#fanny campbell

[danieesketches]

Happy Halloween 🎃

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I’m not one to rush how quick time goes but I’ve been so excited to finally upload these illustrations. Coming up with the costumes was so much fun too aha! (Fun fact, all of this started because I wanted to make a ‘Goldichops and the three bears’ pun).

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Goldichops and the three bears (Robert, John, Fanny and Alex)

Sanrio squad: Yoshikitty, Badtz-Maru, Lala and Pompompurin (Zoe, Kaito, Aya and Max)

Outfit swap (Stan, Sonya and Mitch)

Dino onesies (Jarod and Lola) (they’re pachycephalosaurus onesies because the wiki says the main character of the Prologue book said that’s the dino Lola would be)

Demons, Colton and an angel (Tyrak, Colton, Muller and Florres) (Tyrak doesn’t need a demon costume and I just know Muller probably wouldn’t wear a costume either)

Bowling (Mile 0 Steve and Adam)

Witch and wizard (Anzu and Daw)

The Little Tyrax (honestly only included this illustration because I thought it would be cool to draw them too)

[chayacat]

Road96: Shandara’s Land (15)  

Fandom: Road96 

Rated M for Language and Violence.  

*** 

Everything was silent at the hideout. Mitch was with Sonya, comforting her as best he could. And trying to recover from his emotions with a good hot chocolate. Jarod smoked peacefully outside, observing the starry sky. Fanny and John cared for Alex as the most precious of their treasure. Maybe a little too much for the taste of the young boy. Stan was on the small terrace at the top of the building, he was sitting on the floor, also observing the starry sky under his hood. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming to him. When he looks around, he saw Anna, a blanket around her, two cups of hot chocolate on each hand.  

“Do you want some?” She asks holding one of the cups to him.  

“...thanks.” He said smiling under his hood, taking the cup in his gloved hand. “How do you feel?” 

“Like someone who almost became a human ice cream.” She replied chuckling. “And you?” 

“Like someone who almost became a human pancake.” Stan said chuckling too making Anna laughing again. “...I feel bad for Sonya...and for everyone else...” 

“It’s not your fault you know. And you save us. If you weren’t there...We will be no longer there.”  

Stan looks at her while she looks at the starry sky. How beautiful she was under the night sky...her light blue eyes sparkling with stars, strands of her red hair delicately kissing her face, the rest being linked in that high ponytail of hers. She was truly amazing...a star herself.  

“You know...i...i was wondered...” starts Stan. 

“Hum?” said Anna looking at him.  

“You and Merlina... How long have you been... rivals together?” 

“Well...since always, to be honest. Merlina Yung is not the kind to like having competition you know. Then... When I started making a name for myself as an explorer... She didn't really enjoy it. Before... I was a journalist. I was writing articles about discoveries that were being made all over the world. I loved it. Seeing all these people talk about their historical finds... of those mystical places or objects that were hidden from the eyes of the world... It rekindled in me a passion that I had since I was a little girl. So, I stopped everything and started exploring the world on my own! and I discovered amazing things! in a short time... I was almost called equal to Merlina.”  

“Wow...i wish I could have learned about this sooner...I'm sure you would have convinced me to become an explorer too.” replied Stan.  

“Hahaha thank you...If you knew how wonderful it was to stumble upon ancient temples, hidden in the most dangerous tropical forests... or pirate treasures engulfed in the abyss of the oceans... and to discover all these stories hidden from the eyes of the world... But it is especially that of the Shandarians that has always fascinated me the most. I was only looking forward to one thing... to finally be able to come here to Petria and finally allow this country to discover its true history...” said Anna with stars in her eyes.  

“You seem really passionate by it. It’s cute.”  

 Anna couldn't help but blush and look at him. She was lovely. So adorable that Stan had only one desire: to hug her and keep her against him forever. But it was too early. He couldn't afford it. Not now. Slowly but surely.  

“And... You then? I would like to know more about... the dreams of little Stan Sanchez. Because I doubt that becoming a criminal was a childhood dream.” said Anna with a little laugh.  

“Haha...no. Being a thief was from afar, seeing very far, my dream. In fact, Mitch and I wanted to be mechanics. Or cops. Which is quite ironic today.” said Stan.  

“Cops? Really?”  

“Yeah. It’s hard to believe huh? But It’s true. Mitch and I were dreaming about being both cops. It's funny to think about it knowing that we're on the other side of the fence now.”  

“I find it cute.”  

Anna rested her head against Stan's arm, making Stan blush even more. The two looked at the stars without saying a word more. The slightly cool wind caressing their bodies despite being covered by the blanket. But then Anna realized something. She took out her notebook and looked at the various inscriptions she had carefully noted. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized the significance of her research.  

“That’s it!” she said happy. Stan looks at her confused and surprised. She then talks again. “Look at this. This is the notes I take from the Shandarian’s Library.”  

Stan glanced quickly. For him, it was a foreign language of which he knew no letter. He could hardly read a single word on the young woman's notebook.  

“In each of their writings, the Shandarians worshipped what they called the Great Goddess. At first, I thought it was a translation error on my part. But in reality, this is not the case! The great goddess mentioned is a constellation!” said Anna.  

“A constellation?” said Stan.  

“Yes! That of Cassiopeia. She is always depicted in books as sitting, holding a feather or a mirror in her hand. She was a queen during her lifetime. Who was punished by the nymphs for claiming that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than them. The Shandarians worshipped this Queen!” 

“That why they thought that their Queen was maybe the daughter of a goddess.”  

“Exactly. Now look. The gardens were...here, under a mine in Iron Reef.” replied Anna.  

“The library was under the Mount National.” Said Stan.  

“The text I found in the library said that they’ll construct something near the stars, where sea and earth lean against each under the goddess blessing.” 

“In other words, our next trip takes us to the coast. But which one?”  

“I have no idea. I'll have to look a little more.”  

 On Merlina Yung's side, the leader of the Purple Lynx was getting annoyed. If every trap she set was foiled by this small group of junk, she would quickly become disillusioned. She must find the perfect trap to make Anna disappear as soon as possible. But for now, she had something else to sort out. Flores had tried to escape again, despite Tyrak's increased security. So, she was at the Iron Pit, walking nonchalantly and quietly towards Flores' cell, paying no attention to the other prisoners who were screaming at her.  

She stopped in front of Flores' cell, which was bound hand and foot by chains. She had a few scratches, as a result of the "punishment" inflicted on her. When she heard Merlina's footsteps stop from her cell, Flores raised her head, coldly, with some pride.  

“Well, I must admit that, for a woman of your age, you are tenacious. An astonishing quality, for a president stripped of her post.” said Merlina.  

“As long as my country needs me, I will stand up, Yung.” said Flores.  

“How cute. It’s...disgusting me. When will you realize that this country is no longer yours? Tyrak took over governance. As for you, you will rot here.” 

“And you? When will you realize that you will not win against them? They are giving you a hard time, if I heard correctly.” 

“Hmpf. Weatherlaw is just a small setback. A little plague that I will eradicate once and for all.” 

“For a little setback, it gives you a lot of trouble. Yet she has nothing while you have everything you need to kill her. Like what, technology is not everything, Yung.” replied Flores with a grin.  

Merlina frowned and without saying another word, she pulled out a gun and fired. The bullet hit the wall inches from Flores' head. The latter looked out of the corner of her eye at the hole in the wall, telling herself that if she had moved a few centimetres, the bullet would have ended up between her two eyes.  

“I strongly advise you to hold your tongue, Lupe Flores. It would be a shame to be six feet underground, wouldn't it?” said Merlina.  

“You’re twisted.” responds Flores.  

