I hope your holiday season greets you with peace, comfort and love. Whether you celebrate or not, you deserve it. This may be a generic greeting but, I know who I sendย it to. I see you, I cherish you, and you matter. If you are feeling alone, reach out anytime even if we don't know each other. All my love, light and warmth.ย
My my my,ย I do hope you have a beautifully wicked, Halloween! However it is you spend it, I hope its enjoyed and you make sure to remain safe!ย Whether we are alone or not, always remember we can enjoy any holiday and day we love within the company of ourselves. I'm sending this to make sure you remember that you're important, I see you, I appreciate you and you matter! I hope you never lose sight on that, and if you do, I hope you come back to it right away. All my love and light, you bright, spooktastic and ghoulish darling! Remember to always stay spooky! heh.
ย ย ย Sometimes the things that hurt us are the things that make us the strongest. Wes was the strongest light that Mel's world had ever known, before Ghostface tried to snuff him out, and still that light glows in brilliance. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. For even in the face of death and what it's taken from him, Wes had still seemed to found his way through the shadows towards the blaze that would always come for him. In this moment that blaze was burning that comforted and inquisitive tone of his into Mel's alabaster skin with a soothing scorch as he humored her romp.
ย ย ย Mel begins to snicker as his question comes into play, a sarcastic smile threatening to grow on her lips. It's as if the Wes had stationed himself in her thoughts, took notes as she had mulled over just what it was she despised about the franchise, and compiled it all into his single statement. Though the details between her synapses connecting would bullet point his speculative comment to be true, she didn't fully loathe the universe within the book of Saw.ย
ย ย ย Her lips part and whilst trying to stifle her chuckles at the thought of Wes sitting like a besotted student during a lesson in her mind-garden she retorts, "Jigsaw is a brilliant mastermind, don't get me wrong. Him having subjects shed themselves of their trauma and debilitating addictions by means of dementedly perverting their initial vices in his traps is absolutely riveting. However, as is the truth in the real world, the people are too distraught by the thought of their impending doom to think logically and almost always end up damning themselves rather than ever reaching the rehabilitation. You don't get the time to actually care about these characters, to root along side them for their success, and so when they inevitable fail and die you end up feeling nothing. Thus, the viewer bides their time between the 'tests' as the moments between them just feel like fodder and so on with running to get more snacks or checking their phone until the next slew of bloodshed and organ evisceration."
ย ย ย The rogue lass begins to scan the shelves as they start to make ground through the aisle, multi-tasking between visually scavenging what she was looking for on their quest and continuing her criticism about the franchise.ย
ย ย ย "The only bit of character development within the movies I can comment positively on is when it comes to the detectives, as well as the few protegees we end up getting to see who don the pig mask for their farmer-father of redemption. The whole Strahm v. Hoffman aspect was superb and pretty much the series' saving grace in my opinion." Mel rests her palms atop Wes's hands on the cart as she exhales, satisfied with her having breathed life both into and away from her qualms of Saw within the first handful of rotations of the cart's wheels on their expedition.
ย ย ย "Unlike the Disciples of Swine, you don't have to worry about my 'movie mind' tricking you into a prophesized downfall. I want only want to open up your skull metaphorically and extract the bits of horror gems you've either forgotten existed or have never been able to experience the excellence of until now. I want to take you on a cinematic journey into the splendid hellscapes of horror."
ย ย ย Life is painful and messed up. It gets complicated at the worst of times, and sometimes you have no idea where to go or what to do. Lots of times people just let themselves get lost, dropping into a wide open, huge abyss. Lost. The word though short holds long and tight, like a thorned knot, within the very fibers that make up the brazen moll. Mel knew what is was to be lost and what even more it meant to be found. Speaking of a great find, the honey haired gal begins excitably tapping her fingertips rhythmically on Wes's wrists in a request to garner his attention to halt the wheeled stead, as they had arrived at the desired checkpoint.
ย ย ย ย "OOOH! Right here! These are some great classics!" The wired dame brings her legs up in a criss-cross fashion beneath her, twists her upper half to face towards the shelving in the same motion, with a frantic grin cascading across her features.
ย ย ย "Okay if you're looking for body horror or things that are just a bit unsettling to the human eye and mind we've got The Fly, Freaks, Wizard of Gore. We have body horror with a bit of raunch comedy in The Society as well as all three Basket Case films. If you're wanting classic psychological twists with a bit of supernatural edge I recommend Dario Argento's Suspiria or even better would be the 1973 classic Don't Look Now."
ย ย ย Mel's fingers are moving rapidly with a flow akin to if she was dancing with the digits between the shuffling of cases. She pulls them away from the rack to show to Wes eagerly - continuing to spew out multitudes of titles and describing their sub-plots with thrill - before exchanging them for another on the row and back again, repeating the choreography.
ย ย ย "....Blood Rage - honestly one of my favorites, it's so campy. Speaking of camp we have all of the Sleepaway Camps! There's also Bloody Birthday if you're into astrology and evil children. As far as evil children are concerned you can never go wrong with The Bad Seed or The Omen. Are any of these jumping out at you?"
