Actually, it’s Henry Selick, who was the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The book was written by Neil Gaiman, though, and is far…far….worse.
Sorry, I’m about to geek the hell out.
The movie is captivating, but the book is twenty kinds of terrifying, even now, ten years after I first read it. As disturbing as the movie may have been to some, the things Selick added really serve to cushion just how horrific the story really is.
First of all, the character of Wybie does not exist in the book. Coraline is facing all of this nearly alone, with her only help coming from the sly comments of the cat, a warning from the circus mice, and the stone given to her by her neighbor, presented with no comment but that it “makes the unseen seen.”
Second, the Other Parents are never quite as warm (and, dare I say, normal) as they are in the gifs above. They’re described as having paper-white skin and the Other Mother’s hair is said to move on its own, and her long, red, claw-like nails don’t ease any uncertainty that she is absolutely, positively up to no good. The first time Coraline meets them, they (and the rest of the Others) seem to be playing roles (for whatever reason, Coraline does not seem to pick up on this), like they all know what to say and what to do and are simply waiting for Coraline to make her move in their terrifying play world. This is shown to be partly true when the Other Parents tell her they know she’ll be back soon after she refuses the buttons - this time, to stay.
Third, the Other Mother commits atrocities that really should not have been in a book for anyone not fully grown up. She physically deforms the world around Coraline to slow her progress in their game beyond any mild traps the movie portrays, and, instead of turning the Other Father into the wandering pumpkin-thing seen in the film, she simply ceases to use him and throws his body away in the cellar, leaving him to rot with whatever bit of sentience he has left. She begins to lose her touch, as Coraline gains the upper hand. Her world doesn’t just become a nightmare - it falls apart completely. No creepy but oddly cool bug furniture here, just the house that now appears to be a child’s drawing. Whatever the Other Mother is (a beldame, but something tells me she’s much more ancient and powerful than that), she does not give half a hump about what she has to do to ensnare Coraline. Destroy the supporting characters of her twisted creation? Done. Allow herself to be dismembered to ruin Coraline’s life in the normal world? Not even gonna bat an eyelash.
On a final, personal note, imagine eight year-old me, ignored by my parents, absorbed in the story and identifying with Coraline from the start. Imagine me finishing this bloodcurdling book and immediately thinking of my basement, where there is still a locked door that my grandmother swears up and down is nothing more than a storage room, but has not once in my (or my mother’s) lifetime unlocked.
my friend and i thought it’d be a good idea to put evanescence over steven universe clips but. we were wrong. really wrong. this was supposed to be a joke
Oh wow, he was already at that stage? He’s a lot younger than I thought.
Thing is, he doesn’t actually know how old he is.
This event in particular was when he was 16 or so, but he kept that look for a few years before he took on a more ‘business’ appearance.
He thinks he’s 3 years older than he actually is, and when he fakes an identity later and pays for it, on paper it’s 6 years older than he actually is.
5, doesn’t know or care how old he is
7-8, living more or less is the same every day and he’s come to understand that nopony will ever care if he’s hurt
9, gets his first tip. Identifies with it and feels some sense of self worth from having it.
10, he’s been slowly polishing this jewel with his hooves while maintaining his own appearance so he could do better at getting tips that he could hide
He’s around 11 here, he’s been hiding tips for a while and found his cutie mark when he managed to pretty himself up enough to get a really good amount.
13, he manages to run away with the tips he’s been hiding and takes a train ticket as far as he can go. He enjoys actually living for the first time in his life, and chocolate cake is the first thing he’s ever eaten besides oatmeal.
However, he doesn’t know how to survive on his own. He can’t find a place to stay, so he thinks the only way he can get a hotel at night is by selling his body, creating ‘Jewel’.
Yes, he’s actually 13. But he doesn’t know how old he is, so he guesses he’s 16 as legal age in Equestria is 14-15 (cuz horses)
14, he’s been saving up his money and polishing the jewel he’s had this whole time, trying to perfect the cut. He still calls himself Jewel, the gemstone he has is a spinel and he feels they’re in this together. He wants to save enough money to start a life of his own.
16, he gets called ‘tranny trash’ and realizes he’s no longer beautiful like ‘Jewel’ was supposed to be. So he discarded the identity and moved on to find a new one. ‘Spinel’.
So, at age 17, he believed he was 20. He payed off some ponies in the black market to set him up with an identity, and ‘legally’, he became 23 so he could start up a front and his business.
Here, he’s technically 19, believes he’s 22, and is 25 according to the papers.
Here, he’s a lot older. I’m not sure how much older, but he’s at least 29 and claiming to be in his 30s.
So everyone’s talking about Rose/Pearl’s relationship and such, but I’d like to point out another interesting thing about this episode.
When Pearl makes holo-rose, she’s recreating the scene. She repeats it, word for word. Every expression Rose made, every shift of a curl. And as we all know, Pearl is an extreme perfectionist. She wouldn’t change a detail of this scene.
So what am I getting at? Pearl’s posture.
Pearl is down on one knee. Heck, she’s GENUFLECTING. Everything about her posture and expression illustrates extreme respect, and this is before they are even allies in battle.
My next point is Rose’s Flag. It could very well be a revolution flag meant to represent the crystal gems, it’s true. But take a look at it. It’s 100% rose quartz. None of the other gems are represented on it in any way. Don’t you think it would be a little out of character for Rose, who’s all about loving everyone and everything, to make their flag all about her? It seems a little vain for this selfless gem we’ve been shown.
So here’s my theory; Rose Quartz was gem Royalty. Or at least held a very high rank. All of the gems respect her unconditionally (beyond that, they all seem positively enamored with her) she has whole armories, she has an insignia on a FLAG. It would make sense that Rose would be an incredibly important gem. As far as we know Rose was the only gem with healing abilities. Even Lapis Lazuli seemes shocked to hear that Steven had healing powers. Rose could have held the life of her entire species in her hands, which would make her pretty damn important. So if the gems do come back to earth, what will we learn about Rose, and who she was before she chose earth?
What if Rose Quartz isn’t actually Quartz?
Look at her gem. and well,
this is the pinkest piece of gemstone cut rose quartz i could find on a cursory search. See how its smokey and not really “pink” like Rose’s gem?
Well, I have a gem that matches it much better.
This is a rose diamond.
explains the pink diamond on Pearl’s space suit
‘Rose Quartz is a stone of the heart, a Crystal of Unconditional Love. It carries a soft feminine energy of compassion and peace, tenderness and healing, nourishment and comfort‘
I’ll also like to point out that even though it is a beautiful stone, it is known for its faults
Perhaps Rose changed her name because she felt that the ‘Diamond’ authority didn’t suit her? (CoughTheWarCough)
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
