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fibula-rasa · 1 year ago

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(Mostly) Lost, but Not Forgotten: Omar Khayyam (1923) / A Lover’s Oath (1925)

Alternate Titles: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam, Omar

Direction: Ferdinand Pinney Earle; assisted by Walter Mayo

Scenario: Ferdinand P. Earle

Titles: Marion Ainslee, Ferdinand P. Earle (Omar), Louis Weadock (A Lover’s Oath)

Inspired by: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, as edited & translated by Edward FitzGerald

Production Manager: Winthrop Kelly

Camera: Georges Benoit

Still Photography: Edward S. Curtis

Special Photographic Effects: Ferdinand P. Earle, Gordon Bishop Pollock

Composer: Charles Wakefield Cadman

Editors: Arthur D. Ripley (The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam version), Ethel Davey & Ferdinand P. Earle (Omar / Omar Khayyam, the Director’s cut of 1922), Milton Sills (A Lover’s Oath)

Scenic Artists: Frank E. Berier, Xavier Muchado, Anthony Vecchio, Paul Detlefsen, Flora Smith, Jean Little Cyr, Robert Sterner, Ralph Willis

Character Designer: Louis Hels

Choreography: Ramon Novarro (credited as Ramon Samaniegos)

Technical Advisors: Prince Raphael Emmanuel, Reverend Allan Moore, Captain Dudley S. Corlette, & Captain Montlock or Mortlock

Studio: Ferdinand P. Earle Productions / The Rubaiyat, Inc. (Production) & Eastern Film Corporation (Distribution, Omar), Astor Distribution Corporation [States Rights market] (Distribution, A Lover’s Oath)

Performers: Frederick Warde, Edwin Stevens, Hedwiga Reicher, Mariska Aldrich, Paul Weigel, Robert Anderson, Arthur Carewe, Jesse Weldon, Snitz Edwards, Warren Rogers, Ramon Novarro (originally credited as Ramon Samaniegos), Big Jim Marcus, Kathleen Key, Charles A. Post, Phillippe de Lacy, Ferdinand Pinney Earle

Premiere(s): Omar cut: April 1922 The Ambassador Theatre, New York, NY (Preview Screening), 12 October 1923, Loew’s New York, New York, NY (Preview Screening), 2 February 1923, Hoyt’s Theatre, Sydney, Australia (Initial Release)

Status: Presumed lost, save for one 30 second fragment preserved by the Academy Film Archive, and a 2.5 minute fragment preserved by a private collector (Old Films & Stuff)

Length: Omar Khayyam: 8 reels , 76 minutes; A Lover’s Oath: 6 reels, 5,845 feet (though once listed with a runtime of 76 minutes, which doesn’t line up with the stated length of this cut)

Synopsis (synthesized from magazine summaries of the plot):

Omar Khayyam:

Set in 12th century Persia, the story begins with a preface in the youth of Omar Khayyam (Warde). Omar and his friends, Nizam (Weigel) and Hassan (Stevens), make a pact that whichever one of them becomes a success in life first will help out the others. In adulthood, Nizam has become a potentate and has given Omar a position so that he may continue his studies in mathematics and astronomy. Hassan, however, has grown into quite the villain. When he is expelled from the kingdom, he plots to kidnap Shireen (Key), the sheik’s daughter. Shireen is in love with Ali (Novarro). In the end it’s Hassan’s wife (Reicher) who slays the villain then kills herself.

A Lover’s Oath:

The daughter of a sheik, Shireen (Key), is in love with Ali (Novarro), the son of the ruler of a neighboring kingdom. Hassan covets Shireen and plots to kidnap her. Hassan is foiled by his wife. [The Sills’ edit places Ali and Shireen as protagonists, but there was little to no re-shooting done (absolutely none with Key or Novarro). So, most critics note how odd it is that all Ali does in the film is pitch woo, and does not save Shireen himself. This obviously wouldn’t have been an issue in the earlier cut, where Ali is a supporting character, often not even named in summaries and news items. Additional note: Post’s credit changes from “Vizier” to “Commander of the Faithful”]

Additional sequence(s) featured in the film (but I’m not sure where they fit in the continuity):

Celestial sequences featuring stars and planets moving through the cosmos

Angels spinning in a cyclone up to the heavens

A Potters’ shop sequence (relevant to a specific section of the poems)

Harem dance sequence choreographed by Novarro

Locations: palace gardens, street and marketplace scenes, ancient ruins

Points of Interest:

“The screen has been described as the last word in realism, but why confine it there? It can also be the last word in imaginative expression.”

Ferdinand P. Earle as quoted in Exhibitors Trade Review, 4 March 1922

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was a massive best seller. Ferdinand Pinney Earle was a classically trained artist who studied under William-Adolphe Bougueraeu and James McNeill Whistler in his youth. He also had years of experience creating art backgrounds, matte paintings, and art titles for films. Charles Wakefield Cadman was an accomplished composer of songs, operas, and operettas. Georges Benoit and Gordon Pollock were experienced photographic technicians. Edward S. Curtis was a widely renowned still photographer. Ramon Novarro was a name nobody knew yet—but they would soon enough.

When Earle chose The Rubaiyat as the source material for his directorial debut and collected such skilled collaborators, it seemed likely that the resulting film would be a landmark in the art of American cinema. Quite a few people who saw Earle’s Rubaiyat truly thought it would be:

William E. Wing writing for Camera, 9 September 1922, wrote:

“Mr. Earle…came from the world of brush and canvass, to spread his art upon the greater screen. He created a new Rubaiyat with such spiritual colors, that they swayed.” … “It has been my fortune to see some of the most wonderful sets that this Old Earth possesses, but I may truly say that none seized me more suddenly, or broke with greater, sudden inspiration upon the view and the brain, than some of Ferdinand Earle’s backgrounds, in his Rubaiyat. “His vision and inspired art seem to promise something bigger and better for the future screen.”

As quoted in an ad in Film Year Book, 1923:

“Ferdinand Earle has set a new standard of production to live up to.”

Rex Ingram

“Fifty years ahead of the time.”

