#naked maja

[poppingmary]

Ava Gardner in a publicity photo for “The Naked Maja” - 1958

[lemuseum]

[seonghwasblr-moved]

Cutting my nails and suddenly it feels like I have 10 thumbs

[labyrinthofstreams]

Ava Gardner on the set of The Naked Maja (1958)

[island-in-the-shadows]

Again, the score...

I wasn't "in love" with him...sure, and I didn't imagine you eating my 😻 when my monthly came a few days ago.

"I loved him. I loved him. I loved him. By God, I loved him." Fuck you very much for how you said that, Barry. Cillian Murphy who? You deserved all the awards for the sheer love and desperation and grief in that voice alone.

Felix's luscious sweaty neck, Felix's sweaty face in the golden light of morning, Felix in pink and smiling and perfect in the dawn, Felix in the afternoon looking at Ollie with all the love in his heart, Felix on grass like La Maja Desnuda with a look of desire through the smoke, Felix with wings of light and his body open and half naked as he smokes (second favourite shot of the film), Felix kissing Indabel, Felix with a radiant smile just for Ollie in the neon light with a stupid hat. [I'm gonna be sick]

"I hated him"

Oliver, half in the shadows, wishing that was him, Oliver, in the darkness, a tear down his cheek, wishing that was him, Oliver repulsed and still attracted to the sight of the corpse, Oliver on his knees holding kissing the cross on their grave, Oliver on his knees on the earth of the grave submitting to his grief and lust and crime, Oliver on his knees in the tub on that night taking holy sacrament, Oliver gripping the cross as if he would will Felix alive, Oliver consuming the fluid of his God in reverence, Oliver unable to let go and grabbing Felix from the bottom of the lake.

The desire, the lack of control, the want and love and lust and appetite that grew bigger than his body, bigger than Saltburn, bigger than his country, bigger than it all...the desperation...that is what you hated.

[abstractednotebook]

Slavic Spring Deities (Post no.1)

Vesna and Kresnik (Vesnik)

Vesna

(VEES-nah) “Lady Spring”, “Lady of Spring Resurrection”, or “The White Maiden of May”

There are about 15 other names for this deity, the ones that I will focus on in this post in particular are:

Vesna

Name that means Spring

Derived from the Proto-Indo-European “wésr” meaning Spring.

Zlata Maja

Name means “Golden Mother of Life”

Zlatogorka

Name means “Golden Hill”

Marjetica

Name means “Daisy”

Fun fact! The daisy is also a sacred flower of the Norse goddess Freya!

She is a glowing radiant goddess, often described as having long golden hair. Vesna is also associated with the day that the Swallows return on approximately March 9th called Strinenija. At this point in the year, another goddess named Striga(Mora, or Morana) would be reborn as this Spring Goddess. The dates however, will vary depending on the climatic differences in the various Slavic countries.

She loves music, dance and song; as well as sensual pleasures (intercourse). She bedecks herself with a flower crown, and the land itself with beautiful flowers. She may be found naked dancing in a meadow, happily surrounded by birds and butterflies.

Like all the tales of Slavic Deities, she too can change her form to the animals she most connects with. These animals happen to be white birds, rabbits, or singing larks. These are also her messengers!

Quick Facts!

Does she have a sacred day? Time? Holiday?: Yes! They are Fridays, the entire month of May, and especially May Day!

Sacred Space(s): Literally; any flowery meadow, garden, or hill!

Sacred Animals: Rooks, Robins, Cranes, Mice, Shrews, Cuckoos, Fire-flies and Glow worms.

Sacred Plants: Maple, hawthorn blossoms, and wild roses.

Offering ideas: Honey cakes, flowers, apples, goat’s milk, flower crowns, bird sculptures (especially of her sacred birds).

Kresnik

(kre-ES-nik) “Living Fire”, “Lord of Spring Resurrection”, “The Lord of Life-Giving Light”.

There’s about 11 names for this Deity!

In folktales, Kresnik can transform into a bird, or really any shape he pleases; or become invisible! He rides in a golden carriage across the sky on a winged horse. We see him in Slovene folk tales wielding a “golden axe” and causing lightning.

Like his female counterpart (or in some tales she is his partner or twin), he too has golden hair (and mustache), he is bright and radiantly handsome; however he is sometimes described to have golden hands (sometimes going as far as to have golden wings).

Oh! And, he lives on a golden mountain where there grows an apple tree; but it’s not just any old run of the mill apple tree—it holds the golden apples of immortality! (Are you sick of the word “GOLDEN” yet?)

The firefly is a sacred animal to him, and I’ll let you guess why.

Quick Facts!

