#coraline book

[starlight-bread-blog]

Me: I shouldn't disturb Neil Gaiman. I shouldn't send an ask unless I really have no way of getting the information otherwise. I'll check old interviews and all the articles that vaguely mention the subject. Of course it goes without saying that I'll read though the FAQ in its entirety. Only then, will I send an ask. However, I'd be very polite and praise his work, as anyone would. I'd also keep it short, because I don't want to waste his time. But I'd keep it very very respectful. I'd be sending a message to a very talented, amazing author that deals with god knows how many like me. Or I'd just stay in the dark and not send him an ask. Yeah, I'll do that.

My Dash:

#neil gaiman #good omens fandom #aziraphale #american gods #the graveyard book #coraline #coraline book #the graveyard #good omens #gomens #good omemes #crowley #anthony j crowley #go season 2 #good omens 2 #archangel aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #ineffable spouses #ineffable divorce #good omens book #good omens shitpost #go shitpost #bildad the shuhite #michael sheen #david tennant #<-because they're in good omens #make good art

[felix-lupin]

In Coraline, there’s a recurring theme with names and identity, and I personally don't think it's talked about enough. 

(As a note, this is dealing largely with the book, not the movie, although there are some hints of this theme in the movie as well)

Coraline’s neighbors constantly get her name wrong, calling her “Caroline” and not “Coraline”, to which she persistently corrects them. Despite her attempts, they never get it right, until chapter 10, in which Mr Bobo (Mr Bobinsky) finally gets it right.

"It's Coraline, Mister Bobo," said Coraline. "Not Caroline. Coraline." "Coraline," said Mr Bobo, repeating her name to himself with wonderment and respect. "Very good, Coraline."

It should be noted that, until this chapter, Coraline did not know Mr Bobo’s name either. In fact, it had never even occurred to her that he had a name. Up until then, she had just been thinking of him as “the crazy old man upstairs”, not as a person with a name. This moment, with her learning his name and him getting her name right, is a moment of genuine understanding and connection between the two, humanizing them both to each other.

Coraline’s other neighbors get her name wrong, which is representative of them not listening when she says anything, really, such as her telling Miss Spink and Forcible that her parents are missing and them literally not even acknowledging it at all??

"How are your dear mother and father?" asked Miss Spink. "Missing," said Coraline. "I haven't seen either of them since yesterday. I'm on my own. I think I've probably become a single child family." "Tell your mother that we found the Glasgow Empire press clippings we were telling her about. She seemed very interested when Miriam mentioned them to her." "She's vanished under mysterious circumstances," said Coraline, "and I believe my father has as well." "I'm afraid we'll be out all day tomorrow, Caroline lovely," said Miss Forcible. "We'll be staying with April's niece in Royal Tunbridge Wells."

Mr Bobo gets her name right after being corrected (only after being corrected alongside her using his name, mind you, showcasing her making an effort to listen to and understand him as well), which is representative of him actually making an attempt to listen and understand her. This point is further illustrated by a conversation Coraline had with the Other Mr Bobo in chapter 10.

As Coraline entered he began to talk. "Nothing's changed, little girl," he said, his voice sounding like the noise dry leaves make as they rustle across a pavement. "And what if you do everything you swore you would? What then? Nothing's changed. You'll go home. You'll be bored. You'll be ignored. No one will listen to you, not really listen to you. You're too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don't even get your name right."

He equates those in the real world not getting Coraline’s name right with them not listening to her, and fundamentally not understanding who she is. So, somebody getting her name right, then, shows them actually listening to her, and being willing to understand who she is.

The mice in the real world know more than they should be able to know, and they also get Coraline’s name right.

"The message is this. Don't go through the door." He paused. "Does that mean anything to you?" "No," said Coraline. The old man shrugged. "They are funny, the mice. They get things wrong. They got your name wrong, you know. They kept saying Coraline. Not Caroline. Not Caroline at all."

They seem to know about the other world, somehow, on some level, and the dangers it presents. Them getting her name right represents them knowing more than they should know, more than they are told. Animals in general seem to have this type of quality in Coraline, actually.

The cat does not have a name. It says so in chapter 4, that cats do not need names. It says that this is because cats know who they are. But humans need names, because they do not.

"Please. What's your name?" Coraline asked the cat. "Look, I'm Coraline. OK?" The cat yawned softly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said. "No?" said Coraline. "No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

The cat shook its head. "No," it said. "I'm not the other anything. I'm me." It tipped its head on one side; green eyes glinted. "You people are spread all over the place. Cats, on the other hand, keep ourselves together. If you see what I mean."

