#charlotte whimsy

[thatoneplumbob]

just a random appreciation post for cupcake and potsie because i miss them! i wish the household maximum number was changed. 🥹

[sanaefum0]

madame spelunker!!!

[whimsyvixen]

Hello fellow slut

I recently fell for a hot gothic vampire man who is tall and big, got a bloodlust side to him and I bet he's packing under there

He's D, the vampire hunter from Vampire Hunter D

Hello 🤗😘

I liked him but it was Baron that made me go glassy eyed all those years ago (the way he was so gentle with her)

[daily-lightbulbii]

[anxious-eclectic]

Sometimes I like to weave through the wooden framework of a house in construction to feel like a ghost on the english moors

[pupsmailbox]

FAIRY︰ELF ID PACK

NAMES ⌇　adelina.　aeon.　aether.　aimee.　alaina.　alette.　alfre.　alvar.　ami.　amy.　aoibhann.　archer.　ash.　aubrette.　aubri.　aura.　aurora.　avery.　ayesha.　barry.　basil.　bell.　belle.　berry.　blaze.　bloom.　blossom.　bolt.　briar.　brooke.　calypso.　caspian.　cassian.　celeste.　charlotte.　clover.　collin.　corbin.　cosmo.　crow.　dahlia.　dalia.　damien.　dela.　dew.　dewdrop.　dewey.　diana.　dianna.　drop.　elfie.　elida.　elisa.　ella.　ellie.　elliot.　elly.　elm.　elvenia.　elvina.　eros.　fae.　faebelle.　faeriette.　faette.　fairiette.　faith.　fallin.　fawn.　fay.　faye.　fayetta.　fayette.　faylinn.　felix.　ferun.　feya.　finch.　fleur.　flix.　flora.　frost.　glimmer.　glow.　gray.　holly.　hope.　ilayda.　iradessa.　iris.　ivy.　jinx.　jynx.　keijo.　lendabair.　lili.　lilli.　lillie.　lilly.　lily.　linetta.　loona.　luna.　lynette.　mariam.　mariposa.　mayblossom.　meadow.　melody.　migina.　mina.　mischette.　mischie.　mischievelle.　mischievette.　moon.　moth.　musa.　nix.　nixie.　nymph.　nymphelle.　nymphette.　nymphie.　nyx.　odette.　olette.　oliver.　onyx.　opal.　periwinkle.　petal.　pix.　pixi.　pixie.　poppy.　rose.　rosemary.　satu.　shayla.　shaylah.　shayleen.　sheelin.　starla.　stella.　síobhra.　tania.　tanya.　tatania.　tiana.　tinca.　tink.　tinka.　tinker.　tinkerbell.　tinkerbelle.　titania.　trick.　trickselle.　tricksette.　trix.　tryck.　tryx.　tunder.　tünde.　tündér.　vidia.　whim.　whimsey.　whimsie.　whimsy.　willow.　wing.　älva.

PRONOUNS ⌇　bloom/bloom.　dew/dew.　dust/dust.　elf/elf.　fae/fae.　fae/faer.　fae/faerie.　fae/faery.　fae/fairy.　fai/fai.　fai/fairy.　fai/fairytale.　fairy/fairie.　fairy/fairy.　fay/fay.　flight/flight.　flower/flower.　frog/frog.　honey/honey.　jest/jest.　jinx/jinxe.　joke/joke.　mischie/mischief.　mischie/mischievous.　mischief/mischief.　mischief/mischievous.　moss/moss.　moss/moss.　mush/mushroom.　oak/oak.　pix/pix.　pix/pixie.　prank/prank.　shimmer/shimmer.　shine/shine.　shroom/shroom.　spark/spark.　sparkle/sparkle.　spring/spring.　sprite/sprite.　trick/trick.　trick/trickster.　vae/vaer.　ven/venus.　wing/wing.

