#i love dreams they’re so surreal and bizarre

[begun-to-blur]

my dream last night was narrated by Lestat . i fear this has now set impossibly high standards for all my future dreams

[dotthings]

Sam and Dean forgetting everyone they cared about who are still living on earth, in the hunting community, while they themselves continue to hunt, is some aggressively out of character bullshit that is an attack not just on found family but on Sam and Dean themselves and turns them into pod people but a certain part of fandom drank the found family hatred kool aid so deeply they literally believe this is in character and Sam and Dean living the ~~dream~~ and not some surreal alt reality dystopia where spn itself died an out of character bizarre death at the end of ep 19 and ep 20 was even worse but the end of ep 19 is where it started. AFTER THEY DEPOWERED CHUCK. (Yes I know external factors interfered with the og plan but that only explains why they couldn’t be on screen, it does not explain the lack of mentions or indirect indicators to show they were still in contact. Outside of some guy on the phone telling Sam that Donna gave him Sam’s number).

Trapped in the maze the feelings were real they cared while in the trap. Made their own choices inside the trap.

Free of the trap…they abandon their hearts behave like pod people abandon who they essentially were, how caring they were, blew off EVERYONE THEY KNOW AND CARE FOR.

Eileen. Jody. Donna. The girls. Garth. Everyone left on earth who they loved.

But hey they’re FREE NOW EVERYTHING IS FANTASTIC :)))))))))

everything is fine :)))) Perfectly normal :)))))))) This is who Sam and Dean want to be :))))))))))) If you see something wrong you’re the problem :))))))))))) REAL SAM AND DEAN FANS KNOW THEY ARE HEARTLESS :))))))))))))))))))))) There is no found family :)))))))))) Everything is wonderful everything is great they’re truly free now :))))))))))))))))))

And Dean’s death by rebar is so wonderful and perfect and tragic and makes perfect sense :))))))))))))))))))) Nothing weird here!!!! It’s all fine!!!! He was doomed anyway who cares!!!!!!! :))))))) WHY ARE YOU UPSET YOUR FAVE DIED AT THE END NO REASON TO BE UPSET :))))))))))))) If it bothers you you’re the problem :)))))))))))))) And you clearly only care about a ship and you’re just mad your ship didn’t kiss NO OTHER REASONS AT ALL TO BE BOTHERED BY THE WEIRDNESS BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL :))))))))

[percontaion-points]

Lost Boys chapters 7 & 8

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Chapter 7

He leaned his face slowly closer to mine. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. One inch closer and his lips were going to touch mine …

Chapter 7 summary: Joe is obviously hella confused about what’s going on, which doesn’t exactly help this book right now. Mum takes charge and puts her coat over him. The old ladies encourage Joe to come over and hold his hand, and when she does, she gets this intense tingling sensation. Then the old ladies convince mum that she has to take Tristan in, so she and Joe help to get him back to their house. 

After they’ve gone, a mysterious figure shows up in the cemetery. He looks around, is like “Something is not right!” and then leaves. I guess we needed to have an actual problem. 

Back home with Tristan, mum fusses over the boy, and is anxious about his fever. After a moment, Joe feels so sick that she runs upstairs to the toilet, where she vomits profusely. Her mum tells her to go back downstairs, because she’s going to take both of them to the ER. However, when Joe gets near Tristan again, she feels a lot better. He also seems less feverish. She tells her mum about this, who is like “THIS MIGHT AS WELL HAPPEN, TOO!” 

Joe then has a bizarre dream where a weird goth chick is like “You need to leave! RIGHT NOW!” When she wakes up, she finds that she’s cuddled up on the sofa with Tristan. He wakes up, and is delighted that his body is in a lot of pain… It’s so much better than not feeling anything, ever. He’s also amazed at how he can touch her now, and they’re already really close because they fell asleep on the sofa. 

Chapter 8

Typical of my mother: whenever she needed to cope with stressful situations, she went shopping!

So earlier in the book, Joe told the readers that they never had any money. I assumed that it was because mum couldn’t find an appropriate job until she landed this legal team job… Which was confusing to me, because if she’s a lawyer, shouldn’t she have plenty of job opportunities? But if she’s nothing but a paralegal… Why would a law firm be interested in her moving to a different state simply to have her? 

But this… I’m starting to understand. Their lack of money was probably due to the fact that mummy-dearest is a shopaholic. 

“You know, if I hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, I would have never believed it,” my mom said thoughtfully. 

“I’m trying not to think about it. It’s too surreal,” I mumbled.

I can’t say that I’ve ever encountered a book where the human parent(s) were in the loop about the supernatural love interest. 

“Thanks, Mom.” I knew I could always count on my mom. She was the best!

You know what would make this great? GIVING THE MOTHER A FUCKING NAME. 

She’s such an important supporting character, and yet… Her name isn’t “mother”!

Adorable was definitely NOT the description that came to my mind. Smoking hot was more like it. 

[...]

…my mom said, beckoning him to the table and turning to me, mouthing a silent “Oh My God”. I shook my head in despair. I would never hear the end of this!

I rescind my earlier comment about teen pregnancy being unlikely in this series. 

“We did some research into the Gray family tree – as much as we were able, at such short notice.”

Ah yes, the totally unique family name of Gray. Never seen that surname before! It was super easy to find out more info about their ancestors only knowing the names of two (living) members of the family, and nothing else!

*Note: all of the ancestry websites I’m familiar with block out the info of anybody living to protect their privacy. But, you can buy people’s records online… But I think something like a birth certificate would take time for the info to be delivered to you. So I feel like there’s no way that they actually did this. The author has clearly never actually done genealogy research before. 

“We’ll figure something out about your history. We can say you’re Joey’s cousin, or something like that.”

Sailor Moon cousins, more like. 

“Joe, dear. I talked to Rose, to your mom…”

FUCKING FINALLY. 

And I was due to go to school on Monday. What was I going to do now?

Chapter 8 summary: Joe’s mum, Rose, comes barging in before any hanky-panky can happen. She’d gone shopping, and obviously got clothes for Tristan. While he’s changing, Rose tries to ask Joe about what happened, but both of them are clueless. 

After they finish eating, Ms. Violet comes over. She says she happened to do some genealogical research into the family, and found some witch blood. Joe doesn’t think that this is right, but then Rose and Violet bring up how Joe “simply knows” other people’s emotions. Violet says that they accidentally cast a spell last night. Which is really something, considering that most of the books I’ve read, the intention has to be pretty set. One does not accidentally bring a boy back to life in the same way that one doesn’t accidentally make a pizza. 

Violet starts poking at Tristan in the hopes of uncovering something on his end. He swears up and down that he didn’t intend to do anything, but then gets upset and storms out. Joe follows after him, and the two of them talk about her empathic reading abilities; she lies and tells him that she can’t do it all the time. 

Ms. Violet comes out and apologises for earlier; she says that she was trying to get a read on him. She sends him back in, before she turns to Joe and warns her to be careful and not to get too close to Tristan. That yes, they have this bond where they can’t be separated, but that it could be dangerous. 

[therealvinelle]

How do you believe Carlisle feels about Esme? How would their break up go? Would he ever cheat on her? I mean like emotionally?

He loves her.

I don’t doubt that his feelings for Esme are genuine, that he respects and cherishes her and wishes to spend his life with her. Esme, too, worships the man.

My complete lack of faith in this ship comes from the fact that they’re together for the wrong reasons and not compatible. 

The Bad Beginning

Carlisle had spent centuries searching for likeminded, he never did. In the end he succumbs and starts creating his own, first Edward and then Esme, and to his joy they both agree to do the diet.

Esme’s transformation was entirely an impulse on his end. He saw this delightful, vivacious young woman he’d known ten years ago lie broken and dying in the morgue, a Jane Doe declared dead, she was all too easy to steal. She was too far gone for him to have time to think it over, and so he went «alright let’s do this. I imagine it seemed rather like God had sent her to that morgue specifically. We learn from Midnight Sun that romance wasn’t on his mind at all (even if it was, that wouldn’t make their marriage more functional) and he expected nothing of her. He bit her because he didn’t want Esme Platt to die.

Esme, of course, wakes up into this new life under surreal, heavenly circumstances. Her child is still dead - but here is the mythic, pedestaled Dr. Cullen, now her savior and more wonderful than ever. To back myself up with the books:

Esme had already been in love with Carlisle—much to his shock—but not through any mystical, magical means. She’d met Carlisle as a girl and, drawn to his gentleness, wit, and otherworldly beauty, formed an attachment that had haunted her for the rest of her human years. Life had not been kind to Esme, and so it was not surprising that this golden memory of a good man had never been supplanted in her heart. After the burning torment of transformation, when she’d awakened to the face of her long-cherished dream, her affections were entirely his. (Midnight Sun, chapter Bloodtype)

Carlisle, on his end, hadn’t had the idea at all until Edward said “Dude, she’s into you, go for it.”

I’d been on hand to caution Carlisle about her unforeseen reaction. He’d expected that she would be shocked by her transformation, traumatized by the pain, horrified by what she’d become, much as I had been. He’d expected to have to explain and apologize, to soothe and to atone. He knew there was a good chance that she would have preferred death, that she would despise him for the choice made without her knowledge or consent. So the fact that she had been immediately prepared to join this life—not really the life, but to join him—was not something he was ready for.

He’d never seen himself as a possible object of romantic love before that moment. It seemed contrary to what he was—a vampire, a monster. The knowledge I gave him changed the way he looked at Esme, the way he looked at himself.

More than that, it was very a powerful thing, choosing to save someone. It was not a decision any sane individual made lightly. (sic)

I’m not entirely void of authorial intent - I get that this was supposed to be romcom where the cute nerdy guy has no idea the girl is interested. 

But, what I see is that after centuries of being alone, never finding anybody who shared his values, Carlisle finally has these two people who share his ideals, the only two in the world. He’s had countless friends, but it never worked out because of that damn diet. But, now he has these two people, and one of them is a beautiful, kind, wonderful woman who’s in love with him.

I imagine falling for Esme was easy. It was just so perfect, simply by being Carlisle Cullen he could make her happier than any other man, and given their shared diet, he wanted her by his side always, just as he did Edward. And this was it for him, really, to Carlisle Cullen Esme might as well be the only woman in the world because she’s the only one who'll share his lifestyle. He also felt responsible for her.

I don’t at all doubt their sincerity or affection for one another.

However, they did not fall for each other for each other’s sakes. Esme fell for the ideal since childhood, and Carlisle fell because she was perfect. Stick them in an AU and it won’t happen.

The Slippery Slope

Where they run into trouble is firstly that Esme doesn’t share these ideals, nor value human life for its own sake. Now, I’m not asking her to be a saint - but over the course of these books we had some lapses that I find pretty damning. 

She wanted Edward back in Forks, when this would almost certainly mean the death of Bella Swan, simply because to Esme having Edward nearby > a person’s life. This wasn’t the case for Carlisle, he made it extremely clear he wanted Edward to leave.

During the “Kill Bella?” vote, she was in favor of whatever meant Edward would stay.

Carlisle, having failed to get anywhere with talking sense into Edward, sends him home to his mother for an intervention. What happens next is that Esme gives Edward her blessing to eat the delicious girl if he wants to. Now, we can’t know specifically the talk Carlisle and Esme had before this, but I can’t imagine it was this. Also, damn, what a miscommunication.

Esme simply doesn’t have a problem with the deaths of individual humans, and she will put her loved ones above all other things, even if it’s a minor inconvenience. Keeping Bella alive only becomes her priority after Edward makes it clear he wants this.

Now, Carlisle’s standards have been worn down over the centuries, he just wants his family to try not to eat people on purpose, that’s how low the bar is. Tragically for his marriage, Esme is stumbling over said bar.

The further trouble they run into is that I don’t think they’re very compatible people.

Esme means well, but she’s peculiar, to put it extremely nicely. Her ambition in life is to LARP the human life, right down to being a master chef of something her species can’t eat, which could be sweet if she did other things. She doesn’t, the closest she gets is designing homes for her family. There’s being single-minded, and then there’s Esme, who appears to have honed herself into someone who exists only to be the housewife.

This leads to bizarre behavior - for instance in Midnight Sun when Edward has realized he’s in love, he sits around laughing to himself like a lunatic while playing the piano. Something happens with Rosalie, who runs out of the house in humiliation. Esme, responding to all this, gives her infamous “the best and brightest of us all” pep talk.

It’s just such a weird scene, even accounting for the inhumanity of Twilight vampires this is weird.

Mostly, thought, it is Esme’s interests and desires in life that I find so at odds with Carlisle’s. She wants to be an improved human, living the shinier, better, life without actually embracing the inhumanity of vampirism, while Carlisle is doing the human thing because he wants to be a doctor and save lives. Before that, he was travelling the world, living with normal vampires, using his eternity to study and pursue meaning in life. Now, they end up in the same place, with similar goals - wanting to blend in with humans - but the motivation is the polar opposite.

Which in turn means that as the world turns and their lives inevitably change, the way they live will have to change. This will spell trouble.

There’s also me having a strong suspicion these two don’t have much of a physical relationship, if any. Meyer specifically referred to their relationship as spiritual, and that fits the vibe we get from them in the books. Quite notably, Rosalie and Emmett were impossible to be around when they were newlyweds, while Carlisle and Esme weren’t a problem at all. 

Not to mention what Esme longed for all those years was very much an ideal of a man, which to me doesn’t immediately point to a very physical attraction.

The Penultimate Peril

Would he cheat on her, you ask. Answer is yes, they’re both cheating emotionally with Edward. No. 

He’s with her because he wants to be, and feels responsible for her. More, developing the kinds of feelings necessary for an emotional affair isn’t really on the table for him, since everyone else in the world is either a. one of his kids or the Denali, b. an unrepentant man-eating demon. So, unless Tanya’s feeling frisky, Carlisle doesn’t have anybody to cheat with.

(I’m here defining an emotional affair, which as I understand it is a bit hard to define, as a romantic, but non-physical entanglement. The cheating party has to know their partner wouldn’t be cool with it for it to count in my eyes.)

