I'm working through the next part and just finished As on a Darkling Plain-- wow. Nan took the fairytale up to 100 to turn Vincent inside and out and save him.
Catherine peppering him with ways to reconnect to life and be a part of it with the Wizard of Oz references, only showing the Other's destruction through her tv set, Vincent knowing how to use the tv remote because of Diana, saving him during his darkest hour by still living inside of him and restoring that memory, the dead remain in him, the shifting tower, so many other things.... Absolutely thrilled and contemplative over that chapter (and the previous sections leading up to it.)
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, any and all you can spare.
Under a cut again...
It's a great little fairytale, isn't it?
So here's a bit of the backstory. When the writer's room was first outlining what they thought would be a full 3rd season with a full cast, this was their thinking. I'll let George R.R. Martin tell you:
"The end-of-second-season trilogy was intended to lead into a beginning-of-third-season trilogy that we’ve referred to as the “Land of the Dead” storyline. I have discussed this in some detail in
a long-ago STARLOG interview, so it’s hardly a secret. Catherine supposedly screams in the final moment of the second season because she finds Vincent dead in the cave.
In the third season, Vincent would have been interred in the catacombs, a grieving Catherine would have tried to get on with her life, and we would have followed Vincent through a bizarre, haunted streets of a city of darkness, where he would have faced many of the men he had killed. Thematically, this was meant to be the resolution of the Trilogy and its themes.
We wanted to use actors from previous episodes, playing characters that Vincent had killed… but he would also meet friends there. We hoped to bring back James Avery as Winslow. Ultimately, he would come face to face with the King of the Dead, who would of course be Paracelsus… again, resolving the Trilogy. And meanwhile his bond with Catherine would reach him even beyond the boundaries of life, and ultimately pull him back to the world of the living. He would
wake up and burst free of his crypt, alive again, and we would never know if he had really been dead or not, if the adventure in the Land of the Dead had been true or just a very vivid dream.
This was more than just one idea among many, as was said uptopic. It had been discussed in some detail, and we were definitely going to go with a version of it. Maybe only one episode, maybe three… but some thing on that order. Perlman was absolutely crazy about the notion. Then… well… then came what you call Black Thursday, and Linda, and you know the rest. We never got to do it." (x)
The Black Thursday he refers to is when the network informed them that the show would only be returning as a 12 episode mid-season replacement, in large part because Linda Hamilton had made it clear she would absolutely not be returning for more than the first episode of S3.
So what Nan did was take the seed of this idea and create the darkling plain Vincent visits, where as Nan explains, "The Other is assumed to be a separate and independent self who, whenever he isn't surfacing to do violence in the "real world", lives in his own subjective country he orders as he chooses. That country is also inhabited by the wraiths of all he's killed, as well as those of people he'd held as they were dying - namely Catherine." (x)
As far as my thoughts upon first reading, I was gobsmacked by not only the initial idea of it and how Nan expanded on it, but the way she did it. Weaving the threads of Vincent's long battle with his dual natures and beginning to acknowledge that maybe he has more in common with the Other than he'd been willing to admit; that the Other has his own fully imagined and complete life, including a still-alive Catherine, protected and cherished. That maybe he does have the right to not only desire a complete life for himself and Diana, but that he also deserves it, beyond the pain and grief of losing Catherine. And all of this threaded with small touchstones and glimpses of the original La Belle et la Bête. It's really is a masterpiece of writing.
And this line: "I'm back from Kansas and I love you all very much," still makes me happy cry every time I read it. 🥹
I'm really am so glad you're enjoying Nan's work. I think she would be, too. Enjoy!
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(CW: Religion Talk)
Miss Thunder: Well, the Wheel of the Year spins around again to my favorite season: Fall with the Autumn Equinox! The crisp air, the leaves changing color, and all the seasonal scents and flavors, I love it!
Although I'm gonna share a playlist of some seasonal-inspired music as I always do, I want to take a moment to share some thoughts about where I am in a spiritual sense.
You see, I've been posting these playlists for a while now during the Solstices and Equinoxes. I suppose it was only a matter of time but Cassie asked me recently, "Are you a pagan, Penny?"
And I think my answer is "I think so? Maybe?"
Not that I blame her for asking. All these posts and my extensive New Age/Metaphysical book and music collection would make anyone curious.
I've been raised Christian (Anglican specifically) more-or-less my whole life but my family has never been super religious. We usually only went to church for holidays like Christmas or Easter or for special events like weddings and baptisms.
However, as you know, my family is in a rather peculiar spot when it comes to spiritual matters. Being the physical Avatar of an ancient goddess makes going to church feel rather...off. My Nan confided in me that she also felt that way when she was Miss Thunder and has also slowly drifted away from Christianity over the years, especially as she's been gathering more and more research about the Goddess.
Not that I'm gonna start burning down churches or anything rash like that but...I don't know. It's not like I don't appreciate attending mass while growing up. Even now, if I feel genuinely fearful or frightened, I'll still say the Lord's Prayer to meself to settle my nerves from time to time. But lately, perhaps as I become more attuned to my powers, I honestly feel more spiritually connected, if you will, away from the church and out in the wilderness.
Now that I think of it, even before I received my powers, I've felt more of a connection to the ancient pagan sites of England. I still remember vividly my parents and I went on holiday to Stonehenge when I was in secondary school. I swear, I could've stayed in that circle forever. I just felt so at peace with myself amongst those giant stones, imagining the old Druid rites that must've taken place there. Perhaps even old Merlin himself stood there, gathering strange and mystical powers on a cool Autumn Equinox night.
As I read more and more about Neopagan traditions, (like Wicca, Witchcraft, Shamanism, etc.) there's just something more, I hesitate to use the word "pure" because of negative connotations but something more authentic, I suppose, about these faiths. To me, at least. There's no dogma to obey other than "Don't be an arse", there's no book that somebody with a chip on their shoulder can rewrite for their own agenda. There's just you and the Other, be it a goddess, god, spirit, Fair Folk, Alien, or whatever feels best for you.
And if I'm being honest, I've never felt more alive and spiritually centered than when I'm in the Goddess' domain, be it amongst the old trees at Hamilton Park or on the beach, listening to the waves pound on the shore.
Well, that's enough of my rambling. I apologize for making you read all that but it's been on my mind for a while now and I just felt like I had to get it off my chest. As promised, here are some autumn-inspired tunes for you to enjoy! Curl up with some warm cider and Blessed Be!
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2023 Oscar nominations :
Best Picture
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers
Best Director
Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”)
Todd Field (“Tár”)
Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)
Best Lead Actor
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
Bill Nighy (“Living”)
Best Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)
Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
Hong Chau (“The Whale”)
Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson
“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley
Best Original Screenplay
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
“Tár,” Written by Todd Field
“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund
All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji
“Elvis,” Mandy Walker
“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins
“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister
Best Documentary Feature Film
“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
Best Documentary Short Film
“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt
“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Best Film Editing
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers
“Tár,” Monika Willi
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton
Best International Feature Film
“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
“Close” (Belgium)
“EO” (Poland)
“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)
Best Original Song
“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
Best Production Design
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
Best Visual Effects
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher
Best Animated Feature Film
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
Best Animated Short Film
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon
Best Costume Design
“Babylon,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter
“Elvis,” Catherine Martin
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan
Best Live Action Short
“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White
“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley
Best Original Score
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann
“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux
“The Fabelmans,” John Williams
Best Sound
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
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