#the man from beyond 1922

[fullcolorfright]

The Man from Beyond (1922, dir. Burton L. King, American)

[weirdlookindog]

The Man from Beyond (1922)

[housewilson]

A MASTERLIST OF ALL THE BOOKS I COULD FIND IN TIM'S BOOKSHELVES

As someone who basically sees Tim Laughlin as my own version of Jesus Christ (I kind of wish I was lying but I have a 'beyond measure' tattoo branding my skin so perhaps I'm entirely serious), I simply needed to know what was on those shelves of his. And this was a hard task to achieve, believe me... but I got much farther than I initially thought I would.

(I've got so much to say about all of these books and how they might string together to create a deeper understanding of Tim as a character but I won't go into it here... maybe in a future post or video essay, who knows).

If you wish to help a girl out and attempt to figure out any of the other books I simply can not crack no matter how I look at the screenshots and mess with the adjustments... here's a folder full of 2k sized screenshots of those shelves.

Before I list the books one by one, I want to make a couple observations:

1) Almost all of the books I was able to pinpoint are non-fiction. The ones that aren't are children's books.

2) Topically, we see an interdisciplinary interest in:

History: from a book on a king in 4BC, to a survey of landholding in England in the 11th century.

Somewhat current historical events: books on World War I and II.

Western Philosophers: specially from the 16th to the 18th century.

Aesthetics: there's at least 2 books on the subject matter, but I couldn't find the second one, sadly.

Spirituality: not only christian/catholic; some of these books touch on Eastern practices such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

Fairy tales / children's books.

Psychology: specially in regards to mysticism and sexuality.

Science and scientific discovery/research.

3) A lot of the history, current events, and spirituality books are autobiographies/memoirs.

4) A lot of books (specially those on sciences and philosophy) tend to be more so anthologies or overviews on a subject matter rather than a book written by one specific author on one very concrete topic.

Overall, this all reflects very well an idea Jonathan Bailey himself expressed in a brilliant interview you can watch here if you haven't yet:

"Tim has buddhist flags in his 1980s flat in San Francisco, he has crystals, he is someone who is always seeking other ways to understand human experience. Which is probably tiring for him. Throughout the decades, he sort of appears as completely different people. At the crux of it there's this extreme grinding, contrasting, aggressive duality between feeling lovable and not feeling lovable. There's such shame in Tim. But it's the push and the pull which keeps him alive.”

This desire to understand human psychology, spirituality, and the ways of the universe through as many diverse lenses as possible, as well as a predilection for non-fiction, expresses very much to me that insatiable thirst for truth that defines his character so strongly.

OKAY, THAT BEING SAID. Here's the list in chronological order of publication.

PS. if you decided to click on any of the following titles it'd definitely not take you to a google drive link of the pdf file where you could download and read these books for yourself. Because that would be illegal and wrong.

Journeys through Bookland by Charles H. Sylvester (1901?) (1922 Edition)

I don't know which specific volume he owns, sorry, I tried my best but the number is not discernible (hell, the title barely is). If anyone wants the download link to these hmu because I'm not about to individually download all 10 right now.

10 volumes of poems, myths, Bible stories, fairy tales, and excerpts from children's novels, as well as a guide to the series. It has been lauded as ‘a new and original plan for reading, applied to the world’s best literature for children.’

Pilgrimage by Graham Seton Hutchison (1936)

This book provides a view of the battlefields of WW I through the eyes of the average fighting man. 

One curious thing about this book is that it's author, a British First World War army officer and military theorist, went on to become a fascist activist later in his life. Straight from Wikipedia:

"Seton Hutchison became a celebrated figure in military circles for his tactical innovations during the First World War but would later become associated with a series of fringe fascist movements which failed to capture much support even by the standards of the far right in Britain in the interbellum period." He made a contribution to First World War fiction with his espionage novel, The W Plan."

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (1948) 

The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in one of the most demanding Catholic orders—the Trappist monks. At the Abbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," Thomas Merton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after he has fully immersed himself in it. At the abbey, he wrote this extraordinary testament, a unique spiritual autobiography that has been recognized as one of the most influential religious works of our time. Translated into more than twenty languages, it has touched millions of lives.

This book requires no introduction. It's the one he keeps the Fire Island's postcard in and the one we see him re-reading in episode 8 after Hawk brings it to the hospital with him at the end of episode 7.

Just a little detail I noticed:

Apparently he liked the book so much he visited Gethsemani, which was the home of its author all the way up till 1968.

For all we know, he might have even met its author!

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred Charles Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy (1948)

When published in 1948 this volume encountered a storm of condemnation and acclaim. It is, however, a milestone on the path toward a scientific approach to the understanding of human sexual behavior. Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey and his fellow researchers sought to accumulate an objective body of facts regarding sex. They employed first hand interviews to gather this data. This volume is based upon histories of approximately 5,300 males which were collected during a fifteen year period. This text describes the methodology, sampling, coding, interviewing, statistical analyses, and then examines factors and sources of sexual outlet.

Yes, Charles Kinsey is indeed behind the Kinsey scale that has done so much for the LGBTQ+ community.

Their Finest Hour (1949), The Grand Alliance (1950), and Closing the Ring (1951) by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill's six-volume history of the cataclysm that swept the world remains the definitive history of the Second World War. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction and is an enduring, compelling work that led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. 

The European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche by Monroe C. Beardsley (1960)

In so far as we reflect upon ourselves and our world, and what we are doing in it, says the editor of this anthology, we are all philosophers. And therefore we are very much concerned with what the twelve men represented in this book--the major philosophers on the Continent of Europe--have to say to us, to help us build our own philosophy, to think things out in our own way. For the issues that we face today are partly determined by the work of thinkers of earlier generations, and no other time is more important to the development of Western thought than is the 250-year period covered by this anthology. Monroe. C. Beardsley, Professor of Philosophy at Swarthmore College, has chosen major works, or large selections from them, by each man, with supplementary passages to amplify or clarify important points. These include: Descartes - Discourse on Method (Descartes), Thoughts (Pascal), The Nature of Evil (Spinoza), The Relation Between Soul and Body (Leibniz), The Social Construct (Rousseau), Critique of Pure Reason (Kant), The Vocation of Man (Fichte), Introducciton to the Philosophy of History (Hegel), The World as Will and Idea (Schopenhauer), A General View of Positivism (Comte), The Analysis of Sensations and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical (Mach), Beyond Good and Evil (Nietzsche).

The New Intelligent Man's Guide to Science by Isaac Asimov (1965)

Asimov tells the stories behind the science: the men and women who made the important discoveries and how they did it. Ranging from Galilei, Achimedes, Newton and Einstein, he takes the most complex concepts and explains it in such a way that a first-time reader on the subject feels confident on his/her understanding. Assists today's readers in keeping abreast of all recent discoveries and advances in physics, the biological sciences, astronomy, computer technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other sciences.

The Heavenly City of the 18th Philosophers by Carl L. Becker (1932) (1962 reprint)

Here a distinguished American historian challenges the belief that the eighteenth century was essentially modern in its temper. In crystalline prose Carl Becker demonstrates that the period commonly described as the Age of Reason was, in fact, very far from that; that Voltaire, Hume, Diderot, and Locke were living in a medieval world, and that these philosophers “demolished the Heavenly City of St. Augustine only to rebuild it with more up-to-date materials.” In a new foreword, Johnson Kent Wright looks at the book’s continuing relevance within the context of current discussion about the Enlightenment.

I find the particular choice of adding this book very curious and on brand, since it explores the idea that philosophers of the Enlightenment very much resembled religious dogma/faith in their structure and purpose. Just... A+ of the props department to not just add any kind of book on philosophy anthology.

Herod The Great by Michael Grant (1971)

The Herod of popular tradition is the tyrannical King of Judaea who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents and died a terrible death in 4 BC as the judgment of God. But this biography paints a much more complex picture of this contemporary of Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and the Emperor Augustus. Herod devoted his life to the task of keeping the Jews prosperous and racially intact. To judge by the two disastrous Jewish rebellions that occurred within a hundred and fifty years of his death -- those the Jews called the First and Second Roman Wars -- he was not, in the long run, completely successful. For forty years Herod walked the most precarious of political tightropes. For he had to be enough of a Jew to retain control of his Jewish subjects, and enough of a pro-Roman to preserve the confidence of Rome, within whose territory his kingdom fell. For more than a quarter of a century he was one of the chief bulwarks of Augustus' empire in the east. He made Judaea a large and prosperous country. He founded cities and built public works on a scale never seen before: of these, recently excavated Masada is a spectacular example. And he did all this in spite of a continuous undercurrent of protest and underground resistance. The numerous illustrations presents portraits and coins, buildings and articles of everyday use, landscapes and fortresses, and subsequent generations' interpretations of the more famous events, actual and mythical, of Herod's career.

Readings in the Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics compiled by Milton Charles Nahm (1975)

A college level comprehensive anthology of essays written on the arts and the field of aesthetic philosophy.

The Mustard Seed: Discourses on the Sayings of Jesus Taken from the Gospel According to Thomas by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1975)

This timely book explores the wisdom of the Gnostic Jesus, who challenges our preconceptions about the world and ourselves. Based on the Gospel of Thomas, the book recounts the missing years in Jesus’ life and his time in Egypt and India, learning from Egyptian secret societies, then Buddhist schools, then Hindu Vedanta. Each of Jesus' original sayings is the "seed" for a chapter of the book; each examines one aspect of life — birth, death, love, fear, anger, and more — counterpointed by Osho’s penetrating comments and responses to questions from his audience.

(You don't know how fulfilling it was to find some of these books and just sit there like "oh my god, yessss, he'd SO read that".)

