#keeping within the spirit of horror movies I see

[mirathewarlock]

Ah arent children adorable?

#Black Bullet #Kohina Hiruko #Creepy as hell child #keeping within the spirit of horror movies I see #seriously why is it always a little girl #or worse twin girls

[gay-dorito-dust]

I come bearing a brainrot of a relatively normal s/o for the Lin Quei bois except s/o can see dead spirits and always keep a straight face. Sometimes they act weird bc they're avoiding a really nasty looking ghost and have grown numb to it. But when the bois finally catch a glimpse at the 'ghosts' their beloved mentioned all they see is some kind of eldritch horror. (This came from my recent fascination with the manga/anime series Mieruko-Chan)

Rate my really shitty attempt at creating eldritch creatures. (Actually don’t cuz I’m mega sensitive) 🦦

Tomas Vrbada

Ever since being forced by Johnny to watch horror movies, Tomas had been scared shitless when it comes to paranormal activity.

Ghosts, poltergeists, you name it, Tomas is scared of them all.

So when you -his seemingly normal but beloved partner- have been intentionally avoiding a certain spot in the Lin Kuei, shifting your gaze over in it’s direction now and then before ignoring it completely with a straight face, he didn’t think much do it at frisky but the more and more it has became the more Tomas started to feel an indescribable feeling within his chest.

It was the same feeling that he would often get when having been forced to watch a horror movie with Johny, that feeling where he knew something scary was about about to happen, which only worsened the longer the scene continued to build and ramp up the tension and to have him too scared to even look over his own shoulder; only to near enough be scared shitless a second later and loose hold of his popcorn.

Needless to say Tomas had been forced to watch one too many movie where the protagonist was somewhat clairvoyant to known that when you were giving a very specific area, out of the entire Lin Kuei no less, an cautious look. He knew better then to ever indulge in any amount of curiosity that he may have, even if it was a smidge, he would pretended that he saw nothing and would go about his day like normal. He wasn’t about to become one of those stupid characters who’d willingly go into a house that was very clearly haunted by visage alone!

He’s following your example right down to a T! He honestly doesn’t want to know what was lurking in that corner and he wasn’t particularly all that eager to find out either. Tomas would rather life the rest of his life in ignorant bliss if he could, but unfortunately for him that wasn’t going to be the case, for he had found himself having to go to that very room to get something for his brothers. However as soon as he opened the door, Tomas caught a glimpse of the thing in the corner that you’ve ominously warned him about.

It was hideous, so hideous in fact the sight of it made Tomas want to gag but he knew he couldn’t, so he slapped a hand over his mouth. The creature had bore the appearance of a pure bred Russian bear dog, but unfortunately for Tomas, that’s pretty much where the similarities started and stopped; For it had clusters of small, almost peddle sized eyes that were black as night taking up it’s entire face.

That wasn’t all, when the creature opened it’s mouth -if Tomas could even call it that- it’s stomach would rip open just as a thousand pair of what could only be described as human hands emerged out from said stomach, palms laying flat on the floor, as they began to shuffle across the floor in search of something. One particular pair of hands almost came into contact with Tomas’ foot, almost making him scream, but upon realising that their search efforts bore no fruit, the hands then retracted back into the creatures stomach, where it would then close itself up as though someone had just zipped it shut from the inside, before moving towards a different part of the room.

Scared out of his wits, Tomas bolted out of the room, completely forgetting what he had originally went there for, and just ran as fast as he could. He ran even when his legs began to hurt, he ran even when his lungs were begging for breath and he ran even when he had all but forgotten why he was even running in the first place. Tomas didn’t stop running until he saw you heading towards him, his brothers probably sent you to see what was taking him so long, and without a second thought; Tomas held you in his arms tightly, burying his head deep into your neck as he whispered.

‘How can you bare to seeing these things on a daily basis.’ The image of that thing was forcefully seared into Tomas’ mind, haunting him forever.

You didn’t have to ask further details as to what it was that he saw and instead reciprocated his hug, stroking the hairs at the back of his neck reassuringly, whilst pressing kisses into the side of his head where your would then rest your cheek against. ‘I don’t.’ You replied, looking straight ahead at the creature just as it poked it’s head out of the door, staring at you with all of their small beady black eyes before slinking off into the room across through the wall.

Kuai Liang

Concerned was a word that was often used to describe what Kuai Liang felt whenever you would shuffle closer towards his back, you might as well have been hiding, when passing down a particular hallway as your eyes were focused forward. Almost as though you were avoiding looking at something you didn’t like by pretending it didn’t exist.

Kuai Liang was aware of your uncanny ability to see the dead as you did the living, it was one of the things you disclosed to him upon first meeting, and even recalled the stories you’d tell him regarding the kinds of ghosts you’ve come across. Upon further questioning as to what they looked like you told Kuai Liang that most were human or humanoid in figure, but others went beyond the realm of human comprehension.

The latter of the two kinds were the ones you tended to avoid having direct contact with the most and this most recent one was no different.

‘Is it them, my love?’ Kuai Liang asked, looking over his shoulder at you worriedly.

You hummed. ‘They’re always with us, following but they most like to stay here and watch everyone who passes by.’

Kuai Liang pursed his lips at this new tidbit of information, whilst concerning learning this was, he was concerned about was getting you out of this hallway a lot more. Just as he was reaching back to grab your hand, Kuai Liang caught slight movement from out of the corner of his eye but before you could say anything, his eyes were already locked onto the other side of the hallway; more specifically the area you purposefully avoid looking towards every time you have to come down this hallway.

Kuai Liang remembered you telling him that It shouldn’t be possible for him see what you see, but it wasn’t uncommon for ghost to become temporarily visible. So with that in mind Kuai Liang could only deduct that what he was seeing before him what you regarded as a type two ghost; In all honesty the word ghost didn’t quite seem to match what he was currently seeing.

The creature in question was about his height, maybe a little shorter, then again he wasn’t quite sure considering it was sort of slouched. It appeared human enough in its physique, but something deep inside Kuai Liang told him that what was standing before him was far from human. He just couldn’t escape this deeply unsettling feeling that continued to grown within his chest the longer he continued to look. A sharp snapping sort of sound caught his ear, and in an instant his senses sharpened as Kuai Liang watched to see the creature viciously attempting in tearing it’s own face off with it’s hands that were infused with needles, as though desperate to get it off, to reveal…a smooth porcelain like mask beneath shredded and stringy bits of it’s former face.

As if watching that wasn’t enough the lower half of the smooth porcelain mask began to crack, a jagged fissure spread from one end to another like it was forming itself a mouth but once it had finished, the crack like mouth then began to open to reveal an endlessly dark void beneath and just before it could even think to speak; you quickly grabbed Kuai Liang’s hand and pulled him down the hallway until you were a safe distance from the creature. You could tell that seeing something like that had gotten to Kuai Liang, even if it was by a little margin.

‘Are you okay?’ You asked, squeezing his hand.

‘I fear for you little flame.’ Kuai Liang admitted. ‘Your gift for seeing these things, I worry that it will plunge you into the darkest depth that not even my fire would be nearly enough to guide you out safely.’ You smiled sympathetically at his concern. ‘As long as I don’t acknowledge them or give them a line of communication, then there’s nothing to worry about.’ You reassured him but you could tell that it wasn’t enough with the way his brows furrowed deeper with worry. ‘Doesn’t mean that I wont still worry about you.’ He utters, tightening his grip on your hand, afraid to let go.

‘I’m not expecting you to because no matter what I know you’ll always worry about me but I promise when I tell you that no harm can come to me if I don’t incite it. I’ve lived with this my entire life, all I ask of you is to trust me.’ You practically begged as you stared Kuai Liang deep into his eyes and watched as he sighed before pressing his head against your own. ‘I trust you with my life, little flame.’ He says in a hushed whisper. ‘However it’s within my duty to protect you from all harm, living or not.’ You smiled at his warm words, closing your eyes as you learnt in towards his natural warmth.

‘Then at least let me protect you from time to time.’ You cheeked, causing Kuai Liang to let out a deep chuckle as he pressed a little kiss to your lips. ‘I won’t make any promises.’ He cheeked.

Bi-Han

Now Bi-Han wouldn’t say he whether he did or didn’t believe in ghosts, but even if he did he wouldn’t be one to actively try to prove their existence. He was the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, he had no time for such childish ridiculousness, not when there were more pressing matters that were more worthy of his time and effort anyway.

However when you first told him that you could see ghosts, Bi-Han didn’t know what to make of it, he’s not one to discredit your abilities in anyway shape or form. He’s not like Tomas who watches one too many horror movies and starts flinching at every subtle creak or groan of the floorboards. Yet that doesn’t mean he didn’t find your power intriguing because after all Bi-Han is a man who strives to know more, he strives for knowledge and so he would take this opportunity to fully understand how exactly your power works.

He even takes note how you purposefully ignore an area with everything you had, keeping your head down or eyes facing forward whenever you had to go anywhere near it, coming out of the room with a straight face as though you weren’t fazed but Bi-Han was well trained in knowing when his intended target was lying and or on edge. Upon asking why you were avoiding that specific part of the Lin Kuei, he took in everything you told him about the ghost that you encountered, engraving every last detail it into his head as to paint himself a picture, but even then Bi-Han doesn’t think it remotely resembles the creature that you saw.

Never did he think that he would ever see it for himself but one day he did indeed find himself staring into the unsettlingly large, bulging eyes of the creature as it breathed heavily, as though it was severely out of breath and was just now recovering. It was about half his size and had hair covering everywhere…well except its midsection, which was all just leathery skin that rose and fell with its breathing pattern. It’s hands were human but everything else about it wasn’t, it had lost it’s lower mouth, leaving only it’s top row of sharp teeth; making the question of how it could possibly eat or consume anything to Bi-Han’s morbid curiosity.

The creature then proceeded to close the distance between the two of them and all Bi-Han could smell was death, blood and rotting flesh but he wasn’t fazed. He was aware of what the creature was doing and wasn’t about to give it the reaction it so desperately wanted, he was above these childish attempts of intimidation; So in retaliation Bi-Han only narrowed his eyes, presenting himself in a way that told the creature that he could see what it was doing and that he was above such tactics. He could see why you’d avoid looking upon these things, they could send a weaker minded person to the brink of insanity upon first glance, but Bi-Han was made of much tougher material to succumb to such.

