In your mind, how do you see them?

With one exception, no one who posts on this board witnessed Eric and Dylan's crimes. So, when we try to imagine what it must have been like to be there in that school, and especially in that library, invariably we fail to conjure up an accurate picture. But that doesn't mean we stop trying.

This will seem really cheesy, but when I think about what it must have been like, I imagine scenes from Phantasmagoria, a computer game that I was obsessed with when I was a kid.

In this clip, a wife is hiding from her demonically-possessed husband. He taunts her and laughs maniacally as he tries to lure her out into the open so he can kill her. The guy who plays him isn't much of an actor, so bear that in mind:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (watch it to the end - there's a part where she hides behind a chair)

What about you?

This might seem kind of threshing but I see them in a mix of the movies Elephant and Zero Day, the enviroment of Elephant and the scene of the tables (if I can call it like that) in Zero Day, together.

I am not a fan of those movies and it might seem obvious since they are movies inspire on School Shootings but in my mind thats the way I see and I have to say that the scene of Zero Day, I mentioned, scared me the first time and thats exactly how I also imagine the situation and I see them, like something very scary, shocking, desperating and twisted in some parts and them in a state like the guys from Zero Day in that scene but maybe worse.

Does this have to be limited to the day of the shooting?

PaintItBlack wrote:

Does this have to be limited to the day of the shooting?

No.

I see them as two very bright, sensitive but sad, depressed, angry ,lost, hopeless young men. I know that on the day they died they did terrible ,wrong things and everyone who died was a precious person who left a hole in the world that can not be replaced. But I think the same thing is true of E &D too.I know they showed almost no mercy that day and that is so hurtful in so many ways. But I can't help but wonder if people over the years had showed them more mercy and acceptance how would things have been different? I believe that 15 people would still be alive today.

To me it's like they are 4 different people really.Dylan seemed kind of funny and like he would be a fun guy to be around in some of their videos he was laughing and trying to be serious and radioactive seemed like he was trying hard to be serious(as one could be) while killing clothes.I had chills run down my spine as i thought this was what they looked like going down the stairs of the school as they walk down the basement steps.Eric seemed to be a nice guy in the common's video and somewhat respectful around the girl they were talking to but let down when she showed no interest i can almost see his shoulders fall when she doesn't sit with them and plays like he doesn't care. The only thing that freaked me out was when Eric's face started kind of twitching.Then there was the 2 boys that killed those kids and seemed to enjoy it and be disappointed when bomb's didn't work and mocked other kids as they lay scared and bleeding..It scares me to know people can be so different from what they seem.

I envision them as very internally tense, perpetually sad (whether they showed it all the time or not), bundles of nerves and emotion. Yes, both of them. In different ways, but in the end they are both a different version of the same thing.

On the day of the massacre I envision them as empty human vessels that were totally switched off in every way, and when flashes of their souls (that were no longer in their bodies at all) triggered whatever was left in those essentially empty vessels, they were unable to "perform" as adequately as they'd intended.

Blood and Phantasmagoria references in the same thread is impressive.

An interesting question. I'm sure how I imagine at least the library comes from some visual media somewhere, but  not sure what. Certainly tried to stick to the 11k, and before that the diagrams from CNN/Jeffco. I imagine Dylan descending the stairs outside the same way he descends them inside, with TEC-9 ready, not turning his head until near the bottom (though with discarding a magazine and shooting once at the sports fields in the middle to test to make sure the jam or whatever was fixed.  One of his shells there and the magazine discarded beside it - apparently itself in a hole from a pipe bomb, so how I imagine it)

Probably not an answer, but there are things naturally in my conception that I have to force myself to forget. Sometimes I do find myself having to note that they didn't have their sunglasses. Also, have to tell myself the fire alarm was blaring, and that the cafeteria was wet when they return. Naturally I imagine them with sunglasses on the stairs, and without at least one balaclava, and with no sounds inside but the bombs and gun shots. Hated those fire alarms too, would not want that to be the last thing I heard. Probably don't imagine sufficient guts or sufficient pipe bomb tosses either.

Honestly, just 2 guys who were both angry and didn't want to live anymore

[/quote]I see them as two very bright, sensitive but sad, depressed, angry ,lost, hopeless young men. I know that on the day they died they did terrible ,wrong things and everyone who died was a precious person who left a hole in the world that can not be replaced. But I think the same thing is true of E &D too.I know they showed almost no mercy that day and that is so hurtful in so many ways. But I can't help but wonder if people over the years had showed them more mercy and acceptance how would things have been different? I believe that 15 people would still be alive today.[/quote]

That is beautiful!


[/quote]I envision them as very internally tense, perpetually sad (whether they showed it all the time or not), bundles of nerves and emotion. Yes, both of them. In different ways, but in the end they are both a different version of the same thing.[/quote]

And that is why people seem to have difficulty seeing how two young men could be so different but join together for a common goal. Personality wise, yes, they were two completely different people. However, they bonded on mutual feelings of depression, anger, and isolation.

One thing that people forget is that these two young men were only 17 and 18 years old. Old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, but still young enough to really begin to know what they want out of life and figuring out the world around them.

Guest wrote:

To me it's like they are 4 different people really.Dylan seemed kind of funny and like he would be a fun guy to be around in some of their videos he was laughing and trying to be serious and radioactive seemed like he was trying hard to be serious(as one could be) while killing clothes.I had chills run down my spine as i thought this was what they looked like going down the stairs of the school as they walk down the basement steps.Eric seemed to be a nice guy in the common's video and somewhat respectful around the girl they were talking to but let down when she showed no interest i can almost see his shoulders fall when she doesn't sit with them and plays like he doesn't care. The only thing that freaked me out was when Eric's face started kind of twitching.Then there was the 2 boys that killed those kids and seemed to enjoy it and be disappointed when bomb's didn't work and mocked other kids as they lay scared and bleeding..It scares me to know people can be so different from what they seem.

