#and that's how my love of pan's labyrinth came to be

[maladaptivewriting]

marauders era characters and their favorite movies

if they lived in the muggle world circa 2024

remus: little miss sunshine brutal and disturbingly human, but intertwined with themes of love, family, support, and healing

james: talladega nights the theme of this movie is that friendship is magic. you know james was saying "if you're not first, you're last" for years after seeing this movie. also he tried to create a shake-and-bake thing with sirius

sirius: howl's moving castle "that howl is so fucking hot" "he literally just looks like you" "exactly" sirius sees himself as this main love interest (howl) and he sees remus as sophie, especially when she's an old woman that howl has to take care of. all he wants to do is take care of remus

peter: bridge to terabithia peter seems like the kind of person to find stories of tragical childhood friendships really compelling. he also loves josh hutcherson (who doesn't)

regulus: the secret life of walter mitty he relates to the main character - a man who is controlled and meticulous but longs to go on an adventure. he also wishes that sirius would pull him out of his monotonous life and into the unknowable but with complete acceptance of who he is.

lily: little women in the way that i feel like i've been shot every time i watch a movie involving complicated mother/daughter relationships, lily would be deeply compelled by stories about sisterhood. especially jo and amy who always feel second to each other

mary: princess mononoke she would relate to the main character and be very enthralled by ashitaka. definitely a comfort watch for her.

marlene: raising arizona or zoolander she loves absurdist comedies with lovable and endearing characters. she is also low-key attracted to nick cage when he was young, but don't tell anyone, it's a secret.

dorcas: arrival or parasite dorcas has unequivocally good movie tastes. she likes high concept stories with heavy thematic writing and devastating plots. she talks about them in detail for weeks afterward

pandora: midsommar and pan's labyrinth she loves movies with comically intense violence. she finds high control groups fascinating. she definitely loves pan's labyrinth because of the freaky monsters and the fact that it sounds like it could belong to her

xenophilius: the twilight saga he knows every detail and loves to examine the story from all sides. he and pandora bond over the fact that carlisle is a joseph smith archetype.

evan: deadpool evan sees deadpool as barty and loves the character because of it. he is also envious of the characters freedom to be himself

barty: the mummy he just thinks that everyone in this movie is really fucking hot

snape: pride and prejudice (2005) finds it super romantic and loves the way characters talk and deliver lines. he listens to the soundtrack as background music while he works.

frank longbottom: spiderman (no way home) no one was more excited than he was when the three spiderman characters interacted. he cried a lot when watching this movie

alice: narnia it was her sexual awakening ;)

narcissa: glass onion she loves a who-done-it story, she reads mystery novels all the time and she thought this one was the most exciting

bellatrix: barbarian or bones and all she watches bones and all like "when is it my turn to be happy?" and she watches barbarian like "what is it like to have a mother who loves you?" everyone thinks she's crazy

lucius: dune or the king he sees himself as the king. that scene where robert pattinson's character is slipping around in the mud and timmy's character is standing there unbothered - that's how lucius pictures himself and arthur weasley. he also thinks of his own family when he watches dune

also this came from a question that @wolfpadx asked in the discord and i just had to elaborate on my thoughts.

[readingismypurpose]

Percy doesn’t like mirrors

inspired by @sandersgrey

Percy doesn’t like mirrors.

When he was five years old, he first heard them whispering about his eyes.

“His eyes—-“ “Too Bright.” “Strange”

He climbed up onto the sink and stared at his eyes. He tries to not look people in the eyes as much anymore.

When Gabe came, he called him ‘pretty’ and then he would swing.

Percy would go back to the mirror and try to make the purple go away, he doesn’t want to be pretty.

When the teacher again doesn’t understand and the bullying is getting worse, he goes back.

Is it his face?

He spends hours trying to get his face to look different. It never does.

He goes back and his bad luck follows again and again and Gabe keeps calling him ‘pretty’ and he doesn’tknowwhattodo!

He finds himself in front of the mirror, once again.

He can’t fix it.

He gets to camp and not even a week in, he’s ostracized because of his dad. His dad that he thought was as good as dead, his dad who abandoned his mother, his mother who is gone.

He looks like his dad.

As he looks in the mirror, never more has he wished this wasn’t true.

He goes on his first quest and freezes when Medusa talks about his resemblance to his father. He hates/loves it at the same time and he doesn’t like how it makes him feel.

Then he fights Ares after abandoning his mother, and he is full shock and pain and hurt and what just happened, what have I done?

He meets his father who has his green too green, not normal eyes and his troublemaker why do you always have to cause problems Percy smile.

Poseidon tells him that he is sorry Percy was born and Percy shatters.

Were you expecting an ‘I love you’?

Percy looks at his reflection in the water, his hands shaking, and wishes he looked more like his mother.

He didn’t look right, he was still too pretty.

Luke betrays him and his betrayal leaves a mark. Percy spends hours scrubbing the spot, as it bleeds then mends, where the scorpion stung him, but it doesn’t come off, why won’t it come off.

At least he is not pretty anymore.

He discovers that he is related to Tyson. He just was accepted only to be an outcast once again. He channels his fear into frustration.

Fear that the difference between him and Tyson isn’t that big after all.

Fear that one day he is going to look in the mirror and see one eye staring back at him.

Fear because he had forgotten that Poseidon was the father of monsters and how different is. he really?

Circe calls him ugly and Annabeth calls him dumb.

They’re not wrong.

When they finally finish the quest and Tyson is safe, Percy wonders again.

Thalia is back and Percy is stuck.

He is shockshockshock, but at the same time relief-no-hate-no-like?

He meets Nico who is bright, too bright. Was he ever this bright?

He watches as his sister abandons Nico and tells himself he won’t do the same.

“You promised!” Nico screams.

Percy is numb, he needs to do something, anything because it keeps replaying in his head.

“The stars, my lady. The stars.”

“It was the only one that he didn’t have.”

Zoe, Biana, Zoe, Biana,Zoe,BianaZoeBiana.

They kept going in his head like a broken record. He goes and he scrubs at his hands, he could have saved them, why didn’t he save them?

He notes absently that the water was healing his cuts a little slower than usual, but that’s s ok, he wanted to bleed, he deserved it.

He ignores the white strand in his hair as he looks into his eyes and thinks he can see how broken they are now.

Things speed up over the next year.

Rachel.

The Labyrinth and that made him feel sick. He stared at his brother and wondered.

The fear rolled in his stomach again.

Wrong wrongwrongwrongwrong.

Pan.

He could tell that he knew the other with the old pained eyes and him with the fractured green.

Then came Nico and Percy felt like he failed again.

I’m so sorry, Nico.

Quintus was Daedalus because of course he was.

Then came the battle, the battle of the Labyrinth, they would call it.

He truly felt mad.

He felt as people he knew and those he didn’t, kids, die and he felt himself crack a little more.

That’s when he truly learned to mourn, staring at those who had fallen, where they should have been safe, this home should have been safe.

He felt himself crack a little more.

It feels like the blood will never come off.

When Nico and his dad appear at his birthday party, he wonders.

The war is coming. The fact that they are just kids doesn’t seem to matter. It should matter.

Charlie dies and Percy is lost. It shouldn’t have happened. Why Luke?

He learns the prophecy and remembers the fates and how his fate has hung over his head for a long time.

He tries to keep moving.

Tries to not think about how that wouldn’t be so bad.

He agrees to Nico’s plan and it works, but why? Why did Nico have to betray him? He trusted him!

The war goes quickly, but not at all.

Michael, Lee, Silena, and so many others gone.

How many people did he kill? How many kids? He feels wrong wrongwrongwrong.

And Annabeth. She was stabbed for him and his world feels like it stopped.

When he fights Hyperion, something snaps in him and suddenly he has his own personal hurricane.

He pushed it out of his mind. He refused to think about it.

Finally, he’s in front of Kronos and he is forced to watch as Ethan and Luke die and somehow he couldn’t hate them anymore.

He feels his hands shaking, is it over?

He turns down the gods easily, he didn’t want their curse, he just wants parents to acknowledge their children.

After all is said and done, on his birthday, getting a girlfriend, Annabeth, was perfect.

That night though, he wake up in a cold sweat and as he threw water on his face to cool down, he couldn’t help but look in the mirror.

Scars crisscrossed his body and his eyes were shattered.

Percy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then went to bed.

Percy doesn’t like mirrors.

[agentwhiskeysdarlin]

Labyrinth

Pairing: Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels X F!Reader

Rating: PG-13 

Warnings: mentions of loss of a loved one, grief group, mentions of consuming alcohol, use of (Y/N) a lot (sorry it was one of those fics I couldn't not), mentions of a mugging, grief, angst of course, fluff, two Punisher references (I couldn’t control myself)

Word Count: 2.5k

Author’s Notes: Back when Midnights came out I had this idea to do a small series where I wrote fics based on some of the songs from the album. It didn’t quite pan out but I had been holding on to this one and one other in hopes I would pick it back up. Since that has been several months now I decided to go ahead and let y’all have this sweet story. When I first heard this song this idea came rushing in and I knew I had to write it. I hope it made up for the heartbreak of the last fic. More archived fics are coming. If you haven’t read my announcement and want to you can here.  Also if you haven’t heard the song yet you can here. Big, massive thanks to my partner in crime and editor @clint-aww-no-barton​. Y’all wouldn’t get fics from me if it wasn’t for her. I hope you all enjoy.

ao3 link

It only hurts this much right now

Was what I was thinking the whole time Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

  Your hands trembled, your heart pounded along with your head. That was what you got for drinking yourself to sleep the night before. This was the last place you wanted to be, the last thing you wanted to do. You had been pushed by your family and friends to do it, so to shut them all up and satisfy your people pleasing ways, you agreed. A grief group sounded so pathetic, but there was a small part of you that kept saying it just might help. A room full of people who were going through the same thing, or very similar to you, people who could truly sympathize.

