#montage

Montage of bedtime stories being read by the wonderful @la-parenthese-d-an-ghi , could they be those erotic stories written by @shy-girl04-stories

An ad for the Letraset/ITC Fontek collection's 1995 releases, including the infamous Chiller and Jokerman (which I just now learned were both designed by the same guy).

ITC Chiller is awash with shocking splatters that give it a dangerous, reckless look. The typeface, designed by British designer Andrew Smith, was carefully calculated and is surprisingly legible, even in small sizes. A collection of alternate characters and ominous spot illustrations guarantee striking and effective graphics.

📸 credit: @alienstardustt, go like and reblog the og post!

Friendship Parallels, and Mike's Deleted Queer Coding

In this scripted scene from season one, there are heavy implications that Mike has already played with Nancy's makeup! He knows just the right amount of blush to add. He "carefully applies lip balm," knowing the trick to pucker one's lips (or "smack" one's lips) to evenly coat them. Those who have never worn makeup before do not instinctively know this—as illustrated by El needing to be taught how to apply lipstick for the first time. He demonstrates. These nuances are missing in the screen translation. Moreover, the final montage intersperses shots of Dustin and Lucas, two friends playing dress-up in a chest full of costumes. Oh, the friendship parallels don't end here, folks.

Who plays with makeup together? Besties at a slumber party, older sisters using their younger siblings as guinea pigs and test subjects, or younger kids who are questioning their sexuality and gender expression. This is a makeover montage, just like the one we got between Max and El in Season 3 at the mall—we have a direct parallel between El and Mike and a pair of girlfriends exploring their individuality, or who they want to be.

Mirrors, Conformity, and the Script's Makeover

They put on makeup in front of a vanity mirror, which is not what ends up being in the scene's final shots! The key word is "vanity"—the regard for one's self or ego. A mirror is a symbol often used for being conscious of one's self-image. After the montage, in the same sequence during the episode, the vanity mirror is swapped for a bigger mirror in the hall, one that fits both characters into a two-shot. They appear to stand side-by-side from the camera's angle, directly comparing the two. There is a lot of headspace between them and the top of the frame, with a zoom-in, two types of filmic codes to indicate inner conflict and contemplation. The intentionality is even more obvious when you realize that in the blocking, Mike follows her there, landing on his mark (you can even see Finn look for it).

This change from script-to-screen makes audiences less conscious about Mike's desire for self-expression. Rather, we are more aware of how he masks it.

All of this mirror symbolism also recalls Cocteau's Orpheus (1950), a queer-coded, star-crossed lovers story that deals with its own Upside Down—the Underworld—based on the Greek myth. In this comparison, Will is Eurydice and El is his chauffeur to guide Mike to him. Cocteau sees mirrors as insidious, a reminder of death, which ended up being true for El until her story was rewritten so she could live on. Here, this idea also relates to the death of the ego; the fading of a personal identity.

As they look at the mirror, Mike, in a baby-blue shirt, awkwardly stands there, fidgeting and squirming, surrounded by pink flowery wallpaper—a gaudy, reflexive construction of institutional gender roles trapped in a frame (a frame of mind). "Pretty…good," El repeats his compliment, reflecting his ideal and sense of self—but her tone isn't happy as the camera creeps in. Mike and El are literally, metaphorically, and emotionally mirroring each other. Perhaps Mike is awkward because she's wearing his self-expression he painted onto her. Or perhaps, it's supposed to be clear that this false ideal he has isn't perfect. It recalls the nuclear family, the loveless relationship of his mother and father, whom they look an awful lot like here (especially with the blonder hairdos Karen sports in seasons to come).

Elaborating on this idea, we later see Eleven when she's alone, staring at her own reflection in a rippling pond. She takes off the facade with a downturned expression, indicating she's either no longer happy with it or doesn't think it suits her. Then screams creating turbulence. This idea doesn't belong to her; it belongs to Mike.

Gender Swap, and Mike's Transference of Will

Then factor in that El and Will are constantly mistaken for each other by eyewitnesses and Hopper. Mike transfers his feelings of missing Will onto El. His hot-and-cold emotions are reflected onto her whenever he feels hope or despair in his quest to find Will after he goes missing. Later on, in Season 4, even Will himself uses El, and her pronouns, to confess his love for Mike, blurring the boundaries between who is actually who.

