doubles to fake his death in some of the movies.

Alternatively, The real Mike could still be at the Smith's Grove Sanitarium in this universe. He never got out but his legend made a perfect starting point for people to latch on to and start "being him." Or he may be a local legend with no real basis in reality.

The problem is we don't have any further context for the four attacks that happened. So... Yeah, this is nine tenths me BSing.

How about Jason? The Crystal Lake killer and my personal favorite?

I think the most likely case of what happened with Jason in the universe of BTM is that Jason Voorhees did actually exist. He did drown that one summer. Some years later his mother would go on to slaughter a bunch of camp counselors before the camp could reopen. Note the thing about how slashers need a story like that which would naturally draw somebody.

So I think it's worth considering that the "dozens" of people "Jason' supposedly has killed over the years we're actually the works of either one faker or multiple fakers who've taken up residence at camp Crystal Lake over the years. This is because while we don't have any real evidence that Jason is 100% real we do have evidence that sometimes people will take up these mantles just to take them up if it's the convenient one to work with and use for your own ends.

If you go to Jersey and you want to start offing people, why not try and find a way to pin it on the Jersey devil?

So you have this local legend of a kid who drowned in a lake and his mom goes on a murderous rampage. So what are you, an up and coming slasher going to do? Well you start acting how you think Jason would act. You put on this facade and start doing damage to people. Given a lot of the stuff Mancuso does that actually makes him look undead, a talented enough makeup artist could actually theoretically make themselves look like a super deformed crazy guy like Jason or even like Freddy... Speaking of.

I think the most likely course of Freddy's history here is that he did still kill around 20 kids at some point in the past. And then the people got together and they burned him to death in the boiler room.

However I think maybe there's a chance he survived and went on to not so much invade people's dreams as he did perhaps start drugging people and then torturing them. Alternatively his "Slasher" copycat started doing that.

We know that in the actual nightmare on elm Street movies Freddy likes to get in your dreams, play with your fears and even use some of your greatest strengths against you, because he just can. Now imagine someone with the face of a burn victim breaking into your house at night, drugging you or gassing you up in a way that makes the whole world feel very dream-like, and unreal, and then butchering you.

I think it would especially be very easy to reframe a lot of the ways in which these people turn up dead as Freddy simply doing things that he knows because it's established in the BTM universe that a lot of these killers will stalk their victims from months at a time.

That one scene in dream Warriors where he turns his hand into drug needles and injects a girl with them? Well that could be suggestive of the idea that instead what Freddie actually did was drug her and then make her OD in her sleep.

A lot of the kills all of these guys do could be someone embellished like that one time that girl was force fed things until she choked to death in her dream, in real life her windpipe just kind of collapsed if memory serves. As if something had been weighing down on it.

Then again, maybe most of the kills from all the movies we know didn't really happen. Michael being strong enough to pin a guy to a wall using a kitchen knife is otherworldly in its own way. Like. Maybe that didn't happen that way. It's just the rumor mill circling around.

Now. The last one. My personal least favorite. Chucky. AKA Charles Lee Ray, the Lakeshore Strangler.

Charles Lee Ray killed a good handful of people as a normal adult but in a crime gone wrong, he got gunned down in a toy store somewhere in Chicago. In the universe of the Child's Play movies, he uses a voodoo spell to put his soul in a "Good Guy" doll. He then uses a normal little boy, Andy, to go kill his partner in crime, Eddie and then spends the rest of the series hunting for Andy so he can be human again by putting his soul inside of Andy. Or just trying to kill him in three and I think Curse's after-credits.

In universe, I think what really might have happened was Charles swore bloody vengeance on Eddie and the cop who killed him, expecting to escape. He was then killed in the store either trying to get the drop on the cop or just get out. The hideout Charles and Eddie, who escaped custody, used to use, exploded in a random gas leak incident.

But urban legends have circulated over and over. That it was Charles' ghost possessing a Good Guy Doll. That a little kid was seen on the train carrying one such doll heading toward Cabrini-Green. Etc.

Now, I'm not 100% sure how later appearances by "Chucky" would go. Like. How do you fake a killer doll? Tiny Animatronics? A REALLY short guy? Leaving them as calling cards? I dunno. But it is just another guy piggybacking.

The only cue that anything vaguely supernatural is happening in this world is at the end, Leslie is alive after having his head crushed and being burned, but, to his credit, he was established to be a pretty tough bastard up to that point and the press was only turned enough to lock him in place and hear one squelch. It probably did damage but it also probably didn't do enough to put him on ice. So it's fairly ambiguous and still probably means killer dolls aren't a factor.

In summary: Behind The Mask is not a universe where all of our favorite killers exist. It's a universe where their legends exist and people who want to do evil become those legends. For a time at least.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Wizard City’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 4)

Airdate: September 2, 2021

Story by: Adam Muto, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, & Charley Feldman

Storyboarded by: Maya Petersen, Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, & Aleks Sennwald, & Haewon Lee

Directed by: Miki Brewster & Jeff Liu (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

An episode focusing on Peppermint Butler’s dark side is something that the fandom has craved ever since the little guy demanded Finn and Jake’s flesh in season two’s “Death in Bloom.” While installments like season five’s “The Suitor” and season six’s “Nemesis” did much to scratch that itch, the story of the Dark One remained mostly unknown…

And after “Wizard City,” it still remains largely unknown. But that’s OK, because instead of focusing on the character’s history, this special focuses on Peps’ quest to relearn magic at a magic school. Put most simply, this special is largely a fun excuse for the show to riff on Harry Potter and The Owl House-style “magic school hijinks,” and it mostly all works.

The special follows Peps quest to go to WizArts (a definite play on CalArts, the school that Pen Ward and Adam Muto, among many others, went to) so that he can relearn magic and once again become one of the greatest dark wizards of his time. Initially, Peps tries to make friends with cool kid Spader and his posse, but once they learn that Peps is not as talented at magic as they had initially thought, they kick him to the curb. It is at this point that Cadebra, Abracadaniel’s adorkable niece who is fascinated with stage magic, enters the picture. Cadebra tries everything in her power to befriend Peps, but Peps pushes back, since she’s not “cool.” It does not matter, though, because both Peps and Cadebra are sorted into the same “house”—the “Skink House—and are forced to work together.

While Peps and his cohort begin learning more and more complex magic, a secret cult of school professors, led by the otherwise caring Dr. Caledonius, are scheming to resurrect Coconteppi, a powerful dark wizard whose putrid heart has been discovered underneath the school excreting a very powerful ichor. The school cult kidnaps Spader and gives him some of the ichor to drink; they hope that because of his talent, he will be able to house the spirit of Coconteppi. This does not go as planned, and Spader is graphically killed (albeit off screen). (In a more humorous moment, Bufo, the scam wizard from season one’s “Wizard,” also ingests some of the ichor, believing himself powerful enough to handle it, but it kills him.)

Eventually Peps and Cadebra learn what is going on. Dr. Caledonius welcomes Peps, believing that he is strong enough to handle the ichor. When Cadebra’s life is put in danger, Peps reluctantly gives the putrid fluid a swig, which infuses him with the power of Coconteppi. Coconteppi-Peps then kills all the cult members before Cadebra manages to remove the ichor from Peps body. For uncovering a heinous plot, Peps is promoted to the highest house, “Salamander,” but he decides to remain a Skink and learn magic “the hard way” with Cadebra as his friend.

As I mentioned near the start of this review, “Wizard City” spends most of its time riffing on the “magic boarding school” trope, with much of the episode feeling like a light-hearted parody of Harry Potter: The characters, after all, are “sorted” into “houses,” they learn various types of magic from skilled “professors,” and they bunk in different parts of a large castle-like campus. Of course, Harry Potter didn’t invent the idea of a boarding school, but when setting your story in a school for magic, it is very hard not to lean at least somewhat into the Hogwarts relation. And this really is a double-edged sword, for while Harry Potter references can be fun here and there, they can also make the overall story feel like a fanfic parody. This special does a good job focusing more so on the characters rather than the setting, but I won’t lie, at times it did feel as if they show was really trying to make you realize it was making a Harry Potter joke.

Of all the characters introduced in the special, the breakout star is easily Cadebra, voiced by Chloe Coleman. Radiating a sort of Mabel Pines energy, Cadebra is the beam of optimism who shines brightly in an otherwise macabre special. There is something about her plucky personality and sense of wacky individualism that charms the viewer. I appreciate how the show compared and contrasted her with her uncle, the one and only Abracadaniel: like her uncle, Cadebra is a good person who wants to help others, but unlike Abracadaniel, she has a sense of courage and fortitude that results in her taking on a Coconteppi-possessed Peps at the episode’s climax. (Say what you will, Abracadaniel stans, but our favorite custodian would never have done that!) Thanks to her bravery and dedication to Peps, Cadebra is easily the heart of the special.

The episode throws an interesting little curveball into the mix by having the ‘ghost’ of Past Peppermint Butler constantly haunt Peps in the here-and-now. Past Peppermint, it seems, was so determined to become a great wizard, he cursed himself, so that if anything were to go awry, his Past self could materialize and set him straight. It’s confusing, but I do think that mixing the “overbearing parent” trope with a curse is a clever idea; it gives the whole special some dramatic heft. The whole setup is made even funnier by the special’s conclusion: After Future Peppermint Butler is ‘defeated’ and the day is saved, Peps reveals to Cadebra that he still wants to be a great and powerful dark wizard… but he wants to earn that power through hard work and determination. (Peppermint Butler might commune with demons, but he would never sell his soul to one for power; Glob helps those who help themselves, ya know?)

One of the special’s strongest points is its background art. Adventure Time always had some beautiful set pieces, and this special goes above and beyond to give WizArts an ancient sense of grandeur and mystery. Ghostshrimp, a freelance artist who was the show’s lead background designer during seasons 1-4, return for this special as a “visual developer”—basically, he mocked up a bunch of rough designs for the locales, and then the episode’s background artists worked up the final pieces in his style. On his podcast, Ghostshrimp mentioned how hectic he found Adventure Time to be, because he was used to taking his time on pieces. As such, the decision to bring him on for just development was smart, as it allowed him to still come up with iconic background designs while also playing fast and loose with everything. Hopefully the show will continue this approach with the Fionna and Cake miniseries that is coming up. After all, Ghosthsrimp’s style is the look of Adventure Time.

Another strong point for the episode is its voice acting. For one thing, you have your regulars like Tom Kenny and Dana Snyder, and Duncan Trussell, who all give a solid performance. But to voice many of the special’s new characters, the show brought on a bevy of fun actors: Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader, for instance, is now voicing Bufo, and he does a solid job hamming up his role as the old fogey. And then there’s Toks Olagundoye, whose British accent gives Dr. Caledonius a sense of knowledge and expertise. To my delight and surprise, SungWon Cho, an internet personality and voice actor perhaps better known as ProZD, was tapped to voice Brain Wizard, and he does an excellent job. And finally, Anthony Stewart Head, a very talented actor who I know best as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voices Con Wizard, and is even given a fun little ditty to sing. I can safely say that the voice acting in this special is likely the best of the bunch, and it’s obvious that the actors were all having a great time playing their parts.

What drags the whole thing down, in my opinion is the excessive murder. (I joked on Twitter that during the climax of “Wizard City,” it felt like I was watching an Adventure Time-ified version of Invincible!) Infused with the power of Coconteppi, Peps goes on a brutal killing spree, boiling Potable Wizard into steam, zapping Dimension Wizard into another plane of existence, smashing Berdzerd, and—perhaps most graphically—excerebrates (had to look that word up!) Brain Wiz. On Twitter, @sometipsygnostalgic​ argued that while, yes, the scene is startling, it does wonders to transmute “a poor Summer Camp Island knockoff [into] Adventure Time chaos.” The more I think about it, the more I think that’s a fair point; after all, this is hardly the first dark thing that has happened in Adventure Time. But the part that I cannot really stomach is the fact that Spader was murdered for no real reason, and the special ends without anyone really expressing their horror at the situation. Sure, Spader was a schoolyard bully, but he was also a child. And killing a child—either for the drama or the lulz—feels decidedly out of place in an Adventure Time episode. It’s hard to express, but it just felt unnecessarily nihilistic and mean-spirited.

All things considered, I think this was a fun episode, but it was somewhat underwhelming for a ‘finale.’ Much of this is because it had to air after the perfection that was the back-to-back “Obsidian”/”Together Again” wombo combo. But I can’t help but feel like this special just felt a little... off. A little too meanspirited, and it leaned a bit too much on standard tropes. Still, it was a fun spin, and I know that I’ll rewatch it.

Mushroom War Evidence: As Peps rides the bus to school, he passes a bunch of abandoned houses, some of which are buried in the ground. There is an unexploded bomb above the fossilized elephant in the school. Cadebra has a dream that takes place in the ruins of a city.

Final Grade: B+

[salvatoreren]

Eren appreciation post

Before this day ends, I'd like to share my history in loving and stanning Eren Yeager

I have read Eren Yeager fanfictions even before I started the series because for some reason I was attracted to this character whom I've only seen once because of my sister. Because of that, I started to watch AoT

Despite Eren acting like what people claim to be a total little shit in the first season, I never found him annoying for strange reasons, this character had obviously became my favorite and i've been attached to him unknowingly. And I'm gonna be honest with all of you. I was the desperate little shit I was when I tried so hard to find for Eren Yeager x readers in wattpad (yes i have an account there) there were only a few because man bun eren wasn't released in the anime yet so that totally sucks

and oh god the listeners, i tried to find them, though only finding a few as well they were a treasure to me, I literally went on a hunting spree for any good eren yeager fics, i went here, to quotev then deviantart, i was not aware of ao3's existence at all, when i found several fics in deviantart i settled and oof there were so many fics that i stored in my favorites lmao

I was crazy for this character and I wasn't even done with season 1 and 3.

Eren Yeager made my 2020, those eren hunting fics day were the greatest experience i had in the aot and I bask in shame that I've only discovered this series when it was this close to ending. But I liked those posts even for a shitty community as reddit about Eren being a chad, I was aware that he was not exactly a loved character and I was so glad to see, here people were basically worshipping him lol

Then I found a glorious Eren fanfic, i read it nonstop which is saying something because i don't have the ability to do that anymore lol, the fic is called cupcake and its on wattpad so yeah, do what you will with that information

Anddd I lowk left the fandom, but I was pretty sure I still loved Eren. I literally freaked out when I saw animated hobo eren, ughhh, Then that's when i went to ao3

My first read and bookmark in ao3 was literally an eren fic who hasn't been updated in almost a year [take your time tho author] it was so good just like with the cupcake i read it nonstop as well. then the rest was me reading eren fics. I kept up with the manga instead to savor its remaining chapters lmao savor, yeah and I too was desperate to seen an eren pov which we never got.

Moving on now I totally left the fandom since i got into different shit, i didn't felt as strongly as i did during his birthday, but i retweeted every single shit i saw about eren

Then april 8 came [english translation]. i need to stop with using then. whatever, I literally cried when i saw eren's decapacitated head god, i cried even more when armin cried for him full on sobbing, that was the only thing i felt, eren yeager was such a close character in my heart. I knew at that moment I still was attached to this character.

