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fellow-travelers-fic-recs · 16 days

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Fellow Travelers Fic Recs | Old Men in Love

A collection of Fellow Travelers fics set in the 1980s era… some fix-its, lots of sweet, domestic bliss and a few bittersweet endings. Because we love pain.

Be sure to show the authors plenty of love with your comments, kudos and reblogs!

💞 Books or Blowjobs by @timothydavidlaughlin | mauralabingi [E, 1K] Tim and Hawk get back home after a day of shopping.

💞 Let Me Shower You With My Love by @beyondxmeasure | Cyantific [M, 7K] Hawk helps Tim in the shower.

A 1986 canon divergent fix-it.

Sometimes it's worth the pain by @timothydavidlaughlin | mauralabingi [NR, 1K] Hawk wakes up in the morning in Tim's arms.

💞 Here We Are In Heaven by @bluebellsinburbank | ConsumingLove (Bluebellstar) [G, 1K] Though it happened hours before, Hawk could see it so clearly now. That green space, lined in flowers. Marcus's proud smile. Jackson's hand, so steady as it placed that simple band of silver in Hawk's palm. And Tim.

A snippet of Hawk and Tim's reception.

💞 On a sunny day in San Francisco by @timothydavidlaughlin | mauralabingi [T, 1K] Tim and Hawk take a walk together.

💞 🪴His great consuming lovage*🪴 by @carnivalrow | nightfall_in_winter [T, 2K] Tim's potted plant has a story to tell...

💞 To Wrap Your Love Around Me by @beyondxmeasure | Cyantific [T, 5K] Waking up in Tim’s apartment, Hawk discovers Skippy's old robe, the same one from years ago, and the memories all come flooding back.

Tim doesn’t have much time left. Will Hawk be brave enough to stay?

💞 Tonight, It's Very Clear by @bluebellsinburbank | ConsumingLove (Bluebellstar) [NR, 1K] This isn't the plan. Marcus should just be asking for Hawk's badge. Frankie and Jerome should be waiting by the back entrance. Tim has it all in his mind - this last perfect moment with Hawk. It had been agreed, his farewell to the man he loves. He has to say goodbye, to ask Hawk to let him go.

Or, Tim plans on letting Hawk go. Hawk plans on something completely different.

💞 Two Old Men at Grubstake on Pine by @vespersong | vespersong [T, 3K] Hannah's story of the two old men at Grubstake Diner, in 1980s San Francisco.

💞 Time passes by in the most cruelest of fashions by @fuddlewuddle | Fuddlewuddle [M, 2K] Hawk and Tim talk in his little apartment in 1980s America. Conversations between them have never been easy.

💞 You might not wear blue often, but it's still your color by @timothydavidlaughlin mauralabingi [G, 2K] Hawk is struggling. Then he gets a package in the mail.

💞 Don't leave it to the last dance by @fuddlewuddle | Fuddlewuddle [M, 2K] Tim is in hospital. Hawk brings him his mail. One letter is not like the others.

💞 Lazy Morning by @bluebellsinburbank | ConsumingLove (Bluebellstar) [M, 785] Hawk and Tim share a morning together in bed.

💞 On the Street Where You Live 💠 by imstillinhellbtw [NR, 17K] Hawk has one week to make up for 30 years lost.

Or, the last 7 days he ever spent with the love of his life.

💞 Of Snuggles and Waffles by @bluebellsinburbank | ConsumingLove (Bluebellstar) [G, 2K] It's a beautiful Saturday morning and Tim should be sleeping in. Unfortunately, Hawk has other plans.

💞 Stars fading but I linger on, dear by @cinnamoncountess | CinnamonCountess []E, 5K Tulips, roses, lavenders, daisies and orchids — Tim closes his eyes for fleeting seconds as he passes the bayside and takes in the wide-ranging scent wafting over from the flower sales on each side of the road, drawing into his nostrils where it mixes with the salty sea odor from afar. It is that day of the year again that always squeezes on his heart like a fallen wall of bricks, burying him underneath.

💞 With all due respect, fuck congestion by @timothydavidlaughlin | mauralabingi [T, 2K] Tim and Hawk are going through their closet to find some clothes to donate, but Tim isn't feeling great.

💞 Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps It’s Real 💠 by drabbleswabbles [NR, 35K] And then it happened. The metallic screech of the gate, the shuffle of men stepping out beyond the prison walls. And suddenly there he was. His hair was shorter than he’d ever seen it. And his glasses were different. But it was him. Their eyes met. Tim stared at him in wide-eyed shock before recognition melted his features into a confused outrage.

Basically, a fix-it in which Hawk finds himself back in the early 70s.

💞 The one I've left behind by @carnivalrow | nightfall_in_winter [T, 884] Hawk's belated confessions in the 80s.

💞 I have loved you my whole life by @carnivalrow | nightfall_in_winter [M, 1K] 80s Tim wanted Hawk to take him back to the top of the tower, where they parted in 1954.

💞 if i have to switch the lights off, i wanna switch them off with you by @startagainbuttercup | startagainbuttercup [T, 661] "I don't remember our last kiss," Hawk blurted.

Tim's face instantly changed as he parted his lips in surprise.

"The whole time you were there, with the doctors, I thought you were dying, and I couldn't remember when was the last time we kissed." Hawk's voice trembled a little. He looked at his lap. "There were so many, but I just couldn't remember the last one."

Or, a little scene after, "did you forget that I'm a convicted felon?"

💞 I'll have a Blue Christmas without You. by @in-our-special-place | Cupping_Cakes [M, 1K] He could almost feel his touch and hear his voice, and for a brief moment, the pain would ease. But then, reality would hit again, and Hawk would be consumed by the emptiness.

💞 Couldn't say it to your face 💠 by nataliaa [G, 1K] “I’m going to DC,” Marcus says, “next week. He’s fine,” he adds quickly. “As far as I know, anyway. But I just thought—”

It’s the most that Marcus has said about Hawk in years, and Tim instantly realizes that he hasn’t been fooling anyone, except maybe himself. Marcus knows that Tim has never stopped thinking about Hawk. Marcus has always known.

📖 More fic recs can be found at the fic register, here. Not quite what you're looking for? Tell us what you had in mind, here! -> 💌

💠 Authors: If you have a tumblr (or other socials) you’d like linked, let me know and I’ll add it. Or, if you're already linked and would rather not be, please let me know and I’ll gladly remove it.

#old men in love #fellow travelers fic recs #ftficrecs #fellow travelers fics #ftfics collections #ftfics old men in love #fellow travelers #ftfics apr24

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ghoul-slime · 6 months

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Ghouls & Their Favorite Horror Movies (1980s edition)

In honor of Halloween being just a few days away (!!!) have some thoughts about the ghouls and their favorite horror movies. Narrowed down to the 1980s because that's probably my favorite decade for horror (shoutout to the 70s though).

Dew: City of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, Pieces, Cannibal Holocaust

Resident horror snob and ultimate gorehound. The bloodier, sleazier, and more fucked up the better. Huge fan of the Italian horror directors, especially “Godfather of Gore” and king of onscreen eyeball trauma Lucio Fulci. City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell) is his favorite, it’s gory, blasphemous, and just obscure enough for him to feel smug when nobody else has heard of it. The biggest horror fan of the group, he’s seen it all and is always on the hunt for something weird and new that he hasn’t seen yet (a difficult task). Introduced pretty much all of the other ghouls to their favorite horror movies.

Aether: Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, Night of the Creeps, Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Lover of all the best 80s horror comedies. Silly and fun without being too intense or mean-spirited. The more over the top the better. Aether movie nights are always the most fun. Loves Return of the Living Dead because of the awesome punk rock soundtrack and 80s punk aesthetic. Secretly loves horror comedies the best because he gets to see Dew laughing the whole time. He and Dew are the most annoying about quoting movies back and forth to each other nonstop.

Mountain: The Thing, They Live, Aliens, From Beyond

Loves his horror with a side of sci-fi. Major John Carpenter and Stuart Gordon fan (who isn’t). Also a huge fan of sci-fi horror with amazing practical effects and The Thing is the king of them all (he loves the original too, for the plant-man monster of course).

Swiss: Hellraiser, Videodrome, Society, Street Trash

Body horror enthusiast. If it's slimy, horny, and taboo then he’s all about it. Unsurprisingly the biggest Cronenberg fan of the bunch. Huge fan of the Hellraiser series, what with all the leather and the chains and the flesh. Will also sit you down and force you to watch Society if you’ve never seen it (you will thank him later).

