#it was one of my first proper horror movies so I had bigger concerns than looking at hot women for once

[cassmouse]

My friends can no longer watch Final Destination 3 with me because I will not shut the fuck up about how big of a crush I have on Mary Elizabeth Winstead

#good thing we watched it before I noticed my severe crush on her #I don't even remember exactly when I just know we did lmao #it was one of my first proper horror movies so I had bigger concerns than looking at hot women for once #I don't even remember if I'd seen Scott pilgrim Vs the world by that point #either way lmao #that fuckin suntan bed death stayed with me for life tho #mary elizabeth winstead #cass thinks ab stuff #final destination

[letterboxd]

In Focus: The Mummy

Dominic Corry responds on behalf of Letterboxd to an impassioned plea to bump up the average rating of the 1999 version of The Mummy—and asks: where is the next great action adventure coming from?

We recently received the following email regarding the Stephen Sommers blockbuster The Mummy:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you on behalf of the nation, if not the entire globe, who frankly deserve better than this after months of suffering with the Covid pandemic.

I was recently made aware that the rating of The Mummy on your platform only stands at 3.3 stars out of five. … This, as I’m sure you’re aware, is simply unacceptable. The Mummy is, as a statement of fact, the greatest film ever made. It is simply fallacious that anyone should claim otherwise, or that the rating should fail to reflect this. This oversight cannot be allowed to stand.

I have my suspicions that this rating has been falsely allocated due to people with personal axes to grind against The Mummy, most likely other directors who are simply jealous that their own artistic oeuvres will never attain the zenith of perfection, nor indeed come close to approaching the quality or the cultural influence of The Mummy. There is, quite frankly, no other explanation. The Mummy is, objectively speaking, a five-star film (… I would argue that it in fact transcends the rating sytem used by us mere mortals). It would only be proper, as a matter of urgency, to remove all fake ratings (i.e. any ratings [below] five stars) and allow The Mummy’s rating to stand, as it should, at five stars, or perhaps to replace the rating altogether with a simple banner which reads “the greatest film of all time, objectively speaking”. I look forward to this grievous error being remedied.

Best, Anwen

Which of course: no, we would never do that. But the vigor Anwen expresses in her letter impressed us (we checked: she’s real, though is mostly a Letterboxd lurker due to a busy day-job in television production, “so finding time to watch anything that isn’t The Mummy is, frankly, impossible… not that there’s ever any need to watch anything else, of course.”).

So Letterboxd put me, Stephen Sommers fan, on the job of paying homage to the last great old-school action-adventure blockbuster, a film that straddles the end of one cinematic era and the beginning of the next one. And also to ask: where’s the next great action adventure coming from?

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah in ‘The Mummy’ (1999).

When you delve into the Letterboxd reviews of The Mummy, it quickly becomes clear how widely beloved the film is, 3.3 average notwithstanding. Of more concern to the less youthful among us is how quaintly it is perceived, as if it harkens back to the dawn of cinema or something. “God, I miss good old-fashioned adventure movies,” bemoans Holly-Beth. “I have so many fond memories of watching this on TV with my family countless times growing up,” recalls Jess. “A childhood classic,” notes Simon.

As alarming as it is to see such wistful nostalgia for what was a cutting-edge, special-effects-laden contemporary popcorn hit, it has been twenty-one years since the film was released, so anyone currently in their early 30s would’ve encountered the film at just the right age for it to imprint deeply in their hearts. This has helped make it a Raiders of the Lost Ark for a specific Letterboxd demographic.

Sommers took plenty of inspiration from the Indiana Jones series for his take on The Mummy (the original 1932 film, also with a 3.3 average, is famously sedate), but for ten-year-olds in 1999, it may have been their only exposure to such pulpy derring-do. And when you consider that popcorn cinema would soon be taken over by interconnected on-screen universes populated by spandex-clad superheroes, the idea that The Mummy is an old-fashioned movie is easier to comprehend.

However, for all its throwbackiness, beholding The Mummy from the perspective of 2020 reveals it to have more to say about the future of cinema than the past. 1999 was a big year for movies, often considered one of the all-time best, but the legacy of The Mummy ties it most directly to two of that year’s other biggest hits: Star Wars: Episode One—The Phantom Menace and The Matrix. These three blockbusters represented a turning point for the biggest technological advancement to hit the cinematic art-form since the introduction of sound: computer-generated imagery, aka CGI. The technique had been widely used from 1989’s The Abyss onwards, and took significant leaps forward with movies such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Starship Troopers (1997), but the three 1999 films mentioned above signified a move into the era when blockbusters began to be defined by their CGI.

A year before The Mummy, Sommers had creatively utilised CGI in his criminally underrated sci-fi action thriller Deep Rising (another film that deserves a higher average Letterboxd rating, just sayin’), and he took this approach to the next level with The Mummy. While some of the CGI in The Mummy doesn’t hold up as well as the technopunk visuals presented in The Matrix, The Mummy showed how effective the technique could be in an historical setting—the expansiveness of ancient Egypt depicted in the movie is magnificent, and the iconic rendering of Imhotep’s face in the sand storm proved to be an enduringly creepy image. Not to mention those scuttling scarab beetles.

George Lucas wanted to test the boundaries of the technique with his insanely anticipated new Star Wars film after dipping his toe in the digital water with the special editions of the original trilogy. Beyond set expansions and environments, a bunch of big creatures and cool spaceships, his biggest gambit was Jar Jar Binks, a major character rendered entirely through CGI. And we all know how that turned out.

A CGI-enhanced Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep.

Sommers arguably presented a much more effective CGI character in the slowly regenerating resurrected Imhotep. Jar Jar’s design was “bigger” than the actor playing him on set, Ahmed Best. Which is to say, Jar Jar took up more space on screen than Best. But with the zombie-ish Imhotep, Sommers (ably assisted by Industrial Light & Magic, who also worked on the Star Wars films) used CGI to create negative space, an effect impossible to achieve with practical make-up—large parts of the character were missing. It was an indelible visual concept that has been recreated many times since, but Sommers pioneered its usage here, and it contributed greatly to the popcorn horror threat posed by the character.

Sommers, generally an unfairly overlooked master of fun popcorn spectacle (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is good, guys), deserves more credit for how he creatively utilized CGI to elevate the storytelling in The Mummy. But CGI isn’t the main reason the film works—it’s a spry, light-on-its-feet adventure that presents an iconic horror property in an entertaining and adventurous new light. And it happens to feature a ridiculously attractive cast all captured just as their pulchritudinous powers were peaking.

Meme-worthy: “My sexual orientation is the cast of ‘The Mummy’ (1999).”

A rising star at the time, Brendan Fraser was mostly known for comedic performances, and although he’d proven himself very capable with his shirt off in George of the Jungle (1997), he wasn’t necessarily at the top of anyone’s list for action-hero roles. But he is superlatively charming as dashing American adventurer Rick O’Connell. His fizzy chemistry with Weisz, playing the brilliant-but-clumsy Egyptologist Evie Carnahan, makes the film a legitimate romantic caper. The role proved to be a breakout for Weisz, then perhaps best known for playing opposite Keanu Reeves in the trouble-plagued action flop Chain Reaction, or for her supporting role in the Liv Tyler vehicle Stealing Beauty.

“90s Brendan Fraser is what Chris Pratt wishes he was,” argues Holly-Beth. “Please come back to us, Brendaddy. We need you.” begs Joshhh. “I’d like to thank Rachel Weisz for playing an integral role in my sexual awakening,” offers Sree.

Then there’s Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bey, a member of the Medjai, a sect dedicated to preventing Imhotep’s tomb from being discovered, and Patricia Velásquez as Anck-su-namun, Imhotep’s cursed lover. Both stupidly good-looking. Heck, Imhotep himself (South African Arnold Vosloo, coming across as Billy Zane’s more rugged brother), is one of the hottest horror villains in the history of cinema.

“Remember when studio movies were sexy?” laments Colin McLaughlin. We do Colin, we do.

Sommers directed a somewhat bloated sequel, The Mummy Returns, in 2001, which featured the cinematic debut of one Dwayne Johnson. His character got a spin-off movie the following year (The Scorpion King), which generated a bunch of DTV sequels of its own, and is now the subject of a Johnson-produced reboot. Brendan Fraser came back for a third film in 2008, the Rob Cohen-directed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Weisz declined to participate, and was replaced by Maria Bello.

Despite all the follow-ups, and the enduring love for the first Sommers film, there has been a sadly significant dearth of movies along these lines in the two decades since it was released. The less said about 2017 reboot The Mummy (which was supposed to kick-off a new Universal Monster shared cinematic universe, and took a contemporary, action-heavy approach to the property), the better.

The Rock in ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001).

For a long time, adventure films were Hollywood’s bread and butter, but they’re surprisingly thin on the ground these days. So it makes a certain amount of sense that nostalgia for the 1999 The Mummy continues to grow. You could argue that many of the superhero films that dominate multiplexes count as adventure movies, but nobody really sees them that way—they are their own genre.

There are, however, a couple of films on the horizon that could help bring back old-school cinematic adventure. One is the long-planned—and finally actually shot—adaptation of the Uncharted video-game franchise, starring Tom Holland. The games borrow a lot from the Indiana Jones films, and it’ll be interesting to see how much that manifests in the adaptation.

Then there’s Letterboxd favorite David Lowery’s forever-upcoming medieval adventure drama The Green Knight, starring Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander (who herself recently rebooted another video-game icon, Lara Croft). Plus they are still threatening to make another Indiana Jones movie, even if it no longer looks like Steven Spielberg will direct it.

While these are all exciting projects—and notwithstanding the current crisis in the multiplexes—it can’t help but feel like we may never again get a movie quite like The Mummy, with its unlikely combination of eye-popping CGI, old-fashioned adventure tropes and a once-in-a-lifetime ensemble of overflowing hotness. Long may love for it reign on Letterboxd—let’s see if we can’t get that average rating up, the old fashioned way. For Anwen.

Related content

How I Letterboxd with The Mummy fan Eve (“The first film I went out and bought memorabilia for… it was a Mummy action figure that included canopic jars”)

The Mummy (Universal) Collection

Every film featuring the Mummy (not mummies in general)

Follow Dom on Letterboxd

#the mummy #brendan fraser #stephen sommers #action adventure #fantasy adventure #action adventure film #the green knight #david lowery #dominic corry #letterboxd

[angelicichor]

I don’t know if request are open, but if they are, can I request the slasher with an actress s/o? For musical theater and the big screen(movies/shows)?

I don’t really take requests anymore, because I’ve mostly lost my passion for writing after the last few months, but honestly, sure, I’ll try. Sorry if those are not the boys you were hoping for 💔

Slashers (Brahms, Billy Lenz, Jason) with an actress s/o.

