#Mr. Hollywood Victorian

[lilyabsinthe]

From the Atelier - From Concept to Execution: A Movie Dress

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in constructing a dress that we fail to see how the final product will look on a live person. Early in 2024, I began construction of a simple 1880s day dress that I created to be used as part of our film wardrobe and finally, it was used in a production of the short film, “The Seamstress” which should be released sometime in 2025. Below are some views of the final…

[recycledmoviecostumes]

This is the time of year when we're drawn to dark classic tales, such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

This striped Victorian costume is special not just for its beauty, but because two Hollywood greats wore it. Many costumes made for a star go on to be used by extras, but this particular piece has graced the silhouettes of two iconic actresses.

Designed by the legendary Adrian, it was first worn by Ingrid Bergman as Ivy Peterson in the 1941 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It later made its appearance in the 1944 film Gaslight, worn by Angela Lansbury as Nancy Oliver, the maid.

Want to see where else this costume was worn, as well as discover its true color? Visit our website: bit.ly/VicEd173

[elvisabutler]

mess dress

fandom: elvis 2022 | elvis presley rating: m pairing: elvis presley ( army era ) x female plus size reader word count: 2323 warnings: thigh riding. uniform kink. mild innocence kink. public play-ish. implications for future p in v sex. author’s note: welcome to day 7 of ally’s wet hot smut summer, uniform kink with elvis presley x reader. so fun fact i've had this 95 percent finished since friday. i have also been without internet because construction knocked out my internet for the weekend. however this is done now. so this erred accidentally into a sort of public play kink thing as well. hopefully y'all enjoy it regardless. this is sort of a sequel to called ya, didn't i? but you don't have to read it for this to make sense, necessarily. i do really want to hear how y'all feel about my fics and i know i don't always reply to comments but reading them delights me so much. as always imagine who you'd like i'm not picky.

You're no stranger to Army functions, little soirees that you shouldn't be invited to but you are because your Daddy's always loved showing you off even as there were whispers about how it wasn't proper that his daughter's waist didn't taper just so. But being at one when you're involved with Elvis Presley- well, that's another thing entirely. It's one thing to be on your Daddy's arm and another to be on your boyfriend's arm knowing how that arm feels wrapped around your waist as you do things very good army brats shouldn't do.

The thing is, you want to think Elvis is willing to stay with you, you want to think he's a good man even if all the papers and the press think he's cavorting around with every girl in Europe. And he's been proving it with every innocent date and every not so innocent moment where you cry out for release as his fingers play you better than any guitar. Elvis wants to be with you and even as things are winding down in Europe, he's whispering jokes and plans about asking your Daddy if it's alright for him to whisk you away to Memphis.

"Told 'im I'd take real good care of ya. No funny business, either. Not 'less I got a ring on your finger."

After hearing that, you almost swooned like you were a Victorian maiden, the rush from hearing those simple words— that simple potential promise had your mind whirring and your heart thumping a quicker beat than it ever had in your life. Never mind that you and him already had indulged in some funny business, it was all the kind that could be hidden. Not the kind that had you filling out dresses and telling your Daddy he's got a grandbaby on the way.

Hearing that put your mind at ease and allowed you to dream a little of a future with Elvis. It allowed for a picture to be painted of you at Graceland or in Hollywood, maybe with a child or two— and a world where you might still be told you don't look proper for a woman but there's gotta be something about you that's got Mr. Presley all shook up and stuck on you. Saying yes to Elvis about going to the function was easy after that even if you had to tell him that he didn't have to get you a dress despite his arguments for doing just that.

"I-I jus' wanna show 'em how pretty my girl is. Tell 'em what they missed out on. Show Charlie I can get me a ree-spec-tuh-bull girl." He had teased, hands against your hips as he kissed your neck in front of your mirror.

Your hands should have swatted at his arms and you should have told him to keep his hands on your waist but instead you moved your hands to lay on top of his and smiled. "You will, Elvis. I'll pick something pretty and we'll have pretty pictures to look at. You'll probably even have one to take home."

A look flitted across Elvis's face that you couldn't quite put a name to and you couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at it before he shook his head. "Yeah, I can have a picture. Just— I mean it, baby, I'm gonna show ya off. Tell 'em I like ya wit' or without all this dressin' up."

It's practically comical the way you and Elvis look at each other the moment you open the door to see him standing there in his full dress uniform. You've seen him in uniform before and had told him rightfully that seeing him in it did something to you between your legs but seeing him like this? All ironed pants and dressed without a hint of a flaw had your mouth watering as your eyes traced over every inch of him, settling embarrassingly on the subtle bulge between his legs. You've felt it before but to see it look like it's starting to rise to the occasion just from looking at you right now in those slacks has your breath escaping from your lungs in a quiet whine.

Not that your boyfriend was any better, taking in the way your dress outlined your chest and your hips and practically shimmered in the light. You matched his dress uniform almost to a tee with a little feminine flair. Your mother is the one who comes upon the two of you staring at one another and tuts quietly, shooing you out the door with a shawl and a yell about how Elvis needs to bring you home before a certain time. You don't dare speak until Elvis enters the other side of his car and sets a hand on your clothed thigh.

"Honey— ya tryin' to kill me? 'Cause it's workin'. Didn't know ya—" He starts before you silence him with a kiss and a shy smile.

"I had it specially made. Thought tonight deserved something special, since you said you'd show me off, remember?" You bite your lip, knowing full well you're probably ruining your lipstick. What you're saying is the truth but a part of you, a small part that's listened to a friend or two who thinks Elvis is so sweet on you that he might want to marry you thinks this was the perfect outfit to prove you're the sort of girl who can be Mrs. Presley. All sophistication and charm that a good boy— a good man like him needs.

"I- I do. Now I'm thinkin' everyone's gonna be tryin' to steal ya from me if I show ya off. Lord, darlin'. Make a man wanna—" His breath comes out in a rush, a puff of air that moves a surprisingly errant curl from his head as you giggle.

"Maybe later? Before you take me home?" The words are questions but from the way you look at Elvis you know that he catches your meaning. That you want him to do something to you as much as he wants to do something to you. Truthfully just looking at the buttons of his uniform and every single detail on it has you clenching your legs together— forgetting that Elvis's hand is right there until he groans as he starts the car.

"Gonna be the death o'me," he mutters only to hear you laugh again and say three simple words in French.

"La petit mort."

You both know it's a little improper to have you sitting on Elvis's lap, but the night's been winding down ever so slowly and Elvis— can get away with things other men can't. Sure, this might get back to your Daddy but it's not as if he doesn't already have an inkling that Elvis is head over heels in love with you. You haven't ended up with a baby in your belly yet and that's— well, that's as good as he can hope for when it comes to the pair of you, he figures. He'll allow it as long as he can think his daughter is as pure as can be. Besides, Charlie is very good at covering for you and Elvis when things look a little more salacious than they should. Right now as Elvis's leg keeps bouncing between your thigh, you figure you'll get use out of those skills yet tonight.

The conversation is one you're not fully paying attention to, having heard half these things a million times over as you've grown up but when you feel the brush of warm air against your ear your eyes widen just a hair.

"Fallin' asleep on me, darlin'? Gonna leave me to talk to everyone by myself?" His whisper is low and inviting in a way that has you shivering just slightly as his arm grips your waist a little tighter. "That woke ya up?"

