#project herodias

[blooms-in-april]

Lambert smiles, sharp and ugly, "I know who you pretend I am."

Jaskier doesn't deny it. They both know he can't.

"Touche" he says lightly, skimming his fingers across the strings. Lambert can see the marks of his own nails in his back. He's bleeding faintly. "Remind what his name was again?"

Lambert sits up sharp in bed. "Don't you dare."

"Oh, Aiden, right?" Jaskier strums a chord. The name sounds like music in his mouth. "Aiden. Aiden at night, Aiden in the morning. Aiden in your breath and your tears and your mouth, Aiden so deep you can't claw him out."

"Get that name out of your mouth, bard," Lambert says. "Before I break it."

There is no fear in those blue eyes, no pity. Only a cold understanding. "Leave my wounds and I'll leave yours."

"Don't compare us." Lambert snarls.

"Why not?" Jaskier says. "We're exactly the same. That's why this works."

"My brother's alive."

Jaskier smiles, and there's something broken and desperate in it, like a shattered mirror. Lambert wonders if he looks like that, if it shows on his face in the same way.

"Yes, Geralt's alive. He's here, but I don't have him. I never had him. I will never have him. You had Aiden. All you had to do was be brave."

"Don't have him anymore." Lambert says.

"No." Jaskier responds. "Why else do you think we're here?"

[fibula-rasa]

Cosplay the Classics: Nazimova in Salomé (1922)—Part 1

My cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé

The Importance of Being Peter: Nazimova’s Take on Wilde

With over two decades of professional acting experience behind her (six on the “shadow stage” of silent cinema), Alla Nazimova went independent. She was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood at the start of 1922 when her contract with Metro ended. Almost exclusively using her own savings, Nazimova founded a new production company and immediately got to work on two films that reflected both a deep understanding of her own fan base and a faith in the American filmgoer’s appreciation for art.

Discourse around these films and their productions that have emerged in the century since their release are often peppered with over-simplifications or a lack of perspective. Focus is understandably placed on Salomé, as her first project, A Doll’s House (1922), has not survived. In part one of this series, I plan to contextualize Nazimova’s decision to commit Wilde’s drama to celluloid and examine the details of the adaptation. Then, in part two, I will cover how Salomé (and A Doll’s House) fits into the industry trends and the emergent studio system in the early 1920s.

While the full essay and more photos are available below the jump, you may find it easier to read (formatting-wise) on the wordpress site. Either way, I hope you enjoy the read!

Wilde’s Salomé: The Basics

Salomé was a one-act drama written by Oscar Wilde. In a creative challenge to himself, Salomé was one of Wilde’s first plays and he chose to write in French, which he did not have as complete a mastery of as of English. Wilde was directly inspired by the Flaubert story “Herodias,” which was, in turn, inspired by the short story which appears twice in the New Testament. The play was later translated into English and published with illustrations by artist Aubrey Beardsley. Wilde’s play was the basis of the opera of the same name by Richard Strauss. While both the opera and the play had been staged numerous times across Europe and in New York before Nazimova’s adaptation, Strauss’ opera was the main reference point for the story in the popular imagination of the time. The success of Strauss’ opera led to the popularization of the Dance of the Seven Veils and the accepted interpretation of the character as a classic femme fatale.

My cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé

Nazimova’s Salomé: The Basics

When Nazimova announced her production of Salomé, she did so assured that she and Natacha Rambova, her art director, had a unique and creatively compelling interpretation of the story to warrant adaptation. Nazimova was not only the star and producer of Salomé, she adapted it from its source herself under her pen name Peter M. Winters. (Cheekily, contemporary interviews and profiles joke that “Peter” is one of her common nicknames.) Charles Bryant, credited as director, was as much the director of the film as he was Nazimova’s husband, which is to say, he is not known to have contributed much at all. It’s now accepted fact that Bryant acted as a professional beard (Bryant and Nazimova were also never legally married). The choice to credit Bryant was to offset the heat Nazimova was getting in the press at the time for “taking on too much.” Having Bryant’s name in the credits was a protective measure. Charles Van Enger was a talented, up-and-coming cinematographer who had been recommended to Nazimova following the inadequate cinematography of her Metro films.

Rambova was in charge of the art direction, set designs, costumes, and makeup. Nazimova and Rambova had become close artistic collaborators after Nazimova hired Rambova to design the fantasy sequence for her film Billions (1920, presumed lost). [You can learn more about Rambova’s career here.] Both women valued their work above all else. Both were convinced that film could be art. Both had the gumption to believe that they could make a lasting mark on cinema’s recognition as a legitimate medium of artistic expression.* (Spoiler: even though Salomé was not an unqualified box-office success, they were right.)

Photo of the Salomé crew from Exhibitors Herald, 29 April 1922. Original caption: Nazimova ordered this picture taken that she might be reminded of the real pleasure encountered in every stage of the production of “Salome.” Top, left to right: Monroe Bennett, laboratory; Charles Bryant, director; Mildred Early, secretary; John DePalma, assistant director. Second row: Sam Zimbalist, cutter; Natacha Rambova, art director; Charles J. Van Enger, cameraman; the star; R. W. McFarland, manager. Front row: Neal Jack, electrician; Paul Ivano, cameraman; Lewis Wilson, cameraman.

Nazimova’s independence was at least partly spurred on by feeling creatively bereft from her work at Metro. In a 1926 interview with Adela Rogers St. Johns, Nazimova said:

“You asked me why I made ‘Salome.’ Well—’Salome’ was a purgative. […] It seems impossible now that I should ever have been asked to play such parts as ‘The Heart of a Child’ and ‘Billions.’ But I was. And instead of saying, ‘No. I will not play such trash. I will not play roles so wholely [sic] unsuited to me in every way,’ I went on and played them because of my contract, and they ruined me. “WORSE than that, they [made] me sick with myself. So I did ‘Salome’ as a purgative. I wanted something so different, so fanciful, so artistic, that it would take the taste out of my mouth. ‘Salome’ was my protest against cheap realism. Maybe it was a mistake. But—I had to do it. It was not a mistake for me, myself.”

Given that Nazimova now had full creative freedom, outside of the confines of the Hollywood film factory, why were A Doll’s House and Salomé the first works she gravitated towards?

Initially, Nazimova had conceived of a “repertoire” concept for her productions: one shorter production (A Doll’s House) and one feature-length production (Salomé), which could be distributed and exhibited together. Once production was underway for ADH, Nazimova instead chose to make it a feature. The reasons for this decision that I found in contemporary sources are purely creative, but I don’t think it’s too much of a presumption that this may have been a financial choice, as profits from ADH (which unfortunately wouldn’t materialize—more on that in part two!) could have been cycled into Salomé’s production.

Ibsen was not popular source material for the silent screen, but Nazimova’s name and career was forever tied to the playwright as she is considered the actress who brought Ibsen to the US. (Minnie Maddern Fiske starred in a production of Hedda Gabbler in the US before Nazimova, however it failed to raise the profile of the writer.) Nazimova’s stage productions of Ibsen’s work proved that there was an audience for it in the US—both in New York and on tour. Superficially, ADH might seem like a risky proposition, but Nazimova had good reason to believe it had both artistic and box office potential. (Again, I’ll delve into why it might not have found its audience in part two.)

Nazimova as Nora in A Doll’s House

Though ADH is now lost, we know from surviving materials that Nazimova understood that by 1922 The New Woman archetype was already becoming passé to the post-war/post-pandemic generation of young women. Nazimova endeavored to translate the play in a way that would resonate with 1920s American womanhood. (How well she succeeded is lost to time unless we are lucky enough to recover a copy of the film.) Likewise, Nazimova approached her adaptation of Salomé with a keen eye for the concerns of modern independent women.