  You stopped at the bottom of the steps and took a deep breath in, you held it for a moment, closing your eyes before you let it out. Your breath came out in a white cloud in front of you and you watched it disappear before you made the step you had been so afraid to take. The warmth of the building hit you and you felt the frigid New York cold melt away. You shrugged your jacket off, placing it with the others. They were all still standing around holding hot coffee and talking.

  “A new face. Something we both hate and love to see coming in. I’m Curtis,” a gentleman walked up to you with a soft smile and caring eyes.

  “(Y/N). It’s nice to meet you Curtis,” you gave him the same fake smile you had been giving everyone for weeks now.

  “The pleasure is mine. Get you some coffee and take a seat we’re about to get started.”

  You gave him a nod and helped yourself to some coffee before sitting down. A man sat across from you, and you watched as he removed a cowboy hat from his head and laid it on his knee. Such an odd thing to see and you found your mind wandering. It did that more often than not. You would find a subject and let you mind run away with it, focusing too much on something meaningless. It was your form of distraction.

  “We have a new member joining us. Everyone welcome Miss. (Y/N).” Curtis gestured at you.

  You gave a shy smile, a wave and a simple “hi” trying not to meet anyone’s eyes. They all welcomed you with gentle voices.

  “Since you’re new here why don’t you go first. Only if you like.”

  Your stomach sank. You were hoping someone else would. You could hear someone else’s sad story before sharing yours. You hadn’t talked about it since it happened, but if you didn’t now would you ever? You took a deep breath in, you held it for a moment closing your eyes before letting it out.

  “I lost the man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. His name was Jason. It’s only been, just little under a month. I have no idea how I’ve managed to make it through every single day. Sometimes it doesn’t feel so heavy but some days…some days it feels like I have the entire weight of the world on my back. It hurts so much…” you paused trying to will the tears away. “I didn’t think I could ever feel this much pain. It’s such an impossible feeling.”

  “We all can agree with you. Would you like to share what happened?”

  “It was a mugging. He gave them everything he had on him and they still…they still took his life.”

  You stopped, feeling the anger grow in you like it always did when you thought too much about it.

  “We were suppose to be getting married. We had a month before the wedding. I had…I had to call these people and tell them it was off and send things back. I…” your voice broke. Suddenly a tissue box was being handed to you from the man with the cowboy hat.

  You looked up at him, seeing a blurry version of him as you took it. You couldn’t even speak just nod at him.

  “You don’t have to share anymore (Y/N). Thank you for sharing what you did. It was very brave of you.” Curtis spoke with such gentle words and you nodded. “Jack and yourself have a very similar story. Maybe the two of you can talk outside of the meeting. Who wants to go next?”

You glanced at the man again and he gave you a small smile that didn’t meet his eyes. Was that what you looked like to others? It broke your heart even further. Everyone’s stories through the meeting made another piece of your heart break away. You listened to everyone and took in the process and their advice. Once it was over you stood and discarded your cup, before telling Curtis goodbye and heading for your jacket.

  You slid on your jacket and glanced across the room, meeting brown eyes. Jack was watching you and you didn’t stop the smile you gave him. When he returned it, it was a real smile and it made warmth erupt through you. It made you wonder if you had been honored to get his first real smile. You almost stepped his way to go talk to him but then Curtis was in front of him. With a small sigh you turn and walked out into the brutal cold air.

                                                                       *****

It only feels this raw right now

Lost in the Labyrinth of my mind

Break up, break free, break through, break down

You would break your back to make me

break a smile 

  The days drug by, some in slow motion others in fast forward. You lost yourself in anything you could. Trying your best to keep the crashing thoughts at bay, but sometimes they got the upper hand. Some days were spent in bed, sleeping and crying, screaming for him to come back to you. He never did. He never would.

  The group was helping, you had to admit that. Everyone was lovely and supportive. Mostly Jack, who had started to speak to you more and more. You couldn’t lie, you looked forward to those talks. The two of you had grown close, always catching each other before and after meetings, to tell each other things about your lives. You finally had something that made you feel more alive again. Then the year anniversary of Jason’s death crept up and took you by surprise.

  You had rolled yourself out of bed, not really realizing the date at first, until you were fixing your usual morning coffee. You looked over at the calendar on the fridge and it was like the date was extra big. Your stomach sunk and you slid down the kitchen cabinets to the floor. The memories of that day came over you, like waves pulling you out to sea with them and drowning you. You sat there crying for, you had no idea how long. When you finally willed yourself to stand and make yourself face the day, you realized what time it was. You were going to be late for the meeting. You contemplated not going in your head for a few moments, until reason won. You had to go. It was the best place to be today.

  You stepped into the warmth of the building just as everyone was taking their seats. You caught Jack’s eyes and concern crossed his features. You knew you looked like a wreck, even with doing what you could to hide it. You slipped into your seat across from him not meeting anyone’s eyes. Curtis started the meeting and you zoned out, your fingers fidgeting with the scarf you had left on.

  “(Y/n). (Y/n)?”

  You jumped at Curtis’ sudden voice and your head went up looking over at him.

  “I’m sorry. Yes?” Your voice gave you completely away.

  “You want to share anything today?”

  It was like they all knew. Everyone had this look on their face like they could already read your mind. You sat there for a moment your eyes going from Curtis to Jack who gave you a simple nod, a push.

  “Today is the year anniversary. I didn’t even realize it was already here until this morning. It…it hit me like a brick, no a whole damn building. I feel like I just back slid so much and…” your voice shattered.

  “No you didn’t back slide. We all have bad days, it’s all part of the process and part of life. Every day won’t be easy and that’s okay. The best thing to do is to just embrace the feelings and let them work their way through. You are doing a perfectly good job.”

  Curtis spoke, and the others around you nodded their heads and spoke their agreements. You gave them all a small smile and wiped at your tears before nodding your head. The meeting moved forward and soon it was done. When you got up, people came to you and hugged you, most didn’t speak at all. And then Jack was in front of you.

  “Hey listen uh, do you want to go with me to this diner right down the road? I know what you’re going through and I…I don’t want you to be alone today.”

  You felt your heart skip a beat and you swore butterflies erupted in your stomach.

  “Jack, I would love that. So much.”

  “Great! You’ll love this place, that is if you ain’t been there before.”

  The man went from slightly nervous to full on swagger in a beat and it made you chuckle. You could tell he was just as nervous as you.

  “I don’t think I ever have, if it’s the same place I’m thinking of.”

  Jack grabbed your jacket and helped you into it, before slipping his own on and the two of you headed out.

  “So I have to ask where are you from?” You asked looking over at him.

  “That obvious huh?”

  “Just a little,” you both laughed and you swore it was the first time you had really laughed in a year.

  “Kentucky. Born and raised. The company I work for was actually started there and then they decided to branch out to the north. I was already climbing the corporate ladder and they decided to put me in charge of the branch up here. I made the move and I won’t lie it was a very dramatic change,” he chuckled.

  “I can imagine but look at you owning a whole branch of a business. That’s a big deal Jack. What company is it?”

  “Statesman.”

  “The liquor? Good stuff. I tend to lean toward well, Jack Daniels,” you laughed as you looked over at him.

  “Well darlin’ funny enough that’s my full name sake.”

  “You’re kidding right?” You stopped, your face heating slightly at the nickname.

  “Not a bit. My parents had a sense of humor.”

  “I’d say,” you both laughed again.

  “This is the first time I’ve laughed since…”

  “Well good. I’m glad I could pull it out of you. It’s a beautiful sound.”

  You blushed again, looking down at your feet and smiling bigger than you should have. A tiny voice in your head kept telling you to slow down, but you just pushed it away.

  “Alright this is it.”

  You looked up seeing the small diner you’d thought he’d been talking about. Sure enough, you had never been here. You had always thought the place was cute with its theme. Jack opened the door for you and you melted at the heat that hit you.

  “Hey Jack you want your usual?!” A cook from the kitchen window yelled.

  “Yeah Frank give me the usual and go ahead and fix her one too.”

  “You got it boss.”

  You chuckled as you slid into a both in the corner on the left.

  “Normally I’m all about a lady making her own choices but you gotta try this. Best burger in New York.” Jack seemed overly excited and you chuckled.

  “I’m perfectly okay with that.”

  “Here go Jack. What can I get you sweetheart?”

  An older lady who was the waitress sat down a coffee in front of Jack along with a water.

  “Uh I’ll have the same as him.”

  “Coming right up.”

  She looked at Jack and you swore she winked, which made Jack blush. When his eyes met yours you raised your eyebrows at him.

  “Deloris is a piece of work,” he shook his head with a chuckle. “Well. Tell me about yourself? Were you born here?”

  “Actually no. I was born in Virginia but we moved here when I was really little so I just consider myself a New Yorker.”

  “Ahhh just a hop, skip and a jump from Kentucky. You have a little bit of southern roots though.”

  “Oh yeah my mom definitely does. Her and my dad are both from Tennessee. They made both moves due to jobs.

  “What do you do for work?”

  “I work in a bookstore. I’m looking to own it pretty soon. Well I pretty much already do. The owners are this cute little couple, and they love to travel, so I figure one of these days they will hand me the keys and tell me it’s mine.”

  “Do you want that?”

