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thefisherqueen · 4 months

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Notes on Granada's Sherlock Holmes: the last vampire

This will be a tough one to follow for me! I barely remember anything about the story, except that it had something to do with blood, that a woman was wrongly and for rather racist reasons accused and that instead a young boy turned out to be the attempted murderer

Someone is burned alive in the opening scene? What? I don't remember this

"I'll stop if you let me kiss you". Wait. Isn't this her actual stepson? *a few minutes further* ok, that is not the mother, so not her stepson. Still very creepy behaviour from this boy. This comes a bit too close for comfort to me personally. People very rarely talk about it, but children can be the perpertators of sexual violence sometimes, as was the case for me

Ok, the next scene cheers me up. Laughing so hard about Holmes dressing up as a vampire and scaring the hell out of Watson

Why is everyone so scared of that grave looking man dressed in black? Don't understand that yet

Holmes, highly randomly: "This cup and saucers has been here for three days" he's so ADHD

Holmes: "Everything is better than this stagnation" *flops dramatically down in a chair* *assumes even more dramatic pose*

Poor Watson, he just wants some tea while Holmes is infodumping

Seems like Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke had the time of their lives acting this whole vampire scene, I love them so much

Holmes: "The world is big enough for us, no ghosts need apply" Ah, I remember that quote!

Why am I not convinced by Holmes' reason for being in possesion of vampire teeth? Never heard Holmes say 'uhm' so much *mind goes wild with possibilities* I really want to know that the team's thoughts were! Watson: "Did you put them to use?" Almost convinced Watson discovers he has a vampire kink here

Client: "Thank you young man, I'm not quite in my grave yet" Haha, love a fiesty old man

I adore Brett and Hardwicke exchanging glances and trying not to laugh as the forgetful client rambles on

Ah, there's the first death. Looks quite dramatic with all the blood! And oh, that stranger really had bad timing. And he's a descendant of a hated, cruel landowner who the villagers burned alive. Plenty of reason I guess for the villagers to be suspicious

So the baby died as well (they made this so much darker). Holmes and Watson go to the village to investigate and keep the village calm. Good concept, actually. Great expantion upon the canon story

Village life has changed so little over a hunderd years that I forgot for a while that this movie takes place in the victorian age, lol, until Watson named all the young influenza victims. Yeah, that was a thing back then. Not entirely related, but I wonder now how long it took before child deaths in villages really started to go down. The installing of sewers and clean drinking water supply made a huge difference here... but I wouldn't be surprised if it took a long time before all villages had the same fascilities as the cities. Anyway, as tragic as it always has been (and I read a lot of proza and poetry written by grieving parents), a baby's death still was nothing out of the ordinary around 1900. According to this graph on child mortality, 228 out of a 1000 children died before they were five years old in the UK in 1900. (compared to 4 in 2020. That's an astonishing difference)

Ohh, bats living in the countryside with lots of old buildings, suspicious!

The writer is very relatable. I, too, have a tendency to horrify the fellow people at my table with marcabre history and uncomfortable questions

Love the way Holmes enages the whole fucking pub. Loudy: "Surely there is no crime in this part of the country!" *dead silence*

The influenza epidemic running in the background really adds to the panicked atmoshere, that was a clever choice

What was that sudden hallucination (??) at the ruin? *some time later* Oh, all right. Glad they went with actual optical effects this time

I love the scenes where we get to see Watson in his role as a doctor, visiting patients - calm, caring, competent. Such a wonderful exploration of that side of his character

Oh, the writer himself is dead now too? That was quite sudden and unexpected. Damn. I liked him. He was creepy but in a good way. Third death and counting, because of course it's not over now

I hate how realistic this whole panicked reaction of the village feels. People see causal relations where they don't exist and do wild, irrational things when they're scared, we've all seen it over the years. I can easily see a group of conspiracy theorists digging up a just burried man in the dead of night and moving him

I like how it's not necessary the Peruian artifacs and beliefs that are portrayed as in themselves creepy, but what they become in the hands of two white people. I think you can certainly argue it's a portrayal of cultural appropriation

The finale felt a bit rushed compared to the middle part. Still satisfying, but why kill the boy off? (at least I assume he's dead). I would have loved to see closure in the village, especially for the parents because holy shit they lost both their children, and a bit more reflection from Holmes and Watson

I really loved this episode, it was so well done and may become one of my favs. Nice build up, delightful characters, a good balance of fun and eerie things. The only thing I can find fault with is that the timing was just a bit off, the middle part a bit to long and the ending a bit too short. Classic period horror movie meets detective story

#sherlock holmes #granada holmes #the last vampire

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spiritfeelingspiritfelt · 1 year

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Queer / neurodivergent soft SOFT friendships pls

Cis hets DNI pls thx

Hi you can call me by the first letter of my name ‘T’, I’m in my late 20’s, soft butch, trans masc, enby, stone butch, gender blind (in all respects tbh), vegan, artist, writer, researcher, outdoors fanatic, lover of all things nonhuman

My special interests: philosophy specifically/particularly metaphysics, biocentrism and ecosophy aka anything to do with the study of the matter of our universe and all it contains, the absurdity of how matter is essentially based on illusions and tricks, everything non-human , all the connections/symbiotic relationships of natural relationships in the natural world and also spirituality / faith systems and the law of assumption

My social battery and social ways tend to mean I can be amazing socially socially for a select time but then I crash out and disappear to hermit land (depending on how social I was being this could literally mean no internet interaction for months let alone in person) I’m working on this

I go through phases (years/months) of having great genuine soft friendships to absolutely zero and I want to work on this also, currently and perhaps obvious to this post Im in the latter phase. Which means my social skills are probably poor again. One brilliant thing about adhd though is regardless of all the above as soon as I’m vining with someone I’m the joker of the moment bound to make you smile.

Neurodivergent friends: this is actually a category that can be a loophole on my dni aka men as my issues with men I’ve found can sometimes be not a thing at all with someone neurodivergent, I myself have autism, adhd and cptsd. I’ve had close friendships with I swear like every known diagnostic out there haha so don’t feel you have to be apprehensive about this I know how it is and I’m really chill honestly, they are just descriptions to better establish our ep connections right. Also agere in this context is a vibe and we connect on this.

Im really looking to connect with queer poc, queer women, butches, dykes, masculine presenting women, trans lesbians, transmascs

I have a lot of trust issues right now but specifically around men/cis hets,

For in person friendships:

I’m based in the uk, I’m very loyal but to the point I do need to work on it as not to be taken advantage of, I can be quite tactile after trust is established, I, the friend that will always (consensually) pick you up play with your hair give you a back rub or vice versa i love being picked up having hair played with, I also love nature walks, going to queer/poc events, making art/getting crafty, reading (also isn’t it special when you can read in silence with a person or group of persons), friends you can stargaze with or go wild camping are especially close to my heart, despite this post I’m the banter loving playful puppy sort could literally have a conversation that makes zero sense due to its randomness and still have a blast whilst equally get deep on conspiracies and philisophical theories. Also like to binge shows that tend to be, fantasy, lgbt, anime, cartoons, documentaries, crime based, conspiracy based etc

For long distance/online friendships: It could be that we live far apart or you aren’t good with being in person in which case as long as you are the creative writing or rpg sort this could still work, I’ve had friendships that were mainly lived out through back and forth writing creating story experiences to share in worlds we create, or if you are into RPG as this can be similar as long as you are down to teach me the ropes of your game(s) of interest I, down for this, also down to do video calls when we both feel

I will probably end up drawing for you or write you poems lol

Things I think worth noting about me: my literal communication style benefits from CLOSED questions I hate open ended questions as my brain will scan through too many possibilities and uncertainties which can lead to me saying what I think I’m meant to not what I mean, clear and concise communication is great else I overthink or project or misunderstand or get paranoid and probably won’t express this. I sometimes need persistence, like being called, texted a lot in order to start re engaging this actually also helps wit my trust.

I love comics and sorta live off WEBTOON because comics/graphic novels are expensive for how fast you get through them:( particularly obsessed with fantasy stories that entail queer dynamics

I’m happily taken in a relationship so queer couple friendships, friendships with queer families/parents is also great=)

Feel free to message things about you or just message in short as a response or repost if you are looking for similar things and want more people to see/interact all is cool

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emmashouldbewriting · 1 year

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Don’t American food companies put corn syrup in everything? Corn is heavily subsidised by the government so they put it in everything…. I heard even the bread at the supermarket is sweet, like I see videos online and why is the bread so perfectly white with no holes??

Not entirely true. Yes, everything here in the US is sweeter but it's not always corn syrup. It's sugar, butter, and all kinds of artificial sweeteners, which includes corn syrup. It's a "by-product" of how commercialized and mass-produced our food is. Sweeteners are added to our food to make it taste better because the commercialized systems that produce our food overprocesses the food, which removes the actual taste from the food. Corn syrup in particular is used as a preservative that keeps packaged food (i.e. the stuff from the factories that most Americans eat because it's cheaper than real fresh food) "fresh" for longer. So everything is sweeter because it's literally being preserved to be shelf-stable for months, if not years.

One of the reasons we do this is because of food accessibility. People will sometimes go for weeks between grocery shops - either they don't live close enough to a grocery store to go frequently (e.g. the daily or several times a week like the average European does) or the price of "clean" food is so high that it's unaffordable. So we default to these pre-packaged super sweet foods because of how much more accessible it is over farm-to-table ingredients/foods. Which in turn gives us this sugar addiction that makes healthy eating movements incredibly difficult. For instance, Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver's healthy school meals initiatives failed partly because of cost but also mainly because the kids didn't like the food - the new healthy meals weren't sweet enough, compared to "old" meals and other foods, to appeal to the kids.

Thank you for this! US food is so, so sweet comparatively, it's wild.

I do have to ask though - do you include the UK in the 'Europeans several supermarket' visit thing? Because us Brits usually go once a week then to our local corner shop to grab anything extra like milk. We don't typically do a grocery shop more than once a week unless we plan for it. However whenever we've been in Greece this definitely applies, we've always stayed in small villages and gone every few days!

But I agree with you overall. We sell our excess eggs at the end of our driveway and were worried about raising our prices this year to account for the raise in feed for our ducks/chickens... our poor girls can't lay them fast enough right now. But we won't raise our prices because good, healthy food should be more accessible than it is.

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1d1195 · 2 months

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omg i had a phase where the ONLY show i would watch was gilmore girls. that was fun it has a special place in my heart

LMFOAOAOSKS SAM HAHAHAHA you’re so right tho neither of them felt like good fits for her. my mom was just telling me today how every time she sees him online she thinks his smile looks so forced😭😭

OH AND DING 3 ???:?:???? I WAS SHDBSJSNNSDJD 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭 THE WHOLE TIME I KID YOU NOT. HES SOOOOOO UGHHH. THE WAY HE NEEDED TO KNOW ??? AND WHEN HE GOT SO ANGRY HE WANTED TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE GYM ???? AND JUST THE WAY THEYRE SOOOO INTO EACH OTHER IM OBSESSED (when he asked to kiss her cheek i think i passed away🪦)

im really happy to hear the vacation went well !! i think you deserve a good relaxing something every now and then. treat yourself to a spa weekend or a massage soon girl (or whatever you consider relaxing cause i’ve actually never tried either of those lmfao)💖

i’ve actually been up to a lot recently! or more than usual lol. it’s pretty dull in my life buttttt i have two childhood best friends who each have a wedding coming up soon. one of which i know for sure will be in may and the other isn’t decided yet but it’ll be soon as well bc it’ll be a lowkey thing. it’s crazy for me to think that we’re at the age where we can start getting married n stuff😭 ive known these girls my whole life its just insane

todays my birthday !! (it’s 2am rn tho so i won’t process that fact until i wake up) i’m not going to do much, maybe go to target and get some skincare bc i went to see a dermatologist yesterday lol who’s the person who said they lived in the uk and wished they had a target?? i saw a tiktok video of a group of australians going to target for the first time and it was SOOO FUNNY😭😭 target is the best i could seriously spend hours there

wishing you alllll the best✨✨✨✨

~🎶

I watch it every fall/winter 😭 I just finished my rewatch actually 🤣

I’ve never been to the spa or had a massage. I do really want a massage but I’m poor and can’t justify the cost. Honestly I enjoy lounging on the couch hahahaha

That’s so nice you get to see some old friends! That’s so lovely! I have been trying to be better about seeing my old friends (and doing terrible at it). My middle school bff has a 1.5 year old kid. That shit is wild. But it’s always like no time has passed when I see them! Hope you have fun spending time with them! What do you have planned?

I’m so weddinged-out. I’ve always been a funeral girl (my family is generally older so 🤷🏻‍♀️) I hadn’t been to a wedding until I was 17 and then the next one when I was 22. Now I’ve been to 6 weddings in two years. I’m tapped out physically, emotionally, and mostly financially. I think there will be at least 2 more in the next two years too 🙃 Also I’ve been to about…idk 6000 baby showers. I cannot afford to have friends 🤣

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! 🎉 💕🥳 I hope you had the most amazing day you deserve it all and more!!! 💕

My 🛼-anon is our friend from England who hasn’t been to target! I’m glad you feel the same way about target. I grew up without a target nearby so I’m not sure if I’m just romanticizing how lovely it is 🤣

Hope you have a fabulous birthday week can’t wait to hear about your skincare routine and all the fun things you do with your friends!!!

