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fearfulkittenwrites · 4 years

Text

Gala and “I’m allergic to bullshit.”

Word count: 2244

Link for it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26180371

Notes: Hey! This was beta'd by @3ambird , who is an amazing sweetheart and improves evertything they touch. Thank you for the help!

Galas were never fun. Bruce had hated them as a kid, and hated them as teen, and he hates them as an adult. Still, he has to maintain appearances, so he always attends. And as his family grew, his kids were forced to attend as well.

Dick Grayson was particularly good at socializing. After he moved past his teenage rage, of course. He used to get in passive aggressive arguments with the rich CEOs and company owners all the time. He still does, but at least now he was good at it to the point where it almost couldn’t be recognized as an argument, instead of jumping on the necks of greedy millionaires that bought land out of poor people.

That was an interesting headline.

Jason sucked at galas. Soon enough, he figured out that if he started enough awkward conversations, people wouldn’t want to talk to him anymore. Especially the creepy single older women, pinching his cheeks and squeezing his biceps.

“Say, Claire, what’s your opinion on the alarming rate at which the bees are disappearing? They say that’s because of all the chemicals we put in our food.” He’d smile, carefully holding his glass. Bruce would struggle to hide his gasp, because Jason, that’s the owner of the highest earning pesticides company in the country.

“Well, Roger, I’m certain that the legalization of abortions would be a great thing, considering that now your mistresses won’t have to be sent overseas to terminate the unwanted preganancies you give them, right?” He’d say, and Bruce would nearly have a heart attack, because Jason, that’s the president of Gotham’s conservative party.

“Oh, you see, Sandra, I think that gay marriage should not only be legalized, but encouraged. If straight couples were to cease existing, then no more children would be born, and honestly, no one needs any more of those snotty gremlins running around, ruining perfectly good tapestry.” And Bruce would faint, because Jason, for God’s sake, that is the leader of the Gotham’s Motherhood Association.

Tim wasn’t all that bad. He could be social with a little effort, and he was far more used to galas than any of the other family members, having grown up attending them. Of course, all of that was only valid when he wasn’t sleep deprived, which, considering all he had on his plate, was roughly 32% of the time. When he was running on three hours of sleep and seven cups of caffeine a day, trying to finish a project, run his share of the Wayne Enterprises, and manage school work, he became a bit more irritable and impatient. And extremely impulsive. Which is mainly why Bruce asked Dick to stand by his brother through most of the night.

“We both know you’re his impulse control, Dick.” He said, adjusting his oldest son’s tie “Remember what happened the last time he was left unattended for fifteen minutes?”

“He got into an argument with a young Creationist and dunked his own head in an ice bowl after screaming ‘Fuck God! I can hear colors and dinosaurs rule!’” Dick sighed, “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Cass despised them, but Bruce insisted she should attend anyway. More often than not, she’d just stay at the table, tasting as many appetizers as the waiters would bring her, and shooting murderous looks at anyone who sneered at her. Bruce was relieved that at least she wasn’t cracking any bones.

Damian was... Better than Jason and worse than Dick. He had an unamused expression through most of the event, and would unceremoniously swat away any hands that tried to pinch his cheeks. Other than that, he wasn’t much trouble. The real trouble were galas all Wayne kids attended. The five of them could cause enough trouble when they were apart, together they were the embodiment of chaos.

And this was supposed to be a calm, slightly boring family evening. It really was.

But Bruce just had to bring all five of them.

Everything had to go just right. As they walked in through the red carpet, the media was eating up the image of the six Waynes dressed formally; Each of them had a tie color matching their hero uniform (a cheeky thing they enjoyed doing to play with the theorists minds), Dick had a dark blue one, Tim and Jason slightly varying tones of red, Damian had a green one and Bruce had a black one. Cass wore a long black dress that sparkled when it was hit by the light in just the right way.

The first sign was the reporter, who, while aggressively pointing a microphone in their faces, asked pushy questions about relationships and the like, nothing out of the ordinary, until he shoved it in Cass’ face and asked her if she could even speak. Jason almost broke the man’s nose. Bruce silently thanked God for Dick, who stepped in front of the man before that happened.

“Try some shit like that again pal, you’ll hear from our lawyers.” He led his sister inside, a protective hand on her back.

They calmed down. And Bruce still had hopes that this would be a quiet evening.

Looking back at it, he doesn’t know why.

Because as Dick and Cass were at the bar, ordering drinks, a woman stood next to them, trying to make small talk. Neither of them seemed too interested in her; she is a hassle at every gala, making weird advances on all of the boys. Today, however, she was a little more tipsy, and Bruce couldn’t quite make out what exactly the conversation was about, but Dick was clearly uncomfortable and Cass was fuming. The woman kept grabbing at him, sliding her hands over his tie, squeezing his arms. And then she squeezed his ass, and it took Cass less than a second to break her nose.

If they were any other family, Cass would have been thrown out of the party, but they were the Waynes, and you do not throw a Wayne out of a party. If she punched a middle-aged woman, then she punched a middle-aged woman. Bring her a glass of water and some ice for her injured hand.

Of course, it didn’t end there.

Bruce was still surprised he didn’t have gray hairs yet.

Because Damian had discovered and made friends with a stray cat in the garden, and Jason had a laser pointer, because of course Jason had a laser pointer, and the cat ended up knocking down not one, not two, but three expensive pieces of pottery, shattering them on the gravel floor. And when the house owner saw the damage, he turned pale and had to hold back his tears. Jason laughed.

“-tt-.” Damian stated, adjusting his suit “You owe that cat a favour,those vases ruined the garden’s aesthetic. Regardless, I’m sure father will be more than happy to compensate you for the damages.”

He walked back to the party slowly, passing by the man who would need some time to make it back.

Once Jason broke him the news, Bruce thought (and hoped) that that would be it.

But no, the night was young, and there was so much time left and the batsibilings for sure wouldn’t waste it.

The previous statement about sleep deprived Tim?

Well.