A Third Testament by Malcolm Muggeridge (1976)

A modern pilgrim explores the spiritual wanderings of Augustine, Pascal, Blake, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Bonhoeffer. A Third Testament brings to life seven men whose names are familiar enough, but whose iconoclastic spiritual wanderings make for unforgettable reading. Muggeridge's concise biographies are an accessible and manageable introduction to these spiritual giants who carried on the testament to the reality of God begun in the Old and New Testaments. - St. Augustine, a headstrong young hedonist and speechwriter who turned his back on money and prestige in order to serve Christ - Blaise Pascal, a brilliant mathematician who pursued scientific knowledge but warned people against thinking they could live without God - William Blake, a magnificent artist-poet who pled passionately for the life of the spirit and warned of the blight that materialism would usher in - Soren Kierkegaard, a renegade philosopher who spent most of his life at odds with the church, and insisted that every person must find his own way to God - Fyodor Dostoevsky, a debt-ridden writer and sometime prisoner who found, in the midst of squalor and political turmoil, the still small voice of God - Leo Tolstoy, a grand old novelist who swung between idealism and depression, loneliness and fame and a duel awareness of his sinfulness and God s grace - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor whose writings and agonized involvement in a plot to kill Hitler cost him his life, but continue to inspire millions

Portraits: The photography of Carl Van Vechten (1978)

Can't find a file but you can borrow it from archive.com in the link provided.

During his career as a photographer, Carl Van Vechten’s subjects, many of whom were his friends and social acquaintances, included dancers, actors, writers, artists, activists, singers, costumiers, photographers, social critics, educators, journalists, and aesthetes. [...] As a promoter of literary talent and a critic of dance, theater, and opera, Carl Van Vechten was as interested in the cultural margin as he was in the day’s most acclaimed and successful people. His diverse subjects give a sense of both Carl Van Vechten’s interests and his considerable role in defining the cultural landscape of the twentieth century; among his many sitters one finds the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance, the premier actors and writers of the American stage, the world’s greatest opera stars and ballerinas, the most important and influential writers of the day, among many others.

Report of the Shroud of Turin by John H Heller (1983)

Heller, while a man of science, was nevertheless a devout man (Southern Baptist). He viewed his task concerning The Shroud with great scepticism; there have been far too many hoaxes in the world of religion. The book describes in great detail the events leading up to the team's conviction that the Shroud was genuine; last - not least - being Heller and Adler's verification of "heme" (blood) and the inexplicable "burned image" of the crucified man. Although carbon dating indicates that the image is not 2000 years old and that the cloth is from the Middle Ages, there is not enough evidence to disprove Heller's assertion that the Shroud is indeed genuine.

Context for those who may not know (though I doubt it's necessary): The shroud of Turin "is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus's bodily image is miraculously imprinted."

It is a very controversial subject matter and I definitely don't know that from going to an Opus Dei school since the day I was born till the day I graduated high school.

Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus by Israel Regardie (1985)

I've tried my hardest but despite many Israel Regardie books being on the world wide web, I can't find a copy of this specific one.

Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus, from the Small Gems series is one of these mysterious alchemys which Regardie and Spiegelman crafted for the serious student of mysticism. Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus by Dr. Israel Regardie and his friend, world renowned Jungian Psychologist, J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D. was created to reach the serious student at the intersecting paths of magic, mysticism and psychology. While each area of study overlaps they also maintain their own individual paths of truth. One of Regardie’s greatest gifts was his rare ability to combine these difficult and diverse subjects and make them understandable.

Domesday Book Through Nine Centuries by Elizabeth M. Hallam (1986)

In 1086 a great survey of landholding in England was carried out on the orders of William the Conqueror, and its results were recorded in the two volumes, which, within less than a century, were to acquire the name of Domesday, or the Book of Judgment 'because its decisions, like those of the last Judgment, are unalterable'. This detailed survey of the kingdom, unprecedented at that time in its scope, gives us an extraordinarily vivid impression of the life of the eleventh century.

The following two are a fuck up on the props department part because they were published after 1987 but we'll forgive them because they were not expecting for me to do all this to figure out the titles of these books, I'm sure:

The One Who Set Out to Study Fear by Peter Redgrove (1989)

This book barely exists physically, rest assured it does not exist online... LOL.

The author of The Wise Wound presents here a re-telling of Grimm's famous fairy tales, written in a manner and spirit more suited to the present day. Each story is rooted in the original, but cast in an energetic style that is both disrespectful and humorous. 

Essential Papers on Masochism by Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly (1995)

The contested psychoanalytic concept of masochism has served to open up pathways into less-explored regions of the human mind and behavior. Here, rituals of pain and sexual abusiveness prevail, and sometimes gruesome details of unconscious fantasies are constructed out of psychological pain, desperate need, and sexually excited, self- destructive violence. In this significant addition to the "Essential Papers in Psychoanalysis" series, Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly presents an anthology of the most outstanding writings in the psychoanalytic study of masochism. In bringing these essays together, Dr. Fitzpatrick Hanly expertly combines classic and contemporary theories by the most respected scholars in the field to create a varied and integrated volume. This collection features papers by S. Nacht, R. Loewenstein, Victor Smirnoff, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Laplanche, Robert Bak, Leonard Shengold, K. Novick, J. Novick, S. Coen, Margaret Brenman, Esther Menaker, S. Lorand, M. Balint, Bernhard Berliner, Charles Brenner, Helene Deutsch, Annie Reich, Marie Bonaparte, Jessica Benjamin, S.L. Olinick, Arnold Modell, Betty Joseph, and Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel.

Let's not forget another book we know has been present in his shelves at some point:

Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe (1929)

It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a depiction of Wolfe himself. The novel briefly recounts Eugene's father's early life, but primarily covers the span of time from Eugene's birth in 1900 to his definitive departure from home at the age of 19. The setting is a fictionalization of his home town of Asheville, North Carolina, called Altamont in the novel.

And Ron Nyswaner mentioned in a podcast (might be this one? I'm not sure) that he scrapped from the script a line where Tim recommends this poem at some point:

He specially emphasized the line "If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me".

And lastly, if anyone wanted to know:

His copy of the bible is the Revised Standard Version by Thomas Nelson from either 1952 or 1953.

Because why the hell not figure out what specific translation of the holy bible a fictional character was basing his beliefs on — as if the set designers cared nearly as much as I do.

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

I’m really curious as to your opinions on each of the Gatsby films. What do you think they did right/wrong? What do you like/dislike about casting choices? If you could make your ideal Gatsby movie rendition would you take any inspo from the existing movies?

(I would add the broadway musical into that list just for the heck of it but we all know that was just funky music loosely wrapped in Gatsby paper)

Oh good heavens...

Okay. So. I'll just talk about them in order of release. And again these are my OPINIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT I WAS ASKED FOR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WILL CRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO many spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

1926

Obviously this film is lost, but we have the trailer, photos, and Fitz's own reaction to it, which was to say he and Zelda left halfway through. It's not even based off the book, either, but based off a play based off the book, so one can imagine that given the filmmaking style of the time and its disconnect from the source material, it likely wasn't the most accurate adaptation.

Accuracy isn't everything in terms of what makes an adaptation 'good'—it's definitely a factor, though, along with entertainment value, justification for any alteration to the story, attention to detail, Genuine Caring For The Source Material, acting, casting, etc...all of these go into consideration, at least for me.

The casting seems alright for this version. Daisy has dark hair. Nick's taller than Jay and visibly, uhhhhhhhhh...well, like...have you ever heard of 'gay face'? But it ends about there, as Tom looks like he's 50, Jordan is...just not right, and as is often the case, Wilson is somehow beyond 'faintly handsome'? Do they just not have enough middies running around in Hollywood?

The costumes are obviously pretty accurate, though very clearly 1926 trying to do 1922. The skirts are. UP there. And I get that jay's shirts are monogrammed but a hand-sized monogram on each jacket? What? Did they think audiences would lose track of which brunette man was which?

Here's a photo. God nick is such a cunt look at him

I can't accurately give the whole film a rating but what I know of it gives it a 6.5/10. Bonus points to jay for pushing the no white shoes after labor day rule up to the very brink.

1949

...listen.

In terms of accuracy to the book, this is not the best. It's just not. It's a star vehicle for Alan Ladd who, at the time, was popping off hardcore in the film noir market, so they fiddle faddled with the tone a bit and shot it in black and white despite having access to color, amped up the crime (jay smokes some bitches in the first five minutes??? takes a hefty swing at a man at a party????) and then said uhhhhh what book are we adapting again?

East Egg and West Egg are scrambled, which goes against the whole 'east coast/old money' vs 'westerners/new money' thing. Nick and Jordan are married in the beginning before flashing back. Nick's just not hypocritical enough in this one, either, which is bothersome, because that's the whole point of his character in the novel—that he can't see his own faults for the more glaring faults of others.

They press fast forward a lot. Like there's no drive to new york or meyer lunch—nick and jay just snuggle in his boat watching the green light and jay tries to lie to nick and nick catches him immediately and jays like AH. YA GOT ME. HA HA. ?????????

if it weren't for alan ladd I would not watch this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love Macdonald Carey as Nick, but I think playing across from anyone else, this would be entirely forgettable and borderline unwatchable.

Alan Ladd. Alan Ladd. Where do I begin with Alan Motherfucking Ladd. This man is Jay Gatsby personified. I know that's controversial because 2013 has brainwashed people into thinking jay gatsby is over six feet tall, but there is something so distinctly perfect about casting a malnourished 5'7 midwestern blonde with such intense parental issues that he never recovered from the sickness that is an impoverished American childhood as jay gatsby. Alan Ladd was underestimated, spat on, put down from day fucking one. Every single time he got ahead in life he was cut down at the knees until finally, finally he found validation and celebrity in playing these soft-spoken, angel-faced killers onsreen. Only it wasn't enough. It was never enough. It could never fill that void and he could never get ahead of himself. You want to tell me that doesn't mirror the fuck out of Jay's life? You want to tell me there was a man in Hollywood at the time who could so deeply understand this character, even through the bullshit rewrites to try and mold the story into something it wasn't? There are even accounts of him taking reporters to his bedroom to show them his closet, saying 'not bad for an okie boy'. That's Jay. That's Jay in pure essence. Never having enough, and so excited to show what he had. Literally look into his past at all and you will mourn his lack of control over the direction the film took, because I know damn good and well if he had been more than just everybody's favorite film noir star at the time and a more respected name, he could have really pushed and pulled to peel back the story and pull better performances from the rest of the cast as a result.

