#and also a woman with a passionate interest in psychology

[cartermagazine]

Today We Honor Dr.Josephine English

Dr. Josephine English was an American gynecologist who was the first black woman to open a private practice in New York. She was also known for her work in real estate and health care, in addition to her philanthropy towards the arts.

English was born on December 17, 1920 to Jennie English and Whittie Sr. in Ontario, Virginia. She moved to Englewood, New Jersey in 1939. Her family was one of the first black families in Englewood. She attended Hunter College for her bachelor’s degree until 1949, and earned her Master’s in Psychology at New York University. She initially wanted to become a psychiatrist, but ended up choosing gynecology after discovering her interest at Meharry Medical College where she earned her medical degree in gynecology.

Dr.Josephine English opened her practice at Harlem Hospital. Once in Brooklyn, she opened up a women’s health clinic in Bushwick in 1956, as well as another in Fort Greene two decades later. During her career, English helped deliver 6,000 babies, including the children of Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz, and Lynn Nottage.

English’s interest in health care lead her establish the Adelphi Medical Center and child care programs, such as Up the Ladder Day Care and After School Program. Her passion for theater led her to establish the Paul Robeson Theater from a dilapidated church. She helped actors create performances to educate the populace on health and nutrition.

CARTER™️ Magazine

[sbrown82]

THE FULL HISTORY OF THE MICK JAGGER & MARSHA HUNT (A.K.A. “BROWN SUGAR”) RELATIONSHIP!!! (PART 1)

First, some background on the model, singer, actress, novelist, playwright, activist, icon, 60s goddess, and the woman who inspired one of The Rolling Stones’ greatest hits, “Brown Sugar”, Marsha Hunt. She is often described as London’s own Josephine Baker and is celebrating her 77th birthday today!:

Marsha A. Hunt was born on April 15, 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the youngest of 3 children. Her mother, Inez “Ikey” Hunt, worked in an airplane factory during World War II, and her father, Blair Hunt Jr. graduated from Harvard and became one of America's first Black psychiatrists.

Marsha was raised in a middle-class neighborhood mostly by her mother, aunt, and grandmother who had roots in the deep south (Mississippi delta) and who she’s described as an “extremely aggressive and ass-kicking independent woman.” Her father committed suicide when Marsha was 9 years old (but she never found out how or why).

After moving out west to California with her family, she graduated high school at the top of her class and later attended UC, Berkeley in the mid-’60s where she wanted to study psychological anthropology.

While at Berkeley, she became friends with a slew of interesting people like activist Mario Savio and Huey P. Newton, who later became one of the founders of the Black Panther Party.

[TOP LEFT: Marsha’s mother Inez Hunt; TOP RIGHT: Marsha’s father, Blair Hunt Jr.; BOTTOM LEFT: Marsha at her home in Philly with her father & siblings, Pamala & Dennis; BOTTOM RIGHT: Marsha’s high school graduation photo in 1964.]

Even though she thrived academically and was very involved in student activities, she became bored with college life and wanted to experience life outside of the country and pursue her real passion – music. In early 1966, she sold her car and some books, and trailed off to London with only $1.83 in her pocket.

Around that time, London was THE city to be in, and was even dubbed “Swinging London” for being the epicenter of art, culture, fashion and of course music, especially due to the popularity of famous acts like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

When Marsha first arrived, she slept on the floors of mutual friends, took odd jobs (including one as an au pair), and even appeared as an extra in Michelangelo Antonioni's box office hit film, “Blow-Up,” which also featured the British rock band, The Yardbirds.

SHOCKINGLY, in that same year she actually saw The Rolling Stones in concert for the first time during their UK tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London because she wanted to see Ike & Tina who were the supporting act on the bill. Girls were going crazy over the Stones, but of course, she was more impressed by Tina’s show-stopping performance! (Purrrrr 💅🏿)

[LEFT: Marsha in 1966; RIGHT: The Rolling Stones performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London with Marsha in attendance.]

After roaming the city, making new friends, and trying to find steady work, Marsha ended up auditioning for a blues band fronted by British blues musician, Alexis Korner, who was looking for backup singers. Coincidentally, he was the exact same guy who gave The Rolling Stones their start back in 1962. Later on, she was offered another backing gig for Long John Baldry’s band, Bluesology. John is also a longtime friend of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Though she loved music and worked really hard at it, Marsha always claimed that she was never a good singer. People in England just assumed she was because they thought all Black Americans had talent.

She then lived with English blues singer, John Mayall, who actually wrote a few songs about her including, “Marsha’s Mood” and another song coincidentally called “Brown Sugar”. Around this time, she became good friends with the founding members of Fleetwood Mac, famed British artist Kaffe Fassett, and keyboard player for Bluesology, Reg Dwight (a.k.a Elton John).

[LEFT: 19 year old Marsha sporting a wig in London; RIGHT: Marsha with a young Elton John].

Around the time Marsha broke things off with John, he was also putting a new band together, which included a young guitarist named Mick Taylor, who showed up at the audition without a guitar. He later became another good friend of Marsha’s.

In late 1966, Marsha met musician Mike Ratledge from the British rock band, Soft Machine. At the time, she was having trouble getting a visa extension to stay in England, so the two got married on her 21st birthday. She later claimed it was a marriage in name only as they were not romantically involved and “never held hands and never kissed".

[LEFT: Guitarist Mick Taylor & John Mayall in the mid-60s; RIGHT: Marsha’s “husband” Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine.]

That same year, Marsha’s hair started to fall out from using chemical relaxers, and after wearing wigs for a while, she finally cut it all off and vowed to never straighten it again. Hence, why she started sporting her iconic afro hairstyle which made her quite a showstopper in London.

In 1968, she found luck when she was cast in a buzzy new rock musical with an ensemble cast called “Hair.” The musical became an instant hit in London’s famed West End. And even though her character “Dionne” only had two lines, she suddenly became the face (or the hair) of “Hair”. The show was a huge success, and also became quite a sensation and a social landmark because it highlighted controversial subjects like drugs, casual sex, profanity, nudity, and anti-war rhetoric. While there, she met another close friend, actor Tim Curry.

[BOTTOM: A poster of the hit musical “Hair” that debuted in the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End, 1968.]

Her life completely changed overnight and she instantly became a PHENOMENON, attracting wide media attention. In fact, after the musical’s opening night, the editor of British Vogue sent her a huge bouquet of flowers and wanted her to pose for a photo session, which ended up being a 4-page spread with a written profile. Marsha was also the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Queen magazine as well.

[LEFT: Marsha pictured as the first Black woman on the cover of Queen magazine; RIGHT: Marsha photographed for British Vogue in 1969.]

She immediately became a sex symbol, celebrity, and the face of the “Black is Beautiful” movement, which was already taking over America in the mid-60s. This helped her snag lots of modeling gigs and everyone wanted to photograph her. (I mean, sis was booked & busy!!!)

[BOTTOM: More of Marsha’s most iconic shots. *The melanin was melanating, 4C afro was on deck, eyelashes poppin’, lips bussin’...she was a *bad bitch*!!!]

In March 1969, she signed a contract with Track Records, the same independent label that also repped the British rock band, The Who and Jimi Hendrix, as she later said, “There was one luxury that London celebrity afforded me: the freedom to be myself without a single apology for my gap, my freaked-out hair, my brown skin, my slave-class ancestors or my radical views.” 

Around this time, she also had a short-lived love affair with Marc Bolan, the singer and founder of the English rock band, T-Rex (even though he was much shorter than her 😂.)

She scored a few minor hits during her underrated music career with singles like a cover of T-Rex’s “Desdemona” and her debut single, a cover of “Walk on Gilded Splinters”. 

[BOTTOM: Marsha performing the T-Rex cover “Desdemona” live.]

The record soon went to the charts, and that spring, she was asked to perform on various shows, including a popular British TV program called, “Top of the Pops”. During her live performance on the show, the tight bolero suede top she wore nearly came undone and partially exposed her breasts, a wardrobe malfunction that gave her the reputation of a “bad girl.”

NOW…Here’s the part y’all have been waiting for. Get your popcorn. Y’all got it? Ready? Good!!! 🍿

After her performance aired, Marsha soon received a phone call out of the blue from Jo Bergman, the then secretary for The Rolling Stones on behalf of the band’s frontman Mick Jagger who was actually watching the show live, asking her to pose semi–nude for a publicity photoshoot to promote the band’s new single, “Honky Tonk Women”. She said, “The picture was going to be of a girl dressed like a sleaze bag standing in a bar with the Stones and they wanted me to be the girl.”

[BOTTOM: Marsha performing "Walk on Gilded Splinters” on ‘Top of the Pops’ in May 1969. This was also the exact moment Mick Jagger first laid eyes on her!]

Marsha, who was not a Stones fan, was already established and didn’t really need the extra exposure. She later declined because she had her reputation to think about and said she “didn't want to look like [she'd] just been had by all The Rolling Stones.” She also claimed, “The last thing [Black women] needed was for me to denigrate us by dressing up like a whore” among a band of white men.

ENTER MICK JAGGER:

When she tried to get in touch with Mick to say, “thank you, but no thank you”, he later returned her call in an attempt to change her mind and even suggested he come over as he was very intrigued that a girl would turn him down.

Mick then showed up at her apartment around midnight as she claims, “He was framed by the doorway as he stood grinning with a dark coat ... He drew one hand out of his pocket and pointed it at me like a pistol. His silly 'Bang' was precisely the icebreaker we needed to get over my ungracious hesitation before I invited him in, not sure how to salute a notorious rogue who rings me just before midnight and suggests he pop round on a pretext of loneliness.”

They talked for HOURS, well until the sun came up about any and everything from music to social issues and politics, and according to her, Mick “made me squeal whenever he used Melanigian slang (aka Black vernacular/AAVE).” 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️

Marsha didn’t really find Mick physically attractive at first, stating, “He wasn't beautiful or even striking” however, he was boyish, open, direct, yet seemed quite awkward and shy. She found it a relief that he was nothing like other musicians she’d known or the image the media had portrayed him. He was incredibly charming, intelligent, funny, radical, and straddled the racial line, much like she did. She also quickly noticed that he had a penchant for Black women, as he claimed “They [Black women] just do something to me”.

The two of them had a lot in common and just clicked right off the bat. And things eventually turned hot as they ended up having sex. From there, they embarked on a passionate, but very private, deep romance and year-long affair, at a time when interracial relationships weren’t widely accepted yet.

Marsha didn’t expect to hear from him again, as he had a wide selection of women to choose from, but surprisingly, Mick wanted to see her and talk all the time, mostly because she was great to look at and he could count on her. Marsha said, “He knew that I adored him and that he could depend on me…he realized I respected him as I respected myself.”

Mick’s friend and interior designer Christopher Gibbs once said often when he dined with Mick, women who had slept with him would come up to the table and “he’d have absolutely no idea who they were.”

[LEFT: Mick photographed at the ​​Shaftesbury Theatre in London to see the new musical “Hair” for the first time; RIGHT: Marsha performing in the show.]

1969 was a very rough year for Mick. He was having trouble with his band The Rolling Stones (which he was practically running by himself) because the founder and guitarist, Brian Jones, was becoming increasingly unreliable and spiraling out of control due to his deep drug addiction and legal troubles that led to him having difficulty getting a US work visa to go on an upcoming tour. Mick’s personal life was also a mess because his long-term girlfriend at the time, pop singer Marianne Faithfull, was also a very serious (and sloppy) drug addict, who often embarrassed him and became more dependent and difficult to be around. Things had gotten so bad between them, their relationship grew to be strictly platonic by this time.

Mick and Marianne were quite destructive together and often found themselves in legal troubles due to drugs. Marianne was also quite messy as she previously slept with Mick’s bandmates Brian Jones, Keith Richards, and even left her husband, John Dunbar, for Mick who was dating Black soul singer and former Ikette, Pat “P.P.” Arnold, when they first met.

P.P. also later claimed in her autobiography “Soul Survivor” that the three of them would often engage in drug-fueled threesomes much to Mick’s delight. 

[BELOW: Soul singer & former Ikette, P.P. Arnold, who dated Mick from 1966-1967.]

While in London, Mick was still messing with P.P. who later became pregnant with his baby in 1967, but they both agreed to have an abortion, partly due to his growing relationship with Marianne.

[BELOW: Mick arriving at a courthouse with his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull in 1969.]

Marsha on the other hand, was stone-cold sober and didn’t do any drugs (NOT ONE), which was like a breath of fresh air for Mick, though he dabbled with hashish, LSD, and marijuana among other drugs himself. But unlike those around him, he was able to control his habit.