As for physically cheating on her, nope. God no, not ever. Unless something really convoluted like the plot of Blue Moon unfolded, but that’s really more a case of Esme pimping out her husband to her daughter-in-law, so everyone’s to blame here.

The end

I think the breakup can happen in any number of ways, but I think either way it will be sudden. 

These two aren’t going to go “you know, I think we’ve grown apart” because Esme would never acknowledge that nevermind walk up to Carlisle and say it, and if Carlisle realized things aren’t working he’d still want to stick it out for her sake.

I think it’ll be sudden, it’ll happen as the immovable object that is them is hit by an unstoppable force. One will go someplace the other can’t follow. Maybe when the Cullen coven splits down the middle, and they’re on each their own side of the chasm, or maybe some other cause entirely.

It’ll devastate them both, but given the people these two are, I think it’s inevitable.

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: Elizabeth Olsen and Jurnee Smollett Compare Notes on Genre-Blending Acting and Advocating for Performers on Set

VARIETY: Neither Elizabeth Olsen nor Jurnee Smollett are strangers to having to really stretch their imaginations to dive into complex characters and even more complicated worlds.

Both have superhero films on their résumés: Smollett portrayed Black Canary in DC’s “Birds of Prey,” while Olsen stepped into Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch’s shoes for Marvel’s “Avengers” franchise and then some — including Disney Plus’ first Marvel series, “WandaVision.” They are both now Emmy-nominated for projects that tasked them with jumping through time, blending genres and telling epic love stories (Olsen with “WandaVision,” Smollett with HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”). And, even though they are up in different categories (Olsen in lead limited series/TV movie actress; Smollett in lead drama actress), both of these shows are one-season wonders, leaving the performers and their audiences wanting more.

Olsen and Smollett dissected all that of when Variety brought them together post-nominations to talk about their celebrated roles and surreal playgrounds.

You both had a lot of magical or otherwise surreal elements to interact with on your shows. What did you actually have in front of you to react to on set?

Jurnee Smollett: We were very fortunate on “Lovecraft Country” because the whole VFX team worked so hard to create an atmosphere that was also practical in our space. I remember on Episode 3, the exorcism scene, we shot it over a course of three days and, while there was not a man in real life with a baby head on him, you’ve got the wind machines and the pictures are blowing and all the special effects makeup is being touched up. Atticus [Jonathan Majors] has pretty much turned into a rabid dog and I’m doing this spell with my ancestors and whether they were shooting behind us or shooting the elements, we were at our max capacity regardless because that’s just how we approach the craft. It was such a big sequence to shoot that that’s when the actor in you has to advocate for your instrument. I did go to the director and say, “Can you jump in and cross shoot Jonathan and I?” As an actor it is our job to shoot however many takes, however many angles you need, but then it is also our job to advocate for yourselves. And I love playing in this space because you get to use your imagination you get to go to crazy places. Because even while the practical elements are there; you get to go to crazy places. But I was grateful for the practical elements because it’s just so much easier.

Elizabeth Olsen: Did they have pre-viz so you knew what some of the supernatural elements looked like?

Smollett: With the Shoggoths they not only had a pre-viz for us, but for some of the scenes they had massive sculptures, like a dude standing there in a green suit with a Shoggoth head. The pilot we didn’t have this puppet, but by Episode 8, maybe we got more of a budget or something, but eventually we did get a puppet — which was really cool because you could see, “This is the moment his mouth is opening.” But also, Misha [Green], our showrunner, she just wants more blood, more dirt. She’d try to get them to blow spittle at us.

Olsen: That’s so gross!

Smollett: This concoction of Shoggoth spit, throwing it in front of this wind machine. I find the more practical stuff we have to work with, it just helps so much. And then there were the moments where it’s like, “No it’s just a green tennis ball and an X, and go.” How about you?

Olsen: For all those little things in the air and stuff in the ’50s, it was really important to our director [Matt Shakman] that we did everything ala “Bewitched.” It was all camera tricks, it was all wires. Our head of special effects had a lineage of a father who [did] special effects before him, and so puppetry and wire work and stuff like that were things that were already in his vocabulary, but we would have our special effect guys who are used to blowing things up and putting things on fire just balancing and making sure things aren’t swinging but they have to move. Even in the ’70s when she’s pregnant and everything’s in chaos, we really had a picture on the wall going in circles; they just figured out things with magnets.

When we were filming the finale, it was during COVID, during the fires last summer, and we shot Kathryn [Hahn’s] side at the beginning of the episode when she has my boys with her magic — we had to shoot them out because you always have to shoot the side with the kid out and also Kathryn was doing wires for the first time and of course it was with a corset and it was really hot and really bad air quality and so she had to be sent home by the medic at the end of the day. And so, on my side we were running out of days, and I think we had 35 minutes to shoot my side and my reactions to all of that, and there’s quite a bit of back and forth and throwing myself to the ground and hitting a different mark that will then stitch with the stunt double being pulled. I did a weird one-woman show sans kids, sans Kathryn. Our stand-ins were such a huge part of our show and I was so grateful to have them they’re reading lines with me, and our director, Matt Shakman, was like, “If you feel like you can’t do this, we’ll just do this tomorrow.” That gave an adrenaline rush to me and it just became, “I’m just going to do it.” There’s a lot of fear when you’re like, “Oh I don’t have the elements and I am on my own, literally.” But I’ve had to do this before and I’m just scared to do it because I feel stupid. But I already look kind of stupid — I’m shooting things out of my hands — so why don’t I just lean into it as full as possible and just do it and find it in some core, guttural space of desperation? That day was bizarre, but I was actually very happy that I didn’t put it off. I feel like sometimes as actors when there are things that make us nervous it’s like, “Oh we don’t have enough time to explore so let’s do it the next day if we can,” and then you’re in your head all night about it. And so, it’s nice to just do it, even if it feels silly.

Smollett: I’d imagine surrendering and using the fear and all that that you were feeling probably served you so well in it.

Olsen: And don’t you feel that, though? When you feel unsupported you just want to break down in tears and you’re not supposed to break down in tears or you’re not supposed to have those it’s those feelings in the moment, but there are other times where it is really useful and there’s something freeing about channeling it in some way.

Smollett: Yeah and it’s that word you just used: freeing. Being able to surrender — leap and the net will appear. And you’re right, if you would have gone home, you probably would have come back the next day and you would have overthought it. There’s something about using the adrenaline in that moment that I don’t think you can really teach an actor to do; it’s just experience. Because we go and we prep and we do all these things, and then you get to the set and there’s one distraction, two distractions, and those are the elements that just through experience you’ve learned to use.

But I have to say, when I was little, I used to go to sleep every night watching Nick at Nite and “Bewitched” was one of my favorite shows. I did not expect you guys, at all, to go to land of “Bewitched.”

Olsen: I didn’t either. I’m so grateful to it. I felt like I like forgot my body as an actor. You’re a very physical actor, so I feel like you probably don’t have that experience because you just seem so connected and free whether it’s on stage or doing action. And I really felt disconnected from my body until “WandaVision.” I was like, “Right, I have posture; I can walk; I have legs — all of these things are going to be telling the story and it’s period and so I get to move differently.” It’s been a while since I needed to create quite a different character, and it felt so good to wake up my body to the full character work.

Just watching you in the first episode on stage, I was like, “God damn, I want to feel that free on stage with a song and with an audience.” I’m a self-conscious actor when it comes to extras and things like that. There’s something about it where the crew’s the family, and with extras, I feel so vulnerable. And you seemed so at ease and in control and confident. It made you understand her fierceness and how fearless she was.

Smollett: Thank you so much! It’s so interesting that you point that out because, for me, singing in front of people terrifies me. It truly is one of the things that terrifies me the most. The thing about Misha’s writing is, she finds a way to teach you so much about a character in such a small amount of time. And in that first sequence we learn so much about Leti, from that fearlessness you talk about, the ease that she has in herself and in her person, but then you learn so much about her hypocrisy and the contrasting ideas that are at play inside. She’s a very complex one. In the scene with her sister where she’s talking about having dreams of pioneering into an all-white neighborhood in 1955, but she can’t afford to may for socks. [Laughs.] She didn’t come to her mother’s funeral, and yet she’s here yearning for some sort of family connection. And so, I just remember reading that and feeling so drawn to her and feeling like it’s a side of myself that I needed to unearth — there’s a Leti in me that I desired to actually be, but sometimes am not. And it’s interesting because through Leti, she really forced me to do so many things that I hadn’t done before and really become more fearless, become more unbound. It was just such a very cathartic experience for me.

Olsen: I felt that way with getting to do this sitcom comedy part. I felt like I was touching my childhood version of myself who was a ham doing children’s musical theater, who just who just like played for the laughs or whatever — that part that I don’t access at all, really, when filming. And Kathryn Hahn was such a force and Paul Bettany raised to the challenge, as well, of these comedic performances that were really physically funny. I started to get more comfortable — in the ’60s, ’70s, really got comfortable — and it was so much fun to touch that child that maybe was told too many times, “Oh, you’re such a ham” or you just felt like your big personality as a kid was not OK or wasn’t as appropriate. And so, getting to play with that was really freeing and very fun. As you were saying, there’s a release I needed to have, and through the comedy I was able to have it.

How did this sense of empowerment affect how you carried your own characters’ power? Was there something your character that inspired you to advocate for yourself or did advocating behind-the-scenes inform in-world behavior?

Olsen: I felt very lucky coming into this, because this is a world I know. And so, where my voice of advocacy came in was for actors who are coming into the world — like Teyonah [Parris], wanting to make sure that she had everything that she needed to understand where her character was going because this was a character that’s going to continue [and] if she had everything she needed for stunts. And then similarly with Kathryn, she didn’t realize there was someone who she could use to teach her hand gestures for her magic. And so, she was feeling nervous and lost, like, “How do I do this thing?” And I was like, “Oh, how do you not have that information!?” And then having a conversation with whom you need to on the crew up top and figure out how to keep everyone else feeling like they had everything they needed. And luckily, because this was a show with characters that Paul and I had before, the pieces came together and it was a situation where your voice is welcomed and heard.

From “Sorry For Your Loss,” the TV show I did with Facebook, I now have a producer voice that I can’t shut up. I now just need to talk to ADs a lot, and I need to talk to line producers a lot. I realize that I like having — especially if I’m No. 1 on the call sheet; if I’m a primary part — all of the information so I can understand why decisions that seem weird are happening, or else I’m going to get in my head about, “Why are we doing this this way? I just let people know that off the bat now because it makes me less of a control freak, having information. And it is a team effort and I think the actor’s value has changed in that in that respect. There’s a lot more opportunity for women to be vocal now, and so I’m just really seizing that opportunity.

Smollett: It was a very personal growing experience for me. It was time of transition [and] I’m still going through that transition in my life. In order to truly surrender and do the text justice, there was so much I had to bring to the altar every day to sacrifice. I remember talking to Jonathan about that, and he would refer to it as allowing your heart to break and hoping that the Holy Spirit would put it back together. She was essentially a woman trying to navigate her womanhood but she was never actually allowed to have a childhood. She was habitually abandoned by her mother and didn’t know her father and there’s something in that parental-daughter split that I found myself really relating to. Oddly enough like Leti, I was estranged from my father for years. He eventually passed away, really before there was that healing and so, oh man, it brought up so much shit with Leti. How does she see the world? She sees the world through the eyes of an abandoned child. With Leti, that made her overcompensate; with Jurnee, it made me shrink a lot. When you talk about that artist child, those of us who have been in this business for so long, you take on all the sensors. And I found myself just trying to love her a little more. One of the things I admired so much about Leti is this desire to love herself — this real desire to own herself unapologetically in a world that told her she was too Black and female, to exist in her entirety. It’s still a transition that I’m in, but I definitely feel so grateful to have been able to walk through some of that and navigate through some of that with Leti. But that’s, I think, the blessing and the curse of being an artist. You’ve got to be willing to bring your whole mind, body and spirit to it; nothing’s off limits.

Jurnee, the last time you spoke with Variety we were all assuming you’d get to return to this character, but now that HBO has said it’s not being renewed, do you have unfinished business with her?

Smollett: It’s no secret I’m heartbroken. I loved Leti and of course would have loved to continue playing her. But I am so incredibly proud of the work that we all created together — it feels so special and unique — and I am finding peace in that. We’re artists and there’s an endless well that dwells inside us— and there’s so much that’s out of our control. And I think I’ve done this long enough and I’ve experienced enough heartbreaks to know you don’t get attached to the results too much; you just try to stay in a moment. And I feel just so proud and blessed to have been chosen to go on this ride with these collaborators, so I am more so in the place of gratitude than loss.

On the other end of the spectrum, “WandaVision” was a limited series but Wanda Maximoff is a character you have been coming back to for years, Elizabeth. How do you approach that longevity — the changes in her, the changes in you and the interest in revisiting her at all?

Olsen: I’m 32 and I was 25 — so seven years ago — when I did the first one. There’s so much change that I’ve had, even as an actor and how I approach work and, I think, honor work so much more in the last five years, four years of my life. [Jurnee’s film] “Birds of Prey” feels like such a female-empowered thing, so I feel there’s a really incredible energy to beginning it, but then with me you hear people make comments about Marvel movies and it affects your own process. “WandaVision” really shook that up for me and made me reinvest.

Smollett: I so want to know your process with that because the comic book space was new for me. I’d been a fan; I’d seen all your movies and the other movies. How did you navigate all of those voices? Because they can be very loud.

Olsen: Luckily and also frustratingly my character was always this emotional anchor to a piece of the story. It was like the heart, if there’s a heart. Paul and I were the only romance that was really fleshed out in those movies. And so I just treated it like I would anything. And then, we have a really fun time filming “Avengers” And so it’s really goofy and the Russos are great. And so we, it feels light-hearted, and it feels like we have the last laugh at the end of the day. But when it comes to the reinvesting, that’s the whole mind game, right? Because you just hope that it continues to have this quality control, but the more the more things get made, you’re worried about that. Especially because I did a show on Facebook that was scripted, and I didn’t love the way they handled it. And it was hard. And so second season, we went back and we literally, as a team of producers, had meetings with people who ran Facebook Watch about where we thought they could improve. We had a whole presentation for them. And then eventually, they were like, “We’re not doing scripted anymore.” And so I didn’t have the greatest experience being a part of the launch of another streaming service. And so, the Disney Plus part made me nervous and then bringing these characters that are so big to television made me nervous. But Kevin Fiege explained to us that that they were not going to cut corners, and they’re going to try and create the same attention to detail, and they did. And I think it was really important for them to have that care for these first three shows that they were putting out because it was defining a new thing for them. And so, we were taken care of.

