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cleolinda · 7 months

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The Scariest Movie I Ever Saw in a Theater: The Ring

I'll tell you up front that the story I'm going to tell you is about "The Ring (2002)," in the sense that it is about The Ring in the year 2002.

See, I don't know what The Scariest Movie Ever is. A quick google says that the consensus is The Exorcist (I haven't seen it, because I never felt like scheduling a day to freak myself the entire fuck out). But horror is specific, and not just to a person, but to a time and place, even. When I saw The Shining as a teenager in a well-lit living room with other people, I didn't even really flinch, but I bet it would play very differently to me now. I don’t think The Ring is at the top of anyone’s list, but twenty years ago, I had a personal interest in it—at the time, I was running a dinky little Geocities site devoted to movie news. Links curated and compiled from all the other, bigger sites I followed—basically, it was the linkspam format I have used on multiple platforms, including here on Sundays. And so, as someone who followed theatrical releases pretty closely for two or three years, I saw the trailer for The Ring, and I immediately knew it was going to be huge.

To locate you in time, this was just after three self-satirizing Scream movies and the Overcomplicated Serial Killer films of the '90s. The Ring was something completely different: chill aqua-blue color grading a good 5-6 years before Twilight; a mournful Hans Zimmer score; no jokes, no quips; and a slow, inexorable sense of doom. Grief, even, given that the movie begins with the death of the main character's niece. What immediately struck me about the first trailer was 1) the melancholy of it, and 2) how much it doesn't explain. Onscreen, you get the title cards,

THERE IS A VIDEOTAPE IF YOU WATCH IT SEVEN DAYS LATER YOU DIE

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Concise! Understandable! A woman (Naomi Watts) is freaking out upon discovering that her young son has just watched it! Admirable job setting up the premise and the stakes of this entire movie in thirty seconds flat, without even any dialogue. That's all you need to know, and thus, the remaining minute of the trailer can do whatever it wants, and what it wants to do is be fucking weird. Echoing voices, TV static, a closeup of a horse's eye, ladders, a girl with dark hair, people reacting to things we don't see, drippy doorknobs, rain. Characters don't give us the whole plot in convenient soundbites of dialogue (like they do in a later trailer); we just hear lines, overlapping, murmured out of context—

did you see it in your head? she talks to you... leading you somewhere... showing you the horses... you saw it. did you see it in your head? she shows me things. Everyone suffers.

That you saw it has lived in my head ever since, and not once have I charged it rent. But the "best" part is Naomi Watts screaming at the end, because you don't hear her voice; you only hear this heartless telephonic beeeeeeep. It's 2002 and I'm watching this trailer, thinking, I have no idea what the fuck I just saw. This is going to be huge.

And it was, to the tune of $249 million on a $48M budget.

At risk of recapping what you might already know, Ringu, aka Ring, is a media franchise that spiraled out from a trio of Koji Suzuki novels into Hideo Nakata's film Ringu (1998), a landmark of Japanese horror, plus several other movies, some TV series, many comics, and even a couple of video games. The overarching story is about a murdered girl/vengeful ghost named Sadako Yamamura whose rage and pain have created a cursed video tape, you watch it and you die unless you pass the tape around like a virus, seven daaaaays, etc.

The "ring" in question is the rim of a well. Keep that well in mind.

The movie I saw is the U.S. remake, which itself had two sequels. (The iconic Sadako is now named Samara Morgan. Keep her in mind, too.) Director Gore Verbinski moved from The Ring to Pirates of the the Caribbean (!), and so Hideo Nakata himself would direct The Ring Two. I... honestly have only seen the first one. And I was right, it was huge, and it kicked off the American J-Horror Remake genre, for better or worse. But what gets forgotten about The Ring is its marketing campaign, which I followed pretty closely for my doofy little news site.

It was inspired.

The story of The Ring is partly the story of the sea change in the media landscape—how we watch movies. And the story of its marketing is a picture of the very last years before social media changed the wilderness of the internet into something that feels so big, like a billion people could see anything we say, and yet so small—only a tame handful of places to say it, owned by three or four companies, and corraled by algorithms.

Back around 1997-1998 or so, I worked at a video store (Movie Gallery, where the hits were there then, guaranteed) for about a year and a half. By the time I left, we had started adding DVDs to the VHS tapes on the shelves, but we hadn't replaced the entire stock. Video stores might have transitioned fully to DVD by 2002, I'm not sure, but people still commonly had both VCRs and DVD players in their homes. And I remember that The Ring was sold in both formats when it eventually hit home video. Which is to say—you know the analog horror genre today? Marble Hornets, Local 58, The Mandela Catalogue?

Analog horror is commonly characterized by low-fidelity graphics, cryptic messages, and visual styles reminiscent of late 20th-century television and analog recordings. This is done to match the setting, as analog horror works are typically set between the 1960s and 1990s. The name "analog horror" comes from the genre's aesthetic incorporation of elements related to analog electronics, such as analog television and VHS, the latter being an analog method of recording video.

Okay, but this is just what home media was like, and 2002 was at the very tail end of that—boxy black VHS tapes that degraded with time and reuse were just how we lived. At the same time, I'd been using CDs for music since about 1991, and all our software installs came on CD-ROM discs; a "mixtape" by that time had shifted to mean a rewriteable CD rather than a cassette tape. In college, I—well, I'll plead the Fifth as to whether I downloaded mp3s via Napster, but I was also taping Mystery Science Theater 3000 on VHS over the weekends. It was Every Format Everywhere, All At Once, and we kept half a dozen kinds of players around for them. Here in 2023, we stream and download everything invisibly, unless we choose to engage in format nostalgia. (I've already run into the problem of Apple Music deleting songs I really liked, due to this or that licensing issue, because I was really only renting them.) The year The Ring hit theaters was the edge of a last shimmering gasp of physical media where iTunes had only come into being the year before, and iridescent discs were still mostly what we used, but cassettes, both video and audio, were still viable. And so, people did not think it was terribly weird when they started finding unlabeled VHS tapes on their windshields.

Movieweb, quoting TikTok user astro_nina:

"Their marketing strategy was essentially 'let's get this tape viewed by as many people as possible without these people being aware of what this is, sort of raising intrigue," she says. One way they achieved this was by airing the tape, which allegedly marks its viewers for death within seven days, as a commercial with no context. The video would air between late-night programming "with no words, no mention of a movie, for like a month...so people would run into it and it would just go on to the next thing, and people would be like, 'what the f--k is this?'"

I remember seeing the Cursed Video as an unexplained ad at least twice, by the way. That TikTok also indicates that DreamWorks straight-up sent copies of the tape to Hot Topic stores, as well as planting them under actual movie theater seats. While running my movie site, I heard at least one story of someone finding a tape on the sink counter of a restroom at a club. Did the marketing department actually plant tapes in bathrooms—or did a freaked-out recipient leave it there, hoping to dodge the "curse"?

(I haven't embedded the Cursed Video here, by the way—but I could have. If you'd like to see the American take on it, you can watch both the full version and the shorter variant that appeared in the movie itself. A text description of what the fuck you're even looking at is here [content note for both: blood, insects, animal death, body horror, and suicide by falling]. The original version from the Japanese film is shorter, and it's eerie rather than gruesome.)