Brahms (Big Screen - Horror):

It was a bizarre thing, the way you met, most of all. After what happened with Greta his house was set for sale and Brahms was getting ready for the worst - rotting in this mansion alone after starving to death. He had no way to reclaim the property - after all, Brahms Heelshire was considered dead for ages now and with his parents’ suicide, the family’s fortune was gone as well. There was really no hope for him, it was a matter of days, weeks, months at best. You can only survive on rotting leftovers and attic rats for so long, but luckily a week was all that he needed for a young woman to come visit his old house, alongside a home agent. 

The moment she stepped in his eyes were glued to her, following the best that he could inside the old mansion’s walls. He saw her smile at the old furniture, smiled himself when she started adoring the library and when she sat down on the bed upstairs, looking around hopefully, he could barely contain his breath of relief, knowing that she was in love with the place. And so, with the papers signed the very next day, he had a new hope enter his life. A beautiful woman named [Y/N] [L/N].

This time - he told himself - he would take things slower, he’d be more careful. No stealing clothes, no misplacing things, no heavy walking in the attic at night. The news about the “murder” in the house were still fresh and he knew that it would make any new resident suspicious, even if the body was never found.

Brahms wanted to be careful, but unfortunately hunger didn’t make things easy. Climbing the walls was harder with his muscles fading, he’d stumble ever so often, getting dizzy and his breathing became louder as his usual activities would become more and more straining with what little food he was getting. The girl started getting wary and called the police more than once, but they couldn’t find anything, he still had enough knowledge of the house to disappear when he needed to.

He put the doll out for a while, hoping she would fall for it, like Greta did, believing that it was haunted, but she only picked it up once, letting a small smile grow on her face, then put it down, never to touch it again. Something seemed off ever since then. She’d walk around a bit more relaxed, take longer making breakfast and left more on the plate, as if she was leaving it for him, but who knew, really. It wasn’t that hard to get the food, since most of the days she’d be gone, usually right after a call on her personal phone from someone she addressed extremely politely. An Employer, from what Brahms could tell. He didn’t like it when she was gone, but in his current state there was nothing he could do about it. She was the only reason he was still alive, after all.

And he was grateful for it. To the point where he’d seek out precious item in the house, leaving it in places he knew she’d look. Pearls and diamonds from his mother’s jewelry box. Old porcelain figurines, anything to show her that the “spirit” inside the house was not wishing her any harm and she seemed to be more than pleased with them.

Then one day she seemed very upset, almost out of nowhere, just came back to the house like that, then quickly broke down in tears and through the crack in one of the walls he could see a tear in her shirt, almost as if somebody tried to tear it open. He didn’t like that. Not one bit. And soon enough he managed to connect the dots, with her phone calls concerning a “man that attacked her” and the weird hooded character that was stalking outside the mansion. Well, he didn’t stalk there for too long. The Stalker was much smaller than him, it was so easy to pin him to the ground and choke the lights out of him, in a grip that bruised and left very little for the man in the struggling department. It was over, quickly and almost completely without any noise. A good job, if Brahms were the type to praise himself.

He was about to dispose of the corpse, but a click and a swish stopped him, as the back door opened rather quickly and his beautiful, terrified [y/n] stepped out of the house, looking around scared, with a kitchen knife in one hand and her phone in the other, flashing a light... right at Brahms and his new victim. 

For a moment time stopped as they both looked at eachother, her eyes wide in shock - face losing all color from fear, and him in his porcelain mask, with bloody scratches on his forearms from the stalker’s futile struggles. He was the first to move, rising slowly, carefully, putting his hands up, trying to shrink his arms in a failed attempt to make himself seem smaller, but from the way her body trembled he could tell that it wasn’t working, so with a gulp and an ache in his throat he spoke to her: “P-please, don’t panic. Please.”  His voice was cracking between his childish illusion and his real voice, terrified, but assertive.  “Who-- Who the hell--?” she tried to speak, backing off slowly as he stepped forward, trying to get closer. “He was-- That man was watching you, he-- you were attacked and he--” he tried explaining, not knowing how to form his words without admitting that he’s been stalking her as well, just... with much less violent intent. “You’re that think, right? You’re the one who’s been leaving me things, right? WHO ARE YOU?” she yelled, coming back into the house and almost closing the back door, but Brahms’ hand caught it fast enough to pull it back, coming in after her, making the girl yelp at the sheer force he possesed, even being as malnourished as he was. “Brahms... my name’s Brahms, please, don’t run. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” 

And with that you two connected, learning about eachother, about what happened to Brahms and why he hid from you, a tale tragic enough for you to trust him and give him a proper home, even if feeding him was an absolute nightmare in the beginning, as he was starving, literally.

He quickly learned that you’re a horror actress, a real-life “scream queen”, but you and your manager were fighting for a bigger role - as a killer, not the one constantly having to run from the killer. It was going to be amazing, something to finally turn your career around and the filming was going WONDERFUL so far, but the stress WAS getting to you, so when he first started leaving you gifts, you were kind of happy that some weird spirit in this house was trying to cheer you up. Little did you know that in reality it was just a very smelly wall man, with a huge crush on you. Life is surprising like that.

♥ Brahms will be extremely supportive of your career, as he saw that all this time when you’d leave, you’d always come back, so he wasn’t as anxious about you running away as he’d usually be.

♥ Being a horror actress helps not freak out with him always sneaking up on you (unintentional as it might be). It’s a real life saver.

♥ Once your movie comes out, he might be excited enough to go out to the theater and watch it with you. You assure him that his mask won’t be a problem, since a lot of horror nerds dress up for new movie screenings. 

♥ If you ask him, he’ll be more than happy to rehearse with you and act some scenes out, but if there’s any romance in the script, expect to have to sit down with him for a very, VERY long talk about how screen romance is just a job and there are no real emotions involved.

♥ He’ll beg you to watch EVERY single thing you’ve ever been in. Yes, even the commercials. 

Billy (Big Screen):

There are not a lot of consistent thoughts that pop into Billy’s head, but the moment he saw you, there was one and a very clear one at that - “I know her.”

And yes, he did, even if the memory was hazy. He remembered a little girl on his mother’s TV screen, during Christmas, sitting on the floor with the dumbest, cutest smile, unpacking her presents as her mom and dad watched. He remembered how beautiful that girl seemed to him and how jealous he felt seeing her this happy. The boy pouted then, something he didn’t do often, as well as huffing in anger, but not loud enough for him mom to hear him, no, he was supposed to be a good boy and stay upstairs, but the music from the TV and that beautiful voice of this girl lead him downstairs, to peek at the snowy screen, adoring that creature.

But this girl was a bit different. Sure, he would still recognize her beautiful eyes and that hair that he loved so much, but she was bigger. Not a girl anymore, no, a woman, a stunning, gorgeous woman that his whole body burned for from the moment he saw her. A bold, burning emotion running through his body - “Mine. Mine, MINE!” and that was something you couldn’t really run from, he wouldn’t let you. 

One night, one murder, then two, a man and a girl and then you were faced with a man who was willing to do ANYTHING to keep you. Thankfully, you were smart enough to make compromise with him, knowing that if you even tried to call the police (again, that is, and the first time made him very, VERY angry), he’d make sure that you’re his forever.

Part of it could’ve been Stockholm Syndrome, but Billy quickly grew on you. Bold, loud, perverted, but also passionate and caring, as long as you wouldn’t overstep your boundaries with him. Every day he’d appear out of nowhere and just linger close to you, wanting to touch you, but not doing that, clearly afraid you would run. You weren’t something he wanted to play with, no, you were his person, the only person he didn’t want to hurt and when the impulses came, he’d run off to contain them. The wailing let you know how hard was he trying, just so he wouldn’t lose your beauty, his precious Christmas Angel. His gorgeous [y/n].

He was a mess, but a beautiful one to you, adoring every part of your body, every part of you, listening, learning, absorbing all of you as well as he could and the gifts he would leave at your bedroom door ever so often proved just how good of a listener he really was. The new book that you wanted, a dress almost the same as you had described to him, baskets of your favorite fruit... anything you’d ask for and he wished you’d ask for more, but you were too concerned about where his gifts are coming from to give him more ideas. Especially since that one sunhat you wanted came with a splatter of blood on the blue ribbon...

Either way, you were happy with your new “housemate” and you gladly stayed.

♥ Billy will get anxious whenever you have to leave to film anything. Expect messy calls from him every half an hour or so, probably less and if you don’t answer even one of them, the next one will be even more frantic than the other ones. He’ll cling to you like hell every time you come back home.

♥ He found a dress that looked a bit like the one you’ve worn as a child to that one Christmas movie. He asked you to wear it for him and sit down, then smile at him. You never saw a man pop a boner as fast as he did when you did that.

♥ This man will literally worship you and you know that when he swears he’d kill for you, he means it. When you mention that you’ve starred in other movies, his eyes pretty much started sparkling with joy. Congratulations, your movies are his new hyperfixiation.

♥ NEVER show him any kissing or sex scenes in your movies. Just don’t. He won’t be able to comprehend that they were done in the past or that they mean nothing. Seeing them would break his heart.

♥ Once he realizes you have your own camera he asks if you could star in your own movie... Located wholly in your bedroom, on your bed, with him pounding your pretty litte cu--

♥ Biggest fan ever, but don’t take him outside for any meet & greets, because it WILL turn into a bloodbath. 

Jason (Theater): 

It was a very faint memory for him, one of the very few ones from his childhood that stood up a bit more, even now, years later. A memory of a young woman, singing on the theater scene in her songbird voice. It was mesmerizing and a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a poor kid like him. His mother just found the tickets at random and used them, even though she knew how dangerous that could’ve been.

Those times were long past him and that girl was definitely either an old woman now or dead, but on this particular night something brought this memory forward, a songbird-like voice, singing a peaceful song, surrounded by other voices. A girl at a campfire with her friends, singing for them as another person played the guitar. An angel sent just for him to soothe his ragefull soul.

That one night nobody got killed, but a soul was lost either way. 

All you remembered was a loud noise in front of your noise, then silence that let you fall asleep. What seemed like hours later you woke up in an old cabin, cuddled up to someone’s chest and when you looked up a hockey mask stared right back at you, making you shriek and faint. When you came to you were resting on a moldy bed, dizzy, nauseous and with a hulking figure waiting for you to wake up in the corner of the room, guarding you like a sentinel.  Congratulations, you’ve been kidnapped by The Crystal Lake legend himself - Jason Voorhees, because for once he looked at someone and got convinced that you were in fact an Angel, sent to him by his mother to protect.

