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absolutebl · 6 months

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I Feel You Linger In the Air

You ready for this?

The quickest of quick thoughts: I loved this show and hated the ending, but not for the reason you think.

This is gonna be one of my big meta beast-sized posts, skip to the end for the final review.

Some Historical Context for I Feel You Linger In The Air - Thailand 1925-1932

I love history and so here's some info that any Thai watcher would likely know, but the rest of us might not... ready?

The Historical Stage:

Burma (now Myanmar) to the west is occupied by the British.

The French hold Vietnam to the east.

Everyone is bickering over what would become Cambodia & Laos.

China occasionally gets involved from the North (also, lots of immigrants from China at this time accounting for a large percentage of the merchant/middle class)

Eventually, Japan would invade during WWII.

In part, The Kingdom of Siam was kept a "neutral" party because none of the surrounding colonial powers wanted to risk offending any of the other players in the area.

Siam re-negotiated sovereignty in 1920 (from USA) and in 1925 (from France & Britain). But during the time of this show (late 1929) it was back to it's customary type-rope balancing act of extreme diplomacy with the allied western colonial powers that surrounded it.

Recognizing that Thailand was never colonized (although it was invaded), it's boarders were constantly nibbled at and it was "ambassador-occupied" off and on by westerners whose military backing and exploitive business concerns simply outmatched the monarchy, especially in the technology department (as well as by reputation on the global stage at the time).

In other words, the farang in this show (James & Robert) were always gonna be both the baddies and the power players of the narrative. (Farang is the Thai word for non-Thai's of European descent, the word means guava.)

The king of Siam at the time (Vajiravudh AKA Rama VI) was initially somewhat popular but also regarded as overly extravagant since Siam had been hit by a major postwar recession in 1919. It should also be noted that King Vajiravudh had no son because he was most likely gay (which at the time did not much concern the Siamese popular opinion, except that it undermined the stability of the monarchy leaving it without an heir).

He "died suddenly" in 1925 (age 44) with the monarchy weakened and succession handed off to his younger brother.

In 1932 a small circle of the rising bourgeoisie (all of whom had studied in Europe, mostly Paris), supported by some military, seized power from the monarchy in a practically nonviolent Siamese Revolution installing a constitutional monarchy. This is mentioned in IFYLITA in the last few episodes but did not (apparently) appear in the original novel.

Siam would then go through:

dictatorship,

WWII,

Japanese invasion,

Allied occupation,

democratic elections,

military junta,

the Indochina wars,

communist insurgency,

more democracy and popularization movements,

multiple coups,

more junta,

more monarchy,

eventually leading us to the somewhat chaotic insanity of Thai politics we have today. (Which is, frankly, a mix of monarchy, junta, democracy, egocentric popularism, and bribery.)

The Filming of I Fell You Linger in the Air

The director if this show, Tee Bundit (Hidden Agenda, Step by Step, Lovely Writer, TharnType), has never particularly impressed or offended me as a director. I would have called him simply "workmanlike" in execution: not offensive, serviceable.

So much so that I spent some time hunting for info on IFYLITA's cinematographer (who remains uncredited on MDL) because this one, of all Tee's pantheon, is ultra stylish. It, frankly, felt too good for him.

Specifically, there is a repeated visual motif in intimacy scenes of either Yai or Jom being filmed from behind a screen/drape/curtain making them seem more translucent, like a ghost or spirit. While the other half of the pair is filmed with sharp clarity. In the first half of the series this is more likely to be Yai (an unknown and mysterious element), as the show progresses, it's more likely to be Jom (the person outside of place and time, destined to vanish all together). This cleverly conveys story, tension, and foreshadow (future shadow?)

Occasionally we shift over so they both become obscured and then clear again.

This stylized version of dirty framing and filters is used to foreshadow and then constantly remind us about that Jom slipped (and is slipping) through time and the disconnect that causes to his sense of reality and purpose, and to his burgeoning relationship.

For example, the scene where Yai is drunk and asleep in his bed. The first time Jom is sitting in a chair drawing him. Yai is blurry behind the screen while Jom is solid and sharp.

This filming technique combined with dirty and peekaboo framing is being used to give the watchers the impression of looking at something we maybe shouldn't, like we are being creepy and intruding on their private time. After all, they can see EACH OTHER clearly, it's only us who have the visual impairment.

This gives us a sense of doom and discomfort and slight sensation that we shouldn't be there. We shouldn't be watching. But ALSO that we too are outside of time, filtered by the future.

In other words his sense of displacement is being used to trigger ours visually.

It's all quite clever.

It's both beautiful and atmospheric and discomforting and touch stressful. Meaning that it is ALSO a visual vehicle to drive narrative tension. As effective as scary music, perhaps more so in this show (since I personally found the musical motifs and refrains somewhat overused.)

