#-I bludgeon the writers to death-

[vivacissimx]

not to make gentle scoffing at HOTD's artistic choices an olympic sport but RHEA ROYCE was fumbled so strangely it bewilders me. thinking about this because i read an interview from one of the HOTD writers sarah hess where she was talking about daemon & became flabbergasted all over again. it's like, rhea royce is not really a sad story in f&b. yes she dies young-ish, in a hawking accident, but that's like, her thing. God forbid women have hobbies. in fact rhea royce is set up pretty nicely! she inherited runestone in her own right. she has her own incomes. she sent her husband packing because their marriage sucked & gets the last laugh when she dies and jeyne arryn, once again, sends daemon packing. "get lost you gangly bitch" —jeyne arryn circa whenever. W for feminism. when jeyne arryn becomes one of rhaenyra's greatest supporters in the war she does so by separating daemon's interests from rhaenyra's, and rhaenyra reciprocates this understanding DESPITEEE being MARRIED to public enemy #1 daemon targaryen by slapping the arryn sigil onto her war banner, even tho daemon was resolutely humiliated (banished even!) by these very same mountain dwellers not two decades back.

[however in the show voice] however in the show, because we are serious understanders of misogyny here, it's implied that rhea is BLUDGEONED TO DEATH by daemon & that their marriage failed because (and if you have not watched this show i regret to inform you this IS a plot point) daemon had... erectile dysfunction. i am Not a daemon's erectile dysfunction hater btw. i found it kinda quirky. something for the girls. however "haha your dick is small" being rhea royce's last words was like, okay, THIS is how we're indicting masculinity? via men getting precious about their floppy penises?? this is the level of critique we get to? but the scene in storm's end between lucerys and aemond is gonna be played straight as a mew mew scared little boy gets DESTROYED by dig bick REAL MAN who studied the blade while you studied some pansy ass basic rules of diplomacy??

which is back to my point about rhea royce, actually. the positioning of misogyny & masculinity is just a little funny and definitely off. rhea royce is a woman so she has to be a victim and she receives no justice for her death, naturally, in this terribly sexist feudal paradigm. never mind that rhea's death of natural causes actually results in pie being thrown in daemon's face, for no reason other than the valemen hated his ass, almost as if his actions did indeed have consequences! BUT any other flagrant display of toxic masculinity such that there isn't a nearby Woman whose story can conveniently be lent the illusion of nuance via acknowledging said toxic masculinity... well it completely flies under the radar. we're not getting into all that. Gendered Violence: It's Really This Simple! and if not,

#rhea royce #hotd #text #daemon targaryen #ok my next post will be something GOOD about hotd you WILL see

[asa-m-holland]

Where: Opulence Public Library Status: Open!

Much could be inferred about the rather small and unsettling man who ran the public library of Opulence. It's common knowledge at this point that he's at least a century old. The tattoos on his body alone look faded to the point of being akin to hieroglyphs, then inked over again at some point, and again. Like cave paintings on old marble. Perhaps it's the way he talks, a bit antiquated and with the air of an Irish gentleman from a time long past. But mostly it's the eyes- a bit too focused, a little bit haunted. Intense in a quiet way that many find uncomfortable.

But Asa works diligently, and the library has seen great success since he's taken over. Book clubs, study groups, and young writers guilds meet to discuss their thoughts and ideas. And Asa skulks the aisles with his cart of books, sliding them into the correct spot. Today he's a bit understaffed, and he works the front, staring at an old computer that he hardly remembers how to use. "The Dewey decimal system has always worked so well... I still don't quite understand this thing." He points out. It doesn't help that the computer's just like him- a fossil. "Would it be... incredibly terrible of me to revert the entire system back to paper and text? I think my employees might bludgeon me to death with an encyclopedia if I even unplugged this thing."

#opulencestarter #feel free to assume connections!!! #hes an old ass gay vampire

[lunar-years]

Sorry I just read your breakdown of the scene with James sr. in beard after hours again and I just. This is the last we see of him before mom city! He tries to bludgeon beard to death, and that is The Last Time He Is Onscreen. After this all we hear of him is that he coerced his fourteen-year-old son into having sex with a prostitute. How the fuck did they jump from THAT to “well it’s all water under the bridge now, and really Jamie should just get over it and start talking to him again. And thank him! He was just trying to toughen Jamie up, after all”. Holy shit

I maintain that the writers room decision to drop “Jamie was raped by proxy at his father’s hands” into the Jamie lore right before going in for a James Tartt Sr. Forgiveness Arc was the downright craziest thing they decided to do in s3. Why. What on earth could possibly be the thought process behind that?!

Not that what we already knew about James wasn’t horrible enough (as you say, he beats on his son and tries to murder someone onscreen) or that if it had “only” been that trauma the forgiveness angle would have been any more palatable (it wouldn’t have been for me at least). But still. That Amsterdam scene undoubtedly changed my perception of the depth of Jamie’s trauma and it really made the forgiveness bullshit (which was given .05 seconds of screen time mind you) sour immediately in my mouth.

Jamie reaching out to him at the end of Mom City just makes me feel deeply sad for him, which I uhhhhh. Do not think was the desired effect lmao.

#tw abuse #tw rape #tw csa #James Tartt Sr. #ted lasso #Jamie Tartt #asks #it’s still the storyline that makes me most furious like what was that. #me @ the writers whilst watching that: stop pissing me off

[neurosiscocktail]

Finale Spoilers ahead-

Processing a lot of emotions about the season finale, and I unfortunately just didn’t like a lot of aspects about it. A lot of which is about Izzy’s death, but some of it is about Ed and Stede, and some of it is about the lack of resolution.

