#Terror Billy III

[theangelwithawand]

Because of Good Omens brain rot, I’ve been doing a Ninth/Tenth Doctor rewatch. And I was reminded of something I started to notice when I did my first ever rewatch.

The jokey attitude Rose has in the face of danger is a trait she shares with the Doctor, but it’s not something she picks up from him.

In Aliens of London/ World War III, Harriet chides her for making jokingly says something to the effect of how the Slitheen’s compression field works as a kind of weight loss program. This is the first time it’s ever been called out, but it’s not actually the first time she’s done it.

In the first episode, while the Doctor is explaining the living plastic she makes a wry comment about all of the breast implants coming to life. She’s only known the Doctor for a few hours at this point. It goes completely unremarked on, but it’s there.

She does it in the Empty Child when Jack catches her in his transmat beam. Her voice is literally shaking in this one, both from physical exertion and terror.

The thing is, I think it’s a coping mechanism. I think Rose has learned to bury her fear behind snarky remarks and jokes, one she probably picked up to deal with her life on the estates, to deal with being belittled, to deal with her abusive ex.

The first time I really came to this conclusion was while watching Tooth and Claw for the second time.

During the episode, Ten and Rose have this little bet running to see if she can get Queen Victoria to say her “we are not amused” line. Every time Rose does it, she is giggling.

Until she says it after the werewolf (this is a really strange episode even for DW…) attacks.

After taking a second to be relieved at being alive, her face kind of drops, her eyes widen and glaze over a little bit. The line “I bet you’re not amused” is rushed out of her mouth and significantly quieter than she was a minute ago. The delivery is uncharacteristically monotone until the little emphasis she puts on the end.

She does this weird almost-smile like she’s going to laugh even though she is patently not smiling. She does this small little head shake, her arms are tense.

It’s a really unsettling moment, and it was this performance by Billie Piper is what made me start thinking about this.

Queen Victoria yells at her, and Rose immediately apologizes, won’t even make eye contact with anyone. She curls in and turns away a bit.

This moment always bothered me and it took me a few watches to really articulate why.

Rose is scared.

I didn’t see it immediately because Rose displays fear in so many ways.

When she fears someone she cares about is going to leave her, (usually it’s the Doctor), Rose will lash out. This happens in Father’s Day, School Reunion, and Girl in the Fireplace. (The last one is so justified. She’s way more compassionate than I would’ve been at the end of that episode). She also does this Fear Her (when Nina Sosanya’s character continually refuses to watch her possessed daughter)

Other times, she’s able to turn her fear into action. She does this in her very first episode, the series 1 finale, the Cyberman two-parter, the Satan Pit two-parter, and earlier in Tooth and Claw.

Sometimes, she runs. In Christmas Invasion, she is facing a world-ending threat without the Doctor for the first time. She can’t do the heart of the Tardis trick again without ripping a hole in the universe.

Many times she’ll turn to the Doctor or her mother (who does her best but doesn’t always say the right thing)

But sometimes she makes a snarky comment or tells a joke to convince herself and maybe others that it will be okay.

She uses jokes for this specific reason to cheer up the Doctor in the Satan Pit.

Because Rose is compassionate. To Raffalo, to Gwenyth, to the Empty Child, to Jack. To Cassandra and Flora and Elton. She even tries to comfort Reinette, who is condescending towards her and who the Doctor repeatedly abandons her for because she regrets antagonizing Sarah Jane last episode. (I mean Sarah Jane was kind of mean too despite being a grown woman and Rose only being in her early twenties).

It’s the final confirmation the Doctor needs to realize she’s possessed on New Earth.

She will allow the Doctor to sacrifice her without question to save people and shows compassion to a Dalek both before she knows what it is and after it proves to be capable of changing.

She will drop everything for her mother despite whatever disagreements they have, will bend the universe to keep her father from dying alone.

She will literally sacrifice herself and stare into raw time to save the Doctor.

A lot of people think that Rose’s character in s2 is not as interesting. While that’s true, I think it’s more to do with the lack of interactions between her and Ten that aren’t about their romance. Nine and Rose have interactions that challenge each other’s morality. (Dalek, End of the World, Fathers Day, Unquiet Dead). On the rare occasions that Ten and Rose clash, it’s over jealousy brought on by Rose’s fear of being forgotten and Ten’s fear of committing, or feels like it’s in the shadow of his behavior with Reinette. Ironically, it’s their debate in Fear Her (a not great episode) that is one of the more interesting exchange of views that they have.

I wouldn’t completely agree that Rose loses her compassion in the second season. I think some of her more toxic pre-existing traits are just brought to the surface. And her protectiveness does become selfish.

But series 2 dumps a lot on Rose’s shoulders.

Ten’s weird hot and cold demeanor is probably emotionally taxing too. She has a lot of inferiority issues, probably because of how she’s been treated by her mother and others in her life. She frequently reiterates that she doesn’t matter. You can see how much it means to her when Nine earnestly admits she saved his life in response to her nervous teasing and posturing. And you can see how crushed she is when he calls her stupid in a moment of anger in Father’s day. (An event that is partially his fault because he didn’t explain the rules to Rose until afterwards) He immediately apologizes. (He does have that weird flirtation with Lynda but that is dropped just as abruptly as it starts).

The Tenth Doctor has this deeply frustrating set of episodes in series two where he is utterly awful to watch, and it’s after this that the relationship becomes the shallow, unhealthy, codependent one people remember. (I will expand on this in another post)

But it’s not even necessarily because of the Doctor that it’s hard for her. She says in Parting of the Ways that it wasn’t even the adventures she loved, it was him showing her a better way of life.

The adventures, the death, those are what wear her down the same way they wear down Ten.

She is, at one point, told by literal Satan that she is going to die imminently.

No matter how cheerful an episode begins, the loss always brings something melancholic out of Rose, but also someone desperate to hold onto the person she loves and carve out some sort of hope for a future. Impossible Planet does this really well with the little exchange about getting a mortgage. You can tell both of them find the idea appealing, or would if the Tardis was on call for the occasional weekend trip and weekly visit to Jackie. Because Ten likes Jackie, likes having a family.

Because deep down what these two want is each other and to rest. Not stop, they never could do that entirely. That’s why, I think TenToo works well in Empire of the Wolf (I don’t think it’s handled well in the actual show). Because they are still having new adventures with their daughter, just smaller ones.

So while Rose does have her flaws (selfishness, jealousy, a coping mechanism that is not always in the best taste). But she’s 19, she’s human. She’s allowed to and -as a character in a piece of media- should have flaws. I think they are what make a fundamentally brave and compassionate character feel like a real person. They make her more compelling.

(I want to do a later meta on Mickey, because Rose could’ve handled that better, but I also have issues with early Mickey. And it ties into some other stuff…so later meta.)

#doctor who #rose tyler #10th doctor #9th doctor #tenrose #timepetals #meta #doctor who meta

[callunavulgari]

"The kingdom come, the rise, the fall The setting sun above it all I just wanna be somebody to you"

Heather’s Top 50 Songs of 2023

thumbs — sabrina carpenter // dragostea din tei — feuerschwanz // edge of midnight — miley cyrus & stevie nicks // warrior of the mind — jorge rivera-herrans // happier than ever — kelly clarkson // flowers — miley cyrus // see you again — miley cyrus // six — six cast // fairytale — joel sunny // middle of the night — elley duhe // our light — lyn // it's terror time again — sesamoid // eat your young — hozier // step into darkness — dubkiller // got you — ga eun // just a man — jorge rivera-herrans // labour — paris paloma // the tornado — owl city // green green grass — george ezra // suzume — radwimps // can't take my eyes off you — boys town gang // survive — jorge rivera-herrans // mermaids— florence & the machine // unknown/Nth — hozier // we didn't start the fire — fall out boy // hold me like a grudge — fall out boy // where is the justice — death note musical // 30/90 — andrew garfield // everyday — buddy holly // i'm just ken — ryan gosling // what was i made for? — billie eilish // speechless — naomi scott // son of nyx — hozier // damage gets done — hozier & brandi carlile // paradise valley — honey and the sting // stand by me — florence & the machine //  my prayer — the platters // baby don't hurt me — david guetta // quietly yours — birdy // someone to you  — banners // one more time — blink 182 // adelaide — ramblewood // i'm just your problem — lur // you're gonna be okay — ashh blackwood // mr lonely  — angel olsen // now and then — the beatles // vois sur ton chemin — bennett // history is now — natalie holt // purpose is glorious — natalie holt // the power — borislav slavov

short version | long version | spotify wrapped

short version is the link to what you see here, my helpfully abridged version. long version will lead you to the 141 song, 8 hour and 17 minute supercut playlist which i’ve been slowly cultivating since early january. spotify wrapped will lead you to a mixture of the long and the short version, which is honestly pretty accurate but does not helpfully represent my ear worms of the week. i also skewed my data for it by listening to the spiritfarer and hollow knight soundtracks on repeat to ease the wedding anxieties.

also fun fact, the cover for this year's mix is actually a picture of the tree outside our room during our wedding day.

under the cut are the lyrics that really resonated with me and only a little personal tidbits from this year, because let's be real, nobody cares.

i. thumbs || sabrina carpenter 'cause that's just the way of the world it never ends 'til the end and then you start again

This one was playing as we left the florence concert late last year and dogged me all through january and february last winter. ii. dragostea din tei || feuerschwanz Alo, salut, sunt eu un haiduc Si te rog iubirea mea primeste fericirea

Yes, it's a metal cover. Yes, I found it on tiktok. Yes, I love it unconditionally.

iii. edge of midnight || miley cyrus & stevie nicks The midnight sky is the road I'm takin' Head high up in the clouds (oh, oh)

There's THREE Miley Cyrus songs on here this year. Nuts. I really loved cranking this while driving home from Newark back when I was still hybrid. Much serotonin in those gray winter months. iv. warrior of the mind || jorge rivera-herrans & teagan earley Maybe one day they'll follow me and we'll Make a greater tomorrow, then they'll see Is it REALLY a surprise that Epic grabbed me by the throat this year?

v. happier than ever || kelly clarkson You ruined everything good Always said you were misunderstood Made all my moments your own Just fucking leave me alone I actually ended up hearing the Billie Eilish version of this first, but I ended up reading a post about how Billie's version was for the shitty boyfriend's of the world but Kelly's was to her mom and just. That resonated SO so much that it's stuck with me ever since. I have a complicated relationship with mine. She didn't come to my wedding this year. Anyway, definitely screamed this in my car on long drives. vi. flowers || miley cyrus i can buy myself flowers write my name in the sand

I need to preface this with the fact that my partner and I have a wonderful relationship that I wouldn't trade for the world. This song is still a fucking banger. vii. see you again || miley cyrus I got my sights set on you and I'm ready to aim I have a heart that will never be tamed

Third Miley song of the year, I believe all ear worms before March. I ended up getting in a Tiktok loop of body transformations set to this song while I was really getting into working with weights. It was great inspiration that I DEARLY needed that early into things. The song is also incredibly catchy. viii. six || six cast we're one of a kind, no category too many years lost in his story I honestly feel like we saw this musical last year but this song in particular dogged me into this one. ix. fairytale || joel sunny *instrumental*

Found this instrumental version of a much beloved song due to a random discover weekly and loved it so much that I seriously considered using it in my wedding. x. middle of the night || elley duhe Come, lay me down 'Cause you know this 'Cause you know this sound

Shh, it's the horny booktok song. I won't be shamed. xi. our light || lyn 夢を夢と気づいた夜 君を見つめ瞼を閉じる 温もりも重ねた手も声も 目覚めれば微睡みへと消えて

I have been trying to finish persona 5 royal since 2020. this year, i finally beat it. xii. it's terror time again || sesamoid Oh, you just might die of fright, It's a terrifying time.

Yes, it's a Scooby Doo remix. yes, I love it. xiii. eat your young || hozier I'm starving, darling Let me put my lips to something Let me wrap my teeth around the world The horniest Hozier song since Take Me to Church in my humble opinion. I adored it immediately. xiv. step into darkness || dubkiller Blood on your hands, maybe you're dreaming? Do you believe, nightmares you're seeing?

Tiktok? xv. got you || ga eun Will you promise you’ll rescue me Take me from eternal loneliness

This was the theme song (I think?) to a Korean drama we were obsessed with for a little bit and I don't think we ever finished? Song is interesting though and sticks with you. xvi. just a man || jorge rivera-herrans When does a ripple become a tidal wave? When does the reason become the blame? When does a man become a monster? More Epic, because I am a mythology loving twelve year old at heart. The many, MANY tiktoks to this particular song did not help.

xvii. labour || paris paloma The capillaries in my eyes are bursting If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

It's catchy. I had more typed out but tumblr fucking ate it, so fuck it.

xviii. the tornado || owl city A little rain never hurt no one, so I kept pressin' on And I tried to tell myself it's always darkest before the dawn

Another song I played very loudly while driving home.

xix. green green grass || george ezra Green, green grass, blue, blue sky You better throw a party on the day that I die

Dancy song!

xx. suzume || radwimps ル・ル・ルルルルル・ルルル・ルルルルルル ル・ル・ルルルルル・ルルル・ルルルルルル We saw this in theaters! I really loved it! xxi. can't take my eyes off you || boys town gang You're just too good to be true Can't take my eyes off of you The Tiktok dances got me. More serotonin when I really needed it. xxii. survive || jorge rivera-herrans Six hundred lives I'll take Six hundred lives I'll break And when I kill you, then my deed is over

More Epic! xxiii. mermaids || florence & the machine You only get one night upon the shore So dance like you've never danced before

I love Florence. That is all. xxiv. unknown / nth || hozier You know the distance never made a difference to me I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea

Hozier was honestly the artist that kept me the most company this year if I'm not counting Spiritfarer or Hollow Knight. xxv. we didn't start the fire || fall out boy Mars rover, Avatar, self-driving electric cars SSRI's, Prince and The Queen die World trade, second plane, what else do I have to say?

I know it won't happen, but I hope every generation does a remake/remix of this song. Also, I saw Billy Joel himself in concert this year! xxvi. hold me like a grudge || fall out boy Hold me, hold me like a grudge The world is always spinning, and I can't keep up, whoa Honestly, I was a fan. xxvii. where is the justice || death note cast isn't everybody sick to death of all this stuff can't we all stand up and say enough?

This song gets stuck in my head like no one's business. xxviii. 30/90 || tick tick boom cast making choices, wicked witches poppy fields, or men behind the curtain tiger lilies, ruby slippers clock is ticking, that's for certain I still think that if Stranger Things did a musical episode Steve Harrington would have Andrew Garfield from Tick Tick Boom energy. xxix. everyday || buddy holly Every day seems a little longer Every way, love's a little stronger

Good Omens 2 dropped! I loved it! I also didn't love it! But mostly I was just happy. xxx. i'm just ken || ryan gosling I wanna know what's like to love, to be the real thing Is it a crime? Am I not hot when I'm in my feelings? And is my moment finally here, or am I dreaming?

I went to see this movie by myself because I was sick of waiting for someone to go with me and honestly had a great time. It was silly and fun and I loved the fact that so many dudes got so incredibly butt-hurt about it. xxxi. what was i made for || billie eilish 'Cause I, I I don't know how to feel But I wanna try

God, this song. It made me cry at the end of Barbie and I've been getting up in my feelings about it ever since. xxxii. speechless — naomi scott I will take these broken wings And watch me burn across the sky Apparently this is from the Aladdin live action? I haven't seen it so I can't confirm, but I DID hear this song this summer and fall in love with it. xxxiii. son of nyx || hozier *instrumental* This one might be my favorite? xxxiv. damage gets done || hozier And, darling, I haven't felt it since then I don't know how the feeling ended But I know being reckless and young Is not how the damage gets done

Another Hozier!!!!!! xxxv. paradise valley || honey and the sting Take what you want from me I bring it willingly

I may have done these next three out of order, but hey! I got married this year! As some of you may know, paradise valley has been the song that I have been obsessed with since I first heard it on Wolf 359 back in 2018/2019. I couldn't figure out a way to make it work in a traditional sense for the wedding, so I ended up using it as a private last dance. As the clock was hitting ten o'clock we had our dj gently shoo the stragglers out the door and just crooned this to each other in the dark. It was probably my favorite part of the entire night. xxxvi. stand by me || florence & the machine So darlin', darlin', stand by me Oh, stand by me

This was our first dance. As it should be. We timed our few spins around the 'darlins' and it honestly went great. 10 out of 10, would dance again. xxxvii. my prayer || the platters My prayer is to linger with you At the end of the day I did a sneaky thing. It was Nick's grandparents 65th wedding anniversary a few days before our wedding, so I quietly found out "their song" and had our DJ play it as the first official couples/slow dance of the night after wishing them a happy anniversary. They cried. I cried. The photographer cried. It was great. xxxviii. baby don't hurt me || david guetta What is love? Baby, don't hurt me

Yeah, it's just a catchy cover. xxxix. quietly yours || birdy I've always been yours Only yours This was from the Persuasion soundtrack and god, it's just so achingly haunting. xl. someone to you || banners I don't wanna die or fade away I just wanna be someone Well, doesn't everyone?

Look. I just wanna be someone. xli. one more time — blink 182 Do I have to die to hear you miss me? Do I have to die to hear you say goodbye? I don't wanna act like there's tomorrow I don't wanna wait to do this one more time One more time. I got tickets to their concert next year. We'll see if they cancel this one. xlii. adelaide || ramblewood Wish you could lay those shadows down And find your way back home

I think this is a local artist? I fell in love with the song though. xliii. i'm just your problem || lur Sorry I don't treat you like a goddess Is that what you want me to do?