“And you speak too much. If I were you, I would stop placing my futile hopes on a small group of fugitives.  But after all... You were too, weren't you? Keep in mind that if you go out of here one day, it will be in a coffin.” 

Flores glared at Merlina Yung, who without flinching put her gun in her holster. The two women exuded a murderous aura towards each other. Like two lionesses ready to kill each other for a territory.  

“You won't take it to heaven, you can be sure of that.” said Flores.  

“That's good. I don't expect to go to heaven anyway. Goodbye Flores.” responds Merlina.  

With these last words, Merlina departed, followed closely by her close guard. If someone tries anything on her, he or she will end up with a bullet on each part of the body. Might as well avoid tempting the devil in this case. The other prisoners looked at her as coldly as ever. And among them, Adam. Merlina stopped for a few seconds to observe him, before smirking at him and leaving. Adam gritted his teeth, praying that Sonya would make it out alive. If anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself.  

“Increase security. Especially on Flores. And if she tries anything, don't skimp on punishment. Got it?” said Merlina.  

“Yes Madam.” said the soldiers.  

 Henry, the former prime minister and Flores' friend, was in the cell next to Flores'. He wasn't in better condition than her, but he was still alive, that's the main thing. He pressed himself against the walls that separated his cell from Flores'.  

“Lupe? Are you still alive?” he asks.  

“Yeah...but for how long?” responds Flores.  

“That woman is twisted. And in addition to Tyrak, if we managed to get out of here, it we will be a miracle.” 

“Oh, but we will Henry. We will.”  

“How?”  

“Don’t worry about it. Stay focus on staying alive.” 

“Heh, I’ll try my best.” replied Henry, chuckling. “I can't believe that our only salvation is a group composed mainly of criminals, a journalist, A kid, Campbell and a little explorer who gives Yung a hard time. It's not really the team of heroes that everyone expects. Especially since they are all wanted too.”  

“Exactly, Henry. It is where you least expect it, in the most unlikely place, that you find the real heroes of a country. It’s not enough to have a good life and what it takes to allow a country to live in peace. You must have heart. Wealth and good health are worthless if we have no heart” said Flores looking at the ceiling of her cell.  

“And sometimes, my dear Henry...yes sometimes...Those who are poorest are those who are most inclined to do anything to help. It is those who have known everything who are willing to donate every fiber of their body to help others.  But the most important thing Henry is...That it is not the holiest among us who are human. No Henry...” 

It is those who have experienced the worst torment, see things beyond cruelty, survived to all the trials life gives them, but who found the strength to fight and give all the love they have... 

who are the most human. 

*** 

(Baldur’s Gate 3 is amazing. It's one of those many games that I don't want to finish just so I can play it indefinitely. Yes, I know, I can do it as many times as I want, like Hogwarts Legacy, but this feeling is always stronger. And then we don't feel the same intensity when we already finish the game a first time, don't you think? I hope you’ll like it like the other ones! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)  

[desdasiwrites]

– Fannie Flagg, A Redbird Christmas

[bethanydelleman]

I am shaking Mansfield Park like GIVE FANNY BETTER OPTIONS I SWEAR TO GOD I yearn for her steadfast love to be returned by someone who looks at her and sees the stars she loves so well (also someone who will geek out with her about nature! I am THIS CLOSE to writing an isekai starring her I SWEAR the only problem is not Girlbossing her because she is shy and tremulous and I don’t want to change her, I want her accepted)

Read the book enough times and you start shipping her with the nice navy surgeon we meet for literally half an hour in Portsmouth:

The next bustle brought in Mr. Campbell, the surgeon of the Thrush, a very well-behaved young man, who came to call for his friend (Ch 38)

Very well-behaved? I'll take it! He's in the navy, he probably started stargazing because he was bored and then got really into it. He makes art out of seashells. He has ideas about how to help with Fanny's sickly constitution. He loves telling her about the places he's visited and she finds it fascinating. He retires from service and settles down in a small town as their surgeon and Fanny helps with the women and children...

I don't want to change her one bit, I just want OPTIONS!

[your-fav-russian-assassin]

Thought I’d see what all the fuss is about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Has better abs than @official-pietro-maximoff

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Sisters: @natt-romanoff , @official-tasha-romanoff @not-really-a-hero-anymore

Beyoncé: @official-buckybarnes

Samantha: @we-love-redwing

Clara: @clintbarton-thearrowguy

Stevarena: @the-golden-poster-boy

Stranger: @doctorstrangywangy

Adopted parents: @ironwidowassassin @its-not-crimson-dynamo

Nieces: @lostgirlin-neverland @theycallme-winterwidow @theycallme-redwidow

Sexuality: Aro/Ace

Relationship status: Not interested

Children (adopted): @ireallyliketacosokay @jade-maximoff @official-pietro-maximoff @athena--carter @diana-astra @xx-annabeth-xx @firedemon-child @spideyboiiiiiii @c4m3r0n-st0n3

Dog: @fanny-longbottom-woof @fannylongbottombelova

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Don’t come into my room without knocking, or else I will have a knife to your throat in a second.

Also don’t break into my house unless I’m close with you, you will end up dead.

I can’t dance for the life of me. Do not try to get me to dance. Or else.

Calls Natasha Talia. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//my following fandoms are: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Agents of SHIELD, Marvel, Black Widow and EPIC the Musical. Feel free to ask about any of these in the ask box and I’ll try to answer. I loved being asked questions about them.

My other RP blogs: @nadia-stark-official @goddess-of-chaos-and-destruction @goddess-of-the-hearth-and-home @the-silent-shadow @luckys-my-dog @bobbi-morse-mockingbird @lincoln-campbell-the-inhuman @im-not-a-pirate @the-awesome-deke @official-grantward @rosaline-wilson @winter-campbell @call-me-crazyy

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … February 1

Joe & Lord Tod Wadley

1900 – Marion Barbara 'Joe' Carstairs (d.1993) was a wealthy British power boat racer known for her speed and her eccentric lifestyle. In the 1920s she was known as the ‘fastest woman on water’.

Carstairs was born in 1900 in Mayfair, London, England, the daughter of Fannie Bostwick, an American heiress. Joe Carstairs' legal father was Scottish army officer Captain Albert Carstairs, first of the Royal Irish Rifles and later the Princess of Wales's Own. Captain Carstairs re-enlisted with the Army the week before Joe was born; he and Evelyn divorced soon afterwards.

Carstairs' mother, an alcoholic and drug addict, later married Captain Francis Francis, with whom she had two more children. She divorced Captain Francis to marry French count Roger de Périgny in 1915, but eventually left him because of his infidelity. Her fourth and last husband, whom she married in 1920, was Serge Voronoff, a Russian–French surgeon who become famous in the 1920s and 1930s for his practice of transplanting monkey testicle tissue into male humans for the claimed purpose of rejuvenation.

Carstairs lived a colourful life. She usually dressed as a man; had tattooed arms; and loved machines, adventure and speed. Openly lesbian, she had numerous affairs with women, including Dolly Wilde—Oscar Wilde's niece and a fellow ambulance driver from Dublin with whom she had lived in Paris—and a string of actresses, most notably Greta Garbo, Tallulah Bankhead, and Marlene Dietrich.

During World War I, Carstairs served in France with the American Red Cross, driving ambulances. After the war, she served with Britain’s Royal Army Service Corps in France, re-burying the war-dead; and in Dublin with the Women's Legion Mechanical Transport Section, which acted as transport for British officers during the Irish War of Independence.

Joe Carstairs married a childhood friend, the French aristocrat Count Jacques de Pret, on 7 January 1918 in Paris. The purpose of the marriage was simply to allow Carstairs’ access to her trust fund independently of her mother. The marriage was annulled immediately after her mother's death on the grounds of non-consummation. By means of a deed poll, she renounced her married name and resumed using the name Carstairs in February 1922.