Linguistic corner

The word for reflection and shadow is the same in Thai.

Note on the por/phor/phô honorific in Thai

I have not encountered it before in BL. I am indebted to @embraceyourfandom for the following information;

Phô is a paternal honorific, luang phô is used for respected monks. It basically means father. And is oft seen as male honorific for village elders. It's also used as a male prefix in the names of several occupations like:

พ่อครัว phô khrua (khrúa= kitchen -> chef)

พ่อค้า phô khá (khá= trade -> merchant)

พ่อมด phô mót (mót= person of occult knowledge -> wizard)

พ่อบ้าน phô bân (bân =house -> butler) - most relevant

So, Yai's use is probubly foreshadowing that Jom will be a butler for his house, and is primitively referring to him with this title.

All that said, phô can also be used by a "man who is older/higher on hierarchy to refer to a younger/lower on hierarchy man with intimacy and/or affection."

I think all this has to do with Jom's demonstration of education. Yai figured out early on that one of the reasons Jom doesn't belong and cannot fit in with the servants is that he is more educated than a peasant (of this time period), which for Yai adds up to him being originally from a higher status and possibly wealthy family, especially since Jom speaks English and has travelled (he has a non-northern accent).

There is very little Thai middle class at the beginning of the 1920s since trade is being dominated/dictated by the West, or Chinese merchant operations, and Siam is a monarchy. So for a nationalize Thai citizen educated means military, landed gentry with trade operations (like Yai), royal/political/diplomatic connections, or... none of the above. This changes, especially in the south, throughout this decade (as it did in other parts of the world). So there is a rising bourgeoisie going on in the background but it's not that obvious in Chang Mai at this time.

What Jom's educated lack of status means to Yai is that Jom's family either got wiped out or politically disenfranchised possibly as part of the 1912 attempted coups (or even WWI)? This would be mystifying for Yai because Jom doesn't act like he comes from a military family at all. So his background and status is very confusing for Yai, but Yai does know one thing...

Jom is NOT lower class by the standards of Yai's temporal worldview and existence.

For a young man to be educated and yet entirely alone is very dangerous and suspicious. Also, let's be clear, Jom doesn't look or act like a laborer. He red flags "cultured" all over the place.

Yai is paternalistic and caring towards Jom out the gate because Yai has a big ol'crush but also because he recognizes "his own" is trying to survive while isolated and scared.

Yai wants to rescue Jom. Yai is an ineffectual 20 year old gay intellectual. But poor thing sure tries.

Let's Talk About How I Felt About I Feel You Linger in the Air

The historical aspect was great.

I adore historical romances and we almost never get them in BL. I was always gonna be biased towards this show. (As indeed I am towards Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, Tinted with You, and To Sir With Love.) Aside from some classic Thai BL production issues (less than normal, this is very high production value for Thailand) and my issues around the sound track and repetitive repriens (which frankly were more noticeable because I binged the last half) I have no complaints on that score (heh heh).

The surrounding support cast were all quite good and we even got us some lesbians!

The emotional and narrative tensions were excellent.

Any issues I had with pacing came from focus on characters that didn't interest me, but probubly did interest others. I wasn’t wild or particularly interested in the family drama or the side characters/couples, but they were necessary to make this a fully fleshed story with historical context and to give Yai much needed characterization. Also this use of a ensemble cast is very close to Thailand's lakorn heart, even thought this one had way less scenery chewing ludicrous soapy drama (thank heavens).

I was delighted that external threat, stressors, and conflict drove this plot. That's refreshing in BL.

I have no arguments with the chemistry and kisses and sex scenes were tasteful and lovely, occasionally even heart-wrenching, and it's nice to see Thailand especially use physical intimacy to drive plot, and not the other way around.

I love historicals partly because every tiny touch can have such lingering significance, they're very elegant in their chaste physicality. This show didn't need to move into higher heat, but I'm grateful it did because even that was very well done. Thai BLs can often feel clumsy around intimacy, but not this one.

The final sex scene before Jom and Yai separate forever utilizes the ubiquitous director's-favorite-romantic-moments-flashbacks (required of all Asian romance dramas) but with acceleration and tension driven by the noises of sex, which I've never seen/heard done before. In other words: climax of sex = climax of the romance story, I see what you did there, Tee. Clever. Very clever. Bit on the nose… erm… on the… well you know what I mean.

Like all Thai BLs this wasn’t perfect, but for me this is as close as Thai BL gets to high quality romance and that’s what I want the most from my drama watching experience (if not necessarily my Thai BL experience).

But... and you knew the but was coming didn't you?

