#1925 my beloved

[ivefallenforyouandicantgetup]

It’s so wonderful that specific songs can just bring such happy and peaceful and comfortable feelings to you :)

[suckerforlovesblog]

Pretty little thing

Pretty little thing Masterlist

Series summary: All Mr. Shelby wanted was to remarry. He had to find himself another wife after the death of Grace, not just to take care of his son Charlie but also to grant him access to the finer society of Birmingham. All he wanted the girl to be was a pretty little thing on his arm who simply submitted, obeyed and followed his orders.

And he did find the perfect girl - young, very good looking, of a good upbringing, smart but little did he expect her to have such a strong mind of her own…

All he wanted to do was break her in, like a horse had to be, and his new wife put up a good fight but eventually he is sure, he will break her and make her his completely.

Series warning: Dark!Tommy, toxic relationship, abuse, rape, non consensual intercourse, rough sex, age gap, Sir kink, choking - all the things that come with rough smut

Chapter 1: The perfect girl

Summary: Thomas Shelby is out searching for a wife. Most young women in Birmingham throw themselves at him but he doesn’t like that and goes out further to search for the perfect girl to be on his arm whilst hanging on his lips.

Chapter Warning: age gap, swearing, mentions of sex

Word count: 1.5k

~ tag list: @ncoleys , @amberpanda99 , @priyajoyy @tommyshelbywhore @swordofawriter @goth-cowgirl-03 @thenattitude @sheun-555 @meetmeatyourworst @bruher @frazie99 @blvebanisters @jessimay89 ~

I‘m very intrigued to hear your thoughts!

Also: please let me know what you would like to read! My requests are OPEN!

End of 1925:

Thomas Shelby was still grieving the death of his beloved wife Grace, even after an entire year, and everyone around him knew. He did blame himself for her death because he gave her the bewitched jewel to wear and even put it onto her himself. And she wore it that night, like a target painted on her forehead. But business had to keep going and Charlie desperately needed a mother figure in his life. Frances, the maid, was doing her best and Ada and Polly came to help out from time the time but it just wasn’t the same. He had even hired a governess, a very pretty thing, blonde and petite and at least fifteen years younger then him, to attend to his son’s needs because he couldn’t always be there for him. Thomas who was now nearing forty, also really enjoyed the governess presence, at least when he bend her over a table, fucked her from behind and she didn’t talk. Other than that he avoided her most of the time and let her do her work.

She fulfilled his needs but it didn’t help him with business.

So, Thomas Shelby called a family meeting at Arrow House and now everyone was sitting in front of him in the drawing room: Arthur and Linda, John and Esme, Polly and Michael, Ada, Finn, Charlie, Curly, Jeremia and his son, and Lizzie, of course. Sometimes he still slept with her but she would never be good enough to be his wife. He did like her but Lizzie’s social standing was beneath his new position as a business man.

“Thank you everyone for coming, eh!”, Tommy’s voice boomed: “I have an important announcement to make and I think I need everyone’s help.” All the people in the small room looked at him. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath and then said: “I decided that it’s time for me to remarry. It will be good for business.” Lizzie looked at him with wide sad eyes, knowing he would never share the feelings she had for him. Arthur stood up, smiling and went up to give Thomas a small hug, “Proud of you, Tom. Linda will help for sure.” Everyone else looked reassuring and Curly started babbling something no one was able to make out. “May I ask what kind of business you think of concluding?”, Polly said. “Yes but I will not tell just yet ‘eh.”, Tommy says, wetting his lip, “I just think a wife will open up new branches for us and make the company more respectable.” He then puts a cigarette between his lips, after fishing it out of the gold case from the pocket of his coat: “Anyways today is a day to celebrate and I invite you all to dinner. Now, Michael, John and Arthur stay, everyone else I see at dinner.” Thomas lights his cigarette whilst everyone leaves the room except for his brothers and Michael. He sits back down and explains the guys what he’s looking for in his future wife, mostly talking to Michael because the girl should be around his age, a very desirable age in his opinion. The four men make a plan to start the search for his wife tomorrow, starting with all the respectable families in Birmingham and then toast to their success with Irish whiskey, of course.

Early spring of 1926:

Thomas and Michael looked at all the young women in Birmingham, from a respectable upbringing at least. John joked that the two of them fucked their way through Birmingham and that was true to some extent. None of the girls satisfied Thomas’ needs however and Michael was growing tired. “If you keep going like that Tom, we will never find a girl for you. One is not tall enough, the next one doesn’t have enough tits, another one is too stupid, then she is pretty but not gorgeous. This is exhausting.”, Michael says looking at him from the drivers seat of the new Bentley Thomas got. The car was extremely luxurious and expensive.

“Well Michael, we gotta find the perfect girl for me, eh.”, he answered, taking a puff of his cigarette, “She needs to be smart and eloquent for me to be able to bring her around business partners. But she ought to be gorgeous as well because then negotiations will be even easier because men are dumbstruck if they’re accompanied by beautiful women.” Michael also lights a cigarette: “I get that Tom but if we keep going at that speed my dick won’t work anymore with the girl I may marry in the future because I emptied everything I have into some girls” They both laughed and kept driving to meet Alfie Solomons in Camden Town for business.

After driving past the first couple of buildings, he barks at Michael to stop the car and Thomas basically jumps out. He brushes his coat down, fishes a cigarette out of its case and puts it into it mouth leaving Michael more than puzzled. Thomas started walking towards a building, lighting the cigarette with a match and then enters a shop, a tailoring shop it appears. Michael still sits in the car, smoking a cigarette as well and waiting for him to come back.

Thomas looks around the shop, searching for the woman he just saw. He only saw her side profile but Tommy knew she was the one, now on his way to make her his, willing to do whatever it might take and hoping she wasn’t already married. Fuck, even if she was, he were to make her his for sure.

He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn’t even hear the little bell ring as he entered through the door and then the people inside the shop turning to him. The pretty woman he searched for was sitting behind a desk to his right and he made his way towards her but was stopped abruptly in his step by the owner of the shop. “Sir”, the small man called out, “how may I help you?” “Aye, I need a new suit please and may I have a word with the young lady at the desk?”, Thomas answers. “For sure”, the man says in a low purr, scarred of the dominance in his voice, “we will leave you to it, Sir.” Tommy nods and the man leaves the shop through the back door, pulling a women behind him.

