#scandal recap

[originalaccountname]

In light of the recent chapter (specifically with the Tanizaki siblings), have you heard of that theory that they’re not actually related like in Author Tanizaki’s one novel?

(TLDR for context: In one of Author Tanizaki’s novels— I think it was actually “Naomi” (novel)— two lovers pretend to be siblings)

I feel like the most recent chapter lowkey confirms that, at least, they’re not like biologically related

I answered an ask about Junichirou last year (11 months ago almost to the day) where I mentioned that I absolutely did not believe them to be actual blood siblings!

I mean, look at this, especially with the context of where the name "Naomi" came from:

Naomi and Atsushi point out how they don't really seem to be related at all in their first formal character introduction. Even without the context of the reference Naomi is, it's still pretty suspicious! The only thing they vaguely share is their eye shapes, if you squint a little.

and this bit here too, from the BSD Expo (full text translation):

Asagiri had put "(younger) sister" in quotes there, and Junichirou mostly avoids calling Naomi his sister (I think he does once in Untold Origins? in the translation at least) and chooses to use only her name instead, where Naomi almost only calls him "(older) brother".

In short, I've been in this hole the whole time and I'm once again feeling vindicated aksjhkasjdhak

[frary-us]

"Emily, naturally, immediately ran to tell her about seeing the portrait of Aphrodite with Clara's face as soon as possible. She's upset and furious about her sister's behavior. Not, of course, because Clara might be publicly shamed or ] her marriage might be irreparably damaged should Frederick find out, though. No, Emily's worried that Clara's scandalous secret and/or imminent shame might reflect poorly on her, somehow damaging her chances at...whatever shot she thinks she still has with the good reverend, I guess. Keep dreaming, Em.....

Speaking of Frederick having a normal one, it turns out that what it takes to get the elder Trenchard son to visit his estranged younger brother is if that brother is beaten within an inch of his life in a combo black-mail/hate crime incident. Yes, the good Reverend James tries to tell his blackmailer he won't be giving him any more money. Still, all he gets for his troubles is more threats and so many injuries that it's only by the timely intervention of the Trenchard valet Fletcher that he doesn't expire on the street. (Fletcher, having experienced a similar beating as a youth, is unable to turn a blind eye to a gay man getting assaulted as a result of his sexuality.)

It is, unsurprisingly, Emily who forces her way into the rectory after several days of James being missing and who bullies him into finally seeing a doctor for his many wounds. The prognosis isn't great, though, and when James begs her to reach out to Frederick for him, she can't exactly refuse. This episode is, hands down, the most I have ever liked Emily Dunn, as she finally deploys her powers of nosiness and nagging for a good cause, determinedly staring down her brother-in-law when he tries to stonewall her and doing everything short of physically dragging him to James's bedside herself. 

Unfortunately, the Trenchard brothers' reunion didn't go as well as we hoped. James, who wants nothing so much as to free his brother from some of the emotional burdens he carries where their father is concerned, decides that the best and most helpful way to do that would be to reveal that their dying mother told him Frederick is illegitimate and not Oliver Trenchard's son at all. On paper, James means this as a kind gesture. After all, Frederick doesn't need to be so obsessed with the fact that his father was hateful and abusive if he wasn't even his real dad, right? Just insane levels of Guy Tapping His Head meme energy at work all around here. How is James so sweet and yet so dumb?

Because, of course, Frederick takes this in the worst way possible, assuming that James is telling him to be cruel, yet another step in his allegedly lifelong quest to destroy his life. He storms off, but not before accusing James of trying to ruin and humiliate him or maybe even steal the title Lord Trenchard for himself, you know, as the realheir. James insists this isn't what's happening and looks pathetically ill. Still, Frederick is nothing if not a champion of hearing what he wants at any moment, and the brothers look farther apart than ever.

Can't wait till Clara finds out about that."

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (7-13 May 2023)

ᵗʰᵉ ᵗʳᵘᵉ ᵏᶦⁿᵍ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍👂‍Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys #2) (KJ Charles, author; Cornell Collins & Victoria Aston, narrators) - I fucking love Susan Lazarus so much. Love a prickly, irritable female character that ISN'T softened by 'true love'.

🥰The Scandalous Letters of V & J (Felicia Davin) - an epistolary historical fantasy romance with two nonbinary main characters - read this via email and it was great, can't wait to reread in book form

🥰Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Grad Students (for They Are Caffeinated and Quick to Nerd Out) (theemdash) - 46K, stucky no-powers modern AU - roommates-to-lovers where they're both HUGE LOTR nerds

🥰when i don't touch you it's a mistake in any life, in each place and forever. (antithetical_dreamgirl) - 48K, steddie AU - actual AU where Eddie dies (apparently) in the Upside Down and then wakes up 10 years in the future in an alternate universe, more or less married to Steve - lots of good angst with an HEA

💖💖 +140K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Lucky Screwdriver (Zenaidamacrouras1) - MCU: stucky, 6K - a ridiculous bit of fun, riffing on that grindr screwdriver borrow tweet/post - just left me with the biggest grin

Gold Sunlight and Deep Water series (justanotherStonyfan) - MCU: stucky, 19K - great short series with mer!Steve; the 2nd installment in particular has some really, really quality monsterfucking

my soul's adorning grace (goseaward) - KJ Charles' Lilywhite Boys series: Jerry/Alec, 1.6K - Jerry buys some lingerie for Alec - hot af + nailed the character voices

No School of Desire (drunktuesdays, michaud) - AEW: OC/Chuck, 6K - I know zero about wrestling but I do know this is a hilarious and hot af fic

The Haunting of Harrington House (Kedreeva) - Stranger Things: steddie, 8K - Steve Harrington inherits a haunted house - absolutely DELIGHTFUL (and tho it's tagged with MCD it's not actually sad)

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Finding Your Roots - s9, e3 (Carol Burnett & Niecy Nash)

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s9, e5

Ted Lasso - s3, e9 [x2]

Um, Actually - s2, e10, e12-16; s8, e4

Eurovision 2023 - Semi Final 1

Eurovision 2023 - Semi Final 2

Dirty Laundry - s2, e12

Eurovision 2023 - Grand Final

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Re: Dracula - May 7: Stranger in a Strange Land

Re: Dracula - May 8: Foul Bauble of Man's Vanity

Into It - 'Mrs. Davis' Just Wants You to Be Happy

Re: Dracula - May 9: Castles in the Air

Switched on Pop - The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - National Poo Museum

The Sporkful - The Musical History Of Jelly

⭐Decoder Ring Plus - Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?