I absolutely hated the ending.

It wasn't sad, don't worry, but it also wasn't good.

There is a long drawn out separations sequence and then Jom returns to the present, drowning from a car accident. Jom is "rescued" by an moustachioed iteration of Yai from the distant past (who we met once before) and then wakes in hospital. Some time later, Jom returns to the house in Chang Mai where Yai turns up and they reunite.

The end.

There is a stinger featuring Jom once more hurled back in time, only further, meeting the warrior mustache Yai once more.

Okay, that's all I knew and all I saw.

Confused? So was I.

If this had been a regular time travel romance: Yai would have been the EMT or doctor attending Jom when he woke up and their "this time period" romance would commence. With either shared memories, or not.

Had this been set up for audience comprehension in line with the original novel, we should have had flashbacks from both Present Yai (he's not the same one, as it turns out) and deep-past Moustache Yai interwoven throughout the series. Preferably with some focus on Present Yai's quest for reunion with Present Jom AND Present Yai's own experience with visions and memory of his past lives.

A full explanation of the ending is here. This explanation of the 3 different Yais makes me like our ending more. But I shouldn't need to read Cliff's notes from some random y-novel reading fan on Tumblr to understand what's going on in a series!

There is supposedly a special happening with Jom + Present Yai.

There was unquestionably a failure in adaptation in the finale of this show.

As a fan and watcher, what I actually felt was deeply confused and hurt.

I also felt that this was a disingenuous un-earned throw away happy ending, since I had no idea who this new Present Yai was and no investment in his character. I simply didn't believe he was the same Yai (Bright is too good an actor, he was clearly a different older personality).

So the fact remains that past Yai, our Yai, the 20 year old boy we grew to understand and love, is abandoned in the past to suffer alone for the rest of his life. And THAT is an unhappy ending for one half of my beloved pair. Yes Jom gets a new Yai in the present day, but it's not the same Yai. They have no developed relationship, and Jom is doomed to leave even this new Yai and slide into the past once more. That's barely even happy for now for Jom's character.

As a result of my deep sadness for 20-year-old Yai in particular, I'm not going to be able to rewatch this show. The whole thing was rendered not just confusing but the opposite of comforting by the final 15 minutes. I'm tempted to dock it two whole points - one for the ending and the other for the lack of rewatch potential.

But the first 11.5 eps were SO GOOD.

This is one of the only times where I am actually hoping for a second season, while simultaneously being wary of the screen writing and production team's capacity to give us a satisfying one.

Industry wise? I honestly don't think we can hope too hard for a full season 2. This was an expensive show with flawed/limited distribution and little sponsorship. I don't see how they'll get funding for a second season. Unless we see this show up on like Netflix or Viki, I urge you not to hope too hard and be disappointed.

In all honestly?

I started typing up this blog post thinking Thailand was finally, after 5 years, going to earn another 10/10 from me but I just can't in good conscious give it that. It's been days and I'm still upset about that last episode.

And Now My Quick Pitch Review

I truly loved this time travel romance. IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show should easily have earned a 10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls. Argh. Whatever. 9/10

(source)

This post is also in My Drama List as a review.

#I Fell You Linger in the Air #Thai BL #BL review #I have LOTS of thoughts #Filming analysis #historical context #lanaguage and lingsuitic use #BrightNonkul #YaiJom #Tee Bundit

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historia-vitae-magistras · 6 months

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How do you feel about nation jobs or finances in your universe? Like are modern Matt or Alfred on government payroll even if they don’t do anything? I know you’re mentioned that Alfred is better at managing his money than Matt, is he rich??

Sorry I’m not phrasing this very well 😅

This is somewhat esoteric even for me, but I tied their abilities with money to their economic histories.

Alfred was born looking pretty pathetic next to the Spanish possessions in Mexico and South America or even British holdings in the Caribbean but, in short order, made up a significant percentage of the ships, people, and wealth of the British Empire. He became that on what was primarily the efforts of private enterprise. Alfred grows up understanding he is valuable; he represents value, and his choices create value. He's easy to love because he's a goddamn cash cow for Arthur until the Seven Years War when Britain spent a shit ton and wanted the Yanks to pay their share, and we threw a bitch fit and declared independence.

Matt, however, has the French bitching about what a money hole he is from about 20 minutes after he comes into being. The Basque, by far, made the most money initially with their fishing and whaling in the east, following what was reasonably similar to the Viking routes into Newfoundland. The fur trade that drove French settlement faced collapse about a half dozen times in his childhood, and besides a short binge economy for Ginseng and its brief boom in China, his entire existence was just fur. Dead beavers and the black market. That's it.

