WELCOME TO THE DREAMSCAPE, HECTOR YANG. WHAT IS A DREAM?

ANSWER: The body’s most honest communication with itself.

Hector Yang is Magnolia’s answer to mayordom (or martyrdom, depending on how you’re feeling). While there is a self-made hunger to the Yang family, a level of ambition that feeds the frenzy of the machine, Hector subscribes to a quieter life. Pragmatic, softer around the edges, built for survival in-as-much as he does his best to make the right decisions and they unspool in his hands like threads caught unawares. There is a sense of the revenant about him, that something haunts the corners of his mind; he is afloat, diligent, wondering about the way that life oscillates around him. Tender as an uncovered nerve, gentle as the night, Hector walks through dreams with a ghost touch. He lingers long enough to leave an imprint, the faint outline of a hand against the glass window of your mind, and he’s gone again; the greatest escape a man has is the dreamscape that opens up to him like the coming of spring. Hector is many things, but he is not prone to unkindness; he is not a trickster, not prone to Machiavellian behaviour; he did not perform any trickery or sleight-of-hand to land neatly on his feet as mayor. He believes in hard work, honours these values-- --honours himself most of all. Long nights, cold moons, neck pain from craning to look up, up, up. Hector’s aesthetic is crispness: he presents well, shirts pressed and shoes shined, affable to those around him. In private, his comfort fades to stiffness; he is ill-at-ease with himself and maintains distance from himself, as though he is uncertain of how to be still, and quiet, and whole. Parts of him he finds in the dreamscape; other parts he leaves behind. He is always on the move because stillness reminds him that there are things missing. Consider: a man constantly leaving himself behind / the watcher in the long night / wanted stars but he got slithers of stardust instead / water pooling through cupped, clasped hands / heart-on-sleeve enshrined in armour / desperate to do right and be right / morally upstanding / restless / wild youth mellowing to caution in adulthood / perpetually trying to amend for bad decisions / Religious Guilt Personified, perhaps

“I kept my mind on the moon. Cold moon, long nights moon.” - Richard Siken

imagine dreaming of someone for 29 years, and being in their dreams as much as they’re in yours, and then they turn up in magnolia and you have an instant connection. imagine growing up together in the dreamscape, separated by thousands of miles, sometimes not speaking when the connection to the fade weakens due to proximity--or lack thereof--to magnolia. that bone-deep connection when you see someone for the first time and it’s just, oh, hello. it’s you. doesn’t have to be romantic, doesn’t have to be anything beyond an innate, soul-deep understanding of each other. can even be an enemies thing, wherein their connection remains but there’s a distaste for each other in the real world that wasn’t there prior to them meeting. or maybe it was! who knows! anyway, i’d love to explore something like this, i’m just, u know, Real Bad @ Want Ads. this is super flexible, doesn’t have to be rosamund, should probably be late 30s-early 40s just because hector yang, mayor of magnolia, is 40. ty for readinggggg 

of unholy things shitposts | nolan edition

dedicated to an epic emotional terrorist @elvenkings​

THE STRANGEWAY FAMILY

Strangeway is a name wrapped in lilting verse: misshapen, odd, cool like a river. Stalwart and old, they are a coven that believes in order over chaos, in organisation and stoicism above all else. Let not the vultures feed; be the thing wrapped up so tightly that none might pierce it. Be terrifying, but above all else—be visible, and never complacent. They hoard their knowledge and enshrine it in rite and ritual that tests the worthiness of the seeker. They are strict and regimented in their teachings, unyielding to outside forces, steel-spined with vested interests in maintaining their traditions; they believe wholly that the ends justify the means or, as their patriarch would say, “finis coronat opus”. Whilst the Strangeways are patriarchal, they look first and foremost to power and ambition as markers of success and carrying the bloodline, and will discount birthright for suitability if necessary. ENTER THE STRANGEWAY SIBLINGS, STAGE RIGHT.

Alexander Strangeway (40-42; Michiel Huisman is pictured), the apple of his father’s eye, is the public-facing darling Lysander has never been capable of being. He exudes a dignified and calming presence, underneath which masks a deep, driving ambition and tenacity for change - and control. Alexander is as great as his name would suggest. Focused, measured, and dedicated to performing in a way that keeps him in favour with the people, he’s a skilled manipulator who is not without charm. Outwardly, Alexander is aloof and charming; inwardly, he follows Percival’s manta of maintaining power and the status quo at all costs. Alexander married a few years ago, and may or may not have children. Andromeda Strangeway (39-41; Keira Knightley is pictured), youngest and brightest-burning star. The world bows to the potential of Andromeda Strangeway, formidable in her witchcraft and her command of a room. She understands the currency of power in its rawest form - likeability - and has spent the years since her youth constructing herself as a well-liked woman of the people. Like all Strangeways, Andromeda has a poised charm and grace about her that is both inbuilt through breeding, and trained through strenuous lessons in decorum and behaviour. She manipulates through the guise of words, much like her father, and knows the strength behind well-placed wit that might manifest into a well-placed put down in the right circumstances. In her private life, Andromeda is calculated and cunning, but possesses an aptitude for softness - she indulges because she can, but she is not without kindness. She could be married or engaged to maintain Strangeway respectability, or she might court intrigue by remaining single and coy about her relationships. Essentially: They are a family of vipers embroiled within a web of their own making: they are ambitious, tenacious, and work both for themselves and the good of the family name. A certain way of describing them would be akin to Lannisters - no might is greater than their own, they only have themselves and a network of allies to depend upon, etc. Think of them as regimented, powerful, aware and in tune of their own capabilities and potential. In an ideal world, Percival would have them eating each other alive for the spot of Strangeway heir; in actuality, as Lysander shrugged off the mantle, Alexander stepped up to shoulder it with poise and greatness. They are not as close as some siblings might be, but still hold deep affection for each other.

