#stanley the manley

[seasunandstar]

[I.D.-

The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs — Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

]

“God's Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins

[barflovski]

stanley the manley

[half-man-half-lime]

DAMN has it been a while since I did more than teeny tiny bits of art! I think I started sketching this in.... may of last year?

This is a lineup of villains from my tabletop campaign I'm running that's based on my comic idea, Excitement And Adventure And Really Wild Things. The arc takes place at a cheesy Wild West resort in the midst of an international summit about the setting's fantasy equivalent of America joining the setting's fantasy equivalent of WW2. These fine folks sign into the park and get the security code Sepia 9 (I hope the pun is obvious enough???)

More on the group and the individual characters below:

Sepia 9 was gathered by Cal Humble (3rd from the left) to track down party members suspected of killing diplomats (to save the world, but that mess was still a nightmare)

From left to right:

Ana Ng: A Nuran, a tentacle-haired fantasy race within the setting. Ana's a mercenary, a teleporting assassin hired to take out the party's tank before he could move to defend the others. She's also the only member of this crew who's supposed to show up in comics canon, in very different circumstances. Her gun creates portals on the surface they point at in a straight line through other surfaces, moving wherever she points. She ended up kidnapping all the world leaders and running off in an attempt to exchange them for an end to their colonial hold on other countries. The party was unfortunately forced to oppose her despite the moral quandary, but the diplomat of the group did trade the favor of saving them for preventing a major famine Ana was particularly worried about.

Dr. Stanley "The Manley" Starr: Dr. Stanley is a snake oil salesman from the same isolated dome as the party, and has unlocked some secret of human psychic potential by using mind-altering drugs, particularly psilocybin. He was brought in to drug and destabilize a party member who's convinced his dead squad of pilots were still with him, but that party member left, so he tried to drug other allies, and only sort of succeeded after one new party member stole most of his mushrooms. (He's a reskin of a character from comics canon very loosely based on someone I know, one of those things that's getting cut because it was in poor taste.)

Calcifer Torments The Wicked Until They Are Humble, AKA Cal Humble: Cal is an old school demon who left Hell for better things a long time ago, an incorporeal being in a mechanical body. He's loosely, and I mean VERY loosely based on Columbo, but he's like, the evil badass version, which doesn't really resemble Columbo all that much. Too much Jack Noir in his DNA. Cal headed the investigation into the diplomats' deaths, and assembled this group to find and arrest the party, while racing to this summit to defuse a complicated revelation about the nature of the enemy in this war. He tried to investigate and entrap the party's diplomat, but that character caught wind of the secret and pulled a diplomatic play to only have himself imprisoned as long as the party could work off their sentence.

Hazel Lope: A powerful forest witch, consultant on many state cases concerning magic. She's a Lepusan, a Hare Person race in the setting, of the Jackalope variety. Coming from a background of seeing magical forests bulldozed by state and corporations, losing her family in the process, she decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. She has no moral principles now, she just does her job and does it well, and has no qualms about tearing down anyone who stands in her way. A party member with a neurological issue that causes chronic anhedonia has been seeking Hazel out to help treat her condition, and Hazel knew this ahead of time, setting up a trap to have the ghost of a man this party member magically mutilated possess her to keep this PC from evading arrest.

[fopamine-machine]

💕 Welcome! 💕

Finally made a F/O / selfship blog!! It's still a bit of a WIP for now so I'm sorry if it's a lil ugly atm but... Howdy everybody! <3

This is a sideblog, so I'll follow from my main @mrstinderstauf!

Most of my info is under the cut! Thanks for visiting, and I hope you like your stay!

F/Os:

General Tags:

Humboldt Manley Tinderstauf (Pyre)

Otto Octavius (Raimiverse / MCU)

Otto Octavius (The Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon)

The Narrator (The Stanley Parable)

Hizashi Yamada/Present Mic (My Hero Academia)

Guzma (Pokemon Sun & Moon)

Clavell (Pokemon Scarlet & Violet)

Astarion (Baldur's Gate 3)

Liam de Lioncourt (Monster Prom)

DJ Subatomic Supernova (No Straight Roads)

Sans (Undertale)

Spamton (Deltarune)

Stan & Ford Pines (Gravity Falls)

Starscream & Knock Out (Transformers: Prime)

Jack Horner (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)

Nordic Bunny (Shred Force)

Sir Pentious (Hazbin Hotel)

Commissions / Art Trades:

💬 The Chattering Lack of Common Sense 💬 - Text Post

💕 Lovesongs 💕 - General F/O Post

💭 Imaginary Love Story 💭 - Imagine Post

✍️ Hack Writer ✍️ - Fic Post

🎨 Miracle Paint 🎨 - Art Post

💌 Dynamic Letter 💌 - Ask Post

🍎 Reincarnation Apple 🍎 - Sona/Self-Insert Post

Always open! Pricing can be found on main atm, but feel free to message here! Trades are always open for mutuals!

