saintouija

[saintouija]

THE WITCH

2015, dir. Robert Eggers

#❈ saint ouija. #❈ teacher.

[saintouija]

#baby duchess... pre-everything... #❈ duchess of plague.

[saintouija]

John Malkovich and Uma Thurman on the set of Dangerous Liaisons, 1988.

#❈ saint ouija. #duchess and whomst

[saintouija]

She’s been hearing that a lot lately. Just the other day, Salem asked if she would please come away from the palace to see him more often. It feels very strange to be missed. She didn’t think she would be, especially by the two of them; they have each other now.

But maybe it would be nice. The quiet’s been driving her a little mad. Naberius has been away for a long time. 

          “I get very… distracted, sometimes. But it seems you need me! You’ve been listening to all these men, poisoning your brain… I’ll try to be better about it. Really I will.” 

This is actually the first bit of advice she's been given since turning that she doesn't have an immediate bad response to. It might just be Willow's new attempt at embracing her situation but --- isn't Duchess right? It isn't about them. It isn't about anyone... And things will come together over time. She can only hope.

"You're so wise, Duchess," Willow smiles, reaching for her hand. "I could listen to you talk for hours, I think."

Ever since they met, Willow has felt this kind of kinship. She only wishes she was better at reaching out to her. She smiles.

"I wish you'd visit more often..."

#unpossession

[saintouija]

LÉA SEYDOUX as LADY MARGOT FENRING Dune: Part Two (2024), dir. Denis Villeneuve

#so cool of lea to just Play Duchess in dune for me like that #❈ duchess of plague.

[saintouija]

“The world is entire, and I am outside of it, crying,”

— Virginia Woolf, from The Waves. (via xshayarsha)

#❈ about.

[saintouija]

          “Who cares what they think! It isn’t about them,”          Duchess says.          “They don’t know what’s going on, what it’s like to be you. They never will. Do as you please.” 

Besides, it isn’t as if anyone she knows has the right to an opinion anyway. She surrounds herself with devils and criminals, monsters, witches of the left-hand path. Who are they to judge? The best of them is Salem, sweet Salem, but even he knows the score. Good as he may be, he puts himself in the arms of the same wretched beasts she does. There is no room for judgment here. From anyone.

          “With time, I imagine it will all become clearer. It’s a big transition. A frightening one. Especially with how unexpected it all was. Things are confusing now, but it won’t always be like this.” 

"Mostly," Willow says weakly. But who knows when she'll have her next breakdown and demand the death of a girl just like her? Duchess provides a little comfort, being so calm about it -- encouraging, even, but still... It is difficult, sometimes, after. The most recent ones have been easier. She hasn't needed to clean them up. It's easier to run away from the scene and sweep it all under the rug when you don't have to dispose of anything yourself.

God knows what she's going to do when she has to go it alone.

"It's hard. I worry more, I think, about what other people will think of it than what-- what it actually means to have done it."

#unpossession

[saintouija]

As much as she enjoys watching Zero, talking to him can be very tedious. But she thinks she can manage. It would be a special circumstance—an emergency—if Emma were to disappear. She nods, only hesitating for a split-second beforehand.          “Of course. I hope it never comes to anything like that, though.” 

Her absence would be deeply unnerving. Duchess knows enough about Emma to understand that, even if she’s murky on some of the finer details. 

          “You always find your way back somehow. Don’t you?” 

Emma thinks about the offer --- Really, having an observer could prove quite useful. If she were to go missing, at least someone might have a clue as to where she went, or even notice her absence at all. She shakes her head.

"No, you can keep watching. It's quite different now that I know who my admirer is. You know of Zero, yes? If you ever notice that I have disappeared from your watch, you must let him know. That's my only stipulation."

#unheaven

[saintouija]

          “Why would I be mad?”          Duchess asks, laughing a little.         “They’ve mostly just been men.”

And what does the world lose, really, when a woman kills a man? Every single one of them probably deserved it in some way, even if it wasn’t obvious at the time. With each death, somebody somewhere—most likely a woman—breathed a sigh of relief, she’s sure of it.

           “One day I hope to ascend to demonic glory. And that—that will be a bloodbath, I assure you,”          she sighs, leaning her chin in her hand and gazing wistfully at nothing in particular.          “It’s a luxury you now have, killing. I imagine it must be a little difficult, though…” 

❝ show no remorse. ❞ -- @saintouija

She visibly relaxes at this instruction. The tension in her shoulders has been coiling up inside of her since they started this conversations. There are mirrors all over Zero's house. Mirrors in her own. She knows that Duchess knows more than she would like her to, she only hopes that what she's saying now means she also knows how hard it was to get here. That she isn't being met with judgement for doing exactly what it is she's been rewired to do.

