“You are the only raven-man?”
“To my knowledge,” Diaval said. “Though most of the ravens I meet don’t believe me when I say I am sometimes human.”
I LOVE Maleficent.
It's an amazing movie, and I am super-super excited for Maleficent 2!
And only like, 70-75% of my love for Maleficent has to do with how stunningly attractive Angelia Jolie is in the title role! 😅
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(Funny story: the Maleficent 2 trailer literally made me Gay. I was having a Het. day before that... or at least I thought I was! #SexuallyFluidLife
- I would also like to point out to the full-time straight readers that Maleficent has become something of a Queer - especially Queer girl - icon.
We don't really know how either - it's like She-Go from Kim Possible amongst others.)
And after all that - this fic isn't actually about Maleficent herself! It is, instead, about the wonderful Diaval, Maleficent's crow/dude spy and/or servant.
I love Diaval - partly because I adore crows.
In Ye Olde Welsh Culture, crows (brain or brânau,) are magical creatures with links to the world of the dead and to the Fair Folk.
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With Christianity, and especially the Puritan-style Christianity of Chapels, came the idea of crows as somehow aligned with evil and bad omens and the devil.
My mother's family were Very Chapel, so both she and my auntie are still scared of pretty much every type of bird, and think that a bird in the house brings imminent death.
Our country has some complex cultural and social issues which I've already talked about for longer than I planned to in this post, so let's move on... 😅
So, with Maleficent, and the re-interpretation of a powerful woman branded 'evil' comes a return from the 'evil' side for my old friends the crows!
...And the whole Sleeping Beauty thing is based around a presumably Christian christening, and the invitation and non-invitation of various Fair folk.
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It's interesting, isn't it, that it's the soft, non-threatening, and slightly useless fairies who are invited.
While the most powerful (in some versions referred to as a Witch,) and most clearly Pagan, is excluded, and branded 'evil' for her retribution to this slight.
OK, I think I got carried away with this post 😅
Before this turns into a full-on anthropological and/or sociological media essay - which I am far from qualified to write - let's talk about this fic.
Why do I like this fic?
Because it manages to hold onto the essence of what makes Maleficent a magnificent film, while also being kinda cute and fluffy!
This week's fic, then, is:
it takes some time to get it right by Rainbowcat
Do you agree/disagree with any of my points?
Have you seen Maleficent?
Do you prefer it when I actually stick to the topic? 😅
Talk to me! 😊💬
Previous Fics Fix posts:
Please share and comment! 😘
Last updated: 24th October 2019
I haven’t seen Maleficent but a lot of people say it’s really good! Despite not seeing it, I really enjoyed the lesson on birds in this post, Cee! Very interesting to learn of the superstitions.
ReplyDeleteMaleficent is *amazing* dammit! XD And I'm glad my random ramblings entertained you! ;) I really kind of drifted off the point! <3
DeleteSometimes the posts that deviate a bit from the script are the most interesting! :) I think Jolie looks like a fabulous Maleficent, no question. And I'll be checking this fic out!
ReplyDeleteHa, hopefully this is one of those! ;) Argh, she's amazing! <3 I hope you enjoy the fic :) <3
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