Marshall Neilan

The film was also listed among Fritz Lang’s Siegfried, Chaplin’s Gold Rush, Fairbanks’ Don Q, Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera and The Unholy Three, and Erich Von Stroheim’s Merry Widow by the National Board of Review as an exceptional film of 1925.

So why don’t we all know about this film? (Spoiler: it’s not just because it’s lost!)

The short answer is that multiple dubious legal challenges arose that prevented Omar’s general release in the US. The long answer follows BELOW THE JUMP!

Earle began the project in earnest in 1919. Committing The Rubaiyat to film was an ambitious undertaking for a first-time director and Earle was striking out at a time when the American film industry was developing an inferiority complex about the level of artistry in their creative output. Earle was one of a number of artists in the film colony who were going independent of the emergent studio system for greater protections of their creative freedoms.

In their adaptation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Earle and Co. hoped to develop new and perfect existing techniques for incorporating live-action performers with paintings and expand the idea of what could be accomplished with photographic effects in filmmaking. The Rubaiyat was an inspired choice. It’s not a narrative, but a collection of poetry. This gave Earle the opportunity to intersperse fantastical, poetic sequences throughout a story set in the lifetime of Omar Khayyam, the credited writer of the poems. In addition to the fantastic, Earle’s team would recreate 12th century Persia for the screen.

Earle was convinced that if his methods were perfected, it wouldn’t matter when or where a scene was set, it would not just be possible but practical to put on film. For The Rubaiyat, the majority of shooting was done against black velvet and various matte photography and multiple exposure techniques were employed to bring a setting 800+ years in the past and 1000s of miles removed to life before a camera in a cottage in Los Angeles.

Note: If you’d like to learn a bit more about how these effects were executed at the time, see the first installment of How’d They Do That.

Unfortunately, the few surviving minutes don’t feature much of this special photography, but what does survive looks exquisite:

see all gifs here

Earle, knowing that traditional stills could not be taken while filming, brought in Edward S. Curtis. Curtis developed techniques in still photography to replicate the look of the photographic effects used for the film. So, even though the film hasn’t survived, we have some pretty great looking representations of some of the 1000s of missing feet of the film.

Nearly a year before Curtis joined the crew, Earle began collaboration with composer Charles Wakefield Cadman. In another bold creative move, Cadman and Earle worked closely before principal photography began so that the score could inform the construction and rhythm of the film and vice versa.

By the end of 1921 the film was complete. After roughly 9 months and the creation of over 500 paintings, The Rubaiyat was almost ready to meet its public. However, the investors in The Rubaiyat, Inc., the corporation formed by Earle to produce the film, objected to the ample reference to wine drinking (a comical objection if you’ve read the poems) and wanted the roles of the young lovers (played by as yet unknown Ramon Novarro and Kathleen Key) to be expanded. The dispute with Earle became so heated that the financiers absconded with the bulk of the film to New York. Earle filed suit against them in December to prevent them from screening their butchered and incomplete cut. Cadman supported Earle by withholding the use of his score for the film.

Later, Eastern Film Corp. brokered a settlement between the two parties, where Earle would get final cut of the film and Eastern would handle its release. Earle and Eastern agreed to change the title from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam to simply Omar. Omar had its first official preview in New York City. It was tentatively announced that the film would have a wide release in the autumn.

However, before that autumn, director Norman Dawn launched a dubious patent-infringement suit against Earle and others. Dawn claimed that he owned the sole right to use multiple exposures, glass painting for single exposure, and other techniques that involved combining live action with paintings. All the cited techniques had been widespread in the film industry for a decade already and eventually and expectedly Dawn lost the suit. Despite Earle’s victory, the suit effectively put the kibosh on Omar’s release in the US.

Earle moved on to other projects that didn’t come to fruition, like a Theda Bara film and a frankly amazing sounding collaboration with Cadman to craft a silent-film opera of Faust. Omar did finally get a release, albeit only in Australia. Australian news outlets praised the film as highly as those few lucky attendees of the American preview screenings did. The narrative was described as not especially original, but that it was good enough in view of the film’s artistry and its imaginative “visual phenomena” and the precision of its technical achievement.

One reviewer for The Register, Adelaide, SA, wrote:

“It seems almost an impossibility to make a connected story out of the short verse of the Persian of old, yet the producer of this classic of the screen… has succeeded in providing an entertainment that would scarcely have been considered possible. From first to last the story grips with its very dramatic intensity.”

While Omar’s American release was still in limbo, “Ramon Samaniegos” made a huge impression in Rex Ingram’s Prisoner of Zenda (1922, extant) and Scaramouche (1923, extant) and took on a new name: Ramon Novarro. Excitement was mounting for Novarro’s next big role as the lead in the epic Ben-Hur (1925, extant) and the Omar project was re-vivified.

A new company, Astor Distribution Corp., was formed and purchased the distribution rights to Omar. Astor hired actor (note, not an editor) Milton Sills to re-cut the film to make Novarro and Key more prominent. The company also re-wrote the intertitles, reduced the films runtime by more than ten minutes, and renamed the film A Lover’s Oath. Earle had moved on by this point, vowing to never direct again. In fact, Earle was indirectly working with Novarro and Key again at the time, as an art director on Ben-Hur!

Despite Omar’s seemingly auspicious start in 1920, it was only released in the US on the states rights market as a cash-in on the success of one of its actors in a re-cut form five years later.

That said, A Lover’s Oath still received some good reviews from those who did manage to see it. Most of the negative criticism went to the story, intertitles, and Sills’ editing.

What kind of legacy could/should Omar have had? I’m obviously limited in my speculation by the fact that the film is lost, but there are a few key facts about the film’s production, release, and timing to consider.

The production budget was stated to be $174,735. That is equivalent to $3,246,994.83 in 2024 dollars. That is a lot of money, but since the production was years long and Omar was a period film set in a remote locale and features fantastical special effects sequences, it’s a modest budget. For contemporary perspective, Robin Hood (1922, extant) cost just under a million dollars to produce and Thief of Bagdad (1924, extant) cost over a million. For a film similarly steeped in spectacle to have nearly 1/10th of the budget is really very noteworthy. And, perhaps if the film had ever had a proper release in the US—in Earle’s intended form (that is to say, not the Sills cut)—Omar may have made as big of a splash as other epics.