  “Yeah I definitely do. I enjoy it a lot. I love to read and, um, write so it’s definitely the best place for me. Plus my apartment is only a block away, so it’s nice to not live far from work.”

“Wait you write?”

  “Uh yeah,” your face heated.

  “Nothing wrong with that. I think it’s cool,” Jack gave you a smile which you returned.

  Before you could speak another word, food was being placed in front of you and the smell made you drool.

  “Go on,” Jack nodded at your plate, excitement like a school boy all over his face.

  You let out a laugh before you picked up the massive burger and took a bite. Your eyes fluttered closed and you let out a moan. You chewed and swallowed.

  “Holy shit that is amazing.”

  “I told you!!”

  You laughed again at Jack’s excitement before both of you fell in to a comfortable silence as you ate. After you finished, you began exchanging facts about your lives and short stories. You had forgotten what it was like to feel content and, dare you say it, happy.

  “You okay?” Jack spoke, bringing you back to the moment.

  “What? Oh yes. I am,” you smiled at him and he returned it.

  “I know I’m charming and all but it’s a little early to be daydreaming there darlin’.”

  He gave you a smirk with a wink and you let out a laugh. It hit you in that moment. You looked at the man across from you. A man who had made you smile. Who had made you laugh. Who had made you forget, and you knew. You were falling in love with him. What a terrifying but thrilling feeling it was.

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around?

Tagged: @jimmythegirl​ @arcadianempress​ @discogrrl​ @immundusspiritu​ @someplace-darker​ @thisis-theway​ @ohpedromypedro​ @scribbledghost​ @fioccodineveautunnale​ @princess-and-pedro​ @phoenixhalliwell​ @littlevodka​ @all-hallows-evie​ @mack4676​ @perropascal​ @audreyshepbvrn​ @mswarriorbabe80​ @kaqua​ @novemberrain221​ @weasleywinchester​

[ltwharfy]

Rewatching "I Love You, Man" and Overthinking Rudy's Iconic Halloween Costume

One night this week, when I was feeling particularly tired after work, I noticed that the 2009 movie “I Love You, Man” starring Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, and Jason Segel, had just started on one of the commercial-free movie channels, so I decided to watch it. I had seen it a long time ago and thought it was pretty entertaining (I pretty much always find all three of the movie’s leads entertaining in anything, so…_). But I’m pretty sure I hadn’t seen it since “Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street” came out, and certainly not since I became a person who writes “Bob’s Burgers’ fanfic and posts stuff about the show on this silly website. So, some thoughts on “I Love You, Man” specifically as the source of Rudy’s iconic Halloween costume:

-Man, this movie is R-rated! I had looked that up a while back, and it amused me because Louise also makes reference to R or TV-MA rated stuff (No Country for Old Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, Game of Thrones, just off the top of my head). But, I couldn’t exactly remember why it was Rated R, and if that rating made sense. Rewatching it reminded me that there is a lot of sex-related dialogue in the movie. It could not be cut out or toned down that much. It is actually pretty central to the plot (I’m not going to go into details, since I don’t want to put a content warning on this post, or spoil a 14 year old movie for anyone). It’s not a movie I would feel okay about watching with a  9 year-old that I was responsible for.

-So, did Rudy actually see the movie? There are definitely other times on the show where it is pretty clear the kids haven’t actually seen the more adult entertainment they make reference to (“what’s Caligua?”) It’s quite possible that Rudy may have just been familiar with Paul Rudd from more age appropriate fare (Ant-Man or something) and seen the poster for “I Love You, Man” somewhere and thought Rudd’s outfit looked cool (I mean, it’s a sweater and jeans, but this is Rudy we’re talking about).

-But I think it’s more fun to imagine he actually saw the movie. It’s implied that Rudy has a number of older cousins (we meet Mandy, and he wants her to tell the others about his attempt to sled backwards) so I can imagine him seeing the movie at a family thing with a bunch of his older cousins and just being so excited to watch a grown-up movie with the older kids that he thinks it’s the best thing ever despite a ton of the jokes going completely over his head. (There are a lot of movies I saw with my older sister as a kid then when I revisited them as an adult I realized I had completely missed some pretty racy stuff in them.)

-Also, I then imagine Rudy later innocently asking one of his parents about some term he heard in the movie that he didn’t understand, which leads to the older cousins getting in trouble for letting him see it.

-There are definitely parts of the movie I could see Rudy understanding enjoying. The first conversation between Rudd and Segel’s characters is Segel pointing out how another guy is clearly holding in a fart because he is trying to impress a woman he just started dating. This seems to very much be on the level of humor of most of the Bob’s Burgers kids.

-And it’s pretty easy to see Rudy enjoying Paul Rudd’s character in the movie, because it’s basically just Paul Rudd playing a nice kind of dorky guy in a pretty typically Paul Ruddy manner. His character is into fencing, which I can easily see Rudy thinking is a pretty cool hobby. (I can totally see Rudy and Louise trying fencing when they get older).

-Rudd’s character also plays the bass, and there is a running gag of him saying “I slap the bass” in a bad attempt at a Jamaican accent. I can see Rudy enjoying this and repeating the line to the point of annoying people (“You don’t even play the bass, Rudy, you play the drums!”) I may be projecting because that’s certainly what I would’ve done as a kid.

-If you managed to read this far without knowing the plot of the movie, Rudd and Jones’ characters get engaged and it is pointed out to them that Rudd has always been a “girlfriend guy” who doesn’t really have close male friends. It’s kind of interesting to think about that in the context of Rudy, since it seems pretty clear that Louise is his best friend, and I find it interesting to think about who Rudy’s best male friend is. I have this headcanon that it’s Jeremy just because he is at Rudy’s birthday and his appearance seems kind of random if he’s not actually good friends with Rudy. (It’s easy to see Harley going to that party because she’s super friendly and seems up for anything, and Rudy could’ve gotten to know the Pesto twins through Louise, but why is Jeremy there?!)

-That said, the male characters Rudy has the most friendly interaction with on-screen are probably Zeke and Gene (or as I like to think of them, the World’s Best Future Brothers-in-Law). Of course, Rudy is a minor character who is only in 10% or so of the episodes and we basically only see him when he’s with the Belcher kids. It’s possible he has a really meaningful friendship with Hogarth Haber that is never seen or referred to on-camera.

-So, be on the lookout for my Roudise “I Love You, Man” AU Fic, coming soon! (That’s probably not actually going to be a thing. Honestly, I think I’ve explored this joke as far as I can. Well beyond the point of reason, in fact.)

-I had forgotten what a fun cast “I Love You, Man” has! In addition to Rudd, other “Bob’s Burgers” guest stars in the movie include Aziz Ansari, Andy Samberg, Rob Huebel, Nick Kroll, and Joe Lo Truglio.

[nostalgic90s]

I was just going to leave part of this in a comment on Infected Unicorn but I changed my mind

Your take on Jeremiah's warped perception of time is really making me think lol. I love it though, don't get me wrong. I'm really interesting to see how this pans out.

But, applying this idea to the actual show: I hadn't considered him fully believing even parts of his own lie (the story about Jerome taking a cake knife to his throat on his 10th birthday and trying to light his bed on fire) because from what I was seeing it appeared that he was full aware of what actually happened, and more importantly for this, when it happened.

But if he truly believed he was still at home by the time he was 10, despite having being taken away when he was 7, I have to rethink a few things.

He would be suffering from a dissociative disorder, specifically a type of derealization, likely as a response to trauma. It could also be a potential coping mechanism to keep himself from realizing how long it's really been since he lost Jerome.

The fact he kept contact with Lila meant he didn't feel as removed from her, he still had that link to his mother until he left the Wildes (it's unclear whether this would have been at 12 when he started college or at 16 when his bunker was completed) but presumably those letters were dated in some manner, even if just indirectly through whatever schedule they were sent on. You could easily use them to figure out how long Jeremiah had been with the Wildes, and the birthdays and holiday wishes would keep track of the years. Regardless, there was a record of how long they'd been apart.

But he had no contact with Jerome, and he knew the kinds of horrible things their mother would do to him, and he had been the only one there for his brother, and, and, and.

To keep himself from spiraling down that train of thought, he would have began lying to himself about how long they had been apart, and it's fully possible that he started believing his own lie. In fact, as a kid, it is so much easier to ignore a painful reality and just believe in a lie. Even of your own creation.

And that would play into his antisocial behaviours. Anyone could tell him he was wrong, anyone could make him see the truth, because in the early stages of a delusion like this it's fragile and your mind does everything in its power to protect it. So he shut out everyone.

Until Ecco came into his life. Someone was picking on Jeremiah, and he didn't fight back. He couldn't, he didn't know how, Jerome had always either stood up for him or was enough discouragement to the other kids in the circus. He didn't have Jerome at St. Ignatius though. He was alone. Until someone did stand up for him, a girl he'd maybe seen in a few classes, Ecco. She offered him some kind words and protection from the bullies, and although he tried to push her away at first she was persistent. Who else in his life had been persistent? Jerome. He saw the same first spirit in this girl as he'd seen in his own twin. Slowly, he let her in more and more, and the more time he spent with this girl the more he saw his brother.