[melancholicstation]

The Socially Active Secretary: Chapter Three

pairing: robert francis kennedy female ❤︎ original character charlotte agapov (secretary!reader)

a little impromptu diner date ... well why not

synopsis: charlotte agapov, a divorcee whom recently moved back to the states after a disastrous lovers quarrel, assumes the secretarial position to the most important man in America, but it is not he who has captured her attention, no. instead, it's his meek younger brother, the runt of the kennedy pack, bobby francis kennedy.

chapter one, two

masterlist character mood boards

[ words ]

taglist: @kennediva @absurdlyvintage @bloxholden35 @astro-vibes-bro @h-l-vlovesvintage @kimcrystal123 @krazyforkennedy @fortheloveofjos @remotewatch

May 3rd, 1962

Charlotte started off her evening with a plate of boiled eggs and butter, and steaming coffee on the hotplate. Dressed in a cotton voile nightgown with a smocking along the neckline, that was constricting in a pleasant manner. Since her aunt had gone into town to visit one of her, despite her genuine personality, many toffee-nosed, haughty friends in Plymouth Charlotte was left to her own devices. A state of being that Charlotte would come to know was entirely dangerous.

This loneliness of Charlotte had birthed a new idea of hers that she should re-engage with the nightlife that she had so recklessly abandoned in her early twenties. Charlotte felt that those nights were the only ones in which she truly felt like the woman she had been forced to push down.

The nineteen year-old version of Charlotte seemed to be football stadium sized gulfs away from the 29 year old woman she had morphed into. Nineteen year old Charlotte was free, and accompanied by a girlish charm of ambivalence and whimsy. In all her glory dressed in her jumpsuit and chainmail balaclava, eating steak tartare and drinking whiskey sours at Harry Cipriani every night. This nose-dove into nostalgia turned into Charlotte, through the assistance of a very rickety very unstable wicker chair, finding old photo albums kept in the attic of her aunt that her mom had stored years ago. Some were of Charlotte departing in and out of restaurants with a big, bright grin on her face, others of her with some friends from boarding school. They were all pictured posing very dramatically on top of each other in such a way that instantly gave way to the fact that they all had done theatre as adolescents.

As a result of this Charlotte decided that she was going to make the most out of this getaway and book a four course tasting for one at Cuvée at Chatham Inn. How decedent!, she thought. She could feel her excitement churning up inside her, what a silly thing to get excited to spend dinner along Charlotte thought, teasing herself. But the predicament of what she was going to wear however, was less exhilarating for the young woman.

She had now been staring down the mate-shift closet she had made in the interim period of her stay in the cape for almost an hour, searching for something to fit the opulence of the Curvée that wasn't in the dull muted tones that Charlotte had dressed herself in lately. Most items were textured mohair, cotton, or suede in organised colours of military green, cloudy brown, and porcelain. Certainly not fit for the Chatham Inn that's for sure. That was, until Charlotte in her almost manic manhunt for the perfect outfit came across her equivalent of the green light in the Gatsby novel; a strapless satin minidresses gathered at the hem in light khaki.

The best option of a bad bunch sure, but it would have to do. She opted for a pair of wedges in patent leather and a hand-painted shoulder bag given to Charlotte by her esoterically inclined grandmother from her dad's side. After applying rouge and lipstick all in shades reminiscent of smoked salmon, she gathered her hair in a half-up half-down style that she had remembered dog-earing in the April issue of Women's Weekly. And with that, she pranced out the door.

Cervée wasn't a quick walk so Charlotte called a car to drive her to the Inn. Charlotte should really look into the mindfulness her mother had been just raving about in their most recent call, because it appeared that Charlotte had zoned out for the entirety of the 20 minute car ride and only been broken from the trance at the prompt of the driver asking for a 20% tip, which she would then politely give.

As she entered the Inn, and was promptly escorted to the private dining space of the restaurant by a man donned in black dress pants, Charlotte was greeted by the aroma of cinnamon and patchouli filling all her fourth sense.

The room seemed calmly bare with only one person at the bar, and another elderly couple seated by the bay window facing the coastline.

