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Rewatched House of wax recently

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free my boy he did nothing wrong

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I’ve spent a long time now sorting through screenshots, behind the scenes footage, designers portfolios, and I think I’ve deciphered the map of Ambrose.

Starting on the left side of the street, there’s a hardware/outdoor store, noted by the wheelbarrow outside and assorted parts on the shelves.

Connected to that is a small plaza with a Dentist’s office (the window stickers mention denture prices), a diner with outside seating, and what appears to be a bar judging from the bar stools in the window. It may be connected to the diner.

Finally for the end section of the strip, this shop is less clear, but based on the sign that ends in “-ium” and the button tufted display, I’m guessing this is a premium/high end store or some kind of emporium.

Directly across the street from that is a club. The window faces the street, and around back is the entrance. Also in this plaza is the pet store Carly walks to, a drug store, the grocery store (Flannery’s) that Nick goes to, and a barber shop.

Crossing the street again, there’s a large bowling alley.

Surrounding the bowling alley are residential homes as it transitions into neighborhood territory. You can tell from the fences around these homes that they aren’t public property. The one directly next to bowling lanes is the green house that the wax woman looks through the window of.

Crossing the street again, this part was already labeled by the lighting plot, but that’s the garden (really just some dead shrubs and a gazebo,) the cemetery, and the church. There’s also a second building on the church property that shares the same sidewalk. Although it looks completely nondescript, buildings like this connected to church property would usually be used for non-worship activities like Sunday school, community events like meetings, or funeral services (though Trudy’s viewing is right in the main church, so that’s less likely.)

With the church as a reference point, going back down the opposite side of the street, there’s what looks to be some kind of fashion or accessories store. In the window, I see wig heads wearing hats, and maybe some shoes. I found a sketch of a storefront that also reminds me of perfume bottles and shoes, so the idea was at least considered.

Obviously as the two buildings have back to back doors, next to this is the Guns & Ammo store that Nick and Carly break into. This also connects directly to the movie theater.

The theater is also connected to a small electronics store on the other side.

Directly across from that would be Bo’s gas station. There’s a huge advertisement right next to the station for financing loans, but the front of the building it’s painted on shows its a media video/music store. (ps the yellow truck Vincent drives is the “company” tow truck for the station.)

Connected in a plaza with the video store is a dry cleaner and, based on context clues, a furniture store. In the possibly furniture store window, there appears to be rolled up rugs or carpets, and a large wooden shelf. The strange point of view of the shot where these shops are visible seems to imply that the businesses once had apartments over top, or at least that things are being hoarded in the upper floors.

Across the alley street from that is a fire station, connected with city hall. This is where the Miss Ambrose posters were displayed. On each side, there are blue garage doors, possibly with more emergency vehicles for the town.

The House of Wax and the Sinclair house are placed at higher reliefs than the other businesses and homes, symbolizing their importance and once, their wealth and celebrity status.

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thinking about lester tying bones on string, spending ages sitting in his home, drilling holes in teeth, hoofs and antlers, finding thick string, cord or rope and tying the bones up into the mirror of his truck, the bar behind the seats, hanging from the truck bed sides.... intricately hanging each bone carefully, undoing the knots and redoing them if he isn't satisfied with the height of them, making his truck entirely his and surrounding it, filling it, with things he enjoys.

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me when the character has a uniquely fucked mindset. me when the character's fundamental views of how the world works lead to them being hurt and/or hurting others and not seeing the problem with this. me when the character is a little freak who does weird shit because their beliefs, inspired entirely by their environment, are fuckeddddd

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I did in fact draw the Sinclair Bros from House of Wax in an art school au, please enjoy

ID:

Illustration: Vincent Sinclair painting a sculpture, Bo Sinclair developing film, Lester Sinclair cutting wire from his mixed media sculpture of a dog.

Illustration: Same as the other, only Bo is not longer in a red lit room.​

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Idk why mechanic just fits Bo and it's a pretty common fanon almost canon he knows his cars and is the stereotypical red blooded blue collar type of man outside his fucked up past and hobbies I mean his old truck and him just carrying nippers around plus the pulley systems created for certain wax figures ig is proof in the pudding

But someone said he could not even know anything about cars and my mind is blown bc I never thought of that...Oh yeah he lies but idk why my brain never thought he's lying about mechanic work too just as a story for victims???