♥ I’m sorry to say, but being under Jason’s protection means that you’re most likely never leaving the forest again or not for a very long time. He’s not a man that trust others easily and while he knows an angel wouldn’t betray him, he’s not convinced that the others won’t hurt you instead.

♥ He’ll take care of you - fixing up the cabin, hunting for you, even cooking. He’ll make sure you’re never unhappy because you’re lacking something, even if it’s technology, he’ll manage to get it for you over time. You’re still forbidden from coming anywhere close to the campers that come ever so often. They’re dangerous.

♥ When you tell him that you work in musical theater, he will communicate to you that he wants to hear you sing. He’ll gladly watch you perform the whole play by yourself if you’ll be in the mood for that.

♥ Once he realizes you live not that far away, he might let you go on the promise that you’ll come back. If not he will hunt you back and you don’t want that to happen... After all - an angel wouldn’t break a promise and if you’re not an angel... you’re as good as dead.

♥ He’ll love you whole, as long as you don’t betray him. 

♥ If you find him a huge hooded jacket and cologne strong enough to mask his smell, you may be able to convince him to come down from the forest to watch you in a play. It’ll be a hard sell, though.

#virgo writes #slasher x reader #slashers x reader #brahms heelshire x reader #jason voorhees x reader #billy lenz x reader #slasher community #I'm sorry these are not the best but I haven't written anything in M O N T H S #hope it's okay tho TTvTT

[ajokeformur-ray]

So... how about a empathetic reader who works in the same hospital that Arthur is at the end of the movie? Like, she is the lastest one who takes care of him, or something like that. Pretty please? And, can it have like kisses and fluff stuff? I'M WEAR FOR ARTHUR FLECK.

Swearing, complete inaccuracies with the legal system (creative license is my excuse and I’m sticking to it but if the lack of policies in this Arkham piece will bother you (like undoing his handcuffs because they’re hurting him, bringing food in for him, kissing him etc, I’d advise skipping it sksksks), Arthur smokes, SPOILERS and I think that’s it. I’m not sure if this is relevant but just in case - the reader has a flexible morality and some parts of the narrative are questionable. This is intentional. Also - the staff and hospital is described as being a total shit show because it’s what works for this piece sksksks I took a lot of liberties with this one lmao.

Also, as always, I teared up at this GIF. He’s so beautiful and so hurt and most of the film could have been avoided if someone had just hugged him ohhh :(((

Word count: 2, 638.

“Oh, here, Arthur,” You leaned across the cold metal table with your lighter, cupping a hand in the air underneath the tobacco end of the cigarette, which was already dangling from Arthur’s thin lips, “Let me get that for you.” You lit it easily, your hands steadier than you had thought that they would be. Immediately did Arthur’s lips purse as he took a long deep drag of the cigarette; his hypnotic green eyes closing in relief at that first hit of nicotine. 

It was close to three in the afternoon and you were the only staff member in the whole of Arkham State Hospital who was nice to Arthur. Everyone else treated him the way that he was used to - like he was a freak, a disease, someone to be watched and not extended a single modicum of kindness. But you… you had been warned away from ‘that one’. All you had seen upon first meeting Arthur was a man broken down by the world, a man who had said fuck the world and given into his impulses, his truest self, when he could no longer stand how the world had treated him and if you were being honest with yourself, you couldn’t deny that his motives behind the murder of public figure Murray Franklin made sense to you. He had been publicly humiliated and scorned and in a fit of rage had he finally expressed all that had been against him from the very start. You had read his case file extensively after being told to avoid him by almost everyone - staff members and patients alike (the more coherent ones, at least) - and you had come to one decision after a few weeks of fighting against yourself:

You were going to be kind to Arthur Fleck.

You hadn’t told anyone about your decision. It wasn’t because you were afraid of what people would think of you, but it was because you didn’t care about their opinions. None of them had bothered to try to understand him, whereas you were going to be kind to Arthur because he intrigued you; you were a naturally empathetic person and you had a soft spot for the slightly damaged and the broken. You couldn’t watch a film if animals were harmed in it; even obviously animated animals getting hurt made you cry in horror and disgust. You couldn’t handle the sight of pain in others and to see so much of it in one case file and to then be presented with the man himself walking hunched into his own body; his shoulders curved inwards, his head down, his feet shuffling instead of his taking proper steps was just too much for you to take. You had cried over a good eighty percent of his case file, your heart breaking for this one man. Never had you felt such a strong undeniable urge to protect someone before. You lamented the fact that you hadn’t met him before this day; surely if you had, this whole thing could have been avoided. It was like Arthur was apologising for his own existence in the way that he tried to occupy as little physical space as possible. To see the evidence of Arthur’s life in one manilla file and to then meet the man himself had been all the information you had needed to decide that people were wrong about him. He had done bad things, this was true, and you took great care to remind yourself of the fact that this man had brutally murdered people, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to ostracise him for it. What he had done wasn’t excusable and you couldn’t condone his actions even to yourself, but his descent was explainable.

So sure of your decision had you chucked yourself down the rabbit hole head first without even considering the implications on your continued employment at Arkham State Hospital if anyone came to learn of your affections for Arthur. You took on sole responsibility of his case, you bought him quality cigarettes with your own money, you bought him in food that you had made yourself… You told no one of these things, of the little ways in which you tried your best to take care of him despite all he had done to wind up here. Once that white door had closed upon you and Arthur for his daily therapy sessions were you granted privacy with each other. You recorded your conversations but the two of you had learned to read each other relatively quickly and as such, those moments where the verbal conversation lulled to a temporary halt were moments in which you had a discussion with your eyes, your hand reaching across the table to touch the back of his. You were careful to unlock Arthur’s handcuffs much of the time so that the chains didn’t clink against the cold metal table; though the metal bracelets were still secured around his wrists, you separated him from the chain so he had some freedom of movement in these sessions. Having spent much of his childhood being chained to radiators and the like, you were sure that his trauma would be triggered by being restrained to a table. You helped Arthur in any way you could and before you knew it, months had gone by and you were well and truly caught in the spider’s web.

Arthur pulled the cigarette away from his mouth and tilted his head up towards the ceiling to exhale; the wispy tendrils of smoke curling gently before they dissipated in the cool air of the impersonal, stark room. “Thank you.” The words were quietly spoken and your trained ears picked up on a soft note of gratitude as he allowed some emotions to creep into his voice. You smiled by way of saying ‘you’re welcome’ and distracted yourself while you willed yourself not to blush by opening the daily used case file which was thicker now with therapy sessions shoved in the back. The notes were all loose leaf and you despaired at the lack of care being shown towards Arthur. What was the point of keeping him here if no one was going to take their government appointed responsibility seriously? The head of Arkham may as well have let Arthur out for all the good the establishment was doing for him. 

“Have you eaten lunch?”

“No,” A sigh. His lack of elaboration in answer to your raised eyebrow had told you everything that you needed to know - he had either not been hungry at the time or he had been denied a meal. You cared little for what the reason was so long as he could eat now. Arthur took another drag on his cigarette, a quicker one this time, and he turned his head upwards once more to exhale; he was considerate of your distaste for his smoking and showed his gratitude in your supplying him with cigarettes despite your personal views on the habit by showing you great courtesy when he did smoke in front of you. You couldn’t have denied him this one vice if you had tried - goodness knew how mad you would go if you couldn’t have your own fix every day. 

You reached under the table with one hand, keeping your eyes on Arthur’s as you fumbled in your bag and pulled out a Tupperware box. The box was see through and you saw a light come into Arthur’s eyes which had nothing to do with the harsh overheads which could have used a gentler light bulb; for all the patients here which struggled with over stimulation and light sensitivity, staff showed little concern. Gotham was a total shit show and you hated everything about the suffocating place. It seemed that, even though Arkham State Hospital was on the outskirts of Gotham, it was still susceptible to the same toxins which circulated throughout the city. You set the box down, pushing it towards Arthur, and moved to separate his handcuffs from the chain. Your gaze, which was still holding his, very clearly said, you know the rules and he nodded once slowly, a smirk on his face, to show his understanding. 

You were the only staff member Arthur would ‘behave’ for and often were you called in at odd hours off the clock to ‘sort the fucking clown out’. You didn’t mind, not really. You had gained some strange reputation in Arkham and even the meaner patients, the ones who were especially volatile and unpredictable, left you alone. It hadn’t taken you long to figure out that Arthur had given you some kind of honourary protection in your taking on his case, though you suspected that it was more the way you treated him which had granted you this unofficial protection, and less to do with the fact that you had his case file.

Arthur peered into the box and looked sharply back up at you. “How did you know that this was my favourite food?”

You smiled and shrugged. “I pay attention. Eat. You must be starving.” You pushed plastic cutlery his way - you couldn’t get proper utensils past security no matter what you said to them - and leaned back in your chair, glancing over the therapy notes from yesterday with curiosity. You used the notes to hide the way your eyes were fixed on Arthur’s face. You were far too invested in him for your own good and though you knew it couldn’t end well, you were determined to see it through to the very end, come what may.

At the first hesitant bite did Arthur’s eyes flutter closed as he chewed and you smiled. “Good?”

“So good,” He took a second, bigger bite and your smile widened as affection bloomed in your chest.

Silence fell once more as Arthur ate, punctuating his bites with drags on his cigarette, which was almost down to the filter now. He coughed lightly at one point and though he hadn’t said anything, you hadn’t needed him to as you reached into your bag, unscrewed the cap top and put the plastic bottle of water in front of Arthur. 

Half of his food was left in the tub as he looked at the water. There was something in his eyes which you were having trouble reading.

“What is it, lo - Arthur?” You had almost slipped up, called him love and the way Arthur smirked up at you briefly before he looked back to the water told you that he had noticed your near mistake. There was no denying it if he ever decided to call you out on what you had just almost said. You knew even without really thinking about it that you wouldn’t deny anything he accused you of in this vein; all of it was true. All of it.

“You’re always so kind to me,” He frowned down at the table, nimble fingers plucking at the chain you had released him from so that he could eat without having to sit uncomfortably. 

“Well, yeah, it’s my job. I took an oath to care for - “

Staring off into space, his cigarette burnt out now, the end smouldering but still lightly held between his nicotine stained fingers, did Arthur shake his head. “No,” He interrupted you, “This is more than an oath of care.” He turned his head to meet your eyes full on and with a cocky smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth did he say, “You better be careful.”

Anger rose quickly and you almost said something but then you caught another hint of some emotion flash through his eyes, like a trick of the light did he school his facial expressions so fast. You saw a desperate pleading, you saw… you saw need. Arthur wasn’t warning or threatening you, he was asking you to be careful. If you both got caught, if you got found out on supplying a patient with food made outside the premises or buying and lighting him cigarettes - which were allowed within the hospital but only a specific brand not available to the public domain - if you got caught letting him out of the chains just so he could move a little freer, if you got caught having personal conversations with him, it’d all be over. You’d be taken off the case, more than likely dismissed or fired or transferred elsewhere, and you would never see Arthur again. He would lose the only good in his life - a secret though it was, it was his good. 

