#croupe

[detroitlib]

View of an advertising card for D.S. Hallock, advertising Dr. A.C. Hoxsie's Certain Croup Cure. Card depicts a girl holding a cat. Printed on back: "Dr. A.C. Hoxsie's Certain Croup Cure, positive, swift and sure. There is no remedy known that acts with such certain results. It contains no opium, the most delicate infant may take it. For sale by first-class druggists." Stamped on back: "From D.S. Hallock, druggist, cor. Fort & 18th Sts., Detroit, Mich."

Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

[meirimerens]

i'm very sorry to say this, but meiri, you are a foul woman for making me (a lonely lesbian) lust for a gender bent version of a canonically male character.....keep going 👍

in a more just world there would be no more male characters and the female characters would be as diverse as them. in a just world a female character would be a 197cm tall bald lying secretive corpse-desecrator who would attack her childhood friend and almost-adopted-sister on sight, spitting in her face that it was she who slept by their mentor's feet like a dog. in a just world a female character would be a vaguely futchy¹ bipolar alcoholic who tries to self-immolate in front of you, participated in a colleague's murder with her sister (or did she?), delirious from guilt, illness and drink (and it NOT being the "sexualized crazywoman" trope. because she'd be worse), whose sister would be protective of her like a rabid dog. in a just world a female character could be a brown-eyed brunette in a tacky snakeskin coat, arrogant, haughty until circumstances beyond her comprehension break her spirit, able and willing to tell someone that if they're that much of a pussy about killing themself she'll fucking help. in a just world a female character could be butcher [as in the cutter of meat.], daughter of butcher, feared for her perceived violence but not more wicked than any other, collecting organs and keeping them in her little pouch.

but it is not a just world. so fine. (rolls up sleeves) i'll do it myself.

¹ the butch-femme scale is not real and therefore "futch" or "futchy" isn't either. however that is a really funny word for a joke

[bugslaststraw]

Cannot be understated how funny Croup eating that statuette is, especially in the audiobook, because he sits there talking about how beautiful it is for ten seconds, with you not knowing what he's getting at until Vandemar goes "are you gonna have it for later or" and "no I'll eat it now" followed by a bunch of crunchy eating noises. The whiplash. Bonus points for Mr V just awkwardly sitting there waiting + asking if it's tasty like he just does not get it but he's supportive. God bless.

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

I want to know so badly what in the name of all that is holy Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar are.

I'm very sure they cannot exist on their own without the other.

The seem human, but they don't have blood, and eat so many fucked up things, and heal too easily, and don't seem to hurt ever.

Their entire purpose seems to be killing. They are probably very, very ancient. They are very bound to their contracts (well, at least by honour). They belong to the Underside but they can move through the Upside just as well.

They are fucked up in so many ways. They are fascinating in so many different way. Peak character design, really, they're terrifying - but what are they??

[feverflushed]

"Laryngotracheobronchitis? Really? You literally couldn't get any sicker than this."

Whumpee tries to reply but is cut off by loud, hoarse, barking coughs that scrape their throat and chest. When they recover, their voice is a faded whisper.

"The doctor could have just called it croup. You wouldn't have freaked out as much, at least."

"Diagnosis aside, that cough is enough to freak me out anyway. Come. Let's take your poor destroyed lungs home. You really need to be in bed, with tea, cough drops, and a nebulizer."

[adamsvanrhijn]

if i were a 19th century lesbian i think i would struggle to find a husband but i think if i could find one i probably would get married. but i would be such a completely different person to survive in the 19th century so i'm not sure if there's a way for me to really pose this question to myself in any meaningful manner

[zippocreed501]

Hywel Bennett as Mr. Croup and Clive Russell as Mr Vandemar

Neverwhere (1996)

[onecopyoneyearinadvance]

Chillicothe Independent, Volume 6, Number 4, 29 October 1881

There was a serious diphtheria, also referred to as Membranous Croup, outbreak in the area October 1881, with several deaths mentioned in the paper each week. I doubt this worked, but it's hard to blame people for grasping for solutions

[border-collie]

Whippet, now whippet good.

[powderflower]

this made me the way i am.

[lawinez]

Most of the things in the Neverwhere comic are.. odd... but look at Croup and Vandemar. They're sweet. they're alright

also Mr V getting shit thrown at him under the cut

[roxas-von-einzbern]

Welcome back to "Unuseful headcanons about Neverwhere 's Old Firm part 3(?)"!

One of Mr. Croup's hobbies is prestidigitation, especially if done with razors and, surpisingly, cards. He's also a master pickpocketer.

Mr. Vandemar can remeber literally everything he has seen/heard/done etc. He could descibe you in every detail every Old Firm's torture session that happened in the VI century A.C.E.

[musicalsiphonophore]

I’ve noticed something very specific that features in, like, all the media I like:

A duo of assassins who are very friendly and casual (despite being so unhinged), who wear suits, who are either nonhuman or are so disconnected from humanity that they might as well be nonhuman, and who you can’t really separate from each other eg they finish each other’s sentences.

It’s in my favourite book (neverwhere- mr croup and mr vandemar), my favourite tv show (tua- hazel and cha cha), AND one of my favourite films (pulp fiction- vince and jules)!!!

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

Mr Croup & Vandemar speak about burning down a convent in the 16th century but in a way that suggests for them it happened just a few days ago. It's somewhere in the scene they're taking orders over the phone to not kill Door but scare her instead I believe. (I listened to an audiobook, sorry)

There's also an alternative prologue where the convent thing is described and Mr Croup explicitly states they're going to the 20th century next. It was kind of irrelevant to the overall story but such a whacky detail like what ARE these guys???

ohhhhhh YEAH i remember that scene! i need to get my book back i need to reread it asap for real.

thanks for that btw! gosh they are making me go mad. neverwhere is making me go mad, like so many things just Exist but also they don't in a way you think but also it's exactly what you think but also nothing is explained ever. and it's beautiful and it's consuming my mind lmao

[thinkanamelater]

All your faith, all your rage All your pain, it ain't over now It's the cruel beast that you feed It's your burning yearning need to bleed

You can use Ghost's lyrics for anything I swear (Spillways in this case, give it a listen it's an amazing song)

Anyway, have some Neverwhere fanart!

[poeticallydisgraced]

Have I spent all my live in apnea? Ignore these daggers pointing at my lungs. This blue toned hue and stridor mean nothing to you. Ignore the loss of consciousness, ignore every god damn thing even if I’m dying. Sigh and huff: find out the cause begrudgingly. Death to Life to Death to Rebirth. Growth to Tumor, to Rebirth again.