Hi! So the whole theme of my blog is sort of how art and writing that many people might think is shocking or offensive should still be protected and preserved because they still have value.
So I was just wondering if you might want to talk about how some "fucked up" art / writing has been meaningful to you? Like either making it yourself or just any art that has influenced you
Dear unspeakableachieves,
I would please me to write about the art that has influence us. Disturbing media is something both I, and my alter-ego seek out for our reasons. I find disturbing media makes me feel something, as i find myself very emotionally blank most of the time. Dr. Jekyll finds disturbing media very intense, and helps him dissociate, or process when the need arises.
Both I, and Jekyll were interested in answering this question, so you'll get a few comments from him in a few entries. I have ordered this as Art that has influences us, Jekyll and Hyde media, and art that we have made.
“Where the dead go to die” by James Creamer
I know this movie is very well known in disturbing movie circles, so I'm going to assume you're familiar with it. We watched this movie very young, and before we really understood who was who in our shared head. Our interpretation of the movie is that its a showcase of when people don't know the difference between love and obsession. I believe because of how shocking it was along with how strangely comforting it is, it causes me to take on more obsessive traits, and Jekyll more loving traits. It all sort of fit into our young minds splitting of us.
"Alfred’s playhouse" by Emily Youcis
This little webseries is seriously one of the most accurate representations of PTSD I have ever encountered. I could go on and on about it, but I know this letter is going to be really long. The ending scene of the first part includes Alfred crying, and the post-man begging for it all to stop, which is exactly what our brain sounds life during flashbacks. The way Emily portrays dissociation during Alfred's flashback looks exactly like ours, the way Alfred processes through fiction, because they're unable to handle reality, is exactly what we are going through. We have never felt so seen by a piece of media in our life. According to Jekyll, it was a vital part to discovering what "having multiple people in our head looks like." I believe this series directly lead to our discovery as a system. The piano from 'Bennie And The Jets' still puts us on edge to this day. He doesn't like that, but I find it rather exciting
"Pokopokopokitan" by PiroPito
This is a video of two young girls slowly loosing their innocence because of sexual abuse in a paper diorama. While I don't feel anything particularly meaningful towards this artwork; However, Jekyll has explained to me before that he finds a sense of recognition and belonging in it. He doesn't want me to go into detail about anything, but essentially he felt he was rotting before, after, and along-side me for years and years, and this artwork helped him figure out those feelings and get better
"How to pick up a blue chair" by Alan Resnick
This is part of his series, but this video specifically really took a toll on us when we first watched it. I remember going blind in our left eye, and throwing up. It was a really sobering experience, and finally set in just how ruined in the head we were. I think when we first watched it, it helped us process a lot of things, and get over a few triggers. It's very hard to remember this one. I have a deep love for it.
Now obviously we have to talk about the elephant in the room that is "Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." I'm unsure if you would really classify this as "disturbing media," especially when compared to the disturbing things seen in the current landscape, so I wont go into heaps of detail unless asked.
We are primarily fictives of the 2001 version of Jekyll & Hyde: The Broadway Musical, starring David Hasselhoff. We watched it multiple times in a row 6 years ago now, and have only recently picked it up again. This has very obviously shaped us to who we are today, and how we process trauma. In fact, during recent re-watching's, we discovered that we were doing behaviours that are present in the musical that we had totally forgotten about.
I became a holder for dark and perverted thoughts, as Jekyll repressed more and more things he felt shameful. This is very similar to how the dual main character in adaptations are described. As i have watched adaptations of the movies (for pleasure, and to document all J&H material) I have slowly found acceptance in who I am as a person, and found my own moral compass. So has Jekyll, and he has found comfort in seeing different versions of himself suffer the same way he has.
I believe it is impossible for our brain to process things in a real life setting, and has turned to the tragic story of J&H in order to survive and sort itself out. This is the same themes as Alfred's playhouse, and I wonder if we have taken that framework in, and used it for our own healing
Another thing about J&H is this common theme of the horror of never being "whole" again. That has really been haunting our mind lately, so seeing characters with our names process that has been very helpful mentally.
I want to talk a little bit of the art I make, and why/how it makes me feel. I hope this reply isn't too long already.
I cannot remember making anything beyond the last year and a half, but during that time i have been drawing and rendering a LOT of photos of people hanging by rope. I'm not sure why this subject matter has interested me. Every time i have tried to draw something else, I have been unable to finish it out of frustration. Obviously from what i've posted so far on this blog, I have an obsession with necks, and suffocation/drowning, and it likely does stem from that. I do think there is something else that draws me into drawing hanging bodies though. I find a sense of calm or relief as I draw them. It's like feeling the ultimate rest. Even when i draw figures flailing, or crying, I still can't help but feel a sense of calm knowing it will be over for them soon, and they will never have to suffer again.
Currently I've been enjoying posting little fantasies and thoughts. I currently 20~ posts in my drafts, or stories and one-off scenes that I scribble down any time they pop-up in my head. This is the first time I have really embraced any of these feelings, so its very rewarding to see people enjoying what I post. It makes me feel less alone for having such violent and extreme kinks. I also find it very fictive euphoric to both feel free, alive, and shocking, and to annoy Jekyll, as he is disgusted by what I post.