In short, Arthur watched as you saw through his mask, through his cryptic statements, You saw him and he felt an unfamiliar heat blooming in his chest. So closely was he staring at you that he saw the precise moment of understanding dawn on your face and he smirked with pride. He could always count on you to understand.

In the end, you didn’t answer him verbally. You held a cigarette out to him, the filter facing him, and you held his green oceans as he parted his lips and allowed you to place the filter between them. You lit the cigarette with a slight shake to your hand and Arthur moved somewhat awkwardly to rest his hand over yours, the lighter firm in your grip.

“Thank you.” He wasn’t just thanking you for the cigarettes and you both knew it.

“You’re welcome.” You smiled and Arthur felt an urge to kiss you. He followed it and used his grip on you to pull you down to his eye level. You gasped, shocked by the sudden movement; your heart began to pound but you weren’t afraid. “Arthur, what - “

“Shshsh, I’m not going to hurt you.” He smirked, the expression at complete odds with how softly he had reassured you in that same moment, and took the cigarette from his mouth, tilting his head and upper body backwards using the back of the metal chair to exhale, keeping the toxins as far from you as he could given how closely you were now. You were leaning over the table, your belt buckle pressed against your stomach, your face close to Arthur’s. “I’m going to kiss you. Is that okay?”

The look in his eyes told you that he was serious about kissing you but if you didn’t want to, he wouldn’t make you. He would just never ask you for anything like this again. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him; never again would anybody see him and care for him the way that you did.

“Okay.” A breathy exhale and Arthur smiled. It was a real, genuine smile and you felt your own lips quirking upwards in reply. You met in the middle, neither of you consciously moving, and your lips barely grazed each other’s. He kissed you so slowly, so slowly, that it made your heart bleed for him. He had a big heart, this you had come to know, and as you pulled away from him with the desperate need for oxygen did you meet his eyes again. His eyes roamed about your face as if he was desperately trying to memorise your face in this moment and that look in your eyes. “How about we get you out of here, hm?”

A look of confusion, a startled laugh, and Arthur nodded his head in agreement. Yes. It was high time that the Crown Prince of Gotham got back to work. The city needed him, after all, and he needed you. It would take weeks of careful planning, an elaborate distraction and a getaway car with a willing driver to get him out of Arkham, but he was a Joker and you were the ace up his sleeve.

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[benscursedkid]

pairing: robin novak x merula snyde

words: 3.046

genre: fluff... just lots a fluff

modern!au, muggle!au, christmas fic (sort of), planetarium worker!robin

a/n: my gift to morgan– aka @protegoparacosm for the first annual hphm secret santa event @hphm-secretsanta! merry christmas morgan, i hope you like it! it took me a while to finish because the first half just wrote itself but then i got super busy with exams and it was. a lot. but this was super fun to write so i hope you enjoy it! i hope i got robin right, i tried to write her as a really fun, happy person! she seems really cool and i hope we get to see more of her!

*disclaimer: the last time i went to a planetarium i was five years old so this is absolutely in no way a proper portrayal of what it’s like to be an employee at one. bls excuse the probably many inaccuracies! also i got all of my research for the stars and constellations mentioned in this fic here!

When Robin had asked for Merula to meet her at work, she didn’t question it, but when she told her to meet her at the building close to midnight… well, let’s just say the girl’s lucky she likes her.

Which is how she found herself here; alone on an empty street with frost in her hair and snow in her boots. The harsh wind picks up, it pushes through her hair and bites at her cheeks. Her entire face feels so frozen, she hasn’t been able to feel it for seven minutes. God, only Robin could get her out here in the cold in the middle of the night. The things she does for that girl.

Meanwhile, the snow crunches and compacts under her boots, a few flakes falling through the rim every now and again. It’s the only thing she can hear, apart from the wind whistling in her ears and the shivers that run down her spine. She wishes she could get out her phone and use it for a flashlight, but in her haste out the door, she’s forgotten to grab gloves and she prefers her fingers on her hand, thank you.

The sky overhead is bleak, with storm clouds rolling about and blocking any stars from view. Even the moon is barely peeking through, blinking down at her in pity. This leaves her only other source of light down to that of the street lights that flicker eerily as if watching her walk past.

Still, she marches on. She doesn’t know what Robin has planned, but now she’s desperate to find out.

Finally, after what feels like way too long outside, Merula rounds the corner and the big dome building comes into view. She sighs in relief, all too eager to get out of the cold. However, when she nears the doors, she comes across a truly atrocious sight.

Her knuckles come down harshly on the window of Robin’s car and the blonde hurries to shut off her radio. She waves her hand for Merula to stand back and she complies, allowing her to open her door and climb from the driver’s seat.

She looks perfectly warm! While she’s been out here freezing her ass off!

She goes to tell her as much too, but Robin’s already beat her to it.

“Oh my God, Merula!” Robin fusses, eyes wide and riddled with concern. A hand comes up to her cheek and it’s warm to the touch. Merula bites her lip to keep from leaning into it. A hiss pushes past Robin’s teeth. “You’re freezing! Why didn’t you take your car?!”

Merula shrugs, feigning nonchalance as the blonde worries over her. “I didn’t tell you?” At Robin’s insistence, she nods and waves it off. “I took it into the shop yesterday because the breaks seemed off. No big deal.”

“No big deal?!” Robin gasps as if the words she'd heard were downright absurd. “Merula! I never would have asked you to meet me here if I’d known that! Or I at least would have offered you a ride!”

She huffs and insists that she’s fine, but Robin doesn’t seem to take it. She even unfolds her scarf and goes to wrap it around Merula’s neck instead. A flurry of protests are on the tip of her tongue when Robin levels her with a pointed glare that's more cute than anything else.

“No and’s, if’s, or but’s,” The girl declares, wounding the scarf right around her neck and chin. “You need it more than I do.”

Merula grumbles, but relents nonetheless, knowing that if ever there were a person more stubborn than herself it’d be Robin. Once it’s done, she nods to herself and smiles, proud of her handiwork.

“Now, for what we came for.”

Without further ado, Robin beckons Merula over to the doors, swiftly unlocking them and pushing them open. With an eerie creak that sounds straight from some horror movie, the two of them step inside.

The whole building is silent, not a single sound to be heard within the walls. The air between them lingers as if listening in on them. It almost feels like there’s something in it, something lost and light. A sense of anxious excitement crawls up her back, the kind that reminds her of her reckless teenage years. She feels ready to storm the halls and raid the storage closets, if only because she can. It’s the type of feeling one can only get from being completely and utterly alone someplace, free to behave as one pleases.

Except she’s not alone.

She has Robin.

The girl in question takes in a steady breath and, without word, struts over to the front desk. She seems to scramble around for something until a small “aha” escapes her and she dwells even deeper into the back. Merula waits another handful of moments before the sound of a whirring machine starts up and the overhead lights flicker on above her.

It's a lot bigger in here with the lights on.

“Not that this isn’t so much fun,” Merula calls out, unsure if Robin can even hear her back there, an eyebrow arched and a hand on her hip. “But what are we doing here in the middle of the night?”

A clatter here and a tumble there and Robin finally emerges from the closet, swinging a ring of keys around her index finger. With a beaming smile and a skip in her step, she brushes last Merula down the farthest hall to the left, past where the employees would usually start the museum tour.

“Why don’t you follow me and find out?”

Her eyebrows wiggle and Merula wants to laugh, she really does because it’s just so cute. But she steadies her glare and Robin shrugs and turns back around, continuing forth.

A sigh and another moment later, she’s right on her heels. A smirk makes its way onto Robin’s face as she side eyes her companion. Merula looks away.

It feels weird, she thinks, to be here at all when it feels like the rest of the world is asleep. Tucked snuggly into their beds, no one has any idea what the two of them are up to in the large, empty building. They have free reign here, and Merula doesn’t know where to start. Though, it seems that Robin does.

The only sounds that can be heard are those of their footsteps reverberating off the walls and the rattling of keys on the ring in Robin’s hands. Even the machines have drowned out, leaving the shiver threatening to rack her shoulders and the darkness of the shadows to her imagination.

“Robin,” Merula questions once they arrive to the door of the dome room, her companion already stopping to unlock the grand doors. “Most people on Christmas Eve are probably at home, under blankets and by a fire, watching low-quality holiday moves and filling up on sugar cookies.”

Robin laughs, a most lighthearted and heavenly sound. Merula thinks it sounds almost like the jingling of little bells and a smirk threatens to curve her lips upward.

She turns around to face her, the door unlocked and waiting in her hands. She arches a brow. “Do either of us look like most people to you?”

This time, she doesn’t try to fight the wicked smile that paints her face, even allowing for a laugh to bubble from her throat. “No,” she says. “I guess not.”

Nodding to her herself, Robin releases the doors from her grip and takes a step back. An arm is tucked behind her back and the other spreads wide, gesturing to the vast darkness inside.

With a smile on her face and a knowing look in her eye, Robin asks, “Well, Miss Snyde, it seems we’ve come to the end of the line.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm,” Robin grins, the sight alone almost enough to render her speechless. “After you.”

She hesitates briefly, her eyes unable to distinguish or recognize anything in the room waiting for her. Robin notices, and a hand falls on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” She assures her, her voice soft and promising. “The lights are in the back. I just have to turn them on.”

Merula nods, more to herself than anyone else, and struts confidently into the dome room. Robin’s own footfalls echo after her as they wander deeper into the place. For a second, Merula almost forgets where she is, no longer worried about her lack of proper sight, and runs straight into something solid.

A small oof escapes her, echoing across the room. The object doesn’t reach up farther past her stomach and she has to catch herself before falling over on top of it.

“Sorry,” Robin shouts, her voice now farther away than she thought. “That was probably just one of the seats. Just stay there for a second while I get the lights on.”

Merula grumbles quietly but complies, not too keen on walking into something else. It doesn’t take more than a minute before the sound of a switch flipping catches her ears and the lights come on. However, they aren’t quite what Merula expected.

The auditorium lights remain off while the ceiling constellations fade into view overhead.

Really, it’s nothing new. Merula, admittedly, had never really been much of an astronomy fan before she met Robin. Since they became friends, or whatever it is that they are, she’s seen all of the shows in the planetarium about five times each. Of course, this was before she realized she didn’t have to make excuses to keep showing up at Robin’s work to see her…

Though she has to say, she doesn’t think she’s seen this one before.