In 1920, with three former colleagues from the Women's Legion Mechanical Transport Section, she started the X Garage, a car-hire and chauffeuring service that featured a women-only staff of drivers and mechanics. Carstairs (and her friends and lovers) lived in a flat above the garage, which was situated near Cromwell Gardens in London's fashionable South Kensington district.

Several of the X-Garage staff had served as drivers during the war and spoke French, German, or Italian. The cars and drivers could be hired for long-distance trips and the business specialised in taking grieving relatives for visits to war-graves and former battlefields in France and Belgium. They were also hired for journeys within London and the garage had an arrangement with the Savoy Hotel to transport guests to the theatre or to shows. During the early 1920s, X-Garage cars were a familiar sight in London's fashionable circles.

In 1925, X-Garage closed and Carstairs inherited a fortune from Standard Oil via her mother and grandmother. The same year, she had her first speedboat built and named it Gwen after one of her former lovers. With it, she won her first trophy, the Southampton Water trophy.

She was also given a Steiff doll by a girlfriend, Ruth Baldwin, naming it Lord Tod Wadley. She became exceptionally attached to this doll, keeping it with her until her death, although—unlike Donald Campbell's mascot 'Mr Whoppit'—she didn't take it into her speedboats for fear of losing it. She had clothes made for it in Savile Row and had its name placed with her own on the name plaque on the door of her London apartment.

Between 1925 and 1930, Carstairs spent considerable time in powerboats and became a very successful racer winning many notable trophies – the Duke of York's Trophy in 1926, the Royal Motor Yacht Club International Race, the Daily Telegraph Cup, the Bestise Cup, and the Lucina cup.

Carstairs was known for her generosity to her friends. She was close to several male racing drivers and land speed record competitors, using her considerable wealth to assist them. She paid $10,000 of her money to fund the building of one of the Blue Bird land speed record cars for Sir Malcolm Campbell, who once described her as "the greatest sportsman I know."

After selling Whale Cay, her lavish island home in the Bahamas in 1975, Carstairs relocated to Miami, Florida.  Carstairs died in Naples, Florida, in 1993 at the age of 93. Lord Tod Wadley was cremated with her.

1901 – Clark Gable (d.1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as The King of Hollywood or just simply as The King. Gable began his career as a stage actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for MGM in 1931. The next year he landed his first leading Hollywood role and became a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures over the next three decades.

Gable was arguably best known for his role as Rhett Butler in the epic Gone with the Wind (1939), for which he received his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was also nominated for leading roles in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and he won for It Happened One Night (1934).His final screen appearance was The Misfits (1961) with Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift.

When Clark Gable first arrived in Hollywood in 1925, he would do anything or use anyone to advance his career. His first two wives were decidedly unglamorous older women; he was a kept man living the lifestyle of a star. As soon as Gable touched the limelight, he abandoned his second wife and followed wherever his penis led. He tore through Hollywood’s women with the appetite of a starving teenager, with one notable exception.

Gable had one homosexual encounter that is well documented. The young Clarke Gable engaged in oral sex with fellow MGM player Billy Haines in order to establish himself at the studio. Billy Haines, who was the most popular male film star of 1930, was the hub of gay Hollywood. He told all his friends about his sexual hookup with Clark Gable in the late 1920s, which was unusual, since Haines usually never bragged about such things. Haines knew first hand the damage that could be caused by a public knowledge of homosexuality. Joan Crawford confirmed the story, and her testament holds up under scrutiny because she was the lifelong best friend of both men. She had no reason to lie about either star, and she cherished the friendship of both.

More than ten years later Gable avenged his gay encounter. Hollywood was awash with both homosexuals and Jews, and Gable let it be known that he held both in disdain. By 1939 Gable had come to personify the image of a super macho male star. During filming of Gone with the Wind, Gable was uncomfortable by the presence of Billy Haines, who visited the set as a guest of director George Cukor (who was both homosexual and Jewish).The legend goes that actor Andy Lawler was at a Hollywood party later and announced, quite loudly and quite likely high on cocaine, that "George is directing one of Billy's old tricks." The laugh at Gable’s expense got back to him, and he was outraged. He snarled on set, "I won't be directed by a fairy," which so enraged Cukor that he walked off the set.

MGM decided it needed Gable more than Cukor for this project, and Victor Fleming was ushered in as replacement director, even though Cukor had already worked for two years on preproduction and early filming. Although Gone with the Wind became one of the great films of all time, the incident didn’t harm the career of George Cukor, who immediately began working on The Women and continued to make top grossing films.

Gable was crowned “The King of Hollywood”, but Carol Lombard joked: "if his cock was one inch shorter, they'd be calling him "the Queen of Hollywood. God knows I love Clark, but he's the worst lay in town."

And Tallulah Bankhead commented, "if his dick was one inch shorter, his name would be Betty Grable, not Clark Gable."

1935 – Christian Haren, prominent AIDS activist, entrepreneur, and actor, was born (d.1996).

Born and raised in California, Haren served a short stint in the army. After leaving the service, he began working as an actor. In the 1960s Haren received a studio contract from MGM and starred in Vincente Minnelli's Bells Are Ringing, Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way, and Billy Rose's Jumbo. He starred on Broadway in the Bertolt Brecht play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, produced by Tony Richardson.

He is best remembered for playing the role of the Marlboro Man in print advertisements in the early 1960s.

Haren was openly gay and the proprietor of the popular Palm Springs gay bar CC Construction Co. in later years. In 1985 he was diagnosed with AIDS and became active in AIDS prevention education. He started "The Wedge", a "safe sex" AIDS prevention organization for teens in San Francisco. Haren died on February 27, 1996, in San Francisco, California of complications from AIDS, aged 61. His life was the subject of the 1998 documentary short Castro Cowboy.

1949 – France: The Paris Prefect of Police issues a decree forbidding men from dancing together in public.

1983 – Ronnie Kroell is an American fashion model, actor & singer best known for appearing on the first season of the Bravo reality series Make Me a Supermodel.

Kroell was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Niles North High School in Skokie. There, he became interested in theater. After a break, he attended Harper College, earning his associate degree in political science.

Kroell appeared on season one of Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel. In the show, Ronnie entered into a notable bromance with fellow contestant Ben DiChiara, which was dubbed "Bronnie". He became very popular on the show and won the title of "Fan Favorite" despite placing second behind Holly Kiser.

Following his appearance on the series, Kroell continued to work to establish himself as a model. He signed a contract with New York Model Management and has walked the catwalks for designers such as Philip Sparks, Loris Diran, Malan Breton and Richie Rich. He also featured the cover of Next and Instinct magazines. In June 2010, Ronnie graced the cover of Playgirl magazine along with a provocative layout shot by the internationally renowned fashion photographer Lope Navo. Kroell is currently working on developing a fragrance line and filming a new reality show. Ronnie is the founder of the Friend Movement,LLC organization which is supported by celebrity friends Lisa Vanderpump & Adam Lambert. Kroell co starred in the fourth installment of Q. Allan Brocka's popular Eating Out series, "Eating Out 4: Drama Camp". Ronnie made an appearance in the Andrew Christian mini-challenge as a featured underwear model in an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Kroell is openly gay. Ronnie has been the guest of honor and/or the grand marshal at gay pride events all across the United States.

Ronnie is very much involved in charity and awareness campaigns. Kroell has also contributed to the "I talk about HIV/AIDS Because..." campaign. In addition, Ronnie has worked with Equality Maryland, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Human Rights Campaign, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Latino Commission on AIDS (LCOA).