The creature backed of, finding no enjoyment in this at all, and left the room through the wall on all fours for much weaker prey, looking like some dog with a sever case of mange.

Later that day where you and Bi-Han were settling down for the night, Bi-Han then decided to admit to what he saw prior, not liking to keep such things from you especially when it’s in regards to your powers. ‘I saw it.’ He said point blank as he stroked your back and it took you a moment to realise what he had meant by that before a look of realisation spread across your face. ‘You did? I thought that wasn’t possible.’ You replied.

‘It was only a glimpse but what I saw, I saw it as clear as I see anything else.’ Bi-Han told you, wondering how it was that you could keep your psyche intact when seeing such vile creatures on a daily basis. He even wondered if you’ve seen some that were even more grotesque then the one he had encountered earlier.

‘Not exactly a pleasant sight are they?’ You joked, looking at him with a small smile, knowing firsthand how unnerving it was to know that such things could possibly exist, even though you did finally mange to find a routine you had followed religiously in the events where you did happen to encounter them. Unfortunately It never truly gets rid of your first experience with seeing them for the first time, firmly believing that you were going to die due to how horrific and fear inducing they were.

‘No, I’m guessing that I’m right in assuming that this one pales in comparison to others you’ve had the misfortune of seeing?’ Bi-Han asked, watching your every expression like a that of a hawk. ‘Way worse.’ You responded as you snuggle yourself deeper into his chest, closing your eyes to avoid looking at the glowing pair of eyes that peered into yours and Bi-Han’s room.

#mk1 #mk1 x reader #mk x y/n #mk x reader #mk imagine #mortal kombat imagines #mortal kombat x reader #mortal kombat x you #mortal kombat imagine #mortal kombat x y/n #mortal kombat 1 x reader #bi han imagine #bi han imagines #bi han x you #bi han x y/n #bi han x reader #sub zero x reader #kuai liang imagine #kuai liang x you #kuai liang x reader #kuai liang x y/n #kuai liang imagines #scorpion x reader #tomas vrbada x reader #tomas vrbada imagine #tomas vrbada x you #tomas vrbada x y/n #smoke x reader

[plainandgeneric]

Tis the season of the spooky! I recently delved into a rabbit hole about the 僵尸 (Jiangshi) and 湘西赶尸人 (Xiangxi necromancer), both Chinese folklores regarding the undead. These are very underrated topics so I’ve found some fun info to share under the cut!

僵尸 (Jiangshi) directly translates to ‘rigid corpse’ (corpse with rigor mortis), but it’s better known as the Chinese vampire in pop culture. 

Jiangshi is an undead that sustains itself by consuming the energy of the living, and moves about by hopping (cause rigor mortis).

湘西赶尸人 translates directly to the corpse herder of Xiangxi. It is considered as a traditional witchcraft practice of the Xiangxi area, and thought of as ‘good magic’. According to traditional lore, families hire these necromancers so that their loved ones (usually people who died in war) could be returned and buried in their homeland, so to encourage the spirit to pass on properly. 

The stereotype of the undead in Qing dynasty officials garb was made popular by horror films and pop culture of the 80s. In traditional folklore, the dead are often clothed in black death shrouds or otherwise have their face covered by large hats. The yellow talisman in movies are depicted to render the undead docile. Here, it is said to be used to keep the spirit within the vessel of the body during transport (I read cinnabar is also used for this purpose).

The necromancer guides the dead with a bell. They would rest during daylight in lodgings specifically made to accommodate this, and only travel at night. This is to avoid frightening the living during day time. 

Of course, there is no verifiable proof for this profession, though it is speculated that some sort of performative corpse transportation existed in history that helped to generate this fascinating legend. The usual portrayal of raising the dead in pop culture is often seen as evil and malicious, so it’s a lovely change of pace to see necromancy depicted in a positive manner. 

#chinese folklore #jiangshi #necromancer #halloween #october #original art #plainandgeneric draws

[theewokingdead]

Hate Me - Francisco "Catfish" Morales x f!Reader

Pairing: Francisco “Catfish” Morales x f!Reader POV: Second ("You") Summary: Frankie loses his pilot’s license after failing a drug test and begs you to make it easy for him to leave. Inspired by the song “Hate Me” by Blue October. Set several months before the events of the Triple Frontier movie.  Rating: Mature Word Count: 5.1k Content: Hurt/Comfort. Mentions of previous drug use and relapse. Reader finds out she’s pregnant. Allusions to breastfeeding. Dad!Frankie.  A/N: This has been floating around in my head for a while, and I was FINALLY able to get it down. Enjoy the emotional damage and please don’t hate me.

Masterlist

Hey, Frankie, it’s me, and it’s one thirty-seven on Monday afternoon. I’m just sitting in my car and thought I should call you to see how you are doing. I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay, and, well... I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay. I, uh… I was really hoping you’d pick up. I just need to hear your voice, to hear you say that everything will be okay. Everything is okay. You know I love you. Hope to hear from you. Bye.

Frankie’s knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel, his jaw tight. His gaze is fixed on the road ahead, his mind a void of nothingness, purposefully pushing away any thoughts that will no doubt send him spiraling into despair. He pulls into the driveway, feeling numb and empty. After parking the truck, he slowly makes his way up to the front door of his house, mindlessly going through the motions of unlocking the door and entering.

It’s quiet inside, an eerie silence that makes him feel alone. He closes the door behind him and leans against it, never taking off his shoes. In a sense, he feels safer here, as if he can avoid facing what has happened outside these walls for just a little bit longer. 

He trudges to the bedroom where he throws his keys on the bedside table. He removes his wallet and phone from his pocket, carefully setting them down. The movement causes the screen of his phone to come to life, informing him of a call he hadn’t heard come through. Frankie picks up the device and sees a voicemail from you. 

Immediately, the feelings he so desperately wanted to bury start to come through. His pride burns within him, and he’s reminded of what a failure he is, how useless he is. He’s afraid to hear what you have to say, but he knows he can’t ignore the sound of your voice for long. With a heavy breath, he presses the play button, listening as you express your concern for him and your love. His heart sinks.

The moment the voicemail ends, Frankie tosses his phone and falls to the edge of the bed. Dropping his elbows to his thighs, he lifts his hands and buries his face in them. He pushes just hard enough for his eyes to ache, a welcome pain. The sensation helps, at least for a moment, distracting the voices in his head — the ones telling him he isn’t good enough, that you deserve so much better than this.

He never wanted you to find out about any of it - the horrors he saw while fighting someone else’s war, the nightmares that wake him sweating and screaming and draining his spirit, the cocaine he snorts, and the alcohol he downs to dull the pain. He never wanted you to be a part of the battle he fights in his mind. But despite his best efforts to keep you away, you could see something was wrong, and eventually, he dropped his walls and allowed you inside. He resented it but knew it was for the best, you wanting nothing more than to help him find his way back to mental peace. 

He swore he’d never touch coke again, and he stayed true to his word for several months…until he didn’t. It was just one line, a harmless indulgence he told himself. But one turned into two, and two turned into three until he couldn’t remember how many he had snorted. The high was fleeting, barely lasting long enough to be worth the trouble, and yet he kept coming back to it. 

Frankie knew he was spiraling out of control again. He didn’t know how to talk to you about it, how to explain the way his mind has been betraying him. He thought he could get it under control on his own this time, that maybe he wasn’t in too deep to pull himself out. Now, it’s too late. 

All it took was one misstep and now there’s no hiding it. This morning, the results of a random drug test at work came back positive, sealing his fate in an instant. He had gambled with his future and lost. Now, he is left with nothing. No pilot’s license, no work, no chance of a steady reasonable income to support you. 

Frankie feels a deep shame for not being able to hold it together. You had done all that you could to help him and had trusted him to stay clean, but he failed you and broke your trust. He doesn’t know how to face you, how to look you in the eyes and tell you he had screwed up. His heart aches as he thinks of the disappointment he will see in your eyes. He can’t put you through this…not again.

I can’t stay here.

Frankie’s heart breaks at the thought of letting go, but he has no choice - reality is stronger than his feelings for you. Staying will only bring more pain. You deserve more than he can offer, and though you’ve started to pull away from him lately, you’ll never willingly let him go. His only option is to force you to leave him behind by being the one to leave first - to go somewhere so far away that he’ll never be able to cross your mind again.

He grabs a duffle bag and throws random belongings into it with reckless abandon, not stopping until he hears his name being uttered in a trembling voice. He pauses, frozen - for a second he can't tell if it's real or just an illusion of his own making. But when he hears it again, this time louder and more insistent, he knows it’s no dream. This is real, and all he can do is pray that finding out this way will make you hate him enough to be able to let him go.

This can’t be happening. 

Tears drip down your face, hands clutching the steering wheel as you will yourself to as you try to make sense of the news. You didn’t believe it when you first got a positive test two weeks ago, and you still don’t want to believe it despite the doctor’s confirmation. Your heart feels like it’s breaking, a thousand shards of emotions piercing your soul. 

You and Frankie have talked about your future together, and you’ve both expressed the desire to want kids one day. But this is not how it’s supposed to happen. The timing feels wrong. Frankie has only been clean for three months, and you know he still struggles with overcoming the addiction. He still needs to focus on himself. What will this do to him? And how can you take away from his life when he is only just getting it back?

Taking a deep breath, you wipe away the tears from your eyes with the back of your hand. Then, you reach for your phone and dial his number. You don’t know what you’re going to say, only that you need to hear his voice. With every ring, your heart beats faster, wondering if this is the ring when he’ll finally pick up. 

This is stupid, you think, the rings vibrating in your ear. You never should’ve called him. You can’t tell him something like this over the phone. He deserves to hear it in person. However, right now, the need to hear his voice far outweighs any common sense.

The call goes to voicemail, and you take another deep breath, trying to steady your voice to leave a message. When he sees a missed call from you, he’ll worry that something’s wrong without any reassurance that everything’s okay.

“Hey, Frankie, it’s me, and it’s”-you quickly glance at the clock on your dash-“one thirty-seven on Monday afternoon. I’m just sitting in my car and thought I should call you to see how you are doing. I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay, and, well... I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay. I, uh… I was really hoping you’d pick up. I just need to hear your voice, to hear you say that everything will be okay.” 