“It’s new,” Robin declares, suddenly at her side. The blonde girl smiles and her eyes extend across the ceiling. “Filius and Sybil decided to get a new show since the planetarium has been rising in popularity lately.”

Merula nods along, but the words have flown completely over her head. Suddenly the only thing she can focus on is the way the projector’s image reflects across her face in sparkling constellations. The stars glimmer in the dark, in random places like her cheekbone, her chin, woven into her pretty gold hair. She swears she can even find them in the beautiful blue of her eyes…

She’s all too enchanting.

“...technically this show is supposed to be for Valentine’s Day, but they wanted it in advance. To get it out of the way now since they were doing their holiday shopping, anyway.... Merula?”

She blinks. Once, twice. Robin’s looking at her expectanty, her head tilted in bemusement. “Uh, yeah. That probably is easier,” She stammers, looking away as her cheeks begin to grow hot.

Robin hums. “Yeah, that’s what I said, too.”

A beat.

Neither of them say a word. They just stand there, looking intently at the scene above. It’s truly extraordinary, Merula thinks, just how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of things. There’s whole worlds and galaxies out there beyond this planet, this city… this planetarium where two girls stand, admiring the universe laid out before them.

Merula chances a glance back to Robin.

She smiles.

It’s true; Merula is probably insignificant, but when she looks at Robin, with constellations in her eyes, galaxies on her tongue and stardust in her bones…

It’s hard to imagine that everything in existence wasn’t made just for her.

“C’mon,” Robin whispers, a hint of mischief in her voice as she smiles at her. Her fingers, warm and delicate, lace through Merula’s and she tugs ever so gently. “Let’s find some seats!”

Merula lets herself be dragged, pretending she doesn’t love the way Robin bounces in excitement. “Oh yes, because they’ll be gone if we don’t hurry.”

Robin snorts, but continues on, ignoring Merula’s signature sarcasm. They twist and turn through rows and rows before Robin stops them in the dead center of the room, pulling her down to sit next to her.

“Do you recognize any of these constellations?” Robin mouths, quiet despite the fact that they’re here alone.

Merula shakes her head. “No, not really,” She says, allowing her gaze to sweep over the sky, unable to identify most of the new constellations. “The only ones I’m familiar with are the ones in the other shows.”

Robin nods, clicking her tongue as she looks for one in particular to point out. It takes only a few seconds for her arm to spring from beneath her chin as the points to a random cluster of stars.

“That one there to your left— no your other left, yeah that —is Deneb from the Cygnus constellation. Y’know, the Swan?” Merula nods, though she’s hardly able to discern what exactly she’s looking at. Still, she loves when Robin gets excited and wouldn’t dare question her now. “And slightly southeast is Altair from Aquila, that’s the Eagle, and then if you look up a little past the Milky Way you’ll find the Harp constellation, Lyra. At the top lies the star called Vega. Together those three stars make up the Summer Triangle.”

She goes to form a triangle with her finger, weaving effortlessly through the air. Then her hand slinks back down to her side and her eyes slide over to Merula. They shine amorously in the constellation light and look her over curiously, inquisitively.

Robin motions up to where she was just mapping out the constellations, jutting her chin up towards the stars. “Have you ever heard the story of Vega and Altair, Merula?”

She shakes her head, forgetting momentarily how to speak. “N-No, can’t say I have,” Robin hums and Merula licks her lips that have since gone dry. She takes in a breath. “Tell it to me.”

Merula thinks she sees a smile curving her lips, but it’s a bit too dark to say for sure. Robin’s arm sticks back out to trace a line between a star that shines a brilliant blue and one down and a little to the left, noticeably less bright than the former.

“Well, the bright one up top is Vega. Several thousand years ago it was known as the North Star, now though, it still holds the title as the fifth-brightest star in Earth’s night sky and second-brightest in the Northern Hemisphere. The other one at the bottom is Altair. It’s still respectably bright, the twelfth-brightest in the sky, so it’s pretty distinguishable on its own for the most part. Though, I usually identify it by its proximity to Vega and the Milky Way.”

Robin goes to draw the line again and this time Merula can see it, the imaginary bridge it makes across the Milky Way.

“The myth’s true origins have been traced back to China, but it’s most popular in Japan nowadays,” A sweet sigh passes between them as if Robin is recalling a magical fairy tale from her childhood days. Perhaps she is, Merula wonders.

“The myth says that Vega was a celestial princess in the heavens, a Goddess of the Sky. Though, she remained very lonely in her immortality as she was always alone. But one day, a mortal named Altair caught her eye,” Her voice seems fragile now, soft like fallen snow and clouds and candies made from sugar. And though Merula couldn’t quite see it, she could feel the way her lips curl up into a smile. “She descended from the heavens to meet him and soon fell deeply in love with him as they spent more time together. Vega then promised Altair that when he dies, they will both go up into the heavens so they could be together forever.”

“I’m assuming that’s not exactly how things went down.”

Robin shakes her head.

“Vega’s father became furious when he heard the news. Not only had his daughter fallen for a mortal, but she promised to bring him with her to the heavens? That just couldn’t do.”

“So what happened?” Merula found herself asking before she even registered that she was speaking.

“Well, he decided to fulfill her wish in the cruelest of fashions,” Robin shrugs, her eyes glued to the stars. “On the day of Altair’s death, the two lovers were placed in the sky as stars, yet while they were both in the heavens, they found that they had been separated by the great Celestial River— that’s the Milky Way.”

Somewhere along the line, Merula had leaned in close to Robin. So close, in fact, that should Robin turn to face her their noses would surely touch. Robin’s hand still sits heavily in Merula’s, warming her palm as she draws soothing circles across the brunette’s knuckles.

Merula bites her lip and allows her head to fall onto Robin’s shoulder. “What did they do about it?”

Robin chuckles and leans her own head against Merula’s, giving her hand a small squeeze. “The only thing they could do,” Merula’s eyes fall closed as she listens to the soft harmony of Robin’s voice, falling languidly into ecstasy. “Once a year on the seventh night of the seventh moon—July sixth —Altair would journey across the river on a bridge made of magpies to see Vega. They were only allowed this one day a year, but the road was treacherous. Sometimes, Altair fails to make it across and on those days it’s said that Vega’s tears flood Japan in the form of rain.”

A subtle frown etches the corners of Merula’s lips downward. Her reply comes in the form of muted mumbles from the crevice of Robin’s neck. “That sucks.”

“Yes,” Robin laughs, a sweet sweet sound. “Yes it does.”

“Aren’t these supposed to be… y’know, happy?”

“Not always.”

“...that sucks.”

Robin goes to respond, but the frantic alarm of her phone cuts her off. She pulls the offending device from her coat pocket.

12:00

Wednesday, December 25

“Merula, it’s–”

But Merula isn’t listening. Instead, she seems to have dozed off against her shoulder, her nose nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Her chest rises and falls rhythmically as she settles deeper into her slumber.

Robin smiles.

“Merry Christmas, Merula,” Emboldened by the hour and the fact that Merula will never know, she reaches over and plants a soft, chaste kiss to the crown of her head. “I love you.”

#secret santa!! #merry christmas morgan! #i really hope you like it! #i know modern!muggle!aus arent everyone’s thing #but i still think this idea was super cute! #i got inspired after reading your fic with these two about constellations in the hogwarts courtyard #so i thought you might like this! #this was fun and definitely something I’d do again #happy holidays everyone #🎅❣️

[scaip]

The foil of a king

I’ll develop a bit the idea that Carla Tsukinami is a foil of Karl Heinz. While I think this is not a new idea in the fandom, let’s try to give more depth to the topic.

The rest is under read more due to length

First: Names.

Karl has obvious german vibes, while Carla is its feminine form.

A quick research on Wikitionary (1), (2) shows that Karl means free-man from the proto-germanic, used as a nickname in Old Norse or as a given name in Old High German. Quite old, eh?

Dialovers is full of germanic references: Richter. Mertz. Heinz. Krone. Giesbasch. Rotingenberg. Banmaden. The ominous, dark germanic background is there in a meta sense.

 The fact that of all the DiaLover’s suitors, Carla is the only one with a non-japanese name strikes me a lot.

Second: Appearances Both are tall men with long white hair and golden eyes. While we never may know how Karl originally looked like, in the current time line he has epic long hair and yellow eyes. However, Carla looks more stern than shady. Karl his shady and transmits chills, his design tells us he is sneaky, hiding something.

Third: As Individuals

Both are very intellent and have great magical power, however, Carla is limited due Endzeit, while Karl has deux ex machina abilities. As far as I remember, we never got to see Carla’s true unleashed potential, only glimpses of it. They are an oddity among their own kind when it comes of their prowess: king Giesbach was jealous and paranoid about prince Carla and Shin’s power doesn’t appear to rival Carla. Karl rules over the state of the Makai, can reset reality, changes his physical appearance, has knowledge about politics, diverse branches of science... we get it, he is clever and magically powerful.

Both are also open-minded individuals. I don’t recall if it was in Vandead Carnival or Lunatic Parade, but Yui gets to learn servants at Heinz’s castle were sent to learn about human customs. Karl appears to idealize humanity, but doesn’t limit himself to watch, he investigates and takes customs and information from there. He even sends his own children to a human school. Carla, for his part, reads both demon and human authors, and enjoys artistic content no matter the source.

Fourth: Younger brothers In Haunted Dark Bridal, Reiji tells Cordelia that if someone like her is the cause between Karl and Richter’s rift, then they mustn't have been close in the first place. We never see Richter interact with Karl. We know Richter had some sort of duel for Cordelia's hand, but lost it. In fact, we don't know much about the relationship between both brothers. We can only guess Richter has to constantly live in the shadow of his older brother. Yet, in Lost Eden he appeared to teach Ayato how to deal with the Eden Castle, he had important information. Both siblings have a distant relationship, but seemed to have been close enough at some point. Or they simply were taught how to deal with the Makai as princes. Or Karl gives him information as he sees fit. Then, we have Carla and Shin. While in some bad endings things end up in tragedy if Yui chooses to pursuit the other sibling, in the good ones, you get to see they give up the girl and remain close. They love each other. Shin behaves inmaturely and Carla is bad at openly expressing his love and concern to his brother. Carla bowed his head to a king he disliked and did something very violent to his younger sibling because losing Shin's life would have been worse. There's competence and resentment, however, you see them go past it and keep loving each other. The affection is there, they only needed to work their communication skills in order to have a healthier relationship.