——— ——— ———

*Incidentally, both women also had a personal connection to Wilde. Nazimova was a close friend and colleague of Elizabeth Marbury, who worked as Wilde’s agent. Rambova spent summers at her aunt’s (Elsie de Wolfe) villa in France where she lived with her longtime partner, Marbury.

My cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé

The Adolescence of Salome

In the decade following the end of the First World War, there was a great cultural shift for women in America, who experienced and pursued greater independence in society—particularly young and/or unmarried women. This quality was emblematized in the Flappers and the Jazz Babies, but even women who didn’t participate in these subcultures lived lifestyles removed from “home and family” ideals of the past. The lifestyle change was mirrored aesthetically. As Frederick Lewis Allen describes in Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s:

“These changes in fashion—the short skirt, the boyish form, the straight, long-waisted dresses, the frank use of paint—were signs of a real change in the American feminine ideal (as well, perhaps, as in men’s idea of what was the feminine ideal). […] the quest of slenderness, the flattening of the breasts, the vogue of short skirts (even when short skirts still suggested the appearance of a little girl), the juvenile effect of the long waist,—all were signs that, consciously or unconsciously, the women of this decade worshiped not merely youth, but unripened youth […] Youth was their pattern, but not youthful innocence: the adolescent whom they imitated was a hard-boiled adolescent, who thought not in terms of romantic love, but in terms of sex, and who made herself desirable not by that sly art that conceals art, but frankly and openly.”*

Allen’s summary of youthful womanhood in the 1920s resounds so clearly in the character design and performance of Nazimova’s Salomé, it’s apparent that she and Rambova were thoroughly informed by contemporary trends around young/independent women. Belén Ruiz Garrido puts it succinctly in her great essay on the film “Besare tu boca, Iokanaan. Arte y experiencia cinematografica en Salomé de Alla Nazimova:”

“Las concomitancias con la flapper o la it girl de los felices años veinte son evidentes. Se muestra mimosa, pero su seducción es como un juego de niña. / The similarities with the flapper or the it girl of the roaring twenties are obvious. She performs affection, but her seduction is like child’s play.” (translation mine)

Nazimova was also fully conscious that her fanbase was predominantly female and that she held significant appeal for younger women. From the moment she signed her first American theatrical contract with Lee Shubert, Nazimova’s status as a queer idol was already being established.

“The women… were enthusiastic about [Nazimova]… [At the hotel, the] ladies’ entrance was always crowded with women waiting for her to return from the theatre. It is much better that she should be exclusive and meet no one if possible. They regard her as a mystery. And there are other damned good reasons besides this one.”  – citation: A. H. Canby to Lee Shubert, December 29, 1908**

While women, particularly middle-class women, were emerging as a prominent consumer group in the US, Nazimova’s popularity peaked on stage and on screen. Arriving in Hollywood, Nazimova also continued her trend of surrounding herself socially and professionally with other queer women. Profiles and interviews of Nazimova in the Hollywood press often contained coded language about her queerness as a wink and nudge, usually but not always accompanied by mention of her “husband” Charles Bryant.

This well-developed understanding of her primary fanbase led her to break from popular presentations of the character as an embodiment of monstrous feminine sensuality. Instead, Nazimova chose to present the character as an adolescent. While Nazimova was the first to put this read on the character on film, Marcella Craft chose an adolescent interpretation in a production Strauss’ opera in Munich and Hedwig Reicher was a teenager when she assayed the role and played it accordingly (also in Germany). (Maybe not insignificantly, Reicher was also working in Hollywood at the time of Salomé’s production.)***

This is the American pop culture landscape we’re talking about here, so of course women’s independence was rapidly codified for capitalization. Young women were moralized at for not conforming to traditional gender roles while simultaneously being framed as sexually desirable in order to sell consumer goods (including motion pictures!). The American way. It’s hard to not see social commentary in Nazimova’s reworking of this icon of wanton femininity for a new generation.

This isn’t to suggest that Nazimova’s Salomé glorifies the character, but rather that making Salomé a teen adds layers of complexity to the production. Considering it in conversation with her predecessors, Salomé isn’t even named in the New Testament stories. Flaubert built out the character with 19th century concerns in mind (though his story is more about Herod & Herodias) and Wilde shifted even more focus to Salomé. Nazimova continued that trend with her version of Salomé—an impetuous child too young and ill-equipped to constructively deal with the horrible environment she was brought up in. (Might that resonate with a generation of young people disillusioned by a World War and a pandemic?)

As Nazimova/Peter wrote in the opening intertitles to the film:

“It is at this point that the drama opens, revealing Salome who yet remains an uncontaminated blossom in a wilderness of evil.

“Though still innocent, Salome is a true daughter of her day, heiress to its passions and its cruelties. She kills the thing she loves; she loves the thing she kills, yet in her soul there shines the glimmer of the Light and she sets forth gladly into the Unknown to solve the puzzle of her own words——”

My cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé

As Salomé was an experiment in pantomime for screen acting, it’s worthwhile to look at how Nazimova embodies this image of youth in her performance. In the first scenes, Salomé’s facial expressions are pouty and her movements like a bored child’s. Her wig emphasizes every movement she makes with a flurry of pearls and creates a neotenous silhouette for the character. When denied access to Jokanaan, her facial expressions are imperious, but the imperiousness of a spoiled child. She swings on the bars imprisoning Jokanaan as if they are a jungle gym. As she “charms” Narraboth, her expressions and body language shift toward a scheming energy with barely concealed artifice, displaying a distinct lack of sophistication—like she’s trying to angle a second serving of ice cream not exacting a favor of a servant that could cost his life.

Perhaps most crucially, Salomé’s adolescence emphasizes the inappropriateness of men’s gaze upon her. Wilde’s drama is built around rhythmic repetition in the dialogue—a key repetition being the act of looking. Though the play is only one act, some form of “regarder” in relation to Salomé is repeated nineteen times—most often in some form of “don’t look at her” or “you shouldn’t look at her that way.” As Salomé is a silent film, to repeat this in intertitles nineteen times in intertitles would be absurd. Throughout the film, frequent close ups are strategically employed to visually recreate the rhythmic emphasis on gazing. (The purpose of this device seems to have been lost on one reviewer for Exhibitors Herald who said in his review: ”too many close ups.”) Additionally, the motif is foregrounded by front-loading the mentions of looking. As soon as the opening narration ends, we’re introduced to Herod behaving lecherously toward Salomé and Herodias telling him not to look at her. The perversity of Herod is amplified here because Salomé is not only his niece and his step-daughter, but also a child. This scene is followed by Narraboth and the page having a similar interaction, albeit with a different tone.

As Nazimova put it herself in a profile in Close-Up magazine:

“The men about her are obnoxious; they cannot even look upon her decently. She loathes them all. Even the Syrian [Narraboth] whose approach is of all the most respectful and decorous, is of his times and his love is tempered with the alloy of lust.”

In the film, Salomé’s rage against Herod is justified, and her rage against Jokanaan is a raw confusion of emotions—she doesn’t have the capacity to act constructively. When the first unfortunate man commits suicide over her, she barely takes notice, establishing Salome’s blasé attitude toward death. When the second man takes his life this time directly in front of her, Salomé only notices after almost tripping on his body. Her response is giving the body an annoyed kick for tripping her! The key phrase of the drama is “The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.” Salomé is surrounded by death, enveloped by it, but love (of any kind) is unknown to her until Jokanaan. So, when her love of Jokanaan is rebuked, she reverts to the only response that has been nurtured into her: death.

Nazimova’s Salomé is a perfect surviving example of a quality of her acting described in an uncredited review of Nazimova’s theatrical work:

“If the actress you’re seeing knows what she’s saying but you don’t, it’s Mrs. [Minnie Maddern] Fiske. But if the actress doesn’t know what she is saying and you do, it’s Alla Nazimova.”****

We as viewers understand what Salomé is going through, but she is being psychologically buffeted by fate and circumstance without ever comprehending the nature of it. The tumultuous feelings brought on by Salomé’s first brush with the spiritual (rather than the sexual), launches her into an accelerated ripening of her cruelty. This is masterfully communicated by Nazimova through facial expression and body language and accentuated by Rambova’s costuming.