Bonus points for having a really fucking weird Dan Cody and Ella Kaye. Both were distinctly, visibly, vocally predatory toward Jay and it's like the directors actually looked into prior drafts, even if I know damn good and well they didn't. I don't even know if they read the damn book.

Costumes were fine. I wish wish wish wish it had just been in color (THEY COULD HAVE DONE IT.) so that we could see if jay got his pink suit. I swear to god the sight of alan ladd in a pink suit would actually kill me.

I'll give this one a 7/10 overall, points dinging for accuracy to the novel and pacing and some really weird choices, like having jay come from the rainbow division in the war (????) to making nick like...offer to spank jordan. i don member THAT from the book. Most of these points come from Alan Ladd.

Uh. Here's myrtle getting hit by the car

1974

oh boy.

Where to begin? The film is a fucking mess. It's a goddamn motherfucking mess and I can only watch it if I cut Jay and Daisy out of it entirely, which is a shame, because I love both of their characters (for different reasons) but. oh my GOD.

So they got truman capote to write the screenplay at first. unfortunately he made nick and jay skinny dip, and jordan was a vindictive lesbian, and it was 1974 so they weren't about that noise at ALL. There's other stuff in that script too and it's honestly...not a great script to begin with, but that meant they had to REWRITE THE ENTIRE THING WITH JUST WEEKS TO GO BEFORE PRODUCTION. THEY ASKED FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (THE GODFATHER.) TO WRITE IT AND HE DID IT IN THREE WEEKS IN A HOTEL ROOM, HAVING BEEN UNFAMILIAR WITH THE BOOK, THEN CLAIMED THEY DIDN'T EVEN USE HIS SCRIPT AFTER ALL??? HUH? HUH WHUH?

you can tell. oh boy you can tell. 'jay' and 'daisy' sit around talking in silent rooms for several minutes at a time, just...expositioning all over the place. it's...astonishing.

that's another thing. i...am aware mia farrow is a beloved actress and she did wonderful things onscreen in other films but she is totally and completely unwatchable as daisy. if I knew no other adaptation, she would make me hate daisy with a blind fucking rage. it's not even that she's a bad actress in this—she just does not fit the role even a LITTLE. she's shrill and loud and like...i don't know if she's on coke or what (I mean it's the 70s.) but she just whines and flails her way through the film in an entirely undaisy sort of way. like where is this girl with the sad, lovely face and the voice that's a deathless song? her voice isn't full of money in this, it's counterfeit. she owes me a debt for making me have to listen to her. she only got the job because her name was big at the time and she just asked for it and got it, no audition, no screen test, no nothing. i wish they would have switched lois chiles into daisy's role rather than have her playing jordan, because she was just a much better match for the character.

1974 has one of my favorite toms at least. I've said it before but he's got that sort of frustrated, unsatisfied disinterest, a sort of distraction about him that really lends well to the whole notion of forever chasing down his college days and all that.

WEIRD fuckin chester mckee in this one, but points for being the first fuckin film to show my man onscreen! there's even an elevator scene in this one but it's not between nick and chester, unfortunately. though there is immense sexual tension regardless.

SPEAKING OF NICK! SAM WATERSTON MY BELOVED!!!!

Yet again another flawless casting along the lines of Alan Ladd as Jay. He's such a bitch. I don't think Nick is the same if he's not a cynical gay little cunt some of the time and despite being apparently one of the nicest people in Hollywood, sam just GETS IT. HERE is someone who floats above reproach like his shit don't stink. HERE is someone who will throw the blame on just about anyone but himself—and has to let jay into that same bubble of protection. HERE is someone who knows he's useless but is too afraid to admit it to himself because he's turning 30 and is about to face a crisis of mortality. he's judgemental and critical and somehow pulls off the sort of mind-altering gay panic nick very explicitly experiences around jay every 5 seconds in prior drafts of the book. i wish you all understood how hot nick thinks gatsby is. i wish you all knew what I know. sam waterston knows. and he gets it. he also just looks like nick. like crooked teeth and awkward nose and all. that's nick. i wanna kick him in the shins.

i gotta talk about jay's house in this one. it's bad. why does he live in a greek temple. like. nick describes jay's house in the book. he does. he's a faux provincial palace. almost a fairytale castle. that's on purpose. why. is he living in a marble box. is it supposed to be a tomb. are you making death jokes. fuck you Robert Redford

speaking of Robert Redford. did anyone let him know who he was playing in the movie or did you just hand him a script and tell him to start wherever. I get that jay isn't known for his brains but I have never seen a more confused lead in a film does he even know the camera is rolling or does he do that naturally

costuming is unmemorable and inoffensive except

YOU CALL THAT PINK? PINK?

6/10. Saved by Sam Waterston. Rendered unwatchable by Mia Farrow.

2000

OH BROTHER THIS GUY STINKS

No seriously who let the BBC do this. 5 million dollar budget and they used 4.9 of it on jordan's fuck ass bob.

I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should start at the beginning. The movie opens to Jay dead in the pool, which is the best part of the movie because he's dead.

Nothing about this film is good. I...I hate to say that because I try to find a little good in every adaptation but holy CHRIST. I have only seen this one in parts because I physically cannot sit and watch the whole thing at once.

Nick is played by Paris from Romeo+Juliet. He's not good. Even the one scene I kind of sort of like, at the end where he burns all of jay's papers(?????) is kind of undercut because HE STILL WRITES THE BOOK?? THE EXPOSE??? WHY BOTHER??? HE'S ALREADY DEAD????

I don't remember tom in this. I barely remember Jordan, but she's really, really into Nick and it's kind of upsetting to watch from a visceral standpoint. It's very uncanny valley. That's a NotJordan. the real jordan would never.

it gets worse.

Whoever thought they should cast whatever his name is as Jay—death. death to all of them. That is the most smarmy, leering, dickweed of a dude I have ever had the displeasure of existing near. It's like if the jay equivalent of people who make hating daisy their entire personality got to design jay's characterization for this film. There are no good parts to him. It's just like every single person who's boiled him down to jUsT a CrEePy StAlKeR OWO got to write a film. i would even be down for that point of view if it was well-acted and well written but UNFORTUNATELY, THE ACTING BUDGET WENT TO JORDAN'S WIG,

I can't even remember. 1974 and 2000 blend together for me.

The costuming is so bad but like. whatever. i thought I could live with it.

until.

oh dear god why does daisy have 2007 hollister hair it's 1917

you get more than one photo this time because I know most people haven't seen this film

tell me this didn't come off a CW vampire show in 2011

IS THAT RENESMEE?

SMILEDOG IS THAT YOU?

THE HAIR?

and of course, jordan's 4.9million dollar fuckass bob

Like i get it. period dramas are hard. but good fucking god. im so uncomfortable looking at every single person in this film

BONUS:

1/10 only because i get to watch NotJay die twice

i need a breather

...

2013

okay

In terms of direct, faithful adaptation, I think this one is the best. Like they didn't technically skimp on anything super major, didn't really try to put scenes in a blender. There's clearly, like. a whole script.

I'm already a Baz Luhrmann fan. I have been since the 7th grade when I saw this little movie called—

Romeo + Juliet. No, not tgg. I saw that next, though, and was obsessed. Love. Love!

I love when you can tell an adaptation is made by someone who actually cares about adapting the source material. Very key words there. Adapting. Source Material. Cares About. Because all of these other adaptations are clearly just looking to use a classic novel to make a movie but bazco clearly wanted to Adapt The Great Gatsby For Modern (At the time) Audiences.

I like a lot of the decisions made there. Casting an Indian actor as Meyer Wolfshiem—even if it goes against the explicit description of him in the book as this small beady eyed little weirdo, I think it was a better call to give a lesser-known (to American audiences) poc actor a role rather than continue digging the antisemitic hole Fitzgerald decided to dig himself for some reason.

The music too. It gets so much flack but I totally get what Baz was going for and it was honestly a little ahead of its time in 2013. To take a very White story (I could talk about the implications of Jay being mixed/black/otherwise poc all day) and apply our generation's equivalent of jazz ("oversexualized black people music") to forcing modern white audiences to face the fact that we absolutely will still sit here and find any reason to try and justify the erasure of black influence on the culture of America at any given point—it's chef's kiss. Shut the fuck up about it. I'm tired of hearing shit about the music being anachronistic. Yes, I would have loved to hear more period-accurate rejuvenated jazz covers in there. NO it would not be swing because hey bitch that too is anachronistic, it wasn't around in 1922. You can't have it both ways. Baz had a point to make and he teamed up with JAY Z to make it and yet again a bunch of white nerds got mad that they had to confront their internalized racism.

Yes, it is that deep. Everything is. To pretend it isn't is cowardice.

Anyway! The CGI pisses me off. It always will. If it's marvel or mordor I really don't give a damn, with that kind of budget you can afford some practical effects and save the CGI for moments where it can ACCENTUATE the practical effects to heighten the sense of mystification Nick undoubtedly felt upon entering this world. There's just no excuse for a lot of their effects and it's very disappointing to think of them trying to act in all these hollow blue environments.