I think more for me with this with the reinvestment moving forward, I never had a six-movie or nine-movie thing; it was always two or three at a time — those were my contracts. And so, it’s always a really conscious decision. I wrapped “WandaVision” on a Wednesday and flew to London on a Friday to continue playing this part [in “Doctor Strange 2”]. I could have used getting out of the mindset, though, because they were totally different utilizations of the character and people would have had more time to understand “WandaVision” had we not just wrapped. And so there’s just a lot of, “We covered this in ‘WandaVision…’” It’s bigger than me, there’s lots of threads that are continuing on after me that I’m not aware of, and so it’s always about, “What can I get from this journey with this character that maybe I haven’t tapped into yet with her?” That’s where I keep approaching things from, so that I feel like I have some sort of strap-hang — that I can know that there’s going to be growth of some kind, even though it all maybe looks the same to other people. There is that conscious decision to learn a new element of this woman, or even of myself as an actor — something that I want to explore that I can bring to it.

Your passion for acting is apparent and you both produce as well. What about directing?

Smollett: I would love to one day. I find myself currently being incredibly excited about producing and ushering new voices and excited voices. I don’t know that I would want to direct myself — that’s a whole other skill. I remember watching Denzel Washington, who directed me in “Great Debaters” but he was also in it, and at that point he had such a command of his instrument that he was able to do that. But it’s a lot. And I remember him telling me, before directing himself, he went and made himself watch all his films just so that he could stomach this idea of watching himself in the editing room. And so, I love the idea of storytelling; I’m obsessed with just telling stories, but I don’t know that I would self-direct.

Olsen: I find myself still loving producing so much because I love asking questions and poking holes and thinking about reorganizing of storylines, things that I feel maybe need more structure. I loved writing essays in school so much; it was like something that I found creative because it was about putting so many different sources into a braid that could maybe create this larger conversation or thought at the end. And so, that’s how I look at scripts. That’s really satisfying enough for me, to play that role. I think one day I’ll think about it more honestly, what it what it would mean to be a director. I fear that if I were to do it anytime soon, I wouldn’t have the tools that I would want. I do ask lots of lens-y questions because I’ve really only been working for 11 years and only recently have I tried to really understand the art of what lenses to choose and why and what it makes an audience feel based on what you’re choosing. I want to have a better, more holistic understanding of [that] before attempting [directing] because I do think it’s such an art and just because I understand the structuring of a story or how a set works, I want to be able to provide the the image in my head. I don’t know if I have that skill yet, but I am curious about feeding it and nurturing that.

Press: Elizabeth Olsen and Jurnee Smollett Compare Notes on Genre-Blending Acting and Advocating for Performers on Set was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[takerfoxx]

Magia Record, Season 2, Episode 3, "There Was Too Much To Carry," First Impressions!

In which the Madoka Magica franchise continues to double down on the weird shit, and I am both here for it and amused by it.

I love surrealism.

I love dream logic. I love weird shit. I love having bizarre imagery that distorts reality and dances on the border of beautiful and horrifying thrown at me. So I wholly approve of just how weird Magia Record has been.

That having been said, there is the feeling that they know that having to adapt the plot of a hero pull game doesn't leave them with a whole lot of actual substance to work with, so they're hiding this by double and triple-downing on the weird to fill in the gaps.

Madoka Magica, as a franchise, has always been pretty strange. That having been said, in the original show, it was pretty choosy of when it cut loose on the strange, with most of it being reserved for the witch barriers, and the real world being more-or-less normal. Sure, there were a few unusual bits and pieces to indicate that this took place a few years in the future, but nothing major. The most abstract it got when witches weren't involved was Kyoko telling her backstory in the church.

The Rebellion Story upped the ante on the weird, with the overwhelming majority being a coked-out fever dream. However, while it did feel like padding in places, that was also plot-relevant, as the increase of surreal imagery coincided with Homura noticing more and more that her perfect world just wasn't right. Plus, it's SHAFT, and their animators were given a bigger budget and fewer restrictions, so that's just what they do.

Magia Record only furthered this trend, even when witches weren't directly involved, with everything involving Sana being the most obvious offender. Granted, we have the psuedo-witches in the Uwasa, and the WoM also seem to like weird shit in their hideouts, but there's no getting around how much of a increased focus it's getting, even when it ought not.

Do I enjoy the hell out of it because I'm an easy lay for that sort of thing? You better believe it.

Am I also amused because it's getting kinda transparent? Also true.

But hey, it's not often that the fanservice of a show is catered directly to the lovers of the weird, so gimme some forks and a bib, because Daddy's is gonna feast!

And hey, there was more of an in-episode justification here. The Eternal Sakura has ahold of Iroha, and isn't letting go, trapping her in a perfect-world dream, much like Homura's barrier from The Rebellion Story. Only difference is Yachiyo and Kuroe's memories aren't wiped when they're pulled in as well, so they immediately start noticing that everything is wrong and start working against it.

Naturally, the Eternal Sakura has its own opinions on this, and works against them. Every time they point out an inconsistency to the trapped Iroha, it reboots the dream to incorporate the new information, but since it only has Iroha's memories to work with, this runs into problems when Yachiyo mentions Iroha's sister Ui. And since Iroha has secondhand knowledge of Ui, that left the Eternal Sakura with nothing to work with, leading to the creepy teddy bear and eventual breakdown of the illusion.

Naturally, fun ensures.

Yeah, I enjoyed this. Though if I do have a quibble, it's that I felt that the Doppel's exposition of the changing dream and whatnot to be unnecessary. Like, I got what was going on just by watching it happen. You really didn't have to lay it out in detail. I felt it was obvious.

Also, maybe I missed or forgot something, but was the Eternal Sakura controlling Iroha's Doppel, or was it the other way around? Apparently Eternal Sakura was an AI like Sana's friend from season 1 or something? I suppose it doesn't matter, but it I still would like to know.

And let's face it: it was nice to see Yachiyo finally get a win for once. And it also looks like Kuroe is going to be more involved with the good guys, so that's nice as well.

And finally, it seems that Madoka has been reaching out to Mami for a long time now, only to get a cryptic cult-ish answer. So the OG squad are going to be making tracks toward Kamihama City soon.

Please involve Kyoko. I know she's not part of the team in this timeline, but I still want her back.

[inkykeiji]

Clari, may i ask you to explain why you love twin peaks so much? i want to start watching it and instead of googling reviews or watching trailers i want YOUR opinion over anyones lmao

AH OKAY ANON SORRY IT TOOK ME A FEW DAYS TO GET TO THIS but i was finishing up bmb and i wanted to be able to take my time on this ask and give it my full attention so!!!

WAAAAAAAH okay, first of all, david lynch is just one of my favourite directors ever. i love him so much, i love all of his work, and it’s so difficult for me to put into words WHY, because lynch’s work focuses so much on FEELINGS; or at least, it does to me!! they’re quite bizarre but they’re so DREAMY. they evoke so many feelings in the viewer and honestly watching one of his films is literally a whole experience in and of itself. i’d even argue that he borders the line of the art film, too. see aaah i’m already having trouble explaining what i mean here, but it’s like idk you’ll watch a scorsese film or a carpenter film and yeah, of course, it evokes emotions but we almost instantaneously know why we’re reacting that way. does that make sense??? they’re a little more straightforward in their messages, in their story/plot, in their characters, etc.

i personally feel that lynch’s work goes a lot deeper than that; it really makes you think and question and it’s almost introspective in that way as well??? because (to me) with his work, it instills all of these emotions in you, but sometimes you aren’t exactly sure WHY you’re feeling the way you’re feeling--it’s a little challenging, and you have to do more work to understand the film or understand your personal reaction to the film. i also just love everything lynch thinks about art in general; i find his presence very calming and i agree with many of his sentiments surrounding art as a whole. okay now that i’ve rambled about my love for him

twin peaks is a fantastic intro to lynch (although of course he didn’t direct/write every single episode, but the show itself is truly imbued with his whole presence and all of his themes, just toned down a little. most of this was due to abc in the 90s; which means fair warning, season 3 is much more lynchian than the first two seasons, and it is honestly more of a 18 part movie than it is a television show!!). to be honest with you anon, i’d say twin peaks is one of the biggest influences on my own work!! i love the dreaminess which is almost infused with these feelings of hopelessness and despair, i love how bittersweet it is, i love love LOVE how the universe as a whole is a few degrees removed from our actual reality, i love the characters and their relationships,  i love the way it plays with drama and the human subconscious, i love the aesthetic, i love the air of mystery that surrounds the whole twin peaks universe, i love all of its beautiful surrealism...it’s so STRANGE in such a lovely way, it reminds me a little of the original twilight zone too.

it’s so hard for me to explain it anon, but it’s so much more than a murder mystery (and tbh it knows this; it’s self-reflexive to an extent, especially with invitation to love, which is a satirical fictional soap opera in the world of twin peaks). i feel like it deals with the human condition in a way??? because there’s significant focus on emotions, dreams, hallucinations, death, morality, etc etc all wrapped up in this thin translucent element of the supernatural.

give it a try and see if it hooks you from the beginning or not!!! i’m sorry this is a bit of a mess ehehehe, interpreting twin peaks feels especially personal (i relate to some of the characters a LOT and the town itself reminds me of my hometown so much its scary) so i’m not sure if you’ll feel the way i do when you watch it, which is totally okay and completely valid!!! the fandom is STILL cooking up theories etc honestly there are ENDLESS theories for the twin peaks universe as a whole (it spans books + a movie as well). with that being said, please let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to expand upon here or if you have more specific questions!!

i’d also just warn you that you will not get closure with this show; it is extremely open-ended, so keep that in mind to if that isn’t exactly your thing!! aaaah i hope u give it a try n like it tho anon!! <333

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

"The walls speak to me. They tell me secrets. Don’t listen to them, press your hands against your ears, Noemí. There are ghosts. They’re real." This was nightmarishly bizarre in the best way! It's the kind of story that slithers into the darkest recesses of your imagination to warp the shadows with decadence and decomposition. Morbid intrigue scratching down your spine like a blackening fingernail to corral you into a tip-toed, look-over-your-shoulder, keep-your-eyes-open sense of suspended and creaking surreality. Even though you're anxious about every step you take inside, you can't halt your forward tread. You can't speak, can't look away. You won't be able to restrain yourself from chasing after invisible footsteps in the hallway that were never there. Not only do you follow the crumbs of decay, but you leap out to meet them. You dance with the strangeness and vulgarity, with the grotesqueness that muddies the line between illusion and reality. If I had to describe this book in any succinct way, then I'd say it's macabre-- sensorily macabre. Evocative imagery swallows you whole. It puts you on high alert on every page, disquieting details jumping out at you like a hand that clasps around your neck, thrusting you into a fun-house of broken mirrors where everything feels off. Distorted. Deranged. The characters drag you into their labyrinthine horrors with nary a whisper of decorous wrongness. Ghastly family secrets, eugenic histories, hallucinations, dreams, and sinister descriptions germinate the plot so often you're never not on edge. It's a minefield of psychological tingling and trepidation! The atmosphere itself pollinates with moldy horrors, with the edged silence of a crusty blade. High Place - the decrepit mansion where Noemí, Catalina, and the creepy Doyle family are cloistered together - is suffocating in its isolation. Spooky, barbaric, in its habituation, and atmospheric in its construction. The doors slam shut behind you the moment you enter, locking out the light. There you remain, afraid, imprisoned, ensconced in intriguing mystery, until the vibrating patterns on the wall begin to recede, little by little, the more you progress through the plot to discover things. The Doyle family weirdos are a bit one note in characterization, in that they're not what I'd call rounded, but that's okay. Their abject wickedness marries with Old World refinement in such a way as to make up for that lapse, and I found I liked them better for the rotten splendor they displayed. Talk about bone-chilling suspense and heinousness overall, though! Whew! Bloodline "purity" abounds. Plus, there's so much mental unscrambling for Noemí to do. My first thought upon finishing this was that it had the gothic pulse of Rebecca, the eerie and unnatural essence of The Turn of the Screw, and the psychological torment of The Yellow Wallpaper. It was Jumanji-esque in that I could almost feel evil undulating louder and louder beneath my fingertips the longer I read. As a result, I was stuck in it until I finished, sweating and shivering my way through the game. All I know for sure is I loved this book. It's a gothic horror treasure. I'll also never be able to eyeball a mushroom the same way again, so make of that what you will. 

4/5 stars

*You can also follow me on Goodreads

[theradioghost]

hey, can i pester you for some podcast recs? something with a good dose of humour and not too many episodes to catch up on. a sprinkle of queer romance would be a nice bonus. my fave so far is tsco starship iris, and i also loved greater boston, wooden overcoats, the bright sessions and caravan. and thanks always for all your great recs! you’ve brought many hours of joy into my life :)

We Fix Space Junk -- Two intergalactic repairpeople -- a knowledgeable cyborg veteran and a former socialite on the run -- travel the universe meeting people and fixing things at the behest of the terrifying intergalactic corporation they’re trying to work off their debts to. Hilarious British sci-fi sitcom featuring Evil Space Capitalism, many many wonderful AI characters, and an absolutely delightful teenage space wasp-human-cow hybrid princess who is probably off accomplishing her grandiose special destiny somewhere offscreen while the main characters deal with things like their bosses possibly trying to kill them (again).