1988 – In February, The Kids in the Hall, a sketch comedy series whose cast includes the openly gay Scott Thompson, debuts on CBC Television. Sketches such as Thompson's character Buddy Cole and the ensemble sketch "The Steps" were among the most visible representations of gay culture on Canadian television during the show's run.

The Kids in the Hall comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States.

The name of the group came from Sid Caesar, who, if a joke didn't go over, or played worse than expected, would attribute it to "the kids in the hall," referring to a group of young writers hanging around the studio.

The show's sketches were reminiscent of Monty Python's Flying Circus: often quirky or surreal, frequently utilizing drag, with very few celebrity impressions or pop culture parodies; the only recurring celebrity impression was of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Thompson. A recurring character was Mr. Tyzik, played by McKinney, who pretended to crush people's heads from a distance with his fingers. McKinney also played Chicken Lady, a shrill-voiced sexually excitable human-chicken hybrid. Many of the sketches featured gay characters and themes; most of these sketches were written by and starred Scott Thompson, who is openly gay. The show was also notable for reflecting and dealing with the youth subculture of its times, and for incisive sketches about big business and family units.

1992 – Darryl Pinckney's first novel High Cotton is published. Pinckney, born in Indianapolis, Indiana (b.1953), is an American novelist, playwright, and essayist.

Pinckney grew up in a middle-class African-American family in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended local public schools. He was educated at Columbia University in New York City.

Some of Pinckney's first professional works were theatre texts, plays developed in collaboration with director Robert Wilson. These included the produced works of The Forest (1988) and Orlando (1989). Pinckney returned to theatre with Time Rocker (1995).

His first novel was High Cotton (1992), a semi-autobiographical novel about "growing up black and bourgeois" in 1960s America. His second novel was Black Deutschland (2016), about a young gay black man in Berlin in the late 1980s, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pinckney is also a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, Granta, Slate, and The Nation. He frequently explores issues of racial and sexual identities, as expressed in literature.

In the 21st century, Pinckney has published two collections of essays on African-American literature. He has expressed his admiration for the writing of the long-running American CBS soap opera, As the World Turns.

His partner is English poet James Fenton; the couple has been together since 1989. Pinckney lives in New York City and Oxfordshire, England.

2009 – On this date Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the world's first openly Gay prime minister, when Iceland elected her to head up a new parliament. In 2002 she joined in a civil union with the Icelandic author and playwright. The couple legally maried in 2010. Jónína Leósdóttir.

2012 – An utterly misnamed group called OneMillionMoms made headlines by calling for a boycott of the Dallas-based department store JC Penney for having hired Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson. A "project" of the hate group American Family Association, OneMillionMoms was offended that JC Penney had hired an open homosexual spokesperson when most of its customers are "traditional families."

In response to the organization's threat of a boycott, JC Penney president Michael Francis issued a press release declaring, "We share the same fundamental values as Ellen. We couldn't think of a better partner to help us put the fun back into the retail experience."

[brian-in-finance]

Screenshot S07E15 Outlander-Online

👋🏻 Dear Followers and Readers, quoting my most recent post…

How about young Florrie May Wilkinson’s portrayal of Frances “Fanny” Pocock? Wow!

Photos S07E14: Starz

I’m curious to know your thoughts about why we’re not seeing/hearing Fanny’s ankyloglossia — tongue-tie — in the show?

She looked at the golden coin in her palm, her face utterly blank.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"What's the matter?" he asked impatiently. She didn't answer, but a soft voice behind him did.

"The duffent know how."

He whirled to find Fanny looking up at him from under her cap, her delicate cheeks flushed red by the sunset.

"What did you say?"

Fanny's soft mouth pressed tight and her cheeks grew redder, but she repeated it, dogged. "The ... duffent .. know how."

Jane reached Fanny in two steps, putting an arm around her sister's shoulders and glaring at William.

"My sister's tongue-tied," she said, daring him to say anything.

"That's why she's afraid of the surgeons. She thinks they will amputate her tongue if they find out."

— William, Fanny, and Jane, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, Chapter 58: Castrametation

I DIDN'T REALIZE that Fanny was tongue-tied, until I took her to see Colonel Campbell. She hadn't spoken at all until that point, merely shaking her head yes or no, making small motions of refusal or gratitude.

— Claire, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, Chapter 134: Last Rites

I haven’t seen any discussion about Fanny’s speech, and wonder what you think. Why might Matt et al have chosen to change that storyline?

Leave your comments in Notes or add them in a reblog if you care to share. Thanks!

Remember… ankyloglossia is a condition present at birth that restricts the tongue's range of motion.

[the-cheesy-romanova-campbell]

family tree!

(I have a big one let’s go!)

Parents! :

daniella Romanoff, mama of the year ! @the-good-redheaded-witch

Lincoln Campbell, decent in math but funny! @lincoln-campbell-the-inhuman

Mama’s parents ! :

@mutantontheloose

@justawhitewolf

Siblings ! :

kit, new brother!! Yay! @red-room-boy

rosemary, the little sister who one day gonna be like mama or dad! @little-girl-gone-is-blonde

aunts and uncles! :

aunt yelena, she does the best Mac n cheese! @your-fav-russian-assassin

auntie rosieeee!!, she’s cool like auntie ant! @thecrazyrplayerosie

Auntie nat!, badass like always!, @theblackspider

@poor-lost-leo

@just-a-fucking-civilian

@they-call-me-birdsong

@they-call-me-ricochet

@elia-theassassin

@hydras-tiny-dancer

@agent-solenski

cousins ! :

alena, dog lover! She always snuggling Fanny 😡 @alenaswidowbytes

scarli! She’s sooo sweet! Hope her eczema doesn’t flare up! @scarlisblankets

Annie! She’s so cool, she respects that ballet gives me my trauma back @thegirlwtheballetpractice

Donna! : @donnastark-official

@sweet-little-spy

Friends ! :

Don’t have 🥲🥺

[sailforvalinor]

Tagged by @rainintheevening!

Rules: Make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite!

(Oh gosh this is gonna be hard)

Tagging @kanerallels @accidental-spice @the-tiny-dragons-tea-room and @esthelle18

[vintagestagehotties]

Round 1 is officially over!

Congratulations to the actresses who made it to Round 2!

Round 2 will begin on Saturday, May 4th

The winners of Round 1:

Maude Adams

Anna Maria Alberghetti

Julie Andrews

Angela Baddeley

Hermione Baddeley

Lauren Bacall

Olga Baclanova

Pearl Bailey

Josephine Baker

Lucille Ball

Anne Bancroft

Tallulah Bankhead

Theda Bara

Mona Barrie

Jessie Bateman

Polly Bergen

Claire Bloom

Mrs Patrick Campbell

Diahann Carroll

Lina Cavalieri

Helen Chandler

Geraldine Chaplin

Ruth Chatterton

Claudette Colbert

Constance Collier

Gladys Cooper

Katharine Cornell

Phyllis Dare

Zena Dare

Ruby Dee

Judi Dench

Stephanie Deste

Marie Doro

Geraldine Farrar

Maude Fealy

Edwige Feuillère

Susanna Foster

Trixie Friganza

Jane Froman

Eva Gabor

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Mary Garden

Greer Garson

Dusolina Giannini

Hermione Gingold

Dorothy Gish

Lillian Gish

Frances Greer

Mata Hari

Dolores Hart

Olivia de Havilland

Jill Haworth

Audrey Hepburn

Libby Holman

Lena Horne

Sally Ann Howes

Ethel Irving

Diane Keaton

Lisa Kirk

Eartha Kitt

Angela Landbury

Carol Lawrence

Vivien Leigh

Lotte Lenya

Beatrice Lillie

Bambi Linn

Gillian Lynne

Heather MacRae

Jayne Mansfield

Mary Martin

Jessie Matthews

Siobhán McKenna

Meng Xiaodong

Helen Menken

Ethel Merman

Cléo de Mérode

Evelyn Millard

Liza Minnelli

Rita Moreno

Odette Myrtil

Pola Negri

Julie Newmar

Nichelle Nichols

Maureen O’Sullivan

Aida Overton Walker

Anna Pavlova

Bernadette Peters

Lily Pons

Rosa Ponselle

Lee Remick

Diana Rigg

Thelma Ritter

Chita Rivera

Ginger Rogers

Lillian Russell

Rosalind Russell

Diana Sands

Lizabeth Scott

Maggie Smith

Emily Stevens

Susan Strasberg

Barbra Streisand

Yma Sumac

Inga Swenson

Laurette Taylor

Hilda Trevelyan

Monique Van Vooren

Fannie Ward

Ethel Warwick

Elisabeth Welch

Mae West

Anna May Wong

Diana Wynyard

Yoshiko Yamaguchi

[chayacat]

Road96: Shandara’s Land (9)

Fandom: Road96

Rated M for Language and Violence.  