Finally, FINALLY there's some depth to nick and jay's interactions. There's been this sort of disconnect in every other adaptation thus far and I'll give credit to Tobey Maguire and Leo DiCaprio for being friends for six thousand years before taking these roles, because the chemistry is Something Else.

that being said. tobey maguire was a really weird choice for nick carraway. I...don't really see it. I've called it Gooberfication before, as if they're sort of dumbing down his character and making him more palatable for the audience. I don't think it was an acting choice on Tobey's part but a choice made by the filmmakers themselves. There's no point in the book where Nick tries to make himself out as this friendly aw shucks ah geez scuse me ass goober, even when he's trying to claim he's like this unjudgemental dude. He lets you know outright that he'll do just about anything to get out of a conversation. He lies about his relationships, breaks up with people on a whim, is cynical and critical and has a barb to his tongue EVEN AROUND JAY (like when he considers asking to see Jay's rubies, knowing damn well he doesn't have any fuckin rubies.) And that's BEFORE jay dies. He's even worse after that, and I do appreciate the framing device of having Nick write this book while in recovery from...That Event.

which brings me to Baz Luhrmann Ships Natsby, Fuck You. He does. Oh my god. How are they queerer here than in actual fics I've written? Literal fireworks when they meet??? Nick being the one to call jay and hear the gunfire. that is his HUSBAND. "he did not know it (his dream) was already behind him" AS NICK STANDS BEHIND AN IMAGINED VERSION OF JAY. NICK HAVING TO PUT HIMSELF AWAY IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL AFTER GRIEVING HIM FOR YEARS???? BECOMING AN ALCOHOLIC INSOMNIAC WITH DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND FITS OF ANGER?????????????? BECAUSE HIS NEIGHBOR HE KNEW FOR THREE MONTHS DIED???????????????????????????? H. HELLO?

GOD.

Anyway. Speaking of their meeting, the song used in the background is Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, which was professed by Fitz to have been THEE gatsby song, so that's a very nice touch. All the newspapers about Jay are written by prior Fitz characters. Even the clippings in Jay's scrapbooks attempt to add realism to the world but they...don't make sense entirely but that's fine. I know the filmmakers read at least Trimalchio but I don't know if they read the Princeton Draft. Either way, good on them.

Will never forgive this film for twinkifying Nick Carraway. Will never forgive it for planting the seed of top jay/bottom nick in the minds of the youth. I completely blame this movie for it. I don't think Jay was even topping Daisy at this point. He couldn't top a sundae. Even if he's played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

SPEAKING OF DAISY!!!!! I think Carey Mulligan did a damn good job at playing her accurately and as as much of a person as she could while still having the film's pov limited to Nick. Carey's a very good actor and she pretty clearly did her research to play Daisy, and was just very well cast. Now if the costume designers had simply allowed her to keep her natural hair color. Same with Jordan/Elizabeth Debicki. Daisy's brunette. Jordan's blonde. It's right there in the book in several places. I've talked about it forever. WHY would you go to the effort to change your actors' appearances when they were already accurate? Why? Why? Are you incapable of imagining a desirable woman who isn't blonde?

that being said, all jordan bakers should be 6'3. Elizabeth debicki, no notes.

tom's fine in this one. myrtle and George are too. chester actually gets to like. appear onscreen and try to get nick into the bedroom but UGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH of COURSE there's no elevator scene because nothing is ever fair or right or good. that's not MY chester (iykyk) but it is certainly A chester which is better than NO chester.

I would like to say that the Plaza scene in this film is the best of any of them. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jay was at a point in his health that if Wilson hadn't killed him, a heart attack would, and that's precisely the behavior exhibited in 2013's plaza scene. This is a man who has been twisting himself up into a tighter and tighter ball his entire life and has now just fucking sprung open because he's realized this is it, this is the end, everything I have done has been entirely pointless and I'm about the lose the one last fucking thing I have to live for and it's my fault because everything has been since the day I was born. Like I won't say it's 'mask off' and this would have been some sort of normal explosive behavior for him if he did end up getting to 'keep' daisy (because obviously shes An Object,,,,, right,,,,) but this...was coming regardless of whether tom dragged it out of him or not. it really exhibits just how much was going on behind the scenes that not even nick was privy to. just imagine how much pressure wolfshiem put on him in the end to keep going, keep working, as if his life isn't on the cusp of completely turning upside down.

(putting a space here because tumblr got mad about how much I wrote.)

that's one tiny little thing I absolutely adore about 2013. it's a blink and you'll miss it moment where meyer AND GOONS are in jay's office and he asks jay what's going on. It's so simple but so fucking menacing. it's so subtle. the implication that meyer has jay in a chokehold and the more time he spends with daisy, the more meyer gets pissed, and the more meyer gets pissed, the more likely he'll cut jay out of the business entirely, and jay's holding on to this tiny little string of assurance that he can manage it all for daisy and it's worth it for daisy and he's still the pretty face for the front of the company and meyer NEEDS him for that and if meyer needs him then it'll be okay, he can balance daisy and the business it'll be FINE—until it isn't, obviously. he originally turned daisy down when she suggested running away because all his money is tied up with meyer and if he runs, either meyer will track him down and kill him because he knows too much or he has to start over again. of course eventually he comes around to realize that running is their only option but it's too late and he knows that by the time he blows up at the plaza. he hit his breaking point and ruined everything. and leonardo DiCaprio is the only one who I think really captured just how fucking wound up jay really was.

I'm not talking about the broadway musical anymore

but if i were to make my own gatsby film...

I've never actually thought about it enough to pin down a cast. I have, however, considered that if for whatever reason I was given the opportunity to make any sort of adaptation of it, I'd probably have a black Jay regardless, and I think Ncuti Gatwa would be a really fun choice. Look at him. Imagine you're drunk and gay and this is across the table. Nick I get it.

I would try to keep in line with the book as best I could, though, because it's important to me. I live and breathe the history of this novel and I can see all the lives woven into each minute detail and I would hate to not do it justice.

...

Otherwise...I do spend hours a day daydreaming about turning Gatsby into a limited series a la Anne with an E, albeit more adult in nature due to the subject matter. But I can see it in my head so clearly. I wish wish wish I could. Maybe one day. If only.

[hostess-of-horror]

Count Galak x Victim!Reader Headcanons

💕⚰️🪲A Late Valentine's Day Special!👑🍬💕

Note: Okay, so, this one I just had to do and it is gonna be late by the time I post this, but whatever! I was chatting with my buddy @sneklover earlier ago and she inspired me to make a very self-indulgent Vampire!King Candy post. This is going to be based off of my Turboratu: An Arcade Game of Horror AU and you, my lovely reader, will be His Chosen One...

@sneklover @tiramegtoons/@sliceoflifesalami @starleska @snailstrailz @starryside-1 @depressedasswarlock @crispytubes @pippengin @simpingforcys @blackthewolf17 and anyone else who wants to read this!

Content Includes: Gender Neutral Reader, Slight Suggestiveness but SFW in general (this is a vampire AU, so lots of blood-drinking and hicki- I mean, biting), themes of death, some gore, spoilers for Nosferatu (the films from 1922, 1979, and 2024) and for Wreck-It-Ralph

Fun Facts about this AU:

The name "Galak" is actually the name of a real white chocolate candy bar that was released in the UK and Switzerland! I tried to find a German candy to name Vampire!King Candy after but this was the closest thing to "Count Orlok" I could find.

The victim in this AU is supposed to be an OC named Helena (a.k.a. Ellen Hutter); the reader will not be named after her, however they will be based on her!

The entire plot is essentially the original plot of Nosferatu but with Wreck-It-Ralph characters - honestly, this is nothing more than a silly little crossover for funsies, so if you want to do any fan art or fanfiction based on it, go right ahead!

The whole thing started with this little venn diagram here:

As usual, click on the name/title for a love song!

Count Galak, the Turboratu

You had the premonition since your beloved Felix left for his journey.

For years, you had been haunted by visions of a dark specter, a shadow engulfing all life and light until everything becomes nothing.

Nothing but a desolate land of death where you and that very specter live happily together...

You tried to tell Felix not to go, but such an opportunity was much too important for him not to take it.

It would bring prosperity to you both, yes, but why must he go away so soon?

Nevertheless, you supported him, giving him a token of love for his travels, and watched in abject despair as he left.

But of course, you were not completely alone; Felix's companions, Ralph and Vanellope, were to watch over you while he was away.

He knew of your... melancholy and he would die at the thought of you succumbing into horrible heartache.

You loved him, you really did, and he you.

But even the purest form of love between newlyweds wasn't enough to stave off the nightmares.

Ralph and Vanellope, bless their hearts, they did what they could to cheer you up.

Walks along the Game Central Station, trips to Tapper's, even a race or two, but all in vain.

You could not shake the feeling of doom approaching the Arcade. Some infestation breaking loose.

And sure enough, you were right. And by all that is good, you wished you were wrong.

As the weeks went by, Felix was nowhere to be found, and slowly the world became... sicker.

A plague had taken hold on one of the ships, owned by the prestigious Captain Calhoun, and through this vessel, it laid siege upon the other games.

Cybugs. Carriers of death, consumers of life.

They crawled from the depths of whatever hellish pit they came from and ate their way into everyone's life.

Many fell, leaving helpless souls to be gameless, or worse unplugged.

As this plague began to rise, your darling husband came back.

Felix was beyond frightened - he had seen a monster far more horrible than anything he could ever comprehend.

He was paler, visibly shaken, and upon his neck were two small hole-like wounds that hadn't healed since they were first made.

During his recovery, he warned everyone of this man, this demon, the power he held, and worst of all, he was coming for you!

While Felix, Ralph, Vanellope, and Captain Calhoun, made their plans to fight the source of the plague, you were told to stay put.

From Felix's journey, he had acquired a small book on fearsome creatures of the night, given to him by one of the locals from the game he visited.

"When the sun has set and the moon rises over the sleeping land, from the grave rises the Turboratu - the Prince of Cybugs, Lord of the Night - to drain the coding of his victims. Immortal as he is, the only thing that can end this evil beast is for an uncorrupted game character to offer themselves in willing sacrifice. Thus his hunger shall distract him long enough until Litwik's Arcade opens."