Watched Fionna and Cake in like a day and a half and fell all the way back in love with Bonnie and Marceline. xliv. you're gonna be okay || ashh blackwood puff out your chest, take a deep breath you're gonna be okay

This showed up on an anxiety mix and now I literally sing it to myself if I'm having a fast day. It is VERY short, but impactful. xlv. mr lonely || angel olsen Now, I am a soldier A lonely soldier Away from home Through no wish of my own My Yuletide fic that has not yet been revealed was about [REDACTED]. I listened to this and a handful of other sad, lonely songs while writing it. xlvi. now and then || the beatles Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me This song has DEVASTATED me since it came out. I will not be the same again. xlvii. vois sur ton chemin || bennett Vois sur ton chemin Gamins oubliés, égarés

Another tiktok ear worm. I'm not much for techno, but I love this one. xlviii. history is now || natalie holt *instrumental*

Loki fucked me all the way up, guys. I know everyone is crying about it, and I'm crying too! It's beautiful and tragic and one of the most fantastic endings for a character arc that I have EVER seen out of Marvel. I HOPE they leave it alone. I hope they leave it as is so we get to keep the beautiful ending and they don't fuck it up. xlix. purpose is glorious || natalie holt *instrumental*

Again, fucked me ALL the way up. I wept. And watched it three times in a row. These two songs will be on my writing playlist for the rest of time. l. the power || borislav slavov I found you too soon Shining star of mine, hold tight Don't fight the power

I have not officially finished Baldur's Gate. However, every iteration of this song is haunting me.

#heather says what #fanmixes #2023 #year in review #year in music #new year's memes #music makes the world go round

[phoenixtakaramono]

The Name of the Game - Ch1 Preview III

(CW: Supe terror/ism)

A/N: This might not make sense without the full context and tense build-up that’ll lead to all this, but you get the gist. The goal of Scene 1 (wordcount: 10K) is to speedrun through the important main cast of characters who’ll show up in the Task Worlds and then finagle a way to kick Billy into the System subspace—which officially starts us on Scene 2.

*Keep in mind, this snippet comes from an early draft so somethings might be subject to change in the final draft.

#butchlander #billy butcher x homelander #the boys #the boys tv #the name of the game #TNotG ch1 #phoenixtakaramono #preview #annnnd that’s it for all the previews you get; you’ll just have to wait for me to finish Scenes 2&3 ^-^ #the goal is hopefully around end of June but if not then sometime in July when it’ll be posted to AO3 #remember the OG World we start in is an AU world where Billy & Lenny are also Supes & there is some rivalry bt the American & UK branch #Arc 1 is still Medieval Fantasy World (OG World is the world Billy wants to return to) #why yes this is MM; Monique; Janine; Kimiko & Kenji (I needed to bring ‘em in as foreshadowing)

[cdyssey]

Ninth Doctor Era Rewatch Rankings:

1. “Father’s Day” → I think script wise, #2 on my list might be a little bit higher, but when it comes to the emotional impact that Series One episodes had on me, there can be no other entry at the top. It has to be “Father’s Day,” through and through—a story about intimate, personal grief and the utter importance that even an “ordinary” man has on an entire world. I love this story for plainly talking about how a person’s life is elevated after their death; Jackie built up Pete to be a perfect man for her young, fatherless child, someone to be absolutely proud of. And I equally love this story for briefly deconstructing that fantasy by showing us the rocky reality of Jackie and Pete’s marriage and some of his less-than-admirable traits, and yet, still coming to a similar conclusion at the end of the day. Yes, Pete wasn’t perfect—far from it, in fact—but he was still someone to be proud of. He was human, and he was good. He loved his family. He died to save them—save the entire world. It’s all so beautiful and poignantly done. Billie and Shaun Dingwell put in wrenching performances. I cry every single time.

2. “The Empty Child” / “The Doctor Dances” → Oh, these episodes will forever fuck me up in the best of ways. I STILL remember being in middle school when I first watched them and being terrified of the masked people and their insistent refrain. But this episode is so much more than the terror, or really, it’s about the terror. The terror of war. The terror of not having a future. The terror of intimacy. The terror of never being able to heal from what has been done to you—or perhaps even, from what you yourself did. The Doctor sees his own trauma echoed back at him all over these episodes—in brave, selfless Nancy, in the bombs that are slow-cooking London, in Rose’s desire to know him at a new level. And it’d be so easy to offer the conclusion that there’s no escaping the terror; there’s no healing from a critical wound; there’s no hope at the end of a long day. After all, in Nine’s adventures that we’ve seen so far, nothing has exactly contradicted that. Someone has always died despite his best efforts. But, oh, man, in this fucking episode, just this once, everybody lives, and it’s a triumph that is absolutely the defining moment of Nine for me. As he laughs in that sea of golden lights, we see the exact moment that he finds his inner joy again. We see him begin to heal. Fucking fantastic.

3. “Dalek” → Genuinely my favorite Dalek episode of all time. Christopher Eccleston’s stellar fucking acting alone sells the horror of the species—what they are and what they have done, what even a single one can accomplish if it’s let loose in the world. And as we witness the carnage, both within our terrified Doctor and in that facility full of bodies, we also immediately see the idea of a pure Dalek turned on its head through Rose, whose influence turns a literal hate machine into something else. Something entirely new. God, “Dalek” is just a brilliant episode all around, one that interrogates the effects of war in so many ways. War only creates lonely, broken creatures. Like the Doctor. Like the Dalek. The corrective is purposefully choosing not to perpetuate that violence, so it doesn’t change you into becoming something that you can’t stand to look in the mirror.

4. “The End of the World” → Okay, I don’t have the deepest things to say here, except that it’s just an iconic fucking episode of television ALAKDJAKKS. LIKE, on one hand, you have moments of just outrageous camp—“Toxic” and Cassandra the “bitchy trampoline”—but in the same space, you have existential musings about how even though the world will one day be gone, the connections that we thread with our loved ones will always be meaningful and profound. Brilliant and funny and touching. A second episode that’s already firing on all cylinders.

5. “Aliens of London” / “World War III” → Didn’t think that these two would be so high on the list, but god, if the opening of “Aliens” and the close of “WWIII” didn’t absolutely spear right through me on this rewatch. I think these episodes do the best job (in Series One, at least) of showing exactly what the personal consequences of time-traveling can be. It’s something Jackie and Mickey had to agonizingly experience when Rose was gone from them an entire year. And it was something that Rose and the Doctor have to grapple with as well upon their return and in the subsequent battle with the Slitheen. The Doctor gets it better than Rose (understandably so). He can never guarantee her safety, and that’s a fact that perpetually haunts his entire companionship with her.

6. “Bad Wolf” / “The Parting of Ways” → URGHSHDHDJDHS, I like RTD finales because they’re balls off the walls crazy, but also, it drives me crazy that the series-long lead-up to his big twists tends to be minimal. I think I would have enjoyed the Bad Wolf ex-machina far better if we could have gotten consistent references (beyond unremarked upon appearances of the phrase) to it throughout the series. I’m also never the biggest fan of when legions of Daleks are the big enemy™️ because I’m still in awe of how perfect the episode “Dalek” is in showing how just one Dalek is a considerable foe. When they’re innumerable, the threat just sort of dulls to me. BUT for all this, there is so, so, so much to love about the finale episodes. I love the game show pastiches in “Bad Wolf.” Nine sending Rose away and her theme playing over his goodbye message is a top tier moment for me. And his regeneration is just pitch perfect. Nine was my first Doctor, and he’ll always be so special to me.

7. “Rose” → God, the iconic pilot. Really, just a pitch perfect introduction to the world of Doctor Who through the eyes of someone who is inexorably pulled into the Doctor’s mad, dangerous, and fantastic orbit. “Rose” does what a good pilot is supposed to do. Get us involved with the characters and make us want to know more. And Christopher Eccleston really sets the tone of this specific series in the climax of the episode, hinting at the devastation of the Time War and his utter guilt at playing a part in it.

8. “Boomtown” → SEE, OKAY, here’s the thing. “Boomtown” has all of the elements of the things that I typically love in an episode of a TV show. It’s got camp. It’s got banter. It’s got deep philosophical examinations of the characters and their moral motivations. And I REALLY loved Annette Badland’s performance of Margaret… but I think my ultimate qualm with “Boomtown” always ends up being that you can see the seams of the finale set-up just a little too clearly. I wish the Bad Wolf climax had been introduced more gradually throughout the series. And some of the dialogue here was just a wee bit too on the nose.

9. “The Unquiet Dead” → Honestly, there really wasn’t a bad episode in Series 1 for me. Just ones that were a bit more interesting than others. I still liked this episode. The guy who played Charles Dickens was incredibly convincing, and I loved the bittersweetness of the Gwyneth storyline. Her bonding moment with Rose was so lovely and human.

10. “The Long Game” → Simon Pegg was great as the antagonist is this one. The worldbuilding was fun, too—it was cool that the Satellite V plot came back in the finale! I think I just disliked Adam that much djsjfjjsjs. Watching his subplot gave me secondhand embarrassment—though that was definitely the intent.

#maggie blogs #s: doctor who #I love nine so much #I’m going to MISS him all over again

[disneyparktournament]

Here is the bracket:

Group 1 - The Frontier

Barnabas T Bullion (Big Thunder Mountain) vs Jason Chandler (Big Thunder Mountain)

Big Al (Country Bear Jamboree) vs Henry (Country Bear Jamboree)

Billy the Goat (Big Thunder Mountain) vs Rocky, Mother Lode, & Nugget (Big Grizzly Mountain)

Constance Hatchaway (Haunted Mansion) vs Melanie Ravenswood (Phantom Manor)

Hatbox Ghost (Haunted Mansion) vs Hitchhiking Ghosts (Haunted Mansion)

Ghost Host (Haunted Mansion) vs The Phantom (Phantom Manor)

Madame Leota (Haunted Mansion) vs Mayor (Phantom Manor)

Sun Bonnet Trio (Country Bear Jamboree) vs Swamp Boys (America Sings)

Group 2 - The Future

Cynthia Lair (Body Wars) vs Go Go Scientist (Spaceship Earth)

Dreamfinder (Journey into Imagination) vs Nigel Channing (Honey, I Shrunk the Audience)

Figment (Journey into Imagination) vs Kimballum Horriblus (World of Motion)

Grant Seeker (Dinosaur) vs John (Carousel of Progress)

Officer Zzzzyxxx (Star Tours) vs Sonny Eclipse (Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe)

R-3X (Star Tours) vs Seeker’s Puppet (Dinosaur)

Robot Butler (Horizons) vs SMRT-1 (CommuniCore)

Timekeeper (Le Visionarium) vs Tom Morrow (Innoventions)

Group 3 - Adventure

Albert Awol (Jungle Cruise - Magic Kingdom) vs Nigel Greenwater (Jungle Cruise - Disneyland Park)

Albert Falls (Jungle Cruise) vs Merriweather Adam Pleasure (Adventurer’s Club)

Albert the Monkey (Mystic Manor) vs Prison Dog (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Alberta Falls (Jungle Cruise) vs Paco (Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull)

Fortune Red (New Orleans Square) vs Shrunken Ned (Adventureland)

Harrison Hightower III (Tower of Terror) vs Henry Mystic (Mystic Manor)

Mara (Indiana Jones Adventure) vs Q’arác (Roaring Rapids)

Mary Oceaneer (Disney Cruise Line) vs Redd (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Group 4 - Fantasy

Bill McKim (Test Track) vs Patrick (Soarin’)

Betty (Expedition Everest) vs Harold (Matterhorn Bobsleds)

Buzzy (Cranium Command) vs Chuuby (Runaway Railway)

Chandu (Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage) vs Small World Cactus (It’s a Small World)

George (Cinemagique) vs Sage of Time (Tapestry of Nations)

Ice Gator (Blizzard Beach) vs Lagoona Gator (Typhoon Lagoon)

Jose (Enchanted Tiki Room) vs Orange Bird (Sunshine Tree Terrace)

Monorail Voice (Monorail) vs Skyliner Voice (Skyliner)

(Characters are listed by the attraction they first appeared in)

#disney parks #disney #disneyblr #tumblr contest #tumblr polls #disneyland resort #walt disney world #disney world #disneyland paris #tokyo disney resort #hong kong disneyland #shanghai disneyland

[hardcore-lonewolf]

PLAYER COLORS + GAMING USERNAMES FOR THE TEEN TITAN GANG & THE YOUNG JUSTICE TEAM (FEATURING MY FOUR OCS, ONSLAUGHT & INCURSION)

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Short A/N: I got pens and tons of colors. I'm a total gamer, a fanfiction writer, and a sketch book artist on drawing. I got this idea from my Wattpad one-shot of DC Comics and wanted to use it...so here goes nothing.

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Heroic Squad | Insurgency (Featuring My OCs: Evelina Gwendolyn Meyers, Nathaniel Scott King, Marceline Xena Stark & Trenton Kirk Lee) - Team Microsoft's X-Box.

Aqualad II/Aquaman II - Knight_Of_Atlantis (Orange).

Wonder Girl II/Wonder Woman II (OFC) - Half_Blood_Princess (Violet).

Superboy I/Scion - Boy_Of_Steel (Red).

Miss Martian - Girl_From_Mars (Cerulean).

Cyborg I - Built_A_Robot (Teal).

Starfire - Heart_Of_Fire (Chartreuse).

Static Shock I/Breach (OMC) - Shock_The_System (Scarlet).

Rocket I - Rock_Your_World (Azure).

Kid Flash I/Flash III - Fastest_Kid_Alive (Yellow).

Artemis I/Tigress - The_Master_Assassin (Green).

Robin I/Nightwing - Flying_Boy_Wonder (Blue).

Batgirl I/Flamebird (OFC) - Scream_For_Me (Pink).

Union/Lumus (OMC) - Power_Of_Will (Lime).

Zatanna - Made_Of_Magic (White).

Beast Boy/Changeling - One_Wild_Thing (Purple).

Raven - Daughter_Of_Darkness (Indigo).

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Villainous Group | Regime (With Terra Mater {DC's Terra}, See-More, Misty Kilgore, Billy Numerous, Kitten, Gizmo & Blackfire) - Team Sony's Play-Station.

Psimon - Mind_In_Distress (Black).

Devastation - Your_Worst_Nightmare (Sepia).

Gizmo - The_Mad_Genius (Gray).

Shimmer - Rot_In_Hell (Mint).

Mammoth - Awaken_The_Monster (Gold).

Blackfire - Kiss_Of_Death (Silver).

Icicle Junior/Icicle II - Trapped_In_Ice (Slate).

Tuppence Terror - Pain_Over_Beauty (Burgundy).

Tommy Terror - Brawn_Over_Brains (Mahogany).

Jinx - Karma_Will_Rise (Magenta).

Holocaust II - Burn_To_Ashes (Amber).

Misty Kilgore - Killer_Rag_Doll (Wisteria).

See-More - My_Third_Eye (Olive).

Kitten - Drink_Your_Poison (Melon).

Billy Numerous/Repro II - Make_A_Clone (Vermilion).

Terra - Stone_Cold_Rebel (Tan).

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What do y'all think? Comment down on better gamer usernames for them. Bye guys.

#kaldur'ahm #conner kent #victor stone #wally west #dick grayson #garfield logan #rachel roth #zatanna zatara #artemis crock #koriand'r #m'gann m'orzz #raquel ervin #original characters #dc comics #young justice #teen titans #onslaught #incursion #young justice imagine #teen titans imagine #dc comics imagine #dc crossover #my ocs #dc headcanons #dc titans #arrowverse #dcamu #dc universe #dc superheroes #dc supervillains

[traxanaxanos]

Dream Star Trek series pitch:

Episodic wildlife documentary series called Wildman's Wild Universe. Older Samantha Wildman and adult Naomi (who went into life sciences like her mom, doing some sort of environmental science) host it. Every episode features a new sci-fi animal and little slice-of-life zoological adventures. It's all low stakes adventures, bright colors, and fun animal puppets as far as the eye can see. I guess they can use green-screen effects for the animals, but ideally it would mostly be little muppets. Minor interpersonal conflicts and occasionally someone gets treed by a Hengrauggi and the rest of the film crew has to lure it away. No planets or ships get exploded (but a little science vessel does sure get into a tight spot every episode), and no alien animals are harmed in filming.

Characters and episodes under the cut:

Every so often even Seven guest stars and hangs out. One episode she introduces the Wildmans to her cool new girlfriend and then they all observe a pterosaur flock on Betazed.

Other Voyager characters show up every so often. Obviously Tuvok appears in the Vulcan wildlife episode, where his children also show up and they all help the Wildmans solve a poaching mystery. But also the fucking nobody Voyager crew get to show up sometimes, because I love them. Tal Celes and Billy Telfer guest star on the episode where the Wildmans look for giant glacial shrimp on Andoria (they were helping navigate the experimental watercraft) and their sub gets trapped and they all have to figure out how to free it.

Other episodes include (season 1 has a big emphasis on extinction and conservation efforts, culminating in the season finale):

Targs on Qo'noS, and the difference between wild and domesticated targs. There's a Klingon Jackson Galaxy-esque figure advocating for better targs understanding and ownership.