Phantom: The Monster Squad, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Near Dark

Of course it’s gotta be The Monster Squad. Phantom loves the classic Universal Monsters and Monster Squad has them all, wrapped up in a super fun 80s horror comedy with great writing and memorable characters. Will undoubtedly yell WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS at the most inopportune times. Loves vampire movies the most and secretly thinks of his pack a little bit like the group of vampires in Near Dark.

Aurora: Night of the Comet, Slumber Party Massacre, Phenomena, Sleepaway Camp 2

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS. Loves seeing pretty women absolutely kick ass onscreen. And any horror movie with a female villain will almost always become a favorite. Loves Night of the Comet because why shouldn’t a couple of valley girl cheerleaders get to enjoy a mall shopping spree while also mowing down hordes of comet zombies with machine guns?

Cirrus: Possession, Altered States, The Shining, the Ninth Configuration

Queen of psychological horror. Her picks usually toe the line between horror and other genres. Cirrus movie nights almost always have to come with a “palate cleanser” movie right after (usually a Cumulus or Aether pick). Dew secretly thinks she has the coolest taste of the bunch.

Cumulus: Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Blood Diner, TerrorVision

80s horror comedies (horny version). Like Aether, Cumulus loves horror comedies. But for her, the sexier and more ridiculous the better. Always thinks a movie would do better with more boobs and full-frontal. Vocal advocate for more male nudity in movies. Linnea Quigley is her horror idol.

Sunshine: Slumber Party Massacre 2, Black Roses, Trick or Treat, Slaughterhouse Rock

Number one champion of the rock & roll horror subgenre. Horror and rock music were both public enemy number one during the Satanic Panic of the 80s, and Sunny loves movies that lean into it. Slumber Party Massacre 2 is the most fun with the leather-clad rockabilly slasher facing off against members of an all-girl rock group with his massive (unmistakably phallic) electric guitar-drill.

Rain: Jaws 3, Humanoids from the Deep, The Fog, The Abyss

Absolutely nobody is shocked to discover Rain is a fan of underwater/nautical horror. He doesn’t even care if a movie is “good” as long as it’s wet and full of weird monsters or creatures. Avid defender of Jaws 3 (it has dolphins, hello). His taste is all over the place quality-wise, from b-movie creature features like Humanoids, to the cozy coastal ambiance of the Fog. As the only ghoul who can breathe underwater, he loves to watch others squirm during the breathing fluid scene in the Abyss.

#nameless ghouls #dewdrop ghoul #aether ghoul #rain ghoul #swiss army ghoul #swiss ghoul #phantom ghoul #mountain ghoul #aurora ghoulette #cirrus ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #sunshine ghoulette #tag yourself i'm all of them but mostly dew and aether #ghoul-slime headcanons #halloween ghouls

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cwseriesshowdown · 5 months

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Round 3: The 100 vs Dynasty vs Hart of Dixie

The 100: When nuclear Armageddon destroys civilization on Earth, the only survivors are those on the 12 international space stations in orbit at the time. Three generations later, the 4,000 survivors living on a space ark of linked stations see their resources dwindle and face draconian measures established to ensure humanity's future. Desperately looking for a solution, the ark's leaders send 100 juvenile prisoners back to the planet to test its habitability. Having always lived in space, the exiles find the planet fascinating and terrifying, but with the fate of the human race in their hands, they must forge a path into the unknown.

Dynasty: A modernized reboot of the 1980s primetime soap follows two of America's wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. Told primarily through the perspectives of two women at odds -- Fallon Carrington, daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington; and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal, a Hispanic woman marrying into the WASP family -- "Dynasty" not only features the glitz and gloss of extreme wealth, but also exposes the dark underbelly of a corrupt world built on backroom deals.

Hart of Dixie: New York doctor Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) has reached a crossroads in her life when she decides to accept an offer from a stranger to work with him at his practice in Alabama. When she arrives in town, she discovers that the man has died and left her his half of the practice in his will, something that doesn't exactly make her new partner happy. Despite the shock of Southern life and some less-than-hospitable town folk, Zoe decides to give her new life a chance and discovers a new side of herself in the process.

#the 100 #dynasty #hart of dixie #bracket tournament #bracket #tournament #bracket battle #the cw #tv shows #battle #cw shows #showdown #polls

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palmtreesx3 · 3 months

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As my header states, I'm too old for this. But here I am anyway. If you're here you're gonna watch me embarrassingly lust over every version of Steve Harrington (who am I kidding, just Joe Keery in general) and while I mostly just react to other people's tremendously talented work, I occasionally dabble myself.

So if you are lurking, enjoy and leave some kisses 💋

(18+, don't be cunty, yada yada yada)

🔥 Spicy/Smutty 🚨 Cannon/Cannon Adjacent ❤️ Fluffy/Boyfriend-ism 😩 Angsty

Get Off (Series) 🔥18+ - SexShop!Steve x Reader : SexShop!Robin x OC (6/9)

Summary: Steve and Robin have about had it with Hawkins, so on Robin's 25th birthday, the pair decides that there's nothing holding them there anymore and they start packing their bags. The friends move to Chicago and quickly find an apartment to call their own. As luck would have it, within hours of arriving to the city, Robin stumbles on a no-strings-attached job offer for both of them - what could be better?! Now just to break the news to Steve…. This multi part story will both explore their platonic relationship and their chaotic experience working at the sex shop together as well as their own paths of self discovery as they plant their roots in their new city and finally deal with the invisible baggage they drug along with them when they moved. Act 4 - Out Now :)

Prologue || V-Card || Act 1 || Act 2 || Act 3 || Act 4 || Act 5 || Act 6 || Epilogue

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King of Wishful Thinking (Series) ❤️ Fluffy but eventually 🔥 18+ and marked as such because I'm a hoe - Steve Harrington x Reader (2/?)

Summary: Steve has been in love with you for his entire life. He has always wanted to express his feelings and do nice things for you, but every time he tries to come up with new and creative ways to show you how much he cares, but it seems like fate is always against him. Even though he shallowly convinces himself that you’re just meant to be friends and despite these setbacks, Steve remains determined to keep trying. He still holds onto the hope that someday he'll be able to express his feelings to you and maybe, just maybe have them reciprocated. Paused but not forgotten

1974 || 1978 || 1980 (coming soon)

Joe Keery Photo Drop Support Group A place to gather when he sends us into a tizzy. This support group was started in response to the Behind the Blinds Photo Drops but can and will be revisited anytime this man rocks our world like that again....All are welcome. Judgement Free-zone. Cake ALWAYS served.

Birthday Cake Train 🍰 A communal space to celebrate birthdays and serve up a slice of Cake....you know which kind. Join the thread when it's your turn. There's enough to go around.

Seeing Stars 🔥18+ The crew finally decides it's time to start celebrating the 4th of July again, but Steve Harrington finds he can't stop himself from staring.

A Girl Like You (PT 2 to Seeing Stars) 🔥18+ In the aftermath of the 4th, embarrassment and emotions are flying, tables turn and shit gets figured out. Read Part 1 to see how exactly we got here.

Deeper for You 🔥18+ It's your annual beach trip with the crew from Hawkins, something you've all been doing together your whole adult life after life forced everyone to part ways. You're all close, but this year, an accidental encounter in the outdoor shower makes you get a little closer with one person in particular.

Jealous Friend One Shot 🔥18+ ask Watching your friend, Steve Harrington, go on Kamakazi Mission dates over and over again was getting kind of old. You’re always there to listen, comfort and pick up the pieces but what if this time it’s just too much? What if this time you’ve had enough and something that feels a little bit like jealousy rears its ugly head?

Firefighter!Steve One Shot

Taking Care of Steve (Road Head) Blurb 🔥18+ ask

Stevie Takes Care of You When You're Sick Blurb ❤️ ask

Vampy Steve Blurb ask

Fool in Love Blurb (King of Wishful Thinking inspo) ❤️

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Micro expressions

Steve Harrington Smells Like head cannons

Cozy Cardigan Steve (Joe Keery Dork Mag inspo) ❤️

Ok maybe I'm being overdramatic, but please also consider reading these fics or series I feel like I'd lay down my life for because they have become a visceral part of me and changed the fabric of my being and I think about them all the time. They are all *chefs kiss* and written by amazingly talented people who also have deep Masterlists that also deliver. So wake the fuck up and read em! Again, most (okay fine, all) are 🔥 18+ ...again, because I'm a hoe

Into Open Flames 🔥😩🚨 on AO3

Midnight City 🔥 by @superblysubpar

We'll Call it Love 🔥😩 by @superblysubpar

If Tomorrow Never Comes 🔥😩🚨 by @sweetsweetjellybean

All I Really Want is You ❤️🔥 by @loveshotzz

Whatta Man (Steve's Night) 🔥 by @loveshotzz

New Years Eve (Steve & Eddie)🔥😩 by @loveshotzz

Beyond 🔥 by @abibliophobiaa

We Tried the World 🔥😩 @upsidedownwithsteve

And I Snuck in Through the Garden Gate ❤️🔥 @upsidedownwithsteve

Don't Call Me Baby 🔥😩 by @katyswrites

Aftermath (Steve & Eddie)🔥😩🚨 by @sweetsweetjellybean

Daisy 🔥 by @thyme-in-a-bubble

PSA: Don't steal my shit. Don't repost my shit. Don't steal other peoples shit. Don't use AI. Don't feed my shit into AI. Don't feed other people's shit into AI. Just come here, read about this sweet piece of a man and live on our fantasy island together in lust and in peace.