Reading those words was enough to ignite that spark of courage in your heart.

You waited until nighttime, when at that moment you feigned a terrible fainting spell so that Felix could leave you alone as he rushed out to find a doctor.

You knew the Count was living right across from your game, as you've heard from Felix's accounts, and you made sure to gain his attention.

And sure enough, he was watching you from its entrance. Unblinkingly.

There were no words between you two; you didn't need to say anything to him.

You had opened a window of opportunity for him, and the Turboratu gladly accepted the invitation.

As you lie in your bed, dressed in white and surrounded by lilacs, Count Galak's shadow loomed from the curtains into your bedroom.

It reached to grasp its claws onto your bosom, your beating heart, your tender throat, your code.

His power and the indescribable, horrible pleasure it came with overwhelmed you in ways your husband, your darling Fix-It-Felix, could never.

Soon, you were staring into the eyes of your dark specter. You were his affliction. You were his destiny as he was yours.

Count Galak appeared before you in his truest form - a terrifying abomination between himself and the physical attributes of a Cybug.

And in this form did he prey upon you, as gently as he could, and began to drink from your bare neck.

The monster's teeth sunk into your flesh as his talons softly caressed your figure and hair.

For so long, you had to repress your melancholy for the betterment of everyone around you.

You knew deep down it caused a constant sense of burden, even to those you loved so dearly.

But not to him. Not to the Turboratu.

He savored every moment, every pain, every swallow of lifeblood, every lick of his lips was ecstasy.

He had been craving you for a long time.

Soon, your mind began to drown into a numbing sensation as your weakened eyes began to see the glint of dawn's light.

You sigh your last breath.

This was the moment that you, his corpse bride, and he, your dark specter, would die as lovers in your wedding bed.

And the Arcade is finally saved.

[blueiscoool]

King Tut’s Iconic Death Mask Was Intended for Someone Else

Research from the University of York points to an "overlooked clue" hiding in plain sight.

Tutankhamun’s death mask is one of the most-recognized images around the globe. Measuring 21 inches tall, inlaid with a detailed mosaic of precious stones, and featuring a 5.5 lb golden beard, the artifact is surely one of the world’s most iconic objects. But researchers think that the pharaoh’s ears may be hiding a secret in plain sight.

The death mask was found in 1925 by the Egyptologist Howard Carter during his excavations of Tutankhamun’s tomb which his team rediscovered in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings near the city of Luxor. Carter’s records are kept at the University of Oxford’s Griffith Institute which was established 17 years after Carter first discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb as the center for Egyptology at the university, named after the university’s first Professor of Egyptology, Francis Llewellyn Griffith.

Tutankhamun, known as the “Boy King,” came to the throne aged just nine and ruled Egypt for around nine years between ca. 1332 and 1323 BCE. He was riddled with ailments including scoliosis and a cleft palate, thought to be due to his parents being brother and sister.

But new research out of the University of York suggests that the mask was not originally designed for the young Pharaoh, and was instead intended for a regal female burial—perhaps Tutankhamun’s stepmother Queen Nefertiti who died before Tutankhamun, though no specific date for her death is known. This theory hinges on one key detail of the death mask: Tutankhamun’s pierced ears.

Piercings were typically only found on the death masks of female rulers and children. Lead researcher Professor Joann Fletcher said in a documentary for History Hit in 2022 that “research suggests that the King wouldn’t have worn earrings beyond childhood, so by the age of 20 when he died he would not have been portrayed with pierced ears” calling the pierced ears of the mask a “long-overlooked feature”.

When compared, the gold used on the face of Tutankhamun is entirely different to the gold used on the rest of the mask, suggesting—as Fletcher put it—that Tutankhamun’s face was “effectively grafted on” to the pre-existing mask of a previous—and likely female—ruler.

There is no doubt, however, that the likeness is of King Tut, as the likeness of a death mask was considered imperative should the person’s soul be able to be reunited with their body for judgement by the god of funerary practices and guide to the underworld, Anubis, after their death.

“I was sure the death mask was not specifically designed for King Tut”, Fletcher said.

Fletcher suggests that the originally intended recipient of the mask could be the Pharaoh Nefertiti, who married and ruled alongside Tutankhamun’s father Pharaoh Akhenaten. This theory was first proposed in 2015 by the British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves. There is scholarly debate about whether Nefertiti ruled as pharaoh on her own for a short time between her husband’s death and Tutankhamun ascending to the throne. Nefertiti’s tomb has never been discovere

The reason for this make-do-and-mend approach to the burial of, at that point, the most powerful and wealthy man in Egypt may be due to the suddenness of his death, aged around 19. Theories on Tutankhamun’s cause of death have included murder, but it is currently believed that he passed away from malaria and an infection the young ruler developed after a serious chariot crash which left him with a broken leg at the time of his burial. The lack of preparation for this death may have led to the decision to alter a pre-existing mask rather than commission a new one from scratch. Other details suggesting that Tutankhamun’s burial was hurried were patches of paint on the walls of his tomb which would have still been wet when the tomb was sealed.

The mask is kept in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which re-opened last month after an 11 year delay.

By Verity Babbs.

[macgyvermedical]

can you maybe tell us about the history of trans healthcare? I'm writing a trans character in an old west setting and don't know exactly what would be available to her

So this is a really cool question.

There have been (what we would today call) transgender and gender-non-conforming people as far back as we have records that can describe them. Depending on where in the world a person was and what culture they belonged to, being trans or gender-non-conforming may have been something lived openly, or it may have been something more hidden.

This makes it difficult to cover all of trans history in one tumblr post, so I'll focus on 2 things- trans history during the western expansion (the time between 1803 and 1893 across what is now the western USA, often referred to as the "old west" "wild west" or "frontier"), and trans healthcare access as it is recorded in the USA.

So first let's talk a little about trans people on the frontier.

[Trans Woman of the Frontier: Mrs. Nash]

Simply put, there were a lot of them. Or, at least, there were a lot more of them living on the frontier than there were on the east coast. Many accounts tend to be of what we today would call trans men. Earlier, historians often brushed their existence off as a practicality- If a woman wanted a decent-paying job on the range, of course they would change their name, wear men's clothing, and act as a man.

But this doesn't explain the fact that many of them lived their personal lives as men too, often taking wives and continuing to live lives as men even after being arrested multiple times for cross dressing, or after the conclusion of their career. Look up "Harry Allen" if you want a real man's man on the frontier.

In fact, today one of the reasons historians think there were more trans people out west was because news of these arrests often made it back to the east coast. Closeted trans people reading these (often sensationalized) stories were essentially promised a life and future on the frontier with people like them- a life and future they could move and restart easily if they happened to be, you know, arrested for transness.

It also doesn't explain the trans women. While there are fewer records of trans women on the frontier, they did exist. And since women could typically hide more easily assuming they had an understanding husband (or beard), that kind of makes sense. Look up "Mrs. Nash" who worked as a laundress and took 3 husbands over her lifetime. She was only outed as trans upon her death.

Long story short, it would be very historically accurate to have a trans person on the frontier, and while it might have been reasonable to assume they could make a life there, officially transness wasn't particularly well accepted by the establishment.

Trans healthcare on the frontier was unfortunately not really a thing beyond what today we would call social transition- the adoption of new clothing, a new name, and new speech patterns.

This was because the first medical transition care wouldn't occur until 1918 in Germany and wouldn't move to the US until the 1940s, half a century after the frontier was declared closed.

In 1922 the first successful gender-affirming surgery was performed. It was an orchiectomy (removal of the testes) on a woman named Dora Richter in Germany.

In 1931 Dora completed her transition with several more successful surgeries. This was also the year Lili Elbe (of The Danish Girl fame) passed away from infection related to a gender affirming surgery (why did they decide to tell her story instead of Dora's?? Dora literally worked in trans healthcare for most of her career??).

Anyway. In the 1940's Dr. Alfred Kinsey began his study of human sexuality and gender in Indiana, USA. He was the first person to use the term "transsexual", which gave a name to the experience of someone who's gender did not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Hormone therapy in the US was introduced by Dr. Henry Benjamin sometime in the 1950s, along with the first US citizens travelling to Europe to complete gender affirming surgeries. Dr. Benjamin published the first papers on hormone therapy in 1967, prompting the openings of about 40 "gender clinics" throughout the US. Unfortunately, many of these clinics provided gender-affirming care in name only- the larger ones (like the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic) getting over 100 applications per year for surgical interventions, but providing only about 5-7 per year after a rigorous process of proving one's transgender status.

By the late 1960's and early 1970's, many US trans people were choosing to circumvent the larger medical centers and either going abroad or using smaller specialty clinics that could do surgeries more discreetly and were less interested in the research value of trans people.

In 1979, many of the larger gender clinics shut down after a paper (with very poor methodology) stated that trans people were no better off mentally after transition. This, though awful, sparked Dr. Benjamin to start the organization that would become the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which publishes the standards by which gender affirming patients are treated today.

After this point, clinics slowly rebuilt. From a low of 2-3 in the mid 1990s to hundreds of clinics open today. The Johns Hopkins' clinic reopened in 2016.

R E F E R E N C E S

[its-calliste]

Susurrat Virtutis | Prologue

Hello! This is my first time ever posting a story in here, and well its very nerve wracking. I just wanna say that english is not my first language, and this is translated from spanish to english. This is cross posted on wattpad and Ao3 under the same name. The format is not the best so bear with me while i figure everything out. Tips, comments and hearts are appreciated!

♡............................

"Only the dead have seen the end of the war." —George Santayana, 1922

What is war from the perspective of a small child? For [Name], war was something that could not touch that village she called home, in that place where its residents knew each other well, where everyone knew who was who, who was married to whom, whose children were whose and who were friends with who, in that place it was impossible for the war to come. But [Name] was but a small child, one which didn't know what lay beyond her village.