You don't trust your voice just yet especially when you feel Elvis's leg jiggling between your thighs, his knee brushing against your clit with almost every movement. Your only answer is a small hum as you smile at other people.

Elvis flashes a charming grin as he shifts both of you, allowing the bottom of your dress to cover his leg entirely and exposing your underwear covered vagina to his knee. He bounces experimentally and watches as your eyes widen and you let out a soft whimper that you quickly cover with a cough, your chest bouncing from the effort. Your thighs try and tighten around his leg in an effort to stop the bouncing only for his hand to grip your hip, reveling in the way it feels underneath his grip.

"Elvis," you hiss, turning to look at him after one particularly intense bounce as your nipples hardening in your bra and has you starting to soak through your undergarments. "What are you doing?"

"Ya been eyein' me up like a piece of meat all night, baby. Know that place 'tween ya legs has been achin' somethin' fierce 'cause of it. Didn't think ya wanted to wait. Jus' in case I gotta rush ya home." He explains like it makes all the sense in the world and you find it's hard to argue with him over it even as you know how bad this looks.

"But we're in public. Just because I wanna rip your uniform off doesn't mean we need to—" you start only to have him brush against that spot earning a bitten back whine and a grind down from you. "Elvis— oh."

It shouldn't be pleasurable, your fear of being caught and the potential shame should stop you from doing this but the only thing it's stopping you from doing is ripping off Elvis's uniform that you've seen on a million men before but none of them have been him. Maybe it's the way you had seen the bulge between his legs pressing against his pressed slacks or maybe it's because he was all dressed up to take you somewhere. To show you off. Whatever the reason was, you don't stop Elvis from moving his leg, from bouncing it just so in a way that has your vision starting to blur and has your nails digging into his other thigh in order to keep quiet.

"Gonna make a mess of us, ain't ya? Gonna stain my uniform, darlin'? Make it so I gotta tell everyone I had a lil sweat on my knee?" He mutters his filthy words against your ear and you nod as slow as you can as your eyes dart around the room and around your talking companions. Had any of them noticed what was going on?

"They ain't payin' attention. Ya a good girl, 'member? God, darlin' wanna see ya come apart in front of 'em. Do that for me, will ya? Do that and I'll ask ya daddy to marry ya tomorrow. I gotta or 'm gonna ruin ya 'fore I can."

You have to take a breath or five to be able to speak as his knee picks up speed. "You'll wear your uniform when you do? So I can see it again?"

The grin on his face is downright evil as he nuzzles your neck and places a kiss or two against it. "'Course. Jus' for you. Jus' to see ya get all hot 'n bothered 'bout it again. You gonna make a mess f'me, mama? Gonna show how I got the best girl 'round wit' ya plump yittle thighs and those big breasts a yourn? And that stomach that's softer than anythin' army issued?"

Any other time and you might feel a might bit embarrassed about the way you nod quickly. Truthfully you can feel a bit of shame when you catch the eye of one of the other women. Her eyes are a little widened and you— that should be your cue to stop but you're so close that you can't help but cast your eyes downward as Elvis follows where your eyes went.

"She's just wishin' it was her. Wishin' her date would do this to her. Don't— Don't be shy. I gotcha, darlin'. Let go f'me?"

Somehow the way he phases what is technically an order or a request as a question sends a jolt through your body and has you holding back noises that threaten to leave your mouth as you feel yourself coming. Feel that tension inside your lower belly finally release. You feel your body twitch ever so slightly as the pleasure rolls through your body as Elvis's arm tightens around you to keep you from slumping forward. Your chest heaves in the confines of your bra and your dress and Elvis's lips curl into a bit of a smirk against the back of your neck as you try and catch your breath without being too obvious. Against your backside you can feel Elvis's cock nudging you and with a bit of a smile you shift just so in order to hear him grunt.

"Are you two okay?" You both hear someone ask— maybe it's Charlie or maybe it's someone else, you're both not too sure but it prompts you to stand up, adjusting your skirt as you do and eyeing the sizable damp patch you've left on Elvis's leg in his uniform. His eyes look down before they widen and he pulls you back down to sit on it.

"We're— we're fine." A short answer said by both of you as the two of you exchange a look and you grab Elvis's hat to plop it on your head. The look Elvis gives you is filled with more love than you thought he was capable of even though you can see his still blown pupils and see the arousal lingering in those ocean blue eyes.

After a moment of staring you turn back to everyone and smile, "so what were we talking about? You've got both of us at attention."

taglist: @ab4eva , @blurredcolour, @butlersxbirdy, @precious-little-scoundrel, @eliseinmemphis, @prompted-wordsmith, @missmaywemeetagain, @lookingforrainbows, @araxw, @thatbanditqueen, @ellie-24, @austinbutlersgirl67, @heartbrake-hotel, @ccab, @18lkpeters, @slutforsomegoodlettuce, @dkayfixates, @kendralavon7, @chasingwildflowers, @notstefaniepresley, @wanderingelvis, @kxnnxy, @powerofelvis, @stylespresleyhearted, @be-my-ally, @mooodyblue, @pixiedustcosmos, @jessicarcates, @amydarcimarie, @flwrs4aust, @myradiaz, @adaydreamaway08, @elirobin, @goldieharry. i'm tired i don't know if i tagged everyone sorry if i forgot you..

[arbitrarycategories]

Hey would you mind sharing what the real point of jekyll and hyde is that Hollywood missed? I have never read the book

You just made my night actually THANK YOU

Long so it’s under a cut :)

(you should totally read the book, it’s not super long and it’s actually really good)

okay tw murder and suicide and like. Violence I guess. It’s a psychological thriller from the Victorian era idk what y’all expect

Alright here’s the part where I admit I’ve never seen a Jekyll and Hyde movie but I HAVE seen various iterations of him in pop culture monster movies where he’s some quirky background character yknow?? The pop culture idea of this guy is kind of wild

First things first!!! Pop culture would have you believe that Dr. Jekyll has a wife or a girlfriend or some shit that Mr. Hyde wants to ravage or cheat on or whatever!! This is false because the only female characters in the entire book are a little girl who gets trampled to establish how Evil Hyde Is and a woman who calls the cops after witnessing a murder as she took a smoke break on a balcony. Neither one of them even has a name :) this is a book with NO BITCHES okay??? There’s barely even any men

Important Character round up!

Mr. Utterson the Lawyer (most of the book is from his viewpoint)

Dr. Lanyon (a friend to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson)

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (respected Chemist/criminal)

Poole the butler <3

And that’s IT.

Okay there’s also some parliament guy who gets murdered but like whatever. He’s just there to get killed. Bye.

So a very basic plot synopsis is that Mr. Utterson is the guy in charge of Dr. Jekyll’s Will. Because of this he happens to be sort-of-friends with Jekyll because neither of them really have many friends. They’re also both friends with Dr. Lanyon.