This edgy lil drama club reject he is with his gothic ring and MM music not knowing shit about cars and not into 'manly' things like we thought is sending me! Just playing a part for tourist and I'm kinda laughing and speechless that him in the suit could be more him than the mechanic outfit we all think is the opposite...Look at this idiot and laugh thinking he doesn't know wtf he's doing he's just a manipulator and not a good one considering he just tossed the beers in a hissy fit the second Carly didn't trust him. Like this fool just stole some guys outfit and put it on to play adult make beileve

It's giving that meme of 'No I don't do mud"

..."But you're a garden fairy!'

Bo: 'Nah, I can't fix a car'

While you're all stuck on the road and looking at Bo like: 'Then why you wearing a mechanic outfit?!'

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a little something I wrote last night instead of going to sleep

sometimes he sleeps in the church.

on the nights when he can't shut off the TV because then he'll have to listen to the house. on the nights when he drinks so hard he can't see straight and he thinks too clearly. on the nights when he runs his fingers through a candle flame and considers sending it all up in smoke.

he makes his way down the hill, blind, blind drunk. the path is so familiar he doesn't think about his footsteps. the door is heavy and it creaks and every time, every single time, he remembers showing up late to mass when he was fourteen. he remembers that door creaking. he remembers his mama turning in her seat. he doesn't bother remembering what came after.

it's dark in there, even on a full moon night. the stained glass windows aren't real. the place is a tomb. the air is thick and stale and smells of decay and the faintest trace of incense, still. he taps his hand on the backrest of each pew as he passes and remembers who used to sit there every sunday. remembers who sits there now. the most faithful congregation in the country.

he doesn't think about god, or his sins. that's not why he's here. and if he's honest--which he's not--he never thinks about them. never has. some things are important to him. god is missing from that list, among other places.

the sinclair family never sat on the front row, but now it's reserved just for them. and now he's the only one who comes. he sinks onto the bench and sits with the sound of his own breathing heavy in his ears. sometimes he stops for a few seconds and holds the rot in his lungs and pretends he's dead like the rest of them. he lets the silence seep into his bones and unclenches his fists. he disappears to a different place, a quiet one, where his brain stops buzzing and his skin fits right.

and she's there, right in front of him. he doesn't need to see her to feel her, to feel the memory of her nails on his skin, to feel the pull of mother to child. to know she knows he's there. he sits in the dark and holds his breath and swings in her gravity with such force it makes him sick.

he misses her hair. he misses her voice. he misses the way she smelled the times she hugged him. he chews his lip and wants things to be different. the wanting never goes away no matter how good of a liar he is. no matter how empty it feels.

he doesn't speak to her, on nights like this. she never cared to listen to him anyway.

he lays down on his back on the pew. it's not comfortable. that's not why he's here. he folds his hands on his chest and feels cold. somewhere in the black above his eyes the ceiling hangs, vaulted and impenetrable. somewhere in the black at his side his mother lies perfect, sleeping. somewhere in the black of time a little boy has a nightmare and no one to console him.

he sleeps there, sometimes, and his sleep is as dreamless as death.

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time for my yearly HoW 2005 fanart

(enigma no. 6 cover art redraw, orig. by duncan fegredo)

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bitches hate me because of my.... bad personality.... paranoid nature... addictive tendencies......the torture basement.

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Got thinking about Bo and Trudy while writing an addition to this post.

I might be in the minority here but I actually think in a way, deep down, Trudy preferred Bo over Vincent. Sure, Vincent may have been well behaved, talented at her profession, and easy for Trudy to mold into what she wanted from a son. And yes, Bo's outbursts clearly drove Trudy up the wall, and I can imagine as he grew older they must have had the most legendary bust up arguments that made the house shake and could be heard all through the town.

BUT

If you subscribe to the interpretation that Trudy was a wild artsy party girl before she settled down, then Bo is very much Trudy's son. I can imagine her as Bo grew up, witnessing his charismatic ways, his can't-be-tied-down independence, his ambition ('When he actually puts his mind to something...' she might've said), and yes, even his temper, and knowing that was all her. Two peas in a pod, just butting heads constantly.