#its not much but it's mine #palmtreesX3 Masterlist #my masterlist #steve harrington masterlist #steve harrington fics #steve harrington fic recs #fics in progress #wip #my blurbs

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lokiondisneyplus · 8 months

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How Marvel officially added McDonalds to the MCU

On the very last day of filming on the first season of the Marvel Disney+ TV series Loki, executive producer Kevin Wright sat on the steps of The Citadel at the End of Time with costar Sophia Di Martino (Sylvie), and they started to chat about what might be next for her character. Not in any official script capacity, just as fans of the story they’d just finished filming.

“This character had been on a decades-long, maybe centuries-long revenge mission, and the classic trope of those stories is that it’s all-consuming and she’s not thinking about what comes next,” says Wright. “Now she has this moment of opportunity, where is she going to go?”

Di Martino thought about it for a moment, and said, “She’d probably be pretty hungry.

There are more than 13,000 McDonald’s across the United States right here in 2023, and untold more across the multiverse. In a new campaign launched this week, the fast-feeder gave Marvel and Loki fans a peek at its own cameo in the series’ upcoming second season, set to launch on October 6.

“As Featured In” is the Golden Arches latest Famous Orders meal campaign and, instead of being tied to a particular artist or character, it celebrates all the instances in TV and movies that McDonald’s has appeared or been mentioned by characters: Friends, The Office, Seinfeld, Space Jam, Coming to America, and many, many more. But at the center of the campaign is Loki, one that hasn’t even happened yet, which is probably appropriate for a show that revolves around the multiverse and many different timelines.

The meal itself—a choice of a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or Big Mac, with medium fries, a Loki-branded Sweet ‘N’ Sour Sauce, and a medium soda—is, like the Famous Meals before it, nothing all that special, but that has always been the point. The genius of Famous Orders is that it drives customers to McDonald’s core menu items rather than a limited-time stunt. There is, of course, also a merch collaboration, this time with streetwear darling Palace Skateboards. The packaging features QR codes that customers can scan to get fun Loki content and buy pieces from the Palace collaboration.

Long after his conversation with Di Martino on the Citadel set steps, Wright and his team were developing season two, and they were finding it difficult to pick up a new Sylvie storyline. She had just killed He Who Remains in season one, where does she go?

“When we stayed in the view of character, this woman who went on the run as a child, had been running through time, a fugitive of time, living in apocalypses, never being able to relax or slow down, the novelty of walking into a 1980s McDonald’s looked appealing,” say Wright. “You play a Little League game and go to McDonald’s. You go to a kid’s birthday party at McDonald’s. Someone like Sylvie would never have experienced that, and would be really taken by that.”

Marvel Studios has been a brand partnerships factory since Iron Man first ate a Whopper in 2008. Typically these things happen when there is a finished script, and producers go through it with the studio’s brand partnerships team to see where opportunities may be. A car chase, you say? What brand of car should we use? Maybe an Audi?

But this latest collaboration happened in reverse. A 1982 McDonald’s was specifically written into the script, so Wright approached Marvel’s partnerships people to talk to the brand about helping them out with the details. “I was worried that McDonald’s would think we wanted to do something ironic or make fun of them,” says Wright. “But we were selling an earnest story, a love letter to nostalgia through a character’s eyes who will see all of the novelty and joy of it.”

He needn’t have worried. “When I pitched it, our internal team said, ‘Uh, you realize we have a partnership with McDonald’s already, right? The fact we’re going to them wanting to do something makes it even better.”

Around that same time mid-last year, McDonald’s marketing execs were on a tour of sorts, meeting with content creators and creative teams at studios like Disney about the brand’s interest in participating in cultural moments beyond the typical product tie-in. That’s when the call from Marvel about Loki came in.

“We tend to embrace things like this,” says McDonald’s global chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley, “which we feel can be an opportunity for us to learn, especially because we felt that between Marvel and Loki, there was a real willingness to take their rabid fandom and mix it with a fan truth around McDonald’s and bring them together.”

The fan truth Flatley refers to is of McDonald’s as a congenial gathering place, a common experience for so many people. “Sylvie’s storyline perfectly aligned with how we think about our brand in terms of providing comfort and familiarity,” says Flatley. Familiarity is the key to the emotion of nostalgia and shelter that Wright was aiming for in the story.

That same familiarity is indicative of a brand so ubiquitous, it’s become a cultural touchpoint. Hence all the McDonald’s references in TV and movies. There’s a reason McDowell’s works as such a big bit in the classic comedy Coming to America. We all get it.

That all sounds great, but many brands get nervous or overprotective when they aren’t in full control of the creative. Not that long ago, McDonald’s was among them. The success of Famous Orders, allowing artists and partners like Cactus Plant Flea Market to play with its brand logos and characters, and the passionate response from fans—along with the sold-out merch and boosted sales—has given Flatley and the brand more confidence than ever in what she calls “sharing the pen.”

“I’ve become a big believer that if we lean into the right kind of creators in the right cultural phenomenon, and loosen some of our control on the brand, magic will happen,” says Flatley. “A few years ago, I don’t know that we would have felt as comfortable handing over key aspects of our brand to be part of a storyline like this, but today we’re really aware of the authenticity of our brand and the role that it can play.”

Wright is very familiar with the pitfalls of ill-conceived brand partnerships, and the impact they can have. “Wayne’s World was making fun of this stuff 30 years ago,” says Wright. “When it’s done poorly, it looks like business not driven by story. I don’t think that was ever a concern for us, mainly because we knew it was being driven by our story, and the more McDonald’s partnered with us, the better we were able to service the story.”

Multiversal marketing? Let’s see McDowell’s try that.

#loki #season 2 promo #mcdonald's

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mrsjavymachado · 2 years

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dagger crew headcanons ✈️

bradley “rooster” bradshaw got his callsign because he was always the first one up. always. 6am here comes bradshaw whistling down the hallways to some song from 1980 something, a wide smile on his face as he took his happy ass down to the mess hall to grab a snack before his morning run.

it was infuriating because no matter how early is was, here comes bradshaw happy as a clam, smiling wide as he sits next to everyone else struggling to find it in them to wake up. god bless whoever is his bunk mate because like when a rooster crows, once he’s up, you’re up.

mikey called him a rooster once as a joke when he was complaining about being his roommate and the name stuck. (no one knew that his dad’s callsign was goose, so really there was no way of knowing that when someone had called him rooster for the first time it made him a little teary eyed, but he took the name in stride, and branded himself as rooster bradshaw) (but really he was just happy for the new name because there was no one around in his life to call him bradley anymore)

on the flip side, javy machado was always up late at night. why the man chose being in the military for his career of choice when he’d never been in bed before midnight a day in his life is really something he thinks about often, but nevertheless javy can’t sleep if the time isn’t at least 0000.

he was tried everything, from warm milk to melatonin, no matter how tired he is, he just can’t sleep early in the evening.

when he was a kid, his mom used to let him watch cartoons to fall asleep, and what was always on late at night was Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. it became such a comfort to javy that whenever it was on he could turn his brain off and sleep.

eventually, the team caught on and after more than a few nights of them finding him asleep and the cartoon playing in the background, the name caught on and stuck. (when javy told his mom she laughed and laughed because she’d never have guessed a random cartoon she put on for him as a kid would become so important to her baby’s life) (she always sends wile e. coyote themed gifts on javy’s birthday and it caught on to the rest of the team who do it now too) (his original callsign was new orleans but coyote just felt right)

out of all the boys, hangman is probably the best at sticking to a sleep schedule. his in bed by 11 and up at 6 (“cause to keep looking this good you need to get a lot of beauty sleep, javy”)

rooster likes drinking tea in the morning (with excessive amounts of honey) but will drink coffee (4 sugar, 3 cream)

payback and coyote can’t think without at least smelling coffee and mikey only gets starbucks and is a sucker for seasonal drinks and anything diabetes inducing. payback will drink any and all coffee and coyote just wants his black.