Sacred day, time, or holiday: Spring Equinox, May 6th, Summer Solstice (June 21 or 22), and oddly enough, December 6th and the Winter Solstice. In short, the Winter Solstice was considered his “birthday,” and then he was celebrated at the Summer Solstice with bonfires!

Sacred spaces: Hills.

Sacred Animals: Roosters, goats, red cows, bulls, bears, wolves, boars, oxen, dragons, horses, flying horses, dogs with white spots (specifically over their eyes, but any white spots will do just fine), woodpeckers, and lynxes.

Sacred Plants: Apples, yellow “corn marigolds,” grapevines, buckwheat, blackberries, red cranberries, asparagus, wheat, hay, and various other fruits.

Sacred Objects: Spoked “sun wheels”, flutes, fiddle, a golden hand (think Thanos), a winged white horse, a candelabrum, golden axe, or a club.

Offering ideas: Yellow apples, wine, cooked buckwheat, grapes, candles, incense, Frankincense, wheat sheaves, cranberries.

END POST

P.S: If you have any questions, always remember to ask them!! If I personally cannot answer it, I'll find sources that could help you out!

[majestativa]

And we hear the emptiness intone a notturno the naked flapping of a butterfly wing here where we are without one another could build a tornado.

— Maja Haderlap, Distant Transit: Poems, transl by Tess Lewis, (2014)

[gatutor]

Ava Gardner "La maja desnuda" (The naked maja) 1958, de Henry Koster.

[theseventhveil1945]

Hollywood gossip was circulating that the Valentino marriage was in deep trouble, that Natacha was taking drugs to numb the pangs of despair, that she was absenting herself from the Whitley Heights haven, and had taken a lover. To scotch the rumors, Natacha joined Rudy in hosting a reception at the Ambassador Hotel for the Spanish painter Federico Beltran-Masses, who had just completed four paintings for them. [...] The forth painting was a sensual portrait called La Gitana, a portrait of a Spanish gypsy reclining seminude likewise in the attitude of Goya's naked muja. Except for the woman's green eyes, La Gitana has the unmistakable features of Natacha. The well-bred Rambova, who was never seen in Hollywood with her hair unbound, brandishing a cigarette, or wearing a short skirt insisted that Beltran-Masses's naked maja be given a name other than her own. It was Rudy's favorite painting, however, one that he would later place above his bed at Falcon Lair.

[...] In Hollywood, Rudy did not want to live alone with his memories at Whitley Heights. He moved into Falcon Lair, even though renovation had not yet been completed. Beltran-Masses kept him company there and gave him painting lessons. The work the actor chose to reproduce in these lessons was La Gitana. Obsessed with the picture, he painted it over and over again. - Madam Valentino, Michael Morris

[onegentlemansescapades]

Ava Gardner The Naked Maja (1958) / Ph. by Sam Levin

[butternuggets-blog]

Laddie Come Home

SAS Rogue Heroes; werewolf AU Fluff, Slight Angst With A Happy Ending

Chapter Two

David leapt from the carriage when the train stopped for water, rolling over and over and over again until he broke through the bracken at the bottom of the hill.

A naked man walking around the forest would attract more attention than a wolf pup but he could move faster on two legs than four. David kept away from the road and headed in the direction of the city; he made it roughly two miles before the paranoia really set in and he transformed back into a wolf just to be on the safe side.

The wind changed.

..salt?

Tears. That sounds like a child crying.

The girl was sitting on the side of a fallen log, sobbing quietly into the chest of an old man in a long coat. She must have slipped and fallen because there was a red graze on her knee. The man was stroking her hair and gently rocking her, but his eyes kept darting around as if he was looking for someone.

David toddled out of the underbrush, fell on his face, then picked himself up and shook the dirt off his coat. The man froze, his face white with fear, gathered the girl up in his arms and started running.

Oh. They must think I'm a guard dog.

David sat down in the clearing. After a few minutes, he got bored of sitting still and, spotting a fly zooming overhead, tried catching it in his jaws.

The fly dodged and buzzed away, a now enthralled David hopping and stumbling after it. He leapt after it twice but was unsuccessful, the fly dodging him both times with lightning speed.

David wasn't watching where he was going and slammed headfirst into a log. He fell backwards with a yelp, landing with his paws in the air, the fly looping overhead once before buzzing away.

'I think it is just a puppy' said a quiet voice behind him.

David tilted his head back further, then rolled over onto his stomach. The old man and the girl were staring at him from their hiding spot behind a different fallen log, the girl half-hidden beneath the man's coat.

'Here boy, good boy. Come here' the man held out a hand towards him and made soft clicking sounds, so David walked over to him, sniffed his fingers and licked them.