An update on the whale situation on Earth.

An episode about thylacines: "thought extinct until a small pack was located in 2038" Samantha says ecstatically. We have to have some hope what with world war III and all.

Touring an animal rehabilitation center on Ktaris. Greskrendtregk appears in this one. Canonical Ktaris appearance. Canonical Greskrendtregk appearance! Everyone clap for Greskrendtregk!

The Wildmans observe some Corvan gilvos & talk about their miraculous return from the brink of extinction after being relocated to Brentalia. The gilvos look just as shitty as they do when Riker's holding them in his arms at the end of New Ground & I laugh heartily at them.

Talking about the dangers of introducing non-native animals to new planets. The featured animals on the planet look suspiciously like banana slugs. Weird. How’d they get there? Who could have done this? (Hoshi Sato. It’s not stated in show...but we all know its Hoshi Sato and Sluggo who have done this)

This is obviously all inspired by my childhood love of the Kratts’ Creatures tv show, so there should be just a little fucking animated guy in the in-universe episodes as the “kid fact explainer” character like Ttark on Kratts’ Creatures. Torn between it being a flotter hologram, a Neelix hologram explaining the food chain, or a Dr. Phlox hologram presenting on fauna & medicine in little animated asides. Maybe all 3.

However!

As one of my biggest complaints is New Trek’s over-reliance on legacy characters, we do also get new characters:

New betazoid character as the super nervous cameraman on his first job out of Betazed Polytechnic. He’s kind of scared of animals, and has never left Betazed before, but is determined to overcome his fears!

Nausicaan expert on xenomegafauna & she's super enthused about space megatherium and lunar terror birds.

Aforementioned Klingon with Jackson Galaxy vibes.

Romulan ichthyologist, who was responsible for evacuating a viable population of Romulan pupfish from Romulus before it exploded. They seem very grumpy and aloof but it is a farce! They love fish and their friends. They are holding them at a distance but sometimes the facade drops.

It’s a mini Starfleet crew, for a science vessel of like, 9.

Season Finale is yet another time-travel Janeway showing up, ready to wreck this timeline to get Voyager home like 3 years faster. Samantha has to give a rousing Star Trek™ speech. Maybe Janeway could get the Voyager home faster by unraveling this timeline. Maybe that would spare them all some suffering. Maybe this timeline was doomed from the start. But Samantha knows that in this timeline, her daughter gets to the alpha quadrant alive and that they are still together, and who knows what Janeway’s new timeline will hold. And also! In this timeline the Bolian green-bellied moth was brought back from the brink of extinction after decades successful conservation efforts, and that also makes this timeline worth fighting for.

#star trek #samantha wildman #naomi wildman #tal celes #billy telfer #seven of nine #tuvok #this would give us the tuvok and daughter solve a mystery episode that was maybe planned for voyager and then scrapped #in my heart of hearts and the fanfic version of voyager than only lives in my head lieutenant stadi the betazoid from the pilot lives #and her and seven reconnect post-voyager drift apart #and theyre dating #seven can still be dating raffi #seven can have 100 girlfriends #i want a scifi series that's just like...worldbuilding the series #heres the fauna #and would you believe it the flora too! #beautiful vistas and some of them are maybe not even california #tell me what happened to the gilvos #I don not care about the prestige tv sprawling action scenes #i want updates on the throwaway alien animals from 30 years ago!

[frankendykes-monster]

Halloween 2022 Countdown Ranked

59. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

58. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)

57. Curse of The Swamp Creature (1968)

56. Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954)

55. Billy the Kid versus Dracula (1966)

54. Teenage Cave Man (1958)

53. Lost Continent (1951)

52. Attack of The Killer B-Movies (1995)

51. Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

50. Jesse James meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966)

49. Full Moon High (1981)

48. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

47. The Werewolf of Washington (1973)

46. The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)

45. The Invisible Woman (1940)

44. Anthropophagous (1980)

43. The Slime People (1963)

42. Casper’s Halloween Special (1979)

41. The Crawling Hand (1963)

40. Scream (2022)

39. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

38. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

37. Invisible Agent (1942)

36. The Descent (2005)

35. Eegah (1962)

34. Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

33. The Midnight Hour (1985)

32. Ringu (1998)

31. Halloween is Grinch Night (1977)

30. Attack of The Giant Leeches (1959)

29. Monster Mash (2000)

28. Bloodz vs. Wolvez (2006)

27. The Man From Planet X (1951)

26. Child’s Play 3 (1991)

25. Hansel and Gretel (1983)

24. Cat-Women of The Moon (1953)

23. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

22. The She-Creature (1956)

21. The Terror (1963)

20. The Exorcist (1973)

19. The Navy vs. The Night Monsters (1966)

18. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

17. The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t (1979)

16. Hobgoblins (1988)

15. Die, Monster, Die! (1965)

14. The Abomination (1986)

13. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

12. Lake Mungo (2008)

11. Day of The Animals (1977)

10. Atom Age Vampire (1960)

9. The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters (1972)

8. Night of The Blood Beast (1958)

7. Child’s Play 2 (1990)

6. The Crawling Eye (1958)

5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

4. The Old Dark House (1932)

3. Child’s Play (1988)

2. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

God this was such a bottom-heavy marathon compared to last year, alright let’s get this shitshow started.  I can’t believe I willingly put myself through some of this.

The 1950′s-1960′s science fiction extravaganza: Curse of The Swamp Creature is, I think, one of those TV remakes of 1950′s films starring monsters designed by Paul Blaisdell.  This is one where I thought “okay should I give it credit for making me laugh in the first 30 seconds and then not once for the entire rest of the runtime?”  The answer was no.  Monster From The Ocean Floor is a dreary slog of a film, one of those cheap shits that only features the titular monster for all of 30 seconds while people just aimlessly do nothing for the entire runtime.  Teenage Cave Man I only watched because the monster suit from this film was reused in Night of The Blood Beast, and otherwise it’s Ayn Rand wet dream of the freethinking teenager being magically smarter than everyone else on top of the offense of being a caveman movie with no dinosaurs.  God, speaking of which, Lost Continent is another Lost World ripoff that’s decades behind the curve and who’s only saving grace is stop motion dinosaurs which magically improve any movie they star in.  The Slime People is an oddity because the monster suits and concept are star studded but it just, I guess, doesn’t have the money to see through actually showing us slime people emerge from underground and completely take over Los Angeles.  Weird and disappointing.  The Crawling Hand has one of the best trailers for any monster movie I’ve seen complete with a slowed down version of “Surfin’ Bird” but aside from some humorous spouts of bad acting and the 100% out-of-nowhere gag ending, it’s nothing remarkable.  Admittedly there has been a couple films about disembodied hands killing people and I can’t find the concept scary no matter what, sue me.  Attack of The Giant Leeches is in decent/mid-tier territory, boosted by reusing music from Night of The Blood Beast (Roger Corman lives up to his cheap reputation) and genuinely gruesome scenes of the leeches’ human victims still being alive after progressively blood feedings, it mostly loses me for just not doing anything remarkable with its finale.  The Man From Planet X is working with a pretty stock script but is boosted by how atmospheric its directing is, every shot is just littered with shadows or fog.  Cat-Women of The Moon is definitely one of the more humorous genre outings I’ve seen of this type, living up to its title 100% other than I guess having long nails and sharp eyeliner making you a “cat” woman I guess.  The She-Creature isn’t the best Paul Blaisdell monster movie I’ve seen but that’s expected given his work crops up in some really interesting ones, this one being a murder mystery involving both hypnosis and prehistoric evolutionary links somehow.  The Navy vs. The Night Monsters is like a better version of The Thing From Another World what with an indeterminate number of US army guys having to deal with a monster(s) at their fort and their progressively more extreme methods of having to deal with it.  Atom Age Vampire is one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a *while*, an Italian knockoff of Eyes Without A Face that hits all the same plot points just far more crudely and with a manster (man-monster) thrown in to boot.  Watch the English edit for full effect.  Night of The Blood Beast is one I was excited to revisit and it did not disappoint, being one of the definitive genre precursors to Alien (1979) and just an all-around shock to the senses in general with how isolated the cast can be and what they have to be put up against.  The star of the show is The Crawling Eye however, a genuinely insane film that actually got under my skin with this viewing with the sound design, effects work, and some really gorey moments like flesh being desolved or multiple decapitations.  As far as alien invasion films of the 1950′s go, this is definitely up there.

We have a pair of oddity western-horror mashups between, uh, actual people and fictional characters with Billy the Kid versus Dracula and Jesse James meets Frankenstein’s Daughter.  Only thing of note with the former is that John Carradine reprises the role of Dracula after playing the character in House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945).  Carradine was one of the most prolific actors in the history of the medium so it’s not surprising to see him crop up here and there without expecting him, but suffice to say he brings nothing to the role and just blends in with the rest of the drab film.  Jesse James meets Frankenstein’s Daughter gets extra points solely for featuring the creation of an awkward and haphazard Frankenstein monster, which is generally the only reason to seek out random odds-and-ends Frankenstein movies.

Full Moon High is another Larry Cohen film that looks good on paper but I don’t really find myself enjoying at all.  As a comedy there are a decent number of funny lines (”I’m not one of those types to believe in vampires and werewolves and virgins, I’ve never seen any of those.“) but it almost forgets it’s a werewolf movie for a lot of the runtime as the main plot involves how being a werewolf prevents you from aging and blah blah blah I can’t be bothered to care when you present something I didn’t come here to see (1950′s football player returns to his school in the 1980′s to find it littered with violence and drug use).  The Werewolf of Washington is similarly dreary experience that only exists to present lackluster post-Watergate political satire.

Oh how the mighty have fallen; I made an attempt at finishing out The Invisible Man series but couldn’t even bring myself to watch the dedicated Abbott/Costello film.  Truly the worst Universal sequels barring whatever happened with The Mummy.  The Invisible Woman and Invisible Agent are a full-on comedy and action-adventure film respectively, so in some way I feel cheated for how they’re consistently lumped in with the rest of the series as a whole, which are to say, horror (beyond not doing anything that hadn’t been shown to us in the first two installments).  The Invisible Man’s Revenge makes an attempt at trying to get the series back on track but all it does is make me realize I could just be watching the first two films.

Anthropophagous has been one I’ve been curious about for years, mostly because the poster is a really gristly shot of a guy eating human entrails, and while I *guess* that does feature in this film it’s just another slog to get through with no interesting characters, locations, or plot beats to string you along.  Avoid.

Scream 5 exists for no reason other than to drop the entire series’ GPA.  It’s the entry wherein the genre commentary overshadows everything else to the detriment of this being the first Scream film where I can’t be bothered to care about any of the returning characters.  I wrote extensively about this one in my Letterboxd review so I’m only going to touch on some finer points here.  Scream (1996) is allowed to reference I Spit On Your Grave (1978) because the former is better, this one is not allowed to make snide remarks about The Witch (2015), I’m not having it.  If you’re desperate for a creative shot to the arm that is a grand return after an 11 year absence, just watch Scream 4 (2011).

The Descent was borderline funny to me in the sense that my reaction to so much of what the characters are put through is “shit I would just die, what else is there to do?”  I mentally tuned out when the film switched from “being trapped in a claustrophobic cave system with no sense of direction” to “being hunted by underground monsters.”  I usually scoff and roll my eyes at “oh my god it’s scarier because it could actually happen” but this is rare case where, yeah, being trapped underground with no way out is more terrifying before you add monsters to the mix.

Alright, brief “worst of the worst” roundup: Eegah, in spite of being one of the most notable MST3K punching bags, is not *that* bad.  It peters out by the finale but there are enough funny moments and actually good stuff (Eegah talking to the corpses of family members in a proto Texas Chainsaw scene) to string you along for the better part of an hour.  The Terror is a fascinating film for me, made solely because Roger Corman finished The Raven (1963) two days early and still had access to Boris Karloff.  What we get is a bizarre and haphazard jumbling of horror cliches in a story that is almost bursting at the seams over how overwritten it is, but the making of this one is so interesting to me personally that I can’t bring myself to dislike it, even if Jack Nicholson never was good at “charismatic leading man” type thing before he settled on crazy motherfuckers.  Hobgoblins was one I was surprised over how hilarious it was, another convoluted mess you can’t help but laugh at.  The hobgoblins hypnotize people to let them live out their greatest fantasies albeit with some horrific twist, giving us some golden scene like a guy going to makeout point with an imaginary woman so the hobgoblins can push the car over the edge.  Lordy lordy lordy.

1970′s role call: Dracula vs. Frankenstein continues the trend of awkward and frustrating messes, this one originally being an unrelated horror film that later had the two characters thrown in mid-production.  What ensues is an unusually violent at times boring at others movie that I can’t help but derive at least some ironic enjoyment from.  The untimely tragedy of this film is that this was the last role for Lon Chaney Jr.  Bela Lugosi got stuck with Ed Wood, Karloff with Corman, and Chaney Jr. with Al Adamson.  Chaney Jr. could have been a great actor if it wasn’t for the horror typecasting and seeing play just another bumbling grunt in this is almost painful.  See also: somehow this film is also the final role for J. Carrol Naish, who played Daniel in House of Frankenstein (1944).  Odd.  Let’s Scare Jessica to Death just blends in to the larger genre trends of leaning more towards provocative material what with explicit concerns of mental illness in our protagonist and questions of reality around her, but aside from the soundtrack this one has already completely left my memory.  The Exorcist isn’t *quite* the most overrated horror film out there, but it does surprise me that is one of the ones that escaped into the mainstream; it’s mostly middling for the first hour of its runtime before becoming a decent enough demon story.  I will say I can’t for the life of me find the devil scary in this, “your mother sucks cocks in hell!” will always be funny to me, they’re like a Freddy/Chucky joke dispensing precursor.  The Town That Dreaded Sundown, hoo boy, had this one had a more consistent tone dodging the comedy relief, it could have been an all-time great from this decade with an entire town plunged into despair over unsuccessful efforts to apprehend an anonymous serial killer.  This one goes all out when it comes to the more suspenseful moments, making the gags all the more frustrating.  Day of The Animals narrowly edges out being just another part of the glut of killer animal films in the wake of Jaws (1975), by just having everything out to kill people.  In spite of its inherent ridiculousness I can’t not say it’s better produced and more oppressively intimidating than it has any right to be, almost reminds me of a version of the environment itself is trying to kill you a la backrooms.

Ringu kind of sets in that the late-1990′s-early-2000′s period of J-horror just isn’t for me compared to the likes of films we saw in the 1960′s and 1970′s.  They tend to bleed together in my mind and Ringu is disappointing in that way.  I will say I was surprised that we get a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the tape and that only the final scene exhibits the famous “crawling out of the television” moment, which somehow became the most memorable thing from this one.

Bloodz vs. Wolvez I’m going to defend on the basis that this could have been a genuinely solid effort, what with the concept of bougie black vampires trying to integrate into human (read: white) society but working class black werewolves are stuck in poverty and this class disparity is the driver of the conflict between the two groups.  What holds this back, and of all the films I watched for this season, this one pains me the most to say it’s only average, is the fact that this may be one of the lowest budget films I have ever seen.  Everything is restrained by the fact that this must have been over consecutive weekends on $100.  Holding out for a remake that does this one justice.

Brief 1930′s aside: I’ve never seen any adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde prior to this year so any amount of expectation or set ideas on what should be done with the story escape me.  Suffice to say this is an impressive one overall, with a lot of POV shots and split screen effects that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a prior film.  The 1931 film is another slow to start but when it gets going it unfolds into one of the most explosive finales to any 1930′s horror film (though admittedly I’m not sure what separates Mr. Hyde in this from your average London man but what have you).  Oh yes, The Old Dark House.  This is the ultimate “minimalist” horror film, using the absolute bare essentials it can to craft an uneasy atmosphere that dominates everything else.  No supernatural phenomena, no body count, just extreme thunderstorms trapping everyone inside one dark house and them being forced to make it out with their minds intact.  “This is an unlucky house, two of my children, died when they were 20, eh-he-he...” “Laughter and sin!  Laughter and sin!  This too will rot!”

Die, Monster, Die! is the rare pre-1980′s Lovecraft adaptation, very loosely taking from The Colour From Outer Space, and comes together thanks to starring roles by Karloff and Nick Adams along with going into some unusual territory concerning mutations that befit the subject matter.  Slow to start but strong finish.

The Abomination is another one of those pushing-for-the-edge 1980′s obscurities that mostly exists to up the gore to previously unseen levels, and I can’t say it wasn’t successful, with practically an entire house being converted into an eldritch monstrosity that eats people piece by piece.  It’s frankly disgusting at times but if you’re on the search for more of these have at it.

Out of all the bizarre mishmash that is the group of films that I decided to watch this year, Lake Mungo is the biggest outlier to the group.  I’m not sure if I’d classify it as horror, it’s a piece of weird fiction that seems to escape genre.  Unlike, it seems, pretty much everyone else, this one doesn’t really scare me at all, but I can’t help but be fascinated as the narrative ebbs back and forth in an emotional cacophony that leads to gut punches.  I’m not entirely sure what to make of it, it could have gone anywhere in the ranking and I wouldn’t be wholly satisfied with its position, but I guess that’s why you can’t truly assign a number value to art.