Oh and how could i forget, all those eren tweets about him being a jerk, an incel, and his character assassination [I did not agree with those yet; the character assassination part] so yeah that was painful

Because of my love for eren yeager, I wanted to start a fanfic about him, a storyline in my head, but yk im an awful writer so i postponed that shit up then really left the fandom like really but the eren fic still comes in to my mind

Few months later i rewatched the series again, became even more attached to eren yeager as attached as that hallucigenia on ymir, literally threatened when someone insults him a bad trait of mine. so yeah I cooked that shit storyline up, carefully planned, now its published and all i can say is its decent ig

But I did consider just giving up the fic since it was so hard and i had other priorities to think about and to fix myself but i just couldn't since i wanted so bad to show my appreciation, love and portrayal for eren that i just went ah fuck it fine

Eren Yeager changed my life and he was the greatest thing that happened to me not exaggerating, i love him so much, i literally cried when i knew he wasn't real lmao, He is such a complex, misunderstood and tragic character as people had claimed to be and i believed it and i have cried about him being called like that, he deserves every damn thing so fucking much. This is his last where the anime is still ongoing so im glad i went back into the aot fandom inspite of a few morons and celebrated his birthday like it was the second coming of christ yeah

Happy Birthday Eren Yeager; protagonist of attack on titan, suicidal bastard, humanity's hope, the coordinate, attack titan, founding titan, kruger, usurper, the boy who sought freedom, best boy, the absolute love of my stupid life, if you were a real person I'd totally love and hug you lol, I have never felt this strong for a character

[sunshine304]

Recent PastPost pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game. 

So, I was tagged by @bang-won​ uhm... quite a while ago.

Thank you for the tag! ♥ It took me forever to get around to it, but yesterday I was motivated enough to run Photoshop and do the little graphics, because if I talk about celebrity crushes, this post should at least look nice. XD

Everything else under the cut, because it's a lot!

Also, it's been so long I'm not going to tag anyone, I don't even know who of my mutuals already did this... Anyone who sees this and feels inspired can feel themselves tagged! ;D

Crushes in my early Teens

John Partridge: If you have seen the 1998 “Cats” video, you'll know where this comes from. XD I was so into him, especially because he got the role of Roger in the German “Rent” production. I do have the recording of a concert with the whole cast when they promoted the show on “Rock am Ring”. I thought he was really good-looking, but mostly I was extremely in love with his voice. Ugh so good. Was my crush for years and I still know his birthday. XD

Peti van der Velde: She was Mimi in the German “Rent” cast. She was super hot and I love her voice!

Cary Elwes: You might think it's because of “The Princess Bride” - but it's not! I first saw him in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, which is just a hilarious movie in general! But I also found him very attractive in that – I guess it was the humour and his objectively good looks. Then I saw him in TPB and my fate was sealed. Swoonworthy and again, so funny!

Matthew Porretta: He was Will Scarlett O'Hara in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, and yeah, I also thought he was hot. :D Never saw him again in anything else, I think? Oh no, that's not right – he did a Robin Hood tv show, where he played Robin! Yeah, I saw that, too. But that was it – it was the days of yore, no internet to speak of, so no chance for a young teenaged girl to get info on him.

Will Smith: He was super famous back then already, and yeah, for me it was “Men in Black” and “Wild West West” - the songs were sooo cool, and he looked really good and cool in both movies. (Yes, I know that WWW is objectively a bad movie, but it had Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, and a very good theme song.)

Shakira: I loved her music and her dancing.... XD Years later it occurred to me that this might've been a crush.

Catherine Zeta-Jones: “The Mask of Zorro”, anyone? Oh my God, she was so hot in that. T_T

The Period Drama Phase

So, these are all around 2005, I guess? I watched a lot of Jane Austen / period dramas back then.

Colin Firth: He was such a perfect Mr Darcy. *swoons* I also watched a lot of his other movies and  still like him a lot. Funniest thing was that my boss also adored his performance in “Pride & Prejudice” and went on a “buy every movie he's in” spree. Which included “Where the Truth Lies”, so she one day came to work and complained about this Colin Firth movie that really was very bad and why would he act in such a movie etc. I'd already seen it and just had to laugh internally, like, “I'm sorry he destroyed this idealised version in your head with the bisexual orgy...” XD

Jeremy Northam: Yeah, Mr. Knightley from “Emma”.

Richard Armitage: And he was John Thornton in “North & South” (which I should rewatch because it was really good). God ugh, he was so attractive in that! But I find him to be very attractive in general, still do. Always happy to see him in anything and I'm still pissed that “The Hobbit” movies did turn out to be a mess.

Ewan McGregor: He was in “Sense & Sensibility” (honorary mention for Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet, who I also crushed on a bit...), but! That wasn't what I saw first. Instead, it was “Big Fish”, which I rewatched a thousand times or so, because I loved it as a movie, and he looked good in it. Then I saw him in “Moulin Rouge”, and that fucker could sing! (´▽`ʃ♥ƪ)

Thomas Godoj: Oh hey, hello DSDS winner 2008! I immediately found him kinda hot in that “he's had several rough rock star nights and someone should feed him” way, you know? XD He seemed very humble and kind in his interviews, and in the top 15 show he left everyone in the dust with his version of “Chasing Cars”. They later published the voting numbers and he won every show with at least 40%... He's also a good songwriter. I'm not crushing on him anymore, but I still buy his albums and like a lot of his songs. I think he's the best winner that show every had (except for Alexander Klaws, who won the first season, and went on to become a great entertainer).

Character Crushes

Kinda parallel to the Period Drama Phase but also “feeding” into my Fandom Crushes, of course. It's all coming together.(¬‿¬)

Sawyer: “Lost” was a huge phenomenon for a while – the first few seasons were actually really compelling – and I definitely crushed on Josh Holloway as Sawyer. He was so hot in that show, and also a bit of an cocky asshole character (with Hidden Depths™), so there you go.

Legolas: The “Lord of the Rings” movies were so formative for my generation, I think, and pretty much all of my friends were crushing on someone from that cast. XD I was watching this and thinking, “Ohh that Legolas actor is really handsome” and he also got dubbed by one of my favourite voice actors! I had a poster in my room. I did not take up archery, though.

Aragorn: Aaaaand the other character from LotR I crushed on hard. XD But only in his down and dirty Strider form, with sweaty hair and that half-ass beard and the worn-in clothes. Not the cleaned up King Elessar version, that just wasn't the same anymore after watching about 11 hours of rugged manliness! But yeah,  I think he and Legolas were the two characters most of my friends were crushing on in some way. (It's also a really good movie for horse girls!)

Here begins the “Pirates of the Caribbean” phase, my One True Love, you Perfect Trilogy That Will Forever Hold an Important Spot in My Heart.

Will Turner: It was the guy who played Legolas in an action costume movie doing swashbuckling things! He got to wear a fashionable hat and cape! Together with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann he was the Heart & Soul of these movies! There was funny banter! He often was wet and dirty, with his clothes clinging to him! ♥

Captain Jack Sparrow: I found him super compelling as a character at first, and then I got into the fandom (my first real online fandom) and we wrote a lot of meta, and then I read fanfiction, and he quickly turned into my favourite character. XD And with that came a huge crush on him. Yeah, I know that in RL he'd reek of alcohol and... other things, but luckily Smell-O-Vision never head a break through and so we can all just imagine that he looks like a street bum dragged through the muck but that he smells of a mountain meadow in summer or something! But jokes aside, I just loved him so much as a character, because there were so many layers to him. Movies 4 and 5 are kinda there, you know, but I don't really take them into account much. For me it's the trilogy and all the fantastic fanfic I read for it.

James Norrington: I really liked him as clean and proper Commodore Norrington, but “Dead Man's Chest” brought him down to eye level and made him hot. The Sparrington pairing also got me into Slashfic like whoa, because a lot of it was hot as burning. XD (And it also taught me to set boundaries for myself, because some stuff was too explicit for my tastes at the time, so I skimmed it or clicked out of it etc. You know, what the teens of today could actually learn to do once in a while, ahem.) Anyway, this character was great and I'll be eternally pissed that they killed him off.

Fandom Crushes

These were huuuuge, my friends. HUGE! It was the time of me really getting into fandom, the peak of Livejournal, lots of great fanfic and online content, and I met some dear friends through it that I'm still in contact with to this day. ♥

Johnny Depp: Got hooked by PotC and then watched loads of his movies afterwards. I head seen him in some stuff before, of course, but PotC made me appreciate his acting ability. This was also the time when he had cleaned up his act, was happily married, and did a lot of hot-as-burning photoshoots. I had mostly moved on by the time he spiralled out of control (midlife crisis and addiction are a bad mix), but it was still very sad to watch. Now, I just hope that he gets the help he needs and finds his acting mojo again.

Zoe Saldaña: Of course from PotC as well, because I adored Anamaria! But I already knew her from “Center Stage”, where 'd liked her. Through PotC I checked out some of her movies. I think she looks gorgeous and beautiful, and she's got this dancer's grace, you know? Also, trivia time if you ever are on “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” – she's the actress with the biggest box office to her name, a fact that many random people on the street wouldn't know. (Male counterpart is of course Samuel L. Jackson.)

David Tennant: I really crushed on him during his “Doctor Who” era. It was never this kind of big crush I had on some of the others on this far too extensive list, but still. Crush kinda came back a bit because of “Good Omens”.

Benedict Cumberbatch: So yeah, you might've heard about that BBC tv series called “Sherlock”... This was an even bigger fandom for me than PotC, I think, simply because at this time the internet had really gone off and you could find everything. (✪ ω ✪)  I also crushed on the character Sherlock, but I think it was very much connected to Cumberbatch in this role, IDK. The look was great and is kinda my type, the show was fun. So much great fanfiction. So much! I checked out all of his other work as well, as you do. It's calmed down considerably now, mainly because season 4 was such a mess that it killed my enthusiasm for the show and therefore for him, too.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Martin Freeman: To a lesser degree than Cumberbatch, but yeah, I also crushed on him because of “Sherlock”. I thought his acting was even better, subtler, and I was very disappointed of the direction they took with the character in season 4. Freeman was too, it came through in his interviews at the time. And god, I loved him in “The Hobbit”, such perfect casting and it got kinda wasted. Never over it.

Sebastian Stan: Ugh yeah, he's hot, what can I say. XD Love him in the MCU, and for a while I read a lot of Stucky fic. It was never a huge crush, but it flared up there for a while.

Recent Past

Chris Evans: He was so great as Steve Rogers! He also provided very nice eye candy to some rather middling movies in the past, and I love his humour and that he speaks up so much about social and political topics. Also he loves dogs!♥

Dylan O'Brien: So yeah, “Teen Wolf” anyone? XD I actually never watched a lot of that show, because they aired it in such a disconnected way on German tv that I gave up. So I saw... season 2 and then the first few episodes of season 3? But by then I'd already gotten into the fandom, because … of fanfiction? I don't even know anymore how I got into it, likely some of my fav writers started writing for it, or I saw all these Sterek gifsets and thought, “Oh they're both hot!” XD anyway, that's how I became aware of him. He was even hotter in “Maze Runner” and I'm still kinda bummed out that so far he hasn't had a big break, because I think he is a really good actor and deserves to be more successful. Love his sarcastic humour and that he throws shade at TW every chance he gets, because that show deserves it (or rather, the people behind it do).

Tyler Hoechlin: Oh look, the other half of the Sterek 'ship! XD So yeah, he is very conventionally fucking hot, guys. He was also shirtless a lot in TW. Sometimes you just want to have some serious eye candy you know. But! He also seems to be a really likeable person, and he brought much more depth to his character Derek than was on the page. And he was very open about how disappointed he was about the direction the show took with his character, and that they queerbaited the hell out of it. My crush on him is very much tied with TW, I haven't seen him in other stuff, I think. But he seems to be doing well enough, so good for him! (Also, yeah, he is the perfect Superman.)

Natalie Dormer: Well, she kinda became famous for being sexy and hot in “The Tudors”, what can I say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I loved her in that. Might've been the permanent smirk she's got going. I also really enjoyed her in “The Hunger Games” and liked to stare at screenshots of GoT (which I haven't watched), because she had stunning costumes there and always looked gorgeous. I really need to get around to watching “Elementary” one of these days...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: So, there was this movie called “Inception”... XD I still low-key ship Arthur/Eames (honorary mention for Tom Hardy, I'm sorry, I cannot name every crush I've ever had or we'd be here all day). JGL was looking very attractive in well-cut suits and he was also very competent and got one of the best fight scenes. That was the time when he suddenly was in many movies that I enjoyed, like “50/50”, “The Dark Knight Rises” (okay, that one was soso, but he was great in it), “Premium Rush”, “Don Jon” (ugh, yeah that♥). I also kinda remembered that he was in “10 Things I Hate About You”, which was forever ago, and I thought he was cute in that. Also, he can sing and dance, which is always a plus and makes a man exponentially more hot in my opinion. He also seems to be a chill dude who's very much into music and got married without anyone noticing. XD He just does his thing and I respect that.

Current Crushes

Xiao Zhan: This man. So beautiful. So handsome. (❤ ω ❤) Most of the people reading this are in CQL fandom as well, so you all know how hot he is. XD Yet again the lethal combination of singing, acting, and dancing, as well as killer looks. Honorary mention for Wang Yibo, who I crush on in specific circumstances but often find weird to crush on because he's so much younger than me. Xiao Zhan, I crush on without remorse. ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ That smile. *swoons*

Robert Downey Jr.: Yay, I liked him before it was cool again! XD I'd watched “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, which I adored, and he was fantastic in it. Then he did “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes”, and I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for his look with the beard/goatee thing and the dark slightly tousled hair and the dark eyes. Helps that he's a really great actor and also very funny. It's crazy to look at his filmography and it's mostly MCU movies for the last 10 years... So I guess it's good that they killed him off and he can do other things now (like OMG “Sherlock Holmes 3”!!).

Janelle Monae: She's gorgeous and she's got talent for ten people! I love her! Makes great music, very outspoken and in your face, great style. I also loved her in the few movies I saw her in, she was fantastic.

Hugh Jackman: Oh no, the whole package. XD Can sing, can dance, can act, handsome, unbelievably likeable, great entertainer. It's bad. I saw him on his concert tour in Cologne, it was an awesome show, he was amazing, so funny, nice interactions with the audience, too. I prefer his current look to that overly buff Wolverine one, and I'm pretty sure he's happy that he doesn't have to bulk up like that anymore. He's just, so damn nice!(*/ω＼*)

Ben Whishaw: Oh yeah, and I might have a thing for the nerdy looking guys. XD He is an amazing actor, and yet again I'm a sucker for the dark tousled her and dark, deep eyes, sorry not sorry. Loved him as Q in the Bond movies and enjoyed him a lot as that tortured artist character in “Cloud Atlas”, just for the drama of it all. I still got a lot of his stuff on my watch list (some of his tv shows have taken a loooong time to make it to Germany, I think one or two are still not dubbed).

