#foils in life and death

[im-here-homie]

a happy audience is the key to the academy's heart

shadow milk design by @catxolotlquoise

[proxycrit]

I interrupt my zelda posting with caitvi because Arcane changed my brain chemistry

(ight, now i go back on hiatus! If you want to see my sketchbook which I WILL be posting until the day I wither, check out patreon! Now excuse me as i crawl back into my warm little den)

((Im also currently significantly more active on my instagram posting commission work, if you wanna see it :0))

Edit: ah dang it the hyperfixation’s set in.

[smoozie]

Screaming, crying, throwing up. What do you mean immediately after killing Scar, Grian says "I don't feel good" and immediately after killing Impulse, Martyn says "oooh that feels good"

[aintnoloveintheheatofthesun]

A love letter to the brilliant, talented, lying ass, cheating heifer...Pearline 🖤

There is so much to love about this character. She is played by Jayme Lawson so jot that down.

I couldn't sleep after watching this film. Not only did she cheat, sing and kill in the space of 2 hours 18 minutes, she stole my heart, too.

Let's break this down sequentially.

Name

'Pearline' connotes something rare and beautiful. There's two elements I love about this imagery.

One - she is a shining vision in a sea of flesh. This reflects her performance on stage, where she is a sight to behold in a sea of moving bodies.

Two - she is linked to local history. For decades, African Americans found employment and even autonomy fishing oysters along the Gulf Coast. These oysters would be shipped around the nation; creating opportunity for black fishermen, chefs and entrepreneurs. Her names anchors her to the South, to black ingenuity and resilience.

Furthermore! Her solo reflects the idea that Pearline is deeply committed to her people. While Sammie wrote an original song that he had never shared before, Pearline sings a lively song where everyone could join in.

When she thumps in time with the twins' violence, I feel like that emphasises her carpe diem nature. You cannot reach the valuable part of an oyster without exerting physical force. Before we reach the climax of the song and see Jayme Lawson in all her brilliance, a sinner in the back room takes several blows to the chest. Since this takes place during the Prohibition Era we can assume that she is no stranger to violence or crime.

Look

Damn, this woman is fine. Her skin was so well lit in the film. The night scenes when she was sweating on stage (and on that table) had her looking radiant. The beat was flawless and the hair worked!

Fits

The Clarksdale train station look will always be a favourite of mine. The white fishnet gloves, the floral earrings, the dark hat with flowers at the back and the floral print dress ate down. I'm just glad Sammie saw the vision.

Her light green, silk number in the juke joint made sense. We even got a new accessories  on stage, she can be seen in her wedding ring, different dangling earrings and a shiny cuff. The matching scarf was the perfect touch and them shoes!! Lord. They took 'Pale, Pale Moon' to the next level. Speaking of that that song - I am obsessed. It went triple platinum in my house last week. Brittany Howard and Ludwig Göransson devoured.

Love interest

That introduction after Pearline first watched Sammie play did it for me. There were fireworks between them!! Only to be followed up by

"You gonna sing?" "We'll see where the night takes us"

My goodness me. This woman really said I do what I want. She walked all the way to that juke joint, got her pussy ate, and sang like never before.

Queen shit.

Character arc

We first meet Mrs Pearline in the golden light of day. She looks calm and curious; eyeing up Preacher Boy. We then learn more about her tastes (in terms of sex, music, choreography and aromatics) before seeing her in action (killing these undead motherfuckers with Annie). She starts off reserved and mysterious and later proves herself to be brave and self-assured. Her dance style is sensual, animalistic and free. Clearly, this is not her first time performing for folks in a place like this; unlike Sammie. He has only ever sung at church and on Delta Slim's territory.

Speaking of Preacher Boy! She stands side by side with him, guarding the room where they are holding Stack. She calls Smoke evil to his face when he threatens to kill her over some garlic. She shoots at vampires and fights to the bitter end. My girl has ice in her veins.

Background

A massive thank you to professional dancer and cultural historian Melany Centeno for her breakdown video on YouTube explaining all the ancestors in THAT scene. She found that Ahmari Vaughn played Pearline's ancestor. This dancer was dressed in Hamar cultural wear while doing traditional Nilotic dances. The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group found in Sudan and Northern Uganda. They have dances like Larakaraka and Bwola; which emphasise female agility and elegance.

Also credit to Walter English. He created this reading list inspired by Ms Pearline. It explores some brilliant Black Feminist literature and historical archives.

Thoughts on the actress Jayme Lawson deserves every good thing in this world. I love this character that she has brought to life and I thoroughly appreciate how messy, beautiful and real Pearline is.

Favourite quotes by her

"Y'all are cousins? I thought you were a nice young man"

"What was in that jar?"

These quotes represent the 'fuck it, we ball mentality of Mrs Pearline. When she learns that Sammie is related to the twins, she doesn't run out of that place - she spends even more time with him. I love that for her. There's no doubt she has heard rumours of the Smoke Stack twins not-quite-legal employment history. Rather than seek the company of upstanding black folk in Clarksdale, she goes even deeper into this mess.