ICYMI Plus - We’re Sorry

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Best TV Series Finales

Strong Songs Bonus Episodes - The Light and Dark of Music, with Lily E. Hirsch

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Close to the Edge

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Iowa Remnant Prairies

Vibe Check - Britney Spears Was Onto Something

⭐99% Invisible #536 - Nuts and Bolts

Re: Dracula - May 11: Pray for my Happiness

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - A Guide to Midwestern Conversation (with Taylor Kay Philips)

Ologies with Alie Ward - Invisible Photology (INVISIBILITY CLOAKS) with Greg Gbur

Dear Prudence Plus - My Co-Worker Repeatedly Ignores My Boundaries. Help! (with LeVar Burton)

⭐Endless Thread - #BlackFaeDay

Into It - Are We Into a New 'Zelda' Game, the End of MTV News, and 'Jury Duty'?

Re: Dracula - May 12: What Manner of Man is This

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Butter Sculptures

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Songbugs

American Hysteria - Munger Road | Urban Legends Hotline

Overinvested - Ep. 279: Jurassic Park

American Hysteria - Hysteria Home Companion: The Vanishing Hitchhiker

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

lofi hip hop radio 💤 - beats to sleep/chill to [LoFi Girl]

synthwave radio 🌌 - beats to chill/game to [LoFi Girl]

Dub Instrumentals

Back To The Yacht

Eurovision 2023

The Album [Jonas Brothers]

The Family Business [Jonas Brothers]

[a9saga]

YouTube recap knows which two concerts I saw this summer

[amandaanddonnie]

SISTER WIVES Exclusive - KODY BROWN sd his ex wives were only good for 1...

[overflowingshelf]

July 2024 Reading Recap

Well, August didn’t start off how I expected, which is why I’m a bit delayed in getting my recap up for July. Unfortunately, my cat Fox was unexpectedly hospitalized again last weekend with congestive heart failure, but she’s back home now with a new dose of meds to help keep that in check. But that’s putting her kidneys at higher risk as she also has kidney disease, so it’s a delicate balance. I…

[delicatepoets]

scandal has me ripping my hair out and clawing at my walls

[fridaythe13ththeseries]

Femme Fatale

Episode Recap #61: Femme Fatale Original Airdate: December 2, 1989

Starring: Louise Robey as Micki Foster Steve Monarque as Johnny Ventura (as Steven Monarque) Chris Wiggins as Jack Marshak

Guest cast: Gordon Pinsent as Desmond Williams Kate Reid as Lili Lita Chris Moore as Glenda Jed Dixon as Eddie Dugan Louise Kidney as Tina Larson Lorretta Bailey as Krissy Sloan (as Loretta Bailey) Kim Huffman as Erin (as Kymberley Huffman) John Tench as Gunsel 1 Matt Birman as Harmon David Eldan as Film Nerd / Roarke Brian Furlong as Cop Sandi Stahlbrand as News Reporter Tom Neal as Al Roberts (archive footage)

Written by Jeffrey Bernini Directed by Francis Delia

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

Open on night at a big old house. Inside, a man is drugging the tea he then brings to his bedridden wife. He leaves her with the tea to work on his screenplay. Before the man, Desmond, leaves, his wife Lili Lita, tells him she loves him. He says he loves her, too.

Downstairs, he opens the door for a younger woman. He asks if she told anyone about working with him, she says no. In another room, he pulls out a film reel of a movie called "A Scandalous Woman", which his wife had starred in years ago. He loads the film to play for them, commenting on how great Lili was in the film.

The old black and white movie plays, a film noir that Desmond wrote the screenplay for. Cut to later, towards the movie's climax. He tells the young woman to watch as Lili's character comes back on screen. Desmond holds the woman and pushes her up into the beam of the film projector. The light goes bright, and then this woman is transported to Lili's place in the film and Lili is alive in the room with Desmond. The confused young woman is in the movie being roughed up, as Lili and Desmond kiss, and the real Lili awakens in bed, hearing her old movie playing.

Cut to credits.

Lili continues to listen in bed. The movie plays on with the young woman unable to understand what is happening. Fake Lili and Desmond continue to make out as the movie plays. In the film, the woman is chased in her car, then a shoot out happens. Desmond and Lili sit up to watch as it appears the young woman is going to die in the film. After she is shot, the Fake Lili is back in the film, for her death scene. Desmond is alone as the movie ends.

Next we are at Curious Goods. Jack has slept late and Micki teases him. Jack says he was teaching Johnny chess, but Micki says Johnny told her they watched "hot videos". Jack scoffs, says they were chess videos, then changes the subject, asking why Micki is reading through the manifest. She said another actress has disappeared, the sixth one in a short time, so she is hoping to find a connection.

Back at their home, bedridden Lili is asking Desmond how his script is coming along. He said it is going slow. She suggests a break, since their old style films aren't in demand. He isn't so sure. He says he is going out to a show, a retrospective of his films. She tells him to have fun, but watch out for young girls.

That night, at the theater retrospective, Johnny is there, his date a film student named Erin, who is eager to see the work of a 'master of film noir." Johnny isn't so thrilled to watch an old film, but she says it is her favorite. As they watch, Erin has tears in her eyes, Johnny is bored. Desmond is announced to applause, and Erin goes to talk to Desmond. Outside, she asks Desmond for directing advice. He tells her to give him her number, he's planning to teach a course on film directing. She does, eagerly. Another woman, Krissy Sloan, does the same.

