#jim Fenwick

[colonellickburger]

Jim Fenwick. Low cloud cover reflecting the glow of wildfires, which turned the sky red. Palermo, Sicily, September 2023

[jimmyspades]

JAMES SPADER as Timothy Fenwick, Jr. in the pilot of DINER (1983)

[forensicated]

01x02 - A Friend In Need

This episode (and the one after) was shown out of sequence when it first aired (unless you lived in London). This is because of a Technician's strike against Thames TV. It was shown after The Sweet Smell Of Failure (London aired a Minder repeat in the same time slot for those 2 weeks)

(This appears to be before they used the Isle Of Dogs area as Canley when showing maps.)

Superintendent Brownlow asks Roy for his opinion on 3 recent bomb hoax phone calls. Roy believes they're pranks, however, the Commissioner and Home Office are both applying pressure on Charles to treat them as potential terrorism; especially as two of them were made to Jewish restaurants.

Roy is reluctant to step on Bob's toes as he has been investigating them since they began. Charles assures him it's no reflection on Bob, it just needs to be seen - by the higher-ups - like it's being taken seriously hence a Detective Inspector over a Uniform Sgt. Charles is also aware Bob has had a heavy workload of late and that he has a graduate probationer, PC Higgins, attached to him. 

Roy smirks and is told off by Charles for his refusal to have Higgins in CID for a few weeks, warning him that Higgins could be his governor in 10 years given the accelerated promotion his 'type' are getting. ('Type' being university graduates but the obvious disdain in both men to this thought is wonderful!). "I don't care how you do it but get it done."

Also unimpressed with the graduate is probationer Jim who tells him he just had to watch and listen in his first week. "But with you of course it'll be different. Work experience I suppose." The well-spoken Higgins agrees, telling the gathered officers that he'll be attached to an outer division for the next week and then to Police College for a few years. "And then come back as Sgt I suppose" June drawls. "Destined for high places are we?" Taffy laughs. "That's the theory."

Jim tells Higgins that he's lucky he's been placed with June as she's a good copper and 'one of the best'. June is visibly unsettled by her ex Dave Litten approaching them. She tells him to go and "park his arse" at Ted Roach's table rather than squeeze onto theirs. Taffy and Jim tell Higgins that it's something he's going to have to get used to. "If it's not Ackland Vs Litten it's Galloway Vs The Rest Of The World." 

Unmoved, Dave asks "Henry Higgins." ("It's Derek actually...") what he thinks of Sun Hill. He thinks it's quiet for an East End station and he expected more to be going on 'outside'. The officers explain it's not always like this and to treat it as the lull before the storm. They joke that they wouldn't be surprised if Roy had made the hoax calls himself to keep them on their toes. Dave tells them he's already had a run-in with him that morning, muttering about something. Higgins asks if that's what Roy is usually like and, sensing a wind-up, Taffy tells him: "No, not really. Nice quiet chap when you get to know him. You can always knock on his door and ask for a quiet cosy little chat. Very accessible. Especially towards the uniform branch. Father figure you might say."

"Father Figure" Roy is tearing into Bob after reading the file on the hoax calls and accuses him of cocking it up. "You don't bloody listen, do you? You're as pigheaded as ever!" Bob shouts back, warning him they need to be tactful and can't just crash bang wallop into it. Ted and Mike are hilariously making no secret that they're enjoying the show when Roy slams the door to his office. Roy snaps that it's just a prank and claims Bob has inflamed the situation by treating it with kid gloves and in doing so Bob has got no MO and no leads. Bob points out that he's been rostered on the early turn when none of the owners are available. He's bound by procedure and he has to treat each call as real and can't take shortcuts. He reminds Roy that Uniform don't have the luxury of getting cases passed up half worked on with evidence and lines of inquiry found like Roy and CID do. "Don't worry Sarge, the CID - as usual - will sort it all out. Know what I mean?" Bob warns him that when he falls from his high horse and needs help, no one will lift a finger, least of all him. "Get the violins, Robert." He snaps before the men place a bet on Roy cracking the case within 2 weeks.

A fourth call has come through, this time to a Greek restaurant. Tom Penny speaks to the owner and asks him if he's positive it's a hoax. The caller says they've cleared the restaurant and searched it. Tom tells him to double-check thoroughly to make sure. (Cor, imagine doing that now! I was even surprised when they had staff involved in searching the cinema with them in episode 143 but I can imagine that was partly due to having the person who was placing bombs involved in the search). He warns them not to touch anything suspicious and that they'll send the bomb car over. He then arranges for CID to be informed.

Mike tries his hardest to speak to men who mostly only understand Greek and want to go home that Roy is on his way and that no one can leave. Ted is... Ted. ❤ He only stops eating when Roy appears.

Ted tells him it's the same as all the others and that nothing has been found. Roy tells him he can leave and take Mike and uniform with him as he and Dimitri - an old friend - are going to go over everything. "Even if it takes all night."

"Your public is waiting for you out there, God help them!" Bob dismisses uniform from the briefing, placing Higgins and Jim together. Jim hasn't learnt all the bad habits of the others yet so he is partnering them together despite Jim being a probationer himself.

Mike and Ted are in bright and early to continue working on their cases. They're very amused that, come 9.20am, there's still no sign of Roy, nor did he write anything in the book about the case. He finally makes an appearance a few minutes later - paler than usual which is quite some doing.

Mike goes to make him a black coffee whilst Ted finishes dressing him, warns him to take water with his Ouzo and the boys try to find their boss some aspirin to dull his whimpers.

"The things I do for this job." Roy pouts before telling Ted he's found the specific phone box the calls came from as there are roadworks audible in all the phone calls and it's the only one that has had roadworks happening nearby all week. He suspects it's a way for 2 men to avoid paying their bills when eating out by getting a friend to ring and make a bomb threat. Through his investigation, Roy has found 2 men in particular who requested the bill at each restaurant just before the threats came in and they had to evacuate. Being the 80's, there's no one at BT to speak to over the weekend so Roy tells Mike and Ted to visit every local eatery to ask them to keep their eye out for 2 men making large orders and behaving suspiciously. He wants them to call the station so that officers can catch those responsible.

