bless your heart

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"Tutorial" on how to draw an OC with dwarfism (well, some of it).

Boring tired disclaimer: Keep in mind that this is an introductory "drawing" "tutorial" and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. Which happens to be true for everything in general.

You are heavily encouraged to do your own research because this does not contain everything you should know before making a character with any type of dwarfism.

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it is SUCH a good movie oh my god. to explain real quick, the night of the hunter is a 1955 southern gothic horror/thriller movie set in depression-era west virginia that follows a preacher/serial killer dead set on finding 10,000 dollars and is relentlessly hunting two children who are the only ones who know the location of the money. very simplified explanation of the plot but whatever.

this movie has soooooo many themes of religion and the harm it can cause, the terrifying influence of preachers, small town christian hypocrisy, the trauma of children in harsh situations, the ways people can be kind and cruel, misogyny, just. ough.

harry powell (the preacher) is so fucking horrifying because of how insidious yet violent he is? like he uses his charisma and his status as a preacher to manipulate people he encounters in service of his own goal? he's also an example of how misogyny and religious fanaticism can combine to create violence bc like. he IS misogynist and much of his manipulation has misogynist overtones, relying on societal concepts of womanhood, especially around sexual behavior.

SPEAKING OF. the themes of misogyny and how it contributes to violence in this movie is so sos sososooso interesting. like even when ben harper, the father of john and pearl (the children) hides the stolen money, he doesn't tell his wife and places the responsibility onto john, the eldest son to keep the secret safe and protect his little sister, even though john is like. a child. and the societal misogyny of the small town also contributes heavily to the situation the harper family finds themselves in especially when pushing willa to find a new husband after ben dies.

WILLA BTWWWW WILLA MAKES ME SO SAD she's the mother of john and pearl and after ben is sent to prison and executed for his crime, she's constantly hounded to remarry, even though she's reluctant about it. harry eventually manipulates his way into marrying willa and she's still somewhat reluctant about it but convinces herself that it's for the best. it is like. genuinely, GENUINELY gut-wrenching watching harry manipulate willa into believing that she's a sinful woman who deserves his abuse, and watching willa blame herself so wholeheartedly for ben's death during a preaching session by harry it is just. OUGH. so insidious. fuuuuuuuuuuuck and it's so horrifying and heart-breaking when willa realizes the truth and harry kills her!!!!!! UGH!!!!! ( i feel like you could do a queer reading of willa, especially with her line, "i just don't want a husband!"? idk might just be me)

john and pearl btw.....ough they're so. i care them so much. they go through SO MUCH!!!! john has to carry so much responsibility and he tries to protect his little sister pearl so much throughout the film until he finally breaks down at the end!!! pearl doesn't understand much of what's going on but she knows that things are getting bad and she doesn't know what to do!!!!! AUGH. AND THEY ARE BOTH GOING TO BE SCARRED FOR LIFE AFTER THIS.

miz rachel cooper is my fucking GOAT btw. she's an old woman who takes in orphans and eventually takes in john and pearl in the latter half of the film and protects them from harry. she's a little crotchety and grumpy but she's such a kind person oh my god!!! she's used as the main contrast to harry, since she's also christian, but while harry embodies the worst of christianity (religious fanaticism, misogyny, manipulating others for his own gain) rachel embodies the best of christianity (compassion, kindness, charity). she also shoots harry with a gun YEAHHHHHHH!!!! she eventually adopts john and pearl at the end of the movie, giving them their happy ending.

the movie LOOKS sosososo good btw!!!! it really takes advantage of the black and white medium to create contrast between light and shadow, and to set up interesting shot composition and staging!!! it is really SUUUUCH a visually interesting film

the music adds soooo much too!!! the score is fantastic obviously but it also includes some vocal songs sung by the characters to support the tone and atmosphere. harry in particular is often associated with the hymn "leaning on the everlasting arms" as he's often heard singing it when he enters a scene in the film!!! it really adds so much to his creepiness and prescence

and it’s hilarious when they pull pranks on each other, like attaching things to other people’s caps:

or the beloved hot foot prank:

or when they decided to put a guy’s pants over his head and make it seem like he was walking on his hands:

or when they opposing pitchers took turns playing tic tac toe every time they got on the mound:

Cryptic Painted Frog (Nyctixalus crypticus)