The first course, Hamachi was delectable and paired with an equally excellent wine pairing. However Charlotte was temporarily distracted by the voice of the person ordering a second Mai Tai cocktail, a voice so familiar that Charlotte was sure she had heard it before. But just as Charlotte's curiosity could get the best of her the second course was brought out.

The second course was sea scallops, with a side of celery root, grapefruit and fennel. It was of Charlotte's opinion that the food got better at each course. Throughout the interim of her second course Charlotte had willed this familiar stranger to turn his head, either to confirm that yes, he was the man she had run into in the lighthouse, or that her persistent loneliness had finally caught up to Charlotte and she had begun going into delirium. Charlotte's misery was cut short as the mystery man suddenly turned his head, his penetrating blue eyes framed by mousy blond tendrils circling in on the sat figure that was Charlotte from across the room. So that is Bobby, she thought.

Oh no, the poor man must think I'm some crazed stalker following him around the cape, I wouldn't be all that surprised if he got up and left right this instance, Charlotte mused inwardly. However these thoughts were put to rest as Robert made his way across the floor, with the beauty and grace of a seasoned Juilliard trained ballerina.

"Funny place to find you Charlotte, I mused you as more of a diner girl, I guess I thought wrong now didn't I?" He chuckles in a self-conscious way designed to defuse the unmarked tension between the pair.

"Oh how wrong you were Bobby, how very wrong" Charlotte admonishes in jest, giggling in her delivery. Charlotte could practically hear the voice of her mother urging that such a sound should not come from a dignified woman over the age of twenty. But she couldn't find much in herself to care at the moment, not when the man in front of her brought out feelings that Charlotte couldn't yet assign a name to.

"Would you mine me sitting down a moment, I'm afraid I've been on my feet since 4am"

"Four am?" Charlotte nearly spills her drink in her dumbfounded delivering--"What on earth kind of employer has you filling in those kinds of hours?"

"Working for my brother that's who" Bobby states with a reverent look of pride in his eyes.

"Oh your brother, would I know him by chance?"

"Maybe-maybe not" Bobby remarks in a tone not dissimilar to a school boy who had just set up a prank for his teacher. Despite this Charlotte finds charm in it.

As the third course is brought out the pair continue talking about trivial things, while Bobby shovels small amounts of parmesan into his mouth while effortlessly keeping up conversation.

To the unbeknownst eye, or to bypasses at the Inn, the pair looked as though they had been lovers for as long as they had been alive.

But evidently they had not, and so the questions begun

"Now what's an girl with a ring on talking to a guy like me for" he states, while motioning his hand towards the sapphire oval ring set in 18-karat white gold glimmering on Charlottes fourth finger of her left hand.

Shoot, Charlotte thought. Her daily routine of putting on her wedding ring had stuck, even after the divorce. "It's not what you think, I promise. I've recently got divorced and y'know old habits die hard I guess." She says while chuckling nervously, bracing herself for Bobby to be completely turned away by her awkward and rambling justification.

But instead he simply smiles in a manner so disarming that it seems to immediately regulate her nervous system. "Not a problem with me at all. I have certainly had my fix of lovers quarrels Charlotte, I'll tell you that".

"Oh really? do tell Bobby please it's only fair" Charlotte pleads.

Bobby immediately concedes and goes into a particularly hilarious tale of him trying to ask a girl to homecoming, only to find out she had already been asked out by two of his own brothers.

This prompts Charlotte to ask about his luck in love after high school, to which his whole demeanour seems to shift as he quickly rushes out that he fell in love with a girl who then, as it turns out, fell in love with her ski instructor instead, leaving him at the altar of nineteen fifty.

At this revelation Charlotte decides to back off and move onto lighter topics. Here she learns of Bobby's two dogs that he fathers; a Newfoundland named "brumes" and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named "freckles".

