They Are THE Softest Ghouls Ever

can't stop thinking about this movie tbh..

dew is such a tease just let the poor boy have his lean

but that's my emotional support burning yearning need to bleed

guys i'm so in love with aurora i want her so bad

I'm dying... can someone be dying with me...?

"This thing about being a rebel, being an outsider, also has its price. I always took a step away from everyone else. (...) That’s just how I was. I didn’t join our school trip in the ninth grade and I didn’t go to the graduation either, because I didn’t want to join in. I didn't belong there. Even now in adulthood when I have a lot of things that I should be happy about and I’m really as far from all that as possible, I still have… I don’t know if it’s a nightmare, but I have a recurring dream where I’m still that age and I’m at home, alone, feeling as if I shouldn’t be there, that I should be where the others are but I'm not."

- Tobias Forge, Sweden Rock Mag 2020

"It's so important to spend time together, and have fun together, smiling together, feeling you're belonging somewhere, don't you think? It is a wonderful feeling. I've always felt that if I just got to the end of the rainbow, whatever is there, I will find belonging... And I'm assuming that this is it. The belonging that we're sharing."

- Papa Emeritus IV's speech in Indianapolis 8/22/2023

my first ritual was actually fucking insane because i was just sitting there and my favorite band just kind of showed up. and then i realized holy shit this is my favorite band AND the ghouls are literally some of my favorite musicians??? double package. i'm still in shambles over it and it's been 2 weeks now.

my FOMO is so bad rn i hate it so much. it's eating me alive. i am so mentally unwell over this band and i'm too dependent on them for my mental health so i can't just take a break. but fuckkkkk this is hard.

Sex in Saltburn

You know how this is a movie about men, filmed by a woman?

Well, this movie is somehow shamed for its sexual scenes and is seen as being provocative for the sake of it, but this is a very biased take.

1)Men are not judged for using bodies however they want in their movies. Fennell doesn't even do that. The majority of the scenes that have shocked so many are close ups to faces. The unhinged aspects of them -licking whatever Felix left in the bathtub, the vampire scene, the grave scene, the MotDF scene- are not hollow.

The bathtub scene shows the intensity of Oliver's desire and how it's consumated only through the house. The Vampire scene adds to Oliver's character: It demonstrates his ability to pick up information, to shift according to them and to be a perfect acolyte, giving people what he thinks they want.

The Grave scene and the Murder on the Dance Floor scene are the only two with ACTUAL nudity. In them, nudity is not about sex in itself. The Grave scene is about grief, raw and twisted and powerful. It evokes the scene of Heathcliff disturbing Cathy's grave to ensure that their souls will be reunited. But in Saltburn love is something very sexual/physical. Here too, just like in the bathtub scene, Oliver consumates with Saltburn itself what he'll never consumate with Felix. There is a fulfillment by touching and feeling the material as an extension of the person he desires, and it's to the estate that he displaces his obsession upon when Felix is gone.

Then, the dance is about triumph and confidence, about a post-coital joy through having exacted one's hatred upon its objects and through material possession as a substitute for the losses. But Oliver does not have EVERYTHING he wanted. He wanted people, he wanted Felix. He's a king but he has disposed of the subjects. It's all beautifully fulfilling and obviously hollow at the same time.

2) Oliver being good at sex is essential. The movie touches upon that when Farleigh says that Richard III would be good at sex because he's insecure and he'd put in all the work. Men like to think themselves as sex gods. This movie is different. Oliver is good at sex because he's an acolyte. He puts in the work and has learned to notice what people like and to give it to them, which is something he channels with his partners. On the other hand, acoording to Fennell, Felix was not good at sex or kissing because he never had to be. People fall at his feet and his privilege allows him to just have his fun and be sloppy. This idea that you have to be attentive, listen, notice and be interested in giving pleasure to be good at sex is not reserved for women, but it's certainly representative of their lense.

Fennell's female gaze is a good thing and more directors should be trying it. I hate how these scenes are used to reduce the movie when they only add to its appeal.