And I'm sorry this is irrelevant and off topic and I'm just rambling. But uh... yeah, I'm basically doing Harley's job myself atm and I wish I could talk to her even more now because I have so much I could tell her, and she can probably get some information that I couldn't from two measly episodes and Jerome's pining rambling about his twin, and yeah. Basically everything in Jeremiah's life revolves around Jerome. Ecco, Bruce, even the mazes and labyrinths, it ALL comes back to Jerome and their separation, and you've just added another layer for me

Don't say sorry, this is great! Thank you for feeding me Valeskacest content. I will devour it unapologetically. 🥰

You're blowing my mind right now when you compared Harley to Jerome, at least from Jeremiah's perspective. That's such an interesting twist! And one I hadn't considered. I can see why it'd be easier for Jeremiah to trust a doctor who, in some ways, reminds him of Jerome. He would still have to give up his authenticity in order to develop that attachment to Harley though.

You're right about the letters, and I wonder if Jeremiah would keep them? But in doing so it's just another record of time, and I don't think he'd like the reminders. Maybe he has Ecco dispose of them, or take them to another location (security box at the bank maybe?). OH! Jeremiah never said if he wrote back to his mother. He received letters but he never explicitly stated he wrote back to her. What if the letters were going to the Wilde family? Or another source? Like if he used a PO box address. Because this guy wants to be unknown, undetectable, untraceable.

The way you wrapped that up at the end *Chef's kiss* Jeremiah's life revolves around Jerome, and he can't escape it, no matter how many lies he tells himself (and others).

[gorgeousgalatea]

You know what I'm trying to finally write again and anywhere is a good place to start so here are some bite sized reviews of my bite sized YA binge (including two other books I read a few weeks earlier):

The Narrow, by Kate Alice Marshall: This was a book I borrowed after skimming it with a strong impression I would enjoy it, and thankfully I was right! The main character is the daughter of two well off but neglectful parents who spend way more time on her deeply troubled brother, to the point where she doesn't find out they forgot to pay for her final year at boarding school until she's already arrived. Fortunately the wealthy parent of a sickly student is willing to cover her tuition, as long as she rooms with and takes care of that student for the year. Pity she's pretty sure she's the reason that student is sick. Oh, and their dorm room is haunted as hell.

The Narrows deals a lot with the subject of abuse--both romantic and familial--while couching it in an atmospheric ghost story. I liked the tone and the characters, and one thing I really enjoyed is that it used its first person narrative to paint a very familiar romantic fiction picture of the main character having no one else to relate to or rely on other than their new love interest who is ~the only one who understands them~, and deliberately made that the product of her own insecurities. The ghost and possession element also explored sense of self and identity in a way that pinged pretty hard with my ozqrow days. Bittersweet ending, but would recommend for anyone into sapphic ghost stories.

Before the Devil Knows You're Here, by Autumn Krause: Ehh this was the mediocre apple story. I loved the summary--the main character's struggling single father passes away suddenly, and before she even has time to mourn, the monster her father has been warning her about her entire life shows up on their doorstep to steal away her brother as well, so she sets out to find the monster and save her brother. I dunno, the problem could be me, that summary had me expecting Guillermo del Toro style Labyrinth--which I am now realizing someone could say "don't you just mean Pan's Labyrinth" and no, I mean the relationship with maturity and sexual awakening where the monstrous is outwardly monstrous--and that's...really not what it was at all. It was "what if Johnny Appleseed made a deal with the devil," which kudos, I have not seen before, but wasn't really into in its execution. I do appreciate a heroine with guile, though, and she does have that.

I Fed Her to the Beast and the Beast Was Me, by Jamison Shea: The premise of this one is pretty straightforward--a talented black ballet student makes a deal with a dark entity to have the opportunity to actually make it into the prestigious Parisian ballet troupe she's been chasing after her whole life, and discovers that being part of a cult with monstrous powers is actually less toxic than being a girl of color in the Parisian professional ballet scene. I really liked this one, it wasn't afraid to have its leading lady be monstrous and cruel and wrong, and it also made it clear which parts of her mindset were just the product of spending so long in a cut-throat industry that spent every moment rejecting her. The ending was a bit too neat for me, but overall the atmosphere was great. Genuinely almost anything with a title like that is probably something I'll end up enjoying lmao

What Stalks Among Us, by Sarah Hollowell: Two best friends get stuck in an evil corn maze! This wasn't my favorite, but I still enjoyed it a lot; the main character's habit of self-censoring even among friends was very resonant with me. The story hits the ground running and has good momentum on exploring the mystery of the maze and how it came to be. The nature of the maze is ultimately rooted in [womp womp] trauma, so that's a major element of the story, and unfortunately there is greater focus on the main character's trauma with her best friend supporting her, but I guess that's to be expected in a first person narrative. It still is ultimately about their friendship! Which is portrayed as valuable as is without developing into anything else.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White: Ultimately the most brutal of the books but I think that was what I liked about it. The main character is a trans boy in an 1882 London where mediums are a hot commodity but the women are only prized as potential baby makers for male mediums. The main character is caught trying to escape his conservative family and inevitable impending marriage, and sent to a corrective boarding school designed to turn mentally unwell spiritually sensitive women into demure brides. This boarding school is run about the way you would expect, and most of the story is the main character realizing just how bad it is and figuring out what can be done to escape. The exactly one way he's gotten lucky is that he and his future betrothed turn out to be t4t and are really quite cute together, but the main character is an aspiring surgeon and that means the story is not afraid to get visceral. Which really elevated the tone; there's room for a sequel in the ending to this one that I wouldn't mind reading.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

top 5 ben from descendants moments

top 5 movies

top 5 ben moments

HIS FIRST SCENE. Telling his parents his plans for the Isle and that they deserve a second chance and refusing to back down even though his parents (and the tailor) are immediately against it. Establishing both his personality and the conflict/themes of the story from the very beginning. Iconic of him.

When Mal has the wand and he's encouraging her to be good, he believes in Mal and the rest of the kids and he believes in his own philosophy despite everything pointing against it. He believes in them. He encourages them, he knows they aren't bad people. And that simple act of believing in them helps Mal choose good. Again, the theme of the movie - helping people, believing in them, is what inspires positive change and growth.

The carriage scene where he casually tells Mal he's known about the love spell for ages and just never said anything and she freaks tf out while he laughs. implications of the love spell aside, he's such a little trickster and I love that for him.

when he talks to Uma as a prisoner and admits to his failings in getting the kids off the isle, admits that his excuse of 'busy being king' is lame and not an excuse, and says he believes Uma can help. he's a flawed guy, he admits his mistakes, but he's still going to try!!!

when he LITERALLY GETS IN BETWEEN A DRAGON AND A GIANT UMA IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE and is like "STOP! We can't keep fighting, this isn't the answer! We both want what's good for the isle! we want change and reform! so we have to work together to get it, fighting accomplishes nothing!" Ben fully embodies the key themes of the series and IT'S SO GOOD.

Notice how none of these moments came from d3 lmao

Top 5 Movies:

Princess Mononoke. literally rewrote my brain chemistry at age 11.

The Grand Budapest Hotel. just such a film. most films of all time.

Pan's Labyrinth. LJADLKFJLAKJDLFKAJD

The Mummy 1999. SUCH a fun movie, it makes me feel good and happy every time I watch it.

The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Love a classic black and white monster movie, and I saw it for the first time on an outing with my dad so it has sentimental meaning to me too. :)

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

[turnupswritessometimes]

13 questions about books

Tagged by the wonderful @holographiccs - thank you! <3

1. The last book I read:

I finished reading Fright Bite by Jennifer Killick this morning - very good, very fun middlegrade horror. Each book has different mutated animals, and this time round it was rats! We love to see it!

2. A book I recommend

So many, but The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning. What if the puppets from Labyrinth/The Dark Crystal came to life in our world? Fun shenanigans! It's a real love letter to the Jim Henson company.

3. A book I couldn't put down

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Yes, it's only a hundred pages or so, but I read it in one sitting. Those boys!! Those boys and their relationships and coming of age! The ending!

4. A book I’ve read twice (or more)

The Black Magician Trilogy (I know I'm cheating) by Trudi Canavan. I love the world and the characters and the magic system. The Novice is the best one because of Dannyl's arc. (We love finding out you've been using magic to suppress the fact you're gay for literal years! I'm sinking my teeth into that plot line.)

5. a book on my to-be-read

I have nearly 100 on my Goodreads to read list, lol. But I'm very interested in These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. Romeo and Juliet but in 1920s Shanghai? Incredible!

6. a book i’ve put down

I don't often not finish a book, but 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by Paul Alexander. You cannot make those kind of sweeping, certain claims about James Dean's life without proper referencing or a proper bibliography!

7. a book on my wishlist

'Poison in their Hearts' by Laura Sebastian, the final in the trilogy. Very Game of Thrones fantasy political intrigue, but with strong female characters who are actually well-rounded and well-written! And use their smarts in most situations! Very intrigued to see how it will all finish up.

(But I have the first two in paperback, so I really need to wait for this one to be in paperback too.)

8. a favorite book from childhood

Anything by Jacqueline Wilson, but I do have a soft spot for 'Candyfloss.' Wilson just has a way of capturing what it's like to be a child really authentically. I did also love that each chapter had a page of illustrations that fit together to hint about what was going to happen.

9. a book i would give to a friend

Lost Boy, by Christina Henry. A dark Peter Pan from Lost Boy Jamie(who wears a red pirate coat! Hint hint!)'s perspective that fits perfectly within the original book. It will make you cry!

10. a fiction book i own

Way too many...Descendent of the Crane by Joan He was one I hugely enjoyed. Very twisty Asian Fantasy with a really good romance and a great female lead.

11. a nonfiction book i own

Last Night at the Viper Room by Gavin Edwards. A really good biography of River Phoenix's life that's well researched and really highlights who he was. (And how weird everyone was about him!)

