Evan/William

Imagine making an oc for a D&D oneshot and then five years later one of your best friends decides to use it as a conduit for their newfound passion of writing yaoi smut. Depending on who you ask, Charlie Slimecicle is living several people’s best dreams and worst nightmares

The fact that Father Wicks died because he was so consumed by the need to punish his daughter for her "sins" that he literally swallowed 'Eve's Apple' is maddening to me, literally named it for original sin but was so caught up in attaching that sin to femininity that he killed himself over it. Literally named his daughter Grace and never gave her a single spec of it. Literally ate the apple too. Literally.

I do love how the characters in wake up dead man are a lot more subtle with how awful they are. They're not the cartoonish evils of Glass Onion or the loud and chaotic old money evils of the first movie (which fit the vibe of their own movie). But the evil was more grounded. They were normal people that were radicalized by a man who used their bad sides to secure their undying loyalty. The incel behaviour is played for laughs, but it's also a sobering moment of ah, fuck these were just normal people before. They weren't rich. They weren't powerful. They were vulnerable. And easily manipulated.

WAKE UP DEAD MAN SPOILERS!

the Benoit Blanc Mysteries teach us 4 important things:

spoilers for wake up dead man!!

having wicks symbolise jesus, comparing himself to jesus in that big speech, implying that his father was god and that he was preparing to fall and rise again, having him be the one that was leading the flock, etc, and then actually have him 'rise' from the dead on the third day and 'die' again after having been betrayed by someone close to him - already fantastic, i was totally on board

having the plot twist be that samson, the one that was probably the most separated from wicks' church, the one who was said to truly love and care for others the most, the one willing to sacrifice for those he loved, the CARPENTER (who uses nails on good friday to essentially make his own coffin), actually ends up as the one rising from the dead on the third day to be killed by someone close to him - also fantastic

my actual favorite scene in wake up dead man is the one where jud is on the phone with the woman from the construction company and she asks him to pray for her, the sudden turn from humor to complete seriousness without it feeling like a tonal whiplash is really really good

this is basically how it went right

I just wanna say also that, especially as an atheist, I love that Wake Up Dead Man was not Christian versus atheist. It was weaponizer of power Christian versus faith and kindness Christian.

Not to get on my soap box but I have a lot more in common with a Christian of my own values than a fellow atheist without. And a good-faith Christian has a lot more in common with a good-faith person of any other religion or lack-there-of than they ever could a manipulative, power-hungry, fear-mongering Christian.

I think the story often told doesn't draw those lines where they should be drawn, and it was something lovely to see. That Jud is in the same category as "proud heretic" Benoit. Wicks the same as Miles Bron.

so you’re telling me one of the characters in wake up dead man is a formerly beloved author who, after the culmination of his wildly popular fiction series, has been radicalized online by right-wing conspiracy theorists, has abandoned his successful writing career in favor of spending all of his time on social media (and what little writing he does put out on his substack is praised only by his staunchest supporters), and is SO convinced that everyone’s out to get him that he’s dug a literal moat around his (distinctly castle-shaped) house?

lol. lmao, even.

I love how Blanc went from tapping a single note on a piano to hurry the interviews along while remaining a silent and mysterious figure in the background to straight up blasting the phantom of the opera on a church organ to interrupt a murder confession

if i came to investigate a case and the main suspect was named “judas duplicitous” i’d throw in the towel dude

The duality of reviews on wake up dead man

one thing i have loved from the knives out movies is the way benoit blanc visually changes to fit each narrative. classic noir in the first, beach vacation in the second, and new england gothic in the third. his taste remains consistent across movies, but he makes enough adjustments to his style to blend into each story. i just find it such a nice detail that works so well with the anthology aspect of the series

glass onion really was benoit's day off like yeah there was an explosion and he had to run around in the dark while a murderer was carrying a loaded gun but ☝️ helen didn't keep trying to confess to murder

you can tell jud is a catholic because he keeps feeling guilty and confessing to stuff he's not responsible for

when Jud said "God didn't hide me or fix me, He loves me when I'm guilty, and that's what I should be doing for these people, not this whodunnit game!" and "we are here to serve the world! Not beat it! That is what Christ did" and "by using me in your game, you're setting me against my real and only purpose in life, which is not to fight the wicked and bring them to justice, but to serve them and bring them to Christ. Otherwise I'm just as bad as Wicks, making it about me and not Jesus" and "this church is not medieval, we're in New York... it's Neo-Gothic 19th century... and the rites and rituals and costumes, all of it. It's storytelling... the question is, do these stories convince us of a lie, or do they resonate with something deep inside us that's profoundly true?"