The girl giggled. David leant forward and sniffed her, and she giggled again.

'I think he likes us, księżniczko' the man picked David up and the girl scratched him behind his ears.

'Should we take him with us?'

________________________________________________________________

Maja and her grandfather Bazyli had been living on the family farm with Maja's parents when the soldiers came. There had been a brief argument about who would take her to the woods, but Maja's mother had settled it by opening the front door to the soldiers as Maja's father shoved them both out the back door and slammed it shut.

David re-learned the story every night, as Maja clutched him to her chest and Bazyli whispered reassurances into her ears until she fell asleep.

In the daytime it was easier to distract them from their worries. David helped them dig for edible roots and grubs in the earth, making Maja laugh as he sneezed and snorted from the dust.

Bazyli played tug of war with him, and carried him in his coat pocket whenever David got sleepy. Maja had named him "Filip", after a character in one of Bazyli's stories, and they both loved their new friend very much.

________________________________________________________________

David waddled confidently down the street. Somewhere along the way he had managed to get the hang of putting two paws in front of the other and not eating dirt every third step.

The village was only a few houses and a handful of shops, but there were still a handful of German soldiers scattered about. He grudgingly allowed them to pat him, resisting the urge to go for their throats.

Down the road, David spotted an elderly woman at a cafe put her handbag underneath her chair. Next to the cafe were the bombed out remains of a house.

Perfect

David sidled up to an alley, dashed around the block, and came out the mouth of a different alley between the house and the cafe.

A tablecloth obscured him from view as he rifled through the lady's bag for her purse. Fishing it out, he gripped it in his teeth and fled back down the alley, digging into the rubble of the house until he popped up in the middle of the collapsed kitchen like a gopher.

I got it right! Well done me

David transformed and stretched, working the kinks out of his back and legs. It was difficult to wander off from Maja and Bazyli but Mike's warning about not being able to change back kept him vigilant for opportunities.

The purse held a little coin and a few bank notes; David rummaged around the kitchen cupboards and unearthed a singed wicker basket that was just small enough for him to carry in his mouth. Putting the money in it, he transformed back into pup form, picked up the basket, and carefully excavated a tunnel back to the outside.

First to a baker to buy some bread, then a butcher and finally the cheesemonger. David was surprised how easy it was to lift the basket; he'd been thinking that he'd have to drag it back to the woods.

'What have you got there then, little fellow?'

David kept up the pace, sparing a glance behind him. The soldier was smiling at him, but he was eyeing the basket of food far too much for David's liking.

'Come here, little man, come here! Good doggy!'

The man followed him down the street, whistling and clicking at him. This was bad; if he didn't do something to shake him soon he wasn't going to be able to return to the woods.

They reached the edge of the village and David led the soldier around to the back of the houses, feigning towards the garden of the last house on the row. He dropped the basket gently onto the grass, yawning widely.

Come on you bastard, take the bait!

'There's a good doggy' the man muttered, reaching for the basket.

David leapt, jumping directly up between the man's legs, biting down and twisting. The soldier choked on a howl and fell to his knees, a rapidly-spreading pool of blood soaking through the front of his trousers. He fell forward with a gurgle and slammed headfirst into the ground, dead.

David grabbed the basket and sprinted for the cover of the trees, volting over small stones and fallen branches as he bolted back to base.

________________________________________________________________

There was laughter and singing emanating from the house. Bazyli's cousin in France had wept with joy when he had opened the front door to find them standing in the morning light, and the rest of the day had been spent celebrating their extraordinary journey to France.

David was happy for them. It was time for him to go.

He jumped out of bed and gently pulled Maja's arm back around the cloth rabbit he had painstakingly sewn together earlier while everyone was dancing.

I hope it brings you luck sweetheart. Goodbye.

[livums]

🗣 for the WIP ask game :)

🗣 - Share your favorite dialogue exchange.

(WIP excerpt ask game here!)

This one surprised me because I actually still like this snippet despite writing it like, at the beginning of this year. LOL. Anyways.

This one is from The Marking Blood, featuring Sonea and her very very casual definitely not serious object of affection, Maja. 💜

“I missed you.” A hearty wind stormed down the alley, bundling her words away just as she breathed them into being. Maja tilted her head. “What?” Relief tangled with shrieking alarm bells inside Sonea’s head. By way of an answer, she planted a quick kiss against Maja’s cheek before changing their positions. Maja allowed herself to be pressed back against the railing. The wind tugged her chemise about every which way until Sonea pulled it upwards and pinned the flailing hem still with her body. She braced a hand against the railing on either side of the woman’s waist. As she leaned in to kiss gently around her cheeks and nose, Maja snorted. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were being romantic.” “You wish.” They shared a low chuckle. Sonea relished in the warmth of Maja’s body, supple and inviting against her own. A dreamlike quiet swaddled them both for a precious moment. “Yer freezing,” Maja said at last. Those eyes danced with plausible deniability over Sonea’s lips. Sonea leaned closer, flashing a wolfish smile. “I’ve been standing out here naked, dummy.”