You cringe, knowing he’ll think something is wrong and he’ll spiral. “Everything is okay,” you immediately reassure him. “You know I love you. Hope to hear from you. Bye.”

After hanging up and tossing your phone on the passenger seat, you sigh loudly, wondering if calling him was the right choice. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

You turn on the ignition and begin to drive. Frankie won’t be home from work for several hours, hopefully giving you some time to process the news and figure out a proper way to tell him. 

When you pull into the driveway, you see his truck parked in its usual spot. Immediately, you’re confused. He shouldn’t be home. 

Taking a deep breath, you brace yourself for the worst as you enter the house. The silence is suffocating, and you can feel the tension in the air. You make your way into the living room, calling out his name, but there is no answer. Then you hear it – a sound coming from the bedroom.

You gently push the door open and find him standing beside the bed, a duffle bag sitting on the mattress in front of him as he stuffs things inside. It doesn’t seem like he’s packing for a short trip.

“Frankie?” Your voice is weak and filled with confusion. 

He stops in place as if he had been caught in some sort of criminal act. He doesn’t move, doesn’t say a word - like he’s frozen in time. Seconds, minutes, hours pass – you can’t be sure which. Your mind races, filled with insecurities as you realize he must be leaving – leaving you. Did he get your message? Does he somehow know? Maybe he found one of your tests in the trashcan. Maybe the doctor accidentally called him. Either way, he must know, and now, instead of accepting the responsibility of being a father, he’s running.

“Frankie!” you demand, your voice insistent. “Look at me.” 

Frankie turns his head, his soft brown eyes meeting your own. You can see the pain etched on his face, the turmoil in his eyes. You wonder what could make him want to leave, to run away from you and your future together. 

“Are you leaving me?” you question, needing to hear him say it.

His head turns slightly, eyes falling to the floor, and it’s all the confirmation you need. 

Your heart shatters into a million pieces, the weight of the news and his sudden need to leave overwhelming you. You had thought that he would stay, that he would fight for you and your future together. But this… this is just too much. You struggle to hold back the tears threatening to spill over, but you can’t help it. Before you know it, you’re on the floor, sobbing hysterically.  

Concerned, Frankie flies across the room and drops to the floor. He takes your hands in his and looks into your eyes, begging you to yell at him, to tell him how much you hate him at this moment.

“Frankie, please,” you sob. “I need you. I can’t do this without you. Please.”

“Shhh, shhh,” Frankie coos. He takes your face in his calloused hands, and you can feel the warmth of his hand on your cheeks. Gently, he wipes away your tears as fast as they spill. He silently prays to whatever god is listening to take all your pain away, to make you smile and be your usual happy self. He hates seeing you like this, hates that he’s the reason for it even more. 

Peace is all he’s ever wanted for you, and instead of giving it to you, he’s only ever taken it away. “Bebita, please. I’m sorry.”

Your sobs slow down after a few moments, and you finally work up the courage to look him in the eye. “How, Frankie?” Your voice breaks as you ask the question in a whisper. He withdraws his hands, clearly ashamed of his actions. “How could you do this to me? To us.” 

Frankie rises to his feet, and you sit in silence, waiting for him to say something, anything. “I’m doing this for you,” he finally contends. 

You feel anger and confusion welling up inside you. “For me?” you ask. Your lips emit a sound that resembles both a sob and a laugh. “How can abandoning me now, when I need you the most, be for me? After all that I have done for you...” You shake your head in disbelief, the tears rolling down your cheeks. Your heart feels like it is being crushed by a heavy weight. 

Suddenly, it’s all starting to make sense – his behavior recently. You pretended you didn’t see it, pretended all the signs didn't point to him using again, but you can’t ignore this damning evidence. You wipe a tear from your face.

“It’s the coke again, isn’t it?” you whisper desperately, looking back at him. 

Frankie turns his face away from yours, unable to keep up the charade. The air around him crackles with pain and disappointment as you both realize that he hasn't learned from his mistake, once again succumbing to the lure of the drug that nearly destroyed your relationship in the past. He had promised himself he would never make that same mistake again, but here it is, a smoky reminder of how quickly life could slip away as he traded his future for a momentary high.

“I’m sorry, bebita. I wanted to be a better man for you, one that could take care of you, one that could be happy and clean…but I just couldn’t do it.” His voice cracks as he speaks, and you can see how hard it is for him to admit this truth aloud. 

After rising to your feet, you reach out to him in an attempt to comfort him, but he pulls away before you can touch him. His eyes are full of sorrow as he stands up and grabs his bag from the bed. 

“I have to get out of here.”

“No,” you insist, grabbing a hold of the bag, refusing to let him leave. “Frankie, you don’t have to do this.”

“We can’t continue like this. My addiction is hurting us both, pulling us into a pit of despair and misery. I know you want out, and I won’t let it destroy you any more than it already has; you deserve so much more than this.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” you question, feeling your blood boil as you let go of the bag and step back. “I am not in a pit of despair or misery, and I’m not trying to get out of anything. What makes you think-” You stop, knowing that you’ve been distant the last few weeks, having chosen to not burden him with your pregnancy until you were certain. He must’ve mistaken it as you pulling away from him because of him, because of his addiction. Suddenly, you soften. “Oh, Francisco,” you coo. “Please. Let me explain. I’m not…I’m not trying to find a way out. I haven’t given up on you, not now, not ever. I love you-”

“That’s the fucking problem!” Frankie exclaims so suddenly, causing you to flinch. “I want you to give up on me. I want you to hate me.”

“Hate you?” you question. “I could never hate you.”

Frankie looks at you with desperation in his eyes, his voice breaking as he speaks. “You have to. Please. You have to hate me - I need you to hate me - so that I can leave and never come back. Hate me for leaving you. Hate me for not being strong enough to walk away from the coke. Hate me for all the things I couldn’t do for you. I don’t care. Just… Please. I’m begging you. Do whatever it takes to hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you.”

“See what’s good for me?” you repeat, not believing he’s saying these things. “I see what’s good for me, Frankie, and it’s you. You are what’s good for me, whether you believe it or not.”

Frankie stares at you with wide eyes, trying to suppress the emotions that are bubbling up inside him. He can’t believe that you still want him, even after everything he’s done. All he can feel is a sense of shame and unworthiness that clouds his judgment.

“I’m not good enough for you,” he whispers, his voice cracking. “I’ll only bring you down.”

“You’re wrong,” you insist. “I love you, Frankie. Let me help you. Please. Tell me what you need me to do.”

Frankie looks at you, his eyes glistening with tears, and you know that he’s struggling with his demons. He collapses onto the edge of the bed. “Make it go away. Please. Make it all fucking go away.” He puts his face in his hands and sobs. 

You approach him slowly, wrapping your arms around him. You feel his body tense up before he relaxes into your embrace, his sobs muffled by your shirt as he buries his face into it, his hands fisting the fabric. You hold him tightly, feeling the weight of his addiction and the overwhelming emotions that come with it. 

“It’s too much,” he whispers brokenly. “This never-ending cycle of hell.”

“Tell me,” you gently encourage. “Help me understand.”

Frankie lets go and pulls back, giving him enough space to talk. He wipes away tears with the sleeve of his khaki jacket. “Every morning I wake up not knowing if I’m going to stay clean. I try my best to make it through another day without using, but as the hours tick by, I become restless – desperate to silence the screams in my head. I’ve started drinking more just to sleep - replacing one poison with another, I know. I wake hours later, when the drink’s worn off, to my nerves screaming out, so I drag myself to the medicine cabinet for relief – anything to stop the pain. But it’s never enough. And I tell myself that I’ll never do this to myself again, but somewhere inside I know that by the next evening, if by some miracle I don’t use, I’ll just be drunk again.” 

When he’s finished, he finally looks up. “I’m too fucking weak.”

You come down to his level and look him square in the eyes. “You are not weak. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You just need to believe in yourself.”

Frankie looks at you, his eyes filled with hopelessness. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You can,” you say firmly, threading your fingers into his curls. “I believe in you. And I know that you can do this. It’s hard…but think of it like a skill. Something that requires practice. Think of it like… Well, like flying. You remember your first time behind the controls, don’t you?”

Frankie dips his head and then chuckles lowly. “You mean the time I tried to lift a several thousand-pound bucking bull off the ground?”

You chuckle. “Sounds about right. Tell me about it.”

“I’ve told you the story a hundred-”

“Just one more time. Please?” you beg, giving him puppy eyes that you know he can’t resist.

Frankie sighs, his shoulders falling. “I was fucking terrified. I tensed up, trying to remember everything I had learned. I couldn’t even hit the full eight seconds before the instructor snapped the controls and steadied the aircraft.”

“And then?” you goad, remembering how the story goes.

“He let me try again. And the same thing happened,” he replies. “Every time the instructor demonstrated the maneuver, I was certain I was going to nail it, but each time he transferred the controls, the helicopter began bucking wildly around the airfield. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t tame the bull. The instructor kept growing more and more frustrated. So was I. He kept telling me to get out of my head and to just fly the aircraft, but what the hell did that mean? I started to question whether I had the ability to fly.”

“Do you remember how long it took you to finally get it?”

“Nine days,” Frankie replies with a nod. “I started to give up after a week. I just didn’t have the energy or mental capacity to fight the helicopter or instruction anymore. Finally, on the ninth day, the instructor told me to take the controls and I just did it. I brought the helicopter about seven feet off the ground. My altitude was steady. I held my heading. I was flying.”

“You were flying.” You reach out and grab his hand, giving him a squeeze. “What was so different about that day, Frankie?”

“I got out of my head,” Frankie admits. “Flying has very little to do with thinking and everything to do with feeling. You have to trust yourself to just feel and respond to the aircraft.”

“What about recovery? You don’t think you need to get out of your head?”

Frankie looks at you, considering your words, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes. “Maybe,” he says finally. “Are you saying I need to trust myself more and feel my way through it?”

“Maybe,” you say, smiling at him. “And you don’t have to do it alone. You have me. And we can find you the help you need, the support you need. Together, we can get through this.”

Frankie nods, but his gaze darts away. Suddenly, you can see tears filling his eyes again, and he turns away to hide them.

“What is it?” You can sense there’s more.

“I really fucked up.”