BUT WAIT, THERE WAS MORE: DreamWorks had something of an alternate-reality campaign going with a handful of in-character websites. This was only a year after Warner Bros. ran the groundbreaking "The Beast" ARG for A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: "Ultimately, fifty websites with a total of about one thousand pages were created for the [A.I.] game." (I lurked in the Cloudmakers Yahoo group.) Marketing for The Ring did not go anywhere that in depth, nor did it need to; it was both a smaller film and a smaller story. I saw at least two “personal” websites (seemingly amateur and a little tacky, like my own), but the one I particularly remember was about someone who owned/trained horses? I'm not sure if it was meant to be the actual Anna Morgan character—Samara's mother—or maybe someone who had noticed that the Morgans' horses were disturbed? I'm not even sure anyone even remembers this but me. Reddit users dug up a few other archived websites, but they're about Sadako, the curse and/or videotape; they aren't as subtle or character-oriented as the site I remember. (Honestly, I wonder if weird shit like "What Scares Me" or "SEVEN DAYS TO LIVE" were made by fans rather than a marketing department, but who knows.)

[The “About” page from Seven Days to Live on the Internet Archive.]

[The entirety of An Open Letter on the Internet Archive. “UPDATE” is a now-blank pop-up. I would bet $5 that it was originally a pop-up of the cursed video.]

I need to point out here that Facebook did not exist in 2002. It would not exist for another two years, and Twitter wouldn't exist until 2006. Even MySpace was not a thing until the next year. I didn't start my Livejournal until October of 2003. What we had, for the most part, were independent forums and blogs. We also had Creepy Internet Fiction like "The Dionaea House" and "Ted the Caver"; their use of the blog format, of people out there seemingly living their lives until something fucked up went down, gave the stories the shape of reality. And it helped that these blogs had comment sections, sure—sometimes more story unfolded there—but for the most part, an author could "abandon" a blog, and you'd just find the story there via word of mouth. Like the Ring blogs I remember, it wouldn't seem strange if no one replied to you, whereas today, you'd have to hire a writer to sit on Twitter, or Reddit, or even Tumblr, and interact with people in character. Could you do something like The Ring's mysterious, weird-ass blogs today? Would anyone even notice?

So: It's 2002, my head is full of Alternate Reality and eerie images and you saw it, and I'm hype as hell to go out and see The Ring. I'm perfectly happy to go see movies by myself, so I went in the early afternoon (best time to get a good seat). The movie ended up being a sleeper hit, and the first weekend, the public was still sleeping on it, so there were only 7-8 other people in that theater, grouped in maybe two clusters. I was off in my own little pool of darkness in the upper right quadrant. Functionally, once the lights went down, I was alone.

Despite some middling reviews at the time, The Ring is something of a horror classic nowadays. If you want a scary movie this Spooky Season, check out The Ring. Or don't, because it nearly killed me.

We're at the last, I don't know, third of the movie? And Our Heroine has tracked down the origin of the Cursed Videotape to some creepy mountain motel or whatever. SPOILER, it turns out that it was built over the Cursed Well (everything in this movie is cursed) that Our Villain was thrown into—that's why Sadako/Samara is a vengeful wet murder ghost crawling out of TVs now. While investigating this decrepit hotel room, intrepid journalist Rachel and her, who is it, her ex-husband? her kid's dad, idk, discover the well under the creaky old floorboards. And then, wouldn't you know it,

NAOMI WATTS FALLS INTO THE WELL

NAOMI WATTS FALLS INTO THE FUCKING WELL

THAT'S WHERE SAMARA'S BODY IS

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[The rather slapstick moment when Rachel falls into the well. Does not include what actually happens next.]

I go absolutely rigid in my seat. Naomi Watts is splashing around this dark-ass death swamp of a well and I know, with as much certainty as I have ever known anything in my life, that Samara is about to pop up in all her pasty, waterlogged glory. All the sad creepy dread, all the desperation to figure out what the fuck all that shit on the tape was and stop Samara from killing Rachel's son, all the horrible contorted victim faces, all the alternate reality I’ve been soaking in, it has all come to this. I have to leave the theater. I cannot be having with this. I have to be gone from this place. My legs do not work. I cannot feel them. I am frozen. I want nothing more in this life or any other to get up and leave this cavernous pitch-black room, and I cannot. I start praying for death. I want you to understand that I am not trying to be flippant or humorous. This is genuinely what went through my head. I was too scared to even think, "You know, you could just pray to pass out or for motion to return to your limbs or something." No, I sat there in The Ring thinking, Please for the love of all mercy just let me cease being.

You know that scene in Mulholland Drive (also starring Naomi Watts)? Winkie's diner and the EXCRUCIATING tension? It was a little like that, except I wasn't watching it, I was experiencing it, and Samara was my dirt monster out behind the diner.

Except that the jump scare didn't actually happen. I mean, yes, Rachel finds Samara's body down there, but—I don't remember exactly, please don't make me go watch it again to tell you what actually happens. It's played more sympathetically on Rachel's part, as I recall, and she and her ex get Samara's body out so that she (Samara) can have a proper burial.

And then it turns out that this is not the end of the movie. It turns out that Rachel has Fucked Up.

I think I was relatively okay through the rest of it, although the climax is Samara emerging from a TV in her full glitching swampy glory to scare [SPOILER] to death. I don't recall praying for death twice. There's a point when you're so exhausted from fear chemicals that you're like, yeah, this might as well happen. Bring it, Soggy. I did have a hard time prying myself out of that seat afterwards, though, and my mom says that when I got home, I had the classic thousand-yard stare. How was the movie?

"It was great," I said, and I meant it.

I've seen things that were objectively scarier (I watched much of The Haunting of Hill House from behind a pillow, to be honest), and it's not like I've never experienced fear in real life. But I respect when a movie that can make me feel so intensely, and there's something weirdly precious about the way horror is a safe roller coaster, as it's often been said. So I love telling the story about The Time The Ring Nearly Killed Me—a movie that actually made my body stop working—and I love thinking of how embedded in a specific time and place that movie was for me. The last gasp of VHS when the Cursed Videotape still seemed plausible; the way the internet was still wild and weird and free; where I was in my life, keeping up so avidly with all the movie news, and finding myself in such a little pool of darkness early one afternoon. It's the scariest movie I saw in a theater; that's the alchemy of circumstance.

#the ring #ringu #horror #first look on patreon #movies #long post #spooky season #halloween everyday #long post is long #gifs

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fairlyang · 4 months

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Ghostie I 🕷️

in which you get a phone call by the infamous killer Ghostface, as a huge scream fanatic

w/c: 5.8K

pairing: ghostface!miguel x f!reader

tags: 18+ smut, mention of stalking and killings, home alone, phone call, teasing, getting tempted, masturbating, getting watched, phone sex, praise, toy usage

part two ~ part three

It was Friday night and I didn't feel like going to the party my friends had invited me to. Plus with all the killings happening in our area... yeah right..

I stayed my ass home and was preparing for a solo movie night, or yet another one of my scream-a-thons. I was in the kitchen waiting on the popcorn while I was trying to find a bowl. I lean down to grab a Disney themed one and then placed it on the counter.

I looked at the microwave and sighed. Whys this shit always gotta drag?

I walk over to the fridge and grab an Arizona can. Perfect.

I feel a buzz and grab my phone from my pocket. I look at my lockscreen and see I got a text from my best friend Ryan. I put the can on the counter and unlock my phone.

Ryan🤞🏼 :

bitch you're missing out- there's so many guys your type out here

I snicker and shake my head, of course that's his first thought. I roll my eyes and lean against the counter thinking of what to type.