Xoxo

P.s. I’m glad you liked Ding 💕I love a “who did this to you” kinda vibe 😉

#🎶#ding

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lonespektr · 8 months

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OCTOBER 22 & 23 HORROR WATCH

Make ups

Red Rose 1x1, 1x2, 1x3

Smart House dependent can't turn on her own lights by hand

As soon as her mom comes home she jumps???

Apparently they sign shirts over there

One brown person nobody likes ... Alright

Everyone got an invite to Beckys except this one

Whop turns out becks is being nice she didn't invite her because there's a cover charge and she knows she po

Lol where is the music coming from???

Our protag has wandered away from the party and been linked - via becks

A vid/game!!!

Of red rose

Masquerading as a beauty filter app

This guy old enough to play a dad now??

The other one they all hate is south asian

And apparently the gonnies aren't cool

This is what's wrong with children these days

It's targeting lonely people that's pretty foul

Hanging out in the graveyard ...with???

Those meter things in the UK for electricity are predatory as shit as soon as the power goes out the phone bugs her this like big data

And boom three wishes the power comes back on

Do they like a drain on society???? 🧐🧐

Do they look like they want to speak to the manager???

Not climate change 🤣🤣

Lol wtf

It told her build a fire

It's recording and accessing her apps

Here it is again they keep showing the kids of ghost of themselves

The kids appear to be fighting about literally nothing

Oh that's her mom

Figured that was her dad because the other dad was also mid thirties

All them little friends is broke but i guess shes food stamp pantry broke

The other one was rich so why target her

She's not wondering why the phone knows ger friends name

OH SHIT

She declined to do a thing the phone told her to do it hacked the tv and put up shame video standing in the food pantry line

And it's been texting her friends and sending her fake texts

Wild

Phone to her to kiss the guy her friend was seeing and that's on the tv now??

Ohhh now it's sending live vids of her little sisters she left at home

She told each twin they are in charge of the other one , which if they are both responsible girls is smart 🤣🤣

1x2

The lights are out at the house again what happened to that 100$ credit??

Can't believe Americans don't have that shit system

The girls are safe but they were hiding in the cubbord

They said someone was in the garden

The electronics are going in and out but she doesn't have a smart house so the phone can't do that

The phone keeps showing her her dead mom in partial silhouette haunting the house

She deletes the app

Mental illness/suicide

The app obvs did not delete

Gross now the phone is using her dead moms voice

Absolutely foul

This is just abject cruelty

She used her common sense and didn't message her she wrote a letter

They may but they are so shit at communicating thru didn't resolve anything

Literally no reason to carry the phone though

Okay well she wanted to show her the thing but before and afterwards you should have taken the battery out

Twins and dad are off to visit family

Unclear why dark black hair hates new guy

It's just random children stuff as soon as the two indian kids made a decent joke they are now legit

Apparently

Mam are you googling exorcisms on the posessed phone?

Church got bose blue tooth surround sound

Phone does not want to be exercised and something is sneaking up behind her (in the camera)

Keep throwing holy water at it

It stopped.

The kids have crowd sourced that the phone is the common denominator and new south adian kid says it doesn't really matter if it's not real because she's having a shit go

Dude they saw the phone deconstructed on the floor right???

Then they are saying she posted something

The phone is on the floor ??? The windows open

One kick

It's a flimsy lock

You could say it's cause their house is shitty but it could also be cause they already had to break that door down once

folks remember that suicides and family deaths is an increased high risk for suicide of their loved ones

That is a cheap ass casket they are dirt poor or the UK regular folk do not bury dead like the US

That was short of a pine box by two gold handles and some laquer

Sis don't download it baby

Bro you hiding behind the closet

AI hacker stalker

How he not see it, it was right there???

Panopticon see 👀👀👀

Now other apps are doing stuff WTF???

The overarching thing is poverty and not great parents or unavailable parents due to poverty

They all jumped to ghosts instead of just a hacker

She's

#graywatchhorror23 #red rose

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badkarmaviscomm · 8 months

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SP - Bibliography - WIB

Okundaye, J. (2023) ‘I’m young but have no interest in the British cult of home ownership. I just want renting to be fair’ [online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/20/young-own-house-renting-britain-flat-property. Accessed 03.10.2023

Partington, R. (2023) ‘Millions of young adults living in poor quality housing, UK study shows’ [online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/apr/15/young-adults-uk-housing. Accessed 03.10.2023

Hall, A. (2020) ‘Why is 'cottagecore' booming? Because being outside is now the ultimate taboo’ [online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/15/why-is-cottagecore-booming-because-being-outside-is-now-the-ultimate-taboo. Accessed 03.10.2023.

Morgan, M. (2013) ‘Remembering Ana Mendieta’ [online] Available from: https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/17350/1/remembering-ana-mendiata . Accessed 03.10.2023

Juliá, C. (2013) ‘Vong Phaophanit - Neon Rice Field’ [online] Available from: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/phaophanit-neon-rice-field-t14130 . Accessed 03.10.2023.

Ingram, L. (2023) Instagram account: @lyleji [online]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/lyleji/?img_index=1. Accessed 03.10.2023.

Pavelle, S. (2023) ‘The Dartmoor wild camping ban further limits our right to roam. It must be fought’. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/17/dartmoor-wild-camping-ban-right-to-roam. Accessed 03.10.2023.

Supersublime (2023) [exhibition] Bournemouth, 08.07.2023 - 07.10.2023

McIaughlin, A. (2022) ‘How Tuvalu could become the first country to exist solely in the metaverse’ [online]. Available from: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/tuvalu-metaverse-cop27/. Accessed 04.10.2023

Lin, L (2001) ‘The Image of Suzhou’ [online] Available from: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/602286150180939607/ Accessed: 05.10.2023.

Scott, A. (2023) ‘Repetitive Beats’ [online] Available from: http://www.beflix.com/works/repetitivebeats/. 05.10.2023.

2oo2 (2023) Instagram account: @2ooooooooooooo2 Avaialable from: https://www.instagram.com/2oooooooooooooo2/. Available from: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/528047125036645158/. Accessed:06.10.2023

Critchlow, J (2023) Instagram account: @jamescritchlow. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/jamescritchlow/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e6c0fccf-7d68-49aa-84db-d09632dc4fb8. Accessed 06.10.2023.

Steyerl, H., 2009. In defense of the poor image. e-flux journal, 10(11).

Woodman Foundation (2023). ‘Francesca Woodman Work’. Available from: https://woodmanfoundation.org/. Accessed 08.10.2023

#sp wib

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nardo-headcanons · 4 years

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Modern Akatsuki Headcanons

this is long omg

Deidara

he is an art student at a university

loves new years eve though

he got mouths tattoed on his hands and chest when he was drunk after a wild dorm party

when celebrating new years eve, HE decides what to buy or else

he loves drinking mate tea, caffeine <33

keeps getting in fights with Sasori

prolly lives in the UK or Europe

Hidan

was recruited for army school thanks to his religious parents

Hidan was raised very conservatively and never allowed to curse so he has a lot to catch up

and it shows

secretly buys women’s shampoo though, it makes his hair softer

but he’ll never admit it

He’s a proud American

Itachi

poor guy left his family in Japan and took Sasuke with him

became a therapist when his best friend (Shisui) killed himself

now lives in Europe with his brother

he bought a big house and a car to start a new life

but he lives in this huge house all alone

recently bought a therapy dog for his practice so it’s not too lonely

Kakuzu

Kakuzu definitely owns his own business

Energy! Efficiency! Capital!

big man on the stock market

sometimes he’s investing in weird things though

donates some of his revenue to cardiology research centers

lives in a penthouse in Japan

Kisame

like everyone in his family, he wanted to do something sea related

even though he’s huge he’s actually a gentle giant

works in a dolphin rehabilitation center in Australia

I can see him doing pearl diving in his free time

owns a lot of diving equipment, A LOT

he cares about the environment

Konan

she absolutely LOVES children

went to school together with Yahiko and Nagato

Konan works at a school for disabled children

when she sees a child cry on the train she will fold a little origami bird and give it to them

mediocre at cooking, but her pies are THE BEST

she can’t have kids on her own but she’s thinking about adopting some

lives together with Yahiko in the UK

Nagato

after seeing what war has done to many innocent people Nagato would try to change the world and fight for world peace

started as a children’s rights activist and traveled around the world

but now he’s a famous politician

he’s into photography and documentaries, and enjoys learning new things about the world

and he’s also a best seller author where he tells his story about being orphanated during a civil war

lives in New Zealand

Sasori

he’s Deidara’s professor at the art university

and BOY he has never fought so much with a student before

was born and raised in South Africa

learned a lot about tribal culture

people always ask what anti aging lotion he uses

actually only uses almond oil

Yahiko / Pain

Konan’s loving boyfriend

got a lot of piercings when he was younger

used to be in a criminal gang which earned him the nickname ‘Pain’

he works at a nursing home

loves taking care of older people and listen to their stories

but very interested in psychology

#naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto headcanons #naruto imagines #akatsuki #akatsuki headcanons #itachi headcanons #deidara #deidara headcanons #itachi #uchiha #anime headcanons #kisame headcanons #sasori headcanons #kakuzu headcanons #konan headcanons #nagato headcanons #hidan headcanons

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bagadew · 3 years

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The Great Ace Attorney Playthrough: The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band (Part 1)

Last Time: With a little help from Susato, the lady in pink, we discovered that Miss Brett poisoned Dr Wilson with Curare, a fast acting poison that’s only effective when introduced into the blood stream. In a last ditch attempt to avoid justice, Miss Brett destroyed the evidence right in front of the court, but fortunately my man Hosonaga was on hand with new evidence he’d taken from the crime scene, meaning that all we had to do was catch the thief of a rare golden coin, and tie Miss Brett up with her own words! At last I (Ryunosuke) was acquitted!

...only to find out in the lobby that Miss Brett has managed to privilege her way out of any consequences and was gone like smoke in the wind. (Also Kazuma used his sword in a way I found very hot, and I think I’ve accidentally doomed him to death or moral corruption.)

I’m 90% sure The Speckled Band is a Sherlock Holmes case, and I’m 49% sure it’s one of the ones I’ve read. I’m guessing this is where we’ll meet The Great Himbo Detective Herlock Sholmes then!

Well I guess that answers that then.

(And yes, I have read this one)

HERLOCK!

And he’s voiced by Professor Layton maybe???

Ooh, this seems like a Study in Scarlet, are we doing a Study in Scarlet guys?

Herlock has a magic gun!?!

Also I’m not digging this Japanese scripture and talk of it being penned by ‘the victim himself’. Kazuma what did I tell you about leaving my sight?

Wait... I could have sworn I just saw Hosonaga dressed as a sailor...

Oh balls, am I about to be accused of murder again?

Honestly I can’t take you anywhere Ryunosuke

Well Ryunosuke, you remember how you went to a lovely restaurant and got arrested for a murder you didn’t commit?

Well, it’s just like that but substitute restaurant for ship.

Also I’m not liking how little I’ve seen of Kazuma...

Ryunosuke we really need to have a talk about you just saying what people want to hear.

ITS FUCKING KAZUMA ISN’T IT?!

Nononononononono

I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming, Ace Attorney law dictated it was coming as soon as it set Kazuma up as both my mentor and best friend.

But even so, I thought they were just empty threats! I didn’t think they’d actually follow through! Or that we might at least enjoy Herlock Sholmes ad his magic gun together first.

I realise I’m stalling here, but maybe if I just don’t click I’ll not have to see his body.

Sailor Man, I understand that you’re very upset, we all are, but I need you to understand that I’m grieving here.

The man I love took one look at the morally compromised shits I’m normally into and decided he’d rather die than join them! And yes I know I’m still stalling and not taking this as seriously as I should because I still don’t believe it!

See, me and Ryunosuke are on the same page!

I didn’t Susato, but the problem is that you and I have only just met and I’m not very convincing!

Kazuma you legend! I refuse to believe you are dead until I see your corpse.

Now Ryunosuke’s all: I can’t believe they tossed your case around that much. I thought I was going to die.

And Kazuma’s telling me he’s just amazed I fitted inside his trunk in the first place.

Kazuma you can’t be gone! Who else will condescendingly tell me to go to France and ask rather than translate a French label for me?

Now Kazuma’s telling me (Ryunosuke) that I’m going to have to live in his cabin for the next 50 days.

Also we’ve got to keep this from Susato because we’re breaking the law and Kazuma doesn’t want us to take her down with us.

Lol, every day I get shoved into the wardrobe by an uncaring Kazuma!

Oh, that’s what the message said!

God knows what the steward thought Kazuma was keeping in his wardrobe though

See Ryunosuke, this is why we think before we speak.

I don’t envy the real killer when Susato gets hold of them.

From what I can find out it’s a locked room mystery, and the cause of death is still undetermined, so I’m guessing something like poison then rather than an obvious thing, like being stabbed with his big sword.

On one hand, I really hope it wasn’t something like Curare, because I don’t want Kazuma to have gone out like that, but on the other hand poison would explain why the killer didn’t need to be in the room when he died and why Kazuma didn’t strike them down with said big sword.

Ok, so Kazuma, legend that he was, got up every day at the crack of dawn to do sword training. And Susato, who I’m begging to suspect is incredibly hardcore, go up before him so she could go and wait for him outside.

Now that’s interesting.

The two of them seem like they were pretty close, so there’s a good chance it’s just that she’s so familiar with Kazuma’s habits that she can tell the second something’s off, or it could be that there’s some other reason we need to work out.

If that’s correct that means Kazuma was killed in the small hours of the morning.