12. what i am currently reading

I'm slowly trudging my way through 'It' by Stephen King and 'Tinker Belles and Evil Queens' by Sean Griffin. Both are very good but Tinker Belles and Evil Queens requires a lot of thinking to get through. (And It has a lot of Kingisms to brace yourself for.)

13. what i plan on reading next

I've just collected 'Rumblefish' and 'That was Then, This is now,' by S.E. Hinton from the library, so I'll be devouring both of those over the next couple of days at work. I love the sense of time and place in them. There's a sparseness to the prose, and yet real depth in the characters.

I'm tagging @lizziebennetss (thank you for the follow btw! <3) and @howtotrainyourmerlin (if you feel like it)

[inventors-fair]

Treats of the Trick: Halloween 2023 Winners! ~

Congratulations to @coolcoolcooltighttightight, @just--a--penguin and @spooky-bard for winning this week's contest!

@coolcoolcooltighttightight — Food of the Fae

So yeah, I've seen Pan's Labyrinth an age and a half ago. Is this related? Probably not one-to-one but it's also a general mythos with some cool implications here. Blue food has always been a fun little work-around for lifegain for me, and I think that this card's pseudo-mixed-messaging prevents it from being too disjointed. Considering that you might want a mix of faerie and non-faerie creatures, one would think that things would get odd in deckbuilding, but I think that the fun of this is both for flavor and for limited, and the success is a meta one.

The creatures becoming faeries helps with faerie buffs, for one. I think that the activated ability should have a reflexive trigger instead of the kinda-replacement you have currently, but that still shows the fun of having the creature then benefit from faeries AND get flying afterwards. The more food, the more faeries you can make! Even a one-off of a bigger creature like a red brute or a green bigthing would be worth it in the shell. And eating the Food to make faeries? Fantastically done; a draft/sealed deck would use this for sure and it would feel right at home in the western European folktale side of things. Really cute and captivating! ... Oh no. It's got me.

@just--a--penguin — Many-Headed Splendor

Lots of these cards were really well-designed this week, but I had a hard time coming to grips with which ones were best balanced and stood out. Rereading it all, I came back to this card and thought about the design mitigations of having a creature's base P/T become 0. But the ETB replacement making it big like that? I think this card is a blast in a set with big-power-little-toughness cards, with counter synergies, Theros-style heroism, and just in general, it's a card that does just enough of everything to be clever.

The trample's what really sells me, honestly. If absolutely nothing else, it gives a creature some extra evasion for that point of damage. Two of these cards on the same creature is especially fun. I can envision a satyr or human or, I dunno, a Dominarian barbarian jumping out from the woods with a whole bunch of psychic heads growing from them, and feeling that expansion with the weakness inherent to the changed self, having it become splendorous in power but then defined by its new hydra nature, is very cool to me as well. We're in the valley of "they could print this card and I'd love it" and that's just a fun place to be.

@spooky-bard — Shadowtwister Crone

My fellow, my captain, my compatriot—I want this to be an uncommon so badly too but I'm almost 100% convinced that it needs to be a rare. But I don't know. I don't know! It's creepy and spooky and you're making a nightmare out of a scarecrow and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. Remembering other effects similar to this...I can think of, uh, one, and I don't remember the name of it. It's insanely powerful and frustrating without proper removal, but ya know what, isn't everything in this damn game? Argh! Menacing scarecrows! I still love this card!

It's a little bit halloweeny, too, and looking through the winners this week, I actually didn't think about the halloween implications until afterwards. The faerie enchantment plays into established mythos, the hydra card is a solid fantasy card-game staple, and now we're more fully into in-world flavortown in a way that's oppressive on-board and a singular story that's... Heck, I dunno, I'm losing words for precisely what I'm trying to say here about how these cards feels different from each other in unique ways and why this card is a particularly emotion-driven one. Which is a good thing. You took a pushed piece of board presence and gave it a standard but effective creepy air. Perhaps I love the scarecrow and the infrequent kindred nature of those crow-scarin' sons of witches. Perhaps it's the way this woman turns things her scarecrows into nightmares and your creatures into shadows. I think you just nailed a bunch of good pieces together and I'm feeling the heat, so to speak. Is that so wrong? Is that helpful? Is she standing right behind me?

More to come~ @abelzumi

[lcnelyday]

GET TO KNOW ME: TOP 10 MOVIES . ( list your top 10 favorite movies and tag friends to do the same)

i do not believe in top ten lists, how could i ever pick a favorite when i watch movies constantly so this is a list of the first films i love that came to my mind

pacific rim & pacific rim uprising (2013 & 2018) skyfall (2012), howl's moving castle (2004) crimson peak (2017) pan's labyrinth (2006) big eden (2000) lisbela eo prisioneiro (2003) the holiday (2006) the silence of the lambs (1991) the mummy & the mummy returns (1999 & 2001) it chapter two (2019) get out (2017) titanic (1997) nope (2022) knives out (2019) the proposal (2009) the cabin in the woods (2011) the fifth element (1997) constantine (2005) v for vendetta (2005) big fish (2003) snatch (2000) once (2007) the final (2010) sabrina (1954), roman holiday (1953), ponyo (2008), deadpool & deadpool 2 (2016 & 2018)

tagged by: my love @wynterlanding of course!

tagging: @reveriemxses @rennisaturate @queenxfthedxmned @dozenrozez

[thenightling]

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Review

I just watched Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and... I wanted to like this movie. I really did.  I usually love the work of Guillermo del Toro but... I did not like this.

The animation is gorgeous and you can see how much hard work went into it.   But...  I didn’t like it.  The songs are annoying and forgettable.  And it preaches that obnoxious moral that human life only has value because it ends.   Frankly, I always thought that was bullshit.  I hate that moral.  To quote Hob Gadling from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. “Death’s a mug’s game.”  

There are many things we value and appreciate even though we take them for granted that they’ll long out last us.  Mountains, stars, the ocean, the sunsets coming every day.  Personally, I feel if you only value something because it will end that’s not truly valuing it, that’s coveting it. I’m mortal.  I’m human. And I have lost many people who were very dear to me.  Being mortal doesn’t protect you from losing those you love.  It just gives you more opportunities to heal and to love again.

There was something bitter and hopeless in this version of Pinocchio.  It’s meant to be bitter-sweet and suggests it was meant to be hopeful about the human world accepting him but honestly it comes off almost half-hearted.  There are aspects of the story that feel like Guillermo del Toro actually wanted to do Frankenstein and if you’re familiar with him you’d know that yes, he does want to do Frankenstein.  And it really shows here.

There’s a subtle ugliness to this version of Pinocchio.  The animation is gorgeous but there’s this ugly undercurrent in the heart of it.   

I like the idea of Pinocchio possibly being the reincarnation of the deceased son (something Disney obviously “borrowed” for their own live-action Pinocchio.  Even though theirs came out first, this one was in production much longer).   Also having Pinocchio never become flesh and blood has become an odd trend this year.     

There are moments in this that are genuinely cute and sweet or touching but they are few and far between, such as when Pinocchio notices that Geppetto's nose didn’t grow when he hurts his feelings by calling him a burden. And Sebastian the Cricket’s speech to him about how sometimes people say something that they think they mean in the moment but ultimately really don’t mean it.  And all the subtle hints that Pinocchio is the deceased son reincarnated, right down to his desire for hot chocolate, is also adorable.  But there are lots of things I don’t like. There is a darkness too this. Too much darkness. 

It’s good.  It’s just not to my taste.         

There’s also blatant fascism visuals and themes that did not exist in the original novel as Pinocchio was first written in 1883.  It’s jarring and doesn’t fit and a lot of the original story’s ideas and plot points were removed in order to incorporate it.  It is almost like the 1940s The Canterville Ghost (which I hated) which made it about an American soldier having to prove himself by standing against Nazis, in order to save the “cowardly ghost” who was starved to death by his own father for refusing to take part in a duel that wasn’t even his. I seriously hated that version of The Canterville ghost. The original novella was published in the 1880s. I loved the 1996 version starring Patrick Stewart.

I really wanted to like this but it left me feeling depressed and a little empty. I loved The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, both Hell Boy movies, and Crimson Peak.  But I did not love this.

[thetrashywritingwitch]

have u watched fantastic mr fox ?? i love that movie and for some reason i feel like you’d like it too

YES!!! i actually rewatched it like a month ago bc it was free on Youtube movies (with ads but like, use an adblocker who doesn't i haven't seen an ad on desktop in years) and i appreciated it a lot more now that i'm older bc when it came out and i first watched it, i didn't get a lot of the jokes and character nuances. but yeah, its a good movie.

on that note, we watched Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio a few days ago and maaaaaannnnnn it was good. i had heard good things and ofc GdT is one of my fav directors. I really love the character designs and how Pinocchio is very unsettling in the beginning, that he looks more like a wooden puppet than like, a kid with visible joints. TBH the only thing i think i would've liked was to have Italian as the main language of the movie bc its set in fascist Mussolini's Italy in the 1930's and presumably most characters are Italian. I did enjoy the english voice acting, and maybe there is an Italian language option with subs, but i think it would've felt more immersive had we watched it in Italian. (I always watch Pan's Labyrinth in Spanish bc contextually all the characters speak Spanish so same kinda thing here with Pinocchio imo)

also, damn i cried a few times which i wasn't expecting. I wont give spoilers, but the Spirits' designs... 😍😳loved em, classic GdT design choices. ANYWAY it's on Netflix and i highly recommend watching it if you appreciate stop motion/puppet animation and are a GdT fan. really great spin on a classic fairy tale

[skateamini]

Well, I'm going to indicate some films and books that I like, which may or may not be about bizarre things:

House of Hollow is not a perfect book, but I love it because the atmosphere the author built is very palpable. Like, I had to turn on the light in my room at dawn while reading a chase scene, lol. It's about three sisters who disappeared as children for a month and came back different, physically and mentally. There are some descriptions of blood and something very feminine, like a still life, rotten and sweet, is it delicate but monstrous? I liked very much.