Thomas approaches the woman. She was already looking at him through her Y/E/C eyes, smiling lightly. “Hello miss, my name is Thomas Shelby, owner of the Shelby Company Limited. I saw you out in the street and you caught my eye”, he said and smiled an earnest smile. “My name is Y/N, my farther is the owner of the shop.”, the girl answered. He looked at her thoroughly and she got even more prettier the longer he looked at her. Although Thomas didn’t feel any affection towards her but she was very pretty for sure and he knew that she would be the perfect wife: young, a pretty face and fine features, nice hair, a slim figure. Her voice was very calm and had a pretty sound to it. He knew she would be the perfect little thing on his arm. He looks at her with his icy blue eyes, “Tell me sweetheart, how old are you?” “I just turned 18, Sir”, she said. The obedience and innocence in her voice made him hard, without help anyways, for the first time since Grace died. His heart ached for his lost love but he needed this to work and pushed the face of his dead wife out of his thoughts. “You’re not married, eh?”, he asked the girl more nearly twenty years younger then him. She shook his head, seemingly submitting him to, scarred of his booming figure. He really liked that and smiled: “Please get your farther to me, I need to speak with him. In private. And take the measurements for the suit I ordered, will you sweetheart?” She got up, nodding and getting her farther at first, afterwards measuring him and writing all the details down for his order. She was sent out shortly after, leaving her farther with the unknown man with the pretty blue eyes.

“Tell me Sir, is everything to your liking so far”, the old man asked Thomas. “Yes, indeed”, he answered with his thick Birmingham accent, “I would like to marry your daughter. I know this sounds rushed but she immediately caught my eye and I can provide for her very well.” The older man, the girls farther, looked at him reserved and averse. Thomas looked at him with his blue piercing eyes, radiating pride and dominance and the older man submitted. “Listen, eh, I give you a great deal for her and promise to provide and care for the girl.”, Thomas says, putting another cigarette between his lips, letting it dangle for a little while before lightning it with a match.

He pursued the conversation for a little while longer, settling everything important, like the wedding date and the money the family will receive. After it was all settled Thomas went outside of the shop, calling Michael to set up and then seal the document.

The girl came back into the shop, Thomas walked over to her and put his hand on her waist. She looked up at him confused but he just smiled at Michael: “Meet my darling fiancé, Y/N. We will be married in two weeks time and she will be Mrs. Shelby.”

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Marlene Dietrich (Shanghai Express, Witness for the Prosecution, Morocco)—Bisexual icon, super hot when dressed both masculine and feminine, lived up her life in the queer Berlin scene of the 1920s, central to the 'sewing circle' of the secret sapphic actresses of Old Hollywood, refused lucrative offers by the Nazis and helped Jews and others under persecution to escape Nazi Germany, the love of my life

Mary Philbin (Phantom of the Opera, The Man Who Laughs)— I must simply say I love Mary Loretta Philbin. She was known for her, in the words of Wikipedia, ethereal screen presence. In fact, Pat O' Malley says it best, "If I were superstitious I would think that the spirit of some great tragedienne of a forgotten past slipped into Mary's soul when she heard the camera begin to click." I first saw her in the Phantom of the Opera adaptation of 1925, where she plays a very interesting rendition of Christine Daae (I would argue a foundational performance, since this was the first mainstream portrayal of the character outside of Gaston Leroux's 1910 book) opposite Lon Chaney as the title character, and I Loved her performance, and ofc developed a bit of a crush on her. After her years in Hollywood, she stopped acting in 1930 and lived the rest of her life in relative peace. One fact that always stuck with me was the fact that later in her life, she very rarely made public appearances, but did in fact do so in order to attend the Los Angeles opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. And if all that isn't enough to convince you, look at a photo of her. She is really, stunningly beautiful.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Marlene Dietrich:

ms dietrich....ms dietrich pls.....sit on my face

its marlene dietrich!!!! queer legend, easily the hottest person to ever wear a tuxedo, that hot hot voice, those glamorous glamorous movies…. most famously she starred in a string of movies directed by josef von sternberg throughout the 1930s, beginning with the blue angel which catapulted her to stardom in the role of the cabaret singer lola lola. known for his exquisite eye for lighting, texture, imagery, von sternberg devoted himself over the course of their collaborations to acquiring exceptional skill at photographing dietrich herself in particular, a worthy direction in which to expend effort im sure we can all agree. she collaborated with many other great directors of the era as well, including rouben mamoulian (song of songs), frank borzage (desire), ernst lubitsch (angel), fritz lang (rancho notorious), and billy wilder (witness for the prosecution). the encyclopedia britannica entry im looking at while compiling this propaganda describes her as having an “aura of sophistication and languid sexuality” which✔️💯. born marie magdalene dietrich, she combined her first and middle names to coin the moniker “marlene”. she was a trendsetter in her incorporation of trousers, suits, and menswear into her wardrobe and her androgynous allure was often remarked upon. critic kenneth tynan wrote, “She has sex, but no particular gender. She has the bearing of a man; the characters she plays love power and wear trousers. Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men.” in the 1920s she enjoyed the vibrant queer nightlife of weimar berlin, visiting gay bars and drag balls, and in hollywood her love affairs with men and women were an open secret. she was an ardent opponent of nazi germany, refusing lucrative contacts offered her to make films there, raising money with billy wilder to help jews and dissidents escape, and undertaking extensive USO tours to entertain soldiers with an act that included her a playing musical saw and doing a mindreading routine she learned from orson welles. starting in the 50s and continuing into the mid-70s she worked largely as a cabaret artist touring the world to large audiences, employing burt bacharach as her musical arranger.

First of all, there are those publicity photos of her in a tux. Second of all, I have never been the same since knowing that she sent copies of those photos to her Berlin lovers signed "Daddy Marlene." Not only is she hot in all circumstances, but she can do everything from earthy to ice queen. Also, she kept getting sexy romantic lead parts in Hollywood after the age of 40, which would be rare even now. She hated Nazis, loved her friends, and had a sapphic social circle in Hollywood. She also had cheekbones that could cut glass and a voice that could melt you.

Her GENDER her looks her voice her everything

“In her films and record-breaking cabaret performances, Miss Dietrich artfully projected cool sophistication, self-mockery and infinite experience. Her sexuality was audacious, her wit was insolent and her manner was ageless. With a world-weary charm and a diaphanous gown showing off her celebrated legs, she was the quintessential cabaret entertainer of Weimar-era Germany.”

The bar scene in Morocco awoke something in me and ultimately changed my gender

"Her manner, the critic Kenneth Tynan wrote, was that of ‘a serpentine lasso whereby her voice casually winds itself around our most vulnerable fantasies.’ Her friend Maurice Chevalier said: ‘Dietrich is something that never existed before and may never exist again.’”