You know up ‘til now I’ve been assuming Ryunosuke was knocked out or something, and that’s why he was unconscious in the wardrobe, but now I’m starting to think he might have just been sleeping in there.

:((

Wait why’d Kazuma write in Russian?

Like I’d buy that he might know it, but I don’t buy that’s it’s what he’d write in in his finger moments.

Well that proves my innocence then, all we need to do is get some witnesses to verify the ‘go to France and ask’ moment from the last case

Oh ok, I didn’t manage to screenshot it, but it seems that I (Ryunosuke) didn’t put myself in the wardrobe. That’s very odd.

I can see a vent up there, so maybe someone gassed us and then got in while we were asleep and set up the crime scene.

Kazuma said I should come, next question

Ryunosuke, with some of the words that come out of your mouth I don’t think you should be throwing stones.

Love?

Apparently not.

This is going to be something ominous isn’t it...

I’m starting to feel like Kazuma knew he’d never see England.

Kazuma how many toes did you tread on?

Oh fucking hell!

You can’t die and be heading down a dark moral path, that’s not fair!

Yeah, I want to know that too.

So my poison/drugging theory seems to be holding up. Apparently Kazuma bought me something to eat, I climbed into the hiding wardrobe, and then it’s lights out from there.

Given that I didn’t wake up when Kazuma was killed I’m going to say that also back that theory up. Even if it was silent I feel like Ryunosuke would have woken up if someone was going round the cabin knocking ink bottles over and killing Kazuma.

No, don’t blame yourself Ryunosuke!

It’s my fault really, if I was going to find Kazuma hot I should have made sure I could manifest inside my switch and protect him!

Ah, of course! Isn’t her dad a professor of pathology? And she seems like the sort of person who picks things up pretty quickly!

In other words, if this is a poisoning, she could be the perfect person to be partnered up with.

:(((

Susato is fully prepared to kick our ass if we try and leave, and as the woman who got up before Kazuma, I think we should listen to her.

:(((((

I say we team up as an investigative duo and catch this bastard!

Yeah!

SHE FUCKED US UP!!!

Susato didn’t come here to play! Especially when we might have killed Kazuma!

(Editors note: this isn’t a bad screenshot, Susato genuinely made Ryunosuke’s vision go blurry)

I know we need to investigate, but my god this woman’s got a fist to match her convictions.

You know when I first met Susato I was a bit afraid she was going to be the inverse of Maya to the point of being meek and shy.

Now I see what a fool I was.

Susato might be prepared to politely follow the rules, but woe betide you if you break them.

She’s even named it!

Again I know this is bad for us but GO SUSATO!

(God damn it you can’t all be my favourite characters)

Her own special martial arts form Ryunosuke!

And just like that she regathers her composure and carries on as if nothing had happened!

I like how she’s still just standing over me.

Ok Ryunosuke let’s go!

(Seriously though we don’t want her as an enemy)

Ah of course, Kazuma stuck the seal on the wardrobe, and the fact Herlock Sholmes (the himbo detective) had to pull it off means I didn’t leave!

No one respects poor Ryunosuke...

So it seems that Susato doesn’t believe we’re innocent just yet, but as we’ve presented the possibility of doubt before her she will let us investigate this room.

Given the buck wild nature of the last trial she was involved in, I honestly can’t blame her for not ruling this possibility out. After all if this was something a witness in a trial had said I’d be thinking the same thing.

Susato’s going to be watching us to make sure we don’t disturb the crime scene, which again is fair.

I’ve got to say, I’m really digging Susato’s cautiously suspicious and sensible nature. It feels like a good counterbalance to Ryunosuke’s beautiful but naïve outlook on life.

I bet if Susato had stowed away onboard a ship you wouldn’t catch her immediately confessing as soon as a sailor started to press her.

Who am I kidding, Susato would never have got into this situation in the first place.

*sob*

Ok so far we’ve got:

A) Half a pink kimono fastener on the floor next to a brick red mark

B) One disturbed table, with the remains of our roast chicken dinner on the floor

C) The terrible knowledge that Kazuma spent his last night on earth hungry because he didn’t like chicken

D) Kazuma’s precious katana, that he loved dearly and that he’d apparently managed to persuade the government to let him bring to the UK.

Oh yeah, drive the knife in why don’t you game!

Why do I feel like Ryunosuke’s about to get roasted?

There we go.

(It’s what Kazuma would have wanted)

DON’T JUST GO WITH IT RYUNOSUKE!

Back to investigating, we’ve got a ransacked shelf, and Kazuma’s London diary.

Just, you know, to rip my heart out...

It looks like the final entry’s incomplete, which means Kazuma was probably writing it when the incident happened. Unfortunately Susato is violently insistent that we respect the Kazuma’s private thoughts after his death, so we can’t read it.

We’ve got the inky Russian(?) on the floor which none of us can either recognize, nor read (including me)

(Sorry to any Russians reading this by the way, I can only assume you’re screaming that this isn’t Russian, but I’m just going by what the Great Himbo Detective said in the cut scene.)

Ok, so the sailor who’s been guarding us got very flustered when we asked if everything was normal last night, meaning that either he’s been skiving off, or everything was in fact not normal last night.

Oh sweet, it seems that Ryunosuke and Susato both read detective novels, and while we’ve shot down the possibility of using the needle and thread trick to unbolt the door from the outside (side note: I must remember to try that later), I feel like both they, and the player who immediately started trying to rattle off facts about Curare, have had a bonding moment.

Ok, I think that’s this half of the room done, let’s go and check out that vent I saw earlier.

So the vent connects to the room next door. That means if the grate could be moved we have a way in and out of our crime scene!

HERLOCK SHOLMES!!!

I mean, he’s quite hard to miss Ryunosuke

(I think Ryunosuke might have an Apollo complex short)

Understatement of the century

Her and me both Ryunosuke, it’s The Great Himbo Detective!!!

WE’RE TALKING TO HIM!

AND HE’S BLANKING US!!!

Herlock Sholmes I understand that you’re in a critical point of your investigation, but you need to understand that Ryunosuke, Susato and I are sad and need to see your magic gun.

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!!!

IT’S LIKE HE HEARD ME!!!

OH GREAT HIMBO DETECTIVE CHEER ME WITH YOUR WITH YOUR ECCENTRIC ACTS THAT ARE RELATABLE TO MY AUTISTIC ASS!!!

OMFG HE’S SO INCREDIBLY WRONG!!!

I hope this is the way all of his deductions go from now on.

Also I’m sorry Russia and the Russian language, I should not have believed what the man, who on reflection was sold to me as the great himbo detective, said.

Susato’s buying it!

Susato look into my eyes and tell me Ryunosuke could ever make it as a soldier.

No, please do!

And the bullet flies a mile wide!

I’m still upset about Kazuma, but I’m somehow also having the time of my life

SUSATO YOU KNOW I’M FROM JAPAN!!!

SHE TOOK ME OUT!!!

AND MY GOD AM I HERE FOR IT!!!

Ryunosuke’s finally snapped!

What I find amazing is that the Sherlock Holmes Herlock Sholmes stories clearly exist, basically unchanged in this world. So either Dr Watson Wilson was either lying through his teeth to spare his friend’s feelings, or he is the stopped clock is right twice a day person who Herlock actually hit the nail on the head for, and therefore he believed everything that was said.

‘On rout to foreign climates’ that’s how ships work Herlock!

Exactly!

I’ll say one thing for Herlock though, you can’t beat him down!

How am I both Ryunosuke and Susato in this scene?

Yeah Naruhodo-san! I thought you read detective stories!

Quick Susato! Get him to sign a copy!

Um... has no one told him yet...

I’m also curious about the fact that he still believes Dr Wilson’s in London. Either there are two Dr Wilson’s, or something weird is going on here.

Look at his hat Ryunosuke, it contains all the information you need

He got his own name wrong!

Hosonaga, I don’t know if you can hear from wherever you are on this ship dressed as a sailor, but there is a fight and you are rapidly losing!

(Also to be fair to Herlock, as someone who’s been playing a lot of Hitman recently, looking inside the wardrobe already means he’s doing a lot better than literally every character in that game.)

Ok so it was Russian then and I no longer have to apologies!

Do you think Herlock has ever been to Russia?

Ok Mr ‘is this cow a cat?’

:(((((((

HERLOCK THAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ME!!!

Ok everyone, we’re also on the lookout for a missing Russian Ballerina along with Kazuma’s killer. I don’t know how, but I wouldn’t have been told about her if she wasn’t relevant

I can’t believe we’ve finally found the vindictive part of Ryunosuke’s beautiful personality!

We’re finally reading Kazuma’s diary!

Oh fuck, Kazuma was bitten by an adder

Wait, if that was the case why didn’t he dispatch it with his big sword? We’ve seen him do precision work before, so that can’t be it.

Either way, I think we really need to talk to the person in the room next to mine.

Also: Herlock Sholmes gets seasick!

Did she just break my cuffs?

My mistake she’s just showing some tough love to get me to buck up!

Let’s go team!

HOSONAGA!!!

“What are you doing here?” “I think that should be my line” This feels like that meme of the two Spidermen pointing at each other

I wouldn’t be so sure Susato. Hosonaga seems a lot like me, a bunch of disabilities held together by sheer force of will.

He still has a job!

(Or his superiors are just trying to send him as far away from Japan as they can)

HELL YEAH HOSONAGA, LETS PUNCH THE RULES UNTIL THEY SQUEAK!

(Also your superiors are definitely trying to ship you out)

Oh...

That would explain Kazuma’s whole vibe.

Although something about this feels wrong. No disrespect to Hosonaga, but as determined as he is he doesn’t exactly have the physical prowess you’d associate with stopping an assassination. I know I haven’t exactly seen him at work yet, but something about this feels like he was set up to fail.

Now the thing is, that while he can cut it as a waiter, Hosonaga isn’t exactly built to fit in among sailors. It’s not going to take a genius therefore, to work out who Kazuma’s guard is, especially if he’s been around Kazuma from dawn till dusk. That’s probably why his killer had to kill him in his cabin, and it’s also why they probably drugged his food (which means they didn’t know him enough to know he didn’t like chicken)

:(((((((((((((

On the plus side though, it looks as though Hosonaga believes in my innocence.

Come on Hosonaga, remember when you bought Miss Brett to us!

Hell yeah Hosonaga!

Hosonaga heard my call! He heard that he was losing his place as my second favourite character and came back swinging!!!

Determination Ryunosuke!

Also probably hacking up a lot of blood, that does wonders to unnerve people in my experience

Now, I should present Kazuma’s diary here... but...

Yes, everything is as it should be...

He’s digging it!

Oh no he took it as an insult!

Sorry Ryunosuke, that’s the crime scene thief’s now

Ok let’s do this properly then

Yeah boy!

LETS DO THIS TEAM!!!

Ryunosuke, do you remember nothing about this man?

Hosonaga didn’t come here to play!

Ok, we’re moving on out (except not right now because I’ve still got a couple of things to look at before we go)

I think Ryunosuke might be a bad influence on Susato...

Also I feel like I’ve pegged Susato wrong regarding the rules. Susato’s just very good at keeping up the appearance of following them.

Come to think of it, the fact she’s a judicial assistant, despite women apparently not being allowed in the Japanese court other than to testify should have clued me in.

Susato Mikotoba: Breaking the rules in front of you, but in a way you don’t notice

(Also the bell pull’s not working, but I think we all expected that)

Susato I’ve been living in a cupboard!

Don’t pity me!

Ok, so I’m not quite sure when Ryunosuke and I started thinking as one, but we’ve all agreed it’s happening now

Ryunosuke do not get caught in the mousetrap!

Susato can see right through me (Ryunosuke)

Umm...

This is the Phoenix Maya dynamic inverted, and I am living for it.

Susato: Now this is an emergency button, it’s very important you do NOT press it!

Ryunosuke: *lunges for the trigger*

It feels amazing being the wayward partner!

Our rout into cabin 2’s blocked by approximately 1 ton of sailor, so for now Susato and I will have to dick around avenge Kazuma out here in the corridor.

It seems that last night’s log is mostly blank, so I’m guessing I was right about the sailor on duty skiving off.

Hmm, so the person in the next cabin’s probably quite important then. Given what just happened with Miss Brett that’s not a good sign.

And it seems like I’m not allowed to visit whoever it is without an invitation... which might prove tricky given as how there in there and I’m out here

Ah good, a Western Gentleman, that’s just what we need!

Hmmmmm

These guys left their post for a while didn’t they?

Either that or there’s something (or someone) they’re keeping off the records.

This might be a bit of a wide shot, but that mousetrap makes me wonder if the crew has some sort of secret pet squirrelled away somewhere. It doesn’t entirely add up what with them putting traps down, but with everyone in Ace Attorney having something to hide it’s all I can think of now.

Bif Strogenov’s left to report to the captain, nows our window to violate some privacy!

HERLOCK SHOLMES!!!

Shot down!

Herlock that thing’s tiny, I don’t think anyone’s in there!

It moved!

Guess I’m eating my words!

Herlock???

Ok, we’re not allowed to look inside the case, or indeed anything, but fortunately we have HERLOCK SHOLMES THE GREAT HIMBO DETECTIVE!!!

Deduce away Herlock!

Herlock... are you about to tell this man that he’s also the Russian Assasin? Are you going to do this round the whole ship until you get it right?

Wait this is working!?!

Herlock Sholmes is Susato’s one blind spot and Ryunosuke’s one point of clarity

CHOOCHOO!!!

THIS IS AMAZING!