Later, we see Krissy jump out of the car as Desmond arrives home. She is excited to be there, Desmond asks her to be quiet, because Lili is sleeping. Desmond has told Krissy she can watch "A Scandalous Woman" and spend the night.

Cut to later, Krissy is in the film, in the car chase, as Lili and Desmond make out. This time, this Fake Lili makes demands. Seems as long as the real Lili is alive, this Fake one is doomed to return to the film after the character, and hapless actress trapped within, is shot. Desmond says next time, but Fake Lili is sick of hearing it. She says if real Lili is there next time, it's over. Real Lili lies awake in bed, listening still.

Fake Lili fades away, and dies in the film. Desmond cries out this time, and real Lili calls down on the intercom, asking if he's okay. He assuages her.

Johnny arrives at the store, Jack and Micki tell him about the missing actresses. Micki lists movie-related items in the manifest, including the returned make up case and movie camera. But there is a 16mm film reel still unaccounted for. She goes to check Lewis' files. Johnny fills Jack in on his bad date and the movie they saw, which Jack remembers. Johnny hated the film, but his date loved it. Johnny mentions Desmond, and his wife, Lili Lita and the film they made together, "A Scandalous Woman." Upon hearing this, Micki comes back saying that is the name of the 16mm film Lewis sold.

At their home, Lili and Desmond walk out on to the balcony for fresh air. She says he's been working too hard. He has a vision of pushing her over the balcony, and the comes to his senses as she gasps at him nearly doing so. He apologizes, she says she is fine.

Johnny is watching the news as Micki and Jack find the listing of the movie sold to a D.W. - Desmond Williams. Johnny calls them over as a report on missing Krissy plays. Johnny says he saw her at the show. Jack says him and Micki will go talk to Desmond, and wants Johnny to talk to his cop friend and see if Desmond is connected to any of the other missing women.

Cops are already at Desmond's home with a picture of Krissy, who Desmond says he doesn't recognize. They leave, Desmond is nervous, recalling what Fake Lili told him. Real Lili calls to him, asking him to come upstairs. He makes her tea, drugging it again. He brings the drink upstairs as the voices of both Lilis play in his head. He drops the tea and startles Lili. He says he'll get another, then there is a knock on the door.

Desmond answers to Micki, who says she saw his film and was inspired and wants to talk. Desmond tries to shut the door, but Micki mentions the film reel he bought. Desmond is concerned and lets her in. Jack lurks outside. Desmond goes to check on Lili and leaves Micki alone. She opens the window to Jack, who wants the film print. Micki gets it from the shelf but Desmond spies her and comes back in. Micki says she is interested in buying it, but Desmond says they should watch it first and loads the projector.

Cops in a patrol car pull up outside and see Jack lurking about. Desmond starts the film, and the cops arrest Jack.

Micki and Desmond watch the film, then struggle as Desmond grabs her, forcing Micki in front of the projector and then into the film. Fake Lili and Desmond make out, and Desmond admits he couldn't kill the real Lili. Fake Lili walks off, planning to find someone to kill Lili herself. A knock on the door, and he tells her to hide. It's the cops with Jack, who said her friend is inside and in danger. Desmond is outraged, but Jack and the cops barge in to the screening room. They find no Micki, but a young woman who Jack recognizes as Lili Lita, from years ago. Fake Lili says she doesn't know Jack, so the cops take him away. Desmond is freaking out that other people saw her. Fake Lili doesn't care, tired of being locked in the film. She wants a real life, and real Lili dead.

Desmond goes upstairs and Lili is in her wheelchair. He says it was only a prowler and the cops took him away. He helps her back in to bed. Desmond says if she hears anything, it's just him watching one of her old films. Lili seems tired.

Downstairs, Desmond hears Micki screaming in the film as it continues to play. He looks for Fake Lili and sees the door is open. He looks outside, Fake Lili is hiding, then goes back inside.

Johnny and Jack are driving, rushing back to Desmond's after Johnny bailed him out. Jack is panicked for Micki's safety, since he saw the Lili there from 40 years ago. He tells Johnny to step on it. Micki is still being tossed around as the "damsel in distress" in the film, trying to play the bad guys against each other. She fights them and runs off.

Desmond still searches for Lili, then finds her. She says she was just teaching him a lesson about how easy it would be for her to vanish. Desmond says he can't kill his wife, but Fake Lili says he could live happier with her. He says Lili is famous, she would be missed. Fake Lili doesn't care.

Desmond goes to check on sleeping Lili. He kisses her. Fake Lili comes to the doorway. He picks up a pillow and begins to smother Lili in bed. She struggles and then goes still, apparently dead. Fake Lili is thrilled, and kisses him. They leave the bedroom.

Johnny and Jack arrive outside, heading to the window Micki unlatched. The film is still playing, Micki is being chased.

Desmond and Fake Lili make out on the sofa, thinking they have all the time in the world now. But suddenly, the real Lili arrives with her cane in one hand and a gun in the other. They are shocked she's alive. The two Lilis have a stand off.

Johnny and Jack are outside.

Real Lili is confused as to why this woman looks like her younger self. Fake Lili tells her about Micki taking her place in the movie. We see Micki climbing a fence and being shot at. Jack pulls the window open and calls to the real Lili as the Fake one makes a break for it, Johnny in pursuit.

Jack enters through the window and tells Lili it is his friend in the film.

Johnny chases Fake Lili outside.

Real Lili is confused, asking Jack how to free Micki. Jack says someone has to take her place. He says they need to find the Fake Lili to put her back. Jack says there were other women before Micki, and Desmond says he just wanted to be with her like the old days. Real Lili says he didn't love her, just the character she played in the movie.

Fake Lili makes her way downtown and sees the theater marquee with her film playing, and the poster with her on it. Johnny spots her entering the theater and follows. She sits watching, in awe of the audience watching. Johnny slowly approaches, calling her Lili, telling her she needs to go back. She refuses, saying Desmond lied to her. Johnny says they can go talk to him and she agrees.

Micki is in the car chase scene, so the film is nearing its end. She keeps calling out to Jack for help.