Mr. Utterson first becomes aware of Mr. Hyde as a person who exists when a friend (unimportant) of his tells him about this guy who trampled a little girl. Obviously this is fucked up, but the friend has more to the story. Bystanders didn’t let this guy just trample a little girl, they demanded compensation so that she could pay a doctor to help her. Hyde went to a door (which the friend points out bc he and Utterson are on a walk) and makes out a check under the name of Jekyll. And so Utterson is like. Huh what

He goes home and looks at Jekyll’s Will, and Hyde is the guy set to get all his stuff if Jekyll disappears!! And so Utterson is like well that doesn’t make sense for MY friend the Extremely Respected Chemist. So naturally he’s curious and goes poking in that polite Victorian way.

It turns out Hyde lives in Soho but is a FREQUENT visitor to Jekyll’s house, has a key and all the servants know him etc. nobody knows how he and Jekyll met and they’re all a little afraid to ask.

And then there’s a year long timeskip actually. Utterson asked and Jekyll said “yeah don’t worry about it :)” and then we just skip a year.

We come back because Mr parliament gets MURDERED in what seems to be a crime of passion by a certain Mr. Hyde. Like the fact that the guy killed was in parliament was a complete coincidence. I keep meaning to look up the guys name to see if he was a real guy who was just really hated or something but I never get around to it. Anyway. Hyde beats him to death with his cane.

OH YEAH. Break hang on.

HERES THE OTHER THING HOLLYWOOD FUCKS UP THAT I ALMOST FORGOT!!! Hyde is not Hulk!!! He’s not big he has no muscles he’s literally an itty bitty guy!! He’s described as “particularly small”, “little man”, “of small stature”. He’s tiny!!! Truly exemplifying that short people are closer to the devil etc whatever he’s itty bitty and super fucking mean like the worlds worst chihuahua given human form.

Alright back to PLOT

The police recognize Hyde pretty much from the witness description of him, and Utterson is like “well that’s easy I Know Where He Lives” but they can’t find him even though his neighbors all sell him out and they literally go to his place in Soho.

So Utterson goes to ask his good friend Jekyll, who he knows is close with Hyde, where the fuck his buddy is!!! And Jekyll is having like a full on nervous breakdown at this point. Jekyll swears that he’s “done with” Hyde and “he will never more be heard of”. He’s sweating and shaking and generally looking like he’s on drugs or something.

Hyde conveniently left a letter to Jekyll (wow!!) that basically said he had fled the country and thanks for being his friend this whole time :) Utterson has a lil convo with Jekyll where he becomes convinced that since all of Jekyll’s stuff went to Hyde if he disappeared that Hyde was planning to murder Jekyll but the heat from killing a member of parliament had scared him off so Jekyll is safe now. If what Utterson thought was happening was what was ACTUALLY happening this would probably be where the story ends. But NO. First bc Utterson hired a guy to analyze the handwriting on the letter from Hyde to Jekyll and the guy (literally named Mr. Guest) was like “yeah this is Jekyll writing with a different slant idk who he’s fooling” and so Utterson is now convinced that Jekyll is covering for Hyde for some reason

And SECOND because jekyll starts acting like a crazy person. Poole the butler shows up at Utterson’s house one day like “hey my boss is freaking me out and also his voice changed?? I think Hyde is living in his room and pretending to be jekyll”

So naturally they bust into his locked room with an axe. Like you do. It’s not his bedroom it’s like his chemistry room idk they just call it his cabinet but it’s Clearly Some Kind of Lab. Anyway they find Hyde’s dead body on the floor <3 he has pretty explicitly killed himself with cyanide.

They also find a couple letters, which make up the rest of the book.

The first one is from Dr. Lanyon (remember Lanyon?). Lanyon writes all about how Jekyll started acting like a crazy person and had him deliver a drawer (like, pulled out of a dresser and full of chemicals) from Jekyll’s cabinet to Hyde, who Lanyon has never met. The description is this part is actually really good, you can tell it’s Hyde who shows up to meet Lanyon even though it never says his name. This is the part where he mixes the chemicals like the worlds worst smoothie and then fucking Shapeshifts back into Jekyll right in front of Lanyon :) why did he Do this. At this point in the story we are hearing this from Lanyon’s letter instead of Lanyon himself because Lanyon fucking Died when it was still Uttersons pov and didn’t tell anyone what he had learned?? He thought nobody would believe him ig but he tells Utterson he has had a shock and will die within a few weeks and then he literally Does. Like what the fuck man.

The next letter is from Jekyll!! It is a confession of how exactly Hyde came to be AND WHY.

Look me in the eyes. THIS IS THE PART POP CULTURE GETS COMPLETELY WRONG!!!!!!

Jekyll, being a well respected Member of Society, wanted to expunge himself of all evil desires by splitting himself into two people, one who is good and one who is evil. He manages to make a chemical potion of some kind that lets him shift between two bodies. Here’s where the text will get you: Jekyll is an unreliable narrator.

IT DOESNT WORK!!!!! He claims that Hyde immediately felt more evil but was shocked when he switched back to Jekyll and didn’t feel any different than before. Jekyll is still just as good and JUST AS EVIL as before he downed his magic shapeshifting potion!! Jekyll didn’t invent a second, more evil form, he invented a mask he could hide behind that let him escape all accountability for his actions.

And you know the most damning proof?? The switch has started happening without him drinking the potion. He will go to sleep as Jekyll and wake up as Hyde, and it’s taking more and more doses to turn back into Jekyll. At the time he writes the letter, he is permanently stuck as Hyde, but the letter is from JEKYLL and laments the guilt he feels for actions done as Hyde. He condemns Hyde as if that IS a separate person!! But Hyde has the same mind and should that Jekyll does, just a different face, and Jekyll is lying to himself.

Anyway that’s what happens in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s all about this lawyer dealing with the most Batshit series of events a client has ever made him deal with <3

[bucketspammer4life]

☆ how the boxers were as children ☆

Hey besties, sorry for dissapearing i was busy decaying, enjoy my cringe ass writing

Glass Joe

- Really sleepy & an edgelord, he was the kid that had hair covering the side of his face in middle school

- his parents always said that he wouldnt really be able to take up boxing due to him being a natural coward, jokes on them Joe isnt scared to get hurt (physically)

- loved reading old writing, especially gothic literature, he has a soft spot for dark writing

- wrote cringy edgy poems about every crush he had, his parents sometimes pull them out to torment him

- tried to start his own band, failed miserably

- still attached to his edgelord phase very much

- if he was a teen during the 2000-2010's he def would have a edgy wolf oc and a Deviantart account

Von Kaiser

- sickly victorian child + little german boy hybrid

- his parents always spoke with permission so he also started copying them, leading to him always interrupting people by saying "can i ask something?"

