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Lauren Badillo Milici

♡ poet & writer for hire ♡


♡ selected works below ♡ SAD SEXY CATHOLIC (2023) forthcoming from CLASH Books ♡

Rolling Stones retire song because of slavery lyrics - and Piers Morgan is furious

The Rolling Stones have decided to leave ‘Brown Sugar’ off the setlist of their current tour over its controversial lyrics on slavery. Bizarrely, the decision prompted Piers Morgan to write a furious Op-ed for Mail Online, apparently upset by the decision. The 1971 hit makes overt references to Black women and slavery, beginning with the lyric, “Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields.” The song, which has been interpreted as being told from the point of view a slave owner, sexualizes Bl
Fandom •

Origin Story: The ‘Nancy Drew’ PC Games

Even if you’ve never read the books or seen any of the screen adaptations, chances are you’ve heard the name Nancy Drew. The strawberry blonde sleuth made her fiction debut in 1930, initially invented as a female counterpart to the crime-solving Hardy Boys. As of 2021, the ongoing series, authored by a collective of ghostwriters under the name Carolyn Keene, has sold over 80 million copies, in addition to spawning six films and three television shows, cementing Nancy Drew as a cultural icon. Ho
EUPHORIA. •

Matt Watson

At the peak of quarantine, YouTuber Matt Watson set out to write and produce his first serious music project. The 25-year-old South Carolina native is known online for the crude comedy he makes under the name SuperMega, alongside his best friend and co-star Ryan Magee. Since the channel’s inception in 2016, the pair has amassed a subscriber count of nearly 1 million and cultivated a dedicated fanbase of “Megheads” that can’t seem to get enough of their over-the-top, intentionally cringe-worthy,
Fandom •

Trauma, Loss, and the Apocalypse in ‘The Last of Us Part II’

Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault. I know what it’s like to lose something, to have it ripped from your hands without any warning—and with no one around to answer why. Survivors of sexual assault experience loss of trust, freedom, and identity. We mourn the person we were before the attack. We mourn the body we no longer recognize, let alone feel comfortable existing in. We live in fear. We seek revenge. We go through the stages. Despite being a repeat survivo
Vulture •

For Heaven’s Sake Makes True Crime Feel Cozy

True crime is supposed to be unsettling: It’s Robert Stack in a suit talking about a missing person who was never found; a photo montage of Gypsy Rose in a wheelchair at Disney World; or eye-witness accounts of Ted Bundy approaching young women with his uninjured arm in a sling. In the new docuseries For Heaven’s Sake, however, it’s two best friends going door-to-door in the middle of Canadian winter, asking for help in solving an 85-year-old cold case. It’s anything but unsettling; it’s heartwa
Fandom •

The Weird & Wonderful History of ‘American McGee’s Alice’

When you think of a “darker” Alice in Wonderland, the 2010 Tim Burton adaptation might be the first thing that comes to mind. But for folks who had a PC in the 2000s, modern cosplayers, Twitch streamers, or even YouTubers that specialize in gameplay content, there’s only one “dark” Alice that matters: American McGee’s Alice. Since its publication in 1865, some have theorized that Lewis Carroll’s infamous children’s book isn’t a book for children at all and have created their own adaptations in
Fandom •

The Weird & Wonderful History of ‘Phantasmagoria’

The year is 1995: Alanis Morissette and Montell Jordan dominate the radio; you and your mom are spending quality time together by watching Xena: Warrior Princess; Batman Forever has just been released to mixed reviews; and Sierra On-Line, Inc., following the success of their graphic adventure video game series King’s Quest, has just released a point-and-click adventure horror on CD-ROM called Phantasmagoria. It’s a good year for pop culture. While Xena has been cemented forever in modern meme c
Honey Lit •

Valentines: Poems by Lauren Badillo Milici

this is the good kind of cliché where the boy is the only youngblondething left in town & he’s lonely / the way God was lonely when He made fucking everything even the front lawn in West Virginia / littered with cigarettes like petals and he needs to be the kid who comes & kisses the first girl he sees as if his heart isn’t already the shape / of a permanent fist but whatever you want, I’ll be & isn’t this the part in the movie where the boy drunk-stumbles home / and says, I’m sorry,
Ranker •

