#grandma georgina

[wonkagifs]

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (2005) dir. by Tim Burton

[hereforreadandwrite]

Chapter Seven

Masterlist

Charlie sighed as he prepared for this new day. Your absence was felt. Her parents and grandparents acted like everything was fine and the fight never happened. Charlie had been at Bill's to see you, but your boss replaced you and you never set foot in his store again. The boy resented his parents for pushing you over the edge. Charlie sighed, leaving the Bucket house to go to his job as a shoe shiner. He was surprised to see the glass elevator park right next to the seats and a man, hiding behind a newspaper, was waiting. A man who was none other than Willy Wonka. What was he doing here? Charlie decided to play the game, he prepared his equipment and began to polish the chocolate maker's shoes.

"Pity about that chocolate fellow Wendall. Walter."

"Willy Wonka," Charlie replied.

"That's the one. Here in the papers his new candies aren't selling very well. But I suppose maube he's just a rotten egg who deserves it."

"Yes."

"Oh really? You ever met him?"

"I did," Charlie replied, stopping to shine his shoes. "I thought he was great at first but then he didn't turn out so nice. He also has a funny haircut."

Hearing that, Willy quickly lowered the newspaper. Revealing in broad daylight.

"I don't."

"Why are you here?" Charlie asked, putting away his gear.

"I don't feel so hot. What makes you feel better when you feel terrible?"

"My family."

"Ew."

Charlie stood up seeing the chocolate maker's disgusted reaction. He asked him what he had against his family, which caused Willy to gag. Harry sighed, explaining that it was the concept that bothered him. The fact that people tell him what he has the right to do or not to do, that all that was a brake on creativity. Charlie shrugged, retorting that if the parents reacted like that, it was because they loved their children and it was for the proteges. What still made Willy wince who was not very convinced of this explanation.

"If you don't believe me you should ask," Charlie said.

"Ask who? My father? No way. At least not by myself."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Hey! What a good idea!" Willy exclaimed as he left the seat to approach the glass elevator. "And you know what? I got-"

Willy paid no attention and crashed headlong into the glass elevator wall. The chocolate maker collapses, before the surprised eyes of Charlie. He stood up, adjusting his hat on his head, muttering that he should be careful where he parked it. Willy pressed the button, opening the doors. The two entered the flying elevator. Willy announced that he had to get someone from the chocolate factory before going to his father's house. Willy led the boy to the door of his apartment, telling him to wait in the hallway until he returned. You were perplexed when you saw Willy coming back. Had he already finished what he had to do?

"Is that okay with Charlie?" you asked, turning down the sound of the television.

"Charlie? Oh yeah! He's in the hallway right now."

"What?! Why did you bring her to the chocolate factory?!" you asked, getting up from the couch.

"Charlie had a brilliant idea! I have to go find my father and he's going to come with me," he said, moving closer to you. "I would very much like you to come with me there too."

"For what?"

"I can't do it alone. I know that with you, I will have the strength to face him. Please, Barley sugar."

"Okay, I'll come with you," you said with a sigh. "But only because you helped me and I owe you!"

"Yes sir!"

You rolled your eyes when you heard that. You grabbed your old coat, following Willy out of the apartment. Your gaze automatically fell on Charlie. Your cousin was surprised to see you with his idol. You nodded to him, following Willy to the glass elevator. The tension was palpable in the cabin. Willy was between you and Charlie. Your cousin was as uncomfortable as you. What could he tell you? He didn't know what to say, especially after what happened with his parents. Even you didn't know what to say to him. It was terribly embarrassing. The trip to Mr. Wonka's house was made in heavy silence. The elevator lands in a huge field where there was a house. There was nothing else around. The trio were closing in on the house. The closer they got to the house, the more nervous Willy became.

"I think we have the wrong house," Willy said as he climbed the stairs.

The gaze of the two cousins landed on a small sign that read 'Dr. Wilbur Wonka, D.D.S. Dental Practitioner.' Willy fell silent as Charlie pressed the doorbell. You put your hand on Willy's bicep, smiling at him to motivate him. The chocolatier nodded slightly, taking a deep breath when a stern-looking man opened the door, watching the trio intently.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked.

"No, but he's late," Charlie replied, gesturing towards Willy.

Willy giggled, clinging more to your hand and muttering to you that it was a bad idea. You reassured him, telling him that everything was going to be fine. Dr. Wilbur nodded to the trio, inviting them to follow him. You had to drag Willy inside the house, taking the chocolatier to the cabin. Willy gave your cousin his glasses and his hat, and he gave you his long coat.

"I'll be fine," you said, smiling at him.

"Yeah."

“Get into your position,” Wilbur said sternly, pulling on his gloves.

Willy sat down on the armchair, allowing his father, who hadn't recognized him yet, to check his teeth. Your cousin and you took advantage of this moment to better observe the walls covered with newspaper articles talking about Willy and his chocolate factory. There was even a scrapbook with other items and wrappers of Willy's famous sweets. Charlie flipped through the album as your attention fell on a photo of a young man. Probably Willy before he got so fabulous. That was the only word that came to mind to describe him. You took the frame in your hands, you couldn't help but smile. It was obvious that Wilbur cared about his son.

"Be careful with this picture, miss," Wilbur said, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Sorry, sir," you say as you put the frame back on the fireplace.

"Heaveans, I haven't seen bicuspids like these since..."

Wilbur fell silent upon realizing that the man standing with him was none other than his son. He withdrawing his instruments, depositing them on the table. He couldn't believe it. Willy greeted his father, straightening up.

"All these years and you haven't flossed," he said, dropping his stern mask.

"Not once," Willy answered.

Wilbur smiled. After all this time, he finally saw his son again. The two men hugged each other awkwardly. You nudged Charlie lightly, nodding him towards the door. The two cousins left the room, leaving Willy and Wilbur alone the time of their reunion. You went to sit on the stairs as Charlie leaned against the wall next to the door, facing you.

"He's lucky," you say, playing nervously with your fingers. "His dad loves him. It shows."

"Yes, he just wanted to protect him from the ill effects of candy," Charlie said with a shrug.

"Yeah," you replied with a sigh. "How's it going... over there?"

"It's gotten… weird since you left," he said, shifting awkwardly to his feet. "You... you're not going to come back, are you?"

"I can't Charlie. Not after what happened with Uncle Bucket."

"I understand. I'm sorry."

"Charlie. Listen. You don't have to apologize for anything your father said or did. What Uncle Bucket told me is unforgivable. I could never forgive him for treating me the way he did it. I shouldn't have lost my temper in front of you. You shouldn't have seen this argument. Believe me, I'm sorry about that, but I'm not sorry that I left the house. ."

Charlie looked down, biting his lip. He was doing his best to hold back his tears. You sighed, dropping the coat on the stairs to get up and move closer to him. You put your hand on his shoulder, catching his attention. You hugged your cousin, hugging him.

"Charlie. Just because I'm leaving the house doesn't mean I love you less. You'll always be my favorite cousin. If you have any problems, you can come see me. I'll always be here for you, I'll promise."

Charlie nodded slightly, burying his face in your chest as he hugged you. You end the hug when you hear the door to the medical room open. Willy and his father leave the room. It seems that their discussion went well. Willy approached you and Charlie, asking if you were ready to leave. Your cousin and you acquired. You gave him back his coat and Charlie gave him back his glasses and hat when Wilbur asked if he could talk to you privately. You looked at Willy who told you that he was waiting outside with Charlie, because he had to find the glass elevator. Willy and Charlie left the residence, leaving you alone with Father Wonka.