"Songstress, photographer, fashion icon, out bisexual phenom (notoriously stole Lupe Velez and Joan Crawford's men, and Errol Flynn's wife, had a torrid affair with Greta Garbo that ended in a 60-year feud, other notable conquests including Erich Maria Remarque -yes, the guy who wrote All Quiet on the Western Front- Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Claudette Colbert, Mercedes de Acosta, Edith Piaf), anti-Nazi activist. Marlene was a bitch - she had an open marriage for decades and one of her favorite things was making catty commentary about her current lover with her husband, and her relationship with her daughter was painful- but she was also immensely talented, a hard worker, an opponent of fascism and the hottest ice queen in Hollywood for a long time."

"She can sing! She can act! She told the Nazis to fuck off and became a US citizen out of spite! She worked with other German exiles to create a fund to help Jews and German dissidents escape (she donated an entire movie salary, about $450k, to the cause). She looks REALLY GOOD in a suit. If you're not convinced, please listen to her sing "Lili Marlene". Absolutely gorgeous woman with a gorgeous voice."

Gifset link

"Bisexual icon and Nazi-hater. Looks absolutely stunning in the suits she liked to wear. 'I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men'."

"would you not let her walk on you?"

Mary Philbin:

She is hot?

Shes just so cute

Mary Philbin started acting after winning a beauty contest hosted by Universal Pictures and went on to star in a number of films, including one of the most iconic silent horror films of her era, "the Phantom of the Opera". She also gave a sweet, heart-wrenching performance in "The Man Who Laughs" alongside Conrad Veidt.

[oliversrarebooks]

The Rare Bookseller Part 23: Alexander's Purchase

Masterlist

September 1925

TW: Captivity, mind control, human auction

Oliver regained his senses to the sound of chaos and commotion all around him. He was bouncing in midair, and it took him a moment to realize that he was being carried by Miss Lily. They had left the stage and were headed down a hallway filled with auction patrons.

His head was still reeling. He'd been bought by Lord Alexander. Lord Alexander had bought him for twenty thousand dollars. How could he possibly be worth that much? He'd just been sold. He had an owner. What would Lord Alexander be like? What happened --

"Ooh, you did so well, you beautiful perfect dear!" Miss Lily was singing happily. "You have made me so much money."

"I have, sir?" said Oliver, dazed.

"That's right! Colette took you, so she gets fifty percent, but since I was your primary handler and conditioner, I get twenty five. That's five thousand, if that rat Colette doesn't try to cheat me out of it," she explained eagerly. "And I conditioned a lot of the other merchandise, and get a cut from each one. I'm going to get that new phonograph I've had my eye on, and, ooh, a new fur coat, maybe silver mink..." She trailed off, lost in her daydream.

"Do you... do you deliver me to Lord Alexander now, sir?"

"Oh, no," she said, the question snapping her back to reality. "Not usually. We'll have to wait for the check to clear or the money wire to come through or what have you, and then we'll deliver you. Eager to see your new owner, are you?"

New owner. He wasn't sure if he was or not. "I was merely wondering, sir."

Miss Lily carried Oliver into a small room that held little more than a desk and a few chairs, kicking the door shut behind her. "We do need to complete the transaction first. Colette will bring him here so we can finalize everything." She set Oliver back on his feet, her hands hovering nearby in a way that indicated she was ready to catch him again if he fainted. "So, my dear, did things turn out how you wanted?"

An image flashed through his mind of the life he thought he might have, of cultivating his little bookshop, of visiting local cafes and museums, of growing old with the city. And then it was gone. "Yes, sir, that was what I wanted," he said. "Will Lord Alexander treat me well, sir?"

"Oh, absolutely. I've known him for ages. He's a grumpy sort, but a real peach with a soft spot for humans. His last thrall lived better than most vampires do."

"Last thrall, sir?" said Oliver with a twinge of fear.

"Alexander has a number of enemies," said Miss Lily. "But it's nothing you need to worry your pretty head about. He'll be extra protective with you, I'm sure."

Oliver nodded, processing this new source of terror that he hadn't previously considered. And Alexander, who had warned him of the auction, had known Lily all along...

The door swung open, and Oliver immediately recognized Miss Colette, the vampire who had kidnapped him on his last night of freedom. A cold, panicky sensation settled in his gut as he recalled how scared and helpless he'd been when she'd frozen him to the spot and carried him out of his beloved bookstore, and he retreated behind Miss Lily slightly, as though she were some kind of ally here.

"There's the prize sow!" said Miss Colette, turning Oliver's stomach. "And the lady of the hour. You really outdid yourself with this one, Lily."

"I trust I'll be receiving my full pay, then. Twenty five," Miss Lily said with a fake smile.

"Of course! Wouldn't dream of anything else," said Miss Colette dismissively. She opened the door and peeked out, waving someone in. "This way, gentleman."

Lord Alexander entered the room. Their eyes met. And Oliver was frozen to the spot more surely than he'd been the night he'd been kidnapped.

"Now, then, to business," said Miss Colette. "Twenty thousand, and if you could sign this paperwork..."

Lord Alexander took the clipboard from her, skimming down each page before signing it. 

"And if you require any additional services, any conditioning or training --"

"That won't be necessary." He then took out a wallet, filling out a check and handing it to Miss Colette. "Here's your money. I'll be taking my thrall, now," he said. "Excellent job, Lily. We need to catch up sometime. It's been too long."

"Now, hold on, Lord Alexander," said Miss Colette. "We can't release your thrall to you until the check has cleared. It shouldn't take more than a few nights, and then we'll deliver him right away."

Lord Alexander scowled. "You're not keeping my thrall." His tone of voice, the way he practically growled the words "my thrall," sent shivers down Oliver's spine.

"He'll be returned to our secure holding facility, where he'll be --"

"I won't have my thrall kept in some nasty prison cell, guarded by half-witted newborn vampires that pass for security guards," said Lord Alexander. "If a single hair on his head is harmed -- "

Colette bristled. "Our facilities are safe --"

"Like hell I'll --"

"I'll take him, Lex," said Miss Lily, before the argument could escalate. "It's hardly any trouble, considering I'm lining my pockets with so much of your fortune, and I'll be staying at the auction house until the thralls have all been cleared out anyway."

Lord Alexander relaxed a bit. "You'll keep him safe, then?"

"I'll keep him locked away with Miriam. They'll get along well, and you know I wouldn't let anything happen to my Miriam," she said reassuringly. "Besides, I've grown a bit fond of him."

Lord Alexander took a long, hard look at Oliver, an unmistakably possessive look, and Oliver felt his mind bend.

His new owner.

"Fine, fine, if that's how it must be," said Alexander, breaking his gaze, "I'd far prefer him with you -- even with the tight spot you put me in."

"Then it's settled!" Collette clapped her hands together. "If you'd like to do any final inspection of your merchandise, Lord Alexander..."

"Just one word to him," he said, approaching Oliver. 