Roy tries to relieve his hangover by dunking his face in cold water much to Bob's amusement. Bob mocks him and his 'for the sake of the job' excuse and says he has no sympathy for him. He does however help him locate the towel dispenser when Roy misses it by a mile and almost faceplants into the wall... even if it is empty!

Mr Rutherford arrives at the station and insists on speaking to Roy about the bomb hoaxes. He gets riled when Rutherford implies that the police aren't doing much and directs him to "the thirteenth hole at the golf club" to speak to Brownlow.

The two men [one being Perry Fenwick] in question for the bomb hoaxes speak to their 'friend', a gullible magazine seller on the high street. He is oblivious that he's being set up to take the wrap should the police become involved. They slip him a few quid and ask him to make a call to a Chinese restaurant at approximately 2.30pm.

Roy takes his mood out on uniform by reading through the report book, first bollocking Taffy to redo his crime reports, then telling Bob he wants to see Hollis. As he does, a frequent flyer drunk called Lampton tries to make a donation to the police widows and orphans. "Charity, Dear Sgt, begins at home. And I'm beginning to feel like I live here." "I think I'll stick to vimto..." Higgins remarks after seeing Lampton out. "Me too!" Jim adds - if only you did, Jim!

Lampton finishes his bottle and places it in the gutter. Jim asks Taffy if he's nearly finished as there's only 5 minutes left. Taffy says he'll be 15 minutes and to get him a drink and he'll meet him at the pub. (The barmaid, Sadie, guests in several episodes over series 1 to 4. Cheryl Hall who goes on to play Smithy's mum. If only she'd been called Sadie and not Pauline it could have been a nice nod 😉) By the time Sadie serves Jim, they've already been paid for by Lampton. When he arrives, Taffy is horrified that Lampton brought them drinks and tells Jim they're leaving. Sadie asks Jim to remove Lampton, claiming he's his responsibility as he's drinking with him. Taffy explains it's a disciplinary offense to associate with a criminal on bail and they need to leave before the drink is misconstrued as a bribe. Jim feels bad but Taffy says Jim can do what he wants but he's not losing his job for a drunk. Jim wrestles Lampton out and tries to take him home.

At the Chinese restaurant, the suspects have arrived and work their way through the menu. At 2.15pm the older one asks for the menu again. The younger one groans and says he only wants a coffee as he's full up. Just after half 2, their friend makes it to the call box but the phone line has been cut. He hurries into a nearby shop to make a call. The shop assistant asks what he's doing, startling him. He runs off before he can end the call, leading to the assistant speaking to the person on the other end. Now sure of what is happening, the owner of the restaurant gestures to a waiter who alerts the other staff. Panicking, the older suspect shouts out that there's a bomb and there's a stampede of people to leave the restaurant, causing people to get hurt. The chefs leave the kitchen, entering the main room with huge machetes, looking for the suspects!

Outside Jim is trying to escort Lampton home as people scream and run from the restaurant. He has to leave Lampton - who drops his wallet in the confusion and runs over to take charge. At the station Tom and Reg are sorting the ambulance and police response to the restaurant. "[The staff] have caught the bomb hoax pair..." Reg smirks when he's asked for another ambulance. Roy hurries to the scene and congratulates Jim, telling him the two suspects will live - just - after their run in with the staff.

The next morning, Bob asks for volunteers to take Higgins out for his final shift...

No one volunteers so Bob asks Higgins who he wants to go out with and he replies, "With the hero of the moment, Sergeant. Carver." Unfortunately for Jim however, Lampton is in the front office to make a complaint, alleging that Jim has stolen his wallet.

Roy is in a buoyant mood which doesn't dim even when catching up on station gossip. "All that good work gone to waste." he sighs before laughing at Bob calling the Chief Super in on a Sunday. Bob explains he's hoping Lampton will come to his senses when he realises the importance of what he's accusing Jim of before it can go any further. Roy tells Bob that he knows where he is if there's anything he can do. "Esprit de corps." (Team moral) Bob sighs.

Brownlow reminds Lampton he was "under the weather' when he left the station and that he could have misplaced the wallet. Lampton insists he had it when he left and in the pub only for it to be gone when he returned home. "Who else could it have been? He took me home - why should he do that?" No good deed goes unpunished, JimJim. Lampton asks Charles what happens now - will the police sub him as he needs 'groceries' (ha!) Charles tells him he's jumping the gun and that he needs to speak to Jim and uniform. If he's satisfied there's a crime then he'll call in CIB.

No one believes Jim is guilty other than Lampton but it has to be looked into. Bob gives Jim a subtle heads-up whilst Taffy speaks to Brownlow. "It's not what you've done, it's what they think you've done!" Bob is more disappointed than anything, telling Jim he keeps making stupid mistakes and that he's a policeman, not a social worker. Jim is near tears, telling Bob that he's never taken anything from anyone in his life. He admits he felt sorry for Lampton because he has a problem. Bob tells him he's not the only one with a problem and sighs, telling him he's stupid enough to do it again.

Ted and Mike discuss Jim and they watch Taffy enter the canteen. Ted tells Mike that Taffy might be up for disciplinary if the Chief Super sticks to the book. Ted teases Taffy by calling him a 'Scab' (Taffy had swerved the uniform group staring silently at him and moved to sit alone before Ted spoke) and asks what happened. Taffy sighs and admits that each time he opened his mouth he seemed to drop Jim further in it. Charles had asked if Jim had ever mentioned being short of money. "Oh god..." Mike sighs.