"I still think it's a bad idea to teach [Name] to use a bow" her mother, a woman who had a somewhat traditional mentality, was opposed to her only daughter learning to use such a savage weapon.

"Maybe in some future it will be useful for her to know how to use it" her father had taught her how to use the bow since she was about 6 years old. She didn't know the reason why, every time she would ask he would always answer with the same "it will be useful to know."

[Name] listened to her parents having the same conversation they had every time she and her father went hunting in the forest that surrounded the village. She listened to it a little bit more until she got bored and left her position by the door to walk through the garden that her mother cared for.

It was a day like any other, the residents of the village went out to wash their clothes, tend to their lands or the animals, and the children got together to play. She on the other hand did not dare to join them. She feared that she would be rejected by the same boys who played at being warriors and fighting each other as one.

Her father had taught her to use a sword when she turned 10, so she was not afraid of being beaten by the other children. So she went with the girls who remained a few steps away from them, sitting and leaning on the fences that kept the sheep inside. They watched as they hit each other, bruises quickly appearing on their faces and arms.

This is how [name] spent the day playing with those who did not reject and judge her.

(...)

"Can you tell me another story of your adventures?" she asked her father, the dim light of the candle burning by her dresser illuminated the small room, she was lying in her bed with several blankets and furs from animals they had hunted together. Her father settled next to her

"again? I thought I had already told you everything, why don't I tell you when I married your mother instead? Your grandfather was really angry!" He laughed by just remembering it. Father and daughter turned towards the door when they saw movement.

Her mother came in with a basket in her arms "didn't you say you were scared when my father almost stabbed you with his sword?" she asked, looking at her husband in disbelief; The aforementioned man made a surprised face.

Her father was about to respond when they heard several knocks on the door, followed by several shouts of his name "Gjord, Gjord, Gjord!" Like a mantra, he continued until finally her father stood up and opened the door.

"What the hell got you so worked up for?" That man began to explain to him in a way that he did not understand at all, it was not until Gjord looked behind that man and managed to realize what was happening.

Several houses were burning, blood in some of them, and several men carrying shields, spears, swords, axes, and bows, ran around murdering the villagers of that once peaceful place.

[Name] couldn't hear what was happening well, she watched as her father entered the house again, as he whispered something to her mother and left the house again. Her mother entered her room minutes later, took [name] by her arm and took her to their room, moving the bed to the side showing a small hole in the wall. Her mother didn't explain anything, she just took [name] by the shoulders and looked at her with a sad expression. She opened her mouth.

"Listen to me, whatever sound you hear, don't leave this place, I don't want you to make any noise, when dawn comes, run out to the forest" her mother released her to open a chest, gave her a dagger, and her a sword that she once saw her father wield "You know those woods better than anyone, run to the nearest town you know and ask for help"

"Mom" she felt like she was about to cry. She couldn't understand what was happening. "where will you hide? And what about dad?"

"Don't worry about me, okay?" Her mother caressed both of her cheeks with her thumb; holding her small face "no matter what happens, you have to leave"

The next thing happened so fast that she couldn't understand what was happening. They heard a sound by the door, her mother pushing her into the hole. She moved the bed so that it would hide [name's] body from whoever was attacking this place.

She heard those intruders scream, then her mother shouting something and finally steps going far from where she was, those people behind her, and then silence.

(...)

She really didn't know how much time had passed, but she stayed in that hiding place for a long time, pushed the bed with all her strength and came out, abandoning the sword and dagger behind.

"Mom?" With a weak voice she called out to nowhere, she searched all the rooms of the house but found no one. She then went outside, looking around at what was once a beautiful place now reduced only to ashes of what were houses, how the air carried with it the smell of blood and burnt flesh. Bodies lying around of some villagers and unknown men wearing some type of helmet made of metal and wearing dark cloaks.

This moment, the moment when she stood alone for the first time, would remain etched in her memory for the rest of her life.

The small girl, only 12 years old, left her house, with a bow and arrows on her back, on her left side her father's sword and on her right the dagger that accompanied it. It was a little heavy but it was comforting to have something that reminded her of her father by her side. She took the small bag that her mother had made for her and filled it with some food, medicine, and bandages to begin the journey to the nearest village.

(...)

It was easier to talk about traveling alone and finding the village than to try and do it. She couldn't really tell how much it took to get to this small fishing village. She was hoping to stay there, but she was sure no one would help a girl who came from a village that had just recently been attacked.

So with the little money she had left she paid a merchant to take her across the sea to another village. About 13 days later, she found another village, still not daring to leave the edge of the forest. That's how it became easy to spot the ship that was slowly approaching said village.

She didn't really know English, couldn't tell anyone of the approaching attack but that wasn't really the reason. She just didn't want to die, that was the simple answer.

However she did notice a young boy, -perhaps her own age- watching a woman being murdered in front of him. And that's when she didn't hesitate to run for it.

Maybe she saw his sad look, something that made her see herself reflected in him. It was the push that made her try to pull him by the arm with desperate screams, shouting at him in the only language she knew."We have to get out of here!" was the first thing she screamed, the boy tried to get her off of him but [Name] simply refused to let go.

This is how they remained until the scream of the  people near them stopped, they were quickly surrounded by men larger than the two of them. A man with blonde hair, wearing some type of black armor approached them.

"What is this?" He asked when approaching the small children "did you get lost?" He didn't seem worried, rather he was asking in an amused tone.

[Name] realized that the man had spoken norse. "I..I, my house was attacked... I have traveled here in search of them," she said between cuts, without realizing it she was squeezing the other child's hand.

The boy was simply watching the interaction happening in front of him. She knew that these people were like those who had attacked her village. But it wasn't them, for some reason she knew it wasn't them. So with a lot of confidence as to not seem weak she asked "could you take me to the Faroe Islands? My family…I have family there"

That man laughed, causing the other men who had heard her question to follow him. After a few seconds of [name] being confused, the man suddenly stopped "the people in the  Faroe village are dead. We murdered them ourselves 6 years ago"

The girl did not know how to react to such news. She was ready to offer her weaponry if it meant getting to her family and finally being safe.

"Tell me girl," the man spoke again, "do you know how to use that?" He pointed to the sword at her side.

[Name] raised her head and looked him in the eyes. Nodding quickly, "my father taught me how to use it, the bow too…." SHe took a step forward.

The man smiled. “My name is Askeladd son of Olaf, what is your name?”

"My name is [Name] daughter of Gjord!" She answered loudly, "sir, please let me join your group!" The boy behind him tensed his shoulders. He stared at that girl in disbelief.

(...)

[Name] could see how the seagulls flew above that ship, how the waves moved in the vast ocean. From the back of the ship she could see how all the members of that band of pirates worked together to make the ship move, while their leader simply looked ahead.

Another taller man stood next to him. For some reason that man called Askeladd agreed to let her join his group of pirates. Many of its members complained about letting a girl join, apparently the boy who had tried to help was part of the band too. Although it seemed that he hated his companions.

He was in the back with [name], not saying a word or even addressing her.

"Uhm" she approached him making a small noise hoping to get his attention "my name is [Name]" she smiled at him "could I know yours?"

That boy looked at her for a few seconds, and without looking at her he responded "Thorfinn..."

[Name]'s eyes lit up, smiling even more. “It's nice to meet you Thorfinn!”

This was the beginning of [Name] story and another page of Thorfinn's.

[ask-jay-gatsby]

Dear Mr Gatsby,

Firstly, apologies for not contacting you for so long. I've been rather busy trying to sort my life out. Though, I felt the need to say something in relation to a semi-public announcement you've made recently.

I'd like you to know that I fully support both you and Nick. I'm sickened to know that you haven't been getting the privacy you deserve. I can tell that this wasn't the best situation for you to come out, but I'm proud that you've been able to do it. There isn't much I can do to help you, I'm afraid. But if the police do ever come knocking on your door, I have a gun and marvellous aim.

Also, judging from my own time with Nick, you two won't be losing each other any time soon.

Wishing you and Nick the best,

Emile

POST: LONG ISLAND, NY. AUG 1922

Dear Emile,

I am sincerely touched to know that there are people out there who not only acknowledge my relationship with Nick in a respectful manner, but offer to defend it beyond any sort of polite expectation. Really, I'm honored. I thought there were so few good people left in this world that I had collected them all.

And no, I have no plans of letting Nick go, whether he likes it or not. A man like that is too good an offer to pass by and I wouldn't dare let anyone else take him on. We really are meant for each other at the end of it all. I've already learned so much about love, and myself, over the short time we've had together.

It's a blessing. It really is. I've spent so much of my life clinging to people, praying they wouldn't change their mind about me, that I forgot people could simply stay. I've never felt such a relief in my life as I do now, with a straight-laced, fuddy-duddy sort of teddy bear reading in the corner of my office. I can't believe it can be so simple as this.

Peace. It's peace. I've found it.

Sincerely and emphatically,

Jay Gatsby

[richincolor]

Trans YA Books for Your 2023 TBR Pile

The last time there was a big B&N sale, I knew I had to stock up on some YA books -- and as I was sifting through my frankly absurdly long to-be-read list, I realized that there were more than a few YA books centering trans and BIPOC characters. I was so excited by this, and hope there are even more books centering BIPOC trans characters in 2024. For now, here are 5 trans YA books -- available now! -- that you should bump up to the very top of your TBR:

Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and Elliott McLemore Keep your enemy closer. Cade McKenna is a transgender prince who’s doubling for his brother. Valencia Palafox is a young dama attending the future queen of Eliana. Gael Palma is the infamous boy assassin Cade has vowed to protect. Patrick McKenna is the reluctant heir to a kingdom, and the prince Gael has vowed to destroy.