[metaihead]

abt the character thingy

Stan from south park

WHY I LIKE HIM: he's so Real . addictive personality , depressed as hell , breaking down when ur codependent best friend leaves for an hour .. so true

WHY I DONT: he's an asshole but that's also why i love him

FAV EPISODE: butterballs

FAV LINE: "did you know in south park - uhah" that laugh kills me

FAV OUTFIT: preschool stan

OTP: stan and kyle my favs

BROTP: stan and wendy my fav brotp

HEADCANON: he loves chick flicks

UNPOPULAR OPINION: idk if this is unpopular but hes an asshole and ppl shldnt erase that . thats part of his character . as much 'older brother energy' he has , he's also a social conformist sometimes and makes fun of people .

WISH: N/A

DONT HAPPEN: N/A

5 WORDS: nuanced , good , pragmatic , moral , disillusioned .

NICKNAME: stanley the manley

[acoreu]

Stanley was a Manley who pushed buttons all day

You’re only still playing instead of watching a cutscene because I want to watch you for every moment that you’re powerless, to see you made humble.

[little-nobody]

me: omg hehe my comfort movie that I've watched 3 times in a row today they make me so happy bc they work together and they are there for eachother and they just so <3

everyone else: finn, a clown bites off a kids arm within the first 15 minutes of the movie

[vampire-scones]

Can you give us a sneak peek of the stozier fic 😳👉👈

I give you, a little snippet of Stozier UwU 

Richie was rolling the joints on the couch as Stan came in with the pizza. He gave Richie a small smile as he watched. 

“I still don’t get how you can do that so well. Every time I try and roll one I never make it tight enough.” 

“Practice my dear boy. Not everyone can be a renaissance master on their first try.” Richie said with a wide grin. 

Stan rolled his eyes but the smile stayed on his lips. He set the pizza box down on the coffee table before deciding that it would be too greasy and he needed to put it on a plate instead. Stan grabbed three plates from the kitchen and returned to the living room. He set the pizza box on one and put the other two to the side for him and Richie to use. Richie finished rolling his last joint and looked up at Stan. 

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten mad at me for rolling on the couch. You must really be that stressed.” 

Stan made a face at Richie before slowly sitting down on the couch and sinking into it. “I’ve grown to trust that you are somewhat careful and that you will clean up in the morning. But to answer that assumption, yes, I am incredibly stressed and ready to just let it all go.” 

[toziersbabe]

stan wears mom jeans.

bill wears jorts.

richie wears...these

[guacfinn]

Give Stan the Man some space

Richie:*glances in stan’s general direction*

Stan: I feel personally attacked rn

[vampire-scones]

I lowkey get salty at the lack of Stanley Uris content. I love that man and all he is. Favourite character, got me into bird watching and now I’m obsessed.

U ever just see anything related to Stanley Uris and go

[letterboxd-loggd]

When Were You Born (1938) William C. McGann

July 30th 2022

[macrolit]

Literary history that happened on 17 July

[kwebtv]

Married: The First Year  -  CBS  -  February 28, 1979 - March 21, 1979

Drama (3 episodes)

Running Time:  60 minutes

Stars:

Leigh McCloskey as Billy Baker

Cindy Grover as Joanna Huffman-Baker

Claudette Nevins as Barbara Huffman

K Callan as Cathy Baker

Stanley Grover as Bert Baker

Gigi Vorgan as Cookie Levin

Stepfanie Kramer as Sharon Kelly

Gary Epp as Tom Liberatore

Stephen Manley as Donny Baker

Jennifer McAllister as Millie Baker

Christine Belford as Emily Gorey

[fereality-indy]