I made an effort to try and make it through as many actual Halloween specials as I could this year in between the feature lengths.  Attack of The Killer B-Movies sees Elvira and a bunch of teenage schmucks watch several low-tier 1950′s science fiction films that have been colorized, cut for time, and with new soundtracks, with MST3K gags strewn in between.  It somehow makes these films worse, which is a monumental accomplishment in cases like with Monster From Green Hell (1957).  Avoid unless you and some pals have to see everything Elvira.  I’m not familiar with anything related to Casper prior to the 1995 film and the seemingly deluge of material featuring the character for the following decade, and Casper’s Halloween Special didn’t do anything to convince me to rectify that, blah.  The Midnight Hour is one I was disappointed to return to, not nearly as insane as I recall it being.  Functionally a proto-Hocus Pocus (1993) wherein a witch returns from the dead to curse an entire town, The Midnight Hour wants to be a zombie film, a party film, a romance, and about two other things but doesn’t meet the manic energy required to pull it off.  An absolute must see is the musical number riffing on “Thriller” in the middle of this one, “Get Dead.”  “I’m dead, you’re dying, everyone should try and get dead!”  Halloween is Grinch Night is a fascinating watch just being an unyielding onslaught of color and sound that doesn’t know what a quiet moment is, the oft mentioned “weird” Grinch scene makes perfect sense in context however, not sure what everyone was on about with that.  Monster Mash is an adorable enough fist-shaking, involving Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Wolf Man being forced to assert that they’re still scary in spite of being sell-outs in a world of slashers.  Best part is one of the monsters they’re up against is Freddy D. Spaghetti, who wears a pasta strainer in place of a hockey mask, love that dude.  Hansel and Gretel is a retelling of the story by Tim Burton, and it makes for perfect background material at a party for its ambiance coming from the fact there are only like five characters existing on solid monochrome sets that have virtually no decorations.  I’ve never cared for the story itself but the presentation here is hypnotizing.  The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t is another cute and inoffensive one, with Dracula forced to call all the world’s monsters together to have a witch doing her scaring duties lest the holiday be cancelled all together.  Ends on a disco party because it’s the 1970′s, fuck you.  Nothing however can beat The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters, a reprise/semi-sequel to Mad Monster Party? (1967), which I watched for last year’s countdown, and one that perfectly rights the wrongs of that misfire.  The light plot concerns Dr. Frankenstein making a bride for the Monster and calling in the rest of the major terrors to come to the wedding, and it’s almost entirely a springboard for gags.  The difference between this and Mad Monster Party? is that this is actually funny, whether it be the reining-in of some obvious Halloween gags (ha-ha the monsters want to eat roast black widows) or there being two human characters to counterbalance the monsters, one absolutely terrified of them and one who’s a major Universal fanboy.  Just when you think the film is ending it turns 90 degrees into another direction with 10 more jokes on the way.  “Oh I’ve made a terrible mistake, the bride is alternating current, and the groom is direct current!”

There isn't much going on in The Blair Witch Project so I can't comment on much, suffice to say this one has still got it, marketing campaign or no marketing campaign. Slowly becomes more and more claustrophobic until you get to that final shot of standing in the corner. It having been spoiled for me years prior doesn't at all change how effective it is in context.

Time constraints prohibited me from watching every Child’s Play film but I enjoyed my time with the first three entries.  If anything surprised me about the first film it’s that it is a genuinely scary experience, the only one where Chucky is intimidating.  The people saying that they could just drop kick him?  Yeah, Chucky will fucking kill you.  This is what A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) wishes it was.  Child’s Play 2 does its services as a not-quite-as-good horror sequel but it’s strong continuity with the first and upping the stakes and scope make it a worthwhile watch.  Child’s Play 3 is decent enough but can grow tiring over how much it forgets it’s a Child’s Play sequel and not a Full Metal Jacket (1987) parody.  Too much of the run time is eaten up by shit that is inconsequential and yeah, not too bad compared to a LOT of slasher sequels but I can see where people are coming from when they say this is the weakest entry in the series.

If your body horror film doesn’t make me feel like the person having their flesh twisted, you failed.  Industrial music.  Stop motion editing.  Semi-undead mechanical sex.  Tetsuo: The Iron Man commands it all.  If you turn your head for five seconds while watching this you will have missed the equivalency of a Lord of The Rings prequel’s volume of information and even then a lot of this indecipherable on every level.  The beauty of practical effects is a lot of the time I genuinely couldn’t tell you how the effect is done, and Tetsuo does that seemingly every 10 minutes.  I’ve come and gone with this film but make no mistake, everyone needs to see this.  It will change you.

Alright, final stretch.  There is no series in the history of film that has a wider gap in quality between entries as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Watching the majority of the series this year also ran the gamut of how good or how bad a movie in general can be.  I did not rewatch 2 because I figured it would get better on a rewatch (I don’t care for it) and I didn’t bother with Leatherface (2017) because come on just look at it.  Let’s begin: Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is relatively inoffensive, I’d say I prefer it to 2.  It’s ostensibly a mainstream studio remake of the first film and while there are great scenes found within, it’s major drawback is that I can’t “buy” any of it.  At no point do I believe these people are a group of mass murderers, they’re actors playing mass murderers.  This is an issue plaguing the majority of the series but more money doesn’t mean you can effectively capture that feel.  The Next Generation is the first of several abominations I had to sit through, featuring what might be the worst set of performances I’ve seen in any film.  This is the one that reveals that the Sawyers are secretly working for the Illuminati as part of a massive fear spreading campaign and has an ending that resembles a Nirvana music video more than anything and makes me question everything that led up to committing to watching this, the less said the better.  The 2003 remake is Leatherface, again, though it benefits from being the second entry in the series aside from the first to have some consistent aesthetic going.  Can still be easily skipped.  The Beginning is the first entry that devolves into pure torture porn, and doesn’t take any advantage of the fact that these characters can’t survive at the end, opting for just repeating bare slasher essentials except for killing off the final girl.  Texas Chainsaw 3D opens with a montage of footage from the first film then hard pivots into a plot about the Swayers being murdered in mass by a vigilante mob and “the Sawyers didn’t deserve this!”  No mention of the killing and cannibalism I guess as Leatherface, despite collecting a body count in this film alone, is turned into the good guy.  “Do your thing cuz!”  Just when you think things can’t get any worse, we are presented with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, no “The,” the new low bar for the series, if not the genre and maybe film as a whole.  Make no mistake that this is easily one of the worst films I have ever seen, involving gen-Z gentrifiers trying to buy up a small town to make into an upscale getaway, but Leatherface is there and blah blah blah you could have called this film anything else and you know what would have happened?  It would still be as bad but I wouldn’t have had to watch it, no one would have noticed it, no one would have to be as angry or anything because the only thing this has going for it is the connection to the first film.  It’s like if the Star Wars prequels weren’t called “Star Wars” they’d be as easily forgotten as Jupiter Ascending (2015) or Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets (2017), where no one would have batted an eye, called them shit in a single breath and then easily forgotten about them without a second thought.  Fuck this movie, fuck it for being another stain on the legacy of the original, fuck everyone that says “I just want to see stupid teenagers get killed,” fuck any defense of this.

Only thing that came of having to sit through these was another opportunity to rewatch the 1974 film.  As soon as I had settled on this being up for viewing, the #1 spot was sealed.  If someone were to say that this is the greatest horror film ever made, I don’t think I’d agree but at the same time I wouldn’t be able to put up a counter argument.  I said a few days ago that I define horror as a genre by its presentation of violence, and this is a perfect example.  The opening text crawl lets us know that even if this was a singular event, the resulting trauma and open wounds will be carried forever.  The soundtrack itself is oppressive, camera shutters and industrial machinery in the place of actual music at times, the opening credits burned by footage of solar flares, the entire environment taking place in the blazing Texas sun with dried up water beds and radiators and dilapidated buildings.  It’s one of the ultimate descents into hell that have ever been presented by any film, horror or not.  Innocent people unknowingly walking to their doom, the discovery of seemingly endless amounts of human and animal remains and never putting the pieces together until it’s too late, the final survivor being forced to see how the meat we eat is made.  “I just don’t take no pleasure in killing.”  It’s been nearly 10 years since I first saw The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this is one of the rare films that absolutely changed me, and while no subsequent viewing will have that same impact, I can’t not love it to the upmost extent that I can love any movie.

#long post #body horror

[netherworldwritersguild]

Friday Book Blogger Hop Special: The Touch

        Book: Beautiful Darkness 2

Story: The Touch

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CC6ZFCL3

Publisher: Dragon Soul Press

Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2023

Anthology Genre: 

Horror

(various sub-genres)

Story Genre:

Post-apocalyptic

Buy Link:

http://books2read.com/BD2

Ebook Price:

$4.99

Paperback:

$24.99

Book Blurb:

In a world where so many dark things go bump in the night, terror awaits around every corner as these authors take horror stories to the next level. Discover ghosts, demons, and your worst nightmares. Read at your own risk.

Featuring stories by Stephen A. Roddewig, Warren Benedetto, Barend Nieuwstraten III, Dylan Roche, Edgar Mahaffey, Toni Mobley, C.L. Hart, and J.E. Feldman.

About the Author:

Currently residing in Los Angeles, Toni was raised in Australia and Japan. She spends her free time worshipping her two cats, who she can't disprove aren't vengeful deities. She has several short stories that have been featured in anthologies, and is the author of two novels: Accolades of Wolves and A Winged Embrace. When not lost in her daydreams, most of her days are spent reminiscing about what rain looks like. 

Author Links

Learn more at www.tonimobley.com

The First Line/Book Beginnings

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

With my nose pressed against the living room bay window, I peered between the wooden slats adhered to the outside, eager to see a glimpse of that white truck.

The Friday 56

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

We both knew there was nothing that could be done now. Even though I had yet to glimpse the telltale symptom, the one thing that would confirm it wasn’t just a terrible cold.

Book Blogger Hop

https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

1st -7th - Do you read multiple books at once? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Sort of. I might be reading one book and also reading stories from an anthology while making these posts.

IT'S HERE!

C. L. Hart will give away one copy of the 2022 Deathlehem anthology to a lucky winner.

https://amzn.to/3GOSlPI

Link to Author Signup: 

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/638b6e5e76e92737f1b75569 

 Link to Dangerously Dark Darlings Facebook Group: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DangerouslyDarkDarlings

#anthology #horror stories #post apocalyptic

[cometforever]

Posted @withregram • @pfcuttin We on from 9-11pm spinning all new 🔥 tune in, 1- The Lox - Terminator LOX 2- Whiskeyman ft.. Squeegie O & Inspectah Deck - Staten Island 3- Represent The Real ft. AZ, O.C. KRS-ONE & DJ Flip - Stylistic Murder 4- 2wo Offishall X Grea8Gawd x Cappadonna  - Mona Lisa 5- Meyhem Lauren ft.  Westside Gunn  - Trigger Point Therapy 6- Your Old Droog - The Unknown Comic  7- Billy NoJokes x Indian K ft. DJ Special Cutz - Cold World 8-  Nejma Nefertiti ft. Napoleon Da Legend - Marinated Bullets  9-  Domo Genesis & Evidence - Going Rate 10- Innocent? ft. Terror Van Poo / Inno JohnJigg$ / Honey Dinero -  Better Mood 11- Whiskeyman ft. Ras Kass & Josiah The Gift - No Label 12- Ty Ferris / Sebb - Where’s The Garbage Can 13- Al Scratch - Calm Steady 14- Krohme ft. Godforbid & Thirstin Howl III - Dark Water 15- Comet Madmen - Premium Edition 16- 80Empire ft. 7xvethegenius - Somedays 17- Ren Thomas - Roaches In The Ashtray 18- Tone Chop & Frost Gamble - Still Underestimated  19- Benny The Butcher ft. Heem & Rick Hyde - Times Is Rough 20- The Opioid Era  -  Kilo Of Cut 21- Chubs - 97shania Twain 22- Ty Ferris / Sebb ft. Estee Nack - That Simple 23- Roc Marciano & The Alchemist - Deja Vu 24- Enels ft. Isis Aset & Hanzo Bladez - Draco 25-  M.A.V. & P.A Dre ft Brizz Rawsteen - We Are Not A like 26-  O The Great x Twistello - Monster Buck 5O 27- Murs & Rob Viktum -   Bactapack Rap 28- Your Old Droog - 50K or Brunch 29-  A7MC  ft. Mike Titan - Meet The Chefs 30-  M.A.V. & P.A Dre ft. Estee Nack & Asun Eastwood - Sticks & Stones 31- Bodyping -  F.O.H 32-  J.Sos & Bizarre - Johnny Depp Trial 33- OC From NC ft. Jozeemo  - The Kollofs 34- Knick Gunz - Greasy 35- Justo The MC & Maticulous - Off The Hinge pt1. 36- Bub Styles  ft. Ill Bill  - No Hubcaps 37-Def Soulja x 183rd -Chopped Cheese and Grape Soda 38-Top Shelf Premium  ft. Pro Dillinger,  Mickey Diamonds, Snotty -The Umbrella Freestyle 39-Mickey Blue ft. ILL Bill  Dro Pesci & Jay Royale-Crime Ministers 40-Boldly James & Futurewave - Flag On The Play   41-M.A.V. & P.A Dre ft. Rome Streetz-Dreamers 42-Def Soulja x 183rd  ft. Rome Street-Skatekey on Allerton 43-The Opioid Era -Secret Society https://www.instagram.com/p/ChVvnC-Lek5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[doomedandstoned]

THE DOOMED & STONED SHOW

~Season 8, Episode 17~

This week, Bucky Brown is back from The Ripple Effect to join Billy Goate (Editor, Doomed & Stoned) and John Gist (Vegas Rock Revolution) for a review of the May edition of the Doom Charts.

Don't worry, we plan on reviewing the June edition (just published) this month, too! Meanwhile, there's plenty in episode 17 to call you, including brand spankin' new music from Wo Fat, Black Lung, Wucan, and tons more in this nearly 3-hour broadcast!

Remember, Patrons get to hear it first, plus have access to all 7 seasons of the show, early access to Doomed Discussions, and lots of other perks. Visit patreon.com/doomedandstoned to become a High on Fiver member today.

Now streaming on podcasting platforms everywhere...give ear.

PLAYLIST

INTRO (00:00) 1. Red Sun Atacama - "Echoes" (00:31)

HOST SEGMENT I (06:32) 2. Rumours - "The Impetuous Glory of Terror" (16:06) 3. Womack - "Back on the Hooch" (20:32) 4. Wucan - "Far and Beyond" (25:06)

HOST SEGMENT II (31:24) 5. Electric Mountain - "Outlanders" (41:39) 6. Birdstone - "Madness" (45:32) 7. Church of the Cosmic Skull - "Now's the Time" (49:58)

HOST SEGMENT III (54:32) 8. Blue Heron - "Push the Sky" (1:04:01) 9. Gnome - "Wenceslas" (1:08:40) 10. PETH - "Dwarvenaught" (1:11:50)

HOST SEGMENT IV (1:16:19) 11. Geezer - "Logan's Run" (1:29:31) 12. Cave In - "Heavy Pendulum" (1:34:24) 13. Black Lung - "Hollow Dreams" (1:39:34)

HOST SEGMENT V (1:45:55) 14. Ecstatic Vision - "Elusive Mojo" (2:23:01) 15. Gypsybyrd - "The Fog" (2:29:12) 16. Besvärjelsen - "House of the Burning Light" (2:32:33) 17. Wo Fat - "The Unraveling" (2:38:01)

OUTRO (2:45:44) 18. Terror Cósmico - "Alguien Vendr Desde el Fondo del Mar" (2:46:45)

#D&S Podcast #The Doomed & Stoned Show #doom metal #stoner rock #heavy psych #Wo Fat #Gypsybyrd #Ecstatic Vision #Black Lung #Cave In #Geezer #Peth #Gnome #Blue Heron #Church of the Cosmic Skull #Birdstone #Electric Mountain #Wucan #Rumours #Womack #Red Sun Atacama #Besvärjelsen #podcast #radio #Doomed and Stoned

[biomecharnotaurus]

Say hi to the men that live rent free in my brain (illegaly)

#doom 2 #doom eternal #doomguy #doomslayer #halo infinite #john 117 #master chief #destiny 2 #destiny 2 rasputin #wolfenstein #bj blazkowicz #william joseph blazkowicz #monsterverse #godzilla #flynn taggart #Terror Billy III #shitpost

[schlock-luster-video]

Happy I Love Cowboys and Cowgirls Day cult film fans! Heres some fan art inspired by some of my favorite Weird West movies to mark the occasion!

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

The Master Gunfighter (1975)

The Black Bounty Killer (1974)

Westworld (1974)

Billy the Kid VS Dracula (1966)

The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)

Near Dark (1987)

#i love cowboys and cowgirls day #happy i love cowboys and cowgirls day #blazing saddles #back to the future part iii #the master gunfighter #westworld #billy the kid vs dracula #the terror of tiny town #near dark #weird west #tcm underground #monstervison #drawnderground #the last draw in #drive in historian #horror movies #western movies #art #drawing #movie art #pop art #modern art #pop surrealism #portrait #cult movies #cult film #western movie art #western film #western movie #the black bounty killer

[fatehbaz]

Ghostscapes are damaged landscapes where traces of concealed violence nonetheless haunt the margins of the visible. They appear as haunted geographies and accusatory apparitions on the landscape itself: the bone lands of famine and genocide; half-buried munitions; eerie ecologies such as ghost forests and skeleton trees; abandoned wastelands or military borderlands. Take the [...] crimson black smears of oil mixed with Corexit that stretched to every horizon during the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. 