So that was that. A huge list of crushes and I've surely forgotten a lot of celebrities, especially in the music department. XD No boy band members, though, because I kinda liked their music but never became a fan of any of them.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you made it through all of this, congratulations, I admire your resilience and determination! ♥

[delicatebluebirdruins]

Heartland s14 ep 1 take 2

tumblr was supposed to save my previous post to drafts so I could add to it (and did not do it which I did not realise until I looked at my notifications and someone had reblogged it in other words OOPS sorry)

to repeat myself anyone criticising Graham for his decision to leave and the timing of it will be blocked, and I wish Graham himself all the best for his future projects

under a read more because spoilers, a rant with some swearing and lots of rambling so it got long

so first I’m going to go off topic a little bit and rant because this hurt a lot when it happened. Last September I woke up one morning to the news that my favourite character (Bellamy) from the numbers show was shot and killed by my other favourite character (Clarke) for the most stupidest reason ever (she killed Bellamy over a sketchbook which he wanted to give to the bad guys... to protect her daughter... AND THEN SHE JUST BOUNCED AND LEFT THE SKETCHBOOK THAT MIGHT HAVE ENDANGERED HER DAUGHTER ON THE FLOOR NEXT TO THE BAD GUYS THAT WERE STILL LIVING). So i was still dealing with the death of my favourite character and the subsequent dragging through the dirt of both Bellamy he died alone thinking everyone hated him. No one really mourned him, he was all but forgotten except for a few throwaway comments that ‘he was right’. No one felt regret about not believing him. No one spoke up and said they wished he could have been here on the beach at the end. He was erased from the narrative and a minor character who died in S3 and whose story had already been wrapped up overshadowed him (and almost everything else that happened in the already shitty finale*- like seriously all of humanity was forced to join a universal consciousness and you don’t have to know a lot about science fiction to know it is really bad). (and everyone thought he was dead and his gf was ready to go on a killing spree about it for revenge but when they found he was actually dead they all just shrugged it off and said he died the moment he joined the bad guys when they were standing in the presence of another bad guy who was on that side for a lot longer and was only a recent turn coat) and Clarke who was the hero of this show was turned into cause of all of humanities sins and not a hero who tried (and then gets rewarded by being let to stay with her “friends” on a beach unable to bear children because aliens turned up as a master race and killed all of humanity and those that were left were made barren? yes in the last ever episode of a seven season show we got introduced to aliens- honestly putting all I know of season 7 into words like this still makes no sense)

*link to the youtube video The 100 Finale... May We Never Meet Again: Talis the person who made the video went off you know if you are morbidly curious

Bellamy was one of my favourite characters and he was done hella dirty. And Ty was another and he got given multiple love letters in just one episode and probably more to come as season 14 progresses. (I laughed as yesterday a youtuber called Hannah King made a video about the first episode of season 14 and I read the comments one of which saying that Ty was done dirty by the writers and I just??? I was hella tempted to put that rant above this part in a response to that comment good lord)

so onto Ty and Heartland

I watched the entire of season 13 in a day and cried a little when Ty and Amy got shot... and it hurt but was also very cathartic to watch because the worry and care was brought to the forefront like Ty not even realising he was shot and his panic was a very real moment

so when fandom started speculating about Ty’s death my only thought was if he did die he would do it with a complication with the gunshot wound and I was right. But it didn’t hurt as much to think about because I trust the writers even if they have made some missteps in past seasons. However, because of Bell and the faith I had in the writers back then (I trusted the writers until I remembered after the death because main character hater was promoted to head writer) I was also worried because of that.... Heartland is essentially the only ongoing show that I’m still actively watching and not just searching for spoilers.

I rewatched the first episode of season 14 twice (will probably do so again maybe)

Ty’s death was handled well, the blurring of the doctor delivering the news and Amy mentioning that the funeral was a blur (I kind of hope we get a flashback)

So it goes without saying the timing of Graham leaving and Ty dying is hard because of Covid-19 and the loss (all forms like normal routines, lives and you know what i mean I hope) that comes with it.

Because of everything in real life and the real life grief a lot of people have been going through, one of the many parts during the episode that made me tear up and cry a little was Grandpa Jack’s and Amy’s heart to heart in the fishing cabin. It was a very real moment the mentioning of how difficult Grandma Lyndy’s death was for death despite it being expected and how unexpected Ty’s was. And Jack saying “there is no right way to grieve” is possibly the most important part of it as there is no right way, and grief is not linear its not a straight line it will be very hard to deal with for a long while.

“keep me in your heart“ was a very strong start and I can’t wait to see what comes next (I hope at some point we see some old friends and Scott turn up and react to Ty’s death). And I am so glad that the cast and crew are talking about it in videos as a message to fans

in the end Ty was loved completely by the family and he loved them the same. the rest is confetti

[beetlemancy]

top five Liam RP moments?

1. Vax’s goodbye.    There’s a lot here. Vax’s entire storyline was quite a feat and was so meaningful to so many people, but especially to Liam himself. As many of us know but maybe some CR2 critters don’t, this was during a time in his life that was really tough and a lot of what Vax went through was Liam working out his POV on death, family, and the purpose of existence. It was especially moving for those of us who have dealt with this kind of death - the kind that you can see coming. It’s different from other kinds, and so rarely portrayed as beautifully and as truthfully, ugliness and all, as Vax’ildan. Because of all that, this scene is still monumentally heartwrenching and is my go-to cry catalyst when I need to parse through my own darkness.

2. The Wedding Gift     This came after several VM oneshots where we were aching for Vax. We knew it could never happen because both Liam and Matt never wanted to do a disservice to the story. Yet it was still like being unable to scratch an itch - watching everyone but Liam get to play in Vox Machina’s skins again was SO frustrating. And so when this happened, it was in equal parts amazing and horrific - perfectly Vax in every way. Liam’s choices made here were especially strong. The voice being familiar, but different. His movements being slower, more fluid, but still so clearly Vax. His distance, but then the way he sank into his sister, the way he wrapped Keyleth up in his arms. Liam also made an excellent choice in playlist for this one-shot. Seriously, its genuinely spooky how well they all fit. He also spoke about how he was inspired by the Stephen King short story ‘The Jaunt’ for when he thinks about what Vax is going through. I highly recommend you read it if you can handle existential spookiness - it makes everything about Vax hit different, especially the playlist song ‘Far From Home.’

3. Caleb and the Scourger | (both times)     I have earlier Caleb moments that I think are fantastic RP moments, but it wasn’t until this went down that it was all skyrocketed up to another level entirely. This was our longest taste of how he decided to play with the fact that his native language is Zemnian. He loses the German accent and he loses the filler words and the stumbling. We see Caleb as how he actually is - frighteningly brilliant, witty, and biting. Underneath all that Common and Anxiety is a weapon, after all - but with that anger, such a gentleness and a compassion for his brothers and sisters. The emotions never feel contrary. Yes, they are complicated, but they make perfect sense. Plus, it never fails to impress me how he can come up with things like “Some of us get tired of macabre fairy tales. So you enjoy your mouthful of lies when they choke it out of you” and “I don’t know how my brothers and sisters could stomach wearing that mantle of loyalty knowing it was woven so thoroughly from sin.’ Like, go off, boo.

4. The Experience     I’ve talked about this scene before, but you’ve given me an excuse to only focus on Liam here. This is… possibly in my top five clips that I rewatch the most often. It’s just. so. fucking. funny. And I live for watching all of the cast, but especially Liam, eat up the crowd’s energy and place it right back into the RP. Before he was dealt his particular fate, Vax was always a trickster first. He never lost this, not even later on when things got very dark. I appreciated this. Gallows humor is a common coping mechanism for those of us who can see the end a little more clearly. In this case, I just really appreciate the word play. There is a theory that Liam is actually The Bard himself, reincarnated, and this scene is definitely one that showcases that potential. The fey chaos in his ability to improv all of this doublespeak, purposefully weaving ‘accidental’ innuendo into every line, never ceases to amaze.

5. Liam and his Badass Cleric Ladies     This might be cheating but its something I wanted to talk about in particular - Liam gives his other characters SUCH life and such fascinating differences and I want mostly to talk about the body language and vocal aspect of his RP. I made a big post about the whole casts’ body language forever ago and it was super fun. But to this day it still impresses the shit out of me. These two are my favorite one-shot characters of his but they’re also a fun way to show the subtleties of difference and how important those differences are to the characters. On surface level, they’re both Liam playing a cleric, a woman, and they have similar accents. But even context aside, they feel different, and its due to the quirks in body language and vocal quality he gave them.Liam as Lieve’tel Toluse : floaty, slower, she has all the time in the world and she’s seen more shit than you. She’s looked Death in the face and decided to have a chill life. She is calm in the face of rage and has practice doing so. It’s reflected in the ease in which she holds herself and how she talks. Tall, but relaxed. Flirty, but like she’s not worried about the result. He gives her grace. She speaks gently, but loud enough to be heard by all. Her body language is open too - she’s there for support and makes it known in how she presents herself.Liam as Jayne Merriweather: a bit like Lieve’tel in that she floats in a similar manner, both physically and vocally. But Jayne stops. Like, she will find a spot and stare daggers. She cackles when she can’t contain her madness. Her quiet isn’t relaxed - its itchy. Listening to and watching her is like watching a cat about to pounce but being always stuck in the tension just before it does. She’s got a devilish smile and you can almost see the metaphorical flames behind her eyes. Liam plays her most of the time with an expression somewhere in the middle of amusement and ‘come at me bro.’ Jayne is hungry - mostly for chaos. Although her accent is essentially the same as Lieve’tel, her voice is a bit higher, and more sinister. She’s also not as slow as Lieve’tel, just more deliberate. Her confidence doesn’t come from being steady. It comes from always being one step away from a murder spree.

[bowerbirdboy]

We know that Scylla was the women from the mall & I think I've discovered my issue after rewatching the scene since Wed. In the flashback, Scylla looks uncertain, and nervous the entire time but the women from the first episode looked and felt 10000% confident in what she was doing no nervousness no second guessing, she even smiling while burning her face off. Maybe it was the actress choice but it doesn't seem to match up. Also the balloon, if it was in the car why did it come from the sky?

I FULLY agree. I’ve seen a lot of people praising last week’s episode as the best yet, but to me it seemed like the first almost disappointingly sloppy episode. Some of the writing felt forced and the plots were paced strangely, but nothing was worse than the Scylla reveal. If they wanted to make Scylla the Spree member who committed the mall attack it could make sense, but the way they’ve gone about it feels off. It seems like they purposely dropped hints to convince you that Scylla wasn’t the one who committed the mall attack just to pull the rug out from under you and say “haha you’re stupid, you fell for it”. Which again, I’m all for a little bait and switch but they didn’t explain away those holes they created and now we’re stuck with a flawed plot twist that left me unsatisfied. 

- The biggest difference is indeed how the redhead and the brunette were played in the pilot vs. Scylla and the brunette in episode 7. Scylla and the brunette were incredibly nervous and it seemed like she wasn’t even sure if she could go through with it. She’s taking no pleasure in the idea that she’s about to commit a terrorist attack, so the fact that she essentially evilly grins afterwards makes no sense. I know Amalia didn’t get a chance to talk to the redhead in the pilot because her role was very specific and the first introduction we got to the Spree, but if that was the case then they needed to follow her lead instead of crafting a completely different tone. This succession of photos is eerily like the switch from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, except without the explanation of a secret serum to justify the transition.

- Then the question remains, why would Scylla put on an EXTRA disguise after committing the attack instead of going back to her real face? We can be almost certain that Amalia’s face is Scylla’s face, so why would she wear the redhead if she would have reveal her true face soon after?

- The balloon starting in the car and ending up in the sky could possibly be explained away because an adult woman couldn’t enter a crowded room with a balloon without looking suspicious, but the actual angle of the balloon coming down is strange. Yes perhaps she’d have to float it over the building to sneak it in, but no one said anything about sending it shooting into the stratosphere. 

- There’s still the technical questions of how did she sneak away to Middlebury, Vermont on Conscription Day. It seems like the Necros are a small division so her absence would be noticed (unless Izadora is Spree and covered for her, but that’s another theory for another day). Either way, seems unlikely that she could get off base for so long (and I’m assuming the car is the Spree’s because otherwise how did she get it? And if it is the Spree’s, how does she get back to base?) It’s about 3.5 to 4 hours to get to Middlebury from Salem, so it would be a sizable travel commitment just to get there.

- SIDE NOTE: I went to the Motherland map to look up Vermont because some of the states shifted and I thought it was possible Vermont and Massachusetts got closer because of it (making Scylla’s story more plausible... I’m really trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here). But Vermont doesn’t exist on their map?? This has to be an oversight or something. This is the second time I’ve caught a map related mistake (Raelle said she’s from Chippewa Cession near Carolina, but Carolina doesn’t even touch the Cession) so maybe they should refer back to the geography that they’ve created before arbitrarily throwing states around. Unless this is an old map and the US evolved, but then it gets confusing. 

So either this is because so much of this was shot in the pilot and Eliot’s ideas changed (even though he’s been working on this for ten years) or something’s not right and we still don’t know everything. With how good Motherland’s been about consistency, I just can’t see them being this shortsighted with their writing, I’d be a little concerned if that’s what this is, so I’m hoping something may be revealed in the coming scenes with Scylla and Anacostia.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 2x10 The Cricket Game

Hook be Tarzan swinging from that rope.

That poor man; forced to live as a goddamn fish for the rest of his life. How awful!

Someone could still walk into that ship and bash their head on it or something. I probably would.

“Let’s go have a little look at this Storybrooke, shall we?” Do you think Hook and Cora went on a shopping spree?!

Snowing tacos! They so cute.

I had a dream about Snowing last night. I can’t quite remember it though. I think it was set in season 2 or 3a. Hopefully it’ll come back to me! Nothing to do with tacos though omg xD!

Sugar! Poor Emma is traumatised! And Henry is, thankfully, oblivious.

“I needed to help her rest.”

I love making vegetarian Tacos. They yummy as hell. The trick is to use chilli kidney beans! What can I say, vegetarian’s love their spicy food!

I wonder how Snowing defeated King George’s army. I would have like to have seen more of that. I’m assuming they somehow imprisoned George.

So fairy dust can immobilise magical people. I wonder if it’s more effective than squid ink.

Welcome back party.

Ruby to MM: “I was worried about you.” I freaking love their friendship! <3

Henry just wants his whole family to get along. God bless.

Aww Emma’s adorable smile and shrug to Archie. She’s so sweet.

Oh man, Archie, that’s a bit naughty telling Emma about Regina seeing him.

Hook: “Well, is she broken.” Cora: “Not yet.” Wow Cora, you want your daughter to be broken just so you can take advantage of that?? Mother of the year.

Regina to Ruby: “Private conversation. Go take yourself for a walk.” I giggled way to hard at that xD.

I wonder, is Ruby considered a werewolf? I don’t think they ever refer to her as such. Apparently, the difference between a lycan and a werewolf is that lycan’s can transform at any time, which Ruby is able to do, so I wonder if she’s actually a lycan. I may have said this before.

In having Cora’s and Regina’s magic be practically the same colour it reinforces the notion that Regina is Archie’s attacker.

Well, at least for a short while.

Oh, Henry’s 11 now.  

Archie!! I know it’s not Archie, but still!!

Get Mr. Gold a dog

Emma’s using magic!

I miss this. MM, David and Emma all working together, giving them time to bond. After this season we don’t get much more of that, I don’t think :(.

That’s a strong protection spell! They need to make some of those in Storybrooke to stop anyone hurting anyone!

But that protection wouldn’t stop Regina from hurting everyone else. I guess they counted on her wanting them specifically. But then, that doesn’t stop her guards from hurting Snow or Charming either.

Thinking back to season 1, it’s so weird to see Emma so adamant about Regina’s innocence.

Agh! My heart! Henry cares about Archie so much!

I gotta feel for Regina here. She didn’t do it.

Poor Archie being kept down there all alone. I hope they’re feeding him.

Captain of Hearts plotting together is my favourite thing. And they get each other gifts! Villainous gifts of villainy, yes, but still.

Is Captain of Hearts becoming my otp for Hook?

[lonely-canadian-shrimp-universe]

Good Omens:A First Foray

The First Impressions of a Viewer with No Context

I knew a good chunk of the plot because at first I honestly wasn't going to watch it, so I didn't really shield myself from any spoilers on tumblr.

That being said, I was hooked right from episode 1. I went into it thinking I was gonna be all over Crowley (given my other favourite characters in most other franchises) but the first time Aziraphale smiled I M E L T E D. SO PURE AND SWEET Also when "Aziraphale" was said I had a moment of 'oh. that's how you say that' Also the earth and my mom share a birthday. When Nanny Ashtoreth showed up I KNEW I was gonna need more content of her. Wife 100%

The fact that, try as they may, Zira and Crowley are completely incompetent and really only matter in the last like 16 minutes before the end of the world is really great. It's like watching a show that's about the really interesting side characters you get to see for 2 minutes and WISH you got 6 hrs of. Thank you, Neil.