It’s worth noting here however that there are a number of instances in contemporary trade and fan magazines where journalists off-handedly make this filmmaking experiment about undermining union workers. Essentially implying that that value of Earle’s method would be to continue production when unionized workers were striking. I’m sure that that would absolutely be a primary thought for studio heads, but it certainly wasn’t Earle’s motivation. Often when Earle talks about the method, he focuses on being able to film things that were previously impossible or impracticable to film. Driving down filming costs from Earle’s perspective was more about highlighting the artistry of his own specialty in lieu of other, more demanding and time-consuming approaches, like location shooting.

This divide between artists and studio decision makers is still at issue in the American film and television industry. Studio heads with billion dollar salaries constantly try to subvert unions of skilled professionals by pursuing (as yet) non-unionized labor. The technical developments of the past century have made Earle’s approach easier to implement. However, just because you don’t have to do quite as much math, or time an actor’s movements to a metronome, does not mean that filming a combination of painted/animated and live-action elements does not involve skilled labor.

VFX artists and animators are underappreciated and underpaid. In every new movie or TV show you watch there’s scads of VFX work done even in films/shows that have mundane, realistic settings. So, if you love a film or TV show, take the effort to appreciate the work of the humans who made it, even if their work was so good you didn’t notice it was done. And, if you’ve somehow read this far, and are so out of the loop about modern filmmaking, Disney’s “live-action” remakes are animated films, but they’ve just finagled ways to circumvent unions and low-key delegitimize the skilled labor of VFX artists and animators in the eyes of the viewing public. Don’t fall for it.

VFX workers in North America have a union under IATSE, but it’s still developing as a union and Marvel & Disney workers only voted to unionize in the autumn of 2023. The Animation Guild (TAG), also under the IATSE umbrella, has a longer history, but it’s been growing rapidly in the past year. A strike might be upcoming this year for TAG, so keep an eye out and remember to support striking workers and don’t cross picket lines, be they physical or digital!

Speaking of artistry over cost-cutting, I began this post with a mention that in the early 1920s, the American film industry was developing an inferiority complex in regard to its own artistry. This was in comparison to the European industries, Germany’s being the largest at the time. It’s frustrating to look back at this period and see acceptance of the opinion that American filmmakers weren’t bringing art to film. While yes, the emergent studio system was highly capitalistic and commercial, that does not mean the American industry was devoid of home-grown artists.

United Artists was formed in 1919 by Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith precisely because studios were holding them back from investing in their art—within the same year that Earle began his Omar project. While salaries and unforgiving production schedules were also paramount concerns in the filmmakers going independent, a primary impetus was that production/distribution heads exhibited too much control over what the artists were trying to create.

Fairbanks was quickly expanding his repertoire in a more classical and fantastic direction. Cecil B. DeMille made his first in a long and very successful string of ancient epics. And the foreign-born children of the American film industry, Charlie Chaplin, Rex Ingram, and Nazimova, were poppin’ off! Chaplin was redefining comedic filmmaking. Ingram was redefining epics. Nazimova independently produced what is often regarded as America’s first art film, Salome (1923, extant), a film designed by Natacha Rambova, who was *gasp* American. Earle and his brother, William, had ambitious artistic visions of what could be done in the American industry and they also had to self-produce to get their work done.

Meanwhile, studio heads, instead of investing in the artists they already had contracts with, tried to poach talent from Europe with mixed success (in this period, see: Ernst Lubitsch, F.W. Murnau, Benjamin Christensen, Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjöström, and so on). I’m in no way saying it was the wrong call to sign these artists, but all of these filmmakers, even if they found success in America, had stories of being hired to inject the style and artistry that they developed in Europe into American cinema, and then had their plans shot down or cut down to a shadow of their creative vision. Even Stiller, who tragically died before he had the opportunity to establish himself in the US, faced this on his first American film, The Temptress (1926, extant), on which he was replaced. Essentially, the studio heads’ actions were all hot air and spite for the filmmakers who’d gone independent.

Finally I would like to highlight Ferdinand Earle’s statement to the industry, which he penned for from Camera in 14 January 1922, when his financial backers kidnapped his film to re-edit it on their terms:

MAGNA CHARTA

Until screen authors and producers obtain a charter specifying and guaranteeing their privileges and rights, the great slaughter of unprotected motion picture dramas will go merrily on.

Some of us who are half artists and half fighters and who are ready to expend ninety per cent of our energy in order to win the freedom to devote the remaining ten per cent to creative work on the screen, manage to bring to birth a piteous, half-starved art progeny.

The creative artist today labors without the stimulus of a public eager for his product, labors without the artistic momentum that fires the artist’s imagination and spurs his efforts as in any great art era.

Nowadays the taint of commercialism infects the seven arts, and the art pioneer meets with constant petty worries and handicaps.

Only once in a blue moon, in this matter-of-fact, dollar-wise age can the believer in better pictures hope to participate in a truely [sic] artistic treat.

In the seven years I have devoted to the screen, I have witnessed many splendid photodramas ruined by intruding upstarts and stubborn imbeciles. And I determined not to launch the production of my Opus No. 1 until I had adequately protected myself against all the usual evils of the way, especially as I was to make an entirely new type of picture.

In order that my film verison [sic] of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam might be produced under ideal conditions and safeguarded from intolerable interferences and outside worries, I entered into a contract with the Rubaiyat, Inc., that made me not only president of the corporation and on the board of directors, but which set forth that I was to be author, production manager, director, cutter and film editor as well as art director, and that no charge could be made against the production without my written consent, and that my word was to be final on all matters of production. The late George Loane Tucker helped my attorney word the contract, which read like a splendid document.

Alas, I am now told that only by keeping title to a production until it is declared by yourself to be completed is it safe for a scenario writer, an actor or a director, who is supposedly making his own productions, to contract with a corporation; otherwise he is merely the servant of that corporation, subject at any moment to discharge, with the dubious redress of a suit for damages that can with difficulty be estimated and proven.