Lili continues to hold the gun on Desmond, who says he was never unfaithful, cause Fake Lili is her. She doesn't buy it, saying he was in love with the slut character he created, because she couldn't stay young. Desmond says if Lili goes into the film, she can stay young. Jack disagrees, but Desmond says it is the only way for Micki to come back, someone has to die. Fake Lili comes in and says that can be arranged.

The two Lilis are both against Desmond now. Desmond tries to grab the gun away from his wife and they struggle. Real Lili shoots him, and he collapses on the couch. Micki is near her death in the film, but real Lili steps in front of the projector, taking Micki's place. Real Lili is dying in the film, Fake Lili fades and screams, then Micki rises up in front of the screen. Real Lili dies in the movie as it ends.

At Curious Goods, the film is in the vault and a banged up Micki hopes to never see it again. She was at the mercy of the film, Jack says Desmond was caught up in the illusion of the film. Micki feels her face, not feeling like what she went through was any illusion.

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

My thoughts:

Okay, how long was "A Scandalous Woman"? The last time Desmond starts the movie, when Micki gets trapped, Jack gets caught, brought inside, then arrested, brought down to the police station, is bailed out by Johnny, they go back to the house, skulk around, slip inside, Johnny chases Lili downtown, convinces her to come back, they go back and still have the stand off with the two Lilis. That is one long old movie!

I also didn't like Micki just standing idly by as Desmond loaded the film in to the projector. Micki knew it was cursed and seven women were missing. Why would she stand there as the curse kicked in? She is smarter than that.

I liked the mention of the make up case and movie camera from previous episodes.

If Desmond bought the cursed film from Lewis years ago, why was it only now that things got out of hand? Was it sitting on the shelf and he never knew how to use it? Did the first woman wander in front of the projector and get sucked and Fake Lili appeared? Or did the cursed reel slowly call out to him over the years? Makes me wonder.

This also a very specific curse for Desmond. If he had died and someone else got the print, would the curse have adjusted accordingly? I assume so.

Micki owes Johnny, for somehow quickly convincing his cop friend to let him bail Jack out. Time was of the essence! And old Lili sacrificing herself for Micki, too. Great act for a stranger to her.

And how close did Desmond live to that movie theater? Had to have been minutes away in walking distance.

Interesting episode, even with the plot holes.

Next week: Mightier Than the Sword

[cinematicexcursions]

Movies I Watched in 2022

Otherwise known as the year I developed an unhealthy attachment to Lydia Tár and Benoit Blanc

[bright-side20]

Elain, Azriel and Lucien

LoA, Helion and Beron

First, let's recap the actual story of LoA because today, all the theories about her are based on headcanon, not on what is written in the book.

“She was still young—though she’d been married to that delightful male for nearly two decades. Married too young, the marriage arranged when she was twenty.”

"I heard "her family wanted internal ties to power, and that they didn’t give her a choice before they sold her to Beron.”

LoA had an arranged marriage with Beron, and apparently, she wasn't given a choice to reject it.

“Hybern attacked their estate. Her sisters bought her time to run. Not because she was married to Beron, but because they loved each other. Fiercely. She tried to stay, but they convinced her to go. So she did—she ran and ran, but Hybern’s beasts were still faster. Stronger. They cornered her at a ravine, where she became trapped atop a ledge, the beasts snapping at her feet.”

She was helped by her two sisters, who died during the war, to run away, but she was trapped by Hybern's beasts.

I said quietly, “You saved her. You found her, didn’t you?” A coronet of light seemed to flicker over that thick black hair. “I did.” There was enough weight, anger, and something else in those two words that I studied the High Lord of Day. “What happened?” Helion didn’t break my stare. “I tore the beasts apart with my bare hands.”

Until Helion rescued her. (Sounds familiar, huh?)

“You had—an affair after you rescued her?” “How long did the affair last?” I asked Helion shrugged. “On and off for decades. Until Beron found out. They say the lady was all brightness and smiles before that. And after Beron was through with her … You saw what she is.” “What did he do to her?” “The same things he does now.” Helion waved a hand. “Belittle her, leave bruises where no one but him will see them.”

LoA had a forbidden love affair with Helion until Beron found out about it and abused her, which he still does to this day.

“If you were her lover, why didn’t you stop it?” The wrong thing to say. Utterly wrong, by the dark fury that rippled across Helion’s face. “Beron is a High Lord, and she is his wife, mother of his brood. She chose to stay. Chose. And with the protocols and rules, Lady, you will find that most situations like the one you were in do not end well for those who interfere.”

LoA chose to break up with Helion and not let him interfere because of societal pressure. As a High Lord's wife with children, choosing Helion would have caused a big scandal and potentially led to war. Therefore, preferring to stay with Beron wasn't a free, unconstrained decision, it was a result of social pressure. In canon, for them there isn't a mating bond rejection, which doesn't even align because leaving Helion wasn't a choice to begin with. If you think otherwise, then your definition of choice is biased.

Now, let's draw parallels between LoA and Elain based on canon texts:

*LoA's right of choosing her partner was stripped of her by an arranged marriage.

*Elain's right of choosing her partner was stripped of her by the Cauldron's mating bond.

*LoA had two sisters who loved her fiercely.

*Elain has two sisters who loves her fiercely.

*Helion rescued LoA from the KoH trap and tore the beasts apart with his bare hands.

*Azriel rescued Elain from Hybern, and she kicked the beasts with her bare feet to free Azriel.

*LoA and Helion had an affair after this event until it was discovered by Beron.

*Elain and Azriel were about to kiss while her mate was sleeping on a level above, but Rhys stopped it.

*Helion couldn't interfere even though he loved LoA because she decided to stay with Beron. As a High Lord's wife, she is pressured by rules and protocols that would lead to very bad consequences if she chose Helion.

*Rhys told Azriel to stay away from Elain because Lucien, as Beron's son, has the right to invoke the blood duel. Elain and Azriel's relationship could jeopardize the alliance with the Autumn Court and potentially lead to war, so their situation is also constrained by rules and protocols.