Even though their relationship quickly turned sexual, they were really, really close friends. Mick often retreated to her home to relax, he told her all his secrets, his troubles – he just trusted her. He was completely enamored of Marsha, who many describe as warm, intelligent, sensitive, funny, and very easy to talk to. He liked that she didn’t go gooey-eyed and weak-kneed in his presence like most (white) women/female fans did. Instead she had a crisply forthright manner and was almost quite “butch”. The Rolling Stones then manager was even quoted as saying that Mick was “obsessed” with Marsha as she was very exotic, and he even gave her the nickname “Miss Fuzzy” due to her afro hairstyle.

Ironically, Marsha enjoyed their well-kept relationship and is one of the only people who often calls him Michael instead of Mick, to distinguish him from his Rolling Stones rockstar persona.

Since Marsha was a fellow recording artist, they were able to be seen together in public without any arousing suspicion—in any case, London still had almost no paparazzi. They would often go to the same parties or events, even with Mick’s girlfriend there, and no one questioned it.

Mick would often pop into some of Marsha’s studio sessions with her band White Trash, and everyone around would be in awe of him.

Later, after officially firing Brian Jones from the band, Mick and the rest of the Stones were in desperate need of a new guitarist. Marsha promptly suggested her good friend, Mick Taylor (Yes, Stones fans – thank Marsha Hunt for that one!), as a replacement for Brian just days before he was mysteriously found dead (he sadly drowned in a swimming pool at his home) on July 3, 1969.

Additionally, when Mick sought a replacement for Jo Bergman, the secretary who handled all The Rolling Stones affairs, Marsha also suggested her friend and tour manager, Peter Rudge - (The same guy responsible for getting the Stones all those huge tours in massive stadiums. Again, thank Marsha!)

Two days after Brian’s death, the Stones played a free concert before a crowd of over 250,000 people in Hyde Park, London, which was previously planned to debut their new guitarist, but turned into a memorial/funeral for Brian. Mick invited both Marianne (who looked a hot ass mess and was in withdrawal from heroin at the time), and Marsha (who showed up looking sexy af with her titties bustin’ out of her buckskin suit) to the concert, and rudely and distastefully opened the show with a song called, “I’m Yours and I’m Hers.”

[BELOW: Mick & Marsha at The Rolling Stones tribute concert to Brian Jones in Hyde Park, London on July 5, 1969.]

Marianne who sat on the other end of the stage with her 4-year old son Nicholas and the other Stones wives/girlfriends, actually saw Marsha that day as she was placed right above the stage in the scaffold VIP section at the request of Mick so that he could look at her while he performed. She later said, “I saw her [Marsha] you know. And she was stunning…If I’d been Mick in that situation, I might have done exactly the same thing.”

Mick arrived at the concert with Marianne that afternoon, but left with Marsha and spent the night at her place where they made love.

A day after the concert, Mick kissed Marsha goodbye, and flew with Marianne to Australia to shoot a biographical film they were both cast in called “Ned Kelly,” based on the infamous bushranger. However, Marianne who was reeling from the recent death of Brian Jones and a horrible miscarriage just a few months earlier, overdosed on 150 Tuinal barbiturates while traveling with Mick, and fell into a coma in their hotel room.

[LEFT & RIGHT: Mick & Marianne arriving in Australia to film “Ned Kelly.” Marianne slipped into a coma just hours later from an attempted suicide.]

At the last minute, Mick was forced to film the movie without her, but phoned and wrote to Marsha, who was extremely frantic and worried about his mental health and emotional well-being, almost everyday. She was scared that he didn’t have the stamina to deal with yet another crisis. He sent Marsha over 10 handwritten letters (some even written on the same headed stationery paper of Chevron Hotel where his girlfriend just tried to kill herself) about his deep feelings for her, his experience filming on set, being in the Australian outback, his new interests, the historic day of the moon landing of 1969, future career plans, his regret at missing her performance at the famous Isle of Wight Festival, and other aspects of pop culture (including “John & Yoko boring everybody…”). The letters also reference the recent death of his former bandmate Brian Jones, Mick’s increasingly difficult relationship with Marianne, and another letter even had the full original lyrics for The Rolling Stones song “Monkey Man”, which was later rewritten.

Mick’s letters also went on to mention the foul Australian winter weather and an unpleasant virus that swept through the film unit, a fire that destroyed most of the film’s costumes, along with various other accidents – including a prop gun that backfired in his right hand. He was just having a real shitty time. So, he found solace writing to Marsha.

His letters to Marsha showed how pensive and romantic he was. He said things like,“I feel with you something so unsung there is no need to sing it...” and “If I sailed with you around the world, all my sails would be unfurled.” He also thanked her for being “so nice to an evil old man like me”. And in another steamy note, Mick promises Marsha: "I will kiss you softly. And bite your mouth too."

[RIGHT & LEFT: Mick’s private letters sent to Marsha while filming “Ned Kelly” in Australia during the late summer of 1969.]

Mick also celebrated his 26th birthday while filming in Australia and Marsha sent him a huge package of books (which he loves) and albums, including her friend John Mayall’s record “Brown Sugar.” Along with his gifts was a note stating how she missed him desperately.

While still trying to rehabilitate his hand from the prop accident, Mick toyed with a new guitar he had and started work on a song he had in his head, which was partly inspired by Marsha and that he initially titled “Black Pussy.” He decided that name was a little too direct and changed it instead to “Brown Sugar” with the lyrics:

[Verse 1]

Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields  Sold in the market down in New Orleans  Scarred old slaver knows he's doing alright  Hear him whip the women just around midnight 

[Chorus] 

Brown sugar, how come you taste so good?  Uh huh Brown sugar, just like a young girl should

[BOTTOM: Recording of “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones later released on their Sticky Fingers album in 1971.]

Mick later confirmed in a 1995 Rolling Stone magazine interview that the song is a double-entendre: “brown sugar” being the street name for unrefined heroin and of course also meaning his seemingly equal addiction to having sex with Black women. The song was a huge commercial success and ended up becoming a huge #1 hit around the world, making it one of the Rolling Stones’ best-selling records to date.

[TOP: A movie poster of “Ned Kelly” which was released in June 1970; BOTTOM: Mick with his guitar composing “Brown Sugar” during filming.]

While Mick was still filming overseas, Marsha was booked to perform at the iconic 3-day outdoor concert, the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30th, 1969. At the time, it was the biggest open-air concert in music history and she was the only woman billed to perform. She was there alongside acts like The Who, Joe Cocker, and even Bob Dylan who hadn’t been onstage in three years.

Mick told her in a letter that he was so proud of her and promised her that he was “there in my head and in my heart.” Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and his wife Shirley, and Jo Bergman were also in the audience watching Marsha perform.

Marsha also made headline news as she wore custom-made leather shorts to which the press ran with and by the next fashion season, short shorts were featured in every fashion magazine. She was the first person to popularize “hot pants”.

[BELOW: Marsha performing with her band White Trash at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969 with members of The Rolling Stones looking on in the audience.]

After Mick came back from Australia, Marsha was offered a part in a film called “Welcome to the Club” which is a comedy about three Black USO performers sent to Hiroshima in the 1940s to entertain the troops on an all-white base. The film was being directed by Walter Shenson, who had produced The Beatles' films “A Hard Day's Night” and “Help” and shot it entirely in Copenhagen, Denmark.

She was also asked to fly back to London to shoot another cover for American Vogue which was shot by photographer Patrick Litchfield. (They‘d never had a Black woman on the cover before.)

Mick began touring in America again, his first since 1966, and with the number of girls he had access to, she knew he was keeping himself busy on and off stage.

[LEFT: Mick on stage at Madison Square Garden during the Stones’ 1969 tour; RIGHT: Marsha filming “Welcome to the Club”.]

He even started a short-lived relationship with yet another Black singer and Ikette Claudia Lennear, as well sparking up a fling with Devon Wilson, a notorious rock & roll groupie and the girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix who famously wrote the song “Dolly Dagger” about their affair.

[LEFT: Mick arriving at Madison Square Garden in November 1969 with Devon Wilson; RIGHT: Mick backstage at the same event with singer Claudia Lennear.]

But on December 6, 1969 - everything changed dramatically when an 18-year old concertgoer was stabbed and killed during the Stones’ free concert at the Altamont Speedway in California by the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club, who was the band’s security. Members of the Hell’s Angels blamed Mick for the incident and subsequent to the concert, put a hit out on him and threatened to murder him. This marked the third major tragedy to happen since Mick and Marsha met each other.

[BELOW: A scared Mick looks on as 18-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by the Hell’s Angels in front of the stage while the Stones performed at Altamont Speedway.]

Marsha stayed with Mick after the chaos at Altamont, which the media dubbed “The Death of the ‘60s”. By this time, he had officially split up with Marianne and moved Marsha into his house on Cheyne Walk where she helped him to transition and readjust his life. It was then their relationship intensified!

This is around the time she got a chance to know some of Mick’s friends who lived on the same road, including Keith Richards and his girlfriend, actress Anita Pallenberg, who just had a son, but was hooked on heroin. She thought they were both nice, but they’d visit or show up unannounced to their home all the time. Their hard drug-taking also scared Marsha, so she kept her distance and didn’t voice her opinion. 

She also met Mick’s parents, Eva and Joe Jagger, along with his little brother Chris who was a bit of a hippie and had just returned from India with his American girlfriend. They both had no work, no money, and nowhere to stay, so Marsha kindly gave them a job, one included painting her new apartment.

That Christmas, Marsha got Mick a puppy and Mick, for the first time, told her that he loved her.

Marsha was in a good place. Opportunities were coming to her fast, she had a new apartment, and she was in love with Mick. She had newfound stability and independence. 

In January 1970, they were having dinner at the celebrity hotspot restaurant Mr. Chow’s when Mick said that she’d be a good mother and that they should have a baby together. Prior to this Marsha thought she was just another girl he fancied, as he was a notorious womanizer. But the talk of having a baby made her feel special to him. Her feelings for him were so deep that she also claimed, “I would have died for him.”

She knew Marianne miscarried around the same time Keith Richards’ son Marlon was born. Mick also missed family life with Marianne’s son Nicholas, so wanted to give having a baby a second try.

This fool literally made Marsha take out her birth control and IUD coil, they proceeded to have sex like rabbits, and when she found out she was 3 weeks pregnant, she told Mick who was ecstatic.

Marsha literally said to him, “Listen, if you’re not ready and you changed your mind about this, it’s okay.” She was totally ready to get an abortion. But he assured her that it was what he wanted and he was happy.

They had their first argument when it came time to naming their baby. Mick wanted a boy who he could send to the prestigious Eton School (the all-boys school where Prince William & Prince Harry attended), and he proposed that they call the baby ‘Midnight Dream’. Marsha wasn’t having it and even said, “Imagine sticking your head out of a window to call your child home and yelling, 'Midnight. Midnight! Time for tea.’”

She'd known that he and the band were leaving England for tax reasons and moving to France in the coming year. The Stones were also gearing up for their upcoming European tour.

Even though she loved Mick, he was young and she claimed she was “all for Mick doing his own thing”. They were supposed to be the sophisticated embodiment of an alternative social ideal — parent-hood shared between loving friends living separate lives.

This was around the time of the sexual revolution and people were exploring different types of relationships. Marsha didn’t find gratification in being “Mr. So and So’s” wife, plus Mick wasn’t the marriage type either. He was the type of guy to get up at 2pm to start his day - so marriage was sort of off the table. Though, unbeknownst to Marsha, Mick has thought of proposing, she claimed their relationship “thrived off her being supportive” and she loved to see him “run free”. And since she grew up in a matriarchy, the ideal of a man and woman living together seemed nice but unnecessary. They agreed that Mick would be a good absent father while he made his music and toured with The Rolling Stones, and Marsha could still have her own life and career. It was all very modern!

Marsha also feared that her association with Mick would crowd out her own identity. She didn’t like the limelight because it was a discomfort. She also never wanted to be known as Mick Jagger's girlfriend (can you blame her? So many of his girlfriends tried to commit suicide). Like him, she wanted her own independence.

By June 1969, Marsha told her band and the press that she was pregnant, but did not give up the name of her baby’s father. However, one little clever ass reporter actually found out it was Mick Jagger and threatened to print it. She thought of suing but asked the Stones PR team to link him to another girl. She managed to get through her pregnancy without a media frenzy or being linked to Mick even though they had stepped out together many times, and he was ready to have it reported. 