Higgins is annoyed at being called in too as he wants nothing to do with it. "It's not going to do my career any good." "Right born leader of men you are." June drawls. Roy asks Bob how things are going and Bob admits the Super thinks Lampton is trying it on. As they chat an elderly lady makes a fuss at the front desk. Bob asks her to wait and then when she continues to complain he asks Higgins to deal with her. Lucky for Jim she's very honest. She's handing in Lampton's wallet! Bob has to pay up on the bet after Roy cracked the case in well under a fortnight. However, instead of keeping the money, Roy hands it to Jim and tells him to create a hamper of food for the lady who handed the wallet in. "She won't get a reward from Lampton will she and she's not got two pennies to rub together." Bob is absolutely gobsmacked at Roy's generosity. "I never thought I'd see the day, Detective Inspector Roy Galloway - Social Worker?" "Oh piss off!" Roy scoffs and hurries to the safety of his office.

[nevver]

Looking up, Jim Fenwick (because)

[gallierhouse]

I’m fascinated by the class and wealth difference between Louis and Lestat. Louis is wealthy, but he’s also gens couleurs, and he’s clearly treated as a second-class citizen during the Jim Crow era. But he’s upper class within the Black community of New Orleans; he can trace his lineage (he makes a comment about his grandfather being a free man of color in the pilot, thanks to @avilehungerforyourhammeringheart for the correction, and he identifies himself as Creole) and he’s wealthy. Lestat’s nobility, but he grew up poor enough to be illiterate, and then he came into money from Magnus, and moved to New Orleans portraying himself as a wealthy aesthete. You can see it in their taste. Louis’ taste is fairly conservative, he likes nice things, but he has no great need to cover himself in jewels and flaunt his wealth. Lestat, conversely, flaunts everything he’s got and loves to buy expensive, attention-grabbing things. Claudia’s similar to Lestat. She’s obviously from an impoverished background, so when she gets adopted by Louis and Lestat, she develops a fondness and fascination for the finer things in life. Lestat and Claudia have excessive taste in response to the lack of luxury their childhoods provided them. Distinctions like “nouveau riche” are tasteless as they are classist, but both Lestat and Claudia really act like they are, despite the fact that Lestat’s literal nobility. I don’t really have a point here; it’s just interesting to see how their upbringings manifest in their behavior. It’s especially interesting when it comes to Louis, because he occupies this in between space wherein he’s very privileged in some ways (compared to say, the whores he employs, or someone from Claudia’s background) and violently oppressed in others (Jim Crow, the unbelievable cruelty and racism of people like Alderman Fenwick, the fact he has to sit separately from Lestat in the bus, the fact that Lestat has to be a co-owner for him to have his own business, a million indignities); how he immediately feels more free in Paris, where he’s seen as Creole instead of Black. Then there’s the complication that Louis had to run a brothel to upkeep his family’s lifestyle, which isn’t really the sort of business someone from his social standing should be involved in, which is why he doesn’t talk about it with his family. He’s a survivor. Doing what he has to do to be who he’s supposed to be. Willing to do the dirty work if that’s what it takes to keep things together. I don’t really think of Louis as a social climber because he’s not really attempting to climb social ranks duplicitously as he is interested in amassing capital, but as the lines between class and wealth blur as we move from the twentieth to the twenty first century, he’s clearly carved out a piece of the pie for himself. He started dealing art in Paris, now he’s a millionaire (not quite a billion). When he goes home to New Orleans they call him “sir” instead of “boy.” He’s survived it all.

[blueiight]

ldpdl, ethnicity, and the false monolith of blackness

there's this false tendency to think amc louis being made black is pandering, or a means of removing louis from his oh-so-detailed /sarcasm/ background in the books. i also find that people tend to not even understand what show louis's ethnic background is, despite rolin jones the showrunner and even the fictional louis both coalescing around this multigenerational explanation of the gens de couleur in new orleans, and how jim crow disempowered them.

I came around to his ethnicity a sort of interesting way which is through Lestat. [ … ] I was like lets give him a legitimate a third attempt at figuring how to be with somebody for the rest of his life and how to not repeat your mistakes. [ … ] I started from there so it had to be someone with some money cause he had to be with his own folks and I thought he wanted someone who could fight back and who could be a challenge and would force him to restrain himself. And nobody at AMC was interested in 7 seasons of the regretful plantation owner, so we made Louis come from a lineage that did have a plantation and did own slaves.

rolin jones in the s1 post-finale episode of the podcast names how he came to this understanding of louis's character. lestat, after failing to make a bride of his mother, and a concubine of nicki, was seeking for someone of a similar background, or the most approximate equivalent. he would not have been interested in louis if louis was an anglophone baptist black man descended from upper-south arrivals into new orleans, nor would he have been interested in louis if louis was a poor black creole honestly s1 does not give a good reading of claudia's ethnic bg in new orleans, but since she cannot understand french, we can presume shes either a poor creole removed from her cultural background with her vampiric adoption narrative in mind, or was also of an anglophone baptist black background like claudia was. louis coming from this fallen sort of gentry, the free gens de couleur, similar to that of the tvl lestat who came from this barren aristocracy dating back to the crusades, was key to lestat's long-term goals with louis.

