#strange impersonation

[funeral]

Strange Impersonation (Anthony Mann, 1946)

[kathleenkatmary]

Noirvember: Strange Impersonation (Anthony Mann, 1946)

WARNING: This entire write-up is pretty much about the ending and how it seriously hurts an otherwise really good exploration of identity. So if you haven't seen it and you don't want to be spoiled, you've been warned.

I would have given this four stars were it not for the 'it was all a dream' ending.

Expanding on this thought from a day or two ago... I think there are a lot of problems with this ending that really do hurt an otherwise very, very good movie. I think one of the biggest ones is that it does, at least in a way, feel kind of tacked on so as to give the movie a happy ending rather than a bleak one. Which just seems unnecessary. There are a lot of films of this type that absolutely do have incredibly bleak endings, and the way this would have ended without the 'it was all a dream' ending would have been bleak, but in a way that I think would have been cohesive with the story. So much of this movie is about identity, with the main character trying to reconcile the things she wants, all of which are deeply tied to he she is, with each other and trying to figure out if she can have all of those things or if they're in direct conflict with each other. There are also aspect of her trying to reconcile the core of who she is and what she values as a scientist with the expectations the other people in her life, and society as a whole, have for her. Without the tacked on ending, Strange Impersonation is a really effective exploration of what it can do to a person when the things they want are treated by people and society as being incompatible, what the things are that actually make up our identity, and what other people see as making up our identity. And the bleak ending really fits with that because it explicitly shows how much removing key aspects of a person's identity can break their psyche.

But with the "it was all a dream" ending, especially with exactly what they did with that ending, all of that pretty much goes out of the window. Instead, it becomes about how it was wanting things outside of those accepted social norms of what her identity, as a woman, should be that led to such an identity crisis, and that she learned from her dream that she should just marry the guy because she's luck he wants her.

I think that's enough to deem the ending a failure, but that's not the only problem with the ending. I don't think the people making this movie really considered what the whole thing being a dream would really say about the character. With it all being a dream, that means the way the characters are framed in the story from the point where the dream starts is all coming from her. It's what she thinks of those people. And the way her minds frames her lab assistant and the woman she accidentally hit with her car are pretty damn nasty. The lab assistant is a scheming monster who intentionally botched the experiment and set up an explosion to possibly kill her, and at the very least seriously kill her, all because she wanted to still her boss's man. And the woman she hit with her car is a terrible, lying drunk who has no problem with holding a woman at gunpoint and robbing her. All without really any reason to think these things. Looking back at the movie at everything that happened before the point where the dream starts, there is nothing that happens that would suggest these women are these monsters she's imagined in her dream. There's a point where her assistant talks about how if she had a man like our main character's fiancée, she wouldn't put off the wedding, but that's really it. There really isn't anything that she does that would suggest she'd scheme and maim in order to get that guy.

When it comes to the woman she accidentally hits with her car, I think it's even more egregious because she knows nothing about this woman beyond the fact that she was drinking the night that it happened and that she was clearly struggling both emotionally and financially. That's it. But in her dream she imagined the most horrible version of her based on that.

So really, the (probably) unintended consequence of this 'it was all a dream' ending is that it ends up making our main character, who we're supposed to be sympathizing with, look like an insecure, jealous, suspicious, judgmental, and with a heaping dose of bias against the socially marginalized.

Twist endings can work well when they're done with very thought out and specific intention. This is a really good example of how bad a twist can be when it's clearly not well thought out and considered. Honestly, the ending is so bad that I'm tempted to give it an even lower rating, but everything that came before the ending worked so well and fit together really nicely. So I just can't bring myself to give it anything lower than a 3.5. Just know that yes, the ending is handled really badly.

[tibo30]

How it feels to sapphics having Arcane S2 coming out so close to LiSDE AND a Halsey albums

[literal-fiction]

I didn't think that I was special / but I was too afraid to die / like the others from my high school / all those sad suburban ghosts / trapped in a cross next to a highway / while the rest of us get old

Ever since a little girl, I found it sweet / driving past a graveyard on a lonesome street / all the little flowers gave me something to believe in / never knew the feeling of a stable home / been a couple years of living on the road / couldn't really tell you where they'd leave a stone / to visit me when I am dead and gone

The way Halsey sings about death lives rent free in my head.