Death by Dying -- People have a tendency to die in odd ways in the small town of Crestfall, Idaho. Luckily the town also has an Obituary Writer, an eccentric and nameless but impeccably stylish fellow whose closest friend is the Angel of Death, and who has a knack for solving murders even though that’s definitely not his job description. Throw in walrus haikus, extremely rude ravens, Something Mysterious And Malevolent Lurking In The Dark Woods Outside Of Town, disappearing childhood homes, silent nuns, ghost bicycles, and three man-eating cats, and you get something like a delightful cross between Wooden Overcoats and Lemony Snicket. (Also, OW is peak Canonically Bisexual Dumbass.)

Less is Morgue -- Riley is a paranoid, reclusive teenager with a fondness for conspiracy theories who lives in their parents’ basement. They’re also a predatory ghoul who feeds on human flesh. Evelyn is a cheerful, outgoing young woman with questionable tastes in media. She’s also a ghost, ever since she was killed by a falling stage light at a Nickelback concert 16 years ago. And since Riley dug up and ate Evelyn’s corpse, they’re roommates! Will they ever manage to record a coherent episode of their podcast without something going ridiculously wrong and/or Riley eating one of the guests? Probably not!

Victoriocity -- The steampunk buddy-cop comedy-mystery thriller you never knew you needed but definitely do! Featuring Inspector Fleet, a grouchy, extremely driven policeman looking for the murderer of the Empire’s greatest inventor, and Clara Entwhistle, an even more driven and unfailingly upbeat rookie journalist who has just arrived in the island-spanning, bizarre cityscape of alt-history Even Greater London. Come for some of my favorite sarcastic British narration since Adams and Pratchett, stay for characters-are-begrudgingly-forced-to-work-together-until-they-come-to-genuinely-and-deeply-care-about-one-another-as-friends trope. (Also for Tom “Eric Chapman” Crowley as the aforementioned grumpy detective.)

Quid Pro Euro -- From one of the other leads of Wooden Overcoats, this doesn’t have a typical plot as such but has made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle despite the fact that I know nothing about the EU. Which is what this near-surreal, Look Around You-style comedy is about: Felix Trench’s vision of a simultaneously hilarious and terrifying alternate European Union, seen from the perspective of a serious of educational tapes from the ‘90s predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. It’s hard to describe this show in any way that does it justice, but it’s incredibly funny.

Time:Bombs -- A miniseries by the exalted creators of Wolf 359, which (because they are madmen) was written, recorded, and produced in the space of one week. Also, a comedy about an NYC bomb retrieval squad on New Year’s Eve, most of whom are just trying to get through the night while their leader attempts to break a record for most bombs cleared before the calendar ticks over. Chaos and hilarity ensure.

Superstition -- Wisecracking, bi, Jewish, definitely-a-private-eye-just-don’t-check-her-qualifications Jacqueline St. James receives a message from her father, which is weird, because her parents disappeared years ago. Following the trail leads Jack to Superstition, Arizona, a town in the middle of the desert where everyone’s got secrets, assorted ghosts/monsters/cryptids harrass the locals, and the missing persons rate is the highest in the nation. As a protagonist Jack is Looking For Trouble And If She Cannot Find It She Will Create It, so while Superstition isn’t a comedy per se, it’s got a fair share of laughs and is also just so, so excellent in general.

Standard Docking Procedure -- A self-declared hopepunk scifi workplace comedy about the somewhat dysfunctional staff of Pseudopolis Station, effectively a high-tech interstellar truck stop. It’s funny and heartwarming, nothing truly bad happens, and Julia Schifini is there.

Solutions to Problems -- A morally-questionable human named Janet who has defintely never done any illegal time travel and an easygoing, physically indescribably alien who likes to go by Loaf host an intergalactic advice podcast. Are you tired of your species’ insistence on solving everything via ritual combat? Not sure how to talk to your partner about whether body-swapping has a place in your sex life? Dealing with being a superpowered teenager summoned into being by the collective will of an apocalyptic groupthink cult? Janet and Loaf have you covered! Provided that Janet’s on-and-off girlfriend, the AI who supplies the air they breathe, doesn’t kill them all first. Oddly heartfelt comedy in the form of a relationship advice radio show from the Space Future.

Middle:Below -- This show’s tagline is “Remember: bad things WILL happen,” and that is basically a lie. This is actually a short, incredibly heartwarming and frequently funny show about Taylor Quinn, the only human with the ability to pass between the land of the living (aka the Middle) and the land of ghosts (the Below). Meaning, of course, that the dead call on him to fix all their problems, with the help of a girl named Heather, a ghost named Gil, and a cat named Sans. (Also, some of the most comparatively wild live shows I’ve ever heard.)

Inn Between -- Ever wonder what fantasy characters get up to between adventures, during all that time they seem to spend at inns? This show skips all the adventuring, question, and action, instead focusing on the quiet moments between where what is Definitely Not A D&D Party meet and progress from bickering strangers brought together by circumstance to close-knit found family -- all at the inn, of course. (Lots of queer folks in here also, although there’s no romance at least in the first  couple seasons.)

The Godshead Incidental -- A relatively new but very exciting and so far really enjoyable show!! Following a young woman who writes an advice column through her life in a familiar, and yet strange city where anyone might be a minor god -- your editor, your landlord, that weird guy on the street who was shouting about how he’s the God of Memory and you got into a fight with him and now you keep forgetting everything? Also, your apartment is full of pigeons now because you found out the aforementioned landlord is secretly the god of doorknobs and he’s panicking. Good luck! (Starring Ishani Kanetkar, aka Arkady from Starship Iris!)

Gal Pals Present: Overkill -- Madison, a middle schooler at a Girl Scout camp, agrees to play a game with a somewhat tastelessly bright-pink Ouija board. However, Madison doesn’t know that she’s a natural medium, and now sarcastic mid-2000s 19-year-old Aya Velasquez has joined the many ghosts who are for some reason haunting scenic Harding Park. Aya, however, will not rest until she can solve her own murder (and possibly get to know that other ghost girl a bit better, who says romance has to stop when you’re dead?). Absolutely hilarious writing of a narrator who is almost definitely wearing spectral Uggs during the entire show.

Dark Ages -- The Rivercliffe Museum of Mostly Natural History is one of the finest museums anywhere! Or it would be, if anyone ever actually visited it. Or maybe if the staff weren’t a disastrous and dysfunctional collection of criminals, weirdos, wannabe immortals, idiot bisexuals who can’t just admit they like each other, and one extremely uptight elf with no people skills. Also, it would probably help if the legendary and fearsome Dark Lord, finally returned from his millennia of dormancy to complete his prophesied conquest of the world, wasn’t hanging around watching the chaos unfold because they’ve got his crown on display. (Fantasy workplace comedy with a theme song that did not need to go that hard?)

Brimstone Valley Mall -- It’s mid-December 1999, and at one mall in South Central Pennsylvania, a group of demons are going about their evil work -- namely, working at various dinky kiosks and restaurants, hoping of achieving every demon’s dream of getting to work at Hot Topic, trying not to do too much evil because Earth is way more fun than Hell and no one wants to get promoted back home, and preparing for their band's triumphant opening performance at the upcoming Y2K party. Just one problem: their lead singer is missing. Another absolute masterwork from The Whisperforge.

Arden -- 10 years ago, Hollywood starlet Julie Capsom vanished into the woods of northern California, leaving behind a car containing a human torso that may or may not have belonged to one Ralph Montgomery. Now, private eye Brenda Bentley and reporter Bea Casely, both of whom were among the first at the scene and both of whom have their own very strong opinions on the case, are setting out to solve the mystery on their true crime podcast, Arden. Providing, of course, they can stop arguing with each other long enough to solve it. (Or, a not-really-parody-but-definitely-comedy “true crime” podcast where the crime is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet -- and even knowing that, it’s still a genuine mystery with twists and a surprise ending! -- and the hosts are wlw Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. In other words, it’s perfect. Season 2 is upcoming soon and is adapting Hamlet!!)

Alba Salix/The Axe and Crown -- Another high fantasy workplace sitcom, this one a medical comedy about the titular not-very-personable witch who runs the kingdom’s House of Healing and the various shenanigans she gets into, between her somewhat scatterbrained sister and brother-in-law the king and queen and her assistants, an overly-whimsical fairy and a wannabe monk forced to do community service. The same feed contains The Axe and Crown, a spinoff set in the same world that manages to simultaneously be a sitcom about the staff of a local pub trying to stave off foreclosure and come up with schemes to beat their business rivals, and a heartfelt story about gentrification and recovery starring a gay veteran with PTSD? Which is possibly one of my favorite podcasts? (Also contains one of the most unbelievable crossover cameos possible: Leon Stamatis.)

The Adventures of Sir Rodney the Root -- Also a high fantasy comedy! When a witch transforms heroic Sir Rodney into a small piece of wood, his closest companion Sir Gilbert must set out to cure him by collecting several highly powerful and dangerous relics, accompanied by a snarky dwarfen thief, an imperious princess, a slightly creepy human child raised by fairies, a picky elf sorcerer, a dead unicorn possessed by the ghost of a stoner, and a bard who breaks the fourth wall too much for his own good. So far as I can tell, nobody is straight.

The Amelia Project -- A dark comedy about a secret organization that helps people fake their deaths. Which is honestly a pretty full summary, barring the two important points that 1. this show contains possibly the most continuity-warping crossover event of all time (it’s the center point of this absolutely chaotic diagram), and 2. in one episode Felix Trench plays a character named Bartholomew Fuckface Chucklepants Knucklecracker.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Six-String Samurai

I’m a huge fan of surreal movies, which some of you out there likely already know. Eraserhead and The Lighthouse are two of my all-time favorite films, and I have a soft spot for movies like Santa Sangre as well. I just love bizarre, inexplicable, crazy films that feel like fever dreams and deliver all sorts of emotions. And in that loosely-defined genre, one of my favorite subsets of film is the “surreal movie with a batshit insane plot that is incredibly fun to describe.” Freddie as F.R.0.7. and Death Bed: The Bed That Eats are another two of my favorite films that fall into this category… and now, a third film has gained that honor: Six-String Samurai.

You ready?

In a post-apocalyptic America which was nuked to hell by a herd of fuckin’ ugly reds in the late 50s, ending the Cold War in the Soviet’s favor, the King has fallen, Elvis has left the building, the King of Rock & Roll has kicked the can… and the news echose across the American wasteland. Now, warriors wander across the wastes to claim the throne of Lost Vegas, including Death himself – who has a top hat, curly black hair, and plays a mean guitar (remind you of a certain guitarist who had to put up with Axl Rose?) - and our titular hero, the guitar playing, sword wielding Buddy Holly. Buddy, together with an annoying tagalong kid, has to fight through evil bowlers, rockabilly communists, cannibals, windmill worshipping cultists, and more so that he can become the new King of the wasteland.

What the absolute, literal, actual FUCK.

The most amazing thing is that despite all this, the movie should suck – and yet, it doesn’t. The acting is hokey as hell, the sets are kind of basic, it’s all very corny and goofy, and everyone is just hamming it up, and yet, it all feels very deliberate, very calculated. The film is very much self-aware, and yet somehow it also never stops reveling in its own absurdity. It’s sort of like The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, but where that movie, while good, is a bit too self-aware for its own good, this movie is just self-aware enough and just stupid enough where it achieves a sort of perfect equilibrium where your mind just can’t decide if they’re taking themselves serious or not.

I think the best aspects of the film are the soundtrack and its titular character. The music is pure rockabilly awesomeness, courtesy of the Red Elvises, who even get a nifty little cameo as themselves. Not a bad thing I can say on THAT front. As for Buddy, he is played by an actual martial artist named Jeffery Falcon; considering this, he probably did a lot of his own stunts, and it shows, because he is incredibly acrobatic and the choreography for his fight scenes is great. In fact, let’s throw that on t the big pile of pluses – the fights and fight choreography are just fantastic, cheesy fun, evoking a lot of good old kung fu movies. I think the only major weak spot is the child, who spends a lot of the movie either screaming or getting Buddy in trouble. But while he does undeniably suck for a vast majority of the film, his thematic purpose, which is to help Buddy realize that there is more to life than wandering and fighting and let him learn to feel for others again, is extremely solid. In fact, the entire ending really redeemed the kid in my eyes, mainly for the final shots, which end on a very intriguing and mysterious note that implies some very interesting things about Buddy and his nature.It might honestly be one of my favorite film endings ever, no joke.

This is a weirdly beautiful and beautifully weird film. Sure, you could spend days picking apart the weird line deliveries, the random nature of the plot, and that goddamn kid and his screaming, but fuck’s sake, this is a movie where Buddy Holly and Slash have a rock-off followed by a swordfight to the death! Where else are you going to see shit like this?! The fact the entire movie is up for free on Palm Picture’s YouTube channel is all the more incentive to check this movie out for yourself; if you like weird, quirky, and surreal films, this is the movie for you. It’s certainly not going to be to everyone’s tastes - a film this utterly batshit in premise and execution could really never hope for more than to be a cult classic - but it excels at maintaining a charming weirdness that never lets up. 

And really, don’t you want to see Buddy Holly slaughter his way through an army of dirty communists?

[moviesrotbrains]

DANIEL ISN’T REAL... but I’m so very glad this film exists.

After dealing with increasing anxiety and fearing a grip on reality, a college freshman turns to his childhood imaginary friend for comfort and confidence boosting… only to realize that his much cooler and carefree pretend buddy has an unsettling violent darkness about him. Could Daniel possibly be something more than a figment of his imagination?

DANIEL ISN’T REAL is an utterly surreal fever dream, channeling the best in cosmic horror, body horror, and psychological horror while also taking a bold look at deeper issues. It comes from Elijah Wood’s SpectreVision imprint, the same company that gave us such gems as MANDY, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, and COLOR OUT OF SPACE...  and this one’s right up there with those modern classics. And you can watch it now on SHUDDER!

Full review and some seriously kickass poster art below:

Directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (and based on Brian DeLeeuw’s book, In This Way I Was Saved), DANIEL ISN’T REAL is a wonderfully fantastical ride through fucked up subject matter. It tackles mental illness, trauma, dual nature, identity, male toxicity, and empathy… with a good amount of Lovecraftian madness and trippy, yet terrifically disgusting Cronenberg-esque visuals thrown in for good measure.