Can there be any hope of better pictures as long as contracts and copyrights are no protection against financial brigands and bullies?

We have scarcely emerged from barbarism, for contracts, solemnly drawn up between human beings, in which the purposes are set forth in the King’s plainest English, serve only as hurdles over which justice-mocking financiers and their nimble attorneys travel with impunity, riding rough shod over the author or artist who cannot support a legal army to defend his rights. The phrase is passed about that no contract is invioliable [sic]—and yet we think we have reached a state of civilization!

The suit begun by my attorneys in the federal courts to prevent the present hashed and incomplete version of my story from being released and exhibited, may be of interest to screen writers. For the whole struggle revolves not in the slightest degree around the sanctity of the contract, but centers around the federal copyright of my story which I never transferred in writing otherwise, and which is being brazenly ignored.

Imagine my production without pictorial titles: and imagine “The Rubaiyat” with a spoken title as follows, “That bird is getting to talk too much!”—beside some of the immortal quatrains of Fitzgerald!

One weapon, fortunately, remains for the militant art creator, when all is gone save his dignity and his sense of humor; and that is the rapier blade of ridicule, that can send lumbering to his retreat the most brutal and elephant-hided lord of finance.

How edifying—the tableau of the man of millions playing legal pranks upon men such as Charles Wakefield Cadman, Edward S. Curtis and myself and others who were associated in the bloody venture of picturizing the Rubaiyat! It has been gratifying to find the press of the whole country ready to champion the artist’s cause.

When the artist forges his plowshare into a sword, so to speak, he does not always put up a mean fight.

What publisher would dare to rewrite a sonnet of John Keats or alter one chord of a Chopin ballade?

Creative art of a high order will become possible on the screen only when the rights of established, independent screen producers, such as Rex Ingram and Maurice Tourneur, are no longer interferred with and their work no longer mutilated or changed or added to by vandal hands. And art dramas, conceived and executed by masters of screen craft, cannot be turned out like sausages made by factory hands. A flavor of individuality and distinction of style cannot be preserved in machine-made melodramas—a drama that is passed from hand to hand and concocted by patchworkers and tinkerers.

A thousand times no! For it will always be cousin to the sausage, and be like all other—sausages.

The scenes of a master’s drama may have a subtle pictorial continuity and a power of suggestion quite like a melody that is lost when just one note is changed. And the public is the only test of what is eternally true or false. What right have two or three people to deprive millions of art lovers of enjoying an artist’s creation as it emerged from his workshop?

“The Rubaiyat” was my first picture and produced in spite of continual and infernal interferences. It has taught me several sad lessons, which I have endeavored in the above paragraphs to pass on to some of my fellow sufferers. It is the hope that I am fighting, to a certain extent, their battle that has given me the courage to continue, and that has prompted me to write this article. May such hubbubs eventually teach or inforce a decent regard for the rights of authors and directors and tend to make the existence of screen artisans more secure and soothing to the nerves.

FERDINAND EARLE.

---

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

Transcribed Sources & Annotations over on the WMM Blog!

See the Timeline for Ferdinand P. Earle's Rubaiyat Adaptation

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cassiopeiacorvus · 8 months ago

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Playchoices MCs - Part 13

Previous | Next

Now you may be asking yourself, “Cassi where’s part 12?” I don’t wanna talk about it. I’ll get back to it eventually.

Edit: Part 12 is complete!

artist notes under the cut

Marian Stroud (SOD) | I named Marian after Marian from The Music Man even though they really don’t have anything personality wise in common. I fell in love with Marian immediately. I can’t help but root for an MC boxed in by the constraints of her society.

Tosin Olayemi (GRD) | If there was a theme for this set of MCs, it was… I’m not drawing all these patterns. I really like the pose I drew her in. I’d like to think she’s posing for quick pic.

Dario Vallejo (UB) | He is a sweet bean, and I was devastated when Unbridled made you choose between Ryder and Mandy. In my head, they’re a trouple. Continuing my trend of not wanting to draw patterns, I ignored the one on his shirt.

Laleh Gilani (TDG) | Laleh runs on caffeine and spite and that’s what makes her an excellent novelist. I have once again traded a skirt for pants because variety is the spice of life. I’d like to think she’s now giving off Benoit Blanc vibes.

Gigi Greene (HS) | All reporters in fictional stories should be required to have alliterative names. I did some quick research on ice hockey, and I think that when Gigi played, she was a Left Winger. I’m not gonna pretend I know what that means. I’m regretting not giving her tights because she has to be cold with exposed legs reporting from the ice.

Raquel Shaw (ACT) | Raquel is ambitious, no-nonsense, and has the tenacity of a cat. And I love her for it. I thought it was fun that all of her outfits had a bronze/gold theme, but I loved this outfit the most. It looked something she’d actually wear while stuck in a tour van.

#playchoices #choices sod #choices guarded #choices unbridled #the deadliest game #choices hotshot #along came treble #cassiopeiacorvus draws #cassi originals #seriously i tried to do part 12 #like five times #i tried a whole new format and everything #eventually i was like fuck #we're moving on and coming back to it later #can't believe i'm almost caught up actually

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tigerlyla-of-metinna · 2 years ago

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A Gathering on His Special Day (3)

Regis: Hael Ker'zaer Emhyr var Emreis! May each year bring you great health and the other some such well wishes humans give to their fellows.

Emhyr: *chuckles* That may be the most honest birthday greeting I ever receive.

Regis: Of course, we, Dettlaff and I, have more than words to lay at your feet.

Regis: I brewed this myself using grapes from Corvo Bianco and added my special blend of berries and spices.

Emhyr: Spiced wine? And you guarantee I will be pleased by the taste?

Regis: Certainly! I had the permission of the Duchess to borrow her sommelier Benoit to taste test it for me. I daresay he gave it his highest seal of approval, and it is more than fit for the imperial table.

Emhyr: Then I shall gladly accept this gift. Thank you, Regis.

Dettlaff: I, too, have something for you, Majesty.