“Frankie-”

“I lost my license,” he confesses before you can say anything more. “I only just found out this morning. I failed a drug test and now I’m grounded for God knows how long. Maybe forever.”

“Oh, Frankie,” you sigh, your heart breaking for him. 

“The FAA is going to strip me of everything,” Frankie sighs. “My license, my career-”

“Hey. Stop it,” you insist. “You don’t know that. It’s just a suspension, right?”

Frankie nods. 

“So, you’ll go under review. They’ll make you jump through some hoops. Maybe make you seek treatment, which you’re going to do anyway, right? Everything will be okay. You’ll be back in the air before you know it. Until then, we’ll take it day by day. I’ll be here every step of the way to support you. We can do this together.”

Frankie nods once more, his eyes still filled with tears. “Okay,” he says softly. “One day at a time.” 

You can feel your resolve strengthening. This is going to be okay… Except there’s still one more thing – something that’s going to change everything.

“I’m sorry I haven’t exactly been here for you lately,” you say. “It wasn’t you; it was me that I was avoiding. I didn’t…” You bite down on your lips before you continue, knowing this is difficult to talk about and deciding which words will help the situation. Facing him square on, you lay it out plainly. “Frankie, I’m pregnant. I didn’t know how to tell you, so I just…didn’t say anything. I was terrified that this would fuck up your sobriety, and, well – in hindsight, that was ridiculous. But the doctor confirmed it today.”

“You’re…” he falls silent. He stares at you, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “We’re having a baby?” Frankie’s eyes fill with tears once more, but this time they’re tears of joy.

You nod, feeling a lump form in your throat. “Yeah. And I know it’s not the best timing, which is why I didn’t want to burden you by-”

“Burden me? Baby, you’re having our baby. That’s not a burden, and even if it was, you shouldn’t have to carry it alone. I mean… Wow. You have our baby inside of you? Right now?”

You nod, giggling through your own tears, feeling a sense of relief wash over you. You realize this is what you both need – something to hold onto, something to fight for. And with each other and this baby, you know that you can overcome anything.

“Yeah,” you repeat. Reaching into your pocket, you pull out a tiny black-and-white photo that you’d rolled up for safekeeping. There isn’t much to see except what looks like a tiny gummy bear sitting in a pool of black.

“Dios mío,” Frankie utters under his breath, looking down at the image. “Do you know if it’s-”

“No,” you reply, knowing what he’s going to ask. “It’s too soon to tell. But I got to hear the heartbeat. See all these lines here? It was very strong. Just as a Morales should be.”

Frankie turns and looks at you, taking your hand in his. “I’m going to be there for you,” he assures you. “For both of you. I’m done with all this bullshit. I don’t care how hard it is. Nothing is more important than you and this baby.”

You smile, tears growing in your eyes. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything,” Frankie breathes.

“Never let me see you pack this bag again.”

Eight months later…

Your eyes flutter open. Why isn’t the baby crying? Isn’t it time for her to eat? Quickly, you grab your phone. 4:17 am. Fuck, it’s more than an hour past her feeding time. 

Moving as quickly as a new mother can, you reach for the newborn nestled inside the Pack-N-Play beside your bed – only, she isn’t there. Looking back at your bed, you see that Frankie is gone as well. The house is quiet, and unless Frankie has magically started lactating – something you’ve wished for only about five hundred times a day since Elena was born – there’s not much he can do to keep a starving newborn from crying.

Why didn’t he wake me?

As you step into the hallway, you notice a light glowing through the cracked door of the nursery. 

Quietly, you push the door open and stand in the doorway, watching as Frankie rocks a sleeping Elena, all swaddled up and snoozing on his chest. His hand slowly moves back and forth across her back, his face peaceful and content. Even in the soft light, you can see the lines around his eyes and the deep circles under them.

A wave of emotion washes over you, but you don’t say a word, letting them share a moment together.

When Frankie finally notices your presence, he looks up at you and shoots you a small smile. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Probably should’ve,” you whisper in jest, stepping further into the room. “My boobs feel like rocks.”

“I’m sorry,” Frankie says, a hint of a chuckle in his voice. “I know you haven’t been sleeping, so when she started to whine, I whisked her away and made her a bottle before she could wake you. She took to it like a champ.” 

You offer a little smile. Breastfeeding has been such an incredibly difficult journey, both mentally and physically exhausting. It took longer than expected for your milk to come in, and you never know if you’re producing enough or if she’s receiving enough. Some days she wants to eat for hours at a time, and other days she wants to stretch her feeds to where you feel like your breasts could explode. Pumping is a job of its own. To make matters worse, it’s all on you; Frankie can only do so much. But formula is expensive, so you’ve been trying to convince yourself that this is the best way.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” Frankie says after a long moment of silence, likely thinking you’re upset. He’s been nothing but incredibly supportive of all your decisions.

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “No, don’t apologize. You’re her father. Don’t apologize for bonding with her. Clearly, she likes you.” You smile, but it quickly fades as you cross your arms in front of you. “I’ve actually been thinking that maybe…maybe switching to formula isn’t such a bad idea. I know it’s more money but the toll feeding is taking on me is… Well, it’s a lot.”

Careful not to wake the baby, Frankie rises from the chair and moves to the crib. He shifts her in his arms, then lays her down in her crib ever-so-gently to keep her asleep. He stares for a moment, admiring her sleeping form.

“I know, baby,” Frankie says soothingly. “Don’t worry about the money; we’ll make it work. The only things that matter are that you and her are happy and healthy. And honestly, I’m really excited at the prospect of being able to help out some more.”

You smile once more. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Frankie. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner through this.”

Frankie smiles shyly and his eyes turn softer than usual. “I’m the lucky one,” he replies. “If you had told me a year ago that this is where I’d be - happy, clean, holding the most beautiful baby given to me by the most incredible woman - I would’ve told you that you’re crazy. But, here I am. And I couldn’t have done it without you. When I failed that drug test, I thought I lost everything, and I wanted to leave so you could have the chance at finding something better. But when you told me that you were pregnant, I felt so much hope for our future. Now, I understand that life is about these choices, and I have no regrets about the path I chose to ride along. You bring happiness into my life every day, and just knowing that you love me gives me the strength to keep fighting for us.”

“I will always love you, Francisco.” You smile and wrap your arms around him, feeling your heart swell with love. "I love you so much."

“I love you too, baby.”

As usual, the two of you are interrupted - except not by the screaming demands of your adorable little tyrant. Something vibrates on the table beside the rocking chair, garnering your attention.

“Who could that be this late?” you question, seeing the screen of his phone light up for a moment before darkening. Frankie huffs and moves across the room to pick up his cell from where it lays on the little table.

Frankie looks down at the screen, his brows furrowing while his eyes seem to scan a message.

“Frankie?” you question, worry creeping into your voice. You reach for him, feeling his skin as it goes cold. “What is it?”

As he looks at you, you can see his mind running a million miles a minute through his eyes. The silence stretches for a moment before Frankie speaks again.

“It’s Pope,” he says in a tone that’s never good. “He says he’s got a job.”

#frankie morales #francisco morales fanfic #francisco catfish morales #frankie morales fanfic #frankie morales x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal fandom #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal characters #triple frontier #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier fan fiction #triple frontier fanfic #pedrostories #frankie whump #catie writes

[myhauntedsalem]

The Dybbuk Box

A Dybbuk Box is a wine cabinet which, according to Jewish folklore is said to be haunted by a restless, evil spirit that is capable of haunting and possessing the living. One particular Dybbuk Box became famous when it was listed on eBay along with a terrifying back story.

The story began in September of 2001, when an antique buyer and refinishes attended an estate sale in Portland, Oregon. The auction was held to sell off the belongings of a 103-year-old woman and her granddaughter informed the antique dealer of the woman’s past when she noticed that he had purchased a simple wooden wine cabinet. The old woman had been Jewish, the only one of her family members to have survived her time in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. When she immigrated to the United States, the wine cabinet and two other items were the only things she brought with her.

The woman’s granddaughter explained that her grandmother had always kept the box hidden away and said that it should never, ever be opened because it contained a malicious spirit called a dybbuk. She requested that the box be buried with her but since doing so went against Jewish tradition, her family did not oblige. When the antique dealer asked the granddaughter if she would like to keep the box for sentimental reasons, the woman vehemently refused, becoming very upset and saying, “We made a deal! You have to take it!”

The dealer took his purchase back to his shop and placed it in his workshop in the basement. Immediately, strange and frightening things started happening. He was called by his frantic shop assistant, who said that the lights had gone out, the doors and security gates had locked and she heard terrible sounds coming from the basement. When he investigated, he discovered a terrible odor of cat urine lingering in the air and every light bulb in the place had been smashed.

The dealer gave the wine box to his mother as a gift and the woman immediately suffered a major stroke. In the hospital, she spelled out, H-A-T-E G-I-F-T as tears spilled from her eyes uncontrollably. He attempted to give the gift to several more people but it was always returned to him within a few days, usually because people just didn’t like it or because they felt that something about it was evil. He began suffering from a recurring nightmare and he later found that all of his family members who had been around the box were having the same dream. He started seeing shadow figures darting around in his peripheral vision, as well.

After finally admitting that there was something paranormal happening, he went online to research and fell asleep at his computer. When he woke up, he felt like something was breathing on his neck and when he turned his head he saw a huge shadow figure dashing away from him down the hall. He then decided to list the item on eBay, along with a detailed account of what had happened to him since obtaining the box.

Jason Haxton, the curator of a medical museum in Missouri, purchased the box from the eBay auction. He later wrote a book detailing the strange story of the Dybbuk Box and in 2012, a horror movie based on the book entitled The Possession was released.

#The Dybbuk Box #supernatural #ghost and hauntings #paranormal #ghost and spirits #haunted locations #haunted salem #myhauntedsalem #paranormal phenomena

[zalrb]

Scream VI Review (since anon asked)

OK. So, the thing about the original Scream movies is that the meta isn’t contained to a couple of info dump scenes where someone explains the rules of the movie they’re in and rattles on about the wider trends in media.