While Mick was away touring in Europe, his phone calls got less frequent. The tour was a bit crazy, and although Mick invited her to go to Paris, he knew she'd refuse – she didn’t want to get caught up. But he told her he was lonely and had met someone in Paris that he was taking to Italy. Her name was Bianca. She was Nicaraguan and spoke little English. Mick didn't mention her again, but after the tour, Marsha knew that she had moved to his house in England. 

His publicist sent her an invite to the premiere of his corny movie, “Ned Kelly,” but he didn’t show up. He also invited his parents to the event and it was there she realized that the bastard didn’t tell them that he had a baby on the way. Mick hardly lavished praise on his parents and even once told the press, “I owe them nothing. They are my parents, that is that…but there are no dues to be made by me to them!”

By her third trimester, having a baby became her whole reality and his passing fancy. He started to forget that the baby was HIS idea. 

Despite Marsha carrying his child, practically all references to her and the baby were quickly airbrushed out of his life. Chris O'Dell, Mick’s PA in the early ‘70s was even quoted as saying, “I never remember him talking about their child. In fact, I wasn’t aware of a baby being around at all. It was almost like [his first child] didn’t exist.”

Marsha was put in a difficult position because it was too late to go back and sometimes he’d phone her like nothing ever happened. She claimed his mood would change so quickly, he was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She also said, “I've discovered that he can burn hot and suddenly cool to below zero.”

She started to worry that he didn’t care anymore, so, she tried to squeeze in any and every piece of work she possibly could to hold her up during and after her pregnancy (tv shows, photoshoots, etc.). She also volunteered at a local mental-care center in the autistic unit caring for a 12 year old boy to keep from feeling useless.

[BELOW: A heavily pregnant Marsha performing in late 1970.]

At the same time, Mick also did a lot of peculiar interviews, either stating he wasn’t interested in having children or flat out dissing Marsha. During a 1970 interview with London’s Daily Mail newspaper he even said, “For me, life has always got to be on the move and exciting. I love kids, I really do…but it’s not something I’m thinking about.” He of course failed to mention that Marsha was expecting their first child.

[BELOW: Mick during an interview referencing Marsha & his unborn child in 1970.]

Once it was time for her to give birth, a hard-up Marsha was ashamed and reluctant to ask him for any contribution because he never once offered. Mick ultimately gave her a measly £200 to get by, which came with a note saying “I know I haven’t done right by you” and he also “loaned” her a ring he always wore.

She had initially planned a natural home delivery to keep the press at bay and because it was the “it” thing to do at the time, but was told by her OB-GYN that her baby was in danger and that she had to go to the hospital the next day. 

On November 3rd, she dragged her own luggage and hailed a taxi to the hospital only to be told there weren’t enough beds. Panicked and scared, she went back home quite sure she was going to die from an unassisted childbirth.

When she went back to the hospital the next day for an induced labor, she checked in with her married name “Ratledge” to protect herself (and Mick). On November 4, 1970 after hours of labor, she gave birth to a girl she named Karis and phoned Mick first and then her mother. That day was the first time Mick actually told his now girlfriend, Bianca, that Marsha and his baby existed.

While waiting in the maternity ward, the nurses also forgot to feed Marsha who was so hungry. But being on The National Health, she didn’t complain.  

When she checked out of the hospital, Mick sent a bouquet of red roses,  a miniature muse figurine for the baby, a silver spoon, and some cheap Indian earrings for Marsha. He “dropped by” two days later to see his baby but was in a hurry to be somewhere else.

10 days later, he paid another rushed visit, but she eventually took him to the side because she wasn’t in the mood to entertain his detachment.  And she was kinda like, “Hey! What’s up with you? Why don’t you call or come around more often for the baby” trying to get some genuine reaction out of him instead of keeping her at bay with the polite chitchat bullshit, in which he snapped and yelled at her, “I never loved you” and told her that she was “mad to think that he had”. Of course Marsha, hormonal, stitches still in, burning and all, did not expect for him to stab back and immediately started to cry, which only made him more angry. The piece of shit even had the audacity to threaten to take her newborn baby away from her if he chose. She stopped and in a stern voice said, “Try it! I’d blow your brains out!!”

In that moment, the loyalty she had for him was gone. She had no choice but to push forward and tried to find as much work as she could to support herself and her baby.

[BELOW: Marsha & Mick after the birth of their first child Karis Hunt in late 1970.]

READ ‘PART 2’ HERE!!! ☕️☕️☕️

[vindicated-truth]

(Originally written here)

There are three things that stood out to me here about Oh Jihwa's background:

Jihwa as a licensed psychotherapist

While it wasn't explained how or why she got that certification, it certainly makes a whole lot of sense for her character.

For one thing, it explains exceptionally well why she's the only one among the crazy ensemble of their little Manyang family who has a remarkably sane head on her shoulders. She's the most logical, most level-headed, and most objective of them all, less prone to being blinded by emotion while embracing the empathy it entails instead of shunning it.

(The latter is what sets her apart—and in some ways better—than Joowon.)

In everything else, she's also remarkably the most similar to Joowon: strictly law-abiding, refusing to let human attachment get in the way of enforcing justice, wants the best for everyone precisely through calling them out on their bullshit, instead of enabling it.

It makes the most sense, actually, that Dongsik is drawn to both Joowon and Jihwa in similar ways, with the only difference in Dongsik's slightly sexist—albeit completely understandable and not without merit, considering how the victims were all women—overprotectiveness of Jihwa as a woman.

It also makes sense for Jihwa to be the most fitting to be Dongsik's best friend, as she is actually the best suited to deal with Dongsik's multiple psychological issues because of her qualification in psychotherapy. She's the most capable of handling Dongsik the right way, and it clearly shows with the way she deals with him constantly without babying him, enabling him, or patronizing him.

In a way, she mirrors Joowon in this. Which leads me to my next point and theory:

Jihwa as potentially Dongsik's love interest in the initial conception of the script

When Joowon asked Dongsik, "Are you jealous?" when Dongsik demanded Jihwa to refrain from meeting her ex-husband again, I can now see where the showrunners might have headed with this, given what we've now seen as an initial conception of the background of Dongsik's and Jihwa's relationship in the script:

Lee Dongsik. The moment he was brought into her father’s Taekwondo studio by his father, Lee Hanoh, she sensed that they were alike. Sure enough, whenever something happened his kicks flew first, just like her. He was also strong against the strong and kind to the weak, just like she was. The neighbourhood elders used to tell her over and over that she should get married to Dongsik. At first she hated hearing it, but after a while she got used to it. Maybe even liked it a little.

There was potential there, had everything not went through hell because of Kang Jinmook, for Dongsik and Jihwa to have been romantically involved, at least for a trial run, had they caved in to familial and societal pressure.

And I now realize why:

Jihwa can be seen a female counterpart of Joowon much in the same way that Jaeyi can be seen as a female counterpart of Dongsik.

Because Jaeyi has incredible similarity to Dongsik too: headstrong and passionate, fiercely protective of the people they love, unheeding of societal norms and more likely to follow their own personal convictions, stubborn and upfront about their own personal beliefs, fearless in blatantly breaking the law as long as it brings forth the justice they believe in.

(In D&D terms, both Joowon and Jihwa can be classified as Lawful Good, while both Dongsik and Jaeyi can be classified as Chaotic Good.)

Had the showrunners decided to take the more conventional route of Korean dramas, I can actually see how they could get away with the parallelism of Jihwa and Jaeyi as mirrors of Joowon and Dongsik in turn, and naturally heading down the path of what could have been a more heteronormative and age-appropriate potential romantic involvement between Joowon and Jaeyi, and Dongsik and Jihwa.

I'm honestly not against the thought. It could have worked had it been done well, considering the natural talent of both Kim Sujin and Shim Nayeon in fleshing out characters and their relationships to each other. And considering their similarities, Jaeyi and Jihwa can serve as a proper balance too to both Joowon and Dongsik, in ways that are similar to how Joowon and Dongsik are to each other.

Except—it would have been a massive disservice to both Jihwa and Jaeyi by once again limiting and devolving their characters into being written in as nothing more than romantic interests of the male leads, instead of the superior and incredible female characters they already are in themselves.

The showrunners made the best decision in not shoehorning in the romance—even as the natural potential was there—because it's in precisely letting these women be freely who they are in themselves is exactly what made each of their characters shine best.

(And the irony is: both Jihwa's and Jaeyi's strength as female characters lies in what they cannot be for both Dongsik and Joowon in turn, in a way that both Dongsik and Joowon desperately need:

Jihwa and Jaeyi are both much too sane to ever give in to either man's brand of lunacy, which is the kind that only Dongsik and Joowon can give to each other: that raw, unhindered, unfiltered, all-encompassing devotion.

Ironically, both women have a much stronger sense of self-worth to ever blindly lay their soul on the line for a man.

As they should.)

And finally, this is the most remarkable thing that stood out to me about Jihwa's character background:

Jihwa's estranged friendship with Jeongje

Despite how it's the three of them who have the longest history together, it has always struck me how Jihwa strangely feels like the outsider to their trio.

It felt, to me, like she was left out a lot in the bond that Dongsik and Jeongje uniquely share.

At first I had thought it was because Jeongje was the one leaving her out, whether deliberately or unwittingly, with the way canonically in both Jeongje's character background and the actual show, Jeongje keeps referring to Dongsik as "his only friend", as if Jihwa isn't right there along with them.

Which is why it fascinates me now to find out that it was Jihwa herself who was deliberately avoiding being too close to Jeongje, finding excuses to not be around him more than necessary since they were young.

And again, it circles back to Jihwa's incredibly sensible background as a licensed psychotherapist: perhaps she always had the inclination, due to her nature as being logical and level-headed, and had always been attuned to the fact, even before she was professionally trained for it, that there was something about Jeongje she was right to be wary of.

And again, it also circles back to how this makes her remarkably similar to Joowon in this too:

Just like Joowon, she had always wondered if Jeongje's attachment to Dongsik isn't necessarily healthy for Dongsik.

(And Dongsik himself had always felt it too, that it was Jeongje who was clinging to him more than necessary, more than what is normal, the way he had pointed it out to Do Haewon herself.)

[pmamtraveller]

WORKS BY EGON SCHIELE

1/ Self-Portrait with Physalis (1912)

This self-portrait clearly reveals the intense gaze of Schiele and his introspective nature. It is also symbolic of his search for identity and bold style of expression. Here, one also finds physalis plants, which are the symbols of fertility and rebirth, motifs recurrent in his work.

2/ Seated Woman with Bent Knee (1917)

It is a supreme example of how Schiele depicted the human form but most especially the female figure. One of the unique artistic signatures of his style is the use of elongated limbs and contorted poses fighting against the conventions within works of beauty, instead rooting in raw emotion and psychological depth. This work reflects his exploration of sexuality and the human condition, themes that were central to his artistic vision.

3/ The Family (1918)

Done at a time of much personal turmoil, the painting depicted Schiele and his wife, Edith, with an unborn child. It epitomizes his temporary domestic happiness before his wife and unborn child died in the tragic 1918 influenza pandemic. This work is touching as it captures the fleeting moment of joy amidst Schiele's personal tragedy.

4/ Death and Maiden (1915)

It is one of his famous works, symbolizing his interest in mortality and the erotic. Schiele painted the skeletal figure of Death embracing the young woman as a representation of his fascination with death and the human form. It was influenced by the mortality he witnessed during World War I.

5/ Cardinal and Nun (1912)

This piece reflects Schiele's interest in the exploration of human relationships and the dualism of eroticism and spirituality. It juxtaposes the purity of the nun with the cardinal's intense gaze, challenging societal norms, and reflecting Schiele's interest in exploring the boundaries of human desire and repression.

6/ The Embrace (1917-1918)

This is probably the most intimate work by Schiele, depicting a couple in a passionate embrace. The entwined figures express both physical desire and emotional connection, reflecting the artist's complicated view on love. This work strikes the viewer with raw emotions and an unflinching presentation of eroticism.

7/ Portrait of Wally Neuzil (1912)

Wally Neuzil, the muse and lover of Schiele, depicted with great intensity and closeness. Neuzil is one of those people whom he often depicted in various roles, showcasing themes such as femininity, sexuality, and vulnerability. The portrait reflects Schiele's personal relationships and his interest in capturing the inner essence of his subjects.

[twistmusings]

Character Analysis of the Twisted Wonderland Dorm Rooms - Pomefiore

Dorm Room Character Analysis Series

Heartslabyul | Savanaclaw | Octavinelle | Scarabia | Pomefiore | Ignihyde | Diasomnia

Vil Schoenheit

Vil actually has quite a few interesting little details in Vil's room!