Emhyr: This is... quite an adorable stuffed bunny-

Dettlaff: Emperor Hugs-a-lot.

Emhyr:..... I beg your pardon?

Dettlaff: His name.... is Emperor Hugs-a-lot. And may he protect you from bad dreams and lonely nights.

Emhyr:.... hmph. Then I'd better not hear from the guards or servants that the emperor sleeps with a st- with Emperor Hugs-a-lot on days you stand in for me.

Dettlaff: ... I shall resist the urge, Your Imperial Majesty.

Photos by @i-be-busy-witchering, my edits and story.

#emhyr var emreis #emhyr #emiel regis #regis #emiel regis rohellec terzieff godefroy #dettlaff #dettlaff van der eretein #witcher 3 wild hunt #the witcher 3 #the witcher #nilfgaard #virtual photography #TLylaedits/arts

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randomthoughtsbysam · 5 months ago

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#IFTTT #RacerViews

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aristsagainstarttheft · 5 months ago

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Hello, this is StahlSlav with a letter to Uniloax!

Sup big boys and girls of all ages! Let me be frank, I LOVE me some good art! Provided this art wasn't stolen, wasn't copied pixel-to-pixel while its alleged creator claims the originality via "study" (I think we all know this kind of shit, right? Right, anyway!), or that they were first at making something, and thing would go on an on an on, you know the deal about it!

And here comes... ughm... pretty much a thing. I have to adress my concerns because there's an actual thief among us. Right, Emily? Aka Uniloax, Superbiamoris, WillowTheWay, Raven, SamanthaPrater, whatever else you calling yourself these days. My niece says hi by the way, our mutual friend, Ikolthur, is inside of your walls sweetie, you have to wash yourself but I'm getting ahead of myself, I apologize for this.

*claps* So, it's not gonna be something I really want to dig into right now but I have obligation to, mainly because I have some good people rely on my involvement along with the knowlege some of these are posessing. Let me put it simple, Uniloax may think of herself as a good, genuis maybe artist, but in fact, drawing people with obvious physical deformities in craenium is... not a welcome thing, especially in LGBTQ2IAPNZ+++ art communities she's so craving to be part of.

Emily, I have to remind you, once upon a time you have been doing pretty naughty things, along with making innapropriate actions in Second Life, harassing some actual artists like Lamby, Ikolthur Benoit (you know him going by the alias IKOL, which is telling who they are), Sparkletor, Wanderer, CatGirlsAreLove (Indeedy are love, luv!), probably some others via your repulsive private erotica footage which I'm NOT going to post here by any means, you can do it yourself! But what I want to say is, you've come to Kiwi Farms... and THAT is where things went down real bad for you, as much as I know.

Say, what made you think that a site known by many people as harassment, trolling and doxxing forum full of stalker children (I know what that means in Kiwi speech, gentlemen, so shout out to Patrick S. Tomlinson thread regulars) would be a good place for art advice, in general? Have it not struck your mind that the forum well known for zealously recording any happenings within transgender folks and of Christine Weston Chandler's life in particular, would be a great niche place for you to seek desired answers? Or was there some ill intent, like gathering virtual forces against those you have deemed unworthy of being artists, whom you falsely have accused of theft episodes while you yourself was being manic and inadequate to a certain degree? My point is... Don't judge people and place you've picked up for ill intents of your mind to be fulfilled for making fun of you, not only that but also revealing some dark secrets about your past, your present (have you really had to prove people in the thread dedicated to your name that you're not... uh... hermaphrodite, by all means? I mean your booty is quite flat, I'd be doubting if that booty was of a woman too but... who am I to jusge, right?

Just know this that your karma is reeking of very unappealing stench, your meek attempts at diversion of attention from your wrongdoings toward innocents won't be underlooked, the more manic and unstable you are, the worse case you make for your future. It's never going to end well for you if you won't change for the better, by all possible aspects.

Consider it as a little nod toward me understanding you, your struggles, but also me judging you for what a shady person you are. You won't get what you desire unless you will atone for your sins, unless you accept that you have to make a change for the better. first of all, to stop drawing these atrocities you call "art", stop do Disney IP theft via "edits" which are horrendous. LEARN how to work properly, first.

Sincerely, Drew Garfield.

#DeviantArt #Tumblr #Art Thief #Trace #Drama #Denial

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spoilertv · 7 months ago

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#SpoilerTV

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uniquejellyfishqueen · 8 months ago

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Lover: a partner in a sexual or romantic relationship outside marriage.

A person who likes or enjoys something specified.

synonyms include:

Boyfriend “my BF Travis, everything he touches turns to gold” this is a B.o.B lyric.-> his birthday is 11/15

Beloved - “The Lakes”

Man - “The Man”

Addict

Paramour - Paramore?-“Castles Crumbling” Speak Now World Tour (2nd tour) and Eras Tour (5th Tour)

Partner - it takes 2 to dance, as she has mentioned as a popular adjective of choice

Doxy-cycline? ->love bites? “The mark they saw on my collarbone.” The collarbone is also known as the clavicle or the “keybone” it is S shaped and approximately 6 inches long. C-3 B-2 3…2… where is the 1? The clavicle has one of the highest injury rates in the NFL at 4.98 per 100,000 injuries.

The last 3 lines of Maroon all say Maroon.

3/13 is Good Samitaran day

According to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), which was drafted in 1968, driver's licenses began including the option to indicate organ donor status around that time, with every state adopting the act by 1972; essentially marking the start of organ donor information being displayed on licenses nationwide

313 is the area code for Detroit, MI and the surrounding suburbs in Wayne County

Cities

Detroit, Dearborn, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Inkster, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Taylor.

Suburbs

Allen Park, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, and Redford Township.

*I spy Taylor and Red.

(It was maroon)

1st letter is I

Last letter is N

IN - ‘Twas Maroo

Maroo is a restaurant located at 281 Kent St, Ottawa, Canada. And the area code for the business telephone number is 613.