By the fourth course, steelhead trout and coconut lime sage, Bobby and Charlotte's chairs are now paralleled with each other and increasingly close. As Charlotte looks up to somewhere other than the man in front of her for the first time in what she could imagine could've easily been two hours, she sees that the time is bordering on 8pm. Bobby catches on, and draws his eyes to the clock.

"I guess we should head out before they kick us out huh, Wouldn't want to be banned from Carvée now would we?" Robert remarks.

"Oh the horrors it would be!" Charlotte laughs.

As the pair reaches the driveway of the Inn, a tense silence falls upon the two. No, not a silence born out of boredom but of yearning.

"So--shall we go back to my place?"

End of Chapter Three

[junebluues]

heyo. didya like my sample guys. here’s the full course meal

about sirius:

half sona half. very not

any pronouns. gender is an illusion

aroace spectrum. dunno if they’d feel attraction but if they could would most likely be to anyone regardless of gender

THAT SMILE IS AN ILLUSION TOO DON’T BE FOOLED

i made them a bit similar to other ocs i think so if you see a resemblance im so sorry that was completely an accident

luka’s uniform design! i thought it fit more than others i wanted to try so..

pookie is FUCKED up so bad

kind of based on my own past and my own issues sorry sirius my bad bud

same birthday as me!

made him taller. for the sake of my dignity.

originally was going to be in s39 but then i was like nah nevermind and she went here instead

the whimsy is a lie

REAAAALLLYYYY good at bottling their emotions.

haven’t decided if i want em to have a masculine or feminine voice yet BUT if i do decide on a feminine voice their song is going to be my kink is karma because it was literally the ONLY thing i was listening to while drawing sirius. also for lore reasons

character inspo

i know bill cipher looks actually insane in this lineup but i promise you it makes total sense

up -> down on the left side

sunday (hsr)

charlotte (pbc)

rio ranger (yttd)

up -> down on the right side

mafuyu asahina (pjsk)

luka (alnst)

bill cipher (gravity falls)

2 icons side by side, one with the whimsy on one with it off

if anyone wants to be friends hey… im open to it

additional:

THEY MAKE IT TO THE COMPETITION I PROMISE

his guardian’s name is noct

does NOT talk about their past at all whatsoever and any questions about it will be dodged

[kittieshauntedourfantasy]

Clamburg may hate Charlotte's whimsy but I don't

[thatoneplumbob]

alexandra and charlotte had some hot cocoa and chilli after-school, and got to do some homework together!

[murdleandmarot]

hello!! for that ask game, 3 and 17? :D

hi hello!!!! I already answered 17, so I’ll just talk about a couple of my favorite movies :)))

1. The Secret of Moonacre (2009)

Jesus Christ I love this movie. It’s based on a book that is bad, but it was made into a movie that is my favorite thing in the world, me and my sister watch it ALL the time.

There’s just so much to love about it. It’s a fantastical movie that I don’t want to spoil, but it’s got magic, it’s got 2008 CGI, it’s got fairytale worlds, it’s got so many queer undertones that it’s insane, it’s got historically inaccurate but stunning costumes, sets and scenery to DIE for, some of my favorite scenes in movie history just for the whimsy of it all, and Tim Curry.

The main character Maria is LITERALLY just me, and very Jemima coded, and you’ll see why if you watch the movie, I cannot recommend it enough. Someday I should do fanart

And it’s got this gayass mcr teenage guyfailure silly boy with eyeliner who my sister clocked as gay the MINUTE he walked on screen.

(Why do people keep doing that to me. First with this, then my friend with Misto (HOW DID HE DO THAT??? IT WAS THE FIRST LINE!!!))

2. Clue (1985) and Glass Onion (2022)

I LOVE detective and crime movies that are focused on shenanigans, aesthetics, and actually SOLVING the crimes. So much of true crime to me is just ‘and then the violent and misogyny person ate 8 children 😔’ like okay. Thank you.

I actually can’t stand it and that’s why I like murder mysteries more than thrillers.