Capital accrued from plantations of sugar and the blood of men who looked like my great grandfather but did not have his standing. But then decades of Jim Crow and the electrified light of a new century had vanquished any idea of a free man of color. - AMC IWTV 1x01

louis was of the first generations of the gens de couleur to be born, raised into, and face the institutional and personal ramifications of being viewed as black in america. this fuels much of the character's rage as he moves through storyville, trying to continue the similar modality of exploitation to the contrary of pretty baby with brooke shields, majority of the brothel circuit was statistically black girls + women being sexually pawned off to white men but ultimately failing to do so bc of the anglophone white american class that now rules over him. [tom anderson, alderman fenwick, finn o’shea starting out as louis’s subordinate then ending w/ him entering whiteness by having a sporting house throwing torches at louis’s brothel in s1e3]

By 1850, the free population of color, beset by the hostility of white supremacy, was economically diminished and residentially segregated. The Americanization of Louisiana, and in particular New Orleans, was completed before the state became the sixth to secede from the Union in 1861 in the struggle over the perpetuation of slavery. [link] The Democratic redeemers who came to power in 1877 lost no time in redefining the Negro's "place" in Louisiana life. They immediately restored the color line in the New Orleans public schools and offered silent support to de facto segregation practices in places of public accommodation. With the assistance of two landmark decisions by the United States Supreme Court, the redeemers soon dismantled the egalitarian legal apparatus put together piece by piece under the Radicals. Finally in 1890 they began to write their "final solution" into Louisiana law with a series of "separate but equal" statutes. Soon New Orleans Negroes were again segregated in virtually every public pursuit. [link]

[colonellickburger]

Jim Fenwick. Low cloud cover reflecting the glow of wildfires, which turned the sky red. Palermo, Sicily, September 2023

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

Series info...

Book one in the Dear America series

A Journey to the New World

The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777 by Kristiana Gregory

When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg

A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 by Patricia McKissack

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 by Kristiana Gregory

So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865 by Joyce Hansen

West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883 by Jim Murphy

Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903 by Kathryn Lasky

Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Pope Osborne

Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White

A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1836 by Sherry Garland

My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi

The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868 by Kristiana Gregory

A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861 by Karen Hesse

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 by Ann Turner

A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919 by Patricia McKissack

One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York, 1938 by Barry Denenberg

My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941 by Mary Pope Osborne

Valley of the Moon: The Diary Of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846 by Sherry Garland

Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849 by Kristiana Gregory

Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 by Kathryn Lasky

Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941 by Barry Denenberg

My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881 by Jim Murphy

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty, Boston, Massachusetts, 1968 by Ellen Emerson White

A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917 by Kathryn Lasky

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 by Barry Denenberg

Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935 by Katelan Janke

When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer, New York City to the Western Front, 1917 by Beth Seidel Levine

Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, an English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota, 1873 by Marion Dane Bauer

Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Green Marsh, Massachusetts, 1774 by Ann Turner

All the Stars in the Sky: The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie Mack Ryder, The Santa Fe Trail, 1848 by Megan McDonald

Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony, 1763 by Patricia McKissack

I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City, 1909 by Deborah Hopkinson

The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson

Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918 by Lois Lowry

Cannons at Dawn: The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1779 by Kristiana Gregory

With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia, 1954 by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880 by Susan Patron

A City Tossed and Broken: The Diary of Minnie Bonner, San Francisco, California, 1906 by Judy Blundell

Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose, Chicago, Illinois, 1871 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

[sizequeen1]

Louis, Race, and Colorism

Louis is a HUGE snob. The line between the wealthy black people and the average black citizen toiling in Jim Crow America as domestics, field hands, and in chain gangs without any protection from the law was a THIN line and wealthy black people were likely desperate to maintain any marginal alignment with whiteness that could protect them and their families.

First, let’s consider the fact that Louis and his family are light-skinned. Now, they did not create colorism, but they do benefit from it. Being light skinned and closer to whiteness is also associated with being perceived as smarter and more worthy than darker skinned black people. Skin complexion actually had a huge impact on the life trajectory of black people. Even a cursory Google image search of the most wealthy, famous, and influential black people in the first 75 years of the 20th century will feature almost nothing but light, often near white faces.  

Despite the fact that after Emancipation, more opportunities opened up for Blacks of all hues, the substantial social, educational, and economic advantages of lighter-skinned Blacks undoubtedly gave these Blacks an immense head start in relation to all other Blacks.  Attorney Lawrence Otis Graham observed, in his exposé of Black elite social clubs (like the Jack n’ Jill, the Smart Set, the Boulé), that brown paper bag tests and pencil tests (a test to assess the straightness of hair) were regular institutions at balls and cotillions well into the 1970s. Graham also notes the absolute dominance of Black elite social club membership by lighter-skinned Blacks, running from the creation of these social clubs to the present day.  (”The Unceasing Significance of Colorism: Skin Tone Stratification in the United States”)

The de Pointe du Lacs were slave owners. and not to free their relatives, but for profit. His family must have had a profound sense of disconnect from other black people to establish and maintain their wealth before the Civil War.  Even 100 years later, Louis doesn’t hesitate to discuss this slave owning history with Daniel without an ounce of discomfort or shame. Louis, the descendant of a slave owner moved smoothly to the exploitation of women and his religious, conventional women in his family happily took his ill gotten money without much flinching. 

After all, the du Lacs are upper class black Creoles. His sister and husband go on holiday to Europe, an experience, 99% of white people will never know. Their elegant maman serves meals with multiple courses and iced wine delivered by servants. Louis socializes with and invests with white business owners. His major life goal is to own a white brothel. He has a right to special privileges for his brother, and the gratitude of his white priests at his church because his wealth pays for these favors. 

Louis seems indifferent to racial uplift in general. As stated above, light skinned men like him were often involved in racial uplift.  He seems to have zero connection to the black community (other than the smaller businesses he owns) that we see. This may be because he’s a brothel owner, but I imagine his money would buy his entry into black social circles if he was interested, but I don’t think he’s interested. 

After it’s revealed he has been deceived by Tom Anderson and Alderman Fenwick, he’s understandable livid. He kills Fenwick in the bloodiest way possible, and pins his body to a city gate with a “Whites Only” sign attached and then claims that he did this for “his people.” We’ve never heard or seen him do anything for black people, only for himself and his family. There’s no fucking way he did that for black people. He did that in a fit of thoughtless rage..

The racism that Louis faces is very real, unjust, and painful, but the rage that accompanies it is in part due to the fact that he thinks his connection to whiteness should offer even more privileges. He deserves more because he’s better than ordinary black people and he’s proved it over and over. He exploits just as well as they do. He’s just as smart if not smarter. The volcanic rage that kills Alderman Fenwick and sets Storyville on fire comes from being so close to, and yet so far away from, the white privilege he thinks is rightfully his. 