Izzy’s death really felt like the “we ‘redeemed’ the antagonist and now we don’t know what to do with his character so we give him a gut wrenching death” troupe. That may not have been the intent, because the writers of this show are great, and because they’re great I really expected someone to say “hey does this feel like we’re writing a troupe that hasn’t been meaningful since 1980” and no one did.

I really don’t feel like Izzy’s death was necessary or even necessarily meaningful. That being said, I’m not really that upset that he died beyond he was my favorite character and that is a bummer and a half. It has more to do with the situation-

1) why do muppet rules apply to everyone but Izzy? Like, yeah the “he’s the only real human in a show full of muppets” joke is funny, but Ed got bludgeoned with a cannonball and he is completely fine. Several members of the crew have survived and recovered from cartoonish injuries, but a gunshot wound takes out Izzy?

2) There was plenty of time in that scene for Izzy to get out of the way. Or take out the prince with him. I don’t really like the take that he didn’t because he was resigned or wanted to die. I feel like it takes away from the episodes we just had of him finding his place in the crew. Maybe that’s what the writers were going for, but it doesn’t sit right with me.

3) his death speech didn’t add much for me. There’s a saying that funerals are for the living, not the dead and in media I think death speeches often reflect that. They’re not usually about the person dying, but instead it’s about giving something to the protagonist. I don’t really think it did that. It felt like Izzy continued to take accountability for both his and Ed’s actions, which doesn’t actually help Ed grow from what happened. The speech pulled at my heart strings and I think I’m a lot of ways that had more to do with Con and Taika being phenomenal actors than it did with the writing itself.

4) his death speech kind of was rendered meaningless and doesn’t really add anything to the story. He uses his dying words to tell Ed that he can move on because he has a new family that loves him and then Ed and Stede stay on shore totally alone, so either Ed didn’t hear him, or what he said doesn’t have any relevance to protagonist decision and again, not my favorite writing choice.

5) Some people have brought up a very good point that if you stick with a popular interpretation of season 1, that Izzy was a representation of Ed’s old life and that the first season was about Ed needing to choose between the relative safety of Izzy- brutal, emotionally devastating Blackbeard or the unknown that is Stede- the chance for love, trying something new, etc, then it makes sense that Izzy had to die for that to happen. For Ed to really move on. However, and don’t get me wrong, I love my toxic codependent pirates, burying Izzy on land and then living on that land doesn’t really feel like letting go to me. It feels like an extension of their codependency

6) budget cuts meant less episodes. Which is a bummer and not the writers fault. However, it kind of felt like instead of cutting things they wanted to include, they tried to speed run a 10 episode season into 8 and the pacing felt very off.

7) I am including what I personally disliked here. Everything above was sort of issues I had with narration and writing, and this point is just kind of complaining about stuff I personally don’t like in writing. I am so tired of watching shows where they kill off queer characters who have a difficult time with self acceptance and opening themself up to love. I see it so often and find it exhausting. The death was painful and on purpose to be painful. His arc didn’t have to end with him dying. No one else’s , except arguably Buttons, did. And that doesn’t mean he NEEDED to live either, but it felt less like “this is what is best for Izzy’s arc” and more like “this will hurt the audience immensely and we want the finale to pack a big emotional punch” and to me that’s just… not a good enough reason. I know a lot of people don’t feel that way, and arguably the point of writing is to make your audience feel something, but it felt like it was there specifically to garner an emotional response, rather than any real necessity to the story. And I think I feel more strongly about it because again, whether intentional or not, I hate the killing your redeemed antagonists troupe. I guess they did succeed in making me feel something, so if the writers view that as the point of writing, they did what they meant to do and that’s a well written ending. To me, while Izzy’s death didn’t make a bad story out of his arc, I would argue it prevented it from being a great one and that’s kind of a bummer. I also think I unintentionally set the bar higher for the OFMD writers because they have shown better, and that may not be fair.

All that being said, I overall really enjoyed this season, and will watch season 3 if they get a third season. My opinions might change on my third, fourth, or fifth watch when I’m not feeling a lot of emotions about it. I think everyone should be kind to each other, the writers, and the actors in the show. I think sometimes we forget that when something like a season finale is polarizing.

#izzy hands #our flag means death #spoilers #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season 2 #edward teach #stede bonnet #israel hands #ofmd

[silverisafukintrainwreck]

so i’ve been in this discussion one too many times and i wanna put my take here on the “remnants actually took mukuro’s body parts” theory.

first, i’m gonna state the facts that make people believe in this theory. or rather, the one singular fact, which is that junko got hydraulic pressed into a pancake, so her body would be in no shape to have parts stolen. (i’ll come back to this later, as its the central part of the theory)

logically, the remnants would never take mukuro’s body parts, simply cause they worshipped junko, not her. they likely don’t care or even acknowledge mukuro at all, so there’s no way they’d take HER body parts.

now, there’s the counter argument that they didn’t know it was mukuro’s body, which can be easily debunked for a lot of reasons:

-mukuro has the fenrir tattoo on her hand, which junko definitely doesn’t have.