Of course, Vil has workout equipment as well as yoga equipment. We know that Vil cares a lot about his appearance. Canonically, we also know that Vil works out the Jack in the mornings, and the two are friends. I feel like it's not a surprise to say that while it's fine to be interested in looking good, Vil tends to take this to an extreme. (Of course, this being a callback to the Evil Queen from Snow White.)

It's also interesting to note, though the theme color of Pomefiore is already a violet color, Vil has additional items in his room in a Violet color beyond what is the standard issue items for NRC, including his bedspread, pillows, chaise lounge, and additionally, it looks like most of his books on his shelves are a violet color, leading me to believe he likely uses book covers on them. Similar to with Trey and Cater, this leads me to believe that Vil's favorite color is likely Purple/violet. (This also tracks with him having a purple fashion color in his hair.) Violet colors typically are associated with Royalty due to it being a hard color to create in the early days of dyeing clothing, however psychologically it is commonly associated with ambition, power, creativity, and wisdom - which are all pretty apt descriptors for Vil.

Though wisdom might be a bit questionable in some cases - examining how Vil interacts with Epel in particular is a good indicator of this. Vil knows that being hyper masculine isn't attainable for Epel, so he guides him toward finding his own definition of his masculinity. Even if Vil is tough-love and doesn't always go about teaching this the correct way, it's clear that Vil has matured in a lot of aspects and actually wants to guide the others in his dormitory toward things he thinks will make them feel more fulfilled and whole. Vil is particularly interesting because of his dichotomy - there are times where it's easy to forget that Vil is barely an adult because of how he speaks and then he hits you with something like having to ask to be held back from punching Neige during the VDC. Speaking as an older person who has been there, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of early adulthood where you're still figuring things out! I definitely have a soft spot for Vil because of it.

Vil's room also features a bouquet! Though it's a little less clear than Riddle's bouquet, but if I had to hazard a guess, they appear to be pink carnations, baby's breath, and a hard to distinguish yellow flower. If I had to hazard a guess as to the yellow flower, it looks a bit like Yellow Cushion Pompoms but it's honestly hard to tell. Pink carnations are often associated with fondness or motherly love, Baby's breath is often associated with sincerity and purity, and yellow cushion pompoms which are generally associated with joy and passion. To be quite honest, none of these particularly ring with Vil's storyline unless you count him being something of a matriarch figure to his dorm, but I think an interesting take may be that they may have been sent by fans or a fellow actor/actress given the flower meaning!

All of Pomefiore feature an apple theming, particularly Epel and Vil. Vil has notable themeing in his rug pattern and his apple branch framed mirror.

Another thing of note, Vil has a crown motif over his bed. All of the other rooms we see in Pomefiore have a canopy, but Vil is the only one who has a whole crown over his bed. This lends to his royal theming, and in addition to one other item in the room...

the Chaise lounger at the foot of his bed, Vil has all of the hallmarks of a dramatic victorian woman in an old movie. I have said it before about Twisted Wonderland Characters, but he is cringe and he is free. Vil loves dramatics - he's an actor, he's a drama queen, and he's definitely draped himself over that Chaise Lounge and had Rook grab the smelling salts when he's feeling faint.

Now while I've talked a lot about Vil's penchant for dramatics, I think it's worth noting that even if his aesthetics are important to him, Vil is the only person to have a normal ballpoint pen on his desk. It's a fancy ballpoint pen with a stand, yes, but I think there is a takeaway from this. Whereas Riddle and Azul have a rather dramatic version of this, Vil, arguably the most dramatic Dorm Leader, does not have a quill. Why would that be? Well, probably the obvious reason. Convenience. Why would Vil want to use a quill pen when he could more easily use a ballpoint pen? It tells us that Vil is not averse to taking an easier route when it feels reasonable to him.

Stick with me for a moment, because while this might seem like a silly train of thought over a pen, but I think it gives a bit of insight into how Vil thinks. In book 6 (and yes, spoilers for those of you who have not been able to complete the story yet, I understand your pain), but Vil makes a point when talking to Idia to point out that unless he makes an effort, the chances of something he wants to happen actually happening aren't likely.

So, in combination with his pen, let's examine a little further. We know that Vil comes down hard on Epel for basically everything, which would seem to contradict the idea that he likes the ability to take a more convenient route though, right? No, actually, and that's because of one main thing - Vil hates to see wasted potential. Sure, when it comes to something like using a ballpoint pen or a beauty product that's more effective, he's all for it, but he also knows that in order to get anywhere meaningful, it's not likely at all to fall into your lap. Vil latches onto Epel because he sees that he has potential, even though Epel doesn't understand why he's doing it. From Epel's point of view, it feels like Vil thinks everything is wrong from him, but Vil actually just wants him to change his perspective. Vil expects a lot, of course. An unfair amount, even, however you can see that he is trying to be a mentor. Basically, this entire TLDR is about the fact that I think assuming Vil is a hardass just to be a hardass isn't the way to look at this - he values efficiency and he values people working toward getting what they want. He comes down hard on people who try and shirk work and avoid reaching their full potential as he sees it. he isn't against them taking a more efficient route to get to that potential so long

Mickey is hidden just above Vil's headboard.

Epel Felmier

Epel, of course, has the most apple themed room! Like several of the other freshmen, there's not a ton to examine here. Of course Epel's apple decorations lend to the pride he seems to have for Harveston, but he does have a couple of notable things.

To start, let's take a look at Epel's pinboard. He has a lot of photos on his pinboard, and likely a lot of these are either family or group pictures with his school mates. Epel doesn't talk about photography a lot in canon, so this is an interesting thing for him to have, especially when he has more photos on his pinboard than Cater, the one who is known to be a photographer. What does this mean? Well, simply put, Epel is sentimental. He likely hangs these photos up because they remind him of people he likes and fond memories. Epel does express a lot of fondness for his home town, but it's neat to see that he goes out of his way to make sure he holds onto photographs that are important to him.

Epel is one of the only Freshmen who brought a comforter with him to use on his bed! Given what we know about Harveston, this would seem to be a Scandinavian-style quilt. We know that Granny Marja Felmier is a talented seamstress, so it seems likely that she probably made him this quilt!

Epel's hidden Mickey is in the box of apples in his room!

Rook Hunt

Disclaimer as I know these posts reach beyond my normal audience, but Rook is by far my least favorite character in general. This is not me trying to yuck anyone's yum, of course, I just am saying this because of all of the characters, I have read the least of Rook's Vignettes, as I tend to leave him as far from my class lineup as possible. I honestly can't say that I know as much about Rook as I do the other characters.

To start with, let's start by stating something that most people know: Rook is loosely based on the Huntsman from Snow White, so of course we see a lot of hunting memorabilia in his room - particularly arrows and bows. Now, given that this is a magic school, we can't be sure that the rules are the same, but that does pose the question are hunting weapons prohibited on campus? If yes, then this is pretty normal, but if no, then it's entirely possible that Crowley doesn't know that Rook has weaponry in his room. Not that Crowley would do anything about this, of course, but I think it's worth saying that if it weapons are prohibited, this means that Rook is willing to bend or break rules.

It's also worth noting that of all of Pomefiore in general are cleanly. I imagine having Vil as a Dormwarden means that he probably doesn't allow much mess in their dorms. This ties in a little with the next point:

As has been pointed out by several others before, Rook has photographs attached to the wall behind the wallpaper that he has pulled down. This implies that these photos are something that he would normally hide, and as they aren't brought up by the others to my knowledge. People have speculated a lot about what they could be, and while i can't give any real additional insight, the common consensus is that they are of Neige or of other students at NRC that he considers his "quarry". Regardless, this implies that these photos are likely ones that he hides behind the wallpaper in his room and that Rook has reason to want to hide them, be that embarrassment or something else.

Of note, Rook also has a framed photo on his desk, though as to who is in it, it's hard to say. We know that Rook has a large family, so it's hard to say that it's a family photo given that it's a portrait photograph and likely to be of one or a handful of people. My best guess is that this is probably a photo of Rook and the other two from his dorm, considering it's on his desk. It could also be a photo of Rook and Neige, as we know that Vil is aware of him being a fan of Neige. (Vil likely has a reason to think of this beyond Rook having his album of Niege memorabilia, as Vil seems unlikely to just go snooping through Rook's things without asking.)

Rook also has a pair of Binoculars on his desk, ready to go. If I had to guess, these are likely for people watching, given that it's shown that Rook likes to do just that.

Now, something of note that I haven't seen pointed out before, but should be recognizable to anyone who has played through book 5 - does the droplet motif on Rook's comforter look familiar? It should, if it doesn't.

It's the same droplet motif that's on Neige's sweater. Now, while this is less noticeable in the English release, in the Japanese release I'm sure this was one heck of an easter egg to see while book 5 was still releasing if you were able to put two and two together. It's of note that these blood-drop patterns are not seen with any other characters in Pomefiore as a motif - it's literally just Rook and Neige. What does that mean? Well, the obvious about Rook - he likes Neige, obviously. However for the story, it means that Twisted Wonderland hides easter eggs toward story events in character's rooms, including characters that are not the Dorm Leaders. So far, we've seen the most clues about the events that happen in the Dorm leader's rooms, but it doesn't seem to be exclusive to the Dorm leaders.

Rook's Hidden Mickey is on his lamp. I have included the night-time version of the room in this as it's incredibly hard to see otherwise.

[fallingtowers]

the way buffy the vampire slayer uses guns is really interesting. it's very consistent, and might be divided into three different "tiers" depending on the wielder's role in the story, each of which signifies certain traits:

unnamed background characters, usually police officers, who carry guns as a matter of course. in and of itself i don't think this means much -- it's not much deeper than "cops have guns in the show because cops have guns in real life" -- but because of the way btvs depicts the police, we might call this part and parcel of a symbolic set which marks a character as a "civilian," unaware of the supernatural world and not equipped to deal with it. guns can't kill vampires, so the gun here ironically becomes a symbol of powerlessness.

antagonists. here, the gun signifies callousness, cynicism, and a disregard for life. we see this for example in cain ("phases"), the german commandos ("homecoming"), and patrice ("what's my line"). an interesting case is coach marin ("go fish"), who as far as i can remember never fires his gun but who possesses the traits associated with this tier regardless. note also that characters in this tier are almost universally driven by a desire for money, so that the gun here is also associated with selfishness and greed.

(mostly) major, (mostly) sympathetic characters. here, the gun signifies desperation and psychological anguish on the part of the wielder. the wielder is cracking under some great pressure, and the gun symbolizes a desperate and misguided attempt to reassert control. the standout example here is riley, who does this twice -- once in "goodbye, iowa" and again in "the yoko factor" -- but we might also mention james in "i only have eyes for you" and spike in "fool for love." note also that warren falls into this category, rather than tier 2 (hence why i specified "mostly sympathetic") -- his shooting buffy is a crime of passion, not a dispassionate, cynical act, and crucially he only resorts to using the gun after buffy has bested him at every turn for almost a full season: a last-ditch attempt to regain control. the gun again comes to symbolize helplessness, but here has an added layer in that its use will actively make one's situation worse. james and warren both pulled the trigger, and see where that got them. riley and spike didn't, so they were spared by the narrative.

again and again, we see the show go out of its way to avoid its characters using guns except in these very specific cases. buffy's projectile weapon of choice is a crossbow; the initiative rank-and-file almost exclusively use taser guns. even faith, after her heel turn, doesn't use guns, because her motives don't align with those of tier 2; instead, she uses a bow.

as an aside, it would be inaccurate to say that buffy never uses a gun -- in "i only have eyes for you," when james possesses her, she confronts angel at gunpoint. similarly, willow gets her hands on a gun in "the killer in me." these two cases share an interesting similarity -- in both examples, the character is being compelled to act uncharacteristically by forces outside her control, thus reinforcing the gun as a symbol of powerlessness.