Fifth: Their relationship with women We don't know much about Heinz's relationships with other women outside his three wives. In Lost Eden, Richter tells Kino his brother used to have many lovers. He seemed to behave as some sort of big-brother figure to Christa until she grow up. The thing is: he was abusive and manipulative to his wives, lacked empathy to their sufferings (and therefore, to their sons') but we don't know more about other women of his past. About other female figures. He has the whole I-am-bad-at-dealing-with-my-feelings excuse because the Eden would meet a bad ending. So, I can only say he was a horrible man to his wives, but lack information about other potential non-romantic and non-sexual relationships with women. One thing I really liked about Carla's route in Dark Fate is the narrative women were given. The Makai people are, obviously, a patriarchal society, I even bet there is some salic law for inheritance. Yet, we get to see how more women dealed with that society: Queen Krone not only feared for Carla when it came to the mistreatment he received from King Giesbach, but for her people too. Giesbach wasn't right in the head and she didn't like it, but had to give Carla a knife in order to stop the madness. Carla was close to his mother, and it is rare to see a positive mother-son relationship in Dialovers. There is lady/princess Nemae too: she was close to her nephews and did what she could in order to help her dying people. While both women met tragic endings, we got to see some positive actions in them. There is also Yui. in Dark Fate, Carla abuses and mistreats her, yet she stood it all bravely despite her fear. Yui is loyal, kind and honest with him. She managed to break past his roughness and help him move forward. Being shutted inside a castle full of dying people for years until Carla and Shin were the only ones left alive is something plainly taken from a horror movie and it left Shin and him full of resentment, but he gets to slowly start to walk forward. In Lost Eden he even asks for her opinion when it comes to his ideas. From Karl's side, we don't know what else he did with his wives, other than use them for child-bearing.

Sixth: Monarchy Both are kings. Carla is the king of the First Bloods, the original population of the Makai. Karl is the leader of the Bat Clan and, according to the reset in Lost Eden; it also appears his role as the king influences the Makai as a whole, having his feelings/state of mind connected to the topography of the place. However, all of Carla’s subjects, minus Shin, are dead due to the Endzeit pandemic. He only rules over their old castle... and wherever remains of the good ol’ Ancestor land? Heinz, meanwhile, rules over whatever territories reach the Bat’s domain. He also influences other clans (or at least knows how keep the Vibora Clan in control) and is a politician in the Japan of the Human Realm. Both introduce themselves as rather misterious individuals, however, Carla’s prominence is bigger to us, the fandom, as he is a character who has his own routes. Karl drives the plot, but always remains a secondary character. This means we get to know more about Carla than Karl. As I said in above, both are open-minded individuals. Heinz takes into consideration humanity(or rather, his own vision of it), and Carla does so too. In Lost Eden, Carla, in order to reach his goals, started an alliance with the Ghouls, despite the prejudices common demons hold against them, and ASKED YUI her opinion about it. He keeps it in mind all possible options, and doesn't mind doing something 'degrading' if it is for the greater good.

To conclude this: I really believe both characters, Carla and Karl, are foils to one another. However, while Karl never gets past his issues, Carla grows. We still lack information about Karl, so we don't know much about him in order to give him proper judgement, however, we know one thing: Karl idealizes humanity because he can't get over his issues and pushes the solution of them onto others: whoever ends up with Yui in that Adam and Eve plot. Carla, on the other hand, faces things and we see him grow. He is close to people, even if they are few (Shin and Yui), but at least we see him getting close to someone new: Yui. Karl, on the other side, keeps the spectre/spirit of Socrates as his friend... and seems to be the only close person he has. He loves Christa, but doesn't treat her well. Carla, on the other hand, allows Yui to accompany him

#Fandom stuff #Carla Tsukinami #Karl Heinz #Diabolik Lovers #DL meta #i hope tumblr doesn't get mean and posts it

[themanformallyknownaswelshy]

Jigsaw Thoughts

HEAVY SPOILERS

Hello there.

So yeah, a new Saw film has just recently been released and I’ve been to see it … twice. I’ll admit to being very touched and slightly scared (in the best way possible) at the amount of requests I’ve been getting from people asking for my thoughts on the film. It’d been … what, 4 years since my last proper video on Saw and that people are still interested in my opinion about the series … that’s pretty awesome. Sadly, this can’t be released in video format at the moment (which isn’t saying it never will be) because I currently have a camera without a battery, a computer that no longer connects to the internet, a laptop that randomly shuts down and no audio equipment. Oh and we’re also saving for a wedding and a house. Priorities people!!!

So anyway, before I address my thoughts on Jigsaw, I want to say something about Saw as it means to me. Keep in mind, this is going to be long as I have many thoughts and if this were a video, it’d probably clock in around the 30 minute mark. Now, it should be noted that I’m not blind to what Saw is and as I’ve previously said, I don’t view it as a masterpiece of cinema and for the people who don’t like it, I’d never be able to change their minds about it. My issue steams from reviews I’ve seen that label Saw (specifically the original) as torture porn and I simply do not agree with this statement. In fact, I informed one person of this once and this person accused me of being sexist and of attacking them for simply disagreeing with their claim, a disagreement I backed up but then I’m the same guy who managed to violate the … what was it, the second amendment with Dark Side of The Internet, so make of that what you will. For me, the Saw Series exists in a heightened reality with everything played at just that over the top level, from the scenarios all the way down to the acting. It’s a very fine line to walk and one Saw, from original to 3D managed to walk almost perfectly. The first 2 films in the series also didn’t have the budget to show the all out gore explosions that the later films became known for so to class the first 2 as torture porn is, to me, simply wrong. A comparison would be a film like Hostel or the Zombie Halloween films, especially the sequel. These films don’t walk the line, they have a very real, raw edge to them, the effects of the torture (blow torches to the face, heels being sliced, women beaten to bloody pulps) are shot very raw and very real and this moves both films beyond snuff (ala Texas Chainsaw) and is why I would class films like Hostel and Halloween Zombie as torture porn and a film like Saw as more a twisted morality tail and it’s sequel, part horror, part psychological thriller because the 2nd film IS essentially a game of chess between 2 players, Jigsaw and Detective Matthews. While the argument could be raised about the later sequels falling more into the realms of torture porn, all films still contained that heightened sense but more so than any of that, I believe it wasn’t the traps that kept bringing fans back into the theatres year after year but it was more so the story because, as convoluted as it was, and BELIEVE me, it was, there was a story that built and teased and, ultimately, provided the answers to many fan theories and questions.

Why have I mentioned this? Read on.

So, my thoughts on Jigsaw?

I liked it. It certainly was better than it had any right to be. The story moved along at a great pace, the traps as they were designed and shot were pure Saw and very Jigsaw in nature. By this I mean, the traps were all survivable, but the subjects were expected to sacrifice something of themselves in order to get out alive. It also played into something Jigsaw says to Hoffman in Saw V about anticipating the human mind, something Jigsaw was always very good at. As Jill Tuck said herself, with John everything was planned, nothing was left to chance. I obviously enjoyed Tobin Bell back in his iconic role like he’d never missed a beat, I loved seeing Billy with glowing red eyes (and I did BILLY when I saw him), the Jigsaw house of horrors barn and separate work shop was a delight and the score felt like a natural evolution with sweet call backs to previous themes. It also benefited from a bigger budget, the opening car chase being a prime example and the money shot that was the culmination of the final trap was a site to behold and I’ll now never be able to here the phrase “It looks like a tropical plant” the same way again.

I won’t lie, when I first saw the trailers for Jigsaw I was slightly concerned about how glossy and clean everything looked. The Barn appeared to take place almost entirely in day light and a lot of the film seemed to be taking place out doors. If there was one thing Saw excelled at was the rustic, run down, abandoned factory, enclosed and claustrophobic feeling and with Jigsaw, I never really got that feeling. I never felt like I was suffocating along with the characters in the environments they were finding themselves in and this seems to stem more from the way it was shot rather than the script. It’s also seemed to be setting up future sequels because a number of events occur in said film that raise greater questions. The film managed to keep the Saw style of walking the fine line of maintaining its heightened reality and felt like it easily slotted into the world as it had been previously established in previous films. It’ll certainly please fans to the series but won’t win or convert people who have never seen the Saw films before. It’s also a film that, while trying to restart the series, suffers if you’ve never watched the series before.

One of the big problems Saw encountered in it’s later life is it was essentially becoming a movie serial. You’d have needed to have watched the previous episode in order to understand what was going on. For someone like me, someone who had watched and re watched the films so many times I could quote them in my sleep,  this wasn’t a problem and watching the newest entry always felt like a reward but for someone jumping in as a first time watcher, they wouldn’t have had a clue about what was going on. Leigh Whannell references this during his Saw 3 commentary in that he would get people coming up to him and saying they didn’t understand Saw 3 because they’d not seen Saws 1 and 2. Leighs reaction to this was simple, “Who goes to see a film with a 3 in the title without seeing the first 2 films first” and I agree with that. Jigsaw ultimately duffers from this because, while it is an attempt to perform a form of series restart, the people who will get the most out of this film ARE Saw fans. The biggest hook to the series is and always will be Tobin Bell and without him, you simply don’t have a series so while I can appreciate what they were trying to do with the film and there were many directions they could have gone, their solution I found to be very predictable, very uninspired and more specifically, and this is why I have a bigger problem with the film than maybe I should, very damaging to the Saw mythology.

So here we go … my problem with Jigsaw. From here on out there will be heavy spoilers from not only Jigsaw, but nearly every single Saw film, give or take. You have been warned, tread carefully, follow your heart, follow the white rabbit (oh wait, that was the Matrix) … whatever ... spoilers ahead.

Right off the bat, when I heard there was going to be a new Saw many ideas went through my head about what they were going to do. Was it going to be a total reboot, a soft reboot, were they going to retcon some of the story? Were they going to introduce a long lost family member? I’ll be honest, at one point in the film, Jigsaw refers to his late nephew and in my head I immediately pictured either Jigsaw having an identical twin brother or a sister that we’d never heard of and then we’d have had a female Jigsaw taking over the reigns of the franchise. None of these appealed to me and NO, it’s NOT because I don’t think a woman can be scary, bla bla bla bla. My concern was I didn’t want would I deemed to be a cop out, long lost relative ending. Sarah, my fiancée, had other ideas though, as you can see below…

John Kramer has an identical twin brother who has been jealous of his brother’s successes all those years ago. He felt John’s moral crusade pointless and would rather just kill people he wanted to torture. This brother first made an appearance in Saw 1 where he was skulking around Jigsaw’s hideout but was caught by Tapp - it was not John Kramer to slashed Tapp’s throat but his evil twin brother. He now has long flowing hair and a curly moustache.

As he proceeds to murder his next victim through torture he plays Cascada’s “”What Hurts the Most” and reveals that he is going to take control of Jigsaw’s legacy and unleash his new name on the world: The Sudoku Killer.