(I edited this a bit from a previous posting..)

[ulkaralakbarova]

Powerful businessman Russ Duritz is self-absorbed and immersed in his work. But by the magic of the moon, he meets Rusty, a chubby, charming 8-year-old version of himself who can’t believe he could turn out so badly – with no life and no dog. With Rusty’s help, Russ is able to reconcile the person he used to dream of being with the man he’s actually become. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Russ Duritz: Bruce Willis Rusty Duritz: Spencer Breslin Amy: Emily Mortimer Janet: Lily Tomlin Deirdre Lefever: Jean Smart Kenny: Chi McBride Sam Duritz: Daniel von Bargen Dr. Alexander: Dana Ivey Bob Riley: Stanley Anderson Kenny’s Grandmother: Juanita Moore Giselle: Susan Dalian Clarissa: Esther Scott Governor: Deborah May Newsstand Cashier: Vernee Watson-Johnson Newsstand Tourist: Jan Hoag Sky King Waitress: Melissa McCarthy Gloria Duritz: Elizabeth Arlen Flight Attendant: Alexandra Barreto Hot Dog Vendor: John Apicella Vince: Brian McGregor Mark: Reiley McClendon Herbert: Brian Tibbetts George: Brian McLaughlin Lawyer Bruce: Steve Tom Lawyer Jim: Marc Copage Lawyer Seamus: Rod McLachlan Wedding Guest: Scott Mosenson Governor’s Aide: Brian Fenwick Governor’s Other Aide: Duke Faeger Sushi Chef: Toshiya Agata Josh: Joshua Finkel General Manager: Lou Beatty Jr. Principal: E.J. Callahan Janet’s Husband: Daryl Anderson Best Man: Darrell Foster Security Guard: Michael Wajacs Chef Mike: John Travis Larry King: Larry King Larry King’s Guest: Jeri Ryan Larry King’s Guest: Nick Chinlund Ritch Eisen: Stuart Scott Stuart Scott: Rich Eisen Wedding Singer: Kevon Edmonds Backup Singer: Julia Waters Backup Singer: Maxine Waters Willard Backup Singer: Stephanie Spruill Bridesmaid (uncredited): Tanisha Grant (uncredited): Glüme Harlow Car Driver (uncredited): Paul Moncrief Mr. Vivian (uncredited): Matthew Perry Tim (uncredited): Luigi Francis Shorty Rossi Russ’ Son (uncredited): Gary Weeks Harold Greene: Harold Greene Film Crew: Producer: Hunt Lowry Executive Producer: Arnold Rifkin Producer: Christina Steinberg Director of Photography: Peter Menzies Jr. Producer: Jon Turteltaub Executive Producer: David Willis Assistant Editor: Michael Trent Writer: Audrey Wells Co-Producer: William M. Elvin Stunts: Terry Jackson Utility Stunts: Pat Romano Grip: R. Dana Harlow Orchestrator: Pete Anthony Orchestrator: Jon Kull Stand In: Duke Faeger Stand In: Luigi Francis Shorty Rossi Original Music Composer: Jason White Art Department Coordinator: Al Lewis Digital Compositor: Michael Miller Transportation Captain: Douglas Miller Production Design: Garreth Stover Makeup Artist: Mike Smithson Co-Producer: Bill Johnson Utility Stunts: Eddy Donno Utility Stunts: Manny Perry Stunts: Deep Roy Production Coordinator: Daren Hicks Script Supervisor: Thomas Johnston Supervising Sound Editor: Mark A. Mangini Editor: Peter Honess Editor: David Rennie Art Direction: David Lazan Set Decoration: Larry Dias Costume Design: Gloria Gresham Sound Effects Editor: Richard L. Anderson Supervising Sound Editor: Kelly Cabral Sound Effects Editor: James Christopher Sound Effects Editor: Donald Flick Visual Effects Supervisor: James E. Price Associate Producer: Stephen J. Eads Original Music Composer: Marc Shaiman Second Unit Director: David R. Ellis Utility Stunts: Annie Ellis Stunt Coordinator: Jack Gill Utility Stunts: Matt McColm Utility Stunts: Janet Brady Utility Stunts: Kenny Endoso Utility Stunts: Tommy J. Huff Movie Reviews: r96sk: What a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy ‘The Kid’ as much as I did. Bruce Willis and Spencer Breslin team up to solid effect, in a film that produces amusement and wholesomeness. I find the premise very interesting, it’s a cool concept. While they might not executed to 100% perfection, what’s given is entertaining to see unfold. There are some very sweet scenes, also. Willis is, as you’d expect, the best part of this, but I think Breslin does a grand job too. The latter tended to do these sorta roles a lot, but there’s a reason for that as he played them convincingly. Emily Mortimer (Amy) is als...

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.25

Beer Birthdays

Robert Neame (1934)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Jim Backus; actor (1913)

"Sister" Wendy Beckett; art critic (1930)

Anthony Burgess; writer (1917)

George Harrison; rock guitarist (1943)

Pierre Auguste Renoir; artist (1841)

Famous Birthdays

Sean Astin; actor (1971)

Diane Baker; actor (1938)

Meher Baba; Indian mystic (1894)

Peg Bracken; writer (1918)

James Brown; sportscaster (1951)

Carrot Top; comedian (1965)

Enrico Caruso; singer (1873)

Tom Courtney; actor (1937)

Adelle Davis; nutritionist (1904)

John Doe; rock musician (1954)

John Foster Dulles; Secretary of State (1888)

Carl Eller; Minnesota Vikings DE (1942)

Millicent Fenwick; politician (1910)

Gert Froebe; actor (1913)

Larry Gelbart; writer (1928)

Chrstopher George; actor (1929)

Jack Handey; comedian, writer (1949)

Edward Harriman; railroad executive (1848)