Well I'd prefer to not die at some frat party tonight but feel free to give out my insta;)

I hit send and laugh knowing his ass would. The texting bubble immediately appears making me scoff. That was too fast.

Ryan🤞🏼:

got you🫡

Might drop by after to give you some company

I immediately text back a response and send it before turning my phone off and putting it back in my pocket.

Sounds good just call me

Just then the microwave beeps. Finally. I walk to it and open it carefully taking out the popcorn bag. I open it and pour it all onto the bowl.

I throw away the bag into the trash then grab the can of Arizona and the bowl, walking into my living room. I place the snacks on the table and grab the remote before plopping on the couch. I turn the tv on then realize I left the kitchen lights on.

I put the controller on the couch and stand up walking into the kitchen and flicking the light off. As soon as I did it I thought I saw something running away through the window above the sink. Maybe just a rabbit?

I walk back to the dark living room, the light from the tv being the only thing that lead me to the couch. I plop down and go on a fast hunt to find the first scream. I can never get enough of the original, mostly because of Billy Loomis and Sid's reaction to the reveal. And I guess also all the little details I love.

I click on the movie and press play. I reach over for the bowl of popcorn and put it on the side then grab my can and open it before taking a sip and placing it back on the table. I grab the blanket that is always on the couch and place it on my lap.

I take my phone out of my pocket and put it on the couch to my right. Just in case. The opening scene starts and I lean back. Ghostface's voice and tone- lordddd-

I bring the blanket up to my face feeling the room was colder than earlier. My mom must've put the ac up before she went to work. I properly cover myself and sit with one leg under my other one.

"What number are you trying to reach?"

"I don't know..."

"well I think you have the wrong number."

"Do I?"

"It happens. Take it easy."

And what kind of dumbass answers the phone again? Like obviously it's gonna be the person you were just on the phone with!!! I scoff and shake my head, how the first girls are somehow always the dumbest.

"To apologize"

"You're forgiven, bye now"

"Wait wait don't hang up-"

"What?"

"I wanna talk to you for a second."

"They have 500 numbers for that, see ya."

I stare at my screen in admiration. How someone thought of making this series- must've been a real sicko but it brought us an incredible killer, dedicated fans, and iconic characters.

I shake my thoughts away not wanting to get carried away and focus on the movie again.

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

"I don't know"

"You have to have a favorite... what comes to mind?"

I grab a handful of popcorn and put 'em into my mouth watching their back and forth. It was truly never tiring of watching every single scene endless amount of times. I guess that's what being one of the crazed fans in the community is like.

"Freddy! That's right."

That tone. Why does it have to sound so sweet? Especially knowing he's flirting with her just to then gut her after.

"So you got a boyfriend?"

Me, personally, that's where I would've folded and told him no but that I'd love to have one.

"Maybe.. do you have a boyfriend.."

Again the tone just always makes my heart flutter and legs go weak. Especially since it was Billy talking. Just something about extremely attractive ghostfaces....

"No"

"You never told me your name."

"Why do you wanna know my name?"

"'Cause I wanna know who I'm looking at."

I'd be giggling and kicking my feet- take that shit as a compliment, man wants to know your name- well given he definitely already knew the names of all his victims but still the thought that counts. And the fact he planned that shit completely on purpose with Stu.... But still.

Kinda like having your very own personal stalker... you could easily change his mind if you really wanted or attempted to.

"What do you think I said?"

"What?"

"Hello?"

"Look I gotta go."

"Wait... I thought we were gonna go out."

"Uh nah I don't think so."

"Don't hang up on me."

And she hangs up. Hm maybe if she didn't hang up she and her boyfriend could have survived. Or maybe she could've flirted her way out of not getting murdered.

Though I guess Stu would've wanted to kill her ass anyway for breaking up with him to be with Steven. But in these movies anything could be possible.

Ah the third phone call. "Yes?"

"I told you to not hang up on me." So menacing.

"What do you want?"

"To talk..." sounding oh so sweet.

And she hung up again. It's like she has literal worms for brain.

Fourth call.

The game begins.

The opening scene ended and I was soon an hour into the movie. It always went by so fast which was a bummer but that meant I was on the right track to watch the next one and hopefully finish the first four movies by 4am.

By the first half hour I grew hot and took the blanket off and leaving it off to the side. More than half of the popcorn was also gone hopefully I had enough for the rest of the movie.

"No please don't kill me Mr. Ghostface I wanna be in the sequel!" So fucking iconic.

And Tatum actually had some fight in her!! Although trying to squeeze in the doggy door was not the smartest idea....

After her scene I let out a yawn and wipe my eyes when Billy jumped in front of Stu and Sid and at the exact same time my phone rang, making me jump as well. Jesus.

I grab my phone and see it's from an unknown caller... well I always answer these to fuck with the annoying sales people. "Hello?" I ask and let out another yawn. It was barely midnight why the fuck was I already getting tired?

"Hey there, hm past your bedtime?" A smooth and husky voice teases.

Huh?

"Not at all, just a long day." I say and raise an eyebrow.

This was convenient timing- insane timing. Impeccable....

"But who is this?" I add and look back at my tv not wanting to miss another second of the movie.

I didn't recognize the voice so I knew it wasn't any of my friends, or any of their boysfriends. Hmm...

The voice on the other end of the line chuckles softly. "Oh, come on now. Don't play dumb with me, baby. You know exactly who this is," he says, his tone laced with a hint of playfulness. "It's your favorite killer, Ghostface."

I scoff and roll my eyes. A prank call. But sure I'll play along.

"How was I suppose to know hm? You're not using the infamous voice changer.... And you didn't ask me my favorite scary movie." I tease back and bite my lip. There was just no way. I wouldn't get this lucky.

Ghostface lets out a low chuckle, seemingly amused by my response. "You're right, I did forget to ask you that. But I already know the answer to that question, don't I? Your favorite scary movie is me," he says, his voice dripping with confidence making me widen my eyes. "And speaking of things you like, I couldn't help but notice how good you look in that outfit you're wearing right now. It's making it hard for me to focus on anything else," he adds, his tone turning flirtatious.

"Well the scream movies are pretty good.... Top tier for sure..." I say, eyes still wide and unsure if it's real or not.

"And what is it I'm wearing?" I test because there's only one way someone would know, if they were watching me.

"Your Billy Loomis shirt. I gotta say you've got great taste in killers." He says sounding almost cocky.

"And some short shorts. Grey. Y'know it's not nice to tease... you look absolutely delicious." he adds and I bite my lip, squeezing my thighs together.

My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets as I feel my heart race. But in the best way possible- holy shit- I was chosen- oh fuck-

Oh my god-

I couldn't fuck this up.

"You gonna come in to find out for yourself?" I ask teasingly and lay back on the couch letting my legs spread on the couch. I pull the ends of my shirt a bit higher up my thigh on purpose.

"Oh, trust me, baby. I'd love nothing more than to come in and find out just how delicious you are," he says, his voice filled with lust. "But unfortunately, I've got other things to take care of right now. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you," he adds, his tone promising.

"Why don't you do something for me instead?" he suggests. "Touch yourself for me. Show me just how wet you are for me."

I squeeze my thighs together yet again and bite my lip. Holy fuck???

Not only is my biggest dream and fantasy happening right now, but his voice was extremely hot and sensual almost... me having a voice kink was helping him out. Wonder if he knew that already...

"Well I'm not wet, yet... definitely turned on I won't deny that." I say and feel my arousal slowly growing. This is all I've ever dreamed of. How did I get so lucky tonight??? All because I didn't go to some frat party? Insanity...