He was close. Oliver could smell a faint whiff of lavender soap, or perhaps perfume. "You'll be under my protection, Oliver, such as I can manage," he said. "I'll do my level best to be a good master."

Master. "Thank you, sir. Thank you for buying me."

He truly meant that, given the alternative. If Lord Alexander hadn't known him, hadn't taken such an interest in him, he would have surely ended up in an animal pen.

"You needn't thank me for that. I bought you primarily for my own pleasure," he said. 

He took Oliver's chin in his hand, oh so gently, and tilted his head back and forth, gazing on his neck. Oliver could feel his mind flooding with submission as Alexander brushed a spot on his neck, just a little above his left shoulder. That must be the place -- the place where he would drink.

"If there's any mistreatment of you before you're delivered to me, remember it. I wish to hear of it," he said sternly. "But you can trust Lily. It shouldn't be difficult for you to be obedient for her, will it?"

"Not at all... sir..." He was so eager to please.

"Is there anything in particular you would like procured for you before you arrive? Anything you can't live without."

"...Books... sir..."

There was a moment of silence, and then Lord Alexander snapped his fingers near Oliver's face. "Wake, Oliver."

Oliver startled out of the hypnosis he'd slipped into. "Sorry, sir. Did I say something wrong?"

"I asked if you needed me to procure something for you, and you told me books. I have books. Quite a few of them. And you know this," he said. "You really are quite easily entranced, aren't you?"

"I suppose I am, sir."

"Well, that's not a problem. I'l have to be mindful of it, though," he said. "Anything apart from books that you'd like?"

This time, Oliver actually considered the question. "May I have coffee, sir?"

"Of course. I drink it myself," he said. "Anything else?"

"I'm... not sure... sir. Food?" His head was still too fuzzy to think, already exhausted from the auction house, and he wasn't sure what it would be okay to ask for. Could he ever fetch his possessions from the bookshop, or were they lost for good?

"That's fine. I'll provide you with all of the basics -- food, toiletries, sundries. We'll make a list of your favorites. And if there's anything else you think of, we'll simply get it when you've arrived."

"That sounds very agreeable, sir."

"Good. Then if everything's settled here, I had better take my leave. I need to make it back to the city before the sun rises."

"Yes, sir."

Lord Alexander wasn't moving. He was looking at Oliver. Looking at his eyes. His face. And especially that spot on his neck. Oliver felt trapped in his gaze.

"Are you finished here, Lord Alexander?" said Miss Colette shortly.

"Yes, I am. Farewell, Oliver, Lily," he said, sweeping out the door, Colette following after.

"Well, it looks as if you're stuck with me for a little while," said Miss Lily jovially. "But you needn't worry. If I treat you wrong, Alexander will have my head -- if he isn't already inclined to drive a stake through my heart. Is there anything special you'd like to eat? Anything at all. You've certainly earned your keep, and I'd like to get something nice for Miriam as well."

"Roast chicken, sir?" he said, hoping he wasn't asking for too much.

"Splendid idea! I'll catch a servant and order up a whole roast chicken and whatever side dishes they have in the kitchen. And cake. And a bottle of dry white wine." She hooked an arm around Oliver's and led him from the room. "We should celebrate, don't you think?"

"I don't see why not, sir."

Part 22 >> Masterlist >> Part 24

Thank you for reading this story about an emotionally significant financial transaction.

@d-cs @latenightcupsofcoffee @thecyrulik @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @wanderinggoblin @whumpyourdamnpears @only-shadows-dwell-where-we-are @pressedpenn @pigeonwhumps @amusedmuralist @snakebites-and-ink @sl33py-pup @ivycloak @irregular-book @whumpsoda @mj-or-say10 @pokemaniacgemini @whumpshaped @whumpsday @morning-star-whump @shinyotachi @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @steh-lar-uh-nuhs

[blueepink07]

Yuno MV locations from the first three dates

Beginning with yellow Yuno, we have the Hachiko statue - Tokyo, Shibuya ward

Story

"Professor Eizaburo Ueno of Tokyo University adopted Hachiko in Akita prefecture in the early 1920s. The two were inseparable, with Hachiko accompanying his master to Shibuya Station each day when the professor would head off to work at Tokyo's Imperial University. The faithful pup would come back to the station each afternoon at 3pm to greet Ueno upon his return. Unfortunately, the professor died in 1925 while at the university and never returned for a final goodbye with his pet. However, the loyal Hachiko continued to visit the station daily until his own death nearly 10 years later. His own death made headlines, and he was cremated and buried next to his beloved owner."

Message

Next, we have the karaoke where Yuno goes after!

On the karaoke machine it can be seen the word "Joesound" written. Although there isn't a place or a company named like this, I had found a karaoke place near Hachiko statue and Shibuya scramble crossing (since Yuno seems to remember some landmarks from Tokyo she had visited) named JOYSOUND.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the room where Yuno stayed, however the machine and TV look similar with the one from the MV.

Also, a fun thing to note for the reason why they might have chosen to write Joesound instead!

"The closest sounding kanji name to "joe" is 常 (Jō). It is pronounced "Jō" with two syllables. The kanji means "constant" or "always"."

I think the meaning is similar with what the lyrics of Stickybug imply. To be always by your lover side (like a stickybug) until the day you die.

"If I’m lucky, we’ll stay like this till the day we’re covered in wrinkles

Since I’ll surely be just as smitten with you on the day I die

I want to make all your dreams come true

As for my dream, it’s to be that stickybug right by your side"

Going back to the Hachiko statue, the message of the story has similar connotations. Hachiko never actually stopped from loving the professor, always coming back to the station, until the day he died too...

Continuing with green Yuno! These where the easiest to find and I don't think there is much to say about them...

Tokyo Skytree - Sumida city ward

From the shape of the window structure, it looks like Yuno was on the tembo galleria.

No wonder Yuno has dressed herself up so elegant! The client definitely has a lot of money, considering the price to visit just the Tokyo Skytree is 6800 yen for both of them (45,37 $)

During night, however, the scenery changes and Yuno is now in Tokyo tower - Minato ward. They seem to be in an expensive restaurant!

Assuming that they also visited the Tokyo Tower, depending on which deck they went, the prices still seem to be somewhat high!

If they visited the main deck, in total the price should be 2200 yen (14,68 $). For the top deck tour, in total the price should be 5400 yen (36,02 $) (online reservation) or 5800 yen (38,69 $).

Next we have purple Yuno!

Yokohama Cosmo World - Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

(I would be happy if someone can read the hour on the clock...!)

"Yokohama Cosmoworld is an amusement park in Yokohama’s bayside Minato Mirai district. Although it occupies a rather compact area, it has a variety of rides and attractions which are suitable for either family outings, days out with friends, or romantic dates."