Neil Jordan; film director (1950)

Tea Leoni; actor (1966)

Jamie Lynn; porn actor (1981)

Don Majkowski; Green Bay Packers QB (1964)

Mandingo; porn actor (1975)

Tommy Newsom; saxophonist (1929)

Sally Jesse Raphael; television talk show host (1943)

Bobby Riggs; tennis player (1918)

Bob Schieffer; television journalist (1937)

Ralph Stanley; country singer (1927)

[differentflavorsarevisible950]

Author interview: 'Jim Crow's Pink Slip' : NPR

[blueiight]

i think a lot of viewers are used to characters who are oblivious/brush off their faults that when louis busts through the door with his self-critique like "hey i profited from the exploitation of women i'm ashamed and i'll do it again because i have an unhealthy relationship with power and i'll still be ashamed" they don't know how to deal with it

(side note: i do find it interesting that in order to feel manly louis to got into the sex industry)

i cant believe this has been sitting in my inbox cuz the last line is everything. to feel like a “man”, to get his family out the red “quicker”, he attaches himself to the sex industry. tom anderson was a real life politician w/ these very seedy ties to sexually exploitative practices in the gilded age/jim crow new orleans. in the show human/early vamp!louis being the only black man in these rooms w men like tom, fenwick+ the like, selling them the “product [of/was] desire” as his modern self words it is tied into his then-understanding of sex n what a “man” is meant to do . think of him saying “i aint touching no man dick!”, ep1 monologue where he admits to being “weak” [& what he recognizes in himself even in this moment of drunken madness..] ep2 identifying himself as “queer” in relation to lestat [who snarks back with “non-discriminating”] lestat helping him get the fair-play-now-renamed-azalea, his attempt at attempting to live a double life as the fledgling-creation-lover of lestat + the bigtimer of the iberville. all w/ him reading mrs. florence’s thoughts openly mocking him for not being “man enough”. some things men like him favor, indeed. itll never be enough. then ep3, the “favored” son is fully replaced when his favors no longer extend to them, the token black man in the room eats the city leader, the enterprises of desire collapse & louis is enmeshed into another web of gendered sexual dynamics. claudia, his redemption for formerly being a trick.

nice suit, lou.

[murfpersonalblog]

Imma assume this is in reference to me.

To Nonny's comment:

NO. Firstly: I mentioned that Lestat owned the Azalea lest we forget that he and Tom Anderson ("a fulltime Bourbon Street gangster") were also participating in the exploitation of women that only Louis gets vilified for, as if he''s the ONLY abuser, and Lestat gets to walk away smelling like roses.

I never denied this--I've talked about book AND show Louis reflecting the exploitative & predatory nature of vampires over & over; and why the jump from slaveowner to pimp works so well (X X X X)--just like Lestat's lineage from French aristocrats ALSO reflects the exploitative & predatory nature of vampires (X X X). But unlike Lestat, "Louis the Pimp" is discussed wildly out of context as evidence that HE'S the abuser: abusing Lestat (most explicitly on stage during the Trial, which a lot of viewers have taken WAY too seriously, refusing to accept that the Trial was staged & scripted as a sham to justify why he was being lynched by the mob for crimes he didn't commit--or rather, trumped up charges & their abuse of power against him, just like IRL Black men experience every effing day); and most especially abusing Armand in Arun/Maitre convos.

Secondly: Jim Crow was NOT why Lestat owned the Azalea. OBVIOUSLY, Louis & other Black men could own businesses (and homes!) during Jim Crow--and get them all burned down by white men in race riots--get your historical facts straight before you come for me, Nonny. Louis couldn't AFFORD to buy the Fairplay/Azalea, so he took out a LOAN from Lestat--Tom & Alderman Fenwick were "happy to buy the property back from you. Say… 15 cents on the dollar." We see him AND Les sign the papers, agreeing that Les would be his partner & that Lou'd "pay him back, with interest."

So what's "blatantly insulting," Nonny, is you ignoring what AMC plainly showed on screen, which clearly flew right over your head, as you try some sort of racial dynamics gotcha! as if you care about Louis' "character and agency," when you didn't even pay attention to the episode or care to get Louis' story straight before insulting ME.

And now I'm a terf--that's new. Just cuz I said it's misogynist to reduce gender solely down to clothes--when the previous anon I was responding to implied through their over-emphasis of Lestat crossdressing & Louis not crossdressing was that wearing dresses is the only way to be accepted as a woman/female-coded; and only pants/suits/etc to be accepted as men/male-coded.

What I actually said:

I'm not saying that "a gay black man being domestically abused by a flamboyant white man revolves around the oppression of cis women"--I'm saying it REFLECTS/PARALLELS/CODES the oppression of women--trans or cis; if the power imbalance shoe fits, it fits. Even straight & gay men can be battered by their male or female spouses, which Loustat OBVIOUSLY demonstrates. NUANCE, however, requires looking DEEPER than the surface level. Ignoring the SUBLIMINAL message misses the social commentary that vampires as everything/nothing/both/other/neuter symbolize, as representations of the monsters within ALL OF US, as per Gothic literary tradition. Lestat even struggled to understand this when Gabrielle rejected HIS 18th century expectations of societal/familial/gender norms when SHE crossdressed--Marius was better about respecting Zenobia & Eudoxia's agency transcending gender in the friggin Late Antique/Byzantine period than Lestat was for his own effing mother in the Early Modern/Enlightenment period! And she heavily factored into his abandonment issues & expectations in the 20th century that his fledglings WILL stay with him & obey him--I AM YOUR MAKER. Lestat's a constant work in progress--but he's NOT as progressive as people like to imagine.

Hence why I NEVER said men can't be domestically abused--why would I, when I've been screaming that Louis' the one being abused by Lestat the whole time. "Mutual" abuse is moot when one vampire's 100 years older & killing people everyday, while the other's not even a century old and has an literal eating disorder that made him weak enough to get knocked TF out by Lestat & dragged out the courtyard by his jaw & dropped 2km in the sky.