This shows that, in humans, names are connected to our identities and who we are. Names are used to individualize and distinguish ourselves from each other. But cats do not need names to recognize each other, or be recognized.

"Oh. It's you," she said to the black cat. "See?" said the cat. "It wasn't so hard recognising me, was it? Even without names."

With or without names, it is still the same cat.

During the Other Miss Spink and Forcible’s performance, in chapter 4, they begin quoting Shakespeare. The specific quotes that they use are interesting to me when looked at under this lens of the importance of names, especially Miss Forcible’s.

"What's in a name?" asked Miss Forcible. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"I know not how to tell thee who I am," said Miss Spink to Miss Forcible.

Now, of course, this is just them quoting Shakespeare. But. Why these quotes specifically? They’re at the very least notable when discussing Coraline’s recurring theme of names. Especially the quote about the rose. It makes me think of what the cat said earlier, about how cats are sure of who they are so they don’t need names, about how Coraline didn’t need the cat’s name to be able to recognize it for who/what it was.

But, of course, this does not apply for humans. We need our names to be able to know ourselves, to be able to tell others who they are.

In chapter 6, Coraline wakes up and is disoriented. This disorientation is compared to the feeling one might experience upon being suddenly pulled out of a daydream. In this comparison, forgetting one’s name is equated with forgetting who one is and where one is.

Sometimes Coraline would forget who she was while she was daydreaming that she was exploring the Arctic, or the Amazon rainforest, or darkest Africa, and it was not until someone tapped her on the shoulder or said her name that Coraline would come back from a million miles away with a start, and all in the fraction of a second have to remember who she was, and what her name was, and that she was even there at all. Now there was the sun on her face, and she was Coraline Jones. Yes.

The ghost children have also forgotten their names, and with it most of who they were. In chapter 7, when Coraline is locked behind the mirror in the Other World, one of the ghost children says that names are the first things that one forgets after death.

"Who are you?" whispered Coraline. "Names, names, names," said another voice, all faraway and lost. "The names are the first thing to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names. I still keep pictures in my mind of my governess on some May morning, carrying my hoop and stick, and the morning sun behind her, and all the tulips bobbing in the breeze. But I have forgotten the name of my governess, and of the tulips too." "I don't think tulips have names," said Coraline. "They're just tulips." "Perhaps," said the voice sadly. "But I have always thought that these tulips must have had names. They were red, and orange-and-red, and red-and-orange-and-yellow, like the embers in the nursery fire of a winter's evening. I remember them."

The ghost children may have their memories, but they have largely forgotten who they were. They may remember their tulips, and certain strong memories, but there is very, very little left of them, and they have forgotten who they once were, they have forgotten their names.

"That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we're nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress."

"She will take your life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll awake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten."

The Other Mother stole their hearts and their souls and their selves. She stole who they were away from them, their identities and names and the names of those they loved, leaving nothing in her wake.

The same ghost that talked about the tulips and the names of the tulips struggles to answer when Coraline asks their gender, as well, and when they do eventually give an answer they seem somewhat unsure of it, as shown by the word choice of “perhaps” and “I believe”

"A boy, perhaps, then," continued the one whose hand she was holding. "I believe I was once a boy." And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.

(I personally take this quote, specifically it "glow[ing] a little more brightly" after coming to this conclusion, to mean either that the ghost is happy at realizing that he was once a boy, or even to mean that he has become somewhat more tangible upon this realization; upon remembering something about his self, and his identity.)

As an aside, it's noteworthy to me that we never learn the Other Mother’s true name. She is simply “The Other Mother” and “The Beldam.” Never is an actual name applied to her, only titles. We do not truly know who, or what, she is. Beings without names are shrouded in mystery (or should i say mist-ery). The ghost children are benevolent mysterious beings, the cat is an ambivalent-leaning-helpful mysterious being, and the other mother is a distinctly malevolent mysterious being.

"Who are you?" asked Coraline. "I'm your other mother," said the woman.

"She?" "The one who says she's your other mother," said the cat. "What is she?" asked Coraline. The cat did not answer, just padded through the pale mist beside Coraline.

But in conclusion, names in Coraline are extremely important. I’m sure there’s probably more that I'm missing, and feel free to add onto this, but basically—

People need names to know and remember who they are, and forgetting one’s name is the first step to losing the rest of who one is. Names humanize a person; with a name, they are less shrouded in mystery, more clear.

Knowing somebody's name helps one connect to and better understand that person; it is the first step in getting to know them and see them as a full person, the transition from “the crazy man upstairs” to “Mr Bobo”. Names, to people at least, are one of the fundamental building blocks of who we are.