Clue is hysterical and has shaped my humor to an insane degree, my dad and I quote it each other all of the time. The murder mystery element is incomprehensible but the shenanigans are so good that you don’t even notice the entire movie is nonsense until the end. 10/10 no notes.

Glass Onion is a masterpiece. Eat the rich <3. Also they should keep making Knives Out movies forever.

3. Wait Till Helen Comes (2016) and Bluebeard (2009)

OBSCURE INDIE FILM GIRLIES UNTIE!!! I’m a huge fan of movies that are spooky, but not horror, and these movies delivers on both accounts, at least for me. Also they’re free on YouTube :))) double win!!!!

WTHC was one of my FAVORITE books as a kid, (alongside like. Dork diaries and Frozen Charlotte), so when I saw it was a movie on YouTube I lost my mind. Watched it in the middle of the night at my great-aunts house while writing horror fanfiction. Truly the teenage dream.

It’s SO crazy to me, atmospheric, makes almost no sense, but is still one of my favorites.

Bluebeard is Bluebeard :)) so so good, in French, watched it for the first time about two weeks ago? And my computer started screaming at me. Like actual screams. Super creepy. I love the acting, I love the ambiguous ending that is SUPER dark and abstract. What was going on there. I love it.

[hopefuloverfury]

What song/genre of music do you think of when you imagine the bachelor/ettes? If there was a specific artist or band for Sam, who do you think they'd be?

Oooh—I actually have thought about this! I have a playlist just for when I'm writing blurbs about the stardew valley characters, and no I don't care if any of these are predictable because I think they're accurate lmfao.

Sam

2014 Five Seconds of Summer, Shawn Mendes, and Why Don't We. His general vibe is young, reckless love. If there's a specific song in mind, I think of him as a mix between 5sos' End Up Here, She Looks So Perfect, If I Can't Have You by Shawn, and Why Don't We's Fallin' (Adrenaline)

Seb

I think he's a mix between 5sos' Voodoo Doll, Troye Sivan's Strawberries and Cigarettes, Taylor Swift's Style, and the last 90-ish seconds of Sleep Token's The Summoning. Also Conan Gray's Overdrive. He's still young and reckless, but he's a little more subdued and all over the place.

Alex

One Directions' Steal My Girl, Shawn Mendes' Wonder, and Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar. Even though they're pretty heavy with gendered language, I have no issue imagining Alex with varying farmers while listening to these songs.

Elliott

His love definitely swerves more toward obsession and worship, so anything by Hozier, no question about it. But also Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frank Valli is heavy Elliott energy.

Shane

Everybody Wants You by Johnny Orlando, Someone To You by BANNERS, DogBird by Madds Buckley, and Lauv's I Like Me Better. Like Seb, Shane's pretty all over the place as well. Also he makes me cry ahaha. hm.

Harvey

Harvey gave me a little bit of trouble when I first started writing. I had to think about him quite a bit to land on a genre/song for him. Anyway, Ophelia by The Lumineers, Ready Now by dodie, and The Way You Look Tonight by Michael Bublé are all Harvey coded. END ME

Maru

In My Mind by Lyn Lapid, Bubble Gum by Clairo, and Space Girl by Frances Forever. I imagine her as a pretty inexperienced and romantically repressed character (I wonder why Demetrius) so all of these songs have a certain level of melancholy about them, which is very Maru for me.

Penny

She by dodie, Conan Gray's Heather, and Lonely by Noah Cyrus. Repressed, just like Maru, but for different reasons. Never had the opportunity to really live her life, you know? Lots of insecurities and feelings of inadequacy my poor babie nO but I usually only listen to those when I'm feeling a little down. You can trust that I don't always write angst for her, and when I don't, it's loooots of early Taylor Swift.

Haley

Sabrina Carpenter. That's it. lmao no i'm kidding Diamonds Are Forever, Nonsense, Looking At Me, and Girlfriend by Bea Miller. I love me a mean, confident lesbian, but she does soften up the more you get to know her, and I always listen to Isabel LaRosa's I'm Yours when I want to go that route with her. I also think of her when I listen to Dress by Charlotte Sands.