It’s an engaging story too, about a young man, Luke, overwhelmed with life as his mother’s mental health condition worsens. He’s dealing with that on top of everything else college kids go through, lack of confidence, anxiety, etc. There’s also a fear of his own sanity. He keeps hallucinating and blanking out. His therapist suggests that maybe he should try to tap into that creativity he had as a child, where he’d regularly play for hours on end with his imaginary friend, “Daniel”. Only things got very weird and unsettling the last time he played pretend with his fictional playmate.

Once Daniel re-enters his life, things start to change. Luke’s mother issues get better. Luke suddenly feels more confident in life. Luke is finally doing well with girls. Luke’s getting creative again with photography... and all of his problems seem to go away… Only Daniel seems to want more credit and recognition. And Daniel seems to be getting angrier. And that’s when things get really fucking messed up.

This film is wonderfully acted by a mix of up-and-comers and veterans of the scene. Luke is played by Miles Robbins (HALLOWEEN 2018) and gives that immediate likeable and kind, yet also meek, portrayal that perfectly conveys what kind of a person that Luke is. There’s a lot of range in emotion in this performance, from hurt and confused to confident, to something else entirely. I always get a kick at seeing an actor completely flip their performance and style midway and totally embody something else, and this film has that and more.

Contrasting that likability and meekness is Daniel (played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, SCREAM QUEENS), the titular imaginary friend who’s pure Freudian Id. He’s cool, slick, charismatic, and always knows the right thing that Luke should say, or do, to get ahead. He’s helpful… when he wants to be… but he also has a lot of darkness. A scary darkness that seems to stem from… something else. Patrick excels when he taps into this dark alias. He’s evil as fuck. There’s a sinister glee in his manner. Epitome of “Chaotic Evil”. He’s such a great asshole. He really kicks it into gear when the audience fully know what we’re dealing with… 

Yet even then, nothing is over explained. And that’s the beauty of this film. There is no expository dialogue or wasted scene. Everything is laid out there and the actors just bring it. This film lives in a world of it’s own and the audience is a passenger for the unholy ride. It’s a very slick flick full of world building and the kind of outstanding performances that really make everything shine.

Rounding out the supporting cast is Luke’s troubled mother (veteran Mary Stuart Masterson, who powerfully played a similar and memorable role in BENNY & JUNE), Sasha Lane (HELLBOY) as the love interest, artist, and really, the heart and soul of the film, and Hannah Marks (DIRK GENTLY) as the other girl faced with Luke’s dark side. again, all perfectly played and perfectly cast, giving a much needed balance in this heavy film.

And it’s a very heavy film. The story was a deeply personal one for Mortimer (as he explained to us in 2019, when he brought the film to the Montreal FANTASIA film fest). The director drew from his own experiences from his youth, when a friend was similarly dealing with mental health issues. Mortimer had to help him, because his friend was “falling off the rails”, with no one around really helping him out, “not friends or professionals”. He talked of his friend’s life being in ruins, and how it just “spiraled off into mania”. 

That experience deeply impacted Mortimer. It was from this that Mortimer wanted to make a film about empathy and compassion for people going through severe mental illness issues. While Luke’s troubles stem from something more, the parallels are still there to people in real life going through non-otherworldy issues. The overall sense of helplessness, and a desire to be understood and taken seriously, is still there, and still a universal theme. Especially right now.

This film also tackles a lot more than just matters of wellness. Mortimer also wanted the film to deal with the “increasing danger” young men are in these days. “The Dangers they face and the danger many are to themselves”. 

Mortimer talked about them, “Living in a world where men have been driven insane by society. A society where many men are both the product and the villain of it.” A lot of this is seen on film when Luke battles for control with Daniel. Daniel representing that alpha and that Id. Luke grasping for control and trying to be that voice of compassion and reason. It’s a wonderful character study that is only heightened by the horror elements that come into play.

And yes, it’s an absolute horror fan’s delight and it’s visually stunning to boot, mixing psychological & psychedelic horror together. It felt like I was watching HELLRAISER again for the first time, but if that film was shoved in a blender with FIGHT CLUB, JACOB’S LADDER, and copious amounts of mind altering drugs. But comparing it to anything else does no justice to the wholly original eye-gasmic feast set before us. I keep saying this, but it truly is an utterly wonderful surreal fever dream. It’s so very layered and out there. 

It’s refreshing to see new films like this come about with something to say and looking as great as it does. Yes, this film looks very different from most things that are currently out there, with it’s violet texture throughout, and otherworldly feel. Mortimer, who came from a music video background, wanted his second feature to have a distinct look to it, saying that the “violet hue throughout had a very futuristic and contemporary colour about it”. He wanted to create the feeling of a manic episode, and overwhelm the viewer with colours and density. 

And he totally does. It’s such a beautiful looking film, and one you’ll definitely go back to just to soak in the wonderful hypnotic visuals. Much like MANDY, from the year before, DANIEL is a cinematic treat for your eyeballs.

And there’s also some deeply messed up visuals that mix in with that beauty. The FX on a whole are amazingly bizarre. There are visuals that are so jaw-droppingly good that you’ll permanently have them etched in your brain. It’s the kind of film where you’re watching and you immediately want to rewind and see that scene again.

From faces being merged into each other in a pink tentacled mess of VIDEODROME-esque flesh, to other visages literally being mangled like putty! Pure body terror. People crawling into other people’s mouths– I could go on, but I don’t want to spoil it. It’s icky and wonderful all at once.

And I can’t go on about the FX without mentioning the nightmarish and hellish creature design by Martin Astles (who also worked on the brutal and classic nightmare fuel that is EVENT HORIZON). The creature FX are so fucking out there, each very distinct and very memorable. The kind of things that if you confronted them in real life you’d be quick to claw them out your own eyes. 

One beast looks like a hellish death beast with a fleshy castle for a head-- an absolute architectural artifice. Mortimer said they attempted to convey that a whole universe was in its face, and it existed outside space and time. Another Face looking like piercing bullets poking through the flesh and protruding from his cheeks, like a moment frozen in time. They’re all so freakishly creative and disturbing. I can’t even describe them right. I’m not sure I want to, but they’re seared into my mind. Body Horror and Cosmic Horror at their best.

In addition to the visuals, this film also brings it on the sound design and score front. It’s got an incredible score by Warp Records act Clark. It contains synthy goodness along with manipulations of actual orchestral pieces. And it was Clark’s first time working on a film score, something Mortimer preferred. 

He wanted someone that wasn’t used to working on horror films, or films in general, so they’d throw everything they had into it from the get go. Mortimer told Clark to make it sound like Bernard Herrmann got stuck in some horrible industrial accident. A relentless sonic assault that tries to capture that same feel that Clint Mansell did with REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. The results are a superb original work of music that completely enhances and already spectacular looking film.

I was a fan of Mortimer’s SOME KIND OF HATE when I caught it six years ago at FANTASIA FEST, but DANIEL is an entirely different beast and next level filmmaking. He’s easily grown as a filmmaker and I’m totally on board to see more. I can’t wait to see what he tackles next, because DANIEL was easily one of my top Fantasia picks for 2019.

DANIEL ISN’T REAL is one of those dark films that will most likely be seen as a cult classic in a few years, right up there with DONNIE DARKO and movies of a similar ilk. It’s full of so much imagination and gusto, all while tackling important issues and core themes. All that and it remains highly watchable and engaging. It’ll satisfy any horror junkie while also winning over fans of thought provoking art. Daniel isn’t real, but I’m glad it exists.

-Theo Radomski, Movies Rot Brains 

Seriously how fucking awesome are these posters?  Why can’t more horror films hire the people that made these posters? Why can’t film in general hire these people to make better promo art? 

This article was previously seen on Mobtreal.com

[allyvampirelass29]

Take the Night Road Home

Take the Night Road Home A NOS4A2 Review By: Allyssa J. Watkins

How black is your soul? She took the Shorter Way to the Night Road A chink of glass and a sarcastic toast A chill in the air as he feels her approach Knives drawn in a parking lot Gasoline Fire and Eyes of Black Frost Drunk Whore Mothers are best left forgot To kill her is a kindness Her son, his to soothe Chin up, Victoria I'm the best thing that ever happened to you........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!! Yes, this SPECTACULAR episode is extra special for me, not only because it was a delirious joy and rare return to form, but because it premiered on July 5th, 2020, my thirtieth birthday, and MY GOD what a TREAT!!!!! Yes, while last week's episode felt like a rotten trick, The Night Road was an absolute treat, with the ooey gooey, chocolatey center, of Vic FINALLY facing off against Charlie!!!! I'm MESMERIZED, I am in LOVE with this episode, and the second it ended, I danced around my living room and started it over again!!!! I feel like gushing, after one HELL of a DREAM DATE!!!!

PARNASSUS!!!!! Oh you guys, ever since the first Parnassus episode, I have been dyinggggg to go back to this surreal nexus of Creative Thought, this funny little pub, where the darker Strong Creatives gather and commiserate!!! I must say, I was so refreshed to find Abe infinitely more agreeable and interesting than the bitter, mouthy, nihilistic, sexist fiend who "greeted," our Man Manx, on his last visit! Charlie is as snarky and charming as ever, and I swear Zachary Quinto grows more BEAUTIFUL, and alive with dark allure each new episode!!! So much intrigue in his and Abe's conversation, and I loved this new mystery of The Hour Glass..... So many new threads, I don't know which to pull first!!! Being in the dark can be such fun!!! I also thought that was so witty of Charlie when he said, "That's the spirit, Abe," with a sneaky smirk, as Abe said, "I wish you had died, Chuck." I liked him calling him Chuck, I thought that was cute, and I really ache to know more about their bizarre friendship, and this apparent debt Abe owes Charlie!!!

My absolute favourite scene was the Knife Fight in the Parnassus Parking Lot, and it was there I realized what had been so obviously lacking in the first two episodes. Charlie and Vic...... Full strength and face to face. That seething hatred, that electric chemistry, the fire and frost, the reveling rivalry. The dark flirtation as Charlie tells Vic he's the best thing that ever happened to her. To her son. GOD, it was ambrosia for the soul!!! Speaking of souls, I loved Charlie's coyness, haughtily asking Vic what darkness had seeped into her soul, and then telling her exactly why she was able to access The Night Road. He took such pleasure in it, scolding her about children born out of wedlock, and drunk whore mothers, flinging her down to his level, maybe even putting his own moral compass slightly above hers. The responsible father, and the screw-up teen mother. Their banter was phenomenal, and smouldering, I couldn't get enough, Vic telling Charlie she'd sacrifice her life to stop him, and Charlie simpering sadistic, saying he'd gladly take it from her, for the sake of everyone she loved so they wouldn't have to hurt anymore. WOW. I was like this is it, THIS is the NOS4A2 that I fell in LOVE with!!!! Yes, I was a bit glum that the fantastic tease, didn't lead into an all out skirmish, and bar brawl, but patience Pets, the season's only just begun, and I appreciated them leaving us with wanting more.

Charlie's coaxing encounter with Wayne was absolutely adorable!!! I grinned the entire time, ridiculously blissful, and I loved how touched and surprised Charlie was when young Master Wayne asked if he was feeling better!!! Sweet Baby!!! Aaaaaah and how CUTE was that when Charlie wagged his finger in gentle reprimand, reminding Wayne it was bad manners to abscond without saying a proper goodbye!? My heart twittered warily when Wayne took the candy cane, and I saw all the presents, and a brand new basketball inside the Wraith, but something told me it was not going to be that easy, after all Wayne is his mother's son. My suspicions proved true, as Charlie was thwarted even by the Littlest McQueen, failing to have said a rather important password. I giggled, adoringly, as Charlie tried to wave it off saying, "There are no passwords in Christmasland," but our sharp little lad, was much too clever for that, and took off running!!! I LOVE WAYNE, I LOVE this darling, beautiful little boy, and his precious curls, and deep, inquisitive eyes. Charlie having two quick McQueens to foil his dastardly plots is just too much fun!!!

Much less fun however, was the knock down, drag out, fight to the near death between Lou Carmody, who has to be the COOLEST, nicest, most congenial guy in the WORLD, and that BASTARD Bing Partridge!!!! I don't think I took a breath the entire time, and I was like I SWEAR Bing, if you FREAKING hurt Lou, you will incur my WRATH, you CREEPSTER Son of a BITCH!!! I absolutely LOVED the hidden message he left for Vic, Lou earning serious fanboy cred with the AWESOME Obi-Won reference, and I take it back, what I said about him being Vic's sidekick, because that teddy bear of a man was a BADASS Hero tonight, beating the hell out of Bing, and single-handedly saving his son from Manx's clutches!!!!

I also felt redemption was in order for Vic's parents, as shockingly they're doing better than Vic herself!!! Chris is sober even, finding solace from his demons in the woods, and the heartbreak on his face when he finds Vic's stash of minibar bottles in her pockets, is profound. He blames himself. His little girl inherited her Old Man's coping mechanisms, and nothing terrifies him more. I loved that he kept her sketchbook too, as a way to keep her close. Linda though, WOW what a change, Linda is a new woman!!! Gone, is that pale, schizophrenic shell of a battered wife. She's got a new hairstyle and a confident, secure attitude to match. It was such a nice shock to see her thriving, in a new relationship, full of good advice for Vic, and I think she's ready to heal, both from the pain she endured, and the pain she's caused. You go, Linda!!!

Speaking of Mothers........ Hold onto your Santa hats, Kids, because Mrs. Manx LIVES!!!! Millie's shocking discovery that her mauled mother, or at least a glazed-eyed apparition of her, still haunts her old house in Christmasland, stole the air from my lungs!!! WHAT has Charlie been up to beyond the borders of his merry inscape!? Crafting Sleigh House from memory, along with raising his own murdered wife!? My GOD, this episode came to WIN, going hard, even until the end!!! I have a theory that Cassie Manx has everything to do with why Charles has requested an introduction with the infamous Hour Glass Man, whom I suspect can alter time. I think Charlie wants to reunite the family Manx, bring back his wife, which in itself is a dizzying revelation, because I thought he ached to be rid of her long before that first AWFUL trip to Christmasland. I'm excited to see if I'm right, wondering at where they're going with this, and how Cassie will come back into the story. Could she love our Charlie again even after the atrocities he loosed upon her? I think maybe so....... I would. To love Charlie Manx once, is to LOVE him forever.