For the second quote, I love how Pearline is actively working to figure out how the hell they can survive. The criticisms of her character as a jezebel are not completely unfounded however this line changes things. She is a woman who feels trapped in her marriage, just like how Sammie feels trapped in his father's church.

While she is very comfortable in her sexuality; she is not defined by it. She gets head from Preacher Boy, with her wedding ring on. She performs with reckless abandon on stage to an adoring crowd.

Siren, sure. Jezebel? No.

Mrs Pearline is not a sexual object with no thoughts, no ambitions for herself. She understands that in 1932 Mississipi, the sale of alcohol is illegal and she sings in a Juke Joint. She learns that this man she has just met has notorious, gangster cousins and she continues to seek him out. She finds out that they are surrounded by cold blooded monsters and she picks up a stake, then ties it to a shotgun.

Her musical number is just as joyful and vibrant as Sammie's. Both of them are shown to be deeply rooted Southerners who love their people and the arts. They even stand up to Smoke in a similar manner. When Smoke tells Sammie to live a decent life, playing gospel music in the next town, Sammie refuses. Smoke holds a gun to his head. When Pearline hesitates to eat a clove of garlic, Smoke holds a gun to her head. Neither of them back down staring down the barrel of a gun.

I saw an excellent post that explores the narrative development between 'I Lied to You' and 'Pale, Pale Moon'. Sammie's song introduces us to his God given talent, while setting the scene for Remmick's self-serving, cult-like, pursuit. Pearline's song is where the violence and the music begin to converge; namely when Pearline gets to stomping on stage in sync to the twins kicking a man in the gambling room.

In this scene, Sammie is applauding his woman and the juke joint patrons are singing in a chorus, with her. This siren is at the centre of everything, in part because of her sex appeal, but mostly because of her passion and vocal abilities. The lyrics of the song even foreshadow the violent fates of these patrons. Sammie's music celebrates cultural contributions through past, present and future while Pearline's is a warning for the future.

Sammie is not the only griot in that place. The final credit scene features the gospel song 'Let it Shine' in which the lyrics directly contrast Pearline's song. Mrs Pearline gets turned and becomes vulnerable to the sun so when she sings

Don't let it shine x4

Oh Lord

We learn that she is Sammie's equal and opposite.

In conclusion, Pearline is much more than eye candy in Sinners (2025). She is Sammie's foil. She is a daring, formidable character who is about that action.

Favourite quote about her

'You so beautiful' - Sammie Moore 1932

No notes. Dude's right.

That whole scene had me like

[st4rking]

tfw you, as a mind reader, have to team up with a man who thinks too much

Slight spoilers in tags

[littlemsterious]

holy fuck harrow is a product of her parent’s genocide and alecto is a product of jod’s genocide how have i never put this together before

i’m trying to spell out my thoughts about this but i cant get past how a horrific number of people had to die in order for them to exist

[lgbtlunaverse]

While rereading mdzs I am once again shocked by how talked about the "you were the only mistake he ever made" line from Lan Xichen to Wei Wuxian is and how heated it gets some people because honestly... I don't think he actually even believes that.

Stay with me. Look at the actual line. (I Included 2 translations for comparison's sake)

Firstly, yes he is mad at Wei Wuxian in this scene. But his biggest moment of anger was actually before this. By this point he's realized that Wei Wuxian forgot what happened after nightless city (and therefore ISN'T stringing along his baby brother on purpose) so he has in fact calmed down a bit.

Secondly, notice that he starts by talking about how his uncle felt. This is not Lan Xichen making a value statement about what he thinks. When he says Lan Wangji was proper and righteous he is talking about him being a model lan, he's talking about their family and clan's perspective of Wangji. Indeed, in their eyes, Wei Wuxian is the only time Lan Wangji was ever not the textbook perfect Lan.

Thirdly, what is Lan Xichen trying to say here? What is he mad at Wei Wuxian for? It's that he doesn't know Lan Wangji is in love with him. His anger is eased by realizing Wei Wuxian doesn't remember the very blatant confessions lwj made in the cave after nightless city, or Lan Wangji fighting his own clan elders for Wei Wuxian, and so had no way of knowing the whipmarks on Lan Wangji's back were related to him. But he is still mad, he still thinks Wei Wuxian should have been able to figure it out. So what does he highlight?

The fact that the only thing Lan Wangji, perfect model-Lan righteous Lan Wangji, ever defies his clan for is Wei Wuxian.

And Wei Wuxian has seen him do this! Even if he doesn't remember this one instance. Because Lan Wangji has been doing that the whole story through. Wei Wuxian has watched Lan Wangji blatantly stand against the entire cultivation world for him, and here Lan Xichen is highlighting just how unusual that is, how much Wei Wuxian must mean to Lan Wangji that he's willing to do that. The important part of the sentence here is not "mistake" it's "only."