Abigail

Very punchy, "powerful woman" type songs. Namely UPSAHL's People I Don't Like, Beautiful is Boring by BONES UK, and American Horror Show by SNOW WIFE. She has opinions and she's going to let you know what she thinks—but make no mistake, she is a loyal and good person to her core. She's just got an attitude sometimes.

Leah

Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machines, Light My Love by Greta Van Fleet, and Constellations by The Oh Hellos. She's got a certain whimsy about her, but she's still a very grounded individual. She and Elliott have a similar vibe to each other, but where he's the smell of salty sea spray and plum juice dripping from your fingers, she's frayed picnic blankets and the smell of grass after it rains.

Emily

Now this might be controversial, but Señorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is always gonna make me think of her. I'm Born To Run by American Authors, Enchanted by Taylor Swift (her version, obviously), are also both some of the easiest songs for me to think about her. She definitely believes in soulmates and fate, and probably makes jewelry or sews while thinking about you.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

*more warning for me talking about my watching the show fic*

Anyway, context:

I did not expect that much interaction on my silly sleep deprived post! ❤️

As some of you probably know, my original plan was to go into Storm Warning after The Giggle, but I didn't know what to choose after that, which is what I was trying to figure out while writing that other post.

Anyway, I've been doing some thinking...

PROPAGANDA (probably gibberish but my brain is evil rn)

TV Movie: 7 regenerates into 8 because of the American Healthcare System. The Master is a goo snake. He slithers into a new body and proceeds to want the Doctor’s body the whole damn movie. Post regeneration sillies. The Master literally roars like a wild beast. 8 kisses Grace. He fuckin FORGOR. 8 talks about his father for a little bit. Half human????

Night of the Doctor: 8 regenerates into War. Lots of interesting ties to the EU. Short but devastating. This guy pretty much does himself in. Depiction of common perception of Time Lords at the time

Storm Warning: CHARLOTTE POLLARDDDDDDDDD. 8 gets a new companion! He is whimsy and so much more, but there is a foreboding sense to it. RAMSEY THE VORTISAUR. 8 talks a little bit about the Academy Era. Both this and the TV Movie would eventually lead to Zagreus.

The Conscript: 8 gets forced to be apart of a Time War recruitment camp under the threat of Ollistra doing something to his companions. Very good depiction of Time Lords being used as cannon fodder. YOU ARE NOT SONTARANS. Disturbing Gallifreyan nationalistic song. 8 makes everyone's lives difficult. Daleks daleks daleks

Day of the Vashta Nerada: Gallifrey is trying to weaponize the Vashta Nerada for use in the Time War. This doesn't end well. Pretty much everyone dies! Enter GIANT Vashta Nerada and enter the Nerada Vashta.

A Heart on Both Sides: NYSSAAAAAAAA. Nyssa is on The Traken providing hospital relief to those affected by the Time War. She has a helper named Dr. Foster (wink). They go to the planet Reeve, which is incredibly anti-Gallifreyans because the High Council has been blowing up their factories. Time Lord spy. Anti Gallifreyan graffiti and the use of Praxis gas, which almost kills 8.

The Lords of Terror: companion Bliss wants to go visit her parents, only to discover it has been covered in a big dome. 8 gets tortured yet again. Are the Daleks or the Time Lords responsible for this atrocity? Gallifrey is a fucked up society.