Malignant is a very crazy and bloody film.

The Ritual (2017) is a very good film. It's about a group of friends who decide to go hiking after a tragedy they experienced, get lost in the forest and strange things start to happen. It's folk horror and has a unique and well-executed element to it, I think.

The Medium is a Thai film about possession, dealing with shamanism, the worship of gods, goddesses and evil spirits. I really like the cultural elements.

The Night House is a film about a woman who loses her husband and while grieving begins to discover things about him.

Pan's Labyrinth is a very magical and dark fantasy film.

Have you ever watched The Handmaiden? I love this film, it's so beautiful and has a great plot twist, it's Korean. I also recommend Portrait of a Lady on Fire, it's French.

My Sweet Orange Tree is a very moving book. I cried at the end. It's about a poor boy discovering life.

The Push is a book about motherhood, a rather dark one, actually.

The Vanishing Half is a book about two light-skinned black sisters who separate at some point in their lives, one of them decides to live as a black woman and the other as a white woman, we follow a little of the lives and children of these women, it's a very good drama.

I read The Catcher in the Rye and loved it, I laughed at some of the protagonist's thoughts and then I felt sad, I think we've all been through that phase.

I watched Incendies and wow, two killer and very painful twists. I didn't expect that. It's about a Middle Eastern woman who dies and leaves two letters to her children with instructions, they learn about her past from these instructions. This film is from the same director as Arrival and I don't really like science fiction, but I love this film, it's very exciting.

I can't think of anything else, but…

I read Piranesi a while ago and found it boring? Like, it got a little boring reading the same thing, him navigating through different but same rooms and when the revelation happened I was already fed up, I couldn't enjoy it as much, but I admit that it's unique.

I'm waiting for The Southern Book Club's Guide to Killing Vampires to be released where I live, but I read another book by the author, My Best Friend's Exorcism and really enjoyed it.

I've watched The Others, The Wailing and Incantation and I liked them all. I confess that I had an idea of ​​the plot twsit of The Others and I wasn't that surprised, I think The Wailing is better than Incantation.

(Have you read A Little Life?)

Thanks for your recs! I'll check out House of Hollow, Malignant, The Medium, The Night House, My Sweet Orange Tree, The Vanishing Half, Incendies and My Best Friend's Exorcism.

The Medium in particular looks fascinating. I think folk horror/witch craft/shamanism type stories are some of my favourite horror/alternative genres at the moment. I think there's something so mysterious about the concept of old / fringe cultures that make for such interesting and compelling stories.

The Ritual is fantastic! I love folk horror and the monster design is incredible! It was so well executed, I agree.

Pans Labyrinth is actually one of my favourite films ever, Guillermo del Toro is one of my favourite directors. He really knows how to balance fantasy and drama so well, he explores the human spirit so well, and his true monsters are always the evil of man. The way he crafts a story and his delicate and thoughtful treatment of fantasy is definitely one of my biggest inspirations.

The Handmaiden is perhaps my favourite film of all time, I liked the plot changes it made from the book, and was such a beautifully crafted love story. Portrait of a Lady on Fire was fantastic too, just sad and tragic.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I actually did not like "The Push"! I thought that "We Need to Talk About Kevin" did it first, and better. Also, it only got good right at the very end! It ended and I was like NOOOO. The book really needed 100 more pages to win me over, so now I dislike it out of disappointment.

The Catcher in the Rye was such a bizarre read for me. I think it is one of those books that for its time was radical, but now just seems quite tame, and I have to re-orientate myself to consider the cultural context lol. He was indeed such an interesting character though.

I feel your point about Piranesi - it feels like it should be MORE but it doesn't really get there?

I have indeed read A Little Life, as well as all the other books written by Hanya Yanagihara (The People in the Trees destroyed me). I am also going to be a little problematic and say, that while I recognise all the faults of the book and there are plenty, I still enjoyed it. I guess I like torture and misery? Also, I just really felt for Jude as a character and wanted him to be happy, even if I fought 700+ pages to be let down.

[declanowo]

Random Weekly (Horror) Film - Bonus Review - It's a Wonderful Knife

13/12/23

For me, one of the things that was indicative of the Christmas period was sitting and watching movies during lessons. Sometimes, they would be documentaries, which always felt like the boring and safer option, but what was always far more enjoyable, was watching a film that was slightly related to the course. However, college yielded my favourites; in English we would watch plays, this was more so of an evergreen event, while in Film one year, we watched It’s a Wonderful Life. Although I enjoyed most of the films I studied, seldom would I connect with any of them in a way beyond an appreciation for the craft (Pan’s Labyrinth might be the only exception) so when it came to watching a film in the build up to Christmas, I had just assumed that I would be impartial to it, and while we were meant to watch Home Alone, we instead watched It’s a Wonderful Knife. Although sceptical, the film did really connect with me, it feels universal in its ideas, and sure, some of it feels pretty out of date, yet the heart of the film is something I believe everyone can connect to, this belief that the world could exist to be far better without you, when in reality, this world couldn’t exist without you. 

I can’t say so far this week I feel any more enveloped by the season than I previously had. Although my house is now draped in lights and a smattering of decorations, I always enjoy decorating the tree too, especially since finding Tyler, the Creator's Christmas album, which I loop while I do it - truthfully, it is the only Christmas music I enjoy. Despite this, I have been on a few winter dog walks this week, which has ingrained itself as a central image of the season in my mind, alongside the others mentioned in my previous bonus reviews - I hope my final one next week will similarly continue this trend. 

When I sat down to watch the Christmas movies I had set out, I was most excited to watch 2023’s It’s a Wonderful Knife, and spin after spin, it didn’t appear. After finally watching it, I got what I wanted from it; the film was a fun, christmas slasher, and that’s all I was after. Sure, it doesn’t capture the same sensibility as its namesake, yet I never expected it to, because doing so would be near impossible, but what they do instead is craft a string of incredibly fun characters, an amazing villain and a fun time that never feels strung out. 

This film follows a trend of horror movies that I personally love, being that it takes family films, and then twists them into horror. There is most recently Totally Killer, which is based on Back to the Future, Happy Death Day, which is based on Groundhog Day, and my favourite of them, Freaky, based on Freaky Friday and written by Michael Kennedy, who also wrote today’s film. Of all these, It’s a Wonderful Knife is the only one where I have watched its counterpart, and maybe this helps me enjoy it more, as it feels referencial, and more reliant on its source material than the others, although I haven’t yet watched Totally Killer (which I can’t wait to see!). 

To start, I want to discuss the film's characters, which I think are often the strongest points of these films! Winnie Carruther’s, played by Jane Widdop, the film’s protagonist, who saves the town from a murderer, only to regret her decision a year later, seeing how it has changed her life. I enjoy her as a character, and think she is very well acted, especially this is the truth when she is trapped in another world after making a wish she never existed. Here she shines more, and her desire to change things back for the better is fun to watch; although not an infectious protagonist, she is enjoyable to watch and root for, which places it as a good Christmas movie. In contrast to something like Better Watch Out, which is subversive and mean to its core, this feels like a happy Christmas movie, embodying the traits one might expect to find within your average holiday piece of media, which I think works to its credit here. Although I love unique twists on things, this film feels cosy, it is like being warm while outside a blizzard howls. The kind heart at the core of this film is what makes me enjoy it so much! 

I also really enjoy Bernie Simon, played by Jess Mcleod, who plays the social outcast within the town, who we later learn is considering suicide. Even more so than our protagonist, we want to see Bernie feel better, and her friendship with Winnie is so lovely, it fuels even further the idea of the film being cosy, their relationship, alongside the perfect killer, are mostly what make this film so fun to watch, it’s sweat more than anything, and that was all I was looking for from this film! 

Finally, my favourite character is the mayor, and killer, Henry Waters, played by Justin Long. Recently, I have become more and more excited when I see him in a cast list, while I love his performance in Barbarian and Tusk (he was the most enjoyable part of the latter, for me) I was first introduced to him through the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies, where he plates Alvin. Although I did watch these as a child, I have fonder memories of watching them with my boyfriend when we first met. I love the accent he puts on, and overall found him to be a perfect villain for a Christmas movie - he is the antithesis of the Christmas morals and ideals, he takes and takes, he’s selfish and cares so little about those around him. Despite being despicable, although in a somewhat cartoonish manner, he is enjoyable to watch, and balances the film's tone perfectly! I like him a lot.

Throughout the film, there is a parallelism towards its inspiration, through its characters, town, themes and general references. To start with its characters, the film subverts our expectations, with our protagonist instead alluding to the role of Clarence, the angel - she eventually seeks to save, both Bernie and the town, rather than her own life. In contrast, the Bernie, who appears to at first be a guiding light to our protagonist, instead alludes to George Bailey, mostly through the theme of suicide. By living in this new world, she is saved, she makes a friend and finds a reason to live. The killer’s design is inspired by that of an angel, as is the town's name Angel Falls. The killer's design is my favourite allusion to the film, it’s instantly iconic and looks incredibly fun! Snow set horror is some of my favourite because of the crystal whites that bathe every scene, it's inescapable, and here this is no different, for this reason, the killer’s stark white appearance, inspired by an angel, is so perfect! 