Cade doesn’t know that Gael and Valencia are the same person. Valencia doesn’t know that every time she thinks she’s fighting Patrick, she’s fighting Cade. And when Cade and Valencia blame each other for a devastating enchantment that takes both their families, neither of them realizes that they have far more dangerous enemies.

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender From National Book Award–winner Kacen Callender, a contemporary YA that follows Lark's journey to speak the truth and discover how their own self-love can be a revolution

Lark Winters wants to be a writer, and for now that means posting on their social media accounts––anything to build their platform. When former best friend Kasim accidentally posts a thread on Lark's Twitter declaring his love for a secret, unrequited crush, Lark's tweets are suddenly the talk of the school—and beyond. To protect Kasim, Lark decides to take the fall, pretending they accidentally posted the thread in reference to another classmate. It seems like a great idea: Lark gets closer to their crush, Kasim keeps his privacy, and Lark's social media stats explode. But living a lie takes a toll—as does the judgment of thousands of Internet strangers. Lark tries their best to be perfect at all costs, but nothing seems good enough for the anonymous hordes––or for Kasim, who is growing closer to Lark, just like it used to be between them . . . In the end, Lark must embrace their right to their messy emotions and learn how to be in love.

Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartbreak in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white. Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all for the benefit of impressing a girl from Jay’s past—Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender.

As Nick is pulled deeper into the glittery culture of decadence, he spends more time with Jay, aiming to help his new friend reconnect with his lost love. But Nick's feelings grow more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Jay's openness, idealism, and unfounded faith in the American Dream.

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa El Diablo is in the details in this Latinx pirate fantasy starring a transmasculine nonbinary teen with a mission of revenge, redemption, and revolution.

On Mar León-de la Rosa's 16th birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship.

When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up your soul to save your father by the Harvest Moon or never see him again. The task is impossible--Mar refuses to make a bargain and there's no way their magic is any match for el Diablo. Then, Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate -- and the captain's son; and Dami, a genderfluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption -- or it could mean certain death.

Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic edited by g. haron davis Transness is as varied and colorful as magic can be. In Transmogrify!, you’ll embark on fourteen different adventures alongside unforgettable characters who embody many different genders and expressions and experiences—because magic is for everyone, and that is cause for celebration.

Featuring stories from: AR Capetta and Cory McCarthy g. haron davis Mason Deaver Jonathan Lenore Kastin Emery Lee Saundra Mitchell Cam Montgomery Ash Nouveau Sonora Reyes Renee Reynolds Dove Salvatierra Ayida Shonibar Francesca Tacchi Nik Traxler

[hullomoon]

hullomoon's 2024 works: part two

it’s the end of the year, which means it’s time for a work round-up! once again i didn't post too much this year, but i definitely know that i was doing longer works (looking at you 17 hour pod!). if you haven’t yet, check out my 2019 roundup, 2020 roundup, 2021 roundup, 2022 roundup, and 2023 roundup! all works are ordered in chronological posting order.

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six

i see you | Schitt's Creek | Stevie/Alexis | 747

Stevie gets hurt while trying to protect Alexis

[podfic] why do i have to pretend? | Schitt's Creek | Alexis/Stevie | 14:14

Alexis and Stevie are roommates and friends, nothing more. At least, that used to be true. Alexis isn't sure when things changed, but lately she suspects that she might be feeling things for her roommate that go beyond friendship.

breathless and on your lips | Stranger Things | Robin/Nancy | mature | 775

Tonight, Robin has to prove herself. She gets more than what she expected

lookin' in the mirror at me, my god | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Heather | explicit | 707

After practice, Chrissy wants to give Heather a little attention

[podfic] Stars | The Adventure Zone | Amber/Oksana | 04:29

Amber tilts her head towards the sky and squints. “More stars than I remember.” “Different planet.” She shrugs. “Fair enough.”

[podfic] Card Catalogue | A League of Their Own (TV) | Greta/Carson | 23:18

How to tell someone you love them, without using those words.

from me to you | Stranger Things | Eleven/Max | 705

Letters between Max and Eleven during a world-ending apocalypse

to have and to hold | Stranger Things | Barb/Nancy | 777

Nancy dreams of Barb

[Podfic] come get your man (he got lost in my DMs) | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | multivoice | explicit | 51:39

It’s weird because it’s not that weird. Actually, the weirdest thing about it is the guy seems to be commenting from an account with his entire name attached. It’s just weird for Eddie to open up his notifications and see: Steve_Harrington replied to your video: Great job, this was really excellent. Loved the way your pitch changed subtly to indicate that Aeilin was turned on! Which. Again. Weird for multiple reasons. OR: five times baking-influencer-Steve slides into erotica-author-Eddie's TikTok DMs, and one time it works.

[audio] The Chaos (1922) | Podfic Fandom | Gen | 12:02

An audio performance of "The Chaos" written by Gerard Nolste Trenite in 1922.

[cowboysanddragons23]

Deconstructing Stalka (or why I think Stoick and Valka aren't a good couple):

Superficially speaking, they look good....until you dig more and start seeing the cracks, as much as DreamWorks wants to say and insist the opposite.

-Because they have nothing in common beyond having a kid together: Stoick is a proud dragon hater and Valka thinks dragons are wonderful creatures, so their marriage would have been always frought with tension (and even after Stoick's character development, that tension wouldn't evaporate, if anything, it would have escalated), because they have diametrically opposite personalities. So they didn't really know each other and Valka was taken by Cloudjumper and she didn't return (and it filled her with guilt not being with Hiccup for 20 years and Hiccup would be the only one with every right to question her absence, because Berk hated and mistrusted her and Stoick didn't even listen to her, so her love for him eroded more and more and it's obvious that Valka had already moved on).

-Because 20 years of absence aren't solved with one pretty song: Credit where it's due, For the Dancing and the Dreaming is a cute song and the reconnection scene looks good on screen, but human relationships don't work that way. Stoick is blatantly attempting to recreate the past and has been pining 20 years for Valka, a woman he has nothing in common with beyond having a kid (And I couldn't avoid being reminded of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan from the Great Gatsby and not in a good way; Gatsby wants his relationship with Daisy to go back to when it was in 1917, something that Nick Carraway calls him out on, outright telling him that recreating the past is impossible and what is Gatsby's answer? "Why? Of course I can." And even Daisy told him that he wanted too much. Gatsby failed to comprehend that the Daisy of 1922 wasn't the Daisy of 1917 and in the end, it ended up getting him killed by George Wilson, who thought Gatsby killed Myrtle. He didn't, Daisy did it and Gatsby took the blame.) and why Valka would go along with this? Guilt. She felt guilty of abandoning them both, specially Hiccup (and I am speculating at this point, but there is also a tint of idealization on Hiccup's part because he grew up without a mother figure and because he was never told about the more unpleasant parts of his parents' marriage, mainly the heated discussions and the fact that Valka felt unappreciated and dismissed by Stoick at best, feeling outright embarassed by her at worst) and she only came back for Hiccup and the dragons, not Stoick, because as I already mentioned, they aren't the same people anymore.

Stoick dying was actually for the best (and also him not remarrying because his second marriage would have soured instantly because the woman in question wouldn't be capable of living up to the idealized vision he had of Valka) because had he remained alive, he and Valka would have grown even more distant than before to the point of not being able to stand each other because they are not the same people anymore. And because Stoick is in love with the idea of Valka, not with Valka herself, idealizing her to avoid confronting the fact that his marriage to her was a failure and very miserable, which would be too painful for him to acknowledge and because she possibly represents the joy, freedom and vigor of his youth (And add the fact that Stoick and Valka have a 10 year age gap, which wouldn't be a problem in normal circumstances, but because it's unspecified how much time they were married together, the more time, the creepier it gets. It's true it was another time and era, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing).

Quotes that perfectly fit Stalka:

"You didn't know Lyanna like I did. You saw the beauty, but not the iron underneath."-Ned Stark, A Song of Ice and Fire.

"Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature."-Lyanna Stark, A Song of Ice and Fire.

[bixiebeet]

This article isn’t actually about Woody Allen. Instead, it’s a look back at the life and forces that shaped the prolific comedian Sid Caesar. He was born to a Jewish family in Yonkers, New York in 1922. He grew up hanging around his family’s 24/7 diner, then he intended to have a career as a musician. But he found his niche in comedy and ended up a fixture on TV, working with fledgling talents like Allen and Mel Brooks.

This 2010 interview, a few years before Sid died, gives an overview of his career and his perspective looking back. He’s humble when he talks about how proud he is of his work, but also how he had long periods of being personally miserable off stage. (Sounds familiar for many comedians, sadly.)

He also has a good take on the outsized role that comedy can play for Jewish people. “Jews appreciate humour because in their life it's not too funny. We've been trodden down for a long time, thousands of years. So we've had to turn that around because if you take it all too seriously you're going to eat yourself. And we're very good at being self-deprecating. Either we do it or somebody's going to do it for us. We might as well do it first.”

Obviously I’m really into various comedies from the 60s-80s (Monkees, Ghostbusters). And I grew up watching comedies from the 90s-2000s and beyond (many of these shows ending up in syndication or on streaming services today). But this year, I want to learn more about the earlier origins of modern comedy. People like Caesar and his contemporaries, as well as earlier talents like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Laurel and Hardy.

Some humor is universal. Some humor is more tailored to a certain context. We live in an era where, thanks to modern technology, we can access almost anything that we want! And I plan to take advantage of that more fully in 2024.

Don’t get me wrong, I spend a lot of time browsing YouTube and scrolling social media. I’m not giving up on that. I just want to use my time a bit more intentionally to understand the past and how it’s shaped our present. I think I’m going to have fun watching the source material.

[tomb-of-flora]

Introduction Post (V2)

I did an introduction post 7-8 months ago and it's really bad, so I wanted to do a new one.