In this scene, he transforms El into a girl after she is confused for a boy because of her shaved head, which once represented masculinity, and worn Mike's clothes. Boy into girl. Will into El. I talk more at length about this idea in other posts, here and here.

El, who looks similar to Will but is a girl, is Mike's wish fulfillment. Possibly, he wished Will was a girl, and on one stormy night, they swapped places. Even more so in the script, this makeup mirror montage symbolizes this idea of transference, his unconscious feelings for Will, and a desire to explore his gender and sexuality. Yet, the magical spell of this moment is broken when Mike and El are placed in front of others and their own reflection, while Will is waiting just on the other side of that mirror (symbolically, of course).

Today is the eighteenth anniversary of my first Tumblr post. To mark the day here are some of my favorite photos from the past year. I started, and continue, to post here mainly to let family and friends know what I'm up to, but really it's a pleasure to send my photos out into the wider world. That they are in the company of the work of so many visionary and skilled photographers is an astonishment to me. You all inspire me daily.

Not So Far Away ~ A short story for the HuckleAbbot fandom.

———

Dennis hated coming back to Broken Bow.

It wasn’t the town itself, exactly. The endless fields, the quiet roads, and the old places that still looked exactly the same after all these years weren’t the problem.

It was the people waiting there.

His family had never really learned how to look at him the same after he came out. They’d mastered that uncomfortable middle ground: polite enough not to start fights, distant enough to make sure he still felt it.

So when his niece’s middle school graduation came up, Dennis almost didn’t go.

But then Jack had looked at him from across the couch and asked softly,

“Do you want to go?”

Dennis had shrugged.

“Not really.”

“Do you want to see your niece?”

A pause.

“Yeah.”

Jack smiled a little.

“Then go see her.”

Dennis narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“You’re being weirdly supportive.”

“Oh no,” Jack said, reaching for his phone. “I’m gonna annoy you the entire time.”

Dennis laughed.

“You wouldn’t.”

Jack looked offended.

“Dennis. We’ve been dating for three months. You know I absolutely would.”

~~

Dennis was staying at his parents’ place for his niece’s middle school graduation, but tomorrow they were all supposed to drive out to Ash Hollow, where one of his older brother, his wife and niece lived.

Ash Hollow wasn’t much more than a tiny neighboring town — one stoplight, grain silos, a gas station, and the kind of place where everyone somehow knew who belonged there.

Dennis had spent enough holidays and family visits there over the years to know exactly what it felt like.

Long dinners.

Long silences.

Long conversations where every word felt like stepping around something sharp.

Right on schedule, Dennis’s phone buzzed.

Jack: How’s Ash Hollow treating you?

Dennis glanced across the living room where his family was debating graduation seating arrangements with the seriousness of a military operation.

Dennis: Thinking about disappearing into a cornfield.

Three dots appeared immediately.

Jack: Nope.

Jack: Not allowed.

Jack: You’d get lost after like ten minutes.

Dennis smiled despite himself.

Dennis: Ash hollow is like broken bow, I’m pretty sure I could survive here.

Jack: And yet I stand by what I said.

Dennis snorted loud enough that his brother looked over.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”

But he couldn’t stop smiling.

~~

Later that night Dennis escaped to the guest room and his phone lit up again.

Incoming FaceTime — Jack ❤️

Dennis answered immediately.

Jack’s face appeared, looking way too pleased with himself.

“There he is.”

Dennis rolled his eyes.

“You’ve texted me like twenty-seven times today.”

“Correction.” Jack raised a finger. “Twenty-eight. You ignored one.”

“I was at dinner.”

“Rude.”

Dennis stared at him for a second.

At the messy hair.

The stupid little smirk.

The face that somehow already felt like home.

Jack’s expression softened.

“Bad day, baby?”

Dennis looked down, feeling warmth creep into his cheeks at the pet name he still wasn’t quite used to hearing.

“A little.”

A few quiet seconds passed.

Then Jack said softly,

“Okay.”

Not What happened?

Not Ignore them.

Just Okay.

Like he’d stay there as long as Dennis needed.

Dennis looked back at the screen.

“You know…” he said slowly, “I kinda miss you.”

Jack blinked dramatically.

“Oh my God.”

“Don’t.”

“Dennis Whitaker misses me.”

“Jack.”

“Dennis is in love with—”

“I am hanging up.”

Jack was already laughing.

But underneath it, Dennis caught the smile he was trying not to show.

And suddenly Ash Hollow didn’t feel quite so far away anymore. 🫶🏼

~~