Tonight, he had to pick a fight with an essential-oil-loving, antivax mother. Simply because he liked to torture himself. And because nobody realised he was alone until Bruce spotted him in the crowd, eye twitching as a woman rambled about all the heavy metals and chemicals that vaccines had in them. He thought about getting to him, but he knew it was too late. There was no going back now.

“Well, you see Karen,” He started.

“Uuum, my name’s Patricia.” She interrupted.

“I’m a billionaire’s heir, I don’t give a shit.” He said “Anyways. As I was saying, the thing is, I’d rather take the chance of being injecting myself with mercury than, oh, I don’t know, get meningitis and fucking die?”

The circle went quiet. Another woman, wanting to dissipate the tension, tried to restart the conversation.

“I-I mean, I don’t understand why can’t they make something safer, right? Like, when we used to throw those smallpox parties, why won’t they make something that works like that? So that we can build a natural immunity instead of all of those chemicals.” She laughed awkwardly.

Tim slapped his own face so hard that it attracted a lot of eyes.

“How. Do. You. Think. Vaccines. Work. Susan?”

“M-my name is Mary.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” He answered. And just in time, Dick swooped in.

“Hey, Timmy!” He greeted “Can I borrow this guy for a second?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he guided Tim out to the garden.

“Fucking idiots.” He muttered “I don’t know how they have so much money. They’re all fucking idiots, Dick. I’m surrounded by dumbasses.”

“There, there.” He said “Okay, we’re far enough.” He looked around “Go ahead.”

And Tim let out the most horrendous, rage filled scream any of those guests had ever heard. Because of course they heard it. Bruce sighed and shrunk on his chair.

“Better?” Dick asked as he finished, patting his back.

“So much.” Tim answered.

“You should’ve slept a little before this.”

“No way. I’m totally fine.” He answered “I had three cans of monster before we left, so I feel great.” Dick raised an eyebrow, worried.

“Whatever you say, buddy.” He led him back inside, tidying up his brother’s hair “Just... No more picking fights with moms tonight, okay?”

And Bruce thought that was enough. Bruce was certain that this would be the last incident.

But his kids just loved proving him wrong.

He thought that the best strategy would be to ask them to stick together, so that Dick’s responsibility and social skills would keep his feral siblings under control. He should’ve known it would backfire.

The last he checked, they were making small talk with some CEOs on the edge of the room, away from the dance floor. Jason, Cass and Damian seemed completely bored, Tim was clenching his jaw for some reason, and Dick tried his best to look polished and polite.

“So, I heard that Wayne Enterprises have a new project?” One of them asked, chest so projected forwards it looked like it was about to explode.

“Yes. Yes we do.” Dick said, smiling politely “We’re opening up a refugee housing program.”

“Oh, so that’s what those buildings are for?”

“Yes, exactly!” He exclaimed, opening his arms in a seemingly natural manner “We are building apartments to shelter them. It’s nothing fancy, but we can charge a cheaper rent than most, and not charge at all for the first six months, giving them a chance to properly establish themselves here.”

“Well, I must say,” Puffed up chest guy stated, “I can’t see why not to give them to good old Americans instead. There’s a lot of homeless people nowadays, you see.” He leaned forward as he talked.

Damian perked his head up, but didn’t say anything. Cass and Jason seemed to be listening. Tim’s left eye twitched.

“Actually,” Tim started “The company has very stable, successful projects to help the homeless.”

“I’m familiar with those, yes.” He arrogantly dismissed the teen “But, you see, I just can’t understand why not open the housing to tax paying Americans instead of some...”

“Potential terrorists?” Damian suggested, arms crossed, scowl on his face.

“...Foreigners.” He completed.

“Well, since you ask, we are currently planning on the possibility of eventually opening vague apartments to Americans too.” Dick answered, swirling the liquid in his glass around “But the priority now really are the refugees.”

“I don’t see why can’t we prioritize our own people.” He insisted “I’m simply concerned for the well being of our poorest patriots.”

Dick blinked.

And here’s why Bruce should have known it would backfire.

Because, yes, Dick was able to cool them down...

But they were able to fire him up.

And so, like the charismatic man he was, he covered his nose a little, rubbing at the end, and faked a loud sneeze.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” He started “You see, I have this strange condition.” Dick stared at the man in the eye, the guy who had bought an old building people were squatting at, just to demolish it and doom them to the streets with no care or compensation, and, knowing this and so much more, said “I’m allergic to bullshit.”

And his siblings went feral again.

Tim and Jason screamed an ‘Oooooooooh!’, Damian pointed at the man and laughed loudly, and Cass snorted, covering her mouth in surprise.

Dick didn’t break eye contact as he drank the last of his champagne.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” He said “I have to go look for better company.” Dick left the empty glass at the nearest table and adjusted his suit, smiling “Have a nice evening.”

As he walked away, the gang followed close behind, all of them very excited about how Dick, the composed, calm, cool, polite and polished Dick Grayson-Wayne, had just burned a millionaire in front of his economic allies. As the party reached Bruce, the man once again seemed to sink into his chair. Dick sat next to him, radiating confidence and charm.

“Do I wanna know?” The man asked.

“No,” Dick answered, grinning but not looking at the man “No you don’t.”

#Batfamily #BatFam #batbros #batsiblings #dick grayson #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #Damian Wayne #cassandra cain #bruce wayne is a good parent #exasperated dad bruce wayne #batman bingo #batman bingo 2020 #fanfic #fanfition #writing #chaotic batfam

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peanutdracolich · 6 years

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Peanut Dracolich Watches Horror: IT (1990)

So yeah I know this isn't the sexy new film, and that as a 3 hour miniseries created to be watched in 2 sittings (I intend to watch it in 1 day but with an intermission) it will be odd to judge. Still I'm not watching it for the story. I'm watching it for the Tim Curry.

And Tim Curry does not disappoint. Neither does Jonathan Brandis as the young Bill. As a TV miniseries It was of course a different viewing experience than a movie. Mostly in ways that hurt it as I suspect it was because it was made to be watched with commercials that they defaulted to silence and didn’t try and use music to hold and create tension except sporadically and during the journeys into the underworld. Oh and the film really makes me think of the Hero’s Journey.

So first things first: Was the film good? The answer is kind of.