As Herman Weinberg put it in his essay “The Function of the Actor:”

“The true film crystalizes action for us. ‘To see eternity in a grain of sand,’ the poet said. ‘To see a life cycle in an hour and a half’ is the modern screen parallel.”

Because of the emotional scale of Nazimova’s performance in Salomé, it has been variously described as “bizarre” or “grotesque”—though not always said derogatorily. That’s on point, as Nazimova’s performance is only one expression of her protest against realism in the film.

——— ——— ———

*If you’re interested in the 1920s at all, I highly recommend Allen’s book. The section this quote is from has a detailed survey of changes in American women’s lifestyles throughout the 1920s.

**as quoted in “Alla Nazimova: ‘The Witch of Makeup’” by Robert A. Schanke

***Gavin Lambert’s biography of Nazimova intimates that she referenced the 1917 Tairov production of Wilde’s Salomé, which she reportedly had a detailed description of. Reading about the production for myself in Mark Slonim’s Russian Theatre: from the Empire to the Soviets, I’m not sure what precisely she would have drawn from this production. It doesn’t seem to have much in common with the ‘22 film at all. That said, in a 1923 interview with Malcolm H. Oettinger in Picture-Play Magazine, Nazimova admits that in preparing for the film, she compiled a large scrapbook of previous productions and artistic interpretations of the story and character. Unfortunately, though Lambert clearly did voluminous research for his biography, his presentation and interpretation leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the things I tried to verify or try to find more information on from the book proved to be misrepresentations or were factually incorrect. So, I’m avoiding quoting Lambert without verification, unless what I’m citing is directly taken from a primary source; like a quote from Nazimova’s correspondence.

****quotation is from an uncredited clipping held by the Nazimova archive in Columbus, Georgia as quoted in Gavin Lambert’s biography

Illustration of Nazimova as Salomé by F. Corral from The Story World, March 1923

Nazimova and Rambova’s Modernist Phantasy

The assurance that Rambova and Nazimova felt that they had something new to bring to Salomé was obviously not solely founded in a character interpretation updated for the screen and for the decade. The two crafted a singular work born of pastiche in a manner that genuinely had not been done before in the American film industry. It’s often repeated that Salomé is America’s first art film. This may have its origin in promotional materials* made for the initial release of the film. Before the film’s official release, Bryant, Nazimova, and Paul Ivano (assistant camera & Nazimova’s on-again-off-again lover) arranged preview screenings and a few reviews from those screenings mention in some form that Salomé was a direct retort to the notion that art cannot be made with a camera.

What constituted the Nazimova/Rambova strategy to elevate film to the status of art? Both women had around six years of experience working in film (twelve collectively), but both came from a live performance background—theatrical acting and ballet respectively. Salomé is a film based on a stage play (though not strictly based on any one production of that play). Salomé inherits its symbology (first and foremost the moon) from its source material, but the filmmakers found creative ways of communicating and remixing symbols for the camera. The art design is inspired by Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for a printed edition of the play, though Rambova pulled more broadly from art-nouveau to devise designs that are in no way unoriginal.

As for the much discussed Dance of the Seven Veils, in my opinion, Nazimova’s execution is inspired by the dance described in Flaubert’s “Herodias” rather than a previous live performance.

“Again the dancer paused; then, like a flash, she threw herself upon the palms of her hands, while her feet rose straight up into the air. In this bizarre pose she moved about upon the floor like a gigantic beetle; then stood motionless.

“The nape of her neck formed a right angle with her vertebrae. The full silken skirts of pale hues that enveloped her limbs when she stood erect, now fell to her shoulders and surrounded her face like a rainbow. Her lips were tinted a deep crimson, her arched eyebrows were black as jet, her glowing eyes had an almost terrible radiance; and the tiny drops of perspiration on her forehead looked like dew upon white marble.”

Clearly, I’m not implying that what’s described above is exactly what we see on screen. My thought instead is that Nazimova may have drawn inspiration for the dance to be provocative in an uncanny way instead of provocative in a conventionally sensuous way. What we do see on screen is a distinct lack of practiced sensuality and an element of menace. The former comes both from Salomé’s youthfulness and from the logic that, as Salomé has already gotten Herod to give her his word in front of dignitaries, there’s no need for seduction. The latter is brought on by the expression of Salomé’s fractured emotional state and feelings about Herod. In execution, the use of close-ups again serves a major purpose. Intercutting close-up reactions from those gathered at the court provides a crescendo to the motif of looking, which is then pivotally reversed in the kiss scene. Cutting to close-ups of Salomé’s face accents the ecstatic and maniacal quality of the dance. Together this variation of shots creates an effect that could only work on film.

Salomé has a significant appreciation for its non-cinematic antecedents, but filtered through the prism of Nazimova’s and Rambova’s own creative strengths and sensibilities—a melding of theater and graphic art into something not only fresh but also totally cinematic.

It speaks to their filmmaking skill that all of these ideas and influences do in fact come together as a cohesive yet wholly unconventional film. Some critics of Salomé (both contemporary and modern) will cite vague notions of theatricality, or state that the film is only a series of tableaux, or that the limited sets don’t depart enough from a stage presentation. Art is in the eye of the beholder, but I think whether those specific elements preclude Salomé from being cinematic is a matter of perspective.

The oversized, stylized nature of Salomé’ssets might at first register as theatrical, but those same sets also serve to amp up the anti-real nature of the film. It’s uncharitable to Rambova to suggest that this artificiality was not a conscious artistic decision. If you have seen the sequences she designed with Mitchell Leisen for De Mille’s Forbidden Fruit (1921) then you have seen her demonstrated understanding of how designs register on camera. The gorgeously executed lighting effects in Salomé that are employed to to sublimate tone shifts could feasibly be recreated in a theatrical setting, here, filtered through the camera of Van Enger, register as thoroughly cinematic.

To once again quote “The Function of the Actor” by Weinberg:

“In nine movies out of ten (most particularly those emanating from the film factories of Hollywood), the actors stand around and talk to each other, relieved only by periodic bursts of someone going in or out of a doorway. (Sixty percent of the action in the average Hollywood movie consists of people going in and out of doors.) […] 

“The actor going through a doorway may be a necessary device on the stage, to get him on and off. But Pudovkin has made a neat distinction between the realities of stage and screen: ‘The film assembles the elements of reality to build from them a new reality proper to itself; and the laws of time and space that, in sets and footage of the stage are fixed and fast, are in the film entirely altered.’ On the stage, that is, an event seems to occur in the same length of time it would occupy in life. On the screen, however, the camera records only the significant parts of the event, and so the filmic time is shorter than the real time of the event.”

Weinberg cites Pudovkin in an amusing but illustrative way here. People may throw “overly theatrical” or “stagey” casually, but more often than not the distinction between theatrical/cinematic comes down to how space and time is traversed. Even if the base material, a narrative drama for example, is shared between stage and screen, there should be a thoughtful construction of geography and chronology. Could Salomé have played more creatively with space? Perhaps. But, for a film made in early 1922, its creative geography isn’t all that uninventive. The majority of the action in Salomé takes place exclusively on one set, so it does rely a lot on the types of comings and goings that Weinberg identifies with theatre. That said, there are some comings and goings that forcefully pull the audience away from the feeling of stagey-ness. The most consequential occurs in the scene with the first suicide, which I previously mentioned in the context of developing Salomé‘s character and environment. The man runs to the ledge of the courtyard, beholds the moon, and leaps. Cut to a wide, back-lit shot of the figure plunging to nowhere, establishing that the city above the clouds depicted in the art titles and opening credits is the actual physical location that film is taking place in. It’s a genuinely startling moment in the film and Salomé’s most evocative use of creative geography.