Cause Ya Know Stan “Adopted” The Whole Gang

Sprout: My boys are crazy, they won't stop trashing our farm. Manly Dan: Please, you think that's crazy? My boys fight for makeup supplies. Shandra: Ha! My girls have nearly destroyed the house about five times. Stan: *drinking apple flavored beer straight from the bottle* Pacifica is pretending she has amnesia, Tambry is only speaking backwards, Lee passionately discusses politics with inanimate objects, Mabel's pig leaves about a bucket of mud a day, Nate says wearing clothes is against his religion, Thompson won't stop talking to people on commercials about his life problems, Wendy and Dipper have covered all the walls of the Shack with constellation paintings, Grenda and Marius make cow noises everytime I speak, Gideon has about ten imaginary friends he talks to, and everytime Robbie takes a shower he screams "LET ME DROWN!" over and over again at the top of his lungs. Sprout: Manly Dan: Shandra: Shandra: How are you able to be here? Stan: Soos and Melody are taking care of it. Stan: But I'm sure I'm gonna come home to find the whole Shack has been burned down.

[lizabethstucker]

Book Review: Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries

Edited by Otto Penzler

An ARC from NetGalley due to be published 5 July 2022. Thanks to Penzler Publishers and distributor W. W. Norton for approval.

A “locked room” mystery is actually a crime that appears to have been impossible to commit based on location or surroundings.  While a locked room itself is the most common, it can also be a physical location such as a snow-covered landscape with only the murder victim’s footprints in the snow.  The Golden Age of detective fiction is usually considered to be the years between the two world wars.  Penzler has selected fourteen short stories from some of the best authors of that period, ranging from those well-known to this day and others who have faded into obscurity, recognized only by die-hard mystery fans of the era.  While a few publication dates fall past the period, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume they were still written within that time frame.

While the digital ARC I was provided had numerous format and spelling errors, I am confident that these will be addressed before the final product is released.  Be prepared for out-of-date slang, different attitudes towards women, the poor, and the working class.  Surprisingly enough, the racism common to the period appears to have been carefully eliminated (or possibly edited out).  

The introductions are some of the best that I’ve seen in collections since Isaac Asimov passed away.  I love the look at both the author and the story, its history, and whether there have been films and/or television series based on the stories (or series characters, if appropriate).  This collection is definitely for the die-hard mystery fan who has either delved into this era or would like to.  As with every collection, there are highs and lows.  My favorite would have to be “The Light at Three O’Clock” by MacKinlay Kantor.  Definitely a winner of a collection.  3.5 out of 5 stars overall.

_____________

“Elsewhen” by Anthony Boucher.  (Published in 1946)  Amateur inventor Harrison Partridge accidentally discovers a time machine, immediately beginning to dream of fame and fortune as well as marrying the much younger Faith Preston.  Unfortunately the time travel is only to the past and only for less than an hour earlier, making it essentially worthless to those who might be interested in the device.  However, when Faith announces her engagement to a handsome young man of wealth and status, it sets Harrison onto a murderous path in which his time machine is an essential part.  A locked room murder, a hapless suspect in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a desperate fiancee, all mixed with a time machine.  Lots of unrealized potential in Boucher’s story.  The mixture of mystery and science fiction might’ve been better served in a longer novella format which would’ve allowed more time to develop Fergus O’Breen, the series private detective brought in to solve the crime by Faith.  Harrison was the best developed character, even generating pity and some sympathy.  Not one of Boucher’s best, but also not bad.  3 out of 5.

“Whistler’s Murder” by Fredric Brown.  (1946)  Can also be found as “Mr. Smith Protects His Client”.  Henry Smith of Phalanx Insurance Co. was called to discuss a lapsed life insurance policy.  Upon arriving at the young man’s residence, Henry discovers his client’s uncle was murdered and his client is under arrest.  However the Sheriff cannot understand how the murderer actually gained access to the house without being seen by two private guards who were posted on the roof.  Almost cozy, with a soft-spoken protagonist whose demeanor invites others to speak freely with him.  The solution was cute, if you can call discovering who the murderers are with that term.  A fun read.  3.5 out of 5.