jake drinks sweet tea, but because he’s jake he has to drink a SPECIFIC sweet tea and “the farther north you go the worse it tastes”

hangman has unpromptedly complained about sweet tea for 40 minutes uninterrupted (phoenix timed it) but they can all begrudgingly agree that he makes a damn good sweet tea so they let him talk as much shit as he wants to.

phoenix, when she can, takes the longest of them in the bathroom. when she’s not on military time and she has the space to do so, she has a 10 step skin care routine, 5 steps for hair care, an avid collector of face masks and a BEAST at manicures.

when she’s deployed she doesn’t really have time to think much about her appearance much besides keeping it in military standard and not in her way, but when she’s off? she just needs a day to herself? you bet your pretty ass she’s in her bathroom with her hair wrapped in some treatment, painting her toes a pretty pink with music blaring in the background.

she’s given all the boys a a manicure at least twice and hangman and rooster let her do their makeup when she wants to.

she will not hesitate dig tweezers out of her purse and pluck all their eyebrows until they look good.

bob, ever the sweetheart, is the main subject of her beautifying and it is not uncommon to find the both of them wrapped in robes with phoenix helping bob apply a face mask. (she got them both matching robes for christmas and they are very cool and badass, thank you very much seresin)

bob is real southern, born and raised in tennessee and put him, jake, javy and rooster in a room together and suddenly gone with the wind is having a reunion. they all bring out the southern in eachother and damn do they sound good.

bob and hangman always bring a set of boots with them when deployed. (hangman, the texan, prefers ariat boots but bob much prefers a stetson)

hangman and halo love to gossip, they are known for it. callie doesn’t let on that she probably knows your deepest darkest secret but jake can and will let everyone know if he feels so inclined.

when they’re stationed together it’s like gossip girl has suddenly come to base because if something happens, they probably know it. (callie doesn’t start gossip but jake loves starting a good rumor and he’s a terrible influence)

their best to date is spreading a rumor that yale and harvard fucked in a storage closet on base and though they never confirmed anything, their blushing faces and avoidant looks every time someone brings it up was enough for everyone to know it wasn’t completely baseless and hound them for info (they’ve never said anything to date but everyone’s waiting for them to get drunk enough to spill the details)

phoenix did volleyball in high school (captain her junior and senior year and varsity since sophomore) and is amazing at it. (when the squad play beach volleyball it’s always a race to pick nat) but in her freshman year she was a flyer her school’s cheer team and she made varsity the next year and loved it, and if volleyball and cheer didn’t clash seasons then she absolutely would have stuck to it.

rooster did varsity baseball up until college. when mav pulled his papers he decided to go to college until he could reapply and he got a full ride scholarship to play baseball and study aviation at the university of virginia and if he wasn’t dead set on going to the navy he could’ve gone pro.

jake was the captain of his high school football team and took them to first place at nationals two years in a row as the star quarterback and got offered a full ride to the university of texas at austin (go longhorns) to play at a d1 level but he turned it down to go straight to basics.

fanboy has a terrible sweet tooth. put anything sweet infront if of him he can and will devour it but he never had a cavity. javy however, was a metal mouth with braces for 4 years and then he got his wisdom teeth pulled right after they came out. (jake has always had his straight, crest 3d white smile and javy’s always a little bit jealous when he sees it)

jake, the bastard, never had an award phase growing up, rooster and bob however, went through some tragic emo phases and parents facebooks have since been off limits because wow those were embarrassing times. (it’s okay because bradley has pictures of nat from her parents of her as a kid in middle school and threatens to show the team baby nats adorable plane themed 9th birthday party)

payback has reading glasses that make him look like a grandpa and rooster wears contacts.

jake doesn’t need glasses and is insufferable out his 20/20 vision

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apoptoses · 1 year

Text

1980 New York City 1:38 am

“Daniel, what is this?” Armand asked.

Daniel closed the magazine he’d been looking at and put it back on the rack. He crossed the store in search of Armand.

It was hot out, one of those sticky nights when lying on the bed with the windows open just wouldn’t do. Going to the convenience store had been his idea, though Daniel didn’t really need anything. It was just an excuse to stand in the air conditioner while Armand explored. Something rattled in the vents. Air blew down fast enough to stop the bead of sweat on the back of Daniel’s neck in its tracks.

He found Armand in front of the slushie machines, hands in his pockets as he stared at the brightly colored liquid sloshing around. Armand tilted his head. A drop of cherry syrup dripped off the nozzle of one of the dispensers and fell to the tray below.

“It’s a slushie. It’s a drink, kind of,” Daniel said. “All it is is crushed ice mixed with flavor syrup. It’ll stain the shit out of your clothes if you spill it though, my mom used to get after me for that all the time when I was a kid.”

Armand cocked his head. “And what flavor is ‘blue raspberry’? Raspberries aren’t blue.”

Daniel huffed out a laugh. Armand could be so literal sometimes.

“I don’t know, something some executive made up to sell blue syrup. It tastes like blue cotton candy,” Daniel said with a shrug.

Armand furrowed his brow as he looked at him. Right. He probably had never had cotton candy either, being five hundred years old and all. He had no frame of reference for any of this stuff.

Sometimes he acted so normal Daniel forgot exactly what he was. When he was full of blood he was as ruddy cheeked as any young man, even under the harsh lights of the convenience store. It wasn’t until he opened his mouth that Daniel was reminded that he was standing at a slushie machine with a dead and unnatural thing.

He grabbed a styrofoam cup from the counter and handed it to Armand. “Here, get one and I’ll drink it. You can spy on the flavor through my brain or whatever vulcan mind meld shit it is that you do.”

Armand wrapped his fingers around the lever on the machine so carefully. He looked so intense. Like pouring a slushie was a delicate operation. Sometimes he handled things with such care, but then others-

Daniel’s hand went to the hickie low on his neck, barely hidden by the collar of his shirt. The bruise was terrible. The edges of it were almost the same blue as the ice coming out of the machine. If he pressed down on it he could still feel the ache, the searing pain of Armand’s fangs buried in his skin. He shuddered at the memory.

“Are you cold now, Daniel? You’re shivering,” Armand said as he plucked a lid from the stack beside the machine.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb.”

Armand grinned at him and stabbed a straw into the drink. Daniel couldn’t help but grin back.

At the register he let Armand request a pack of cigarettes for him and then handed him his own wallet to let him pay like a little kid. On their way out the door Armand took his hand.

They walked the two blocks back to their building like that; hands clasped, Armand’s rings pressing into the space between his fingers. When they sat down on the front steps of their building Daniel held their hands up. Turned them from side to side and watched Armand’s rings glitter under the hazy glow of the light from the windows around them. His fingers were so pale. His palm was so dry, a sharp contrast to Daniel’s which had begun to sweat in the humidity.

“In my time we had a drink, brought over from the Middle East and called sharbat,” Armand said suddenly. “It was made from fruit syrups. Cherry and pomegranate and lemon. I was told that in some places it was consumed frozen but I never experienced it myself. In Venice there’s no way to build the cellars required to store ice.”

Daniel brushed his thumb back and forth over the back of Armand’s hand. Sipped at his slushie and tried to digest the information he’d just been given.

It was so rare that Armand talked about his youth. It always came in fits and starts, at the most unexpected times. Daniel could press him for hours on what it was like to live in renaissance Venice and get no answer, and then he’d put on a certain shirt or they’d see a particular film and off Armand would go with some fact that made his head spin.

“Do you miss being able to eat and drink things?” Daniel asked.

Armand blinked at him slowly. Like he had to process the question just as Daniel had to process his sudden story. He remained quiet.

A car rattled down the street. Somewhere above them someone cracked a window and the sounds of the program they were watching on tv filtered out. Daniel shifted on the steps and felt the concrete dig into the bare skin at the back of his thigh.

“In a way. I don’t miss the necessity of it,” Armand finally said. “I only regret that there’s such a variety of food and drink available now and I can’t experience any of it firsthand.”

“And tasting it through my mind isn’t exactly the same, I’d imagine.”

Armand nodded. “Yes. A pale reflection of the thing you’re experiencing, that’s all that it is.”

Daniel took another drink of the slushie. Let the syrup linger in his mouth before he swallowed and wondered if he ate more slowly if Armand would experience it more clearly. More intensely. The idea of never being able to taste anything but blood, ever again- it was hard to imagine. Armand preached the drawbacks of immortality to him every time he pleaded for it, but this was the first time any of it had ever sunk in.