He’s not entirely right though...

(Editors note: I completely managed to miss capturing 90% of the ? icons)

I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!

HERLOCK LOOK AT THIS MAN’S NOSE, LOOK AT MY FACE! NOW LOOK AT THE MAN IN THE PORTRAIT!

However, the newspaper in his pocket and the little ! icon seems to suggest there’s some connection there.

(Editors note: I also managed to miss every ! icon)

And there is a crime being committed, but it’s not to do with the case.

Yeah, it probably just contains one of those pets we’re not supposed to have.

So... a baby?

So do a lot of people Susato

Ok, so The Great Himbo Detective is actually really good at making observations, it’s just how he applies them that’s shit.

I wonder if this is what Dr Wilson did for their partnership, but he just cut out the bits where he said things like: Herlock these people have completely different faces, maybe there’s a different reason they’ve got the paper?

Ryunosuke normally: The fact Hosonaga’s working in this restaurant clearly means he’s struggling financially!

Ryunosuke around Herlock: You can’t just say the first guess that pops into your head!

HERLOCK BUSTED US OUT!!!

(Ok he’s also the reason we were in handcuffs, but still)

Olay!

What! Noooooo!

‘Course Correction: Hold it Mr Sholmes!’ What a title!

Important news just in: Ryunosuke can’t grow a beard

A part of me says that he was about to use the sheers to cut up that paper, but there are obviously other copies around the ship, so unless he’s planning a sheers rampage that can’t be right.

Hello!

Wait a second... with that reaction to the paper... is there a Russian Ballerina in there?

WE DID THE HERLOCK SHOLMES COOL SPIN AND CLICK!!!

Also look at Ryunosuke’s little cocky smirk!

He’s really getting into this!

And I couldn’t be more proud!

We’re tag teaming it!

Herlock I swear to god if you tell me she’s that assassin

WHAT DID I JUST SAY!

(Editors note: Got that one!)

I sure am Susato!

Keep telling yourself that Ryunosuke, we can all see the truth

Ah, so the nose was fake too

That makes a lot more sense now!

Well she did disappear with a priceless tiara

He said, rubbing his hand in glee

This is definitely the start of a beautiful friendship!

Damn straight I do!

Bingo

For some reason I pictured it as being pink though, I don’t know why

Anyway so, while Nikolina does need money it seems that she didn’t steal the tiara. Apparently it was given to her as a present.

Also Nikolina is only 15, and has run away by herself for reasons currently unknown. I’m starting to get the feeling that the crew (or at least the two we’ve met) might have been looking out for her.

Oh yeah, the moving travel case!

Given the rules regarding pets, I wonder if that’s what’s in there? It would explain the attitude of the sailors we met.

Is it the Russian Revolutionary Herlock? You have to tell us if it is...

He’s learning!

Yep, she’s looking at the pet rule sign, now show me the pet!

Whoooooooo!

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the guys on the door were covering for her (and probably her pet too)

Hmm, so Nikolina’s running from someone, so she decided to disguise herself to be safe and has been a jumble of nerve ever since.

Can I see...

Bless you Nikolina, but you’re not the best at keeping secrets. I’m pretty sure the crew have collectively decided to just look the other way and let the traumatised 15 year old have her pet.

HE CUFFED ME AGIAN!!!

I wonder if Nikolina’s beloved pet’s a snake?

Can I just...

Fine...

No, everyone must see my badge!

HA!

Ok now let’s go back to actually playing the game!

So, because she’s a jumble of nerves, Nikolina hasn’t been noticing much about what’s been happening around her. However I think she’d have probably noticed signs of danger, like loud noises, so I’m a little curious as to why she didn’t pick up on the sound of the tableware being sent to the floor.

From what I can gather about her ‘never dancing again’ whatever happened probably has something to do with the ballet.

Either that or she’s worried about being linked with her old life if she goes back on the scene under another name.

That’s a good point actually, while people are funny and I can get her wanting a memento of her life, that’s an incredibly distinctive memento to have.

It must have some sort of emotional significance, I think she said it was given to her by an Earl, so maybe her father?

Hmm, that’s a pretty distinctive thing to try and pawn Nikolina.

Yikes! So the Novavich Ballet’s got really unethical working conditions. (Which probably shouldn’t be too much of a shock given the time period.) Now I understand why Nikolina’s so keen to never put herself in that situation again.

Yeah, I thought that was the case.

Huh?

Oh yeah... that is odd

Ah, so that’s why everyone was so on edge!

Right...

(I feel like this would carry more weight if we hadn’t just been flashing our badge at anyone who looks our way)

Now onto the most important question:

HERLOCK NO!

Susato is me (but personally I’m hoping for a kitten)

Ok Genius, what sort of animal is it?

I’ll eat your funky hat if that’s true Herlock

Important information 2: Never trust Herlock with a pet

Please let it be that we were Kazuma’s pet

Wait no, I’m an idiot. I’m obviously supposed to ask about the speckled band

Wow she changed quick!

She’s leaving to talk to the captain, is this our chance to meet her friend!?!

Booooo, we’ve been chucked out!!!

#tgaa spoilers #tgaa #the great ace attorney #the adventure of the unbreakable speckled band #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asougi #susato mikotoba #satoru hosonaga #nikolina pavlova #i will avenge your death kazuma #also i will see that animal #this is a long one by the way lads #i might break the investigation parts into daily sections of progress #because these screenshots took forever to transfer from my phone

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ofeva · 3 years

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01. EVANGELINE ASTOR.

“She’s...she’s not like I expected. She’s just a rather unpleasant sort of girl, really.”

Evangeline is nine when she overhears this from the top of the stairs at her parent’s home. She doesn’t know what it means, really, but she knows that it’s about her. It’s not unusual for her parents to whisper about things after they think that she’s gone to bed, but even at this age, Eva has never been particularly good at ‘going to bed.’ At this point, her parents have not done a particularly good job at hiding the fact that they don’t like her very much, so she’s decided that she doesn’t like them very much either.

Even though she’s light on her feet, the stair in the old house creaks when she stands up. Hopefully her parents have had too many dry martinis that they won’t hear the sound, and even if they do, they won’t think much of it. The house is old and always making strange noises, the doors sometimes open and shut on their own, wind comes in gusts through the poor insulation. It sometimes sounds like voices, and Eva likes to think that the house is full of ghosts and that they’re all on her side. She’s never been the sort of girl to run for her parents in the middle of the night when she hears a tapping at her window. She’s the sort of girl that just says, “Hello.”

When she was younger, she tried to tell her mother that she thought her room was haunted. Elizabeth Astor dropped a plate of pastries, fine china shattering into bits on the hardwood floor. Eva’s not supposed to talk about things like that.

When she gets back to her room, she feels quite upset. She doesn’t really know what to do with herself, the dark, resentful feeling that grows in the pit of her stomach and puts in roots at the base of her heart. She can’t turn on the light, not since her father got angry with her for tracking mud in the house a couple months ago and slammed his fist into the wall. He broke the switch. Eva’s not yet tall enough to reach the light cord that hangs off the bulb on the ceiling and do it manually. So, she lights a candle.

She loves the feeling of striking a match, the sound it makes, and there’s a certain amount of POWER that comes with holding something burning in her old wooden house. Imagine if she dropped it? Just let everything burn? The flame reflects in her dark eyes as she leans over to light the candle at her bedside, pulling a stack of books out of her bottom drawer. She’s reading Julie of the Wolves, the story of an orphan girl sent to live with her distant and cold aunt. When she runs away and begins to coexist with a pack of wolves, she becomes torn with the choice of staying with them or going back home. It’s one of her favorites, but Eva doesn’t think she’d have any difficulty with that choice. Too bad there aren’t many wolf packs in East Sussex.

It’s nearly dawn when Eva finishes her book, slowly drifting off to sleep. She blows out the candle before bed, watching gentle smoke spiral up toward the ceiling. It still burns within her.

June 2021

Eva returns to the UK after leaving Gallagher because she’s not sure where else to go. She doesn’t have much with her, a duffel bag of clothes and a couple books, having ditched all forms of electronics. She’s got a bit of cash on her. There’s an ache in her chest when the bus pulls onto the road of her old hometown. At first she doesn’t know what it is, but she thinks maybe this is what people talk about when they say that their heart hurts.

It’s been a harrowing semester.

When she steps off the bus, she feels a rush of memory. It’s not nostalgia, she has no longing for the past, but it’s easy to remember how this little seaside town shaped her into who she was, and how lonely she used to feel, walking on this exact same path to home. It makes her realize she feels less lonely now, in the same way that Julie made a pack of wolves her family, she’d found her own group of outsiders in Cole, Cecilia, Carmichael, and Christian. She was not the only one who always felt something wild within her, and just like the wolves, when you weather the storm together you better your chances of survival.

Before she even reaches her destination, she knows exactly what she’s going to do. Some people might find it pointless, or even petty, but for Eva it goes deeper than that. Being petty is reserved for focusing on matters of little importance, and this is more important to her than anything, it’s the final closing chapter before she leaves this little town and her childhood home for good. It’s a clear, beautiful Sunday morning when she stands in the trees beside her house. She knows that her parents will likely leave for church soon, at 9:45am on the dot like they always do. They’re addicted to their little routines. And Eva is addicted to other things. She lights the cigarette between her lips, exhales with a sigh. The grass is so dry she wonders what would happen if she dropped it. How long would the fire burn?

Eva looks up when she hears the slam of the front door of the house, the careful movement down steps. She hasn’t seen them in years now, and her father helps her mother down the steps and into the car. She walks with a cane. Had they always been this small? They look so frail to her from this distance, so fragile, and it’s hard to believe how many years she allowed these little people to lord over her life, to try and shape her into something she couldn’t. How could such fragile people have suffocated her so much? How had she let them do that to her?

It’s not until the car is far down the dirt road that she feels like she can breathe properly again. Eva ashes her cigarette and puts it out on the bark of a tree before she heads up toward the house. It’s amazing to her how well she remembers things, exactly where her mother keeps the butter dish or the weird crack on the ceiling in the dining room. The wind howls through the hall in gusts from where her father left the window open in the study, and she feels strange. Like now, she is just one of many ghosts that inhabited the halls of this old house. She is not a guest or a visitor, there is a piece of her trapped forever, emblazoned in the woodwork. There will always be a part of her that is that lonely little girl with something so dreadful about her that she couldn’t be loved properly, that little girl who stayed up all night, feeling something rotting inside of her.

She wants to destroy it.

Eva moves through the house like a memory, and it’s not hard to find what she needs. Gasoline, mostly, and she’s one of those sick people that loves the smell. She loves it even more right now. It’s not petty to her, it has to be done. It makes so much sense to her to set all the ghosts free that live in these walls, and it’s the best place that she knows to spread the fire that wages war inside of her.

She has to be quick after she strikes the match, she can’t revel in the feeling that she loves so much – there is a power that comes from starting a fire, no matter how small. Then she lets go.

She’s far out of town by the time the air becomes thick with smoke, not around to watch the floorboards of her childhood home get consumed by the flames, but it’s an old house, the base is rotting, and there will be nothing that the town’s tiny fire department will be able to do to preserve it in time.

Sometimes, to grow, you have to kill a part of yourself to do it, cut off the part that’s gone bad. Leaving, she feels like she’s gotten a part of herself back, like she’s burnt out the rotten bit at the center of her core. It’s revenge, surely, but she’s always been fond of that. Even more so, it’s the end of something old.

And once again, Eva will find somewhere to start new, like a phoenix from the ashes.

#eva having no respect for the environment throughout this #anyways <3 the end #*#this is my first time cutting my own png so just don't look at it too hard lmao

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hlcreators · 4 years

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AUTHOR REC: jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom

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Seven Simple Words (15k)

It’s not like he and Louis were a couple. No, they might have been a lot of things—best mates and colleagues with a seemingly convenient friends-with-benefits arrangement—but never a couple. It wasn’t Louis’ fault he didn’t feel the same way and couldn’t reciprocate Harry’s feelings in the way he’d wanted, the way he’d needed. Harry had allowed himself to get in too deep, his entire being aching to be loved back by the object of his affections. But in love, as in life, you don’t always get what you want.

OR the one where you don’t always get what you want the first time around, but sometimes the universe decides to give you a second chance at getting it right.

Feels So Right (8.8k)

The emcee leans in between them, handing over his mic to the blue-eyed vision. “You know what? Someday… Someday you guys might thank me for this...”

OR the one where Louis is Troy, Harry is Gabriella, and we find out what really happened after karaoke at that ski resort...

Wonderland (4.3k)

Louis has always loved lazy mornings in bed with his mate, but now that his Omega is carrying their pup, they’ve reached a whole new level of wonderment.

OR the one where Louis loves to worship his Omega’s body and Harry loves to let him.

The Baby Whisperer (18k)

Harry’s newborn baby is having trouble sleeping and nothing he does seems to work. Tired and alone and at his wits end, Harry is at a loss until a new neighbour arrives to turn his world upside down.

OR the one where being neighbourly takes on a whole new meaning.

Fuck U Betta (11k)

There’s something about having Louis like this, exposed and desperate, that makes a primal urge bubble up from deep inside Harry’s chest. Desire mixed with something else, something unquantifiable. It’s the thing that makes them want this, need this. Nothing else will satisfy them or quench their thirst.

OR the one where Harry likes the thrill of the chase, Louis likes to be chased, and everyone gets what they need… in the end.