[kabukiaku]

I remember when you drew a lotta shendiao stuff! Loved it, ate it up fjdjdj but when I looked back to find some older stuff of it, some was missing! What happened? :0

In my irrational frustrations I deleted the works. I’m sorry.

the kung fu panda fandom experiences in general ruined it for me and I don’t feel any joy looking at it, so I want to put it behind me. I can’t deny it ever happened, but I don’t wish to revisit it again.

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

I'm sure I won't be the first to point this out but I really admire the way Halsey was able to create songs which were explicitly inspired by certain artists without ever once losing the ineffable essence that makes her art hers. I'm not on instagram so I missed the whole parade of influences thing - I got that the gist of the album would be this sort of muddle of identities and eras but didn't know each song would have a specific influence. Listening to the album without the full context, I appreciated the scope of its diversity but I never once felt like anything was a copy or an inauthentic expression. It felt strangely cohesive in its chaos and most of all it was, quintessentially, a Halsey album. It's fascinating how, in leaning so hard into this idea of impersonation, they actually proved more than ever what an incredibly distinctive artist (and human being) they are.

[humming-pokemon-helpers]

[A Chat With An Ex-Plasma Scientist???? NOT CLICKBAIT]

[It’s a MewTube livestream! The setup is… incredibly basic. There’s a tiny little scrolling chat in a white box at the bottom left corner, and just about nothing else.]

[The subject of the video seems to be none other than Colress himself, though two voices recognizable as Aspear and Cheri Maractin are audible from behind the camera.]

“So, I take it you two have a few questions for me?”

[The scientist smiles cheerily. Perhaps a bit too much so.]

“Yeah. Mostly, we just wanted to know… what was up with last Friday? I mean, no offense, but you kinda wrecked my sister here.”

“H-hey!! I’m fine!! I was just curious about what you were looking for, you know??”

“I figured I had explained it clearly enough the first time, Cheri… but I’ll reiterate for your brother here! After all, science is about the free spread of information!”

[Colress points towards his forehead and again back toward the camera in a dramatic motion. The direction of the movement is enough to startle “Cheri”—you can hear a slight squeak-like noise from behind the camera.]

[elkkiel]

name update bitches !!

if elkkie feels awkward you can call me ki (like "kee")

anyways goodnight / [timezone] gamers o7

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

finally watching channel zero and i immediately have so many thoughts in the first ten minutes

[weirdcursedvaultkid]

When the writing for merula in the story was so inconsistent I legit thought she had a doppelgänger

[andrena]

*turns into the most loving and normal person when given approximately 30 minutes of time alone after not being alone for days*

[mild-farkas-enthusiast]

I have no idea who's going to see this, but hi, I've been finally looking through my Tumblr emails and it turns out that I've been hacked into quite a few times for the past few years (log-ins from countries I've never been to), so if at some point you've received a strange ask or message from me, I'm absolutely sorry!

A few friends have also gotten hacked in that same timeframe as I have, and even got impersonated on these accounts, or had other accounts pretending to be them (for any mutuals still on here, kayla, chili, sono, jiro and glue got affected). I'm kind of worried since I absolutely didn't notice anything at all, but I hope that a stronger password is going to stop my accounts from getting compromised :(

[triffany-lottablog]

Honestly the sheer amount of interactions that could come from the triplicate space being discovered is amazing. Either way it’s a huge catalyst for some crazy plot lines

On one hand… if the journalist tells the group then it’s the matter of all of them dealing with this mess. “Congrats, we all have targets on our backs! Let’s hope they don’t learn too much about us while we try to get our lives back together!”

And if they don’t tell everyone/only tell one or two grumps? If it’s a “for your own good” kind of deal? Can you imagine how anybody who wasn’t told would react? I’m going this route myself with my own writings and needless to say the potential is insane.

YEAH

I am gonna talk most in relation to the journalist and Triffany because that’s what’s mainly been on my mind but I’d like to share the booklet description of her

This was written by Clumby and the ending ‘it looks like Triffanys out to make all the same mistakes. Rest in peace Bronica’ makes me explode. Please please let me tell her. The parallels and emotions that can be explored here are too good. The idea of Journalist and Triffany going to all of Bronicas camps to try and figure out what happened and then they get here and listen to all the recordings. Wah

And then even without telling anyone imagine being the journalist. You are already dealing with the stress of keeping a population fed and also dealing with all of their personal issues and then you have to deal with finding out that there is someone monitoring everything. Someone who, from the recordings, seems to not be afraid of ‘dealing with things’ AND YOU CANT TELL ANYONE. I do understand that this is probably more of a gameplay point because of the can of worms that’d open up but still. I don’t think I’d be able to look anyone in the eye after that

[rafent]

◜  ₊  —  𝓡  ˚  ₊   𝐍𝐈𝐋

When he wasn’t scared, when he wasn't crying, Nil was the dreamer. 