Ep 2 we get to meet Newt and Anathema and omg I love them. I need Anathemas wardrobe ugh. And newt??? disaster Newton Pulsifer??? he's a mood. Not totally sure how I feel about their relationship but I love the contrast of "hey we just met like an hour ago and we're dating now thnks" to "we've known each other for 6000 years but there's no way he likes me the same way? side note, isn't it funny how the world is always emitting a low buzz of love my dear?" "ngk"

Agnes is amazing and I love how sassy she is. 10/10. I love how Aziraphale is not at ALL concerned about being shoved against a wall by Crowley. Like not one bit. He's like "oh finally, it's only taken you 6 millenia" honestly same

Ep 3 gives us the 30 minute cold open who's only purpose is to show how these two kept coming back to each other for 6 millenia, no matter how the last meeting may have gone. Here are a few thoughts:

Crowley has very pretty hair. Also I could 100% see by this point how these two have been gay for each other since day 1. Er rather day 7? Golgotha Crowley is v pretty and learning later that those are traditionally female garments was a treat. That scene was otherwise hard to watch, and they definitely thought so as well. The globe theatre was really fun to watch, I love Shakespeare. Sadly, Hamlet reminds me of my awful 10th grade English teacher. she ADORES that play. So thanks,  Aziraphale.

Bastille= PEAK GAY LOOK

I'd seen the church scene and "you go too fast for for me in MANY a gift,  but hearing them was OOF. Michael Sheen didn't have to go so hard on that line but OH BOY DID HE EVER. I may have cried.

I honestly didn't realize that the intro didn't play until the middle of the episode until I rewatched it??  like that completely flew over my head.

THE BANDSTAND. THE E M O T I O N. AZIRAPHALE WAS SO HURT. he was so torn because so much of him still wanted to believe in the good of heaven, but his heart (or the angelic equivalent) had long ago sided with Crowley. When Crowley came back and asked him to run away to Alpha Centuri??? UGH. that dude instantly assuming they're gay? same. same random dude. same. And omg Crowley praying??? to God??? he cares about humanity and it SHOWS. By this point I was REALLY relating to Aziraphale. His reluctance to stray from what he knows and was told reminds me so much of myself. that A n x i e t y.

the end of episode 4 and into episode 5 HURT. the bookshop? "I lost my best friend"? The fact that Crowley was ready to give up and wallow drunkenly through the Apocalypse because continuing on or running away held no meaning if he didn't have Aziraphale by his side. I cried. On the other hand, defiant Aziraphale? "Angels can't posses people" "Demons can..." YES BBY STOP BLINDLY FOLLOWING ORDERS!!! FREE THOUGHT BABEY!!! Now: Shadwell and Tracy. Shadwell is hilarious and I love him, end of story. He's just so... out there. crazy dude. Madame Tracy on the other hand? AMAZING. her actress (I can't think of her name and I have a REALLY ONE TRACK MIND) absolutely KILLED it. AMAZING. The seance?  That dude who WAS JUST LOVING EVERY SECOND? Loved that so much. still cracks me up. When they first get to the airbase and Crowley compliments his dress and Aziraphales like OwO like fellas they gay.

1970s crowley... the mustache... "Can I hear a Wahoo?" Hastur... love him... "What's a computer" part of me wants to think he's just fucking with Crowley because who wouldn't but also he's so deadpan and yo I can't read expression AT ALL.

Love the fact that Crowley was ready to yeet off to a far off star system light-years away, but at the same times like "you expect me... to go to TADFIELD? In this weather??? Maybe I should drive but I mean, have you SEEN the TRAFFIC Angel? And now the M-25s on fire. Great."

Hastur going from on top of everything and tearing Crowley down to panicking because YOU'RE DRIVING TOWARDS A WALL OF FIRE.

snek eyes :3c

"Young man your CAR is on F I R E"

ALSO the horse people getting lost is peak entertainment. Honestly the horsepeople are great. War? Gorgeous. Famine? Love him. He's got style Pollution??? They're amazing, and also THEY THEM PRONOUNS BABEY. that made me v happy bc I just got used to usin em myself uwu. D E A T H. He knows his aesthetic yall. love it.

suppose nows a good a time as any: THE THEM.

I didn't really like Adam at first, he seemed a bit snobby. he's grown on me now but... ngk. Wenslydale was an instant fave. he's adorable. love him. Brian? total mess. super genuine. Great kid. PEPPER. she's great. she's sassy. she's gonna go far in life. all together, they're a tight knit group and I love them and they're all my children now thabks. and the parallels to the horsepeople? p e r f e c t

Alrighty Episode 6!!!

The beginning terrified me. All this time I was rooting for Zira and Crowley to finally get their happily ever after and yknow how most media is nowadays. There's a reason Fix-it Fics are so popular. So the beginning of the episode scared me. Also Beelzebub 💖

I love the Them vs The Horsepeople. "I believe in Peace, bitch."

I didn't even realize til later that that was Aziraphales sword. didn't even catch that line.

When Beez and Gabriel showed up? THAT DUMB SMILE OF GABES? I really hated Gabriel. The way he treated Aziraphale REALLY rubbed me the wrong way and I just did not like him one bit.

W I N G S. PRETTY WINGS. also didn't even realize that what Crowley did was STOP TIME. LIKE WHSOHDOEBE WHaT? ??

 "it burned down... remember?" uuggghhh kill me with how soft and gentle he's being!!! he knows that bookshop MEANT something to Zira hdoehekdn

T H E B O D Y  S W A P

the caught me COMPLETELY off guard... at first. I was completely unaware right up until "crowley" was attacked. I caught that little "Tickety boo" and I paused screaming like CROWLEY WOULD NOT SAY THAT IN THAT SCENARIO NO WAY THAT IS N O T ANTHONY J CROWLEY W H A T 

The heaven scene solidified my then hatred for Gabriel. I like him now but oof that scene he's still VERY punchable.

Crowley: Nearly threw hands with the Archangel Gabriel

The Hell trial. So Extra. Asking for a rubber duck? iconic! "Michael, dude!" oh mood.

when they switch back and it's all revealed? G l o r i o u s. They played each other so well!!! honestly props to Michael and David, their acting was PHENOMENAL.

The ending. A happy ending. The amount of love with which Zira says "to the world" killed me. I'm dead now thanks to that. I'm typing this from the grave,  that's how powerful that line is. Honestly, knowing next to nothing going in was kind of wild and my crazy reblogging spree actually got some of my mutuals to watch the show which is pretty neat. Going back through 3 more times now, Aziraphale definitely resonates with me the most. I actually have a small blurb I wrote on the positive effects he's had on my perception of myself in terms of stimming.

All in All this show hit me in a way I did NOT expect it to, and I'm glad I found it when I did. I was at a point where I was kinda feeling like I'd never really have a fulfilling relationship because of my asexuality, and then I found good omens. I def read the characters as ace while watching it and it was amazing seeing two characters who can love each other fully, without the need for anything explicit. The show was an instant fav and I'm trying to find a physical copy of the book (that I can afford) so I can read the original text. This is a story that's going to stay important to me for a very long time, I can feel it.

[alloutofgoddesses]

It’s my personal opinion on Endgame time

Let’s do what disappointed/angered me first, okay?

- It was kinda slow and dragged on a little, but they had a lot to wrap up

- I absolutely hated what the did with Bruce/Hulk. Them being able to balance each other out is great but it felt off and wrong the whole movie.

- Thor, bby, I’m so sorry that they turned you into a joke. He was a grieving mess and they totally destroyed his characterisation for fat jokes.

- Loki I miss you

- Not nearly enough Captain Marvel. You showed us what us going on with everyone else, why not her?

- That “gay character” scene does not count that was total bullshit

- I didn’t like Steve’s ending. Did he deserve rest? Yes, absolutely. Was it out of character to stay with Peggy? Without a doubt. Firstly, Peggy moved in with her life after Steve went into the ice. She lived a full, happy life with her husband and children. Steven Grant Rogers was allowed a dance, I think, but you can’t rip someone away from happiness just because you feel entitled. Second - Steve has moved on as well. In Winter Soldier and Civil War, he comes to terms with the fact he’s a man out of time in my personal opinion. Plus, Peggy basically tells him to move on with his life. Lastly, yeah of course Bucky knew what Steve was gonna do, but that doesn’t mean it’s a shitty end. Ship them or not, those two are soulmates. Do I need to remind you about the entirety of Winter Soldier? Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes are always with each other. Steve almost single handily brought down SHEILD just for a chance to get Bucky back. He abandoned the Avengers just to help out Bucky. He was able to break SEVENTY FUCKING YEARS OF BRAINWASHING with just a couple words. It was just bullshit, Steve leaving Bucky like that. Even if he did stay with Peggy, there’s no way he could live peacefully knowing Bucky was being used as a machine by HYDRA. Steve deserves to rest, but not like that.

Good things now

- Carol Danvers Does Not fuck around. She’s in the business of getting shit done and I’m proud of her.

- Natasha Romanov. She not only was a boss ass bitch, but she sacrificed herself for the chance everyone else could get their Families back. I’m going to miss her, yes, but she was willing to do what needed to be done. There’s no more red in her ledger. Also, first time I cried.

- Tony Stark had a family, and that’s all I needed. He got Pepper, he got Morgan, and he got Peter back. That’s all he needed as well. Pepper was absolutely right, he can rest now. It will be super super hard to live in a world without him, but we’ll live. I love you 3000 dude.

- on that note, Tony and Morgan’s dynamic was precious.

- Scott was beautiful and in perfect form the entire movie. I love you Antman.

- I liked New Asgard. Glad to see the Revengers.

- Clint I still don’t understand your murder spree but you do you it’s cool. Also the fact that he and Nat had to fight to get the Soul Stone I can’t.

- Tony and Steve’s confrontation scene was a masterpiece. Also I don’t ship Stony but Damn was that some powerful imagery right there for everyone who does.

- Captain America’s ass. Actually, everything to do with the 2012 storyline. Steve Going “You gotta be shitting me” is the line and tone of someone who is just absolutely Done. It was so funny. And using “Bucky is alive” to get Past!Steve to stop fighting just proves my point about what Steve’s retirement should have been.

- Howard Potts! Also Hi Stan.

- Rhodey is literally the best character ever.

- Nebula was great, and I was very proud of her

- Our boys, the OG 3 going to fight Thanos was,,,,,,, poetic cinema

- Steve can wield Miljnoir (excuse spelling) and wield it Well I love him so much. Everyone in my theatre screamed at that scene.

- “On your left” Sam you beautiful motherfucker

- Peter coming back and immediately rambling to Tony about what happened to him Broke My Heart. Second time I cried. I missed my precious boy more than I thought possible.

- The whole scene with everyone coming back just, oof that was a (good) punch in the face

- Fucking Carol Danvers man.

- PEPPER. FUCKING. POTTS.

- “She’s got help” my weak Lesbian heart could not handle that /and/ on Lesbian Visibility Day I nearly died

- Steve And Pepper helping Spidey get where he needed to go was amazing

- Uhhhhhh all of our heroes were amazing, breathtaking, stunning individuals the entire battle scene. I can’t wait to rewatch just that part over and over and over again.

- Tony’s death scene. I don’t have words to describe what I felt. The fact his armour straight up made a gauntlet for him, that fact that he got to see his worst nightmare, Thanos turned to dust before he died. Pepper allowing Peter to be there for Tony first before gently guiding him to Rhodey so that she could say goodbye. It was too ~*~*~*~*~*~* is what I’ll go with for now because I can’t tell you how I felt.

*This was originally written 04/27/19, the day after I saw Endgame*

[ghostbustermelanieking]

praescitum chapter eleven, part one

chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten

casefile, season 10, season 11, 11x03 plus one. part of my series that i write as i rewatch the x files.

Summary: As Mulder and Scully adjust to their reassignment to the X-Files and working together in the wake of their separation, they find themselves investigating a small town and a ghost that apparently warns people of bad things to come.

note: so yes, i am posting chapter 11 in two parts. it’s the plus one chapter, and it got excessively long, but i didn’t think it would work to split it into two chapters completely. 

i borrowed some of the section at the end from a fic i wrote in the middle of season 11, sofas and ikea. 

warning for descriptions of a crime scene, and also for the discussion of the crimes in plus one. 

---

eleven. (pt 1)

october, 2017

Scully has been strangely spooked ever since the whole Perlieu ordeal.

At first, she thinks it's because of the break-in, the jumpiness that didn't quite leave her for those few days as a result of almost being killed multiple times. She thinks she might have come home too soon, at first, that it's too soon to be alone after almost dying; she's halfway tempted to ask Mulder to come back to the house with her, although she knows she can't. She keeps jumping at small noises, fumbling frantically for her gun or her light, hearing things. She has the cameras do multiple scans, and there are never intruders, but she ends up sleeping with Daggoo right by her side and her phone within easy reach to call for backup or for Mulder if Perlieu comes back.

Even after it becomes clear that Perlieu is not coming for them, she remains jumpy. Remains liable to startle at the sound of the house settling, or the beeps and buzzes of the “smart” features of the house, or Daggoo's toenails on the floor boards. She tries to throw herself into work at home, or books, or the movies that play on TV. Nothing seems to work. She keeps thinking she's hearing things. The house suddenly seems too quiet; she gets into the habit of leaving the TV on too loud, turning on music in the kitchen while she cooks or loads the dishwasher. She feels ridiculous, but the silence suddenly seems too heavy, too cloaking. Daggoo hovers by her feet, sticking to her side instead of retiring to his dog bed; she's grateful for the company.

Scully honestly can't decide if she's being foolish for not just calling Mulder and making amends, or foolish for getting so spooked and wanting to call him in the first place. She tries to ignore either possibility. In the caseless week that follows their ordeal, she goes home each night, makes a small meal, sits down on her couch and goes over the autopsy reports from the serial killer case. But she can't quite shake the paranoia. She's halfway tempted to lug her flashlight from room to dark room, or roam the house turning all the lights on.

One night in the middle of the week, she's at the mirror brushing her teeth when she sees it: a dark, hulking shape in the hall behind her.

She's frozen in place Daggoo barks once, sharply, and Scully jolts, whirling on her heel to find the hallway dark but empty. No alerts from the computers that run the house; she'd recognize the alarms. And when she turns back to the mirror, she finds it empty, too.

She shakes her head disapprovingly at her reflection, runs her fingers sharply through her hair and ignores the way they tremble. Spits in the sink, tells herself she's imagining things, the same way she imagined things in that hotel hallway two years ago. Scoops Daggoo up and goes to bed, pretending she doesn't push the door until it clicks closed, pretending she turns on the television only because she wants to catch up on the news, pretending she doesn't desperately want to call Mulder.

---

Mulder and Scully spend their entire first week back at work fixing all the issues of their run-in with Perlieu: going to hearings, giving statements, collecting evidence. Scully spends several hours touching base with the team on that serial killer case, clarifying things about the autopsy reports and doing a couple more. Mulder calls in cleaners to at the very least get all of the destroyed furniture out of the house; he'll worry about new furniture later. He couldn't bear to pick things out without Scully, and that's a bit of a sore subject personally anyway. He's spent a decent amount of time kicking himself for that little comment about the furniture, and he's not quite done yet.

He spends his spare moments in the office reviewing and re-reviewing the Willoughby files. Noting similarities of sightings, trying to collect more information on the Holly Smith death. He halfway considers calling John Doggett before deciding against that; he probably shouldn't be asking for any favors from the guy. He combs through the Bureau system for any mention of Ian or Marion or Jared Caruthers. He hasn't decided whether or not to officially reopen the file on Willoughby and the Specter, mostly because Ryan still refuses to explain why he needs Mulder to look into his parents’ murders. He's communicating through email now, sending Mulder a list of recent sightings he's heard about in Willoughby, but every time Mulder asks why they're corresponding, he refuses to answer, and just sends more sightings.

Things remain awkward with Scully. She's amicable, of course, and he likes to think he is, too, but a new distance has sprung up that barely makes sense in the wake of everything else. She doesn't ask to have dinner with him, or ask him to come over, and he doesn't dare bring it up. They spend weekdays from eight to five together, and that is the extent of it, aside from a few friendly texts. He doesn't know how to fix things, and he's not sure she does, either. At one point, he said he would take what he could get, and he never, ever wants to push her, but he's not sure he can take being only Friendly, Too-Close Co-workers anymore.