(it's also worth noting that there's a pattern where the gun is associated with specifically gendered violence. the characters in tier 3 are almost universally male, and they almost universally shoot or threaten to shoot women. buffy and willow break the mold, but both of their cases are echoes of earlier events where a man shot a woman. something something phallic imagery.)

this all speaks to a very measured and clear-sighted moral stance. in the world of btvs, guns are bad. at best, if you use one, you are a clueless idiot way out of your depth; at worst, you're going to die badly. or, in buffy's own words (from "flooded"):

[commsroom]

The lack of people talking about how hot Hera is is one of life's greatest dissapointments . Do you not like women that are clinging to stability by their fucking wires . She's so tragic its almost greek and she loves her friends and watching her grow into herself only made her more hot . More people need fo thirstpost about Hera .

you're soo right. i think desire is a one of the core drives of hera as a character. she is a fundamentally human person with the same wants and psychological needs as anyone else, but she lacks the physicality and autonomy that would allow her to interact with the tangible world. key points of her character arc center around her self image and being seen, and i think that disconnect between how she wants to be perceived and her lack of physical form is... well it's interesting to me for reasons related to her disability, and it's interesting to me if you read her as a trans woman, and all of those things intersect with sexuality in significant ways. wolf 359 is not the type of show that discusses sexuality, but i think it's interesting to consider for hera specifically because it's something she's not supposed to want. she's given the capacity for human desire and then told it isn't for people like her. and that is... a particular type of tragedy that i feel very close to my heart. she knows physical pain, but the closest thing to a good sensation that she really ever gets is relief. there's a lot you could do with that. and also just, i don't know! hera is constantly getting the message that the only valuable thing about her is the work she can perform, and she's more than that. she's funny, she's passionate, she desperately wants to trust and connect with people even after all the ways she's been let down by them. she deserves to feel wanted for who she is, and she deserves to feel like she's allowed to want things.

[naoko-world]

My opinion on the Percy Jackson tv show season 1!

So I watched season one of the Percy Jackson tv show as it was released and now here is time for a quick review!

Sorry I wanted to finish this drawing before, hope you like it! (To be honest i didn't draw the drawing on the shirts, I just used what was used on the Disney store, but I draw the rest.) You can see it on my Instagram too, without the review

SPOILER WARNING

I'll start my review of season one by talking about...

The characters

Well, first I wanna say I like how the three main characters are being portrayed here ! Percy is a very loving and kind character while Annabeth is a smart girl desperately looking for recognition from her mother. As for Grover, he's a kind and clumsy satyr who really likes Percy and it shows. Basically these three characters love and trust each other and it's incredibly obvious ! Even Annabeth and Percy, who start their relationship by not being that much trusting in each other. I really like how their quest improve their relationship !

What I love too is how the adults are shown, especially Sally and Poseidon. Sally, who was shown as a perfect mother in the book, became a woman who is doing her best to raise her son in the series and I find it so interesting ! The book is in Percy's point of view so it's obvious that he would see her that way, but the tv series isn't exclusively from his point of view so it can show her turning desperate because she don't know how to effectively protect her son. I can say I really like her scene with Poseidon too, that was so touching!

Just a word about Gabe, who is way less clearly abusive. A lot of people thought it was a problem, that he was too nice, but I thought it made him even more scary because if he's not physically violent against Sally, he's still clearly psychologically abusive. Though it seems like Sally is able to manage him a bit.

Just remember that abuse isn't always physical, that you can be abusive without hitting anyone.

The gods

I can say I like how the gods that appears in this first season are portrayed!

Dionysus is so manipulative and bitter, I love it! Even if we never say it in the series (from memory), it's obvious that he doesn't want to take care of the demigods, and I love it!

Ares is wonderfully portrayed as a being who has a real passion for the war ! For example, we see him having fun on Twitter and, later, Grover succeed to convince him to talk to him by talking about less-known wars. He also has that wonderful vibe of "don't mess with me or I'm going to beat you to death".

We don't see Hephaestus a lot but again you feel it's someone confident who is a very skilled blacksmith.

I love that as soon as we meet Hades he's very welcoming and behaving in a very "I don't care about what's happening with my brothers" way. He just want to protect the underworld and, again, it's obvious.

Zeus is incredibly intimidating which, again, I love so strongly ! I can understand why no one would stand to him.

Finally, Poseidon is a very loving dad who can't do much for his son but is trying when he can try. I also love how, at the end, he ends up standing to Zeus to protect Percy. Then the very awkward interaction he has with him because the didn't talk much, Poseidon was mostly absent, but he still love him.

The adaptation

Now, of course I'll talk about the adaptation. And I'll start this part by a very personal story: how I discovered Percy Jackson.

I started my discovery with the movies. Actually with the first one only, I didn't want to watch the second one because I didn't understand why it would have a sequel. I thought it was enjoyable, though very cliche, but far from the best movies. As I didn't know the original story I thought it must have been an adaptation of a very average book series who must have gotten a bit of success and has been adapted because Hollywood didn't have any idea anymore.

Then I finally read the books because a friend insisted it was good, and Internet was talking about how it was full of representations... And now I hate the movies ! Because I considered we could have gotten incredible movies out of the books ! But we didn't...

Honestly I'm not angry that the tv series made so many changes. Because it wasn't exactly my problem with the movies. My problem was it made changes that didn't make any sense, transformed the story into something very cliche and sexist, and wasn't respectful of the mythology when the book was.

I'll only give one example that angers me a lot: Grover's case.

In the book Grover is a very sweet, kind, brave and goofy character who love his friends and even more his girlfriend Juniper! He's very likeable, and a good protector for the demigods he's in charge of.

In the movie he's not likeable at all. He's a goofy character and likes Percy but he isn't sweet and only think about girls... Like you have a scene where he decides to stay with Persephone because she's hot... He clearly isn't sacrificing himself at all. Overall I don't think he's likeable, I thought he was kinda useless and annoying.

In the tv series... He's kinda goofy but not too much, and he's sweet, kind and brave. More than that, he's considerate and I actually like that he's clearly intelligent in this show because he lived longer than Percy and Annabeth. He's not entirely faithful to his book counterpart but the changes make sense and he's still very likeable and I want to hug him so hard !

For now, I'll conclude there. I'll probably rewatch it and make a new review later but I don't want to say I'll surely do it so I won't have pressure. That first season wasn't perfect but it was pretty enjoyable and I can't wait seeing what they're doing next. To be fair, The lightning thief wasn't the best book of the series so I understand it wasn't as fun as the last books.

[kdramaxoxo]

hihi!! i wanna ask for a list of dramas with a lead whos cold, mysterious, haunted by a troubled past, secretive, prolly has a vocabulary of like 10 words. but is super soft on the inside, like they push ppl away cus theyre afraid of hurting them or being abandoned or smthn like that. ik this is hyper specific so sryyy if its hard to answer, but all my fave characters fit this bill so wanted to kno if u have any kdrama that can give me this high (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧ thxxx!! ♡

p.s. it doesnt have to b exxxactly this but if it fits a few of the categories, ill be happi! ♡♡

We LOVE mysterious haunted trauma babies over here so thank you for this ask. (also this might be one of my favorite lists ever??)

K-Dramas leads with cold personalities/mysterious past, secretive trauma pups...morally grey a plus

The Smile has left your eyes - Kim Moo-Young Aside from this k-drama being a masterpiece that’ll leave you a pile of tears, Seo in Guk as Kim Moo-Young is the perfect example of a morally grey character you will fall in love with. He’s involved in a murder plot line, uses women to get what he wants and is clearly hiding something. You’ll try to resist being interested in him sure, but you’ll fail.

Beyond Evil - both leads This is a passionate unrequited romance crime drama about two detectives that are paired up to solve a crime in a small town. Everyone is really messed up and that's what makes this drama super good! Scary, haunted and super well written.

Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 - Lee Rang Lee Rang is one of my favorite trauma pup blorbo from my shows! This drama is the second season of the fantasy drama Tale of the Nine Tailed. I recommend you watch both but season two was my favorite because it focused on Lee Rang. You will LOVE HIM! MUST PROTEC.

Alice The Final Weapon - Gyeo Wool Finally a GIRL with a traumatic past and the boy who loves her!! Actually everyone in this drama is messed up and dealing with horrific things. It's a very short and creative little drama and despite the gore, I really fell for the mains! They are blorbo from my shows!

See You In My 19th Life (both leads) This drama featuring a woman who can remember her past lives was one of my favorites this year! Both leads are tackling the trauma of the FL's death and there is a lot of healing that has to happen. Shin Hye Sun is a goddess!

The Eighth Sense - Jae Won A queer kdrama about two leads that meet surfing and fall in love. This drama is my favorite "bl" k-drama ever and the lead definitely has a traumatic past he's in therapy for. I highly recommend this one!

Flower of Evil - Hyun Soo: A psychological thriller centered around a jewelry maker who is running from his past, and his cop wife (power couple alert!)  who doesn’t know his original identity. The chemistry of the couple is amazing and all of the characters are nuanced and interesting. I was on the edge of my seat, AND sobbing! Also, I finally understand Lee Jun Ki stans, he was SO GOOD in this! A total trauma pup you won't believe it.

Doom at Your Service: Doom A girl is diagnosed with cancer and a morally grey god grants her wish to live 100 more days the way she wants to live. While I didn't LOVE this drama, the romance is amazing - that KISS! Doom is the perfect damaged god with a chip on his shoulder.

Hello Monster - Lee Hyun and His Brother Jung Sun-Ho Featuring two brothers who have a murderous backstory, both are morally grey. Sure one is definitely “worse” than the other when it comes to being a murder baby but let’s face it - they both have their problems (sorry, didn’t want to post any spoilers so that’s all I can say about that!)

The Crowned Clown: Ha-seon The King The contrast between the good guy and the bad guy in this historical drama are so interesting to watch because one brilliant actor (Yeo Jin Goo) plays the same character. The king is insane and a murderer. He’s terrible in every way with literally no way to be redeemed but you’ll still feel for him…just watch.

My Liberation Notes - Mr. Gu This slice of life takes place mostly in a small town where siblings who really don't want to be there, live. Mr. Gu is renting one of the buildings and he's extremely burdened and and keeps to himself. I personally didn't ship him with the lead but he's definitely the type you're asking for!

Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Wang Soo Scarlet heart will destroy you, but you’ll also find yourself deeply empathetic to (and totally in love with) the most toxic of princes: Wang Soo. Cast out by his relatives, and treated like an animal he’s deeply wounded and despite knowing in your heart that he’s done terrible things, you’ll find yourself making excuses for him and imagining him as your boyfriend (wait…can you ignore that last sentence?)

Summer Strike - Both leads This slice of life has a quiet and thoughtful male lead who is traumatized by the murder of his sibling. I was a little disappointed in the ending but overall the show's mains were so soft and lovely.

Just Between Lovers - Both leads but. Kang Doo! I'm sure you knew I'd put this on the list but kang doo is my favorite trauma baby of all time. Slice of Life romance between poor pups just trying to live! The OTP is one of my favorite couples EVER and even as the years go on, very few couples have matched their love in my opinion. There’s a lot of comfort/healing themes with for me is just *chef’s kiss.* Lee Junho became my bias wrecker because of that drama.

Psycho But It’s Okay - Everyone A gorgeous k-drama using fairytale narrations as a backdrop, features two brothers who lost their mother, and a beautiful & famous author who grew up in a traumatic and abusive household. Everyone is very closed off and holding onto intense pain, but the three come together to help one another move on and find happiness. Gorgeous angsty and melodramatic romance.

Thirty But Seventeen - Woo Jin Precious puppies with past trauma! The main has basically stopped living his life because of his past. Don’t be turned off by the shows description as it turned out to be one of the best surprises of 2018 for me. The leads are lovely and everyone relies and supports one another - it’s so sweet.

Come and Hug Me - Do Jin This thriller is not for the faint of heart but the main theme is healing. Two friends are torn apart when the boy’s dad kills the girls entire family. Later in life, they find one another and walk on the path to healing while still being tormented by their past. It also focuses on the trauma and manipulation the killer has on the whole family, making the show beautiful, terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. 

Goblin: Grim Reaper Most of you have watched this drama but I’ll try hard not to spoil it. The Grim Reaper is such a hilarious character in the current time line but in order to be a Grim Reaper, you have to have done something “bad” to become one. His pain is deep and cutting and you’ll want to protect him.

It’s Okay that’s love: Jang Jae-yeol This is one of those cold male leads that you’ll just end up liking even though he’s kinda the worst in that “Pickup Artist” type of way? I had this show listed in my top 10 but then I recently watched it again and realized I’ve made progress in my “don’t like jerks who display jerk behavior” because he’s kinda an ass. You’ll soften for him when the plot moves along for sure, but he’s aggressive and says really sexist things sometimes (as does most of the male characters honestly - i really need to remove this from my top 10)…

Enjoy!