It’s inherent in the dialogue and in the choices the movies make. Billy is pressuring Sidney to have sex and says that they’re “edited for TV”

and uses film ratings to describe his frustration

then when Sidney decides to do something risque, we don’t see it because Scream is “editing their relationship for TV”

when they discuss who the killer could be, Tatum uses Basic Instinct as an example of how a woman can be a killer

it’s in the fabric of the movies.

this scene

is like any other scene in a horror movie, it doesn’t have the irony of a scene like this

because this scene is simultaneously making fun of and paying homage to horror movie tropes with the added layer of Jamie Kennedy going “Jamie watch out” when yelling at the TV because it’s Jamie Lee Curtis onscreen.

Having a shrine with evidence from the other movies in a movie theatre with dialogue like this

isn’t enough.

Playing Red Right Hand at the end when it played at the beginning of the first movie while the mask burns onscreen isn’t really much of anything, like I think the shot and the callback is great

especially because it’s as if Richie directed the movie of his sociopathic family dying at the hands of their victims who are the children of Billy, like I get all of that but it didn’t really stay with me because for the most part, Scream VI is a generic horror movie that isn’t funny, which is another problem. The original scream trilogy was also funny.

Like, if you’re talking about things are bigger in a franchise, in keeping with the spirit of Scream, that should be made fun of in this movie, where things get progressively more ridiculous and outrageous and bloody that I laugh out loud,

Because throughout the first three Screams (maybe even the fourth too) there were so many meta jokes that contributed to the irony and the breaking of the fourth wall. Besides Tori Spelling playing Sidney

after Sidney made a crack about it

while the clip of Stab makes fun of the choices made in the first Scream movie, thereby poking fun at Tori Spelling as well as at themselves

with LUKE WILSON playing Billy??

There are also things like, at the time, David Arquette (who plays Dewey) and Courtney Cox were together so having him say this line referencing David Schwimmer who is Courtney’s onscreen brother in Friends is like haha

The thesis of this installment is character assassination

and it’s done in such a generic way and it would’ve been more interesting to really lean into how serial killers are immortalized and glamorized in society and the victims have to fight to be heard but ANYWAY when Scream 2 wanted to make a commentary on being desensitized to real world violence because of film, and the way reality and fiction bleed together, it does it in a very ham-handed way but it’s outrageous and entertaining and still rooted in film

and the debate happens in the first 20 minutes

the debate about sequels doesn’t stay within the confines of the Scream/Stab universe

they actually pay homage to other movies as characters

and I think the fact that the Scream franchise was also a franchise in love with movies, which made it fun and witty and smart got lost when KW stopped writing for the movies, which is why I’m always “meh” about them now. Like the villains of this one are a family of serial killers and NO ONE is going to mention Texas Chainsaw Massacre??

Man, I miss my meta.

[lieutenant-cinnamon-roll]

CKY Boy Headcanons in the Last of Us / Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Universe - in order of survivability

Novak - sorry babe, but you are not getting past the initial outbreak. Whether that’s being out of it drunk/on drugs that he doesn’t realise someone is infected, sharing needles or just generally being in a busy city like Baltimore, he just isn’t making it. The guys potentially think he’s just in withdrawal as he starts turning. Then chaos ensues.

Bam - I cannot think of anyone worse to have in your group. He’s stubborn, he won’t take direction and he’s loud. He will do every trope from horror movies. And without money being a viable currency anymore, he is going to fold like a wet paper towel because he can’t buy his safety. He thinks he’s invincible and initially sees the whole thing as a game, until Novak turns and then suddenly it’s not fun anymore and he’s scared. The only reason he makes it past the initial outbreak is because he lives in a castle in a quiet town, and he has a hummer to get around.

Dico and Rake are interchangeable here depending on the situation. So I’ll put them in alphabetical order:

Dico - The dude is insane and I have no doubt he will be able to fight off a decent crowd (in CKY Gets Jobs he really does a number on that car with the bat). He’s not afraid and, within his own group, he’s able to keep everyone calm and in good spirits (like when he was the governor in State of Bam). Dico’s threat comes from him meeting other people outside of his group and being a total smartass at the wrong time. So, providing he keeps his mouth shut, he is likely to survive pretty damn well.

Rake - I see him as being good as a lookout or a bouncer. He’s big and intimidating, and strong. His problem is that he cannot run (see: the making of Haggard). During the initial outbreak it’s very much a case of running to survive until camps are made, so this is where he could lose. If he makes it past that by some miracle and makes it into a camp, he’ll be pretty well protected due to his chemistry knowledge to help manufacture a cure.

So yeah those two could potentially ride it out, but they could also lose pretty early on.

Raab - I put him so high because the kid can run. He’s small, fearless and I reckon he can get places others can’t. Plus, he would easily integrate with other groups because he’s got the sweetest smile and is baby. He is the ideal person to pair with a fighter, so they can fight off the zombies while Raab slips into the buildings to get supplies.

Ryan - this dude is making it to the very end. He’s just an all rounder, isn’t he? He’s strong, he’s got the ‘fuck you’ attitude, but knows when to turn on the charm to get himself out of trouble. He knows how to fix cars so transport won’t be a problem. And he would probably see the fact that he can’t shower as a bonus.

#brandon dicamillo #cky crew #dico #cky #viva la bam #jackass #bam margera #chris raab #raab himself #rake yohn #ryan dunn

[thenightling]

The name game

One slightly annoying modernism with faery lore is the notion that faeries "steal" names. You will be hard pressed to find a faery story from before the 1980s that claims faeries "steal" names. This zeitgeist construct became solidified thanks to the anime Spirited Away where many Western audiences conflated the Yōkai with European faeries, and also thanks to memes about it. Traditionally fae do not "steal" names. They want to know your true name. When a supernatural entity knows another being's true name, they can gain power over them. This is also true of a human being learning a supernatural being's true name. You see it in faery tales like Rumpelstilskin (Original German: Rumpelstilzchen). If you know a being's true name you can bind them to your will, you can summon them or you can banish them. You can curse them, cast spells on them, etc. The name isn't "stolen." It is used. In fiction this is why Harry Dresden never gives his full name of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Now here is where there is another bit of confusion. A lot of people mistake "True Name" and Birth name. Your true name is NOT necessarily the name on your Birth certificate. it is the name you most heavily associate with yourself. In the 1985 film Fright Night, the has-been horror actor embraces the persona of the character he always pretended to be in old monster movies, and validates it with "I am Peter Vincent, the great Vampire Killer!" This was not his birth name. He did not consider it his true name. In the movie you never learn his birth name. You don't have to. By the end of the film his original birth name is his deadname so you don't need it. He has become Peter Vincent. And in truth that is who he always was deep down inside. So Peter Vincent has become his true name. It would be like if Peter Cushing decided he truly was Dr. Van Helsing or if Henry Cavill discovered monsters are real and took up fighting them to protect others, and decided that he IS Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher). In Batman: Beyond a villain attempted to trick an older Bruce Wayne into thinking he was losing his mind by talking to him within his own mind. Bruce figured out it was not his own mind because he was calling him "Bruce." Bruce Wayne confesses to Terry (the active Batman in the story) that he does NOT call himself Bruce in his own head. In Bruce's mind he IS Batman and always will be, Bruce Wayne is just the disguise. So trans folk, rest assured, your Deadname is NOT your true name. This is something that bugged me about the comic The Dreaming: Waking Hours. In general i loved that comic but the protagonist, Heather After, (a trans woman) decided that "There's no such thing as a true name" when someone tried to use her dead name against her. I feel this would have been more respectful and more empowering if her chosen name was her true name. Some magical practitioners call their true name their "secret name" because it is NOT the name they use publicly. It is a well-protected name that they keep secret in their own head and only tell a select few (if any at all). This is also why Timothy Hunter in Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic is taught to say "You may call me Tim." instead of "My name is Tim." Because he is not giving away his true name. And bey giving away I don't mean they walk off with the name that he suddenly doesn't have anymore. I mean they gain the knowledge of his name. A warning though. Supernatural beings often (usually) can read your thoughts. So they usually already know your true or secret name. What they want is to hear you say it because there is power in you acknowledging it, and hearing the way you annunciate it. It's an act of validation and that's when the name can be used against you in magick. So hold your true name / Secret name close. And know that it is not necessarily your birth name. It is that name you call yourself deep down inside.

[fourtyfourcatss]

[████████ 100%] — @eijirhoe !

ִ ࣪𖤐 thank you for doing matchups with quasar !ִ ࣪𖤐

it looks like you’ve taken the hearts of…

i’m not going to lie, i was struggling with this one. but of everyone, hange zoe seemed like the best choice!

.☘︎ ݁˖ HANGE thinks you’re an enigma. they find you incredibly alluring with your idiosyncratic countenance and attitude, and your refreshing atmosphere. the ambition you carry near your passions only furthering that (by a lot). hange is a character i cannot see liking someone who is without ambition or passion of some kind. every character in aot has some kind of passion they hold deep inside their heart, and this is no different. it’s not every day someone of your caliber comes around, so you know well hange will do their best to keep you around, and keep you happy. seeing the laughter roll out your chest is something that brings more happiness to them than their research; because as much as they love research, they cannot compared to loved ones.

.☘︎ ݁˖ not only that, hange is someone who is able to help you rest easily— they are someone of great empathy that can understand the emotions within you well, and truly connect with you as a person.

.☘︎ ݁˖ dont say you dont think you have too much talents! those are just unexplored territories waiting for a time to be lit. nobody i have chosen for you thinks otherwise from this. hange will definitely draw with you, and after finding your talent for the arts, invites you out frequently and as they always do, ask you many things. hange has a thirst to understand two things: titans, and anything regarding you. lore, mythology, all of that — hange is an avid listener to anything you wish to tell them! not only that, hange is the perfect person to go to for binging horror movies together—just be prepared for a lot of exclamations! not just out of shock, but also of intrigue. the two of you definitely cuddle together under a blanket with drinks and snacks on the side, watching the latest A24 or those super scary asian films. the two of you have very comfy dates, many times basking in each other’s presences instead.

.☘︎ ݁˖ and your pagan witch aspect??? is the cherry on top??? tell them all about it

.☘︎ ݁˖ hange is your number one supporter! it feels like autumn turning to a breezy spring with them, the smell of the earth on crisp wind, decaying leaves falling, then trees becoming rejuvenated.