*1989 World Tour 7/6/2015 was TS’s first appearance in Ottawa since her scheduled but ultimately cancelled 2012 Capital Hoedown Festival which was a Canadian outdoor country music festival that was cancelled after only 2 years. Founded in 2010 by Denis Benoit, the three-day annual festival was one of the largest in North America.

In February 2013, the ticketing company responsible for the festival, Fire USA Inc., filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift for alleged breach of contract, claiming that the singer accepted payment for a performance but never fulfilled her obligations after cancelling her appearance. -> yes now I see what you mean that the vault tracks will be fire, its everything she hasn’t said.

* 1989 World Tour 7/6/2015 surprise song was “You Are In Love”

-like Hannah Montana “Hoedown Throwdown?”

If she is asking the traffic lights if its gonna be okay and they say IDK

Does that mean that she was forced to stop loving him? It was red because it stopped, like a red traffic light.

RusT rUSt

Maroon is made from the mix of Red, Blue, and Green

4+5+1 10

RBG -> The Notorious RBG? 3/15/1933-9/18/2020 she died at the age of 87.

ATW

12023=8

There are technically 4 versions of All Too Well

Red (10/22/2012 =10) - track 5: ATW

Red (Deluxe Edition…. ED? Erectile Dysfunction? Ed?) (10/22/2012) track 5: ATW

Red (TV) (11/12/2021 = 10) track 5: ATW

Red (TV) (11/12/2021 = 10) track 30: ATW 10MV

*3 track 5 1 track 10

82=10 (Eminem was 10 in October of 1982.) but 8+2+1=11 1101…is there a 1 missing?

Then there is the All Too Well Short Film which was released on 11/12/2021 = 10. And had a run time of 15 minutes.

40= one of the last few questions she was asked during her 73QWV interview, she said that she hopes by the time she is 40 that she is not stressed. TS turns 40 in 2029 (13)

$$$$$$$$

The first $100 bill was issued in 1862, but the first $100 Federal Reserve Note was printed in 1914. The current version of the $100 bill was released in 2013.

The $100 bill has featured Benjamin Franklin on the front since 1914. The back of the bill has depicted Independence Hall in Philadelphia since 1928. The bill's design has evolved over time, and the latest version includes several security features to prevent counterfeiting.

-her 3rd cat’s name is Benjamin.

$$$$$$$$$

Throughout the released music available on her 11 albums 50 different words have RED as part of the word (there are also 50 States.) The only numbers in those 50 words are hundred and hundredth. Show #100 was N1/3 Liverpool 6/13/24. This is the show where she confirmed that the Eras Tour would be ending in December.

50.. “In 50 years will this all be declassified?”

Classified information has been governed by various Official Secrets Acts, the latest being the Official Secrets Act 1989. Until 1989 requested information was routinely kept secret invoking the public interest defence; this was largely removed by the 1989 Act. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 largely requires information to be disclosed unless there are good reasons for secrecy. Confidential government papers such as the yearly cabinet papers used routinely to be withheld formally, although not necessarily classified as secret, for 30 years under the thirty year rule, and released usually on a New Year's Day; freedom of information legislation has relaxed this rigid approach.

R 18

E 5

D 4

Red is part of every album because it’s in her blood.

50=5th letter is E.. EverMore (EM, ME)

There are 2 words that have red in them that start with the letter E.

Expired

Cardigan: “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired.”

Peter: “And the shelf life of those fantasies has expired.” -> “the idea you had of me, who was she?

*C 3 P 16

John 3:16?

Embroidered

loml: “We embroidered the memories of the time I was away.” -> like a stitch?

2 of her songs mention 1950 (1+9+5=15=6) *reputation belongs to debut..

Lavender Haze

“The 1950’s shit they want from me” 3x

Suburban Legends

“I am standing in a 1950’s gymnasium” ->are her and Travis about to go to a Hollywood prom as part of honoring the eras?

12 8

19 12

12+19=13

8+12=11

11/13/2024 was her 2024 holiday merch drop.

8/12/2024 she was spotted out in London wearing a wizard frill shirt, and a brown Tuesday mini bag.

2 of her albums have RED in the title.

Red

Red (DE)

Red (TV)

Tortured Poets Department

RRRT?

R=3x R=18th letter. 3/18 was N2 of the ET N2/2 in Glendale, AZ

LoveR

*OVE- Mitsubishi lancer evolution X (1992-2016)

*LR means ‘living room’

The lover house living room is green plaid. ATW she sings about plaid shirt days.

Red and green together with the plaid and the aesthetic she has used in the videos point to Christmas, but what if it’s about blood money?

*John Deere Green by Joe Diffie was released on 11/8/1993

“One July in the midnight hour”

TS Midnights “Sweet Nothing”

“Tiny as a firefly, a pebble,

That we picked up last July

Down deep inside your pocket”

TS Evermore “Evermore”

“Gray November

I’ve been down since July”

TS Rep “End Game”

“After the storm, something was born on the 4th of July

I’ve passed days without fun, end game is the one”

Speak Now “Last Kiss”

“That July 9th the beat of your heart”

**4 songs say July. Happy Birthday America.

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bookersebastien · 5 years ago

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ahskfjsj he's gonna shoot the naked soldiers at the lake, this man has my full respect

#matthias schoenaerts #suite francaise lb #suite francaise #usrbkr lb #idk what the villagers name is but sir 👏👏#edit: his name is benoit

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sprinklersart · 2 years ago

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I don’t know fashion don’t come for me I just like to have fun

#knives out #glass onion #benoit blanc #philip blanc #Benoit blancs husband hugh grant who probably has a name but idc I’m at work rn #new year’s resolution #EDIT his name is Phillip I did know that #nice gay name

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aureutr · 3 years ago

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Glass Onion and COVID masks as character shorthand

I wanted to talk real quick about the scene where Benoit and our suspects first meet on the dock. The mask shorthand is not necessarily needed, we’ve been introduced to almost everyone already and can get a good idea of who’s an outright asshole and who might have more layers (ha). But I still appreciated it.

This is what I think about the scene in general, if you have a different interpretation I’d be interested to read it!

