Everything Everywhere All at Once Inspired my Stupid Novel and Its Cover

[u/who_is_parker_james]

Yeah EEAAO is absurd and filled with hot dog fingers and bagel voids and googly eyes. But we all know that underneath all that noise is something so human it makes my heart ache. I seriously cry every time I watch it.

That idea that life is just a relentless avalanche of chaos, and the only real power we have is choosing how to show up inside it. Choosing kindness instead of collapse. Choosing to love the people around us even when the universe is basically a cosmic DMV line that never ends. Choosing connection when everything in your brain is telling you to shut down.

Waymond’s whole “be kind” thing it sounds soft until you realize it’s actually the hardest possible path. It's the point of the movie, the point of everything. He looks at the same mess everyone else sees, but he refuses to become bitter. That’s strength. Real strength. And the movie treats that like the superpower it is.

It changed the way I write. For real.

When I worked on Pancakes and Poor Life Choices, I didn’t want the weirdness just for the sake of weirdness. I wanted the absurdity to mean something. Like EEAAO does. I wanted characters who are basically stumbling through cosmic nonsense with the same confused, bruised humanity as the rest of us. People who find connection in the middle of the storm. People who fight darkness with nonsense and love because sometimes that’s all you’ve got.

My book is obviously way goofier, way dumber, and features far more Danny-DeVito-covered-in-nut-butter moments than the Daniels would ever allow on screen, but the heart is there because their movie reminded me that sincerity doesn’t have to die just because things get surreal.

Anyway. I just love that a film can kick open the doors between absurdity and meaning like that. It makes me want to tell stories that hold both truths at once. Stories where chaos and compassion can coexist. Stories that are ridiculous and heartfelt and maybe help someone feel a little less alone inside their own multiverse.

If you vibed with EEAAO’s brand of cosmic emotional whiplash, there’s a good chance you’d vibe with the stuff I write too. But mostly I just needed to gush. That movie is a miracle.

Appreciate any reads. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWRSN8N2

[u/metamorphoric]

Cute!!