What is interesting about this amusement park is that there is no entrance charge!

However, a single ride can cost between 300 (1,98 $) - 900 yen (5,95 $).

Since the Ferris wheel seems to be the main attraction in Yuno's MV:

"Yokohama Cosmoworld is dominated by a giant Ferris wheel, called Cosmo Clock 21, which has a large digital clock at its center. Standing 112.5 meters high with a 100 meter diameter, this was the world’s tallest Ferris wheel until 1992, and it still holds the record as the world’s biggest Ferris wheel with a clock. Cosmo Clock 21 is one of the characteristic features of the Yokohama Bay skyline and is especially beautiful at night when it is illuminated with an LED light show of constantly changing colors."

"The wheel has 60 gondolas which can each carry eight passengers and it takes 15 minutes to complete a full turn of the wheel. A ride on Cosmo Clock 21 costs 900 yen."

It seems that this image takes place during day, most likely when Yuno and the client where on their way to the Yokohama Cosmo World. Considering that they don't get back home until night, they probably spent all the day until closing in the amusement park. (Cosmo world is open from 11.00 to 20.00)

The client definitely spent a lot of money, taking into consideration that they probably tried many rides!

Since I tried to estimate how much money some of these clients spent, I want to point out the client which appears with Grey Yuno in the second MV. Grey Yuno seems to be the happiest with him and even shows his hand (hands seem to be very important in Milgram, Amane's second MV is a good example for this, the hand representing her mother, an important character for her story) which at some point in time gave her warmth. The places where they go on a date don't seem to be some important landmarks as the others, so the money the client payed shouldn’t be as much. He also only gives 3000 yen (19,82 $) to grey Yuno, which quite pales in comparison with the money some of the other clients spent .

To round off I will add some pictures to visualize better the places where Yuno went!

[lyxchen]

Soho, 1925 you say?

Don't you mean AZIRAPHALE AND CROWLEY THEY LIVE IN SOHO WHERE ARE THEY MY GUYS MY BEINGS MY BELOVED ANGEL AND DEMON COME ON WE'RE IN SOHO WHERE ARE THEY????????

[chdarling]

I was re-reading TLE1 and I remember this:

"“I know Walburga,” said Mrs. Potter darkly. “She was briefly engaged to a cousin of mine, as a matter of fact. I say briefly because he ran off and married a Muggle instead”

Sirius’s jaw dropped"

My jaw dropped too. I want to know more about this story. Did wally like this guy? Who was him? Where did he meet the muggle? How were wally and this guy together? Were they happy in some way? Were wally softer in her youth or this love delusion made her the well known psyco? Did this unrequited love for this man have something to do with the failed marriage with Orion (like robert baratheon always in love with Lyanna stark instead of his wife Cersei?) and with the betrayal with Druella? were orion and druella in love but then they had to marry other blacks? I want to know the background. I want to know the drama 🔥 and how did the blacks ended the scandal? Did Wally think about marrying Orion? Or her father? Did Alphard have a role in younger siblings' marriages to people they didn’t love? He could have done this, just to have fun

hehehe.

ok, I’ve joked in the past about how I basically have a TLE wiki from all the random notes and headcanons I’ve scribbled in my phone over the years but like………I kinda do.

For instance, I have a stupid amount of Black family backstory, some of which I’ll keep to myself because it’s probably going to end up in the story, and some of which is just superfluous info that no one really needs to know but exists anyway because my brain doesn’t shut up. Sometimes this backstory makes it into little lines like the one you referenced above. 🙃

Anyway, here’s (part) of my TLE wiki bio of Walburga because why the heck not 😂

(This was written a long time ago)

Walburga Black was born in 1925, the oldest child of Pollux and Irma Black. She had two brothers, Alphard and Cygnus, for whom she never much cared. This was partly based on resentment: the Blacks, being an ancient family, followed ancient rules of inheritance. Despite being the first born child, Walburga, a female, would inherit nothing. It’s hardly surprising, then, that she viewed Alphard as her usurper.

Alphard, for his part, did not play the role of heir particularly well. He was extravagant in his tastes, liked expensive horses, racing, gambling and men. It became apparent early in life that Alphard would not carry on the Black family name. This meant, of course, that young Cygnus had a fair amount of responsibility on his shoulders. Walburga, who thought he was weak-minded and soft, resented him this all the more.

Walburga left Hogwarts in 1932 and it was arranged that she would marry Robert Burke, a pureblood from a respectable family. He was nearly ten years her senior, but Walburga was deliriously and unusually happy with this arrangement. While it might be premature to say that she loved Robert, she was certainly infatuated with him, and boasted of her esteemed engagement. Alas, the feeling was not mutual. Robert, 28 and unhappy, ran off and eloped with a Muggleborn witch. Walburga was humiliated, shamed, and utterly furious. She never got over the slight, and in some ways, her exceptional fanaticism for blood purity could be traced back to this moment.

In 1949, Cygnus married Druella Rosier, who was 9 years his senior. It was an arranged marriage, naturally, but mutually beneficial. A few years later, in 1951, Druella gave birth to her first child, a girl named Bellatrix. In 1955, following the birth of Cygnus and Druella’s third daughter, Narcissa, Walburga consented to marry her cousin, Orion Black. Walburga was 30 years old — Orion was 26 — and she was beginning to feel anxious. There had been no other suitable marriage offers and Orion, though she had no passionate feeling towards him whatsoever, offered a great deal that was important. Primarily, she would keep her beloved name. The two married in 1956 and ultimately took over 12 Grimmauld Place, the home in which Orion had been raised — his parents having moved out to a house in Wiltshire, to give them the space. Orion and Walburga’s marriage was not a particularly happy one, though neither of them expected nor wished it to be. There was no affection between them, no warmth, no intimacy. All they really shared was a devotion to their name, the honor and privilege that being a Black bestowed upon them. It was a duty, their marriage, and both saw it as such. The duty, of course, was to produce heirs to the Black name.

By 1957, Walburga was pregnant with her first child. However, she would tragically miscarry. For someone whose own self-worth was so reliant on her ability to produce a male heir for the Black family, this was a nearly unsurvivable blow. But she carried on. It took two more years for her to have a successful pregnancy, but on November 3, 1959, Sirius Orion Black was born. Roughly a year and a half later, on June 19th, 1961, Walburga gave birth to a second son, Regulus Arcturus Black.