By Sunday, Mulder is bored stiff, with no cases on the horizon and no Scully to do nothing with. He takes the Willoughby files home for the weekend, but he nearly has them memorized by now, and he doesn't want to read over them for the millionth time. He could probably use a pair of fresh eyes, but he doesn't want to ask Scully, considering how their last conversation about Willoughby went. And so Sunday is the day he finally breaks down and drives to Willoughby to see if he can get a copy of the Caruthers murder file.

(He texts Scully before he leaves, just in case she decides to drop by. He doesn't want her to panic if she were to come home and find him not there. And besides that, he doesn't want to feel like he's hiding things from her. He lingers awkwardly in the driveway, leaning against the car and nudging his sunglasses up and down the bridge of his nose until Scully answers, somewhat hoping she'll want to come along. But she just tells him to be careful and let her know if he needs anything, and so he leaves it at that.)

Sheriff O'Connell isn't at the station when Mulder arrives—the receptionist says he and his family are on vacation—but Deputy Jacobs is there, and he's fairly nice to Mulder about the whole thing. He photocopies most of the file for Mulder to take with him, curious about why Mulder wants to investigate again. “Just a lingering curiosity,” Mulder lies. “Boredom, you know. Have there been many sightings lately?”

Deputy Jacobs shrugs. “A few. Maybe more that haven't been reported. But nothing major since last year, as far as I know—since that stuff with the school, and Joy Seers's car accident.”

Mulder nods. “The activity seems to be somewhat restricted to the fall and winter, right?” he asks after a beat, his eyes falling on a photo of the crime scene. Bloody floor and scratch marks in the woods—from fingernails, he guesses.  

“Somewhat,” says Deputy Jacobs. “In my experience.” They stand in silence for a few minutes more as he copies the last of the papers. He doesn't speak again until he's bundling the papers into a folder; he says, casually, “Jared Caruthers is due for parole soon, you know.”

“What?” Mulder says, caught off guard.

“Jared Caruthers. The murderer.” Deputy Jacobs waves the file around for emphasis before passing it to Mulder. “Getting paroled for good behavior. But who knows if he's going to come here.”

“Hmm.” Mulder takes the thick folder and tucks it into his bag. “What are the people around town saying?” he asks knowingly.

Jacobs laughs, a sharp barking sound. “Some say he's gonna come for Ryan and finish the job,” he says. “Others say he and Ryan are going to team up and go on a killing spree. I think it's all bullshit.” He motions to the bag with his chin. “Let us know if you find anything, Agent Mulder. And tell… what was your partner's name? Agent Sullivan?”

“Agent Scully,” says Mulder.

“Agent Scully. Tell her I said hello.”

Mulder nods, silently wondering if he'll have an avenue to tell Scully that Deputy Jacobs from Willoughby says hello. He thanks the deputy and leaves.

At home that night, he reviews the case again. He doesn't remember much from when he and Scully reviewed it back in 2015, aside from the basic details. He's able to piece together the details from the investigative reports and witness testimonies.

The murders took place on May 19, 2002. According to Ian Caruther's co-workers, he left the office at five o'clock, the usual time; one coworker in particular noted that he seemed somewhat nervous, and reacted strangely when asked how his brother was doing (in reference to the death of Holly Smith), which surely only added to the suspicion towards Jared. Jared and Marion's whereabouts were unknown, as Marion was still staying at home with the baby (she was a teacher, and had taken a year's worth of leave) and Jared had recently been fired from his job. From the hours of five to ten, no one saw the Caruthers. There was no sign of them until the first 9-1-1 call, time-stamped at approximately 10:27 p.m. The call made by Jared. The transcript reveals nothing of the emotions in the actual phone call, whether or not Jared was hysterical, fearful or calm and collected, but Mulder can't help but read it as hysterical. My brother's been hurt. Please, I need your help. It's him and his wife… I think they've been stabbed… oh, Jesus Christ. Willoughby Woods Apartment Building, please hurry, oh fucking Christ.

The second 9-1-1 call was placed around ten minutes later, made by a neighbor. This transcript lays out the scene more carefully: the neighbor returned home from a friend's house and ran into Jared in the hallway, reportedly covered in blood. The neighbor asked if he needed help; Jared ran away. A few steps further, and he came across the bodies, bloody and prone in the hallway. He took their pulse to no avail; both were very dead. He could hear the baby crying.

The police responded to the scene and pronounced Marion and Ian Caruthers dead on the scene. They'd been dead for only an hour or two. The baby was found unharmed. An examination of the crime scene found candles—some lit, some unlit and overturned, some arranged in a circle around a Ouija board, religious paraphernalia like a Bible, crosses, a bowl shattered on the ground in a puddle of water. Mulder peruses the crime scene photos with interest—the scene certainly suggests a deeper involvement with the Specter. He vaguely remembers hearing something about things like this at the crime scene a couple years ago, remembers thinking that was significant. He paper-clips them together and sets them aside for another look.

Jared Caruthers was spotted buying explosive materials in a hardware store two towns over before being found and apprehended in the old cemetery down the street from the apartment. He had changed clothes, but the shirt he'd been wearing at the time of the murder was found in the trunk of his car with Ian and Marion's blood on it. Skin residues were found under his fingernails, also matching the DNA of the victims. The blade of the knife stuffed under his seat had been wiped clean of blood, but his fingerprints were still on it. (They found traces of Marion Caruthers's fingerprints as well, but that's mostly skimmed over.) One testimony reports that, when they cuffed him, Jared began to weep. (“But I dunno if it was out of guilt, or cause he got caught.”)

He refused to say anything, but they had more than enough evidence to convict him. He eventually signed a statement confessing to the murders. Supposed open-and-shut case, and Mulder still has no idea why Ryan wanted him to look into this.

He goes back to the crime scene photos, the fuzzy images of a scene that looks like it's right out of a horror movie. It's the fact that he keeps coming back to. Had Jared Caruthers planned this, in an attempt to pin the murders on some supernatural force? Or had the Willoughby Specter interfered, somehow? Joy Seers believes the ghost is demonic, and after his own encounter, Mulder can understand why. And he knows Ryan doesn't have any lost love for the ghost. But what does he think the ghost's involvement in his parents’ deaths? Does he suspect that his parents weren't murdered at all?

Mulder has copies of the autopsy reports, but that's never been his strong suit; he'd love to ask Scully to look them over. He tucks the cluster of papers back into the folder and scribbles a note to himself to review the crime scene photos.

He's settling into the couch to watch TV for the night when he gets a call from Skinner about a case in Henrico County.

---

Sunday night, Scully goes to bed early. She hasn't been sleeping well, either from paranoia or from a general sense of unrest, and she's trying to catch up on rest while they don't have a case. (She halfway expected a follow-up text to Mulder's announcement that he was driving down to Willoughby to the day to pick up a file, gently prodding her to come along, but it never came. She admits she doesn't love the idea of looking into the Willoughby case again, as paranoid as she's been this past week, but she expected Mulder to ask her to accompany him. She supposes he must still be upset about what happened the other week, and is mostly telling her where he's going as a formality. She told him to be careful.)

She spends Sunday evening watching a documentary on National Geographic; she's tempted to text Mulder a few times, out of the familiar twinge of missing him that she gets when they don't stay together (which they've done at least once or twice a week for almost a year now; this may be the longest period that one of them hasn't stayed at the other's house), but she holds off. She watches the documentary, and then she goes to bed, breaking her usual habit and taking a sleeping pill. She halfway thinks she deserves it, after a week of near-constant jumpiness and anxiety.

She has strange dreams. Strange, shadowy dreams that leave her with a sense of dread. There's someone that she's looking for that she can't find, and she has no idea whether it's Mulder or William.

Scully wakes up suddenly to a sharp, shrill sound, jolting in bed as if awakening from a bad nightmare. She's shivering, the tension hard in her muscles; she can feel the aches and pains from the Perlieu ordeal again, the bruises stinging. She groans, blinking blearily, and rolls over on her stomach, and the source of the sound becomes clear: Daggoo is standing on the edge of the bed, barking furiously at the door.

Scully shakes her head hard, running her fingers through her hair and sitting up in bed. She scoops up Daggoo and shushes him firmly, sets him down on the other side of the bed. “You hush,” she says firmly, reaching over to turn on her lamp. Her fingers slip on the switch, hearing the empty click with no accompanying light. She flips it a few more times, cursing under her breath: burnt-out bulb. She climbs to her feet, shivering as her feet hit the cold floor, heading for the door to get another bulb; she might as well change it now.

But she freezes in her tracks when she hears the creaking of floorboards on the other side of the door. It takes a second or two for her to remember that she's alone, that Mulder isn't here and the house is empty, and her breath catches in her throat in fear.

Footsteps creak on the other side, slow squeaking footfalls. Daggoo stands on the bed, growling at the door.

Scully forces herself to take a deep breath, another. Forces herself not to think of the cruel smile of a dark figure in the hallway of a Willoughby hotel. Walks carefully, quietly to her dresser and retrieves her gun from her holster. She walks to the door with her weapon held out in front of her, shushes Daggoo quietly and pushes the door open abruptly. “Federal agent, I'm armed!” she shouts, aiming the gun. But the hallway is empty.

Breathing uneasily, Scully steps out into the hall, the automatic lights flickering on. (Why the hell didn't her friend who rented her the house put automatic lights in the bedroom?) She doesn't bother turning them back off, like she’s done so often out of irritation. She walks the house, lights coming on with a soothing regularity, clearing every room, and finds the whole place empty. Daggoo paces the house behind her, growling under his breath. Scully checks every room twice, checks the cameras and the security system, and there is nothing. No intruder. No alerts. No signs of anything walking around the house except for her and the dog.

Scully blinks tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. She must be going insane. She doesn't want to consider any other possibilities. She reminds herself that she is nowhere near Willoughby, Virginia. She reminds herself that ghosts don't exist. They don't.

She scoops up Daggoo, restless and wriggling, and walks back to her bedroom. The lamp is still burned out, but she doesn't have the energy to change it. She shuts the door firmly, places the gun on her bedside table, climbs into bed and screws her eyes shut. She's exhausted. She just wants to go to sleep. She doesn't want to think about ghosts, or intruders, or anything of that sort. It's your imagination, she tells herself firmly as Daggoo curls dutifully into her side. You're imagining things.

She burrows in under the covers, ignoring any temptation to call Mulder or to recheck the house. Ignoring the slow squeak coming from the bathroom door down the hall swinging open, slow and eerie as a horror movie cliche. It's the house, she tells herself, the mechanics are malfunctioning. That must be it, because she can certainly hear the hinges squeaking painfully slow, but there's no intruder, she checked. And there is no such thing as ghosts. She grits her teeth and slides further under the covers like a child trying to hide, her eyes remaining shut even as her hand itches to grab for her gun.  

She can hear another door creaking, and she caves in and reaches for her phone, opening her messages from Mulder without a second thought. They've been together for years, she should be brave enough to tell him that she's hearing things, even if it's irrational. But she pauses when she sees her most recent unopened message from Mulder. Skinner's given us a new case. Not Willoughby. I'll have the details tomorrow morning at work.

It's professional enough to make her take pause, make her shake off this silly fear. She works her jaw back and forth and texts back, See you then, pretending she isn't disappointed at this new distance between them. She's being ridiculous. The house is malfunctioning, that's probably the thing she mistook as footsteps earlier. They'll start a new case tomorrow, and it'll get her mind off of Willoughby and the Specter and the break-in. She'll be back to normal in no time.

She turns off her phone screen and lays back against the mattress. It seems as if Daggoo has calmed down, fallen asleep curled against her, and she strokes a hand over his belly before closing her eyes and concentrating on the sound of their breathing. It's almost soothing, the steadiness of it, and she can feel herself slowly drifting off to sleep.

She bites back a startled yelp when she hears the bang of the doors slamming closed, Daggoo breaking into angry, yipping barks again. She pulls the covers over her head and rolls over onto her side.

---

Scully doesn't sleep well, despite the sleeping pill. She's absolutely exhausted the next morning, but she gets up and goes into work anyway, because what the hell else is she going to do? She's imagining things, or there's something wrong with the computer that runs the house, but she cannot let herself linger over these things. She eats her bagel and drinks her morning coffee, packs a bag for a few nights out of instinct, drops Daggoo off at the neighbor's, and drives to work.

Mulder's thumbing through an unfamiliar file when she comes in, sitting at the desk, lost in the work. (They still only have one desk, through no fault of Mulder's; he's called upstairs multiple times about another one to no avail. Scully is a little thrown by the fact that no one has managed to scrape up another desk in the two years they've been back, but it hardly seems to matter. They take turns with this one, most of the time, and it isn't as if she isn't annoyingly used to the whole thing.) “That the new case?” Scully asks, shutting the door behind her.

Mulder looks up from what seems to be a photo, his eyes softening a little like he's happy to see her. She swallows back any discomfort at their chaste, nearly formal exchanges yesterday, and offers him a small smile. “Scully, hey,” he says. “Yeah, I'm just… going through the details of it all.”

Scully steps closer to the desk, motioning to the photo in his hand. “Is that the victim?”

He looks down at the photo and nods. “Mm-hmm.” Swiveling the photo to face her, Scully sees a young man with a swelled, bruised face. “Arkie Seavers, age 20,” says Mulder. “Currently a resident of the county jail.”

Scully takes the photo to examine it herself. “What does the other guy look like?”

“Funny you should ask,” Mulder says, motioning to the photo. “Arkie there wasn't in a fight. Car crash, head-on collision into a tree. Drunk as a skunk.”

“He's lucky to be alive,” Scully says as she takes a seat.

“You have no idea,” says Mulder.

“Not wearing a seat belt, I suspect.”

“To hear Arkie tell it,” Mulder says as he gets to his feet and rounding the desk to stand near her chair, “he didn't have time to fasten his seatbelt, 'cause he was too busy beating a hasty retreat from the boy he says caused the accident.”

“And who was that?” she asks.

“You're looking at him,” says Mulder.

She raises her eyebrows questioningly  at him, maybe even a little playfully. “No. Not me,” he says, just a little bit playful back, and points at the photo in her hand.

“What, he blames himself?” she asks, looking back at the photo.

“In a manner of speaking.”

“I don't get it, Mulder,” she says.

Mulder picks up a side view of the victim, holding it up for effect. “Arkie, our hapless road warrior, is driving by his lonesome, down the highway to hell, when he sees another Arkie—” He scoops up another mug shot, framed opposite of the first one, and mimes the situation with the two photos as he continues: “—across from him, who grabs the wheel and crashes the vehicle.”

“Well, you did say he was drunk,” says Scully, rolling her eyes a little.

“Yes, and I know what you're gonna say about seeing double and all those hackneyed bromides about not giving the kids the car keys—”

“20 is hardly a kid,” she interrupts.

“—but circumstances bear a curious similarity to the stories told by other good folk who didn't share Arkie Seavers' luck of the Irish, and who also reported seeing their doubles right before dying.” He sits back at the desk, across from her, and passes her a bundle of photos.

“And how did these people die?” she asks.

“Each by their own hand.”

“After seeing their doubles?” She thumbs through the photos, briefly noting that the state of the bodies do seem to suggest suicide.

“According to all reports issuing out of Henrico County, Virginia.”

“Reports issued by whom?”

“Friends, relatives. A doctor.” He nods towards her.

“And the medical diagnosis is…?” she asks.

“A rare form of schizophrenia.”

She chuckles a little. “Right. So rare I've never heard of it.”

“Well, correct me if I'm wrong, Scully, and I know that you will, but schizophrenics have been known to hear voices and have reported hallucinations similar to the ones Arkie reports,” he points out.

“Hallucinations, yes, but not necessarily grabbing the wheel of a car and ramming it into a tree,” she points out right back.

“Well, they didn't all die from car crashes into trees,” he says. “Seven died from hanging, four jumped off a tall bridge, um, three—”

She looks at him in astonishment, that he didn't think to mention this before. “This is a mass phenomenon.”