Contrast that with Vincent. Even if he was the most polite and respectful child to ever exist, I can't imagine extroverted charismatic ex-socialite Trudy being able to understand or truly connect with her awkward introverted and mute son, whose reclusiveness is exacerbated to the extreme by a severe facial deformity.

It's like when a class graduates high school. It's always the fun misbehaving kids that teachers miss the most. Not the 'pleasure to have in class'. Vincent was easier to parent, but that doesn't mean he was the favourite in any meaningful way.

I feel like Bo and Trudy's dynamic is captured really well in this headcanon (I know the intro is slightly at odds with what I'm saying here but you get me). Trudy sighing in exasperation and doing that 'oh, you' head shake after tearing Bo a new one for whatever reason, deserved or not. Their relationship was volatile, when it got bad it was horrible. But the good moments, though scarce, were really good. They both knew they were difficult people, but it meant they really understood eachother, and it gave them a strong, yet undeniably complicated connection.

I also think Vincent knew, and he fucking hated it.

Bo always believed he was second fiddle. Why wouldn't Vincent have the same good times with their mother? More even? They're always cooped up in that workshop after all, surely they talk like that all the time.

But Trudy's investment in Vincent was led more by guilt and convenience than genuine love. And when Vincent stumbles into the kitchen at 3am to see Bo and Mama having a smoke and an actual genuine conversation, he swears to God Almighty he's never wished he was his brother more in his entire life.

The constant cycle of jealousy and inferiority it must have created in the twins would have been insane. To Bo, he was the black sheep and Vincent the golden child. To Vincent, he was Trudys talented protege, but Bo was her son.

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I don't even know where to start with my love for this post, I've literally been rereading it over and over all day. This is by far the best interpretation of Trudy's parenting I've ever seen. It really captures the complex family dynamic we see onscreen with the twins, both with their mother and each other.

It's easy to focus on Trudy's evident abuse of Bo in the opening scene, but I think this is the first time I've seen anyone really analyse her interaction with Vincent. It's also one of the few times I've seen anyone speculate about his perspective or thoughts regarding his mother and her parenting, and I think you're spot on. Vincent wasn't showered with unconditional love while Bo got constant abuse. He was smothered with overbearing attentiveness that probably caused more issues than it fixed. Helicopter parenting certainly lines up with many traits fans have inferred from Vincent's portrayal, such as perfectionism, overdependence, and an anxious disposition.

I also felt that his perception of their mother wasn't as idolised as Bo's, and would go as far as to say that during his and Bo's kitchen convo I felt a hint of...exhasperation? Even weariness. At Trudy, at Bo's idolised view of her that he seemingly can't reject out loud, maybe even the purpose of their murderplot. I always imagined his feelings towards her to be something like 'I love you but please stop I'm begging you, why are you like this, why can't you be better for us', and I feel like part of that frustration came from knowing that none of the hovering and fussing was ever really for him as much as it was for her to feel better about herself, so any conversation about his feelings on the matter would have been pointless. If not immediately dismissed it would have just caused an argument, and this family has enough of those already, right? No need to rock the boat.

I have also never seen that newspaper clipping about Victor?! Could I ask where you found it? It completely throws loads of backstory theories out the window. Your version makes the lead-up to the murderplot make so much sense too. Bo and Vincent didn't just wake up one day and choose violence for no reason, but rather the pressure slowly built up: their father passing, the mill shutting down and all the jobs disappearing, then the town's inhabitants leaving, and lastly their mother's death. I imagine they found themselves alone in their now dead hometown, feeling washed up, lacking the practical and social skills to set off on their own (Vincent in particular), grieving the most pivotal person in their lives, and fit to burst with rage at the world. With their minds already cracked from their upbringing, and nothing to lose, it's easy to imagine how one thing led to another...Maybe some lost jackass gets a little too cocky with Bo at his mechanic shop, a fight ensues, Bo doesn't quite pull his punches like he knows he should and accidentally kills him. And then all it takes is a 'Yes, I know this is bad, Vince, but listen. You know how you've been having trouble sculpting like mama used to...?'

Anyway yes all this is to say this was a fantastic read! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, hope you don't mind me going on a mad ramble on your post haha. (Also could I ask you to link that study of a similar conjoined case? I've been looking for a real life counterpart to the twins' condition and could not find one for the life of me!)