While the US was building ships, growing cash crops, running a fur trade economy, engaging in fishing, rope making, pitch collection, barrel making and everything and anything else, in the Caribbean, they had 90+ control over sugar production and trade routes. Canada had 10% of the population and thus 10% of the market power. We didn't do shit except freeze, fire at the British, commit war crimes against the New Englanders, ditch the farms and run off to the west to make families with indigenous women and run furs up the rivers to the point that France tried to make it illegal for people to leave the settlements of Quebec City and Montreal without permission.

So from a relatively early point, Alfred is very smart with his investments, and he's been making his investments since the early 19th century, so there's a significant but often catastrophically destroyed habit of investing. When he was younger and incredibly newly independent, he got fleeced a few times, but he's called smart and secure, especially since the 1929 crash. It's not remarkably large amounts of money because he'll never completely trust the government, and he doesn't want to attract attention or pay massive amounts of taxes, so he's very well diversified. But he's certainly not poor. All his more expensive hobbies come from a particular office in the state department that Alfred sometimes cooperates with and sometimes doesn't, depending on how anti-establishment he and the public feel.

As for Matt, having spent a lot longer as a colonial subject, it's not that he's entirely shit with money but what he knew how to do. The heart of the empire was the financial hub and was outside his control long after even the Confederation in the 1860s. The money situation has been a nightmare since the earliest days of the French Regime using playing cards to pay people. Colonial America had some similar issues. The whole concept of the US dollar originated in the 1690 invasion of Quebec when the Massachusetts Bay Colony printed its own money to fund the expedition, but Alexander Hamilton did some flash economic magic for the US in this department in the 1790s, so it got its shit together long before Canada. Matt knows what he needs to know. He was stationed in various Canadian ports, keeping an eye on his father's investments, not his own.

So, in the modern day, Alfred reads his bank statements every month, keeps track of his subscriptions and bills, and probably has an accountant. Matt is more aware of Alfred's money habits than his own. Because he's over here just kind of vaguely wondering if his debit card will work because my man cannot make heads or tails of his economy (no, seriously, Canadian economists have no idea how Canada's own shit works. Sometimes it's pretty fascinating, there's often no real consensus like the US academic economist have.) And international investors in Canada are always freaking out because the Canadian economy is always getting its shit rocked by the US economy. It's hilarious to think of people in Matt's life frustratedly trying to figure out where and what his money's doing. If their health is tied to their economies, Matt's in pretty good shape, thanks to close ties to the US, but he's randomly dying reasonably often because the US economy's tiny little ripples will randomly tear him apart. It's pretty funny (laughs so I don't sob in the Canadian job market.)

And that's pretty fitting, considering that most Canadian economic policy is boiled down to 'hope the Americans are feeling cooperative next time NAFTA comes up for debate.'

#the ask box || probis pateo #Alfred and Matt || lonely boys with the longest borders #Alfred || o beautiful for spacious skies #Matthew || my country is winter #meatsack mechanics || the sociology and biology of nations

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pwlanier · 4 months

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WILLIAM HUNTER LITTLEJOHN R.S.A., R.S.W., R.G.I. (SCOTTISH 1929-2006) §

ROPE AND DRAGONFLY - 1994

Oil on canvas

Lyon and Turnbull

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genderoutlaws · 2 years

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🍁 November Outlaw Streams 🍂

Instead of doing a full media rec list this time I’m just going to be streaming double features throughout the month! 💛 We are going to be doing these streams on Zoom. Since I had to pay a subscription fee to make this available to more people I wouldn’t *mind* if a few of ya tossed me a dollar if you attend (not at all required or expected tho!)

All double features will start at 8PM EST, with a pre-show starting about half an hour beforehand.

November 6th - Hitchcock Homos

We will be streaming Rope (1948) and Psycho (1960) - two Hitchcock films featuring queer (coded) villains

Rope is an adaption of a 1929 stage play written by Patrick Hamilton, better known for his work Gaslight, and based upon the real life killing of Bobby Franks by two students in 1924 — though I’ve found nothing about a known relationship between the actual killers. The play explicitly features both main characters as gay, while the film remains a bit more subtextual. The homosexuality is still strikingly present for a film of it’s time, perhaps due in part to the story and screenplay being developed by two gay men, Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, and Brandon being portrayed by gay actor John Dall in the film — perhaps due to it’s adherence to the Motion Picture Production Code, where queer themes remain tragic or villainous. I can’t go without saying how visually stunning this film is. Filmed to mimic the style of the original stage production, we are on one set for the entire duration, viewing the story in real time, with only four visible cuts in the entire runtime. It’s an absolute treat of gay-and-homophobic cinema. /// SUBTITLED

Psycho is the first of many films very loosely based on the crimes of real life grave-robber and killer Ed Gein, who was discovered to crossdress with the victims’ body parts. (Most films based on the events take extensive creative liberties.) While horror had been playing with queer themes for some time, Psycho launched a wave of Geinian gender transgression based horror films, indulging in public fears of transvestites and transsexual women as lurking manipulators and body snatchers in a long enduring conservative moral panic. This paired well with its depiction of dissociative behavior in the killer, capitalizing on transphobic and sanist stereotypes that entwined gender transgression and a fractured sense of self and/or reality. Just as complicated and problematic as Rope, and a classic cinematic delight all the same. /// SUBTITLED

November 13th - Leather Is Everything!