The difference between LoA and Elain will be that Elain will not submit to societal pressure. She will choose to be with Azriel and face the consequences of her free will choice. Unlike Helion, Azriel will not care about rules and protocols. Similarly, unlike Beron, Lucien will not force Elain to be with him, especially when he learns that his mother was forced to endure an abusive relationship and leave Helion, who is his father.

Elain will be an example for any female whose choice was stripped from her under the pretext of societal pressure. Hopefully, because of Elain, rules and protocols that treat females as property will change.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

That politics recap was insane. The amount of work you must've put in that for us, on your own time. Like, damn girl. Where's your ko-fi? This deserves a tip, because it was more comprehensive than the news I was able to find on my own. Seriously, thanks for taking the time to do that.

Thank you! Yeah, it takes a while. My husband is the one with journalist friends and occasional ADHD hyperfixations on politics, so he puts together a document where he includes what happened in timeline order with Tweets and stuff sprinkled in; that part varies in length by how busy the scandal is, but this time around took... maybe five hours? And then I take it and write it up, which takes a few more; this time about three, I'd say. Maybe four. So yeah, this particular write-up represented a full working day lol.

I have put my ko-fi on previous installments of this stuff, because for a chunk of 2022 I was not well-off financially; but, I don't anymore because I'm doing alright now, and everyone is struggling atm. HOWEVER, if anyone is feeling strongly about tipping for my silly nonsense, I strongly recommend you sling a treat food of some sort (e.g. chocolate chips or cookie/cupcake mix or spices) into your local food bank next time you go shopping! Make things a little less bleak for someone.

Anyway, thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed

[frary-us]

"...At this point, anyone still watching this show pretty much has to be rooting for Clara by default. Nearly every other character — save for James, a literal man of God, and Davison, the Platonic ideal of the ride-or-die servant who is also your bestie for no real reason — has turned out to be not just annoying, but also a genuinely awful person. Dream husband Frederick has turned out to be borderline abusive and dangerously self-obsessed, seemingly sweet Dr. Ellerby abandoned his pregnant girlfriend before arriving in Belgravia, Mr. Ross is not just a thief but a would-be rapist, and Emily Dunn is an awful sister and a mega-beyotch too.....

But at least they're nicer than Emily, who marches directly into her sister's home to yell at her, accusing her of everything from selfishness to greed, that she's never satisfied with anything, and her behavior is ruining her life and her family's. Clara bursts into tears and tries to tell Emily how unhappy she's been, and her husband's increasingly psychotic behavior. Emily (who is, again, The Worst) responds Clara should shut up, sit down, and try harder to make Frederick love her because she's not about to have anything threaten her shot at a happily ever after with the good Reverend James. (Emily has a whole different reckoning coming her way on that front, and, as the kids say, I will be seated when that happens.)

 .....Having borrowed against his home to drop money into this scheme despite everyone's insistence he shouldn't, Frederick is devastated, and, reader, it is a delight to behold. Rarely has a period drama leading man gone from hero to zero quite as quickly and thoroughly as Frederick Trenchard, and I celebrate his ruination, except that it'll all inevitably turn out okay because Clara doesn't deserve this. At least let me watch him suffer for a while, show. 

....With one episode to go, our central romance is on the rocks, Frederick and James remain estranged, the Trenchards are ruined financially, Emily doesn't know the guy she's crushing on can never love her back the way she wants, and Enwright's clandestine letter-writing campaign has been exposed (though not the reasons behind it). How are we ever gonna wrap all this up? "

[forthegothicheroine]

Ah, Waxwork (1988)! The epitome of "I didn't say it was good, I said I liked it." A trashy horror comedy which became infamous among a very specific community of monster fuckers: those too hardcore for Edward Cullen and too squeamish for Pinhead.

I was going to just make a bullet-point list of my thoughts upon rewatch, but there's too much to say, so you lucky people get a full recap!

Our protagonist is Mark, a rich boy who for some reason attends community college. He lives under the thumb of his ridiculous sitcom-villain mother, and has to rely upon his butler sneaking him coffee and cigarettes. I suppose we're seeing what Bruce Wayne's life would be like in a world without alley muggings.

Mark getting sexually rejected will be a running theme in this movie, so let's meet the women who will be doing the rejecting: China and Sarah! These college classmates of his are that improbably 80s horror movie duo, the evil slut and the sweet virgin who are for some unexplained reason besties. China has exchanged Mark for a football player, and she smokes and wears sunglasses and comments on boy's bodies while Sarah acts mildly scandalized. They walk to school, discussing boys and just how promiscuous is too promiscuous, when they see something at the side of the street- a new Waxwork house!

Little do they know what darkness and delight await them inside.

Isn't this a bit outdated, the girls ask each other? You're telling me, I respond, as a former actress at a tourist attraction that was next door to Madame Tussaud's, I have no idea who buys tickets.

They are welcomed at the door by holy shit, David Warner? I really hope he filmed this directly back to back with The Company of Wolves. David Warner invites them to come to a special private opening with a group of up to six people- any more would be too crowded! And China, apparently having nothing better to do as a sexy party girl in the 1980s, agrees. Thus, the rest of the friend group is roped in to attending.

Mark is there, mostly to be hurt whenever China talks about how much fun she's having sleeping with guys who aren't him. There's a dating couple who will show up now and again late in the movie but don't really matter. There are, of course, China and Sarah. And then-

Oh my god. I hadn't seen Twin Peaks yet when I first saw this movie, but oh my god, that's Bobby from Twin Peaks. Doing the same movement tics and vocal cadence that he did as Bobby from Twin Peaks. This is so distracting, you have no idea how much.

Anyway, the gang go to the waxwork house and speaking of Twin Peaks, they are greeted by a small man doing the Peter Dinklage bit from Living in Oblivion ("Make it weird, put a dwarf in it!") We don't have too much time to dell on that, though. The kids hang out for a bit so China has more time to sexually insult Mark, and then they are finally allowed into the wax museum itself.