- had that one little german boy outfit, along with the huge ass lollipop and dumb hat, anytime someone pulls out his childhood pictures he prays they dont whip out those photos or he will get bullied recklessly

- NEVER EVER cursed until the wonderful age of 15 when he yelled out the word "fuck" after dropping a wrench on his foot, his dad wasnt even upset he was more concerned because holy fuck his child dropped a wrench on their foot

- got sick really often, he was out here being asked to be taken out into the garden one last time before you all posers

Disco Kid

- that one kid who had a really cool dad that let him do anything as long as he didnt blow up the house

- Really creative, writing up stories with pictures, his grammar wasnt really the best (along with his writing) so his parents had to read "the addventours off the brince" and hold in their laugh

- He was the kid who performed an entire ass dance choreography to get your parents to accept the sleepover invite

- got introduced to Disco music by his dad, got obsessed with it instantly and started dancing everywhere

King Hippo

- ate glue

- never spoke with anyone, Just beat up anyone picking on him and no one messed with him ever since

- people just gave him paper to eat, fresh with colored pencils

- liked to play make believe with his plushies

Piston Hondo

- He let you copy off his homework, i think that tells you enough

- everyone only recognized him for being a smart ass, not being creative and that really upset him

- played chess a whole lot, joined tournaments and won some medals

- academic burnout hit him like a train

- for a while, art and writing was his only escape from stress & pressure, he journaled about his feelings and drew his soul out, due to this he struggled to express his feelings without words

Bear Hugger

- chased everyone around with a spider then ate it, he was so evil for what

- never actually went to school, his parents lived out in the woods and homeschooled him since no one likes walking 2-3 hours straight just to suffer in a seat

- He always had a interest in animals, him and mrs bear go are childhood friends, mrs bear met him when she was a cub, due to this he got spared by mrs bears mom and suddenly had a 2nd mom, once his family realized that their son got adopted by a bear, they kindly let the bears in and treated it like it was normal

- loved fishing with mrs bear, he taught her how to use a rod and she taught him how to catch fish with his bare hands

Great Tiger

- so called "self sufficient" When he was just used to being alone and kinda accepted the fact he'll never have proper friends

- created the most batshit insane scenarios with his clones that would make the average hollywood movie maker shed tears, these gems include: divorce, murder, crime, assault and tea parties

- talked to himself a whole lot to the point where his parents took him to a therapist

- never really made friends, Just made himself his own friend

Don Flamenco

- oh no.

- his dad basically hated him, insulted him a whole lot, made fun of him, literally just made him insecure, when he got the opportunity to escape his dad by boxing, he took it without hesitation and got out of there

- was never really home, he was always out with friends to avoid his dad back at the house

- emotional stability? Who needs that when you can ignore your problems?

- people pleaser no matter what he says

Aran Ryan

- greasy ass bitch

- his parents didnt teach him shit, you think tigers parents didnt care about him? They'll look like helicopter parents next to them when they see what aran has going on

- had bad hygiene, only learned to shower and take care of himself in the 5th grade, thanks to that and his name, my boy got bullied and developed his behavior to defend himself from people

- Always ran from school & home, he had a hide out from away from home and a bit close to school to escape whenever he had the chance, he always dissapeared for a few weeks (sometimes months) and nobody really went looking for him, either from knowing he'll return sometime or they just dont care enough

Soda Popinski

- lonely, him and tiger are the difference between feeling lonely vs being alone, he doesnt handle loneliness well

- grew up with his grandpa & his stories, always loved listening to them and copied him whenever he wanted to tell a story

- never had a proper social life due to having to take care of his grandpa + him getting concerned about soda whenever he was out for too long

- spent most of his time crying from loneliness, away from him

Bald Bull

- precious!!! Was really shy and had a rounder face that everyone in his family pinched like crazy

- extremely sensitive & emotional (he still is hes just bottling it up shh)

- stuttered a lot, think about that one "have you ever had a dream you could you can't you would you you could be anything" kid

- was really short and just shot up one day

- scaredy cat, could be scared from anything, including: bugs, darkness, thunder, needles, sharp stuff, blood, death and alcohol (he also still gets scared easily but shh shut up)

- Always snored in his sleep, inherited it from his dad

Super Macho Man

- obsessed with sharks, dinosaurs, trucks and cars, basically got obsessed with anything he found cool

- his parents spoiled the living fuck out of him, no dime left unspent on him, no quarter spared

- Always lied about having something at the playground, sure Macho i trust the fact that you have "every dinosaurs teeth" 100% never doubted you for a second

- his parents love language was money so it got passed down to him, they were just throwing money at him and fucking off

Mr Sandman

- oldest child in his family, has 4 siblings and loves them all very much, had to help his mom & dad take care of them since they were a handful

- started boxing early so he was never in school that often unless it was 99% neccessary

- slept a lot thanks to him being tired constantly from rushing around

- knows how to do hair & make up from his younger sister

[tarynisbunhead]

Man, CGI has really ruined Hollywood.

I've said how much I hate CGI in the past. How at this point I can't see the movie but just CGI blobs, or how about the fact that CGI takes away jobs like Make-up artists and costume design? "Hey if the computer can do it, why bother to wear the costume at all?" This is why corporations now turned to AI, and it's backfiring.

So why even bring this up? This summer I decided to watch Young Indiana Jones Chronicles again. I watched the first half of volume one, so far the first four adventures follow 10 year old Indiana Jones as he travels the world with his parents and tutor. Eventually the series tackles what happened to Indy's mother and the bitter relationship between father and son but as for right now Professor Jones is traveling and lecturing. This series was released in 1992 and as a kid when this series was released I didn't miss an episode, it was one of my favorite shows - why the fucking hell is Hollywood stupid now? This isn't some crummy nostalgia trip because I have the set and watch it on occasion, in the last 20 years Hollywood has given us reboots and self inserts, I'm not entertained watching someone's fan fiction play out.

This show starts off with a monologue explaining how Indy got to be an adventurous kid, and how he ended up with his dog. It then slides into how the family started their trip around the world - their house is a Victorian style house so you know the rest of this will be shot on location. Even as a kid I loved the location shots and costumes, I wanted to go back in time and wear Mrs. Jones clothes, I thought she was so pretty.

Okay now first of all, Professor Jones. George Lucas had to know after releasing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, and having Sean Connery as Indy's father, that wasn't going to be easy. The actor, Lloyd Owen, not only has the look but his acting style follows Mr. Connery. Right down to saying "Junior!" almost exact.

Shoot on location or green screen? I understand budget, but if you were given the money to show off the beauty of a country, why destroy it with computer generation?

I mean even the silent film Phantom of the Opera, that music hall set was designed using sketches. People thought that scene was filmed in an actual music hall. Lucas filmed on location in several episodes, using props that fit the time period, with 10 year old Indy the journey began in 1909.

Props and costumes really make a difference in transporting the audience back in time.

But even at that, through the series Indy meets several historical figures. Some show up several times like T. E. Lawrence and Howard Carter, so of course they had to look like the person they were portraying but what about Sigmund Freud? Tolstoy? Even a young Norman Rockwell?

This is the first episode, Carter and T. E. Lawrence are at a digsite. The crafty thing about Lucas is the characters mention King Tut so yeah you're gonna see these guys again

Here's a young Norman Rockwell

Here's Puccini, the opera composer who gave us Madame Butterfly. I watched the episode last night and didn't realize just how much it showed the actual Puccini - in the episode he went after Indy's mom, the real Puccini was a womanizer so there was no holding back

You can say I'm nostalgic and defend 2024 Hollywood but look at Who Framed Roger Rabbit that was released in 1988

Or how about Dick Tracy, released in 1990

Then there's Rocketeer in 1991

And then the same year that Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was released to TV, there was Newsies - 1992

Can we go back to movies and TV shows that look like the time period they were set in?