Trudy refills Vincent’s cereal. He’s 2-3 years old and blind in one eye. He doesn’t need more cereal, he just needs his bowl rotated so he can see the cereal that was left over on his blind side. Not that we necessarily know how Vincent communicates without speech, but she hardly gives him time to answer her question about more before she’s refilling the bowl anyways. This is her approach to parenting her boys in general.

There’s no interest in fixing their actual issues. Rather than help Vincent to see what he already has in front of him, she’d rather add more, inadvertently also adding more onto the side he can’t see. At some point, this would just add to the issue. Overcompensation into overwhelm. Bo is brought in for breakfast kicking and screaming and it’s sort of evident why Trudy puts all her love into Vincent to the point of it being suffocating and unhelpful. Sure it could be a simple case of favoritism, but with the aspect of overcompensation specifically, it seems that she wants to balance her guilt over failing to parent one of her sons by pouring more effort than necessary into Vincent. Rather than giving the extra attention to Bo, it’s refilling a non-empty bowl of cereal.

I don’t think that necessarily mean she loves Vincent more. She finds him easier to parent. Fill the bowl whether or not he needs it because that’s easier than unpacking where Bo’s massive emotional outbursts are coming from. It seems more like love-bombing than genuine kindness. He’s “being such a good boy today,” but the implied part is an unsaid comparison to Bo. As twins, and conjoined twins at that, they’re not independent of each other. Vincent’s behavior exists only to contrast Bo’s, from her perspective. “Fix” his needs, and she can fix them both. Hence, preferring just to duct tape Bo to a chair than help him any.

Then Vincent grows up to become her protege, starting in his childhood but lasting until even after Trudy’s death. Over thirty years have passed since they were toddlers in those high chairs, but Bo gives a hint about why Vince got that ‘special privilege’ to not be as physically abused. “She always said that your talent would make up for what God took away from you.” Only, God didn’t take anything. Victor Sinclair doing illegal, unqualified surgery on his babies is why Vincent lost half of his face. Trudy only uses God’s name and religion as a shield for her own guilt about how her boys turned out. But it’s more likely she included Vincent in the wax business because she again, was dumping affection onto him over and over as her strategy.

Otherwise there isn’t as much favoritism between the boys. In their childhood photos, they both play piano, both play pool and baseball, both get to sit at the table with their birthday cake (without highchairs or bindings) and they play on the floor together. It's not entirely divisive between them, though it’s still obvious from which brother she’s slapping across his face and which brother she’s love-bombing which she’d prefer to deal with. Just not which she actually cares for more. Vincent wasn’t somehow spared from abuse in a house like the Sinclair household.

Interestingly, when Bo tells the story of Trudy and Victor, he mentions that once the Doc died, they were alone. Except, there’s at least one version of a prop newspaper stating that Trudy created a wax memorial for Victor. So this is just a false version of events most likely. Sure it could be that a decision changed, but there’s also the fact that, in the guns and ammo store, there’s a sign that says “Trudy’s Town or Wax.” And Bo tells Vincent, “We almost finished what mama started.” She’s also much older than the Trudy we see in the family photos and articles (even with the amount of cigarettes that woman smoked.) Ambrose is confirmed to have been abandoned for a decade, but to be turned into wax, Trudy would’ve had to die sometime between the abandonment of Ambrose and the present. Else she would’ve been properly buried most likely. The plan to fill Ambrose was hers, it’s just Bo that suggests using real humans (according to his apology to Vincent, he takes credit for the idea anyhow.)

Which makes her boys at least in their mid twenties when she died. In an older version of the script, Bo had killed her and Victor, but knowing it would put them all in foster care, that doesn’t quite make sense unless they were older. So the order of events is, Doc dying, the sugar mill closing, Trudy planning to reimagine Ambrose, and then dying herself.

The reason that’s important is because it’s emblematic of just how much pressure she was putting on both of her boys. And that’s not love. With two mentally ill, abused sons, (maybe three, since Lord only knows how they treated Lester once he came along,) that’s just manipulation. Victor and Trudy aren’t cartoon super villains for being bad to their boys. But when you can’t even just rotate a bowl slightly for your half blind little one, it’s shallow. Trudy has her cigarettes right in the boys faces in the opening and in most of the photos. Smoking was in one study linked to about 1/3rd of conjoined pregnancies, and in a similar case of conjoinment to the boys, one of the twins had lost an eye and had a prosthetic, but with minimal scarring because of the surgery being done in an actual legal hospital. It’s not about God taking anything, or about which is a little monsted and which is a very good boy- it’s about Trudy and Victor both messing up from the very beginning and causing the boys losses, then refusing to take accountability for it. Or, in the symbolic sense, to just do the right thing and turn a damn bowl of cheerios towards your blind kid.

