Empty Head

And people really do try to interact with fandom like consumers! They want « content ». They act like they can get a refund on reading a fic they don’t like. They add fanfics to goddamned goodreads without a second thought without realizing that’s as ridiculous as adding your friend’s dining room as a restaurant on yelp just so you can post a review about it

#just opening livejournal would have killed you instantly

Treating fandom like retail never does good things.

you people aren't CASTING

I think something people are really missing when analyzing the Backrooms film is that like... Mary was a terrible therapist for Clark lmao. Clark very clearly struggles with rumination (OCD legend tbh) and Mary facilitates this behavior by making him repeatedly RP his lowest moment. And even before Clark loses it she doesn't challenge him on his behavior, telling him that his reaction was "normal" during their first scene. She unwittingly drove Clark deeper into his self-destructive thought loops. The table scene is her realizing how fucked up it was to make him RP that moment, and how out of her depth she is when it comes to other people. She did not understand Clark, and does not have the ability to help him. Mary's scenes are surreal and temporally confused because she's already stuck in the Backrooms. Her trauma has completely colored her life and her perception of others. Her self-help book is very specifically about her own experiences. And I'm not saying she was a bad person or anything, I'm sure she had a lot of good insight for people who had similar traumas to hers. But she is also very much stuck in her own loop that prevents her from helping people regardless of how much she might want to. Her methods were disastrous for Clark. There is definitely a gendered element to Mary and Clark's dynamic but we gotta remember that she is his therapist. She could have him institutionalized if he acts out of line or even just says something too concerning, Clark expresses this fear directly when he tells her about the Backrooms. (Which is especially relevant given the racial dynamics at play.) Like yes ultimately Clark made the choice to give up on being a better person, but he did so partially because Mary, as a medical authority in his life, failed to provide the correct kind of care. As much as Mary appears to have her life together she is also ultimately alone, stuck in a loop, just like Clark.

Something hilarious about Clark being metaphorically bad at untying things (staying in bad situations, refusing to change) but also literally bad at untying things (Bobby from the cabinet, Mary from the chair).

“The backrooms is a unique concept that appeals quite exclusively to the modern psyche” WRONG. Its a perfect reconditioning of the most ancient horror concepts imaginable. The yawning endlessness of the backrooms inspires a feeling of unease similar to being lost in the woods. One wrong turn, one misstep and suddenly you don’t recognise the trees you spent your entire life walking through. Nothing is as you’ve seen before but its enticingly familiar. Well trodden paths end abruptly, and you find yourself looking at holes in the underbrush for a way put . Stepping through the fairy door, and the forest is full of almost-people and the shadows of beasts.

It is objectively hilarious to think about the fact that Simon, Nikki and Mary all end their movies covered in blood and with completely altered perceptions of reality because magic is real I guess and I can't trust anyone actually, meanwhile Grace lives in a beach villa with his best friend visiting him every day, still teaching classes. Grace ends the movie surprisingly well-adjusted and everyone else is a final girl (+Simon, honorary final girl) that actually still doesn't get to be free. Like, these three have all killed people/creatures. Grace adopting three horror movie final girls is just objectively kind of a hilarious AU.

yeah, the backrooms would make an architect go insane.