Laura Stokes, posting on Facebook under the aegis of Revenge Dioramas, has created some impressive pieces. Her art typically describes a highly specific scenario, followed by a picture exacting vengeance against whomever the caption describes.
In one, she talks about an ex-husband who guilts his wife into having sex with him constantly. Another is punishing in effigy an abusive ex who uses his daughter as emotional leverage. A third describes the archetype of “the Dying Wizard,” which is worth a read. They’re funny, smart, and feminist as all get-out.
Stokes says she started making the dioramas for friends going through heartbreak or ex trouble.
"Eventually I'd made maybe 10-12 of them and [my friends] said, 'you know you should make these public!'" she told us via Facebook chat. "I NEVER thought it would take off, but it is very rewarding. People send me lots of stories and I think they feel a little bit seen and heard when they get a diorama."
She says she comes up with the posts through her own experiences and fan submissions.
Stokes used yesterday’s post, for which she was feeling under the weather, to highlight a powerful fictional woman juxtaposed with an equally fictional cartoon character.
Daenerys Targaryen quotes might initially seem odd coming out of the mouth of '80s Saturday morning icon Rainbow Brite, but we love how they work together. For this particular project, we can thank nostalgia and cold medicine.
"I was watching old GoT episodes since Season 6 is coming up, and I was on a lot of cold medicine," Stokes says. "I think I heard her say the line, 'I didn't come to stop the wheel, I came to BREAK the wheel.' And I thought, that's a great line, but let's see what happens if I give someone else that line to say. I played around with a few options and then I made that one, and my husband was like, 'That's the one - that is both ridiculous and kind of affirming at the same time.'"
Check out the mashups below.
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Our favorites are definitely “All men must die” and “We will lay waste to their armies.” (Those are the correct two to like. Sorry if you think other ones are better.)
You can donate to Laura’s Patreon here.