He thought about his morning coffee. Popcorn at the movies. A bar of chocolate. All things Armand had never really tasted. Never really would.

Daniel licked his lips and sloshed the drink around its cup. Suddenly Armand reached out and grabbed him by the jaw. Pressed his fingers into his cheeks and made him open his mouth.

“Your mouth is blue,” Armand said.

His face was so serious. Daniel laughed when he let go.

“I told you, this shit stains everything,” he said. “Do you think it would stain your skin too? Nothing ever seems to stick to you for long.”

Armand pursed his lips as he considered the question. “I don’t know.”

Well. Only one way to find out.

Daniel took a long drink and set the cup down on the steps. He turned to Armand.

His auburn hair didn’t seem to be affected by the humidity at all. Not like Daniel’s, which was damp with sweat and clinging to the back of his neck. He reached over and tucked a curl behind Armand’s ear. Brushed his fingers over his cheek and watched his lashes, so full and dark, flutter against his cheek when he closed his eyes. For a moment Daniel could only sit there, palm on Armand’s face as he glanced between the pink flush of his cheeks and the soft shape of his mouth.

Daniel brushed the tip of his nose against Armand’s. Rubbed it back and forth, just sharing breathing space with him. He smiled to himself when Armand tipped his chin up in silent demand. Waited a second until he made a huffy sound and then closed the distance between their lips.

Warm. That was all Daniel could think about when Armand parted his lips and let him lick into his mouth. He was so warm tonight, so alive.

He felt the weight of Armand’s hand on his chest. It was warm too, even through his t-shirt, resting on his sternum right above his racing heart. When he grabbed Armand by the knees and dragged his legs across his lap he felt his fingers twist in the fabric. Armand’s nails, just sharp and dangerous enough to be felt through his shirt as he clung to Daniel and let himself be kissed.

Daniel sucked at his lower lip, worried at it between his teeth. Released it and then let out a quiet sound when Armand did the same back to him. His lips would be flushed and swollen after this. He’d bear the evidence of Armand’s kiss for the rest of the night. The thought made him shudder.

Somewhere in the city an ambulance siren wailed. The door to their building opened, the old hinges on it squeaking their protest.

Daniel ignored the other resident trying to get out. There was plenty of room on the stairs for them to get by. And besides, Armand was tracing over the roof of his mouth with his tongue in that way that always made him melt. There was no way he was going to stop this just to be polite and let someone get past.

He wrapped his arms around Armand and pulled him closer. Broke away to nose at his cheek, tease him until Armand yanked at his shirt and dragged him back in. Daniel didn’t even try to resist. He just angled his face just right and kissed him again.

Sometimes Armand could be so normal. Sometimes he was just the young man Daniel was crazy about. The sweet boyfriend who let Daniel make out with him on a hot and sticky night, out on the front steps where all of New York could see.

When they stopped to press their foreheads together Daniel’s heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his own ears. For a moment he couldn’t even open his eyes. He had to sit there until he caught his breath.

In the yellow glow of the streetlight Armand looked so alive. His mouth was stained. It was blue from the syrup. Flushed red from Daniel’s kiss.

“Your lips are blue,” Daniel said. His hand was on Armand’s cheek, thumb brushing against the corner of his mouth. “Could you taste the slushie any better that way?”

Armand shook his head. He ducked in and kissed Daniel again.

“No, Daniel. All I could taste was you.”

#some saturday sweetness for your dash #before i go and post some hard kink tomorrow lol #armand/daniel #armand #daniel molloy #vc fic #vampire chronicles #apoptoses fic #the devil's minion

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usafphantom2 · 4 months

Text

Today is the SR -71's 59th birthday as a birthday present I would like to share a part of Paul Crickmore’s (a humble yet highly, intelligent English gentleman) summary of the SR 71 from his new book Lockheed Blackbird: behind the Secret Missions the Missing Chapters (it can be found on page 498.)

The SR 71 with cameras in the chine bay and SLAR sideways-looking airborne radar our SR 71 boasted the ability to provide simultaneous optic coverage of the target area.PHOTINT and RADINT ( photograph, and radar intelligence) which the A-12 could not do.

It was the SLAR system was continuously upgraded throughout the life of the program accumulating in an operational development of Loral Advance synthetic aperture radar system a SARS. This advance, digitalized radar system with a resolution of less than 1 foot at NADAR enabled, imagery to be transmitted and real time /near real time direct to the end user.

This capability was demonstrated at Det 2, and could have been deployed operationally much earlier if the program hadn’t been starved funds by the so-called “fighter mafia” that held the balance of power in the Pentagon during the late 1980s early 1990s and that ultimately allocated Air Force funding accordingly the same generals as well as senior officials of other US intelligence agencies were the ones who argued that the aircraft was far more expensive to operate than any other aircraft in the inventory.

🌟OF COURSE IT WAS. THAT’S BECAUSE NO OTHER AIRCRAFT IN THE INVENTORY COULD DO ANYTHING LIKE WHAT THE SR 71 AND ITS SENSORS COULD DO. AS HABU PILOT, MAC McKENDREE OBSERVED “IT’S NOT AN AIRPLANE. IT’S AN AIR-BREATHING MAN SUBORBITAL SATELLITE. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS UNIQUE: FUEL, HYDRAULIC FUEL, TIRES SCREWS, FASTENERS, TITANIUM CONSTRUCTION IS UNIQUE IF YOU WANT TO COMPARE THE SR TO SOMETHING THEN COMPARE IT TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE “

Air Crews selection, for the SR-71 program was always hotly contested as they were all unquestionably at the top of their game. They had to be….The demanding mission, the complexity of the aircraft and its systems…

Consequently, crewmembers entering the SR-71 program with the rank of major were usually promoted to Lt.Col among completing their tour. However, all of this changed with the arrival of General Larry Welch, as Air Force chief of staff, and his cohort as a result, the last six crews that entered the program as Majors, were all passed for promotion, the rumor was that their personal folders were never passed the promotion board and NOT surprisingly. This had the demoralizing effect on their pride, and a detrimoralizing impact on their salary and pension. There is no doubt that those involved with the Blackbirds were of the highest caliber and real team players… totally focused on ensuring that the mission whatever it may have been was a success. as Pratt and Whitney‘s Arnie Gunderson recalled” Everyone I encountered on the program was proud of the role. From the commander of the wing to the airman who mopping up the JP seven from under the wings everyone demonstrate the highest degree of respect for their teammates “

And it’s final analysis it can be argued that the SR-71 program was terminated at least five years earlier than necessary. Indeed, it had received the technology packages that already existed and were demonstrated during the period which it was briefly reactivated during Det 2 at Edwards from 1995 to October 10, 1997

Kelly Johnson would have been bang on the money when he predicted in 1964 that his platform could perform its duty to the intelligence community and national leadership until 2001 and beyond.

If history teaches us anything it is that we should never take democracy for granite and that dictators should never be appeased.

Thank you, Paul Crickmore a honorary member of the Habu family. We all appreciate what you have done to tell the story of the unique SR 71 program Linda Sheffield a proud Habubrat.

@Habubrats71 via X

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laracrofted · 1 year

Note

the guy i went on a date with led me on and said he doesn’t wanna see me anymore!! so slut era it is!!

id love to see u do the gaze prompt with bob or phoenix 🤭🤭

pretend you're mine (all the damn time)

we hate that guy (boo, tomato, tomato). you deserve better than that man. and who is better than bob floyd? really, who? 💌

warnings: minors dni, set in the middle of delicate (friends w benefits, unrequited love that is actually requited), mild angst (like a smidge soft blue), allusions to sex but mostly yearning, not proofread. bob x fem!reader

Another Friday night comes, and Bob watches you from across the crowded Hard Deck bar.

He doesn't dare look away, not wanting to lose you in the drunken sway of the crowd. Another Naval mechanic spins you around in the space between the piano and the jukebox, making your own dance floor from the narrow space.

An upbeat 1980s song pours through the speakers. Everyone sings along, cacophonous, but all Bob can hear is the honeyed sound of your laughter, high and pleasant and melodic.

A spot aches in his chest, right next to his heart, and Bob rubs a closed fist over the soft fabric, digging in his knuckles, like scrubbing out a stain.

Except Bob doesn't want to scrub you out.

He's the one who invited you here.

Need a pool partner at the Hard Deck. Come meet me in the back?