In the Garden of Death: 8, Bliss, and the Twelve are in a Dalek POW camp. Oh no they forgor everything! The Daleks torture the heck out of these guys. These amnesiacs briefly wonder if 8 is a bad guy. Interrogation on Interrogation on Interrogation

Mary's Story: Two 8s collide with Mary Shelley and Co at Villa Diodati. First an older 8 who has been affected by vitreous time, leaving him in horrific shape (burns, muscle, bone....I'll spare you the details) to the point where he literally dies for a little bit. Gets electrocuted and turns into basically Frankenstein's Monster. Young 8 turns up, finds these really quite embarrassing, saves the day, and takes Mary on as a companion

[allswellthxtends]

no notable geography, or pathetic fallacy

SEND ASKS ABOUT LOS CAMPESINOS!!!!

my name is charlotte, but you call me alls!! or not!!!

if i need to tag something just lmk! i tag tws as [trigger here] tw (e.g. “los camp! tw”, i also tag general triggers)

i love writing music, los campesinos!, roguelikes (balatro, risk of rain 2, slay the spire, and more!!), minecraft, and music in general!!

~~~~~~~

many ways to support my music (SEND ME ASKS ABOUT IT, IM ALWAYS WILLING TO SHARE)!!

alts:

@ultimateloscampblog​ (shared los campesinos! blog)

@alls-demos-and-songs (my music)

@blogfortheotherkurt (los camp! analysis)

@allstheartist (official music account)

enjoy my girlish whimsy!!

[gargoyle-doyle]

notes & thoughts i had when i was reading this book ;-3 (its kinda disjointed and doesn't read well, there were just things scrawled when reading. idk i might write it up properly one day xx).

-Clinically obsessed with Neil Gaiman's 1994 'The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch' and yes i am incredibly biased, and yes it is because i'm living away from pompey right now, and i miss my ghost adventures, and fratton rd subway.

-Its just such a nostalgic, and fun read. Mckeans art is so vivid, its like something walked straight out of my mind and onto the page, its really a graphic novel that properly exploits the medium and captivates on every page.

-As someone who has personally beefed with the descendants of these swans, i can tell you for a fact that this still stands true - they will break your arm, and not only that, they will peck into ur stomach and pluck out ur intestines. Apart from one swan who has arthritis, and is fed medicine in the evenings by an unnamed local, he is probably too busy eating his medicines.

-Reading all these passages written in 1994, almost exactly 30 years ago, set even further back into the late sixties, and seeing such relatable anecdotes. it's hopeful. Pompey stays Pompey forever.

And then you're hit with bits like this:

-And I'm reminded of the bridge centre bookshop losing the war against the council, the privatising of the secret garden, commercial road - the ghost town. And subway, and rowans, and London rd dying. Moorhouse becoming a newsagents, becoming a house.

-And then even before me, (mandatory obelisk mention), tricorn, charlotte st. The shadows of the past. What becomes of the time capsule in the bridge, when there is no bridge? But then in the same way theres development. Gunwharf, The spinnaker, The Mary Rose Museum.

-But it's all the superficial stuff - the tourist attractions. And it's all the heart and soul that get left to rot.

-I love this graphic novel because it's alive. and its mean. an affair, a pregnancy, forced abortion by beating a woman with planks of wood, disguised in cloudy memories and that slight childhood hope to mask it. to retell it again and again until the story turns out different this time.

-And there's this house, and its my childhood home. its the home of everyone i've ever befriended, and ever went to school with. And I'm reminded of when i used to see Punch and Judy shows over in St James' Dog park for picnic on the green.

-And one year, after the show, after the ice lollies, and after the raffle, my friend and i walked home, past all the shops, and at the end of my street was a great plume of smoke, and crinkle chip was burning down. We stood across the road and watched it burn.

Crinkle chip survived - but not as crinkle chip. It changed, it became Crispy Cod. But the foods the same. the important stuff. idk, i hate everything closing, its gone, and likely never coming back. But i still care, and i think that's the important part. that it mattered to me once upon a time (second mandatory obelisk mention in brackets so i don't waffle on about the obelisk).

-the story of punch and judy is told and retold by so many. as life here is lived by so many, but in many ways the same life. with many of the same characters and set pieces.

-the tale really articulates the frustration, the whimsy, the worry, and the awareness of childhood. living in a dream-like world, only in that none of your questions ever get answered. fantasy from boredom, fear, and confusion. the world is new, its your first time here and everyone just expects you to know whats real and whats not. That feeling of being looked over, of raising yourself because adults lie, cry, and run away from questions.