***

Ah, the Repentie... One of the symbols of Petria. This river, crossing the whole country in its own way, finds its starting point at Mont National. During Flores' election, the latter had completely cleaned it, to make the place more beautiful than it was before. No one really knows who gave it that name, or why. But one thing is certain, the sight of these places still takes your breath away. Anna can't help but look with admiration at the beauty of these places. It's as if time has stopped. And yet he continues his race. She could spend hours contemplating the view before her. But unfortunately, she has a mission to accomplish. 

“Wow...what a view. Petria is truly a beautiful country, when you know where to look.” said Anna in awe.  

“Yeah...if you say so.” said Sonya. “So, what are we looking for exactly?”

“An entrance. A passage, something that can help us to find the next Shandarian place.”

“Okay. Then let’s get to work. Girls.” replied Sonya, looking at Anna and Fanny.  

*Mom? Do you receive me? * Asks Alex through the talkie.  

“Yes baby, I got you 5 on 5.” responds Fanny.  

*Moooom! I'm not a baby anymore! ...forget it. For now, you’re all alone. No enemies around. But be careful, those guys can be pretty sneaky. *  

“Don’t worry about it, Alex. We’ll be careful.”

*I should have come with you. Please stay safe, okay? * Said Stan worried.  

“Don’t worry Stan. I know how to defend myself.”

*That is what worries me the most. *

“Hey! I heard that!”

*Fair and square Sis* said Mitch.

“Pfft...yeah...fair and square.”

The three women advanced along the lake that had formed at the foot of the mountain. They looked everywhere for a clue, a symbol that could help them on the way forward. But for the moment, nothing very conclusive. It was almost disappointing.  

“I may have been wrong... I must have made a miscalculation...” said Anna sadly.  

“Hey. Don’t start. We haven't searched everything yet. There is a cave under the waterfall. Maybe we will find something?” said Sonya.

“A cave? Under the waterfall?”  

“Yes. Teenage runaways hid here before attempting to cross the border when Tyrak was in power. Well, teenagers... There were families even...” said Fanny.  

“Tyrak was really a monster.” replied Anna.  

“Oh, you don’t say. He could have been capable of the worst... although he was capable of the worst just to keep control over his people. And we just had to... shut up and obey.” said Sonya, sadly.  

“Yeah, you right...” said Fanny. “Come on, let’s get moving.”  

The three women went to the cave under the waterfall. It was covered with graffiti which represented the remnants of the rebellion against Tyrak. Others appealed to the voice of the people. And still others claimed their freedom of thought.  

“All these people... Did they manage to cross the border?” asks Anna

“I don’t know. Maybe some...but maybe some didn’t. Maybe some of them died at trying to. All I hope, is that they’re fine, wherever they are.” Said Fanny.  

“I remember that one day, I met a young girl who wanted to try to cross the border... She wanted to do it so she could help her family live better. I hope... that she succeeded.” said Sonya.  

“I hope so.” said Anna. She then sees something strange between the graffities “wait...”  

She walked to the wall and touch the strange symbol delicately with her hand. She had never seen this kind of symbol before. She took out her notebook and began to study it. As she began to look closer, a strange bluish light escaped from the wall, heading towards the next room. The three girls looked at each other before following the ray that touched the wall at the back of the other room.  

“I really feel like I'm in an adventure movie... or science fiction.” said Sonya.  

“And yet it is very real. It looks like there are other symbols on the other facades of the room. I think that if the light ray touches these symbols... The passage will open to us.” said Anna.  

“And how do we do it?”  

“...do you have a mirror with you?” replied Anna.  

“Well no. But I have my necklace.” said Sonya.  

“That should do the work! Can I borrow it?”  

Sonya took off her necklace and handed it to Anna. The latter placed it against the wall and directed the light ray against one of the walls. Then with her other hand she took out a pocket mirror. She handed it to Fanny, who once in hand, used the mirror to direct the beam to the other wall opposite. A rumble was heard, and suddenly the ground under their feet trembled, creating an opening, stairs appeared, descending deeper underground.  

“Wow...It’s so cool.” said Sonya.  

“Do you think we'll be safe underneath?” asks Fanny.  

“There’s only one way to know.” said Anna beofre going down the stairs.  

Fanny and Sonya exchanged glances before following Anna. The torches embedded in the wall lit up little by little, as the descent progressed. Then, once downstairs, they faced a huge door, as for the garden gate. It was larger, more imposing, gilded engravings running through its surface, and made of a stone that was foreign to the rock that surrounded it.

“How are we going to open it?” said Fanny.  

“The real question is HOW did YOU manage to open the garden gate?” said Sonya looking at Anna.  

“I don’t know...I just...touch the door and then...” she said putting her hand on the door.  

And like the first time, the door lit up before slowly opening. The three women stepped back, watching the door open in front of them in surprise. Sonya looked at Anna in surprise.

“Are you a witch or something?? Because this is going to scare me a lot if you do things like that every time!” she said.  

“I don’t know! I don’t...” Anna starts before looking at her necklace. The blue stone on it glows a little, before fading away. “What in the name of...”  

“Are you okay Peachfuzz? Is there something wrong?” asks Fanny, worried.

“I... I am. Let's go.”  

“All...All right.”  

All three entered the room. The door closed behind them. In front of them, huge libraries, filled with parchments so old, that they would be almost frightening to touch them, for fear of damaging them. They were all in awe, not even one of them dared to say a word. Then after a while, Sonya broke the silence.  

“Daggnabit...This place... It is the historian's paradise. Can you imagine all the stories that must be here?” She spoke.  

“Not just the stories, Sonya. Research, tales, legends, traditions, technologies... Everything was recorded here... it is much bigger than the Library of Alexandria... It's... It is wonderful to see such a place as intact as it was in its time. Look at this. It seems that, as with the gardens, time has stopped here.” said Anna.  

“How...how did they managed to do all that?” asks Fanny.  

“I don’t know...Shandarians were quite...something. And no one knows anything about them. Apart from Merlina Yung... And me. And so do you. This is what we must protect from Yung and her group from the Purple Lynx. It is these centuries of hidden stories that could allow Petria to discover a facet of its past previously hidden from everyone.”  

“This is easier said than done, unfortunately. They will eventually find this place, as they must have found the gardens. Let's try to find clues about the next place, before we have unwanted visits.” Said Sonya.  

Anna nodded before stepping forward to look around. She absolutely had to find a clue about their next destination. But easier said than done. How do you find something in such a big place? You might as well look for a needle in a haystack. Fanny and Sonya did their best on their side but they were no luckier than Anna. And after a while...

“Anna! Fanny! I think I found something!” said Sonya.  