This is literally what I've been saying though. That cuz of race, queerness, disability, etc, Louis (A MAN) can be abused by his partner--and Lestat can walk away smelling like roses by the Trial audience AND the IRL court of public opinion that will uwu blorbo yassify him and say it's LOUIS' fault what happened to him, and that it's karma cuz he was a pimp!

WOAH! Whoever believes that "black men can't be victims of abuse or violence without being somehow women" is clearly not Black; doesn't know any Black men IRL; and has never heard of police brutality, slavery, lynching, the KKK, Nazis, gang violence, nothing. That argument literally sounds made up on the spot. If you're going to talk about race, be serious about it.

And that's not even what this convo's about--it's about how Louis reflects Anne Rice's experiences with motherhood & loss & being a wife in a troubled marriage; and how she created Claudia, Louis & Lestat to represent those experiences, and various facets of herself.

Y'ALL brought up misogyny. I've never argued or suggested that Loustat discourse is about misogyny, internalized or otherwise--I flipped the accusations made against me to challenge assumptions about crossdressing making Lestat the embodiment of C*nt Queen femininity in the fandom. My argument is about the power imbalance between Loustat, based on a MULTITUDE of factors--I talk about RACE more, cuz that's what's MOST IMPORTANT. Gender norms/dynamics fluctuate with the age, but one's race NEVER changes, and racism against Bipocs by their white spouses always instills more HORROR in me than spousal abuse in general; cuz (white) society consistently gaslights the public to vilify the Black spouse in favor of the white one, regardless of the perpetrator or their gender--as even Black women get beat by cops as if they're men, cuz of ridiculous racist stereotypes about Black people being more physically fit than anyone else; when y'all kill us the most. 💀💀💀 (And the IWTV fandom proves me right every time y'all act like "godlike strength" Lestat "I'm not in the mood, I have the blood of Magnus & Akasha in me" de Lioncourt was ever in any real danger from Louis in Ep5 & the Trial's revisit). But ofc gender dynamics factor, too, and I just find it interesting how Les gets painted one way, and Lou by the other, when neither the book, film, nor show vilifies Louis the way Lestans do. And that IS racially motivated.

I've never said Lestat isn't feminine, or exudes femininity. I've said he's not female-CODED. Again, I've discussed Lestat wrt 18th century dandyism (X X) if anyone wants some IRL historical context for what men dressed & acted like at the time Lestat would've been born & raised--and how that is REFLECTED in what he wore in Ep5 when he beat the hell out Louis & dropped him 2km from the effing sky "to BREAK what he could not OWN." Cuz I do my research before I start talking, unlike a lot of y'all--as Nonny's demonstrated.

Agreed, actually. Cuz gender doesn't really matter.

Claudia's a woman. Women love her BECAUSE she's a BAMF who'll WRECK a man. Lestat, specifically.

Akasha's a woman. (Mekare's a woman, too.) And they're the 2 most powerful vamps in the entire TVC. And we're gonna see in living color just how capable Akasha is of dominating men--Lestat, specifically. (Plus there's Gabrielle, Pandora, Bianca, Zenobia, Eudoxia, Petronia, Mona, etc etc.)

So this argument doesn't actually hold up, unless you're only talking about people who've never seen ANY iterations of Claudia in IWTV, or any iterations of Akasha in TVL & QotD.

Agreed. But I'm not talking about femininity in general, I'm talking about gender dynamics wrt uneven power dynamics, and femininity within the context of power imbalances in an early 20th century nuclear family unit that was mimicing the 18th-20th century human households they were raised under & thus perpetuated the good AND bad aspects of--hence: cycles of abuse. Cuz vampires are MIMICS.

This show IS about abuse & trauma, which is why Rolin Jones even put SA & DV in Ep5, doubled-down on it in S2 with Claudia telling us exactly what Bruce/Killer did to her; confirmed the Loustat fight in the 2x7 revisit Louis-antis swore would prove Louis was a liar about being dropped & that Lestat didn't abuse him (sure, Jan)--he was tryna stop Louis from killing himself that night (LOL?)--and why AMC disagreed that it should have a trigger warning, has NEVER put a TW on Ep5 (only Ep6), & boldly said S3 will NOT have trigger warnings & to kiss their grits if y'all don't like it.

DKY y'all swear you're engaging with the story when Marquis de Lioncourt & Gabrielle are NEVER mentioned in relation to Loustat. Maybe you missed this part of my response, cuz you said you didn't read all of it cuz of the text/font.

All that matters is the Blood, and how much Lestat had, and how much Louis had, when Lestat decided to choke TF out of his "built-like-a-bird" daughter and her Daddy Lou who swooped in to protect her, even though he'd been starving himself on rats & raccoons for the past 7 years & was thus sorely under-levelled against his husband when he got beat to a effing pulp, dragged out the yard by his effing jawbone, and dropped 2km from the sky "like an egg from an airplane" by the white man who wanted to "break" him cuz he suddenly realized he couldn't OWN his Black spouse anymore. 😲 Imagine. But yes, let's talk about how much we care about Louis' "character and agency." 🤣

And like I've said elsewhere, Louis is NOT less of a man. His behavior is the product of him trying to NOT be treated as a lesser man (esp. by white men), because of his race (and sexuality). The uneven gender dynamic is a side effect of other expressions of power Massa Lestat used against him, to "break what you cannot own." And I literally said that in the response you admitted to not reading fully:

Duh. Louis AND Lestat are obvs men. You keep dancing around my terminology: FEMALE-CODED. Being female-coded isn't the same as being a woman, either. It's a literary device, which neither you nor Nonny has even mentioned--the lack of metaphor is striking.