The majority of legitimate critical appraisal at the time of Salomé’s release recognize it as an achievement in film art, even highlighting artsiness as a potential selling point. As art cinemas started popping up in the US, Salomé stayed in circulation. Appreciation grew. Legends emerged around its production. And, now one hundred years later, it’s safe to say that Salomé has earned and kept its place as a fixture of the history of film art. As we are lucky enough to have the complete film to watch, assess, reassess, and debate its qualities as a work of cinematic art, I’m positive that conversation on Salomé will continue. 

So, if Salomé was appreciated in its time, why did it ruin and bankrupt Nazimova? What was going on in the American film industry at the time? Find out in part two!

“If we have made something fine, something lasting, it is enough. The commercial end of it does not interest me at all. I hate it. This I do know: we must live, and I must live well. I have suffered—enough. Never again shall I suffer. But most of all am I concerned in creating something that will lift us all above this petty level of earthly things. My work is my god. I want to build what I know is fine, what I feel calling for expression. I must be true to my ideals—” — Nazimova on Salomé quoted in “The Complete Artiste” by Malcolm Oettinger

——— ——— ———

*As of the time of writing, I haven’t been able to track down a complete copy for the campaign book for the film, so I’m relying on fragments, quotes, and second-hand references to its content.

——— ——— ———

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

——— ——— ———

Bibliography/Further Reading

(This isn’t an exhaustive list, but covers what’s most relevant to the essay above!)

Salomé by Oscar Wilde [French/English]

“Herodias” by Gustave Flaubert [English]

Cosplay the Classics: Natacha Rambova

Lost, but Not Forgotten: A Doll’s House (1922)

“Temperament? Certainly, says Nazimova” by Adela Rogers St. Johns in Photoplay, October 1926

“Newspaper Opinions” in The Film Daily, 3 January 1923

“Splendid Production Values But No Kick in Nazimova’s “Salome” in The Film Daily, 7 January 1923

“SALOME” in The Story World, March 1923

“SALOME’ —Class AA” from Screen Opinions, 15 February 1923

“The Complete Artiste” by Malcolm H. Oettinger in Picture-Play Magazine, April 1923

“Famous Salomes” by Willard H. Wright in Motion Picture Classic, October 1922

“Nazimova’s ‘Salome’” by Walter Anthony in Closeup, 5 January 1923

“Alla Nazimova: ‘The Witch of Makeup’” by Robert A. Schanke in Passing Performances: Queer Readings of Leading Players in American Theater History

“Besare tu boca, Iokanaan. Arte y experiencia cinematografica en Salome de Alla Nazimova” by Belén Ruiz Garrido (Wish I had read this at the beginning of my research and writing instead of near the end as it touches upon a few of the same points as my essay! Highly recommended!)

“The Function of the Actor” by Herman Weinberg

“‘Out Salomeing Salome’: Dance, The New Woman, and Fan Magazine Orientalism” by Gaylyn Studlar in Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film

Nazimova: A Biography by Gavin Lambert (Note: I do not recommend this without caveat even though it’s the only monograph biography of Nazimova. Lambert did a commendable amount of research but his presentation of that research is ruined by misrepresentations, factual errors, and a general tendency to make unfounded assumptions about Nazimova’s motivations and personal feelings.)

Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s by Frederick Lewis Allen

Russian Theatre: from the Empire to the Soviets by Mark Slonim

[brownpaperhag]

i’m at the airport for five more hours! send asks about my writing projects?

plays -

kind 𖦹 turnabout, or the birth machine 𖦹 request distinction human knife

shorts -

butcherwive 𖦹 i have bright wings and i must sing 𖦹 alveolar

long faves -

herodia (a graphic novel!) 𖦹 RENOVIERUNG

[pickerelstripe]

[CM] Birds - Yassga

Woohoo, bird time! Out of all my Claymew expansions, my bird list has definitely taken the most work. I have a special interest in birds IRL so I wanted to make it as accurate as possible - which means i’ve been adding, removing, and adjusting species for over two months! But thankfully I think I’ve finally landed on a good roster (though I can’t guarantee there won’t be changes in the future, as with everything about this project).

As a reminder, ClayClan sorts birds into four categories - yassga*, fafya, eyawoon*, and biyaw*. These categories will be split into five posts (the biyaw* list is so long I decided to cut it half). Learn about this sorting system here. Yassga* is the term for birds that pose a threat to cats.

Without further ado... let’s get birding! Below are translations for two hawks, bald eagles, geese, herons, and great horned owls. And a bonus verb, to celebrate bird time!

The Birds

Rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus) - Raee Large hawk with feathered legs and dark, streaky markings. Sometimes present in ClayClan during winter months. Though rare on the territory, they’re a threat when encountered, and may snatch young cats as prey. They feed on rodents, rabbits, and squirrels.

Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) - Yaee Red-breasted hawk with distinctly striped wings. Present year-round but most common in spring and summer. Feed on reptiles, birds, and mammals. They’re large enough to take cats. 

Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - Ssipip Huge bird - adults have a white head and tail, but juveniles are dark with splotchy pale markings. Present year-round. Bald eagles aren’t actually a threat - they feed mostly on fish - but they’re so large and intimidating that Clan cats consider them yassga* anyway.

Adult canada goose (Branta canadensis) - Hwank Canada goose gosling (Branta canadensis) - Weep Huge and distinct, with a long flexible neck. Present year-round. Though they don’t prey on cats, they’re very capable of causing harm, especially when raising chicks - many warriors have stories of being young and stupid and getting chased, bit, or slapped by an angry goose! Goslings may be taken as prey up until about 4 weeks, but it’s a dangerous task.

Adult great blue heron (Ardea herodias) - Awk Great blue heron chick (Ardea herodias) - Eheh Very tall; have a long neck, long beak, and shaggy mane on chest. Present year-round, but most common in late summer and fall. They won’t go after cats but, like bald eagles, are intimidating enough that they count as yassga*. Chicks may be taken, but it’s dangerous.

Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) - Woo’oo Big and strikingly cat-like with their yellow eyes, striped feathers, and expressive “ears”. Present year-round, but most common in spring and fall, and more often heard than seen. Feed on a variety of animals and may prey on small cats.

Bonus Verb

To swoop - Bwoosoo, bwoos, bwoo The word for how a bird comes down to catch its prey! Also the word for any particularly nice pounce, and a good suffix. I originally made this word to translate warrior Foggyswoop’s name (fun fact, name translating is how Claymew began).

[blogger360ncislarules]

Since the first episode of The Chosen, the ending of Jesus’ story has always loomed large. And with the highly anticipated fourth season just around the corner, creator Dallas Jenkins wants audiences to know that things are about to get intense.

“We can’t escape that the story is getting bigger,” he says. “The stakes are huge.” Adds Katherine Warnock, vice president of original content at The Chosen: “This [season] is the reality of the consequences of what [Jesus and His disciples] have been living, what they’ve been building.”

Season 4 begins with John the Baptizer (David Amito) in King Herod’s (Paul Ben-Victor) dungeon prison and, according to Jenkins, a reveal of what led to that moment. In addition to King Herod, new faces are introduced such as Herod’s wife Herodias (Shereen Khan). Major biblical moments also come to life, like Jesus’ (Jonathan Roumie) childhood friend Lazarus (Demetrios Troy) rising from the dead. What that post-resurrection Lazarus looks like is something Troy is excited for fans to see — among the questions he hopes they ask is “Who is that man? What did he experience? How does he interact with this man who’s his friend but also the Son of God?”