We will be streaming Cruising (1980) and Bloodsisters (1995) — fantasy and reality in the leather community

Cruising my contentious favorite! This film is about a kinky gay murderer picking off other kinky gay men, and an innocent heterosexual Al Pacino going undercover in the leather scene to solve the case. It’s camp. It’s cringe. It’s actually pretty decent. It was picketed by gay activists at the time, so extensively that the dialogue was largely dubbed over due to loud protesting drowning out the production’s audio. It also features gay people in the leather scene, many of them regulars of Mineshaft, who happily joined the cast as extras and background performers. But only the white, muscular ones allowed on screen. It’s a strange erotic fantasy in some ways and - perhaps accidentally - a surprisingly poignant reflection on gay life in others. /// SUBTITLED

Bloodsisters is a documentary surrounding the SM / Leather community in the San Francisco area during the 1990s. It features interviews with a variety of leatherdykes interspersed with footage of needleplay scenes, tit torture, fundraisers, leather titleholder contests, and impactplay demonstrations. It expounds on alternating sides of intra community debate, the reality of death and holding a life in your hands, isolation from the greater lesbian feminist community, roles, love, lust, fisting. And it is so fucking 90’s. /// NO SUBS :(

November 27th - #JustGirlyThings

We’ll be streaming Jawbreaker (1999) and Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) — two modern horror comedies with sapphic overtones

I haven’t seen either of these yet and honestly know very little! I’ve heard the girlies are gay and murderous though and that’s enough for me. /// SUBTITLED

I’m so excited to watch these with y’all :o)

UPDATE : I am sadly going to have to cancel the last stream this month bc I really need to pick up another shift n make me some more money 😭 Im sorry guys I promise we’ll stream jawbreaker and bodies bodies bodies some time in the future ! </3

#monthly media recs #outlaw streams

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brokehorrorfan · 8 months

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Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Torn Curtain, Topaz, and Frenzy will be released on 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray and Digital) on October 31 via Universal. They’ll be available both individually and in The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection: Volume 3 box set.

Rope is a 1948 thriller written by Arthur Laurents, based on the 1929 play by Patrick Hamilton. James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger star.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1956 thriller written by John Michael Hayes. James Stewart and Doris Day star.

Torn Curtain is a 1966 spy thriller written by Brian Moore. Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star.

Topaz is a 1969 spy thriller written by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the 1967 novel by Leon Uris. Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, and John Forsythe star.

Frenzy is a 1972 thriller written by Anthony Shaffer, based on a 1966 novel by Arthur La Bern. Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, and Barry Foster star.

The films have each been restored in 4K and presented with HDR. Special features are listed below, where you can also see the artwork for the standalone releases.

Rope special features:

Rope Unleashed

Production photographs

Theatrical trailer

Two friends (Farley Granger and John Dall) strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills and then proceed to throw a party for the victim's family and friends—with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table. As the killers turn the conversation to committing the "perfect murder," their former teacher (James Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious that his students have turned his intellectual theories into brutal reality.

The Man Who Knew Too Much special features:

The Making of The Man Who Knew Too Much

Saving The Man Who Knew Too Much

Production photographs

Theatrical trailer

Re-release trailer

Original multi-directional audio

While vacationing in Morocco, Ben and Jo McKenna (James Stewart and Doris Day) are suddenly immersed in a dangerous situation after a French spy dies in Ben's arms. Discovering that their son has been kidnapped and taken to England, the McKennas are caught up in a nightmare of espionage, assassinations and terror. Soon, all of their lives hang in the balance as they draw closer to the truth that leads to a chilling climax in London's famous Royal Albert Hall.

Torn Curtain special features:

Torn Curtain Rising

Scenes scored by Bernard Herrmann

Production photographs

Theatrical trailer

World-famous scientist Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) and his fiancée/assistant, Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews), travel to Copenhagen for a physics conference. When Sarah mistakenly intercepts a message meant for Armstrong, she believes that he is secretly defecting to East Germany. As Armstrong goes undercover to learn top-secret information, the couple find themselves running for their lives from the enemy agents.