On April 20, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Macondo Prospect; a crimson and gray apocalypse pitching and sinking [...]. The disaster unleashed more than ten million gallons of oil across the Gulf of Mexico [...]. It also became the largest cover-up of an environmental disaster in US history.

The forever war had come ashore and the Gulf became a ghostscape. A calamity of untold magnitude unfolded and alongside it a strange militarization emerged, as the language for managing the crisis became the language of war. War talk fired from the media, the Coastguard, and local officials alike. State Governor Bobby Jindal: “We need to see this is a war. A war to save Louisiana.” Billy Nungesser, President of the Plaquemines Parish: “We will persevere to win this war.” Political consultant James Carville: “This is literally a war.” And General Russel L. Honoré: “We need to act like this is World War III. Treat this like it’s an invasion. We’ve got to find the oil and kill it.” 

Visit the BP website in 2010 and you would see the word “kill” appear with ritualistic incantation. Kill the well. Kill the leak. Kill the oil. Culminating in the “kill shot,” the weird slurry of car tires and golf-balls that BP initially fired at the leak to “kill” it. As if by throwing the sacrificial detritus of our oil-soaked leisure activities into the maw of the oil-god, BP could stop it spewing death. [...]

All this talk of war ghosts the fact that militarization is the largest single cause of environmental destruction in the world. The US military is the largest single polluter on the planet. The Department of Defense is the largest single consumer of oil in the world. And the Pentagon is BP’s largest client. But the hinge that connects the environmental catastrophe of militarization and the militarization of environmental catastrophe has been ghosted. With the conjoined collusion of BP, the US Coastguard, the National Guard, and the Obama Administration, the Gulf disaster fell into a great, administered forgetting. 

Shortly after the blowout in June, an extraordinary ruling was passed. No one could go within sixty feet of oil-damaged areas effective across five states. No one could go within sixty feet of barrier islands, oiled marshes, birds, boom, public beaches, clean-up boats, or clinics, and independent fly-overs were forbidden. BP workers were forbidden to talk to any media. Scientists had to sign non-disclosure agreements. And if anyone violated the ruling, they faced $40,000 fines or felony charges. [...]

-------

What many don’t know, is that the militarization of the Gulf catastrophe was also a soft launch of what the Pentagon calls “a revolution in warfare”: using climate emergency to justify perpetual war. Climate change has become the Pentagon’s new, improved “hostile.” [...]

Climate chaos is now seen as both a threat multiplier and a huge opportunity for the military. Admiral Thomas J. Lopez puts it bluntly: “Climate change will provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror.” Climate disaster is a new paradigm for suppressing media coverage of war, for new Special Ops and Dark programs, for legitimizing assassinations and drone warfare, and for criminalizing environmental activism [...].

The inhabitants of Isle de Jean Charles, mostly Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, have been called the first federally funded “climate refugees” in the US. [...] In 2016 , the State of Louisiana won a $48 million federal grant to relocate them to a suburban settlement further inland [...]. Their proposed settlement is a sugar cane farm—a ghost of the colonial system that ravaged Native cultures in the first place. Colonial déjà vu. [...]

The islanders’ Choctaw forebears fled the brutal land theft of the 1830 Indian Removal Act, a colonial cataclysm [...]. Then in the 1920s, the oil companies came. [...]

In early 2017, the peaceful Standing Rock protests against the Keystone Pipeline were brutally dismantled by militarized police. A few weeks later, an oil pipeline was slated to cross tribal land in Oklahoma. Oklahoma has thirty-nine Native Nations, most of whom were forcibly moved there during the Trail of Tears. A coalition to protest the pipeline quickly emerged. The following week, Bill 1123 was introduced in the Oklahoma State Senate. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act  “would impose punishments of up to 10 years in prison and $100,000 in fines -- and up to $1 million in penalties for any organization ‘found to be a conspirator’ in violating the new law.” Defined by the bill, “critical infrastructure” broadly refers to oil, gas, chemical, or coal equipment or facilities [...]. Even stepping on a pipeline easement can incur a year in prison. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act soon became the blueprint for a raft of radically repressive bills that have since been quietly introduced in thirty-one states across the country. [...]

-------

Anne McClintock. “Monster: A Fugue in Fire and Ice.” e-flux. June 2020.

#ecology #forests #colonial #imperial #plantation #abolition

[pappydaddy]

Terror at Starcourt Mall: Robin's Ending (r.b.)

a/n: this is the last part of the terror at starcourt mall series. i am not gonna lie, i am excited for this series to be over. i will definitely miss writing this characterization of y/n (the only reason i didn't do an oc is because the request asked for a reader-insert and i was the one who turned it into a series because i have no self-control).

i had the hardest time with this because i kept comparing the endings (i am pretty sure this one is better than steve's but...). i also don't think i included enough build up to the relationships, but it is really hard to do that with this season. everyone seemed to split up a lot in season three which i hope doesn't happen next season.

anywho! without any farther ado, i present to you lovelies, the end of the series that has been brewing for over a year now! i hope you guys enjoy it💛!

tv show/movie: stranger things

pairing: robin buckley x fem!russian!reader

requested

part i | part ii | part iii | part iv

| part v - steve’s ending | part vi - robin’s ending - you're here | steve's ending - steve's pov (special!) (coming soon) | robin's ending - robin's pov (special!) (coming soon)

warnings: the fear of violence/harassment, spoilers, blood, extreme violence. talk about not being out to your parents, etc. very quickly proof-read. will do a better proof-read when redoing my older fics and re-reading my newer ones.

note: episode 8 is changed a little bit. billy also does not die because i want max to be happy and not traumatized by watching her step-brother die. i also have hopper alive.

disclaimer: in light of recent acts of war inflicted on ukraine by russia, i wish to make it clear that i am in no way supporting russia through this series. a, this series was written well in advance to the conflict coming to light and, b, this is set in a different time in history/society/public relations. my heart hurts for the ukraine and for everyone that is effected negatively by the acts of war incited by russia. i am also horribly heartbroken over the people who have died thus far and i am deeply sorry for the families of the people that are stuck in the ukraine or that have died.

sidenote warning: the reader is written to do ballet - explained above. quickly proof-read, will proof-read better when i redo my older fics and edit my newer fics.

sidenote: throughout the series, there will be some scenes skipped. this was a creative choice when i had to edit some things out to shorten it (it was over 100 pages).

taglist: @spongebob-in-the-upsidedown | @rottenstyx | @boxofsilentwords | @badass-yn (disclaimer: for this part, i only put robins's taglist members as this is her ending)

masterlist | taglist | wips | navigation

- not my gif -

Standing in the middle of the food court, Y/N replayed the conversation she just had with Steve. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him busying himself by digging through the cupboards of one of the restaurants. She had just explained to him how she didn’t feel the same way as he did. He tried to convince her that he was okay, that he understood that she couldn’t help who she had feelings for, but she could tell it was getting to him. She was his best friend, she knew the self-love issues he faced. His entire life, he faced his parents. All along, he was just a boy trying to find his place and feel loved. Swallowing down the guilt building in her throat, Y/N rubbed her bare arm.

“Hey, Y/N, what’s wrong,” Robin approached the distracted girl, startling her. “Sorry, I didn't think I was going to scare you,” The blonde apologized, glancing over Y/N’s shoulder in the direction she was just looking at, seeing Steve flinging paper cups everywhere. “What’s up with him?” She asked with furrowed brows, pointing over at the distraught teen. Sending another guilty glance his way, she wanted to make sure Robin was talking about him.

“I just told him I didn’t love him back. I think he’s trying to mask his true feelings,” Y/N explained, looking back at the blue-eyed girl. Robin nodded slowly, swallowing as a thought dawned on her. Her eyes darted to Y/N, fearful as she braced herself for the worst. Robin was convinced that she was going to be joining Steve in his masking in a matter of seconds. “I told him I’m in love with you.” She dropped a bombshell. Not the bomb-shell Robin was expecting, but still a bombshell.

Robin stood there, her body rigid as she tried to comprehend the words she was just told. Y/N peered wearily at the stunned girl, nervous that she suddenly took back her confession. “Y-you love me? Not Steve?” Robin stammered quietly, still not believing it.

“Uh-” Y/N trailed off, not knowing how to answer that. Did Robin not know that she was super gay? Y/N thought that was glaringly obvious. When she came out to her family, everyone had claimed to have already known. In fact, they were all pretty much surprised that it had taken her that long to figure it out herself. It was as if Y/N was a walking definition of bisexual. “I thought that was obvious?” She trailed off, forming it more like a question.

“Uh, yeah, it could have been, but if you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the best at reading situations when I am flustered.” Robin rattled nervously, fidgeting with her hands, eyes locked on a tile a few feet behind Y/N.

“Why are you flustered?” Y/N furrowed her brows. Robin snapped her head up to look directly at Y/N, her vibrant blue eyes clouded with question.

“I’m always flustered around you,” Robin answered, still questioning if Y/N was being serious with that question or not. “You’re gorgeous, incredibly talented, cultured, and crazy smart. Of course, you would make me flustered on a good day. However, on a great day such as right now with you confessing your feelings to me, I am beyond flustered.” Robin ranted, clearly nervous and a bit bashful. Y/N felt her cheeks redden at this, making her look down at her shoes as well. Opening her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by Hopper’s voice.

“Hey, heads up,” Looking over, they saw him tossing Dustin a radio from one of the dead Russians. “You can navigate, just from someplace safe.” He informed Dustin and Erica. Still reeling from the conversation, Robin and Y/N tried their best to keep up with what was going on,

“It’s not that simple.” Dustin denied with a shake of his head, his curls bouncing.

“The signal won’t reach.” Erica piped up. For two people who bickered and appeared to detest each other, they sure were working together perfectly.

“Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians’ radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins,” Dustin continued to find flaws in Hopper’s plan. Y/N was pretty sure she could visibly see Hopper’s blood pressure rising. “Oh wait, that’s me,” Dustin pointed the antenna of the radio to himself, proud. That must have been the radio that got them into the mess they were in with the Russians. “If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start,” He paused, looking at Erica before looking at Hopper. “And a car.”

“Fine,” Hopper spoke through clenched teeth, his hard eyes glaring at the pre-teen as if he was fighting every urge within him not to act out against a child. “You can take this,” He only talked in short sentences, finding it helped curb his anger. “It’s parked out front, but don’t do anything stupid and you take Steve with you,” Hopper declared the rules, throwing the car keys towards Steve suddenly, almost catching the young adult by surprise. “But, you can’t take Y/N. I’m putting her on El duty. El seems to trust her and will do anything if Y/N is there.”

“I-” Y/N stammered, shocked that she was singled out like that. “You okay if I don’t go with you guys?” She asked Robin, craning her neck to look at the blonde girl. She knew Robin was still freaked out. This was her first time dealing with anything from the Upside Down and she had just escaped capture. Y/N was surprised that she was still standing after everything that has happened in the past few hours.

Blinking, Y/N took the sight of her in while she waited for Robin to answer. The way the moonlight coming through the skylight spotlighted her, the way the neon lights reflected off her freckled face. She looked like a picture that was supposed to be hung in an expensive photography gala, priced as the most expensive picture there. “Yeah, stay. You’re needed here. Stay safe and we’ll reconvene after all of this is done - no biggie.” Robin tried to play it off as nonchalant, but the slight crack in her voice gave her away. Even she knew that something else was going to happen tonight.

“Hey,” Y/N spoke softly, her hand shooting out to grab Robin’s making the blonde snap her eyes to the contact in shock before they bounced back up to look at Y/N. “I promise, everything is going to be alright. Almost all of us have been through this before. We might not know everything about the Mind Flayer, but we know enough that we can beat this thing.” She reassured the nervous girl.

Nodding, Robin swallowed thickly. “See you on the other side?” Her voice shook, looking for reassurance from Y/N.

“See you on the other side.” Y/N confirmed, letting go of Robin as her group started moving towards the doors Hopper had directed them to. Sighing, Y/N watched the group until they disappeared. She really hoped she hadn’t just lied to Robin. Licking her lips, Y/N pulled her eyes away from the door Robin just left through. She had just gotten her, she better not lose her or the universe will have hell to pay. Robin stuck around after being kidnapped by Russians and after learning Y/N was Russian, there was no way Y/N would allow a Mind Flayer to come between them.

____

Y/N was not too sure how the plan got so horribly messed up or how the distributor of Nancy’s mom’s car was ruined, but she did not appreciate trying to roll the totalled show car Eleven flipped back onto its wheels. Even with all of them pushing, the car wasn’t even fully on its side. It was still leaning against the restaurants. Straining, Y/N’s face was so hot she imagined someone could cook an egg on it. Her arms shook, her elbows bending, not being able to hold the car up anymore. It was almost like everyone was thinking the same thing, all of their arms weakening at the same time. “Well shit.” Lucas breathed out once they all let the car flop back, more glass shattering somehow. Panting, Y/N looked around, hoping she wasn’t the only one struggling to breathe right now. With all the running and planning she has done, pushing a car should not be on her to-do list.

“Let me try.” Eleven spoke up from where she stood, facing the tired group next to Will. Y/N, too tired to really comprehend what she had just said, stared at her, heaving breaths in and out.

“El-” The tired Mike tried to fight her on this, but he cut himself off. Too out of breath to continue his objection to the idea. Eleven stepped up closer to the car, a look of determination flickering behind her eyes. Sighing, she squared her shoulders, exuding fake confidence.

“I can do it.” She reassured him. Mike sighed, looking at the group around him. Y/N shrugged, she didn’t see why El couldn’t try. She must have rested enough by now to be able to roll the car over. She did fling it in the first place. Without speaking, everyone slowly and carefully climbed around the car, giving El the room she needed to use her powers. Clustering behind her, everyone waited with hitched breaths. She had used a lot of her powers to get that Upside Down slug out of her leg, it was very possible that this wasn’t going to work, but they all held out hope regardless.

Shooting out her hand, a look of deep concentration on her face, the car rattled from the force of El. Metal bent and squeaked, a low frequency humming just barely registering, but the loudest thing was the gasping and straining from El. Disappointment swirled in all of their stomachs when they realized that the car was moving more from them manually pushing it. The low frequency became louder, wobbling in Y/N’s ears as El poured all her strength into it, blood trickling from her nose. With a small yell, El gave a push with her hand, giving up, the car slumping back with another bang. “It didn’t work.” El muttered, obviously upset. Y/N reached forward, her hands settling on El’s shoulders making the girl look up at her.

“It’s okay, El. You’re tired, I’m sure we can find another way to get the car upright again.” She reassured her, rubbing her hands up and down the girl’s biceps, trying to soothe her. El stewed in her thoughts as everyone tried to come up with another plan.

“I got it,” Mike exclaimed, rushing over to where the car was once parked, yanking off the velvet ropes attached to the golden poles. “It’s simple physics. With using theses and pushing against the car instead of using our hands, we could actually flip it back over.” Mike explained, rolling one of the brass stands towards the group, Lucas tentatively picking it up, thinking Mike’s plan over.

“You’re sure it’ll work? We are playing with borrowed time already.” Y/N asked nervously. They couldn’t afford another failed attempt. It was only a matter of time before they were found by Billy or the Mind Flayer.

“Trust me,” Mike told her, almost daring her to not trust him. Blinking, she nodded, allowing him to continue stripping the stands of the ropes, rolling them to the group. By the end of it, everyone except El and Y/N had one. “Alright, we have to push all at the same time for this to work. Let’s go.” He nodded them towards the car. Suddenly, El ripped herself from Y/N’s hold, speed walking right to a garbage can. With furrowed brows, Y/N watched her go for a second before following her.

“Uh, El,” She asked quietly, but El didn’t respond, she only started to dig through the garbage. Stepping overused napkins, Y/N sat down at a bench nearby. “Look, El, if you want to talk, you can come sit with me. But if not, I’ll leave you be. Obviously, you have your way of dealing with this, but I really do think you’re just tired.” Y/N felt like she was talking to the wind as her words seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Napkins and soft drink cups bounced on the tile floor as El continued to dig. Glancing over at the others, she saw them all getting into position on the other side of the car, only their heads visible at the angle she was watching from.

“Okay, first pry it up on three, ready,” Mike hollered, earning nods from everyone around the car. “One,” He counted, getting ready himself. “Two,” He swallowed, appearing to be using every ounce of his being to hope this works. Time was quickly running out. “Three!” He yelled, everyone pushing. With sounds of struggle and crunching metal, Y/N watched with bated breath, not noticing El moving on to another trash can. The car flopped entirely on its side with a floor rumbling thump, revealing the pants of the group pushing it.

“All right, now, all the way,” Jonathan stepped in as the group's cheerleader. Without another word, they all placed the flat end of the stands against the car. “Ready, three,” Jonathan started to count down. “Two,” He continued, everyone, preparing their stances. “One!” He announced, prompting everyone to push again. With just that push, the car fell down to all four tires with a hiss and a rock.

“Told you. Physics.” Mike pointed out, everyone letting their stands drop, relieved that it actually worked. Y/N glanced back at the trash can El was last at before her eyes searched the space for her, spotting her at another, just starting to dig through this one. Sighing, she moved over there, sitting on the stairs by her. Silently, she watched the girl, intrigued by what she was doing. The throwing of the trash soon stopped as El placed a coke can on top of the garbage can. She was trying her powers again, the presence of the familiar frequency warping in Y/N’s gave it away. Y/N found herself intently watching the can, waiting for it to be crushed by El’s powers.