The Night Road is NOS4A2 at its coming-out-swinging best, and I feel like, after a few rocky patches and speed bumps from the previous scattered episodes, Season 2 is back on track and set to be BETTER than anything we've EVER seen before!!! My BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER, and I'm so happy I took the Night Road Home, back to the unique and enthralling, spine-tingling fun storytelling that I LOVE!!!! Thank you Charlie, tonight was the PERFECT date I've been WAITING for!!!! Same time, next week, Handsome?

[bluemoonroseart]

Surrealism: The Art of Dreaming

Using artworks by Surrealist artists René Magritte, Dorothea Tanning and Salvador Dalí, I’m going to broadly look at the movement and compare their approach to tackling subject matter that most artists fear to tread. They have a similar style in the way that some of their work has illusionistic quality to it, and as well as working in the Surrealist movement they also worked with abstraction. 

Surrealism was a revolt against formalist art that started in Paris in 1924 and ended in 1966. Experimenting with pure psychic automation, the surrealists aimed to revolutionise the human experience, rejecting a rational vision of life in favour of one that asserted the value of the unconscious and dreams. Essentially, the word ‘surrealist’ suggests ‘beyond reality’.

Dorothea Tanning's self-portrait 'Birthday' (1942) may appear tame for a surrealist painting, especially in comparison to her wild, nightmarish depictions of sinister sunflowers and twisted fairy-tales. However, I think that despite its more minimalistic façade there is a lot of underlying meaning to interpret, and it becomes more surreal the more that you study it.

Tanning is shown standing with her weight in her toes, tipping forwards as if ready to flee. Unlike most self-portraits, this is strangely unrevealing of her true personality, like she’s a character in her own story, the way that she used to invent make-believe worlds for herself to delve into when she was a child. The paint has a luminescent quality, lending to the dream-like narrative woven evocatively into it.

The turbulent, difficult to decipher perspective of the composition leads the eye to the background, behind and beyond her, into the overlapping multitude of doors, perhaps representing an invitation into the complex state of her psyche. Tanning's gaze is slightly off-centre, like she’s looking at someone or something behind us, and the way that she clutches the doorknob is almost like she's inviting them into the corridor, for her to follow after them into this portal of limitless possibility. This quickly snowballs and leaves the viewer in wonder, yearning to join and discover whatever location that it leads to.

Her idiosyncratic Jacobean-style garments make me wonder whether she has come from the unknown land beyond the doors and returned to bring someone back with her. Fantasy art often draws upon natural materials like plants to clothe their characters, so Tanning could be referencing this in the vine-like tendrils coiling off from the sides of her dress.

Although Tanning rejected being labelled a feminist, it is difficult not to see her work in this light. Sexual motifs of fetishized female body parts recur in Tanning’s work, and clothing makes no attempt to cover her chest in this portrait. Additionally, she was key in challenging preconceptions and defining her individual Surrealist style at a time where the critics commonly perceived women artists to have a passive role.

The fantastical bat-like creature has a peculiar timidity and sits beside her bare feet. Instead of appearing demonic, its small scale and stance make it appear vulnerable and creates a sort of pathos in the viewer. I think that it could be a mythological personification of the dark side of her tumultuous mind, and the fragility that perhaps isn't always visible.

Although it was painted around her birthday, the title’s intention was to suggest rebirth from the real into the surreal.

Unlike Tanning’s paintings, which some suggest frequently carry an erotic undertone, despite the title, René Magritte’s ‘The Lovers II’ (1928) is the opposite. This is a companion piece to ‘The Lovers I’ (also 1928) which depicted a man and woman posing for a photograph with white hoods covering their heads, a shocking juxtaposition of the peaceful backdrop of the countryside. However, the latter piece has a darker tone and is much more intimate, exploring the complex theme of ‘surrealist love’.

Supposedly the same couple are yet again the protagonists of this offbeat narrative, still with opaque hoods over their heads, but this time there is an added intimacy of the fact that they appear to be kissing inside a private space. As a viewer, it seems like we've stumbled into a personal moment that we shouldn’t have, but now that we’ve arrived in this room the piece is so transfixing, we can’t leave.

The application of paint is more romantic than some of his other more flatly painted works. There is a realism in Magritte's use of tone, and the chiaroscuro, murky colour palette and dark ambiance lends to the shrouded mystery of it. The enigma is further deepened by the ambiguity of the abstract background; we are given no clues to their backstory. The idiosyncratic contrast of the muted blue and deep, passionate red painted walls perhaps suggests the complexity of their relationship.

Furthermore, their concealed faces mean that they have no perceivable identity, so Magritte calls into question not only individual experience but a collective, universal human narrative. They are archetypes of people, perhaps representing an emotional barrier between everyone, no matter how intimate the relationship. Potentially it is not that they cannot understand each other, but that an onlooker could never truly comprehend the meaning of the connection between strangers. 

The fact that the pair seem to be oblivious to their veils leads me to further believe that it isn’t physical fabric at all, but a manifestation of their emotional state. Although the stance of the man is more dominant, the fact that the fabric is wrapped around his neck makes it feel like he's being strangled by his situation. Additionally, Magritte's compositional decision to include the ceiling adds a sense of claustrophobia.

This painting has now become an iconic image in the time of coronavirus, and surreal as our everyday life is now, it has spawned many imitations, including a masked kiss on a Vogue cover.

 After an era of irreverent and explicit anti-Catholicism, in 1951 Salvador Dalí painted ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’. Some have claimed that it is ‘kitsch, shallow, and obvious’, however, others believe that it is the best painting ever produced.

In a “cosmic dream” on ecstasy, Dalí saw that the “nucleus of the atom” was in fact Christ himself. He found this confirmed by a drawing by St John of the Cross, which inspired this painting. The stark, black backdrop of nothingness further illuminates the figure of Jesus.

I think that in this image Dalí is strongly playing with the concept of life after death. Underneath the cross is a lake with two people and a boat, offset by a strikingly expressive sky. A theory that I have is that it's potentially an allusion to the ferryman taking people to the underworld in classic mythology. This can be backed up by his exceptional use of foreshortening - referencing the way that a priest holds out a crucifix for people to kiss when they're on their deathbed - and Dalí's personal interest in mythology.

The lack of details such as sweat and nails takes the suffering out of the image and emphasises the religious belief that the Son of God sacrificed himself because he wanted to, not because he had to.

 All three of these thought-provoking surrealist paintings lead the observer into an unpredictable narrative, and their use of colour, composition and paint application make the unbelievable contents believable, strongly influencing the viewer’s response to the work. Their compelling nature makes it feel as though these paintings are just the surface of a much wider story, an analysis of human psychology: the intense and ungraspable sense of fear and love, driven by the power of the subconscious. Tanning, Magritte and Dalí have all let strangers into their own dreams and nightmares, giving us the rare insight to be a witness to the manifestations of their own internal universe and lending brief escapism from our own.

In conclusion, through trying to understand themselves through Surrealism, perhaps they have handed humanity the key to unlock our own true nature, and why this movement is so treasured is simply because as humans we love to dream.

  Bibliography

Piper, D (2004). The Illustrated History of Art. 5th ed. London: Bounty Books. p422.

Unknown. (2020). SURREALISM. Available: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/surrealism. Last accessed 26th Jan 2021.

Feigel, L. (2019). Dangerous appetites: the weird, wild world of Dorothea Tanning. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/08/dangerous-appetites-the-weird-wild-world-of-artist-dorothea-tanning. Last accessed 26th Jan 2021.

Unknown. (2020). Dorothea Tanning Artworks. Available: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/tanning-dorothea/artworks/. Last accessed 28th Jan 2021.

Gilles, N (2000). Dali. Germany: Taschen. p74-75.

Bazan, C. (2017). The Surrealist Love and Bizarre Romance of Rene Magritte. Available: https://musartboutique.com/surrealist-love-rene-magritte/. Last accessed 29th Jan 2021.

Unknown. (2020). The Lovers II, 1928 by Rene Magritte. Available: https://www.renemagritte.org/the-lovers-2.jsp. Last accessed 29th Jan 2021.

Bradley, F. (2020). Work in focus: ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ by Salvador Dalí Talk. Available: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/event/work-in-focus-christ-of-saint-john. Last accessed 29th Jan 2021.

[eve-context-log]

essay on yve’s tang and rene magritte (W.I.P draft)

The artist I have chosen that really does inspire my work is the French born artist Yves Tanguy who was a surrealist painter who was and is well known for his abstract landscape pieces that just make me happy looking at? He has a very unique style of painting which was unusual for the time and was completely different from other surrealist art at the time. Yves didn’t start off wanting to do art, like most of us he kind of floated around in life not knowing what to do, he joined the navy in 1918 and afterword’s into he took up jobs until he came by a painting by the artist Giorgio de Chirico and was deeply inspired by It and was inspired to become an artist due to it. He got right away to painting, fully being absorbed right into it like it was his calling he was waiting for. He would only work on one piece at a time which could probably be due to how small of a studio he had at a time which would only have enough room to work on one piece. He was introduced to the surrealism style by his friend prevert showing him the work of many surrealism artists who revolved around André Breton.

 His style is very unique and distinct, a far departure for what other surrealist artists were doing at the time, his pieces show off mostly empty vast landscapes that are mostly occupied by nonsensical objects that maybe act as a metaphor for the brain. The brain is normally shown to be a calm desert so maybe these objects represent thoughts? He uses a very limited colour palette in his pieces, mostly consisting of normal colours for the sky and sand but more unnatural colours are used for the abstract objects so they stand out way more than the desert its self. Due to these colours, they stand out way more which is good as the abstract shapes tend to be either small in the background or super close in your face with the angels he paints. He either paints his objects as very loose, fabric like making them look like draped cloth and in contrast he paints a lot of objects also that are ridged with very strong looking structures that make them appear almost like concrete or clay. What he does with these shapes is very unusual, with his cloth like shapes he tends to make them either bend in the non-wind almost like they’re stretching to the heavens and with the ridged shapes he tends to leave them as is most of the time which helps contrast form between the both of them.

 The colour in his pieces is also placed oddly too, most of the time there’s one colour almost bleeding into another, for example: in the piece Through Birds, Through Fire, But Not Through Glass 1943 he tends to make the orange red in the highest top object slowly shift into a bright yellow which is just subtle enough that you don’t notice on first glance but really start picking it up when you look closely. He tends to go for very heavy shadows, not adding much in the ways of transitioning into the darker parts of the shadows, he literally just tends to block in a thick layer of black to empathise his shadows which allows them to appear almost like a second object in itself. He paints a lot of sky’s in his backgrounds, I’ve noticed he really tends to like painting in fluffy light clouds or either a very slight fog which you also might miss on first glance but they help create both a calm relaxing atmosphere for his pieces but also a mysterious type of ambiance like anything could be hidden in that fog. I’ve just noticed he goes with the three main colours way of kind of selecting a colour palette, for example in one piece he will use faint blues, yellows and reds are his three main colours which has been a common reoccurring element in his pieces. Some of the objects he paints will sometimes not follow the laws of gravity and just float, this really helps further the dream motive of his pieces, almost like these objects are floating off into the white abyss above almost like a passing memory. Another thing that also helps with the motive of these objects trying to reach the great above are the objects that are the objects that seem to have a ton of blob like webs that almost look like they’re climbing up the structures and assembling into their own version of that object.

 Another surrealism artist that I like is Belgian born artist rene Magritte. Rene was a surrealist artist who was mostly known for his lighter more humorous pieces but also his more down to earth pieces which helped people think on issues and often depicted regular objects in strange areas. Rene has had a harsh life, when he was 14 his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the river, this wasn’t the first time she attempted suicide. His early paintings which where around 1915 where in an impressionistic style, a style which was characterised by thin, small yet visible brushstrokes which often showed off a normal subject matter which is of course a huge polar opposite for what surrealism is and is what surrealism is agents. He moved from movement to movement a lot, going for more abstract movements with each change like, impressionism to futurism to cubism to then finally settling on surrealism which was the most abstract of them all. He starts surrealism painting when in 1922 he saw the reproduction of the painting “the song of love 1914) which brought rene to tears, he stated this was “one of the most moving moments of my life: my eyes saw for the first time”.

 He paints a lot of surrealistic stuff, he’s mostly well known for the portraits he would do with the objects covering a person’s face; however, he also created a lot of lesser-known abstract landscapes which often depict a lot of nature. He uses a lot of blue greens and browns to create a very earth like piece, he uses a lot of earth like imagery in his work which creates a much more intense dream like feel with his use of the vivid blue sky and soft fluffy clouds. He tends to focus on one main subject when he’s painting his surrealistic pieces, for example his most famous piece a man’s face being covered with an apple or a Boquete of flowers that’s ends are actually a bunch of old-fashioned pipes. With his pieces of people with they’re faces covered it might be referring to the fact that the brain cannot make up peoples faces when dreaming, we always have to see someone even for a second to see them in a dream so these pieces could maybe represent the unconscious brain trying to make up a face on its own. He uses a lot of clouds in his pieces to further the dream motive, they help his pieces also look a lot calmer despite all of the abstract pieces in his paintings.

 He tends not to add a lot of visible brushstrokes to his pieces, he opts to make pieces with thick well blended paint to go for a more realistic feel to contrast the abstract with the more realistic style of painting he goes for. The brushstrokes that he makes visible is to add texture to objects like rougher brushstrokes for bricks and lighter drier brushstrokes to help empathise the fluffy clouds he’s going for and even drier brushstrokes to help empathise the dry dirt and sand he paints. He’s very hyper detailed with how he paints, even for most realism artists he really pushes himself, for example he adds the tiniest of bumps and cracks in order to make a huge rock painting and the tiniest pieces of disturbed sand in one of his landscape pieces to add just that little more life to his work.