"I wanted to thank you for coming with Willy, miss. He explained to me that you hadn't been there, he wouldn't have had the courage to come and see me," he said looking down at you.

"It...it's nothing, sir. Your son helped me. So it's only fitting that I reciprocate," you said, playing nervously with your fingers.

"I haven't been the best father to him. I know that. But I love my son. I've always followed his work. What worried me the most was that Willy didn't have no one to rely on. And when he talks to me about you, I see that he has a lot of affection for you. I know I have nothing to say, but I just want to ask you to watch over him."

You didn't expect this. It was the first time someone asked you such a thing. To you, the poor girl that everyone looked down on. You nodded slightly, agreeing to watch over Willy. You joined Willy and Charlie. The two were waiting in the glass booth. You joined them quickly, entering the elevator which started. Willy liked you? It was true that the chocolatier had shown tender gestures towards you, but at this point? Was it even possible? Come to think of it, Willy was always kind to you. He had offered you beautiful clothes, he had given you special attention during the visit to his chocolate factory and he was hosting you without asking you for anything in return. He had affection for you.

"(Y/N), are you okay?" Charlie asked, looking worried at you.

"Y-yes. Why?"

"Your face is red."

"Do you feel good, Barley sugar?" Willy asked, taking off his glove to put his hand on your forehead. "You have a fever?"

"N-no. I-I-I'm fine!" you exclaimed, removing Willy's hand. "I… I'm just tired. I just want to go home."

Willy and Charlie looked at each other surprised by your behavior. You had become silent and you were mumbling to yourself. You nervously played with your fingers. What was going to happen once you go back to the chocolate factory? What were you going to tell him? What were you going to do? What was he going to do?

"(Y/N)?" Charlie called.

"I'm fine!" you say quickly, glaring at Charlie.

"Um... we're back at the chocolate factory."

"Um? Ah yes. Um...I'll walk Charlie to the gate."

Charlie joined you in the elevator, greeting Willy. The doors closed and the car moved quickly, carrying you and your cousin to the entrance hall. The boy looked at you puzzled as you exited the glass booth and made your way to the door.

"Are you doing well?" Charlie asked, looking worried at you. "You've been weird since we got back from Doctor Wonka's house."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I… I'm just thinking about something," you say, running your hands over your face. "It's...it's really nothing, Charlie. I... I'll ask Willy so you can come see me once in a while. How about that?"

"That would be nice," he said smiling at you. "Good. Is it ok to get home? Do you want me to come with you?"

"It'll be fine, don't worry."

"I'll at least accompany you to the gate."

You accompany Charlie to the huge gate. You opened the door for the workers, asking him if he was sure he wanted to go in alone. Your cousin smiled at you, telling you that it was not the first time that he had come home alone without being accompanied. You smiled, reminding him to be careful. Charlie hugged you, telling you he missed you before he left. You watched him walk away, making sure he was okay until he disappeared from sight. You went back inside the chocolate factory, returning to the apartment. Willy was in the kitchen area, finishing making hot cocoa. He was smiling at you, asking if Charlie got home okay. You nodded slightly, moving closer to him. You watched him melt the chocolate in the milk, which was warming gently on the stove.

"It was...a rather strange day," you say as you prepare the cups.

"Yeah, but strangely... I'm happy with the result," he said, smiling at you.

"Yes," you say, leaning on the counter.

"I wanted to ask you. Can Charlie come by here once in a while?"

"Of course. He is welcome here."

"Great. He'll be happy."

Willy removed the pan from the heat, pouring the chocolate liquid into the cups. You took your steaming cup, thanking the chocolate maker before going to sit on the couch with him. The silence that settled was restful after this eventful day. To tell the truth, it was more restful than the other days. A weight had been lifted. You still had Charlie with you and Willy had made up with his father.

"This last days were really strange," you say, taking a sip of the sugary drink.

"Yeah, I never thought all of this could happen," he said, also taking a sip of his drink before setting the mug down on the table to remove his gloves. "And I still want to thank you for coming with me."

"I owed you that. You helped me a lot, I owed you that," you said smiling at him.

"You didn't have to," he said slipping his hand into yours. "And I can't thank you enough for that."

"And I can't thank you enough for letting me stay with you."

Your eyes met Willy's. He squeezed your hand gently your hand in his. He passed his free hand over your cheek, smiling fondly at you. You couldn't help but think back to Wilbur's words. Willy would really like you. You would be lying to yourself if you said otherwise. You put your hand over his, looking him in the eye. It was a strange, exciting and terrifying feeling. Willy brought his face closer to yours, pressing his lips to yours. The kiss was sweet. It was strange to kiss someone. Willy pulled back, breaking the kiss.

"You really do care for me then," you said, looking at him awkwardly.

"Of course. The first time I met you with that pissed off woman from the service," he said, chuckling lightly. "I knew that... that you were worthy to come here, that I had to show you around the chocolate factory, that I had to get to know you. I loved every day that you stayed with me and I don't want to not that it's over."

"To hear you, it sounds like a confession."

"Are you disturbed?"

"No, I'm happy," you said, smiling at him.

Willy was smiling, kissing you again when someone knocked on the door. The chocolatier had no choice but to part with you. He stole a last kiss from you before walking away from you to open the door for one of his Oompa Loompas. You were watching him chatting with his employee when you saw his expression become bored. Willy came back to get his gloves.

"Sorry, trouble with one of the new treats," he said, putting his gloves back on. "I'll be right back, Barley sugar. I love you."

You looked at Willy surprised when he left the apartment to go as quickly as possible to the Inventing Room. Did he just tell you he loved you? You couldn't help laughing, wondering how long it would take the chocolate maker to realize what he had just told you.

"I told her that I loved her!" Willy shouted, startling the Oompa Loompas.

[rolex-kaard]

redraws of quentin blake's illustrations

[aliciadurhamillustration]

Grandma Georgina, everybody

[kittenfangirl20]

I watched Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp as Wonka, I still find that movie extremely iconic. The movie is so hilarious and it mainly has to do with Johnny as Wonka who is so socially awkward that it makes me love him. Charlie’s grandparents are amazing too.

[insanefemme]

[tearosesarts]

@lestatslestits I think this poll is for you

[jess050605]

Welcome to the Factory

Willy wonka x Reader

Chapter 1

The Bucket Life

Y/N lives in a house at the end of the street a few blocks away from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, You live with your Mum, Dad, Grandparents (Grandpa George, Grandma Georgina, Grandma Josephine and Grandpa Joe) and your little Brother Charlie, Y/N and Charlie has always wanted to meet Mr Willy Wonka himself but his Factory was closed for many years and he never came out but Grandpa Joe worked for Mr Wonka For years but was fired when Mr Wonka closed the Factory: 