This ties into the kills, which are great! They have a perfect tone, they’re goofy and gory, they inspire awe rather than disgust, at least to me! That’s what I enjoy most about slashers, the deaths don’t hold meaning, they are simple to watch and are enjoyable, they aren’t entirely grounded, yet they don’t feel too out of place. Specifically, I enjoy kills that use the movie's theme to good use, or like in Freaky, where they all feel fresh, fun and they are vibrant. 

Starting with the first kill, which is nothing special but I feel it’s also not bad - a man has his throat slit, and it sets up the killer in an incredibly fun way, it also sets up a much larger shock for the following kill, where a candy cane is pushed through someone’s head, coming out their mouth. The following evisceration is also fine, it reminded me of some of the more recent Scream movies, where they use grounded and realistic means of murder, while adding more blood and pushing them to be somewhat over the top. The subsequent kill of the angel killer is amazing, as he is fried to death by some jumper cables! Great stuff, and it links back to the Christmas setting with the lights. While many are simple knife kills, I still enjoyed them, they are stylized and fun! It also makes the more fun ones, like the aforementioned candy cane kill, stand out more, although even more of these styles of kills wouldn’t have hurt! 

I want to end this much shorter review by discussing just how gay this film is, which I love! Horror has always been a harbourer of queer themes and characters. This film has an abundance, from the main characters to a pair of aunts (who I loved!). Nothing about this feels out of place, as a queer person myself, you can often tell when characters were written by people who aren’t gay, and often it’s mostly harmless, but these characters have purpose outside their queerness, which I enjoy within the film - so often we have seen meaningless subplots about a character dealing with homophobia, or coming to terms with who they are, but I enjoy that not every story has to, or should, be like that! 

I enjoyed this film loads, it was a fun slasher, and provided on all the fronts I was hoping for! I’ll likely watch this one again in a few years, and I think the film’s strengths overpower its weaknesses, like some of the plot lines feeling half-baked and unimportant, only to aid the film's final sequence, an allusion to It’s a Wonderful Life’s, like Winnie’s boyfriend cheating on her which holds no real weight. But it’s snappy, I don’t care much about that because we never linger on any moment too long, it doesn’t outstay its welcome and was a fun time. 

7/10

[rainywerewolfmoon]

The Fairyland

Ao3 link here The Fairyland - Chapter 27 - Princessmh9 - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]

Chapter 27: Gathering Allies for Battle

{As Ash opens the grand double oak doors to the dining room, Genevieve gasp in absolute awe and amazement. The room was covered in clear resin that had thousands of persevered flowers on the floor. Grand drapes in silk that shimmer in the colors of blues, greens and purples. The chairs were of smooth Elk wood and were carved with designs of animals and the Fay Folk. The table was a massive marble slab with the legs carved to represent the Realms of the Other World. The plates were of gold studded with gems as was the cutlery. The drinking goblets were crystal with precise stones at the bottom and the handle.

At one end of the table Oberon sat and sitting next to him was Titania. And then from Oberon's right side to Titania's left side was Fae rulers from the other Kingdoms including King Lindir and his Queen Albina. Then there representees and the rulers of the other realms there as well. There was Peter Pan and Wendy from Never Never Land.

Next to them sat the great lion Aslain with the 4 siblings Peter, Edward, Susan and Lucy from Narnia.

Then came Dorthey and her dog toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion from the land of Oz.

Then came the goblin king Jareth and his queen Sara from Labyrinth.

Then there was Gandalf the Gray and Elrond the elf with his son Legolas. With them was the Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Then were their Dwarf friend Gimli and the lovers the human Aragorn and his elf lover Arwen from Middle Earth.

Then there was a large group of folks that rule together. There was Alice Kingsleigh High-top, Genevieve's cousin and her husband Tarrant High-top AKA Hatter. Then there was their friends Absolem the Butterfly, the White Queen, the White Rabbit, the twins Tweedledum and Twiddledee, the Cheshire Cat, the blood hound Bayard Hamar, Mallymkun the Dormouse, the March Hare and the Bandersnatch.

Genevieve gasp in delight as she sees Alice and runs to her as Alice calls out her name and runs to her and wraps her into a hug.}

{Genevieve} Alice! I am so pleased to see you again Cousin.

{Alice} So am I Genevieve. How is everyone treating you back home?

{Genevieve sighing} They want me to marry someone I have never met before. A Armish man called Noah Preachy. How can I be a Armish wife? It is not the life I want. I want to be free and rebel and do my own thing. But no mother and Father have to have the perfect daughter in tight dresses and only speaks when spoking to. How could I live that life, Alice? Plus, they want to take my necklace that Merlin gave me. My necklace that I ware and love dearly.

{Alice looks at her in horror.} I am very sorry to hear that, but you do have a chose to lead your own life like I do. Take me for example. I live in Wonderland with my husband and my friends, and I have been happier than I would be if I married Hamish, I would have been miserable and sad and would never have found my muchness. And you my dear cousin need to find your muchness. You're not you without it. Hopefully you can find it here.

{Genevieve smiles at this and notices what Alice was wearing. It was a brightly colored top and pants that match Alices hair.} What are you wearing cousin?

{Alice chuckling} It's from the Dowager Empress of China. And I love wearing it.

{Genevieve chuckling} I bet the Ascots loved you wearing that.

{Alice} Oh you should have seen it.

{Genevieve laughing} I can already see Hamish's face.

{As Adonis walks over to sit with his parents Alice escorts Genevieve over to the table as she sits next to Queen Titania who smiles sweetly at her. Oberon then stands up and the room goes quite as everyone looks at Oberon as he starts to speak.}

{Oberon} My fellow friends and guests. You all know why we have gathered here today. Today Merlin's granddaughter herself has returned and with her return comes a great worry. The Unseelie Court knows of her return and has already vowed to destroy her and not just this Realm but your Realms as well. And as you all know Genevieve can't do this without our help and I hope you will do the same to same with your Realms. As we already know that Excalibur is so far safely in the kingdom of the Atlantica, and I fear that the raid that was carried out today was to try to take the sword. Genevieve will be heading there starting tomorrow and hopefully gets the sword before another attack and raid is carried out. But what good is a sword without armor. Which is why I looked to you my dear friend Gimli to make the armor as I know Dwarf steel is the strongest next to the silver made by the Elves. {Gimli smiles proudly at this}. Now as we eat, I hope you will help with strategy to help save our Realms and our people. Please my dear friends the table is open for discussion.

{As everyone claps at this speech Pixies come into the room with trays of gold as they lay down their trays and revile the delightful food that they have ready to serve as Genevieve gasp as she sees and smell food she never tasted before. There was jugs of Milk and Elderberry Wine. There was fresh cream as well. Bread and honeycomb were on plates of Amythest. There were plates of fruits that Genevieve have seen before but smelled so sweet and juicy. There was cakes and meats as well Genevieve didn't know where to start as plates and bowls were passed around and she helped herself with food as it was passed around.}

{As Genevieve continues to eat as Absolem looks at her}

{Absolem} Do you know who you are child?

{Genevieve looks at him} Who me?

{Absolem} Yes you. You are nearly as bad as Alice was.

{Genevieve} I know who I am. I am Genevieve's daughter of Minervia and Demitrius Colworth

{Absolem} Hardly at all

{Genevieve} What do you mean by that?

{Alice} Don't worry he means your muchness. Your Hardly Genevieve without your muchness

{Before Genevieve could say something a pat of butter was thrown by her by the Mach Hare as he burst into laughter with the Hatter and Dormouse.}

{Peter} At least they are having fun.

{Marry} You know we can always sneak into the Unseelie Court and steel back Excalibur if the need arises.

{Aragorn} You know one does not simplely walk into the Unseelie Court. They would see you coming from miles away and attack. Besides they have friends in high places.

{Hatter} Such as?

{Aragorn} Such as our old enemy's. Or in your case the Red Queen.

{Hatter smiling} You know me, and my friends came up with a little tune in her honor.

{Hatter Hare and Mallymkun singing together} Twinkle Twinkle little bat. How I wonder where you're at. Up above the world you fly Like a tea tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle. Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle little bat. How I wonder where you're at. {They burst into laughter as Genevieve chuckles at this.

{Jareth} And how is singing going to help stop the red queen and the others? You seem to forget they are as strong as we are maybe even stronger than us.

{Hatter} It is worth a shot that's for sure.

{Susan} We need an army that's what we need. Archers and swordsman and warriors from every Relam. Strong ones as well. Maybe some of our old friends can help us.

{Legolas} We should gather the elven archers from our respective kingdoms and form a united front. With their exceptional marksmanship and knowledge of the lands, they can provide valuable support in defending our borders and fending off any potential attacks.

{Gimli} Aye, and let us not forget the strength and resilience of the dwarves. We shall forge the finest armor and weapons to protect our allies. Our craftsmanship is unmatched, and our stout warriors will stand tall in battle.

{Aragorn} We should send scouts to gather information about the movements and plans of the Unseelie Court. Knowing our enemy's strategies and strengths will give us an advantage in the upcoming conflict. We can also seek alliances with other realms and enlist their aid.

{Aslan} We mustn't underestimate the power of unity and courage. Each of us has faced challenges before and triumphed through bravery and determination. Let us inspire our people to stand strong, united under the banner of justice and hope.

{Alice} Genevieve possesses a unique connection to the magic of Merlin, and we should tap into that power. Let us seek out other magical beings and artifacts that can aid us in our fight against the Unseelie Court. Together, we can unleash forces that will tip the scales in our favor.