Topaz special features:

Topaz Appreciation by film critic Leonard Maltin

Alternate endings

Storyboards: The Mendozas

Production photographs

Theatrical trailer

Responding to rumors of Russian missiles and a NATO spy called Topaz, an American CIA agent (John Forsythe) hires French operative Devereaux (Frederick Stafford) to investigate in Cuba. In Havana, Devereaux's investigation becomes dangerous, leaving behind a wake of shaken governments, murder, betrayal and suicide.

Frenzy special features:

The Story of Frenzy

Production photographs

Theatrical trailer

A serial criminal known as the "Necktie Murderer" has the police on red alert and the trail is leading to an innocent man who must now elude the law and prove his innocence by finding the real murderer.

Pre-order The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection: Volume 3.

#alfred hitchcock #the man who knew too much #rope #torn curtain #topaz #frenzy #dvd #gift #james stewart #paul newman #julie andrews #doris day #farley granger #john dall #john forsythe

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haveyoureadthispoll · 2 months

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At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

#book: the only one left #author: riley sager #genre: thriller #genre: mystery #year: 2020s

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bsd-bibliophile · 2 years

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Dazai Osamu’s Suicide Attempts and Success:

“Several of Dazai’s friends at school, heavily involved in political activities, were suspended or arrested. Dazai later wrote that his own commitment was tarnished by his ‘aristocratic’ background, which made him unqualified to be a communist. This realization, he maintains, led him to attempt suicide by taking drugs in December 1929 [at age 20], his first of at least five such tries, this one not even requiring hospitalization.”

“It was at this juncture [after his brother Bunji’s death and the Communist Party losing its top leadership to arrests and defections] that Dazai met Tanabe Shimeko, a barmaid at the Hollywood, a Ginza cafe. A week after they met, on November 28 [1930 at age 21], they spent a drunken night at the Teikoku Hotel, and on the evening of the twenty-ninth, they attempted double suicide by drowning near Kamakura. She succeeded, and he did not. He was questioned but released immediately because of his family’s prominence, and with the implicit understanding that he, as a young male of high birth, could not be blamed for the death of a woman, especially a barmaid. Dazai himself said that the most immediate cause for this attempted suicide was his alienation from his family due to the Hatsuyo affair.”

“On March 15, 1935 [at age 25], after failing an employment exam for a city newspaper, Dazai returned to Kamakura, the scene of his double suicide fiasco in 1930, and, according to his own account, tried to hang himself. With a rope burn to show for it, he returned to Tokyo where he dropped out of the university for good, only to suffer a severe attack of appendicitis two weeks later and to be diagnosed as having symptoms of tuberculosis.”

“In the spring of 1937 [at age 27], Dazai discovered that during his hospitalization Hatsuyo had been having an affair with an acquaintance of his. A fourth abortive suicide, this time together with Hatsuyo, whose lover had disappeared, too place in March and was followed by a final separation.”

“Dazai also began seeing Yamazaki Tomie, a war widow who worked in a beauty salon. While with her, he wrote another novel, ‘No Longer Human,’ began his last unfinished work, ‘Good-bye,’ and entertained thoughts of double suicide, which led to both of them dying on June 16, 1948 [three days before Dazai’s thirty-ninth birthday].”

Source: Alan Stephen Wolfe, Suicidal Narrative in Modern Japan: The Case of Dazai Osamu

#dazai osamu #japanese literature #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd

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ausetkmt · 11 months

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CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE p.3

1911

National Urban League founded. 1914 Marcus Garvey establishes the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). November William Monroe Trotter confronts Woodrow Wilson in the White House over the president’s support for segregation in federal offices. 1915 Debut of the D.W. Griffith film, The Birth of a Nation. Failure of African American lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department for compensation for labor rendered under slavery. CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE lvii November William J. Simmons refounds the Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain in Georgia. 1916 Madison Grant publishes The Passing of the Great Race, detailing his drastic prescription—including eugenics—to save the white race from being overwhelmed by ‘‘darker races.’’ May Jesse Washington, a seventeen-year-old illiterate black farm hand, is lynched in Waco, Texas. 1917 May–July East St. Louis, Illinois, riots. August Houston, Texas, mutiny of black soldiers at Camp Logan. 1918 After protesting the lynching of her husband, Mary Turner, then eight months pregnant, is herself brutally lynched in Valdosta, Georgia. April Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer of Missouri introduces an anti-lynching bill into Congress (the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill is defeated in 1922). July Chester and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, riots. 1919 NAACP publishes Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States: 1889–1918 by Martha Gruening and Helen Boardman. May Charleston, South Carolina, riot. Summer Known as ‘‘Red Summer’’ because of the great number of people killed in various race riots around the country. July Longview, Texas, riot. Publication of Claude McKay’s sonnet, ‘‘If We Must Die.’’ Chicago, Illinois, riot. Washington, D.C., riot. August Knoxville, Tennessee, riot. September Omaha, Nebraska, riot. September– October Elaine, Arkansas, riot. 1920 Founding of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, a major interracial reform organization in the South. 1921 April Tulsa, Oklahoma, riot. 1922 Anti-Lynching Crusaders are formed to educate Americans about lynching and work for its elimination.