ย ย ย The fair skinned gal knows they have to push through all that hurts them; work past all the memories that are haunting each of them. One could call it her collecting karma points to redeem in the wake of her next credo escapade - and morally perhaps that was so. However, somewhere beneath the dark legacy's antics here lay more than just a redemption of brownie points with her spiritual maker. There was also more within Mel's bosom than just sympathetic sentiments towards the lad than even she realizes. Though what those interior frames of mind for him truly are currently shadows itself away from Mel's awareness. However, like all things in the dark, eventually in due time they all will come to the light. That's why, even now outside of the shroud of her darker delights, she beamed with the notion of taking him on a cinematic adventure; to guide Wes away from whatever painful thoughts had plagued him prior to his arrival. Mel was adamant to cast them out under her mist of mystical media mayhem. Whether fruitful or frivolous, she had to try.
ย ย ย In tandum while the platinum-haired stripling reminisced about the memories between him and his mother at this present establishment, Mel could sense her visage gnarling as her psyche imprinted a montage of images she had seen in some dark web articles about the incident. She couldn't imagine what it must've been like for him to have been escorted off the property, to see his mom brutally massacred on the front lawn - having also just nearly evaded his own guttural death. The contemplation of this scene caused Mel's brain to once again quick flash those same phrenic photographs until they dissolved and became replaced with effigies she had discovered of her own mother back in the day; hanging from a tree on the front lawn with her intestines spilling out of her body in front of the two people who loved Casey the most as well.
ย ย ย Her lips part and whilst trying to stifle her inner thoughts winces at the constriction causing inflammation around the cage protecting her vital organs. Mel clears her throat and feigns laughter as she nods along to Wes churning out the few means of entertainment their podunk town had to offer.ย
ย ย ย "The Demille Drive-In actually might one up this place when it comes to foot traffic. Though I will admit we have better snack prices; pretzel dogs and a large pop is definitely where they get you. Sometimes after a long shift, I'll use my discount to grab some snacks here and sneak them in with me to go catch a double picture. Granted I don't have the luxury of resting in the comfortable bed of a truck while taking in the movie. However, I've rarely heard the patrons complain when I set up my discount picnic on the roof of their cars. Then again, it's hard to really hear anything when I'm focused on the movie's audio blaring from the attached speakers."
ย ย ย The flashback is one she shared with her cousin Vince and Sam alike when they were younger; a simpler time for the three delinquents just enjoying the simplicities of each other's company and witnessing a cinematic universe where they weren't the main characters dealing with the prying eyes of a town that damned them from birth. The bemused femme finds herself wondering more now about her memorium of family members and friends alike over the years; when they left her in the world to fend for herself they created this requisite for survival by any means. Mel's throat constricts. She presses a hand against her sternum and takes a slow, deep conscious breath. To keep her composure she's now turned her body away from Wes to conceal her shaking hands and burning eye sockets. Not now. With a few more sharp inhales piercing her ribs she masks the turn as her prepping the cart for the coming response of balancing her weight on the wheeled storage bin, as she hops up on it and sits herself amply on the top slat, facing Wes once again with a coltish grin; her legs swaying back and forth like a kid - appearing to be in a sprightly whim and less like the anxiety-soothing fidget it truly was.
ย ย ย "The early 2000s and 90s do have some nostalgic horror movies we still love today, but you can't dismiss the 70's and 80's as the huge influential era they were for the genre." Ashen fingers wound up into her blonde locks and back down subsequent to an engrossed jeer, "I mean hell, we got the first introduction of Leatherface alongside his cannibalistic family in '74 and pinhead accompanied by his masochistic BDSM cult of cenobites in '87."
ย ย ย Mel followed Wes's line of sight as it landed on the martyrdom raunch series that was a ransacked collection at this point. When it came to Mel's choice of filmic diversion, she had to admit that Jigsaw's devices were a delight to immerse yourself in for physical gore. Although it fell short in captivating that influential combination of mental and emotional antipathy.
ย ย ย "If you're wanting paradigm ambience that veritably tugs at your soul, those aren't it."ย
ย ย ย The Saw gore fest was lack luster in comparison to other horror movies that actually set up character development. She respected the latter emulating the accuracy of the premise; surrounding yourself with people you actually give a damn about only to have them rid from your life in the most trauma-inducing ways possible. The legacy spawn of Woodsboro was far too familiar with this concept and Mel could only smirk at art imitating their lives better in other branches or horror, where the very movies based on their history were less of a rigorous Stab in accuracy and more a dull jab with their exaggerated undertones.