After, Bob grabbed another lemonade and an overflowing cup of peanuts and cracked the shells as a distraction, doing his best to ignore the sudden weight of the phone in his pocket.

She's probably busy, Bob thought, sipping an anxious and overlarge sip of lemonade, nostrils burning from the citrus. You could have other plans... or unimaginably worse, be on a date.

Do you go on dates?

Bob hasn't gone on a date in months.

Not since Bob met you.

Kissed you.

Kissed you again.

Not since Bob started to spend almost every night of every weekend in the blue darkness on the other side of your bed, memorizing you in the pale moonlight.

Not since Bob fell in love with you.

He shouldn't have worried so much.

Another 10 minutes passed, and Bob spotted you, weaving through the masses in a pair of cut-off shorts that seem specifically designed to cause him severe chest pain. So much bare skin...

You must have the prettiest damn thighs in the whole damn world.

He could spend hours between them, smoothing his hands over them. Feathering light kisses to the sensitive spots that make you giggle. Biting down on the spots that make you moan.

You smiled. Waved.

And Bob waved back.

And now, Bob watches, watching you spin and smile and laugh and glow. He wants to kiss you so bad, wants to kiss the red lipstick from your mouth, wants it smeared across your chin.

He wants you. Even if Bob can only ever have a fraction.

His gaze meets yours, eyes sparkling and gleaming, full of light and happiness, and Bob smiles.

He sends you another message.

Do you want to cut out early tonight?

He watches you read the message, a small smile spreading across your face. It is different from the drunken smile before. Something more tentative. More hopeful.

You nod.

Yes.

#birthday 🤠 drabbles #drabbles within the delicate universe get names #and those are the rules #bob floyd x you #bob floyd x reader #robert floyd x reader #robert floyd x you #bob floyd fic #robert floyd fic #laracrofted writes #fic: bob floyd

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antiquitea · 5 days

Text

𝐖𝐈𝐏 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘.

tagged by @swifty-fox who shared some of little beasts and kingdom for a kiss, which both currently live in my head rent free 😍

just sharing my masters of the air wips because if i shared any more than that my tumblr might implode on itself.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲

The door to the diner opened and Gale looked up from his pile of discarded single serve creamers, stacked inelegantly on top of one another, some nested in others like a haphazard and poorly made nesting doll. It was a younger couple, Gale tracked them as perhaps being on their first date. They both look nervous, but for different reasons. The boy, hoping that he was making a good first impression, the girl, fussing with her hair which Gale could only assume was done in a style that she wasn’t accustomed to.

So intent was he on paying attention to the teenage couple on their first date, navigating all the unwritten rules and social mores of courting, that he didn’t notice John slip into the booth across from him.

Gale didn’t give him the satisfaction of being startled.

𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝

John moved toward the bathroom, and stood in the doorway for a moment, letting out an appreciative sigh. In the large, claw-foot bathtub was Gale, submerged in the water and naked with the exception of his tags resting against his chest, book in one hand and a bottle of Coca Cola in the other. His blonde hair was damp, loose, not carefully styled as it normally was, pieces of it stuck to his damp forehead. His skin was almost red from how hot the water was, steam rising in tendrils from the bathtub, the steady rise and fall of his chest betraying the thundering of his heart behind his rib cage that John knew was there.

Though he had clearly taken the time to paint the image of a man nonchalant and spontaneous, John had no doubt in his mind that this was carefully crafted, specifically for him to walk in on.

𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 (soulmate au)

John learned of soulmates from his mama when he was young. He straddled that line between boyhood and manhood, thinking that love was gross, but also desperately infatuated with Dottie Clements at school. He sat at the dinner table, helping her peel potatoes, asking questions about her and his dad growing up as a thinly veiled way to learn more about love. Mama Egan was no fool, she knew her boy had a schoolyard crush.

“There’s something bigger than all of us out there, Johnny,” she murmured, peeling her sixth potato while John was still only his second. “One great love for every person on earth.”

“So Daddy is your great love, Mama?”

Mama Egan was silent.

John learned of soulmates from his mama when he was a boy. He learned from living life that not everyone was lucky enough to meet theirs.

𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 (1980s summer au)

“Johnny!”

John Egan had ignored the shouts from his mother to come inside for the last time evidently. Her voice turned into something shrill that he could hear even down by the lake, where he could normally escape all manner of ruckus that came from the cottage. It wasn’t that noisy, he supposed. But it was difficult to get a moment of peace and quiet when his whole family - his ma and dad, his sister, and himself - were all crammed into the small two bedroom space.

When they were kids, John and his sister, Billie, would bunk together in one room, at first sharing the one bed, John then eventually sleeping on the floor when he “got too long,” as his dad put it. But when one is suddenly seventeen, and the other is fourteen, bunking together isn’t on the table anymore, no matter what Ma said. John would just as soon take the couch, which he was too long to fit on comfortably anymore, in the living room, or grab a tent and camp out under the stars if the weather was nice enough.

“Johnny Egan!”

The last name was included now, it was getting serious.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

no pressure tags: @hederasgarden, @imjess-themess, @wildbornsiren, @magneticghouls, and anyone else who would like to share!

#antiquitea.txt #antiquitea.tag

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frankendykes-monster · 6 months

Text

Countdown to Halloween 2023, Ranked

43. Swamp Thing (1982)

42. Curse of Bigfoot (1975)

41. The Haunting (1999)

40. Orca (1977)

39. Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958)

38. The Beast (1975)

37. Don't Go in The House (1979)

36. Countess Dracula (1971)

35. Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)

34. Beware! The Blob (1972)

33. Alien Space Avenger (1989)

32. Baby Blood (1990)

31. Shriek of The Mutilated (1974)

30. The Mutations (1974)

29. Phase IV (1974)

28. Curse of The Faceless Man (1958)

27. The Sadist (1963)

26. Jennifer (1978)

25. The Wasp Woman (1959)

24. Noroi: The Curse (2005)

23. Girls Nite Out (1982)

22. The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

21. The Cat and The Canary (1927)

20. Tell Your Children (Reefer Madness, 1936)

19. The Company of Wolves (1984)

18. It's Alive (1974)

17. The Wolf House (2018)

16. Michael Jackson's Halloween (2017)

15. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

14. The Omega Man (1971)

13. Gamera: Rebirth (2023)

12. Student Bodies (1981)

11. Night Caller From Outer Space (1965)

10. Inhumanoids (episodes 1 - 5, 1986)

9. Blind Woman's Curse (1970)

8. Maniac (1980)

7. The Child (1977)

6. Zombie 3 (1988)

5. Return of The Living Dead (1985)

4. Spider Baby (1967)

3. Basket Case (1982)

2. Messiah of Evil (1973)

Godzilla (1954)

Woof. Okay. This has been a mostly disappointing viewing experience.

Critical difference between this year's countdown and the past two is that now that I have stable employment, there is far less time to be watching horror films. I normally begin the countdown in September but we started in July of this year and still barely managed to crack 40, with my original goal being a full 100 this year. Timing. As such a lot of my plans and possible viewings were cut short and compared to last year specifically we fell back on a lot of "seen it already" at least for the top of the list.

This year's batch of viewings were largely blah, but a step up from the shitshow I put myself through last year (watching nearly every Texas Chainsaw sequel does things to a person). As such it'll be difficult to conjure up words for a decent chunk of these mostly because yes, these movies exist, I watched them, I would not recommend that you yourself watch them. That is all. If I write briefly on a given film that's not necessarily an indictment of its quality as there a decent number of these that I saw and enjoyed it's just their impact might be a bit fleeting. You will know which ones I actively disliked. I mostly just want to write about the top five or so but I will play fair.

Our grand loser this year is Swamp Thing, the DC Comics adaptation by Wes Craven. I watched this pretty much entirely because I finally got the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run in paperback this year after quite some time of having it on my to-buy list. Longtime Rachael/Ray/Ratchet fans may recall me reading it in early 2019 alongside [REDACTED]. Still one of the best Moore comics, and a second volume of Swamp Thing wouldn't have been possible without the success of this film. For context I did read the early Swampies by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and my general reaction to those was a'ight but there was definitely material for a serviceable film adaptation there. This is not that serviceable film adaptation. I'm not hung up on details like how Abigail has no connection to Arcane now despite being his niece in the comics, but this film is just kind of painful in how relatively unambitious it is which is saying something for Swamp Thing sword fighting another human mutation at the end of this. It's just silly and stupid and not scary or awe inspiring or anything, the Swamp Thing suit sucks, the action sucks, any sense of pathos is not there or gone, it stretches for 30 minutes too long like it's a padded TV pilot, the only highlight is being able to see Adrienne Barbeau's breasts. Fuck this it's a miserable experience to sit through. My mistake for watching a Wes Craven film that doesn't have "Scream" in the title.