Walburga was delighted by her sons, not because she felt overwhelming affection for the two children, but rather because they secured her victory over her brothers. She was the sole keeper of the Black family name. Her children would be heir to the entire Black fortune.

etc etc etc

It goes on a while, but, spoilers :)

[madreemeritus]

POTO adaptations analysis — Part 3 — The Phantom of the Paradise (1974), directed by Brian de Palma, starring Paul Willians, William Finley and Jessica Harper

this movie is a mix of Faust, The Phantom of the Opera and The Picture as a gothic/horror/comedy glamrock so you already know what to expect (and it was directed by Brian de Palma, the same dude who directed 1976's "Carrie")

Positive aspects (trying to not put the whole movie here):

– WHAT A FUCKING PHOTOGRAPHY, it barely looks like a 1970s movie fr

– WHAT A FUCKING SOUNDTRACK, no matter what genre plays during the movie it's so fucking iconic i love it 🥹

– Winslow Leach my beloved, aside from Erik Destler (Robert Englund) he's the best remade of original Erik we have, a little unhinged yet still pathetic and lovable

– Beef is ✨ICONIC✨ he SLAYS in gay 💅

– the figurine 🥹 omg what a fucking amazing techno-goth figurine

– the clips are so well made, the scene where Winslow rewrites his song for Phoenix while the red candle melts is probably my favorite

– Phoenix (our Christine/Marguerite) is so perfect and babygirl and girlboss iconic wonderful diva 💞

– AND, she and Winslow share the best platonic chemestry. I love them

– the mixt of tension, glamrock, comedy and tragedy are simpley perfect

– idk what's the meaning of this, but the characters are strangely related to birds: Swan, Phoenix and Winslow's mask

– speaking of mask, his design is PERFECT and it inspired Darth Vader's design (yes, Brian de Palma and George Lucas were friends and the POTP came out 2 years before Star Wars)

– as I said before, the movie mixes POTO, Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray, in a perfect way ✨💅

– the movie also criticizes the music industry, with both Phoenix and other objectified women and the injustice that happens with Winslow Leach

– Swan is a hateful villain, but in a good way, he's also iconic and very well written (and acted)

– how the plot explores the paralels with Faust is so fantastic

– the scene where Winslow brings Phoenix to the rooftop looks like a reference to the 1925s POTO, where Erik as Red Death spies on Raoul and Christine

– Winslow's deformity is AWESOME

– the ending, tho tragic, gives Phoenix and Winslow the scene i wanted to see with Christine and Erik

Negative aspects:

– the scene where Winslow discovers the supernatural true about Swan and the deal he signed is kinda... convenient? Like, a hidden recording that explains the plot-twist? That's kinda of a scritp cheat

– i wish Phoenix had more scenes tho (she still slays)

Movie score: 9/10 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

[radiofreederry]

Happy birthday, Mother Jones! (August 1, 1837)

In a life that spanned nearly a century, Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, made a name for herself as a slashing crusader for the rights of workers. Born in Cork, Ireland, Jones' family fled Ireland for the New World in the midst of the Great Famine. After a series of personal tragedies, including the loss of her husband and children to yellow fever, Jones began work with the nascent labor movement, helping to organize strikes with the Knights of Labor, then the preeminent militant labor organization in the United States. The outspoken and vociferous Jones quickly gained a reputation as a firebrand, she gained the nickname "the most dangerous woman in America" in her work with the United Mine Workers and the Socialist Party. Beloved by the workers she organized, she took to referring to them as "my boys." In 1903, to protest against the depraved conditions under which children were forced to work in the sweatshops and mills of the Northeast, she organized a children's crusade, the "march of the mill children" from Pennsylvania to Theodore Roosevelt's summer White House in Long Island. An accomplished agitator well into her 80s, she published her autobiography in 1925, dying five years later.

"Your organization is not a praying institution. It's a fighting institution. It's an educational institution along industrial lines. Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!"

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #55: Harry Potter, but make it Roaring Twenties

In what is possibly my most terrible idea yet, I've been contemplating all those HP fics which insist that if only Tom Riddle had been raised correctly, he'd never have become Voldemort - or would have at least gone about his goal in a more sane fashion. I tend to agree with this idea, as the idea that anyone is born evil seems incredibly naive.

Yet if I was a time traveler desperate to save my society, I don't know if I could take that same position - yes, I sincerely believe that no one is born evil, but am I willing to risk the future on the chance I'm wrong? Or: what if a female!Harry Potter traveled back to the 1920s to prevent Tom Riddle's birth?

Just imagine it:

Female!Master of Death!Harry Potter has witnessed the end of British Wizarding society. Voldemort is not solely at fault for it - magic has been declining for generations, as Dark and Light become unbalanced, but he definitely speeds the process along. Hyacinth (as we shall call her moving forward) decides to travel back in time to 1925 with the intent to prevent Voldemort's birth, which should hopefully provide Wizarding Britain time to restore the balance.

Hyacinth takes on the identity of 16-year-old Hyacinth Peverell, the only survivor of a fire at the Peverell Estate - and thus heiress to a grand fortune, but for the moment in the care of her paternal grandmother's brother, a retired professor living in Greater Hangleton.

The Riddles, being rampant social climbers, encourage Tom Riddle Sr to get close to her - which she somewhat bemusedly allows on the basis that keeping this Riddle close will prevent Merope from getting the chance to drug him with love potion.

(Not, of course, that Merope is around anymore. A quick spell or two saw Marvolo and Morfin kill each other off in a "drunken" altercation and the underage Merope taken away by the Ministry. But Hyacinth is covering all her bases.)

Meanwhile, Tom Riddle does his best to seduce Hyacinth Peverell, which results in the pair being wed in early 1926 and a pregnancy announced not long after.

On December 31, 1926 Hyacinth gives birth to their son - Thomas Tristian Riddle. Though it takes Hyacinth a few months to realize it, her son bears the soul of Voldemort from her original timeline, with his memories largely locked away until he's old enough to process them, circa 7-11 years old.

This is originally where I thought of ending a short one-shot... but then I thought, why not lean into the unhealthy, creepy element that would surely arise between a Voldemort obsessed with a witch who was once his prophesied downfall and who is now his loving mother? I'm not just talking codependent here but full-on Electra Complex, with a heavy layer of Child Supplants Parent directed toward Tom Sr for abandoning Merope in the original timeline.

Hyacinth becomes pregnant with a daughter in 1931? She's suddenly widowed when Tom Sr dies in a car crash with his mother. Tom Sr's father makes a drunken pass at Hyacinth while morning his wife and son? He's found to have committed suicide a few days later, leaving Tom Jr heir to his estates. Hyacinth gives birth to a daughter, Daphne? Well, Tom Jr restrains himself to keeping most of his mother's attention on him, but the threat is always there.

For added terrible fic factor, Hyacinth should be aware of what her son is doing and subtly encouraging it, having been almost as obsessed with Voldemort in the original timeline as he was with her and not realizing how much she'd miss her beloved enemy after he was gone. Perhaps she should have even ensured she'd get pregnant with Tom Jr at the precise time he would have been conceived originally, having decided that she couldn't bear not to have him in the world despite that being her whole raison d'etre for coming to the past. Hell, perhaps her whole marriage to Tom Sr should be a way of trying to fill the void Voldemort left in her life to begin with.