Benoit - Patterned cloth mask. This was not uncommon to see in late 2020 and beyond, but this is only May 2020. He (or his husband) likely sewed it himself. This is a conscientious, yet stylish, man who pays attention to what’s happening and adjusts his behavior accordingly.

Lionel - Black cloth mask. This mask does not provide adequate protection for others because he is wearing it over substantial facial hair. He’s a man of science who cares... but perhaps only so long as he does not have to make any personal sacrifices for it. In this case, it would be shaving his beard or finding a masking solution that forms a better seal. In other cases....? :)

Claire - Ill-fitting beige mask. Her nose is hanging out through half of the scene (also is that a tampon hanging out of it when she gets out of the car?). Similar to Lionel, she has values that she supposedly stands for. But she is either ignorant of the full picture or is willing to set those values aside when she thinks she needs to.

Birdie - Golden mesh “mask”. Birdie has already been shown as uncaring about COVID earlier in the film with her party (”it’s okay, they’re in my pod” my ass). Here she flaunts the fact that she is aware of what she should be doing, but is choosing not to. There is also an underlying thread of her general ignorance, as she foregoes anyone’s safety (even her own) for style and glamour.

Peg - Standard surgical mask, perfectly fitted, complete with twisted ear loops. She is meant to be bland and in the background, at least in-universe. Peg is imminently practical, and while she might like finer things (later in the movie she is visibly disappointed to be given a Solo cup when others receive personalized glasses), she is willing to forego them to achieve her goals. There is not much more that can be gleaned from her mask alone.

Duke and Whiskey - No masks at all. Duke is a far-right asshole with no regard for the safety of others, and little regard for his own. Whiskey does as he says, even though she later mentions that she doesn’t want her politics completely defined by his. She might not want that, but her actions speak louder. There is nothing subtle about Duke and little about Whiskey, they are as they appear.

Andi - No mask. But I’m willing to forgive this one in the name of movie magic, given that the shot is meant to be lingering and mysterious. At this point we don’t know anything about this character, but it seems unlikely that she’s in the same camp as Duke. Or, perhaps given that all of the other characters are masked (or not) in meaningful ways, her lack of mask is a subtle misdirection about Ms. Brand.

Under the cut find another quick note about the mysterious “puff gun”.This does contain spoilers for the end of the movie, so tread carefully

We learn at the end of the movie (though it’s not exactly subtle from the get-go) that Miles Bron is an utter moron. Explicitly, anything good he does is not his idea and many things he does on his own are idiot mistakes that others go with because of his power and influence (and money). Whatever this mysterious “you’re good” puff was, I seriously doubt it was a COVID cure of any sort.

My headcanon is that everyone who left “Pieceshite” Island alive dealt tested positive for COVID a few days later.

Also, I called her “Andi” and not “Helen” so as to not spoiler anyone. ;)

EDIT: Several people have pointed out that Lionel actually has a KN95 mask, not a regular cloth one. My bad! Thank you for correcting me. I still think my take otherwise works since his beard breaks the seal.

#glass onion #knives out #movies #rian johnson #daniel craig #benoit blan

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assiraphales · 3 years ago

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I think the only news outlet that would get any real information about benoit blanc (the man is wily n theatrical) would be inside edition. no one would believe them but they’d be doing exposes like “benoit blanc, southern belle? either that accent is fake or his name is!” and he’d be chuckling to himself. in fact they’re so unhinged they’d probably show up in his bathroom and try to interview him

#this is SO niche #but if u grew up watching inside edition u would understand #benoit blanc #glass onion #knives out

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tboyswagcompetition · 2 years ago

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HERE IS OUR ROSTER!

EDIT: FINAL RESULTS (characters knocked out are greyed)

WINNER: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!

There will be 80 participants in the tboy swag competition! I tried to pick a variety of characters from the nominations :) The bracket will be seeded (more popular characters will face off against less popular) and a list of character names, the series they're from, and the total number of nominations they received will be under the cut.

Voting will start tomorrow! (2/19/23)

EDIT:

here is the bracket so far:

Jesse Pinkman | Breaking Bad: 15

Danny Fenton | Danny Phantom: 10

Sonic | Sonic The Hedgehog: 10

Barney Guttman | Dead End Paranormal Park: 10

Dipper Pines | Gravity Falls: 8

Hunter | The Owl House: 8

Link | The Legend Of Zelda: 7

Apollo Justice | Ace Attorney: 6

Herbert West | Re-animator: 6

Mettaton | Undertale: 6

Kurapika | Hunter X Hunter: 5

Gomez Addams| The Addams Family: 4

Kim Kitsuragi | Disco Elysium: 4

The Scout | Team Fortress 2: 4

Will Graham | Hannibal: 4

James Bonde | Moriarty The Patriot: 4

Edward Elric | Fullmetal Alchemist: 4

Caspar Von Bergliez | Fire Emblem: 3

Peter Parker | Spider-Man: 3

Pete Conlan | Dimension 20: 3

Zuko | Avatar: The Last Airbender: 3

Dave Strider | Homestuck: 3

Mafuyu Asahina | Project Sekai: 3

Naoto Shirogane | Persona 4: 3

Leonardo | Rise Of The TMNT: 3

Leon S. Kennedy | Resident Evil: 3

Saiki Kusuo | The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K: 3

Reigen Arataka | Mob Psycho 100: 3

Miles Morales | Spider-Man: 3

James T. Kirk | Star Trek: 3

Len Kagamine | Vocaloid: 2

Casey Jones | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): 2

Robin | Teen Titans: 2

Guzma | Pokemon: 2

Felix Hugo Fraldarius | Fire Emblem: 2

Chip | Just Roll With It: 2

Adam Faulkner-Stanheight | Saw: 2

Julian Bashir | Star Trek: 2

Alphonse Elric | Fullmetal Alchemist: 2

Shadow | Sonic The Hedgehog: 2

Shin | Dorohedoro: 2

Akito Shinonome | Project Sekai: 2

Ash Williams | Evil Dead: 2

Columbo | Columbo: 2

Benoit Blanc | Knives Out/Glass Onion: 2

Tsukasa tenma | Project Sekai: 2

Michael The Distortion | The Magnus Archives: 2

Robin | Fire Emblem: 1

Zagreus | Hades: 1

Yamato | One Piece: 1

Prompto Argentum | Final Fantasy XV: 1

Vash The Stampede | Trigun: 1

Vax'ildan | Critical Role: 1

Vanitas | Vanitas No Carte: 1

Blue | Pokemon: 1

Johnny Joestar | Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 1

N | Pokemon: 1

Shatterstar | X-Men: 1

Party Poison | The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: 1

Ryuji Sakamoto | Persona 5: 1

Warabi | Splatoon: 1

Keaya | Genshin Impact: 1

Mont Leonis | War of the Visions Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: 1