you thought this was going to be fancy, didn’t you? WELL SO DID I. I STARTED MAKING GIFS! I STARTED MAKING VIBES! but... i descended into chaos. if i could give this a zero i would but i can’t so it gets a one. i have nothing to offer other than these vibes (neglected marriage, frustration on both their parts, deep love for each other but overall the shape of sadness filling all the voids because they've been married for twenty years and the sun is setting) and my eternal gratitude. pictured is julia jones but any woman of colour over the age of 40 is absolutely (late 30s @ a push as cyrus is... i can’t mafs... 44?). thanks for reading xx

WHAT I’M WATCHING IN 2022... OF UNHOLY THINGS

Magnolia, South Carolina is a place most people are dying to leave. Others are dying to find what it offers: peace, salvation, solitude. Woven in between the trees, buried under miles of earth, are secrets in languages few remember. Tucked under tongues and in the pages of books, words will soon come to light. And for a town that has never faced a reckoning in its life... well, the arrival of the FBI is about to change all that.

LYSANDER STRANGEWAY — 43,  LIBRARIAN, WITCH

pisces sun, capricorn moon, capricorn rising / melancholic-sanguine / istj-t / chaotic good —  “but what are we really guilty of? the blood memory of what we can’t forgive ourselves for.” — 6′5″ and ready to cry. first-born son of a resplendent dynasty creeping its way back through the ages like ivy on wood, but more than happy to shirk the burden and surround himself with literature and silence instead. uptight, cold, aloof, the librarian you dread meeting at the library because nothing is ever good enough or tidy enough in his eyes. chronically unhelpful and chronically dismissive; sour-faced and stalwart, desperate for the right to forget himself. a greek tragedy wrapped and ready to be unpacked; his mother’s son and not his father’s. if the lineage skips him, is it a terrible burden? first-born, ill-regarded, passed over for his brother. 

ROBIN MOODY — 34,  BARTENDER, RELUCTANT MEDIUM

scorpio sun, leo moon, scorpio rising / choleric-melancholic / isfj-t / chaotic neutral —  “i like to call myself wound but i will answer to knife.”  — a low hum of chaotic energy in constant denial of the Facts (the Facts being that She Sees Ghosts). robin is a howl stuffed and crammed into a 5′3″ body while swearing she’s 5′5″ and spiritually closer to 6′6″. tried to get the hell out of dodge but never quite managed it; icarian for the way she has heavenly pursuits and ends up getting burnt. boisterous, tomboyish, haughty, down-to-earth. has a good left hook but a stronger right one. fleur vale? never heard of her. (false: she’s haunted by her.) good morals but they’re streaked through with grey; dependable until she’s not; catch her if you can (she’s always just out of reach). like the sun, she is cyclical; she is never not burning.

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𝕠𝕗 𝕦𝕟𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 

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IT IS TERRIBLY GOOD TO CARRY WATER AND CHOP WOOD, STREAKED WITH SOOT, HEAVY-BOOTED, AND WILD-EYED

name: ellis age: 27 timezone: gmt astrological sign: capricorn sun, capricorn moon, scorpio rising favourite play-bys: big fan of actors primarily with the occasional model thrown in! i tend to cycle thru lee pace, oscar isaac, tessa thompson, chiwetel ejiofor, phoebe tonkin, alicia vikander, jessica chastain, keira knightley and indira varma as main fcs that i use. would love to use anya chalotra and gugu mbatha-raw at some point! other faces i would love to use include ni ni, gemma chan, pooja mor, anais mali, emily bador, jessica henwick--literally the list is endless! plots you’re always down for: found families! enemies-to-whatever! i’m also a big fan of science-y plots even though i have a very limited understanding of science! favourite sci-fi movie(s): pacific rim, arrival, fast colour if you ever encountered an alien, what’s the first thing you’d say? bye! what would you like to see from us? that would be telling! your favourite discord emoji: any and all squirtle emojis