I spread my legs out and make my hand go from squeezing my tits over my shirt to trailing down my stomach. I run a hand up and down my thighs then go down. I rub my slit over my shorts, very softly and let out a shaky breath. My fingers gently rubbing my folds then going up to rub my clit. I let out a moan and lay my head back.

I can't believe this is happening.

His voice drops to a low, husky whisper as he speaks. "Mmm, that's it, baby. You look so fucking hot touching yourself for me," he says, his words sending a shiver down my spine.

"I wish I could be there with you, watching you writhe and moan as you pleasure yourself," he adds, his tone filled with desire. "But since I can't, I'll have to settle for just hearing you. Tell me, baby, how does it feel? Are you getting wet for me?"

"Mm you just contradicted yourself Ghostie." I say breathless and chuckle. "you said I look hot but also wish you were here... which is it? Are you in my backyard or no?" I tease and rub my clit faster making me let out a whimper.

I look over at my patio door the shades were off plus it was dark so I knew he could be out there watching me. Or he could have cameras in here...

"Feels so good- mm I haven't had the chance to touch myself all week-" I say breathless and buck my hips against my fingers. I felt my wetness soak through my panties and onto my shorts. Damn.

I grab the waistband of my shorts and pull them down lifting my hips to get them over my ass and then take them off, throwing them on the floor.

My fingers go back into position, two over my clit, gently rubbing the already swollen nub. My biggest fantasy, coming to life. I've been blessed.

Even if he wasn't the real Ghostface (which I highly doubted), a fake Ghostface wouldn't know what the fuck I was wearing. This was the real deal. And he was watching me.

"So wet Ghostie-" I moan and move my panties to the side and spread my lips just in case he was somehow watching. "such a dirty perv wanting to hear me moan... hearing me play with my pretty pussy." I moan and smile. I've never felt so turned on in my life.

He lets out a low chuckle at my teasing making me blush. Every sound he made sounded so hot. "You got me there, baby. I can't help but wish I was there with you, but unfortunately, I'm not in your backyard," he says with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Man...

"But hearing you moan and seeing you touch yourself is almost as good. You're making me so hard, baby," he adds, his voice thick with desire.

I let out a whimper and rub my clit a bit faster, but not enough to make me close.

He groans softly at the sounds of your moans. He knew you would sound good, but not this good. "Mmm, you sound so fucking sexy when you moan like that. I wish I could feel your wetness on my fingers, taste you on my tongue," he says, his words making my arousal spike even higher. "But for now, I'll have to settle for watching you play with yourself. Keep going, baby. Show me just how much you want me."

I nod and grab the top of my panties, lifting my ass up and taking them off throwing them on the floor. I move two fingers over my slit collecting all of my slick juices making me quiver. I haven't been this wet in ages. "ya hear that Ghostie?" I say and swirl my fingers along my folds.

"So wet for you- mmm- just for you-" I purr and let out strings of moans.

He lets out a low growl and I swear I can hear him shift around. "Fuck, baby. You're making me so fucking hard," he says, his tone thick with lust. "I can practically hear how wet you are for me. You're such a dirty little slut, playing with yourself like this," he adds, his words making me moan even louder.

"Keep going, baby. Show me how much you want me, how much you need me," he says, his voice becoming more urgent. "Imagine me there with you, watching you touch yourself like this. Imagine my fingers inside you, stretching you open, making you scream my name," he adds, his words sending shivers down my spine again. He was already driving me crazy-

"mmm fuck" I whimper and slip one finger inside. "shit-" I whine and slowly push it inside.

I close my eyes and imagine it's his finger instead of mine, slowly fucking my pussy, teasing me on purpose. "Feels so fucking good~" I moan and buck my hips as I slowly push it deeper.

Ghostface groans at the sound of your moans, his own arousal spiking at the incredible sight of you fingering yourself. "God, I wish that was me inside you," he says almost breathless. "You look so fucking good, baby. I can only imagine how tight and wet you would feel around me," he adds, his words making me whimper.

"Keep fucking yourself for me, baby. I want to hear you scream my name when you come," he says, his voice becoming more urgent. "Are you close, baby? Do you want to come for me?"

I whimper and slip another finger inside and fuck myself faster. My breathing was getting more rapid and I could hear my juices with every movement. His words were only making me more and more wet for him. So needy. "mmm fuck- s-so close-" I murmur and buck my hips against my fingers.

I open my eyes and leave my phone on speaker leaving my phone on my stomach while I bring my legs up to my chest, trying to hold them with my available hand as I fuck myself. My pussy felt even more tight and I was a whimpering mess. "I wanna cum for you Ghostie-" I purr and fuck myself faster feeling cream slowly drip down to my asshole.

He lets out a low growl of desire at the sound of your words. He knew his girl would enjoy this, he knew how much a dirty girl you'd be for him."Yes, baby. Cum for me. I want to hear you scream my name," he says, his voice thick with lust. "Faster, baby. Fuck yourself harder. I wanna see you shaking," he adds, his tone becoming more urgent, almost needy.

The sound of your wetness and the sight of you fingering yourself so desperately is driving him wild with need. He can't help but imagine himself inside you, stretching you open and making you scream for more. He needed to be inside you. "I'm so close, baby. I can feel it," he says, his voice becoming more ragged. "Cum with me, baby. Let's come together," he adds, sounding breathless as I could hear him, stroking himself.

Holy fuck- he's been jerking off the whole time? That thought alone almost sent me to the edge.

I add a third finger in and fuck myself harder, feeing myself clench on my own fingers. I let out a mewl and multiple whimpers as more of a mixture of wetness and cream leak out of my pussy. I felt my orgasm approach quickly in my lower abdomen and I go harder curling my fingers up, reaching my g spot with every pump. I come undone and feel my entire body shake. I let out screams of his new given nickname and whimpers as I ride my high.

I bring my legs down slowly and try to calm my breathing down, thighs still shaking but I can't help all the heat the rushed to my face.

"Fuck! Oh my god... that was so good-" I whimper out and slowly take my fingers out letting the mess I made leak out of me.

He groans at the sound of your orgasm, his own cum dripping from his cock and onto his thighs at the sight of you coming apart for him. "Fuck, baby. That was so fucking hot," he says as he was catching his breath. "I wish I could have been there to see you come undone like that," he adds, his tone filled with longing.

"You're such a dirty little slut, coming so hard for me," he says, his words making me whimper. "I want to hear you come for me again. And again. And again," he adds, his tone becoming more urgent.

"You're mine now, baby. You belong to me," he says, his possessiveness evident in his voice.

I whimper and squeeze my thighs together. "So you're not gonna come in here to fuck me? Look how much I came just from hearing your voice." I whine and then a smile spreading my lips at my last sentence, I was absolutely drenched.

"Mmm all yours Ghostie." I say and gently dip a finger back onto my folds to get a taste. I lift my finger to my mouth and suck on my own juices.

"As much as I would love to come in there and fuck you, pretty girl, I've got other things to take care of," he says, his tone filled with slight annoyance. "But don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to play together," he adds, his tone now sounding promising.

I pout and suck the remains of my arousal from my fingers. "a shame...."

He groans softly at the sight of you tasting your own juices. "Mmm, you're so dirty, baby. I love it," he purrs making my heart flutter.

"Are you still wet for me? Do you want to come again?" he asks, his tone becoming more demanding.