The waxwork is, all in all, actually pretty cool! It's a bunch of scenes from "history", by which we mean classic pre-80s horror movies. There's the Mummy, there's the Invisible Man, there's Audrey II, there's Jack the Ripper. Keep in mind that all of these exhibits, not just Jack the Ripper, will later prove to have been taken directly from real life events. The sequel muddies this with horror movie scenes that take place in alternate dimensions in a cosmos that weirdly resembles Moorcock's Eternal Champion mythos, but we're not talking about the sequel right now.

I wish I could write a novelization of this movie and just go nuts on the worldbuilding. My speculations would make for an epic of Tolkienesque length.

Bobby from Twin Peaks is the first to go exactly where you're expecting: into an exhibit to get killed. He stumbles into a scene from the Wolf Man (which oddly enough looks a bit like the 2010 Wolf Man but they're obviously trying to do either the original Universal or Hammer version.) He bitches about this, how it must be a hologram and a super lame one at that because there are, like, no girls in bikinis or anything, just some dick in a cabin telling him to run for his life!

(Put a pin in that, by the way.)

He should have listened. But hey, someone has to be the first bit of canon fodder.

The Wolf Man is, of all people, John Rhys-Meyers! He pleads with Bobby to run, but it's too late- his transformation has begun! This is not a bad werewolf look, as practical effects go; he's got a snout and everything. The extremely long ears are what bother me. I felt this way in the Into the Woods movie as well- Johnny Depp just looked like a really sleazy rabbit. But this Wolf Man is a real deal monster, and while Bobby cowers after taking a flesh wound, he sets upon a pair of hunters who have tracked him down, ripping the younger one in half straight through the head.

As goofy as it is, Waxwork gets pretty damn gory.

The older hunter, who's clearly supposed to be Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, ends his reign of terror with a silver bullet. And when the wounded Bobby starts to transform as well, Van Helsing puts a stop to that with a second shot. Fade out to the waxwork exhibit, which now has a half-transformed victim beside the Wolf Man.

So much for Bobby. But eh, fuck 'im, he wasn't much of a character. China, on the other hand...

China notices a display with a particularly handsome villain. She takes a step over the velvet rope to take a closer look, and thus seals her fate.

(Side note: I don't know if I'd survive the movie or be first to get killed, because I would be going "But we're not supposed to touch the exhibits!" the whole time.)

China emerges into a Christopher Lee-worthy dark castle, wearing a white prom dress that's good enough period attire for this sort of movie. Thus begins the Dracula sequence, the first reason this movie has a very specific cult following.

As a teen in the '00s, I frequented web rings of blogs that reviewed old science fiction movies. There was one sight which was dedicated to cataloging every vampire movie the author could find- her favorites were The Lost Boys, Mr. Vampire and Interview with the Vampire- and she listed this as the single sexiest depiction of Dracula on film. Naturally, I spent the next several pre-streaming era years hunting down a VHS.

And who do we have playing sexy Dracula? In yet another 'you're not gonna believe this' casting choice, Miles "How Much Keefe" O'Keefe! The man known to all MSTies as Ator, and to other shlock aficionados as Tarzan! I have no idea why they cast him, but you know what? That barbarian warrior cleans up pretty damn well.

China is too stunned by her surroundings to quibble, and takes the part of a gothic heroine staying at the castle, whose fiance "unfortunately had to leave just now." Dracula introduces her to his lovely lady friends and his brooding adult son Stephan, and serves her a meal of steak tartar in salty red sauce, the suggestive setup for a rather gruesome payoff later.

In-character, Sarah is cornered in her room by Stephan, who says that his father wants her for himself and that he'd be banished from the castle if it was known he put his hands on her first- but before he can get past the fangs-out stage of his assault, she flees down the hallway, as far as she can run, until she reaches a room out of a Saw movie poster, half-dungeon and half-kitchen.

Her fiancee- that is, the fiancee in whatever real-life story she stepped into- is chained up, with one leg gruesomely cut down to the bone to serve to his captors and his own unknowing bride. China tries and fails to unchain him while he runs her through a quick explanation of what vampires are and how to kill him, just in time for Stephan to catch up with her.

China is surprisingly heroic in this scene, given how completely unsympathetic the movie had set her up to be. Son of Dracula goes down with a cross burned into his forehead, while she takes out a few Brides via wine bottles through the chest. When the chained up fiancee turns, though, she flees, sobbing, though the castle, her white gown covered in blood.

"Going somewhere, my beauty?" Dracula asks. She turns and looks into his eyes- and now it is too late. She falls under his hypnotic trance, and he lowers her to the floor, ending her human life in an ecstatic kiss.

It's a better way to go than she would have gotten in most other dumb horror movies of this era.

Mark- remember Mark?- has finally noticed that two of his friends (such as they are) have gone missing. He figures they must have gone off to hook up, but that doesn't feel right- for some reason, he knows that Bobby is the one man that China would never ever want to fuck. Sarah is less concerned, as she's focused on a statue of the Marquis de Sade looking like a sexy pirate. When Mark does get her to leave with him, he shoots his shot, but Sarah says that while he's a nice guy and she likes him a lot, she's looking for something...different.

Sarah's whole deal, as you may have guessed, is that she's a virgin at least in part because she can only be satisfied by BDSM, a desire she learned about through secretively reading de Sade but has no contemporary sex ed language to talk about. To the film's credit, this very Clive Barker plotline isn't used to make her unsympathetic or deserving of death, but rather to enhance the theme of Mark getting sexually rejected.

(Also, Mark paid his ESL housekeeper to write an essay for him, which was demanded by a history professor who was weirdly into Hitler. To his dismay, the essay read "I do not like dictators. They do the shouting and wear the small mustaches."

Well. She's not wrong.)

When China and Bobby fail to reappear the next day, Mark and Sarah go off to investigate. A mean cop tells them that lots of people have recently gone missing, and ends up investigating on his own- an investigation that ends with him being killed by the Mummy while the theme from Swan Lake plays in the background. (The title music in Universal's original Mummy and Dracula! The music I walked down the aisle to at my wedding! It's a little detail I liked.)