The two women joined Sonya and looked at the wall in front of them. Anna smiled heartily. She took out her notebook and began to write down the inscriptions on the wall meticulously, not forgetting any symbols. Then she closed her notebook.  

“Good job Sonya. I hope that with this we will have information about our next destination.” said Anna happily.  

Suddenly the talkie turned on. And Alex spoke. But given his voice, it wasn't a good sign.  

*Mom! Do...*BZZZZ* copy Me ??* He said.

“I’m here baby! What's going on?” said Fanny.  

*BZZZ* *Yung.... *BZZZ* -diers, are com*BZZZ* to you! You must *BZZZZ* of here! *  

“Alex? Alex??” Alex, do you hear me?? Alex !!” replied Fanny. “Damnit! We must get out of here! Right now!”  

“But how?? Apart from the door through which we entered, there is no other exit! We're stuck! And if they see us, we're screwed!” said Sonya.  

“There must be another exit! We just must find it! Let's go!” Said Anna.  

Suddenly, knocks were heard at the door. They are already there. And they will do anything to get inside. If they want to make it out alive, they will have to find a solution. and fast. Either they find another way out. Either they must fight. But faced with the troop waiting for them behind these doors, do they even have a chance? Probably. But it is very thin.  

Flee or fight? That is the question.  

But a more important question comes to mind. No matter what they choose...

Will they survive? Or will they die?  

If they do not act quickly, the answer will be clear. And they won’t like it.  

***  

(Summer is coming and it's starting to make itself felt. And in 2 days I take another year. Enough to finish me with the XD work. But hey you must hang on! And staying hydrated is also important! I hope you’ll like it like the other ones! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)  

[tilbageidanmark]

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK #210:

JOHN MALKOVICH X 5:

🍿 MR. BLAKE AT YOUR SERVICE! (2023) is a comfy, Christmas'y fantasy, like a feel-good Hallmark-type fairy tale. Depressed, newly-widowed Malkovich travels to the scenic French chateaux where he first met his wife many years before, and on a whim takes a position as a butler there. It's Architectural Design tourist-porn, helped by chateaux owner Fanny Ardant, her cook Émilie Dequenne [who was the mother in 'Close'], one big fluffy cat, and Frank Sinatra singing 'For once in my life'. The only problem is that he speaks French with a strange British accent.

It's a feature directorial debut by its famous French writer. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes.

🍿 "Today I learnt" about erudite Chilean director Raúl Ruiz. TIME REGAINED, his 1999 adaptation of Marcel Proust's novel 'À la recherche du temps perdu', is my first film directed by him. (But I'm going to check out some of his other 118(!) films, made mostly in exile in France.)

I only read Swann's Way', the first volume of this 4,215 pages classic, so I'm no expert. This long, meditative and meandering description of the French high-society at the turn of the 20th century is breath-taking gorgeous, and very "Proustian". (Screenshots Above). Plot-less, elusive and poetic, it stars Catherine Deneuve as well her two children, 'Manon of the Spring', and John Malkovich as the striking gay Le Baron de Charlus. "Too much beauty can be painful". 8/10.

🍿 I'M GOING HOME (2001), also my first subtle drama by Portuguese Manoel de Oliveira [who started making movies in 1927 at 19, and who made his last film in 2015 at the age of 107!].

Old man Michel Piccoli is the grand master of the stage, taking on the roles of kings in Ionesco and Shakespeare. But then he gets the news that his wife, daughter and son-in-law all died in a car accident. Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich have only minor parts to play in this story about mortality and the exact moment when grief finds us. Paris is the other star of the plot. And now I have 65 more films by de Oliveira on my watch list! 7/10.

🍿 "Tell me about yourself - Well, I'm a puppeteer... Check, please!"

I haven't seen BEING JOHN MALKOVICH for quiet some time, and nearly forgot how original and how very laugh-out funny it was. I envy the person who never heard of it, and who will watch it for the first time: So many surprises in stores for them. And that Keener lady, Wow! Of the six films written by Charlie Kaufman I had seen, this one actually is the only one that I like wholeheartedly. 8/10. Re-watch ♻️.

🍿 "Power is nothing without control"...

In Antoine Fuqua's 2006 Vatican-horror short THE CALL, some Italian race-car is a deviled soul, Naomi Campbell is Satan, and Malkovich is the exorcist priest who is called to rid it of her demons. But then it's just a cliche-ridden advertisement for Pirelli tires. 1/10.

🍿

"You were right. Love is so simple."

First watch: Marcel Carné's poetic romance CHILDREN OF PARADISE, set in the spectacular theatrical world of 1830s Paris. It tells of a "courtesan" and the 4 men who love her. Epic joy, rich elegance, and soaring emotions. Produced under impossible conditions in Vichy during the last 3 years of the occupation. It's the French 'Gone with the wind'.

🍿

In a week full with with Proust, Marcel Carné, Spike Jonze, & Alfred Hitchcock, the random pick KAMOME DINER (2006) was my most enjoyable comfort film experience!

A Japanese woman opens a small Japanese diner in a quiet side street in Helsinki, hoping to sell Onigiri (Rice balls), but during her first month, not a single customer visits the place. Sounds like an Aki Kaurismäki story perhaps, but it's anything but. From the very first adorable scenes, it just knocked me out happy. The restaurant eventually gets a few regular visitors trickling in, as well as an assortment of other Japanese women who somehow got lost in Finland. But the movie is not strictly a Food-Film. And it ends with Yusui Inoue singing Crazy Love over the credits!

Here is The trailer. 9/10. I'm going to look for Naoko Ogigami's other movies! [*Female Director*]

🍿

"In the United States, there has never been the recognition of class conflict, class struggle..."

HOWARD ZINN: THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES (2016) is a French documentary summarizing the radical historian's famous book (up to 1919). It interviews Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges, and talks about many of the anti-capitalist heroes, the anarchists, socialists and communists, from Jacob Riis and Emma Goldman to Mother Jones and Eugene Debs. It touches on many progressive ideals that industrialization brought, the pro-labor movement, class consciousnesses, women's rights, pacifism, Etc. Also, it demonstrates how the capitalist moneyed elite fought to crush it every step of the way and in every generation. In short, it's a valued explanation of the American "Left", and the values it fought for, which are now seem lost forever.

But it executes it in amateurish and unconvincing way. It tries to emulate the broad Ken Burns 'Look and Feel', and comes up disappointingly short. 3/10.

🍿

3 SHORTS BY THANASIS NEOFOTISTOS:

🍿 PATISION AVENUE (2018) is a riveting one-shot thriller. A single mother is walking to an audition in the center of Athens, when she learns that the babysitter had left her young son home alone. We never see her face or learn her name, but what started as a personal triviality, turns politically tense. 7/10.

🍿 "Smile, though your heart is aching"... In AIRHOSTESS-737 (2022) a flight attendant is stressed over her new, ill-fitting braces. But her anxiety is caused by a deeper wound. 7/10.

🍿 ROUTE-3 (2019) plays in a crowded, sweaty tram in Sarajevo. A creepy teen can't stop gawking at a pretty Hijab-covered girl reading a book. In all his films, Neofotistos handles space in the same distinct way: Focusing on an individual or a face, he lets details in the background call for attention, whether it's the other passengers on the same tram car, the airplane cabin or the noises on the street.

Extra:

It's time that I re-discover the works of Theo Angelopoulos. And other interesting Greek movies. But until then, here's AS YOU SLEEP THE WORLD EMPTIES. A boy composes a video letter to a girl he fell in love with, just before the sleeping pandemic started. Now nearly everybody is gone or asleep, the roads are empty, she is no longer there either. All that will be left is this one letter.