{Jareth} As the Goblin King, I can rally my goblin subjects and unleash their mischievous nature on the Unseelie Court. They may not be the strongest, but they excel in causing chaos and confusion. This diversionary tactic can create opportunities for our more skilled fighters.

{Susan} We should establish a network of communication and coordination between our realms. Regular updates on enemy movements, joint training exercises, and sharing of resources will strengthen our collective defense. Knowledge and collaboration are key to our success.

{Dorothy} Let's not forget the power of friendship and loyalty. We have forged deep bonds over the years, and it is these connections that will sustain us through the darkest of times. We must stand by one another and offer unwavering support.

{Oberon} Excellent suggestions, my friends. Let us set these plans into motion. Genevieve, you have the destiny of our Realms resting upon your shoulders, but know that you are not alone. We will fight alongside you every step of the way. Together, we will overcome the Unseelie Court and restore peace and harmony to our lands.

{Genevieve} Thank you, all. Your support means the world to me. With your guidance and assistance, we will prevail. Let us join forces and embark on this noble quest. Our Realms depend on it.

The room erupts in resounding agreement and determination. The discussion continues, with ideas flowing freely and plans taking shape. It is a pivotal moment, where heroes and rulers unite for a common cause, ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.

{Genevieve smiles at this as a part of the table is cleared by Lindir as he starts to draw out a plan}

{Lindir} Ok so their castle is in the west woods. Getting there is going to be tricky enough as it is filled with swamps and holes ready to capture anyone who strays in there. But if we keep near to the river, we get to their castle which is her at the very back of their territory. The Castle is backed by this enormous cliff face that is impossible to climb. That can be a huge win in our parts. The stables are in the cliff face and the paddocks are on marshy grounds. Now if we can get an attack in the air that will leave them shacking up and easy to attack. Now if we can all do it by surprise it be even better. Now there are hills surrounding the left side. If we get archers there and there and there {he makes circles on the map} we have them cut off with only two escapes routes three if they have one underground.

As Gimli outlines the terrain and potential strategy, the others lean in, studying the map and considering the possibilities. The plan is met with nods of approval and thoughtful expressions.

{Legolas} The hills provide an advantageous position for our archers. They can rain arrows down upon the Unseelie forces, preventing them from escaping easily. With well-aimed shots, we can cripple their defenses and weaken their resolve.

{Aragorn} We should also consider a diversionary tactic to draw their attention away from our main assault. A small group could infiltrate their territory from the opposite side, creating chaos and confusion. This would split their forces and allow our main attack to proceed more smoothly.

{Alice} If we can secure air support as you suggested, it will give us a significant advantage. Perhaps we can enlist the help of Pegasus riders or other flying creatures that are loyal to our cause. They can launch surprise attacks from above, causing panic among the Unseelie Court.

{Gimli} Aye, and let us not forget the importance of intelligence gathering. We should send scouts to observe the movements of the Unseelie forces, identify their weak points, and gather information about their defenses. This knowledge will aid us in devising effective strategies.

{Genevieve} The element of surprise will be crucial. If we coordinate our attack to happen simultaneously from different directions, the Unseelie Court will be caught off guard. We must strike swiftly and decisively, overwhelming them before they can mount a proper defense.

{Jareth} As the Goblin King, I can provide a contingent of goblin scouts who excel in stealth and reconnaissance. They can navigate the treacherous swamps and report back with valuable information about the enemy's movements and vulnerabilities.

{Susan} We should also consider the possibility of diplomatic negotiations. If we can reach out to the more moderate factions within the Unseelie Court, we may be able to sway them to our cause. This could create internal divisions and weaken their overall strength.

Lindir} Your plan sounds well-thought-out. Team A will focus on infiltrating the castle and preventing the enemy from escaping underground. With your knowledge of the castle's layout, you can navigate the corridors and chambers effectively. Be prepared for any traps or hidden defenses they might have set up.

{Kendra} I'm honored to lead Team B. With the marshy terrain, stealth and agility will be our allies. We'll navigate through the paddocks and approach the castle from the easiest route, ensuring our forces remain hidden until the opportune moment. I'll make sure my team is well-prepared for any challenges we may face.

{Gimli} Aye, and I'll lead Team C, stationed on the hills. We'll provide cover and support for Teams A and B, raining arrows upon the Unseelie forces and cutting off their escape routes. Our archers will be well-positioned to unleash devastating volleys, ensuring our comrades have the upper hand.

{Alice} Lindir, Kendra, Gimli, I have faith in your leadership. Together, we shall overcome the Unseelie Court and bring an end to their threat. Let us coordinate our efforts closely and maintain communication throughout the operation. Remember, our goal is not just to defeat them, but also to protect our Realms and Genevieve. May luck be on our side.

As the room fills with a mixture of anticipation and determination, Genevieve looks at her companions, taking in their unwavering support. The weight of her lineage and the mark of Merlin on her arm remind her of her purpose and the destiny she carries.

{Genevieve} I understand now. It is my duty to confront the Unseelie Court and put an end to their darkness. I cannot let fear hold me back when the fate of our Realms hangs in the balance. I will fight, not just for myself, but for all those who believe in the power of good.

{Legolas} Your bravery knows no bounds, Genevieve. We are privileged to fight alongside you and witness the legacy of Merlin come to life through you.

{Gimli} Dwarf steel shall forge the armor that protects you, Genevieve. We shall make it impenetrable, a shield against the malevolence of the Unseelie Court.

{Titania} My dear, you carry the blood of Merlin, and with it, a great power. Trust in yourself and the bond we share. We shall stand united against the Unseelie Court and restore harmony to our Realms.

As the mark of Merlin continues to glow, a symbol of the magic and strength within Genevieve, she feels a surge of determination and resolve. The group stands together, ready to face the impending battle, united in their purpose and their belief in Genevieve's ability to overcome the Unseelie Court. The destiny of the Realms awaits their heroic actions.

{Titania} Yes, my dear. I know it's a lot to ask for but if we want an end to the Unseelie Court you must be the one to do it.

{Alice} Remember cousin it is just like me and the Jabberwocky. I thought I couldn't do it, but I did. And I know you can do it too cousin. All you have to do is believe in six impossible things.

{Genevieve smiles at her as they hug}

{Genevieve} Your so right cousin I can do this. We all can and we all destroy the Unseelie Court. I am Genevieve Granddaughter to Merlin, and this is my destiny. {she says as the necklace glows brightly at this as the mark of Merlin appears on her arm. As she stares at its Legolas starts to cheer for her}

{Legolas} GENEVIEVE! GENEVIEVE! GENEVIEVE!

{Everyone} GENEVIEVE! GENEVIEVE! GENEVIEVE!

The room fills with an overwhelming sense of support and encouragement as Legolas starts a chant in honor of Genevieve's courage and determination. The cheers and applause from her companions resonate through the halls, fueling her resolve even further.

{Genevieve} Thank you, everyone! Your belief in me gives me strength beyond measure. Together, we shall vanquish the Unseelie Court and restore peace to our Realms. Let us embark on this journey, guided by the legacy of Merlin and the bonds we share. I am ready to face the challenges ahead and fulfill my destiny.

Genevieve's voice resonates with unwavering determination and conviction. The mark of Merlin on her arm serves as a constant reminder of the power she possesses and the responsibility she carries. With the support and love of her cousin Alice, and the unwavering faith of her allies, Genevieve is prepared to confront the impossible and bring an end to the Unseelie Court's reign of darkness.

[thedelicatedimsum]

#DimsumCinema Guillermo Del Toro's Pinnochio (2022)

From the very first time I saw the poster, I knew that this is going to be another of Guillermo Del Toro's big things. I've been a fan of his since Pacific Rim. I watched Pan's Labyrinth too, but maybe I was too young to clearly remember, LOL.

Surprisingly this movie came out at nearly the same time as Pinocchio remakes with Tom Hanks from Disney. I took my time to watch one first, but I guess it seems a little bit more suit for the kids so decided to stop watching in the middle. Not meant to mention that it is lacking tho. It might be not a good time for me to watch, well you know that kind of mood that pops out of nowhere, right?

Back to this @gdtereal stop-motion movie, I thought it was going to be sooooo dark somehow. This director just knows how to keep some things in their place. The elements of the classic Pinocchio are still there but it was presented in a whole more elegant and relevant.

The resemblance of time, events, and the possibility of how a boy made of pines is alive are pretty much realistic. The decision to cast Ewan McGregor as the narrator for Sebastian J. Cricket can bring the emotion as good as it should. Overall, the cast really fit! Tilda Swinton also nailed it, as she always did. *bow to the queen*

From his previous works I watched, The Shape of Water, its cinematography to the music is really touching even if the story is pretty much a sci-fi image. Like how in the world you can present a feeling about a deaf person being presented with a relationship with a strange underwater creature?

Well, in my theory, the calm and deep sea can describe Eliza's feeling the most. There is something that she would like to pour in the most soothing way for what she's longing for, some affection that makes her content without words. A place that she could go back to make her feel whole.

I love how Guillermo Del Toro presents some intimate feelings about life itself in a really smooth way he could in this kind of classic movie approach. I also have to agree with him that animation itself is a cinema, as he quoted:

"Animation is a medium, not a genre- nor an interest for kids & families only."

This should be a start and a reminder for adults to enjoy getting some deep life thoughts moments while watching animated movies. This made me thinking that I guess it would be great for some animation stories could be more related to our lives.

I should say it is indeed really wrapped with wholehearted touch and beautiful, would totally recommend this to watch, 9/10 from me!