Part 1 I would say was roughly at the level of the Omen, and slightly below as Horror. Still it had strong performances from Tim Curry and Jonathan Brandis (actually all the children put forth a pretty good showing), good pacing, a good ending, and is mostly held back by an unsatisfying score, and just not quite being able to clench the deal and bring all the elements together. As a story it was better than the Omen, it just couldn’t get everything to quite fit together.

Part 2 is noticeably worse than Part 1. The adult actors give significantly less gripping performances. The pacing is worse. It introduces things that make me go ‘what are Pennywise’s limits?’, and ‘What are deadlights?’ with no resolution. There’s less Tim Curry. It’s a much weaker half. I think I’d have actively sort of hated it if I had really tried to watch it 100% attention for both halves back to back (past 2 hours for horror they tend to grate on me I’ve noticed). That said it did give conclusions to things, but the heroic narrative despite actually giving a more complete resolution to the Hero’s Journey is weaker. It’s the weaker half.

Overall the film was ok, but not great. Functional horror but failed to give the grade A creep, or real scares. If you like Tim Curry it’s worth the watch, he makes a good villain, but if you don’t you’re a monster! No not really, but you probably won’t enjoy it much.

So the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:

The Good:

Tim Curry as Pennywise: Tim Curry is good at creepy. While I am glad he wasn’t the animated Joker (Hamill’s job was perfect), Curry is good at the villain, and Pennywise is legitimately creepy and many times I felt I should have been scared... I just sort of wasn’t.

The Kids: The Losers Club as children are pretty good. They’re characters that I care about, and enjoy seeing. Bill gets some real feelings, and they seem rather in the role.

The Journey: I am not the greatest King fan. That said I now want to read the book, because the basic story was good and interesting. This is not a ‘it makes me feel like I need to read the book to get the story’, but that it did in fact have a legitimately interesting story beyond the monster and horror elements.

The Bad:

The Score: I noticed an hour in that things weren’t working right and realized that I couldn’t say anything about the music except that it had had no emotional effect. They then entered the sewer and started using generic horror music. Which was an improvement. But when bad music is an improvement there’s an issue. In the 2nd part while actively looking for and trying to note the music I could still not find any useful emotional effect and a disappointing tendency to default to silence in a way that didn’t make silence creepy. I’m suspicious this is a side effect of made for TV and commercial breaks being liable to ruin it. But really I’m not sure.

The Adult Losers: Partially it was thematic and narrative, them becoming actual losers despite being successful, which made them come off as less likeable, but in general the adult actors just didn’t sell their roles. The kids felt earnest and heartfelt, like they were really playing it. The adults just felt sort of like they were phoning it in a bit. It’s disappointing.

The Ugly:

I Feel like I Need to Read the Book: What are Deadlights? Is there something to the Deadlights, or could they have just mentioned the light and not given it the fancy name and made it actually a little scarier? While normally I’d put this as a bad (I am still sore about Universal’s Mummy on this). For the most part I don’t feel it’s really necessary, and if I hadn’t already looked up a bit about the book (space turtle) I might not feel this way. Still not the best quality.

The Spider: My first thought was it looked like a butt with legs and two human arms dangling from the cheeks. The next glance made it look better but it was still an ugly thing. And true to King adaptation tradition the final effects for it sort of made me want to laugh.

The Play by Play:

The start is... good for TV horror. I'd say it's not super impressive for 80s movie horror, but it's basically functional. Girl sees clown. Girl disappears. There was an X-Files episode like this.

6 children, though. This is part of a string of them. And the black police library knows something. Elements of this are familiar. You get the feel that he's dealt with this before; that this is a return to what has happened before.

We see Stephen King... I mean Bill the horror writer for a time before the Library calls him and now we get a flashback to a group of kids swearing that "if it isn't dead, we'll all come back"

I think we're getting an hour and a half long flashback now.

Georgie (Bill's younger brother) is being sent into the basement to get some sealing wax for a paper boat. And he's scared of the basement but not killed there. He's going outside, though, watching the boat run down through the storm water. Bill obviously cares for the kid even if he considers him a brat.

Still Georgie meets the Clown looking up at him from a storm drain. He introduces himself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Convinces Georgie to reach in and then... NEEDLE CLOWN TEETH

We have a funeral now. Bill is either hallucinating or being fucked with by an evil reality warping clown.

Oh we're out of flashback. Bill let himself forget everything, he blocked it out, and now he knows he has to go home and do what must be done. Also his childhood stutter is back. He's horrified, and he doesn't want his wife to come, and yet he won't really tell her what's going on (because he's sound like a crazy freak).

We get our next member of the group. A dude who got some award of some sort for... Either heavy drinking or architecture he seems to do both. I'm going to call him Beard face till he has a name (so far we have Mike and Bill). He used to be fat. Why is he telling a woman this while making out with her? She doesn't care or want to know. Ben gets the Call (to Adventure) from Mike. He cannot refuse the call, though like Bill he tries. 18 minutes in and I want to get a flowchart of the hero's journey. Well ok, his refusal lasts like 10 seconds. He then decides he isn't drunk enough. He needs to get double falling down drunk. And maybe kill himself. Killing himself could be good too. Dude off the roof. No not off that way. You shouldn't be on the roof.

Flashback time. Ben, or as the asshole calls him 'fat boy', is a transfer student who immediately makes a new 'friend', a greaser punk who wants to pick on him, and decides that getting detention for it means that he should actively threaten the fat boy.

Asshole's greaser friends almost chicken out when it looks like he's going to actually cut him. Ben kicks him, falls over the fence and down the hill and runs to hide in a storm pipe. They harass Bill and Asthma Kid instead causing him to have an asthma attack with an empty inhaler.

Ben and Asthma Lad bond over dead dads while Bill fetches the new inhaler. We learn Georgie got an arm ripped off, and Asthma Lad is named Eddie.

Ben and his cousin have... an adversarial relationship. Ben has met his dead father. Who wants him to go in the storm pipe again. And is offering balloons. He is now a clown. Now a skeleton reaching for him and covered in algae.