“Precisely my thinking, Scully, which is why you and I are gonna jump on I-95 South this morning and get back to our bread and butter,” he replies, getting to his feet and grabbing his coat.

Her eyebrows raised, she gets to her feet and sets the photos down on the desk. “We seem to have a habit of getting into cases of mass, supposedly supernatural phenomena in small Virginia towns,” she comments.

“Precisely, Scully. Bread and butter.” Mulder is pulling on his coat at the door; he waggles his eyebrows playfully at her. “Got to bring home a paycheck somehow, right?”

“Are you getting reimbursed for road trips to Willoughby?” she asks, and she means it to sound playful, but she's worried it comes off as the opposite. She clears her throat, adds in what she hopes is a light tone, “Has Ryan Caruthers clarified why he wants you to look into this again? Do we need to reopen the Willoughby file?”

Mulder shakes his head. “He just wanted me to investigate the murder of his parents,” he says. “I'm considering it a side project.”

“Mm.” She bites her lower lip as she gathers her things, pretending she isn't relieved, just a little. “Focusing on more relevant things?”

“Exactly.” He smiles a little at her, and she smiles back, strangely nervous. She wonders, briefly, if she should tell him about the weird things she heard last night before deciding against it. It was just a computer malfunction, it's not important. And she doubts Mulder will really care about issues with the house she's living in separately from him.

They leave the office together, side by side, ride the elevator up to the parking garage.

---

They end up driving to Henrico County separately. Scully still isn't quite sure how it happens. One minute, she's commenting on the distance away from the county—a little two hours, close enough to drive but far enough that they'll have to get a hotel—and the next thing she knows, Mulder's commenting on how it might even be more efficient to take two cars, in case they have to split up a lot, and she can't tell if he's kidding or not (she thinks he might be, but it's honestly hard to tell), and she's agreeing that it might be efficient. And then the next thing she knows, they're exiting the parking garage in separate cars. It happens so fast it stuns her.

The drive is too long, too quiet. Scully starts an audio book on Audible just to fill up the silence. She looks in the mirror every few minutes and sees Mulder right behind her, and she's just left wondering how this whole thing happened. She still can't believe she reacted that way on the couch, after everything that happened.

The two of them drive straight to the Henrico County Jail to talk to Arkie Seavers, and from there, they go to the crash site. Despite Arkie's history of DUIs and drugs, Mulder seems to believe his insistence that his doppelganger is responsible. He counters Scully's logical arguments with the point that Arkie probably doesn't have the wherewithal to make it up. They go to the local psychiatric hospital, where they discuss things with a doctor there, who classifies the other recent deaths as similar to Arkie's incident in the supposed involvement of doppelgangers. They speak to a patient named Judy whose walls are plastered with games of Hangman, who claims to play telepathically with her brother. Scully's not so sure she believes that part of it, but Mulder locates a game of Hangman with an answer of Arkie on the wall, and she can't quite dismiss it as a coincidence, despite Judy's denial of knowing Arkie Seavers.

By this time, it's getting late, and when Mulder suggests they call it quits for the day, Scully certainly isn't going to argue. They head to a local restaurant for dinner, but there must be some kind of local event, because it takes them an hour and a half just to get food. By the time they finally reach the local St. Rachel Motel, it's past 11:00, and Scully is exhausted.

They ring the doorbell, and hear a shouted, “Coming!” from somewhere inside. A woman appears behind the sliding glass door, pushing it open.

“Hi, we'd like a couple rooms,” says Scully, almost automatically. They haven't  shared a hotel room on purpose since Willoughby; they've stuck to the formality of separate ones. And she certainly doesn't  expect that to change, especially in the wake of all their newfound awkwardness.

“Do you have reservations?” the woman asks.

“No,” Scully says. She senses what's coming; of course they wouldn't be able to get a room in this tiny town after she barely slept the night before. Just their luck. “Uh, do you have any rooms?”

“I've had a cancellation,” says the woman. “It's just a suite.”

“We'll take it,” says Mulder, speaking for the first time since they've gotten here. No hesitation or anything of that sort. She turns to look at him in shock—although she's not sure what the source of the shock is. Because of this strange new distance, because she thought he was angry at her for pulling away? Because the last time they were offered only one hotel room, he seemed nervous and looked to her for answers, offered to go somewhere else? She isn't sure how to react, isn't sure if she's eager or terrified. She thinks of holding her phone in her hand the night before, wrestling with whether or not to call him. He looks back at her with a degree of surprise, too, and she doesn't know why. A degree of awkwardness, maybe, and that makes more sense.

“There's a pullout sofa,” the clerk assures them.

“Okay,” says Scully, because what else is she supposed to say? She's made Mulder up a bed in the guest room, told him goodnight from her bedroom door and lay alone between stiff, cold sheets wishing he was there. The same way he’s made up his guest room for her. This is no different, is it? Maybe this is the push they need to get back to the place they were in a week ago.

She looks back over at Mulder as the woman walks away, and he's shaking his head  innocently, maybe even a little apologetically. “Just trying to get some shut-eye.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” she says, walking past him. She doesn't know what else to say. Doesn't know if he's upset with her, doesn't know how to make things right with them. She wishes to god she did. She misses him, misses the way she felt those nights in Willoughby where they fell asleep holding hands. She almost wishes there wasn't a pullout sofa, but at the same time, she's relieved there is.

They get up to the suite, a two-roomed thing with a bedroom and a joint bathroom and living room. Door between the couch and the bed. Mulder is trailing behind her, drops his suitcase in the corner of the room. “I can take the couch bed if you want,” he says, noble as he always is.   

“Don't be ridiculous, Mulder,” she replies immediately, combing her hair out of her face with her fingertips. “With your back problems, and everything that happened with Perlieu…”

“My back is fine, Scully. And besides that, I've gotten in the habit of sleeping on the couch every now and then.” She turns to him in surprise, her eyebrows raising. He shrugs. “Couch at home folds out. Closer to the kitchen and the office. Aside from the nights we fall asleep on the couch… sometimes I sleep there because it's easier. More convenient.”

He sleeps on the couch sometimes when she's not there. She didn't know that. She swallows. She wants to ask him to share the bed. She should ask, she should make some effort to close this gap between them, but the words are caught in her throat. “All the more reason for you to take the bed,” she says instead.

“Come on, Scully, I'm used to it.” He smiles at her gently, and she thinks about kissing him, touching his face and asking him to stay, telling him that she's sorry, she's so sorry, and she doesn't want to sleep alone.

She twists her hair away from her face, says briskly, “I'm going to take a shower.” She can feel his eyes on her as she goes to the bed, unzips her suitcase and removes her pajamas. It is too late, near midnight, and her bones are aching, old bruises sore and fatigue clouding her mind.

She takes a hot shower in the other room (why the hell would they put the bathroom in the room that is not the bedroom?), and Mulder is sprawled out of the couch bed when she gets out, gray t-shirt hanging on his frame. It makes a sudden lump rise in her throat. “Nice digs?” he asks, and she nods, unable to speak. “You should get some sleep,” he offers. “We have a meeting with Arkie and his lawyer first thing in the morning.”

She's still tempted to ask him back to the bed, but sleepiness outweighs her need for him, and she ultimately decides against it. Not tonight. Maybe it's because she's tired or maybe it's because she's scared, but whatever the case, she isn't going to go any further. She doesn't know how he feels towards her right now, she doesn't know how how to make things right. “Right,” she says. “God knows we could both use some shut eye.” The reason, according to Mulder, that they'd taken the damn hotel room.

“Right,” he says. He's looking at her warily, almost nervously, but still smiling.

She smiles back. She can't help it. They're still too scared to do anything, but this might be enough for now. They can pretend that nothing’s wrong. “Good night, Mulder,” she says, stepping closer to the couch bed. She brushes a hand over his shoulder before crossing to the door.

“Good night, Scully,” he says, just before she closes the door.

---

Scully's so tired that she can't see straight, but nearly as soon as she lies down, she finds herself restless. She sleeps in fitful snatches, tossing and turning, jumping at small noises. Silly fear from what happened the night before, she tells herself, but telling herself that doesn't make the fear go away. She shifts from one side to another, trying to focus on her breathing, the buzz of the air conditioning, anything but every small, mundane sound, when she hears the footsteps behind her. Startled, motivated by the fear lingering from the night before, she flips over in a panic.

She finds Mulder standing there, sheepish and apologetic. “Mulder,” she sighs wearily, lying flat on her back in defeat, “what are you doing?”

“That bed nice and comfy?” he asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“Mulder, go back to sleep,” she chides, because she's not in the mood for a discussion right now. She doesn't care if he goes back to the couch bed or climbs right in beside her, she just wants a good night's sleep.

“I wish that I could, Scully,” he says. “They just found Arkie Seavers dead in his jail cell.”

She sits up in bed in astonishment. “You're kidding,” she says.

“I'm afraid not. They didn't give many details, but they wanted us to come down and check it out.” He gives her a small, apologectic smile. “I'm sorry. Maybe we can come back and catch a few more winks after we check out the crime scene.”

Scully yawns as she climbs to her feet, rubbing her forehead. “Is that a promise?”

“What's wrong, Scully? Haven't been sleeping well?” His voice is genuinely sympathetic, soft and warm in the way that reminds her of why she almost texted him the other night.

“That,” she says, reaching out to open her suitcase, “is an understatement, Mulder. But I'll be okay.”

“I'm sorry, Scully.” He presses his hand briefly to her back before crossing the room to exit. “Meet you in twenty minutes? I'll buy you some coffee.”

She stretches, biting back another yawn. “Sure. Thanks, Mulder.”

He smiles at her gently before closing the door. It's enough to make her forgive him for sneaking up on her, enough to make her want a lot of things.

Arkie Seavers is indeed dead, strangled with his own belt. Scully is ready to classify it as a suicide, and even Mulder admits that it's a possibility. But he seems to be firmly attached to the idea that Judy Poundstone and her brother are responsible. He cites them as their main two suspects. He keeps his promise, takes them back to the hotel to let her sleep, but he suggests that they go interview the siblings tomorrow.

“That sounds like a reasonable next step,” she says as they re-enter the hotel room. “I can go visit Judy before I do Arkie's autopsy tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sounds good.” He bumps her elbow against hers lightly. “Right now, though, you should get some sleep.”

She smiles a little, just a little. Their detour to the jail was hardly a welcome interruption, but maybe she can finally get some sleep now. “Thank you, Mulder. Do me a favor and make sure I don't sleep too late.”

“I'll wake you up by eight,” he says teasingly. “Maybe nine.”

“Eight,” she says sternly—there’s no need to be unprofessional. “We can grab some breakfast before we go interview the siblings.” She's tempted to suggest they just interview the twins together instead of splitting up; it might not be very time-conservant, but it seems to make more sense.

“Good thing we thought to drive separately,” Mulder says before she can. He sounds a little awkward saying it, almost sad—like he regrets suggesting they drive separately in the first place—but still, he says it, and so Scully keeps her mouth shut. “That'll make tomorrow much easier.”

Scully yawns, rubbing at her eyes. “That's true,” she says sleepily.

Mulder opens the door, looking back over his shoulder. “Good night, Scully,” he says, for the second time that night. “Or… good morning, I guess.” He chuckles softly.

Scully chuckles, too, reaching down to unfasten her necklace. Her fingers accidentally curl around her ring where it hangs around her neck. “Good night, Mulder.”

The door closes softly behind him. Scully changes quickly and climbs back into bed, her eyes straying back to the door like a magnet. She slips her hand under her hair and unfastens her necklace, sliding the ring off, and closes her hand around it instinctually before setting it down on the bedside table and setting her cross down beside it. She touches the ring with the tip of one finger before curling up under the comforter, letting her eyes slide shut.

By some miracle, she manages to sleep dreamlessly and peacefully until the moment when Mulder wakes her back up. (At nine. Of course. She scolds him a little for being unprofessional, but secretly, she's grateful. They eat breakfast in the dining room together, hands accidentally bumping every time they reach for the salt or pepper or Sweet'n'Lows.)

[pandora15]

The Clone Wars S3E15: Overlords

Hello!

So I just found out that the Clone Wars will be taken off Netflix in a few weeks, so I’m gonna try to speed my way through the rest of my rewatch (though I really doubt I’m gonna make it).

Here we go!!

(Putting this under the cut, because yes, this is very long)

One thing I just noticed for the first time is that when the Daughter approaches Anakin and asks, “Are you the One?” Obi-Wan looks really defensive.  Like, obviously he’s aware of the prophecy, but I think it’s more the fact that it’s a Jedi prophecy--how does this strange being know about it?

Like, look at him:

He’s not happy (and dear lord, do you see those bags under his eyes? Take a nap, Obi-Wan!)

Anakin, on the other hand, is just confused.  Which, I guess, is a natural reaction to have in this situation, though I’m sure he’s also thinking of the prophecy at this point.

I guess just seeing them react in different ways to someone indirectly mentioning the prophecy makes this whole thing a lot more...intriguing.

Anyways, moving on!

Obi-Wan saying “We’ll be fine, as long as we stay together” is absolutely hilarious because both on Mortis and in the larger galaxy, they end up doing the exact opposite, and things very quickly go extremely wrong.

Random sidenote: I rewatched this arc a lot of times, and this is the first time I noticed that Mortis had floating rocks.  I am...not observant.

I laughed so much when Anakin went up to the Daughter and asked, “Excuse me. Who are you taking us to?” because of the way he says it?  It’s hard to explain, but I just found it really funny.

Anyways, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka (aka Team Awesome) go back to the ship, only to find it missing.  The Son shows up, and immediately, Ahsoka has her lightsaber out and ready.

Obi-Wan doesn’t do that, but he’s defensive.

But when the Son asks him the same thing the Daughter did earlier (albeit more directly), that’s when Obi-Wan draws his lightsaber.  And he’s even less happy than before:

Now, let’s talk about the visions! I’ll even put them under a separate section for giggles.

Welcome to...Mortis: Visions(TM) Edition!

Our first vision recipient is Obi-Wan Kenobi!!  Let’s begin:

The fact that the first thing Qui-Gon said to Obi-Wan was “Obi-Wan, have you done as I asked?  Have you trained the boy?” would have hurt less if you just ripped my heart out of my chest.

Like no, Qui-Gon, that is not what you should say after all this time.  Granted, I like to think that this isn’t Qui-Gon, that it’s the Son or maybe even the Father playing tricks on Obi-Wan, but that doesn’t make this hurt any less.

Though I’ve gotta say, it is quite a realistic interpretation of Qui-Gon, so the Son really has a good grip on Obi-Wan’s memories here.  I’m just...sad about this, okay?

And in the end, Obi-Wan glances away for a second, and then when he looks up, Qui-Gon’s gone? Like ouch?

Next up is Anakin Skywalker!!

Shmi is so creepy in this scene.

Granted, we know it’s not Shmi, but rather the Son being creepy, but still.

Anakin openly talking about his little murder-spree after Shmi’s death is so intriguing, because you see that he regrets it.  There is good in him.

The fact that the Son calls himself Anakin’s fate is...interesting.

Because obviously, the Son himself is not Anakin’s fate (though I’d say he does play a role in Anakin’s fate), but the Son is the personification of the Dark Side.  And, well, since Anakin does ultimately turn to the Dark Side,

We can say that yes, the Son is technically Anakin’s fate.

And last but not least, Ahsoka Tano!

I really love this vision.  We get a glimpse of older Ahsoka, and knowing what eventually happens to Ahsoka makes this all the more interesting.  This is the first warning that Ahsoka gets about being Anakin’s padawan, and I can’t help but wonder if this vision played a role at all when she decided to leave the Order.

Either way, older Ahsoka’s words ring quite true, especially knowing what Ahsoka ends up doing.  Because Ahsoka leaving the Order definitely saved her life.  I don’t think she would have survived as long as she does if she didn’t do it.