— runner up: ARMIN ARLET

.☘︎ ݁˖ i think you may not have expected this, but i see the potential so deep in. he absolutely favors you, especially your clear sense of justice, and despite it being not so good, the people-pleasing attitude definitely piques his curiosity. he thinks of it split in half; it showcases a more destructive trait to oneself, yet it also means you are willing to give up a lot for the people you love. diluc thinks he lost his own drive in the past, mired with the fatui staining and straining his action. you’re someone who can bring the fire in his heart out in actuality, compassionate enough to point him in the right direction to take. with you, i think the burdens of his past can be elevated, and he can properly heal. something about the vibe you give off really tells me that.

.☘︎ ݁˖ he definitely doesnt know how to express his love properly too, so definitely expect him to turn into those courting gentlemen who writes romantic letters stamped with official seals and sending you gifts anonymously. clothes you would like, expensive materials for your hobbies like canvas, paints, varnish, giving you a drink on the house whenever you visit the tavern with your friends, afraid to meet your eyes. not only that, seeing the vigor of your passion brings him a sense of both pride and hopelessness in himself. oh how much that drunk kaeya teases him! thinks hes so subtle. the knights of favonius has definitely gathered together to help the two of you get together 😭

.☘︎ ݁˖ diluc has never truly gotten into the halloween nor christmas spirit, even though his tavern is always decorated for special events like these. i think he would love embellishing the house with you at those times, since you have pulled him into that spirit again. it’s a sort of quiet and strange delight he gets, nostalgic and tingling with feelings. many times, he gets out of his own character a lot, and surprises you with sudden back hugs in order to greet you.

.☘︎ ݁˖ definitely discusses mythology with you. he has a very nice voice too, so expect him to run his hands through your hair while reading aloud for you. and as a well-bred gentleman of ragnvindr roots, the arts is something he can appreciate deeply, though he has never had more deeper interest as a young boy, starting now isnt bad! he gets very fixated with your movements many times, and i think he just silently watches like an owl while you do your things. owl diluc????

— runner up: SCARAMOUCHE, ARATAKI ITTO

.☘︎ ݁˖ ok this one, this one i had to do cmon now. the two of you slot together super well, and his protectiveness extends with you being someone he has an interest “crush” “its interest mikey.” “just say crush.” in. he’s sooo soft on the inside, tough on the exterior, he’ll treat you so damn well and be so respectful to you. you can definitely expect no sugarcoating in this relationship, draken is very honest to you, and loves indulging you. i think his boldness and brashness is something that he can use to help you further become someone you love.

.☘︎ ݁˖ he admires your loyalty and love for your friends — its something the two of you have in immense commonality. you’re someone who he can have many respect for in your characteristics. he definitely teases you out of good fun, and asks you for help when it comes to things like fashion. in his eyes, artistic talent translate to good fashion 👍🏻

.☘︎ ݁˖ you’re just so humble and so kind, and so many other things, he brags about you so often in front of his friends. absolutely shamelessly drops your name here and there. and he hopes one day you’ll see yourself the way he sees you. like in toman, you’re gonna be a celebrity fr. the vice president is very selective, he does not play in any manner when it comes to choosing the ones he surrounds himself with! for you to grab his attention, you must be someone truly out of the ordinary.

.☘︎ ݁˖ riding on him with his motorcycle feels so safe. he places his own helmet on you until you get your own (which you do fast because no way is he going on the traffics without a helmet SAFETY FIRST!)

.☘︎ ݁˖ under everything is a slight hint of guilt. he’s a gang member, and there are enemies that sometimes he cannot stop. but, he’s definitely going to put his life on the line if its to ensure your safety—yeah this never happens though because the two of you end up getting married and live happily ever after.

— runner up: SENJU KAWARAGI

[a/n] thank you sm for this matchup exchange 💕💕 i hope you enjoy!!!

#matchup exchange #aot matchup #genshin matchups #tokyo revengers matchup

[90363462]

Movie celebrates Emmett Till as beloved Black boy before lynching

November 5, 2022

The life of Emmett Till ended with a lie. 

There have been discrepancies over the decades about what was alleged to have transpired that fateful day in Chicago, Illinois, when a 14-year-old Black boy crossed paths with a white woman. He whistled at her; he said something slick at her; he assaulted her. 

But at the end of the day, it was all a lie. Even before the damning revelation directly from Carolyn Bryant — the white woman in question — would come out about her recanting her allegations while noting that there was "nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him," it was always a lie. 

There's always been something painfully unremarkable about Till's death that's informed Black people's intuition on the truth of the matter. How many Black boys before and since his murder have we heard of losing their own life after being caught on the wrong side of a white woman's tears? His death and the depraved, perverse pleasure the men who carried out his killing took into maiming Till's body, and their inevitable acquittal read like a retread of current events. 

So what was it about Till's death that nearly 70 years after his murder, his name still conjures strong emotions? Accounts of his murder are passed down to each generation of Black children like a dark inheritance. (I myself was just 13 when I was first told this horror story.) Much like the many Black boys who have been robbed of their lives by white supremacy, power has been posthumously given to Till. His spirit has been exhumed and restored to a state of cultural immortality. 

Mamie Till-Mobley, portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler, insisted on an open casket for her murdered son's funeral so people could see what 14-year-old Emmett looked like after being tortured and lynched. (Lynsey Weatherspoon/Orion Pictures)

The recently released film "Till" is the latest in the excavation of the late teen's life, this time from the perspective of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler). who dedicated her life to activism after her son's death. Mamie famously insisted on having an open casket funeral, forcing the world to see what it had done to her son.

"Till" follows Mamie's turn to activism. The role of the mother in the movement has become a vital figure within the post-Black Lives Matter era, as the mothers of state violence victims turn their grief into a journey of being coerced into mining their children's death for moral importance. Mamie's actions, however, were unprecedented. 

The film does its best to capture the weight of Mamie's decision, focusing less on the brutality and gore of the events that transpired and more on Mamie's life following the tragic events. There's been continued discourse on the responsibility of artists when depicting the horrors of white supremacy and the line between telling the truth and overindulging in showing the blood and the guts of racism. The recent Netflix series "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story", which depicts the crimes of the infamous serial killer that disproportionately targeted queer Black and brown men, has been heavily criticized with even members of some of the victims' family condemning the series for its glorification of Dahmer. 

Broad resistance to depictions of the brutality of white supremacy in the name of Black joy, flattens Blackness in the same way many critics have said endless portrayals of violence does. 

Even in our efforts to keep Till's memory alive, we often render him into a mere symbol — static, permanently fixed as inanimate in our collective memory. Till's name has been invoked often as a rhetorical device, used euphemistically to talk about Black boys who have been caught on the wrong side of a white woman's tears. His lynching has been creditedwith kickstarting what would become the civil rights movement. 

Mamie's decision to have an open casket was a reminder to the world that there was a life that used to animate her son's body. Before his head had been beaten and swollen beyond recognition, there was a shy boyish smile that used to stretch across Till's face. He was a 14-year-old who loved and was loved. Emmett was no martyr. He was Mamie's son.

[wingedvow]

Does Odette see things with a "beginning" and an "ending" or she does believe in something "eternal"? Like when she asked to Derek if he'll love her until she dies and he replied "Beyond that". Depending beliefs, some think you find the people you love again in an afterlife while others believe in reincarnation and you find that person you loved over and over again. Is Odette too practical to consider such possibilities? Or is she too attached to live to even consider beyond that? Feel free to go on!

That's a great question because it's one of the things I think about often, as Odette and I are polar opposites on this topic. I'm someone who's so spiritual and attuned to a higher power, with the idea of an eternal afterlife forever on my mind...I'm not tied at all to earth or anything that might materially tie me to this plane. Odette is the inverse of this, despite what one might think.

I told myself, when I originally set about in creating this blog, to uphold two guiding principles- first and foremost, to make Odette a coherent character and blend all the different versions we see in her film into one person. I wanted everything to be authentic and fall into place, without contradicting canon despite the fact that canon contradicts canon at times. I also didn't want myself interfering with my characterization for her at all, because she's her own thing and she's not me and I'm not her, so I have to keep her as her own person with no influence of my own character. This has been the most difficult because, out of all the muses I've ever played, she's the most innately different to me personally probably.

Everything you need to know about Odette is in the opening number. All of the multitudes that she contains that a writer can tap into to build upon are within that song- her spirit, her sensitive core, her dynamic nature. Now, despite the fact that she sings Far Longer Than Forever, she is someone who thinks in a finite way. I think she's someone who's been so traumatized by the treatment she received growing up (mainly in her awkward stage) that she never wants to relieve it and is forever evaluating matters in a way that prevents her lived experience to revert to the horrors she faced growing up that she's deeply terrified and plagued by. Where Derek is fantastical, she behaves and reacts in a more grounded, earthly way. It doesn't matter if he ultimately loves her- if he fails to verbalize the depth of his sentiment in that exact moment, she's leaving and she'll return when, and only when, he finally is able to express to her how he feels in terms she's comfortable with. She isn't someone who's going to tie herself to a sinking ship because she knows the ultimate outcome. She lives life in the now and she thinks about things in the way they affect her in that exact moment in this exact life. That's exact why, with Bridget for instance, she doesn't begrudge her by the end of the movie as I would. Where I would see a bad seed that I'd never want to be around, despite how great her exhibited behavior is in the current moment, Odette only sees the actions as they currently are. That's why she allowed Bridget to hold the train of her wedding gown- she understands that Bridget is malleable and the only way she was behaving as she was previously was because she was under Rothbart's thumb. She's able to forgive her and start anew, granted that Bridget behaves accordingly- and she does, which is what builds their friendship. And, with all due respect, that genuinely could never be me!

Odette also risks disappointing those around her because she'll forever be true to herself and her wants and her desires in that specific moment. She considers nothing about what happens after death or why something means something else, but she deals with the cold, hard truth of what's at hand currently and has an almost scientific approach to life- which is why she's able to get her hands dirty and heal wounds and animals with broken bones, etc, in a way I never could. I also think that, after being treated so poorly for being a tomboy at one point, that's why she studies how to display performative femininity to get exactly what she wants as though it's a science- nothing she's genuinely living in, but measuring certain quantifications of what society deems as appropriate or worthy of clout and being able to succeed through her own intelligent; which is also why I think she puts such low stock into someone liking her beauty, since she knows it's an artifice that she created to adhere to the culture in which she lives.