Comparing both yve’s and Rene’s work, Rene is the more realistic painter of them both, Rene opts for more minor details like details in the sand he paints where yve goes for a smoother look to his piece which makes his shapes more abstract but sacrifice detail. Rene also has a more verity to what he paints as he doesn’t just paint one thing like yve does, however, yve doesn’t really need much verity to his work as his unique trait really is that he paints mostly the same subject over and over again. There’s a lot more visible brushstrokes in yve’s work, he uses it a lot in the sand to add contrasting colours in it and he also uses it in his more fabric-based shapes to add a fabric like texture to them. Rene’s use of brushstrokes is a lot looser in application to Yves, but he makes them count, only adding them to the objects that could use the extra layer of detail like his use of sand and fabric. They both go for I believe the representation of the subconscious mind, yve’s with the thoughts in our mind and the passing emotions and Rene with representations of dreams and showing how bizarre they really can be.

 In conclusion, I very much prefer yve’s more simplistic surrealism, I just find it a bit more unusual where I feel like Rene’s just makes a bit too much sense for my liking, I prefer work when its at its weirdest and yve hits that spot. I also very much prefer the palette Yve uses as it’s much more muted palette which despite being very muted makes the strange objects he paint all blend into one giant mess of abstractness that just makes my eyes happy to look at.

[sealers100]

A (brief) review of every Donald Sutherland movie (so far)

I’m not coping well with quarantine at all and no one else seems to be either (which makes me feel a bit better) So what started out of boredom back over christmas break has turned into a quest to find and watch every Donald Sutherland movie ever. Probably not my best idea since a lot of them are very old and hard to find and would need to be bought online (which isn't an option right now.) Don’t ask me why, this kinda just happened and I’m not gonna fight it. So stick around for an unprofessional review of a very professional actor’s long film career. 

(if anyone has any suggestions or knows where to find more hmu) 

M*A*S*H*

Ah talk about a movie that didn’t age well (but neither did Holiday Inn and we still watch that) I’m not here to bash on it for being problematic because apart from the way they treated Houlihan, I genuinely loved this movie. It had be rolling the whole time just like the show and I still catch myself whistling like Hawkeye all the time. Probably still like the show better and Alan Alda’s Hawkeye (sorry Donald) but its definitely been a go to when I’m having a rough day.

Kelly’s Heroes

I think this was the first movie of his I ever saw as a little girl and I remember being very confused. (since it didn’t match my dad’s military stories at all) so this ended up being the first one I went out of my way to hunt down and watch and sorry to Clint Eastwood but Donald stole this movie from literally everyone. He’s hilarious, he’s sexy, he steals the show and it’s definitely one of his more underrated movies (the movie itself is a bit long) which is a damn shame since he (literally) died filming this one. (if you don’t know the story, look it up its wild)

Alex in Wonderland 

Wow, who knew he could be such a convincing asshole! At least he becomes aware of it by the end of the film but I just felt so lost by the end. Like ,what did I watch, what happens now? Not one of my favorites but definitely interesting and a sure product of the early 70s. Overall, he does have a lot of good scene (a scene with THE Federico Fellini) that are sometimes light-hearted, dumb, cute, irritating, and just...what? The relationship between him, his wife, and children is probably the only redeeming factor since its pretty accurate for how his actions strain his relationships. I am gonna be honest though, I only watched this one to see him as a long haired hippie 😂 (sorry). 

Klute

Leave it to Jane Fonda to remind me why I’m bisexual (I wish she wasn’t always a prostitute) Although there was a lot more of her and a lot less of him, even though he is John Klute. I am an absolute sucker for those old black and white noir movies and this is no different. It leaves some feelings to be desired at times (Donald apparently felt the same way) but you can really tell there’s a fascinating chemistry between him and Jane (because there actually was) Overall the story was entertaining but the character’s themselves seemed somewhat drab. I wish we got to know more about them and had more scenes with more emotion apart from just the sex and love scenes. Oh well, it was still a pretty damn good movie and I’d definitely watch it again if I got the chance.

Lady Ice

Basically Magnum before Magnum was even a thing. Now just because a movie is bad doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining. I love the whole Miami Vice vibe I get from this and again, huge fan of private investigators, detectives and dirty schemes. His acting might not be exemplary but I don’t even care. The movie is fun and not every movie has to be deep and meaningful. Nothing wrong with just watching a movie for the hell of it. And that moustache, it’s my kryptonite. 😆

Don’t Look Now

If you haven’t seen this movie, stop reading my bs and go watch it right now. (its free on crackle) This is such a good movie I could make a whole post on it alone. Donald and Julie Christie (I’m still not over her either) put so much into every scene, giving us such a beautiful relationship that’s been fraught with tragedy. Every scene is beautiful and eerie and enchanting Iloveitsomuch!!! I don’t wanna spoil too much because the ending turns everything on its head. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a horror movie but it really walks that uncanny valley with the whole setting of Venice in it’s off season, the dark corridors, creepy premonitions. I will spoil this, I love how for once, the man is the psychic instead of the woman, which is a trope that waaaaaay over done. AND THE SCANDAL! Okay sex scenes in movie isn't exactly scandalous but this one was surprisingly realistic (no they didn’t actually have sex) so everyone in the 70s pitched a hissy fit over it and I can’t understand why. It’s by far the most realistic and beautiful sex scene I’ve ever watch, hats off to Donald and Julie. God Bless Nicholas Roeg for this masterpiece, aaaaahhh just go watch it its so good!

Fellini’s Casanova 

Alright but bear with me on this. I think I had a religious experience while watching this movie. I was overly exhausted and had my eye on it for a while said ‘fuck it let’s watch something weird.’ This what actually started by quarantine marathon (how appropriate) and I can safely say, I think this is the most beautiful, most grotesque, most enchantingly beautiful and yet dark and bizarre movies I’ve ever seen. Donald makes such a convincing 18t century venetian lover and they really went all out with his appearance, acting and the scenery of the whole movie. Everyone in the film seems to genuinely enjoyed everything they’re doing (which says a lot they do some crazy shit in this one) and the whole time, everything is erriley whimsical, almost like a fever dream (which is what this film might have been I dunno). And the fact it spans the entirety of Casanova’s life, from his highest point to his absolute lowest decent into squalor just proves that Fellini holds nothing back AT ALL. Again, no spoilers (I don’t really think I can spoil this film) but there’s just copious amounts of sex and its just plain strange but if you find it in your heart to give it a try, please do. If you’re not sure about it that’s fine definitely not for everyone. However I highly recommend Fellini’s other works. (go watch La Strada)  

Invasion of the Bodysnatchers 

Hahaha oh man I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this movie. My friends and I in college had a horror movie night and this one seriously freaked out my roommate (i’m so sorry). I love me some sci-fi (I run a star trek blog) and this not only gave me lots of Donald but also Leonard Nimoy, (along with a very young Jeff Goldblum) so yes, this is now one of my favorite sci-fi movies (I did a film analysis on it too). I don’t recommend watching it in quarantine unless you’re into freaking yourself about a global pandemic. I will say, this movie is an anomaly  since I think it might be the only movie that is not only better than its remake, but also better than the book (which I also read) This one gives us Donald (and his moustache) playing of all things, a health inspector (I’m dying) whos put into some creepy scenarios of apocalyptic proportions. This is one of those horror movies that’s fun without being funny. It’s got plenty of drama and awkwardness between to characters while also reaching it’s cult classic status. All the actors in this film manage to give such a convincing performance that you can’t help but feel like you’re right there with the characters, which makes for a fun and terrifying ride. 10/10 would scare my roommate again.

The Great Train Robbery

Donald Sutherland AND Sean Connery? Sounds like a great pair right? Well they are, sort of. Okay this movie looks like a typical british drama, buuuuut I’m not so sure about this one. Donald is pretty great in this one and so is Sean, but I’m just very confused if it’s trying to be serious or funny? The plot itself makes sense and its pretty good but the execution is just...what? Oh well, Donald and Sean make an entertaining pair with their odd “train heist” I felt this movie would have done much better if it went for either one side or the other instead of jumping all over the place, and it played out much more like a soap opera. It’s not bad though but its not a favorite of mine. 

Bear Island

Okay I’ve been pretty nice so far, but this...the only real redeeming part of this movie is Donald and his beard. Which is such a shame because I feel like this could have been SUCH a good movie. The story itself is really good and enthralling but somebody somewhere dropped the ball. No, they didn’t drop it. They threw it off a cliff. Nothing about this movie makes sense, most everyone’s acting is subpar, and I don’t blame them because the script was probably the main offender of this film. Even Donald’s acting is uncharacteristically bad. I know shoot me, criticized his acting.  It’s just so strange to see what could have easily been a fantastic film. Someone send this to Philip Kaufman and ask for a remake because this one needs it. 

Ordinary People

Oh God, this movie. This movie means so much to me. Again, watched it with my roommate, we sobbed like children and its now a must see in our group. The fact that Donald wasn’t even nominated for an oscar for this film is a travesty. A story like this is something that in a way I’ve lived myself. Everyone’s acting in this film is superb and as someone who would know, yes, all of this is very really and very heart wrenching to watch. I don’t mean to get sappy or anything, but I have been Calvin Jarrett, I (and I’m sure others) have been that mediator who eventually is broken by the two fighting forces. Watching his eventual collapse is so surreal and wow this movie really broke me in some spots. Uhg god this movie, I wanna cry just thinking about it. I’d totally watch it but I’ll just spend the whole time wanting to hug him. 

Eye of the Needle 

If any of you know me personally, you’ll know I’m absolutely terrified of needles, so this might not have been the best movie for me to watch, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This whole movie is actually pretty fantastic. For once, Donald plays a bad guy, but you can almost root for him (if he wasn’t a nazi) I felt so conflicted because while yes I wanted him to take her away from her horrible husband, hes a damn dirty Nazi, and we don’t stan. Of course, Donald’s character is extremely charming but I’m left wondering if his character really did have feelings for Kate Nelligan. I have a feeling that I could really run with this story. This one is a thrilling story with a thick plot that tears its characters apart. I can’t help but love it.

Crackers

Fight me, I thought it was funny. Not really but this is one of those “entertaining but not really good” movies. Donald’s character is...well, he reminds me a lot of most of my exes. He’s just down on his luck, he’s not a bad guy. Yeah that sums up how I feel about his character. However, the movie overall is pretty damn funny. At least it knows it’s a comedy and it even has a sweet(ish) ending. I will say its not great, but there is a good scene with Donald falling flat on his ass which was so worth the whole rest of the movie. This one is still on my quarantine go to for when I just wanna forget about life for a while. 

Rosary Murders

So this little gem I kinda just watched on a whim thinking it would be some campy horror movie that was very pro-catholic and woooweee was I wrong. I loved this movie so much I ended up watching it twice, two nights in a row. It really was a thrilling movie with a plot thicker than pea soup, all while throwing some (slight) shade at the catholic church. This movie goes less for the horror side of things and more for the shock and drama and it does it well. Not to mention he makes one hell of a cute priest. I loved the hell out of this one and I’m glad i decided on this one the other night. I might even watch it again who knows. 

Pride and Prejudice

Everyone in this movie is neurotic as hell except for Donald Sutherland and Keira Knightly. Sorry I was never a huge Jane Austen fan but I admire her ability to write hell of a good slow burn and that exactly what this is. Hell most of you know what this movie is about so I’m not gonna talk about it too much. Its one of those movies everyone else seems to have seen and I haven’t so mom and I sat down and watched it together. She just laughed as I sat there yelling at the TV, waiting for an exasperated Donald to come on. His final scene though, so sweet. I did like how the movie showed a father daughter relationship that wasn’t toxic (not like the last one) but I was kinda over the whole song and dance after a while. I’m sure most people think its a really good movie but I just don’t get it. 

The Hunger Games (All of them) 

As I understand it, this movie actually means a lot to Donald, as it does to a lot of people, and that he really enjoyed working with Jennifer Lawrence, so that’s nice. Yes I’ve seen all three (four) movies, read all the books and I couldn’t think of anyone else to better play Katniss Everdeen’s antithesis than someone like Donald. I feel like this is one of those roles that was just made for him. He was such a scary and venomous villain that played so well off of the main protagonist. Uhg I really do love the Hunger Games Series, it was a huge part of my childhood, I just hate how the fans destroy people who love the main villain, like many fandoms do (looking at you star trek). I wish I could just enjoy these movies in peace without everyone being so polarized on them. 

Oh wow there’s definitely gonna be a part two but as of now, this is all I got. I’ve got a long way to go and (with the way things are looking here in the U.S.) I’ve got plenty of time to do so. I really do enjoy doing these kinds of things so if you want me to watch and ramble about any other movies (no, it doesn’t have to have Donald Sutherland) I’m gonna be in quarantine for a while, so let’s at least do something fun to pass the time. 😊

[nitr0glycer1ne]

Ducktober/Duckvember Day 16 - Best friend

Heeeeyy look who's FINALLY updating!! I thought this chapter would be much shorter, but I got really carried away by Lena and Violet, it almost wrote itself. I hope you enjoy the result :)

-

“We’ll clean our guest room tomorrow, but in the meanwhile, you can sleep with Violet.”

Colin finishes with a smile, and Lena nods. Her fingers are tightly gripping the armrest of the comfortable couch she’s sitting on, next to Violet; she’s not nervous, not really, but she needs something to physically anchor her in reality. Because none of this feels real: being back from the shadow realm, Webby being safe and sound and still her best friend, and her getting to live in a real house, with real living, breathing beings, after being offered so by a new friend.

The word still feels somewhat alien to her. It used to be something she’d hear only from her aun- from Magica, and it wasn’t ever spoken without disgust and contempt wrapped all around it. And although Lena has grown accustomed to hear it being used as its intended meaning, as a term of endearment from Webby, it’s still a bit weird to think that yeah, she is someone’s friend, she has friends- oh, using its plural is even more bizarre, and Lena hopes it’s something she never grows tired of.

“Would you like to come and see your new sleeping quarters, Lena?” the small bird sitting next to her offers.

The question sounds very detached, but Lena now knows it isn’t, she knows it’s just the way Violet speaks, emotions sometimes having trouble to show beneath the polite and wordy sentences the young erudite strings.