And that, my friends, is the end of Mortis: Visions(TM) Edition!

Well, that was fun!  Onwards!

Anakin’s conversation with the Father is intriguing because it finally reveals that he believes the Chosen One to be a myth.  Maybe that’s the way he decided to cope with the pressure of the prophecy? By not believing in it at all?

Honestly, it would have been better if he didn’t know about it at all, but...Qui-Gon was just really excited about it, I guess. 

*shrugs*

Alright, let’s talk about that “final” test Anakin goes through!

I do like the Father (I guess?), but honestly, making Anakin choose between Obi-Wan and Ahsoka is Rude(TM).  Though on my first watch (and even now), I can’t help but wonder who he would have chosen if...

...I should just write this as a fic, right? I’m really tempted.

Anyways, Obi-Wan telling Anakin to save Ahsoka makes me wanna cry because of course he’d say that.  I wasn’t surprised the first time I watched this, and I’m not surprised now.

Anakin using the Force to get the Son and the Daughter to let go of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka is easily one of the most epic moments of this saga.  Easily.

The way the sky spins from day to night and back, the music, the power that Anakin shows?  It’s just really epic.

And there’s a small moment where Obi-Wan realizes...something, and I really really would have liked to know exactly what he was thinking there.  Maybe he was even more sure about Anakin being the Chosen One?  Or he was just like...”uh omg whut”?

Like.

There is something going on in that brain of his, and I’d love to know what it is.

The way that Anakin manages to control the Son and the Daughter always sends a shiver down my spine.

Like guys, Anakin is really powerful.  Seriously.

It would have been really nice if they just left Mortis here, like...no one would have turned to the Dark Side, no one would have been hurt or betrayed?

But nah, things get even weirder in the next episode, and I’m excited to rewatch it.

[smallerthanzer0]

so i finally watched endgame

and my brain hurts now. spoilery rambling under the cut:

me @ everything Clint did in the first half of this movie, despite recognizing that the movie intentionally started with his family being dusted to make his vengeance (?) spree seem a little more justified: 

after the amazing scene of paper football with Tony and Nebula (you know what would have been a cool thread to carry through to the end of the movie? THAT. Tony throwing the gauntlet to Nebula and her flicking it up and into the van like her first attempt at being the goalpost would have delighted me so much), the first part of the movie was... bad?

Tony with a wheelchair and IV being bombarded with exactly how much Earth had lost and completely shutting down had me B R O K E

like, I love MCU fanfiction, I live for those quiet reflective moments, but nothing about this was fun - not Professor Hulk, not depressed Thor, not Steve and Natasha still looking for solutions five years in - and by fun I mean ‘adheres to the things I liked about these characters in any way, shape, or form’

this movie happens because of a RAT

Tony and Pepper and Morgan are an adorable family and everything about what happened to them in this movie breaks my heart. he’s such a good dad they should have let him live and be a good dad. the conversation between him and Pepper about not being able to just sit on a solution was lovely though

i. okay. this is probably just me but I am salty about what they’ve done with Bruce Banner. His entire character in these movies was the balance between Banner and the Hulk, being anxious about who he could trust and what people wanted from him, and they don’t even care to resolve that in the movie other than a couple throwaway lines - and those lines are ‘i decided to stop fighting the hulk and become large and green permanently but I’m still smart and everything is fine now’. he’s a popular celebrity now whose capacity as a scientist is reduced to playing second fiddle to Tony Stark. I know these movies care more about tech than biological science but... he’s a genius too... let him be smart and actually work with Tony on things please...

like, give me just one scene of Tony’s solution not entirely handling the biological constraints of human being and Bruce fixing it for him. one scene with the two of them reflecting on how Tony’s given Bruce funding and a lab and gets someone who can understand his technobabble in return. come on

i understand that it’s completely possible for Ragnarok Thor to devolve into Endgame Thor, depression is powerful and it sucks, but they didn’t have to make him dumb. Either acknowledge that Infinity War broke him and let the people who care about him help, or don’t break him in the first place! i feel like even a Thor who had deemed himself unworthy of caring for his people would have just left entirely to wallow elsewhere, not stuck around to be an extremely visible disappointment to people who trusted him 

and then

and then

they had that scene with a subset of Avengers crowded onto couches and lying on table late into the night, planning a time heist, and I was HOOKED. this is literally everything I’ve ever wanted from an Avengers movie

Scott is the MVP for bringing us time heist. this part of the movie banged

i’m still furious about Thor just ABANDONING Rocket in an unfamiliar time and place but. you know what. i’ll live.

everything about the 2012 team was amazing (except 2012 Hulk, why is he allowed to be out during sensitive material transfers but not take the elevator?). ‘yeah, yeah, i know.’ Loki being the only one who spots this nonsense going down. Captain America’s total disregard for a clean fight that doesn’t destroy several stories’ worth of property. 

were there other ways to get Pym particles? yes. did I enjoy Tony getting to meet his father and coming to peace with his past that made me sure  he was going to die? eh. do I need more content of Steve and Tony, heist partners? absolutely.

this movie was so rude to Peter Quill, but I was so overjoyed at getting to see the GOTG opening again that it took a while to sink in

I love everything about Nebula’s prominence in this movie except the fact that she didn’t get to stab Thanos even ONCE. Her being an integral part of the team, past vs. present Nebula getting entangled, getting to see Gamora again and inspiring her growth this time around - Perfect. Stunning. Give that girl a trophy and the found family she deserves

au where they send Steve to get the Soul Stone and shit goes down please

I’m sad about Vormir but oh, do I love how they handled it. This is the best scene Natasha has in the entire MCU imo -  she makes a conscious decision to die for the goal and her best friend, chooses it again and again, brings her life full circle outside of what she’s been given in previous movies. What a badass.

I really thought Rocket was going to tell them that holding the Infinity Stones as a group would make them less dangerous, the way the Guardians did with the Power Stone, and they would... win together. I guess they just needed another gauntlet for Thanos to almost get on

Steve gets Mjolnir for the singular purpose of allowing them to put a 1:1 fight between him and Thanos in that lasts more than three seconds. loling at him getting to keep it for the rest of the fight though. someone needed a power-up :) 

look. even if I hated EVERYTHING else about this movie, that scene of Steve getting up one last time with a broken shield, ready to die standing, and having Sam’s voice crackle in his ear would make this worth rewatching. those portal openings were legendary.

hot potato with the Gauntlet fulfilled my Infinity War dreams, i can leave the MCU happy now

don’t give the danger glove that every single member of the opposing force will kill for on sight to the sixteen-year old please

once again crying over Peter Quill losing the love of his life, finding her on the battlefield, and being literally kicked in the nuts for it

RESCUE

Captain Marvel getting headsmacked by Thanos and not even budging made my entire day

and then that happened

i don’t even want to talk about it we could have had a happy ending and instead we went back to the Bad Movie from the first hour

and then they decide to make fun of Peter Quill one more time for good measure. fight me.

i’m not devastated, i saw it coming, but just... it didn’t need to happen. They could have given him a family and a home and peace but instead we get tragedy. a valid ending, but ow

they could have at least done the respectful thing and ended on him instead of finishing the funeral and going on to ‘Steve escapes his friends to pick up a dance and a picket fence life’ lmao

[seenthisepisode]

Sooo I started following you for spn but seeing lotr on my dash has been a wonderful surprise (yes I reblogged like half of your lotrposting, sorry). Not many of my friends have watched lotr so I wanted to ask you what you think about Saruman's death in the movies/the reducing The Shire occupation by him to a vision Frodo sees with Galadriel. Sorry if this is totally out of the blue or if you haven't read the books and this doesn't make sense but I already talked about it with my parents and my partner and I'd like to hear your thoughts! xx

Hiii omg I'm so glad you liked my uncontrolled lotr reblog spree 🥺 I have to admit the last time I reread the books was almost over 10 years ago, while I recently rewatched the movies, soo my memory might be a little rusty haha. My opinion is that well, I get it, Peter Jackson had to modify the plot to fit the movies (and he did a solid job at that) buuuuut I have to admit Saruman's death in the movies is very satisfying (and symbolic. the fall from the tower as the Ents retake the land he used for industy. cheif's kiss, truly). And if they went with showing the occupation of Shire the film would last 5 hours so I get it. And resigning from this plot made the Hobbits go back to a green and happy Shire that they saved, so it served as a well deserved and satisfying happy ending too. Like, I understand the choices that were made here. On one hand I am the type of person who would love for every movie adaptation to be word for word the same as books but I think Peter Jackson did extremely well. So thats it, what do you think?

[onimiman]

Halloween 2018 Film Retrospective (no major spoilers ahead)

Throughout the entirety of the month of October 2018, I had watched a movie everyday that was, in at least some tangential way, related to Halloween. I can't really call all of them horror films (and to find out why, please see below), although I will say that many of them were unfortunately films that ranged from mediocre to downright unwatchable; had I not been forcing myself to watch these movies for the month, I would have given up ten minutes or so in. And I know I'm a bit late to the party since I'm only posting this on November 3rd, but fuck it, here's the list anyway. So without further ado, let's begin this retrospective with not the first film I watched this October, but the last film I watched for September, which I will call Film #0.

#0: The Babysitter (2017)

The plot: A twelve-year-old boy still hangs out with his babysitter when his parents are away, and just as he is developing deeper feelings for her, he learns a dark secret about her and her friends. This prompts him to undergo a night of survival that forces him to grow up and move on from his own feelings of inadequacy.

My thoughts: This movie feels like it was somehow a holdover script from the 1990s; when the film brings up an element from 1996's hit movie Independence Day, a movie that no one gives a shit about anymore (see how its sequel, 2016's Independence Day: Resurgence, flopped hard at the box office), it serves as only one piece of evidence for that claim. However, I did find the movie to be quite fun nonetheless, even if not all of the jokes in this horror comedy quite landed the way they intended to, but to me, it did have a stable story structure and everything storywise paid off with what was established early on. It's an easy less than 90 minutes to kill on Netflix and I recommend it even if you're not a horror fan.

#1: Leatherface (2017)

The plot: In this prequel to Tobe Hooper's seminal 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, we see the birth of the cannibalistic Sawyer family's iconic member turn into this film's titular villain.

My thoughts: By all means, this was a stupid and unnecessary film that shouldn't have been made. But I went into this expecting to simply be entertained by the violence and gore that was to come about. And was I? Yes, I was, and admittedly, the film did make me feel stupid in misleading me as to who Leatherface was going to be, even though there was a piece of evidence in the movie that did make me think, “Naw, it couldn't be.” So, for that, I can't completely shit on this film. If you're not a fan of gore, you'll despise this movie, but for me, it's a guilty pleasure by far.

#2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

The plot: In this remake of Tobe Hooper's seminal 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre... pretty much the same shit from that film occurs in this one with only a few slight differences.

My thoughts: Having watched this not long after watching Leatherface, I knew that I was going to get something significantly more conventional, and boy did I get it. It's as boring and unmemorable as most other horror films from the 2000s are, and if I wasn't doing this retrospective, I would have forgotten this one altogether. And moreover, the kills in this are so much more disappointing than in Leatherface, with little to no gore here, so I can't even watch this from the POV of basic primal enjoyment. Skip this one whether you're a horror fan or not.

#3: Goosebumps (2015)

The plot: What starts off as a boy-meets-girl story turns into a spooktacular tale of adventure that involves stopping an army of monsters that come directly from the mind of children's horror author R.L. Stine.

My thoughts: This is a movie that I imagined that I would have enjoyed watching as a kid every now and then, especially during Halloween, but as it stands, it's a little too dull for me and it makes me question what kind of threat do any of these monsters pose to our characters if they never actually kill anyone. It's still fun, if even in a standard way, and Jack Black as R.L. Stine, while incredibly hokey in the role, is obviously having a lot of fun here, so for that, I guess I can recommend this one if you have kids. There's nothing in here that'll actually scare them (unless they're a young Justin Bieber type who'll have nightmares over fucking Scooby-Doo) so you won't have anything to worry about showing them this.

#4: Silent Hill (2006)

The plot: When a young woman takes her adopted daughter to a ghost town called Silent Hill to solve the mystery of the girl's nightmares, they are quickly separated from one another and plunged into a dark demented world with hints of a core secret that must be solved.

My thoughts: I heard about how bad this one was for years, but as I was watching it once the characters actually reached Silent Hill, I found myself enjoying it and finding it to be a legitimately scary movie. The problem? The payoff at the end. I don't know if this is the payoff in the game, but the solution somehow felt a little too mundane and I kind of eye-rolled at the film's jabs at religion (and I speak as someone who's not religious at all). Decent movie for the most part, but I can't really recommend it on account of where it all leads.

#5: Venom (2018)

The plot: When disgraced San Francisco journalist Eddie Brock sneaks into the lab owned by the business magnate who ruined his career, he is bonded to an alien parasite who gives him extraordinary abilities and the antihero persona of Venom. Together, Eddie and Venom must work together if they are to take down business magnate Carlton Drake and the symbiote that he bonded to, Riot, before they can unleash a symbiote invasion upon Earth.

My thoughts: Okay, I know this is kind of cheating because it's not really a horror film in a conventional sense, but since the movie deals with a man being bonded to something that can kill him from the inside if they are both not properly fed, I thought I'd include this movie in this retrospective. Now, with that being said, I found this movie to be pretty standard for a superhero film, and in the year that films like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Deadpool 2 came out, Venom looks kind of subpar in comparison. However, as standard as the story and action scenes were, I still enjoyed it for what it was, and as cliched as it is to say this now, Tom Hardy as both Eddie and Venom have some magnificent chemistry that makes me want to see more of them in a sequel. I'd recommend it, but with this stipulation: Only if you're not too versed in superhero films.

#6: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

The plot: A pair of mysterious death leads a medical doctor and the daughter of one of the victims to investigate a conspiracy in a Halloween mask-producing factory that can have far-reaching consequences.

My thoughts: I regret seeing this movie for only one reason: That this wasn't the film I saw for October 31st, because this is, by far, the most Halloweeniest movie I have ever seen. Otherwise, I enjoyed this movie more than I did the original 1978 Halloween or any of its sequels or remakes (which I'll get to later in this retrospective). While not exactly having the best atmosphere, Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a very interesting movie that is draped in its titular holiday, with a unique premise to boot, that is kind of suspenseful, even if it doesn't have a real resolution. It's a film I wouldn't mind rewatching for next year, especially if it's a rainy day.

#7: Final Girl (2015)

The plot: A teenage girl is trained in rigorous self-defense techniques by a mysterious man for the purpose of combating those who seek to wrong others.

My thoughts: As trite as that premise may sound, it's still very interesting in execution, especially if one is familiar with horror movie tropes like the defenseless teenage girl who wins at the end despite all odds against her. It's decently acted and directed, it runs at just the right length, and if I have any complaints about it, I just wish we went into this movie with our killers believing that this was just going to be another of their victims so that we could be surprised at the turn of events. Other than that mil critique, it's a quaint, simple film that you could watch on Netflix on a rainy day like the previous movie above.

#8: ThanksKilling (2008)

The plot: A 500-year-old talking turkey is brought back to life via dog urine on his grave and intends to kill the nearest people nearby.

My thoughts: This movie was an abominable piece of shit that's as unbelievable in every way as the premise that I laid out above. I'm not even joking about the dog piss thing either; that's how the killer comes back. The filmmaking here is student-level amateurish, the acting in it is jaw-droppingly bad, and this film's attempts at trying to be humorous make me want to punch a cat. Never watch this movie ever.

#9: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

The plot: Ten years after his killing spree in 1978's Halloween and 1981's Halloween II, Michael Myers has returned (as the title would indicate). With his sister Laurie Strode having died in a car accident in between films, Michael's new target is his niece, Jamie Lloyd, and his titular return renews the carnage that his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, must stop.