‘You and me and Nel. One day we could run away together—somewhere we can never be found; wouldn't that be nice?'

That’s stupid, Rafal would say only. So very stupid, he thought and longed to say further. No pair of twins ever survived to adulthood together, much less two twins and an extra who Nel- fullest and fittest of their brood- never knew even existed. But he allowed those stories and hopes and wishes to weave before his eyes. Not that he liked the sound of them but that he liked Nil’s voice. Because when Nil was dreaming there was no room left for crying.

‘Well, what about you then?’

Rafal made sure to tell him that he dreamed too. Just not in the same way. 'I don’t want to run. I want to kill our brothers and sisters. To be Father’s true heir.'

He saw it in his eyes, like it spooked Nil how much Rafal was willing. How normal he was. They were both failures, stains on the midnight honor of Father’s true form who couldn’t reflect him, stuck in chrysalis bodies that never metamorphosed further, but Nil was the abnormal one. He never aspired to become stronger or to become more than what he was. He never wanted to play the truest game of their blood or even that game in miniature; sparring or wrestling with his siblings to hone their strengths, flicking dark magic at each other in the emulation of some deeper, deadlier breath. 

Instead Nil was Nil. He plucked flowers to press and age so their beauty would last longer. He covered his ears whenever the Corrupted wolves howled. When he spoke of his sister he called her the prettiest and the kindest, not the strongest. Nil was Nil, so after he said his truth Rafal smiled. Not you, he assured when he smelled the fear on his brother. Never you. Even though words were weaker than paper.

'I trust you, Rafal. You would never hurt me.' That shy trust was an acceptance that hung steady on the faintest, thinnest line of Rafal’s promise. Surrounded by a sea of Fell Children who would swallow one another in one gulp given the chance and forget their promises on a turned back, on a closed eye. So easily shattered by each and every indomitable will to survive, burning stronger than the last.

Abnormal? Anomaly? Nil wasn’t the only one. Words mysteriously meant more to Rafal. He kept his promises no matter what they were. From the moment they’d found each other alone, they should have seen to it that only one had left alive, yet they forged a bond instead; linking fingers and hearts, trading secrets not blows, and not death. Strange was something they did, together.

…and that was that. Or what it could have been. Should have been. 

His feet squelched into Nil's footprints as he tracked them, tracing and tracing, then finding. A scene of mudsoaked blood and bloodsoaked mud all around with something small, something dirtied to grey- nearly black- in the middle like it had once been white and pink. He looked down at it with a strange twist of his arms around each other even though he wasn’t cold. Heart a knotted mass like his hair when he slept on the wrong side.

Looking into his half-brother’s face, even then he saw himself before Nil willed it to be. Like a piece of him that would never return, left right here. With him.

“Nil, I’m here,” Rafal crouched onto his knees beside him, but the darkest hour of Nil's thoughts wasn't for Rafal to own, his fizzling breath wasn't for his name. That person was. That person was—

“Nel,” the dying boy said, his wilting voice wedged in the space between a whisper and his silence forever. “She’s waiting for her dragonstone to come back, but she’s waiting for her twin more. I don't want to hurt her. Please, Rafal—”

Rafal understood. Rafal loved him so he understood. Nil loved him back so he trusted. Like this they were whole. He made his promise to him on a juddering breath. Later his fingertips brushed against his ribs as he disrobed him, wearing his skin though it were only a shirt, swapping their identities though it were only a name. By the time they were changed, transformed, his brother wasn't there anymore. His eyes no longer red, no longer shining, but two haunts of pink glass fogged to the color of bloody finger smears or rotting peachskin.

With a gentle hand Rafal closed them—no, "Nil" did.

When he wasn’t scared, when he wasn't crying, the true Nil was a dreamer.

And now he was forever dreaming.

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

On December 31, at 9 PM (Kyiv Time), the traditional "New Year Evening Quarter" will be aired on 1+1 and partnering TV channels. Together with "Women's Quarter" they will perform several skits. The audience will also get the chance to hear the New Year's address by the "President".

Several artists and Stanislav Boklan will also be featured.

[bmpmp3]

doodling some old ocs and i swear to god these are four different people (green guys are twins and the white hair ones are a dead pop star (right) and a celebrity impersonator of said dead pop star (left)