#Mrs. Danvers

[cementbeverage]

Was wird aus uns, wenn man ihn hängt? By @jon-withnoh lives in my head rent free. And now I can’t stop drawing them.

[cookiekitten91]

Her voice

[aliesafenlock]

A Chicago-inspired "Rebecca Alternate Ending" video by Kara Lane and Lauren Jones!

"We've been sent so much fanfic from all over the world, and we've loved every single alternate ending! We thought we'd create our own. Chicago the play was first performed on Broadway in 1926, the same year Rebecca is set... Maybe that's where the similarities end... or maybe not!"

[ludevika]

Went to Rebecca in Vienna recently - and just had to draw the iconic Mrs. Danvers. I may have opinions about the musical, but mhmmm, the aesthetics!!

[himblebo]

I’m always thinking about clothes and clothes hold so much significance in Rebecca and I just need to say that I would redesign Danny’s costume for the musical to set her firmly in the past that she can’t let go of. Everybody else dressed for 1926, Danny dressed for 1916 or thereabouts. I don’t recall if it’s ever explicitly stated how long Maxim and Rebecca were married, but the number 10 is rattling around in my head so it’s what I’m going with. It would distance her further from reality and do some of the storytelling for her character visually. She doesn’t care for what’s new, she wants things to stay the way they were with Rebecca. So she would probably be wearing the same kind of uniform in 1926 that she would’ve been wearing when she and Rebecca first came to Manderley however many years ago.

Something along the lines of this silhouette, which isn’t terribly far off from the existing costume, but is still different. A wash dress or tub dress would simply be the most practical daily attire!

No weird hip peplum thing, and proper undergarments so that the frumpy unfitted bodice has that soft pigeon-breast shape.

There’s still quite a bit of fabric in the skirt, but rather than flaring out at the hips it falls more straight—flattened hips are in from this point on until curves start to come back into fashion later in the 1930s. Remember, fabric was rationed during WW1–and the kind of thrift that was instilled in everyone during that time, let alone someone like Mrs. Danvers, is a value that would likely stick around for awhile in rural areas like the coast where Manderley sits (as opposed to cities, where trends and goods cycle much faster), giving her more reason to keep wearing the same things: they are perfectly serviceable garments, no need to spend the time or money making replacements. That would be inefficient and wasteful.

I’m almost certain that the existing hip peplum and slouchy bodice are intentional to make the actress appear stern and frumpy, but that also doesn’t scan right for me—Mrs. Danvers would keep her clothes perfectly tailored. There’s also something to be said of the implications of an older style—even if you’re not a fashion historian, most people see an older style and immediately have some sort of association of seniority or authority (it distinguishes an older person when in contrast to newer styles) as well as a certain frumpiness or orneriness (the resolution not to change). If it’s properly tailored and has the proper support garments (girdle and brassiere at this point, maybe a bust bodice for shaping, but we’re past corsets and into flattening the hips without accentuating the natural waist), it can have the same effect and communicate more about the character’s past and motivations.

I think one of the best examples of this tactic I’ve seen in costuming is Jessica chastain’s character in crimson peak—I clocked immediately that her clothing was 15-20 years out of style, and it told me right away that the passage of time (and the refusal to accept the passage of time) was an important aspect of the story.

Anyway I’m absolutely supposed to be doing something else right now and none of the books I have in the office go past the 1890s so. This post would be better if I had access to the 1910s catalog reproductions that I have in my workshop at home.

[pomegranighte]

Favourite Character Bingo - 2023

Characters I first encountered in 2023 (not necessarily part of media released in that year).

These are intended to be ordered loosely according to genre, moving from classic to contemporary horror, sci-fi horror, thriller horror, on to drama, comedy, then comic/cartoon and fantasy. Naturally, plenty of these don't quite stay in their own prescribed mould and could be considered fitting for another genre, but this is MY PARTY and I make the rules >:(

The hardest thing I've ever done may just be forcing myself to choose only one Baldur's Gate 3 character. If this was ordered by fondness for the characters, Astarion would be up top, but it's not and I'm petty so he's last and least.

As may surprise no-one, the prevailing trends are trickster archetypes, gothic looks, autism coding, and sympathetic or misunderstood status and/or rebellion. Also Billy Crystal is there.

Listing below the cut!

Countess Marya Zeleska - Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Mrs. Danvers - Rebecca (1940)

Lady Sylvia Marsh - The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Nevena - You Won't Be Alone (2022)

Kim Diamond - Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Brynn AND the Aliens - No One Will Save You (2023) (as an interacting set of characters, not necessarily as interesting actors singularly)

Violet and Corky - Bound (1996)

Andrea "Dre" Greene - Swarm (2023)

Gunther - V/H/S/85 (2023) - Goth boy who saves the day through his prescient lucid dreaming and rebels against being falsely cast as the villain, hell yeah.

Willard - Willard (1971) - would be in the top three if this were sorted by level of favoritism.

Gerd Wiesler - The Lives of Others/Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

Primo - Big Night (1996)

Walter Tattersall - Yellowjackets (2021-) - of call the cast and I fixate on THIS GUY. Got me again, Elijah!

Willie Jack Sampson - Reservation Dogs (2021)

Barabara Howard and Melissa Schemmenti - Abbott Elementary (2022-) - My god these two gripped me. Just give them an entire season. Gregory can be there too.

Gregory Eddie - Abbott Elementary (2022-)

Sally Albright and Harry Burns - When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Raven - Teen Titans: Beast World (2023-) - solely for her design; I am practically floating at the departure from emo/punk Raven and a return to a more whimsical gothic look. Another artist draws her looking like Billie Lourd and I'm into it.