Hello! I am relatively new to tumblr, but I've been here for over six months now, and it's the only social media I've been able to stick with for this long. It feels like I've officially put down roots with this blog, so I wanted to give myself a proper introduction.

A little about me: I'm a writer with a particular emphasis on poetry and fiction that angsts about identity. I'm a Dungeon Master who has been playing D&D (and occasionally other ttrpgs) since I was 12-13. I'm in my mid twenties (and am going to post accordingly so I don't want to see any minors interacting). I'm a lesbian, and ngl pretty much everything I say or do has an undertone of sapphic yearning. If i had to define my taste in general I love anything that is super feminine, pink, and princessy, and also anything that is gothic, rotted, and miserable. Anything that could combine the vibes of like Princess Peach/Sailor Moon and Edgar Allan Poe would be a dream come true for me. I also have a deep love on run down apocalyptic settings (especially if they include a theme park).

This blog will mainly be reblogs, fandom posts, and random things about myself and what I'm thinking. It's just kind of a personal haven to express myself and show my friends cool stuff I saw. I was originally going to make this a place where I posted about my writing/D&D, but all of that stuff kept getting buried, so I decided to delete those posts and make a couple dedicated sideblogs.

If you want to see my original posts i use the hashtag #entombedpost and for reblogs where I remembered to say something I use #entombedreblog

Follow @myovergrowngarden if you want to read/hear about my writing

Follow @yeehaw-in-magic-space if you want to hear about the adventures that take place in my space western/fantasy horror D&D campaign. I recap every session and drop random bits of lore on this account.

Some of my favorite books/short stories include: The Locked Tomb series, The Poet X, Clap When You Land, Family Lore, Any Other City, The Honey Month, This Is How You Lose the Time War, The Hunger Games Trilogy, An Education in Malice, The Fall of the House of Usher, Mexican Gothic, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole, Orientation, White Smoke, The Iliad/Odyssey.

Some of my favorite shows include: Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Midnight Mass, Black Sails, Game of Thrones (seasons 1-4), House of the Dragon, Breaking Bad, Chernobyl.

Some of my favorite cartoons/anime include: Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, Arcane, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, Delicious in Dungeon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Noragami, Hunter X Hunter, Simoun, Chainsaw Man, the old DCAU (Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Static Shock, JLU), Teen Titans, Star Wars Rebels, High Guardian Spice, Gravity Falls, Amphibia.

Some of my favorite video games include: The Last of Us PT II, Get in the Car, Loser, Hades/Hades II, Darkest Dungeon, Fallout: New Vegas, Celeste, Ace Attorney, Dark Souls, Epic Mickey, We Know the Devil, Slay the Princess, Long Live the Queen, Monster Prom/Camp/Road Trip. I also love a lot of board games, but I think that would push us over the text limit so I'm just going to mention that briefly.

Some of my favorite movies include: I Saw the TV Glow, Star Wars (particularly VI, VIII, IV, V), Lord of the Rings, Whisper of the Heart, Kiki's Delivery Service, Birds of Prey, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snowpiercer, Annihilation, Sorry to Bother You, Knives Out, Glass Onion, the Fear Street Trilogy, a bunch of the Saw movies, Us, Get Out, Nope, Nosferatu (1922), Nosferatu (2024)

[psychosomaticdeicide]

Horror Movie Watchlist

Previous pinned post here!

TO WATCH

(In no particular order, and subject to changes and additions.)

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) [US]

John Carpenter's The Ward (2010) [US]

Ring (1998) [JP]

Spiral (1998) [JP]

Ring 2 (1999) [JP]

Ring 0: Birthday (2000) [JP]

The Blob (1958) [US]

Bilocation (2013) [JP]

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) [CA]

The Phantom of the Opera (1925) [US]

The Night Shift (2018) [KR]

Vampariah (2016) [US]

Clive Barker's Book of Blood (2009) [UK]

The Vampire Lovers (1970) [UK]

Lust for a Vampire (1971) [UK]

Black Rat (2010) [JP]

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995) [JP]

Embrace of the Vampire (1995) [US]

The Thing from Another World (1951) [US]

Weird Fiction (2018) [US]

Frankenhooker (1990) [US]

The Wicker Man (1973) [UK]

Killer Toon (2013) [KR]

Chopping Mall (1986)

Godzilla (1954) [JP]

Spike (2008) [US]

Creep (2004) [UK]

Over Your Dead Body (2014) [JP]

Be With Me (2009) [KR]

THINGS I'VE WATCHED

(From my recently-made list, and in chronological order)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) [DE] - July 9, 2024

Nightbreed: Director's Cut (1990) [US] - July 13, 2024

Low Lifes (2024) [CA] - August 1, 2024

Nosferatu (1922) [DE] - December 15, 2024

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) [DE] - December 15, 2024

[pandorasboxofhorrors]

2023-#4: Response to “The Thing in the Fog”

My last written bit for 2023 was going to be a neat sci-fi continuing the Mekon’s story (see 2020-#4: Eight Ball to Corner Pocket and 2021: #3-A Relaxing Interlude). However, the best plans of mice and men usually end with human skeletons and fat mice. I heard from another Tumblr user responding to this year’s true Halloween tale, 2023: #2-The Thing in the Fog. This Tumblr user shared a strange and spooky story, best told in his words:

“The online posting you referenced involving Burlap Man’s disappearance was not accurate. I know this because I wrote it thirty years ago. Here is a more accurate account of what really happened.

“If you happen to have been in Chicago in the summer of 1995 and you frequented the Lakeview neighborhood, you might have stumbled across an urban legend. This urban legend was real and was a horror beyond imagination, as Lovecraft put it. I had retired in 1991 after a hectic career as a newspaper reporter. It was the bad economy of the early 1990s, and that I was past retirement age, which sent me into retirement. I had worked as a newspaper reporter in many cities - and for an extended time in Chicago. I seemed to be cursed to regularly be assigned stories that led to the occult, cryptids, or worse. These stories led me to the things people do not want to know about. In the early 1970s, I was called back from vacation to work on a news story involving murders with the victim’s blood drained. You can probably guess where that went.

“I had a good run as a reporter in Chicago, but that ended after a story about an underground storage company. I sort of stumbled upon “something” in the lower levels of a very deep facility. I barely escaped with my life. Unfortunately, some government bigwigs were involved with the storage company, and I found myself out of a job because lizard-brained bigwigs wanted the story silenced. After I retired, I returned to Chicago and tried to avoid anything off kilter. Luckily I had some money, from investments in a robotics tech company I investigated in the 1970s. I was physically in good shape, and I really did not look my age. I sure looked like I was in my 50’s - but certainly not 73. I should mention that I was born in 1922, so I guess I am sort of 101 now. There has been no diminishment and very little aging. I have had to lie about my age for years. The only explanation I have is I once walked into a magic circle of a “youth drainer” and interrupted her spell. It’s either that or my vitamin brand is right.

“Anyways, the only problem was that I was restless. So I took retail jobs in eclectic shops in Lakeview. I worked with some odd people with blue hair and random body piercings. It was interesting, and I did not fit in since I was older. I used to walk down Clark Street after work and often buy a cigar. I eventually ended up working for the cigar store for the social interaction, since it was either that or chess with Ron, an old coworker. It kept me occupied, and after a few months I heard about something that caught my interest.

“I heard about this Burlap Man, and he was known to be lurking in the area at night. He was described as being just as you described him, almost seven feet tall and four feet wide. He wore stitched burlap sacks over his entire body and head, but you could see his beard. Some people said when they saw him at night he was so terrifying that they were paralyzed in fright. So I prolonged my walks after work, and after about a week I saw him in a dark alley. I could not believe what I was looking at since it very much appeared like something from a previous story I worked on decades ago.

“Twenty years previously, I worked on a news story about a man permanently asleep being studied at a Chicago university. This man was intentionally dream deprived, and this somehow allowed him to physically manifest a deadly Cajun boogeyman out of his own nightmares that dwelled in the sewers of Chicago. I returned to this same university and learned that they were performing a similar sleep study, with another dream deprived permanently asleep man. The difference this time was that the sleeper was not Cajun: the dreamer was just dreaming up a real life boogeyman. This new boogeyman was a lot smarter than Pere Malfait, its Cajun counterpart.

“This dreamt up boogeyman understood its existence, and it knew it needed to be free of its dreamer and have an independent existence. To that aim, it found victims late at night, removed them back to its lair with the broken shopping cart, and devoured them to make its body more of matter of this world. My online account was accurate in that I followed him back to his lair, but it sure was not a SUV. When he took off the burlap sack he was not a muscular man underneath; his body was only partially formed. About a third of his body was composed of black shadow, the rest was forming new flesh from what he consumed. There was a beard, but no eyes. He saw me and I soon found myself unable to walk, frozen in place. This boogeyman exhibited psionic ability. He could induce paralyzing fear or make people ignore him, which he did to the police when you encountered him. I am not new to facing such horrors, and I took out a small crossbow I have had ready for decades which was blessed to slay rakshashas, and I have given it a lot of use. I figured that the dreamer had summoned up the boogeyman, and his weakness was known to be light and fire. Two burning crossbow bolts to the chest did not harm him, and he was very close to me by then. I fired a last bolt at a shadow section of his arm that was not solid matter, and he immediately let out a terrible moan and was dispelled like a ghost, with its shadowy ectoplasm melting away into nothing, the formed fleshy parts of his body hitting the ground. I made sure the fire left nothing.

“When this was over I posted that bit online you saw so it would be known that Burlap Man was gone in case anyone else was hunting him. I did not expect to still be here thirty years later. I am sending this to you now since we live in a time when outlandish things are commonplace, and no one will ever believe ever this. But I do recommend to any readers: never underestimate what can lurk in the shadows, if you can imagine it, it probably exists somewhere, or will exist someday, or exists right now and is watching you.”

CK, October 2023