One Night Y/N and everyone else was waiting for dinner to be ready and Y/N and charlie's Dad walks in after a day of work. Dad: "Evening Buckets",  "Evening" says Grandpa Joe "Hi Dad" Charlie And I Both say. "Charlie i found something i'd think you'd like" Dad said taking squished up toothpaste caps from his pocket and putting them on the table. "Exactly what i need!" Charlie says excitingly. "What is it Charlie?" I say while Charlie pulls out a whole model of Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory made out of Toothpaste caps and putting the one of the pieces that was on the table and put it on a little person "Dad Found it! the piece i needed" Charlie says excitingly "And what piece was it Charlie?" Grandpa Joe says curiously "A head for Willy Wonka" answers Charlie "Its Wonderful Charlie" I say with Joy "Yes very delightful is a quite a lightness" Grandpa Joe Says "You think so Grandpa?" I say "Think so? I know so, I saw Willy Wonka with my own Two eyes, I used to work with him you know?" He Says "You did?" Charlie says "He did" Says Grandma Josephine and Grandpa George "I love Grapes" says Grandma Georgina. "But I was a much younger man in those days" Grandpa Joe said. *time skip to after the story and while we were eating dinner after Grandpa Joe was talking about when Willy Wonka closing his Factory* "But it didn't close Forever.., its open right now" Charlie said "Well when Grown ups say Forever they mean a very long time.." Mum said, "And it seemed like it was gonna be forever but then we saw smoke coming out of the chimneys the Factory was back in business" Grandpa Joe said Joyfully "Did you get your Job back" I asked Grandpa Joe and He looked a me and answered "no.... no one did" disappointingly his smile going away "But there must be people working there.." I said, "Think about it Y/N Have you ever seen a single person going into that Factory or coming out of it" Grandma Josephine asks me "no the gates are always closed" I say "Exactly" Grandpa Joe said "Then who is running the machines?" Charlie asks, "No body knows Charlie" Mum tells him "Certainly is a Mystery" Dad says. "I would give anything in the world just to go in and see whats become of that amazing Factory...." I say hoping if i ever do get to go in the Factory but then Grandpa George Interrupts me "Well you wont, cause you cant no one can its a mystery and it will always be a mystery that little factory of yours Charlie is the closest as we are gonna get.." He said with a bit of anger then Mum stood up "come on Y/N and Charlie i thinks its about time to let your Grandparents get some sleep" Mum told us "Okay mum" We both say and we hugged everyone and said goodnight when we hugged Grandma Georgina she said "nothings impossible Y/N" and we both smiled at her, Charlie went of to bed i went to my bed "Goodnight everyone" He said "Goodnight Charlie" we all say and i went to him and gave him a kiss on his forehead, smiled and went back to my bed and went to sleep.

[shiveringfrogspawn]

From what I remember Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was basically an episode of Doctor Who??

The Great Glass Elevator (which I am hereforth referring to as the GGG because I refuse to type that out every single time) was basically a see-through TARDIS. It had loads of buttons all over the walls, some of which made it go different directions/speeds, and some of which changed conditions inside (turned gravity on/off, etc.). I cannot remember whether or not it was bigger on the inside because I read this when I was eleven.

In the beginning they travel in time because, long story short, Charlie’s Grandma Georgina takes too many youth pills and ages herself back to before she was born. They have to travel in time to get her back from being ‘a minus’ before she disappears. They end up in a smoky, dark place full of monsters from which they have to rescue her and take her to the real world.

There is a hotel in a space ship for very rich people (Voyage of the Damned: Christmas special 2007, End of the World: S1 E2) that Willy Wonka visits with Charlie & fam later on that’s really nice yet FULL of these aliens called Vermicious Knids that look like giant, flesh-covered eggs balanced on the pointy end (which feels very much like an RTD-era monster if you ask me).

Willy Wonka is similar to the Doctor, with his crazy inventions and unbelievable genius. He fights the Vermicious Knids when they try to get inside the GGG to kill them. He basically adopts Charlie (as the Doctor does with companions), and helps the rest of his family to lift themselves out of poverty.

He is friends with ‘aliens’ (the Oompa-Loompas) and gets along just fine with all manner of creatures, travels extensively, and nobody knows exactly how old he is (remember, kids: in the book he is not a youthful Johnny Depp but a sprightly old man!). There is nobody quite like him. He dresses strangely and is generally agreed to be eccentric yet sweet, however he has a dark and dangerous side which can emerge. He doesn’t have very good social skills, but he largely gets along with the people of the town.

Anyway this is a very long post about a book I hardly remember, but all this to say: I want RTD to get Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka into s15 so I can see him be devoured by a ginormous, carnivorous flesh-egg.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[msclaritea]

Here’s Why Willy Wonka Is An Autistic Icon | Medium

Here’s Why Willy Wonka Is An Autistic Icon

In celebration of the release of the new Wonka movie this month, I recently rewatched, for the billionth time, the original film — Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Wonka media has been a special interest of mine for the past seven years — -an autism-related term used to refer to topics and subjects that occupy headspace constantly, meaning I know more about Willy Wonka and his crimes against humanity than any sane person really ought to.

While watching the film, I was once again struck by how much I related to the character. His odd mannerisms, his disregard for small talk and social niceties, and his fixation on a self-constructed world all reminded me of a lot of my own experiences growing up as a quiet, book-obsessed, undiagnosed autistic kid. Although I was recently diagnosed at the age of twenty-one (it’s never too late!), the sense that something was always a little off has dogged me since childhood — in my odd tendency to repeat words and phrases, my limited and intense interests, my awkwardness in conversation and struggle to make friends. And as I sat there, watching Wonka spout off nonsensical phrases, constant literary references, and the occasional bit of wisdom, I finally got the urge to lay out, once and for all, what an autistic icon this character is, and has been for the past sixty years. Let’s dive into a world of pure imagination together.

A Little Nonsense

Autism, since it is formally classified as a disorder by the DSM5, has a whole host of medical definitions that try to sum up, in as digestible a form as possible, just what exactly is wrong with you or your child. Instead of pinpointing one definition, I’m going to temporarily throw the psychological jargon out the window and focus on the single term “disorder.” Disorder, classically defined, is a state of confusion or messiness — usually a form of existence that runs counter to broad definitions of harmonic living. Although unintended, I find that the literary definition rather than the scientific one fits my, and Wonka’s, experience of living as autistic. Disorder is chaos, it’s doing things just because.

Take this excerpt from Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, the rightfully-maligned sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:

“I have never met a man,” said Grandma Georgina, “who talks so much absolute nonsense!”

“A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men,” Mr. Wonka said.

Many autistic people are told at one point or another that the way they think and act does not make sense. For example, in many adaptations of the story, visiting the chocolate room for the first time leads the parents to question why it came to exist in the first place.

In the original West End musical adaptation, the conversation goes something like this:

Mr. Salt: Well if it isn’t for anything, and it doesn’t make money, then why on Earth does it need to exist at all?

Wonka: You really don’t see, do you?

A painter needs no reason

To make a thing of art

Yes, there’s no switch to stop and start the flow

Willy Wonka (Douglas Hodge) in the Chocolate Room from the 2013 West End production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We live in an unprecedented age of unthinking consumerism — our lives, from the get-go, are predicated on beneficial transactions. If I am to create something, I better be able to justify its usefulness in the language of monetary gain. Entertainment has become inextricably linked to the words content and consumption — creators make content, and we now consume the art we once admired. This implies a one-sided relationship to the way we engage with art — when we consume something it no longer becomes a conversation between creator and viewer, but rather a passively made, ready-to-eat distraction on which the viewer can project anything and everything they like. To make art for art’s sake or simply because we find it beautiful, is, in today’s age, an indicator of disordered living. Thus, Wonka making the chocolate room, or his factory for that matter, just because is, to most people, nonsense.

Again, from The Great Glass Elevator:

“He walked slowly towards the chocolate waterfall. It was an unhappy truth, he told himself, that nearly all people in the world behave badly when there is something really big at stake. Money is the thing they fight over most.”

The us vs. them mindset suggested by the phrase “nearly all people in the world” is one commonly adopted by autistic people, who feel that their perspective and lived experience do not align with that of their peers. Wonka, in creating a world of his own, has effectively made a safe haven for himself where the things he loves can exist without justification — a form of escapism I often engaged in as a child. In Wonka’s factory, the oddities that would make him an outcast in the external world are, to him, “simply second nature” — the name of the song in which he extolls the joys of being different:

It’s no blessing, It’s a curse

No wait…strike that and reverse

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s a Social Cue?