China's jock boyfriend also shows up to get killed by the Phantom of the Opera, while David Warner shakes his head in surprise to learn that he knew the character from a movie. "They'll make a movie of anything these days!" he says. However, I found myself focusing on the brief close-up where we saw that the Phantom had a mustache. A well-maintained mustache. Half-covered by a half-mask. Does he shave and maintain it on the deformed side, too? These are the kind of questions my novelization would go into.

Mark and Sarah get a quick rundown on everything from a professorly type of guy in a wheelchair who's basically the Criminologist from Rocky Horror. He tells them that via something something dark magic, victims are being given to evil men who are long dead to revive them and then something something destroy the world. For all I joke, it is my fondest dream to be this kind guy- a librarian who could give the protagonist exactly the book they need to fight Dracula.

Remember that pin I had you put in the Wolf Man pleading with Bobby to run? That brings up the question of what this movie considers "evil men". The Wolf Man really didn't want to kill anybody, but his body was taken over by the curse! And what about Audrey II? I'll grant that the plant sure was a dick, but was he a man? And what about all the ghouls in the zombie exhibit? The first time I watched this I also quibbled about the Marquis de Sade being here alongside actual murders, but I'll let that slide this time- the sheer scale of his imagination for evil was impressive enough, even if he didn't get to do most of it.

Mark and Sarah go to burn the waxwork down, but the temptation to fuck the Marquis is too much and Sarah just willingly goes right into his wax exhibit. Mark falls into the zombie exhibit, where it goes black and white in a pastiche of Night of the Living Dead as he fights off walking corpses and crawling disembodied hands.

Sarah has a better time. Now we see the second part of why this movie has a very specific cult reputation.

The Marquis de Sade, as portrayed in Waxwork, is dashing man with long dark hair, a puffy shirt open to reveal a very hair chest, wearing leather boots and gloves and always carrying a whip. He is entertaining a man (blonde and similarly good-looking, played by the director) whom he calls "your majesty", who will later to be revealed as Prince George of England, the future George IV. This struck me as absolutely hilarious.

For the prince's entertainment, he offers the sole virgin in his stable of beauties- Sarah, of course, stepping forward to have her arms affixed over her head proudly and eagerly. He leans in and whispers his intentions to Sarah- to whip her bloody, hand her over to George and his men for their enjoyment, then torture her to death- and she kisses him and swoons into her chains.

This scene is interesting because of how it's shot. There's no nudity in this movie- the only skin Sarah proceeds to expose is her back. I don't want to use terms like "male gaze" or "female gaze" because the former is a greater scale film theory term and the latter isn't really a term outside of tumblr, but this scene and the one with Dracula are presented as bodice rippers. Whether or not women went to see this movie, let alone enjoyed it, both scenes but especially the one with Sarah and de Sade are portrayed as female sexual fantasies. We don't see much of Sarah's body, but we see many close-ups of her face, perspiring and biting her lip as she waits for each sting of the whip.

Britain's "Video Nasties" list from 1984 banned many gory horror movies as obscene. Waxwork has far less gore than Evil Dead or Bay of Blood. As far as I know, it has never been banned under any obscenity laws.

By the time Mark (remember Mark?) gets out of his exhibit and into Sarah's, we are told that she has taken more whipping than any other woman the Marquis has ever seen, and enjoyed every bit of it. Mark saves her, but she pushes him away and runs back to the Marquis, kneeling at his foot and grasping at his boot. No, she protests, she wants to stay here! Smirking at the polo-clad dork from the future, de Sade said the line that dropped my jaw to the floor when I first saw this in my impressionable youth.

"Don't be angry just because she had her first orgasm at the end of a whip and not by your touch!"

Somehow not shriveling up and dying from that insult, Mark persuades Sarah that they should go because this setup did kill their friends and Your Mind Makes it Real and ugh, fine, Sarah will go back and save the world if she really has to. de Sade promises Mark that they'll meet again, though. ("How much did the Marquis de Sade know about this whole time and/or dimension traveling thing?" is another great question I would have expounded on in my novelization.)

But the kids have not yet saved the day, and their two friends from the very beginning are sacrificed in their places. The stars are right, the sacrifices have been made, and it's time for all the monsters and assorted villains to come to life and something something destroy the world! Thankfully, backup has arrived in the form of the wheelchair-bound expert from before and a while gang of his elderly and heroic friends, including Mark's totally-not-Alfred butler. Let the big chaotic fight scene commence!

Blood sprays left and right. Mark kills a zombified former friend, and weeps when his butler kills the vampirized China. Sarah tosses the small minion guy right into Audrey II. Dracula gets perhaps the lamest death onscreen he's ever had, surpassing even Scars of Dracula where he was randomly hit by lightning.

And the Marquis de Sade, who apparently is quite the swashbuckler, is flitting around with rapier and whip, having a grand old time. (At least it's better than what he supposedly did during the storming of the Bastille...) He beats Mark easily in combat, but makes the mistake of doing a gloating monologue before driving his blade through the boy's throat, giving Sarah the chance to break his spine with an ax. Let's hope Mark appreciates the sacrifice.

David Warner still must be confronted, however. Mark demands to know why he wants to destroy the world, and he smiles and responds "Somebody has to."

I guess you can't argue with that.

The elderly gentlemen give their lives to kill Warner, and the whole building goes up in flames. The only survivors are Mark, Sarah and a crawling disembodied hand who is off to set up the events of the sequel. Mark and Sarah embrace, but nothing more, at least not until the sequel.

Is Waxwork good? No. Is it scary? Some of the gory bits did make me wince. Is it funny? Sometimes on purpose, sometimes probably not on purpose. Is it offensive? We see a brief glimpse of what looks like a very racist tableau with an evil witch doctor or something, the role of the small minion is not exactly a great part, and China and Sarah were plucked right from the virgin-whore archetype with only somewhat more depth.

But do I watch it, fascinated, as if it is an esoteric text containing the secret alchemical formula for gold? I sure do.