Chicago Commission on Race Relations issues its influential report on the 1919 Chicago riots. lviii CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE 1923 January Rosewood, Florida, riot. February U.S. Supreme Court decision in Moore v. Dempsey leads to eventual release of twelve African Americans in Arkansas who were convicted in perfunctory mobdominated trials of killing five whites during the Elaine, Arkansas, riots of 1919. 1929 Publication of Walter White’s Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch. 1930 Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) is founded in Detroit, Michigan, by W.D. Fard.

Formation of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, the first organization of white women opposed to lynching. October Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, riot. 1931 Scottsboro Case occurs in Alabama; the case comprises a series of trials arising outof allegations that nine African American youths raped two white girls in Scottsboro, Alabama. 1932 Supreme Court renders a decision in Powell v. Alabama, a case related to the Scottsboro, Alabama, incident of 1931. 1934 Elijah Muhammad assumes leadership of the Nation of Islam. 1935 March Harlem, New York, riot. 1936 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addresses the annual conventions of both the NAACP and National Urban League. 1939 Billie Holiday’s first performance of the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit occurs at Cafe´ Society, New York’s only integrated nightclub. 1941 Supreme Court decision in Mitchell v. United States spurs integration of first-class railway carriages. 1942 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is founded as the Committee of Racial Equality. February Double V Campaign is launched to popularize the idea that blacks should fight for freedom abroad to win freedom at home. 1943 May Mobile, Alabama, riot. June Beaumont, Texas, riot. June ‘‘Zoot Suit’’ riots in Los Angeles, California. July Detroit, Michigan, riot. August New York City (Harlem) riot. 1944 Publication of Karl Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy.

#CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE p.3

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tremendously-exhilarated · 10 months

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Today I found out that Dirk Bogarde (one of my favorite actors) stars in a 1947 TV movie adaption of Rope. If anyone knows where to find it, PLEASE let me know, I'm extremely desperate

#rope 1948 #rope 1929 #dirk bogarde

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i-just-want-to-destroy · 2 years

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Rope (1929) by Patrick Hamilton

#rope 1929 #rope 1948 #patrick hamilton #archive #lit

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normalfrogblog · 3 months

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#poll #movies #film #film history #history #edit: this is feature films only short films don't count

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neodracunyan · 11 months

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The Perfect One|Yandere!Wednesday's Infidelity AUs x Male!Human-ish!Reader

Chapter 0: Prologue - Before the Events in Noir City...

Location: Noir City

Date: September 23, 1929

On a beautiful Wednesday morning, there was once a boy, born with a special gift inside of him, but was hated and disgusted by everyone around him as he is not just born part human, but he is also part toon from the old black and white cartoons that provided rubberhose comedy to both younger and older audience to the world.

The boy's name is Y/n, and he was a 7-year-old, born with an interesting feature as he can morph his ears to look like 3 iconic cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky the Rabbit and Felix the Cat and he can also do a bit of cartoon-like physics in the real world like how they did in the cartoons on TV.

However, he was sent to the orphanage by his own biological parents because they both do not appreciate their own son's special gifts as a human/toon hybrid, and they had no other choice, but to leave him at the orphanage to avoid leaving him in the streets and get arrested for child neglect and abuse.

Staying at the orphanage wasn't the best life for Y/n either as he is constantly picked on by the other orphaned kids and the caretakers as he only sleeps in an empty closet with no pillow and a blanket that can barely keep him warm. As for the food, they only served him gruel (better known as Imitation Gruel, 9 out of 10 orphans can't tell the difference and Y/n was the tenth orphan) and tap water to drink and the caretakers forced him to do all of the chores around the orphanage, not caring how sick and tired that Y/n will be after working day and night doing nothing, but chores and getting picked on by the kids at the orphanage for his toon-like appearance.

Then one night, Y/n decided that he had enough of being tortured and a slave to them as he came up with a plan to make his escape from the orphanage, which took him 2 long and grueling weeks of backbreaking work of chores, dealing with the cruel and abusive pranks and beating from the other kids and all gruel and tap water diet to make his plan work without anyone at the orphanage knowing about his escape plan to freedom.