"I might just have to go back to my room and use a dildo- I wanna be filled..." I say and try to sit up without making more of a mess but it was inevitable considering I was still leaking. I stand up and pick up my panties and put them back on. Sure those will also get stained but it's fine....

His voice drops to a low, husky whisper as he speaks. "Mmm, I wish I could be there to fill you up, baby. I bet you would look so fucking pretty with my cock buried deep inside you," he says, his words making my heart race and my pussy even more needy, desperate. "But since I can't be there, you'll just have to use your imagination. Pretend it's me inside you," he says making me whine.

"Touch yourself for me again, baby. Give me a show..." he says as I felt my slickness leak to my panties. That was fast. "I want to hear you come for me again. Over and over again," he teases and I feel my eyes flutter.

"Can do ghostie." I say and quickly turn the tv off before heading to the stairs. I go up quickly and open my bedroom door.

I walk over to my chest of toys and pick my thickest dildo. A solid eight inches and a good two inches wide. It always felt so fulfilling.

I sit on my bed putting my phone down for a second and take my stained panties off and also take my shirt off, throwing them both on the floor. "Are you gonna watch hm? Thought you had stuff to attend to..." I tease as I kiss the tip of my dildo, leaving my phone near me as I move to lay down on my stomach.

"Oh, I'm definitely watching, baby. I wouldn't miss the sight of you fucking yourself with that dildo for anything," he says, his tone thick with lust. "I might have things to do, but you're too beautiful to ignore," he whispers and I feel myself melt. His voice was so pretty.

He moans softly at the sight of you kissing the tip of your dildo. Oh how badly he needed your mouth on his cock- licking up all his leftover cum and taking him deep in your throat. "Mmm, that's it, baby," he says, his voice becoming more urgent. "I want to see you take that dildo deep inside you. Show me how much you can take. You'll need the practice pretty girl." He says and I widen my eyes.

How big was he? Oh god-

"Dirty perv. Do you have cameras in here?" I tease and giggle.

I feel myself getting more wet at the thought.. I mean he's definitely watching me somehow....

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. You'll never know." he taunts letting out a chuckle, his words making me shiver with anticipation.

I lift my hips before moving my dildo down to slowly rub against my soaked folds. "fuck-"

I sit up again and position it only letting the tip inside. "Oh god- s-so thick-" I whine and lift myself up, not able to take it. Has it really been that long?

He grunts at the sight of you rubbing the dildo against your soaked folds. It was a sight he'd never grow tired of seeing. "Mmm, you look so fucking hot with that dildo in your hand," he says as I was barely able to hear him stroking himself again. "Take it slow, baby. I want to see you savor every inch of that dildo. Make it feel good inside you"

"Are you still tight for me, baby? I bet you are. You'll have to work that dildo in slowly. Make it stretch you open to prepare for mine." he teased and I feel like passing out.

I nod and slowly lower myself down on it. I was struggling but was slowly able to take it, it was still huge inside me, absolutely stretching me out. I felt my legs shake a bit and I was barely about to be halfway and I was already feeling full. "Don't fucking stop." he growls and I moan.

"Mm Ghostie I need your cock- I wanna ride you... wanna feel you fill my pussy..." I mumble and slowly go up and down.

"God, you're so fucking hot when you're so desperate and needy," he growls making me widen my eyes. "Keep going, baby. I want to hear you moan for me."

He lays his head back, his hands stroking his dick at the same pace as you were fucking yourself, admiring the way your body is shaking with pleasure. "That's it, baby. Ride that dildo like it's me. Imagine it's my cock inside you, stretching you open," he moans out then lets out a groan. "I want to see you come for me again, baby. Show me how much you need my cock." He snarls and I hear the wet noises again. Fuck.

I slam down on it and let out desperate little noises. "Shit-" I moan out and hold the bottom of it while I move my hips up and down on it.

"A- mmm- fuck-" I moan out, the little pain I felt before being gone and now being overwhelmed with pure pleasure.

He knew you'd look even prettier, even sexier on his lap riding his cock. Moaning for him, clenching on him, cumming while he's deep inside you. "That's it, baby. You look so fucking sexy riding that dildo," he says his stroking sounds getting louder. "You're so wet for me right now aren't you? I can practically hear you dripping," he adds, his words making me clench against the dildo. Oh fuck-

I let out a whimper and fuck myself faster on it. Lord it was so big- who knew I could take it- I just needed some motivation. The right motivation.

"Keep going, baby. I want to see you come again. I need to see you come," he says, his tone becoming demanding again. "You're mine now, baby. You belong to me," he adds, his possessiveness evident in his voice.

I whimper and nod. I felt so dumb, I couldn't think, all I could do was ride my dildo and moan hearing all his sweet dirty nothings. I let out moans as I ride it and go faster but can't form a singular sentence. I wonder if this was how it was gonna be when he fucked me, until I was completely dumb for him.

He stroked himself faster, the sight of you riding the dildo so desperately, helping his hunger for you. He can practically feel your wetness through the phone, and it's driving him wild with need. He needed you. Oh he wanted nothing more than to be deep inside you right now. His cock was twitching in his hands thinking about it. "That's it, baby. Ride it harder. Be a good girl for me." he says, his voice thick with lust.

"I bet you would look so fucking pretty with me inside you. I can't wait to see you come apart for me," he adds, his words making you shiver, wanting it so badly. "Keep going, baby. I want to see you come endless amount of times." he breathes out, the sounds of his hand on his cock making me go crazy.

I feel my orgasm approach in my stomach again but this time it was faster. I moved my body, fucked myself harder as I was getting closer and closer. "p-please- fuck- please let me cum-" I whimper and feel like my legs were made of jelly.

"C-can I know your real name- I- mm I wanna moan it when I cum." I ask as my eyes fluttered shut but I continued my pace, my pussy gripping it perfectly.

He grunts at the sound of your pleading, he felt himself getting close to cumming as well. God how much he wanted to cum deep inside you. "Yes, baby. Cum for me. I want to hear you scream my name," he moans out breathlessly. "Faster, baby. Fuck yourself harder," he adds, his voice driving you closer to the edge.

At the sound of your question, Ghostface hesitates for a moment before finally giving in. He really did wanna hear you moan his name, especially while you cum plus he'd have to tell you it eventually for when he does get the chance to pound into you and he'd make sure all your neighbors knew who you belonged to.

"My name is Miguel," he answers softly. "Now cum for me, baby. Scream my name. I wanna see you make a pretty mess for me."

I whimper as I fuck myself on it, going faster while also trying to go all the way down. "Faster, baby. Fuck yourself harder. Show me how much you want - no show me how much you need me to fuck you," he corrects himself letting out a handful of moans, stroking himself even faster.

"F-Fuck- Miguel- mmm you'd be fucking me so good- fuck your cock would make me- shit!" I moan out and clench against the dildo my pace slowing down as I was right there.

He groans as he hears you moaning his name, his own orgasm building rapidly. He was gonna imagine he was cumming on your perfect tits or ass. Or deep inside you. He wanted to breed you so much. Pull out and watch it all leak out. He was so ready to plan his next move, the perfect meetup. The perfect reveal. Especially knowing how much of a fan you were, you'd appreciate it. "That's it, baby. You look so fucking hot when you're coming apart for me," he moans and I hear his cock. God I needed it. "Cum with me, baby. Let's come together again, my love." He groans and I let go.

I let out screams of his name, sweat forming on my forehead, legs shaking so much, my cream slowly making its way down my dildo as I whimpered slowly riding my high again.

