This is a Safe Place

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—

Four walls and a door, enough to keep the scary world out.
Until the scary things start living with you.

Then you're trapped.

▬▬▬▬ Tale Foundry Community▬▬▬▬

▬▬▬▬ Tale Foundry Team ▬▬▬▬
• Talebot — The Talent
• The Taleoids — The Talent's Helpers
• Benjamin Cook — Writer, Director, & Voice Actor
• Kathryn Healy — Researcher & Writer

[accordingtosophia]

One thing I would like to point out regarding "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is the theme of preservation. It's right there in the title, and throughout the book, the phrase "we have always..." is repeated. Merricat's magic rituals are a way of preserving the stasis around the house, using objects she preserved from her family. She's attached to her sister Constance, who may very well be emblematic of the concept of "constance." She acts childish, despite being 18. It's possible she killed her family as a way of preserving the house and her relationship to Constance, as suggested in the video, but it may very well also be her way of preserving the family as well.

[slayerchick]

I read this story completely differently. It didnt feel to me as though they were both happy to escape society. To me it seemed as though Constance had a desire to be part of society but that Merrikat was holding her hostage, whether from fear thar she would end up like the rest of her family or because she didn't think Merrikat could live without her. She was the one that let Charles in and though I didn't like him at all, it seemed like Constance was beginning to stand up to Merrikat after he arrived and had finally begun to move past her family's deaths only to return to catering to Merrikat after she'd set the house on fire. If you were to liken it to the authors life it would feel to me more like someone wanting to be part of the world but being held back by their anxiety. I'll admit, mine may be a more surface level read.

[ThatOneGuyRAR]

Can we just appreciate how much the visuals have improved over time? The drawings of the sisters were so awesome

[alicenolfi]

I first read 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' when I was around 21 or 22, and after seeing the mostly-accurate movie adaptation (they made Charles an attempted rapist at the end, probably just to make Merricat look better by comparison), it solidified a suspicion I'd had when I read the story: What if Constance's lack of discipline towards Merricat - feeding her whenever she asks for meals, letting her do whatever she wants, never scolding her, never punishing her, never telling her to do much more than wash her hands before eating - isn't just because of her kind and complacent nature? Constance was groomed by their parents to be a picture-perfect housewife, but that's not all. My head-canon is that Constance lets Merricat run wild because, in part, she's *afraid* of her. Remember, Merricat had been sent up to her room without dinner that night, so we can assume that punishment was the straw that broke the camel's back. So, Constance knows that Merricat is willing to respond to discipline with murder. So, on some level, she lets her little sister walk all over her because she's afraid that, should she displease Merricat in any way, Merricat will kill her, too.

[emiliachisholm]

how is it that a robot has more empathetic feeling than your average youtuber. talebot, you speak for me

[LaPaginadiLeonardo]

"We aleays lived in the castle" is INSANE, the sign of a declining mind, slowly descending into madness

[sillierlittlegoober]

worth noting: magical thinking is a manifestation of OCD. To me, describing it as such makes the whole thing feel more grounded, which, naturally, really helps with domestic horror

[TimPoultney]

When it comes to Jackson's domestic horror, I have an affinity for "The Summer People" -- Coming from a rural coastal place, I know a lot about Summer People...

[anonymousanonymous]

What's odd is how the villagers hate their family. Not just the suspected murderer, but their family. Her whole family got murdered, but they jeer at Mary and sing cruel nursery rhymes about her and her family. She did nothing wrong, in fact, she was a victim, yet they look at her like she's a monster because she was related to someone who may have tried to kill her and their entire family.

[Endymion]

it seems a bit ironic that Merrikat sought to escape the traditional housewife role, but essentially imprisoned Constance into a sort of traditional housewife role to her, refusing to let her go just like a jealous husband might refuse to let his wife go to college or get a job.

[arrowrandoman]

This kind of story is so foreign to me. I grew up with a family that respected my mom for choosing to be a stay-at-home mother. Everyone helped out with taking care of the house, and I can't ever remember a time I wasn't folding my clothes and cleaning up my room. When my siblings and I were older, she started working on finishing her schooling, and I remember we all took on more of the household chores so she could focus on her studies. The thought a story like this could exist is a new perspective for me, and I appreciate the storytellers who share the things I never could have imagined in my upbringing, to address the things I thought were already gone from the world.

[void-creature]

"In the psychology of the modern civilized human being, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the house."

[marcusguerrero]

Talefoundry. I have had a hard time lately. My mental health needs to be cared for and my motivation has been shot. Your videos remind me of the inspiration, joy and creativity that exists among us. You help me daydream and bring to life worlds I never thought I could dream of. You give me new books and stories to explore. Thank you, I cannot explain in words how much of an understatement that is, but thank you.

[carolduvall]

I find your takes on human frailty refreshing

[danielnemesio]

This may sound silly, but Zatura actually really freaked me out as a kid in the sense that the familiar environment was the only environment period. The only other movie that made me feel like this was Skinamarink

[imcoolerthanyou]

I like to imagine that the taloids have to dress up as the characters in these stories like actors playing a character

[tommybootlegger]

I don't know this story, but I'll have to look into it. In a lot of ways, it makes me think of my dear, sweet mother, who passed away back in 2020. She was the one who really got me into stories and writing in the first place. Great stuff, y'all. Much love.

[Vinemaple]

Thank you so much for covering Shirley Jackson! I've always wondered what else she wrote...

I do think I'm going to have to push back a little, bit, Talebot, on the idea that Mary Cat and Constance are free from the Patriarchy while shutting themselves up in their house. The text of the novel may support you, but at a glance, the women are still housebound, caregivers, and have no other opportunities, not even marriage, not any more. True, within their home they make their own decisions, but otherwise, it seems a relatively meager form of liberation. Even Mary Cat's self-appointed role as town witch is following a traditional cultural path.

[diem]

I havent read this story, yet, but based off of the retelling in this, I think a big theme is the concept of 'the norm might not be the best path for everyone' or 'what is expected to be good, wont always make everyone happy'. The sisters went from a life that was planned out, they were to grow up, get married, give children to their husbands and be an object in a pretty house. Then they become the witches of the town. They are called killers. They are hated. And then they lose their house and eventually the people of the town leave offerings for them, like they are spirits to be appeased. And in the end, they are happy. The culture of the time was so set in stone. As a woman, you had your life planned out and you were to be happy with it. You were expected to be happy with it. But this, this is such a deviation from that path, and yet they are happy.
Other than the family murders, Im happy for them. And if this reflects the feelings of the author, I am so sad for her. This whole story could be seen as something she would have rather gone though if she could. How she would have been happier in a burnt down house, alone with only 1 person, but that one person truly loves you, and she would have been happier there than where she ended up, the idyllic 50's house wife.
And honestly, same. I would rather be alone, in a burnt down hovel, given offerings as if I am an angry god, than to be under the yoke of expectations that pruned away all that I am and could have been.
Dont murder anyone, but definitely seek a path that brings you joy in the face of expectation and conformity. There is nothing wrong with the standard, but if that standard expects you to deform yourself to fit it? Screw it, be a witch in the woods. At least you'd be free to be you.

[princeblackelf]

I've read that the reveal that Mary Cat is the poisoner and functionally villain of the story ( with secondary antagonist being Cousin Edward) is an act of breaking the readers heart. I remember being a bit disappointed in the whole story personally