In the 2017 Broadway adaptation of the book, Wonka opens the boisterous and breakneck-paced song “Strike that, Reverse It” by, muttering:

“Now let’s get the small-talk out of the way.”

The word “small-talk,” for context, is said as if it is the single most loathsome word in the English dictionary.

Though every adaptation of Wonka is unique in some way, all seem to share a love for their craft that is only rivaled by their hatred of social conventions. From the 2005 Wonka’s disastrous introduction and awkward giggling to the original book Wonka’s fidgety and sporadic movements, none of the Wonkas have exactly come off as approachable. Even the new Wonka, played by Timothée Chalamet, has his moment as he practically screams “You’ve never had chocolate?!” to his sidekick Noodle, who answers his outburst nonchalantly. All of these traits: poor conversational skills, fidgeting, volume control, and a dislike of small-talk are all classic characteristics associated with ASD.

Autistic people also often struggle with echolalia, or the repetition of words and phrases for seemingly no reason. Gene Wilder’s Wonka, with his near-constant rattling off of quotes from classic literature parallels this condition, especially (and most entertainingly) when he pedals a bike in the inventing room.

Similar to symptoms associated with ADHD, many autistic people will also find that their hyperfixations and interests make it difficult to focus on daily tasks for long periods of time. Wonka is so fixated on making chocolate that he has actually built a factory where he does nothing but make chocolate, and has been doing so for decades. Take also these lyrics from “Must Be Believed to Be Seen”:

No magic spells, no potions

Forswear legerdemain

My kingdom’s created from notions

All swirling inside of my brain

The manic delivery of “swirling inside of my brain” in both recordings of the song speaks to the sometimes uncomfortable intensity of creative thinking. I want to note here that I’m aware of the “it’s not that deep” factor that plays into all of this, but I kind of shoved it in the back of my mind the second I decided to write an analytical article about Willy Wonka. Besides, I know I personally struggle with a constant barrage of thoughts here and there — sometimes to the point where I have trouble falling asleep at night. Hence these lyrics from Simply Second Nature:

The mind is such a wonder to explore

And though some nights I dread

All the voices in my head

I’d rather be this way than be a bore

I also made a compilation a while back of the mannnyyyyy (and I mean many) times 2017 Broadway Wonka displays some of the physical symptoms of ASD, often referred to as stimming.

Autistic Solidarity

I know I’ve been harping a little too much on the Broadway adaptation, but I promise there’s a good reason.

In this version of the story, rather than just being a decent kid who, for the most part, minds his own business, Charlie is awarded the factory because he thinks as Wonka does. This kind of connection is also implied in the 2005 adaptation, where Charlie is seen to have built an impressively large model of Wonka’s factory made entirely of toothpaste caps, but is only made explicit in both musical versions. This Charlie draws up fantastical ideas instead of doing his homework and spends his remaining free time endlessly pestering his Grandpa Joe for stories about Willy Wonka. Wonka, to this Charlie, is essentially a special interest — he hardly goes five minutes without bringing his name up, or delivering an excitable song summarizing the man’s life history.

Wonka, of course, sees a lot of himself in Charlie. In the song, “Must Be Believed to Be Seen” there’s a section in the middle where the tempo slows and Wonka wistfully sings:

Despite the man seen at these doors

My childhood home was bland like yours

But I knew how to look, to find

A world that wasn’t colorblind

This is the first time (and only until the end of the show) that Wonka makes a genuine attempt to reach out to Charlie — and he does so with language relating to neurodivergent thinking. The musical doesn’t exactly turn to diagnostic criteria for sourcing lyrics, but the use of the phrase “a world that wasn’t colorblind” is once again suggestive of the us vs. them mindset, offsetting the ordinary blandness of the “normal” world with the vibrancy of the neurodivergent imagination. In the same sequence, Wonka also sings:

But in the end there’s quite a prize

If you can see with more than eyes

Autistic people are often hypersensitive to their environments and engage with the stimuli around them more keenly than their neurotypical peers. Exploring the world with all senses, and often with a detail-oriented mindset literally allows many autistic people to see the world with much more than eyes. Often small and irrelevant elements in an environment become points of interest for those with ASD where they might otherwise be ignored by neurotypicals.

Lastly, I want to finish with a brief discussion of one of my favorite lyrics in the musical, this time from the closing song “The View From Here”, where Wonka takes Charlie up through the atmosphere in his glass elevator:

When a boy has just a touch of odd

And he walks the streets without a nod

He should know that odd is a gift from God

Like this starry blue chandelier

Willy Wonka (Christian Borle) and Charlie Bucket (Jake Ryan Flynn) in the Glass Elevator

Most neurodivergent people will be the first to tell you that living as they are isn’t easy. For me, I have trouble finding humor in the same things my friends do, making conversation, focusing, following directions, empathizing, etc. Sometimes things that seem easy or mundane to others are nearly impossible for me. Worst of all, these aversions and behaviors are inexplicable too. I cannot put into words why I am what I am, I just know that I have to learn to accept it. However, for every moment I spend hating myself for what I cannot change, I strive to find more moments where I love living as I am.

I listened to “The View From Here” for the first time in many years recently, and I’m not ashamed to say that I cried a little (maybe more than a little). To quantify one’s differences not as a mistake or a joke or a fault — but as a gift is to accept that they let us do impossibly wonderful things. We need to stop looking for ways to fix or mask autism, and instead make society a more accommodating place for neurodivergency to thrive. Only then can autistic kids dream less about faraway places where they can live as they are, and instead live those dreams in the here and now. And we can start by reaching out to that touch of oddness in each other, and recognizing what the embrace of pure imagination can do for us all.

THERE IS A WELL-DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF NAZIS EXPERIMENTING ON PEOPLE WITH AUTISM.

IT HAS BEEN NOTED BY PROFESSIONALS THAT MANY PEOPLE IN THE TRANSGENDER MOVEMENT HAVE AUTISM

BLOGGERS, CLAIMING TO BE AUTISTIC, HAVE ENGAGED IN VERY AGGRESSIVE BULLYING.

THEY RELENTLESSLY ACCUSED A CERTAIN ACTOR, WHO, HIMSELF SUFFERS ANXIETY OF BEING ABLEST, IN AN EFFORT TO TARNISH ONE OF HIS BEST STAGE PERFORMANCES

THAT SAME ACTOR WAS BEING ENCOURAGED TO DO PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, WHICH I SABOTAGED, AND I'M GLAD I DID, BECAUSE WEEKS LATER I CAME ACROSS AN OLD ARTICLE, WHERE THEY SAID, EMPHATICALLY THAT THE PHANTOM MUST HAVE BEEN AUTISTIC. THE POINT?

IF SAID ACTOR HAD PLAYED THE PHANTOM, HEEDLESS OF THIS THEORY, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ATTACKED, AGAIN.

AND THAT IS WHAT THIS ARTICLE BELOW IS; AN INTENTION TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WITH AUTISM TO SEE WILLY WONKA AS BEING AUTISTIC.

AND WHEN THE NEXT ACTOR WHO PLAYS WONKA, ISN'T AWARE OF THE FACT THAT AUTISM HAS BEEN LOWKEY ADDED, THEN THAT PERSON WILL GET RIPPED TO SHREDS.... BECAUSE OF MANIPULATING ARTICLES, LIKE THIS ONE. THIS IS NOT HARMLESS. THE SAME THING HAPPENED ONLINE WITH BBC SHERLOCK. BLOGGERS ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED HIS PERSONALITY TRAITS TO AUTISM, THANKS TO THE WRITERS ON THE SHOW. IT WAS ENCOURAGED, TO THE POINT WHERE IF YOU DID NOT AGREE, YOU WERE ATTACKED FOR IT.