-This lamppost is real - so are the lights. i know exactly where this is and what they look like at every time of day.

-I love puppets, i love making them, buying them, studying them. This book reads like a love letter. But one written to a love never indulged. a love letter written and then kept in a box in the attic. The book feels like everything we want to say but don't. in the real world there's the story following the boy and his grandfather, and in the magical, theres the denial to let the self wear the puppet. nothing ever comes to fruition. nothing stays long enough to have the time to tell it how you felt, to express the grief. at the end theres a moment where the narrator just might wear mr punch. but theres not enough time to rationalise, to explain. its not the same mr punch anyway.

-its a scene that reminded me that sometimes we never get to do the things we desire because its too late. like trick-or-treating. if you dont do it as a kid you never will. and it sucks. and we dont get to go back.

-i should've bought all those Anne Rice books from the Bridge when i had the chance. but its gone now. and i won't.

-everything goes. but the memories remain, spectres to be engaged with, and in that its not really gone. The hearts arent gone, because they are here in this book. and so is the grandfather, and so is pompey.

-i should've written more notes about the art. The combination of photos and drawings portrays memories in such a beautiful and disorienting way. its distressing, and memorable. the way some things are emphasised by the photos, Punch and Judy, and the grandfather, while other memories are more obscure sketches, like the pier and the houses. it reads like a Cecilia Condit film scary and fragmented and young, or Jan Svankmajer's (my birthday twin xx) Jabberwocky short film.

-“Everybody dies but Mister Punch, and he has only the life he steals from others”

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after reading the book, and spell-checking my notes. i also read this companion article by Jennifer K . Cox 'From Stage to Page: Adaptation as Survival in Neil Gaiman’s Mr. Punch' that i would like to share highlights from;

-Forbidden knowledge, portrayed as the magic of puppetry, parallels the narrator’s traumatic childhood memories; the adaptations to his memories have allowed him to survive, even if they obscure the truth of his past.

-“The path of memory is neither straight nor safe,” - Gaiman

-'In some sense, telling a story makes it happen again' - Schank (eek! i love this, it fits with the ethos of the graphic novel itself being that things change but that doesn't mean you can't return to how it was in story and memory).

-'As inanimate objects that rely on human hands to give them life, puppets represent a physical “link with the dead, with the realm of the uncanny, the threshold realm of things unknown or repressed” - Gross (sums up how i feel when i make my frog puppet dance to Modern Talking).

-“Tolkien’s view was that the myth-making imagination always tends toward truth rather than lies; that fantastic stories lead toward a genuine understanding of the conditions of existence” - Attebery

-Theatre historian John Bell describes puppets as “performing objects” and suggests that people manipulate them “in order to show us how parts of the…material world can be animated by humans. [..] that our playing with objects allows

us to come to terms with death”

-this adapted work is by and for adults. (i dont know if i particularly agree with this statement. i think kids should read tough and scary stories. Mr Punch provides a great framework for exploring ones own anguish with the world in a way thats relatable and readable. with sections feeling specifically catered towards kids. 'adults lie', 'i should've written this in blood' and the mystical views on death. Yes, they have a nostalgia factor for adult readers, but they are childish thoughts, relatable to child readers. Kids deserve thoughtful and dark stories that challenge them, that haunt them).

-For the lower classes during the eighteenth century, divorce was improbable, public hangings were employed to discourage crime, and a healthy Puritan work ethic threatened bodily harm, while a poor work ethic threatened eternal damnation; Punch thumbed his rather large nose at each of these oppressive institutions

-the narrator resist picking up the puppet for one of two reasons: because the knowledge will destroy the magic of puppetry, and if the audience knows how the magic works the genre of puppet theatre ceases to function, or because he knows wearing the puppet means he must then become Punch

[wheelsupin-azarathmetrionzinthos]

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favourite colour: green

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currently reading: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

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