Miguel lets out moans and grunts at the sound of your screams, his own orgasm hitting him hard. His cum shooting up to his stomach and landing on his land and thighs. He moaned your name as he came undone, so happy he was finally able to do this with you. "Fuck, baby. You're so fucking perfect." he says trying to catch his breath. "I wish I could be there to see you covered in sweat, writhing in pleasure," he adds and I feel my legs shake.

He takes a few deep breaths to calm down, his voice becoming more gentle. "You did so well, baby. I'm so proud of you," he says, his tone filled with praise. "You're such a good girl for me," he adds, his tone becoming more affectionate.

I feel myself blush as my breathing calmed down and I let out a drunken smile. "Just and only for you." I purr as I slowly lift myself off the dildo.

"That was.... Incredible." I say as the dildo slips out of my pussy with a 'pop'.

"Thank you Miguel." I whisper sweetly and sit up grabbing my dildo and putting it on my bedside table.

I grab my phone and place it down next to my pillow as I lay down on my bed and feel my breathing come back to normal.

"You were incredible, baby. I could watch you come for me all day," he murmurs softly, "Thank you for letting me watch," he whispers and I giggle.

I really nailed like four different fantasies and kinks into one singular night....

He takes a few deep breaths to calm down, his voice becoming more affectionate and caring. "You're such a good girl for me, baby. I can't wait to see you again."

I felt my cheeks grow warm and I tried to hide a smile creeping onto my face. He wanted to see me. God it’d be better face to face...

"Until then, keep thinking of me. Keep imagining me inside you. Let me live in your wet dreams." he adds, his words making me squeezing my thighs.

He hangs up the phone, leaving me alone with my thoughts and memory filled of my intense phone sex session with Ghostface.

Miguel lets out a sigh and wipes the sweat beads from his forehead as he looks down at the mess he made. So much cum. More than usual. Obviously since he finally decided to call you and knew you'd be his perfect final girl. You were such a good girl for him. Just as he had predicted. He looks up at his laptop in front of him, looking at the screen of you in your bed with a smile on your pretty flushed face.

He takes one final look at your pretty face and cute reaction before closing his laptop and pulls his pants up. He pulls his robe down and grabs his laptop before standing up and carefully opening the door. He takes a small peek outside to see the backyard of your house and slips out of the old shed quickly. It was completely vacant and he knew you were in bed, dad was on a business trip, and mom was still at work.

He slips through the side and got to the front of your house pulling his mask down as he looked up at your window already anticipating for when he'll slip through the window to fuck his girl senseless.

#miguel ohara #Miguel O’Hara smut #miguel o hara #miguel ohara imagine #across the spiderverse #spiderman #Miguel O’Hara #Miguel O’Hara fic #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara oneshot #miguel ohara x y/n #ghostie

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icyg4l · 3 months

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Pick-A-Child Star: Inner Child Messages

In honor of Black History Month, I am continuing the series of highlighting Black icons while prioritizing the spiritual needs of Black Americans. Pick the image that resonates with you most.

Left-to-Right (1-3): Keke Palmer, Aleisha Allen, China Anne McClain

If you chose Pile One, you resonate with the energy of Keke Palmer. As we all know, she is a multi-talented human being. She is a singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, talk show host, podcaster and model. Her name is synonymous with the phrase 'busy bee'. Her infectious personality has followed us through movies and tv shows like True Jackson VP, Scream Queens, Akeelah and the Bee, Nope and much more. She continues to grace the screens with her charismatic nature.

"You're always wondering what you're not, can't you be happy with what you've got?"

When you were younger, you may have watched the tv show, 'How to Rock', starring Cymphonique. The premise of the show is navigating the social castes of high school. I channeled the theme song for this show. You really need to show some more gratitude, man. What's in your imagination is being reflected on the outside world; just enjoy the moment. Your brain is on overload all the time and you really need to rest. On Valentine's Day, you should give yourself some 'me time'. Another message that I get from your inner child is that you need to go play! For some of you, I sense that you're reluctant to let someone into your life when they have good intentions. I think high school plays a big role into why you navigate the world the way that you do. You are not in high school anymore! You are officially responsible for your own shit (that means the emotional trauma too, boo). Your inner child also wants you to know that you should take up some karate/self-defense classes. It is imperative that you learn how to stick up for yourself physically, not just verbally. Lastly, if you have lost a father figure, you should do that thing to honor his legacy such as getting a tattoo of him, getting a portrait painted of him, starting that company and naming it after him. You are your father's offspring, you know?

If you chose pile 2, this means you resonate with the energy of Aleisha Allen. She is most famously known for her roles in the 'Are We There Yet?' film series and School of Rock. Her cheeky portrayal of these characters solidified her as a Black child star icon. After starring in these classic films, she took on smaller roles in 'The Electric Company' and indie films. Since then, she has acquired a Bachelor's degree at Pace University and a Master's degree at Columbia University in Communication Science and Disorders to fulfill a career as a speech pathologist.

“I gets down, I don’t play”

Some of you may be in the midst of choosing a major after being undecided for so long. Some of you may switch majors a lot. Your inner child wants you to choose something that makes them come alive this time. In other words, choose a career path that's not boring to you. You could have ADHD/ADD or some type of learning disability. You need to slow down because you’re inviting some disingenuous energy. Your inner child does not trust the people that are around you. Your light shines too bright to be staying in spaces where you're not celebrated. This made me think of a video of Megan Thee Stallion talking about walking out of rooms where you don't feel comfortable. Do exactly that, my love. Everything will work out just fine if you believe that it will. Your inner child wants you to be as optimistic about this transition as possible. And lastly, you don't have to tolerate anyone's behavior, or quite frankly anything. If you feel like you have to put up with someone's bull, then you need to leave. You guys were quite the sassy kids, weren't you? Now, where did all of that energy go? Why are you dimming yourself down just to appeal to others? It doesn't matter if you're in a corporate meeting or a classroom filled with white people, you speak your mind. You know what's going on, don't be intimidated.

If you chose Pile 3, you resonate with the energy of China Anne McClain. She is known for her roles in Daddy’s Little Girls, A.N.T. Farm, the Descendants series and Black Lightning. Her range in roles highlights her witty, yet dramatic personality, which is the reason for any drawn interest in her. She is also a singer-songwriter who was once in a girl group with her older sisters, Lauryn and Sierra. Since then, she has documented her spiritual journey on social media after quitting acting.

“I’ve got friends on the other side”

This is the pile that I would probably choose. This is the pile of the hoodoos/witches/spiritualists/occultists. Your inner child wants you to know that the spells you’ve been casting have been working. As a child, you may have had some experiences with ghosts/spirits. Nobody believed you but who cares? They’re your friends now. There may be a cousin that you haven’t seen/talked to in a while. Please talk to them! Your inner child misses them so much! It doesn’t matter if you’re not on good terms with them, please go do it. For some reason, you should go play hide and seek. This could also mean that you should prepare for an item of yours to go missing temporarily. It could also mean that you will find out some information that you’ve been searching for. Finally, if you feel like you have nowhere to go, think again! Your inner child wants to go to place where you once frequented. This could be the beach, an arcade or the park. Go have a picnic. Go insert those coins/swipe that card into your favorite apocalypse game. Go dig your toes into the sand! You are going through self-actualization and it is important that you stay grounded. Be prepared to step into uncomfortable positions. Connecting with your inner child is a way to do so. It is essential for your growth as a person.