We return to the present and Ben drops his bottle begging please no.

We see the girl who Child Ben liked, Beverly, but she's now a designer and I am thinking about Designing Women. She is meeting with Japanese investors and does not get the call because her partner (and lover) doesn't let the secretary give it to her.

She gets it that night. RL Interrupts. It's made for TV, I consider this the equivalent of a commercial break. Her boyfriend slaps her. 'You've forgotten your manners' 'It's been too long since last time' He's threatening to beat her with a belt so that she'll be stuck in the house for 2 weeks and heavily implying this is not the first time. She knocks him down with a bottle to the forehead. They're over now.

She's also taking the call better than the rest. Best friends she's ever had. We get the mandatory flash back, and Ben is giving her a love letter. Her dad finds it and decides that receiving love poetry from a boy, that deserves a beatin', he needs to beat the slut out of her.

We have two new people show up. And then the 6 kids start building a dam. Beverly likes Bill and believes Bill sent the poem. Ben learns this. Ben is sad child.

Beverly is attacked by a blood filled balloon from her sink. Her dad can't see the blood. She lies about seeing a big fat spider. So he won't beat her. "You'll die if you try to fight us. You'll die if you try. You'll die if you try." Good and creepy.

Half an hour in and we've got decent build up for the amount of character and story they're introducing. I mean it's very made for TV but it's pretty good. We don't see Eddie get the call, but he's rushing back to Vermont. His flashback will be soon.

So right now Mike has called 4 kids, we have a 6 kid group, and this does not include Mike. We still only have a half introduction to 3 of the 7 characters. Eddie accidentally spills popcorn on the greasers, the joke kid Richie decides to mock them and pour his soda on them since they're assholes and they're gonna try and beat them up anyway so fuck it have some fun at their expense.

Eddie's mom is overly protective and clingy. "You don't need no friends except your mom." She's still like this with his adult (and apparently successfully running a business) self.

Pennywise is creepy clown again. The scene's effects are... functional with a touch of imagination, though elements of it could take you out. Still Pennywise is creepy.

Richie is a successful TV comedian. With pretty bad jokes. Like just sort of unfunny build up to a so so joke. It's his child hood dream, though. I bet that didn't include puking in terror in a toilet. But that is Pennywise's fault.

A cop scolds them a little about the dam, but really he's just trying to warn them 'there's been another child murder near hear, don't come here alone and don't split up while here.' Reasonable authority figure!

Richie is attacked by a bad movie werewolf which becomes Pennywise. Pennywise is far scarier. I blame Tim Curry.

We finally get Mike's flashback. I think Stan (the unnamed 6 member of the group) died. The greasers decide to fuck with him because he's black. Our group is just the people the greasers fuck with aren't they?

Still they're swapping Pennywise stories; only Stan - the science lad - doesn't have one. That is when Mike begins to approach, and they can hear Henry's gang (increased to 5). Bill, being the leader, suggests everyone arm themselves with rocks to threaten them with.

It's an impromptu rock fight and the Losers have the high ground, but when a rock hits Beverly, Ben shows that fuck this he will beat their sorry greaser asses.

Still Henry has named the group: The Losers Club.

We also learn the evil clown has been here for hundreds of years, and is able to animate pictures. And threaten to kill them from within.

Pennywise claims to be all their fears. Stan, can't take it, he knows he saw it, like everyone else but it's impossible. I see him as dying.

I am touched and moved by Bill's moment. The kid (actor) is good.

And back in the present Pennywise is fucking with Mike.

And now we get Stan's? Stan is ready to try and make a baby. Stan won't be making a baby right now. Stan will be going back home. We have 20 minutes left in part 1 and Stan... Stan isn't sure he'll come back. Still we know they all lived through the summer.

Flashback: They are practicing their slingshot murder skills. Beverly demonstrates hers and they accredit it to fate. DIVINE AID. They then move to the threshold, preparing to enter the sewer systems and the Underworld. Really I'd say more that they've crossed the threshold, that the group gathering has been Bill's finding friends and allies, and that he's moving into the very abyss. Still this film has my mind in the Hero's Journey.

They all take a hit of Eddie's inhalers (it's battery acid will eat through anything), and Henry watches from the bushes. He intends to drown them all to death.

They are literally entering a dark hole in the ground to fight a monster. This is pretty direct hero's journey stuff.

Oh Henry isn't planning to drown them just catch them and beat them horribly. 3 on 7. He intends to pincer them, but I wouldn't want to be alone in those tunnels right now.

Meanwhile Bill leads his band of Losers through the tunnels in hunt of the great white clown.

One of the greasers die and I realize the greatest problem of the film. It's just not enough. It never reaches the proper clench of terror, just missing it. You could blame the special effects, but 2nd rate special effects don't bother me that much, I'm actually going to say it's the music. As I noticed the lack of musical use in that scene. I mean they start using it now, but I am realizing they haven't been using it well before now and music is a huge part of horror.

Still Henry and his other greaser friend grab Stan and no one notices for a while. As Henry threatens to literally murder him, Pennywise comes and kills the other greaser apparently as a bug monster that shines with unholy white light and pulls people into tubes. Whatever it is he turns Henry's hair white just by passing by and Stan doesn't look.

The film is finally using music. It's not top rate, but it's better. Still doesn't quite reach fear (improper prep). Pennywise, in the form of a light surfboard passes over them and fog begins to fill the tunnels to separate them. It's a very 'why Lovecraftian films fail' moment; it feels like a bad attempt at the incomprehensible.

It begins to play on their fears one by one. Bill's failure to protect his brother. Beverly's father. Richie's werewolf (he beats it alone). Stan's... Stan just gets grabbed by the clown.

"I am eternal child. I am the eater of worlds and of children. And you are next!" Not if Eddie has battery acid and Beverly has a silver stone. They fight It off, and Pennywise tries to flee. Bill has his monster claw... He gets away, and makes sounds.

Bill wants to go after it and make sure it's dead, but the rest say it's dead. Their dam never broke to flood things. Bill makes them swear to return. Stan, the Weak Link, doesn't actually swear until all the others have, skipping his turn.