[caribesart]

I have been doing extensive research (aka hours looking at pictures) from the 1920’s to better get a sense of what the piofiore characters would look like irl and now I am developing fancastings with 1920’s actors/actresses and I’m forced to shout theses into the void that is my tumblr acc

Wallace Reid as Nicola Francesca

I mean, the first thing we learn about Nicola is how handsome he is, and he has a womanising charm to him (even though he’s actually a good boy)

Mildred Davis as Liliana Adornato

They’re both blondes with a very girl next door to them, like they’re gorgeous but they’re not bombshells, just very pretty and sweet

Rudolf Valentino as Roberto de Feo

Unfortunately the only one who’s actually italian on this list but don’t judge me I’m not a huge old hollywood fan so I’m only familiar with the most mainstream of actors… I do think Rudolf is perfect for Roberto because they both have this serious vibe but have some slight feminine charm to them.

Buster Keaton as Orlok

Ok so this guy really makes me confused because when you look at his pictures on google they’re all ugly but then you search some more and he’s actually kinda cute? He has a sick victorian child vibe that’s exactly what I pictured Orlok to be like. He’s described as looking frail multiple times in game and I think Mr. Keaton also looks quite dainty and feminine the same way I’d pictured Orlok.

I’m still trying to figure out the other characters but I’ll be updating once I figure them out

[darkbluekies]

I do collect Barbies! This genuinely isn’t me trying to brag or sound arrogant, but all of my 59 Barbies I currently have are collector/special/limited edition. I like them not because of their status, but because their clothing/quality was so well done. They’re from the late 90s to 2000s.

I’m not gonna list them all of course, but I think you’ll like these as a lot listed are historical/time period inspired outfits. Let me know though if you have different/more style preferences and I’ll try to find some to share with you again.

Barbie Cafe Society

Barbie Faberge Porcelain (3 in series)

Barbie Great Fashions of the 20th Century (7 in series)

Barbie Hollywood Movie Star (6 in series)

Barbie Mrs. P.F.E. Albee: Avon (2 in series)

Barbie Royal Jewels (4 in series)

Barbie Victorian Tea Porcelain (2 in series)

Barbie Victorian with Cedric Bear

Barbie Wedgwood (2 in series)

The website I used when collecting is https://barbieguide.sosugary.com/index.php

It’s a great catalog of Barbie releases. You’ll find a lot more historical inspired dolls on there, and Barbie makes excellent porcelain dolls too that I think you’ll like.

And tips if you’re interested in fashion doll collecting…

Don’t buy newer collector/special/limited edition dolls from Mattel. They’re worse quality for outrageously more money. Trust me on this. (A lot of my collector Barbies I was able to get for $30-$40 USD new in box, compared to the $100+ USD price tag Mattel charges now for collector dolls).

Mattel has been declining in quality ever since 2016 (probably earlier) and is still going lower present day. So if you’re interested in good quality play-line or collector dolls, try to get pre 2016.

Mattel dolls most of the time have polypropylene hair, which is considered the worst hair quality fiber as it literally disintegrates over a few years and isn’t easily brushsble/stylable.

Mattel also gives most of their dolls cheap paper-like printed clothing or molded on clothes.

If you want quality, buy MGA. They have nylon hair (easily brushsble, stylable, and won’t disintegrate). Much higher quality clothes/fabrics with intricate details and complex designs.

Mattel=Quantity

MGA=Quality

Thank you for your time!

That's cool to hear :))) it's nice to find someone that shares the interest of dolls, even if it's a different kind! Although I learned a lot, thank you♡ I'll check out the older styled ones!!

I'm not very interested in fashion dolls (apart from those from the 1800s) so unfortunately I'm sticking to my child looking dolls, which is why I kind of like the American girl dolls that are supposed to look like 1900s/1800s

I'm going to take this opportunity to brag about my girls as if they were my children. Here are my some of my older dolls<3

Just like you say about Barbies, these dolls also have limited editions (such as the discontinued one with a very, very uncanny voice box from the 1880s) unfortunately, I don't have any of them. BUT, I do have two from the most famous doll makers, Kestner and Armand Marseille<3 Always have to look for the markings that tell exactly which model they are

And I have one special girl who I call Darling who has human hair!!

And I just have to squeeze this in, when I was in Belfast I got to see a doll I have been such a big fan of for so many years. It's a doll that was floating around in the wreckage and actually seeing her up close in real life made me tear up in pure happiness. She was absolutely stunning, and I think she might (just might) be a similar model to my doll with the red boots, but i could get a good luck of her neck to see the "tag". Here she is!!

I just had to, dolls are one of my biggest interest and i have to take every chance i get♡

[lilyabsinthe]

From the Film Set - Billy the Kid (In Production)

We’ve been a bit out of touch lately with all the work on the film Billy the Kid by Michael Feifer– remote locations, no WiFi, 12-hour plus days, etc. have really been a major strain but we’ve finally been able to sort out some pictures and video from the production. To start things out, here’s a few views of our lead actress, Brianna Young:

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Jane Eyre adaptation OSTs, ranked

Because I have OpinionsTM. The main criteria here is "how Jane Eyre" each of these feel, being the main trait in it how much drama, high emotion, operatic-ness and cheese they contain, how much they reflect the environment and feel of the story, independently of how much they fit the specific adaptation they were made for. Some context will be taken into account, and also how aesthetically pleasing they are, etc, but not specifically their overall match with the tone of the adaptation they belong to (mainly because that makes them really impossible to compare with each other).

Before properly beginning, I will put outside this list the OST of the 1973 BBC adaptation. As much as it is big and operatic and has a lot of gusto, it's also not an original composition for the series -it's Edgar Elgar's 'Introduction and Allegro' for Strings (Quartet and Orchestra), Op. 47, and I think that disqualifies it.

That now out of the way, let's proceed:

7. Jane Eyre (1983) by Paul Reade.

This one is at the bottom mostly because of how sweet and tranquil and restrained it is overall. I'd rather expect it for something like Cranford or Anne of Green Gables. There's nothing even remotely Gothic or super dramatic to it.

6. Jane Eyre (1943) by Bernard Hermann.

Bombastic, like all things Hollywood in the 40s, but also very, very, very generic. Can fit anything from Victorian Romance to Contemporary drama and a serious old-timey silly simphony cartoon.

Best tracks: Rochester, Springtime, Mr Mason, Farewell.

5. Jane Eyre (1970) by John Williams.

It's comforting, once in a while, to know even the greatest are not very inspired sometimes.

Mind you, this still IS John Williams. The melodies are beautiful, the leitmotif carries solidly through the different pieces and morphs deliciously... but it doesn't sound like Jane Eyre. It doesn't sound like anything remotely in a zone anywhere near Jane Eyre. The tone is epic, but as in war-epic, with a dash of romance. What you'd expect for, say, a Zefirelli adaptation of a Shakespeare play?. The instrumentation, heavy on flute and a sort of harpsichord and sometimes... glockenspiel? does very little to evade that idea.

Best tracks: Trio (The Meeting), Across the Moors, Reunion.

4. Jane Eyre (2006), by Rob Lane.

This one is... fine. It's fine. It surely does have big emotions, it can do spooky and it can do joyful... but, listen, Rob Lane is an award-winner composer. We are talking of the person that composed the epic theme of Merlin. Here are some samples of his Jane Eyre score:

All except the intro an outro can be found at: https://www.roblanemusic.com/portfolio-item/jane-eyre-2006/

But you know what really puts it at the "bottom of the best" list? The... peculiar... way in which it sometimes sounds way too close to Thomas Newman's score for Little Women 1994. Maybe it is a matter of the director temping scenes with LW tunes and requiring the score to sound very similar, but even then, it's not... a good look.