-the killing school life was being broadcast, and the remnants were canonically watching it iirc, so there’s no way they could mistake the two. at all.

now that we see that there’s no possibility to be mukuro’s body, let’s go back to the hydraulic press. logically, there is no way for her body to be harvested in that state. but here’s a curious thing about danganronpa executions: they’r very symbolic and, most of the times, greatly exaggerated. i’m not saying that they’re outright fake, but taking the executions at face value when they’re meant to be interpreted as dramatic and exaggerated endings to people’s lives leads to misconceptions.

especially in junko’s execution. The symbolism of her death is that she’s sentenced to go through all the pain that she inflicted on the dead students. They might as well have shown her getting stabbed in the stomach, bludgeoned in the head and poisoned to represent the other deaths, but they wouldn’t fit in the setting of an execution.

back to the actual execution, she realistically would’ve died at BEST during mondo’s execution. surviving until the very end until she gets pressed in makoto’s execution doesn’t make any logical sense, its just for the visuals and the impact (literally).

of course, there are different ways to interpret it, cause there’s also be the irony of her surviving everything, just to be killed by the machine that failed to bring an end to Makoto, the one that ends up defeating her. but again, it’s interpretation.

and in meta, i don’t think the writers would set up all this horrific and downright disturbing story to add to the cult of despair.. only for it to actually be not-the-person-they-were-worshipping-oopsie

i didn’t mean for this to get so long, but anyway, discourse (as long as its not aggressive) is welcome about this take!

#i feel like i’m missing something so maybe i’ll revisit this post later #danganronpa #junko enoshima #the remnants of despair #danganronpa execution #z=47.txt

[dragynkeep]

I'm Native (though my tribe is not recognized where I live, because there are no full-blooded members left and according to the government that apparently means we just Stopped Fucking Existing 🙃) and since Ilia is, ostensibly, supposed to be Native, I always sorta reacted to things that she experienced through a lens of how I personally would feel about them. and if anyone made jokes about things that happened to my family as a result of the government attempting to genocide Native people, or frankly if anyone made jokes just in general about how the government has treated and still treats Native people in this country and all the deaths and other horrible things that've happened as a result, I would bludgeon them with a fucking baseball bat. Ilia Was Right

I love when Native people also come to us like so true, bestie.

Ilia's story just gets even worse when you connect the Native American coding shoved on her, especially when the writers are white americans that can't even get basic american history right with the African American Civil Movement.

Especially with how Atlas is heavily British/American coded and is where Ilia was born, her family being so poor that they worked in the mines, and she had to basically assimilate into the school to survive, is even WORSE. Ilia was right and she should've mauled more people.

#rwby #rwde #ilia amitola #answered #luke.txt

[goldenteaset]

2023 Fic Writer Year In Review (Part 1)

These came from this ask post here, but I felt like answering them in chunks on my own, similar to what I did in 2022. I was a lot happier this year. :D

Answers 1-10 under the cut!

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

Messing with formatting and POV in "An Act of Husbandry" (Virche Evermore, Scien/Ceres)! I think it turned out great, thanks to the Despair Ending that inspired it having a lot to work with. I definitely want to try it again!

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

...I have no idea, actually. ^^; A lot? Let's go with that, yeah.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

Being honest with what I want to write makes the act of writing go so much easier. Also a lot of things I thought I'd never consider writing I absolutely would if given the right characters.

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

A lot of media, not even ones that I wrote fic for! Cupid Parasite wound up being a huge inspiration just for how it handled the different "love types" in each route so effectively. Baldur's Gate 3 has helped me put into context how I want to write Legato in Ligature. Virche Evermore has made me adore visual novels as a medium more than ever. Anne Rice's books once again reminded me of why I write in the first place...I could go on. XD

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

Alphabetically: Berserk, Death Note, Granblue Fantasy, Trigun ('98 and Stampede), Touken Ranbu, What in Hell is Bad?, and Virche Evermore.

6. What ship(s) captured your heart?

This was the year of Legato x A Good Chunk of Trigun's Cast, with special mention going to Legato x Vash, Legato x Meryl and Legato x Knives x Vash. Allan x Lynette from Cupid Parasite also occupied my thoughts a lot, but I didn't feel the need to write fic for them. ^^; Also, coming in at the end of the year: is that Scien x Ceres from Virtue Evermore with a steel chair?! Yes it is, and I've never been happier to be bludgeoned.

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

Legato waited 10+ years before setting up shop in my heart and I still don't know what happened. Later, Scien kicked down the door and Ceres apologized before also stepping in too.

...Also, I feel it's worth mentioning, but good lord was this ever Belial's year as well, even more so than the last five. Confound this man and his ability to make anything sexy as long as he's involved!!

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

With the exception of Berserk, GBF and Touken Ranbu, they were all new this year! (And even GBF had new faces, like Lodi.) In general I let myself run wild.

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

...Hmm. It says something that there are so many contenders this year, doesn't it? Every time I think I have an answer, two more options appear. In general, there were points where I really felt characters' emotions as I wrote, and I hope readers felt the same.

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

Again, a really hard question! XD But I do have an easy answer for that: Baby Princess Training Diary (GBF, Belial x Lyria and Belial x Lyria x Djeeta, rated E). It's a combo of being happy that I finally knew what I wanted out of it, and also just...I love Lyria so much and wanted her to have the best possible time, "even" in a kinky, dubcon story like this one. For whatever reason, she brings out Belial's most Dangerously-Caring Boyfriend Energy, and there are moments in this where I had to look away because they were so cute together! And adding Djeeta into the mix made it all the sweeter. It just wouldn't stop, even when it was time to edit. The fic itself isn't going to be to everyone's tastes, and I knew that, but still. It was just so fun...

#writing #my 2023 fanfic year in review #trigun #granblue fantasy #trigun stampede #virche evermore #legato x vash #belial x lyria #belial x djeeta x lyria

[corndoggod]

Anatomy of Failure

I felt like I was on trial watching Anatomy of a Fall -- for my failures as a writer and the ensuing resentments misdirected at my partner. Seeing my private torments litigated in a riveting courtroom drama, spoken in clinical French, was titillating. The writing was so sharp I could’ve just listened like the blind son Daniel and been engaged. But I loved watching Daniel practice piano, the baby blue glaze over his eyes and his surprise testimony in a redrum turtleneck. 