Lan Xichen here isn't trying to say that he disapproves of Wei Wuxian, or telling him to stay away from his brother. Remember, the thing that made him mad in the first place was Wei Wuxian saying that he and Lan Wangji slept in seperate rooms. He thought they were together! He's mad because they're not!

At no point does Lan Xichen say he individually considers Lan Wangji's feelings for Wei Wuxian a mistake. If he ever did, it's clear he accepted them regardless long ago. Mistake or not, what he wants is for his little brother to be happy.

[watermel0ns-dumb-cringe]

oh okay I just realized (depending on how you interpret things) Jane Doe & Ezra Lamb can very well count as narrative foils

[snobgoblin]

thinkin about how Valdemar's hands are super cold and Reise has fire powers

[sebbyisland]

akanematic.mp4 (youtube link)

[gingermintpepper]

Recently read a really fantastic fic on Ao3 by the very talented @hellokittysasuke (Link can be found here - do check it out if you're interested in an exploration of Apollo and his many griefs) and one of the things they mentioned in their wonderful reply to my extremely long comment has been rolling around in my head a bit.

Specifically, it was about readings of the Iliad where people view Apollo's directing of Paris' arrow as an act of mercy - that it was a rare act of compassion from a god that had been otherwise adversarial to Achilles because he, more than any god or mortal, understood the pain of continuing to live after one's soul has already died. I find this interesting for a myriad of reasons - the fact that Achilles' death is not actually portrayed in the text of the Iliad notwithstanding - but chiefly because, well, put plainly, Apollo despises Achilles. And, even more relevantly, in the context of this fic which deals primarily with Apollo writing a letter to Hyacinthus, I felt like it highlights even more intensely what Apollo despised about Achilles.

In Book 24, when Apollo makes a stand against Achilles' prolonged desecration of Hector's corpse and rights as a warrior, he says:

"But murderous Achilles... that man without a shred of decency in his heart... his temper can never bend and change--/Achilles has lost all pity!... No doubt some mortal has suffered a dearer loss than this, a brother born in the same womb, or even a son... " "The Fates have given mortals hearts that can endure."

Because grief affords lenience - just as wrath, or passion or any other myriad of intense, afflicting emotion but Achilles had lost his humanity in his anger, had lost every human decency and thus had to be hunted like a beast and slain with the arrow instead of the sword. And I think the contrast between Achilles' grieving and the other examples that are presented in the fic - Prometheus' anguish as he's eaten alive, primordial man when they were severed down the middle and left yearning, Apollo who must love and lose in perpetuity - are that they are examples of that human quality of endurance. That yes, things hurt - they might even hurt for thousands of years, but eventually, eventually they will stop hurting. The pain that was endured will be alleviated, it will be a memory, it will be a kindness and it must be accepted just as joy and peace and love are accepted.

Anyway, go read hellokittysasuke's fic, it's really good and I cannot stop thinking about it.

[missusfuzz]

A couple of concepts I'm playing with for @cinderellaenjoyer's Magiced Up world!

[tricksterella]

One thing about me is that I do not tolerate Wen Ning erasure in the slightest. Like I would throw hands for him (and have).

[sylvctica]

as food for thought, even tho it's the asscrack of night: sylvie never had closure on losing their entire identity as a god; they died as a god and woke up with that identity completely stripped away

their people were dispersed, their history was lost, Foras died in the mondstadt forest 1000 years ago in a war that claimed the lives of many friends, and the person who was left standing was not Foras anymore. they had their 'freedom' of responsibilities and burdens, but at what cost?

they never had a chance to properly mourn that their identity died that day they awoke. they feared mourning because that, to them, means confirming that 'foras' is truly gone and forgotten ... because although they do not acknowledge that part of themselves all too often, they still carried it within them -- its one of their utmost deep-rooted fears to be fully forgotten, so it's an emotional conflict within themselves to go through with a 'funeral' being held for the self of the past

[quietwingsinthesky]

uriel deserved better :(

[marsixm]

big spoiler cw for the finale- i understand why a lot of people didnt feel like it made sense for how ed was acting during izzy’s death scene, like it didn’t feel earned or whatever bc they’d been at odds w each other since last season, but for me, and understand i’m not saying my personal experience making it make sense for me is trying to give undue writing cred or whatever, but i had a very difficult relationship with my very transphobic/bigoted mother. she made my life a nightmare a lot of the time. but i had to care for her in death. i had to watch her die for months. it was a waking nightmare, and it had a profound effect on me. it was complicated. it made my relationship to my memory of her very complicated. (and even if it hadnt been a months long ordeal i was caught in the middle of i’d probably still feel similarly) and that’s how ed dealing with izzy’s death feels to me. just like him having to kill his father, it was the right thing to do, but it still left him with difficult emotions. when ed says “you’re the only family i’ve got left” to izzy, after all the bullshit they put each other through, i get it.