“The Third Bullet” by John Dickson Carr.  (1937 in England as a novella; 1948 in the U.S. in an edited form)  This is the shorter version.  Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Colonel Marquis is intrigued by Inspector Page’s latest case, the murder of Justice Mortlake.  It happened in almost plain sight of Page and a fellow officer, yet Page has serious doubts as to the identity of the perpertrator.  A bit convoluted and with so much detail about pretty much everything to the point of boredom.  My experience with Carr in the past has always been the same, long drawn out scenes as if he was writing in the early 1800s, not 1900s.  If this is the shorter version, I cannot imagine what the longer one contained!  By the time I was about halfway through the story, I didn’t really care who was guilty or how it was done.  I did manage to struggle through, but to be honest, if this wasn’t an ARC, I probably would’ve DNF’d it.  2 out of 5.

“Fingerprint Ghost” by Joseph Commings.  (1947)  Senator Brooks U. Banner is told of a mysterious murder by a fellow magician.  When the police finally admitted they had no clues or leads, the family turned to a medium to get answers.  The magician Larry Drollen challenges the medium as well as hoping he can draw the murderer out into the open.  Banner is a lumbering caricature of an amateur detective, yet there is still a charm about him that would’ve had me wanting to delve into more stories in this series.  Stage magic, freak show marriages, and misdirections galore all combine into a delightful mystery with a clever solution.  CW:  off-page suicide, fetuscide.  4 out of 5.

“The Calico Dog” by Mignon G. Eberhart.  (1934)  Mrs. Idabelle Lasher, widow of multi-millionaire Jeremiah Lasher, is in a quandary.  Twenty years ago their four year old son Derek disappeared with his nursemaid.  Now two men, Derek and Duane, have appeared, claiming that they are the missing heir.  Young Susan Dare, a mystery writer, is asked to find out which man is telling the truth, if either.  Her plan to reveal the truth may put in motion more than she anticipated.  As much a thriller as a mystery, but definitely a fun read.  Dare is a bit careless with her plotting, but she definitely has her heart in the right place.  4 out of 5.

“The Exact Opposite” by Erle Stanley Gardner.  (1941)  Lester Leigh has been both a private investigator and a thief in the manner of Robin Hood, stealing from the crooked rich and giving the proceeds to charity, minus a 20% “recovery” fee.  His valet, called Scuttle by Leith, is actually a spy who reports to police sergeant Arthur Ackley, a man obsessed with putting Leith in jail.  Well aware of this, Leith plants misinformation with the undercover operator to be shared with a frustrated Ackley.  Scuttle brings the murder of adventurer George Navin and the theft of a sacred ruby to his attention.  Leith claims he has promised himself to stop working out any more academic crime solutions, but is tempted by this one.  Huh.  I’m not certain what to say about this story.  The use of a thief as the hero is a trope that I’ve always loved, whether television series such as “It Takes a Thief”, “Garrison’s Gorillas”, “Leverage”, and “The Saint” (as well as the books) or films in the same vein.  A twisty plan to get results that aren’t explained at the start is also more than acceptable.  Despite all that, I just found it hard to lose myself in the story.  The characters are fascinating as to be expected from the writer of the Perry Mason book series.  Basically I found this to be too much setup for such a short story.  The ending, however, was a delight.  3 out of 5.

“The Light at Three O’Clock” by MacKinlay Kantor.  (1930)  Switchboard operator Eddie Shultz is ready to quit when the buzzer and light for Room 22 keeps activating and there is no answer other than gurgling or rough breaths.  The room is supposed to be unoccupied after the only resident was murdered the night before, or so the police believe to have happened.  The body, based on the flimsy evidence, was taken away by the ones behind the attack.  Now this was a ride!  Part suspense, beginning with an undercurrent of horror, leading into the locked room mystery itself.  I absolutely loved this story, from start to finish.  5 out of 5.

“The Episode of the Nail and the Requiem” by C. Daly King.  (1935)  While accompanying an apartment manager to the penthouse over a report of music played over and over again, Trevis Tarrant recognized the song as a requiem mass.  With no answer to banging on the door or calls to the room telephone, Tarrant climbs up to peer through the skylight.  There he observes the body of a naked young woman, a knife protruding from under her left breast.  A relatively tightly constructed mystery from an author who truly deserves more attention.  This is more a “howdunnit” rather than a “who-” or “why-”.  3.5 out of 5.    