Caves End (39k)

When a recurring injury cuts short Harry’s time as the Captain of the English Football Team, he needs to rethink his career and his future. His best mate and manager, Niall, decides that what Harry really needs is a change of scenery, time to relax, and to get some perspective on his life. What Harry doesn’t expect is for them to end up in Australia, on a farm, with the most gorgeous man he’s ever laid eyes on.

OR the one where Harry has lost his future, Louis has lost his past, but maybe together, they can find a way through the dark.

When Tomorrow Comes (11k)

When Louis and Niall are partnered up to complete a project on Omega scents and how they effect the nesting behaviours of Alphas, little does Louis know that the course of his life is about to be forever altered.

OR the one where Louis is an Omega who has been keeping himself pure for his Alpha, Harry is a traditional Alpha focusing on his studies while he waits to find his bondmate, and Niall is a sneaky bastard who keeps borrowing Louis’ clothes and never returning them.

You Drive Me WIld (5k)

Most people would think that keeping a tube of lube hidden behind the driver’s side visor of their car is foolish and completely unnecessary, but then most people don’t have to chauffeur Louis Tomlinson around for a living.

OR the one where Harry has a brilliant idea to while away the time as he waits around for his boss but fate decides to rain on his parade... or maybe it’s the universe answering his prayers.

No Going Back (56k)

Sales reps Harry and Louis are bored with their jobs and their lives. After meeting at a conference in Cardiff they hook up, have a few too many drinks, and jokingly apply to become remote lighthouse keepers. Six months, just the two of them, looking after the southernmost lighthouse off the bottom of Australia. It’s not like their applications will be accepted. Right?

This is the story of how one choice - a left instead of a right, a go instead of a stop, a yes instead of a no - can change the future forever and that sometimes, taking that leap of faith, is worth the risk.

Strong Enough (20k)

“So…” Liam starts, and Louis instantly knows where this is going. He’s actually glad it’s Liam that's dragging the subject out from the shadows and into the light. Louis turns to face him, mirroring his position on the couch and nods, ready for him to continue. Liam takes a deep breath. “Have you spoken to Harry recently?”

Five years after Vertigo goes on hiatus, the band comes back together for a benefit concert. Can Louis and Harry work through their complicated past, or are some wounds too deep to be healed?

Shine (13k)

“How does it feel?” Harry asks, genuine curiosity evident in his voice.

Louis lets his eyes drift closed and focuses on the sensations. “It’s like… like I’ve got hands all over me, touching me, inside and out, and…” Louis tries to zone in but it’s so hard to describe. “It’s like I’m being stimulated everywhere all at once.” As if on cue, his nipples and earlobes start tingling and he arches his back. “Oh fuck, yeah.”

OR the one where Louis has a thing for the sun and Harry is more than happy to indulge his sunshine boy.

If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow) (55k)

Harry looks so intensely into Louis’ eyes it’s as though he’s reaching in and touching his very soul. “I never thought… I never… I’ve been searching for so long, Louis, but I never gave up. I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop trying,” Harry says, bottom lip trembling as he strokes the backs of Louis’ knuckles. “I just knew that if you were out there, I’d find you somehow.”

OR the story of how one man’s love changed the world.

Everything I Do (16k)

Harry’s ready, has been for a while now, and he’s fairly certain Louis is too, it just hasn’t been on the top of their priority list. There have been offhand mentions, a comment here and there, more in jest than anything, no serious discussion or consideration. Harry stands up straighter, a stomach-churning thought forming in his mind. Has Louis been waiting for him to ask?

OR the one where Harry finds a book of Elizabethan courtship rituals which sets in motion a series of events that can lead to only one conclusion.

Playing To Win (36k)

Big Brother UK alumni Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are selected for the UK vs Australia All Stars series with a massive one million dollar prize in the offing. They’re both fit and smart and would make a great alliance... if only they can stop their feelings from getting in the way.

OR the one where Louis really doesn’t want to like Harry, Harry is struggling to quell his growing fondness for Louis, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fight fate.

Exposed (666)

Louis should really stop agreeing to do favours for his friends while drunk, especially when they result in him becoming a live-art model…

Forever And Always (25k)

“Right,” Harry says and slaps his hands down on the kitchen benchtop. Now he just has to get home, find this poor Niall guy who is currently camped out in his body, and have them swapped back. What could possibly go wrong?

OR the one where Harry’s neighbour is a crotchety old witch who hates vampires, Niall is the unsuspecting human who ends up inhabiting Harry’s body, and Louis is the caseworker who is assigned to swap them back. How it ends up a love story is anyone’s guess.

Going My Way (20k)

"Hey Harry. Really sorry to do this to you but an emergency has come up with Vera’s mum and we’ve had to jump a flight home. My mate Louis is going to take over my LYFT clients while I’m away. He’s got my car and my phone and everything else. Hope that’s okay. He’s a good guy and I think you two are going to get along brilliantly. Catch you soon, Benny."

OR the one where Harry gets a replacement LYFT driver, Louis is just trying to earn some extra cash before the baby arrives, and they both end up with way more than they bargained for.

Up For It (18k)

Each year, the five friends take a lads holiday; it’s tradition, and this year is shaping up to be a jam-packed, fun-filled trip with their best mates just like all the rest... or is it?

OR the one where Liam is Mr Organised, Zayn is too perceptive for his own good, Niall is a compulsive matchmaker, and Harry and Louis might just have the surprise to shock them all.

With Words Unspoken (18k)

At forty-nine, Louis hadn’t envisioned being at a crossroads in his life; kids, grandkids, an ex-wife, and completely at a loss as to what direction his future will take. When he finds himself drawn back to a cabin in the Californian wilderness that’d he’d visited fifteen years earlier, an acquaintance from his past triggers an awakening deep inside and reveals a new path that he could never have imagined.

OR The one where Louis is lost, Harry is an excellent tour guide, and age is no barrier to finding the love of your life.

Henry and Lewis (4.3k)

PART 1 SUMMARY: Louis hangs out in his local coffee shop to work on his weekly WordPlay Prompt, speaks to his beloved muse aka Harry the gorgeous barista, embarrasses himself in front of said muse, and receives a comment on AO3 from his favourite reader.

SERIES SUMMARY: Every Tuesday, Louis spends his day off holed up in his favorite coffee-come-bookshop, writing his little stories as part of the WordPlay challenge while daydreaming about the resident barista, Harry. Each week a new word prompt is revealed and Louis adds to his series of short stories about Henry, the owner of a B&B in the Cotswolds who has curly hair and dimples, Lewis, his long term guest who just happens to be a writer, and Tigger, Henry’s cat.

As Louis and Harry’s friendship develops, could his fantasy world spill out into real life? And how does that reader who leaves the lovely comments with the teacup emoji seem to be able to read Louis’ mind?

Smuturdary (4.1k)

Louis struggles with this week's WordPlay prompt before finding inspiration, and a date, in an unexpected place, and could there be more going on with his favourite reader than he originally thought.

Tea For Two (4k)

Louis grapples with what to do about his new found suspicions over his favourite readers real-life identity.

Life Imitating Art (6.8k)

Louis is taken on a very real journey through his fic back catalogue - life has never imitated art so salaciously.

Entertain Me (5.3k)

All good things must come to an end, including the WordPlay challenge. But while Louis has mixed emotions about its end, and struggling to make sense of the final prompt, he is relishing every aspect of his newly revitalised personal life.

Play Me A Memory (26k)

Louis lives with his nine-year-old son Jake in a peaceful beachside community on the east coast of Australia, working as an entertainment coordinator at the local five-star resort. Harry is a recluse who lives on millionaires row and writes musical scores for blockbuster movies. When the roots of a wayward willow tree create havoc at his home, Harry is forced to stay at the resort while repairs are carried out.

Cue matchmaking storms, muffin preferences, laughter, love, and a whole lotta music.

The Cyber Sphere (17k)

As the author of The Cyber Sphere, a series of best-selling books which have spawned seemingly limitless spin-offs, Louis Tomlinson hides away from the world in his fortress-like London penthouse. But when he decides to interact with the host of The Cyber Times radio program, Dermot O’Leary, on Twitter, it causes a fandom meltdown and offers him hope for a future he’d never imagined.

OR the one where Liam likes to think he’s Batman, Dermot has terrible taste in sporting teams, and Louis should really get a cat.

Surprise Me, Space Boy (7.1k)

Louis is a solo officer on Space Station Zeta and the isolation can present many challenges, not least of which is that it’s really bloody hard to date. He’s pinning his hopes on that changing with a fellow solo officer, Harry, from a neigbouring station who gives great banter and has a gorgeous smile. Maybe online dating has its benefits after all?

OR The Space Wank Fic.

Harry Poppins (32k)

When Louis’ best friends pass away he finds himself with an instant family. Maddie and Thomas are wonderful children but take an immediate dislike to every nanny that sets foot inside their house. After nanny number six is summarily dismissed Louis is at his wit’s end, that is until an unusual man arrives on their doorstep. Harry Styles is like nothing any of them have ever encountered before, and perhaps, exactly what they’ve been looking for all along.

My One And Only (Desire) (500)

Harry is his, only his, and Louis belongs to Harry just as completely. They consume each other, in life, in love, in every way two people can.

Take Me Down Slow (Don’t Let Me Go) (26k)

Louis has always felt different. Not necessarily on the outer realm of societal norms, but pretty damn close to the edge. As an Omega, he’s supposed to want certain things; to want to raise a family, to want to build a life with a partner, and to want that partner to be an Alpha.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

OR the one where Louis wants to find the right kind of partner to love, Niall hates snowboarding, Liam wants to settle down, Harry is really good with his hands, and mother nature could be the thing that changes everything.

Soup Of The Day (19k)

It had been the single minded goal for them since college and seemed simple enough. 1. Study hard. 2. Open their dream restaurant. 3. Take the culinary world by storm.

What could possibly go wrong?

Or the Restaurant AU where Louis and Niall are chefs, Chicago is windy, and cracking the big time is harder than they ever imagined. But when a mysterious man starts grading Louis' soups by leaving little piles of rocks, could it be just the thing they need to get them on the road to success?

The Clock Strikes New Year (9.6k)

Louis senses people moving around behind him and cranes his neck left to right. The store is quiet, just staff and Louis and Harry, but all of the other salespeople appear to have gravitated to where they are to watch the little runway show Harry is putting on. He can’t blame them really, Harry is a sight to behold, but it makes him chuckle anyway.

“Okay, Lou, you ready for me?” Harry calls from the change room.

“As I’ll ever be, baby. Get out here!”

Harry comes into view and Louis’ breath catches in his throat.

OR Harry was homeless, but now he has Louis. Louis was lonely, but now he has Harry. And there’s more than one way to see fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

The Bet (2.4k)

Louis Tomlinson never reneges on a bet. Ever.

He may be many things - a joker, a sometimes-wayward student, a loyal friend, a Tony Award winner in the making, and a card-carrying member of the Chad Michael Murray fan club - but never, ever, a welcher. Louis makes good on his promises and does it with flare.

OR The one where Louis misjudges Harry's ability to do TLC's Waterfall rap and finds himself having to put on a one-man show for his viewing pleasure. If Louis decides to go all-in and dress the part, then that's just a bonus for his (very appreciative) one-man audience.

Heat (2.4k)

Louis was smitten from the moment Harry had arrived a month ago. Long, curly hair which he mostly keeps up in a bun, and a sinfully deep voice. Cheeky too. Louis likes that the best. He gives good banter and laughs at Louis’ dumb jokes, adding his own woeful puns. When Louis had asked him why he was in this godforsaken dust bowl, he’d said something about a ground crew traineeship and fulfilling his visa requirements while experiencing the real Australia. Louis had been momentarily distracted by Harry’s plush, red-bitten lips so the salient details may have washed over him.

OR Drinking beer in a blow-up pool, in a backyard, in stupidly hot temperatures, in outback Australia should be ridiculous, and it would be, if Louis didn't have a curly-haired workmate to keep him company.

Whisper The Wind (36k)

Louis’ father has political ambitions and decides it’s time for Louis to step up as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Louis thinks this is a monumentally stupid idea. After storming off in a rage he has a chance meeting with a tall, dark, curly haired stranger. A technical glitch with their shared elevator finds Louis spending twenty minutes with the most intriguing man he’s ever met. Unfortunately the man is leaving London the very next day and moving to Australia to work at his mates surf school. Timing, as they say, can fuck right off.

Fast forward three years and Louis is miserable, a shadow of the man he once was, working in his father’s company, and hating every moment. At his thirtieth birthday party, surrounded by people he doesn’t know or doesn’t like, he decides to throw it all in and follow the impossible dream. Happiness, a fulfilling life, and someone to love. The question is, will that dream be found ten thousand miles away on a sandy beach, with a curly headed surfer dude?

Or the one where Louis rides an elevator that may change his life forever, Harry loves the ocean but is a terrible surfer, Liam proves not all heroes wear capes, and Niall might actually have all the answers.

The Clock Strikes Christmas (10k)

The clock ticks over to midnight and Niall strikes the match, lighting the candle and looking expectantly at Louis. “Time to make all your dreams come true. What’s your birthday wish Tommo?”

Louis stares into the flame and wonders. Closing his eyes, he thinks of cold winter nights curled up by the fire, driving along country roads holding hands across the console, laughter and warmth and a sense of belonging. An image creeps into his mind, blurry and shimmering. Curls, green eyes, milky white skin. Louis sucks in a deep breath, opens his eyes and blows.

The lights in the pub go out and the music stops, time seems to be teetering on the edge of something, like the crest of a roller coaster before the fall.