However during this revelation the doors fly open and John Kramer appears, cloak billowing. He announces that he is still alive and not happy about the whole Sudoku game his brother has planned. To his brother’s horror, John reveals that when they were born , there was another brother, so they were actually identical triplets. The third brother was adopted due to financial limitations but John had found him years ago. He had worked with his secret brother to set his vision in motion, but then his brother had cancer and another game was created in which Jigsaw could create a legacy even after death. His brother took John Kramer’s identity and died of cancer, whilst John Kramer lived in the shadows like Batman. It seemed his work had left a lasting impression as his death created more followers to his cause. However his evil brother’s foray into his own murderous games caused Jigsaw to come out of retirement and put an end to his dastardly plans.

Grumpily, Jigsaw reveals that he now has to start his work up again to eradicate all the wrongdoing his brother has done. He admits ta he doesn’t really understand Sudoku puzzles. He leaves his brother in the room to die, while lay his brother twirls his moustache worriedly.

Thank you Sar she is very proud of her theory and it’s one of the many reasons I love her.

So anyway, we didn’t get the secret family member ending, although there is nothing to say this still won’t happen seeing as Logan clearly had help through the film but what we did get was the reveal of another secret apprentice is this is what I have a problem with. Firstly, it just feels lazy because it’s something we’ve seen twice before but also, there has been literally no build to this reveal. With Amanda, she was set up in Saw as a survivor so the revelation of her being an apprentice made some form of sense. With Hoffman, he was introduced in Saw 3, pocketing a piece of evidence and then in Saw 4, placed himself into the game so again, the revelation had a form of surprise but felt natural and given that Jigsaw had access to so many criminal files, it seemed like a natural fit that he would have a cop helping him. Here, they have to effectively screw with the entire lore of the Saw Universe by implying Logan was helping John from the beginning and this is where I have my biggest problem because, as I’ve said, it was the story that kept me coming back to Saw and it was the handling of the series from Saw 1 onwards that made me truly fall in love with said story. When they wrote the first Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell had no concept of a larger story of multiple sequels. They were just 2 guys trying to crack into the movie business. With the success of Saw, Saw 2 was immediately green lit and to get a jump on the production, they adapted a script from Darren Lynn Bousman with Leigh (and Tobin) adding in the Saw story. Saw 3 was green lit even before Saw 2 was released and with the release of Saw 3, the studio announced a Saw 4,5 and 6. This allowed the storytellers to plan their story long term and to sprinkle in teases that would build through the (as I originally called it) Hoffman trilogy with everything due to culminate in Saw 6. The backstory of John Kramer and his death and rebirth into Jigsaw is told through Saw 2 thorugh 6 and makes sense in the context of these films.

People have often asked why I love Saw 6 so much and it is for this very reason. Saw 6 pays off many of the long term threads that had been teased since Saw 3. This long term planning of these films allowed the film makers to take their time with the integration of Hoffman into the world. He was shown briefly in Saw 3, he is revealed in Saw 4 as the apprentice, Saw 5 then allows us to see the meeting of Jigsaw and Hoffman and Saw 6 is the ultimate fan reward as we see Jigsaw, Amanda and Hoffman all share the screen together. While this is undoubtedly fan service, it makes sense in the context of the story because now we, as an audience, have accepted Hoffman working with Jigsaw, it would be more than logical, given his physical size, strength and position within the police force, that he would have worked with and assisted both Jigsaw and Amanda. If the scene between Jigsaw, Amanda and Hoffman had been shown in Saw 4 it wouldn’t have had half the impact nor would it have meant as much because it would have felt like a complete shoe in with the creators dancing around with a board saying “Look Hoffman was involved”. By taking the time to establish Hoffman and his relationship with Jigsaw, we see the contrast between himself and Amanda. The Jigsaw/Amanda relationship was very much like a father and daughter, The Jigsaw/Hoffman relationship is very much built on business with Hoffman clearly suppressing his true inner psychopath until after Jigsaw has passed. With Jigsaw they basically fast track Logan into the series as a secret apprentice and immediately show him working alongside Jigsaw which ultimately hurts the story as it has been established since the original Saw. Now they do try to cover themselves by claiming Logan was a prisoner of war for 10 years but Logan also says Jigsaw gave him purpose after the war, so I’m at a loss here as to whether Logan (in this new series) was absent during the original series of events (as a POW) or if he was present because if he was, where the hell was he because the original series has covered the time line from John Kramer, budding father, to cancer patient, attempted suicide, rebirth as Jigsaw, his start as Jigsaw, every single game played during that series from Cecil trap right up to Saw 3D trap, from his death right up to Hoffmans imprisonment in the bathroom and it handled this about as perfectly as could be expected given how insane the timeline can seem.

Now Saw 6 WAS supposed to the culmination of all of these hanging story threads. It was supposed to end with Hoffmans death and close off the franchise but between Saw 5 and 6, the studio decided they wanted 2 more Saw films. This resulted in Hoffman (thankfully because he was now awesome) being spared but when Saw 6 was released it found itself at number 2 at the box office because of the first Paranormal Activity. In a panic, the studio cancelled Saw 8 and Saw 3D became a combination of an attempted Saw 7 and 8 story and was marketed as the Final Chapter which is one of the reasons it is such a convoluted mess. As I said, Saw 6 was due to close off many questions, which it did, with the major remaining question (the fate of Dr Gordon) still being up in the air due to the ongoing lawsuit between Elwes and the studio. During 5 (to my knowledge) the lawsuit between Cary Elwes  and the studio was settled and this allowed the series to bring Cary back to answer the series final question and it really WAS the series final question because Saw 6 had managed to wrap up pretty much everything. Fans went into 7 wondering what had happened to Dr. Gordon and hoping (because let’s face it, we were ALL on Hoffmans side here) Hoffman would get his revenge against Jill. As I’ve said, I’m not a fan of Saw 3D, although I loved the ending reveal that Gordon had been assisting Jigsaw for years, but it ultimately left fans with the biggest bitter pill to swallow in that we were robbed of what we had wanted for years, a movie dedicated to the battle of Hoffman vs Gordon. Face it, Hoffman had been built up as an uber bad ass since Saw V. This was a guy who had broken his own hand and ripped off half his face to escape the bear trap, he was also a man who set up a game involving being taken into a police station in a body bag just to get his hands on Jill Tuck. There was no way in hell he was going to stay in that bathroom. Eric Matthews broke his ankle to escape the shackle, Hoffman would damn near snap his foot off to get out of there.

Jigsaw, as it currently stands, almost seems to remove the entire Hoffman story from the Saw Lore. While Jill Tuck is mentioned, she was shown in Saw 3 so it might not seem as big a departure and when Jigsaw does appear, he is shown to still be wearing his wedding ring. My reason for thinking this is during the half way point of the film when Eleanor takes Logan to her warehouse which houses a number of Jigsaw traps. There’s the chest trap from Saw 3, the glass box trap and gun from Saw 2 and the reverse bear trap from the original Saw. As far as I can see (I may be wrong) there are no traps from the Hoffman series shown in this room. Now this might be the movies attempt to retcon any of the events of Saw 4 through 3D but this still hurts the story established in Saw 1 through 3 and, once again, leaves you questioning, again, what happened to Dr. Gordon. Now granted, what I deem to be the glass box trap from Saw 2 might actually be the water box trap from Saw V and if it is, I’ll be thrilled because it means the Hoffman series is still deemed canon, but it also raises the question as to whether Logan had any form of relationship or interaction with Amanda or Hoffman because, again, lets face it, Hoffman would have ground Logan into dust had they ever crossed paths. The nature of Logans message and whole MO seems to move away from what Jigsaw wanted as it was originally about cherishing your life with Jigsaw targeting people he had deemed to be unworthy of the gift of life. These were people he had either encountered through the clinic his wife worked at or through working with Hoffman and discovering criminals who were abusing the chances they had been gifted. Now, he seems to be speaking for the dead, which isn’t a far cry from what he says to William in Saw 6 “You think it's the living who have ultimate judgement over you, because the dead will have no claim over your soul.” but Logan now seems to have gone full Dexter and seems to be targeting out and out criminals with no real chance of survival. There is also the message of not coming from vengeance and yet, Logan seems to act out his game with vengeance in mind. People could argue about Jigsaw targeting Cecil out of vengeance in Saw 4 but the difference here is once Cecil was in his trap, Jigsaw does not touch him and Cecil has the opportunity to leave after freeing himself. In Jigsaw, after getting his confession, Logan kills Halloran, which is completely against what Jigsaw would want. The elaborate trap in the barn (complete with an electronic Billy with glowing eyes … a first for the series) also clashes with the trap lore because we’re made to believe that the trap in Jigsaw is from 10 years previous and indeed, we see Logan and Jigsaw making the reverse bear trap. The problem here? Saw 4 shows Jigsaw in his workshop, alone, working on his traps and his ideas. He has no one helping him and his first traps were very basic in design and execution. The trap he placed Cecil in was a knife trap, the bathroom trap was 2 people chained to a wall, the razor wire trap, barb wire maze. When exactly does this fit into the time line for Jigsaw to create such an elaborate trap at the start of his career, which Jigsaw leads us to believe was even BEFORE he placed Amanda into the reverse bear trap.

So yes, this is my main problem with Jigsaw. Even if it retcons the Hoffman series from the time line, it still leaves far more questions than it does answers that ultimately hurts the lore as it has been built. Was Logan aware of Amanda, was Amanda aware of Logan?

WHAT HAPPENED TO DR. GORDON...AGAIN!!!!

Now granted, all of these questions may be answered in future sequels as there does seem to be more story to tell so I guess we’ll see. Anyway, this was long and I’ve gone on for long enough and if you’ve reached the end of this then you deserve a cookie so go and grab one.

Night all.

[pedra-ring-blog]

Taking a look at 'Us' By means of Black Id and Trump's America

movie 'Us' Should Be Watched Extra Than As soon as, Jordan Peele could have crafted the primary horror film to really dismantle the MAGA period and the way African-People match into it.