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

MARWA (WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (TV SERIES)) (CW: Mind Control)

1.) okok so a major character (nandor) uses a genie wish to bring back the 37 wives he had when he was human (he’s a vampire who was turned in the 1400s but is alive in the modern day) to pick his favorite to live with and settles on marwa. she’s established as someone who’s passionate about science and mathematics, but nandor uses his genie wishes to essentially mold her into his perfect woman like a doll, from changing her hair color to making her not want to go to the night market with him to making her like all the things he likes. this culminates in him LITERALLY TRANSFORMING HER INTO A BRITISH MAN NAMED FREDDIE and that is her send off from the show. the treatment of her is disgusting i’m sorry for ranting i love wwdits but honestly the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth

2.) WHERE TO START my god. Marwa is introduced into the story as one of a crowd of women who are interchangeable to the man summoning them, WHO IS HER CANONICAL HUSBAND but he gives less than half a fuck about her, which is played for laughs. The writers made it completely unclear whether she is a real person or basically a magical simulation with no inner life and did not bother to clarify that at any point. Her plotline consists of her husband using magical wishes to modify various aspects of her body and mind and the writers never explore whether she is aware this is happening or not, much less how she might be experiencing it. It is a terrifying psychological horror story from her perspective but we are not given any insight into her perspective so who cares I guess!! For example, he wishes for her to have a rounder ass and then wishes that all of her preferences align perfectly with his own, so that she'll stop nagging him about wanting different colored flowers at their wedding than him. There are SEVERAL more examples. Her experience of having all of her desires replaced with her husband's desires shows up only for jokes, plus one moment that is used to confirm that her husband's real love interest is one of the other male leads in the show. (I ship the two male characters, I'm not complaining about that, but like COME ON SHE WAS A HUMAN PERSON ONCE AND SHE IS LIVING IN A HORROR MOVIE AND THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT???) THE WORST PART is that when it's time for her to exit the story because her body and personality have already been essentially replaced by magic and she is now a boring toy, she is LITERALLY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY transformed into a random British man so that her husband can have that guy as a love interest instead of her. She (he? It? Again it is never NEVER explored whether Marwa is like, alive inside this British man's mind somehow? Or if she was ever really alive in her body?) moves to England to be in love with the original British man she was based off of, so basically her twin. This is also played for laughs. Her entire personality and body are not even killed off with like a death scene but literally ERASED FROM REALITY AND REPLACED WITH A COPY OF THIS SHITTY WHITE DUDE.

3.) (Context: Nandor is a vampire who has been alive for a while. When he was human he had 37 wives. (Btw some of the wives were men but that’s besides the point.))

She was brought back to life (along with a couple others) via Djinn wish just because Nandor wanted to have a ‘wife’ (some of the ‘wives’ are men). After being deemed the ‘best wife’ by Nandor she is the only one left alive. It is clear the entire fourth season that Nandor doesn’t care for her much and she is only there because Nandor wants to be married to someone. He ignores her wants and interests the whole season. Via another Djinn wish Nandor makes Marwa like everything he likes so she is more agreeable with him. Later on, he meets another character’s boyfriend named Freddie. Nandor basically falls for Freddie immediately and via Djinn wish, wishes Marwa to be exactly Freddie. :| With that wish, Marwa is effectively gone. She now looks and acts like Freddie. The two Freddies meet and after freaking out a little (and some magic) they get along because they like the same exact things. By the end of the season both Freddies are sent off to never be seen again. Also, Nandor has some extra Djinn wishes so he could’ve turned Marwa back but he didn’t.

Additional links: Article about the Freddie thing: https://www.themarysue.com/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-missed-hard-with-its-treatment-of-marwa/

She likes what he likes:

Also This:

MIKOKO SAKAZAKI (KAIJI)

1.) She is one of two (2) women with a speaking role in the manga (which has been ongoing since the 90s), and was the first female character to appear at all. She has a crush on the protagonist, Kaiji, but this is treated as a joke/ as gross because of her appearance. She is meant to be ugly because of the size of her nose and lips and therefore is invalid as a person. She has no role other than to pester Kaiji with her crush, and despite him ignoring or acting weirded out around her constantly, her attraction to him never fades. She gets almost no characterization outside of this and is only seen once after Kaiji leaves, where she is drawing a manga where he comes back to her. When she's shown once in a bikini, the sight is so disgusting to the protagonist that he sprints away at full speed. Despite this, she is sometimes used in ads for the series.

2.) Her face looks "too much like her father's", yet he never receives any negativity for it. Every single male character in the manga has the same style of facial features, yet when the creator puts them on a woman it makes her mockable and gross.

[theboarsbride]

Writeblr Introduction📚

Hey, hi, howdy! The name's Josephine, but feel free to call me Jojo (pronouns are she/her), your local monster enthusiast and DILF Collector!

My art and writing updates I post a lot on my social media accounts, which are as follows:

Instagram: jojo.writing.art

Twitter: JojoPenguin_Art

TikTok: jojo.penguin.writes

Discord: Jojo the Rad Penguin#3942

Tumblr: my DMs and ask box are always open!💛

I am ALWAYS down for chatting with and meeting other writers, and engaging with others’ content!! The primary genres I work with are:

- Horror (in varying genres, but primarily Gothic) - Paranormal - Monster Romance (I'm aroace as hell, so expect all my romances to be pretty 'clean' - AKA no erotica to be found here!) - Historical Fiction - Light Fantasy

If any of these genres interest you, feel free to keep on reading about my WIPs below the cut! Now about my general writing style...

Most of the stories I write are inspired by two things: fairytales and horror. A majority of my WIPs are either directly inspired or loosely based on some fairytale, folklore, or myth, and most are part of some genre of horror, whether it be Gothic, psychological, folk, survival, or supernatural. Also a lot of my writing influence comes from authors like Angela Carter, Sarah Waters, Caitlin Starling, Shirley Jackson, and Robin McKinley.

A list of my WIPs are below the cut!

Ghosts Plague These Halls || Novel || Gothic Romance + Historical (1890s) + Paranormal + Gothic Horror + Fairytale Retelling (Beauty and the Beast + Eros and Psyche) || 3rd Draft Edits + My Main WIP

Comp: Crimson Peak + The Bloody Chamber + La Belle et la Bete/Panna a Netvor

Whitechapel, London 1894.  Sophie Wickes and her family struggle to survive, melancholy eats away at her father more and more with each passing day, and her passion for cultivating flowers procures no income. She must swallow her pride and set aside her hatred for England’s aristocracy when she’s offered a chance of employment by the reclusive Lord Edgar Cushing to tend the gardens of his Rosenthorne Hall. However, the estate, its gardens, and their master is nothing what Sophie expected. The house? Rotting, dilapidated, hideous. The gardens? The husk of something alive, whimsical, and beautiful. The master? Faceless, nothing more than a voice from the shadows. Despite her fear and anger, Sophie becomes enthralled by the garden’s potential for mystic, untainted beauty, and she develops a close friendship with Lord Cushing, even though he is nothing but a mere whisper of darkness that pleads for her to never seek him out. However, whatever enchantment the gardens and Lord Cushing’s voice bring her shatters as she begins to receive nightly visitations from a crooked-jawed phantom and butterflies who’s wings whisper of a bloody past and the truth behind the faceless lord's gentlemanly masquerade.

Temperance and Mr. Wyrm || Novella || Body Horror + (Monster) Romance + Drama + Magical Realism + Historical (1980s) + Fairytale Retelling (King Lindworm) || 2nd Draft edits

Comp: The Fly... but make it snakes.

In a loose (and bloody) retelling of the King Lindworm folktale set against the backdrop of 1980s Milwaukee, two people try to navigate their unorthodox romance while an arcane, snake-like infection afflicts, and starts to change, one of them. Temperance Cavell, a six-foot tall woman living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, lives a quiet, unexciting, and demure existence running a convenience store with her mother. But despite her mother's overbearing nature, the nonstop caring of her ailing grandmother, and her near-nonexistent social life, she cannot complain. This life is quiet, she’s (somewhat) in control, and nothing is unexpected… That is until Jack Turner, the motorcycle-riding kleptomaniac with a heart of gold, bursts into her store one Saturday afternoon, and between them a romance reluctantly blooms. But such love is swiftly threatened to shatter when Jack’s body begins to betray him, contorting him into something that is completely, and utterly, non-human.

The Bones We Haunt || Novella || Gothic Horror + Historical Fiction + Period Drama + Romance || 1st Draft + A.K.A the WIP inspired byJojo simping for Ciarán Hinds

Comp: Jane Eyre + Bluebeard's Bride + The Death of Jane Lawrence + Mexican Gothic

November, 1899. While on holiday in Cambridge and attending museum lectures with her mother, Jane Sterling seeks to make this her chance to officially pursue her love of paleontology. While her family encourages the pursuit of passions and challenging rigid social norms, the institutes in place hinder her passion, making her resort to dressing brightly and speaking loudly for attention. Jane's chance comes to reveal itself in the form of the wealthy and reclusive Sir Terence Hayes, who’s come in search for her father, the esteemed paleobotonist Dr. Samson Sterling, to appraise fossils found in his garden. Her mother eagerly volunteers Jane to go in Dr. Sterling’s place as he remains ill in America, and Terence brings her to his isolated family's estate in the vast, deep, muddy marshes of Wolf’s Run. And the land is shrouded in urban legends. There are whispers of 'The Wolf's Run Beast,' the 'Monster of the Marshes,' that haunts the land under the cover of night, and as Terence leaves Jane to her work he is hell-bent that she's to return to Cambridge before nightfall. However, freak storms rage, causing the marshes' waters to rise and wash out the roads in flash floods before Jane has a chance to return, leaving her stranded at Wolf’s Run - and at the mercy of all that lurks there. As night looms, the staff hastily depart, an eerie silence falls, Terence forbids her from even coming near the cellar, and, most importantly, he warns her against leaving her room before dawn. All is merely a strange act to Jane, brushing it off as the eccentricities of an Englishman, until something comes scratching at her door, hungering for her blood. What started as a mere chance at becoming known swiftly becomes a tumultuous game of blood, teeth, survival, love, and salvation - and Jane must prepare to sharpen teeth of her own if she's to survive the horrors of the Wolf's Run marshes.

Upon Her Bloody Horn || Novel || Dark Fantasy + Political Fantasy + Romance || 1st Draft (incomplete) + A.K.A. The WIP inspired by Jojo simping for Crispin Glover

Comp: The Last Unicorn meets Legend (1985) meets Elizabethan history

A unicorn takes on a human disguise to enact revenge against those who have hunted her kind to extinction, only to find herself caught in the middle of bloody kingdom politics and allured by the one-eyed hunter with whom she has a violent history with.

She Wears the Face of a Polar Bear || Novella || Psychological Horror + Historical Horror + Survival Horror + Arctic Gothic || Developing (A.K.A the WIP inspired by Jojo simping for Ciarán Hinds as Sir John Franklin in AMC's The Terror)

Comp: The Terror meets Crimson Peak

Whilst trapped in the deadly ices of the Arctic, a British naval captain heading an expedition is haunted by visions of his wife, only she's the head of a great white bear and comes to be his greatest nightmare - and she hungers for his fear.

Dragon-Plague || Novel || Medieval Horror/Fantasy + Adventure + Body Horror || First Draft + NaNoWriMo 2024 Project

Comp: Bloodborne + Blasphemous + DnD + Between Two Fires

A plague doctor, a gentle ex-knight, a runaway lady, and a thieving nun cross a land ravaged by a devastating disease that turns people into uncanny dragon-human hybrids to find, and destroy, the origins of the arcane plague.

Those Red Nights || Novel || Crime thriller + Psychological Horror + Neo-Noir + Urban Fantasy + Werewolf Horror + Historical (1990s) + Fairytale Retelling (Little Red Riding Hood) || On Hiatus + A.K.A. the WIP inspired by Jojo simping for Bob Odenkirk

Comp: The Silence of the Lambs + Se7en + Gargoyles

Selene Radcliffe is a young freshly-graduated detective, having spent long hours and many sleepless nights researching, studying, and looking through cold case files in an effort to prove herself as skilled of a private investigator as her late father, the renowned and well-respected Det. Arthur Radcliffe. However, she is a woman in a predominately male profession, a woman without a voice–literally and figuratively–and she wants to make a name for herself without relying on whatever legacy her father left behind. When the presence of a serial killer who the media has named “The Big Bad Wolf” on account of the strange, animalistic nature of his murders that occur on the nights of a full moon begin to plague the streets of Milwaukee, Selene sees this as her opportunity to prove herself and her skills to her peers, and she tasks herself and her partner Det. Apollo Esposito to hunt him down.  But it swiftly becomes apparent that the man they are hunting is no man, and may instead be a dreaded creature of folklore–one that is now keen on hunting them down in a blood-red game of cat and mouse…

The Faeries and the Lark || Novel || Dark/Gothic High Fantasy + Sapphic + Adventure + Fairytale/Folklore Retelling (East of the Sun, West of the Moon + Sleeping Beauty + Scandinavian Folklore) || Development + On-Hiatus

Loosely based on the fairytales Sleeping Beauty and East of the Sun, West of the Moon, as well as Scandinavian folklore, The Faeries and The Lark follows three faeries–spirits of nature–raising a human child they’ve named Lark, the princess of a sun-worshipping kingdom wiped out by a subterranean society of trolls. The faeries devote their lives to protecting Lark from the worlds of man by raising her to believe she’s one of the fae, and to keep her deep in the forest so that she can remain hidden from the trolls that restlessly hunt for the princess that escaped their massacre. But everything the three faeries worked hard for is put to the test when Lark encounters a human named Sigrid, the toughened, sword-wielding chancellor’s daughter from a neighboring moon-worshipping kingdom that’s threatened to be swallowed by the fairies’ forest, and every aspect of her life as she’d known them threaten to crumble around her.