It means she doesn't have to pretend to be more heartbroken than she is. Show no remorse. She can do that; she's been doing that since she first acquiesced to a more violent lifestyle.

"Okay - okay. You're not mad? I worried that maybe..."

#unpossession

[saintouija]

CARRIE (1976) dir. Brian De Palma

#lol. lmao #❈ saint ouija.

[saintouija]

LEGEND (1985) dir. Ridley Scott

#❈ saint ouija. #❈ teacher.

[saintouija]

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA  1992, dir. Francis Ford Coppola

#❈ saint ouija.

[saintouija]

          “How lucky for me that I am a woman, then,”          Duchess giggles, feeling very kindred with Emma.          “Again, I apologize for the confusion. I was in no way trying to exacerbate your troubles. I’m an admirer.” 

In many ways, she is the ideal Duchess strives for—a perfect model of great and terrible infernality that she can only hope to one day live up to. She’s starstruck to be in the same room with her, and certainly flattered that she isn’t inclined to kill her. For all her fantasies about living among the people she watches, she’d never been able to guess whether or not Emma would actually like her. This seems like a good sign.

          “Would—”          She hesitates to offer, because she doesn’t want to. But she respects this woman.          “—Would you prefer it if I didn’t? I can stop, if you like…”  

Emma sneers a bit, but tries very hard to smile at the end of Duchess's explanation. She supposes it is a nice place to live, if it's one's own choice. Seems awfully lonely to her, though. Emma much prefers to be around people, even if she is a danger to them.

"I've had the sense of you for quite a long time, but as you may know if you're truly a fan, I have some -- reliability issues. I wasn't sure I wasn't imagining things until a few weeks ago. I was ready to kill you. If you weren't such a pretty, polite thing I might have done it right away. Especially if you were a man."

#unheaven

[saintouija]

Lea Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring in Dune Part 2 ( 2024 )

#she was. in f act. giving #❈ duchess of plague.

[saintouija]

What a funny question. It gives Duchess pause. Sometimes she isn’t sure. 

          “I chose to come here,”          she says, because that much is true.          “And I chose to stay. I’m permitted to come and go as I please. But I appreciate the graciousness of your concern.”

There is no literal tether that keeps her here. If this place ever feels like a prison, it’s because she makes it so. This is her home, and it’s a beautiful home. Besides, there is nothing for her out there, really; the lives she watches, fascinating as they are, do not intercept with hers very often because there is simply no place for her among them. She’s only being realistic.

          “How long have you known?”

Emma lets the poor woman sit in her suspense awhile; pretending to deliborate on whether or not to accept the apology. She likes to keep her audience on tenterhooks where she can, hanging on her every microexpression, waiting for the next words to come out of her mouth. Really, she's already decided. Duchess can live. She finds her curiosity rather endearing.

"I accept your apology. Zero and I do make fascinating studies, I'm sure... Are you trapped here? Or is it by choice that you watch the outside world rather than participate?" She knows a thing or two about being locked away. If she can help, she will.

#unheaven

[saintouija]

im into some fucked up shit. raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. brown paper packages tied of with strings. i could go on but you couldnt even handle it

#❈ about.

[saintouija]

          “Oh—well, I’m not so good with the specifics of time…”          Duchess bites her lip, trying to form an educated guess. Everything moves so quickly and yet so slowly, especially here. Some days feel like years and vice versa.          “At least a few years. Ever since I became aware of you, really, through Zero… Shortly after you met him, I think. Whenever that might have been. I watch him, too.”

She takes Emma’s hand and kisses it, assuming that’s what she’s meant to do. She wonders if perhaps she should have done so before the rambling explanation, but it’s too late now. Best not to second guess herself.

          “I don’t leave here very often, you see. I entertain myself by watching the lives of others. I am no threat to you, only fascinated,”          she assures.          “I really do apologize if it seemed otherwise.” 

Well. She can't very well murder somebody with such good manners, can she?

The curtsey forces Emma to rethink her violent intentions. Her back straightens, no longer arched like a cat's, her hand loses it's claw-like shape. It becomes soft, a queen's hand, extended in limp greeting. The kind of outstretched hand you kiss the knuckle of, rather than shake.

As is custom for Emma, she scans the rest of the room for threats, her gaze lingering slightly on entrances, potential exits - devil's traps, too. If she is to be here any longer than it takes to slaughter a stranger, then she must do her due dilligence.

"Duchess." She repeats. Charming little name. Charming gown, too. Perhaps having an admirer isn't so bad after all. Certainly one as fashionable as she, and as clearly delighted by fear as she is. Emma wonders at the things she's seen. At the things she knows. Perhaps she knows more of Emma's life than the woman herself. So much is lost to her own memory. "How long have you been watching me, Duchess?"

#unheaven