That's all I really have - just the idea that what could have been a very creepy one shot could easily evolve into an incredibly creepy full-length fic depending how hard one wants to develop and explore the layers of obsession and unhealthy mother-child relationship. Depending on how twisted you make Tom Jr as a child with a whole soul and Hyacinth after how many centuries of being the undying Master of Death in a dying magical world... well, there's a lot of room to play.

Bonuses include: 1) Tom Sr's father being the result of an affair between his mother and Marvolo Gaunt's father. He's unaware of the relationship, but it's enough for that thread of magical heritage to pass down Tom Jr in his new body regardless; 2) While we're at it, let's make Tom Sr's mother the third-generation descendant of a cast-out Black squib; 3) Hyacinth pretending to be your average 1920s upper-class housewife by day while secretly moving through magical circles by night, subtly pushing a pro-Grey, pro-greater secrecy agenda at the great and powerful of the magical world; 4) The suggestion that Voldemort's madness came as much from his muggle father's family as his inbred mother's: Tom Sr's father should express psychopathic tendencies, Tom Sr himself should be something of a sociopath, and Tom Sr's mother should be as much a Black as it's possible to be without magic; and 5) As much I can't believe I wrote this as the author can humanly manage.

And that's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you ever do anything with this genuinely terrible fic idea.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[vintagestagehotties]

Hot Vintage Stage Actress Round 1

Maisie Gay: Nan in A County Girl (1904 National Tour UK); High Jinks (1914 National Tour US); Miss Hernia Whittlebot in London Calling! (1923 West End)

Dusolina Giannini: Aida in Aida (1925 Hamburg); Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (1936 Salzburg); Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter (1938 Hamburg); Floria Tosca in Tosca (1943 NYCO)

Propaganda under the cut

Maisie Gay:

Maisie Gay my most beloved I’m rooting for you

Dusolina Giannini:

[martian-night]

Missak Manouchian, an Armenian Genocide survivor who went on to become a French Resistance hero. Born in 1906, Missak arrived in France in 1925 and worked at a Citroën car factory. Despite seeing the true face of evil during the Armenian Genocide, Missak never lost faith in humanity and always believed that a better world was possible. This ideal led him to get involved in politics and join the Communist Party in 1934. When the Nazis occupied France, Missak led a small group of foreign Resistance fighters, who carried out attacks against German forces and risked their lives to liberate the country they loved.

[biboocat]

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

This is a frank and engaging memoir of the author’s life before the Great War, including her matriculation at Oxford, first love, and experiences as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during wartime, and the early postwar years, a period spanning 1900-1925. Most of the book is taken up by her war experiences, and most of my comments will be limited to this period. The memoir isn’t for the faint of heart. Her nursing took her to London, Malta, France, and back to London. It is an indelible record of courage, resolve, and loss, yet it isn’t self laudatory or self-pitying; on the contrary, she is rather understated about her experiences and can be self-critical. Despite her youth and a traditional, sheltered upbringing, she was able to care for badly mutilated and dying young men and risked her own life in the process. I admired her realism. She expresses religious skepticism (deepened by the war) and stresses the importance of doing one’s duty to society in a finite lifetime. Like many she became disillusioned with the war and immediate postwar years and described her patriotism as having been “worn threadbare”. The story is all too relevant today.

After the war she completed her Oxford degree in History and pursued careers in writing and teaching and worked on behalf of various causes including women’s rights, pacifism, and socialism.

Memorable excerpts:

That night I prayed earnestly to God to make the dear King better and let him live. The fact that he actually did recover established in me a touching faith in the efficacy of prayer, which superstitiously survived until the Great War proved to me, once and for all, that there was nothing in it.

In fact, I passed my (pre-war) days in all those conventional pursuits with which the leisured young woman of every generation has endeavored to fill the time that she is not qualified to use.

Diary entry at the start of the Great War: it is impossible to find any satisfaction in the thought of 25,000 slaughtered Germans, left to mutilation and decay; the destruction of men as though beasts, whether they be English, French, German, or anything else, seems a crime to the whole march of civilization.

At St. John’s we had the inevitable sermon dwelling on the obvious incongruity of celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace while the world was at war.

As usual the Press had given no hint of that tragedy’s dimensions, and it was only through the long casualty lists, and the persistent demoralizing rumor that owing to a miscalculation in time thousands of our men had been shot down by our own guns, that the world was gradually coming to realize something of what the engagement had been.

I could not follow him there (St. James’s), being temperamentally too much of an agnostic to become a convert even in tribute to his memory. p248

The world was mad and we were all victims; that was the only way to look at it. These shattered, dying boys and I were paying alike for a situation that none of us have desired or done anything to bring about.

What was the use of hypocritically seeking out exalted consolations for death, when I knew so well that there were none?

I knew now the death was the end and that I was quite alone. There was no hereafter, no Easter morning, no meeting again; I walked in the darkness, a dumbness, silence, which no beloved voice would penetrate, no fond hope illumine. p446

There may not be - I believe that there is not – resurrection after death, but nothing could prove more conclusively than my own brief but eventful history the fact that resurrection is possible within our limited span of earthly time. p496

In those days we were still naïve enough to believe that suggestions need only be bright in order to be enthusiastically accepted, and had still to learn that in clubs and societies, as in foreign offices, the one thing that really terrifies officials is the prospect of any alteration in the status quo.

War, especially if one is the winner, is such bad form. There’s a strange lack of dignity in conquest; the dull, uncomplaining endurance of defeat appears more worthy of congratulation. Modern war is nothing but a temporary - though how disastrous! – forgetfulness by neighbors that they are gentlemen; its only result must be the long reaping in sorrow of that which was sewn in pride.

And then I remembered, with a startling sense of relief, that there was no resurrection to complicate the changing relationships forced upon men and women by the sheer passage of earthly time. There was only a brief interval between darkness and darkness in which to fulfill obligations, both individuals and society, which could not be postponed to the comfortable futurity of a compensating heaven. p650-1

L to R: Edward Brittain, Roland Leighton, and Victor Richardson. In 1914 Roland gained a scholarship and exhibition to classical postmastership at Merton College, Oxford, Edward was to go up to New College Oxford, and Victor to Cambridge. The waste is obscene.

VB in Malta

Geoffrey Thurlow, Vera’s other close friend. He had also been accepted to Oxford before the war intervened.

[fawnangel555]

how old r u?💕

i was born December 29th, 1925. i died June 26th, 1996. im just soul, lingering and yearning to find my beloved again.