And these are my WIPs!!!!! I hope one of some of them have caught your eye, and that you stick around to see where these all go!! To know more about some of these WIPs, I've their tags down below!

Thanks so much for reading!!💛🐧

[unpopularwriter25]

Hi there! If you're still accepting matchup requests for demon slayer, can I get one? (If not just ignore this)

I'm bi but with a preference for men, so I would like to get a male character if that's okay.

I'm a woman and I use she/her. I'm an ambivert. For those who don't know me very well, I may appear calm, collected and polite, but when I get close with someone, that's when my true personality comes out; I'm very sarcastic and sassy, especially if someone gets on my nerves. When I'm with my friends, I like to joke around, engage in playful banter with them, even often affectionately insult them (if that makes sense). I also love to tease and I don't mind being teased back. Even though I'm a bit goofy, I'm usually the rational one; the type of friend who tries to negotiate with the group to not do dumb shit if I think it's too dumb or dangerous (but if it's pretty harmless and without severe consequence, I'll gladly join in on the fun). I also tend to curse like a sailor lol. But my friends say that I'm also thoughtful, open and understanding, and I can make people laugh with my comments/remarks. I can be very patient and gentle as well if I want too.

As for my style, I usually dress in all black (fun fact: I never wear skirts though, I despise them) and I love silver jewelry. I always have a silver ring on each finger or both hands (without them I feel almost naked) and usually snake or dragon-themed silver earrings. I have medium-length, straight dark brown hair, pretty pale skin and dark brown eyes. As for my figure, I'm more on the slim side with some thickness to it? Idk I don't know how to describe this better.

My main hobbies and interests are: listening to music (I can't live without it), lately I've been listening mostly to any rock or metal type of music. I love to read, draw, travel and hang out with my friends. Also, I guess I should mention that horse-riding has been my passion for many years.

Well, I hope that's enough information and thank you in advance!

Hi! Thank you for the request!! I hope you enjoy!!

I ship you with Sanemi Shinazugawa!!

To those who don’t know you well, you appear calm, collected, and polite. Once people get to know you better, they discover your sarcastic, sassy, and fun-loving nature. Sanemi comes off as fierce, hot-headed, and intimidating, but beneath this exterior lies a deeply caring and loyal individual, especially towards those he loves.

You enjoy playful banter, teasing, and sarcasm, and can dish out and take playful insults. Sanemi’s tough demeanor means he wouldn’t be easily offended by sarcasm and could give as good as he gets, enjoying the playful challenges you present. His interactions with other Hashira and his younger brother show that he can handle and engage in strong-willed exchanges.

You are often the rational voice among friends, looking out for their safety and well-being while still being open to fun and harmless adventures. As a Hashira, Sanemi is dedicated to protecting humanity from demons. His rational and strategic mind in combat aligns with your practical approach to life and safety.

Your friends find you thoughtful and understanding, capable of deep empathy and patience. Sanemi, despite his rough exterior, has shown moments of deep compassion, particularly in his relationship with his brother, Genya. Your understanding nature would help him open up more and trust in emotional support.

Your love for rock and metal music suggests a taste for intensity and passion. While not explicitly a music lover, Sanemi’s intense personality aligns with the energy and passion found in rock and metal music. This shared intensity would create a strong emotional and psychological connection.

Your hobbies of reading and drawing indicate creativity and a reflective side. Sanemi could benefit from the calm and reflective nature of your hobbies, providing a peaceful counterbalance to his intense lifestyle. Sharing these activities might also help him find a sense of calm and introspection.

You love to travel and seek out new experiences. As a Demon Slayer, Sanemi’s life is one of constant travel and new challenges. Your mutual love for adventure would ensure an exciting and dynamic relationship.

Horse-riding requires discipline, control, and a deep connection with the animal. Sanemi’s training and discipline as a Hashira echo these traits. Your shared sense of discipline and control would create mutual respect and understanding.

Your preference for all-black clothing, silver jewelry, and a practical style aligns with a no-nonsense, strong aesthetic. Sanemi’s rugged and intense appearance, complete with scars and a strong physique, complements your edgy style. His practical approach to his role as a Hashira matches your disdain for impractical clothing like skirts.

Beneath your sarcastic and playful exterior lies a person capable of deep empathy, understanding, and patience. Sanemi, despite his harsh exterior, has endured significant trauma and loss, creating a depth of character that matches your own ability for deep emotional connections.

Your patience and gentle nature would help Sanemi heal and grow emotionally. Sanemi’s strength and protective instincts would ensure you always feel safe and cared for, allowing you to be your authentic self without fear.

[thedickgraysons]

acotar tag game!

thank you for the tags @mathiwrites and @fourteentrout ! this was really fun to do, i'm always looking for an excuse to yap about my opinions

Who's your favourite ACOTAR character?

It’s definitely a tie between Lucien and Nesta! I’ve been a ride or die for Lucien since the first book, because I love me a charismatic red head, but I tend to be more vocal about my love for Nes.

Who's your least favourite character?

Oof, it would have to be Amren. I just don’t think she really adds anything to the story beyond existing to be snarky and drop lore when SJM writes herself into a corner. Definitely a character that would have had more impact if she would have stayed dead.

Say something nice about your least favourite character.

Her concept is very interesting! A creature that is not a faerie who was forced to inhabit the body of one. Who had greater abilities than anyone could dream, her only connection to the creature she was, only to lose them all at the cost of her living. Psychologically that is so cool, I would love to read more about what it meant for her mental state in the aftermath.

Who's your favourite High Lord? (If you picked one for your fav character, then who's your second fav!)

Tarquin! When he was introduced, he just instantly stole the show for me. I loved how gentle he was with Feyre, his kindness and confidence in his goals to unite lesser and high fae, and how passionate he got when confronting the Night Court.

Favourite MINOR character?

Remember the mortal that Feyre, Elain, Azriel, and Tamlin saved? Briar? Yeah, her. I’m obsessed with her story. A woman who was essentially groomed into praising the fae, learning first hand how awful they could be, and then going off to live with them in her lowest? I need more of her. I want to see how she develops. I hope she’s got a story in the future, because some main players don’t even have a name but she does! I also fuck with Jurian but I don't think he's really a minor character.

Favourite ship? (Crackships included!)

Oh there’s just so many, I can’t keep up. I think my top three, however, would be Azris, Neris, and a secret third crackship that I cooked up, Eris x Azriel x Gwyn. I call them Azrisyn in my head. I’m working on a fic. It’s a whole thing. I think I just really like shipping people with Eris.

Favourite court and why?

Spring! I love the aesthetic and how deeply magical everything was. It truly was like entering a new realm, with a new creature and magical adventure at every turn. I'm also a Winter and Autumn enjoyer.

Make up a brand new court RIGHT NOW, NO PREP JUST VIBES.

OH UHMM The Under Court. Just under the surface of Prythian, in a sprawling maze of tunnels and caverns, is a city carved of glowing stone and glistening gems. Because of the sheer size, this Court is divided into four sections, with each of these sections being overseen by a Stewart, who report directly to a (gasp) High Lady. They're called the High Council. Now I want to write this.

What relationship would you have wanted to see more of in the books?

Emerie and Azriel. Azriel has such an intense loathing for his people that it greatly effects his own view of himself. I want his arc to include him learning more about his culture, and overcoming that internalized bigotry. I want him to look into the face of someone who has been just as brutalized by the Illyrians as he has and realize that they are a people who need help out of the cycle of violence.

What's your unpopular opinion?

All of them, but my most unpopular one is probably that Cassian's wings should have stayed shredded. It made no sense for them to heal, and it would have added more to the story and his character (ie having a bridge to Nesta) to have him stay disabled.

What's your favourite headcanon/fan canon?

I love thinking about the faeries being more magical! I have a whole thread of eldritch horror-style High Lords and I think about it often. A less intense headcanon I have is that Eris has a gap in his front teeth and Gwyn has glowing freckles because I think its cute.

If you were swept away to Prythian, what's ONE thing you would want to do?

I’m shooting my shot with Lucien, so write that down. I also want to do the Winter Solstice in the Winter Court, because I feel like that would be so much fun. And then I’m moving to Dawn because I do not think I am surviving literally anywhere else. If the climates didn't kill me, the politics would.

If you could have ONE faerie ability seen in the books, which would it be?

If Helion's spell casting and cleaving don't count as one ability, then probably shapeshifting.

again, i love doing tag games so thank you for letting me! i cannot for the life of me think of who else to tag so uhm @ennawrite @wingsdippedingold @christeak and anyone else who wants to tap in?

[denimbex1986]

'Years before he became known as the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer worked as a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, when he met who became perhaps the greatest love of his life.

Her name was Jean Tatlock, and just as she captured the famed physicist’s heart, their romance has captured the imaginations of historians for nearly a century. And they aren’t the only ones. Tatlock will be portrayed by Florence Pugh, alongside Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer, in the upcoming film Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan.

Affiliated with the Communist Party, Tatlock is often credited with introducing Oppenheimer to radical politics, something that haunted him in his later life and career. Despite their 10-year age gap, and though they were separated by the time he led the famous Manhattan Project, Tatlock had an undeniable impact on Oppenheimer’s life, and her tragic death weighed on him as he began his work on the atomic bomb.

“A free-spirited woman with a hungry, poetic mind, she was always the one person in the room, whatever the circumstances, who remained unforgettable,” according to American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

Meeting Oppenheimer

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1914, Tatlock was the second child of J.S.P. Tatlock and Marjorie Fenton. Her father, who had a docorate from Harvard University, was an acclaimed English professor and literary scholar and was considered a foremost expert on the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, according to Brotherhood of the Bomb by Gregg Herken.

Jean inherited her father’s intellect. Before attending Vassar College in 1931, she took a year off to travel in Europe, staying with a friend in Switzerland who was a devoted follower of psychologist Carl Jung. After meeting a close-knit community of psychoanalysts during the trip, she decided to study psychology herself, according to Bird and Sherwin.

After graduating from Vassar in 1935, she studied at the Stanford Medical School, where her intellect and good looks intimidated the other classmates. They also caught the interest of Oppenheimer, then a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where Tatlock completed her prerequisites before enrolling at Stanford.

Oppenheimer and Tatlock began a passionate and intense romance in 1936, when she was 22 and he was 32. The decade age gap didn’t seem to matter. A friend described Tatlock as Oppenheimer’s “truest love” and said he was “devoted to her,” according to Bird and Sherwin. He reportedly proposed to Tatlock twice, though she turned him down.

Tatlock was impressed with Oppenheimer’s knowledge of English literature, and she introduced him to the poetry of John Donne. It’s widely believed the Trinity test—the first detonation of the nuclear weapon in 1945—was named after a Donne poem and inspired by Tatlock, according to The First Atomic Bomb by Janet Farrell Brodie.

Communist Affiliations

Tatlock was a dues-paying member of the Communist Party of the United States of America while dating Oppenheimer, an association that would later bring a great deal of scrutiny to the famed physicist. Tatlock wrote for the Western Worker, a major West Coast communist publication, and she introduced him to several prominent members of the party, according to Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center by Ray Monk.

“I find I am a complete Red when anything at all,” Tatlock wrote to a friend, according to American Prometheus. She also pushed Oppenheimer to move from mere theory to action, and when he commented that he would have to settle for staying on the periphery of political struggles, Tatlock remarked, “Oh, for God’s sake, don’t settle for anything.”

However, Oppenheimer denied that Tatlock was solely responsible for his political interests or affiliations, noting that he first read about Soviet communism after his father lent him a book on the subject before he met Tatlock. According to Bird and Sherwin’s American Prometheus, Oppenheimer described Tatlock’s communist involvement as “on-again, off-again affairs and never seemed to provide for her what she was seeking. I do not believe that her interests were really political.”