My thoughts: A fairly dull film that's only half as decent as the first two films and nowhere near as entertaining as the third. The acting on the parts of Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis and Danielle Harris's turn as Jamie Lloyd were the bright spots in this film, and the ending is famous for being one of the most shocking things in this series that is never followed up on. Unfortunately, I can't recommend anyone watch this, whether you're a normie or a Halloween fan, especially considering what follows...

#10: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

The plot: Pretty much the same shit as the last movie only with more self-aware corniness this time around and a shittier Michael Myers mask.

My thoughts: Ditto from what the plot described. I feel bad for Pleasance and Harris here, they are way too good for this movie.

#11: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

The plot: Michael Myers finally kills his niece Jamie Lloyd, but now must go after her child as per instructions from the Cult of Thorn. But not if Dr. Loomis, Kara Strode, and Tommy Doyle have anything to say about it!

My thoughts: If you thought that how I delivered this plot wasn't exactly all that Halloweeny, believe me, this movie doesn't deserve to be treated with that kind of respect. I honestly don't want to say anything more about this movie except for these two things: what an awful last movie for Donald Pleasance to go out on before he died, and for a first movie, who woulda thought that Paul Rudd could be so damn boring?

#12: Halloween II (2009)

The plot: Director Rob Zombie takes one last shit on the Halloween franchise after his 2007 remake of the first movie debacle. Is it sad that this movie gets less of a respectful plot synopsis than the last three Halloween movies discussed on this list?

My thoughts: I saw Rob Zombie's 2007 Halloween remake in the theater, and it was one of the worst movies I'd seen on the big screen. I'm so glad I missed out on this one when this came out in theaters because holy fuck, this one makes Zombie's first Halloween look like a masterpiece in comparison. I could go on to explain why for those of you haven't seen these movies, but all I have to do is point you to Phelan Porteus's reviews of Rob Zombie's Halloween movies; he'll explain it all.

#13: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The plot: Deranged child murderer Fred Krueger returns from the dead in the form of a dream demon to kill the teenage offspring of the people who murdered him through those teenagers' dreams.

My thoughts: Finally, a legitimately good movie on this list that I don't have to dismiss as just mindless fun or even scary but with a bad payoff at the end like with Silent Hill. This movie is good even if you're not a horror fan; I whole-heartedly recommend this. And if nothing else, it's interesting to see how young Johnny Depp was, what with this being his first movie, and I could see just what the ladies saw in him back then.

#14: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

The plot: Freddy's back! And this time, he intends to enter the real world through the form of a troubled teenage boy who may or may not have some repressed feelings about himself...

My thoughts: This movie is about as subtle in its homo-eroticism as a series of Michael Bay explosions (not that I'm against homo-eroticism, since I'm a bisexual myself, I just think that this movie was a little too on the nose with that kind of stuff). And while I did find this movie to be surface-level enjoyable for the creative kills, I can't help but think that this was kind of dull, especially in comparison to the first film and as we move forward with the other sequels. The worst part about this is that I find myself scratching my head as to why this is a Nightmare on Elm Street movie when, in spite of the use of dreams here, this doesn't really feel like the Freddy Krueger we know from the first movie nor does this hold up with the character we see in the subsequent sequels. I don't know how to explain it, but somehow, Freddy's characterization seems off in this one. In spite of this film's inclusion of homo-eroticism, something we seldom see in movies like this, I have no problem saying that you can skip this one.

#15: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

The plot: Nancy Thompson, the sole survivor of the first Nightmare on Elm Street, returns with Freddy Krueger this movie, and this time, she intends to help his intended victims fight back. In a sanitarium for suicidal teens with sleep disorders, Freddy intends to kill the last of the Elm Street children. But Nancy intends to utilize the help of one of the teens, Kristen Parker, who has the special ability to unite people into a single dream space and allow them to develop their own dream powers to counter Freddy.  But Freddy isn't as easy to defeat as one may think.

My thoughts: Honestly, this is as good of a sequel as the first Nightmare on Elm Street deserved, as it's a unique take that manages to continue the story of the first in a natural yet unorthodox way, not unlike what Aliens did with Alien. The horror of the first film may be toned down significantly here, but at least the story was interesting, the characters were fun to watch, and Freddy is so much fun here. I recommend it for how Inception-y this movie can get, even if this doesn't have the same level of intelligence as that movie did.

#16: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

The plot: Despite his defeat at the end of the previous film, Freddy Krueger is resurrected and he finally accomplishes his goal of murdering the last of the Elm Street children, accomplishing his goal once and for all. However, Freddy isn't so satisfied; he wants more children and teens to kill, and he will get more, through Kristen Parker's friend, Alice Johnson, to whom Kristen gave her dream-sharing ability. So unless Alice can find a way to stop Freddy, the latter's fun could continue...

My thoughts: I think it's safe to say this is the point in the franchise when all the horror in Freddy Krueger is pretty much gone and replaced with fun schlocky Freddy. And you know what? I'm okay with that, because it's always great to see Robert Englund have fun in this role. And in spite of the writing not being as strong as it was in the first and third films, I still find myself caring about our characters like Alice, and I was genuinely saddened when the last of the Dream Warriors died. It's rare when I can actually feel that kind of sadness for dead meat characters like these. Fun watch, would recommend, but be prepared to look at Freddy in a different light. And stay around after the credits, as Freddy sings a hilarious rap that just made me smile.

#17: A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

The plot: Freddy just can't stay dead, for now he has a new dream master to kill people through: Alice Johnson's unborn child, who spends 70% of his life in a dream state in his mother's womb. So how can Alice defeat Freddy this time without having to sacrifice her dream child in the process?

My thoughts: “Faster than a bastard maniac! More powerful than a loco-madman! It's Super-Freddy!” If you don't know what that scene is, I urge you to look it up, as it's the best scene of the whole movie and it really capitalizes on just how much of a joke Freddy Krueger has become at this point in the series. However, unlike the bastardization of a character like Michael Myers in, say, one of Rob Zombie's Halloween movies, Freddy is still an enjoyable enough character where even one who despises the Nightmare sequels overall can still find little jewels like the aforementioned line. Give it a watch if only for just that one scene.

#18: Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

The plot: Freddy Krueger has all but run out of kills in his hometown, and now he wants to expand nationally. But not if his daughter has anything to say about it!

My thoughts: This has become pure comedy at this point. But my God this is golden. When one of this movie's kills is an extended scene of a guy jumping around with cartoonish sound effects to boot while dreaming that he's in a video game being played by Freddy, you know that the filmmakers know what kind of movie they're making. And I enjoyed this as one of the most guilty pleasure films I'd ever seen. I do think that the film ended on a somewhat anticlimactic note, but alas, the film was an interesting end to Freddy's evolution as a character of horror to a character of dark comedy, and for that, I recommend this one.

#19: Halloween (2018)

The plot: Forty years after he terrorized Haddonfield, Michael Myers has once again escaped from Smith's Grove Hospital to return to where his reign of terror all started. But this time, the one who got away, Laurie Strode, is ready for him... but her daughter and granddaughter may not be.

My thoughts: Aside from Jamie Lee Curtis's fantastic performance in this film, I thought this was just a run-of-the-mill horror film that's competent enough and has its moments but is otherwise forgettable if you forget that this is a Halloween film. If you're a Halloween fan, I think you'll be satisfied; it's certainly better than the majority of its sequels (especially The Curse of Michael Myers and Resurrection) but that's all.

#20: Meet the Blacks (2016)

The plot: During the Purge, the Black family (yes, that's their last name, and yes, the film does make several racially inappropriate jokes about it) move into an upper class white neighborhood where they are confronted by their patriarch's past in the forms of those he's financially wronged in some way or another.

My thoughts: This is only the second worst movie I've seen for this retrospective (yes, ThanksKilling is number one). Aside from all the racist jokes going on here, this movie is just a failure of a comedy and as a spoof/satire of the Purge franchise. It doesn't say anything new or fresh or in any interesting ways, and in fact, some of the “comedy” here just doesn't make any sense (then again, I just might be missing out on a reference, as if that's supposed to justify bad comedy). This movie may have been less than 90 minutes, but my God, it felt like an eternity having to slog through this piece of shit. Do I honestly even need to say skip this one?

#21: The Rezort (2015)

The plot: Years after the cancellation of the zombie apocalypse, the remaining zombies have been rounded up to an island owned by a private company where people can come and pay as tourists to shoot zombies. But when a conscientious objector sabotages the island's systems, the zombies quickly take over and many people die. So a small group of tourist survivors must reach a rendezvous point at the end of the island if they are to escape not only the zombies but also a strafing bombardment meant to eliminate the zombie outbreak.

My thoughts: For a movie that was obviously conceptualized as Jurassic Park (or Jurassic World since this park is actually running) but with zombies instead of dinosaurs, this movie ain't half-bad. The characters are nothing to write home about, although there is a Dirty Harry-type I was routing for the entire movie, and the action and plot are pretty standard for a zombie flick. Still, it's a mildly fun time and I recommend you give it a go.

#22: Scream (1996)

The plot: A mysterious serial killer who is savvy in the ways of the slasher subgenre of horror is gradually killing off various people around high schooler Sidney Prescott. So who could it be?

My thoughts: Talk about a standard slasher flick elevated by the principle of being meta. I enjoyed it, yes, and with the way the film is constructed as a whodunit, it certainly manages to stand out as above average overall. I could see how this was revolutionary back in the 1990s, but now, with pretty much every single genre movie being self-aware in some way or another, I just kind of shrug my shoulders at it as an experience. I think it helps if you're familiar with the slasher subgenre if you're to watch this, but I think it's a good enough film to stand on its own to someone who hasn't seen a slasher flick their whole lives, if only for the story.

#23: Hush (2016)

The plot: A woman with an instinctive writer's mind who is both deaf and mute in a cabin in the woods is thrust into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a deranged serial killer who wants to toy with her before he kills her.

My thoughts: This is a movie that squeezes every bit of tension and suspense it can in the eighty-something minutes it has, and it makes good use of that tension and suspense in conjunction with its expert pacing. At no point did I think anything was dragged out; everything here was just as long as it needed to be, and it was all resolved in a satisfactory (and quite bloody) way that left me feeling, “Yep, that was a good time.”

#24: The Bye Bye Man (2017)

The plot: There is a demonic entity known as the Bye Bye Man who will psychologically torture you before he kills you if you think or say his name. And he's doing that to three young adults who are all living together in a haunted house. Yeah...

My thoughts: A very forgettable, subpar horror film with an antagonist with an awful name and no memorable appearance. Skip.

#25: Scream 2 (1997)

The plot: One year after the Woodsboro killings, Sidney Prescott is once again haunted by the return of Ghostface as she is attending college this time around. But who could Ghostface be this time? And what meta-commentaries could this movie bring forth about the slasher genre and sequels both?

My thoughts: This is a film that feels like it was planned out from the beginning as a companion piece to the first film; by that, I mean that it feels like writer Kevin Williamson always intended to have this movie be made after Scream had come out. And considering that this movie was released only a year after its predecessor, I think that theory may be true (then again, I haven't done any research for this movie, so for all I know, Williamson and Wes Craven didn't even intend for there to be a sequel in the first place). Regardless, this feels like a natural progression of the first film and while not necessarily surpassing it in terms of quality, I feel like it lives up to the first Scream in a satisfactory way.

#26: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

The plot: After years of killing horny teenage counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, Jason Voorhees is finally blown away into literal bits and pieces by the FBI. However, his spirit lives on as his essence is passed on from person to person until he can find a permanent new body through a living blood relative, and all the while, his killing spree resumes.

My thoughts: As a movie that was intended to be the finale to Jason Voorhees, this did have some silly moments in it like Freddy's Dead but not nearly as over-the-top. And it is a little disappointing to not have Jason in his prime form like he was in Friday the 13th Part VI to VIII and, again, it was a little bit more disappointing than Freddy's Dead (which is far more entertaining), especially since this movie retcons so much of Jason's mythology that it feels like no one who worked on this movie has ever seen a Jason movie. So, yeah, I can't recommend this one unless you're a Friday the 13th fan (and even then, I don't think you'll like it).      

#27: Terrifier (2016)

The plot: A mute man in a creepy clown costume stalks multiple victims in a condemned apartment complex with ruthless killing methods that make him worthy of the moniker Terrifier.

My thoughts: Holy shit, this movie was fucking creepy... and I fucking loved it. Of course, I can't recommend it to everyone, as this movie was also ridiculously over-the-top with its violence and gore. I don't want to give anything away, but as an example, there is a scene that involves our killer, Art the Clown, with a saw and a woman's who's upside down that's one of the most shocking things I've seen... and, again, I fucking loved it. It was an unnerving film that's worthy of having been watched for this month.

#28: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

The plot: Take Jane Austin's feminist classic Pride and Prejudice and then shoe-horn a half-baked zombie plot into it. Okay...

My thoughts: I'm not familiar with Pride and Prejudice, so I went into this completely blind. But with that being said, I still thought that this was one of the most pointless, unfunny and unexciting parodies I've seen. The action scenes aren't all that good and it makes me wonder why this was adapted to the big screen. And as for the parts that are actually in Pride and Prejudice (at least as far as I can guess), I thought they were competently done, but they're just not for me. I guess someone who really Pride and Prejudice might like it, but that's only if they have a taste for zombie violence, too. Otherwise, skip this one; it's just dull.

#29: Zombeavers (2014)

The plot: A container of radioactive waste falls from a truck and floats down a river to infect a number of beavers that are nearby a cabin where a bunch of horny teenagers are. And those beavers become zombie beavers, or zombeavers.

My thoughts: I thought I was going into a movie that was going to be on the same level of bad as ThanksKilling, but thankfully, while the comedy isn't anything to write home about, the acting is at least competent and I was amused by the events that were going on. It was interesting to see what would happen if a zombeaver infected a human, and there were decent amount of subverting of expectations as to who was going to die first and who would live (and not in a Rian Johnson way either). I could see this movie not working for everyone, but it's fun enough as a creature feature with a supernatural element to it.

#30: Event Horizon (1997)

The plot: In 2047, a spaceship dubbed the Event Horizon mysteriously reappears near the edge of Earth's solar system and a salvage team is sent to investigate what happened. But as they arrive, they find that the ship may be more than just a ship now...

My thoughts: As much as I'd love to see what this movie would have looked like had the filmmakers not toned back on the violence and gore, I was still satisfied by what we got here. Sam Neill delivers a deliciously evil performance once Dr. Weir goes to the dark side that it practically borders on Tim Curry territory, and I thought the movie was a good space horror film that was just original enough to be its own thing and not be a knockoff of, say, Alien. Give it a watch; the violence you do see here ain't that bad.

#31: Halloweed (2016)

The plot: A couple of stoners move to a small town so that one of them can get away from the reputation of being the son of a now-dead serial killer. But what these stoners don't know is that they've arrived just in time for a slew of killings to start as Halloween approaches.

My thoughts: I'm mentally kicking myself for having this be the movie I ended the month of October on. This was one of the lamest comedies I've ever seen in my life; I can't remember laughing at all in this bland turd. And it could hardly qualify as a slasher film since the slasher killings don't start until there's about 49 minutes left in the film, and even then, it's barely focused on for the rest of the movie until it's resolved at the end. Skip this and don't let it be anywhere on your viewing block for next Halloween.

And that's it. Those were all 31 of the films I'd seen for the month of Halloween, one for each day. It was quite a venture, but one worth the time if only for bragging rights if not for entertainment (especially since very few of these movies were any real good). So please leave a comment, let me know if you saw any of these movies, if not for this past Halloween, then if you have seen any of these at all, and if so, let me know if you agree or disagree. Until then, here's to better films next Halloween!

*This post has been paid for and sponsored by Silver Shamrock, Inc. When you want quality masks at affordable prices, and a guarantee that they won't unleash killer insects and snakes that will trigger a potential apocalypse, look no further for a Happy Happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!