The story wastes no time. Within five minutes, the husband is found dead, bleeding out in the snow. An autopsy cannot rule out foul play and his wife, a writer, becomes the sole suspect. What unravels in court is not only the events that precipitated the death of her husband, but an ultimate tea concoction of their strained relationship, competing literary ambitions and the blame and guilt surrounding the accident that blinded their son.

Entering a foreign court is a bit jarring. The rules, procedures and dress are notably different from America and seem silly when defamiliarized. The prosecutor, a bald little gremlin robed in red, was probably my favorite character. Arched, dry and eloquent, he bludgeoned the accused writer with an avalanche of incriminating evidence and was quick to undercut any counter/argument from the defense. Court rules in France appear to allow more cross-talk, making the arguments more conversational than U.S. court dramas, which glorify long-winded monologues. 

Impressively, the writer/director thread the needle so well that one is never quite convinced one way or the other. I am easily persuaded and in this lawyerly tug of war, I felt myself suspended over a chasm with demons of jealousy, envy and pride snapping at my feet. 

For all the talk of literary failure, this was a written masterpiece. I am drawn to such stories, like a moth to flame, for so many deep and cutting reasons. Like the husband, I deflect and blame others for my shortcomings: If only X, Y and Z were different, then I could write! The wife’s gaslighting voice lives within me too: Make the time and do it, coward! And I disdain my father for giving up sports journalism, and for withholding those ambitions from me (Had I known earlier, maybe then I’d be a staff writer!) and on himself in general. 

Funny enough, when I was biking home after seeing Fallen Leaves last week, I had the high thought that my senior thesis anticipated my current condition with regards to writing. My argument was garbled -- something about the author subverting masculine forms/expectations of writing (adventure, heroism) using feminine forms (diary, domesticity) through an act of ventriloquy -- but the book I chose to write about was a book about a wannabe writer’s failure. 

Called El Libro Vacio and written by Josefina Vicens, it was a novel about the shortcomings of a middle class man working in middle management and his literary shortcomings. He wanted to be a great writer, but he was tormented and uninspired by the banality of his day-to-day life as a family man. If only he didn’t have a kid and wife, he could hit the road and sail the high seas and finally have something to say! He studiously documents his failures and torments in a diary that amounts to the novel by Vicens. 

In my early 20s, I was interested in what makes a good leader. I studied the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, the most winningest basketball coach Gregg Popovich and read more than a dozen presidential biographies. But now I find myself fixated on failure, my own and my fathers, and I want to learn the art of letting go. 

#movies #anatomyofafall #writing

[dankovskaya]

In a vacuum this is character development that I would theoretically support if it wasn’t at the end of such a stupid ass storyline and it didn’t get contradicted immediately bc the only plot that Jason writers can ever think of is “what if he relapsed on killing...AGAIN!?!? And everyone was mad at him.... AGAIN?!?!!?” And also it doesn’t even make sense because he’s just giving up guns here you can still kill people with literally anything and he clearly has intentions to do so. There’s no reason for him to be like “you’re right guns are Too Far” when he’s just bludgeoning people to death anyway ❓

#If urban legends was just Jason shooting that kids dad feeling bad about it and then introspecting on the consequences of his actions #and deciding not to kill people anymore and none of this had anything to do with Bruce it would be fine it would be perfect #Well no it wouldn't because they'd still make him be Red Hood. And that's why I'm standing outside dc hq with a baseball bat. #dc

[billfarrah]

8, 32, 38

8: Want any tattoos?

Yes!!! But I don’t know how my skin would react. I have eczema flare-ups occasionally and I’m just worried tattoos would fuck with that. They’re also so permanent and something I’m not sure I’d ever be able to commit to.

32: What words upset me the most

I’m not rly upset by any particular words. Everything always depends on context. A word that’s really offensive or upsetting in one context can be totally harmless in another.

38: My childhood career choice

I always wanted to be a writer of some kind before my mental illness bludgeoned my creativity to death.

#ask #thanks!

[creativecourse]

The Ultimate Copywriter's Swipe Bible Information On page after page of this jaw-dropping 250-page volume, you'll discover dozens of my inspiring sales letter leads (or openings) to help you swipe your way to direct response heaven. YOU’LL SWIPE the “blockbuster” lead I used to create a ten-year control for WRITER’S DIGEST. ​“I’ve never written a letter to a direct mail copywriter before. But your subscription package for Writer’s Digest was super.” - Bob Bly, Author, The Copywriter’s Handbook YOU’LL SWIPE my legendary “naked old women” lead for MORE magazine which became the most successful package in the history of the Meredith Corporation. "I am NOT the greatest storytelling copywriter in America. That title belongs to ... Josh Manheimer. This guy doesn’t just beat controls, he bludgeons them to death with 100%, 200%, even 300% victories." - Richard Armstrong, Genius A-List Copywriter YOU’LL SWIPE my famous “Quick! The Coffee Pot!” lead for Rodale’s EVERYDAY HEALTH HINTS which was the most successful direct mail package in the history of Rodale’s Book Division. (You’ll find it featured in MILLION DOLLAR MAILINGS and THE WORLD’S GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS.) YOU’LL ​SWIPE my 11-year control for the National Fire Protection Association, declared by the DMA judges as, “one of the great achievements in direct response marketing.” “After studying Gary Bencivenga, Clayton Makepeace, Parris Lampropoulos, and all of the old Masters, I consider myself very fortunate to have found your website. I’ll be studying your packages, and hopefully stealing your secrets, too It was an honor to read your work.” - A.C YOU’LL SWIPE my opening for The Asian Wall Street Journal which quadrupled response and was written — in Chinese! “Hi Josh (or J.C., if you prefer?), what a discovery you are! Your letter leads PDF is amazing. I love your story leads. Better than a lot of similar ones I’ve seen. I’ve been studying direct response copywriting for a while, but I don’t often see your name and I’m not sure why. You’re obviously one of the best out there.” - K.H. YOU’LL SWIPE my gripping lead for The Good Sam Club which indexed 340, tripling response. “Dear Josh, I swim in your wake. I have long admired your work, and I often find myself recommending you when clients are looking to test something other than my stuff. I’m very good at selling clients on using me, but not quite as good at making the package! I steal shamelessly from you…” - Prefers to Remain Anonymous More courses from the same author: Josh C. Manheimer 

[themovieblogonline]

"Swarm" at SXSW on March 15, 2023: Social Commentary or Psychopath At Large?