“El-” Mike’s voice startled Y/N. The frequency stopped as El lost concentration. Shifting her eyes to El, she saw the girl blinking back tears, a trail of blood coming from her nose again. “Are you okay?” Mike asked, but he didn’t get a response. Max, who stood next to Mike, opened her mouth, but a low rumble coming from overhead made Max and Y/N lookup.

It was hard to see anything from the glare of the neon lights on the skylight paired with the darkness of the summer night, but now they could see the skylight warping under the weight of something. Gulping, Y/N stood. “Uh-” She couldn’t get the words out as thundering footsteps were clouding her thoughts. The glass started cracking, but they all stood there in shock.

“Mike.” Max finally spoke, making Mike look up. Another footstep thundered, making Y/N flitch. The skylight was going to give out any second and the four of them were all standing directly under it.

“Nancy!” Mike yelled, the lights overhead flicking from the weight of the Mind Flayer crushing the wires. The snarl of the creature was easily heard through the cracked glass, the presence of it being brought to everyone’s attention now.

“We have to move now, hide!” Y/N yelled to everyone, turning and running up the few stairs she had been sitting on. A few shards of glass rained down onto the tile, the skylight holding its own against the sheer weight of the monster. Without knowing where the people behind her were going, Y/N ran for The Gap, hoping the others would follow her, but just as she just slipped through the gap in the two columns, the skylight gave out, cutting the others off and forcing them to find another hiding spot.

Y/N stumbled from the shake in the floor from the Mind Flayer landing, causing her to fall, the carpet burning her knees. She hissed quietly at the impact, the sound being drowned out by the Mind Flayer’s sickening roar and loud stomps. Wincing, she crawled as quickly and quietly as she could away from the openness of the entryway, propping herself up against one of the clothing bins in the middle of the store. Peeking around the corner, she finally laid eye upon the monster that was terrorizing them this year. There, in the middle of the ruins of the mall’s roof stood a thirty-foot, fleshy monster with spider-like appendages. It was exactly like the drawing Will did last year except for defined. She couldn’t see the face of the monster as it was facing the car they had just flipped over.

The Mind Flayer let out a snarl, stocking around, its head swinging, searching for anyone. Y/N gasped as its head started to swivel towards The Gap. Ducking back out of sight, she squeezed her eyes closed, holding her breath to stay quiet and still. The loud, unprompted roar of the beast startled her, but she remained still. One tiny flitch would give away her spot in seconds, sealing her grave practically. From over the top of the bins in front of her, she could see the door to the backroom. If she could get a good run in, she would be able to make it, it was only about ten feet away from her. Heaving a deep breath, she mustered up the courage to peek around the corner of the bin again, seeing the Mind Flayer looking elsewhere. This was her chance. Rolling onto the balls of her feet, she stood up partially, remaining hunched over.

“Oh, my god. Oh, my god.” She chanted under her breath as the monster shrieked, throwing herself behind yet another bin of clothing. She was questioning every choice she had made that led her up to the moment, her head falling back as her chest heaved. Gasping, she resisted the urge to look at the sound of something being shattered and broken against the floor. The Walkie. It has been placed on a bench while they figured out the car situation. In the second of silence, Y/N could hear the staticky voice of Dustin, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying, all she could hear was the panic in his voice. They knew the Mind Flayer was at the mall. The thought was reassuring. They could get help, but by help, it was most likely going to be Steve and Robin - the new unlikely duo. Robin had no place coming back here, not when it was this dangerous. She had never dealt with something like this before, her inexperience was dangerous to her.

“God, please, don’t let her come,” She whispered, her soft voice barely audible over the low growl of the Mind Flayer. “Please keep her away from here. Please keep her safe.” She wasn’t even religious, but she thought of giving it a shot. According to people, it worked. Sucking in a breath, she felt the floor beneath her rattle caused by the stomping of the Mind Flayer walking closer to The Gap. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed herself closer to the bin, tears slipping from her eyes. She fought the urge to let out a sob. She could smell the putrid smell of rotting flesh flowing towards her, the sound of destruction following the Mind Flayer as it streamlined to The Gap. She gasped, the floor shaking more when the final stomp of the Mind Flayer came, landing right outside the gate of The Gap.

With stuttering breaths, she turned her head to the side slightly, her eyes seeing one of the large appendages belonging to the monster. Whimpering, the snarl of the Mind Flayer shook her to her core. She could hear a small chittering noise, but she couldn’t place what it was, too afraid to open her eyes let alone poke her head out and look. A loud, unprompted roar from the Mind Flayer made her hands fly up to cover her ears, the sound rattling her eardrums. In her head, she was singing her favourite song, trying to block out the thuds of the Mind Flayer walking away, snarling and growling the entire way as it searched for the people it knew were in there.

The sudden clattering of stands being knocked over startled her. Expecting it to be the Mind Flayer, she quickly crawled around the end of the bin, hiding from whatever came into the store. The door was only about five feet away from her now, teasing her with safety. Peeking around the corner, she saw the flash of yellow as the Mind Flayer screeched out a roar, its racing footsteps shaking the ground. “El, Max, Mike.” Y/N hissed, crawling quickly to the bin beside her, closing in on the backroom. Pausing, she pressed herself against the end of that bin just in time for the Mind Flayer to knock down one of the walls. Instinctively, she curled into herself, shielding her face and stomach, but the dust and debris didn’t reach her. She could hear a small, squeaky snarl and growl making her peek around. There, she could see two tentacle-like extensions moving through, searching for hiding in here.

Gulping, she pulled herself back, looking to the side, hoping El and the others were hidden enough. The knowledge that in any second, the tentacle could swoop around and find her made her heart race and her palms become slick with sweat. From her hiding spot, the tentacle closest to her side of the store sounded like it was winding up to do something, then she could hear something being quickly drug along the carpet. Holding her breath, she waited, wanting to hear if it found one of the kids. A loud roar shook the large store, Y/N flinching on instinct of the loud noise. Seconds later, she could hear something large being thrown through the air, the familiar thud of a mannequin hitting the wall on the back of the store.

Closing her eyes, she let out a shaky breath. The sound of a scuffle coming from beside her nearly made her pee her pants, her eyes flinging open in fear only to see Max, El, and Mike settling against the bin beside her. “Guys,” She whispered, gaining their attention. With their backs pressed flush against the bin, their eyes wide and chests heaving in panic, they shifted their eyes to her. “When we have a chance, go to the backroom.” She pointed to the door. She assumed that was their plan all along, but in case it wasn’t she wanted them to find a way to safety.

They all nodded, looking back forward as the tentacle crept back into the store, clicking and growling the entire way. The Mind Flayer let out an angry snarl, making them jolt. The tentacle was close, they could hear it chittering as it weaved through the store. Watching the kids, Y/N gulped, seeing the bright red of the melded flesh. It didn’t see them yet, but it was only a matter of time before it turned towards them. Y/N wasn’t even sure how it would see them, it didn’t bear any eyes. Y/N felt like her heart was racing but also stopping at the same time as it continued to move, the four claw-like talons spread out. With shallow and shaky breaths, she felt like she was in a scene of Beetlejuice looking at the thing.

Suddenly, from within the main part of the mall, there was a bang of a popping balloon - surely from Lucas’ slingshot. With a loud screech, the tentacle zoomed backwards, the sudden movement making them all jump. Again, the stomps of the Mind Flayer were heard retreating, searching out the source of the noise. “Now!” Y/N informed the kids, all four of them scrambling towards the door. Bursting through, they were met by the blinding white of the back halls instantly. Y/N had assumed that with a big store like The Gap, they would have had a breakroom, but she had assumed wrong when she was staring down the long back hall.

“Where do we go now?” Max asked, panting. Her hands flew to her forehead, her palm resting against the flushed skin. Mike looked around, familiarizing himself with where they were.

“If we can find Scoops’ backroom, I’ll know where we are,” Mike said surely, starting to walk down the vast hall. Y/N shrugged, following after him. Mike and Max had spent the summer sneaking into free movies by navigating these back halls. If Y/N was going to blindly follow someone through here, she would choose them. The four combed along, looking at every door they passed. The squeaks of their sneakers echoed off the walls as they searched, hoping to find the one place everyone knew. “Here it is!” Mike called, being way ahead of the group.

“Okay, that’s great but that’ll lead us right back out to the Mind Flayer.” Max pointed out, the three girls meeting Mike where he stood. The tall teen simply shook his head, giving the redhead a look of annoyance.

“We’re not going to go through Scoops, we’re going to use it as our center,” He explained, earning confused looks from all three girls. With a roll of his eyes, Mike huffed. “Scoops is our hub. The central point of our map. From here, I can navigate the halls,” He elaborated, sounds of understanding leaving Y/N. She understood what he meant now. “For instance, I know there is a service elevator right there and see that corner,” He asked, pointing to a corner where there was a staircase, an elevator, some exposed pipes painted white and a sharp corner that looked dark. “That leads to a door that takes us to another hallway. That hallway will lead us to a loading dock.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go before something else can happen.” Y/N spoke, walking towards the corner with intent. The rest followed, knowing that she was right. The longer they all sat there, the more likely it was that something else would be thrown at them. Turning the corner, El let out a whimper, nearly crumpling to the ground, Mike and Max reaching out for her.

“My leg.” She said, her teeth clamping into her lower teeth painfully. Mike and Max held her arms as she cried, trying to put weight on her leg again, tears pulling in her eyes. Y/N looked to her then to the doors that sat at the end of the hall. It was a double door carved out on the wall beside them.

“She can’t walk on that, someone needs to help her.” Y/N noted. It was a few feet until they reached the door then they still had to reach the loading bay. Immediately, Mike slung her arm around his shoulders without a second thought, Max catching on to his plan and doing the same.

“Open the doors for us,” Mike nodded to Y/N. “It’s just these doors then the man door for the loading dock. We don’t have that far left to go.” He explained, his back hunched to accommodate the heights of El and Max. Nodding, Y/N started to move again, the group slowed due to El’s leg. They were moving slowly to begin with, but now they were doubling their travel time. Silence surrounded them, the only sounds being the echoing footfalls of Y/N and the scuffing footsteps of the three hobbling behind her. Pulling open the first set of doors, Y/N poked her head out, checking to see if anything was hiding within the hall.

“Coast is clear, come on,” She nodded, beckoning them into the hallway as she held the door open. “When we get out to the parking lot, do not leave the loading bay until I say you can in case there is something out there. El needs to be protected, she’s the one the Mind Flayer wants and Hopper left me here to protect her.” She informed them, the door slamming behind them. Stepping in front of the three, she refused to let the group move until they agreed.

“Understood.” Mike and Max spoke in unison, nodding curtly. Nodded, Y/N held her chin high, turning on her heel and starting to walk down the hall. Mike and Max started to stumble as El tried to put more weight on her leg. Y/N glanced back at them as they steadied themselves again. Sighing out her nose, she dreaded reaching the bay. There was a strong possibility that something was waiting for them out there that would throw a wrench in their hurriedly concocted plan. She was facing it the whole battle and she would not be surprised if it happened yet again. Every time she comes so close to something going her way, another curveball is thrown her way. She had to be prepared for anything, especially now that she has to protect El, Max, and Mike. Before, she had Dustin and Erica who bickered constantly, but they were quick thinking. Max and Mike’s heads were clouded with worries about El, they couldn’t distance themselves to focus on a task like Dustin and Erica could. Their one focus was El while Y/N had to worry about the protection of all of them.

Blinking, Y/N tried to get out of her head. It was a daunting task - protecting the one person the Mind Flayer wanted. Rolling her shoulders back, she saw a door coming into sight as they got closer to the end of the hallway. “That’s it, that’s the door that leads to the loading bay.” Mike informed her, his breath short as he contorted himself, making sure El was the most comfortable. Giving him a sharp nod of recognition, Y/N narrowed her eyes at it. This was the door that separated them from whatever was outside. The thing that blinded them from knowing what was waiting for them once they escaped the mall. It was a harrowing thought, one that made fear creep up the back of Y/N’s neck.

Finally reaching the fateful door, Y/N touched the freezing cold metal of the doorknob, ready to twist it and fling it open. Pausing, her neck was pointed down to the knob, her hand clutching it tightly. Twisting her head to the side, her eyes still locked on the knob, she spoke. “Remember what I told you before. You stay in the bay hidden until I tell you if it’s safe. There are no exceptions,” She reminded them sternly, her voice short and straight to the point. “This isn’t like last year, you have to listen,” She craned her neck to look at them from the corner of her eyes, her back straightening. “If I don’t tell you it’s safe within a few seconds, hit the button to close the gate and hide. Got it? No funny business, this is serious.” She pressed. She couldn’t have another repeat of last year. Sure, it worked out fine, but Steve, Dustin, and Lucas were there - now it’s just Max, Mike, and Y/N protecting El.

“Yes, we get it, now open the door.” Mike gestured to the still-closed door. Looking back to the metal door, Y/N heaved a breath in. Quickly, her wrist turned, the doorknob pulling the stopped in. Pushing the heavy door open, she stepped out, quickly looking around the loading bay for any signs of danger.

“Come on, it’s safe right now,” She nodded for them to step out. Turning sideways, the three of the side-shuffled out the door, Y/N releasing it the second Mike slipped out. With an echoing bang, the door closed. “Don’t play the hero tonight Mike, not right now at least.” She warned him, knowing out of him and Max, he would be the most likely to go against her rule. Earning a pursed expression in return, she slinked in front of the group, trying to make it look like it was just her. Speed walking towards the button to open the gate blocking the loading bay off, she sent the three one last stern look, telling them to behave.

“We’ll listen, Y/N,” Max spoke softly, understanding why she was so adamant on them not stepping out of the loading dock until Y/N was sure it was safe. “To protect El.” She nodded firmly, earning a twinge of a smile from Y/N.

“One more thing,” Y/N spoke up, her hand hovering over the button, waiting to push it. “If anything happens to me out there and I can’t get back to you, you guys have to protect yourselves just as much as El. Make sure you’re all safe. For me.” She pleaded, earning three nods in return. Humming in gratitude, her hand smacked the button, the gate rattling before slowly pulling open. With one last fleeting look to the hidden trio, she sauntered towards the opening gate acting as nonchalant and unsuspecting as she could.

Standing in the middle of the opening gate, she lifted her head from looking at her feet, scanning the parking lot. Instantly, her eyes caught the orange glow of flames attacking the blue Camaro. The front end looked smashed, the door closed. The hunched-over silhouette of the car owner stood out to her, the back of his head peeking out over the hood that was ablaze. Billy, he was easily identifiable even from the back by his mullet that appeared to be matted. She could hear the crackling of the fire, the glow intensifying as it grew, catching the flammable residue on the hood from basic upkeep. The faint smell of smoke entered her nostrils as she stepped towards it. She couldn’t tell the kids to stay there, it would give their presence away to Billy.

Within seconds, Billy stood to his full height, his head slowly lifting, his eyes locking on Y/N’s figure silhouetted by the yellow tinted light of the bay. The reflection of orange hues from the fire made her face visible to him. Her chest nearly caved in on itself as she tried to not let her fear known to him. By the light of the growing fire climbing along his car, Y/N could see the layer of sweat glistening on his skin and the black-coloured veins protruding from his skin - a clear sign he was still flayed. He stood there, watching her. With the distance between them, it was hard for her to get the upper hand. Breaking into a sprint, she tried to throw him off, pretending she wasn’t close to dying from fear at the thought of fighting him alone.

He didn’t appear phased by her tactic at all, simply walking around the burning hood, his hand clutching one of his legs which he was dragging behind him. He was hurt. It was like a beautiful present to her. With Billy hurt, it might not let her win a fight, but it would certainly even the playing field a little - prolonging her defeat. Never filtering in her fake confidence, she was only a few feet from him, Billy ready to catch her hands as she wound them up to attack him. Once she was within his reach, he grabbed her biceps, the defensive move she was hoping for. Using his strength to hold her up, she swung her leg out, her heel striking him in his injured leg. With an uncharacteristic wail, Billy’s grip on her dropped, sending her straight back to the ground, his hands grasping his leg as pain flared within his thigh. From putting all her weight behind the kick, she had relied on his hold to keep her upright, leading to her falling to her knees on the hard, slightly chipped pavement. The skin of her knees ripped from the impact, the palms of her hands slapping in front of her to prevent her face from hitting the pavement.

Not wanting to lose her upper hand, Y/N pushed herself up in under the second, her hands up, ready to protect herself or to strike. Shuffling back a few feet to distance herself from him, Y/N watched as he recovered from his pain, standing up straight again. “Come on, Billy, can’t fight me?” She taunted, hopefully giving the kids the cue that it was not safe. She didn’t care what happened to her as long as the kids were safe. Billy grunted, his fist wiping a bead of sweat from the tip of his nose, his top lip curling into a sneer at her. Rolling her shoulders back, she mentally blocked everything else from her mind, focusing on fighting Billy.