Claudette Barius/Common Studios We will’t escape us. They’re positioned across the fire, flickering mild and shadow obscuring their faces ever so barely, however not sufficient to masks the truth that these 4 figures, clad in crimson bodysuits, are doppelgangers of the Wilson household. “Who're you?” Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) asks. “We’re People,” her duplicate, Purple (Lupita Nyong’o), responds in a voice that feels like a wrestle in opposition to dying. Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his hit 2017 movie, Get Out, presents a fancy have a look at the duality of humanity, significantly that which exists inside ourselves (us) and the US (U.S.). Us, is extra bold and tougher to investigate than Peele’s first movie, although no much less of an amazing work. In consequence, there are a myriad of legitimate theories that may emerge from the movie. This feels by design, and absolutely Peele needs his viewers to depart with questions that result in their very own solutions. Us, like a lot of horror, is political. How we as people see our modern politics mirrored within the movie is the query, however I feel that it could be the primary horror movie of its form to really dismantle Trump’s America and the way we as individuals, particularly black individuals, match into it. Whereas Peele has acknowledged that this movie is not about race in a direct sense like Get Out, as a black viewer, I can’t assist however see that social horror mirrored by way of my very own blackness and that of the Wilson household. It can be crucial, as Peele has mentioned through the press circuit for the movie, to place black individuals as leads in a movie merely for the sake of recognizing their humanity and never due to how they are often utilized to interrupt down race relations. However our existence as black individuals, and the truth that we're by no means the default in terms of movie, particularly style movies, provides an extra layer of subtext, whether or not intentional or not, to the characterization and directorial impetus of Us. Collectively, the dual considerations of Trump’s America and black survival are mirrored again at one another in Us.

After the movie’s intro, which reminds us concerning the miles of deserted subway programs and tunnels beneath America, we see an advert for Palms Throughout America. This 1986 publicity occasion organized 6.5 million People, who donated ten {dollars} and held fingers in a series, in an effort to fight poverty, starvation and homelessness in America. It sounds nice, proper? It’s a reminder of an easier time when individuals may simply get alongside. However in fact, that notion is a fairy story. Palms Throughout America was met with controversy over the chosen route, which excluded New England, the higher Midwest, and Hawaii. Politicians and residents held protests in opposition to the motion, forming their very own separate hand holding actions in an effort to make their level about being People too. It’s key that this effort to alleviate American struggling was, not less than partly, overshadowed by this need to be seen and regarded part of American exceptionalism. Palms Throughout America and the following controversy it created is referenced in Purple’s plan. We see the occasion mirrored not solely in her motion to arrange the underground doppelgangers, the Tethered, above floor, however in her reference to the American fairy story too. When Purple tells Adelaide the story of her life, she begins with “As soon as upon a time…,” obscuring the normalcy of the Wilsons’ lives with the very fact their “fairy story” has left a household, a inhabitants, solely within the shadows. That has at all times been the story of recent America, a need to be higher or “Make America Nice Once more,” whereas ignoring the truth that it by no means was and that the nation was constructed on the backs of struggling and slaughtered individuals. However we wish to suppose by way of American innocence and heroism all the identical. Purple preys upon the notion of American innocence, of how even our greatest makes an attempt to dwell lives with out battle or in service of some subjective better good place us above others. Was the aim for Palms Throughout America really to point out our goodness fight poverty with out altering coverage, or was it an try to be seen and mirrored pretty much as good People? Both reply speaks to an id usual inside the notion of separate however equal, no matter what any regulation says.

Claudette Barius/Common StudiosLupita Nyong'o in Us. Rabbits and the Breeding Floor The title card for Us is superimposed over cages full of rabbits. These rabbits run free within the underground tunnel programs the place the Tethered have watched and waited. There are a few methods to contemplate these rabbits, past Peele’s personal admitted concern of the animals. The primary being that they're the preliminary take a look at outcomes of no matter means was used to create copies of individuals. That is the narrative reply, for which the dearth of a concrete rationalization, both scientific or supernatural, solely provides to movie’s basic eeriness. However the second reply is a thematic one. One of many first issues we consider once we think about rabbits is their breeding technique. They breed quickly, and if uncontrolled, give approach to overpopulation that may devastate an surroundings.

Field Workplace: Jordan Peele's 'Us' Scaring Up Enormous $67M-Plus U.S. Debut

Purple explains within the movie that the Tethered have been a failed try to regulate the people above, like puppets. One of the crucial environment friendly methods of making management amongst people is thru breeding. It’s the overrepresentation of a sure lineage, or overexpression of a shared ideally suited, that permits one group of individuals to supplant the opposite. “The place did all these individuals come from?” is a query requested in response to the most recent information of MAGA supporters. The reality is that they’ve at all times been right here, marinating of their united state of unrest and hatred of the opposite. America has created a breeding floor, by way of race, by way of class, and thru beliefs in-built concern, that has lengthy housed a inhabitants pushed by their darker impulses. For essentially the most half, these impulses have been saved beneath the floor and repressed. However they’ve by no means gone away. Now, beneath the group of leaders like Trump and his political supporters, this inhabitants has develop into uncaged. They vote. Peele has shunned offering too many concrete solutions concerning the nature of his movie. However with regards to the darker doppelgangers, he informed The Hollywood Reporter this week, “take into consideration this as form of the collective darkish facet of all of us and, that means, if you happen to’re trying on the issues of the world and pointing your finger out, then ask your self: 'What’s my half in it?'"

Our half in Trump’s election and the vocal MAGA supporters is an uncomfortable subject as a result of most well-intentioned and liberal-minded people don’t need to suppose they share a blame within the America we’re taking a look at now. We’ve discovered ethical safety in an “us versus them” mentality. However, I feel it’s essential to acknowledge that Trump’s base isn’t simply comprised of white supremacists or soulless people just like the Tethered consider themselves to be. It’s comprised of people that, like the reality of the Tethered, are the merchandise of their surroundings, and really feel that America has deserted them. They're a base made up of people who really feel that America has taken away their blue-collar jobs in factories and mines, and that the social rights that Democratic leaders and liberal voters have centered on have carried out nothing to assist their trigger in placing meals on the desk. This isn’t to say that one social justice is extra essential than the opposite, however slightly an examination of human considerations that at all times ends in one demographic being buried by the opposite. One thing to contemplate in terms of the Tethered or job-concerned MAGA supporters is that they're a dying class, not in dimension however in very actual phrases of survival, whose considerations are being utilized by a frontrunner who sees them as a method to an finish. For Trump, it’s ego and standing. Within the case of Purple, she’s attempting to get again to a place she as soon as had. Her group of the Tethered is in the end a egocentric aim, making her extra akin to the chief of a military than the chief of a motion.

Claudette Barius/Common StudiosWinston Duke and Shahadi Wright Joseph in Us. White Affluence and Double-Consciousness Peele’s resolution to make the Wilson household middle-class is purposeful. From the beginning, we see Gabe (Winston Duke) struggling together with his personal affluence. His measure of success is in relation to white success. He owns his blackness, sporting a sweatshirt proudly boasting Howard College, however he additionally needs to suit into the white sphere of affect. He buys a ship to point out up his rich white good friend Josh Tyler (Tim Heidecker) and his spouse Kitty (Elisabeth Moss), who discover methods to subtly jab on the Wilsons in a scene that mirrors the Armitage's occasion in Get Out. The argument may simply be made that the Tylers aren’t actually pals of the Wilsons, they usually use the Wilsons’ middle-class blackness as a approach to different themselves and relish of their upper-class whiteness. That is mirrored in a later scene wherein Kitty tells her husband that she sees somebody exterior. Josh jokes that it’s O.J. Simpson. That joke factors to a bigger social situation, one wherein a once-successful black man may be made right into a black boogeyman, and a drain on white security and peace of thoughts.

As a black man in America, Gabe is definitely conscious that he's one shadow faraway from being seen because the boogeyman, and should even hate the very fact. His son, Jason’s (Evan Alex) masks is a mirrored image of the truth that black males study that lesson at an early age. However Gabe is aware of that taking part in a task within the white success story by trying to reflect it's how he survives, and beneficial properties the required acceptance that permits him to maneuver freely in America above-ground, with out the specter of having to retreat again to touring secretly by Underground Railroad like his ancestors. Now greater than ever, inside the confines of Trump’s America, blackness is allowed to exist if we adjust to white guidelines, if we make it clear that we now have the identical objectives — the identical American Dream, that whereas so typically unattainable for us, lessens our otherness in white eyes. Gabe’s need to impress Josh alludes to W.E.B. Du Bois’ dialogue of double-consciousness, highlighted in his assortment of essays, The Souls of Black People (1903). In his essay titled “Of Our Religious Strivings,” Du Bois says, “the Negro is a form of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second sight on this American world- a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, however solely lets him see himself by way of the revelation of the opposite world. It's a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of at all times taking a look at one’s self by way of the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that appears on in amused contempt and pity.” Past Gabe’s must impress his white “pals,” double-consciousness can be a robust software in Adelaide’s case, a method to metal herself and her youngsters Zora (Shahadi Wright Jospeh) and Jason from the racism they may expertise. She will brace her household for the ache of being checked out in contempt, and whereas it doesn’t reduce the blow, it not less than doesn’t come as a shock. Maybe for this reason she fares higher at combatting her household’s doppelgangers than her husband. Adelaide succeeds by way of calculated ability and an consciousness of how she’s being seen, slightly than Gabe’s technique of survival by way of probability. Adelaide is more proficient at dealing with the duality of her personal nature, and never merely due to a repressed childhood reminiscence revealed within the movie’s finish. As Du Bois mentioned, “one ever feels his twoness, an American, a Negro, two souls, two ideas, two reconciled strivings; two warring beliefs in a single darkish physique, whose dogged power alone retains it from being torn asunder.” That dogged power so fittingly describes Adelaide and Purple. The double-consciousness of the Wilsons isn’t simply inside, however exterior and manifested within the type of their doppelgangers. Whereas everybody in Santa Cruz has a double, Purple and her household, comprised of Abraham, Umbrae and Pluto, lead the cost. Their blackness is their supply of power. Actually, Purple’s complete plot to take again the floor world displays Du Bois’ comment on his personal boyhood and fascination together with his personal place of otherness that saved him separate from the white world, “I bear in mind effectively when the shadow swept throughout me…I had thereafter no need to tear down that veil, to creep by way of. I held all past it in frequent contempt, and lived above it in a area of blue sky and nice wandering shadows.” Purple doesn’t need equality, as a result of she is aware of that the Tethered will at all times be separate, and separate however equal is a actuality she’d slightly not exist in. Reasonably, she needs to make use of her power to supplant her oppressor and take her place, a lot in the identical means that the doppelgangers in Peele’s reference level, The Twilight Zone episode “Mirror Picture” do. The movie leaves it open-ended as as to if or not the Tethered can succeed on this supplication and not using a chief. However no matter was uncaged can't be re-contained in its entirety, and regardless of Adelaide’s insistence, issues can’t return to regular. Us is the reflection of the breeding grounds for civil unrest that we’ve created that gave rise to the awful actuality of Trump’s presidency. It’s a actuality wherein the double consciousness of black people is each a curse and highly effective technique of survival that gives an intimate understanding that persons are at all times at warfare with themselves, because of striving to climb to the highest and witness these blue skies. However even when we attain it, the easy truth stays that our identities are mounted to this place and there’s no fairy story situation the place we are able to look out at this nation and its historical past and see greatness as an alternative of a shadow. We will’t escape U.S.

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