ย ย ย The feted dame motioned behind her with her right hand, bolstered by a sprightly bounce as she offered up a divergent gambit of pictorial pastime to the virile fellow, "If you don't mind giving me a push to the other end of the aisle, I can show you some real impressive choices you can get yourself swarmed in nostalgia with."ย
ย ย ย Mel quirked a brow as she fostered the proposition into the prerecorded wonderland around them, her lips composed in a puckish smile. If she was going to make his time here a light-hearted one, she was at least going to throw in a bit of fun for herself while having Wes dive into the cinematic rabbit hole.
ย ย ย Boredom, much like Woodsboro, is a cesspool. An abysmal cistern retaining the intrigue, drive, and productivity of one's desires under a putrid film of sloth and abstain from contact. It's a bottomless pit of craving Cinnamon Toast Crunch and getting served Corn Flakes. With each newsbreak of a copycat killer, the residents are being given a slivered promise of a new episode scheduled in the TV Guide; only to be broadcasted a marathon of re-runs. Mel was going to change the f***ing channel.
ย ย ย There's not really much to do midweek in Woodsboro, California. Most people bide their time trying to decide between which feed store parking lot or sketchy guy's basement they're going to get tanked in. Then you have the beergutted bowling league taking over the one alley in town and the mollied out flashdancers disco-downed at the roller rink - whose jukebox only consists of Connie Francis records. For Mel, she chooses getting lost in eighty 'If Bob Ross painted only sadness' minutes of silver-screen projection. This is why getting a job at the local (and practically only) video store in town was a perfect gig and proper place - outside of masked shenanigans - to saciate her idle hands.
ย ย ย As the sun dwindled out of sight, the moon would have its qualms trying to illuminate the dusking sky. The clouds began to roll in with a thunder - like a sea of disgruntled teenagers leaving a theatre after an abominal attempt at another reboot tried to sh*t on their childhoods. With the setting of day turning into the storm of night, Mel smirked at the knowledge that she hadn't brought a jacket for after her shift - because she adored the way goosebumps felt when they crawled over her exposed skin. This was one of the few moments during her time-clocked schedule today that she had any expression other than a blank one canvas across her features, and as she continued to repaint the barren shelves with their appropriated theatrical selections in disk form it was soon to happen again.
ย ย ย As his initial question was spoken, Mel's senses of another's presence weren't jolted with the common reaction of fight/flight/freeze one gets when caught off guard by an unexpected arrival. Granted one could say this was due to Mel fearing none, her being the shadow in the room other's should, and thus why be scared when you're the lion in the den. However, it was less allagorical and more so natural familiarity that permitted the calm.
ย ย ย "Actually I do. My Soul To Take. It's one of those Wes-Carpenter flicks. I highly recommend it."ย ย Mel's signature smirk coiled in the corners of her lips after the statement fell from her mouth. She hadn't brought her eyes back to her prior work actions since the first syllables spoken and instead continued to lock eyes with the familiar as he reintroduced himself; never missing a beat as she proceeded to restock the shelves from muscle memory, maintaining eye contact.
ย ย ย The honey haired dame had recognized the vocals almost immediately and when she c*cked her head to the side her instincts were proven true to see the voice pared to Wes Hicks.ย ย "I remember you, Wes. It's not easy nor should any feel proud to forget being around an adorkable delight such as yourself."
ย ย ย Yes, it had technically been over several months since they'd physically been in one's presence and the young adult statire of the lad had broadened within that time, but there was no mistaking that childlike gleam in his eye nor the impish goofy smile that had been cemented into his features since youth. There's no ridding of one's awkward quirks that speak to someone's core soul and Mel was glad that despite the prior year's events this remained true for the male.
ย ย ย "You'd think on a night like this, more people would be flocking our inventory. It's perfect weather for locking one's self to the couch with a bag of Jiffy Pop and taking in the serenity of blocking out the real world with the entertainment of a fictional one."ย
ย ย ย It hadn't fallen on deaf ears or eyes as to why Wes would be trapsing around the video store at this time of night. Throughout the years, his mother and himself would come in sometimes multiple times a week to rent releases for their ย regular movie nights. The loss of Judy Hicks was one that rattled the town hard and though the departed sheriff and Mel had their fair share of delinquent/officer-of-the-law spats, the Becker gal still respected the late figurehead as the protective and loving mamabear she had been. She had many times wondered if her own mom would've been the same with her as Judy was to her son, but that thought would never gain an affirming response. The dead leave us with questions and very few answers.
ย ย ย "You come here with a specific eighty minute mind fog in mind? In for some nostalgic cinema, perhaps? Maybe one of those cheesy dark comedies Sam and I let you and Tara watch much to the adults' dismay?"
ย ย ย As with having anyone in your life stolen from you too soon, Mel acknowledged the premise of trying to relive old memories as well as just wanting to distract the mind from the f***ed nature of the world. Despite the morally questionable deeds Mel found solace in to retract her mental state from dwelling in the screwed harshes of reality was not for everyone; she understood with her whole being why Wes came to this place - she would do what she could to make his venture here a smooth one. The time for weeving in souls of past, present, and future into the grander tapestry of Woodsboro's dark web would come later. Patience is a virtue.