#law of assumption #manifesting #neville goddard #hoodoo #tarot #tarotreading #astro notes #pick a card #pac reading #pick a pile #divination #pick an image #spirituality #tarot deck #tarotcommunity

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stevebuscemieyes · 1 year

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onlycarlson · 8 months

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like if you save

#carlson young #carlson young icons #brooke maddox #icons carlson young #scream #scream tv series

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chaos0pikachu · 2 months

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Filmmaking? In My BL? - The Horror Influences of Dead Friend Forever

Okay off the bat I'ma say that this isn't me definitively saying these specific films or tv series are what inspired 100% DFF. I simply do not know what stuff the screenwriters were pulling from influence wise when writing the script, nor what the director was pulling from when directing the series, with 100% flawless certainty.

Rather, this is a chance to talk more about horror, from films, comics, visuals, and sub-genres and how these various mediums are what I see in the fabric of DFF's horror makeup. Also, general point, this post will be discussing minor spoilers of: Scream, DFF, and Girl from Nowhere. So like, be aware~~

This post is partially inspired by an ask from @italianpersonwithashippersheart in which the anon had mentioned Scream.

I couldn't really respond to this in detail before cause I hadn't watched the series, but I have now and I can say that the show is very thoroughly nothing at all like Scream. I'm not confident in much - other than my inability to reach the top shelf at the market - but I am confident in saying that lol

But this got me thinking, what type of horror IS DFF? I've seen a lot of folks say it's a slasher, and I both agree and disagree.

Horror as a genre is vast with sub-genres, it's probably one of the most universal and popular genres globally, and every culture has their own horror legends, cult classics, mainstays and shlock.

So that's what I'm going to talk about in this post, the slasher genre, why I don't think DFF 100% can be boxed into that sub-genre, what type of horror I think DFF is, and the influences I see in DFF's filmmaking and thematics.

So if we start anywhere, we gotta start with Scream (1996) since that's a comparison I've seen being made a lot.

The main reason I disagree in the comparisons to Scream is that Scream is considered a work of satire first and foremost. Through the power of capitalism and franchising, it's also consider a "whodunit" series.

“Scream” is the first movie of its kind to execute a satire genre within a horror movie, which is one of the most iconic and memorable elements of the film. The original movie makes many references to other well-known horror films and mocks them, while simultaneously leading the same plot points. [...] Although the following films in the “Scream” franchise do not follow as much of the same mockery of horror films, they are still considered to be satirical because of their use of mockery toward the movie franchise. “Scream 2” mocks film sequels and “Scream 3” mocks film trilogies." (source)

[sidenote one of my favorite examples of satirical meta horror is Wes Craven's New Nightmare]

DFF isn't satirizing anything in horror, it's almost entirely self-serious. Sure there's a couple of moments of hilarity - dick biting, and scooter snatchin' - but overall the show plays things pretty straight (gay sex notwithstanding). I've seen some folks claim it's subverting horror tropes, but I don't see that either (would be interested in discussing that tho cause I'm curious).

I get why people make this comparison though, Scream is a 27 yr old franchise, and probably the most relevant slasher franchise currently. The new Halloween movies were...cute but aside from the first Halloween (2018) the rest of the reboot franchise had diminishing returns; each film made less than the previous, and received lower critical scores.

However, Scream has actually grown as a franchise in the States in terms of box office draw. That said, Scream is actually not a huge earner overseas, Scream IV (2023) earned more than 60% of it's box office revenue domestically. In Thailand, according to reports, it only earned about 300,000 (compared to other international territories like Brazil where it earned around 4,600,000).

So I don't think DFF is pulling much from Scream in terms of setting, tone, or story. I do think the show most resembles Scream in directorial style, specifically in the imagery of the Killer's design and in the slow-crawl mask reveals that have happened so far.

youtube

[very obviously spoilers for all the scream films watch at your own risk etc, gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses]

So what is a slasher film or story?

"A slasher movie is a horror sub-genre that involves the murdering of a number of people by a psychopathic killer, typically via a knife or bladed tool (such as a scythe).

In general, the horror genre is known for its fear, violence and terror. It will typically feature a menacing villain, whether it be a monster or a supernatural evil spirit, for example." (source)

Other common but not inherent secondary characteristics of a slasher story will include: young adults as central characters, sex (typically as a means of punishment "sex gets you killed"), the killer is motivated by revenge, lots of gore and/or violent kills and a "final girl".

I point out common but not inherent because the main tenants of a slasher story is the overall body count, female protagonist and a mysterious (typically masked) killer.

For example, in Scream (96) Ghostface is motivated by revenge, however in Halloween (1978), Texas Chainsaw (1974), Prom Night (2008), You're Next (2011) and Wrong Turn (2003) the killers are not.

If there is a western horror franchise or film that the setting of DFF more closely aligns with, it's Friday the 13th (2009). Which was a sequel/reboot to the original Friday the 13th (1980) starring Tumblr's own Jared Padalecki as one of the leads (that was an interesting year as Jensen Ackles also starred in a remake of a classic 80s horror film My Blood Valentine).

In Friday (09) the bulk of the story takes place at a mansion styled cabin in the woods near Crystal Lake owned by one of the characters rich parents. Jason eventually hunts down each of the characters, killing them in various ways, and they even find his home with a shrine to his mother there. There's also like, a lot of sex and nudity in Friday (09) none of it fun or sexy as it's pretty, unfortunately, misogynistic.

Being in an isolated area, like the cabin in the woods in DFF and Friday (09) is also not a requirement within the slasher sub-genre.

Many slasher films, especially American classics during the genres 80s peak, actually take place more often in suburbia rather than in isolated locations like the woods. Which reflected real world anxieties from predominately white communities and a turn towards more conservative politics of that era in America.

"Those same well-kept neighborhoods and quiet backyards of my childhood were also the battlegrounds of the ’80s horror movie, a radical pivot in the genre’s history. The decade’s opening years were bracketed by the kidnappings of Etan Patz (which inspired the Missing Kids on a Milk Carton program) and Adam Walsh (which inspired his father John Walsh to later create the TV show "America’s Most Wanted"). Combined with the conservative turn in crime and punishment law brought on by the Reagan administration, horror appeared to turn from the supernatural curses of the decade before ("The Exorcist," "The Omen") to a homegrown product of our own sins. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger are psychotic loons but also human beings who come not from afar but from down the street. The possibility that one of them could be lurking just beyond the sliding back door of a sleepover birthday seems too darkly delicious to pass up, a fictional killer standing in for a warning your parents and society gave you about “stranger danger,” real-life evil lurking in the dark." (source)

Isolated settings, while can be a setting in slashers are more often found in psychological horror films: The Strangers (2008), When A Stranger Calls (1979, 2006), Hush (2016). Also the Evil Dead (1981, 1987, 2013).

[The latter has it's own interesting history of wanting to be psychological body horror, to horror comedy cult classic, back to psychological body horror. Honestly if any franchise has influenced the "horror set in a cabin in the woods" it's Evil Dead, which is paid major homage to in Cabin in the Woods (2011).]

Sooooo is DFF a slasher?

Hm, for me, yes and no. Slashers require a high body count and pretty gory deaths. So far we've only had 3 deaths, only two of which were even committed by the killer themselves and not even by their own hand (ie directly).

For me, the slasher elements of DFF exist in the directorial styling of the film, meant invoke a classic slasher film but that's not where the true horror of the story exists.