[holymovies]

Penélope Cruz in Volavérunt (1999) director Bigas Luna

On July 23, 1802, the Duchess of Alba, the richest and most liberated woman of her time, offered a gala to inaugurate her new palace. The attendance is extraordinary: Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, the painter Goya and Pepita Tudó, Godoy's lover and Goya's model for his most famous painting The Naked Maja. The next morning, Duchess Alba appears dead in her bed under mysterious circumstances. He was 40 years old.

[this-is-where-ur-wrong]

All censorship is bad censorship (that isn't age related but even then slippery slope 10 year olds just shouldn't be on the internet I fear) bc tell me why I try to look up a painting FOR MY ART CLASS. FOR MY CLASS. of a naked woman and I can only find the clothed version. If you're curious it's Goya's "The Nude Maja" but you'd be hard-pressed to find it in any quality better that like 16 pixels. Where is she I require her for a grade but also peace of mind.

Here is her clothed bc Tumblr has fucking restrictions too god bless.

[ariasterfilmmaking]

Midsommar - Ari Asters battle with MPAA

In your typical horror movie, you would expect to see special affects done to make a monster appear from under the protagonist’s bed, or maybe some type of paranormal event that possesses the mother of the family, making her levitate and turn her eyes entirely black. Though the tradition of Midsommar may be real, Ari Aster takes the aspect of real-life traumatizing events, dramatizing the real event. What makes this movie one of the most disturbing films people have ever seen is the realism behind the horror. The events surrounding Midsommar contain some of the most gruesome and graphic rituals to be seen within a movie. For example, one of the rituals involves the eldest of the cult, in which they are 72 years old, where the cult sees this as the “oldest age you can live up to”. Because of this rule, the two 72-year-old members of the cult jump off a cliff in front of the entire cult, including Dani and the group, showing the gruesomeness when the bodies hit the floor and the blood gushing along the ground. Though this scene was considered one of the most, (key word is one), there was one scene that stood out towards the rating process of the film and the MPAA.

In May 2019, Ari Aster and A24 had sent out the film to the MPAA to receive a rating for the production. Ari Aster believed his film would reach the R rating standards, yet the MPAA thought otherwise. The MPAA had placed an NC-17 rating on the film for its extreme nudity and sex within the film. This targeted a scene, which can be seen towards the end of the film. Within the scene, Christian, the boyfriend of Dani, decides to partake in a ritual by the cult. The twist of this ritual? He is taken to have sex with Maja, a 15-year-old that is a part of the community. As he walks into the house within the village, he has just taken a drink that involved magic mushrooms prior to obtaining in this ritual. He stumbles to see a few fully naked women surrounding Maja as he is about to act in this ritual by making love to her. After he is finished, his mushrooms start to kick in, allowing for him to become uneasy and run out of the house. As he runs out of the house, he realizes he is fully naked, in which we see the full-frontal nudity of Christian. With this scene being shown in the film, there was a part within the uncut version that displayed Christian having an erection during the scene. Jack Reynor, the actor who portrays Christian, wanted to do this scene more than Ari Aster wanted him to. Reynor described that he believed his scene would take away from the fact that many women within films must undergo frontal nudity as told by their directors. Reynor and Aster believed that his scene regarding exposing his full-frontal nude self would truly make the character (Christian) come to his senses regarding his toxic masculinity throughout the film, allowing for Christian to undergo the humiliation he deserves. This scene grabbed the MPAA’s attention, immediately making them place the rating to be NC-17. 

Ari Aster revealed that it took about six weeks to get the films rating from NC-17 to R as he claims he has “Lots of back and forth with them (MPAA)”. Aster ended up being able to keep the sexual ritual scene with Christian and Maja for the R rating, including the scene where Christian runs out showing his full-frontal nude self. What had to be cut to remain with this rating was the erection that Christian has post sex with Maja. The sex scene had to be cut down in certain parts regarding graphically showing sexual intercourse, an immense determining factor for an NC-17 rating overall. Aster announced that a week before the film’s release, he finally announced that he reached an agreement with the MPAA and officially had gotten the rating to an R. The film was rated R for “disturbing ritualistic violence and grisly images, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language”. As the films initial release grossed about $47.86 million worldwide, this did not mean that the film was perfect in its entirely for those who were offended by the subjective language and sex.