Listen, for example, to this segment (it will play first "New York" from the score of Little Women 1994, then the music you hear when the servants prepare Thornfield for the arrival of the guests. The sound on the second is a bit muffled because I removed the vocals manually):

Also, this one (Learning to Forget, from LW 94, then the Rivers Family tune):

Badly done, Rob, badly done.

3. Jane Eyre (2011) by Dario Marianelli.

*gasp*

Yes, I went there and I'm not sorry. But also, this is not about dissing this score at all. It's really, really good. And truly, the difference between 3 and 2 is almost a technicality.

Declaredly, the director wanted Dario Marianelli to make this score as contrasting as possible to the one he composed for Pride &Prejudice (2005). This is in principle a good idea, because these works do feel like completely different universes. But one thing that the P&P score had going for itself, and that I see as a weakness of this one, is the distinctive character of each piece of the score; one blends into the other, and the general tone, while very atmospheric and supremely gothic, is also very restrained (it sounds contradictory, but it isn't). Which isn't very Janeeyresque at all.

Best pieces: A Thorough Education, Waiting for Mr. Rochester, The Wedding Dress.

2. Jane Eyre (1997), by Richard Harvey

(here is my own extraction of the music from the movie itself. As such, because of vocal isolation procedures, there's distortion and quality loss, specially in the parts under dialogue, but it still gives a complete impression of the OST as a whole).

I mourn that it has never been released, because to me at least it is hauntingly beautiful and memorable. Jane's leitmotif really just captures so much about the hardship and grief mingled with hope and yearning, and high drama and struggle of the story, that even if some of the other parts of the score aren't as distinctive or memorable, it still places it near the top.

Best pieces: Jane Eyre (Main Theme), Rochester's Fire, Handshake at Sunrise.

1. Jane Eyre (1996) by Claudio Capponi and Alessio Vlad

Jane Eyre (1996) will justly loose most accuracy rankings, but the score, the score is the one thing in it that very much does feel like the novel to me.

The music for this production is distinctive and gorgeous; it’s very simply structured around three main motifs: a journey motif (very clear in Infanzia di Jane, Viaggio di Jane), a love motif with a joyful (Tema di Helen, Matrimonio di Jane) and a wistful movement (Tema di Jane, Jane e Rochester), and a dark motif with a regret (Tema di Rochester, Ritorno a Thornfield) and a danger (Incendio a Thornfield, Inverno a Lowood) movement. The score moves seamlessly from poignant and reflective to sinister to hopeful, to innocent and pastoral and back again.

Best pieces: Infanzia di Jane, Helen e Jane, Tema di Jane Eyre (reprise).

What are your favorite moments of Jane Eyre scores?

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: The Struggles of Peace

Wars are big. Wars are colorful. Wars are Dramatic; at least as Hollywood does them.

War is also pretty much the default state of human beings, as far back as we can check. Yes, humans have instincts to be kind, altruistic, and caring... to others in our in-group. Those outside the group are either ignored, or targets.

Peace, on the other hand, is neither natural nor easy. Peace takes hard work, determination, and the occasional cracking of a non-peaceful skull. And it all has to be done in a way the majority of people involved can live with, or it all frays at the seams.

War and action type stories are interesting in part because you get to show how far characters can go and still be good people. Peacetime stories are interesting because your characters have to work within limits.

It’s like poetry. Free verse can be expressive, rhythmic, and powerful. But I’ve always appreciated the skill involved in expressing yourself in a tanka, sonnet, or ballad. When you have a set of rules, you have to be creative!

You also have to know which set of rules your characters are working under. Often there are several. Written laws? Professional codes of ethics? Social rules? Family customs? A lot of tension can come from a character deciding he’s going to have to break some rules to solve the problem, and he has to decide which rules can be broken, which can’t, and what price he’s willing to pay.

This is a big thing in a lot of works in Regency or Victorian settings. There are people you can talk to, people you must not, and certain subjects that absolutely Cannot Be Discussed Ever.

Except that realistically speaking they have to be discussed at some point. Hopefully before someone dies. And then social fallout ensues.

I used Regency and Victorian because those are familiar to a lot of readers, but honestly, up until fairly modern times, strict social rules about who could freely communicate with whom were common most places. And the unwritten rules you had to follow to avoid a breath of scandal or be ruined - meaning eventually dead, from lack of support or work....

There’s a neat example of “working within the rules to keep peace” in the first episode of Season 2 of Zenigata Heiji (see the Samurai vs. Ninja channel). Long story short, a ring of thieves figured out ways to implicate respectable shops in crimes. Meaning even when the police know who and where they are and could catch them... if the gang goes to trial and any implications come out, the businesses involved will be devastated. Leading to most of the families and employees being condemned to starvation or suicide.

If only, muse Heiji and his boss, there were a legal way to catch the gang without the case going to trial....

(It’s risky, but yes. There is.)

And if you want to see the effort needed to keep as much possible peace in a society at war, I recommend the series Foyle’s War. An inspector trying to solve murders and bring criminals to justice in WWII England has a heck of a job on his hands.

One episode ends with a murderer taunting Foyle, and... well. Here’s from Wikiquote.

Howard Paige: You sound like a sore loser. You know what the French say? "C'est la guerre."

Foyle: Precisely, Mr. Paige. "It's the war." And no war has lasted forever, and neither will this one. A year, maybe ten, but it will end. And when it does, Mr. Paige, you will still be a thief, a liar, and a murderer, and I will not have forgotten. And wherever you are, I will find you. You're not escaping justice, merely postponing it. Au revoir.

Stories with action are good. Stories with justice, even if it can’t be today - those take a skilled touch.

What kind of rules do you want your characters to break? What do you want them to uphold at all costs?

[cosmo-watches-movies]

Mary Reilly (1996)

Triggerwarning: Gore, Lots of Blood, General Horror (but I don't talk about any of this in here it's just in the movie)

Plot: Servant Girl Mary (Julia Roberts) falls in love with Jekyll (John Malkowitch), or Mr. Hide (also John Malkowitch). I honestly don't care which one. You don’t need to know anything else.

Spoilers beyond this

Michael has a small role in this but he’s doing his best. He plays Bradshaw, Jekyll’s 2nd Butler or whatever. Theres one scene where he has some text, but it’s nothing to write home about.

First of this movie made me scream at my tv. Why was this made? Who gave money for this? Has anyone ever cared about this movie? I like the idea a lot, but what is this? I went into this at least a little bit intruiged about the concept. Victorian Horror in London often gives for a good time. But wtf was this?

Julia Roberts spends the whole film loking like this -.- and it’s making me furious.

Idgaf about any of the characters so I’ll make this short...

Bradshaws one scene with dialouge was weird. He talks to Mary and two other servants about who Mr. Hide could be. It’s a very strange dialouge. Not much to work with. Bradshaw seems like a bit of an ass. Joking, talking bs. Not giving a fuck. This is the whole scene:

What am I supposed to say about that?