He waited for everyone to go to sleep before he put his plan into action as he managed to shift his hand into a make-shift key to unlock the door, use the towels that he stole from the laundry room as a rope to climb down through the window at the playroom after stuffing them all into the floorboards in his room and thanks to his power and knowledge of cartoon-physics to sneak his way to the window, tied the rope to the nearby heater next to the window and climbed his way down to the ground, before running away from his prison that he called "home" to freedom.

By the time that everyone at the orphanage woke up the next morning, they soon found out that Y/n had escaped through the window and the caretakers tried to call the police to go find Y/n and bring him back to the orphanage so they can give him the worst punishment of his entire life. But unfortunately for them, the police don't seem to believe to whatever the caretakers are talking about when they explained about Y/n's appearance as a half human and half toon hybrid and decided to just ignore the case and not go through an investigation to find Y/n and instead gives the caretakers a warning not to call them again and gave them a ticket for wasting their time.

So far, after Y/n made his great escape from the orphanage, he tried his best to go through his life without anyone to take care of him or love him as he always had a hard time to find a good meal to keep him from starving to death and he is currently living in an old, abandoned house and has to sleep in an old mattress with the same blanket that he took from the orphanage after he escaped that night.

As the night rolls by with Y/n laying on his mattress, he tried his best to get some sleep, but couldn't sleep a wink after all of the hell that he had to deal with since he was brought into the world by his own parents as the guilt ridden, and overly depressed boy stayed up all night until exhaustion had taken over him as he went into a deep, peaceful slumber.

By the time that Y/n had woken up from his deep slumber, he was quick to realize that the old house he is in was abnormally silent, no birds were chirping, no sounds of cars passing by...

Just pure.....

SILENCE....

So, he rushed outside as quick as he could, realizing there was no one around him in sight, but only an empty street and a depressing gray sky, Y/n had begun to walk far down the street to clear his head from all of the bad things that happened to him over the years. But as Y/n continued walking down the empty dark street, it always seems to be heading into the same place as if it were looping over and over again...

As time passes, he grew more hopeless and depressed as kept walking down the same, empty street over and over again as it all felt like a really bad dream. Y/n tried to figure out ways to calm himself down and even almost tried to end his own life many times, but despite his efforts, he just couldn't escape from this horrible nightmare.

For three whole months since Y/n has been trapped here in this never-ending nightmare, his sanity had begun to decrease...

The isolation...

The loneliness...

He just couldn't handle it anymore...

Until Y/n suddenly bumped into someone in front of him as he fell down on the pavement before looking up to see someone that he never thought he would meet in these streets...

It was none other than Mickey Mouse himself and Y/n was both shocked and surprised to see one of his favorite idols from the cartoons on TV as Mickey examined Y/n with such curiosity and interest to find a young boy like Y/n to have mouse like ears like his and suddenly he felt something inside of him that he hadn't felt for a long, long time...

Happiness...

He then smiled at the boy and decided to ask him why he was walking down the street alone late at night as the boy began explaining everything to Mickey about all the bad things that had happened to him ever since he was born, which his parents left him at the orphanage and made an escape during the night that led him to where he is right now.

Mickey was shocked to hear every single word from Y/n and felt sympathy for the boy as he shouldn't be treated like garbage just because of his toon like appearance. The cartoon mouse blamed on the people and his parents for every bad things that they've done to Y/n.

Then Mickey had an idea that could work for both of them as he decides to take in the boy as his own son, so he can no longer have to deal with anymore abuse and neglect ever again.

But suddenly, Y/n was already feeling tired after walking for 3 whole months as he fell down to the pavement from exhaustion, but Mickey managed to catch him before he could hit the pavement as he started holding the boy in his arms while rubbing his gloved hand on his snow white hair that made his own tail and mouse ears twitch from Mickey's gentle rub on his head as Y/n soon went out like a candle and goes into a peaceful slumber in Mickey's arms.

This has already made Mickey feel more happy than ever before as he walked all the way back to his house with a smile on his face as he already has some plans for Y/n when they get back home.

However, this was only just the beginning of a nightmare of no return as Mickey is unaware of some other toons like him will try to take the boy from him and keep him for themselves because the boy was just too perfect for them to let go as he is now known....as The Perfect Child.

What will this child do in the world filled with shattered hopes and dreams, surrounded by his favorite toons that wanted to keep him as their own child to take care of?

Well, that my friends is another story to tell next time....

SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY...

#fandom #fnfmods #fridaynightfunkin #horror #creepypasta #fanfiction #wednesday's infidelity #mickey mouse #oswald the lucky rabbit #felix the cat #male reader #child reader #xreader #reader insert #sunday night suicide #suicidemouse.avi

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