(Credit: The Chosen)

Lazarus isn’t the only character with big changes ahead. “I love the fact that Matthew is always trying to be the best version of himself,” says Paras Patel of his tax collector turned disciple character. “Although there are many challenges, you continue to see Matthew put himself through it, to learn from and become a stronger person.”

Another, more cosmetic change comes with the character of Philip as Reza Diako takes over the role. And the distinctive looks of some characters have also been revamped — even determined holy man Rabbi Shmuel (Shaan Sharma) gets an upgrade. “Shmuel is now part of the Sanhedrin, which is the house of judges, so he got new clothes. [It’s] nicer to have money,” previews costume designer Leila Heise.

While the new episodes are certain to be emotional, Jenkins promises they won’t be all doom and gloom. That balance in storytelling has always been important to the showrunner, who is very aware of how often to let the weighty subject matter dominate. “Humor is an important part of bringing your emotions to the surface,” he says, referencing a key way the series has avoided becoming too serious: countering the drama with doses of comedy, be it Matthew’s awkwardness or gentle ribbing among the Apostles.

Jenkins remains firm that a seven-season run is still the plan for the series. “I think this whole project never stops surprising us,” he says. “The cool thing is that the story from the Bible is the greatest story ever told. It has a progression.” Speaking of progression, “We are approaching Holy Week by the end [of the season]. So we cover a lot of ground, a lot of time.” Just like Jesus and His followers, we’ll put our faith in our leader and keep tuning in until the end.

[verycharismaticdragon]

continuing from this, I decided to try and figure out which name matches which project.

First of all, I’m 98.7% sure that Mona Wilder, the green-eyed shapeshifter, is Project Lamia. Look at this photo of Alexia Fast as Mona, wearing a Blackwing jumpsuit: (x). The symbol is only partially visibe, but there isn’t any other symbol that matches it other than Lamia.

Now to other three. 

I figured Roose Fryburn, aka the human bomb (if previous theory is correct), would be the easiest to identify.

My guess is Project Bel. While searching “Bel” will likely direct you to the wikipedia page on the Mesopotamian Bel, I think it’s far more likely it refers to Celtic deity Belenus (Bel being one of the alternative names for him), the Sun God. It seems rather appropriate for the “human bomb” Project.

For Kevin Nothiere aka the invisible guy, I’m not certain. Both Herodias and Banshee have certain qualities that could connect. Herodias "in Christian mythology of the Early Middle Ages, came to be seen as a spirit condemned to wander the sky forever [...] permitted only to rest in treetops between midnight and dawn.” (x) Banshee, on the other hand: “heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking or keening.”, “also predicts death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out of alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing.” (x)

All things considered, I think it’s more likely that the invisible person would be called Banshee. After all, the most outstanding quality of banshees are their voices. And if someone is invisible, how would you know they are there at all? Their voice, duh!

This leaves Marjory Teeple as Project Herodias. Things about Herodias that we need to know: she is a mother, she took part in the beheading (which led to the whole condemned spirit thing), and she later came to be seen as one of the patrons of witchcraft and part of the sky train of witches under the name Aradia. Thus I propose that she is perhaps connected to the beheading Priest took part in, and also could be connected to either Suzie (mother&witch) or Wakti Wapnasi (Wendimoor’s forest witch) or both of them in some way.

(other possible theory: a friend suggested that Marjory could be Project Elli, considering Marjory has a bit of “old lady’s name” flavor to it. I’m, however, not convinced as a) i still think 4 names = 4 orange projects and b) i have recently started suspecting that project Elli might be one aunt Esther, because if she is alive, she must be over 50 at least, over 60 more likely)

[hieromonkcharbel]

Herod projects onto Jesus his bad conscience for the gruesome murder of John the Baptist, under circumstances that show the deep connection between tyrannical eros and wanton cruelty. The detail of the Baptist’s head being brought to Herodias and her daughter on a platter makes of Herod’s birthday feast a kind of satanic eucharist, where lust rules instead of self-sacrificial love and which links Herod, Herodias, her daughter, and their minions and guests in a communion of evil. For, do not all of these participate in Herod’s sworn covenant, motivated by lust and resulting in murder?

****

Ultimately, the sign that authenticates the mission of Saint John the Baptist is his participation in the Passion and Cross of Jesus, in Jesus' humiliation, in Jesus' going down into the valley of the shadow of death. And the sign that our vocation is blessed by God is that it is marked by the Cross.

[foresteronthecoast]

Went bird watching! Tried to spot some great blue herons (Ardea herodias) for a research project but guess who we found?! This is a lovely humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that kept showing up near our vessel! Say hi!!

[mysterioussinkhole]

Blackwing Projects Inventory

Icarus - Mild precognition and clairvoyance/ “A finger on the pulse of the universe”

Incubus - Psychic energy vampires

Marzanna - Invulnerable/supernatural assassin???

Moloch - Creates realities in dreams. Very powerful.

Lamia - Shapeshifter

Abaddon - Assertive consciousness, can take over swarms

Succubus - Psychic energy wells

Athos - Unnatural strength

Griffin - Knack for finding things of value

Cain - Reflects harm back onto attacker intensified

Herodias - Persuasive. Approach with extreme caution.

Aea - An island community. Keeps disappearing!

Cetus - Moderate clairvoyance/ “Exacts balance”

Orthrus - Dog, won’t die???

Echidna - Continuously pregnant. No other abilities, but that baby is definitely going to be something.

Harpy - Mild clairvoyance/ “the true avenger”

Cerberus - Can see dead people up to a week after they’ve died

Charon - Conduit for the deceased

Brontes - Generates concussive blasts

Baler - *RECORDS UNAVAILABLE*

Sluagh - Physical energy vampires

Carman - Empath, calming influence

Gog - Mild precognition/ “The end”

Python - Cannot be touched

Satyr - Powerful empath

Banshee - Telepathic projection

Bogle - Telekinetic

Mot - All but brain dead, brain and nervous system work but nothing else does

Chiron - Mild precognition/ Incapable of giving bad advice

Dullahan - Mild precognition/ Can anticipate death

Wraith - Invisibility

Miru - Empath, causes state of intoxication

Phoenix - Fireproof

Golem - Sentient AI

Enyo - Empath, incites rage

Vesta - Mild pyrokinetic

Bel - Bioluminescent. I guess that’s something?

Valkyres - Physical energy wells

Elli - We’re not sure if he’s immortal, but he hasn’t died yet and he’s 151.

Modi - Empath, inspires courage

Dagon - Mild hydrokinetic

Jofur - *RECORDS UNAVAILABLE*

[blooms-in-april]

The front door slams open, the wreath swinging and everyone looks up. A man steps in.

“Jaskier!” Ciri cries. The little girl tears herself free from her father’s arms, making grabby hands at the newcomer’s blue coat. Geralt looks as if he’s taken too large a bite out of a pie and gotten it lodged in his throat.

“Your highness!” Jaskier says, doffing his hat and swinging his lute off his shoulder. He sweeps past both Geralt and Lambert without a glance, crouching to his knees at Ciri’s level. His calloused fingers strum a jaunty tune to the rhyme of Ciri’s excited bouncing.

“Princess Cirilla! An honor to be at your service.” He makes a dramatic bow, letting her paw at his feathered hat, his hair, his beard.

“I’m a lion, Jaskier!” she says, pointing a grubby finger at her drawn on whiskers and nose.

“And so you are,” he says, as if the ridiculous declarations of children were the most obvious and sensible things in the world. “Princess Ciri, the Lion Cub of Cintra! I’ll have to write a song about that.”

“A song!” Ciri’s eyes grow wide. Jaskier smiles.

“At least! Perhaps I can get a whole song cycle out of it, how does that sound?”

“Can I have my sword in it?”

“You can have two swords in it, if you want. Three swords. As many swords as you like!”

Ciri squeals and leaps into his arms, his arms circling her gently, careful not to crush her princess dress. Lambert watches something in Geralt’s face crumple quietly.