We return to the present with Stan's wife coming up to see him and... He's killed himself in the bath with a razor, writing in his blood IT.

I'm going to take a break before part 2 but part 1 was good, though I feel it didn't have the best music and more than its TV grade effects that hurt it.

For the Hero's Journey, Bill has had the Call (his brother's death), he didn't really refuse it but that's optional, and there's not so much a mentor. Still it moves into the threshold of the unknown the gathering of allies, the tests of his courage in the form of Henry's gang, and then the descent and ordeal of the Underworld. Beverly is the one who takes up the weapon and strikes IT, but Bill is the guiding hand of it all, he is the one who seizes the sword. They return to the surface and thus the ordinary world and he is resurrected with absolution for Georgie's death. He has made the Hero's Journey and I really do feel that King was thinking about Campbell when writing this at least from watching the film.

Part 2 begins with Bill's visit to his little brother's grave, and Pennywise mocking them with 7 graves, one already full. Bill tells himself he's not afraid of Pennywise, but he does not really convince himself.

There seems to be some rather active memory manipulation going on since Bill is starting to remember more and more and seems to sense when people arrive. They have been linked.

I stop typing to eat some sardines. Still we get people attempting to relive their childhood immediately after a scene of Pennywise telling the jokester that they're too old. Pennywise interrupts. We also have Beverly returning to her childhood home to meet with her father and finding a sweet old lady who becomes her zombie dad and then Pennywise. I still feel that Bev's boyfriend was something about daddy issues born of abuse.

Oh and Bill's wife is being hit on by her boss, who is also threatening her career. That's nice. He's a nice... horrible sleezebag and she is going back to the US anyway because... Ultimately I think he oversleezed.

They meet at a Chinese restaurant, but Beverly faints. Bill you're a married man you shouldn't kiss her like that. Eddie breaks down when he finally remembers Pennywise.

Bill is not telling about his wife. We also learn what happened to Henry. He went crazy and confessed to being the killer. He's still in the asylum. It is talking to him; Pennywise is goading him to murder the Losers.

Richie wants to drop out and run. However when their fortune cookies attack, he is rather convinced to consider staying.

They learn what Bill already suspected. Stan is dead. We get talk about what Stan saw and experienced and introduce the concept of Deadlights. What are deadlights?

Stan's head shows up to mock them. He mocks Billy's stutter, Richie's cowardice, Ben's regaining of weight, Bev's tendency towards abusive men, Mike's getting them there, and I think he implies Eddie is gay and hiding it.

Pennywise is pushing Henry towards Murderin' Time cause Pennywise can handle them if they only half believe, but not if they fully believe. He needs an agent. He can however kill the guy at the door. What are Pennywise's rules?

Well ok, he apparently functions on a 30 year cycle. Also their home town is sick of spirit and has people who will watch 3 guys sexually assault and prepare to rape a young girl (no younger than them but still). Still there seems to be the hand of fate and a dark curse at work with the Losers and the town respectively. I blame the space turtle.

Bill's wife is coming, and she encounters Pennywise. Good scene... oh god he has hypno eyes filled with deadlights. What are deadlights?

They split the party while in the hotel. Never split the party. Never be in a hotel in a Stephen King story. Never combine the two into one!

Pennywise impersonates Bev to make out with Ben (I'm betting it's Pennywise). Pennywise likes kissing dudes. Pennywise likes fucking with people. Oh and Mike is being murdered by Henry, but I'm going to focus on Pennywise's manipulation of people's sexual desires because eh the black guy died in a horror film. Actually this is notable in that the black guy died first (Stan didn't make it to the meet up so doesn't count). It's a famous trope (that I've rarely seen actually done except in reference to the trope) in horror, so I make note of it.

Bev finally realizes that Ben wrote the love poem... the day after Pennywise fucks with him with the idea. Still make outs time.

Part 2 feels slow. Like more seems to have happened in Part 1, I check the time it's 1 hour in with 30 minutes left and it feels like... it's just been slow.

More that the town is evil and in a way part of It. Richie sees a news report about child murder and has a moment. I find myself waiting for Bill's wife to come up again in some way.

Everyone is prepared to flee, but Bill gives a speech about how he's hellishly tired of this stuff. This is mixed to a flashback of kid Bill asking for their help and I realize I think the kids were better actors than the adults.

"Losers fight It, Losers die." Richie, that's not right. When you fought It, when you actually fought It, you won. It's only when you've been scared of fighting It, when you've whiffled and refused the call that you have died. It's not if fight then die it's if Losers don't fight It, then Losers die.

They find Bill's wife's purse. They seem to have been aware he had a wife. Bill is charging off alone in terror for his wife's safety.

We get an encounter with Pennywise and then Bill launches a boat to find him, leading to a den with skeletons outside. Eddie confesses his virginity, and his inability to love people. He felt this was important. Oh the skeleton covered ogre lair door is kid sized that's a nice touch. And there's actual audio cues and play now, have been since they entered the sewer. So I can sort of see why they'd go that way, but it's still not good over all.

They find a spider's den, Bill's wife, and... A giant spider with an ass for a head and human arms? Oh no, now the head is a head. It's alright TV movie effects. Beverly launches her silver bullet but it cannot hurt the spider's armor and then It releases the Deadlights and catch Bill, Ben, and Richie.

Eddie tries to repeat his battery acid attack, but it too fails. His belief is not pure. Beverly reclaims a silver bullet and fires it straight into the deadlights and the spider retreats wounded. Still Eddie has died. It then ends like many Stephen King adaptations in a burst of bad special effects which come across as almost comical with them pushing the spider over and killing it barehanded.

We now get Mike's voice over telling what happened to the rest with the curse broken. Bill's wife has gone into a prolonged state of shock, and Bill tries to break her free with the magic of his childhood bike. It works.

I could look at part 2 with the hero's journey in mind but... it wasn't good enough.