I don't get why the women were so scared of the two boys. Just because they wore black?

I honestly picture like blood everywhere on the floors. Furniture being broken. Wood being splintered everywhere and screaming and stuff. I just picture like a scene of pure terror and insanity.

Kerea2244 wrote:

Honestly, just 2 guys who were both angry and didn't want to live anymore

Honestly this is about the best way to describe them in my vision. I feel like if I went to school with them or knew them back then I probably would of got along with them or at least been an acquaintance they'd spare if I ran into them on that day. I see them as 2 normal boys, in a toxic environment which drove them to not wanting to live anymore. One might of had a temper to resort to revenge before suicide and lured the other to think that was the best way to go.

I really think public schools should be abolished and just home school them. If the parents don't have the education to home school their kids, hire a teacher. It's not really a bad idea when you think about it.

bradt93 wrote:

I really think public schools should be abolished and just home school them. If the parents don't have the education to home school their kids, hire a teacher. It's not really a bad idea when you think about it.

I could explain everything wrong about this, but something tells me you're not gonna listen.

bradt93 wrote:

I really think public schools should be abolished and just home school them. If the parents don't have the education to home school their kids, hire a teacher. It's not really a bad idea when you think about it.

Actually it's a good idea if you don't think about it.

I see some of you want the bullying in public schools to continue.

bradt93 wrote:

I see some of you want the bullying in public schools to continue.

Might want to reinforce that pedestal before you try to stand on it. It looks pretty flimsy

Well, I don't care. My idea would work and reduce a lot of teen suicides. No one would have to deal with the Rockys or Evan Todds of the world anymore.

bradt93 wrote:

Well, I don't care. My idea would work and reduce a lot of teen suicides. No one would have to deal with the Rockys or Evan Todds of the world anymore.

No, it would not. In fact probably quite the opposite. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, humans - especially kids- need social stimulation. Homeschooling can be very isolated in some cases. And you can't depend on every parent to provide adequate social or emotional nourishment. We barely have enough teachers as is, we can't have teachers assigned to every home where parents can't or simply will not educate their kids. That would be a shit ton and the supply can't meet the demand.

There's a list of additional stuff to explain to you why your idea is terrible but I'm not going to bother.

bradt93 wrote:

My idea would work

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These are just arguments against normal homeschooling. Imagine how much more severe it would be if it was mandatory at the federal level to homeschool your children.

HanShotFirst wrote:

bradt93 wrote:

Well, I don't care. My idea would work and reduce a lot of teen suicides. No one would have to deal with the Rockys or Evan Todds of the world anymore.

No, it would not. In fact probably quite the opposite. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, humans - especially kids- need social stimulation. Homeschooling can be very isolated in some cases. And you can't depend on every parent to provide adequate social or emotional nourishment. We barely have enough teachers as is, we can't have teachers assigned to every home where parents can't or simply will not educate their kids. That would be a shit ton and the supply can't meet the demand.

There's a list of additional stuff to explain to you why your idea is terrible but I'm not going to bother.

They can get social stimulation somewhere else, not just at a school. Summer Camp is one example.

I agree that being homeschooled doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re not gonna get socialization. It just takes a lot of planning and work and if you’re a family that doesn’t want to put in that effort it’s going to be detrimental to the kids. So it won’t work for every family.

But if you’re being bullied every day and being ostracized you’re not gonna get any kind of positive socialization. So that’s why clubs and activities that are not school related but are more community related are so important!

bradt93 wrote:

Well, I don't care. My idea would work and reduce a lot of teen suicides. No one would have to deal with the Rockys or Evan Todds of the world anymore.

Let's put everyone under a glass bell to protect them from all life's problems

What you've been writing here actually reminded me of the situation when they are trying to prevent raping by giving instructions to women not wearing attractive clothes, not walking home alone, etc., instead of addressing the aggressors and finding what went wrong in their upbringings.

Bullies are the same, you have to find the root of the problem, and not to eliminate any potential victim from their surroundings.

Well, from the Santa Clarita that happened, he was an athlete and a good student and people liked him in general. I mean come on, an athlete snapping? It rarely happens. It's always the "weird" ones remember?

bradt93 wrote:

HanShotFirst wrote:

bradt93 wrote:

Well, I don't care. My idea would work and reduce a lot of teen suicides. No one would have to deal with the Rockys or Evan Todds of the world anymore.

No, it would not. In fact probably quite the opposite. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, humans - especially kids- need social stimulation. Homeschooling can be very isolated in some cases. And you can't depend on every parent to provide adequate social or emotional nourishment. We barely have enough teachers as is, we can't have teachers assigned to every home where parents can't or simply will not educate their kids. That would be a shit ton and the supply can't meet the demand.

There's a list of additional stuff to explain to you why your idea is terrible but I'm not going to bother.

They can get social stimulation somewhere else, not just at a school. Summer Camp is one example.

They can also get bullied somewhere else too, making the grand plan of ending bullying by ending public school totally pointless. While I'm on the subject, have you never heard of workplace harassment? What are we supposed to do to fix that, get rid of work?

bradt93 wrote:

Well, from the Santa Clarita that happened, he was an athlete and a good student and people liked him in general. I mean come on, an athlete snapping? It rarely happens. It's always the "weird" ones remember?

This is such a non-sequitur* that I'm not even sure what you're trying to say with this statement. Are you trying to say athletes can't kill people, or that only bullied kids can commit school shootings?

*Non-sequitur as defined by Merriam-Webster is "a statement (such as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said". I'm telling you this because I've noticed you tend to go off on unrelated tangents quite a lot.