Then the pub surges back to life. “Sorry about that folks! Damn storm must be coming.” The bartender shouts out.

Niall is staring at him, mouth agape, before regaining his composure. “Must’ve been a helluva wish Tommo.”

Louis is a little stunned himself, but blinks out of it and laughs. “Yeah, must’ve been.”

OR the one where Louis needs someone to love, Harry needs a miracle, and sometimes, wishes really do come true

The Prince Of Light (35k)

Louis was found abandoned at a hospital at six months old and adopted by an older couple who raised him. Now twenty, he studies by night and by day works as a live-in au pair for a family with three little girls. One of the girls, Holly, swears there is a Garden Fairy coming and eating treats she leaves out in the cubby house each night.

When the family goes away for a two week holiday, Louis is secretly tasked with feeding the Fairy. While laying out the food one night he falls from the cubby house and is found by Harry. Harry is different and Louis is fascinated. But as Louis learns how different Harry really is, he discovers his own true home and a very surprising past he never knew.

Cue badgers, bananas and cookies, soulmates, a whole other world, and a future he’d never imagined.

Clouds On Curtis (9.6k)

A wave of comfort sweeps over Louis like a blanket as he allows himself a moment to imagine the possibilities. His past failures and disappointments feel like they are ebbing away, like shackles falling from his limbs. The burdens he's been bearing and the guilt he’s been carrying slipping away into the ground with each step he takes.

Harry reaches for the door and pauses, holding the handle he turns to face Louis.

“Are you ready for the adventure to begin?” Harry looks at him with hope in his eyes, dimple cratering in his left cheek.

“Absolutely, I’m all yours.” Louis says, wide smile breaking across his face, feeling the crinkles appear at the corners of his eyes.

In that moment he is sure of it. Surer than he's been about anything for years. This is exactly where he’s supposed to be. This is his second chance.

Or the one where Louis is a chef who is looking for a chance to start over, Harry’s restaurant needs the right chef to make his dream come to life, Niall is a cook who desperately wants to be a chef, and Liam just wants to be happy. Together, can they turn their dreams into reality?

#writer appreciation week #1dsource #hljournal #fics #author rec

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timeless-hollywood-classics · 3 years

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Ida Lupino (4 February 1918 – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, and producer. She is widely regarded as the most prominent female filmmaker working in the 1950s during the Hollywood studio system. With her independent production company, she co-wrote and co-produced several social-message films and became the first woman to direct a film noir with The Hitch-Hiker in 1953. Among her other directed films the best known are Not Wanted about unwed pregnancy (she took over for a sick director and refused directorial credit), Never Fear (1949) loosely based upon her own experiences battling paralyzing polio, Outrage (1950) one of the first films about rape, The Bigamist (1953) (which was named in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) and The Trouble with Angels (1966).

Throughout her 48-year career, she made acting appearances in 59 films and directed eight others, working primarily in the United States, where she became a citizen in 1948. As an actress her best known films are The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) with Basil Rathbone, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart, High Sierra (1941) with Bogart, The Sea Wolf (1941) with Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield, Ladies in Retirement (1941) with Louis Hayward, Moontide (1942) with Jean Gabin, The Hard Way (1943), Deep Valley (1947) with Dane Clark, Road House (1948) with Cornel Wilde and Richard Widmark, While the City Sleeps (1956) with Dana Andrews and Vincent Price. and Junior Bonner (1972) with Steve McQueen.

She also directed more than 100 episodes of television productions in a variety of genres including westerns, supernatural tales, situation comedies, murder mysteries, and gangster stories. She was the only woman to direct an episode of the original The Twilight Zone series ("The Masks"), as well as the only director to have starred in an episode of the show ("The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine").

Lupino was born in Herne Hill, London, to actress Connie O'Shea (also known as Connie Emerald) and music hall comedian Stanley Lupino, a member of the theatrical Lupino family, which included Lupino Lane, a song-and-dance man. Her father, a top name in musical comedy in the UK and a member of a centuries-old theatrical dynasty dating back to Renaissance Italy, encouraged her to perform at an early age. He built a backyard theatre for Lupino and her sister Rita (1920–2016), who also became an actress and dancer. Lupino wrote her first play at age seven and toured with a travelling theatre company as a child. By the age of ten, Lupino had memorised the leading female roles in each of Shakespeare's plays. After her intense childhood training for stage plays, Ida's uncle Lupino Lane assisted her in moving towards film acting by getting her work as a background actress at British International Studios.

She wanted to be a writer, but in order to please her father, Lupino enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She excelled in a number of "bad girl" film roles, often playing prostitutes. Lupino did not enjoy being an actress and felt uncomfortable with many of the early roles she was given. She felt that she was pushed into the profession due to her family history.

Lupino worked as both a stage and screen actress. She first took to the stage in 1934 as the lead in The Pursuit of Happiness at the Paramount Studio Theatre.[10] Lupino made her first film appearance in The Love Race (1931) and the following year, aged 14, she worked under director Allan Dwan in Her First Affaire, in a role for which her mother had previously tested.[11] She played leading roles in five British films in 1933 at Warner Bros.' Teddington studios and for Julius Hagen at Twickenham, including The Ghost Camera with John Mills and I Lived with You with Ivor Novello.

Dubbed "the English Jean Harlow", she was discovered by Paramount in the 1933 film Money for Speed, playing a good girl/bad girl dual role. Lupino claimed the talent scouts saw her play only the sweet girl in the film and not the part of the prostitute, so she was asked to try out for the lead role in Alice in Wonderland (1933). When she arrived in Hollywood, the Paramount producers did not know what to make of their sultry potential leading lady, but she did get a five-year contract.

Lupino starred in over a dozen films in the mid-1930s, working with Columbia in a two-film deal, one of which, The Light That Failed (1939), was a role she acquired after running into the director's office unannounced, demanding an audition. After this breakthrough performance as a spiteful cockney model who torments Ronald Colman, she began to be taken seriously as a dramatic actress. As a result, her parts improved during the 1940s, and she jokingly referred to herself as "the poor man's Bette Davis", taking the roles that Davis refused.

Mark Hellinger, associate producer at Warner Bros., was impressed by Lupino's performance in The Light That Failed, and hired her for the femme-fatale role in the Raoul Walsh-directed They Drive by Night (1940), opposite stars George Raft, Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart. The film did well and the critical consensus was that Lupino stole the movie, particularly in her unhinged courtroom scene. Warner Bros. offered her a contract which she negotiated to include some freelance rights. She worked with Walsh and Bogart again in High Sierra (1941), where she impressed critic Bosley Crowther in her role as an "adoring moll".

Her performance in The Hard Way (1943) won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. She starred in Pillow to Post (1945), which was her only comedic leading role. After the drama Deep Valley (1947) finished shooting, neither Warner Bros. nor Lupino moved to renew her contract and she left the studio in 1947. Although in demand throughout the 1940s, she arguably never became a major star although she often had top billing in her pictures, above actors such as Humphrey Bogart, and was repeatedly critically lauded for her realistic, direct acting style.

She often incurred the ire of studio boss Jack Warner by objecting to her casting, refusing poorly written roles that she felt were beneath her dignity as an actress, and making script revisions deemed unacceptable by the studio. As a result, she spent a great deal of her time at Warner Bros. suspended. In 1942, she rejected an offer to star with Ronald Reagan in Kings Row, and was immediately put on suspension at the studio. Eventually, a tentative rapprochement was brokered, but her relationship with the studio remained strained. In 1947, Lupino left Warner Brothers and appeared for 20th Century Fox as a nightclub singer in the film noir Road House, performing her musical numbers in the film. She starred in On Dangerous Ground in 1951, and may have taken on some of the directing tasks of the film while director Nicholas Ray was ill.

While on suspension, Lupino had ample time to observe filming and editing processes, and she became interested in directing. She described how bored she was on set while "someone else seemed to be doing all the interesting work".

She and her husband Collier Young formed an independent company, The Filmakers, to produce, direct, and write low-budget, issue-oriented films. Her first directing job came unexpectedly in 1949 when director Elmer Clifton suffered a mild heart attack and was unable to finish Not Wanted, a film Lupino co-produced and co-wrote. Lupino stepped in to finish the film without taking directorial credit out of respect for Clifton. Although the film's subject of out-of-wedlock pregnancy was controversial, it received a vast amount of publicity, and she was invited to discuss the film with Eleanor Roosevelt on a national radio program.

Never Fear (1949), a film about polio (which she had personally experienced replete with paralysis at age 16), was her first director's credit. After producing four more films about social issues, including Outrage (1950), a film about rape (while this word is never used in the movie), Lupino directed her first hard-paced, all-male-cast film, The Hitch-Hiker (1953), making her the first woman to direct a film noir. The Filmakers went on to produce 12 feature films, six of which Lupino directed or co-directed, five of which she wrote or co-wrote, three of which she acted in, and one of which she co-produced.

Lupino once called herself a "bulldozer" to secure financing for her production company, but she referred to herself as "mother" while on set. On set, the back of her director's chair was labeled "Mother of Us All".[3] Her studio emphasized her femininity, often at the urging of Lupino herself. She credited her refusal to renew her contract with Warner Bros. under the pretenses of domesticity, claiming "I had decided that nothing lay ahead of me but the life of the neurotic star with no family and no home." She made a point to seem nonthreatening in a male-dominated environment, stating, "That's where being a man makes a great deal of difference. I don't suppose the men particularly care about leaving their wives and children. During the vacation period, the wife can always fly over and be with him. It's difficult for a wife to say to her husband, come sit on the set and watch."

Although directing became Lupino's passion, the drive for money kept her on camera, so she could acquire the funds to make her own productions. She became a wily low-budget filmmaker, reusing sets from other studio productions and talking her physician into appearing as a doctor in the delivery scene of Not Wanted. She used what is now called product placement, placing Coke, Cadillac, and other brands in her films, such as The Bigamist. She shot in public places to avoid set-rental costs and planned scenes in pre-production to avoid technical mistakes and retakes. She joked that if she had been the "poor man's Bette Davis" as an actress, she had now become the "poor man's Don Siegel" as a director.

The Filmakers production company closed shop in 1955, and Lupino turned almost immediately to television, directing episodes of more than thirty US TV series from 1956 through 1968. She also helmed a feature film in 1965 for the Catholic schoolgirl comedy The Trouble With Angels, starring Hayley Mills and Rosalind Russell; this was Lupino's last theatrical film as a director. She continued acting as well, going on to a successful television career throughout the 1960s and '70s.

Lupino's career as a director continued through 1968. Her directing efforts during these years were almost exclusively for television productions such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, The Twilight Zone, Have Gun – Will Travel, Honey West, The Donna Reed Show, Gilligan's Island, 77 Sunset Strip, The Rifleman, The Virginian, Sam Benedict, The Untouchables, Hong Kong, The Fugitive, and Bewitched.

After the demise of The Filmakers, Lupino continued working as an actress until the end of the 1970s, mainly in television. Lupino appeared in 19 episodes of Four Star Playhouse from 1952 to 1956, an endeavor involving partners Charles Boyer, Dick Powell and David Niven. From January 1957 to September 1958, Lupino starred with her then-husband Howard Duff in the sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, in which the duo played husband-and-wife film stars named Howard Adams and Eve Drake, living in Beverly Hills, California.[22] Duff and Lupino also co-starred as themselves in 1959 in one of the 13 one-hour installments of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour and an episode of The Dinah Shore Chevy Show in 1960. Lupino guest-starred in numerous television shows, including The Ford Television Theatre (1954), Bonanza (1959), Burke's Law (1963–64), The Virginian (1963–65), Batman (1968), The Mod Squad (1969), Family Affair (1969–70), The Wild, Wild West (1969), Nanny and the Professor (1971), Columbo: Short Fuse (1972), Columbo: Swan Song (1974) in which she plays Johnny Cash's character's zealous wife, Barnaby Jones (1974), The Streets of San Francisco, Ellery Queen (1975), Police Woman (1975), and Charlie's Angels (1977). Her final acting appearance was in the 1979 film My Boys Are Good Boys.

Lupino has two distinctions with The Twilight Zone series, as the only woman to have directed an episode ("The Masks") and the only person to have worked as both actor for one episode ("The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine"), and director for another.

Lupino's Filmakers movies deal with unconventional and controversial subject matter that studio producers would not touch, including out-of-wedlock pregnancy, bigamy, and rape. She described her independent work as "films that had social significance and yet were entertainment ... base on true stories, things the public could understand because they had happened or been of news value." She focused on women's issues for many of her films and she liked strong characters, "[Not] women who have masculine qualities about them, but [a role] that has intestinal fortitude, some guts to it."

In the film The Bigamist, the two women characters represent the career woman and the homemaker. The title character is married to a woman (Joan Fontaine) who, unable to have children, has devoted her energy to her career. While on one of many business trips, he meets a waitress (Lupino) with whom he has a child, and then marries her.[25] Marsha Orgeron, in her book Hollywood Ambitions, describes these characters as "struggling to figure out their place in environments that mirror the social constraints that Lupino faced".[13] However, Donati, in his biography of Lupino, said "The solutions to the character's problems within the films were often conventional, even conservative, more reinforcing the 1950s' ideology than undercutting it."

Ahead of her time within the studio system, Lupino was intent on creating films that were rooted in reality. On Never Fear, Lupino said, "People are tired of having the wool pulled over their eyes. They pay out good money for their theatre tickets and they want something in return. They want realism. And you can't be realistic with the same glamorous mugs on the screen all the time."