Donald Glover (“Atlanta”) along with Janine Nabers, is the creative force behind a new series called “Swarm.” The series is set in Houston, until it takes our heroine on the road to a variety of cities, seemingly summoning memories of real-life fan-obsessed happenings in those cities. (The cities are represented by date and the name of the city.) It is a super violent series that stars Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) as an obsessed fan of a Black singer obviously modeled after Beyonce. The Black songstress, Ni’Jah  Hutton (Nirine S. Brown) is about to embark on the Evolution Tour. Dre (Dominique Fishback) is so obsessed with Ni’Jah that any criticism or failure to appreciate the singer’s work as spectacular personally offends Dre, to the point of no return for the critical fan. The first episode, which screened at SXSW, built the relationship between Dre, her longtime best friend and roommate Marissa (Chloe Bailey), and Marissa’s boyfriend Khalid (Damson Idris). Marissa has achieved some success as a make-up artist and Khalid---although he does not live with the girls---seems to always be around. Dre’s reaction to a sex scene between Marissa and Khalid that she accidentally witnesses gives us a hint about her complete disdain for such emotional entanglements. THE GOOD The cast, especially Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), is good. Dre (Dominique Fishback) has some serious mental issues, not the least of which is the ability to kill very energetically without much provocation. Watching someone bludgeoning another human being to death, especially those who have done nothing to deserve it, is not my idea of “entertainment.” .  Yes, the offender failed to properly appreciate Dre’s singer of choice, but that hardly seems to merit death---except in “Swarm.” Social commentary, yes, and a good thing for this generation of social media-obsessed youth to ponder. Call me old-fashioned. When I’m watching someone serially murder others with very little emotion  (“Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer”), I want to feel that the victim has done something to deserve it. Yes, I know that the Jeffrey Dahmer/Ted Bundy stories have been ratings winners.  I’m just not a huge fan of mindless gore or violence for the sake of gore or violence (which is why I disliked “Evil Dead Rise”). There is a lot of mindless violence in this series. Later in the series, I have read, we are going to learn more about the motivation for Dre’s devotion to mindless mayhem, but all we saw on March 10th was a proclamation that Dre has eschewed sex and its ability to control a person as counter-productive. The theme of unbridled fan enthusiasm is a good new one to explore. I’m all for that. And the music is great from the outset, as are the costumes. The camerawork on film by Drew Daniels is excellent as is the direction by  Donald Glover, Adamma Ebo ("Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul"), Ibra Ake, and Stephen Glover. All are aided by the music. In the series' sometimes intentionally campy fashion, a buzzing sound will occur when Dre is ramping up toward her next violent act. The score by Michael Uzowuru is a great addition. THE BAD While the acting is fine, there is a lot of what I will call “stunt casting.”  Paris Jackson (daughter of Michael Jackson) has a substantial role in the first episode. Billie Eilish is in one episode as Eva and shows real promise. Rory Culkin, brother of Macauley, shows up (sans clothing)  as a one-night stand of Dre’s.  Stephen Glover, who also appeared in “Atlanta,” is a presence and wrote two episodes. The writing is worth mentioning. Malia Obama worked with Nabers to pen the episode “Girl, Bye.” She is listed as a “staff writer.” CONCLUSION I am not the target audience for this series. I found myself wondering about such practicalities as the disposal of bodies. That is probably  from writing novels, where you realize that a keen reader will be calling you out on “plot holes.” We’re all aware of the clean-up of mayhem that we’ve seen Liev Schreiber and Harvey Keitel handle as “fixers” (“Ray Donovan,” “Pulp Fiction”). Even in “The Sopranos” murders would lead to giving Tony Soprano a call to help with clean-up. In the episodes of “Swarm” that I saw there was little forethought or planning prior to the murders. This means many plot holes and potential problems---unless one doesn’t mind being caught immediately, which seemed fairly likely. “Swarm” will air on Prime Video and is an Amazon project. It is available now, after premiering at SXSW on Friday, March 10th Read the full article

[dullahandyke]

I think that whoever devised the English class curriculum should be shot and hanged

#i am a DAMN GOOD WRITER that is not ARROGANCE it is FACT #english is my PASSION i once talked about tcomc for 2 hours straight and i proofread for fun #and i absolutely fucking DESPISE english class #they teach us uninteresting things so i dig with my own two hands to FIND something interesting in it #and i am PUNISHED for not giving a simple answer that fits with their preconceived notions #it is supposed to teach us to think critically but we are too busy writing bland essays with no opinion about metaphor #expecting us to write an essay off the top of our heads is impractical and something that will NEVER HAPPEN in the real world #all the class serves to do is take any interest in english and bludgeon it to bloody death #violence mention #death mention #hanging mention #shooting mention

[mando-and-hallwaypatrol]

Murder Swap AU

Where everything is the same, except chapters 2 and 3 are swapped. meaning the money motive came before the secret motive, thus Ishimaru was murdered first.

Instead of the note saying Yameda found a secret exit, it said "Come me me in the Science Lab, I've got something to tell you -Mondo" in an attempt to lure the hall monitor in, and frame the biker.