#- sure as the dawn brings the sunrise / #ask #anonymous #thank you so much for asking #i genuinely want this blog to do better #but it's probably the one i'm least connected to because there's no life on here

[k1r0sl1mb0]

OKAY SO INTRODUCTION POST BC I FORGOR TO MAKE ONE EARLIER‼️

Hi! I'm Milo/Robyn, I go by ANY pronouns and titles, feel free to call me anything basically!!! I'm genderfluid, bisexual and polyamorous‼️ I'm still a minor so please no NSFW asks or messages [except for things like horror and stuff]

I'm neurodivergent and I tend to age regress every now and then [though you won't see that when I'm on Tumblr, except for maybe reblogs of agere posts]!! I'm also a therian and I work with deities, spirits, etc.

My current obsessions are Submas, The Stanley Parable, Presentable Liberty, Exoptable money and Community‼️

DNI IF:

You're racist/homophobic/transphobic/etc.

You actively support proshipping [this includes incest, pedophilia and many other terrible things.] [[Yes this also means I'm 100% against blankshipping, it's gross and weird!!]

You invalidate neurodivergency and any other mental and physical disabilities.

You're actively against furries/therians

You support age regression in a NSFW way [e.g: DD/LG] it's gross.

You're against any and all religions [not supporting the idea of a certain religion is okay!! Just don't actively harrass anyone of any religion.]

If you're part of the Harry Potter fandom [I don't support JKR at all and Harry Potter stans are terrifying]

You still believe in cringe culture, it's dead and you know it smh!!

You're under 12 years old [I'm pretty sure that's also not allowed on Tumblr in general]

PLEASE DO INTERACT:

If you're part of the Submas, Presentable liberty, Stanley Parable and Community fandom!

If you're also a therian or furry!! I really need more therian friends :]

If you work with Lucifer, Hermes, Ares and Hades!!

If you support age regression [only the SFW kind‼️]

If you like horror and any type of horror related movies, series and games!!

Feel free to ask me anything as well, as long as it fits within my boundaries! If you want to ramble you can always do so in my inbox and messages!! I'm always willing to listen to your special interests <33

Lmk if you want to be friends too, I might be bad at keeping up with contact every now and then but I do really care and if you're already my friend do always know that ily [/p] and ur amazing!!!

If I missed anything please lmk!

#the raccoon speaks #intro post #important #presentable liberty #deity work #the stanley parable #Submas #community nbc #spirituality #therian #agere community

[always-andromeda]

my thoughts on velvet buzzsaw (2019)

non-spoiler section!!

Right off the bat I'm going to say that I was genuinely excited within the first ten minutes of starting this one. The setting is one that I'm fairly familiar with and the entire set-up is perfect for lots of commentary on the art world and commerce.

However, it was somewhat disappointing by the end. This movie is labelled as a horror movie? But I never found it particularly scary or even simply unsettling? While I still enjoyed watching it, the entire time I was thinking about how it could've been made into so much more. While it was entertaining, it was nothing incredibly special. Velvet Buzzsaw is a movie that tries very hard to say something meaningful but doesn't quite make it.

my final thoughts:

A solid 6/10 movie. I would recommend it if you lower your expectations; don't go into it expecting intelligent commentary or effective uses of horror. It's just a good goofy watch and Jake is wonderful in it.

Morf Vandewalt, my beloved 💗✨

❗️spoiler section under the cut❗️

Velvet Buzzsaw was a very conflicting watch for me. On one side, I liked the concept and the characters but hated the execution of it all. Each character is distinct and vividly played, which I think is vital for movies like these where basically everyone dies. But there's never really a clear purpose for these caricatures other than haha, art snobs are funny! Which, they are, don’t get me wrong. But like…that’s such a surface level thing to pick at?

I read an article from the director where he talked about his inspiration for the film. It seems that he went into the movie with the intent of showing how dangerous it can be to view art as more of a commodity than an expression of someone's soul. And that is a worthy subject to explore. The idea of the spirit of a tortured artist going after the people who strive to exploit his pain? Interesting. But the movie never really says anything profound about this. It just tells you, hey, this artist was fucked up!!!! Guess the art is just gonna murder people now lmao.

Any bits of actual horror is extremely underwhelming. For example, they say once that the artist literally mixed his own blood into the paintings? And they completely gloss over that and move on. EXCUSE ME, WHAT? THAT COULD BE SO HORRIFYING TO EXPLORE?? BUT THEN THEY DIDN’T. Even the death scenes…the only one that really resonated with me was Gretchen’s. But that’s only because of how people reacted to her body once she was found. The rest of the deaths are pretty underwhelming.

There’s so much that could’ve been done with this concept. Because the director is right! I think a modern art museum is such an interesting setting for a horror movie. There’s such an idea of art coming from pain and pain being profitable. Because humans love dissecting the human experience, the more gruesome the better, typically. And here you have all of these characters that get too wrapped up in commodifying art. None of the characters are allowed to grow from these failings. Which is fine in a normal slasher. But this movie acts as if it’s an elevated horror. It just seems very confused about whether it wants to be a goofy horror movie or something profound.

Now that I’ve gotten my complaining done, I’ll talk about my favorite parts. First and foremost being Jake Gyllenhaal. With all of my biases removed, this man put his entire ass into playing Morf and you can tell. He’s easily the best realized character and I am absolutely disappointed that he wasn’t allowed to make it through the movie. #JusticeForMorf

Honorable mentions: John Malkovitch as Piers, Toni Collette as Gretchen, and Zawe Ashton as Josephina. They absolutely understood the assignment and I loved their performances. I almost wish there was a little more of John Malkovitch specifically because his portrayal of Piers was so intriguing? He plays an aging artist who seems to be having trouble keeping up with the modern art scene and seeing how jaded he is in the face of the commercialism was so interesting and I wish there was more of it.

Overall…this was such a painfully mediocre watch? I was entertained enough, but I wish it had pushed the envelope. I wish this was a movie that earned the pretentiousness that it uses. Extra props, however, for giving me a brand new Jake Gyllenhaal character that I am in love with. ❤️🥰

#˚ʚ meda reviews ɞ˚

[cookietastic]

Thank you @dykesynthezoid

This seemed fun so I'll try it out 😭

3 ships:

1. Lawrusso- I'm a basic bitch. Leave me alone😭. Come on fam it's rivals mixed in with 35 year history mixed in with in with the problem with toxic masculinity mixed in with breaking the cycle of abuse mixed in with different ways of coping and realizing they aren't healthy (ex: Johnny drinking and Daniel totally thinking that pretending everything is fine or going from 2-10 VERY fast)- Just smacking Lawrusso on the head like " this bad boy can fit so much shit-damn go to therapy together."

2. Samtory- Wanna rewatch the series again and focus on them more really adore them/love their dynamic. Like it's funny walking into the show and seeing Robby and Miguel interacting and going on this is supposed to be our Johnny and Daniel? And then you see Tory and Sam interacting and you're like not only is this supposed to be our Daniel and Johnny but also- hello?👀

3. I have list, but to mix it up with different fandom- Grayghost- Danny, and Val really was that end-game feeling. I remember jokingly saying they had to keep Val out of season 3 as much as possible because if Danny even made eye contact for more than 1 minute, that would be it. It's funny cause they seem like the most natural relationship out of the whole show, yet the one they want people to like last minute is the one they had a whole episode on why they shouldn't be together/not ready for that.

1st ever ship:

Damn- I don't know to judge this one. Cause it can range from anywhere to I thought they should be together when I first saw something or searched content for it. Going with Alice and Kyo from Alice the 19th aka the manga set I found at goodwill at 12-

I am 1000% sure 12-year-old me should have not been reading this with all the dark shit happening

Last song:

Little too cringe to put here lmao

Currently reading:

Well listening to- Paper Backs From Hell by Grady Hendrix talks about the history of Horror from paper backs in the 1970s-1980s and dealing with topics of art on the covers grabbing your attention as well as the wild stories within them.

Little book summary

Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades . . . if you dare. Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, plus many more who’ve faded into obscurity.

Last movie:

I was supposed to watch Friday the 13th yesterday

I could be wrong cause my friend and I saw a bunch of movies that weekend but "Lost cat corona," which now has one of my favorite movie quotes said/top 10, aka "HAVE YOU SEEN MY FUCKING CAT?"

Currently consuming:

Crustables and gummies fruit snacks- Because I have the diet of a 4th grader on summer vacation

Currently watching:

Art videos- I like listening to things while drawing, and artists rambling about stories or their own art experiences are one of them.

Currently craving:

Go Go Curry 😭

I'm always so happy when I get to do these things/when people tag me! But feel like I'm annoying when tagging people- Just know you don't have to do this! 😭

@we-serve-spirits @babyhellboy @schnuffel-danny @snaileo @raveyardantics @they-bite

#Fun little ask game for those who want to click more to see!