Soren | Fire Emblem: 1

Teruki Hanazawa | Mob Psycho 100: 1

Percy Jackson | Percy Jackson & the Olympians: 1

Jotaro kujo | Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 1

Chai | Hi-Fi Rush: 1

Goro Akechi | Persona 5: 1

Dabi/Touya Todoroki | Boku No Hero Academia: 1

Laios | Dungeon Meshi: 1

Heinz Doofenshmirtz | Phineas And Ferb: 1

Puss In Boots | Shrek: 1

Galo Thymos | Promare: 1

Beast Boy | Teen Titans: 1

Ingo | Pokemon : 1

Emmet | Pokemon: 1

Ford Pines | Gravity Falls: 1

Stan Pines | Gravity Falls: 1

Luke Skywalker | Star wars: 1

#tboy swag competition 2023 #tboyswagcompetition #tboy swag #transgender #trans man #trans boy #trans masc #tumblr polls #polls #i am NOT tagging everyone

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pearwaldorf · 3 years ago

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[edit 12/27] Hey go reblog this instead thx

It’s a really fucking boring party. Phillip is here purely for lack of anything better to do, including sitting on his couch and binging Parks and Recreation, which he’s done three times this year already.

(Lyndie glared at him when he demurred yet again, but then softened.

“Babes, I know it’s been hard on you, but you have to get out there. Not in a find yourself a nice rebound way, although I do think it would be beneficial, but you have to get out and talk to people.”

“And who exactly am I going to talk to, love?” He was fine with Tim getting pretty much the entire friend group after the breakup initially, but it was real fucking depressing looking at his contacts and realizing there wasn’t anybody who wanted to hear from him.

“Somebody. Anybody. Not everybody in the fucking world is part of Tim’s circle.” Lyndie’s trying her best, bless her, but that’s what sisters (or close as) do, right? It’s not fair to her to be his one social lifeline.

“All right. For you.”

She beamed that damnable grin that makes everybody fall over themselves to do what she wants, him included, and kissed his cheek. “Thanks babes. You won’t regret this.”

“We’ll see.”)

It’s an exhibit opening, and now that Phillip’s looked at the art (pedestrian, derivative) and nibbled at the platters (Costco, of all things. Not that they’re bad, but absolutely not in keeping with the atmosphere), he’s taken his plastic glass of Three Buck Chuck to find a corner to people-watch.

In the back next to the one actually interesting sculpture, he nods to a man dressed in the most fascinatingly archaic suit. No, that’s not the right word. It’s like he bought all his clothes at one time and never bothered to replace them because they really don’t make them like they used to. They’re at least forty years out of style, but they fit well.

Phillip takes a sip of the wine. Oh god, he’d forgotten how awful this plonk is, not really being a person who frequents places where the quantity of alcohol is more desirable than the quality.

“I regret I don’t have a fine vintage to offer you, but this has to be better than whatever swill they’re providing.” The other man holds up a flask, smiling. He’s not exactly handsome—his eyes are too small and his ears stick out too much for that, but he has a sharp, curious demeanor that makes Phillip want to know more.

He takes the flask, ignoring how their fingers brush, and downs more than is probably polite. It’s whiskey of some sort, burning sweet on the way down.

“Thank you,” he says, handing it back. “It is very much an improvement.”

The man screws the lid back on, puts the flask back in his jacket pocket. “A fine bourbon, American of course. Certainly other countries produce it, but it never tastes quite right. Like a bagel made outside of New York.” His accent is something Phillip has heard but never actually encountered in person, almost parodic in its intensity. It’s fascinating.

“They do make bagels elsewhere. And they’re nothing like the ones in New York.” Phillip says, just to be a shit.

“Indeed, and I do not mean to impugn their quality. But I suppose we latch onto the examples we first encounter as the ideal.” He puts out his hand. “Benoit Blanc. If we’re going to have a conversation I suppose we should get a little more acquainted.”

“Phillip Owen.” The other man’s hand is warm, his grip assertive and confident.

“A pleasure, Mr. Owen.” It might be the whiskey, but Phillip swears Blanc’s voice is warmer, more friendly.

“I don’t mean to be presumptuous or rude, but your name does not strike me as particularly Southern.”

Instead of bristling in offense like Phillip expected, Blanc just smirks, a little reproving. “How quickly we forget history, Phillip.” His smile takes any sting there might have been from the words.

“Now that I’m to get a lecture it’s Phillip?” He keeps his voice light. This is probably the most interesting conversation he’s had in a long time, which is probably a bit sad when he thinks about it, but he’s a little buzzed from the whiskey and he’s enjoying himself much more than he thought he would tonight.

“Lecture is such a stuffy word. Call it a gentle reminder of things that should be more prominent in your memory.” Blanc’s kind of a shit too, and god help him, Phillip is into it.

“Then tell me what I should remember, Benoit,” he says, as gravely as he can.

The other man winces, like he’s physically pained. “I hate that name. By the love of whatever you consider holy, Blanc, please.”

Impulsively, he reaches for Blanc’s hand. “I’ll call you whatever you like if we get out this stuffy hellhole into a place with better liquor and a place to sit.” Is it forward? Absolutely. But it’s been a long time since he’s had anybody besides Lyndie to talk to, and he didn’t realize how much he missed it until now.

Blanc looks a bit surprised, but his mouth curls slow into a smile that might promise something more. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

#glass onion #benoit blanc #phillip glass onion #blanc x phillip

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