Ishimaru would quickly go over there and the series of events happens impeccably well. With him being bludgeoned and Yameda faking his death.

Mondo would be the last one to find the body (Looking for his Kiyodai is more important than some body announcement, dammit), leaving everyone to try to calm him down before reaching the scene.

Once there, and after getting over the first shock of seeing his bro dead on the floor, he splinters. He would just sit by Taka emotionless, while looking at him with a pale face and wide eyes silently.

Naegi would somehow be able to convince Oowada to leave the body to go and try to find the murderer, which would work.

The body goes missing once they return. This was the last straw for him, he would start yelling and swearing, shouting things like, "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THE ONE WHO DID THIS, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU LIKE YOU DID TO HIM!"

It would get so bad that they would have to leave him in a locked room (He is the number one suspect, after all, he could be faking due to the note they found in Ishimaru's hand) until their investigation was finished.

Time would run out, and Mondo would have calmed down considerably. Left as an emotionless shell, longing for his missing half.

The trial would continue as normal beside the few snide remarks to the unknown blackened. The note would be brought up, but quickly debunked for the original writer had far better handwriting than the biker.

Once Celestia was revealed as the grand mastermind behind the killing, Mondo would have grit his teeth and clutched his fist. He wouldn't allow himself of punch, nor do any harm to her since it would go against his brother's philosophy.

After her execution, Mondo would mentally and physically distance himself, snapping at those who came too close.

Chihiro had, sadly, been one of the ones to come too close. Leading to their death.

He became an hypocrite, saying he despised murderers, but became one himself. He didn't even bother to defend himself in the class trial. Every second passing was another closer to seeing his bro.

It would be worth it.

#Murder swap au #that's a thing #probably #ishimondo #ishimaru kiyotaka #mondo oowada #daganronpa #Rip chihiro #Yameda #Celeste #Also rip Ishimaru #Rip everyone #Bludgeoning

[onp4012]

Romanian monsters and myths

I’ve seen that some of you want to hear more about those monsters and myths, so I am ready to spoil them.

Moroi

As popular as the Strigoi is the Moroi, an evil entity that comes from the spirit of an unbaptized dead child. In most parts of the country, Strigoi’s and Moroi’s are considered separate entities, but in Oltenia they are confused. The Moroi is the dead who have to return from the pit to bring trouble to family and friends. According to folk tales, an unbaptized dead child is sure to turn into a Moroi. Unlike Strigoi’s, where the transformation came almost immediately after death, the Moroi’s waited seven years to rise from the pit. When seven years have passed since his death(because number 7 is considered a magic number), the soul asks to be received in the kingdom of heaven and cries out "Baptism, Baptism!" or according to other sources "Cross, cross!". If anyone hears him then he can save him by giving him baptism: "The son or daughter of God, John or Mary, is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen!". The ritual is completed by a piece of cloth that is thrown on the grave of the unbaptized baby. If this ritual is not performed, the soul does not find peace and turns into an evil spirit, known as a Moroi. The Moroi haunts the owners of the land where he was buried. It makes the owner's animals and children sick, who eventually have to leave the land to avoid a tragedy. It is a nocturnal creature that manifests itself especially on New Year's Eve. It is said that it can leave its native land by metamorphosing into a dog. If it receives food, the dog-mule does not cause damage and does not scare those who cut it off. Encounters with the Moroi in the middle of the night are usually fatal. The victim either falls in bed for a long time or finds an end until dawn.

Pricolici

Is a werewolf/vampire fusion in the Romanian folklore. Pricolici, similar to Strigoi, are undead souls that have risen from the grave to harm living people. While a Strigoi possesses anthropomorphic qualities similar to the ones it had before death, a pricolici always resembles a wolf. Malicious, violent men are often said to become Pricolici after death, in order to continue harming other humans. Even as recently as modern times, many people living in rural areas of Romania have claimed to have been viciously attacked by abnormally large and fierce wolves. Apparently, these wolves attack silently, unexpectedly and only solitary targets. Victims of such attacks often claim that their aggressor wasn't an ordinary wolf, but a Pricolici who has come back to life to continue wreaking havoc.

Samca

Samca is a female, grotesque, horror and demonic spirit that ruins underage children and pregnant women’s health. She allegedly has long, disheveled hair, crooked fingers that end with sharp nails, fire-spitting mouth and hands made of iron. Legend has it, she’ll turn up at the end of each month in front of a young child or a pregnant woman and either kill the poor soul or leave him/ her crippled for life. According to the myth, the spirit has not one, but nine different names. Samca enjoys torturing women in labor, sometimes killing them. She also either kills their their children, or blesses them with a disease bearing her name. A children suffering from Samca will have seizures, cry all the time, sigh a lot and eventually die. If one writes all of her names inside his house, Samca will not be allowed to enter. She is thought to be the wing of Satan, and she is said to have tried to kill baby Jesus, but was stopped by Michael ( the archangel, not Jackson). She can also change appearance, in order to deceive mortals.