THE RIGHT BUILDS ARMIES, AND THEY WILL USE ANYONE THEY HAVE TO.

[curiousb]

The Bingley Family Album: Volume XX

Benjamin has the face of a man who is not looking forward to what comes next.

It's nowhere near as bad as he anticipated though, and at the end of it, they have a new son - Joshua!

Another redhead, with his grandma Jane's light turquoise eyes.

~ Aries 7 / 4 / 8 / 6 / 8

~ Athletic / Erratic

~ OTH: Fitness

Another grandchild for both Charles and Frederick to dote on.

And another playmate for Moody.

With two out of three bedrooms now housing cots and toys, Benjamin has to dismantle his dedicated studio and find a new place to work - on the landing.

Annabel meanwhile is getting to know her classmates at school, including Georgina and Francis.

Moody is always Annabel's faithful sidekick in every game.

"Moody, kill!"

Which of course, he won't. Cousin Phineas is in far more in danger of being licked thoroughly than mauled.

Walter is however, living life on the edge. Thankfully, he survives the episode.

Although the TV doesn't.

[reallca-blog]

Unwrapping the Wonka Bar Vol. 1 - Where is Charlie’s Town Located? Part 3

If you haven’t read the previous post, click here for Part 2 to make sure you are caught up to speed. If you’re already read the previous posts, then welcome back and let’s get back to the show!

Exhibit #2: The Accents of the Inhabitants of Charlie’s Town

When trying to parse out where someone is from, one of the best ways to do so is to decipher what kind of accent they speak with, and in the case of Charlie’s town there seems to be a divide amongst the population. Now, before we move on with this analysis, I need to clarify two terms I will be using to ensure the least amount of confusion as possible. The two groupings of English accents that will be used in this analysis will be what we will refer to as a “British Accent,” or all the accents spoken anywhere on the British Isles (the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland), and a “North American Accent,” which is to say any accent spoken in Anglo-North America (the United States and Canada). With these parameters set, we can now go in depth into the backgrounds of the residents of Charlie’s town and try to piece together where they might live.

When it comes to the residents of Charlie’s town who speak in a British Accent, these residents include:

All seven members of the Bucket family.

Sidebar #2.1: Mr. Bucket’s actor, Noah Taylor, is Australian and fakes a British Accent throughout most of the film, but you can hear his normal Australian accent, which is a bit more high-pitched and melodious, during his first line of dialogue in the film when he says “Evening Buckets.” As to an in-universe explanation for this literal slip-of-the-tongue, Mr. Bucket’s father, Grandpa George, was played by actor David Morris who hailed from Folkestone, England, a coastal town in County Kent, meaning that sea-faring industries were a major component of the town’s economy. Since Grandpa George speaks in the working class southern English accent of his actor, perhaps he too has roots in Folkestone and he worked on a boat when he was younger, and instead of leaving Grandma Georgina behind he took her on the boat too. This means that the two would have ended up wherever the boat docked, which very well could have been Australia. Perhaps then Mr. Bucket could have been born in Australia and his family could have spent the earliest years of his life there because Grandpa George found work there, meaning Mr. Bucket would have interacted with many Australian children and thus learned to speak like them. However, Grandpa George would then lose his job in Australia and this would force him to move his family back to Folkestone, the town where his journey to Australia would have begun years prior. And while Mr. Bucket would have then grown up around people who spoke with British Accents, and thus would also being to speak like them on a regular basis, the Australian accent he picked up during his formative years would never be truly erased from his speech pattern and so sometimes he would speak in such a manner, such as when he greeted the family after returning home from a long day at work in order to provide for his family as his father did before him.

Sidebar #2.2: Similar to Mr. Bucket, another member of the family, Grandpa Joe, is played by a non-English actor, in this case Irish actor David Kelly. Charlie’s favorite grandparent speaks in a mostly English accent, but one can still hear the influence of his normal Irish accent when comparing Grandpa Joe’s dialogue to that of David Kelly speaking in interviews, speeches or his dialogue from other roles where he did not have to fake an accent. The easiest explanation for this is that, just like Mr. Bucket who we say was not born in England, Grandpa Joe was born in Ireland to an Irish family and at some point left Ireland in search of work. Now, this forced him to adopt a much more English-sounding accent in order to assimilate into a society which was notoriously fraught with anti-Irish sentiment, at least amongst the British Accent speaking population, at the time due to the backlash against efforts by Irish Nationalists to unify the island of Ireland and free it from British rule. However, the love and pride he felt for his homeland prevented him from outright purging his original accent from his speech and so he did not entirely loose his natural accent as well.

The two dog-walking men.

The middle-aged blonde lady in the corner store where Charlie purchases the Wonka Bar containing his Golden Ticket whom the film credits refer to as “Customer in Shop.”

The owner of the corner store where Charlie purchases the Wonka Bar containing his Golden Ticket whom I have come to the conclusion we all call “Bill,” but the film credits refer to as “The Shopkeeper.”

Sidebar #2.3: The actor who plays Bill the Shopkeeper, Oscar James, is from Trinidad and Tobago, however the island nation was a Crown Colony of the United Kingdom until 1962, around the time Oscar James was twenty. Therefore, Oscar James portrays Bill the Shopkeeper as speaking an accent that is a fusion between an English and a Trinidadian accent, much like Grandpa Joe does with his Irish-English fusion accent. And like Mr. Bucket with Noah Taylor’s natural Australian accent, you can hear Bill the Shopkeeper’s Trinidadian accent when he gets exited, in his case after Charlie discovers he won the last Golden Ticket and he giddily adds “In my shop, too!” Now, with respect to Bill the Shopkeeper, according to an article from The National Archives, the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, England and Wales, titled “Bound for Britain-Experiences of immigration to the UK,” from 1947 to 1970 nearly half a million people left Trinidad and Tobago and other island colonies in the British West Indies for the UK in search of a better life following the rebuilding of the UK in the post-World War II period. It would make sense that Bill the Shopkeeper would have been an immigrant like these too, with him leaving Trinidad and Tobago in his late teens or early twenties in search of a better-paying job elsewhere. But because immigrants from rural countries rarely have the skillset necessary for the highest-paying jobs, Bill would have most likely been relegated to the lowest-level jobs, like sales representative. But after years of barely earning enough to get by, Bill’s hard work eventually pay off and he would become the shopkeeper of his own corner store, where he now serves the community of Charlie’s town and now lives the life that all immigrants dream to achieve. And thus, because he would have immigrated as an adult, unlike Mr. Bucket, he would have spoken with a Trinidadian accent throughout his formative years. But due to the mere chance he was born an immigrant, Bill the Shopkeeper, just like the Irish Grandpa Joe, would have found it useful to mimic an English accent when speaking to people in the broader society as it would have, albeit only slightly more considering his Afro-Caribbean roots, helped him advance in the xenophobic, Anglo-centric society of twentieth century Charlie’s town. This repression of his natural accent is what would eventually lead him to find success as a small businessowner, yet when he finds himself in a scenario where his humanity must show itself, his natural accent takes over, such as when he is elated to discover that a local boy found Willy Wonka’s last Golden Ticket in his shop of all places.

The bald man who offers Charlie $50 and a new bicycle for the Golden Ticket at the corner store where Charlie purchases the Wonka Bar containing his Golden Ticket whom the film credits refer to as “Tall Man.”

The lady at 103 Pickwicket Avenue handing out Halloween candy whom the film credits refer to as “Jolly Woman.”

And last, but not least, Dr. Wilbur Wonka.