🍿

[Following up on my friend HootsMguire recommendations], THE 10TH VICTIM (1965) is my third by Italian political satirist Elio Petri. Unfortunately, I picked a science fiction story about a televised death-match in the year 2979, like 'The Hunger Games' and 'The running man'. It was also mixed with low-rent James Bond trops, which are also not too appealing to me. There's a outdated battle of the sexes / romance between bleached-blond playboy Marcello Mastroianni and semi-nude Ursula Andress shooting bullets out of her bra while they are tying to kill each other. The visuals are striking, with a Rudi Gernreich's kitschy op-art/pop-art vision that hovers over the futuristic architecture, whacked-out fashion, style and feel. But any critical subtext (which isgwhat interests my friend the most) passed way over my head. 2/10.

🍿

4 WITH ROBERT CUMMINGS:

🍿 Another first watch: Hitchcock's 1954 DIAL M FOR MURDER, with the un-glamorous Grace Kelly, stripped in the 3rd act into a plain-looking convicted felon. A stagey, single-location crime thriller, fueled solely by dialogue, and one graphic murder by scissors. The tiny key details were important in an improbable way: Was the exchanged key left in the purse? Were the pound bills traceable? Why did she wait to call the police? Originally made in a 3D version.

🍿 In the early television version of 12 ANGRY MEN, Cummings had the role that Henry Fonda played 3 years later as 'Juror No. 8". Two actors (including 'Juror No. 9, the 'Old Man") played in both productions. Still with an all-male cast (since women were not allowed to serve on jury duty at that time), and still referring to the accused killer as "One of them" without further explanations as to who "They" are.

Not as perfect as the famous Sidney Lumet film, it was more condensed, and interrupted constantly by advertisements for various Westinghouse electric products.

🍿 "What are you doing after the orgy?"

WHAT A WAY TO GO! (1964) is an infectious and absurdly-silly comedy with pixie dream girl Shirley MacLaine at the peak of her cuteness.

It's stacked to the rafters with an all star cast; Paul Newman the bohemian painter, Robert Mitchum the mogul, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Dick Van Dyke, Freudian psychoanalyst Robert Cummings, and even Margaret Dumont in her last role as the greedy mother. Idealistic and unlucky MacLaine is widowed 4 times. All she was looking for was to love a man who's not consumed by money. But each of her husbands become extremely wealthy, and then they all die, leaving her with all their loot. It pretends to promote an anti-consumerism, anti-capitalist message, but it doesn't really. It's really stupid, with a bunch of ridiculous, campy scenes (like f.ex. this tap dance number). 7/10.

🍿 In the Laurel and Hardy pre-Code comedy SONS OF THE DESERT Cumming went un-credited as the voice of the steamship announcer. I consider this duo of adult-size toddlers the least funny of the old time comic greats, but this one had a good story, and some good gags. Fez-wearing Fraternal Organizations and their lodges and conventions inhabited a different weird universe. The best scene in the movie was the Honolulu Hula Baby dance number.

🍿

I saw a wonderful tap-dancing number by one Ken "Snakehips" Johnson, a black British swing band leader [who later died in the Blitz while performing at a Jazz club]. It was a clip from OH, DADDY!, a 1935 Islington Studio comedy. This sub-par satire deals with the "Moral Police", stuffy members of a village "Purity League", who travel to London to watch scantily-clad revue dancers, and engage in unbecoming enterprises like drinking champagne and seducing said naughty dancers. Prurient sinners, hypocritical puritans, and conservative values, it's all there. In the end, the only half-decent parts of this trifle were that tap-dance clip and the so-so nightclub dance numbers.

Oh, and the 18 year old ingenue that the old man was trying to fuck? It was his step-daughter! Ha ha, what a riot... 1/10.

🍿

5 FIRST FILMS BY...

🍿 MULTI-FACIAL (1995), my second film starring Vin Diesel [after 'Saving Private Ryan']. Surprisingly, it was also the first film he wrote, directed, scored and produced himself. A moving revelation, him playing a struggling multi-racial actor going on numerous auditions, without any success. Changing his act on a dime to mimic Scarface, to mimic Rocky, a black rapper. Absolutely fantastic, and this week's unexpected surprise - 9/10.

🍿 I believed that I had seen all of Lynne Ramsey's heartbreaking output, but discovered her very first dark short, SMALL DEATHS from 1996. Like the rest of her traumatic oeuvre, a young girl is experiencing quiet neglect, hurt and disappointment.

I can't wait for her two new features, 'Die, my love' and 'Stone mattress'.

🍿 Abbas Kiarostami's first film from 1970, THE BREAD AND ALLEY about a small boy returning home from purchasing bread who has to confront a barking dog. Opens with (surely pirated) score of Ob-La-di-Ob-La-Da.

🍿 In Céline Sciamma's first film from 2009, PAULINE, a young woman describes how she felt growing up in a small village, slowly discovering her same-sex orientation and being shunned by her whole family. It is told in one static shot.

(Sciamma still maintains her own, fairly active YouTube channel!)

🍿 FEAST won the 2014 Oscar for short animation. Sweetly, wordlessly and economically, it tells of the meals that a stray Boston Terrier puppy is eating. It's absolutely adorable, in spite of the fact that it was made by Disney. 9/10.

Extra: DUET was another short nominated for the same prize at the same year. Similar love story of a boy and a girl growing up together, told in simple, minimalist sketches.

Extra # 2: Bill Plympton's FOOTPRINTS, another 2014 nominee. A man wakes up to the sound of broken glass, and is searching for the monster that he fears intruded on his sleep.

Extra # 3: Feast's director, Patrick Osborne's next film was PEARL, which also was nominated for an Oscar in 2016. It's about a single dad and his daughter told from the point of view of an old hatchback that witnessed how they traveled through the years.

(OH NO! Osborne is now in the process of directing the magical mobile game 'Monument Valley'!) It will surely suck!

🍿

While waiting for Laura Nix's newest documentary 'Democracy Under Siege', her WALK RUN CHA-CHA is a good sample of what to expect: A 'ordinary' 60-something couple who escaped from the aftermath of the Vietnam war to California, love to dance the Cha-cha. Oscar-nominated in 2020. [*Female Director*]

🍿

4 LESS-KNOWN, SHORTER FILMS BY TERRY GILLIAM:

🍿 In 2011, during his eternal struggle to secure funding for his many Quixotic, unrealized projects, Gilliam took a commission from an Italian spaghetti manufacturer, to make the 20-min. THE WHOLLY FAMILY (In Italian - Here in English, but at a lower resolution).

It's an unsettling Commedia dell'arte advertising, a Felliniesque nightmare. A 10yo boy visiting Napoli with his bickering parents steals a Pulcinella figure at the open market, because he's told that stealing it will bring him good luck. Surreal clown factory, typical to Gilliam.

🍿 "I've never seen anything like this!!..."

Another of his paid-for "Branded Content Films", THE LEGEND OF HALLOWDEGA (2010), but of a truly low-quality. A paranormal Mockumentary about the ancient Indian mysteries which haunt the Talladega Superspeedway. 1/10.

🍿 STORY TIME (1979) was a typical Python-style shenanigan, a silly combination of a cockroach named Don, a giant foot that squishes it, Albert Einstein's very good hands dancing the tango, 3 wise men, Victorian greeting cards, fart sounds, Etc. Etc. All irreverent and un-serious.

🍿 THE MIRACLE OF FLIGHT (1974) a cutout animation about the invention of flying.

🍿

I'M SO HAPPY is the latest stand-up special from Craig Ferguson. It started a bit slow with lots of old men Boomer stuff and Covid jokes, but ended up funny and endearing. He's a good clown.

🍿

THROW-BACK TO THE ADORA ART PROJECT:  

John Malkovich Adora.

🍿

(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE).