Our next shitter is the two-for-one abomination that is Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958) and Curse of Bigfoot (1975); these are the same movie except Curse of Bigfoot has a 25 minute opening scene framing device that is bizarre given that "The Thing" of the original film is a Native American mummy of some sort unearthed by a group of white high school students. It's the rare personal pet project movie made for fun by some locals but the only highlights are the occasional kill scene, Curse of Bigfoot ranks lower just for making me sit through it longer. Blah.

Speedrunning through a bunch of these because theyre all varying degrees of bad and I don't want to spend any longer writing about these than you probably do reading about them: The Haunting is awful and I don't even super care for the original film so adding shitty CGI monsters and a moral lesson of "it's about family!" doesn't help. Orca is a shitty Jaws cash-in that's like a reverse Moby Dick where the sea animal hunts down the human, nice finale where the orca and shitty poacher guy are fighting it out in the Arctic but otherwise avoid. Don't Go in The House is a mysoginistic torture porn movie that really doesn't sell the "seemingly normal guy is a closet nutcase" thing even though movies made before and after have done it well (see Maniac several paragraphs below). The Beast is advertised as this really scandalous porno film but most of it is French aristocrats sitting around in stuffy rooms arguing about real estate. I think I only watched Countess Dracula for its inclusion in the "if this is her vibe I would fucking cum" meme and it's barely worth bringing up at all. Hillbillys in a Haunted House has an absolutely lovely Tennessee country soundtrack that I wish I could listen to without having to watch the actual movie which is devoid of both scares and laughs. Beware! The Blob gives off the feeling of sitting at a funeral for a family member that was just distant enough for you to be aware of them but not actually be upset but it's still a funeral so it's not like you're smiling, stick with the 1988 Blob film. Alien Space Avenger has some decent gore effects but that's all I can recall from it. Shriek of The Mutilated has one of the best titles for an otherwise uninspired yeti movie that has a needless third act twist about it being a cover for a cult and blah blah blah fuck you. Baby Blood has an alien mutant whatever crawl up a woman's vagina into her womb and she has to eat people to feed it and yeah I'm actually struggling to remember what happens here. The Mutations has a scene where a guy cuts into a tree and it bleeds, I think he's played by Donald Pleasance. Yeah, it's like Freaks except it plays to the freak show straight so you get to laugh at all the outcasts of society, no thank you.

Some odds and ends that I'd say are decent-to-pretty-good: Phase IV has some footage of ants and synth music. All you need is some footage of ants and synth music. Curse of The Faceless Man employs a rarely seen archetype of the living statue monster, it's cute. The Sadist is another starring vehicle for Arch Hall Jr., who was also the star of last Halloween's Eegah! (1962), though this film is a bold trendsetter for the 1960's with Hall being a unhinged killer holding people for ransom until they can fix his car and he can make a getaway. The film lives and dies by Hall's performance and it's mostly the latter until we get to an absolutely superb final act with him hunting down his remaining victims, it makes the whole film worth seeing. Jennifer is an oddball that plays out mostly like a character drama ("It wasn't my fault Daddy it was that stupid hillbilly bitch Jennifer") that suddenly remembers that it's supposed to be a cash-in of Carrie (1976) in the last 20 minutes and cue our titular character being able to summon and control snakes to send after her tormentors. Girls Nite Out is a plodding meandering slasher that's oddly hypnotizing considering so much of it takes place in pitch-black night and the killer is wearing a bear mascot costume with serrated knives hidden under the glove, not sure what fully to make of it. The Monster of Piedras Blancas is made up of leftover parts from the Gillman, Mole People, and Metaluna Mutant, but still manages to star in a decent enough film that gives a sense of what a series of monster attacks would do to a small seaside community. The Cat and The Canary is "cute" for lack of a better term being a horror comedy before the former genre had fully crystalized. Reefer Madness is horror adjacent more than anything but a hilariously good time about how the use of "marihuana" will drive today's youth into becoming crazed fiends and get involved in organized crime.

We can do this.

The Company of Wolves has an excellent story book like setting an atmosphere that you can't get in films nowadays and it's a shame that it's mostly remembered for its transformation sequences. it's Alive is the best Larry Cohen film by default of not sucking but it's still not "great", genius however for playing the concept of mutant newborn killer baby completely seriously without any sense of humor to the proceedings. The Girl Who Knew Too Much is almost a parody of giallo films which is interesting given those hadn't fully sprang up in 1963; absolute highlight is the main character being interviewed in bed by doctors and reporters and the like that yes she did see a murder and no she doesn't drink. I've always been fascinated and haunted by I Am Legend and while The Omega Man doesn't really capture the novel to a superb degree it's so beautifully shot that it lands high in the rankings for that alone. Night Caller From Outer Space is hilarious to me because of how it shifts halfway through from a Hammer-esque mystery about a meteorite with radioactive properties to a film about an alien that lures women in through a modeling advertisement. Blind Woman's Curse I've mentally confused with Irezumi for a while now (haha all 1960's Japanese genre films where woman have large animal tattoos on their backs are the saaame), and it's one I mostly watched for being directed by Teruo Ishii, but there's enough bloody yakuza fights and cats licking up blood for me to stick around; not the strongest Meiko Kaiji vehicle compared to Female Prisoner Scorpion or Lady Snowblood. Maniac I find mostly interesting as a precursor to American Psycho (2000) but also it's probably the only serious film to successfully pull off it's ending trope (which I will not spoil here). The Child is an absolutely lovely 1970's only-a-dozen-people-made-this-and-not-much-more-watched-it horror that oozes atmosphere, I could watch stuff like this all day. Aaand Zombie 3 is far and away the best film that Lucio Fulci has been involved with that I've ever seen. I love random scenes and set pieces of ghouls just massacring people that are shit out out of luck.

Okay, now for the ones I actually want to write about.

The Wasp Woman is one that sticks in my head way more than any other random monster movie that Roger Corman directed in the latw 1950's. I've said on here and Letterboxd that it could have served as a standard pop-feminist piece about how the cosmetology industry is built on misogyny and invariably a monster is accidentally created because of that, but this most recent viewing has made me sort of "get it" because that might be what the film is going for considering Susan Cabot's performance leads me to believe that she is aware that she is becoming a homicidal wasp monster but views it as a tragic means to an end where she still has the ability to have a new advertising campaign with her as the star. Tragic. This is why you don't wear make up.

Both Noroi: The Curse and The Wolf House are ones I didn't care for whatsoever but I put them in places on the ranking that I thought were fair given that people should probably watch them regardless of my personal thoughts. Noroi's format didn't really lend itself to the escalation of tension and reveal of information that the plot demanded and I found myself thinking it meanders quite a bit. The Wolf House was an odd one where everything that was happening onscreen bounced off of me mostly because I felt intimately aware that I was watching a movie, that someone had made something and that I was now being shown it. Blah. People like these so don't let me stop you.

Our animated offerings this year...

Michael Jackson's Halloween more than anything feels like an unlicensed creation that later had an English fan dub commissioned, not something that actually aired on CBS twice. Any laughs that I found in this thing were the unintentional type as we open up with Bubbles talking and being Jackson's chauffeur; you know exactly what you're getting into. Very little of the plot is explained but I'm assuming Jackson (who has no lines given this was made posthumously) orchestrates a dark fantasy adventure to hook two...teenagers? People in their late 20's? And convince them to follow their dreams of performing instead of working a deadend dayjob. I'm not sure who the actual audience for this was given it feels like so much of it was made for children but I will say anything that has this much of Michael Jackson's music in it can't be all bad, though I'm not sure why they didn't largely stick with tracks from the album Thriller (in the contention for best album ever, I don't care).

Gamera: Rebirth is one I feel like I'm on the outside on compared to most other tokusatsu fans because I didn't really *love* to a serious degree even though, yes, Gamera is finally back. The first three episodes are mostly just kind of a slog for me with the backhalf not doing enough to retroactively make me think highly of it, though giving off End of Evangelion vibes may make me consider that a second viewing must be in order down the line. Rebirth's strongest attribute is that it feels like it takes into consideration and influence from every prior era of Gamera, no stone is left unturned, and it's a marked contrast from how every recent Godzilla property only captures a single facet of their respective character. But that also creates unique issues like how a lot of criticism of ongoing US military presence in Japan is undercut so there can be a white kid in the main cast (because white children were always present in half of the Showa series) or having the ancient civilization that genetically engineered the kaiju now being malicious and actively sacrificing children as a means of reshaping the world gives me vaguely anti-semitic tones, I don't know, Gamera is still here, I guess.