“Jaskier.” Geralt says, and Jaskier looks at him from over Ciri’s shoulder.

“Geralt.” he responds cautiously, in a tone Lambert has never heard from him before. In all the years he’s watched the bard trail in his brother's wake, singing praises, never once has he heard a cautious word from him. And yet, here it is. “How are you, lately?”

“I-” and Lambert would laugh, watching Geralt chew and swallow his words rather than spit them out, if it didn’t make something hard lodge in his own throat. “I’m- glad you could make it.”

Jaskier waits, for a beat, two, as if expecting something more. Geralt says nothing.

Jaskier smiles, a thin wan little thing. “Well, I could hardly miss it, could I? Being properly invited after some many years of simply crashing the thing,” he says lightly, looking around at the blinking lights, the molting tree, the tinsel worn after being reused year after year. “You’d think it’d be different, after it all, but it seems everything is just the same as always.” There is a quick sharp glance, like broken glass.

Geralt opens his mouth, pauses, shuts it. Opens, and shuts again.

Jaskier turns back to Ciri and her excited song suggestions as if they are the only two people in the world, letting her lead him off into the corner to inspect the presents under the tree. Geralt sits stupidly on the carpet, as if he’s been shoved through a portal and left nauseous on the other side, with no idea of where he is and how to get back.

Now Lambert does laugh, a short sharp bark of a thing.“What the fuck was that?”

Geralt says nothing, only heaves himself up and stalks into the kitchen without a word.

Excerpt from my angsty modern AU Geraskier Lambden Lamskier fic. Link below 👇

[bluebirdofhapiness]

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[ahumansvoid]

Misc WIP Folder

So I’m going through my WIPs folder’s subfolders. 

One is labelled Misc, so that’s the one I’m going through now. Everything will be below the cut because this will probably be a long post, there are sixteen files in this folder. 

Most of them are from different fandoms, so I’ll put what fandom it’s in + what title I have for it in my folder in bold before I talk about it. I’ll be going from oldest to newest. Technically not because I can’t sort Google docs like that, but rather “last modified by me” so, longest abandoned to newly abandoned I guess?

 Also Spoilers for any of the fandoms, maybe? Probably. 

If you have any questions about any of the fandoms, message me or send me an ask. I’m open to talking about any and all of them. 

Fandoms Involved (Ordered by appearance):

Murdered: Soul Suspect (Video Game)

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (TV Show)

Gravity Falls (TV Show)

Until Dawn (Video Game)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV Show)

The Mummy (2017) & (1999) (Movies)

Assassination Classroom (TV Show/Anime)

Red vs. Blue (Online Show- Rooster Teeth)

Camp Camp (Online Show - Rooster Teeth)

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show)

Devil May Cry (Video Game + Anime)

Aladdin (2019) (Movie)

Castlevania (TV Show)

Murdered: Soul Suspect - MSS

So there isn’t much in this one, just a bullet pointed outline. Murdered Soul Suspect is a video game, if you don’t know it and are curious you can google it or message me. 

Anywho. This is just a little part I thought was funny.

It’s essentially a Ronan survives AU of the game, pretty standard and I thought it would be fun. Honestly this part about Ronan and his cracked spine just reminded me of Obi-wan and how I write him in ignoring his injuries (and how most people write him) so it made me laugh a bit. 

There’s really not much here, I didn’t even finish the outline.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia - trollhunters au

I am very creative with my titles. Clearly. This is another bullet point outline. but this one is longer and irrc I actually started writing this, and that file would also be in this folder so if I did write it’ll also be featured on this post.

This is an au where Claire is the trollhunter rather than Jim.

The top bit is literally just for context on the next star point. Anywho Writing AAARRRGGGHH/ seeing it spelled out is funny to me. Also I’m pretty sure I rewatched bits with AAARRRGGGHH with subtitles on to see how it was spelt and then replicated that.

The second star point is funny to me because I describe annoyance/anger (rightful, both of them) as pissy. And that’s funny.

There’s more but if I’m write and I wrote it out, then that’ll be featured later. 

Gravity Falls - Gravity Falls

... Okay I’m not creative with titles until I have to be. Once more, bullet point outline. So this is an after-canon AU where Bill left a remanent of himself in Dipper and it’s become apparent when they’re in Piedmont.

I just like the rules I had Dipper give Bill. I thought they were neat. Also, I like Mabel convincing Dipper to let Bill live because he’s pathetic. This is a demon who has tormented them for an entire summer, but nows he’s pathetic so lets help him. 

Not much of interest in this. I probably didn’t write it because it’d be a long and day-in-the-life type fic. It’d just be Dipper and Bill coexisting and going through life and IDK how well I’d of written that. So I didn’t write it.

Until Dawn- Until DAwn AU

FYI I’m keeping the titles case-sensitive. Another bullet outline. So this is a Josh survives/exorcised AU, also an Everybody Live AU. I’m pretty sure I wrote this when I was heavily invested in Until Dawn and Josh (because I like him.) And I was reading Until Dawn fanfic in which Josh is blamed for what happened on the mountain. And I think I was getting pissy which lead to this:

So in this AU the Until Dawn Group splintered into Sam, Josh & Chris, and Mike, Emily, Jess, Matt & Ashley. So this conversation/fight is between Chris and the second group. So Chris is the 1st,3rd and 5th talking bullet point. I don’t know who’s talking in the 2nd &4th bullet point but it’s one of the second group. Probably Emily, Mike or Jess maybe. Not Ashley.

Im 90% sure that I wrote out this entire outline just for this little interaction. 

It just tickles my id. I still kind of like it, but I honestly don’t know what else I’d write for this AU.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Zuko is the avatar

Title is self-explanatory. Also, I really like bullet outlines. So. Anywho. 

Aang is still a 12 year old in this, he used up all his “avatar energy” (that’s literally what I wrote) to keep himself alive so he’s just an airbender now.

I just love Iroh. And this is just funny to me.

If I ever wrote this, it’d be a lot of hijinks of Katara and Aaang (and eventually Toph) covering for Zuko whenever he bends anything other than fire. More cracky than serious.

“The Mummy (2017)” and “The Mummy (1999)” - Mummy x Mummy

I watched the 2017 version of the mummy (got it from the library for 2 bucks) and since there are some throwbacks to the 1999 movie I decided to try to combine them. This also became an AU where Evie and Rick save Imhotep in Mummy 2, and due to Evie being revived meant she was functionally immortal (doesn’t age, but can still be killed). And due to everything, by the Mummy 2017 rolls around it’s just her and Imhotep hanging around, investigating ancient egypt and whatnot.

Honestly this is just part of the outline. None of this is really amusing to me, just, if I ever tried to write it, a lot of work. Although, the fact that I can’t remember the blonde lady friend from the Mummy 2017 is kind of amusing and I literally call her ‘BLF’ throughout this entire outline. I think her name was Lisa. Or Sara.

i’ll google it.

Assassination Classroom - AC AU

At this point, I might as well tell you when it isn’t a bullet outline than saying when it is.

This was really just a Reaper/Koro-sensei raises Nagisa rather than his mom.

People panicking around children is amusing to me. Again, long AU. And this was probably an excuse to write some baby assassin Nagisa and whatnot. Honestly whenever I read this I do remember more details on this, that I have never written down. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect - Murdered: Soul Suspect

...

Okay I think this is just a repeat of the one I posted earlier???

I- I don’t know what this was? Like this is newer than the other one? 

?????

Uh, brain weirdness?

Let’s move on.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia - TRollhunters

Ok! So this is the written out of the bullet point earlier. I did not write out much. But I’ll talk about it a bit more? So this AU is also a Bular survives and Jim finds him and helps AU.