Trying to DENY that Lestat reflects masculine & patriarchal ideals when he is literally repeating history through his verbal & physical abuse of his spouse & child a la Marquis de Lioncourt just cuz you insist that abuse has to fit into your narrow-minded view of what an abuser and a victim looks like is well, ILLITERATE. It's in the books!

Is Lestat the Gabrielle-coded here? NO!

Is Louis Gabrielle-coded? CONSTANTLY.

CYCLES ARE CYCLING.

I can't WAIT to see people spinning their wheels when Marquis de Lioncourt's on screen in S3 doing exactly what Lestat does in S1 & S2; as the same people who cuss Louis & Claudia out rush to Gabrielle & Lestat's defense, omg. Using all kinds of white!feminist rhetoric about men not being recognized as men (but only when attacking black!Louis)--before gallivanting off to post 1000 Lestat gifs of him in a dress & flipping his hair & wrists and tagging it as MOTHER~! and then saying I'm a gender essentialist terf homophobe for calling him a patriarchal overlord just like his no-good effing daddy.

The democracy of hypocrisy is what I'm responding against, how Louis is inevitably disqualified in the Uwu Olympics cuz of his outward appearance--no wonder Imane Khelif's effing SUING for discrimination & bullying against ACTUAL terfs like JK Rowling! Cuz y'all do this to us ALL the time, Jedi mind tricking everyone to pretend it's either NOT about race & we're looking too deep into it; or that you care so much about race while not even citing historical facts about racism properly, wtf.

it's so crazy that people are out here making literal terf arguments over a fictional gay couple

also it was taking me out how that reply was literally citing examples of Louis' textual racial oppression as evidence of him being a subtextual woman like is that really what we're doing now?? Lestat owns the Azalea on paper because Louis can't own it as a black man during Jim Crow not because Lestat is equally invested in running the business as The Man like it's 1000% Louis' thing, and ignoring the strategic ways he operates his business black man just bc you're uncomfortable with the moral nature of that business is so blatantly insulting to Louis character and agency it's ridiculous. Like if Louis is a woman the majority of these people are being unironically sexist towards her because they like the boring self-insert wattpad version of her they created in their heads rather than the actual character.

sorry for the rant you can feel free to ignore it but that was driving me crazy

don’t apologize for the rant I’m so happy u sent me the rant bcus now I feel like I’m not crazy 😭😭. I didn’t actually read that one reply bcus the weird font changes gave me a migraine, but I skimmed enough to know what their thesis was 💀.

the terf shit is genuinely insane. I think a lot of this interpretation comes down to cis women with internalized sexism and transphobia (and racism cough cough) choosing to interpret Louis and lestats relationship in a way that aligns with their heteronormative narrow minded view of relationships (especially abusive ones) bcus they r unable to interpret a story about a gay black man being domestically abused by a flamboyant white man in a way that doesn’t revolve around the oppression of cis women bcus they believe that cis women are the central and only victims of oppression and domestic violence.

even tho it is explicitly shown to us that Lestat is able to abuse louis bcus louis is socially oppressed as a black man and lestat has societal power over him, ppl feel the need to put this “he’s also a metaphor for women” angle on it bcus they don’t want to confront the reality that men, especially men who are oppressed bcus of race or queerness or disability or any number of things, can be abused by their partners, and often are. I’ve noticed a lot of cis women have a problem with acknowledging that men can and do experience oppression that is “for women”. Domestic violence is often leveraged against women, but men are also victimized by it too, and stories about men who r abused deserve to be told without being “secretly about women”. This is especially weird since Louis is a black man, and I think a lot of this interpretation is happening bcus a lot of ppl subconsciously believe that black men can’t be victims of abuse or violence without being somehow women. Which is fucked up, obviously. It also undermines the actual story being told about a black man trying to navigate abuse and power structures by suggesting it’s actually about misogyny, bcus the implication is that misogyny is more important or legitimate then a black man’s experience and therefore he is just a mouth piece for a “real issue”

this is also why I think ppl argue lestat can’t be feminine bcus he abused Louis. They think that a feminine person can’t be an abuser, so they think that when I say lestat is feminine, im actually invaliding that he’s an abuser and suggesting he’s actually not abusive (bcus he’s fem). Believe it or not, u can be feminine and flamboyant or be a woman and at the same time be domestically violent against ur partner. Lestat’s feminine self expression and behavior is completely irrelevant to him being abusive, and he can be abusive and leverage his privilege over Louis while still being a feminine person. I think cis women have a problem with this bcus they are frightened to admit that they are capable of being instigators of violence despite being women/feminine . So friendly reminder, femininity is not the same as being morally good or pure, and femininity and victimhood are not the same. Trying to paint lestat as this embodiment of masculine and patriarchal ideals when he is very much a feminine queer man just bcus u insist that abuse has to fit into ur narrow minded view of what an abuser and a victim looks like is well, ignorant.

so Ppl who r socially oppressed are often victimized, and women are often victimized bcus they are socially oppressed, but Louis is socially oppressed and and that does not make him a women. Got it? 💀

It’s also important to acknowledge that Louis is a pimp who uses the victimization of women to gain social status and money for himself. Equating his suffering with the suffering of women is just not accurate when the show explicitly demonstrates to us that Louis is able to use the victimization of women to his advantage. Louis still operates within the patriarchy as a man, and him being abused by another man doesn’t make him less of a man, doesn’t make him akin to a woman thematically, and doesn’t mean he experiences misogyny the way women do in the narrative

(also, just a disclaimer, I’m not talking about ppl who headcanon Louis as trans or gnc or feminine, that is all awesome and a great way to express urself and how u relate to him. What I’m talking about is ppl who say that iwtv is thematically about domestic abuse against women bcus Louis is presented as the woman in the relationship since he’s abused by lestat )

[jimhenson-themuppetmaster]

When you try to help and get "in too deep"

- Kindness can Kill -

[colonellickburger]

Jim Fenwick. Low cloud cover reflecting the glow of wildfires, which turned the sky red. Palermo, Sicily, September 2023