If I had to pick one line that is at the heart of the movie, it’s this one.
The movie (rightfully) comes right out and asks you to think about Grace, to fill the blank in the way people talk about her and see her as a full-fledged person who was suffering horribly. In contrast, it leans on the Creepy Little Girl aesthetic for young Martha and plays the emotional impact all this had on her close to the chest - until this line.
Prentice was like a father to her, the person she loved and most respected in the whole world. And he killed himself right in front of her, out of spite for his daughter. No matter what devotion Martha would heap on him, she would never be more worth living for than hurting Grace was worth dying for. She’s what, 11 then?
Of course she lords this over Grace. This one way in which she can feel like she’s been chosen (when it reality she’s been very much abandoned instead). She is childishly hanging onto something that makes the loss and the horror feel like it can be Worth something. A way in which she is loved.
Her whole life, she clings to that: the good one, not the bad one. If she’s not tied to the image of the ‘Harlot Whore’, does she even exist?
And maybe she doesn’t. It’s a running gag that she goes unnoticed. The Church is hers, she runs all of it, but she is unseen. The Good One doesn’t seek attention. The Good One doesn’t desire.
The Good One is a perpetual child even in her 70s, innocent to the point of parody. The Good One doesn’t know what a penis looks like, she is not a whore, she does not desire! (Rocket ships, what a funny scene! Surely not saying anything about her lifelong torment!)
The Good One cannot do anything but sneak a small smile when the man she loves displays his desire for her. But she can’t want back.
She has to deny herself, so she can believe her father would still love her. Else, what has it all been for?
they won’t tell you this in therapy but sometimes the best way to stop catastrophizing/anxiety is to interrupt your spiraling with “girl what the hell are you talking about”
It’s not a cure but you have no idea how many times this image has helped me with my OCD
On sonic images that help with mental health, this one genuinely helped me more than i would like to admit
this one has legit helped so much with my mental and physical disabilities. Do you know how often some bullshit happens and I sigh and say “but we move”
yes hello this is my character his name is…. Farmer Peasant…. his background is he is…. a peasant…. he HATES the tyrannical boy king, the concept of nephews, and sleeping on the ground. He was forced to flee his… village… after a failed attempt to lead a… people’s uprising against the wicked king. Now he travels with his faithful… farmhand… seeking some sort of magical relic that might allow him to restore… justice… once and for all… very painful justice…
his skills include
a full set of strong beautiful teeth
identifying fine perfumes
alternating between sloshing wine in a goblet and taking a bite out of a pheasant leg
farm stuff but it’s too complicated to explain
he is, um, a powerful wizard. no he doesn’t have any books or scrolls and he can’t pronounce the more technical magical words and never has to prepare his spells. but that’s because of his salt of the earth upbringing.
Fun fact, The Questing Beast of Arthurian Legend is the result of people attempting to describe what a giraffe was, then being explained and drawn by people who have never actually seen it.
The Questing Beast was said to have a head and neck of a snake (long neck), body of leopard (coat pattern), hind legs of a lion (tufted tail) and feet of a deer (”hooves:).
I’m having emotions at this artwork. It’s caught between fright and awe; fascination and fear.
Behold, a unicorn.
He got two horns tho
*record scratch*
*music starts back up*
BEHOLD, A UNICORN
Albrecht Dürer drew this Rhino Unicorn 1515 purely based on descriptions of people who had actually seen one. He got it pretty close, though.