I'm a big slasher fan, so I'm not trying to discount the sub-genre at all, lots of slasher films are good, and when done well, they're truly scary. But they also tend to be straight forward in design, the fear comes from the feature of being stalked by an unseeable and unstoppable force infiltrating what should be a safe space (your home, your school, your neighborhood, your camp grounds etc).

Which is why slasher films are also the most common horror sub-genre to be parodied (Scary Movie franchise) or made into horror comedies like Freaky (2020), The Final Girls (2015), Happy Death Day (2017), and Totally Killer (2023).

[sidenote slashers have this in common with the zombie sub-genre of horror as zombie films in America have also tended in recent years to be horror comedies or horror action like: Little Monsters (2019), Cooties (2014), Zombieland (2009), Pride Prejudice and Zombies (2016)]

I'd argue that DFF is much more in line with psychological horror than slasher horror. Because it is anything but straightforward and also has a strong emphasis on relationships and isolation as does most psychological horror.

Films like: It Comes At Night (2017), Us (2019), Perfect Blue (1997), A Tale of Two Sisters (2004), The Forgotten (2017), Dark Water (2002) all have similar elements in terms of tone as DFF.

The isolated setting, the allure of the mundane normality being a veneer for the violence lurking beneath the surface, the existence of the paranormal, the use of drugs to increase fear, the unsettling paranoia, and slow burn crawl towards all the characters being unteathered from themselves, the growing distrust between them and their loved ones, the plot twists and turns, the emphasis on human relationships and the horror that comes from those.

The backstory with Non is what pushed the show past slasher horror to psychological horror for me. Because Non's "downfall" as it were, feels more akin to the slow burn psych horror rooted in a lot of Japanese, Thai films/tv shows, and modern A24 style horror films.

The horror of Midsommar (2019) doesn't come from jump scares, or violence, but in slowly watching the protagonist grow more and more unteathered, mistreated, gaslit, more and more with each passing moment, slowly inducted into a horrific cult and being able to do nothing to stop her descent.

A big influence I saw in DFF was Girl from Nowhere (2018); the school setting, the crimes committed by a group of students against a singular student, class exploration, structural violence, the exploration of retribution are all topics explored in the first season of Girl from Nowhere.

Even the series trailer for GFN and the pre-release trailer for DFF are similar in production design and tone:

youtube

Titled "BFF" the two-part finale from season 01, is about a high school reunion, where a group of now established adults come back together for a party (their reunion) only to be confronted by their past via Nanno (the shows protagonist for lack of a better term).

Through Nanno we learn about the chars past misdeeds in high school - bullying, physical assault, stealing, the works - and their current crimes as adults. As more and more layers of the truth, lies, and betrayal are revealed, the friend group begins to crack, fracture and turn against each other, growing more and more paranoid and angry.

Nanno tells the group that they've also all been drugged with poison and there's only one vial of antidote left, the "friends" all horrifically murder each other in order to get the antidote. In the end, no one survives. EXCEPT, it was all a mass hallucinate and the group wakes up, remembering everything, and quietly leave one-by-one. No longer friends, no longer not-friends, everyone forever changed by the experience.

It's an unsettling ending that leaves things open ended. This group of friends were responsible for the bullying and death of Nanno (she's fine she's like immortal or something I'm pretty sure GFN was partially influenced by Tomie by Junji Ito) and they simply refused to acknowledge what they did to her, nor talk about her, eventually forgetting she existed until forced too through a traumatic retribution by Nanno herself.

[Nanno from Girl from Nowhere, Tomie from Junji Ito's Tomie series]

DFF has a lot in common, from my perspective, with GFN in terms of tone, themes and even parts of it's story.

Nanno isn't doling out "justice" she doles out retributions, punishments, sometimes they're outright torturous. Whether the recipients "deserve" these punishments or not, is really up to the viewer. The show does a good job of showcasing a wide variety of characters who are unrepentant, sympathetic, and somewhere in between. The fears it plays upon are more slow burn, it boils the characters rather than setting them on fire like slashers do.

DFF is similar in this aspect, it boils the characters. Watching Non's story, you already know at the start it's nothing good. We know from the first flashback something bad has happened to Non, but it's not really something, it's many things - so many things - that have led to whatever tragedy the main group must pay for.

It's these compounding factors one after another that brings Non to a boil, and the same thing happens with Tan/New. The horror of DFF is more about getting under the skin, causing the characters discomfort by forcing them to confront the sins they've committed (is there anything more horrific than being seen? Especially if you ugly?).

I mentioned Junji Ito in reference to Girl from Nowhere, to say Ito has been influential on horror feels like an understatement. His series Tomie has been adapted into 7 different Japanese films, he's won 3 Eisner awards (the highest award you can win in America for comics publishing), along with a slew of awards in Japan, his series Uzumaki has been referenced in super popular anime like Jujustu Kaisen.

A big factor of Ito's work is body horror and psychological horror. His work unsettles, and is very visceral. Since Uzumaki was referenced in DFF I think rather than being influenced by specifically Uzumaki (which DFF doesn't have much in common with in regards to general story) I'd argue the show is more influenced by Ito's desire to unsettle.

[from Uzumaki], 1998]

Also potentially to take symbols of piety, faith and protection (the temple, the cross at the chars high school) and turn them into places of horror for the characters.

Like Ito did with the spiral motifs in Uzumaki, said Ito in an interview:

"The "spiral pattern" is not normally associated with horror fiction. Usually spiral patterns mark character’s cheeks in Japanese comedy cartoons, representing an effect of warmth. However, I thought it could be used in horror if I drew it a different way." (source)

[I am also begging y'all to check out Junji Ito's book Cat Diary it's hilarious, even more so b/c his style of art is so rooted in horror]

I think DFF is actually very Thai in it's exploration of what's unsettling and horrific to youth culture in Thailand currently. The feeling of haplessness, judgement, an inability to exert control over one's circumstances, mental health, consent, bullying, these were themes and topics explored in both seasons of GFN but also some of these were explored in The Whole Truth (2021) a Thai horror/mystery film.

There's a scene in The Whole Truth in which one of the protagonists school friends secretly films their younger sister getting undressed without her knowledge, and when caught, the classmate threatens to release the clip publicly and claim the sister is "a slut". One of the protagonists is also bullied at school - including by this disgusting classmate who they still consider "a friend" - but puts up with it in order to be in a friend group at all (this bullied char also has a physical disability which contributes to their mistreatment at school).

I think DFF is exploring a lot of these same topics but most of the characters are just gay this time around.

Okay I'm losing steam here a bit, this has gotten very long, but overall I'd argue that DFF is much more psychological horror than a slasher, in terms of it's tone, and story. Whilst invoking slasher imagery in it's directorial style.

That said it's much more in line with Thai and Japanese horror than American horror in regards to it's themes. If the series was going to be boiled down just to the basics, I'd quantify it as psychological horror mystery.

And those are my thoughts on DFF and horror, I guess lol I'm not 100% satisfied with this but god damn I'm tired this took forever lmao if y'all made it this far, bless and stay safe out there cause the ship wars are wildin out in these parts.

Check out other posts in the series:

Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition | Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI | Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes? | Trends in BL (Sorta): Genre Trends

[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]

#dff the series #dff spoilers #dff meta #dead friend forever #dead friend forever the series #chaos pikachu metas #pikachu's bl film series #fuckin a this is long #almost ran through my entire final fantasy soundtracks playlist #and that's a lot of freaking final fantasy games

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