#felix's posts #felixlupin.txt #coraline #neil gaiman #coraline jones #the other mother #the beldam #other mother #coraline 2002 #coraline book #books #novels #writing #essay #long post #the ghost children #mr bobo #mr bobinsky #the cat coraline #the cat #felix luquin #lmao i spent like 3 hours writing this wtf why did i do this #it was 5 pages long on google docs😭😭 #i wrote this at 3am #and then put it in the queue #as an aside #perhaps its worth mentioning that in the movie wybie says that thing thats something along the lines of #'an ordinary name like caroline can lead to people having ordinary expectations about a person' #just thought that was interesting to mention even if it didnt fit in the body of the post #names and identity and expectations...

[girasois]

coraline book headers please, like or reblog ♡ (illustrations 1-4 by kry garcía)

#coraline headers #random headers #aesthetic headers #vintage headers #book headers #books headers #retro headers #book page headers #headers #coraline book #coraline book headers #headers coraline #request

[thegloomybook]

#thegloomybook #books and literature #booklover #current read #bookblogger #book reccs #readers of tumblr #reading #book blog #cats of tumblr #books and cats #cats and books #booklr #coraline #coraline book #bookish

[mikrom00dness]

I was just casually rereading Coraline and I noticed THIS 🤩

now they ARE connected, you can't convince me otherwise 😌

He even read it out loud *^*

#neil gaiman #lemony snicket #coraline #neil gaiman coraline #asoue books #asoue memes #asoue #coraline book #a series of unfortunate events #Youtube

[pinkpinkstarlet]

other mother but make her fashionable in the 40s and 50s

I wanted to give her those vintage waves because she definitely would have them tbh

also she’d DEFINITELY have a french or southern accent in my mind hehe

@ace-and-sleepdeprived @chessbox @deritosmi @darksidescorner @fancylala4 @gltzpzy @hoe-bie @i-put-the-wit-in-dimwit @l0starl @punkeropercyjackson @skullghoulz @sp1derw1re @thecrowandtherose @tatumis-a @t1r4misuu @the-cat-and-the-birdie @urmadiik @violettfae @wlwocprincess @kaidan-z @daydreaming-en-pointe @urmadiik @weirdo09

#coraline #coraline 2009 #coraline movie #coraline book #neil gaiman #other mother #the other mother #the beldam #50s fashion #1950s fashion #americana #vintage americana #horror #horror fanart #coraline fanart #my art <3

[thatlaurac]

CORALINE

Prints Available

This one is so very special to me.

A few years ago, on a rainy day, a friend introduced me to the Coraline film, and I immediately fell in love with it. It's become my favorite animation, so far nothing compares.

So I had to draw her and it was a lot of fun reinterpreting her looks. She is a teenager here, obviously. I am quite proud how she came out.

Happy Halloween!

#coraline #neil gaiman #halloween #coraline film #coraline doll #coraline book #blue hair #pink #coraline key #other mother #pink palace #black cat #animation #stop motion #traditional art #digital art #artists on tumblr #thatlaurac #button eyes #buttons

[catwouthats]

Neil Gaiman lives in my head rent free

And he’s harvesting all my fears, nightmares, and traumas to use for his stories- SOMEONE GET HIM OUT OF THERE ! !

#it’s such oddly specific things too #like how did this man KNOW #this is unfair wages bc I don’t get paid for this /j #the sandman comics #good omens #coraline book #neverwhere #neil gaiman #neil gaiman what are you doing in my falafel

[a-pile-of-unread-books]

Hey! Hey guys! Look!

This is the Spanish translation of Coraline.

Apparently a "fagot" is a musical instrument and not a slur.

I, a Chilean person who speaks Spanish, had no idea this was a thing and was pretty confused. Then I googled it.

@neil-gaiman I think you should see this.

#coraline #coraline jones #coraline book #neil gaiman #i think people should see how weird spanish is #and how a slur can sometimes just be a musical instrument

[black-fairy3]

i bought the coraline audiobook yesterday because i absolutely love the movie but i had never ready the book before and it great just like i knew it would be.

while i was listening to it i had a thought: if they ever decide to remake coraline, i think it would be really fun to have like a 3-part miniseries (animation of course) of each of the other ghost children and what their home lives were like and how they inevitably ended up giving their lives away to the beldam.

#i think that would be really cool #i would really love to know their stories #maybe even six parts. two episodes per kid #coraline #coraline 2009 #henry selick #coraline book #neil gaiman

[eurycearte]

Day 18 + 19 Coraline (the book)

#coraline #coraline book

[starlight-bread-blog]

True sorrow is when you don't get to boop Neil Gaiman.