“The Riddle of the Yellow Canary” by Stuart Palmer.  (1934)  Schoolteacher and amateur sleuth Hildegard Withers is invited by NYPD Inspector Oliver Piper to the site of a suspected suicide as a way of showing how the police differentiate between a murder and a suicide.  Everything seems to point to suicide, but something about it bothers Withers and she begins to investigate further.  Quite possibly one of Palmer’s most known characters, Hildegarde is not the usual female protagonist.  Smart, yes, but definitely not beautiful or even handsome in looks, the kind of older spinster who is a background character most of the time.  She’s loud, tall, opinionated, and forceful when she needs to be.  As to this inverted detective story (where the reader already knows who did the crime and how – think the television series “Columbo”), a rarity in mystery fiction, the author has done a bang-up job from start to finish.  3.5 out of 5. 

“The House of Haunts” by Ellery Queen.  (1935)  Can also be found as “The Lamp of God”.  Ellery Queen is a man who believes in science and logic, a confirmed agnostic whose faith is in facts not fancy.  When a lawyer friend calls for help, Queen agrees to go despite not knowing what is going on, but hearing a level of disturbance in his friend’s voice that concerns him.  He is told to act as if he knows what is going on, not to ask any questions, leaving Queen to use what little information his friend can relay as well as what he can observe.  There are strong gothic vibes within this mystery tale.  The length is extreme for a short story, taking close to 20% of the collection.  An extremely sloooooow read with a very convoluted plot and solution.  I can see it appealing to many readers, but sadly I am not one of them.  3 out of 5.

“Off the Face of the Earth” by Clayton Rawson.  (1949)  The Great Merlini is fascinated by the information relayed to him by NYPD Inspector Gavigan regarding the Helen Hope disappearance.  A man who claims to be from the dark cloud of Antares predicted her disappearance down to the date and time it would happen.  Now he’s predicting the same for the Judge overseeing his arraignment.  When that prediction comes true as well, in plain sight of two police officers, Merlini is determined to discover exactly how it was accomplished.  I did enjoy this one!  Mixing magic and mystery is something I truly enjoy when done right.  And Rawson, an illusionist himself, definitely knows how to set-up the trick as well as sell it to his audience.  I’m very pleased with the story and the characters within.  4 out of 5.

“His Heart Could Break” by Craig Rice.  (1943)  Shyster lawyer John J. Malone is furious when, while visiting his client on Death Row, the young man is found hanging in his cell.  The man lives just long enough to utter “it wouldn’t break” to Malone before he dies.  There was no reason for suicide considering Malone had finagled a new trial for him.  Believing that his fees will go unpaid, Malone decides his only chance is to find the motive behind the hanging as well as how the rope was delivered and by who.  It’s funny, as much as I enjoy stories with thieves and con-artists as the “heroes”, I strongly dislike those with crooked cops and lawyers.  Here Malone doesn’t spare a moment to mourn his client’s cruel death, only the possible loss of his money.  The prison-based song weaving through the story was an unusual touch, but well done.  As was the solution to the mystery.  3.5 out of 5. 

“Murder Among Magicians” by Manley Wade Wellman.  (1939)  Five musicians, four men and one woman, are invited to master magician and escape artist Securtaris’ isolated island.  When a practical joke turns fatal, Homicide detective Grinstead must make his way there through the impending storm to determine what happened.  So melodramatic, but in a good way.  There is also a touch of blossoming romance, multiple secrets that spill out during the investigation and informal reading of the will, and a surprisingly satisfying conclusion.  Almost Christie-like in the telling.  3.5 out of 5.

“Murder at the Automat” by Cornell Woolrich.  (1937)  Police detective Nelson and his partner Sarecky are called to an automat for the death of a man while eating.  When the ambulance intern recognizes suspicious powder both on the man’s mouth and in the bologna sandwich, Nelson realizes it is murder.  There were three other men, all strangers, eating at the same table, but one of them slipped away before the police could lock the place down.  Nelson’s partner and captain are both convinced this is the killer.  Nelson believes the man is innocent, but cannot say anything until he can find the real murderer.  WARNING:  contains police brutality (or as we call it nowadays, enhanced interrogation) and severe violation of a suspect’s rights.  Nelson is a good cop, more interested in arresting the right man for the crime than grabbing whoever is to hand.  An intriguing mystery with well-drawn out characters, good and bad.  [For those too young to know or remember, automats were like cafeterias in many ways.  Only the food would be put behind glass compartment doors.  You would put your coin(s) in, usually a nickel or dime during that period, the door would unlock, and you would pull out your food.  All self-serve.  I was lucky enough to go to one of the last automats in New York City when I was young and, while the food wasn’t the best, it wasn’t bad for the price.]  4 out of 5.