[artdecosupernova-writing]

Partners II

The year is 1960. Tragedy separates Ben and Reagan literally and figuratively, likely for good. On top of coping with their professional split, they now have to cope with the ever-hovering idea that they may no longer have each other to lean against when they need to, which sends both of them spiraling into their personal brands of hellish nightmares. And with over 5,000 miles between them indefinitely for the first time in 30 years, those spirals become almost impossible to grind to a halt.

Protagonists

Reagan Gilmore • 39 • August 15th, 1921 • Ireland

Reagan went on to become an internationally beloved performer and actor with a few Academy Award nominations under his belt. He's doing his level best to be the best single dad to his two kids that he can, and though he's always considered Ben to be a covert co-parent, he can't help but let his own guilt and insecurities overshadow him. Being pulled back to Ireland for an undetermined amount of time wreaks havoc on his mental state, unleashing a reckless and irresponsible component of his personality that previously went undiscovered.

Ben Murray • 35 • February 27th, 1925 • New Jersey

Ben has become an accomplished singer/songwriter in his own right, composing a few scores for films—some of which Reagan was a star—as well as topping several music charts and earning gold records in the infancy of the certification. His life with Faye and their daughter seems pristine on the surface, but he's not quite sure he wants to keep it that way. The deep-rooted emotional tribulations he'd carried with him his whole life reveals itself to be poisonous, eating away at his mental stability and his physical health simultaneously.

• • •

"You destroyed me that night, you know." Ben cast despondent eyes across the shoreline, the salt of the breeze rustling through his hair. The looming void of night and the pliant sand swallowing their feet foreshadowed their immediate futures. "I had no god damn idea what I was gonna do without you. I was terrified." A knot manifested in Reagan's chest that he couldn't shake. "What, exactly, could equal that?" He observed the fissure between Ben's brows. "What could I possibly say that would be as devastating, if not more, as tellin' you we had to dissolve our partnership?" "I don't even know." "Would it be that we can't be together anymore? After all this time?" Reagan meant to sound casual but the words made him bite a bit more than he expected. "After all we've been through? You know better than that." "It's what you're doin'. It's exactly what you're doin'." Ben finally turned to him. "By packing your shit and movin' all the way across the Atlantic, it's what you're doin'." The knot in Reagan's chest ballooned painfully into a leaky bubble of frustration he could no longer ignore. "Do you think this is easy for me? I can't take my kids, Ben. My dad has never met his grandkids and he probably never will. I can't take you. It's killin' me that I gotta leave you behind, but that's just the way it's gonna have to be, isn't it? You'll be here with your family and Faye's family and...you get to be here with my family, for fuck's sake. You're not gonna be alone this time; I am!" It dawned over Ben's face in slow motion. The swell of his throat bobbed and he dropped his gaze to the sand, unspeaking for several moments, allowing the miles of crashing waves to do the talking. The familiar reddening around his eyes betrayed his despair.

• • •

"You are possibly the most touched clown known to man," Mickey grumbled in his face. "Where is your manager and why is he allowing this caterwauling to continue?" "I don't have a manager," Ben said, breathless from nerves. "I've never needed one." Mickey's expression was hard and unforgiving unlike anything seen from him before. "You've always needed one. You needed one when you had one, as I can't fathom the meaning of letting you flounder on your own while your supposed better half sits pretty on his Hollywood throne." His gun found its way out of his shoulder holster, and a glint of the ceiling light bouncing off the gold metal and mother of pearl handle spoke words he chose not to speak himself. He pressed the tip of the weapon into Ben's shoulder. "Get out there and do your job, right now." "What the fuck, Mickey?!" Ben shoved the barrel away from him with the hand not currently pinned behind his back. "Put that away!" "You're the first man to ever say that to me. Do you feel special?" "I hate you so much. I hope you know that I hate you with all the rage I got left in me." "How ever will I live without your approval?" Mickey snapped. Though he spared a furtive peek at the gun first, Ben grit his teeth and turned a resolute glare onto him. "You wouldn't shoot me. You've protected me and Reagan for ten years, and you're not stupid enough to undo all of that by killing me. And even if you only catch an arm or a leg, I still wouldn't be able to perform." Mickey jammed the tip of the gun into the underside of Ben's jaw, sending a shock of pain through his throat and under his tongue. "Just how much are you willing to gamble in your own favor, Stick?" Mickey murmured, a perilous gleam overcoming his widened eyes.

[busterverse]

What!  No Fun? Wednesday

Finally, I have seen ALL of 1933’s What!  No Beer? starring Jimmy Durante and a sadly demolished Buster Keaton.

How did this gobbler ever look good on paper?  We had to choke it down in five-minute segments.  

Where to begin?  There's a lot of shouting and stumbling, none of which is in the least bit funny, apart from one or two of Durante's throwaway lines.  

It's filled with idiotic, contrived, completely avoidable situations, the moronic end brings new meaning to the word 'cringe,' and yet, it reportedly made money.

The frenetic material makes The Three Stooges seem quietly dignified; the story makes Plan Nine From Outer Space look like Citizen Kane.

What's it about?  Prohibition's about to be repealed, and Buster, a taxidermist, teams up with his friend,  Durante, to brew beer and become wealthy.

What could possibly go wrong?  Yes, thanks for reminding me.

Buster and Jimmy (that's his name in the film, as though too dispirited to remember a different one) run into gangsters, are arrested by police, and wade through gallons of foam, a gag appropriated from Buster's much funnier short, My Wife's Relations (1922).  In fact all the gags were appropriated from Buster's REAL movies, like Seven Chances (1925), only there, they got laughs.

There are one or two meager good points.  Ya gotta love blowhard Spike Moran, played by Buster's old pal Ed Brophy.  But most of the cast is as wooden as the barrels the beer's been canned in.

Somewhere in among all this mess, Buster spots a girl and falls for her.  He can still sell his patented yearning look.

Durante works himself into a frenzy, struggling to save this bolus of a feature, but it's hopeless.  There are jagged, jumpy, mis-matched cuts everywhere, and it's filmed like a static stage play, even while churning around so much, it throws off buckets of flop sweat.

Former dancer Phyllis Barry (who actually did appear with The Three Stooges) plays an unworthy object of Buster's yearnings: a duplicitous, venal gangster's moll and bimbo de luxe who turns on a dime for no discernible reason.  (Except, of course, that it’s BUSTER.  Ya know?)

Worst of all, however, is seeing the master who created such brilliant movies as The General (1926) and my beloved Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) reduced not only to wallowing in this bilge, but in such a state of inebriation that he either forgets lines, or slurs them when he does remember.

I'd drink too, if I was in this turkey.

Watch if you must, but be well forewarned.