[handeaux]

Cincinnatian James Ruggles Created A “Universal Language” But No One Listened

Cincinnati in 1829 overflowed with excitement. Our little river town had grown to a total population of more than 24,000. General Andrew Jackson made a brief stop here as he journeyed up the Ohio River on his way to inauguration as President of the United States. Frances “Fanny” Trollope scribbled notes for what would become her scandalous exposé, “Domestic Manners of the Americans.” Over the course of a week, witnessed by thousands, Rev. Alexander Campbell of the Disciple Church defended Christianity from the assaults of Robert Owen, founder of New Harmony, Indiana, and fervid apostate, who argued that all religions were false.

Hardly noticed in all the hubbub was the publication of a slim volume by Cincinnati printer James Ruggles proposing the adoption of a universal language. In the intellectual ferment of the early Nineteenth Century, Ruggles’ proposal gained so little traction that he is all but forgotten today.

It is interesting that Ruggles had his book published by Cincinnati printers John McCalla and Samuel Davis, because Ruggles himself was a printer and a publisher himself. Born in New York in 1795, Ruggles married a woman named Henrietta Disher and relocated to Steubenville, Ohio and then moved to Cincinnati. While here, he published a magazine called Ladies’ Museum which, according to an advertisement [29 January 1831],

“Embraced in its general subjects, Original and Selected Poetry, Tales, Notices and Reviews of New Works, Natural History, Sketches of Biography and History, Reports of Fashions, occasional articles relating to the culture of Plants Fruits and Flowers, with such Intelligence, Anecdotes, chastened effusions of Wit, Sentiment, and Humor, as will impart variety and furnish an agreeable miscellany.”

Although not identified as such in the city directory, James Ruggles was also apparently a teacher of some sort, although whether he taught in a private capacity or in the nascent public schools of the city is unknown. In Isaac M. Martin’s 1900 history of the schools of Cincinnati, Ruggles is listed among the “Teachers Who Have Become Authors.”

Martin’s book lists only Ruggles’ “Universal Language” among his publications, but an 18 November 1829 advertisement in the Ohio Monitor revealed that Ruggles was trying to attract enough subscribers to publish a series of books titled “The American Literary Preceptor,” which he described as:

“A complete system of tuition for American youths, containing all the branches of learning necessary, in forming the education of an American citizen – commencing with the first rudiments, spelling, reading, &c. and including those proper, as the foundation of a complete scientific and ornamental education, suitable for fitting one to enter a profession, or any useful occupation; to be comprised in about 15 volumes.”

The advertisement for the textbook series – there is no evidence any of the books were ever published – boasted of Ruggles’ role as the author of the book on universal language.

So, what was the “universal language” developed by James Ruggles? And why was it ignored by pretty much everybody? To begin with, Ruggles’ universal language was almost impossible to read and equally impossible to pronounce. Here is a sample:

“Kertholson sjtilmagpxl fjnhxl lokzturs, deksztxns fakhornpxs, karfzturps vovszdxrap, punkzpurapsdux kirkztur, rolsilnxmszdxrapdui.”

That tangled mess of consonantal gibberish may be translated as:

“To ascertain the relative situation and size of places, references are made on maps to direction, or the points of a compass, and to latitude and longitude.”

According to Ruggles, his universal language was superior to any previously proposed because it was:

“Founded on the clearness of its combinations – the simplicity of its construction, the uniformity and invariableness of its rules – and, especially, the facility and speed with which it can be acquired, of being universally adopted by the civilized world.”

The heart of Ruggles’ artificial language was simplicity. All plurals were formed by adding an s – none of this mouse/mice, goose/geese malarkey. Each vowel and consonant was pronounced uniquely to avoid homonymic rhymes like scoff-cough. Most root words were derived from Latin, so his word for “judge” was “prqt” from the Latin praetor, and his word for “stone” was “lap” from the Latin lapis.

Despite his obsession with simplicity and uniformity, the end result was so alien and complicated that none of the many literary magazines at the time paid it the slightest attention. Part of Ruggles’ problem was marketing. He never named his invention, referring to it only as “The Universal Language.” Later creators of Volapuk and Esperanto had better luck. Ruggles sent advance copies to scholars and celebrities, none of whom had anything particularly favorable to say about his Universal Language – but he published their responses in the back of his book anyway! Typical was this polite dismissal from John Quincy Adams, who found time despite his duties as President of the United States to respond on 27 July 1827:

“Sir: I return herewith, conformably to your request, the Plan of a Universal Language, which was enclosed with your letter of 28th May. An opinion long since formed, unfavorable to all projects of this character, has perhaps influenced that formed with regard to yours. From the examination, necessarily superficial, which I have been able to give it, I consider it creditable to your ingenuity. Respectfully, your fellow-citizen. J.Q. Adams.”

In other words, “I am opposed to the whole idea of a universal language, but your scheme indicates some level of imagination.”

For reasons unknown but probably involving money or the lack thereof, Ruggles uprooted his wife and sons and left Cincinnati around 1831. He reappeared in Edwardsville, Illinois near the banks of the Mississippi River in 1838 as the editor of a local newspaper with a decidedly unusual mission. According to the 1882 “History of Madison County, Illinois”:

“The Western Weekly Mirror was established at Edwardsville by James Ruggles in May, 1838. He was editor and proprietor. The Mirror was devoted to the introduction and propagation of a universal language by which the whole human family could hold converse with one another and be understood. It was a worthy mission, but the feeble effort of its progenitor fell stillborn. It continued until the spring of 1840, when its name was changed to the Sovereign People. It continued until the summer of 1841, when it suspended.”

James Ruggles died of congestive fever on 17 October 1844 in Edwardsville. He left no will, but his wife appealed to the local authorities to become adminstratrix of his estate, which she testified amounted to less than $300.

[bethanydelleman]

Do you think the Prices are sort of how the Wickhams are going to turn out in 10 - 15 years? They share a lot of similarities (husband can't work in his profession anymore, always low on money, she's trying to keep the family in order (unsuccessfully) he couldn't care less, rich relatives have to financially support them etc.).

Also imagine the Darcys adopting one of the Wickham daughters (but obviously treating her way better than Fanny was, maybe she becomes the next Jane Fairfax 👀).

Idk where I'm going with this but I just think the end of P&P has potential as a Mansfield Park AU.

First, to address their similarities, Wickham is still in the military as far as we know by the end of the novel. He may continue in it for a long time, which would provide a far better income than half-pay from the Marines. However, Mrs. Price has her dowry, so they do end up being about equal financially. The biggest difference is that Mrs. Price threw off her family while the Wickhams most definitely did not.

Also, despite being somewhat financially irresponsible, the Prices must still have the £7000 because otherwise they would be actually, really destitute, not in genteel poverty. So kudos to Mr. Price for just being a drunk and not a gambler like Wickham. His £4000 (£1000 legacy and £3000 in lieu of the living) is definitely gone.

The real question is how many children the Wickhams end up having. The Prices probably would have been fine with three, maybe even five, it was the sheer number that finally drove Mrs. Price to finally beg for forgiveness and cash. The best case scenario would be if Wickham's "enjoyments" have resulted in sterilization. If they had a lot of children, I can easily see either the Bingleys or the Darcys either taking the children in or paying for them to attend school.

As for taking in, I've considered that idea myself and even written it. I think the Darcys would probably be much more like the Campbells with Jane Fairfax than the Bertrams with Fanny. I cannot see Elizabeth allowing anyone to treat a girl like Mrs. Norris does or being so neglectful in child raising. And while Darcy does share some traits with Sir Thomas, I can't see him being quite as strict or blind to evil. We also know Darcy is willing to banish his own family members, so someone like Mrs. Norris wouldn't be permitted to leech on and fester.

[natasha-afiona-blog-commander]

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