#Suicide mention #peanutdracolich watches horror #It (1990)#Stephen King #Tim Curry

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redrobin-detective · 7 years

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Don't know if this had been asked before but how would resolve/explored/develop the batfamily dynamics pre 52? I don't know if it was you or someone else, but it was brought up that the idea of Damian being more Dick's kid than Bruce's would be a neat idea to explore. Bruce would still bond w/Damian but he'd have to deal w/Damian seeing Dick as his real dad and Dick staying Batman for Damian's sake. Tim and Dick repairing their bond while the former and Damian would learn to accept each other.

Sorry, I know, I’ve held onto this for nearly a week but this is such a big ask I’ve been thinking about how to best describe and format it so I’ve been doing it bit by bit. Because I’ve given quite a bit of thought to how to integrate the ideas of pre-Flashpoint smoothly into N52, using the plot lines and developments from the later without sacrificing the former. I think it could have easily have been done and been more interesting because DC dropped off on some intense plotlines. *Also to save my fingers, Pre = Pre-Flashpoint/N52

Dick/Dami- I have done a few posts about how close they were pre and how Dami and Bruce really weren’t. Bruce was not the best father before he came back from the dead and had no interest in working with Damian in order to help the boy heal. In my fantasy, this would have played out. Damian would have refused to leave Dick’s side as his partner while now Bruce is hurt/confused on why his son now doesn’t want to be with him. I want Damian and Bruce to have a relationship but I want B to have to work for it. Nightwing and Robin shows Dick and Dami together with Batman and Red Robin has Tim and Bruce teamed but slightly at odds with each other, the once close relationship showing strain while Dick and Dami are going strong. Eventually Bruce earns Damian’s love and trust and begins patrolling with Bruce but he still remains immensely close to Dick and, no one says it aloud, but everyone considers him more Dick’s child than Bruce’s. By the time of Damian’s death, it should be Dick who is outraged and inconsolable with grief barely able to function while Bruce goes into his angry/panicked mode because he’d barely gotten any time with Dami and now he’s gone.

Tim- Just Tim in general would need a lot of work done and I’m not just saying that cause he’s my favorite. Red Robin left us with some pretty massive loose ends not to mention Timmy had be been bent and twisted by his experiences to the point that he was different and not always in good healthy ways. In Batman and Red Robin, we see the strain slowly start to show. B is still mad for Tim almost killing Boomerang at the same time he’s upset at how much Tim has grown-up and grown away. He’s also lowkey upset about Dami and, I don’t want to say he’s using Tim to fill in until Damian comes back but it’s implied. He also becomes increasingly concerned for Tim’s mental/physical health. Tim meanwhile is a slow, steady downward slope of depression and feelings of isolation and hurt/anger/insecurity over how the batfam treated him the past few years. First half would show the two fighting and generally slipping down, maybe Tim has a bad health scare with spleen and finally enough is enough and they focus on pulling Tim back. Also like to see a resolution to the Ra’s arc in which Ra’s comes in and tries to sway Tim over to his side which becomes more possible as Tim slips further away from the batfam. The whole fam/Titans get together and help get Red in a better place. (also wishful thinking, as all this occurs, Tim begins to realize his love for Conner and is dealing with that on top of everything. It spills out one night and is delighted/terrified to find his best friend has felt the same way for a long time. they agree to put any relationship on hold until Tim is in a better place but they sneak a few kisses and the support really helps Tim get back together)

Tim/Jason- Just as an aside I’d really like to see this (brotherly/friend) relationship develop. I like that N52 had these two be friends but it drove me nuts that after 6 years of Jay wanting nothing more than Tim’s death they’re besties? I’d like to think Jay would be one of the first to see how bad things have gotten for Tim because he’s been there, he know what it’s like to be the forgotten Robin. And Jay is still angry but his head is finally starting to clear from the Pit and he acknowledges that what happened with him and B wasn’t Tim’s fault. And as he watches Tim slowly spiral downwards with seemingly no help, Jay decides he won’t see another Robin die. Jason approaches Alfred, then B about Tim’s health and ways to help. It’s tense and awkward as they test the waters but they agree to, separately, help get Tim straight. It’s slow going but between Outlaw missions, Jay stops by Tim’s apartment and hangs out with him. They patrol when B is with Dami, they talk and properly get to know each other. They find they have a bit in common and actually like talking. Tim finally talks about some of the messed up things that happened and lets Jay know how bad things got and Jay finally talks about his traumas and comes to terms with them. As Tim is still angry at Dick/Bruce, Jason becomes a confidant in the batfam.

Jason- Actually RHATO Rebirth Jason is a pretty good idea of what I’m thinking of. We have a Jason who, after a few years finally is able to move past the Pit’s influence and think clearly for the first time in a while. It makes him realize that most of his actions were done out of anger so he re-evaluates. B sees this and takes the opportunity to reach out which Jason appreciates and returns by telling B about Tim. That’s where B and J start making things right, when they’re talking about how to best help Tim, they’re also covertly talking about how to deal with what happened. It gets out that Hood is a Bat and Jay is forced to ally himself properly with his family in order to avoid being torn apart by the criminal community. Jay will never be the golden son, he agrees that he won’t purposely kill but he toes the line far more than Bruce is comfortable with. The trust between them is razor thin but they’re trying. B hates it but he uses Jason as an agent who does the things B cannot/will not do. Jay spends only about half the time in Gotham, the other half with the Outlaws (NOT Kory/Roy, Jay needs his own team not hand-me-downs, Artemis/Bizarro?). He gets on better terms with Tim, but is still at odds with Dick even more so on Tim’s behalf for replacing the kid when he was down. Eventually learns to like Dami and becomes a proper big brother with him. I’d like a side arc seeing Jason going back to school? Going to GCU maybe with Steph under a false ID, that’d be nice.