[septembersghost]

I was trying to tell a friend once about how I can handle scary films but not true crime and they got judgy to me about it, but it's a sensitive topic to me and hard to explain the difference

your friend shouldn't have been judgmental to you about what you find upsetting or your own boundaries, i'm sorry they reacted unkindly like that. there's nothing wrong with not being able to handle certain topics/media and asserting your limits is actually a good and healthily protective thing!

so, from my experience, a difficulty i have is the difference in suspension of disbelief. when we're watching a scary movie, there's always an awareness that it's fiction - and this has even been studied, that being afraid within complete safety, where you can switch it off, turn the lights on, have the knowledge that it's not real, can be healthy in working through fear. and i'm still pretty careful with what i can and can't handle because i am SO sensitive and prone to anxiety/intrusive thoughts/nightmares. i was a very sheltered/innocent, soft-hearted/emotional child, and to this day as a spinster lady a lot of that holds true because it's my natural disposition. that said, i also leaned into eerie aesthetics and spookiness (also see: previously discussed odd happenings we experienced irl) and gothic romanticism and classical horror novels/film (which isn't quite the same as more graphic modern horror), and continue to enjoy that. as is evident here at spooky season!

i was exposed to a lot of horror when i was a teen because my ex-best friend was obsessed (the two of us watched countless horror movies and musicals lmao that tells you a lot), so it upped my threshold for a while, but it's shifted back down to cautious sensitivity over the years. (which i realize sounds counterintuitive due to a bunch of my favorite shows that i post on here having horror genre roots lol, let's not unpack that. movies tend to affect me differently because it can be a lot of intensely upsetting content packed into a short time, whereas with a show you build a sense of familiarity/connectivity/comfort because you get to know the characters so well, which for me, makes it more about them and their stories than it does the sense of fear.) i especially struggle to handle media with any animal ab*se or tort*re p*rn or most s/a, and that's my responsibility to gauge.

anyway, when i'm watching, say, a slasher film, i know that's not real, and every actor was fine and went home safely. when i'm watching vampires, i know they're not real (and i was terrified of them when i was little! ghosts and i were mostly cool, vampires were the proverbial monster in my closet, my initial interest in them was a facet of trying to conquer that fear). or when i'm watching, to call myself out on something i've written/thought a lot about/been invested in, dexter, there's an element of fantasy. dex is a serial killer, but also an antihero and essentially a vigilante, taking out far worse people. there's a vicarious sense of satisfaction in that, because psychologically some part of us wishes we could stop bad people from doing bad things. (and of course the tragedy from his trauma and his actions becomes inability to keep his loved ones safe from that darkness and violence bleeding into his life.) i've certainly seen my fair share of crime procedurals too (bones! castle when it was good! and so on), and i've read mysteries my whole life, starting with nancy drew and sherlock holmes, then agatha christie, etc, and grew up watching mysteries with my mom too (adaptations of all the aforementioned. the thin man and assorted film noir and hitchcock. remington steele, my formative beloved!). there are also, notably, solutions in fiction - mysteries are solved, spirits are exorcised, monsters are stopped, masks are removed, the sun comes out again (most of the time). we accept final girls as victorious survivors. we know what the themes and symbolisms are, we expect some sense of catharsis.

but with true crime...it's a lot more complicated. my suspension of disbelief evaporates because i know, while the actors may be okay, the very real living beings involved are not. it always leaves me with this scratchy feeling of that darkness, like residue that clings. (and it's not like i never watch it - i watched candy earlier this year, because the case is almost bewildering and i wanted to see how they handled it, and i like several of the actors; i watched like half of under the banner of heaven, which was very unsettling. i don't tend to do the real serial killer thing because it's typically too gruesome and inhumane for me. fiction has been the only place i can stand that topic being tackled.) obviously, that's going to be different for every person, and like i said previously, it's very complex in handling those stories with respect and appropriate care for victims and not sensationalism of the perpetrator or exploitation of events. when something is done in a way that feels wrong or damaging, we're certainly allowed to acknowledge and push back against that. it gets really tricky and difficult, that line of freedom in art not crossing into traumatization, and i don't know what the solution for that is, if there even is one. ultimately all we can do is make the choices that feel right for us as far as choosing to engage or not, knowing what will be detrimental to our mental health, and keeping the realities in mind when necessary. it IS a sensitive topic, and you are always allowed to say no, to avoid things, and to put yourself first.

#anonymous #letterbox #sorry this is long and rambly i have a lot of feelings

[neonscandal]

9 Anime to Watch if You Want to Feel Like 👇🏾

Special October Edition

While I was going to keep going with a theme of 6's for the month (still may), I figure one list in the spirit of my usual recs should be fine. Especially when you have less than 20 days to get your fill of spooky horror anime. With these recommendations, there will be blood! Below are a few short series/movies to give a visual to whatever goes bump in the night. Whether rooted in the supernatural or science fiction, these recommendations will be bloody and, at times, hopeless. While there's a blanket warning for blood and gore for the below, most if not all are intended for mature audiences so there may be additional triggers.

I included 🚩 for anything that may have content that includes or alludes to SA or uncomfortable situations therein for reference.

🚩 Deadman Wonderland (series + ovas)

Filed under: "That first episode tho"

Not sure what a 9th grader could do to deserve what happens in the first episode of Deadman but, suffice to say, we spend the whole season wondering. MC Ganta stands trial for a crime he didn't commit and forced to "live" out a sentence at a private prison that's been turned into a bloody amusement park where prisoners are used as... live entertainment for the desensitized masses. If that weren't already inhumane enough, the neon sign of a prison is actually hiding something much more sinister within its walls, something, in fact, it can just barely contain..

Sub, Dub | Funimation, Crunchyroll

🚩 Parasyte: The Maxim (series)

Body horror is an obvious byproduct of what happens when aliens begin to take human hosts. More jarring is the fact that these parasites seamlessly blend in with the rest of the population to better walk and feed among us. This series follows one meek man who happens to escape total control but cannot escape detection by other parasites. Is he and his now symbiotic companion going to be enough to eradicate this growing infestation?

Sub, Dub | Hulu, Prime Video, HiDive, Crunchyroll

🚩 Gantz (series + movie)

What if the afterlife was simultaneously woven with the land of the living? I'll start by saying that this phenomena isn't satisfactorily explained but you won't care because there's so many other unnerving things that happen in tandem with this discovery that you're just along for the ride. While the main objective of those selected by Gantz is to complete missions targeting other worldly beings.. the show also takes care to demonstrate how callous and grotesque humans can be as well.

Sub, Dub | Funimation (anime), Netflix (0)

🚩 Junji Ito Collection (series)

Not every episode in this anthology will scare you, per se, but each individual story line is bound to yield disgust and/or discomfort. You've likely seen the meme comparisons of Junji Ito personally being the polar opposite of Hayao Miyazaki... which translates directly to their corresponding work as well. Story lines encompass the occult, the twisted and the revolting.

Sub, Dub | Crunchyroll, Funimation

🚩 The Future Diary (series)

Filed under: "I love the kind of women that will actually just kill me"

My Explaining Anime BADLY description would simply be Supernatural "Battle Royale" but the main story is much more sinister than that. With that reference in mind, however, expect gore and the persisting sense that there is no one who main character Yuki can really trust. If he wants to survive, that is. The... situation the main characters find themselves in is one layer of the story but the heavy hitters involved all have their own reasons for playing along. For a timid kid like Yuki, he never really sees it coming. Doesn't take long for him to become wise in the way of the world as he fumbles his way through.

Sub, Dub | Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (series + summary movies)

Filed under: "I love the kind of women that will actually just kill me"

One thing about me? In the horror genre, I love zombies which is a pretty accurate definition for kabane which have forced the last of humanity to take shelter behind walls and move about using trains that connect different clans (it's giving Snowpiercer?). I've seen people make the comparison between Kabaneri and Attack on Titan which.. not sure I see aside from the eating humans thing and the uncharacteristically beautiful animation despite the genre. But if that comparison will get you to tune in, let me also add that it is morsel sized.

Sub, Dub | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Prime Video, Netflix

Another (series)

I don't care that I just recommended it on this list. I recommended it irl yesterday and when a few of my rec's weren't available to stream, figured this was a perfect replacement.

Imagine being the new kid in a strange town and seeing things that no one dares to speak of? You've spoken to the lonely girl who seems to haunt your class but, as no one else acknowledges her, you start to question whether it's all in your head. As this question persists, you come to realize that there was a reason some things went without being said except it's too late. So begins the Calamity which is guaranteed to gruesomely take the lives of countless people connected to the cursed 3rd class of 9th year. For an animated series, it deliciously builds up suspense but, more than that, is hard to stop watching. I stayed up until 4:30A finishing this series the first time I watched it because you'll find that you too need to know the root of the creepy mystery.

Sub | Crunchyroll

🚩 Seoul Station (movie)

So when I say I love zombies.. it's no surprise that this movie would find its way on this list. The movie earns a spot for a few reasons. 1) it's a prequel to Train to Busan; 2) the poignancy of the beginning touting the need for universal welfare while the person advocating for it literally ignores the plight of the unhoused population which causes a ripple effect and continues throughout the movie; 3) it's an underdog story. This is the only media I can recall that focuses on the lower class in this way and at first I didn't like the idea of stigmatizing the houseless but the message is actually buried in the fact that the scourge of a virus spreads exponentially because many of the tertiary support characters regard the unhoused so inhumanely. As such, they don't take heed as monsters begin to horde. Overall, it's a hopeless story (as many zombie stories are) but compounded by the fact that the main characters were struggling to thrive before the outbreak. So you have this need to survive the apocalypse while simultaneously combatting classism and other unresolved personal issues from your past. How does one endure? The movie isn't especially gorey but what adds a bit of unsettling-ness to the overall visual is the erratic animation of those who aren't infected. Or perhaps they are animated with such care to illustrate every single breath, every minute movement. You'll have to see for yourself and tell me what you think!

Sub | Freevee

Higurashi: When They Cry (series + ovas)

Background: The first time I tried watching this series, my friends and I were immediately put off by the saccharinely sweet voices and cloying illustration style and we didn't get far into the episode or bother to understand what we were watching.

Getting to the Point: As someone who can't help but finish what I start, when I returned to the series, those same attributes are exactly what makes what transpires so unsettling. Sickeningly innocent characters are offset by such dissonant (and cyclical) violence. Get through the Watanagashi festival and go beyond that sweet veneer because hospitality isn't the only thing that cultivates... small town charm✨ in this horror mystery series. While this is a bit of a longer recommendation (i.e. Gou is a continuation of prequel OVA's).. seek out what you'd like and let me know what you think. If this doesn't pique your interest, I included some ‼️ guidance for watching a bit below where to find the anime and an... ⚠️ indirect spoiler further down but only if you really want to know.

Sub/Dub | Funimation, Crunchyroll, Hulu

‼️ Guidance for viewing, pay attention to the calendar dates as you’re watching because the timeline is inky.

⚠️ Indirect spoiler? My Explaining Anime Badly description of this show uncharacteristically requires reference from live action media. This show is as if "Reservoir Dogs" Quentin Tarantino era directed “Midsommar”. With a component (I won't say of what) of “The Future Diary” anime sprinkled in. Also, my initial last rec was Corpse Party: Tortured Souls but HiDive recently removed it T-T

#neon recs #i love the kind of woman that will actually just kill me #that first episode tho #explaining anime badly #horror anime #anime #manga #gore anime #deadman wonderland #ganta igarashi #parasyte #parasyte the maxim #another #shinichi izumi #migi #gantz #kei kurono #masaru kato #junji ito #the future diary #mirai nikki #yukiteru amano #yuno gasai #mei misaki #kabaneri of the iron fortress #seoul station #zombie anime #higurashi when they cry #corpse party: tortured souls