Pâca (Pafa)

Pâca, also known as Pafa, is, according to Romanian mythology, the spirit of tobacco and smoking. Romanians have imagined her as a woman as old at the world itself, ugly and black, having horns on her head and a big, long nose, swollen eyes, tusks and talons, a tail and a pipe in her mouth. Flames and black smoke come out of her throat and she reeks of tobacco. When Pâca came out from the depths of Hell, death spreading smoke came out with her. Then her sons, the demons (dracii), gave birth to a seed which they sowed. The plant sprung from that seed is called buruiana dracului ( the Devil’s weed) or tămâia dracului (the Devil’s incense). As you may have guessed, this plant is what we call tobacco. Then some other demons invented the pipe, for people to worship Pafa by inhaling the smoke made by the plant the devils had sowed in her name. Pâca‘s children also invented snuff tobacco. The funny part is that God, upon seeing what the people were doing, took their tobacco leaves and instead of destroying them (since he’s almighty according to christians, right?), mixed them with basil (so they could smell nicer?) and gave them back to people, teaching them how to use the new product. (Good job, God)

Crasnicul

Crasnicul, or Crâsnicul, is the child born out of a woman’s union with a demon. Apparently, he looks like a cross between a piglet and a normal kid. However, as opposed to the latter, the first thing this demon spawn does after birth is not crying, but running around the house screaming. I bet it sounds similar to Dani Filth’s work with Cradle. Somehow, my intuition tells me their similarities go beyond sound, and we could also link the two aesthetically. In some areas, people thought you should trap the thing in a stove and burn it alive. Other believe that the Crasnic is born after an eleven months gestation period. It is also said that the Crasnic has a hellish desire to bite and kill the people around, immediately after birth. After he’s done with them, he (it?) will try to go back to where he came from. To prevent all this, the midwife will wrap him in a cloth and call the mother’s relatives to bludgeon him to death. Imagine how many malformed children have been bludgeoned to death just because people thought they were the result of the mother’s union with the Devil. Sad. But a great Horror image, nonetheless. ;-; (Ain’t very proud).

Muma Pădurii (Mother Forest)

Is an ugly and mischievous or mad old woman living in the forest (in the heart of the virgin forests, in a hut/cabin or an old tree). She is the opposite of fairies such as a "Fairy" Zână. She is also the protector of the animals and plants, brewing potions and helping injured animals. She cures the forest if it's dying, and she keeps the unwanted trespassers away driving them mad and scaring them to flee. She can be associated with witches (like the witch from the story of "Hansel and Gretel"), but she's a neutral "creature", harming only those who harm the forest. (She’s my favorite “horror one”, I really respect her.)

Iele

Ieles, evil fairies in Romanian mythology are the most mysterious and fascinating creatures that Romanian legends have been talking about for hundreds of years. Sources of inspiration for poets and writers, who turned them into literary characters, the ieles are also the subject of folk studies in which the authors tried to explain both the origin and the meaning of the creatures. Supernatural female creatures appearing in groups on the plains or in the woods, singing and dancing in steamy or undressed clothes, leaving behind signs of circles of fire. It’s said that they are the result of an incestuous relationship between the Sun and the Moon, so they were cursed to send their daughters on earth. This is the portrait of the ieleles, described by folklorists and folk tales over time. Legends about iele, which differ from region to region, say that the creatures appear in groups of three, five or seven. The stories depict the evil fairies in Romanian mythology as very beautiful, dressed in steamy clothes or simply naked. In the story they appear at night, in the fields and in the forests, far from the eyes of the world. Legends also say that the iels burn crazy and cheerful choruses that the eyes of ordinary mortals should not see. Behind them are signs of circles of fire in the burning grass. (In my region, it’s said that they are wives of unfaithful husbands that cheated on them, at which, the woman committed suicide in a river or was simply killed by her husband.)

#romania #myths #legends #monsters #transylvania #romanianmythicalcreatures #romanianmyths #pricolici #Samca #strigoi #iele #para #crasnicul

[theparanormalperiodical]

Top 10 Controversial Horror Films That Are Famous For All The Wrong Reasons *gags* *cries*

At the beating heart of horror is offence.

From that undeniable sense of something not being quite right, to the CGI-blood-spurtin’-adrenaline-fuelled scenes that leave us shaking in our boots, horror pivots on the knife edge of controversy.

It’s used to drive plots. It’s used to drive hype. And at the end of the month, it drives studio executives to the bank.

Horror films can be traumatic enough. But there are some films that bear the cross of controversy more than others. There are some films that have been branded as so damaging to their potential viewers that merely circulating copies of the film is illegal.

And yet their infamy has forged cult viewership. What was once shielded from us has now become ‘must see’.

Today we are going to be counting down horror’s most controversial films and what made them quite so topical.

*I’m going to star the ones that you can actually watch without getting traumatised. Some are controversial not because of their content but because some religious or political groups disagreed with them*

#10 - The Blair Witch Project (1999)*

Let’s ease in with a classic - a classic you can watch without sleeping with the light on.

In this found-footage flick we see a team of film students as they explore a local urban legend. But what they find leads them to unknown and ungodly territory.

The problem with this film is that it was marketed as a true story. No, not based on a true story, a true story. Yep, they claimed what we were seeing was real, found footage of some teens going mad as they forage deeper into mysterious woods.

IMBd went so far as to report that the actors were dead. Then, the movie studio super-charged their efforts to confirm to the public that not only was this film 100% real, the three main actors were still missing. The parents of the actors then started receiving sympathy cards.

There’s even a mocked up website that perpetuates these claims. 

#9 - Night Of The Living Dead (1968)*

Time for another not-too-disturbing film.

This is the original zombie apocalypse film saw a group of Americans attempt to survive an incoming attack of the undead while trapped in a rural farmhouse.

But the Motion Picture Association of America wasn’t too happy about it. The film rating system was yet to be in place, allowing children to also show up for an afternoon screening and be greeted by a 97 minute montage of extreme violence.

“The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying”

#8 - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

In this psychological film, we watch a random crime spree take place at the hands of a couple serial killers. Loosely based on real murderers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole, its controversial reputation was founded on the gore ‘n’ guts screened in the movie.

Whilst it didn’t receive much attention from the public, various classification boards across the world ensured new versions edited with certain scenes - often involving sexual assault and necrophilia - removed for viewers.