Cass and the BOP- Having read Cass’s Batgirl run I think it’d be a natural progression that she’d fit in with the Birds. Cass loves her new family but she also needs space for herself to grow and she remembers Bruce was rather suffocating with her. She moves in fulltime with Barbara on the excuse she’s there to help/respond quickly but honestly she’s working on bettering her people skills and needs that constant human interaction. Babs teaches her to read when not on missions and the other Birds are very supportive of Cass. Cass also trains the other Birds in techniques and really hones the Team’s skills. They become just as formidable and respected as the Bats. They learn to coordinate better so they each can have more times off. The Birds would have their own section of Gotham as “theirs”, their own rogues gallery, get involved in the ladies’ personal lives. Barb is still struggling with her on again/off again relationship with Dick, now complicated by children in all but name, Damian and Cass (lol Bruce lost two children to other people). Cass is working on being a person and not a weapon but trying to keep up her impressive skills. Steph is a reserve member, available if needed but she’s really trying to ally herself with the Bats. She and Cass though retain a strong relationship, Steph because her relationship with Tim has soured and she needs someone and Cass because Steph was her first friend.

Stephanie- I’d basically like a continuation of her Batgirl run which was marvelous and go read it. Stephanie is still trying to prove herself to that Bats that she’s worthy of the cape and cowl and, for the most part, she’s earned it. Bruce now grants her the Batgirl title and keeps her on the roster and her belt equipped. But there’s always gonna be some tension between them and he’s undeniably harsher on her than the others. She patrols often with Dick and Damian who like/trust her more and, a lot of times, if Dick is working or whatever it will just be her and Damian. She relishes the big sister role and the feminine influence is good on Damian (though he’ll never admit to it). Continues her classes at GCU, nearly falls over when Jason sits next to her in her English Lit class. The big problem for her is keeping up with the other more confident/well-trained heroes and also repairing her relationship with Tim. She messed up, he took it badly, she moved up in batfam, he started spiraling out of control. He’s still angry about what went down but recently has been trying to repair the relationship. But too much has happened and they’ve both changed so much. Neither likes admitting how different from Robin and Spoiler they are. Her and Jay discuss how to handle Tim while studying poetry. As Tim’s health improves, he lets Steph in more and they start their friendship over. Also very close to the BOP/Cass and while she’ll hang out with them a lot out of costume, she’s determined to be a Bat. Maybe after she gains some confidence, she might switch over to the BOP for good.

#batman asks #batman headcanon #long post #this is huge but I would have DIED to have seen this in N52

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forgetmenotblues · 7 years

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52 in 52

So last year I tried to read 52 books in 52 weeks (aka a year, if you're nasty), and because I was a shiftless philosophy student, I managed and then some.

Here are the books I've read, with some thoughts on them, for posterity, or recommendations

1) Sandman Overture, Neil Gaiman

Pretty solid, usually I hate prequels, but sandman was always pretty meandering and non-linear, so it works well. Just annoying it doesn't fit in with my pretty leatherbound absolute editions

2) Radioactive: love and fallout, Lauren Redniss

Very cool artsy biography of Marie Curie, and glows in the dark!

3) XKCD What if?

Extremely fun science, makes some abstract concepts approachable, I mean it's Randall Munroe, it's solid

4) Rise to Rebellion, Jeff Shaara

Historical novel (gonna be a few of these, I'm dead into them) about the build up to the American revolution . Kinda dry for a lot of it, but can ratchet the tension up, taught me lots I didn't know, and there's a bit towards the end where John Adams' wife calls him out on his privilege and it's pretty rad

5) Dune, Frank Herbert

I hate myself for saying this, but I was expecting it to be a bit more... dry. But seriously, everything described it as complex philosophy and politics, ASOIAF in space, and then it was a pretty straightforward adventure. The dynastic politics boiled down to a family of cool beautiful good guys vs an evil family of "hilariously" fat perverts. It was a great read, but more Laurence of Arabia than anything else

6) Squirrel girl, Ryan North

Fantastic, fun, brilliantly written - it's Ryan North, nuff said.

7) Virgil, Steve Orlando

A cool, dark, "queersploitation" comic. Your basic "beaten and left for dead, wreaks vengeance" type story, brutal, but honestly pretty cathartic

8) the house that groaned, karrie fransman

A comic about a bunch of dysfunctional people. I didn't care for it, it was a lot of kinda shallow Freudian psychology and slightly tim burton esque "quirky" characters. It was kinda like the A Dolls House arc of Sandman, but... not good

9) The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett

Discworld is always fantastic, and I've got a real fondness for the classic travelogue style rincewind ones.

10) Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist, Russel McCormmach

The story of a German physicist who's dedicated his whole life to ether model physics and is realising his life's work is being disproved by recent advances... so a barrel of laughs. All about mortality, the fear of obsolescence, nationalism, and academia.

11) The Property, Rutu Modan

Indie comic about a girl learning about her family's heritage in Europe, lots of post war stuff and exploring "the old country". Very good

12) The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth

This was one of the real wins of this year, a story about the Norman occupation of Anglo Saxon England after 1066, and resistance thereof. Written in a conlang made to simulate old english, it seems totally unreadable, but you pick it up, and it makes the story infinitely more engrossing. A cool setting plus a whole other language wouldbe enough, but kingsnorth goes one further and makes it a savage deconstruction of nationalism and a beautifully painful exploration of tropes these sorts of books tend to embrace. Can't recommend enough.

13) Adventures of Hergé, Jean-luc Fromental

Biography of hergé written in the style of a tintin comic, a lot of fun

14) Carpé Jugulum, Terry Pratchett

Another Discworld, another classic. A lot of fun stuff with vampire tropes, although also a pretty serious discussion of "all evil comes from utilitarianism", which I felt didn't entirely fit, and I disagreed with. But again, the biggest criticism I've ever had of a Pratchett book is "his intelligent discussion of philosophy felt a little out of place", so not the end of the world

15) Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett

I went on a bit of a discworld binge here, another great one

16) Half a King, Joe Abercrombie

Great deconstructive low fantasy novel, one of the many ASOIAF-esque books out there, and one of the few I've really enjoyed

17) Batman and Robin Eternal, D.C. Comics

Fun story about the batfamily, one of the rare bat-titles to really say "hey maybe this should be fun, you guys?"

18) Magical Game Time, Zac Gorman

Brilliant comics about video games, capture the real magic and freedom you found in games when you're a kid, the epic narratives you'd weave out of very simple Zelda games on the NES. makes me happy on a fundamental level. A lot of its available as webcomics, look it up, you won't regret it

19) The Truth, Terry Pratchett

Another brilliant Discworld book. Not much to say as there's a lot of these another all just consistently amongst the best books ever.