Lupino's films are critical of many traditional social institutions, which reflect her contempt for the patriarchal structure that existed in Hollywood. Lupino rejected the commodification of female stars and as an actress, she resisted becoming an object of desire. She said in 1949, "Hollywood careers are perishable commodities", and sought to avoid such a fate for herself.

Ida Lupino was diagnosed with polio in 1934. The New York Times reported that the outbreak of polio within the Hollywood community was due to contaminated swimming pools. The disease severely affected her ability to work, and her contract with Paramount fell apart shortly after her diagnosis. Lupino recovered and eventually directed, produced, and wrote many films, including a film loosely based upon her travails with polio titled Never Fear in 1949, the first film that she was credited for directing (she had earlier stepped in for an ill director on Not Wanted and refused directorial credit out of respect for her colleague). Her experience with the disease gave Lupino the courage to focus on her intellectual abilities over simply her physical appearance. In an interview with Hollywood, Lupino said, "I realized that my life and my courage and my hopes did not lie in my body. If that body was paralyzed, my brain could still work industriously...If I weren't able to act, I would be able to write. Even if I weren't able to use a pencil or typewriter, I could dictate."[31] Film magazines from the 1930s and 1940s, such as The Hollywood Reporter and Motion Picture Daily, frequently published updates on her condition. Lupino worked for various non-profit organizations to help raise funds for polio research.

Lupino's interests outside the entertainment industry included writing short stories and children's books, and composing music. Her composition "Aladdin's Suite" was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1937. She composed this piece while on bedrest due to polio in 1935.

She became an American citizen in June 1948 and a staunch Democrat who supported the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Lupino was Catholic.

Lupino died from a stroke while undergoing treatment for colon cancer in Los Angeles on 3 August 1995, at the age of 77. Her memoirs, Ida Lupino: Beyond the Camera, were edited after her death and published by Mary Ann Anderson.

Lupino learned filmmaking from everyone she observed on set, including William Ziegler, the cameraman for Not Wanted. When in preproduction on Never Fear, she conferred with Michael Gordon on directorial technique, organization, and plotting. Cinematographer Archie Stout said of Ms. Lupino, "Ida has more knowledge of camera angles and lenses than any director I've ever worked with, with the exception of Victor Fleming. She knows how a woman looks on the screen and what light that woman should have, probably better than I do." Lupino also worked with editor Stanford Tischler, who said of her, "She wasn't the kind of director who would shoot something, then hope any flaws could be fixed in the cutting room. The acting was always there, to her credit."

Author Ally Acker compares Lupino to pioneering silent-film director Lois Weber for their focus on controversial, socially relevant topics. With their ambiguous endings, Lupino's films never offered simple solutions for her troubled characters, and Acker finds parallels to her storytelling style in the work of the modern European "New Wave" directors, such as Margarethe von Trotta.

Ronnie Scheib, who issued a Kino release of three of Lupino's films, likens Lupino's themes and directorial style to directors Nicholas Ray, Sam Fuller, and Robert Aldrich, saying, "Lupino very much belongs to that generation of modernist filmmakers." On whether Lupino should be considered a feminist filmmaker, Scheib states, "I don't think Lupino was concerned with showing strong people, men or women. She often said that she was interested in lost, bewildered people, and I think she was talking about the postwar trauma of people who couldn't go home again."

Author Richard Koszarski noted Lupino's choice to play with gender roles regarding women's film stereotypes during the studio era: "Her films display the obsessions and consistencies of a true auteur... In her films The Bigamist and The Hitch-Hiker, Lupino was able to reduce the male to the same sort of dangerous, irrational force that women represented in most male-directed examples of Hollywood film noir."

Lupino did not openly consider herself a feminist, saying, "I had to do something to fill up my time between contracts. Keeping a feminine approach is vital — men hate bossy females ... Often I pretended to a cameraman to know less than I did. That way I got more cooperation." Village Voice writer Carrie Rickey, though, holds Lupino up as a model of modern feminist filmmaking: "Not only did Lupino take control of production, direction, and screenplay, but [also] each of her movies addresses the brutal repercussions of sexuality, independence and dependence."

By 1972, Lupino said she wished more women were hired as directors and producers in Hollywood, noting that only very powerful actresses or writers had the chance to work in the field. She directed or costarred a number of times with young, fellow British actresses on a similar journey of developing their American film careers like Hayley Mills and Pamela Franklin.

Actress Bea Arthur, best remembered for her work in Maude and The Golden Girls, was motivated to escape her stifling hometown by following in Lupino's footsteps and becoming an actress, saying, "My dream was to become a very small blonde movie star like Ida Lupino and those other women I saw up there on the screen during the Depression."

Lupino has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for contributions to the fields of television and film — located at 1724 Vine Street and 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.

New York Film Critics Circle Award - Best Actress, The Hard Way, 1943

Inaugural Saturn Award - Best Supporting Actress, The Devil's Rain, 1975

A Commemorative Blue Plaque is dedicated to Lupino and her father Stanley Lupino by The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America and the Theatre and Film Guild of Great Britain and America at the house where she was born in Herne Hill, London, 16 February 2016

Composer Carla Bley paid tribute to Lupino with her jazz composition "Ida Lupino" in 1964.

The Hitch-Hiker was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1998 while Outrage was inducted in 2020.

#ida lupino #classic hollywood #classic movie stars #golden age of hollywood #old hollywood #1930s hollywood #1940s hollywood #1950s hollywood #1960s hollywood #1970s hollywood #hollywood legend

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot: The Life Of Marv

Summary: Katie rescues a Turkey from slaughter, much to Tony’s annoyance.

Warnings: Language!

A/N- This was written as requested to accompany Ch 11: A Turkey Called Marv in Stark Spangled Banner, and fills us in on Marv the Turkey, and how he became a much loved (well, sorta!) Stark family Pet...

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

November 2001

It was a complete accident. Well, not going veggie, but Katie didn’t mean to steal the poor thing from the farm. She really didn’t. Well at least that’s what she told Tony. And now it was sat in the large, sprawling grounds of the Malibu mansion whilst Tony simply pinched the bridge of his nose and glared at his 17 year old sister. “This has to be up there with the most DUMB assed things you have ever done”. He rolled his eyes. “Ever” “I couldn’t leave him” Katie said, “he was lonely and gonna end up someones Thanksgiving dinner.” “Its a fucking turkey Kiddo." Tony groaned, watching the bird strut around the grounds, completely non-plussed at being uprooted from the farmyard 20 miles up the road "that’s what he was bred for” “Meat is murder Tony” “Oh for fucks sake…” he groaned “you know, I put up with this bullshit, the blue hair, the fucking emo clothes…but no. The Turkey goes back” “Best catch it then” Katie said, shrugging “I ain’t taking Marv back to be killed.” “Marv?” Rhodey asked, from where he was stood next to Tony “you called him Marv?” “He looks like Marv from Home Alone” “No, he looks like a turkey. A stolen turkey” Tony sighed “Rhodey, gimme a hand man…” “Oh no.” Rhodey shook his head “this is all yours Tony” “I’ll remember that…” Tony glared and stepped towards the bird. Instantly it flares its feathers up and made some kind of growling noise and launched at Tony who staggered backwards, toppling over one of the chairs that was positioned on the grounds. Katie doubled over with laughter and Rhodey let out a small snigger as Tony stood up, dusting down his jeans. “What the fuck?” He looked at Katie “how did you get near it?” Katie shrugged and walked over to Marv who looked at her shrewdly before he fluffed down his feathers and she bent to pick him up. “He likes me” “I give in.” Tony groaned “I raised a stubborn, pig headed asshole” So Marv the Turkey lived for thanksgiving.

*****

November 2002

“Hey Marv” Katie cooed, stepping into the large pen that was the turkey’s home. The bird strutted out of the large dog kennel he used as a house and Katie sat down, holding out her hand which contained a few blackberries. The turkey pecked at the fruit and she gently stroked his head before standing up and opening the gate to let him out of his pen. He followed Katie round the pool area and when she sat down on one of the loungers he plopped himself in the shade next to her, his eyes flicking around. “Just look…” Tony gestured to his sister and that fucking bird. Obediah snickered a little at the sight of the turkey sitting next to Katie like an obedient lap dog. “I think it’s funny…” “You would.” Tony took a pull from his beer “This is kinda your fault for not getting her a dog.” Obi laughed. “How is this my fault?” Tony sputtered “she robbed the damned thing last year at Thanksgiving. Is that it, every time I say no to something she goes and steals?” Obi clapped him on the shoulder as Tony made his way to the large bi-folding doors. “Kiddo… you want eats?” At the sound of Tony’s voice the turkey jumped to its feet and made a low chucking noise, and Katie laughed as Tony narrowed his eyes. “That thing is getting cooked this year.” He glowered. But he didn’t. And Marv the turkey lived for another Thanksgiving. ****

November 2003

“Katie you can’t take the damned bird to the UK.” “But he hates you.” She looked at Tony. “How you gonna feed him and clean him out?” “I’m not. He’s gonna go to a farm” “Don’t you dare.” She hissed. “Don’t worry, I wont let him.” Pepper soothed as the dark haired girl crossed her arms and glared at her brother “I’ll make sure Marv stays” “Where is the little bastard anyway?” Tony asked, looking out into the yard. “Erm… I dunno.” Katie frowned “Marv… MARV…” She headed off in search of her beloved bird and her calls suddenly got more frantic. “Did you let him go?” She demanded of Tony. “Trust me I would love nothing more.” Tony sighed “but it’s more than my life is worth. He has to be around here somewhere…” An hour it took until they finally located him in the downstairs bathroom, surrounded by an entire roll of shredded toilet paper. “I fucking hate that bird” Tony grumbled as Katie and Pepper tried and failed, miserably to hide their laughter. And Marv the turkey lived for another thanksgiving. ****

November 2004

“I swear he has been fine with me all term whilst you have been away!” Tony said, pulling his legs up onto the chair to avoid the bird pecking him to bits. “You saw the photos!” “Maybe he is just protective!” Katie grinned, reaching down and picking Marv up. He settled on her knee with a ruffle of feathers and closed his eyes, cooing softly as Katie gently ran her fingers over the top of his head. “Or maybe he is a giant ass hole” Tony grumbled, looking at the bird over his sunglasses. “Shhh don’t listen to him Marv” Katie said, putting her hands over where the birds ears would be, or are, maybe, Tony has no idea. “Ooooh maybe we should get him a girlfriend” Tony sputtered and looked at his sister “no fucking way.” “I’m only teasing” Katie sighed. “What do you fancy for lunch? Tony asked "I got some of that quinoa stuff and halloumi, thought we could knock up a salad…” “Great.” Katie beamed “but you know I’m not veggie anymore right?” “Since when?” Tony rolled his eyes. “Since I discovered British bacon” she sighed. “Plus i decided its more about how the animals are kept before they die, ya know? So I make sure it’s all free range, organically farmed stuff…” Tony ran a hand over his face before he shot the turkey a sly look “so, this Thanksgiving…” he mimed necking the animal and Katie glared at him. “No. He is a pet. I’m not eating him” So Marv the turkey lived for another thanksgiving.

****

November 2005

Tony threw a cob of corn into the pen where Marv was strutting about. “Eat that you little shit” he grumbled, as the turkey eyed him beadily before he strutted over to the food and began to peck. “Think you need a new house” he said, pulling his jacket further around himself as the November wind coming from the ocean was slightly chilly. He walked round to the side of the dog kennel. The wood was starting to crack and splinter. Pulling out his phone he quickly googled for pet houses and came across something that looked pretty cool. A plastic igloo shaped thing for rabbits. He sent a photo to Katie who called him within 5 minutes as he had just locked the turkey up for the night and headed into the kitchen. “You buying Marv presents?” She giggled “The kennel looks scruffy.” He shrugged simply “thought this would be better.” “He will love it” she laughed. They talked for an hour or so before she excused herself to pack, as her flight home for the holidays was the next day. Tony glanced once more out of the window into the yard to see Marv retreating into his kennel with a strut and a ruffle of feathers. Rolling his eyes he flicked off the lights and headed down to his workshop. “Jarvis, pull up a photo of a Eglu rabbit house” he said, rolling up his sleeves “and convert it to a blue print” “Stark Industries branching out into pet houses now Sir?” The AI asked, amusement in his tone. “Something like that.” Tony grumbled. And Marv the turkey lived another thanksgiving. ******

November 2006

Tony knew instantly when Katie went outside and peeked into the pet house that something was wrong. She wrenched open the hood and reached in and turned to the house with the bird in her arms.

“I think he is sick…” she said, her tone laced with worry as she carried Marv into the kitchen. Tony peered down at the bird, and he had to admit he didn’t look well. His eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy.

“Take him into the lounge” he said softly. Katie sniffed slightly and carried him through the kitchen and Tony sighed.

“Jarvis… what is the average lifespan for a turkey?” He asked quietly.

“The maximum recorded lifespan for a turkey in captivity is twelve years and four months. For turkeys living in the wild, the maximum is less than ten years, but the average life expectancy of a male turkey is just over 2 years and just over 3 years for females.” Jarvis replied.

Tony shook his head and sighed, grabbed the punnet of blackberries from the fridge and made his way into the lounge where Katie was sat with Marv now wrapped in a blanket by the fire.

He sat in front of her and gently offered a handful of the fruit to the bird. It looked at him and then viciously pecked at his hand.

