war of the foxes, richard siken / the good place (2016) / twin size mattress, the front bottoms / fleabag (2016) / jamie anderson / wandavision (2021) / in the realm of grief, noor unnahar / twin peaks (1990) / on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, ocean vuong
angels in america by tony kushner / jacob’s dream by noah reid / the civil war by anne sexton / eros the bittersweet by anne carson / kushner again / something that may shock and discredit you by daniel lavery
its really comforting to know that all the times i was at my lowest and loneliest in the past the whole time i had my self in the future and present who had survived those things looking back with love and tenderness and wishing desperately to offer comfort…i am my own guardian angel and i can use that knowledge when im struggling now and remember that somewhere there is a version of me that has survived this and is watching me with love and pride and joy in her heart
That moment in the Perrault Bluebeard that I do not think about enough - the wife goes on her knees and begs Let me pray before you kill me, let me have a moment to myself.
And he grants it. Why does he? Has he done this for each of his wives? Why allow this space to open up, respect the solitude of their own minds, the separate selfhood which he is about to destroy forever?
Perhaps it is so that both them may feel the piquancy of the anticipation of violence, waiting and wondering and imagining. Perhaps he relishes the cruelty of granting her respite and then taking it away again, letting her hope that he shall change his mind while he does nothing but sharpen his axe. Or perhaps he believes his own ideology and believes that her curiosity has indeed been a sin for which she should seek redemption; perhaps he wants her to make honest prayers, to cleanse her soul as much as possible before he enacts her punishment. Perhaps he does respect the private space of her mind.
For his final bride, those moments are a flurry of activity, remarkably coordinated; her sister’s feet fast upon the stairs to the tower, the sharp, urgent search for her brothers. Does he know that she waits for this rescue, or does he imagine her resigned? Does she focus only on the slim possibility of survival, or is she already shaping death in her mind, trying to countenance it?
What a strange moment it is, in the shifting linkage between perpetrator and victim: she asks for privacy, for prayer, and he grants it. A mercy can be so little, can be so sparingly doled out. One breath to the next. And it opens up the rupture which shall save her, and destroy him, turn the story off its course.
If I may once again dip my toe into the discourse surrounding Greek Mythology, a lot of people like to rewrite or reframe the story of Medusa, and that’s great! Highly encourage it. But, DON’T YOU DARE GO AND DEMONIZE MY BOY PERSEUS!
Perseus isn’t some vile misogynist who hunts down and murders Medusa for the hell of it. He’s a scared kid who’s trying to save his mom from a forced marriage (whom herself has been a victim of terrible abuse from her father) to a creepy evil king and gets duped by the Gods into cleaning up their mess for them. He’s not the villain, he’s just another pawn. So if I see one more motherfucker trying to make him out to be the “real monster” I will throw hands.
You know what would be way more interesting?! Medusa sees Perseus rolling up to her crib and freaks out cause ‘holy shit this is a fucking kid. a fucking toddler with a sword and shield.’ and they hash it out and then TEAM UP to kill the evil kind trying to force marry Perseus’ mother! Think of the dynamics that you could write! The interactions that could occur. I mean, one of ‘em is gonna have to wear a blindfold but hey, minor problems.
What I’m saying is, gimme a buddy cop movie where Perseus and Medusa team up to fight evil in Ancient Greece.
I’m just picturing Perseus as this fairly well built sixteen year old kid, who looks a little underfed, and he’s like ‘ma’am I’m so sorry, I have to bring your head back to save my mom’ and medusa is like ‘okay, start over. We can work with this’ and compare trauma over some watered wine.
Danae and Medusa can get married and Perseus can have TWO Badass Moms
hello !!! do u know any poems that are abt not giving up and finding strength in urself etc? kinda like intructions on not giving up by ada limon! it can be book recs too ! boooks that just keep u going when things are hard?
“a litany for survival” by audre lord (i believe ive read that ada limón had this poem printed on her wall to look at every day during a difficult time in her life…. i have too)