And when it comes to the residents of Charlie’s town who speak in a North American Accent, these residents include:

The one and only, Willy Wonka.

The news reporter standing outside of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory reporting on the announcement of the Golden Ticket contest, whom the film credits refer to as “TV Reporter.”

Sidebar #2.4:  We do not know if this reporter is a resident of Charlie’s town or if he is just an American or Canadian journalist working for a news network from one of those countries that happens to be stationed at the bureau office for Charlie’s town and reporting on the biggest story developing overseas for his audience back home. Either option is acceptable, but I will say that he is a resident for reasons that will become relevant later on.

The reporter who speaks after the report on Augustus Gloop finding his Golden Ticket and breaks the news to his viewers that Mike Teavee found his Golden Ticket.

The reporter who speaks after the report on Mike Teavee finding his Golden Ticket.

The middle-aged woman who offers Charlie $500 for the Golden Ticket at the corner store where Charlie purchases the Wonka Bar containing his Golden Ticket whom the film credits refer to as “Woman in Shop.”

Ruthie, Veronica and Terrance (Whom shall be referred to as “Willy Wonka’s friends” collectively).

And the security guard at the Flags of the World exhibit whom the film credits refer to as “Museum Guard.”

Now, when we tally up the results of our analysis, we see that out of the 23 residents who speak on screen, there are a total of 14 people, or 60.9% of the sample, who speak with British Accents and 9 people, or 39.1% of the sample, who speak with North American Accents in Charlie’s town. Now, while this seems to be a perfect balance between Tim Burton’s vision of an unspecified Anglo-American fusion setting, while also being significantly more British than it is American, and thus more in line with Roald Dahl’s vision, a deeper look into the data reveals an interesting trend. While the data gathered for this analysis comes from one physical location, Charlie’s town, the data spans three decades, that is to say the residents with speaking roles are residents of Charlie’s town in both 2005 and 1975. With such a wide time gap between the sources for our data, it only makes sense to divide these two eras into different data sets for a more accurate picture.

And so, when we break down our list of characters, we see that the residents of Charlie’s town who spoke with British Accents in 1975 include:

“Jolly Woman” and Dr. Wilbur Wonka. I however will be including Bill the Shopkeeper, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Josephine, the then one-day-to-be Mrs. Bucket and one adult who will serve as one of Willy Wonka’s friend’s parent in the total.

Sidebar #2.6: I included these extra characters whom we do not see in Willy Wonka’s flashbacks in the count in order to boost up the numbers since we need more data to paint a more accurate picture of the demographics of Charlie’s town. However, instead of just making data up out of thin air, I argue that it makes logical sense that these characters would be living in the town during this time for the following reasons. I included Bill the Shopkeeper as he is clearly an immigrant in this non-Caribbean land due to the fact that he speaks with an accent distinct from the various British or North American accents spoken by the town’s residents. Not to mention the fact that he would have been in his early-thirties in 1975, meaning he would have been a bit older than the mostly young people who would have left their home island in search of economic opportunities in that year. So, it would only make sense to place Bill the Shopkeeper’s date of immigration about a decade earlier, thus becoming an established resident of Charlie’s town before 1975. Now, when it comes to Grandpa Joe and his family, I included half of Charlie’s family on this list because we do not know if Charlie’s family has been living in this town for a long time, or at least since 1975. Therefore, I divided the family in half, designating three of them as residents of the town for decades while keeping the other three as later economic migrants. As to why I chose Grandpa Joe’s family instead of choosing the Bucket family pre-Charlie, I made this decision since the best insight we have into how many members of Charlie’s family have lived in this town for multiple years is that we know Grandpa Joe’s family has lived in the town since at least 1985 when he worked at Willy Wonka’s first candy store on Cherry Street. We also do not see Grandpa George or Grandma Georgina during the opening ceremony for Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory in 1990, perhaps because they had no connection to the factory and chose not to attend but are still residents, or perhaps because they did not live in the town and thus could not attend. This makes sense when you consider the previous assumption of the Bucket family pre-Charlie which involves Grandpa George moving the family about in his search for work, only for him to end up in Charlie’s town where he found work before he got too old to work and ended up bedridden for over a decade. And as for the adult who stands in for one of Willy Wonka’s friend’s parents, it only makes sense that at least one of Ruthie, Veronica or Terrance’s parents would speak with a British Accent, thus coming from a mixed family just like Willy Wonka surely came from as well, with him sounding more like his mother whom does not appear in the film as she appears to have passed away by October 1975 since his father speaks with a British Accent and he does not.

On the other hand, the residents of Charlie’s town who spoke with North American Accents in 1975 include:

Willy Wonka, Ruthie, Veronica, Terrance and the “Museum Guard.” I will also be including three adults who will serve as Willy Wonka’s friend’s parents in the total.

Sidebar #2.7: I used a similar logic for the inclusion of these three adults who do not appear in the film in my calculations as I did for the adult in the British Accent section. Willy Wonka’s friends are clearly American, with them celebrating Halloween by engaging in trick-or-treating, an American tradition, across the neighborhood, and so it makes sense that at least three of the four parents speak with a North American Accent as well. And while there are three friends, therefore there would be six parents in total if neither of them are related, because we are not given any additional information as to whom the friends are, it would not be wrong to assume that perhaps two of the friends are siblings, therefore the friends would only have four parents.

Now, when we total up the results of our second analysis, we see that out of the 15 residents who speak on screen and are theorized to have existed, there are a total of 7 people, or 46.7% of the sample, who speak with British Accents and 8 people, or 53.3% of the sample, who speak with North American Accents in Charlie’s town in 1975. And while this is not an apples-to-apples comparison with the first analysis due to the inclusion of theorized parents for Willy Wonka’s friends, we can see that while residents with North American Accents now make up a majority in Charlie’s town, the demographics of the town are still near-evenly divided in 1975.

On the other hand, when we repeat this analysis for a third time, we see that the residents of Charlie’s town who spoke with British Accents in 2005 include:

All seven members of the Bucket Family, the two dog-walking men, the “Customer in Shop,” Bill the Shopkeeper, and the “Tall Man.”

On the other hand, the residents of Charlie’s town who spoke with North American Accents in 2005 include:

Willy Wonka, the “TV Reporter”, the reporter who speaks after the report on Augustus Gloop finding his Golden Ticket and breaks the news to his viewers that Mike Teavee found his Golden Ticket, the reporter who speaks after the report on Mike Teavee finding his Golden Ticket and the “Woman in Shop.”

Sidebar #2.8: The reason I did not include Willy Wonka’s friends in the total for residents with North American Accents in 2005 is because we do not see them as adults all throughout the film, and while some of you might disagree with this reasoning after I just invented parents for these friends and included them in my totals, my reasoning for this choice is as follows. While Willy Wonka is shown to be a hermit loner throughout most of the film, we know that he had friends at one point in his life, so the idea that those friends he had as a kid do not play a role in his life when he is a successful adult (at least when it comes to business) is as strange as the amazing chocolatier is. Therefore, I propose that Willy Wonka’s friends are still a part of his life, however they have long since moved out of Charlie’s town. The best theory I could come up with is that since they are the only people Willy Wonka trusts, they work for their friend as liaisons between the insular world of the factory, where Willy Wonka can be who he is, and the real world, which is cold, unforgiving and unaccepting of their friend’s genius. This way, the friends can still be a part of his life, but this explains why we never see any of them as adults throughout the film, because they are off somewhere else managing Wonka Worldwide, Inc.’s business relations for their shut-in friend.