"I was just a little twerp who liked Scooby-Doo and Smurfs, now I was viewing Cthulhu mutants ruin the Earth."

Everyday that we have Inhumanoids is a gift. Inhumanoids is another Hasbro/Sunbow production like G. I. Joe, Transformers, or Jem and The Holograms, and it is truly tragic that it never got anywhere near that level of attention compared to its siblings. The fact that a 1980's action figure tie-in cartoon is named for its antagonists is only the start; the series follows a small paramilitary outfit of scientists named Earth Core that are tasked with more or less saving the world alongside the Mutores, elemental beings, when the Inhumanoids, eldritch abominations, are unleashed. The degree of world-building beyond your typical "good guys vs. bad guys" affair is astounding with villainous humans and virtuous monsters abounding, but Inhumanoids is mostly magical and remembered for saying fuck all to any type of broadcast standards. Seeing giant monsters destroy cities, undead armies, and spelunking deep into the Earth (where nightmares begin...) are just standard fair here, as are witnessing the actual Inhumanoids such as Metlar (basically the devil) or D'Compose (giant undead entity that can zombify people by touching them and uses his ribcage like a jail cell) in action. The first five episodes here are the pilot movie of sorts for the series which only lasted thirteen overall, and they get more grissly from here on out, but maybe it's best that Inhumanoids is the short lived cartoon and no the cartoon that went soft as early as its second season. I will never not love this show, to this day it's one of my favorite animated series from any decade, much less the 1980's.

Back to our regularly scheduled live-action programming...

Student Bodies is a fascinating film for a myriad of reasons the first of which is that there were somehow enough slasher films by 1981 for there to be a comedy poking fun at all the already established genre-cliches. It's essentially Scary Movie (2000) a full 20 years ahead of the curve only actually funny in spite of the subject matter frequently being as juvenile and prejudiced; but it also reminds me quite a bit of Scream (1996) with stuff like two killers working together. All I know is I was in for a decent time when the film opens with three identical shots of a house just with different framing text: "HALLOWEEN," "FRIDAY THE 13TH," "JAMIE LEE CURTIS' BIRTHDAY" and then the killer, The Breather, calls the opening kill girl doing nothing but breathing heavily, she hangs up, he calls back with "I SAID [heavy breathing]."

Return of The Living Dead is one of those films that should have destroyed the any artifically-imposed boundaries between "high" and "low" art. Every aspect of this film is brilliantly made, it just so happens to be made for stuff like Scooby-Doo music overlaid on top of thunderstorms over graveyards where one female character is stripping to the concept of dying. Media involving ghouls is incredibly oversaturated, and this was still the case in the 1980's where a film like this had to redefine the rules to make it so killing ghouls was basically a non-option. It only recently struck me on this viewing that that's the whole purpose of removing virtually all weaknesses they have, to keep the characters as the nail instead of the hammer. Compared to the Romero films, there's never a point where anyone is in control of the situation, it just escalates further and further until there is literally no way out. Taking that into consideration, there's no way this film couldn't have been a comedy that frames people getting swarmed and eaten by ghouls as hilarious.

The soundtrack and the faux-punk sensibilities lend this a daft feeling of "you shouldn't be watching this" in spite of it not being one of the MOST gory horror films of the 1980's. I still don't get how this never broke into the mainstream. I mean somehow people know that ghouls (in this film) speak and only eat brains but I can't go down to Target and get a Tarman action figure like I can one of Michael Myers. As such Return of The Living Dead remains a criminally overlooked film regardless of its subject matter. It's made me laugh and cringe and feel disgusted and revolt at the concept at dying but mostly it's made me feel a delicious sense of joy at seeing corpses rise out of the ground to the tune of "Do you wanna party? IT'S PARTY TIIIME!" Some of you need to sit in the corner and think about your life choices for making stupid shit like Re-Animator (1985) or fucking Shaun of The Dead (2004) more popular than this, fuck you.

The act of watching Spider Baby is like discovering the missing link. For as much as 1960 gave us an explosion of horror (Eyes Without a Face, The Ship of Monsters, Psycho, Jigoku, Black Sunday, etc.) and Night of The Living Dead (1968) reins as the perennial transition point of the genre, Spider Baby is the road by which we go from The Cat and The Canary and The Old Dark House to the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eraserhead, it's magical finding an essential piece of a genre you love so much. Both the former and latter points of comparison are apt as a family of now only children [and their butler] suffering from Poe-esque hereditary illness have their condemned house set upon by distant relatives and everything slowly unravels.

Lon Chaney Jr. is an actor who for the longest time I felt never got a proper chance to shine wherein the last 25 years or so of his career was spent playing as side character actor in independent films. Spider Baby is his crowning achievement. Seeing him smile through almost tears on several occasions as he has to play bridge between worlds of sanity and madness and lie to everyone that he has some sense of control over the situation is brilliant in ways I always knew he was capable of but had never seen before this point. Bravo.

I will never not love Basket Case with everything I've got. This is the epitome of 1980's horror and my clear pick for best of the decade. It has everything from being a grungy putrid grindhouse spectacle to being an intimate character drama to everything presented through a wry ironic lense where you can't tell if any "bad" performances are all done on purpose. Between this, Brain Damage (1988), and Frankenhooker (1990), there is literally absolutely no reason why Frank Henenlotter shouldn't be more popular than Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, and Lloyd Kaufman *combined*. It's tragic that the world of cinema being enclosed and captured by studios again in the late 1980's prevented us from getting more from him, but realistically could we ask anymore than what we already got from Basket Case? I could watch this every day and never grow tired of it. I will never stop making more and more people watch this.

If Basket Case is the apex of 1980's horror, then Messiah of Evil is the same for 1970's horror. This is one of the most efficient horror films ever made in how not a single frame is wasted, the opening scene is literally a guy running from unseen force, seeking refuge, getting his throat slit, cue title card with synth music that then leads us to a sunburnt hallway as our narrator descends into acceptance of complete lack of control of the situation. Every night shot in this film must be 50 - 75% completely black with whatever headlight or store front there is just making the scenery look like a dollhouse that our characters are trapped inside. There's so many shots of people running away or walking down streets that make them look tiny as the camera is so far.

Every scene is an exercise in building up dread. There's no point where the film relents, something awful is not only coming, it's already here and there's nothing anyone can do. What I love particularly is that the mystery being laid out doesn't offer any answers because there's another mystery on top of what our characters find out only too late. Layers upon layers of dread that even the titular Messiah of Evil isn't the center of. The world is a cruel fucking place where this film languishes in obscurity whilst shit like The Exorcist enjoys mainstream attention. A lot of my taste amounts to "why isn't this thing I like more popular" and cases like Messiah of Evil vindicate me.

"Godzilla is the son of the atomic bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the sacred beast of the apocalypse." - Tomoyuki Tanaka

Generally a yearly trend is that a #1 pick for Halloween is self-evident to me and this year it was Basket Case for all of 30 seconds until I picked Godzilla back up.

There's something to be said how Godzilla isn't quite a horror monster? Terrifying but not necessarily creepy, but what power do things that go bump in the night have against the destruction of everything you know? Everytime I watch Godzilla is like the very first time, when flashing lights out at sea destroy fishing ships I have no idea what happened, or at least any much of a clue as anyone in film does when we're told that the entire ocean exploded.

Godzilla is a reptile, but lacks scales and its entire body is coated in keloid scars. In 1954 Godzilla must have been the largest monster every committed to film, trains are derailed from running against its ankle and bell and radio towers are throttled for being a sensory inconvenience. Godzilla's first on-screen appearance on Odo Island is obscured by a hurricane but the impression is clear; you can't fight Godzilla in the same way you can't fight a natural disaster. When Tokyo is reduced to complete ruin amidst a sea of flames, it's an onslaught of destruction never before seen in a film of this genre. Survivors being afflicted with radiation poisoning shows that Godzilla will claim victims long after being driven back to sea.

There's a sheer apocalyptic dread to all of this sensed by all the characters. Love tries to exist on the edge of annihilation. There's nothing that can be done but persevere and maybe hope tomorrow will be better. A scene that always strikes me is when Serizawa is adamant about not using the Oxygen Destroyer until forcibly confronted with the results of one night of Godzilla making landfall in Japan. The absolute pain felt by everyone in the finale starts here, things couldn't play out any differently as the "scientist of the century" can't join in and celebrate his victory.

Godzilla is a rare perfect film. I will never tire of it.

#long post

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