“Yeah, sure.” the duckling agrees, getting up and stretching her arms, a bit stiff after the long discussion she’s just had with the Sabrewings.

---------

Lena had been worried at first, when she had understood she wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the McDuck mansion. Webby had done her best to ask, plea, beg her grandmother and Scrooge for her best friend to stay with them, especially since she had nowhere to go save for a small, humid basement by the beach, but the adults had remained firm. Webby hadn’t needed to give Lena and Violet a full report of Bentina and Scrooge’s reasonings; the two girls had managed to hear it all, thanks to the makeshift stethoscopes Violet had crafted, sticking the devices on the office’s door and listening to the whole argument.

Lena can’t blame them, especially after what Magica did to Scrooge and his family. She had expected the outcome – but what she hadn’t expected had been the softness the old billionaire had explained his reasonings to Webby, and how he had carefully added that maybe, after Lena had grown used to a life amongst the living and without Magica’s influence, he would be happy to take her in.

Still, Lena had been left homeless after that discussion, and although it had worried her, she had done her best not to show any of that concern to her best friend. And that’s when Violet had intervened, before Lena could even attempt to lie to Webby:

“Perhaps I could call my parents. We have a spare room, and I am most certain they wouldn’t mind welcoming you at all, Lena.”

The usually snarky duckling had been left silent, for once- just like Webby. And before Lena could brush off Violet’s offer, her stupid pride getting in the way of a comfortable bed in a comfortable house owned by normal people, Webby had jumped at the small bird, giving her the warmest and most joyous hug she could- which, by Webby standards, meant that the two of them had ended in a happy pile on the floor, soon joined by Lena.

Surprisingly enough, Violet’s dads had agreed easily. One of them, Colin, is a preschool teacher, and he loves children; and although Lena is no toddler, she’s glad it made him open to the idea of fostering a duckling made out of someone’s – someone who very recently wreaked havoc on Duckburg – shadow. Her surprise must have shown on her disbelieving face, because Webby had been quick to elbow her:

“Not everyone’s like Magica, Lena.” the girl had smiled. “People are usually nice and happy to help.” “Yeah, I guess.”

Her reply had been as noncommittal as possible, but there’s truth to Webby’s words – it’s just that it’s still hard to imagine a world without Magica, even though there’s nothing Lena wants more.

“Are you alright, Lena?”

A pair of dark, inquisitive eyes had intently been watching her. It had startled Lena a bit, but she had remembered it had nothing to do with suspicion or malice; it had just been Violet’s weird, yet somewhat charming, analytical approach transpiring in her soft, piercing gaze.

“Yeah, it’s nothing. It’s just… weird to think I’m gonna have a room all to myself, in a real house and not in some abandoned, underground hideout.” “It’s going to be awesome!” Webby had chimed in, jumping on her spot. “We’ll help you carry all of your stuff, and then we can go shopping and you can get even more stuff to decorate, and-” “Woah, easy there, Pink.” Lena had fondly stopped her friend, still a bit dizzy at the perspective of living an almost normal life. “I don’t think Mr and Mr Sabrewing are going to be very happy if I just barge in and go all Extreme Makeover on their house.”

Violet had giggled, a charming sound startling both her friends and making them smile.

“I don’t think they would mind that much, actually. Papa is rather fond of that show, and he loves nothing more than spending an afternoon choosing a new plant, or a new shelf, or some new décor.” “Sweet, I guess I’ll go all out then!” Lena had entertained the thought. “Like, paint the walls some sick dark purple, with some crimson splatters here and there.” “Oh! Oh! And a black floor to make drawing summoning circles easier!” Webby had added. “Mmh, perhaps even an altar of sorts.” Violet had continued. “Surrounded by enough shelves to store old ritual scrolls, and mystical books of all kinds.”

And thus, the night had ended, with the three girls grabbing sheets of paper, colored pencils and glitter pens to draw their ideal room and jot down ideas.

 ------------

Now that Lena stands in Violet’s room, that conversation feels so distant. There’s a world between being told that you’re going to be fostered by a family, and actually setting a mattress on the ground, with soft pillows and freshly washed bedsheets. Lena’s been promised a lot by Magica, and almost all of those promises have been nothing but empty words used to ensure her absolute obedience. Which is why it’s eerie to have someone be true to their words, for once.

“Are you alright?”

It’s when Violet speaks to her with the tiniest hint of worry in her voice that Lena realizes she’s been staring at her pajamas for a few minutes. They’re nothing fancy, just sweatpants and a tee-shirt Largo’s leant her, since she’s too big to fit in Violet’s clothes, but they faintly smell of cinnamon, and the scent is reassuring for some reason. Like she’s holding on to something that isn’t hers, something that belongs to someone else who’s been happy to give it to her.

“I’m fine.” Lena finally answers, realizing that she is telling the truth. She’s a bit lost, but she is fine. “I’m just gonna get changed.” “Sure.” Violet nods gently and offers her a kind smile. The small bird is sitting on her bed, wearing her own turquoise pajamas, her wild hair down to her lower back. “I’ve set a toothbrush for you in the pink glass near the sink. You can use whichever toothpaste you like; mine is strawberry flavored, and my fathers’ is mint.” “Thanks, Vi.” Lena nods, and gets out of the room.

The whole process of reaching the bathroom, putting her pajamas on, brushing her teeth and coming back to Violet’s room is almost surreal. Lena still has trouble believing all of it is real; it feels like a dream, and it almost hurts with how simple and good the mundaneness of it all feels. There are tears pricking at the corner of her eyes when she slips under the warm blanket Violet’s given her; she blinks them away, hoping her new friend hasn’t seen them.

If she has seen them, Violet doesn’t say a word about it. She does ask something, though:

“Would you like to sleep with one of my stuffed animals?” the purple bird offers, gesturing towards the end of her bed, where a few plushies are neatly lined up. There’s a shark, a teddy bear, a duck and a rabbit; they all look equally soft, taken care of and warm, comforting to the touch. Lena is tempted to accept, but she feels it would be too childish.

“Nah, it’s okay, but thanks.” “As you wish. Good night, Lena.” “’night, Vi.”

Violet claps her hands, and the ceiling light turns off. Lena whistles, amused by the fancy system. But the sudden darkness cuts her amusement short, and she feels her throat get tight and painful. Her breathing quickens, and Lena shuts her eyes quickly, trying to ignore the obscurity surrounding her.

It doesn’t work.

Even though her eyes are closed, Lena can still feel the darkness around her, she can feel its heavy weight on her body, pushing the blanket on her, pushing and pushing until her chest is tight and breathing is almost impossible. Her thoughts are racing, panic and fear and determination a toxic cocktail drowning her brain; sweat rolls down her forehead, cold beads dripping on her beak; her mouth is drier than a desert; and suddenly there’s a hand on her shoulder-

Lena screams, something feral and heartbreaking, and her upper body stands straight, leaving the sheets beneath her damp with cold sweat. The ringing in her ears barely calms down enough for Violet’s voice to reach her:

“I’m sorry, Lena, I didn’t mean to startle you...”

There’s a hint of panic and regret in her friend’s tone, but Lena’s brain is too saturated by terror to pick up on it. The door opens, and the sudden light filling the room abruptly brings Lena back to reality. Violet’s parents are standing in front of her, slowly making her way near her mattress. She tries to pace her breathing, hating the tears she can feel rolling down her cheeks, when a gentle, warm hand finds her trembling shoulder:

“Are you okay, kid?” “It’s my fault, Dad.” Violet apologizes, taking Lena’s hand in hers and not letting go, her grip gentle but firm. “I heard her breathing quite loudly, so I got worried, and I wanted to check on her, but… I…”

Largo embraces them both, making sure to leave some room for Lena to reject his hug if she’s overwhelmed by his presence. She doesn’t; Lena’s never been much of a hugger (Webby is an exception), but in that instant, the embrace feels like a lifeline, and she throws herself into it, openly sobbing now. Violet makes sure to wrap an arm around Lena as well, her small hand rubbing soothing circles in her back. Colin slips outside of the room, leaving his husband handle the situation.

Time stands still, in the best way possible. Warmth slowly fills Lena’s freezing body. Her sweat dries, and so do her tears. Her breathing steadies, her heart stops pounding. The fog heaving over her mind lifts, leaving her thoughts clear.

Lena takes a deep breath and scoots back, away from Largo and Violet. Her friend slides next to her, keeping a respectful distance but making sure to let Lena know she’s here- she’ll always be here.

“Do you feel better, Lena?” Largo asks as his partner steps inside the room, two steaming mugs in his hands and a small box tucked between his arm and his hip. “Yeah, I just… I dunno.” she shrugs, stifling a yawn. The panic attack has drained her, and she doesn’t even have an explanation to what just happened. “I have no idea what just… ugh.” Lena sighs, angry at herself for losing control like that. “It might have been because of the dark.” Violet suggests as Colin hands her and Lena a mug of hot cocoa. “Perhaps it triggered some strong, deep fear inside of your psyche. I’m sorry, I should have thought about it.” “Hey, don’t beat yourself up, Vi.” Lena objects, hating to see her friend’s remorseful expression as the small bird’s grip on her mug tightens. “It’s not like you could have guessed I would lose it just because you turned the lights off!” “But-” “Lena’s right, little bird.” Colin softly cuts his daughter, petting her unruly hair. “Your father and I tend to forget that because you’re a genius, but you’re only eleven.” “Yeah, Vi. You’ve done so much for me already, so don’t feel guilty about it, okay? It’s nothing. I’ve survived worse stuff, trust me.” “Okay…”

Violet drinks some of her cocoa, not entirely convinced. Lena does as well, the rich, creamy beverage feeling like ambrosia as it slides down her parched throat. It’s almost like liquid comfort, especially with the small marshmallows floating in the foaming cocoa.

“I also brought this.” Colin adds, a triumphant smirk on his beak as he holds a small box up. “Violet’s old nightlight. No more darkness that way.” “Thanks.” Lena smiles, her beak sporting a chocolaty mustache. “No problem, kid.”

A comfortable silence falls on the room, Colin setting the small lamp up while the girls finish their cocoa under Largo’s tender gaze. The two older birds then bid the girls good night, closing the door behind them. Lena fills the beginnings of a panicked storm filling her lungs, but relief washes over her when she notices the nightlight shines faintly near the door, providing just enough light so the room isn’t filled by the cold, aggressive obscurity.

Lena is about to bid Violet good night, when she notices the girl is slightly hunched over in her bed. Frowning, she gets up and slips under Violet’s covers, startling her friend.

“It’s just me! Do you mind if I spend the night here? The mattress’ comfortable, but…”

Lena doesn’t finish her sentence, and she doesn’t need to. Violet removes the stuffed lion lying between them, tucking it under her other arm, and scoots towards the wall so Lena can be comfortable as well.

“Hey, Vi, why are you looking so sad?”

The light provided by the small lamp is faint, but just enough to allow Lena to see the way Violet’s beak is twisted in a small frown, her brows slightly frowned and her eyes looking down.

“It’s not because of my little episode earlier, is it? Come on! That was nothing important, no need to-” “I disagree.” Violet’s soft voice cuts her. Lena’s surprised, but she lets her friend talk. “It is important. You must have been through so much, between how Magica behaved towards you and being trapped in the shadow realm… you shouldn’t have to endure any of those hardships anymore.” “Yeah, I could have done without all that and what happened just before, but…”

Lena hesitates, careful in her choice of words. The raw vulnerability Violet is displaying in front of her is preventing her from being her usual almost blunt self.

“Things happened, and there’s nothing we can do about them.” Lena finally sighs, her arms wrapping around Violet in what she hopes is a reassuring, comforting hug. “And things will keep on happening, because I can’t just forget the stuff Magica’s done to me – believe me, I wish I could. But Vi… what you’re doing, all of this, helping Webby summon me even though I could have been dangerous, helping me save her and not being mad at me for putting her in danger, accepting to be my friend after all the nasty stuff I said about you, taking me in with your family… all of that is gonna help me move on from my past. You have no idea what all of this means to me. Vi, no one forced you to do all of that, and you still did it, and then some more!”

It’s taken Lena all her leftover strength, and all her breath. She hates opening up about her feelings, about how hurt she’s been, about how hurt she still is sometimes. But Lena knows it’s what Violet needs to her, and with everything the girl has done for her, it’s the least she can do. Her pride taking a small hit is nothing compared to the sheer kindness Violet has offered her before she was even back from the shadow realm, and Lena hopes she managed to convey just how grateful she is for Violet to have helped her get a second chance at life, at friendship, at happiness.

Violet’s eyes meet hers, the two purple pools shining with tears as the small bird hugs Lena closer.

“Hey, I’m still short on air, don’t squeeze it all out of me!” Lena teases, the banter helping her go back to her usual self, to put the intense fright behind her and bask in the present, in the way she’s spending her night in her new home, with her new best friend. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to do that.” Violet smiles. “Hmm, yeah, I think we should work on that.” Lena nods. “Too much time at the library, not enough punching stuff. Webby’s good at finding stuff that needs to be punched, so I’m sure you’ll get some exercise real soon…”

Lena takes a deep breath before adding:

“…lil’ sis.”

It’s nothing; two words, spoken hurriedly, almost silent in the middle of the night, and Lena is as surprised as she’s delighted with how good and natural the words feel on her tongue. Violet gasps when she picks up on them, making Lena blush.

“I look forwards to this, sister.”

No fanfare, no “aww this is so sweet Lena I’m touched!”, no tears. Simply a small smile and a reply that comes as naturally as Lena’s nickname, and it’s so perfectly Violet that it immensely satisfies Lena.

They fall asleep shortly after, exhausted by their day, happy to be in each other’s arms, happy to have found each other. --------------------------------------------------------------- I'm really happy to have finally written something about Lena and Violet! I'm a bit disappointed we didn't see Lena moving in with the Sabrewings, but I hope we can see them in S3 :) I wanted to write something different for Lena. She's brave and fierce, and I felt like it could be interesting to show a more vulnerable side of herself - same goes for Violet. I hope neither were OOC. I also like that it was an opportunity to reuse Largo and Colin, my headcanon dads for Violet from chapter 1! :)

Panic attacks are the worst.