And so, when we total up the results of our third analysis, we see that out of the 17 residents who speak on screen, there are a total of 12 people, or 70.6% of the sample, who speak with British Accents and 5 people, or 29.4% of the sample, who speak with North American Accents in Charlie’s town in 2005.

Now, the results of this more in-depth analysis demonstrate why it is important to hyper-analyze the accents of the residents of Charlie’s town. While an overall analysis would show a mostly-British, but still mixed, population, we can now see that that analysis is very misleading when it comes to describing the setting for the majority of the film that does not take place inside the factory. Over the course of three decades, Charlie’s town sees a demographic shift where the population of British Accent speakers goes from 46.7% to 70.6% and the population of North American Accent speakers goes from 53.3% to 29.4%. This 23.9 percentage point difference means that Charlie’s town either experienced a 51.18% increase in the British Accent speaking population or a 44.84% decrease in the North American Accent speaking population from when Willy Wonka was a kid to when Charlie was a kid. And while an analysis of the accents spoken in the town do not tell us which option is the case, it is nevertheless an important piece of evidence that will help us uncover the location of Charlie’s town.

That’s it for Part 3, click here for Part 4 when we analyze the driving system of Charlie’s town and how the data from that analysis relates to the date from this one.

Also, if you have better quality images of the scenes from the film I included in this post, feel free to share them with me so that I may replace the ones I used to improve the experience for the reader.

[hereforreadandwrite]

Chapter One

Masterlist

The chocolate factory of the famous Willy Wonka was a place shrouded in mystery. Your grandpa Joe had told you many times that the factory had been closed for several years. But no one knew who could run this huge confectionery factory. Your grandpa Joe's stories made you want to visit this strange chocolate factory. Even if you thought some memories of your grandpa had to be fantasized, even if you adored him, some things were impossible. You were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard the engines of the Wonka trucks delivering the famous treats. The people driving the trucks were the only people who could get in and out of the factory. You shook your head slightly before walking back to the crude cabin that served as your family's home. Your uncle and your aunt were not well off people. You could tell they were struggling to make ends meet. From an early age, you did odd jobs to help them as best you could. Now you worked in a small store a few blocks from the cabin, all your salary went to the Bucket family. You pushed the cabin door, greeting your grandparents, your aunt and your cousin. They answered you with a "hello" and "good evening" as you closed the door and took off your coat.

"Was it to the store, honey?" asked Madame Bucket, who was cooking her famous cabbage soup.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," you replied before going to hug each member of your family before sitting down next to Charlie.

The door was not long in opening on the father of the family: Mr. Bucket. The man greeted the family which was now complete. Mr. Bucket approached his wife to kiss her. She asked her husband if there was anything else to put in the soup. You felt your heart sink as you watched the smile disappear from your uncle's lips, giving way to an embarrassed expression, shaking your head slightly. Your aunt quickly replied that cabbage went best with cabbage, all while bringing down her chopper on the poor vegetable. The father of the family came to sit at the table, announcing to Charlie that he had something for him. He took caps of toothpaste from his pocket, placing them in front of the young boy who was more than happy to find the missing piece to complete his precious model of the chocolate factory.

"It's exactly what I need!" exclaimed Charlie, rushing to his closet to pull out his model.

"What's it, Charlie?" Grandpa Joe asked, trying to see what his grandson was doing.

Charlie put down his model of the famous chocolate factory, made entirely of toothpaste cap, to hang the last missing piece: the head of Willy Wonka.

"Dad fount it, just the piece I needed."

"What piece was it?" you asked, studying the model.

"A head for Willy Wonka," he replied smiling at you.

"Well! How wonderful!" said Grandma Josephine.

"It's quite a likeness," Grandpa Joe commented.

"You think so?" Charlie asked as he left your legs to walk closer to his grandparents' bed.

"Think so? I know so."

You took advantage of this moment to join your aunt in the small kitchen to prepare the bowls as well as the tray. Once the bowls were filled, you distributed them to the others before settling on the ladder, listening with one ear to Grandpa Joe's stories. You have heard them many times. You wondered what Willy Wonka looked like. Why did he never leave his factory? Where did all his ideas for his sweets come from? You quickly finished your soup to go to the room you shared with your cousin. You swapped your clothes for your nightgown, hole because of moths, and you slipped under the covers.

"I'd give anything in the world just to go in one more time... and see what's become of that amazing factory," Grandpa Joe said dreamily.

"Well, you won't," Grandpa George snapped, snapping Grandpa Joe out of his thoughts. "Because you can't! No one can. It's a mystery and i will always be a mystery. Even (Y/N) understood it. That little factory of yours, Charlie, is as close as any of us is ever going to get."

Grandpa George was right. It would take a miracle for anyone to set foot in the chocolate factory.

(o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o)

A sigh escaped your lips as you explained to the umpteenth customer that all the chocolate bars had been sold. Since this morning, people had become hysterical. You had learned from Bill that the great Willy Wonka had hidden five golden tickets to allow five people to visit his chocolate factory. Part of you wanted to find that famous ticket, but you knew your chances were slim, extremely slim.

"They were crazy before, but now it's worse," you say, carrying the last box full of Wonka bars.

"And again! Have you ever seen a new flavor come out?" Bill asked chuckling.

"I remember when the morning dew flavored lollipop came out for Valentine's Day. I've never seen so many women banging on it for simple lollipops."

Bill was laughing as you carried the box of Wonka candy into the shop. You didn't have time to open the box and put the goods away when people came tumbling into the store, their money in their hands and yelling at you to give them the famous chocolates. A crazy day in itself. At the end of the day, you were completely exhausted and sweaty. People had gone absolutely crazy.

"You did very well, kiddo," Bill said, ruffling your hair.

"Do you think this frenzy will last long?"

"Hey! Wait a bit when the first golden ticket is found. Here, present from the house." Bill handed you a Wonka chocolate bar.

You thanked your boss while unwrapping the candy. Bill was watching carefully as you removed the foil.

Nothing.

You shrug your shoulders and say you've at least won some chocolate for tonight. You said good night to Bill before leaving the store, biting into chocolate. You had to finish it before going home. You loved your family, but there were times when you wanted to keep certain things to yourself. You were already giving your salary to your uncle and your aunt. You had every right to be selfish from time to time. To be sure of that, you took a detour to finish your candy. You sat on a bench, quietly eating your chocolate and enjoying this moment of solitude. You finished the last square of the tablet. You threw the packaging in the first trash can you found, your attention was caught by the newspaper that was inside. You took out the trash so you could read the articles.

"Well, the employee unable to serve his customers is scavenging," commented a female voice.

You sighed as you turned to one of Bill's store customers. One of the hysterical customers who yelled at you when you told her Wonka chocolate was out of stock.

"And the unpleasant customer has nothing else to do with her evening?" you asked sarcastically.

"You little..."

"Everything's going good here?"

You jumped as you turned to the third person who had just arrived. You didn't hear it coming. Who was this guy? He was tall, slender, wearing a top hat and odd glasses, dressed in a red velvet jacket, wearing gloves and holding a cane. The disgruntled customer huffed and mumbled something incomprehensible before turning on her heels and leaving, leaving you alone with this strange man.

"Thank you, sir," you say, turning to the strange man.

"It's nothing. I wasn't going to let that awful thing go after you, Barley Sugar."

"Barley sugar?"

"My dearest apologies, I didn't ask your name."

"Sorry, but my family always told me not to talk to the stranger. Thanks for saving me anyway, stranger."

"Good night, Barley Sugar."