[mushroomates]

merry headcanons

as a child, he sincerely believed he could talk to cats. this ended at age 13.

can do cartwheels. pippin cannot. this is brought up in arguments more frequently that imagined

has a filter, contrary to some of what he says. he also acts as pippins filter

possesses an uncanny ability to sniff out weed. can tell the quality of such by smell alone. can also tell you where it may have come from, and how it was grown

has a small patch of cannabis growing in a back room of his estate. it used to be a sunroom but is now a greenhouse/weed lab.

merry religiously documents it’s growth, soil conditions, exposure to light, and most importantly: potentness

unfortunately this has manifested in a very strong but unpleasant tasting plant. this sort is hearty, can grow under any conditions, but really just tastes/smells. absolutely awful.

he did try and recruit sam into helping him until sam realized what was going on and wanted “no business in such a practice”

uses samples saved from the whole Saruman takedown and propagates what he can. also keeps some for comparison. he is very organized with this and has a whole spreadsheet he references frequently

merry also likes to know where everything is at all times. he’s not super weird about it but everything does have its place and he will know if you move it

got into furniture making. makes. questionable, ‘innovative’ ‘contemporary’ and ‘unique’ pieces

in reality it’s because he likes to make chairs that specifically make people want to leave because of how uncomfortable they are

like. he loves his family. but sometimes they get the squeaky chair. there’s a table with one leg slightly smaller than the rest that makes everyone uneasy. a couch that is just too low to the ground and cushy, so that you sink in but your legs are cramped. there’s a chair with the back curved slightly too steep, so when someone sits in it their posture is terrible. it also has a shorter than normal seat so you can’t scoot forward either

it’s not torture. people can endure it. it’s just mean to make sure no one does for very long.

this set is strategically in the foyer, so if he likes you well enough you’re granted entity into the living room with normal furniture. which is very tastefully decorated and has framed artwork of his many nieces and nephews.

he absolutely adores the littlest members of the shire and will spoil them however he can

draws maps of the most absurd things. just. maps that no one even asked for but are delightfully absurd

“directions to bagend, avoiding all dogs, aunts, sheep and red mail boxes” “brandybuck estate, but only the trees” “every pub in the shire, and who to avoid on your way back from a good time”

and, famously, “pippins brain”

this is a circle, and in it, two singular dots

one saying “pipe weed” and the other “bad ideas”

there use to be a third dot, that said “lack of cart wheels” but that has been a angerly scribbled out (culprit is still a ‘mystery’ )

decent navigational skills

of course, no one listens to him.

judges the annual pie contest

is actually. really good at it. has a very defined palette dispute the copious amount of weed he smokes

“is that rubarb? it adds a wonderful complexity to the strawberry and pistachio- though, i’d recommend not using molasses next time instead try brown sugar.”

like. merry. why do you know these things.

also judges the pie EATING contest. this is because there is a scandalous amount of cheating and he was part of a huge pie-in-the-trousers bust and now sits in the jury as an esteemed member

pippin thinks he’s a traitor to the cause. this is because pippin was a primary perpetrator in said pie-in-the-trousers bust.

has two pet rabbits. by pets i mean fellow members of the “raiding farmer maggots crops” club, who he saved from a few rodent traps and took home

merrys morals, to recap, does not allow him to permit pie-crimes, but he is totally okay with casual thievery

did not have the heart to said rabbits as they were cut from the same cloth. he let them out the back yard once he got home and they just. kind of. stayed

their names are gandalf and gandalf because ones gray and ones white. many hobbits have been taking after that and also naming their animals gandalf. this of course pisses gandalf off to no end.

is a great babysitter. mature enough to not get into trouble but still has a childish sense of adventure, and lots of stories

he is the trusted fun uncle. pippin being the reckless fun uncle.

he acts stories out more than tells them to the kids, as his way with words is not so great as his way with sound effects.

also makes his own sock puppets and will occasionally put on small shows for the kiddos during family gatherings. fan favorites are “merry takes down the witch-king” “the march of the ents” and “the hobbit who couldn’t cartwheel” (the last ends with the hobbit simply learns to accept that everyone has different talents- something not true to life because pippin still hasn’t accepted this)

is high key very smart. doesn’t do a lot with this. he prefers to enjoy the simple things in life, and has found that so long as he makes sure he and his are looked after, life can be very easy.

that being said. he is not as care free as he’d like to be

is very prepared and well organized. has rations for days and a go-bag, even in his later years. everyone mocked him for years but it took him maybe ten minutes to grab everything and join up with frodo and sam. he also has extra go-bags, which is why it only took pippin 15 minutes (an extra five because pippin lost his bag about two seconds after merry gave it to him)

merry got the “anxiety” hobbit gene that manifests in being (only slightly) a prepper. there’s cans of beans and fruit as well as bottled water hidden in the cellar of the brandy-buck estate. enough food to last nearly five years, but for a hobbit, three.

this gives him peace of mind, as he knows he is prepared for whatever life gives him

he also knows he has braved many things before and anything that may come now will be significantly less of a hardship

he will never have to face down another witch-king, or more importantly, go without second breakfast

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Which royal books/biographies do you think are the most accurate?

Honestly, I don’t think you can judge. They’re all problematic and it comes down to the author’s bias towards their subject.

Scobie and Morton are the worst. They let their subjects ghostwrite.

Tina Brown and Lady C are gossipy, but they have good society connections. Sally Bedell Smith also has society connections but I don’t think she’s as gossipy.

Tom Bower does good research and he digs up a lot of stuff, but it’s never as scandalous as he hints it is so it’s a bit of a let down.

Robert Hardman recaps a lot of popular stories with little new commentary or reveals. I haven’t read his new Charles 3 biography yet, though it’s sitting on my shelf.

I can’t take Katie Nicholl seriously because she coined “Waity Katie” and completely denies that she did.

[overflowingshelf]

May 2024 Reading Recap

While May is over, I feel like I finally started to get back into a regular rhythm with reading and reviewing. I’ve settled into my new job well, and Fox’s health issues are under control thanks to a ton of meds, so life started to feel normal again after a really rough start to the year. While I read every day this month, I didn’t finish as many books as I thought, but I’m not complaining, as I…