Buuut Michael gave more facial expressions in this one scene, than some other actors gave the whole movie. He is in a few other scenes, but just walking around doing servant things.

Only thing I'd like to point out is this one moment:

I believe the current term for this is "Michaels acting choices"? I dunno maybe he just had something on his face that bothered him and this is how he chose to deal with it. In that case fucking genius. Anyway this was the only moment in this movie I had even the slightest bit of fun.

To my knowledge this was his first Hollywood role, so for that I'll say; Well done Michael, we're very proud of you.

Anyway don’t do this to yourself it’s no fun.

[merrychristmasfaith]

Movie Watchlist (part 1)

this is going to be ridiculously long altogether lol

let me know if there are any you find interesting @1stuffedtiger :)

Miss Potter

Written by Richard Maltby, Jr., "Miss Potter" explores the life of Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and her struggle to overcome a domineering and unsupportive mother and the chauvinism of Victorian England to become a published author.

Game Night

Bateman & McAdams star as Max & Annie, whose weekly couples Game Night gets kicked up a notch when Max's brother (Chandler) plans a murder mystery party that turns out to be real.

In Secret

A romantic thriller set in the lower depths of 1860s Paris, IN SECRET is a tale of obsessive love, adultery and revenge based on Émile Zola's scandalous novel, 'Thérèse Raquin'.

Freaks

Kept locked inside the house by her father, seven year old Chloe lives in fear and fascination of the outside world, where Abnormals create a constant threat or so she believes. When a mysterious stranger offers her a glimpse of what's really happening outside, Chloe soon finds that while the truth isn't so simple, the danger is very real.

The Secret Path

The young granddaughter of an abusive grandfather finds happiness when she's taken under the wing of an older black couple. Her mother tries to overcome the family's problems, but she's continually beaten back by her controlling father.

Jewel

Set in the 1940s, the film tells the story a 40-year-old woman living in rural Mississippi, Jewel, who gives birth to a girl with Down Syndrome and raises her amidst immense social stigma and financial hardships.

Where the Crawdads Sing

From the best-selling novel comes a captivating mystery set in the dangerous Carolina marshlands.

Murder By Death

Millionaire Lionel Twain invites some of the most celebrated detectives to dinner at his house, to solve a murder that will take place at midnight! The stakes are raised when the blind butler (Guinness) falls victim long before the witching hour, and before long everybody's a suspect, and anybody's next! A great slapstick spoof comedy with some classic british talent, written by Neil Simon.

Oscar Wilde's the Nightingale and the Rose

A Nightingale embarks on a perilous quest to find a single red rose for her beloved - so that he may win the heart of the Professor's Daughter. But such a gift comes at a chilling price. Based on the classic fairytale by Oscar Wilde.

The Long Walk Home

One black and one white woman in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott lead by Martin Luther King.

An American in Paris : The Musical

Featuring the gorgeous music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin, An American in Paris tells the impassioned story of art, friendship and love between American GI, Jerry Mulligan, and Lise, a beautiful young dancer in the 'City of Light'.

Priscilla

From a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland: through Priscilla Presley’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This gem of a production was nominated for six Emmy Awards and is acclaimed as the finest of all the interpretations. Called "ornately atmospheric horror," by The Hollywood Reporter, it is a powerful adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's unforgettable tale, featuring Jack Palance as the mild Dr. Jekyll and the brutally evil Mr. Hyde.

Ramona And Beezus

The adventures of young Ramona Quimby (Joey King) and her big sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) come to life in this all new film based on the best-selling books by Beverly Cleary. Ramona's vivid imagination, boundless energy, and accident-prone antics keep everyone she meets on their toes.

The Tree Of Life

The story centres around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence.

Tuck Everlasting

Set in 1914, Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel) is a teenage girl growing up with her caring but overprotective parents in the small town of Winesap. All Winnie (Bledel) wants is a life of freedom and adventure. When she finds herself lost while exploring the woods one day, she finds the Tuck Family. The Tuck family have a secret spring on their property which contains the water of eternal youth.

Aftersun

At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum. Twenty years later, Sophie’s tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship.

Past Lives

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

[whitepolaris]

Spontaneous Human Combustion

The question of whether or not spontaneous human combustion, a living human being suddenly bursting into flames, really happens is a very old one. Hollywood has shown people in flames as a consequence of God's wrath on sinners. Victorian author Charles Dickens killed off one of his villains in this mystical way, and many scholars have witnessed or described dramatic, though perhaps less supernatural, examples of the phenomena.

Well, wouldn't you know it: Washington has had at least one instances of what might have been spontaneous human combustion-with a twist: The Victim was already dead.

On the night of December 6, 1973, Betty and Sam Satlow were closing up the tavern they owned in Hoquiam. Sam told Betty she could go home, perhaps because she had been drinking heavily and was not much help. Around five a.m. the next morning, Sam went home, where he found Betty unconscious at the wheel of her car, which was parked in the garage. He called paramedics, who tried unsuccessfully to revive her. An autopsy showed that she died of carbon monoxide poisoning, with a fifty-three percent saturation in her blood.

The logical assumption was that Mrs. Satlow had committed suicide, but there was no evidence that she had hooked a hose from her exhaust to the inside of her car. The autopsy also showed that she had a blood alcohol level of .26 percent, which is very high, so police suggested that she might have just fallen asleep in her car and simply did not wake up. The coroner decreed the question of suicide was indeterminate and left it at that.

After the autopsy, Betty's body was taken to the Coleman Mortuary, where she was embalmed and placed in a metal casket. The family gathered for a service on the night of December 9, and then the casket was closed and the funeral parlor locked up for the night. The next day, in the early morning hours, a tenant living in an apartment above the mortuary's chapel woke up smelling smoke and called the fire department.

When the firemen arrived, they found that Betty's coffin was at the center of a tremendously hot fire. Once they put the flames, they examined the metal coffin, which seemed to have acted like an oven. They found that Mrs. Satllow's upper body was reduced to ashes and a few bone fragments. Below the hips, her body was more or less intact, perhaps because there was less oxygen inside the sealed lolwer coffin lid.

At first, police thought the fire was a bizarre case of vandalism. However, the fire department could find no evidence of arson, no light fluid or accelerant, and no sign of a break-in. Ruling out vandalism, they had no rational explanation as to how the fire started. The police turned over portions of the coffin to the U.S. Treasury Department laboratory, which examined the materials. The lab technicians could not explain how the fire started either.

Spontaneous human combustion is a hard-to-prove phenomenon. Most of the time, there are no witnesses. Friends or family members imply find a handful of burned bones and ashes that was once their loved one. The victim is usually at rest, either sleeping or sitting in a chair, though some have been engaged in vigorous exercise when they caught fire. The blaze usually leave the flesh, blood, and most of the bone from the victim's body completely burned. This would happen only if the temperature was very, very hot-thousands of degrees-yet nearby furniture is often unburned or barely singed. Autopsies usually reveal that the victim's body seems to have burned from the inside out. Various explanations for the phenomena have been put forth: electrical wiring shorts, static electricity, and sometimes something as simple as a dropped match. Yet there are some cases that just don't lend themselves to the rational.