He was slow with his leg, not being able to run, but his stride was still far greater than Y/N’s meaning he met her in no time, but she could also calculate his move. Effortlessly, she dodged his fist as it swung for her jaw. Almost like a ricochet, she sent her own fist towards him, distracting him by aiming for his face as well. While his arms were busy blocking his face, her other fist hit his leg again, but it didn’t appear to have the same effect as her kick to the same region. He didn’t reach for his leg, instead, a pained grunt left his lips as his hand clamped down harder on the fist that he blocked. Forcefully pushing her fist back, she stumbled back, quickly losing her upper hand just like that. Gasping, Billy delivered a blow to her jaw, knocking her to the side. Thrown off-balance, her side hit the rough gravel, loose rocks digging into the soft flesh of her arms, cutting them. The heat of the fire was warmer now, the crackling louder, she had landed closer to the car.

The echoing beats of Billy’s sauntering footsteps approaching her echoing into the dark summer night. It looked like he was coming to finish her off - seeing her as an obstacle in the way of him getting El. Pushing herself up, her weight rested on one hand behind her, her left hand coming up to cup her jaw, whining in pain. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Billy’s brown leather boots step up to her, his knees bending as he crouched beside her, his hands being placed on either side of her, his presence looming over her intimidatingly. As his smug eyes were locked on her quickly bruising face, she reached up, her fingers wrapping around the warm metal of the car door handle, ranking it open. It was all so fast. The way she laid flat, both her hands gripping the bottom of the blue door, sending it directly towards Billy’s face. With a resounding thud, Billy grunted, his head flinging back, a crunch of his nose echoing. Kicking her feet up, the bottoms of her sneakers made contact with his pelvis, using the leg strength built over the year of being en pointe, she flung the injured Billy off of her, scrambling up.

Before whirling around to face Billy again, she casted a glance at the gate, seeing Mike poking his head around the corner of the brick wall, checking on her. She wanted to yell for him to run, to hide, but she knew that as of right now, Billy didn’t know about them being there. Spinning around, she saw Billy’s eyes screwed shut, holding his nose as he pushed himself up, not giving her the chance to strike him while he was down. “So far I’m winning, Hargrove.” She taunted again, needing his attention to be on her. Knowing that the kids were still lingering around, it was ever more important that she prolonged this fight as long as she could.

Billy snorted back the blood starting to leak from his nose, spitting it out of his mouth and onto the pavement. His eyes caught something over her shoulder making her look back at the gate. The hurried scuffs of the three kids retreating could be heard over the whip-like cracks of the fire. Cursing in her mind, she looked back to Billy, her mouth hanging open. The closing of the gate was even more evidence that there was someone in the loading bay. “Hopper told me to protect her. You’re not getting to her if I can help it.” She spit at him, determined to at least delay him long enough for the kids to hide or someone else to show up.

Billy narrowed his eyes at her, his fists raising. She copied his actions, shuffling a few feet away from him once again, trying to figure out how to gain the upper hand back. They were at equal power now. Nobody was down, nobody was showing a weak spot. Billy casted a glance at the gate. Y/N knew it was nearly closed. With the other gates, you could open it from the outside, that was the only gate that was only opened from the inside - most likely due to the jewelry store that received their shipments from that bay. In an act of desperation, Billy ran at Y/N, the sudden movement catching her off guard for a split second. As a reflex, she stepped aside, the raging Billy missing her by an inch. His shoulder knocked against her however making her stumble and hiss as the pain. Holding her shoulder, she turned to him, not wanting her back to him at any point.

He whirled around, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get to El as long as Y/N was conscious. Like an angry bull, Billy seethed. “Come on Billy, you’ve got more than that in you, you have to.” She jeered with a curl of her upper lip. Preparing herself for what she was about to do, she took a deep breath. It was risky, but if it worked, she would be able to knock Billy’s defence down even more. Running at him, she lifted herself into the air, trying to catch him off guard yet again. Her fist wound up, she threw it at him, trying to make contact with anything. Wrapping his hand tightly around her wrist, he stopped her fist, his other hand coming up to her shoulder to stop a second surprise blow. Pushing her down, her back slapped against the pavement, the air leaving her instantly, but she still had her wits. Slipping her leg between his open legs, she hooked his leg with hers, her heel yanking at the back of his knee, bringing him down with her.

It was a scramble of who could get to who first, their knees digging into the hard ground. Grabbing at Billy’s ears, she resorted to good old-fashioned catfight rules. Yanking on them, Billy cried out, his large hand clamping down on Y/N’s face, blocking her sight. Successfully, Billy pulled her off him but not without a good tug on his earlobes, his gold hoop in his left ear clattering to the ground. Pulling his hand from her face, he sent another fist to her, hitting her cheekbone with all his strength. With a yelp, Y/N’s head was forced to the side, her body following from her lack of balance. Her body ripped and bounced as it hit the pavement, her head whacking off of it last. Her eyes closed immediately, her body limply rolling onto her back. She could hear the urgent retreat of Billy, heading for the rapidly closing gate before everything went black.

____

Her back felt like it needed to be cracked like a glow stick as she started to come to. Groaning, she felt uncomfortable heat from the side of her, the fire. She remembered every little thing instantly. Groaning, she tried to force her eyes open. She needed to stop Billy from getting the kids. While she remembered everything, she had no way of telling how long she had been kicked out for. Groaning again, she could feel herself start to wiggle and move slightly, her arms and legs giving in to the want for a long-overdue stretch. “Oh my god! I knew I heard groaning,” A voice yelled in shock making Y/N hiss, the sound making pain ricochet off the inside of her skull. “Y/N,” The voice fretted, quieter as footsteps thudded towards them. “Are you okay?” She could feel someone falling to her side, their hands gripping her shoulders to shake her gently.

“You guys go ahead, get the Mind Flayer, we’ll deal with this,” Another voice chimed in. In the background, there were mutters of ‘okay’s and ‘sounds good’s - paired with retreating footsteps. Stirring again, Y/N squeezed her eyes closed, her body feeling incredibly stiff. “Hey, Robin, she’s waking up.” The second voice pointed out, sounding relieved. With another groan, she forced her eyes open, the bright moon pointing down through a break in the clouds made her hiss, turning her head to the side, giving her eyes time to adjust.

“When did you guys get here?” Her voice was hoarse as she swallowed, trying to bring moisture back to her throat. Eyes squinted as if she had just woken up from a slumber, she pushed herself up, her already stinging palms screaming as the dirt and dust of the pavement slipped into the cuts. Looking up at Robin, she saw her on her knees beside her. Eyes jumping behind her, she saw Steve hovering, his hands on his knees.

“A few minutes ago, we followed the Mind Flagger back here.” Robin informed her, her hand slipping around the back of Y/N head to feel for any blood or dents.

“Mind Flayer,” Steve corrected her, earning a sharp look from Robin as her fingers danced towards the side of Y/N’s head. Y/N hissed as her soft touch hit the spot she had hit against the pavement. “We were unloading fireworks for Lucas’ plan when Robin kept hearing groaning - that’s when we found you.” He informed her, gesturing to her sitting there. Flicking her eyes up to look at him, she saw him chewing his lip.

“Everyone kept saying it was Billy, but it didn’t sound like groans Billy would make. I took the investigation into my own hands,” Robin picked up the story, letting her hand drop from Y/N head, her eyes flicking towards the nasty bruises on her jaw and cheekbone. “Billy did this, didn't he?” Robin asked, her eyes moving from the bruises to meet her eyes. Nodding, Y/N swallowed again.

“Yeah, I had a feeling something was out here so I went to investigate before letting the kids follow me, but he realized they were in the bay-” She pointed to the gate, seeing it broken, smoke from the electric tracks drifting slowly into the air. “Before I went unconscious, I heard him heading over there,” She recounted, bending her knees, getting her feet under her. Looking at Steve, she directed this to him, knowing he would understand the severity of the situation. “He went after the kids.”

“He went after the kids,” Steve repeated, looking over at the gate as Robin helped Y/N to her feet. Billy going after the kids was one of his worst fears. Billy almost beat Steve to death last fall and now he beat Y/N unconscious. He would make short work of Max and Mike to get to El. “You know where they could have gone?” He asked, looking at Y/N who shook herself off, trying to rid her body of the stiffness.

“Yeah, follow me.” She nodded towards the gate, starting to walk towards it.

“Wait,” Robin rushed forward, slightly stunned that Y/N was so ready to face off against Billy again. “Are you sure you’re okay enough to possibly meet Billy again?” She asked, her hand gripping Y/N’s wrist, concern clouding her eyes.

Looking over at Robin, Y/N nodded. “You learn to recover quickly when you’ve been through this a few times,” Y/N told her sadly. When you’ve experienced the world of the Upside Down as much as this group, recovering of any injuries is put on the back burner. You don’t have time to tend to wounds when you’re protecting a group of kids that trouble follows. “I’ll be fine, Steve and I have both been injured worse than this dealing with a lot scarier.” She reassured her. Expelling a breath, Robin shifted her eyes over to Steve who nodded. Rolling her lips she dropped Y/N’s wrist.

“If you guys say so.” Robin muttered, following behind the pair as they picked up into a jog.

“We have to move fast, if I was knocked out for the Mind Flayer coming back, that means I’ve been out for at least five minutes. Billy could have El by now if they didn’t get to hide,” Y/N informed them of the severity of the situation. Hoping they would follow, Y/N broke into a run, crossing the parking lot in seconds, adrenaline taking over as it started to pump through her veins. She could hear the echoing footfalls of Steve and Robin picking up the pace to keep up with her. “Just follow me, I know what path they would take.” She yelled over her shoulder, heading right for the man door she had walked out of earlier.

Yanking the heavy door open, she didn’t bother holding it open for the others. The harsh flicking of the lights stung her eyes making her clamp them closed, flinching away. She should have expected it, with the Mind Flayer in full-on battle mode, it seemed to suck the energy from the lights making them flick in its presence. Steve and Robin seemed to have the same reaction as they hissed out groans once they approached the door themselves. Pushing through, Y/N lifted her head, her eyes opening again. She took off, following the path that she had walked earlier, Steve and Robin stumbling after her, still trying to adjust to the lights. “What is that?” Y/N called back to them as she heard the muffled explosions that were causing the walls to shake.

“Fireworks,” Robin yelled back, finally becoming accustomed to the strobing lights. “Part of Lucas’ plan to distract the Mind Flayer.” She reminded her of the earlier comment made by Steve. Nodding, she ignored the small sounds knowing it wasn’t anything too dangerous.

“If we go through these doors, this is where it gets complicated,” Y/N pointed to the double doors leading to the service elevator they had passed. “They could have gone up to the second floor or they could have gone to hide in Scoops, there isn’t a way to tell.” She warned them, pushing through the door in a rush only to freeze when her eyes landed on the sight before them.

“It looks like Billy’s already been here,” Steve commented, recognizing the bruise forming on Max’s cheekbone as she lay there unconscious, her head laid upon her outstretched arm. “But where is Mike,” He asked, not seeing the bushy-haired teen. “Do you think Max used herself as a distraction?” He pressed, looking to Y/N who looked at the girl in horror.

“She could have, but it’s unlikely. I told them specifically not to pull any heroic stunts and Mike is more likely to go against the rules.” She marched down the hall, Steve and Robin scrambling after her. Robin slipped past her, quickly rounding the corner to see what was hiding around it.

“Found Mike,” She alerted them, her eyes pointed to the floor. Coming up to the corner, Y/N gasped. Mike laid there also unconscious, a bruise on his forehead. “But there is no El, Billy must have taken her.” Robin noted the missing kid. The three of them shared horrified looks, gulping loudly.

“That means El is out there with the Mind Flayer-” Y/N was cut off by the groan sounding from her feet. Looking down, she saw Max stirring, flopping onto her back. Dropping down. Y/N crouched in front of her, her hand reaching out to lightly shake her. “Hey, Max.” She whispered, giving the girl a small shake. Max’s eyes fluttered open before shooting closed again, too overcome with the sudden harshness of the light.

“Mike is waking up too!” Robin called, dropping down to help the teen wake up.

“Y/N, Billy has El, he got to us before we could hide,” Max’s voice was dry as she pushed herself up, her eyes opening again. “I tried to bring him back, but he didn’t even give me a chance.” She continued, her hand resting upon her bruised cheek.

“That’s okay, Max, you tried,” She solaced, helping the redhead to her feet. She wobbled slightly, trying to get used to being awake again. “Lucas and the others are back and they have a plan, we’re not alone anymore,” She told her. If Y/N had to say, she would say that they held up pretty well against Billy when it was just the four of them. Max smiled softly at her as they shuffled around Steve and Robin who were crouched around Mike, trying to wake him. “Are you okay though?” Y/N looked back at Max, her brows furrowed in worry.

Max nodded, her hand still rubbing her cheek. “Yeah, I’m fine, my face is just sore,” She disclosed, dropping her hand from her face, her own touch agitating the bruise. “What about you, Billy must’ve hurt you pretty bad.” Max questioned, gesturing to Y/N’s own bruised face. Gently, she raised her hand to the bruises, wincing when her soft touch hit the tender skin.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I held my own.” She waved off the younger girl's concern. Turning to face the small huddle, Y/N watched as Mike groggily looked around in a daze, not saying anything as he blinked. It was as if his brain was just catching up, not really registering anything.

“Mike-” Steve spoke cautiously, concerned about his lack of reaction. Steve’s voice seemed to release Mike from his daze, the boy shooting upright, his eyes nearly blown out. Everyone jumped at the sudden shift of energy, not expecting him to do that. “Are you okay?” Steve pressed, Mike, still looking frantically around.

“Where is El,” He asked, his eyes jumping from person to person, not seeing El anywhere. Pushing himself off the floor, it was almost like he wasn’t hurt in the first place. Blinking at him, everyone stayed silent, observing him. “Where is El?” He asked again, his voice dropping from panicked to stern, wanting one of them to answer. Robin looked back at Y/N, questioning if someone was going to tell him. Stepping forward, Y/N cleared her throat.

“Billy got her, Mike.”

“So what are we all standing here for? We have to go help her.” Mike shot back instantly as soon as the last syllable dropped from Y/N’s lips. Without waiting for a reply, Mike turned on his heel, walking briskly down the hall, eyes narrowed in determination. Dumbfounded, the group stood there for a second. This was the boy who was just laying on the floor unconscious and now he was storming down the hall.

“This child is going to drive me to my wit's end, he stresses me out sometimes.” Y/N shook her head, slipping between Steve and Robin as she started to run off after the fast-walking Mike. Between his tendency to ignore his own ailments and him not listening, Mike was definitely the most stressful out of all the kids. He did tend to be the ring-leader in most of their shenanigans. From behind her, she could hear the scramble of running footsteps behind her, Mike picking up his pace when he knew everyone was running behind him.

“Where are we going, we don’t even know where Billy took her!” Robin shouted breathlessly, unsure of what the plan was. Nobody was really sure, Y/N even doubted if Mike even had a plan. This was all more of a feel-it-out-as-you-go situation. There was no plan that someone could come up with, you had to use your instincts. As quick as he took off, Mike flung open a door, the words ‘Scoops Ahoy’ glowing for a second before the light by it dimmed, hiding it once again. Mike was using his center to figure out where to go from here.

Trusting him, Y/N wrapped her fingers around the edge of the door before it could close, narrowly missing having her fingers jammed in the metal door. Shoving it open unnecessarily hard, it slammed against the wall. There was an absence of booms from fireworks telling them that they had jumped into action at just the right time to come to the group's aid. Robin’s sneakers screeched as she turned in after Y/N, Steve and Max following closely, but Mike was already running through the backroom. Bursting through the second door, Y/N pushed her legs faster, trying to reach Mike. No matter how much Mike viewed himself as indestructible, he wasn’t.

She managed to catch up to him when he threw open the swinging door into the parlour, not even pausing at the sight of the Mind Flayer occupying the food court yet again. Stumbling to a stop just under the broken gate of the store, Mike and Y/N looked at the sight in front of them in complete terror. Billy stood tall, seemingly challenging the Mind Flayer which stood surrounded by little fires scattered around, smoke rolling through the mall like a fog machine at a concert. The neon signs flickered, acting like strobe lights reflecting off the squishy flesh of the Mind Flayer and the sweaty skin of Billy. With a low growl that shook within everyone, the Mind Flayer dipped its head low, chittering as it tried to intimidate Billy.

“What is he doing, does this mean he’s not flayed anymore?” Robin questioned breathlessly as she met the pair, confused even more by the sight. Nobody answered her, simply not understanding themselves as they watched the scene unfold.

“He’s sacrificing himself for El.” Y/N realized as the Mind Flayer tried to peek around Billy at the cowering girl laying on the floor behind the muscular teen. Whimpers fell from El’s mouth as she used her hands and heels to push herself away from the monster who could easily get around Billy. The Mind Flayer let out a monstrous roar, but Billy never backed down.

Suddenly, the jaw of the Mind Flayer dropped, the circular rows of razor-like teeth being revealed. Once again, the tentacle that was nestled within the middle of all those lethal teeth rose from its resting spot. Y/N stumbled back slightly upon seeing it again. Just shy of an hour ago, that tentacle was one of those hunting through The Gap in search of the people hiding within it - Y/N being one of them. Out of instinct, Robin slid in front of the clearly scared Y/N, not even knowing what the hell the thing was, she was ready to lay her life on the line. The tentacle jumped out, opening the four claw-like points wide, aiming right at El who continued to crawl backwards, trying to escape the threat of the monster. Protecting El, Billy’s fists shot out, a scream of determination ripping past his lips, his fists meeting the back of the open tentacle. “No!” His yell echoed throughout the silent mall.