This is literally all I have written. So, right after this, Jim would find an injured Bular and helps him. There isn’t much to add, but I will add what I had written as Barbara’s reaction from the outline:

Large AU, but it would be fun to write. I would most likely end up writing Claire’s journey of Trollhunting along with Jim’s adventures with Bular.

Red vs Blue - Meta, no, that wasn’t, he wasn’t

Okay, that’s not the full title but also the full title is literally the first sentence. Which is a long one so you get part of it. This is actually a written au, it’s about Agent Maine/ The Meta surviving and meeting up with Siris. This is just the first couple paragraphs:

Nothing I read was particularly funny to me, so just the first two paragraphs. Essentially what would’ve happened is Siris would help Maine find Washington (on Chorus) go to Chorus. Find Felix and Locus. Drama Ensues.

I might actually write this. Maybe. There’s potential, if the drive hits me.

I havent watched RvB in a couple of years, but I did like the series. It was interesting.

Camp Camp- Camp Camp

Y’know since this is ‘misc’ I get just having fandom names. Lot easier to identifiy.

So, this file is currently loading still, but I remember this. It wasn’t that long ago. This wasn’t so much a fic as a comic I would of like to have done. I definitely would’ve needed to brush up on my art skills (I am mediocre at best) but it’s just a small little comic I would’ve done on Camp Camp.

First little bit. I actually wrote out most of this rather than just bullet pointing it. 

There is a little bit I’d have to polish up, but I could probably post this entire thing. But I kind of want to actually do the comic first. But boy that’s a lot of work.

I love how most of the reason I’m not writing these is that they’re a lot of work.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show) - Project Cheron

This is an AU where Priest is one of the projects of Blackwing. Specifically Cheron and I think my reasoning is that he makes people go where they need to be. IDK. I actually wrote a couple of these. But this one is essentially Priest getting a bunch of projects together to help something. Idk.

This entire thing is weird and would probably be labelled crack if I ever finished it.

Okay. This entire scene is funny to me. Just, this girl rushing out in front of the car waving happily with a decapitated head in her hand. I like it. So, Aine and Herodias are OCs. Both are projects Priest is collecting. 

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show) - “Dirk

Another Priest is a Blackwing Project AU but that’s not really the focus of this story. This story is about a project (Project Carman- OC) who can trap people in their certain significant memories of her choosing. Carman gets annoyed at Bart, Dirk and the Rowdy 3 so she traps them in memories signifcant to their stay in Blackwing and Priest.

I’ve only written 2 of the six memories, so that’d be fun to complete. These are also just sad. They’re not happy memories. So, random moment that’s somewhat amusing:

Also, title is the first sentence in the fic.

Devil May Cry - “Should I

I- why did I decide to do this from oldest to newest? Part of me is embarrassed, the other part is reminding me I have no reason to be? It’s a video game fic. But also this is a game of my childhood. It’s about Nero looking for his dad and finding Dante instead. Canonically Dante’s twin brother, Vergil, is Nero’s dad.

Just a random moment because I didn’t write that much of it. Also I thought it was kind of cute. Patty shows up in the Devil May Cry anime. Which I watched before I played the games. 

Aladdin (2019) - Aladdin AU

A mix of bullet outline and written. I don’t actually have much of this AU, but essentially before Aladdin wishes to become a prince, he notices some mercenaries kidnapping a little girl and decides to rescue her. 

This girl is the princess of Shiroba, Aladdin takes her back to Shiroba. The Queen/ Sultana appreciates Aladdin going out of his way to help her so she invites him to stay in the palace. 

Eventually word gets to Shiroba that Agrabah is planning to attack so Aladdin and the two twin princes of Shiroba (that I made up, OCs) make a plan to infiltrate and see what they’re planning. They’re not planing espionage, but as Shiroba is a peaceful nation, they want to see if they should start evacuating people and whatnot.

So you get the Prince Ali stuff with the Genie and yada yada. 

I have none of that written. I just know that’s what I intended to do with it.

So, first little bit. Long AU that would take a lot of work. Also, I know this isn’t super popular but I liked the 2019 version of Aladdin. I really like the changes they made. 

Castlevania (TV Show) - Waking up in Jail wasn’t a new experience

Again, title is first sentence. Not writing that out. Anywho, this is a kind of complete canon AU to Castlevania. Essentially we haven’t reached Lisa getting burnt at the stake yet. So, loving Dracula fam. Trevor and Sypha meet earlier due to circumstance. Alucard gets attacked by something and gets rescued by Trevor and Sypha. They travel together for a while. And then Sypha and Trevor get to meet Alucard’s parents. 

That’s where this AU will go if I ever write it. To be fair, last time I wrote in this file was March, so I guess that’s technically possible. Don’t hold out hope.

First couple of paragraphs. 

Also, that’s it! Misc WIP folder done!

Oh, if you’ve made it this far, a)thank you and b) if you want to continue/write any of these, go ahead, but tag me or send me a link. I will be very happy to see/read what you create if you like any of this in an inspo way.

Also. This is long, so, IDK if Imma go through the other folders rn. Maybe tomorrow. 

[petnews2day]

The Current Frontrunners for Bird Photographer of the Year 2022

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/birds-news/the-current-frontrunners-for-bird-photographer-of-the-year-2022/

The Current Frontrunners for Bird Photographer of the Year 2022

The international Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 (BPOTY) photography competition has released the current frontrunners from its annual competition.

A Contest With Bird Conservation in Mind

The annual contest is now in its seventh year, with over 20,000 entered photos from 115 different countries so far in 2022. The contestants compete for a £5,000 ($6,030) cash prize and the prestigious Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 title.

Photographers of all ages and experience levels are welcome to submit their best bird photos, which, if successful, are critiqued by leading experts and may get published in a coffee table book or put on display in the traveling BPOTY exhibition.

The United Kingdom-based organization raises funds for various charities and trusts, supporting bird-related conversation projects.

“Birds are an incredibly diverse group of animals, and we’ve seen stunning images of everything from mallard ducks to harpy eagles this year, says Will Nicholls, wildlife cameraman and Director at Bird Photographer of the Year.

“We celebrate birds and conservation through images, and it is always a pleasure for everyone on the judging panel to see the work of such talented photographers.”

Before announcing the winners on September 8th, 2022, the organization has released a brief preview of this year’s submissions, which can be seen below:

“Life Hanging in the Balance.” Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias. Skagit Valley, Washington State, United States of America. Glenn Nelson, United States of America. Category: Bird Behaviour.

“Gentoo Dancing at Sunset.” Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua. Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Audrey Wooller, United Kingdom. Category: Best Portrait.

“Full Contact.” Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. Hortobágy National Park, Hungary. Gabor Baross, Hungary. Category: Bird Behaviour.

“Fight.” Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus. Finnmark, Norway. Erlend Haarberg, Norway. Category: Bird Behaviour.

“Wart Head.” Ocellated Turkey Meleagris ocellata. Chan Chich, Belize. Leander Khil, Austria. Category: Best Portrait.

“Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program.” Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia. Manitoba, Canada. Walter Potrebka, Canada. Category: Conservation Award.

“A Cartoon Bird Raising Its ‘Hands.’” Black-and-yellow Broadbill Eurylaimus ochromalus. Selangor, Malaysia. Weng Keong Liew, Malaysia. Category: Best Portrait.

“SIngle File.” King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus. Gold Harbour, South Georgia, South Georgia. Ben Cranke, South Africa. Category: Best Portrait.

“Head Over Heels in Love.” Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway. Laguna Seca Ranch, Edinburg, Texas, United States of America. Marti Phillips, United States of America. Category: Bird Behaviour.

“Upland Buzzard Versus Corsax Fox.” Upland Buzzard Buteo hemilasius. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Baozhu Wang, China. Category: Bird Behaviour.

“Hummingbird Hideaway.” Anna’s Hummingbird Calypte anna. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Liron Gertsman, Canada. Category: Bird Behaviour.