Sharon Apple - Macross Plus (1994/1995)

Spider-Punk/Hobie Brown - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

The Medicine Seller/Kusuriuri/薬売り - Mononoke/モノノ怪 (2007)

Astarion - Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) - He's my best friend, he's my pal, he's my homeboy, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time boy, and I've been so excited for you all to see his whole schtick since way back in 2020.

Runner Up's: Shin Hati (Ahsoka), Mirror Woman (The Art of Mirrors) - don't ask, Nearly everyone else form Baldur's Gate 3 but especially all the companions and the Emperor oopsies I'm a sucker, Padraic (Banshees of Inisherin), Mary (Carnival of Souls), everyone from Dungeon Meshi but esepecially Marcille and Senshi, Lorne Malvo (Fargo), Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell), Brigitte (Ginger Snaps), The Harppy (Harpya), Joel and Ellie (The Last of Us; kept out because of the Zionist higher plot), Dracula and Clemens (The Last Voyage of the Demeter), Martin (Martin), Izzy Hands (Our Flag Means Death), Father Amorth (The Pope's Exorcist), Deer Lady (Reservation Dogs), Elora Danan (Reservation Dogs), Adam (SAW), Carl (Skyman), Kris (Solaris), Kurt Kunkle (Spree), Sammi Curr and Eddie (Trick or Treat), Bitch Cat (V/H/S/94),

[notalisonyet]

In the Hitchcock film Rebecca, Maxim is kind of a jerk. The man of the estate is not going to have a lot of in-depth interaction with the housekeeper, and as a product of his class he will take it for granted that you simply give orders to servants and they carry them out. But he can’t be this oblivious to what’s happening or this unaware of his housekeeper’s personal character. Surely on some level he knows his new wife—the young woman he chose precisely because she was the opposite of the powerful, imposing Rebecca—is being bullied. At the very least he should be aware she’s unprepared for her new position. Is Maxim enjoying the situation, perhaps amused by his inept wife’s childish insecurity? Does he like seeing her flounder? It’s hard to think ill of anyone played by Laurence Olivier, but still.

[roomfullofhampires]

I’m thinking about how Mrs. Danvers had to keep reminding/convincing herself that Rebecca was a good person (she WASN’T) and she’s not wrong for loving her. But when the truth is revealed she loses all her tethers and the only way out is when she kills herself and literally burns manderley to the ground.

So relatable girl.

[conquerthenight]

Inspired by @alicesbread’s Rebecca headcanon post. Here are some of my own headcanons:

-Ich uses she/they pronouns.

-Ich’s name is Ileana, and although they identify as non binary she doesn’t end up changing it.

-Ileana constantly changes from pressing femme to masc day by day.

-Ileana is autistic.

-Because HRT and such didn’t exist back in 1926, Maxim spent literal decades (from the age of 16) training his voice to sound deeper and more masculine. It worked.

-Maxim was in the closet to everyone except Beatrice and Frank for about 2 years.

-Beatrice didn’t understand her brother’s identity and had no grasp on the concept of pronouns at first, but she ended up becoming very aware of trans issues as time went on.

-Maxim chose his name because it sounded similar to his deadname. This was done so that should Bea or Frank accidentally call him Maxim in front of his parents or some other adult while he was still in the closet, he could make the excuse that they just pronounced his name wrong.

-Robert sees Clarice as the sister he never had.

-Frith is their dad. No blood relation. He’s just their dad.

-Robert is training to succeed Frith as butler for when Frith retires or dies, whatever comes first.

-Jack Favell is surprisingly good with kids. Nobody knows this, not even Rebecca.

-Mrs. Danvers is an asexual lesbian.

-Danny was the only one of Rebecca’s lovers allowed to sleep in Rebecca’s bed. Rebecca did this because she took pleasure in making Danny believe that she was special and set above all the men while the reality was that Danny was just another plaything.

-Favell was complicit in the Manderley fire and provided the getaway car once Danny lit the flames. He wanted to help set the house on fire, but Danny didn’t trust him not to give them away.

-Ileana and Maxim end up having two daughters post Manderley fire. Their names are Ellison and Katherine. (I might make a separate post of headcanons for them)

-Maxim speaks German and French.

-Ileana also speaks German. She tends to rattle off in German when they feel any strong emotion.

-Rebecca’s father is the brother of Favell’s mother.

-The de Winters have a dog breeding business that goes back generations. This, along with the money coming from Manderley’s tenants, supplements the family income.

-Beatrice is lesbian. Giles is gay. They’re a beard couple.

-As children, Beatrice and Maxim were closer to the staff than their parents.

[obscuremilfoff]

[halloweenhundreds]

Rebecca is one of the ultimate haunted house stories, ghost or no ghost. Its relationship politics have sure aged but it remains beautiful, haunting, creepy, unsettling, and frustrating. Amazing cast, direction, and design.

[cookiekitten91]

Mrs. Danvers

[aliesafenlock]

✨Kara Lane as Rebecca's ghost appreciation post ✨

[flowersandfashion]

the fact that Jeremy Brett played both Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward AND both John Watson and Sherlock Holmes throughout his career. he has the range.

[himblebo]

A writing warmup flashfic!

[notalisonyet]

Rebecca (1940)

As I hear it, Hitchcock didn’t want to follow the Daphne du Maurier novel faithfully, but the producers forced him to—except in one critical point which the morals office would not have tolerated (but Hitchcock probably would have preferred). I think the constraints on Hitchcock in this case resulted in a much better film than he would’ve given us if left to his own devices.

The female lead of the story is hard to cast and play. If she’s too mousy we won’t believe she would catch Maxim’s notice or dare to go around with him at the resort, but if she’s too lively we won’t believe she could be so thoroughly intimidated by Mrs. Danvers.