Everyone watched, unbelieving as Billy battled the Mind Flayer, the claws of the tentacle squirming, trying to break free of Billy’s strength. Y/N felt like she was watching a scene in a movie, sitting at the edge of her seat, everything becoming muffled as her heartbeat in her ears. Billy let out a powerful scream of agony, using every ounce of power within him, his back muscles rippling as he pushed against the interdimensional mutant. Everyone watched, watching as everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The sides of the monster started to ripple and bulge, four new tentacles spurting from the Mind Flayer - it was going to kill Billy.

“Steve,” Robin called as if something just dawned on her. “Don’t you still have that firework you put in your pocket?” Her words flung out of her mouth at a mile a second, knowing there was no time to waste. As if a lightbulb went off in Steve’s head, he reached into his pocket, pulling a closed fist out. Opening it, he revealed a small but mighty firework.

“Here, use this,” Y/N didn’t even know she was speaking let alone moving. Her brain was on auto-pilot, her body moving without any commands from her conscious mind. Pulling her Zippo lighter from her back pocket, she threw it to Steve. Catching the metal lighter easily, he flicked the cover open, the flame dancing within a second. “Hurry!” Y/N yelled, looking back at the Mind Flayer, the tentacles shaking themselves out as they grew fully from the leviathan, all facing Billy. They paused for a second, waiting for the command from the Mind Flayer to attack.

“I can’t light the damn thing,” Steve cried, the flame not catching on the fuse. In horror, they all watched the tentacles shooting towards Billy. “I got it!” Steve announced, hopping forward before chucking the now-lit firework at the monster. Eyes trailed the arching explosive, the sparkling flame dancing on the fuse like a sparkler at a fair. A deafening pop was heard as the fuse ran out, the firework hitting the side of the Mind Flayer. With a wounded squeal, the Mind Flayer retracted all of the tentacles seconds before they could hit Billy.

Colourful sparks flew everywhere, raining down making everyone below cover themselves. Y/N hissed, a few sparks hitting her forearms, her skin sizzling. Uncovering their eyes, they watched as the Mind Flayer swayed, screams of pain leaving it - shaking the building. Just then the pained sways quickly turned to the monster rearing up, its front legs kicking in the air. In fear, the five hidden within Scoops ducked, not knowing what was happening. “What’s going on now?” Robin asked, her yell barely audible over the screeches of the Mind Flayer, its legs stomping down against the floor.

“Joyce and Hopper closed the gate!” Y/N guessed as the injured Billy and El ran towards Scoops, trying to escape the flailing Mind Flayer, leaning against each other. The Mind Flayer hit one of the columns, the second-floor platform shaking as concrete fell upon the flesh of the behemoth that screamed out, its body flinging into a part of the platform, the floor falling with a thud.

“It’s going to take down this entire building!” Robin fretted, watching in a mix of amazement and fear, flinching as it hit another column. Y/N reached over, grabbing Robin and yanking her back as the Mind Flayer stumbled closer to Scoops. Stumbling from the sudden force, Robin gripped Y/N’s arm, her eyes not leaving the screaming beast. Finally, with a dying squeal, the Mind Flayer’s body flopped to the ground with a plume of dust and debris lifting around it. Light but short breaths were the only sounds as everyone watched the corpse, dreading that it would move again.

A low, quiet rumble left its dying body before everything went still. Around the body, the smoke became thicker, the little fires growing and spreading as they consumed the debris laying there. “Is it dead? How can we tell?” Robin tried to whisper, but it came out louder than she expected. Also seeking out that answer, Y/N stepped back up to the opening of Scoops, looking over the rolling smoke to the platform, Robin stumbling after her, still not letting go of her arm.

Emerging from the shadows of above, Will let his fingers wrap around the railing, peering over. “It’s dead.” He spoke just loud enough for everyone to hear. A relieved breath left Y/N as she looked at Robin who still had confusion swimming in her eyes.

“It’s over,” She whispered, eyes alive with relief and happiness. “It’s finally all over.” She repeated, eyes stinging with tears of joy. They didn’t have to worry about something else being thrown at them. There were no more surprises. Nothing was trying to kill them anymore, nothing was chasing them down. With an airy chuckle, she threw her arms around Robin, holding the stunned girl flush against her.

____

Hugging the blanket closer around her, she shivered, the cold summer rain pelting her. She hadn’t realized how hot the inside of the mall had gotten thanks to the growing flames that were now licking the broken skylight until she had been ushered out of the building by firefighters. “So, Will was able to know if the Mind Flayer was dead because he is connected to it?” Robin vocalized her confusion as Max and Y/N tried to explain the Upside Down to her and Billy. Max looked to Y/N for clarification, even though she herself still did not completely understand Will’s connection to the Upside Down.

“I would assume, you would really have to ask Dustin, he’s the one who makes all the connections.” She shrugged. Everything that knew about the Upside Down and its creatures was largely due to Dustin’s nerd brain. He was good at looking at the parallels and connecting the dots, coming to an answer.

“And that Mind Flayer thing was only one of the creatures of the Upside Down?” Billy wondered this time, his thick eyebrows knitted together.

“Correct,” Y/N nodded. “So far, we have encountered Demogorgons and Demo-dogs which, from my understanding, are just baby Demogorgons,” She explained, shivering like a leaf as a strong wind blew against her cold body. “Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and I beat the Demogorgon by lighting it on fire while Hopper and Joyce saved Will and closed the gate. A few months ago, the kids, Steve, and I lit the hub of the Mind Flayer’s tunnels on fire which distracted the Demo-dogs so that Hopper and El could close the gate.” She recounted the past two fights nonchalantly. Robin and Billy looked at each other, flabbergasted that she could talk so easily about it. She sounded like this was a normal thing to experience.

Robin opened her mouth, wanting to ask something else, but a frantic cry cut her off. “Max! Max, oh, Max,” A redheaded woman came running towards the group, her purse clutched to her side as her feet waddled, unable to actually run in her heels. Y/N looked to Max, knowing she didn’t have a great relationship with her mother. To her surprise, Max jumped off the gurney she sat on, running to meet her mom. The pair embraced, their arms tight around each other. “Billy-” The woman looked at the blonde teen sitting there awkwardly. “You were here too,” She asked, extending an arm and waving him over. Reluctantly, but almost happily, Billy stood from the same gurney, giving the woman a one-armed hug. “What on earth were you two doing here and how did the mall catch on fire?” She fretted, her hands cupping each other's cheeks.

The pair didn’t answer her, only hugging into her again to distract her from her question. What could they say? A giant mutant monster from another dimension attacked them and they had to battle it to protect their friend who had powers? It looked like their tactic worked since the woman pulled away from the hug, tears welling in her eyes as she realized how close she was to losing them (but not for the reasons she assumed). “Come on, let’s get you guys home, Neil’s away so you guys can relax.”

Y/N and Robin watched as the woman turned, the two siblings under her arms, Billy hunched over due to the height difference. “I think this whole thing changed Billy,” Y/N conjectured, watching him as he leaned into the touch of his stepmother. “At least it showed him that there are people who care for him,” She spoke again, looking over at Robin whose blue eyes continued to watch the three. Y/N eyes flicked over the distracted girl. Cocking her head, she could tell she wasn’t focusing intently on the family, there was something going on in that head of hers. “What are you thinking about?” Y/N asked, letting her eyes roam around the parking lot as firefighters, paramedics, soldiers and army officials ran around. Scientists in lab coats set up an impromptu lab, testing things found within the lab below the mall.

Looking farther, she could see Will clutching Joyce just like he did when he was younger. Beside the son and mother stood Hopper and El, locked in a hug as equally as heartwarming. Smiling softly, she looked back over at Robin when she still didn’t answer only to find her looking at her. The flicking orange from the still wildly raging fire lit up her skin as if she were sitting in front of a fireplace, the pink neon sign of the mall adding a different colour to the masterpiece of Robin’s face in that second. “Don’t judge me?” Her voice cracked, her eyes were wide and innocent.

“Never.” Y/N reassured, her hand laying down on top of Robins, her blanket falling from her shoulders, exposing her to the cold but she didn’t care. Blinking, Robin swallowed thickly, eyes dropping to their hands before lifting back up to Y/N’s warm ones.

“I know I should be thinking about whatever the hell just happened, but I can’t stop thinking about how you love me,” She explained what was swirling within her mind. “For some reason, I feel like that’s the most unbelievable thing that has happened in this past week,” Robin tore her eyes from Y/N’s, her hand slipping out from under hers. Fiddling with her fingers in her lap, Robin rolled her lips together. “We didn’t really get a chance to talk about this earlier and from the moment I knew we were safe from monsters and evil Russians-” She emphasized the ‘evil’ part, making sure Y/N knew she didn’t think all Russians were evil. “I couldn’t stop thinking that there must be a miscommunication between us.” She expressed, still not looking at Y/N.

“A miscommunication,” Y/N questioned with a shake of her head, not understanding what Robin meant. “I like you, Robin, I am one hundred percent sure of that. I’m even confident that I love you.”

“Yeah, you could love me, but do you know the way I love you,” Robin spoke, finally looking back at her. Y/N stayed silent, nervous herself as to where this was going. “I don’t love you like most girls love other girls, I love you in the way that a boy would love a girl,” She didn’t even give Y/N time to respond before she was already speaking again. “And I get it if you don’t love me in that way. I never expected you to. I was perfectly happy being silently in love with you when you barely even knew I existed-”

Robin’s words were cut off by the press of Y/N’s lips on hers. Robin, shocked and a little scared, was thankful that they were hidden partially in the darkness of the two ambulances beside them, making it hard to spot them. Relaxing into the pressure of her lips against hers, Robin followed the movement of Y/N’s lips, her hand falling onto Y/N’s lap, her hand holding her thigh. Humming, Y/N could feel the heat crawling through her whole body, warming her against the cold summer breeze. Robin felt the soft touch of Y/N’s fingers on her jaw, her hand cupping her cheek tenderly. As Y/N pulled her lips back from Robin’s the girls whined a little, missing the way their lips moulded together.

Slightly breathless, they opened their eyes, electricity shooting through them when their clouded eyes met. “Does that explain how I love you?” Y/N questioned, her breath fanning over Robin’s lips as their foreheads were pressed together.

“Beautifully.” Robin responded, leaning her lips closer to Y/N’s, looking to feel that same happy twist of her stomach she felt when their lips first collided, but the call of her name stopped her.

“Robin? Robin? Where is my daughter,” The worried cry of Robin’s mom made them spring apart just in time for the frantic heel clicks to walk around the ambulance that hid them from her sight. There, dressed from the Fourth of July party she was attending, stood an older-looking Robin. “Oh, Robin,” She breathed out in relief, embracing her daughter as she still sat on the gurney. “What on earth were you doing still at work when this fire broke out? You weren’t letting all those people into the mall after hours were you?”

Ah, the government works fast. Going with a story of an illegal gathering after mall hours with a freak fire to kill all of the people brainwashed by the Mind Flayer. “Steve and I had to count the tubs of ice cream, there was a theft, but we couldn’t figure out what they stole.” She lied effortlessly to her mother, her voice muffled as her mother hugged her too tight.

“Well, I am glad you're safe, but next job you get, they better prioritize your safety - not staying late to investigate theft,” Her mother pulled away, smoothing back the hair that fell into Robin’s eyes. “That’s corporate’s job, not yours.” She muttered, cupping Robin’s cheeks as she inspected her, pleased with the state of her daughter. From the corner of the older woman’s eye, she caught sight of Y/N, eyeing her nervously.

“This is my friend Y/N, I’ve been at her house the past few nights, she came to walk me home, but then hell broke loose - literally.” Robin once again lied, gesturing over to Y/N. The older woman looked at her, smiling sweetly.

“Hi, Mrs. Buckley, nice to meet you.” Y/N smiled a bit awkwardly at her. She assumed Robin wasn’t out to her parents yet, making her a bit uncomfortable since she was seconds away from shoving her tongue in her daughter’s mouth before she showed up.

“Nice to meet you as well, Y/N, are your parents coming to get you?” She asked kindly with a tilt of her head.

“No, ma’am, they are away for the Fourth of July, that’s why Robin was staying with me. Just so I wasn’t alone.” She explained, also backing up Robin’s lie. Not all of it was a lie, her family was away for the Fourth of July. They were up in Canada away from the festivities because, in the past, the aggressions towards them were worse around this time of year. Tisking, Mrs. Buckley gave her a sympathetic look.

“Horrible timing, they have no idea any of this happened to you,” She sighed, feeling bad for Y/N parents. “You’re coming to stay with us, you are in no state to go back to an empty house,” She decided for Y/N. Opening her mouth to argue, Mrs. Buckley cut her off unknowingly. “You can share a bed with Robin, I’m sure she won’t mind. You can also borrow some of her clothes, she has tons,” She rambled, digging through her purse for her car keys. “I’m just going to go talk to a paramedic and we’ll leave, okay girls?” She didn’t even give them time to reply before she was already walking off in search of a paramedic.

“I’m sorry about my mom and the sudden change when she showed up,” Robin apologized, rubbing the back of her head when she knew her mother was busy. “I’m not out to my parents yet. Every time I go to tell them, I chicken out.”

“I get that. I’m not technically out to anyone other than you, my family, and Steve. I’ve just never been one to hide my sexuality around my parents even though I did come out to them,” She sympathized, her hand grabbing Robin’s to intertwine their fingers together, trying to make it look as friendly as she could. “You’ll be able to tell them when the time comes, don’t rush it.”

Robin smiled, looking at her, her blue eyes dancing with sparkles. Squeezing Y/N’s hand, she showed her gratitude towards her. “I really want to kiss you again.” She whispered in case her mother was coming back. Y/N smiled wide at this, her cheeks heating up with a blush.

“We’ll have plenty of time to do that, don’t worry.” She flirted with a wink, making Robin laugh, their eyes never breaking their connection. The pair sat there, basking in the energy surrounding them in the most intimate way possible.

#robin buckley #pappydaddy #pappydaddy writes #stranger things #robin buckley x reader #robin buckley x fem!reader #robin buckley x fem!russian!reader #robin buckley fluff #robin buckley angst #robin buckley series #stranger things series #stranger things imagines #stranger things 3 #stranger things imagine #stranger things fluff #stranger things fic #robin buckley fic #robin buckley imagines #robin buckley imagine #robin buckley x reader fluff

[tawneybel]

Male Cartoon Clown Characters

Note: Clowns, mimes, jesters, fools, and so forth! All either monsters, ghosts, and/or evil. List of male live-action clown characters. 

Please feel free to suggest more! I’ve liked clowns (and monsters) since I was a little girl and I plan to update this. 

Joker from The Batman

Chucko from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Joker from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Zombozo from Ben 10

Birthday Bandit from Teamo Supremo (Added 6/16/2022.)

Ulquiorra Cifer from Bleach

Evil Clown from The Brave Little Toaster

Beppi from Cuphead

Quackerjack from Darkwing Dark (Added 6/16/2022.)

Jokermon from Digimon 

Piedmon from Digimon 

Aqua Jester Loupe from Duel Masters

Deis Clown from Duel Masters

Jester Brain from Duel Masters 

clowns from Dumbo (Added 6/16/2022.)

Boppo the Inflatable Punching Clown from Family Guy (“This Little Piggy”)

Jack-in-the-box from Fantasia 2000

Balloon Boy from Five Nights at Freddy’s (Added 6/16/2022.)

Ennard from Five Nights at Freddy’s

Funtime Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy’s (Added 6/16/2022.)

Funtime Freddy from Five Nights at Freddy’s (Added 6/16/2022.)

Nightmare Balloon Boy from Five Nights at Freddy’s (Added 6/16/2022.)

clowns from The Summoning (GO! Cartoons) (Added 1/9/2022.)

papier-mâché clown from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (“Attack of the Clowns”)

various The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (“Attack of the Clowns”)

Fizzarolli from Helluva Boss

Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles

Elastico from Lilo & Stitch: The Series (Added 6/16/2022.)

Tricky the Clown from Madness Combat

Joker from The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (“The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair”)

Clown with the Tear Away Face from The Nightmare before Christmas

Buggy the Clown from One Piece (Added 6/16/2022.)  

Blacephalon from Pokémon 

Mr. Mime from Pokémon

Mr. Mime from The Powerpuff Girls

Zombo from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (“Terror, Thy Name Is Zombo”)

clown from Dirty Night Clown (El Radio)

various Looney Landers from Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure 

Mr. Magic Pierrot from Sailor Moon SuperS

Ghost Clown from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons

clown bed from The Simpsons (“Lisa’s First Word”)

Krusty the Klown Doll from The Simpsons (“Treehouse of Terror III”)

Joker from Static Shock (“The Big Leagues”)

Jazz Hands from Totally Spies!

Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal (Added 6/16/2022.)

Le Mime from Xiaolin Showdown

Countdown Clowns from Yellow Submarine 

Bickuribox from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Clown Zombie from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Crass Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Dream Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Jester Confit from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Jester Lord from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Masked Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Mystic Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Peten the Dark Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Ryu-Kishin Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Saggi the Dark Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Wood Clown from Yu-Gi-Oh!

#clown #clowns #coulrophilia #clownblr #horror #minors do not interact #coulrophobia #clown husbandry #clowncore #terato #exophilia #monster #mime #jester #circuscore #clown kink #monster kink #clownery #hybristophilia #fool #harlequin #joker #mimes #jesters #fools #clown core #hybristo #clownwave #jokers #circus core