More information about the contest, including past year’s winners, can be found on the BPOTY website.

Image credits: All photos individually credited and provided courtesy of the BPOTY.

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[sciencespies]

Archaeologists may have found the place where John the Baptist was condemned to death

https://sciencespies.com/humans/archaeologists-may-have-found-the-place-where-john-the-baptist-was-condemned-to-death/

Archaeologists may have found the place where John the Baptist was condemned to death

Archaeologists claim that they have identified the deadly dance floor where John the Baptist – a preacher who foretold the coming of Jesus - was sentenced to death around CE 29. 

The Bible and the ancient writer Flavius Josephus (CE 37-100) both describe how King Herod Antipas, a son of King Herod, had John the Baptist executed. Josephus specified that the execution took place at Machaerus, a fort near the Dead Sea in modern-day Jordan. 

Herod Antipas feared the growing influence of John the Baptist among the population and so he executed him, Josephus wrote. The Bible, on the other hand, tells a far more elaborate tale, claiming that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist executed in exchange for a dance. 

The Biblical story claims that Herod Antipas was set to marry a woman named Herodias; both of them had been divorced – something that John the Baptist objected to. 

At their wedding, Herodias’s daughter, named Salome, performed a dance that so delighted Herod Antipas that the king promised her anything she wanted as a reward. Salome, goaded on by Herodias, asked for the head of John the Baptist.

Herod Antipas was reluctant to grant the request, according to the Bible, but he ultimately decided to fulfill it and had John the Baptist’s head brought to Salome on a platter. 

The remains of part of Machaerus can be seen here. (Győző Vörös)

Deadly dance floor found?

A courtyard uncovered at Machaerus is likely the place where Salome’s dance was performed and where Herod Antipas decided to have John the Baptist beheaded, wrote Győző Vörös, director of a project called Machaerus Excavations and Surveys at the Dead Sea, in the book Holy Land Archaeology on Either Side: Archaeological Essays in Honour of Eugenio Alliata (Fondazione Terra Santa, 2020).

The courtyard, Vörös said, has an apsidal-shaped niche that is probably the remains of the throne where Herod Antipas sat. 

After King Herod’s death his kingdom was divided among his sons and Herod Antipas controlled a kingdom that included Galilee and part of Jordan. He controlled his kingdom at times from Machaerus.

Archaeologists discovered the courtyard in 1980, but they didn’t recognize the niche as being part of Herod Antipas’ throne until now, Vörös wrote in the article. The presence of the throne next to the courtyard solidifies the conclusions about the dance floor, Vörös wrote. 

The archaeological team has been reconstructing the courtyard and published several images in the book showing what it looked like around the time of John the Baptist’s execution. 

A reconstruction of the courtyard where Salome’s dance may have taken place. (Győző Vörös)

Scholars respond

More than half a dozen scholars not involved with the excavations talked to Live Science about the claim that Herod Antipas’ throne, and the courtyard where the deadly dance was performed, had been found. Some scholars were convinced, while others were skeptical. 

“I think it is historically probable that this excavation has brought the ‘dance floor’ of Salome to light,” said Morten Hørning Jensen, a professor at the Norwegian School of Theology, who wrote the book Herod Antipas in Galilee (Mohr Siebeck, 2010). 

Some scholars were not convinced, expressing doubts about whether the newly identified niche represents the remains of the throne of Herod Antipas.

Jodi Magness, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, praised the work by Vörös and his team; and while Magness said that it is possible that Vörös found the throne of Herod Antipas, she has doubts. 

For instance, the niche found at Machaerus seems small compared with the throne of his father King Herod found at the winter palace of Jericho, Magness told Live Science, referring to a throne in the palace that is covered with a semi-circular overhead apse.

She added that the niche at Machaerus looks similar to two niches found at the Upper Herodium, a palace-fortress built by King Herod, but those two niches have never been identified as the remains of thrones. 

Eric Meyers, a professor emeritus of Jewish studies at Duke University, said that it is quite possible that the throne of Herod Antipas has been found and is eager to read the final reports on the site.

Whether “a perfect match between literary and archaeological sources that places the execution of John the Baptist in that very spot remains to be seen. In any event, a strong case has been made and I look forward to the final reports,” Meyers said. 

This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.

#Humans

[ao3feed-brotzly]

Cymar

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2FI65Lz

by AcesOfSpade

Everything had (sort of) settled after the Cardenas case. Until another of Blackwing's ex-subjects drops by and sends Dirk and Todd for a loop.

Words: 1989, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 32 of Ace's Random One-Shot Collection

Fandoms: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Todd Brotzman, Dirk Gently, Other Blackwing Subject(s)

Relationships: Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently

Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 02, Canon Compliant, Project Herodias, Soulmates, Fluff, First Kiss

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2FI65Lz

[dirkgentyl]

Blackwing Subjects Theory

Time for an over analysis (and complete guessing!) of the projects in Blackwing.

•••

There are 42 subjects, and we only know 3 of them. Here’s the official document for all of Blackwing’s subjects:

So we already know that Icarus is Dirk, Incubus is the Rowdy 3 & Marzanna is Bart. (from this tweet by Max, to which someone said green = confirmed, orange = slighted & blue = rumoured).

Now, time to do some absolute guessing! Please note that this are literally wild guesses backed up with little to no evidence to support my ideas.

Incubus looks like four stick figures, and there are four people in the R3. Also, Incubus means in some ways ‘a nightmare’, and the R3 were definitely nightmarish in their behaviour (stealing, wrecking everything etc).

Now, Marzanna looks like a person too. According to Wikipedia, Marzanna is also known as ‘Morana’ to the Czech Republic, and that Morana is the ‘Death Goddess’, and Bart is a holistic assassin - she kills people! 

Icarus I’m not so sure about.... we know about the story of Icarus ignoring his father’s warnings, and a result he flew to close to the sun, his wings melted and he drowned in the sea below him. But how does this relate to Dirk? My theory is that Dirk is definitely not a shy or conventional person, instead he is very outgoing, loud and spontaneous. I think this relates to Icarus because Dirk isn’t cautious enough, he rushes into everything with a ‘just go with the flow attitude!’ and this can leave him stuck in very bad situations (e.g. running into Gordon Rimmer’s house). 

Moving on to the other symbols & names we have no idea about. First I will look at similarities each symbol/name shares. 1) Cain and Charon are almost identical, also Charon is Hades’ ferryman and Cain is one of the son’s of Adam and Eve. This is interesting because Cain & Charon seem like they’re from opposing ideas, but their symbols look so similar.  2) Echidna’s symbol reminds me of Panto’s scissors (I have no idea if Panto is someone like Dirk or Bart) or of the Mage’s wand. 3) Carman makes me think of shapeshifting, as it looks as if the two squares were mid-movement, which makes me think of Mona the shapeshifter. But also Carman was a warrior woman & sorceress - and shapeshifting is magic.  4) Two of the symbols don’t have a name??? Mysterious.  5) Gog, according to the Hebrew bible, is people/land/individuals that are enemies to God’s people (this is Gog & Magog). So this might hold some insight into what their personality will be like? 6) Getus reminds me of the invisibility person, because the dotted lines around the circle makes me think of it as an invisible barrier around a person.  7) Couldn’t find anything with this name, other than Valkyries which are said to control who lives and who dies in battle. 8) Herodias is the name of a Princess during the time of the Roman Empire. However, in medieval Europe there was a belief that Herodias was the a supernatural leader of a cult of witches.  9) Lamia is the name of a beautiful queen who turned into a child eating demon. This might have to do with the person’s powers? 10) Miru is a death goddess in Polynesian mythology. Also, her symbol looks like a target (a target = someone who is going to be killed). 

Anyway, those are 10 random ideas to do with the symbols. These are most likely completely wrong as they are just guesses, but it was funny to try and make sense of them.