“Bastard” Tony hissed, shaking his hand out and wincing as Katie laughed. Marv ruffled his feathers and closed his eyes. Half an hour later he ruffled and clucked for the last time.

And Marv the Turkey didn’t live for another Thanksgiving.

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #one shot #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #Katie Stark #tony stark #mcu #mcu fanfic

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tiesandtea · 3 years

Link

BOOK OF THE MONTH: So Young by Simon Gilbert

By Chris Tosic, Le Document, Issue 18, 15 June 2021.

Suede’s first album was released in 1993 and entered the British charts at number one. It sold over 100,000 copies in its first week. In 2015 NME magazine presented the band with a “God Like Genius Award.” Suede’s famous fans and admirers over the years have included; David Bowie, and members of Bloc Party, and The Long Blondes. Bands who’ve recorded covers of Suede songs include; Morrissey, The Manic Street Preachers, The Libertines, and Kim Wilde. In November Suede are touring the UK as part of their celebrations of the 25th anniversary of their classic L.P. ‘Coming Up’. Suede’s lovely drummer Simon Gilbert (who has been with the band since the start) kindly agreed to answer a few questions...

Le Document (LD) The 500 copies of the deluxe signed and numbered version of the So Young photo book sold out pretty fast. Can you tell me about the book – how it all came about and was if it was hard work getting it to look the way you wanted it?

Simon Gilbert (SG) Well it came about … about 30 years ago when I started documenting everything, it’s something I always wanted to do, when I was a kid my bible was a book by the pistols called The Sex Pistols file. A book that showed them… not just on stage or on the tv… and I was fascinated by the photos of them... on a bus… in the pub, photos you don't get to see… and always wanted to make one of Suede… when I was making the film Insatiable Ones I came across so many photos and negatives, that I thought they had to be seen.

Along with my photos, three friends of mine contributed a lot of the live shots and others. Iain, Kathy & Phillip were always backstage and at every show so had a lot of photos that I couldn’t take… lockdown was a pain in the arse, but I was able to get the book together and spend time getting it right. Going through the diaries in depth was an experience, I hadn’t looked at them for 25 years and was taken right back there, so it really helped with the writing in the book. Some of it had to be edited (to protect the innocent) but the diary pages that appear in the book are left as they were… hopefully the reader can understand my poor handwriting.

LD Suede have worked with some of the best photographers and designers such as Nick Knight and Peter Saville. Which photographers were the most interesting to work with and whose work do you most admire?

SG Tom Sheehan was always great to work with, he was one of those photographers that talk whilst they’re taking shots, directing the band … lovely guy. David Bailey was completely silent, and only took about 10 shots and was done… a very quick session… (I’m sure he knew what he was doing)

LD I saw Suede play live several times in the early years and each time you were always great. Are you excited about being back on the road and doing the Coming Up tour?

SG I simply can’t wait… excited isn’t the word. I loved doing the full Coming Up album a few years back so very much looking forward to doing it again.

LD According to legend you were introduced to the rest of Suede by Ricky Gervais. Are you a fan of his comedy? Did you like the fact he got to collaborate with Bowie?

SG Well Ricky managed the band along with two other people, I was actually introduced to them by one of the others, I think Ricky made some posters for our gigs and sent off a tape.

… his comedy is something that he had back then too, he was exactly the same … and had me in stitches then. Loved the Bowie sketch, as I am sure Ricky did, he was such a huge fan.

LD What are the best things about living in Thailand? Can you imagine living anywhere else or do you think Thailand will always be your home?

SG Thailand is a wonderful place, I’ve been there for 17 years now, and can’t see me moving anytime soon. There lots of great things about the place, I live in the middle of nowhere away from Bangkok now, and watching a buffalo slowly wonder pass my house whilst the dawn is breaking is pretty spectacular… cobras in the pool first thing in the morning isn’t one of my best things though.

LD What new music have you been excited by in recent years? Are there any new bands, recent albums etc that have impressed you?

SG None / no

LD Which Suede songs are you most proud of? Do you have a top 5?

SG: My Dark Star, Heroine, Animal Nitrate, Picnic by the Motorway (First track on the new album!!)

So Young: Suede 1991 - 1993 Hardback Photo Book £60 Available from here.

#suede #simon gilbert #so young book

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yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

Text

Close To You

[UK Tour]

i needed some Momward, so i wrote some Momward. enjoy the Momward.

Word count: 1792

-----------------

It was an accident. Joan swore to Howard up and down that she hadn’t meant it, but that didn’t erase Howard’s need to discuss the incident. Joan didn’t seem to see the point and avoided her ex-queen like the plague until she was finally cornered three days later in the break room. For once, her caffeine addiction was a blessing, at least for Howard.

“K-Katherine,” Joan breathed out shakily. Her hands have already started to quiver, even though Howard only just got inside. Though, her muscles, size, and the way she shut the door behind her may have been a little intimidating.

“I just want to talk.” Howard said, harmlessly holding her hands out in front of her. It was like she was trying to tame a wild animal or something, and Joan may as well have been one with that threatened look on her face.

“I-if this is about what happened on Monday, th-then I’m really, really sorry, Katherine.” Joan said, like all the other times, always apologizing for the most minor of inconveniences. “I-I didn’t-- I don’t know what happened. I-I just-- I don’t know. S-something c-came over me a-and--”

Howard set a hand on her shoulder and Joan shut up instantly with a tiny squeak. Her eyes were absolutely massive and filled with so much fear.

“A-are you going to hit me?” Joan asked quietly.

The question came like a punch to the stomach. Howard actually recoiled away slightly, blinking in disbelief.

“What? No! Joan, no, I’m not going to hit you!” She said. “Why would you ever think that?”

Joan shrugged and looked away. Howard could practically see the painful anxiety clawing up and down her insides.

“Joan, honey, I’m not mad at you.” Howard told her.

“But you’re disappointed?” Joan guessed.

“No. I’m not.” Howard said. “Why would I be disappointed in you?”

“B-because I--” Joan shut her mouth and tried to look anywhere else but the queen in front of her. Cold sweat was now beaded on her forehead and she looked much paler than she usually did.

“Honey,” Howard sighed, and Joan actually flinched away from her as if she had actually spit acid on her face. “Joan, I need you to take a breath for me. I think you may be having an anxiety attack.”

“I’m sorry,” Joan whispered in a tight, strangled voice that just confirmed Howard’s suspicions. “I-I didn’t mean to, Katherine, I-I really didn’t--”

Howard slowly lowered Joan to the floor. It wasn’t the most ideal place to have an anxiety attack, but Howard would be a little less concerned if Joan weren’t on her feet in case she may faint.

“Joan, you don’t need to apologize,” Howard said.

“B-but it was weird. And embarrassing. And pathetic and--” Joan coughed, and lightning bolts of worry zigzagged through Howard.

“Breathe, sweetheart,” Howard instructed, rubbing Joan’s back firmly. “Come on, Joan. It’s okay. Just breathe.”

Joan looked at her, then nodded, sucking in a shaky breath. After a moment, she began to fall into a rhythm of steady breathing, although her entire body continued to quake.

“Good girl,” Howard praised. She reached out and brushed some hair out of Joan’s face, and that touch alone was enough to make Joan lean into it hungrily.

They seemed to notice this at the same time because Joan was jerking away so hard she nearly knocked herself over a second later.

“Oh god,” Joan muttered, eyes wide in horror. “I-I did it again. I’m so sorry, Katherine, I’m so, so sorry!”

Howard frowned. She remembered what happened three days ago, when Joan nuzzled her cheek against the hand she rested on her shoulder, and realized that Joan really was as touch starved as she had been speculating. The girl once again pressing into such a simple touch proved it all.

“Joan, what was your family like?” Howard asked.

Joan was taken aback slightly. “I-I--” She floundered for a moment. “They weren’t--there. They left. I don’t even remember their names.”

That explained a lot.

“I don't really have a family,” Joan mumbled. “I mean, I’ve got--” She paused, looked up as if in thought, then shook her head. “No, nevermind. Don’t have them.”

“What about the other Ladies?” Howard pressed, growing more and more concerned by the second.

Joan smiled at her sadly. “Nope.” She said. “Not even them. I live alone, so that probably explains it.”

Howard stared at her contemplatively. It then cleared with a smile as she grasped Joan’s shoulder and said breezily, “I’ll be your family, then.”

This time, it was Joan’s turn to stare, and she did so like a snowy owl that was just grabbed out of midair.

“What?” Joan’s voice came out in a husky whispered.

Howard continued smiling at her blithely, as though it was normal to offer your coworker and ex-lady in waiting a family. “Why not? I mean, already got five other queens and a bassist who bleaches her hair for fun, so why not add one more to the bunch?”

Joan shifted. The repressed excitement that had been glowing in her wide eyes dulled slightly at that. Howard saw her disbelief and carried on, “I like challenges. Especially those who’re kinda lacking in the love department.” She nudged Joan playfully and the girl just about burst into tears.

Wait, no-- She was just actually tearing up.

“Are you alright?” Howard asked softly, ducking her head to meet Joan’s gaze,

Joan, clearly unable to speak without her voice wavering, nodded stubbornly, but the damage had been done. Tears were flowing down her cheeks rapidly, no matter how hard she scrubbed at her eyes.

“Oh, honey,” Howard murmured. “Do you want a hug?”

Joan shook her head, but Howard could practically see her skin crawling with ache. The poor thing’s body craved affection. It was a primal instinct, one ingrained in human history.

Joan folded her arms into herself, crushing the fabric of her jacket, and shook her head. Howard knew she wanted to, but she was scared of embarrassing herself again.

“No.” Joan said hoarsely.

Howard just waited patiently.

“No.” Joan shook her head much more. The tears are coming down much faster, now. Her body screamed with intense sorrow and longing.

“Sweetheart.”

Joan succumbed.

With a muffled sob, she slowly opened her arms and did desperate grabby hands (which, by the way, were the cutest things Howard has ever seen before) and Howard swooped in, enveloping her in her embrace. Joan dug her nails into the fabric of the queen’s shirt as though clinging for dear life. And she may as well been, Howard thought, because letting go seemed like a death sentence to Joan at this point.

Howard cooed to Joan softly. When she began to run her fingers through Joan’s white-blonde locks, the girl let out a sob and leaned into the hand. Worry set like a heavy stone inside Howard’s stomach.

“You’re touch starved, aren’t you?” Howard said softly. She leaned Joan back slightly so she could look at her face and Joan instantly whimpered in distress at the loss of the embrace. She stroked her cheek with the back of her fingers to calm her and Joan pressed into that, too, eyelids fluttering shut. “Has no one really touched you?”

Joan opened her eyes to look at her and she shrugged before closing them again. “There was my brother,” She said. “But it’s been a really long time and he wasn’t the same as...as this…”

Howard wondered how this girl had gone on for so long without any sort of affection, verbal or physical. She looked down at Joan, nuzzling against her hand like a kitten seeking warmth (and practically purring like one, too), and felt a swell of fierce protectiveness well up inside of her.

“I care about you,” She said fondly.

Joan stiffened. Then, a moment later, she’s shoving Howard in the chest.

“Katherine, stop it.” She growled, though her voice was small and shaky.

Howard pulled her back into her arms, meeting little resistance. “I mean it, Joan.” She cupped the back of Joan’s head and tucked it underneath her chin. Joan doesn’t fight that, either, and Howard knew how badly she needed this touch.

“No, you don’t.” Joan said anyway. “You say you care and you’ll welcome me, only to leave again. Everyone always leaves. I’ve always been left behind. I’ve always been alone. Don’t - don’t say things you don’t mean."

“But I do mean it.” Howard sits up and grabs her shoulders.

“B-but I’m clingy, Katherine,” Joan said miserably. “I’m never going to stop following you around now. I’m always going to be seeking your approval and love and affection. You’re going to get tired of me.”

“No I won’t.”

“Yes you will.” Joan sobbed. “I’ve seen it happen before, Katherine! First my brother, then my husband. I just wanted love. All the time. And not the kind her wanted. I just wanted to be held and needed and--” She whimpered weakly. “He would get mad at me because I would always be following him around, but that didn’t change anything. And then there was also the thing with Henry when I got so desperate and--”

“Wait-- The what with Henry?”

“I-it doesn’t matter,” Joan stammered, and Howard made a mental note to ask her about that later. “It’s gonna happen again, Katherine. I know it. I-I always lose people. I’m always alone.”

“Not anymore.” Howard said firmly. “Never again, Joan. I’ll hold you, alright?”

Joan looked up at her, sniffling. “Why?” She asked weakly. “Why are you doing this? I-I don’t-- I don’t understand.”

“Then let me make you understand,” Howard said. “Give me a chance.” She pulled Joan against her tightly, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head, which made Joan dissolve into sobs all over again. “I’ll show you, sweetheart. I won’t let you be alone again.”

Joan whimpered. The poor thing was so worked up that she couldn’t even speak anymore. She just buried her face in Howard’s chest and cried.

“Get it all out, sweetie,” Howard murmured to her soothingly. “You probably haven’t cried like this to anyone in a long time, huh? Oh, you sweet, sweet girl… I’m not going to let you go. It’s okay. I’m right here, baby.”

Joan would continue to cry for quite some time, not that Howard blamed her. She had so many emotions all pent up inside her frail little body; they must have been eating away at her. Her letting them all out like this was good.

“Thank you,” Joan gasped. “Thank you, Katherine, thank you, thank you…”

“It’s my pleasure, honey, really,” Howard smiled lovingly down at the girl. “I’m here now. I won’t let you go, I promise.”

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