#neil gaiman #good omens #boop o meter #boop #april fool's day #good omens fandom #aziraphale #american gods #coraline #coraline book #the graveyard book #the graveyard #gomens #good omemes #crowley #anthony j crowley #go season 2 #good omens 2 #archangel aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #ineffable spouses #ineffable divorce #good omens book #good omens shitpost #bildad the shuhite #michael sheen #david tennant #make good art

[william-arthurbo]

#other mother #coraline fanart #coraline #horror art #fanart #coraline book #neil gaiman #neil gaiman books #monster #monsters #halloween

[sugar-and-pearls]

Coraline Story

Hello! Happy Halloween!! In celebrations of this most spooky and hallowed of days I decided to give you Dearie-Ohs another preview on one of my stories.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in the poll. I still find it fascinating to see which of my stories people were more interested in hearing about. If you wish, please send a message about which one you picked and why, I would love to see them!

After Howl's Moving Castle, Coraline shared second place with Spirited Away so those two are the next to get a preview for. With that out of the way, lets get to the beating heart of story.

Like with my Howl's moving Castle story, this is going to take the main structure and story from the movie while adding things from the book. Out of all my WIPS (both on the poll and the ones I didn't include) this has got to be my most put together story so far, as I've already gotten to the stage where I'm writing actual chapters for it (the first chapter is near finished. Hopefully I can post it soon.)

I first started this story about, two-ish years ago. Back then I had planned to write the story within six weeks and post it in the beginning of spring. Course then I got burned out and couldn't write for a year so now I'm just taking it slow and doing a near rewrite. I did managed to post the first chapter of the original write so if anyone is interested in reading that, you should be able to if you search in the "Hedone writes" tag.

Now, on to the story

After in anonymous tip is sent in to the BPRD Merope volunteers to investigate a place called the Pink Palace, having previous history and old ghosts hidden in its walls. Unaware of its new occupants - in particular, of the new child living there. Merope is sucked into the story of Coraline,though not alone as she is accompanied by Klarion the Witch Boy.

Thus getting involved in the with the main story. I have a few scenes already planned out. My favourites so far has been:

Merope and Klarion going to the local minor fae court to investigate. For this scene I'm drawing most of my inspiration from Holly BI'm also using this as a way to explore Merope's past before she joined the Addams.lack's fae writing - mainly from her book The Darkest Part Of The Forest.

In the original book there is a scene where Coraline has a picnic with the Ghost children after freeing them. It was somewhat cut in the movie so I decided to add that in here with a few small changes.

Merope going through the door and saving the Other Wybie. This last scene I think is what actually inspired me to write this story. I remember watching this movie and wishing

It's a scary scene that has me on the edge of my seat while writing it.

I also want to use this as a way to explore Merope's past before she joined the Addams.

Like I said above, I have changed somethings since my original draft. To start, I plan on showing off my more world building/ crossover skills in this story. To make a list of fandoms I've added to this fic we have;

DC

Hellboy comics

Sandman

Ancient Magus Bride

There are more but these are the main ones so far. I plan on Morpheus being a somewhat minor character and Klarion to be a main supporting character in this.

In this story I plan on Morpheus being the love interest here.

This is one of my more horror based stories. Coraline was one of the first things that really scared me in my childhood and I wanted to bring that fear with me in this story. As such I plan on it being just as dark as it was in the book.

With all that said, if anyone has any questions or just wants to talk about this story please just ask as my letter box is always open.

With that in mind, have a lovely day or night my Dearie-Ohs

#Merope Constantine Addams #Coraline #Coraline film #Coraline book #platonic f/o #queerplatonic f/o #coraline jones #klarion bleak the witch boy #klarion bleak #Dream of the Endless/ Morpheus #self shipping community #self insert community #self shipping #self insert x canon #self ship community #selfship #selfship community #self ship #self shipper #fo community #f/o community #canon x si #si x canon #oc x canon #writing #writers #fanfic writer #wip #hedone talks

[rybkart]

So I was looking for a crossover between pjo and Coraline.....and found almost nothing. So as Coraline is my favorite movie and entire childhood and I absolutelly love pjo , I have taken it upon myself to change that . So here you go.

#rick riordan #rybkart #artwork #pjo #hoo #pjo hoo toa #nico di angelo #percy jackson #will solace #my art #crossover #coraline #coraline movie #coraline book #children of hades #hades #maria di angelo #niccolo di angelo

[avantgardistka]

"No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

(Neil Gaiman: Coraline, chapter 4)

#neil gaiman #coraline #coraline book #books #book quotes #quotes #neil gaiman quotes