[rennyji]

appearances

Once upon a time I had hair. Me with hair and without it? I look radically different. I started losing my hair rapidly, upon realization of something surreal happening, while pursuing my Bachelors in Computer Science degree. Now, me with hair? Like other Asians or Europeans, I had a thing for leather jackets. My mother has good taste and would buy me quality shirts with collars in my high school/college years - that's right my mom bought my shirts! This is while my peers are wearing the freebies from joining a club in college.

So there's me with a leather jacket, my relaxed/fitting jeans, and buttoned up collar shirts exposing my, 80's style: minimal chest hair. Yes, I totally get shaving it all off is the norm! But that was my effortless look. But the cherry on top was my hair. In college, I was the guy who never got IDed at bars or parties, though I lost interest quickly. There's people pissing through the spaces in the floor boards, and bars weren't a place I enjoyed finding someone to walk side by side with. I was frequently met by frat guys, with their party invite professional cards, while walking through my initial engineering campus.

Kids in my old Church, thought I was the coolest guy. I was nobody. Just a guy who studied, while struggling with ADD/focus issues, with the hope of getting a decent job, so that I could start my life. My cousins would call me "the big man on campus" or "Mr. Bollywood." (Hollywood, but with a "B"). They all had these big impressions of me, but I was just a man with hair. Plain and simple.

At the onset of my "mind harassing" situation, I believe I experienced some accelerated male pattern baldness, within the years of 2012-2013. Now I'm not tall, I'm 5"8 or 5"9, I was beginning to get some gains from working out, but I wasn't like some of these East Asians on my campus, who were exceptionally cut. When I had my hair -and I"m a straight guy who enjoyed having bangs on his left and right temples ( because I wanted to look like 1980s "Billie Jean/Beat It": Michael Jackson) - I knew I was me. But when I lost my original look, I lost a part of me. I lost my face/I lost a core part of my identity. I went from being "that" guy and became "this" guy. If nothing else, it was my first experience with an aspect of mortality, or losing something I would never possibly regain, for as long as I live. That's somewhat of a big revelation, for a small thing, in the beginning of your 20's.

Dave Bautista, with his nicely "shaped" beard (and even without it), can pull of the bald look. And Jimmy Fallon has a lush/fluffy of a lions mane - I mean does he condition that/oil that? its clean/natural thickness where if you ruffled your hands through, it wouldn't get messed up/require hair gel...sorry man, or anyone, if I'm weirding you out-your hair is very much noticeable. I'm writing this, while watching Fallon's Friday night episode on March 1, 2024. I may not look horrible, but I'm no Dave Bautista, or The Rock (who pulls off the bald look nicely, compared to his "short hair combed down" look, from when he was wrestling: "Ifff yoouuu smeeellll ... what The Rock is cooking?! ... I think that was Dwayne Johnson's line.)

Now I say these things, not because I'm a narcissist. & Not because I think I'm exceptional. While I occasionally dabble with things like a Nutrafol supplement that just came out, now seen on TV, I've pretty much come to terms with not having my usual head of hair. I've accepted it. No need for sympathetic type comments like "You're still nice or good looking"...in a sense, I stopped caring.

So why do I say this now?

With a little bit of life experience, I come across News 4 like subjects, on Fashion Icon/Interior Designer: Iris Apfel , who passed away, with sentiments like "I'll never be good looking...", so I'll look flamboyant with big glasses and a Victorian big circular dress collar. At first sight, she looked a little scary or like someone who needs to be careful walking the streets. From my quick rush with her picture on the news, I wasn't a fan of her short hair (as I think women look better with chest level hair length, ending in twirls/curls/or just pin straight), but I saw nothing wrong with her face. I felt sad, even if this woman I didn't know/never saw before, had this sentiment. I realize everyone has a perception of themselves, as I did with my semi-long "hair gell-ed" hair. And all this coincides on a day, where I addressed flamboyant styles in the wrong places. On another news channel, I heard a newscaster say people have contradicting/coinciding/conflicting type thoughts. For someone to go through all the mental strain of, and settling on, something that makes them feel good/makes them feel like who they are, on the inside, who am I to make suggestions/corrections/comments?! I mean, in certain places, certain roles, you need to adapt for the sake of tradition/custom/location. That's not about telling you what to do or dominating your life. How you are on a typical day, stays with you, regardless, even when you have to make intermittent disappearances of aspects of you.

Over the years, outside of romantic interests, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist in terms of enhancing aspects of me, I see people for their innocent nuances or what they exhibit-kind of hard to explain what I'm thinking. Like, since my kindergarten days and my first Bollywood movie, I wanted someone that looked similar. But over the years, just from seeing different people, getting to know them, even though I may not have said it, even though I didn't expect it, even though it didn't match my Bollywood vision, I found myself quietly appreciating them, in their nuances.

In all honesty, I don't like saying or writing any of this. I'm not a creeper, but I just quietly witness/observe what goes on around me. When I give a viewpoint, there's always the risk, there's an individual who feels restricted or bound to what I'm saying. Ultimately, I say: you be you, I'll be me. If I say something, take it through the filter of your life, or see it through the lens of your own glasses/frames.

In my old/unanswered complaint forms to law enforcement and elsewhere, on my "mind harassing situation," I'd always say, regarding the things I mention, "these are my observations, not my botherations." I'm just going to/fro, where I ultimately return home to get away from it all (which hasn't been happening for more than a decade and frankly, for my personality: it's exhausting). I have no intention on burdening others by being overbearing, overreaching, or preachy. While born as a baptized Christian, influencing my views along with several other religions, my ultimate belief is in one, Big "G": God, who cares for me, as a parent for His child, and believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself.

In life, we're not machines. We can't live by rules, but only guidelines. Which is why the Golden Rule is important. From that everything else follows. Interpret what comes your way through those lens, and wake up to your self and surroundings.

One of my tweets on the matter:

Our Roles/Lifestyles/Personas InLife R like Quadrilaterals, which R 4 Sided Figures Like squares/rectangles/trapezoid/rhombus -shapes looking Different 2 Our Eyes-or illusions. Truth in them is they All Have 4 sides. Such R different people. We're all People, Of Varying Shades Which Is Y Golden Rule is Important. Another tweet in relation:

People R like analog signals. They don’t have fixedStates likeDigital 1’s & 0’s which are really electrical charges or the lack Of them. People are of all colors/shades of the spectrum, which makes them complicated, vague 2 understand, and not 2B judged 1 way or the other. Nothing is this or that.

I'm a programmer by trade. And in programming, we have something called if/else statements that tell a program or the computer, what to do for various situations (what's called: "conditions.")

It looks something like this:

if () { } else if () { } else if () { } . . . else { } We're not one thing or the other. Sometimes our beliefs and actions lie somewhere between the initial "if" clause above, and "else if ()", which is basically saying: "if this," "then that," "otherwise do that." With all the talk on meat on the news, an example would be: "if I'm hungry, I'll eat red meat" else "I'll eat white meat" What if you decide to eat a kabab with beef, chicken, and shrimp? Is shrimp even red meat or white meat? Isn't that seafood? This kind of setting throws off the if/else logic or you end up restricting yourself to a box with one or the other type rules. You need to be flexible and open minded. Look respectful, be respectful, but ultimately project your identity, while mindful of your situation and setting. No need to put yourself down or feel guilty. Respect yourself/others.