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Sinclair brothers trucks 😍😍😍

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I have no idea what this is💋

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LESTER

We all know Lester’s truck🫶😼

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VINCENT

Now I’m not to sure myself if this is Vincent’s truck? But he drives it so oh well😽

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BO

This is his truck😡 we all know he loves his truck.

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That’s it. 😭

I hope that hurt Bo.🤧

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I love Vinny so bad😔

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Touch-Ups: Sinclair Twin Fluff

Jonesy was…. mostly fine.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Bo.

The situation had gone straight downhill as soon as the rambunctious pup had barreled down Main Street in pursuit of the towns resident one-eyed tomcat, knocking her full body weight against the ladder holding Bo and Vincent as they repainted the grocers storefront.

Keep reading

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H/C: Springtime in Ambrose

Believe it or not, the months of February to early May are the busiest times for the Sinclair brothers.

Not because there’s a sudden influx of visitors to their little town; but because as soon as what little winter they get in Louisiana thaws, they need to immediately begin assessing damage and repairing any cracks or leaks around the town before the Springtime storms hit.

The boys learned early on that wax (especially the older wax that their mother worked on) will crack after it freezes. It was a shock, to say the least, when Vincent descended into his basement studio one rainy morning to discover a large fissure in the ceiling, and water spilling down to cover the floor.

Bo, likewise, contends with many a burst pipe around the town. A couple houses having plumbing that more resembles a roll of duct tape than actual metal.

As much as all three of the brothers enjoy the sound of the rain (Bo is particularly fond of thunder storms), the twins look towards the rainy months with dread - fully aware of how much they’ll need to hustle in order to keep their town in working order (and their studio dry, in Vincent’s case).

It’s not uncommon to see both twins rushing around town in the heavy downpour- Vincent carrying full buckets of water out from the House of Wax, and Bo jogging from one house to another carrying a bag of tools, trying to find the source of any pools of water accumulating inside the vacant residences.

Lester may actually move back into the house during these months in order to assist his brothers. He’ll bow out if Bo becomes unbearable; but he’s sympathetic to what the twins are putting themselves through, and is willing to lend his assistance wherever needed.

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One In The Same

Based on a conversation over on Discord from a while back.

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Vincent knew he was different. But he didn’t think he was that different.

Sure, the facial disfigurement was unfortunate and unappealing but it’s not like he was the only one out there who looked like this.

He couldn’t be.

Vincent began searching for someone he could relate to. From observing the other residents in Ambrose to eager searches through his pictures books, his mind was desperate to find anything or anyone like him.

Why was it so hard?

“You’re special, baby. Nothin’ wrong with being special.”

His mother would always tell him that. A desperate attempt to quell her son’s mind and worries. Trudy knew she wouldn’t always be there to protect her son but she could give him the tools to protect himself. Help him realize that his face wasn’t a flaw or something that hindered him, instead it’s what made him who he is.

But he didn’t want to be special.

He wanted to be like Bo or any other kid in town. Not constantly feel stuffy behind his mask or have his entire face hurt when he talked or ate. He didn’t want to scare anyone away. That’s the last thing he wanted to do really.

Someone else had to feel this pain - his pain.

It wasn’t until many years later Vincent caught a glimpse of something familiar. A late-night TV show that showcased ghosties and ghouls and everything in between. Every one of them had their own disfigurement or curse that made them...

Monsters. Beasts. Creatures.

All things he used to be terrified of, things that he was taught were bad. But they all had some resemblance to him in a way and he wasn’t bad.

Was he?

Or was he bad because he had things in common with them?

Was he inherently evil and disgusting because of how he looked?

Was Vincent cursed too?

To be a monstrosity?

Vincent had been searching for someone to look at and no longer feel like a black sheep. Like he wasn’t completely alone.

And he did.

Even if it did break his heart.

If that’s what he was - a beast meant to terrify all who came near - then that’s the role he’ll just have to play.