The Most Macabre Holiday-Themed TV Episodes Ever Produced

A possessed nun lets a maniac out of solitary confinement in order to dress up as Santa for the aslyum's Christmas party. What could possibly go wrong? In a flashback, Leigh Emerson (Ian McShane) fires at a Santa collecting money for charity and dons his suit. His reign of terror commences, beginning with a sweet little girl asking why "Santa" doesn't have a beard. After sending her back to bed, he ties up her parents with string lights. As it turns out, Emerson ended 18 people from five differ
Ranker •

It Was Heavily Criticized In 2001, But 'Thirteen Ghosts' Is Far Better Than You Remember

Though a 13th ghost does eventually show up in the film, the action mainly centers around 12 of the intimidating specters. Each ghost corresponds to one of the twelve signs of the Black Zodiac, the normal zodiac's evil counterpart. It is by collecting 12 ghosts who fulfill the various roles of the Black Zodiac that ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham) hopes to power his evil machine - the house in which the film is set. The first ghost in the Black Zodiac is the First Born Son, a lit
Fanbyte •

‘Unus Annus’ is an Existential ‘Jackass’ For a New Generation

Update: The channel closed out with a 12 hour live stream beginning at 12 PST on November 13th. Both Fishbach and Nestor have since released a follow-up video on their individual channels. When popular gamers Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) and Ethan Nestor (Crankgameplays) announced the formation of a joint channel in November 2019, the two longtime friends and collaborators took careful measures to ensure that no one, not even their fiercely loyal fanbases, could speculate what was coming.
Ranker •

11 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets In ‘Coraline’

Coraline, the beloved Henry Selick adaptation of the award-winning Neil Gaiman book, is known for being a different, creepy kind of children’s movie. The film asks children to use their imagination and picture a world not unlike ours, but one that exists just beyond a small door in your own house. What if, in that world, you had another set of parents? Another life? But what if that other world wasn’t as cool as you hoped? Behind the world of Coraline is a team of 250 animators, puppeteers, art

Hobart :: Sad Sexy Catholic

I was God’s favorite, once—enough schoolgirl in me to make Mary sweat. not a fall-from-grace, but something sweeter. an unlit cigarette wedged between two adolescent fingers; & the skin like bruised fruit. now, the only notion of holy pressed between opaque pages, or bound at the wrists. The sacrament of confession, or the first time I ran my tongue along someone else’s teeth. Enough obedience in me to serve man, to kneel in velvet & say a little prayer for every single b
Ranker •

Movie Endings That Gloss Over Extremely Dark Stuff The Characters Did

It's arguably one of the darkest moments in the entire Star Wars franchise. Just before the Siege of the Jedi Temple, Darth Sidious instructs Anakin to "do what must be done." Tasked with slaughtering all of the Jedi, Anakin happens upon some younglings - Jedi in training that look to be about 6 or 7 years old. When one of the boys asks him for help, Anakin draws his lightsaber and it cuts to the next scene. Obi-Wan and Yoda later stumble upon the horror. By the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anak
Nerdist •

How THE SOPRANOS Is a Time Capsule of the 2000s

It’s been 21 years since The Sopranos premiered on HBO and cemented its place in television history. The Sopranos is one of the most influential shows, not only of the 2000s, but of all time. Some think of it as the beginning of prestige TV. The series, which ran from 1999-2007, is dated and unapologetically so. When you’re watching the show, there’s no question about the era. The Sopranos fully embraced the early aughts, from the shoddy (albeit one-time) use of CGI, to highly controversial topi
Ranker •

Joey Was Beloved On 'Friends,' But His Solo Spinoff Was Doomed To Failure

Everyone knows Joey, the goofy stud and aspiring actor (who once played Al Pacino's butt double in a movie), but not many people seem to know Joey, the failed spin-off that followed the end of beloved sitcom Friends. The show premiered in 2004 and featured Matt LeBlanc reprising his role as good-natured ladies' man Joey Tribbiani, who moves to Los Angeles to continue his acting career. Joey also starred Drea de Matteo, following her departure from The Sopranos, as his sister Gina, and Paulo Cons

Project MUSE - Sometimes Dead is Better: A Review of Pet Sematary

In the 1989 horror film Pet Sematary, the line between the living and dead is thin. The Creed family—Dr. Louis Creed, his wife Rachel, toddler son Gage, daughter Ellie, and her cat Church—move to a middle-of-nowhere Maine town. Their new neighbor, a misguided albeit well-intentioned elderly man named Jud Crandall, introduces them to a Micmac burial ground nestled in the nearby woods that feeds on human insecurity and the subconscious desire to cheat death and grief. Unbeknownst to the Creed fami
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Lauren Milici