From 1939 onward, Oppenheimer claimed he only saw Tatlock on rare occasions, and in 1940, he wed Katherine Puening, more commonly known as Kitty Oppenheimer, to whom he was married the rest of his life. However, he and Tatlock remained “the closest of friends and occasional lovers,” according to Bird and Sherwin, and she would phone him for comfort during her occasional bouts of depression.

By 1943, Tatlock was a pediatric psychiatrist at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, at the start of what seemed to be a promising career. The 29-year-old was also being treated for clinical depression, which might have worsened when Oppenheimer drastically reduced contact with her after becoming director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that year, according to Bird and Sherwin.

A Tragic Death

Tatlock was placed under surveillance by the FBI due to her relationship with Oppenheimer and past involvement with communist politics. When Tatlock and Oppenheimer had one last meeting in June 1943, she confessed that she still loved him and wanted to be with him. Unbeknownst to her, FBI agents monitored the entire visit, according to Monk’s biography.

“For reasons of love and compassion, he had become a key member of Jean’s psychological support structure—and then he had vanished, mysteriously,” Bird and Sherwin wrote in American Prometheus. “In Jean’s eyes, it may have seemed as if ambition had trumped love.”

Tatlock died by suicide on January 4, 1944, at age 29. Her father discovered her body after entering her San Francisco apartment through a window after she didn’t respond to the doorbell. He found her lying in the bathroom, her head submerged in a partially-filled bathtub, with a suicide note on the dining room table, according to Monk.

“I am disgusted with everything,” the note read, according to Bird and Sherwin. “To those who loved me and helped me, all love and courage. I wanted to live and to give and I got paralyzed somehow. I tried like hell to understand and couldn’t.”

One of the first people to learn of her death was FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, due to the agency’s surveillance, according to Monk. Oppenheimer was despondent upon hearing the news. Due to the unusual circumstances around her death and the FBI surveillance, many have speculated that Tatlock was murdered, but most of her loved ones believe the cause of death was suicide.

Tatlock’s relationship with Oppenheimer would be used as evidence against him in 1954, when the United States Atomic Energy Commission held security hearings that explored his communist associations and other past actions. Oppenheimer lost his security clearance as a result of the hearing, effectively ending his formal relationship with the U.S. government.'

[alchemyfought]

!  *    ,    (zendaya,  thirty,  cis woman,  she / her)  !    *    ,      hey,  did  you  see  CARLY HODGINS  unloading  their  boxes  from  the  moving  truck?  i  heard  they  are  THIRTY  years  old  and  work  as  an  EMPLOYEE   at   FULL MOON BOOK SHOP.  they  totally  remind  me  of  RISK  by  GRACIE ABRAMS,  THE SMELL OF TURNING THE PAGES OF A BRAND NEW BOOK  and  FRESHLY PICKED FLOWERS FROM A GARDEN.  they’ll  probably  hang  out  at  1924 BAKERY  the  most  if  you  were  looking  for  them.

𓂅 𐫱 ❛ regarding ; ꒰ basics ꒱

name : carly hodgins

age : thirty years old.

gender : cis woman

pronouns : she / her

height : five feet, ten inches.

tattoos : none.

piercings : ears.

sexuality : bisexual / biromantic.

relationship status : single.

faceclaim : zendaya.

𓂅 𐫱 ❛ regarding ; ꒰ history ꒱

birthday : februrary 18th, 1994.

zodiac sign : aquarius.

place of birth : sacramento, california

parents : richard hodgins ( father ) & estelle hodgins ( mother. )

siblings : none.

criminal record : none.

𓂅 𐫱 ❛ regarding ; ꒰ deeper dive ꒱

personality type : enfj.

temperament : sanguine.

alignment : true neutral.

personality traits : positive ; adaptable , altruistic , hospitable , lionhearted & voluble . negative ; gullible , idealistic , passive , solicitous & touchy.

mannerisms : constantly touches / plays with her hair, frequently plays with the rings she always wears on her fingers & often bites her lip when lost in thought ( which is an incredibly common occurrence )

educational background : graduated high school with a 4.0 gpa and graduated from william jessup university. majored in psychology, but found that it wasn't what she wanted as a permanent career, hence the reason she packed her bags and moved to wilma lane, where she's much more content working at the full moon bookshop.

notable skills / talents : incredibly gifted when it comes to reading others, she's very perceptive and definitely uses it to her advantage. she's also great with flower arrangements and an excellent cook.

phobias : clowns, heights & spiders.

pet peeves : people who stop walking in the middle of the grocery aisle and leave their carts blocking the path, people who do not return their carts to the return area & people who hold up lines in coffee shops by not knowing what they want right away.

hobbies : crocheting little animals , having movie nights with salty and sweet snacks, going to amusement parks to try new foods & watching rain fall while sipping hot chocolate.

dreams / desires : carly dreams of one day opening up her own cat sanctuary, as she's always loved them. she's not entirely sure how to go about it just yet, but she's trying to figure it out.

𓂅 𐫱 ❛ regarding ; ꒰ backstory / tidbits ꒱

carly hodgins is the daughter of two people who were genuinely so in love with one another. hence, she has a healthy concept of what love should be like, and is definitely a hopeless romantic through and through.

she's always been a passionate individual, someone who was heavily encouraged to pursue her dreams by her parents. she's never not known what it was like to have a support system.

carly has many interests, she's an adventurous and open individual, constantly trying to find something new to enjoy.

leaving sacramento was not easy for her, as she's still incredibly close to her parents and is constant communication with them. however, she knew she wanted to experience different things in life, so she decided to go on her bravest adventure yet by leaving home and seeing what the world has had to offer.

despite the example set by her parents, she's yet to find any sort of meaningful romance, though not for a lack of trying. she just has not been lucky in love, which she does find to be kind of frustrating.

she's a jack of all trades of sorts. she carries many interests, and while some have evolved, she's never swayed from her love of reading.

carly has a notorious sweet tooth, she blames it on the fact that she spent every other sunday baking with her mother while growing up. she's not one to turn down a sweet, and is always open to trying a new one.

so far, she's settled in decently well to life in wilma lane. she's doing things she's never done before, and is working on gaining new experiences for herself.

carly loves all things flowers, she plans to one day start her own garden. she gets herself new flowers every couple weeks and tends to them carefully.

she's a music lover, she is someone who appreciates the art behind music and loves to dance. she's incredibly carefree when she's listening to it, and just lives in the moment.

she's known to be a rather sensitive individual, she can easily get her feelings hurt even if it wasn't the intention behind someone's words. she has a huge heart and feels everything intensely, but she's trying to work on thickening her skin a little bit.

carly is the type of person who's kind to everyone, so she has no issues when it comes to making new friends. she's accepting of those around her and, while she might've abandoned her degree in psychology, she still utilizes it and does what she can to be there for others and help them when they need it most.

𓂅 𐫱 ❛ regarding ; ꒰ wanted connections ꒱

neighbor. i'd love for her to have a friendly relationship with her neighbor. perhaps they help one another out with little things and keep each other company on the days where they're both free and have nothing else to do with their time. maybe she bakes for them and they mow her lawn or something ? i think that'd be cute.

new friend. as she's always making friends, i think it'd be fun for her to have a new friend she's getting closer to and spending more time with. maybe they get coffee / drinks together a few times a week ?

a fellow baker. while she opted for working at the book store, she genuinely does love baking, so i think it'd be nice for her to be close to another baker who shares the same passion that she does. maybe they exchange ideas for holiday - themed sweets and try to come up with new and exciting recipes or designs together.

the first friend she made in town. this would be the first person she got closest to, perhaps they gave her the grand tour and they've just remained close since. this would likely be her main confidant and someone she spends a decent chunk of time with.

a small book club with like five other people ? ( 5 / 5 available ) they get together once a week on thursday evenings and discuss their current group novel over snacks and drinks. they're pretty tight - knit and enjoy each other's company.

best friend. perhaps her best friend from sacramento moved to wilma lane shortly after she did as they also wanted a fresh start ? she'd be thrilled to have them around. ( filled. sebastian. )

general acquaintances. ( 5 / 5 available ) people she's familiar with and friendly with, but doesn't know that well, so they can't technically call one another friends just yet.

book shop regulars. ( 2 / 2 available ) these are people who frequent the full moon book shop, so they're people she sees regularly. perhaps they strike up casual conversations and ask her for recommendations on the next books to read.

crush. ideally , this would be a slow burn dynamic of sorts where they take the time to get to know one another and form a great bond.

karaoke companion. someone she can always rely on to get on stage with her at the bar and sing their hearts out together. this person could be connected with her in any other sense as well, i just love the concept of two people thoroughly enjoying singing at the bar and not caring what anyone else thinks about it.

[nitrateglow]

Spooky Season 2024: 37-38

The Vanishing (dir. George Sluzier, 1988)

During a road trip through the French countryside, a young woman named Saskia inexplicably disappears at a gas station. Last spotted getting into a stranger's car, she is never seen again. For three years, her boyfriend Rex-- who had accompanied her on the trip-- is torn with grief and obsession, the uncertainty of Saskia's fate ruining his life. However, he is contacted by a person who claims to have been the man last seen with Saskia. He offers Rex a chance to find out just what happened that day, though the offer may be deadly.

I'm just going to be upfront: a movie hasn't disappointed me so much in a long time. The Vanishing is a beloved piece of work, often hyped to hell and back as the most chilling movie of all time. Stanley Kubrick allegedly thought it was the scariest film he'd ever seen. As a result-- and this is embarrassing to admit-- I was lowkey nervous about watching The Vanishing. I literally put off watching it for years.

Well, I finally saw it and... it's fine. A decent psychological film, but nothing I would deem a classic. I wasn't chilled and the ending-- which so many people describe as a sucker-punch-- well... I did not have the same reaction. The payoff didn't seem worth what struck me as a very tedious film.

I love me a good slow-burn, but this film's story didn't grip me like I thought it would. You're told who the kidnapper is from the start and the movie is more about learning WHAT happened than WHO dunnit. It's about the main character finding closure after this terrible thing happened to a loved one. He isn't even interested in getting justice, only getting knowledge. I love that idea and think it's a unique angle on this kind of thriller, but the execution was just lackluster. The characters are presented in a cold, emotionally detached way, and I didn't really feel much suspense, especially once the protagonist and antagonist started engaging in lengthy philosophical discussion. It's all very remote emotionally-- that's likely the director's intention but it just didn't work for me.

That being said, it's not like I hated this movie, because it does a lot well. The sociopathic kidnapper is especially interesting. He's presented as an unassuming family man and not an obvious creep, making his malevolence more chilling and believable. The creepiest thing in the movie for me was not the shock ending, but the scenes of the villain figuring out how to lure women into his car so he could sedate them with chloroform. The matter of fact presentation worked well there. (Also, his weird facial hair is terrifying enough on his own.)

Now, it could be I just hyped The Vanishing too much in my head. I was expecting something like Don't Look Now, a slowburn chiller about grief with a horrifying ending that stayed with me for days. That movie brims with passion though and this one is much icier. Now, that clearly works for most people. It just didn't click with me.

Pearl (dir. Ti West, 2022)

It's 1918 and Pearl lives a life of lonely tedium on a Texas farm with her German immigrant parents. Her mother is a harsh, cold taskmaster. Her father is paralyzed and borderline vegetative. Her husband is off to war. The farm animals are dying off and poverty lurks constantly. The one thing keeping her going is her dream of movie stardom. However, when this dream proves tougher to achieve than realized and her home life deteriorates even more, Pearl's sociopathy pushes her over the edge.

Tonally and visually, Pearl could not be more different from The Vanishing. The Vanishing is no frills and detached, while Pearl sports a Douglas Sirk color palette and boils its lead character's emotions to a fever pitch by the finale. Writing-wise, I was disappointed by both, largely due to pacing. The middle sections in both movies drag a bit.

However, I had a better time with Pearl and that goes down to Mia Goth in the title role. She is ASTONISHING, one of the best villain-protagonists I have ever seen. Her loneliness and desire to escape her bad home life make her understandable and even sympathetic to a degree, but she is still a dangerous character, unable to empathize with other people. At turns, she broke my heart and scared the shit out of me.

An important thing to note is that this is a prequel to an earlier film by the same director, X. I have not seen that movie and know basically nothing about it, other than it's a pastiche of '70s exploitation horror. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed Pearl and didn't feel I was missing any key information. It's a stylish, slowburn thriller and though the middle sags a bit, I would still highly recommend it.