20) Wonder Woman Earth 1, Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison's always got a gift for finding the heart of a character, and he doesn't disappoint here. A lot of weird analysis of wonder woman as a feminist character, but he handles it pretty well overall.

21) & 22) Half the World, and Half a War, Joe Abercrombie

Parts 2 and 3 of the series, stays brilliant. Abercrombie is apparently best known for more adult stuff and this is more YA, but if anything that refines his writing - stops him being another grimdark game of thrones wannabe, and keeps it slightly more reconstructive and intelligent. Brilliant use of characters, the hero of the first book ends up almost the villain of the last, and all for entirely understandable reasons.

23) Machine of Death, various authors

A short story collection about a high concept: a simple blood test can tell you your cause of Death, but not the time or any specifics. A brilliant idea is explored in a lot of clever, beautiful, and hilarious ways.

24) The Last Hero, Terry Pratchett

Another brilliant Discworld, acting as a bridge between the classic fantasy of the older books, and the renaissance era politics and science of the later books - v poignant

25, 26, & 27) Harlequin, Vagabond, Heretic, Bernard Cornwell

Historical novels about the battle of creçy and the start of the 100 years war. Cornwells always good, although honestly these aren't his best. Pretty cool comparison between the chivalry of grain quests, and the reality of medieval warfare.

28) Long Halloween, Jeph Loeb

A classic batman, the story they based Dark Knight on, with a cool transition from down to earth organised crime of Year One to the zany madness of later batman

29) Little Brother, Cory Doctorow

A novel about post-911 culture, and counter culture rebellions against it. Fantastic novel, available as creative commons, so you can get it for free, so no excuses not to read! Very inspiring in that fuck Bush and fuck this war aesthetic, and Ihve a feeling it's gonna get real relevant in the coming years

30) Enders Game, Orson Scott Card

Pretty fantastic sci fi, analyses the psychological impacts of chosen one children saving the world, and the ethics of a "all the enemy are evil aliens" narrative. Obviously all this ethicality is a bit hypocritical from Orson Scott homophobia, so buy it second hand?

31) Black Guard, AJ Smith

Pretty cool fantasy, another faux ASOIAF type one, fairly straightforward, but plenty enjoyable

32) Deadpool vs Hawkeye

Pretty fun comic, read it on a plane back from Costa Rica, so I dont super remember it? But I enjoyed

33) The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman

Very cool twisted fairy tale type thing, Neil Gaiman's always good, and beautiful Chris Riddel illustrations on top

34) Dial H for Hero, China Miéville

Great comic series, takes a simple idea (guy finds magic phone, when he dials it, he becomes a randomised superhero) and explores it in every possible way, becoming a full blown epic. Plus a scene where he becomes old timey racist heroes from the 60's and has to balance the good of doing superheroics vs the offensiveness of going out as "super chief" or whoever

35) Ravenspur, Conn Iggulden

Historical novel about the war of the roses. Iggulden is always very good, makes extremely readable stuff, and his war of the roses series is fantastic, a complex story made into an awesome action story. However, this last book isn't his best, it spends about 2/3rds of the book on a 6 month period where not much happens, then blazes through 10 years of action in no time at all, the pacing just felt a bit off. Still very good.

36) Howard the Duck, Chip Zdarsky

Very readable, very fun, very witty

37) Stonehenge, Bernard Cornwell

Historical novel about the building of Stonehenge, this is cornwell at his best, at border of very well researched intelligent history and the slightest hint of fantasy, making a brilliant story that brings history to life.

38) Black Orchid, Neil Gaiman

Slightly deconstructive superhero story, reads very much like a companion piece to Alan Moore's brilliant Swamp Thing

39) The Hartlepool Monkey, Wilfrid Lupano

Historical comic about a northern English town that hanged a shipwrecked monkey as a Napoleonic spy. A brutal read, exploring idiotic nationalism, well recommended

40) Turned Out Nice Again, Richard Mabry

Cute non-fiction musings on the meanings of weather and it's effects on our day to day life

41) The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie

Another deconstructive low fantasy, this time part of his adult series, which actually kind of works against it. Without the lighter edge, it can be a little bit of a downer. Nonetheless, well written, solid characterisation, and an excellent take-down of fantasy's belief in the glorious nature of war.

42) Thief of Time, Terry Pratchett

Another fantastic Discworld, fun, funny, and clever

43, 44, 45, 46, 47) A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons

Reread all of ASOIAF, absolutely fantastic, better on a second read. The first 3 are great as last time, plus all the foreshadowing that now makes sense. And 4&5, which I felt bit more ambivalent about the first time round, I've since read various analyses of (check out @asoiafuniversity), and I'd now consider them some of the best books I've ever read.

48) Gettysburg Address, Jonathon Hennessey

Absolutely brilliant comic, dissecting the Gettysburg address, using each line of it as a jumping off point to explore the history and philosophy of the civil war, incredibly high recommendation

49) Lazarus, Greg Rucka

A fantastic sci fi comic series, brilliant writing and characters, rucka is always great, and this is some of his best

50) Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

Another Discworld, but this one is even better than usual, this is one of the ones that stand out as serious business, much less comedic and much more epic than usual

51) A Brief History of Vice, Robert Evans

Hilarious and informative book from a cracked.com writer about use of drugs and alcohol through history, with recipes and recommendations for legal highs and drink recipes

52) Just City, Jo Walton

Sci fi / fantasy /philosophical novel, where great thinkers from throughout history are brought together to build Plato's perfect city. All about the clash between high ideals and practical reality. Very enjoyable, the sort of book where action scenes are philosophical debates.

53) Goldie Vance, Hope Larson

Fun cool progressive detective comic

54) Temeraire, Naomi Novak

A really fun fantasy novel with a concept that seems so simple, you don't know how no one's done it before. Essentially it's just the classical trope of dragon riders, but updated from pseudo medieval to the Napoleonic era, with all associated tall ships and iron men and officer and a gentleman tropes

#me #Forgetmenotblues #52 in 52

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