In 2003, the BBFC (the UK classification board) finally allowed the uncut version to be released and Australia followed suit in 2005.

#7 - I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

It’s the original rape-revenge flick. And it managed to piss everyone off.

Originally titled Day of the Woman, it tells the story of a fiction writer who exacts revenge on a group of four men who gang rape her.

Despite its pro-women claim-to-fame, the 30 minute rape scene begs to differ. Furious debate surrounds its feminist label as a film that forces the audience to endure rape from a female perspective and long-winded violence against men (something which is often reserved for women in horror). Regardless, the graphic violence earned it a steady ban in Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and West Germany.

#6 - Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)*

You don’t get many controversial Christmas films. They typically stick to a cookie-cutter plot ‘n’ purpose every holiday season. But there are no strong women who need to rediscover the meaning of Christmas here.

Instead, we see a child traumatised by seeing his parents murdered on Christmas Eve go on a seasonal rampage as an adult.

A week after its release in the early 80s, it was pulled from theatres due to backlash. Marketing was focused on a Santa Claus killer with adverts often airing during family-friendly TV programmes and meant numerous children developed a phobia of Father Christmas. Large crowds protested cinemas with one notable protest involving angry families singing carols at the Interboro Quad Theater in The Bronx.

It was only in 2009 - 25 years after its original release - that a DVD of the film was first made available for purchase in the UK.

#5 - Psycho (1960)*

This legendary film follows the disappearance of a young woman after her encounter with a strange man called Norman Bates, one of horror’s most iconic figures. The controversy that would engulf this fim lay not in the violent attack on an innocent woman or even the disturbing content of the film.

Oh, no. It was because of what the leading lady was wearing.

In the opening scene of the film, we see Janet Leigh wearing nothing but a bra.

*gasp*

This racy attire was emblazoned across promotional material, meeting Hitchcock’s high standards of creating controversy around the movie. There was a no late admission policy for movie theaters, and the posters told viewers “Do not reveal the surprises!” to maintain a mysterious aura around the plot twist.

#4 - The Human Centipede (2009) (all of ‘em)

I’ve watched a lot of horror films, in case you couldn’t tell.

I’m used to watching a scary movie, shaking off the anxiety, and moving on with my life. But there are some that stayed with me. I only watched the trailer for the first movie, and it legitimately traumatised me. It gave me quite a severe, sudden bout of a depression for a solid month when I was 13.

Throughout horror’s goriest franchise, we see an evil doctor and amateur mad scientist attempt to sow several people together into a centipede-like chain from mouth to anus.

*retches*

At the heart of promoting the franchise was controversy. Tom Six, the director, forced a narrative that claimed from the first film that this was "100% medically accurate". He even alleged a Dutch doctor helped inspire the film, confirming that with an IV drip, this was entirely possible.

Although it didn’t receive furore that amounted to serious censorship or long-term banning, it was infamous for having its viewers vomiting in the cinema aisles.

The second film, however, was subject to much more severe controversy and could not legally be supplied in the UK until 2011 due to its heavy focus on sexual abuse, more graphic violence than the original film, and it’s pretty vile depiction of a murderer that was intellectually disabled.

Audiences were used to the graphic nature of the franchise by the third and final release. As the least-controversial and least-enjoyable film according to critics, it barely made a dent in the horror community.

Good riddance, I guess?

#3 - Faces Of Death (1978)

I’m not sure I’d recommend this one per se - but I will give it credit for being an interesting project.

This documentary-style film is a montage of footage of people dying in different ways. As a result of its very graphic and very real content, it was banned and censored in many countries. Only in 2003 was it released on DVD in the UK after a scene was cut featuring dogs fighting and a monkey being beaten to death.

Germany, Australia, and New Zealand followed suit, reversing their bans and releasing edited versions.

However, 7 years after its release, the media revamped its interest in the film after a maths teacher showed it to his class at a Californian high school. Two of his students claimed they were so traumatised they received a costly settlement to reimburse their emotional distress. Things took a darker turn a year later, when a 14 year old bludgeoned a classmate to death with a baseball bat; he claimed he wanted to see what it would be like to actually kill someone after watching Faces of Death.

#2 - Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

This Italian film’s title alone hints towards two frightening things: flesh-eating humans and genocide. In this found-footage movie we see an anthropologist lead a rescue team into the Amazon rainforest to find a group of filmmakers that went missing.

The rampant graphic content including sexual assault and animal cruelty showcased in the film (7 animals were killed during filming in some pretty horrific ways) led to it being banned in 50 countries.

Some also alleged that a handful of deaths seen in the film were real, as were the missing film crew. In fact, the actors portraying the documentarians signed contracts that stopped them appearing in motion pictures for an entire year to maintain the illusion of reality.

And only 10 days after its premiere, the director was charged with obscenity and the film confiscated. All copies were to be turned over to the authorities. There are currently a range of versions that have been edited to varying degrees and are allowed for circulation.

#1 - A Serbian Film (2010)

No.

Nope.

Don’t do it. Don’t watch this film.

A Serbian Film follows a retired porn star who agrees to feature in an “art film” for some cash. Little does he know this film will include rape, incest, pedophilia, necrophilia…

Just don’t watch it.

It is still banned in South Korea, New Zealand, Australia. It is supposedly a parody of politically correct films made in Serbia that are funded by foreign groups and allegedly speaks openly about post-war society and the struggle for survival.

*shakes head*

Off to have a 3 hour shower, brb.

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And if you want to hear more about horror and the supernatural every week hit follow!

#horror #Horror Movies #horror films #best horror movies #scary movies #banned films #video nasty #a serbian film #human centipede #the blair witch project #cannibal holocaust #faces of death #banned movies #censorship #night of the living dea #controversy #controversial films