You moved away from the mysterious man to take the road and return to the cabin after another small detour to enjoy your well-deserved moment of solitude. Night had long since fallen when you returned. Your grandparents, Mr Bucket and Charlie were fast asleep. Only Madame Bucket was still awake, sitting at the table, a bowl of cabbage soup just waiting to be eaten. Your aunt was giving you a stern look as you closed the door and took off your jacket which you hung up with the others.

"Where were you? I was worried, you know."

"Sorry, aunt. It was a crazy day with that golden ticket thing. People almost scratched my eyes out when they saw they didn't have the ticket," you say while eating your soup.

"(Y/N). Your... your uncle lost his job. From now on... you are our only source of income, honey."

The sip of soup passed slowly down your throat. It had to be a bad joke. Was God punishing you for a stupid Chocolate bar? You sighed knowing what she was going to ask of you and it didn't take long to happen: working overtime at Bill's. You wanted to scream, to tell her that you were already giving away everything you earned and now they're asking for more. But you didn't say anything, you just smiled and nodded.

"No problem. I'll... ask Bill for more hours," you say, tightening your grip on the spoon.

"I'm sorry, honey. Everything will be okay, I promise."

As per usual. It was you who was drinking.

[oceanlandworld]

man i almost never do this but girl interrupted is one of my favorite books ever so i have a right to complain. the movie making lisa into a Sexy Evil Sociopath Villain is the stupidest shallowest most woman-hating hollywoodification possible for this narrative and i fucking hate it

here's how lisa gets introduced in the goddamn book:

Lisa had run away again. We were sad, because she kept our spirits up. She was funny. Lisa! I can’t think of her without smiling, even now. The worst was that she was always caught and dragged back, dirty, with wild eyes that had seen freedom. She would curse her captors, and even the tough old-timers had to laugh at the names she made up. “Cheese-pussy!” And another favorite, “You schizophrenic bat!” Usually, they found her within a day. She couldn’t get far on foot, with no money. But this time she seemed to have lucked out. On the third day I heard someone in the nursing station saying “APB” into the phone: all points bulletin. Lisa wouldn’t be hard to identify. She rarely ate and she never slept, so she was thin and yellow, the way people get when they don’t eat, and she had huge bags under her eyes. She had long dark dull hair that she fastened with a silver clip. She had the longest fingers I’ve ever seen.

here is the final scene in the book in which lisa appears:

A few years after Georgina went west, I ran into Lisa in Harvard Square. She had a little toast-colored boy with her, about three years old. I hugged her. “Lisa,” I said, “I’m so happy to see you.” “This is my kid,” she said. “Isn’t it crazy that I have a kid?” She laughed. “Aaron, say hello.” He didn’t; he put his face behind her leg. She looked exactly the same: skinny, yellow, cheerful. “What have you been doing?” I asked. “The kid,” she said. “That’s all you can do.” “What about the father?” “Later for him. I got rid of him.” She put her hand on the boy’s head. “We don’t need him, do we?” “Where are you living?” I wanted to know everything about her. “You won’t believe this.” Lisa pulled out a Kool and lit up. “I’m living in Brookline. I’m a suburban matron in Brookline. I’ve got the kid, I take the kid to nursery school, I’ve got an apartment, I’ve got furniture. Fridays we go to temple.” “Temple!” This amazed me. “Why?” “I want—” Lisa faltered. I’d never before seen her at a loss for words. “I want us to be a real family, with furniture, and all that. I want him to have a real life. And temple helps. I don’t know why, but it helps.” I stared at Lisa, trying to imagine her in temple with her dark-skinned son. I noticed she was wearing some jewelry—a ring with two sapphires, a gold chain around her neck. “What’s with the jewelry?” I asked. “Presents from Grandma, right?” She addressed this to the kid. “Everything changes when you have children,” she told me. I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d decided not to have any. And it didn’t look like my marriage was going to last, either. We were standing in the middle of Harvard Square in front of the subway entrance. Suddenly, Lisa leaned close to me and said, “Wanna see something fantastic?” Her voice had the old quiver of mischief in it. I nodded. She pulled up her shirt, a T-shirt advertising a bagel shop in Brookline, and grabbed hold of the flesh of her abdomen. Then she pulled. Her skin was like an accordion; it kept expanding, more and more, until she was holding the flap of skin a foot away from her body. She let go and it subsided, somewhat wrinkled at first but then settling back on her bones, looking perfectly normal. “Wow!” I said. “Kids,” said Lisa. “That’s what happens.” She laughed. “Say good-bye, Aaron.” “Bye,” he said, surprising me. They were going back to Brookline on the subway. At the top of the stairs Lisa turned around toward me again. “You ever think of those days in there, in that place?” she asked. “Yes,” I answered. “I do think of them.” “Me too.” She shook her head. “Oh, well,” she said rather jauntily. Then the two of them went down the stairs, underground.

literally cannot stand girl interrupted 1999 lmfao

“She thinks she’s hot shit because she’s a sociopath.”

Girl Interrupted 1999

[aliciadurhamillustration]

"No," said Mr. Wonka. "It's pointless. You seem to have decided to stay in that bed no matter what happens. And anyway, the stuff is much too precious to waste. I'm sorry I mentioned it." He started to walk away.

"Hey!" shouted Grandma Georgina. "You can't start something and not go on with it! What is too precious to waste?"

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Grandpa Joe (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Requested by @comma-after-dearest

Favorite thing about them: The wonderful stories he tells that reveal the history of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and his sheer joy when Charlie finds the Golden Ticket that propels him out of bed and gives him a new lease on life.

Least favorite thing about them: That in the 1971 film, he convinces Charlie to try the Fizzy Lifting Drinks, which nearly gets them both killed and leads to Wonka (seemingly) denying Charlie his lifetime supply of candy, and in response to the latter, he urges Charlie to sell the Everlasting Gobstopper to Slugworth.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love chocolate.

*I love to tell stories.

*I sometimes lounge on my bed too much, but I have bursts of physical energy when I get excited.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not a grandparent.

*I'm not 96 years old.

*I'm not married.

Favorite line:

The long stories he tells about Wonka's history.

And from the 1971 film, about Veruca Salt:

"If she's a lady, I'm a Vermicious Knid!"

brOTP: His son Mr. Bucket, his daughter-in-law Mrs. Bucket, his in-laws and bedmates Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina, and above all, his grandson Charlie.

OTP: Grandma Josephine.

nOTP: Charlie.

Random headcanon: Thanks to the revitalizing power of Charlie's good fortune and going to live at the chocolate factory, he'll live to the age of 122, the oldest age that any known (non-Biblical) person has reached in real life. This means that at the end of the book, he has 26 more years to go, and they'll be full and happy ones.

Unpopular opinion: The trend of hating him and calling him "the real villain" is ridiculous. Maybe it's just a joke that no one really agrees with, but it's become so widespread online that I think older fans who meant it as a joke have taught younger fans to sincerely believe it. He's not "lazy" or "faking disability" at the beginning of the story. He's 96 and 1/2 years old, and he's genuinely weak and bedridden, until the sheer joy of Charlie finding the Golden Ticket miraculously revitalizes him. No, it's not realistic, but this is a fantasy story. If you can believe in Oompa-Loompas, chocolate mixed by waterfall, chewing gum that turns a girl into a giant blueberry, etc., then you should be able to believe that sheer joy can cure a bedridden old man of his feebleness and make him leap up and dance. As for the Grandpa Joe of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, specifically, he is a flawed man. The Fizzy Lifting Drinks incident is bad: it's supposed to be bad. But "flawed" doesn't equal "unredeemable jerk."

Song I associate with them:

"I've Got a Golden Ticket"

Favorite picture of them:

These assorted illustrations:

Jack Albertson in the 1971 film:

David Kelly in the 2005 film: