#down with James morland

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough Ch 13

Isabella's true character is revealed Catherine, "Isabella appeared to her ungenerous and selfish, regardless of everything but her own gratification." and James Morland, smitten with Isabella, has his worst moment:

“I did not think you had been so obstinate, Catherine,” said James; “you were not used to be so hard to persuade; you once were the kindest, best-tempered of my sisters.”

And then when Isabella and John Thorpe PHYSICALLY HOLD CATHERINE IN PLACE, James continues to do... nothing. He only finally tells John to stop after Catherine breaks away herself.

#downwithJamesMorland

It's unfortunate because James Morland is one of the few unmarried Austen men by the end of his novel and you'd like to use him for fan fiction but his sister defence score is so low... (nothing is sexier than a man who treats his sister right!) James ends up reminding me a lot of Edmund Bertram. There is nothing wrong with having a crush on a girl, but you should not be willing to sacrifice your principles for her!

Catherine stands resolute. Her big defining moment of moral backbone is resisting peer pressure, which might not seem like much but it's hard! Especially with the opposition of her older brother. And I want to point out, it's not just to avoid another horrible carriage ride with Thorpe, she does offer to go with them the next day. As she contemplates herself, it was not only for her own pleasure that she refused, she believed herself in the right not to lie.

I love this quote:

If I could not be persuaded into doing what I thought wrong, I never will be tricked into it.

Also Jane Austen playing cheeky with our imaginations:

“She is as obstinate as—” Thorpe never finished the simile, for it could hardly have been a proper one.

My mind automatically goes to "ass" (donkey) by the way.

This type of sentence, that immediately contradicts itself, is used a lot in Jane Austen's juvenilia:

Her explanation, defective only in being—from her irritation of nerves and shortness of breath—no explanation at all, was instantly given.

Here is an example from Frederic & Elfrida:

They were exceedingly handsome and so much alike, that it was not every one who knew them apart. Nay, even their most intimate freinds had nothing to distinguish them by, but the shape of the face, the colour of the Eye, the length of the Nose, & the difference of the complexion.

We also have our first hint here of the General's true character:

To such anxious attention was the General’s civility carried, that not aware of her extraordinary swiftness in entering the house, he was quite angry with the servant whose neglect had reduced her to open the door of the apartment herself. “What did William mean by it? He should make a point of inquiring into the matter.” And if Catherine had not most warmly asserted his innocence, it seemed likely that William would lose the favour of his master forever, if not his place, by her rapidity.

He definitely has a temper and very exacting standards, for both his staff and his children. However, he is very polite with Catherine, which makes her think favourably of Thorpe, "made her think with pleasure that he might be sometimes depended on." If only she knew!

Catherine then learns that Mr. Allen doesn't think that the trip would have been entirely prudent, Mrs. Allen agrees but only from a fashion perspective. Catherine is mortified to learn she has done something wrong, but Mrs. Allen doesn't seem very concerned:

Young people will be young people, as your good mother says herself. You know I wanted you, when we first came, not to buy that sprigged muslin, but you would. Young people do not like to be always thwarted.

This is actually a pretty wise statement, though I'm not sure Mrs. Allen has really been doing her job as a chaperone properly. It also speaks to those grey lines around propriety. We don't see women in Jane Austen's novels ruined by a single act of impropriety in the way that contemporary Historical fiction/romance is always imagining. It is usually a pattern of behaviour. And people clearly understand that young adults/teenagers will be a bit wild at times, because you know, people are people and have always been people.

Now we get to one of Catherine's flaws (which will come up again) she doesn't understand when her actions will be taken as officious or meddling. Her desire to warn Isabella comes from a good place, but as Mr. Allen points out, it's only going to make people dislike her. Elizabeth Bennet has a much more delicate and prudent approach when it comes to Lydia going to Brighton, even though that doesn't end up changing the result. She knows that direct opposition to the scheme would only make her younger sister hate her, which would solve nothing and only create more problems. As Mr. Allen points out, if Mrs. Thorpe is allowing it, let it go.

#james morland #down with James morland #northanger abbey readthrough #northanger abbey #catherine morland #john thorpe #the BIG MOMENT

[the-unspeakable-tsar]

The Holmes Family Tree

At the top are the parents. Sherlock's father; Sieger, Sherlock's Mother, Violet Rutherford; and Sherlock's Stepmother Eudoria

First lets start with Violet and Sieger's children:

Sherlock, Sherringford, Mycroft, Shirley, and Rutherford

Then there are Eudoria and Sieger's Children:

Enola, Sigrina, and Siegerson.

Let's start with the branch that descends directly from Sherlock.

I have placed Sherlock's Children as five in Number. Raffles is the son of Majorie Raffles (the sister of A.J Raffles). Henry Holmes and his wife Elizabeth are the creations of the Charlotte Holmes series.

Keep Sherlock Holmes Jr in mind as we'll focus on him later. We'll go down Henry and Elizabeth's line.

Pascal, Valentina, Agatha, Perpetua and Johnathan Holmes are the children of Elizabeth and Henry

Crispin and Morland are Pascal and Elizabeth's sons. Crispin marries Celine, and Morland marries May. Keep Morland in mind.

Crispin and Elizabeth have the following children: Alistair, Agatha, Julian, Leander.

Morland is a complicated old bastard with two sons: Sherlock and Mycroft. Note that i've written Elementary beneath them.

Alistair and Emma have: Milo and Charlotte

Julian and Kim Min-Ji: Margarate Holmes, Carmilla Holmes, and Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock & Co.)

Now let's move to the side along the chart and go back to one of Sherlock's children.

Sherlock Jr is a problem, I've decided. He is the start of a parallel branch. He had some unknown son. then that son would in time go on to sire the lineage that produced the following

Euris, Mycroft, and Sherlock (BBC's Sherlock). Euris would then later bear a child with a descendent of Moriarty. Resulting in Ron Kamonohashi.

Mycroft has a smaller branch. Three children:

Andrew Holmes, Violet Holmes, and Isabella Holmes.

Violet Holmes would then have a child later with James Bond, resulting in Clive Reston.

Shirly Holmes would marry Charles Jones. Resulting in the birth of Fetlock Jones and Laura Jones.

Laura Jones and her husband Lord Hamish Croft establish the lineage that would come to result in Laura Croft.

Fetlock's is Jupiter, and his daughter Charlotte marries Peerless Jones.

The following children of Peerless and Charlotte are: Barnaby, Darwin, and David.

David Marries Judith Walton and has three children: Fred Jones Sr, Martin "Merlin" Jones, and Ellie. Fred Jones Sr later illegally adopts a son, naming him "Fred Jones Jr".

Barnaby has a son named Harold and a grandson named Jebediah Romano Jones.

Sherringford Holmes, the older brother of both Mycroft and Sherlock, would have three children. Richard, an unknown country squire, and Sebastian.

Richard would change his surname to Queen in the United States to establish himself as an independent detective. He has two sons, Dan and Ellery Queen.

Ellery has two sons: Ellery Junior and Gullivar.

The Squire has one son: Stuart. Stuart has two kids, Jenny and David.

Sebastian marries a woman named Peg: Through them they have a son named Robert who becomes an ambassador for the United Kingdom.

Robert and his wife Joanna then later have a daughter named Shirley Holmes (many of her name).

Rutherford is Sherlock's twin brother and a vampire (making him a genetic dead end).

Sigerson Holmes (son of Eudoria) marries Jenny Hill, a descendent of Fanny Hill. Their daughter then marries a Weston and have a son named Geoffrey Weston.

I wasn't sure how to fit Enola Holme because, as far as I know,w she doesn't go on to have anyone I can identify as being a possible descendent. (good for her.)

Lastly, Charlotte Holmes. I also believe that Charlotte was having an affair with Mary Watson, but that is neither here nor there. She marries some fuck-off prince named Rupert of Kravonia and they have a son: Alexander (i accidentally named him Rupert as well in the image).

Sirgrina and John Vanstattart Smith have three Children:

Dennis Nayland Smith, Violet Smith, and John Smith.

Dennis Nayland fathers: George, Harold, and John "Hannibal" Smith.

Violet marries a man named Sneed and has a son named Lancaster "Shockwave" Sneed. A supervillain from Marvel Comics who used to beat the fuck out of Shang-Chi.

Thus concludes the family tree of The Holmes. Please reblog or message me if you have questions or comments.

#Sherlock Holmes #Sherlock fandom #bbc sherlock #Enola Holmes #Mycroft Holmes #elementary cbs #Elementary Sherlock #Sherlock Fanon #Holmes & Co. #sherlock & co #ron kamonohashi #James Bond #Clive Reston #fred jones sr #Fred Jones Jr #fictional geneology #geneology #Shirley Holmes #eurus holmes

[curiousb]

The Morland Family Album: Volume VI

As discovered previously, nothing disrupts Sally’s reading...

not even Penny bursting into elderhood right beside her.

Oh good, she’s getting a bit of vitamin D at last.

Ah! The pups’ father drops by for another visit - I still can’t remember his name though.

Sally does eventually put down her book long enough to blow out her birthday candles. Siblings Hester and James - back home from uni for a visit - just seem to be wondering what all the kerfuffle is about...

~ Cancer 10 / 5 / 8 / 2 / 4

~ Athletic / Brave / Perfectionist / Avant Garde

~ OTH: Fitness

~ Favourite Colour: Magenta

~ Aspiration: Fortune / Knowledge

~ Turn-ons / -off: +Fitness / +Cultured / -Laid Back

A new look for a new age.

Birthdays are no excuse for not washing the dog.

Sally is forging a friendship with Keziah, and they often get together for gaming and work-out sessions.

What, now? Really? Can’t you see that we’re trying to get fit here?

Oh well, if you must. Farewell, super-mum Penny!

Sally has also caught the eye of schoolmate Louisa. Too bad their attempts at flirting are so lame.

I don’t know though, perhaps Sally is starting to come around?

#sims 2 #gameplay #merybury #sally fairfax #james morland #hester fairfax #penny morland #keziah dashwood #louisa willoughby #louie willoughby #morland family

[after-perfect]

So if German-language musical theatre is going to adapt novels like Dracula and Rebecca, and do things like Tanz der Vampire, there's got to be a case for Northanger Abbey das Musical, right? Or Die Abtei von Northanger if you insist.

You've got the perfect reason to make it overblown and melodramatic with lots of ominous chords and a spooky gothic set for the Abbey. You've got endless opportunities for dream ballets. You've got a few major characters (Catherine, the Tilneys, Isabella), a number of side characters (the Allens, John Thorpe, James and possibly a few other Morlands), and an ensemble for Bath scenes, Abbey servants, and dream ballets. In addition to the canon couples, there's room to dial up the sexual tension between Isabella and Catherine, and to make any dream ballets as homoerotic as you please.

There's not really a downer or bittersweet ending for our heroine (and I'd be annoyed if they added one), but surely German musicals can handle one happy ending amid - well, all the rest of the German musicals. Or hell, kill off General Tilney and burn down the Abbey or something (bonus: an excuse to light your sets on fire!).

Somebody please make this happen? Bitte?

#i'm not even kidding #i could honestly see it working #(i could also see it being dreadful but hey) #there appears to be an english-language NA musical from chicago a few years ago #but like #NA just screams german musical potential #and if someone does it #damn the cost i WILL travel to wherever the premiere is #northanger abbey #jane austen #german musicals #musical theatre

[brookston]

Holidays 4.20

Holidays

Anniversary of Something That Happened So Long Ago Everyone Has Forgotten What It Was Day

Aries zodiac sign begins

Chinese Language Day (UN)

Columbine Anniversary Day

Daffodil King Day

Day of Shame (Elder Scrolls)

Deepwater Horizon Anniversary Day

Doge Day

420 Day

Global CRSwNP Awareness Day

Go Around Humming "You Light Up My Life" Until Everybody Screams Day

Grain Rains Day (Chinese Farmer’s Calendar)

Indian Day (Brazil)

International Cli-Fi Day (a.k.a. Climate Fiction Day)

International Peter Tosh Day

Jose de Diego’s Birthday (Puerto Rico)

Look Alike Day

L. Ron Hubbard Exhibition Day (Scientology)

National Administrative Professional Day

National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day

National Canadian Film Day (Canada)

National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools

National Death Doula Day

National Erection Day (South Africa)

National Goal Buddies Day

National Pot Smokers Day

National Seaweed Day

National Squat Day

National Weed Day

Pastele Blajinilor (Memory/Parents’ Day; Moldova)

Radium Day

Ridván begins (until May 2; Bahá'��)

Sumardagurinn First (1st Day of Summer; Iceland)

Take a Break to Rest Your Mind Day

Volunteer Recognition Day

World Animal Vaccination Day

World Armwrestling Day

World Durood Day

World Orphans Day

Zipper Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Milk Tea Dumpling Day

Lima Bean Respect Day

National Cheddar Fries Day

National Cold Brew Day

National Cold IPA Day

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

3rd Thursday in April

Biomedical Research Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

College Student Grief Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

High Five Day [3rd Thursday]

International Pizza Cake Day [3rd Thursday]

National Ask An Atheist Day [3rd Thursday; also 9.16]

National D.A.R.E. Day [3rd Thursday]

National High Five Day [3rd Thursday]

Sumardagurinn Fyrsti (1st Day of Summer; Iceland) [1st Thursday after 4.18]

Throwback Thursday [3rd Thursday]

Independence Days

Arlandia (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Arnerea (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Flammancia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Morland (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

West Korea (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Agnes of Monte Pulciano (Christian; Saint)

Anicetus, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Beuno (Christian; Saint)

Caedwalla of Wales (Christian; Saint)

Daniel Chester French (Artology)

Eastre (Teutonic Goddess of Spring)

Frontinus (Positivist; Saint)

Gabriel of Bialystok (Orthodox Christian; Poland)

Hugh of Anzy le Duc (Christian; Saint)

Intergalactic Alien Solidarity Day (Pastafarian)

James of Sclavonia (Christian; Saint)

Joan Miró (Artology)

Johannes Bugenhagen (Lutheran)

Marcellinus of Gaul (a.k.a. Embrun; Christian; Saint)

Oda of Brabant (Christian; Blessed)

Odilon Redon (Artology)

R. Bud Dwyer Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Serf or Servanus of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Theotimos (Christian; Saint)

Tuktuki (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 8 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [8 of 24]

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [16 of 53]

Historically Bad Day (Hitler born, Columbine massacre, Deepwater Horizon explosion & 7 other tragedies) [2 of 11]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because it’s Hitler's birthday. Plus, everyone's high.)

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [22 of 60]

Premieres

African Diary (Disney Cartoon; 1945)

Aggretsuko (Anime TV Series; 2018)

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (Song; 1967)

American Idiot (Broadway Musical; 2010)

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

Boyhood Daze (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Buddy in Africa (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Charming (Animated Film; 2018)

The Company of Women, by Mary Gordon (Novel; 1981)

Duck Duck Goose (Animated Film; 2018)

Dummy (TV Series; 2020)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, recorded by Judy Garland (Song; 1944)

Hot Fuzz (Film; 2007)

Jazz Samba, by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd (Album; 1962)

Jumping’ Jack Flash, recorded by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1968)

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1611)

Make Mine Music (Animated Disney Film; 1946)

Mexican Cat Dance (WB LT Cartoon; 1963)

Miami Blues (Film; 1990)

My Boy Jack (Film; 2007)

Puppy Love, by Dolly Parton (Song; 1959)

Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1992)

The Robber Kitten (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Salem (TV Series; 2014)

The Spirit of St. Louis (Film; 1957)

When It’s Sleepy Time Down South, recorded by Louis Armstrong (Song; 1931)

Today’s Name Days

Hildegund, Odetta, Wilhelm (Austria)

Berta, Loen, Marta (Croatia)

Marcela (Czech Republic)

Sulpicius (Denmark)

Orvi, Urbe, Urva, Urve, Urvi (Estonia)

Lauha, Neela, Nella (Finland)

Odette, Théotime (France)

Hildegund, Odetta (Germany)

Zakhaios (Greece)

Tivadar (Hungary)

Adalgisa (Italy)

Amula, Armands, Mirta, Ziedīte (Latvia)

Agnė, Eisvydė, Gostautas, Marcijonas (Lithuania)

Kjellaug, Kjellrun (Norway)

Agnieszka, Amalia, Czech, Czechasz, Czechoń, Czesław, Florencjusz, Florenty, Nawoj, Sulpicjusz, Szymon, Teodor (Poland)

Teotim (Romania)

Marcel (Slovakia)

Inés (Spain)

Amalia, Amelie (Sweden)

Svyatoslav, Svyatoslava (Ukraine)

Ramsey, Rosco, Roscoe, Ross (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 110 of 2024; 255 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 16 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Bing-Chen), Day 1 (Wu-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 29 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 29 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 19 Aqua; Fiveday [19 of 30]

Julian: 7 April 2023

Moon: 1.5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 26 Archimedes (4th Month) [Frontinus]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 32 of 90)

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 1 of 30)

Calendar Changes

槐月 [Huáiyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 3 of 13] (Locust Tree Month)

Taurus (The Bull) begins [Zodiac Sign 2; thru 5.20]

#calendar #Holidays

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.20

Holidays

Anniversary of Something That Happened So Long Ago Everyone Has Forgotten What It Was Day

Aries zodiac sign begins

Chinese Language Day (UN)

Columbine Anniversary Day

Daffodil King Day

Day of Shame (Elder Scrolls)

Deepwater Horizon Anniversary Day

Doge Day

420 Day

Global CRSwNP Awareness Day

Go Around Humming "You Light Up My Life" Until Everybody Screams Day

Grain Rains Day (Chinese Farmer’s Calendar)

Indian Day (Brazil)

International Cli-Fi Day (a.k.a. Climate Fiction Day)

International Peter Tosh Day

Jose de Diego’s Birthday (Puerto Rico)

Look Alike Day

L. Ron Hubbard Exhibition Day (Scientology)

National Administrative Professional Day

National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day

National Canadian Film Day (Canada)

National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools

National Death Doula Day

National Erection Day (South Africa)

National Goal Buddies Day

National Pot Smokers Day

National Seaweed Day

National Squat Day

National Weed Day

Pastele Blajinilor (Memory/Parents’ Day; Moldova)

Radium Day

Ridván begins (until May 2; Bahá'í)

Sumardagurinn First (1st Day of Summer; Iceland)

Take a Break to Rest Your Mind Day

Volunteer Recognition Day

World Animal Vaccination Day

World Armwrestling Day

World Durood Day

World Orphans Day

Zipper Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Milk Tea Dumpling Day

Lima Bean Respect Day

National Cheddar Fries Day

National Cold Brew Day

National Cold IPA Day

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

3rd Thursday in April

Biomedical Research Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

College Student Grief Awareness Day [3rd Thursday]

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

High Five Day [3rd Thursday]

International Pizza Cake Day [3rd Thursday]

National Ask An Atheist Day [3rd Thursday; also 9.16]

National D.A.R.E. Day [3rd Thursday]

National High Five Day [3rd Thursday]

Sumardagurinn Fyrsti (1st Day of Summer; Iceland) [1st Thursday after 4.18]

Throwback Thursday [3rd Thursday]

Independence Days

Arlandia (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Arnerea (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Flammancia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Morland (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

West Korea (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Agnes of Monte Pulciano (Christian; Saint)

Anicetus, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Beuno (Christian; Saint)

Caedwalla of Wales (Christian; Saint)

Daniel Chester French (Artology)

Eastre (Teutonic Goddess of Spring)

Frontinus (Positivist; Saint)

Gabriel of Bialystok (Orthodox Christian; Poland)

Hugh of Anzy le Duc (Christian; Saint)

Intergalactic Alien Solidarity Day (Pastafarian)

James of Sclavonia (Christian; Saint)

Joan Miró (Artology)

Johannes Bugenhagen (Lutheran)

Marcellinus of Gaul (a.k.a. Embrun; Christian; Saint)

Oda of Brabant (Christian; Blessed)

Odilon Redon (Artology)

R. Bud Dwyer Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Serf or Servanus of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Theotimos (Christian; Saint)

Tuktuki (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 8 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [8 of 24]

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [16 of 53]

Historically Bad Day (Hitler born, Columbine massacre, Deepwater Horizon explosion & 7 other tragedies) [2 of 11]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because it’s Hitler's birthday. Plus, everyone's high.)

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [22 of 60]

Premieres

African Diary (Disney Cartoon; 1945)

Aggretsuko (Anime TV Series; 2018)

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (Song; 1967)

American Idiot (Broadway Musical; 2010)

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

Boyhood Daze (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Buddy in Africa (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Charming (Animated Film; 2018)

The Company of Women, by Mary Gordon (Novel; 1981)

Duck Duck Goose (Animated Film; 2018)

Dummy (TV Series; 2020)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, recorded by Judy Garland (Song; 1944)

Hot Fuzz (Film; 2007)

Jazz Samba, by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd (Album; 1962)

Jumping’ Jack Flash, recorded by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1968)

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1611)

Make Mine Music (Animated Disney Film; 1946)

Mexican Cat Dance (WB LT Cartoon; 1963)

Miami Blues (Film; 1990)

My Boy Jack (Film; 2007)

Puppy Love, by Dolly Parton (Song; 1959)

Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1992)

The Robber Kitten (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Salem (TV Series; 2014)

The Spirit of St. Louis (Film; 1957)

When It’s Sleepy Time Down South, recorded by Louis Armstrong (Song; 1931)

Today’s Name Days

Hildegund, Odetta, Wilhelm (Austria)

Berta, Loen, Marta (Croatia)

Marcela (Czech Republic)

Sulpicius (Denmark)

Orvi, Urbe, Urva, Urve, Urvi (Estonia)

Lauha, Neela, Nella (Finland)

Odette, Théotime (France)

Hildegund, Odetta (Germany)

Zakhaios (Greece)

Tivadar (Hungary)

Adalgisa (Italy)

Amula, Armands, Mirta, Ziedīte (Latvia)

Agnė, Eisvydė, Gostautas, Marcijonas (Lithuania)

Kjellaug, Kjellrun (Norway)

Agnieszka, Amalia, Czech, Czechasz, Czechoń, Czesław, Florencjusz, Florenty, Nawoj, Sulpicjusz, Szymon, Teodor (Poland)

Teotim (Romania)

Marcel (Slovakia)

Inés (Spain)

Amalia, Amelie (Sweden)

Svyatoslav, Svyatoslava (Ukraine)

Ramsey, Rosco, Roscoe, Ross (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 110 of 2024; 255 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 16 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Bing-Chen), Day 1 (Wu-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 29 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 29 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 19 Aqua; Fiveday [19 of 30]

Julian: 7 April 2023

Moon: 1.5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 26 Archimedes (4th Month) [Frontinus]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 32 of 90)

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 1 of 30)

Calendar Changes

槐月 [Huáiyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 3 of 13] (Locust Tree Month)

Taurus (The Bull) begins [Zodiac Sign 2; thru 5.20]

#Holidays

[truecrimesstuff]

The James Bulger Murder:

James Patrick Bulger, born on 16th March 1990 in Kirby Merseyside, England. He was the son of Denise Fergus and Ralph Stephen Bulger. James was abducted, tortured, and killed by two 10 - year olds making it one of the most horrific crimes of the 20th century. The two lads, namely Jon Venables and Robert Thompson had missed school that day and were loitering around New Strand shopping center in Bootle (near Liverpool). They were seen wandering from shop to shop stealing anything they could get their hands on, but then toss it down the escalator just for the fun of it. But at one point due to reasons still unknown, they decided to steal someone's baby. After some time at about 3:40 P.M, they noticed James Bulger, standing outside A.R Tym's Butcher shop while Denise was buying something inside. Discreetly, they took the two-year-old by hand away from his mother. The CCTV caught them leaving the mall at 3:42 P.M. When Denise realised that her son was nowhere to be found, she frantically started searching all nooks and corners of the mall. After announcing the name of James Bulger over the mall's loudspeakers and still not finding a clue about him, a complaint was placed in the local police station.

On the other hand, the two young lads took him to the secluded Leeds and Liverpool Canal which was a quarter of a mile away from the shopping center. By this time James was calling for his mother. They dropped him on his head, for which he endured cuts and bruises on his face. To avoid attention, they pulled Bulger's hood over his forehead to conceal the injuries. Someone who saw Bulger near the canal recalled that he was wailing. They kept on walking midst the busy public places where they were seen by 38 people, yet only two came forward to help. But the boys told them that he was their younger brother or that they found him at the bottom of the hill and were taking him to the nearby police station. Satisfied with the answers, they were successfully left alone by these people.

As evening approached the boys arrived in the village of Walton, and with Walton Lane police station across the road, they hesitated and led Bulger up a steep bank to a deserted railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Anfield Cemetery, where they began torturing him. Venables and Thompson first threw blue Humbrol paint which they have stolen at some point from the mall, on the toddler's left eye, they then inserted batteries in his mouth and according to police reports may have inserted some into his anus. They kicked him and threw bricks and stones at him. At last, they threw a 22-pound iron bar on Bulger's head. The toddler sustained 10 skull fractures and 42 injuries both body and head. The pathologist who did his autopsy couldn't even tell which was the ultimate fatal blow that led to his death. Venables and Thompson then placed Bulger's body in the railway tracks and hid it with rags, where a train later cut the body into two parts. The pathologist confirmed that Bulger was dead before the train cut him.

Two days later, on 14th February, Bulger's severed body was found later by some schoolboys. Bulger's shoes, socks, trousers, and underpants were removed which led to the police speculating a sexual angle to the crime. The pathologist too stated that Bulger's foreskin was forcibly pulled back. But both Thompson and Venables have always denied having any sexual element to the offense numerous times infront of their psychologists.

The police soon found low-resolution videos from the CCTV of the shopping center. Many kids were questioned regarding involvement in the case but they couldn't track down the killers. The breakthrough came when a lady called the police after seeing slightly high-resolution photos of the boys on the news, recognizing Venables with whom she played Truant that day. After this, immediately the boys were arrested.

The police were shocked when they realized that the two boys were mere 10-year olds, more so as they were expecting teens. Evidence found on the items of clothing of the two lads as well as DNA evidence of the blood found on Thompson's shoe matched with Bulger, and the boys were each charged with the murder of James Bulger on 20 February 1993. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were found guilty of Bulger's murder at the Preston court on 24 November 1993, which made them the youngest convicted murderers of the 20th century. The judge, Mr. Justice Morland, told Thompson and Venables that they had committed a crime of "unparalleled evil and barbarity. In my judgment, your conduct was both cunning and very wicked." He sentenced them to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for "very, very many years to come", recommending a minimum term of eight years. At the close of the trial, the judge lifted reporting restrictions and released the names of Venables and Thompson to the public, saying "I did this because the public interest overrode the interest of the defendants... There was a need for an informed public debate on crimes committed by young children."

Picture Courtesy: Pinterest

#true crime

[onebluebookworm]

September Book Club Picks

Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Beyond the Lanai by James Colucci: Exactly what it says on the tin - an amazingly in-depth look at one of my favorite TV shows of all time, including detailed episode summaries, history, concept art, and more.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol: When Anya - torn between her Russian heritage and her desire for acceptance at her new American high school - accidentally falls down an abandoned well, she finds two things she never expected to - a skeleton and a friend. Emily, the ghost of a young girl who died in the well 90 years ago, offers to help Anya achieve the popularity and friendship she craves in exchange for Anya removing her spirit from the well, but Anya quickly realizes that Emily’s not all she seems.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: A parody of gothic romances and a hardy screed in defense of novels, Austen tells the story of young Catherine Morland, who journeys to Bath to debut into society, and quite quickly lets her romantic notions get the better of her.

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi: An expansive history of the one-step-forward-two-steps-back nature of feminism, with examinations of how culture, money, and above all, male ego, play a part in most of the steps back. Although it was written and mostly refers to the state of things in the late 80s and early 90s, it still rings depressingly true for today. 

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire: When Jacqueline and Jillian Wolcott find a set of stairs in their grandmother’s trunk, they don’t ask questions. They just go down them. The stairs lead to the Moors, a realm that is equal parts nightmare and paradise for the lonely and restless sisters, and where their bloody and electric destinies are set into motion. Second installment of the Wayward Children series, and a prequel to Every Heart a Doorway. 

#book club #september 2020 #golden girls forever #james colucci #anya's ghost #vera brosgol #northanger abbey #jane austen #backlash: the undeclared war against american women #susan faludi #down among the sticks and bones #seanan mcguire

[camimoo]

I’ve watched Northanger Abbey about 12 times in the past week, so here is a list nobody wants of the tinier details I’m focusing on now:

·         The little brother that gets splashed on at the beginning when baby Catherine is baptized

·         The very short clip in the growing up montage where older Catherine still has her hair down

·         The eyeliner on the guys/ her darker eye makeup in her fantasies (like that bit in phantom of the opera where Christine goes down into sewers and is supposed to look more mature)

·         The tinkling noise added for her necklace when the fantasy-highwayman touches it with his thumb

·         When Isabella says “falst modesty” lol

·         My 2 favorite extras

o   The round faced Nick Jonas boy

o   The shop assistant that looks like a very tired Adrien Brody being forced to wear a bonnet

·         That when john Thorpe and james morland jump out of their carriage to come say hi to Isabella and Catherine, as they begin walking away you can see Thorpe’s blue gig go by in the background and it’s empty, the horse is just taking it around the corner alone.

·         How pointy James’ nose is. It’s just the pointiest nose.

·         In the dance sequences, it seems the leading man is always wearing black britches so he’s black all the way down, while all the extras are wearing off-white pants.

·         How badly Henry mumbles his sister’s name. seriously. “Ellaeha… “

·         Pretty much any time Henry looks at Catherine in a conversation, JJ Feild does so much with his eyes

·         How Henry smiles behind her when Catherine admits she’s never actually been to France and only read about it

·         How he picks up the pinecones and then throws them

·         I just adore Mr. Allen.  His voice is so perfect, he reminds me of like so many things at once. Maybe a little like John Hurt but with more gravitas. I don’t even know He has just the perfect sound.

·         I love how in the opera performance the singer really looks like she’s singing it, and working hard. and the recording isn’t perfect, like its some real live performance I feel. And her stage makeup and beads in her hair.

·         How often they talk to the horses, or include the noises you make when riding horses. Like “walk on” or whatever “htchh!” noise she and Henry make when they begin racing.

·         The face Catherine pulls when Captain Tilney is introduced and he saunters away, she scowls under his arm

·         The face Catherine pulls when Isabella tells her to look the other way to pretend to ignore Captain Tilney. She is so sassy.

·         General Tilney saying “capital.” and “excellent.”

·         When General Tilney comes to say hello to Catherine at the dance, he takes her arm and gives it to Henry and in the background Eleanor has to let go of his other arm and henry kind of awkwardly lowers it.

·         How the wardrobe in Catherine’s room at Northanger is literally twice her height. That thing is massive.

·         The brother that Catherine is helping read, he is such a funny little kid actor, he can’t stop smiling, and he delivers the reading line so funny.  He is also smiling when he climbs into bed

·         How often when the two of them are walking, Henry stops them, and then has to gesture with his arm for her to continue walking.

#self-isolation going strong up in here #lol #i am so obsessed with this film #i don't even know #northanger abbey #mine #jane austen

[consultingsister-aa]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 + feburary 2013, london city morgue. ( tw: child death )

A small group of people were gathered outside the morgue doors and Celia couldn’t help but resent them. The audience for her world ending, with only half as much in the game as she had. Mary was the only one sitting, biting her nails nervously. She stood as soon as she saw Cecelia. Her eyes were already red and puffy. Cee resented that too. This wasn’t her grief to feel, it all belonged to Cee. John said Mary’s name, a quiet warning but Mary ignored him. 

“It might not be her.” Mary stepped in front of Celia. “Let me come in with you, I want to be there for you. Please, you don’t have to do this alone, you shouldn’t be alone, let me--” 

“Mary.” John was louder this time. He understood Holmes’ better than Mary did.

Mary continued to ignore her husband. Her brand new husband. Celia had only just remembered they had cut their honeymoon short to come back to London. She half wished they hadn’t. Sometimes, she found Mary’s love a little suffocating. “Cee, please, don’t--”

“Doctor Morstan.” This time it was Mycroft who spoke, his tone so cold and hard that Mary jumped as if he had yelled in her ear. Immediately, she retreated. Lestrade and Gregson hovered behind her, not pushing her on just yet. For a moment, Cecelia looked around the corridor. Mycroft stood closest to the morgue’s door but she would still have to walk past him to go inside. His hands were behind his back; a soldier stance. John stood directly across from him, his arms were folded across his chest. He looked back at Cecelia, not quite pity but certainly a concern. He seemed to think his wife was right but didn’t voice it.

Sherlock stood further away, passed the morgue door, almost in the dark. Coward. For the first time in Cecelia’s life, she hated him. The best consulting detective in the world and he had failed her in the most crucial case. He didn’t look at her, just stared at the floor, a look of gentle horror on his face. They had the same face; it had a carved quality. Today, he was made of marble. He was an oddly placed statue; cold and unmoving. Mycroft began to speak but Cecelia quickly cut him off, turning back to Lestrade. “I’m ready to go in.” 

DI Lestrade moved forward to open the door for Cecelia and she followed DI Gregson into the room. A small body lay under a white sheet on a metal table. The coroner waited patiently by the body. Cee was unsure if she would faint or throw up but she felt a hand on the middle of her back and turned to see Dianne Gregson, looking at the body, not her. The DI had always been relatively cold towards Cecelia, who she considered a selfish heiress playing detective with her brother. She wasn’t far off. By all accounts, Dianne only begrudgingly allowed Sherlock to help on her cases and he was a Scotland Yard consultant. But Cee also remembered something Lestrade had said about the woman; that her own son had died. Knifed in a gang fight, years back, it was her reason for joining the police. It was comforting somehow, to have someone in the room with her, who understood the grief she felt. Or would feel. Maybe Mary was right. Maybe that wasn’t Charlotte Holmes under there. 

“You can take as long as you like, Cecelia.” Lestrade’s kind voice sounds from behind her. 

Celia shakes her head, takes a deep breath and whispers, “okay.” 

The coroner moves the sheet from her face, settling it around her shoulders like he was tucking her into bed. Charlie could have been asleep. There were no marks on her face, her eyes closed. But she wasn’t asleep. Her chest didn’t rise and fall, she didn’t twitch her nose. Cee had watched her little girl doze off enough times to know. Charlie was a dancer in her dreams; impossible to sleep next to, she turned and twitched all night. She was never still. 

But cold and stiff in a morgue; Charlie’s dancing days were over before they’d even begun. 

Cee imagined herself at this moment as they made their way to Scotland Yard. She thought she might scream or throw up, she thought she might drop to the floor and weep. On the inside, she was. In her head, she was weeping, screaming, yelling, cursing any God who could hear her but her face showed none of this. She was serene in her grief. “Yes,” she said calmly, “that’s her. That... that is my daughter.” Say her name coward, say her bloody name. 

The heiress made a sudden movement, making the coroner jump. She moved to her daughter’s side, leant down, kissed her head and then turned away, through the door and out into the corridor. Both Mary and John sprung up from their chairs, but Cee didn’t look at any of them. Mycroft called her name but she didn’t turn. She needed to get out of here before she lost control; she needed a locked door between herself and the rest of the world. But there is no rest for the wicked. A door at the end of the corridor slams and coming towards her, fury in his eyes, is James. Not him. Not now. She can’t tell him. She raises her hands to him, begging silently for him to stop, to slow down, to turn away, don’t look. 

“It’s not her,” he tells her, “that is not my daughter. That is not our daughter.” 

Oh, if only that was true. If only his certainty would bring her back to life. “It is,” Cee whispers, hands on his chest, not pushing physically but hoping mentally he might turn back. He doesn’t. The doctor pushes past her and yells it this time, maybe to the police, maybe to her, maybe at God. Cee doesn’t have the strength to stop him, she never did. 

As James pushes away, another man comes into her eye line. He waits patiently, solemnly at the end of the corridor. Sherlock always said he was an absent father, but it wasn’t true. Morland Holmes appeared exactly when his daughter needed him most, sometimes without a call even needed to be made. A string connected father and daughter, one that Celia never managed to replicate with her own child. Morland would always know where Cee was. He didn’t always come when she wanted him to, but he always came when she needed him to. 

He doesn’t move, instead waits for her to come to him but speaks before she can. “Let’s go home, Cece. The car is outside.” She understood home to mean Sussex, not Chelsea. He sounds sad, but Cee thought he always did. He had lost his mother, his brother, his sister and his wife but he’d never lost a child. She beat him to that, not for lack of trying on his children’s part. Morland removed his coat and placed it around his daughter’s shoulders, followed by his own arm and began to lead Cecelia out of the police station, away from James’ yelling and sobbing, echoing down the corridor. Mary would get to comfort a parent today and after all James deserved her comfort. He had loved Charlotte better; they all had.

#( ii. drabble ) #( iv. charlotte holmes ) #child death --

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough Ch 25

Catherine might have missed like 99% of Henry Tilney's flirting, but she has an inkling it has happened, maybe, "He had—she thought he had, once or twice before this fatal morning, shown something like affection for her."

Which is why I love this meme so much:

Again, Catherine touches upon Marianne Dashwood behaviour but she just can't really commit, "But now—in short, she made herself as miserable as possible for about half an hour, went down when the clock struck five, with a broken heart, and could scarcely give an intelligible answer to Eleanor’s inquiry if she was well." However, by the end of the evening and with Henry being kinder than ever, she has recovered. she had nothing to do but to forgive herself and be happier than ever; and the lenient hand of time did much for her by insensible gradations in the course of another day. She does indeed bounce back quickly!

Catherine reflects that in England at least, the type of villains described by Mrs. Radcliff must not exist. She doesn't go so far as to pardon France and Switzerland from containing such evil, but she's pretty sure about her own country. She also believes that while Henry and Eleanor may not be perfect (never!), she's certain that General Tilney has some "specks" in his character. Well you've come a long way girl, we won't ask for more just yet.

Murder was not tolerated, servants were not slaves, and neither poison nor sleeping potions to be procured, like rhubarb, from every druggist.

Quick, someone tell Shakespeare!

Now Catherine's thoughts return to Bath, but she has no news. Her faithful friend has proved unfaithful again: But Isabella had promised and promised again; and when she promised a thing, she was so scrupulous in performing it! Oh Catherine...

Not as bad as her brother though! Poor Thorpe is in town: I dread the sight of him; his honest heart would feel so much. Honest heart! That man doesn't have an honest cell in his entire body! I would have more hope for James if we knew he finally figured out John, but the only hint we have is this: the failure of a very recent endeavour to accomplish a reconciliation between Morland and Isabella. So James and John met again and John tried to get them back together, but whether James rejected both siblings or just one is unknown.

I really feel for Catherine here, she has to sit through breakfast trying not to cry, then cannot return to her room because it is being cleaned (bedrooms in this era were mostly for dressing and sleeping, so she wouldn't be expected to use her room again until 4pm*), tries the drawing room only to discover the Tilney siblings, but then they kindly leave her to herself. Catherine needs another half hour (her magical sad-feeling time) before she can face them.

This line from Catherine is so very Jane Bennet:

"Could you have believed there had been such inconstancy and fickleness, and everything that is bad in the world?”

What a stroke was this for poor Jane, who would willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind as was here collected in one individual! -Pride & Prejudice, of Wickham

The poor girls, having their eyes opened to the wickedness of the world.

Then this part:

This post by Fira Wren playing in my head. His kids know the General is full of it. Eleanor is surprised her older brother has fallen in love, since it seems he never has been before, which again has Henry Crawford vibes.

No, not very. I do not believe Isabella has any fortune at all: but that will not signify in your family. Your father is so very liberal! He told me the other day that he only valued money as it allowed him to promote the happiness of his children.” The brother and sister looked at each other.

Now the reason that Isabella Thorpe would lose in a battle to the death against Lucy Steele and Lady Susan is that she didn't keep her first man secure until she had the next engagement entirely locked down. Rookie movie Izzy! I have too good an opinion of Miss Thorpe’s prudence to suppose that she would part with one gentleman before the other was secured. Isabella just could not manage two men at once.

I love this interaction:

This line from Catherine too, "I never was so deceived in anyone’s character in my life before.” and Henry's response: “Among all the great variety that you have known and studied.” has so much in common with this interaction in Pride & Prejudice:

“But perhaps,” observed Catherine, “though she has behaved so ill by our family, she may behave better by yours. Now she has really got the man she likes, she may be constant.” “Indeed I am afraid she will,” replied Henry; “I am afraid she will be very constant, unless a baronet should come in her way; that is Frederick’s only chance. I will get the Bath paper, and look over the arrivals.”

“I did not know before,” continued Bingley, immediately, “that you were a studier of character. It must be an amusing study.” “Yes; but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at least that advantage.” “The country,” said Darcy, “can in general supply but few subjects for such a study. In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society.” “But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.”

Henry also manages to tip us off about his intentions to marry Catherine right under Catherine's oblivious nose!

"Prepare for your sister-in-law, Eleanor, and such a sister-in-law as you must delight in! Open, candid, artless, guileless, with affections strong but simple, forming no pretensions, and knowing no disguise.”

“Such a sister-in-law, Henry, I should delight in,” said Eleanor with a smile.

Catherine also realizes that she feels much less sad about losing Isabella than she thought she would, which Henry tells her to think about. The falseness of Isabella's friendship is dawning on Catherine, perhaps now just unconsciously.

*Quote illuminating this point from Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, spoke by a character who would have been young during the Regency era: 'No, no, Cromer: bedrooms are for sleeping in, and sitting-rooms are for sitting in. Keep everything to its right purpose, and don't try and delude me into nonsense.' Why, my mother would have given us a fine scolding if she had ever caught us in our bedrooms in the daytime. We kept our out-door things in a closet downstairs; and there was a very tidy place for washing our hands, which is as much as one wants in the daytime.

#northanger abbey readthrough #northanger abbey #henry tilney #isabella thorpe #the letter from James

[misscrawfords]

I have so many questions! 8, 23, 24 for the Austen ask :)

8. Least favorite couple

Now, does this mean hero/heroine couple or does it mean couple in general? If the former, probably Colonel Brandon and Marianne. There’s a massive age gap (which is not in itself a bad thing necessarily but it does set a few alarm bells ringing), he often seems to be projecting his feelings for his lost love onto Marianne which doesn’t seem incredibly healthy and there’s a sense that Marianne was sort of worn down and eventually gave into him after her disappointment with Willoughby. We don’t see enough of their actual relationship developing romantically for me to feel satisfied. I mean, it could be lovely... but we don’t see it.

If just generally least favourite couple - probably James Morland and Isabella Thorpe. Poor James! At least it doesn’t go anywhere in the end.

23. Favorite Austen male casting decision

I know it’s a cliche but probably Colin Firth. He just gets Darcy and his performance has meant so much to me over the years.

24. Favorite supporting character

MY SNARKY, PARTY HATING HUSBAND JOHN KNIGHTLEY <3 <3 <3

Ask me Austen questions

#thank you!! #jane austen #contagiousgrace

[queen-mischief-fanfiction]

Trailer #2

An: Okay everyone I think this will be my last trailer redesign but I’ll make this promise if this gets a lot of attention then after I see the new film, which is in a view days, I’m going to do a redesign of the film, I will write the movie like I’ve written these okay.

“Jellicle Cats meet once a year At the Jellicle Ball where we all rejoice And the Jellicle Leader will soon appear And make what is known as the Jellicle Choice

When Old Deuteronomy, just before dawn, through a silence you feel you could cut with a knife Announces the cat who can now be reborn

And come back to a different Jellicle Life For waiting up there is the Heaviside Layer Full of wonders one Jellicle only will see And Jellicles ask because Jellices dare Who will it be? Who will it be?”

A black cat is seen walking through the streets, avoiding cars and rummaging through bins. Bustopher jones stands in front of her “oh my, we better get you cleaned up�� he says and the screen fades black. 

“Follow me home if you dare to, I wouldn't know where to lead you”

Three knocks are heard and the cat door opens up to a Jennyanydots “oh Bustohoer Jones what a surprise, Jelly and I weren’t expecting you” she says after a small curtesy and Bustopher bowed back “I know but I have an urgent matter about a dirty kitten and this time we will need a bucket of water” he says showing the cat with a streak of white on her cheek. The next shot she’s in the bubbly bath playing with the bubbles, one floats in front of her face and shows Plato’s face before it pops and he wasn’t there. “Sorry I’m late ladies I had a little trouble” duchess says coming inside with Quaxo and Alonzo seeing a clean Victoria with the pink bow “oh whose this darling little queen?”

“Should I take chances when no one took chances on me? So I watch from the dark, wait for my life to start With no beauty in my memory. All that I wanted was to be wanted Too young to wander London streets, alone and haunted Born into nothing At least you have something, something to cling to Visions of dazzling rooms I'll never get let into And the memories were lost long ago But at least you have beautiful ghosts”

*Dame Judi Dench*

“They call me Duchess and it’s now my duty to show you around, now the gentleman that brought you here is my Brother Bustopher Jones,” 

*James Barron*

Bustopher is seen sitting on his hat and the toms standing proudly around him, “duchess listen to me it’s not your fault, do not regret a mistake you did not make” he tells his sister “but it is my mistake Bustopher and I must pay for it until she is back in my arms” she says.

“,the Queen’s that cleaned you are Jennyanydots,” 

*Susie McKenna*

Jennyanydots is smiling wide finishing her song, “now which one? Oh yes thank you darling, run along now” Jenny thanks her mice friend taking the pink ribbon from his paws before tying it around Victoria’s neck “purrfect like a little queen”.

 “,and Jellyorum,” 

*Susan Jane Tanner*

Jellyorum pats Gus’s paw affectionately. “Jennyanydots I heard a rumour yesterday” she says “what is it this time sister?” Jenny was so over Jelly’s gossip “Bustopher Jones was seen strutting about town, perhaps he’ll join us tonight for the celebrations”. 

“Then we have Munkustrap he’s the next leader,” 

*Michael Gruber*

Munkustrap prowls around defensively awaiting an attack on his father behind him, “Everlasting Cat give me strength and sanity to last the Jellicle ball” he prays as his brother watches him bored.

 “, his mate Demeter,” 

*Aeva May*

Munk And Demeter share a dance with each other. “I wish I can be as strong and brave as you one day” Victoria admires Demeter making her smile and pet the younger queen “Victoria if you were any braver you’d be a lioness, and you are strong not every queen can tame a wild Tom” Demeter says “Plato isn’t wild” Victoria replies and Demeter chuckles “not all Toms are wild on the outside” she says mysteriously.

 “Alonzo,” 

*Jason Gardiner*

“Woah! Careful there, kittens must always watch where they are going” Alonzo says stopping the kittens from walking into a pollicle area.

“Bombalurina,”

*Rosemarie Ford*

Bomba saunters up to Victoria looking her up and down “little kitten you have a lot to learn about Toms and luckily auntie Deme and Bomba are here to help” she says making Deme smile as she shakes her head at her sister.

“Rum Tum Tugger!!” 

*John Partridge*

Cettie squeals moving to sit between his legs and rub herself against him as Victoria and Rumple playfully claw at his legs and he smirks blowing a kiss to Quaxo. “My darling Victoria I have discovered that life’s greatest treasures lie in having a family with the ones you love” Tugger tells Victoria as he looks over his litter of seven kittens, three are red, brown and yellow with a mix of stripes and spots and four are black, white with gold spots and two have similar looking names. “How did we let him talk us into mating with the both of us?” Misto asked Bomba “we love him and all his eccentricities” she answers.

“Then we have Cassandra,” 

*Rebecca Parker*

a close up of Cassandra shown dancing. Alonzo holds Cassandra back from Grizabella. “Look at her, she fits in so well with everyone” Cassandra tells Alonzo watching Victoria interact with the kittens, “I know it’s like she’s home” he says.

“,Exotica,” 

*Femi Taylor*

Exotica is shown near Deuteronomy during Gus’s song. She is also seen fawning over Tugger. “I wonder who’ll be picked to go tonight?” Exotica asks the other girls “I’m thinking it’ll be gus” Rumpleteazer says “ladies no one but Deuteronomy knows who’ll be chosen tonight, but Gus is a worthy candidate” Cassandra says.

 “,Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer,” 

*Drew Varley* *Jo Gibb*

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer peak into the house using the cat door before they acrobat their way in. They interrupt Misto’s song by jumping on the piano keys behind him making him jump and hiss at them, “tut tut Quaxo that’s not your story to tell” Jerrie chuckles finding his reaction funny “he’s right, time to let the us troublesome tigers sing our song” Teazer declares before they start singing their song.

“,Tantomile and Coricopat our psychic twins,” 

*Kaye Brown* *Tommi Sliiden*

The Psychic twins are seen reacting to an unknown presence in the yard. Tantomile and Corcipat watch Victoria and Misto sharing a secret smile with each other. “Will the yard’s magician make a big show?” Tantomile asks Misto “I believe it will be a sight one must see to believe” Coricopat says.

“,Skimbleshanks,” 

*Geoffrey Garratt*

Skimble And Jenny are tap dancing together and skimble twirls Jenny around and they pose finishing their dance in each other’s arms. “I still wonder how our daughter ended up with him?” Skimble says watching Rumple  and Jerrie, “if my memory serves me correctly you were just as wild as him in your youth, or did you forget how Rumpleteazer was conceived?” Jenny says smirking at her husband.

“,Gus the theatre cat,” 

*Ian McKellen*

Gus is sitting on a hat telling the kittens his stories. Flashbacks of him as Fireforefiddle and Growltiger are shown. “Back in my day you needed to do more than jump through hoops to be talented” Gus chided the kittens “back in your day dad, don’t be silly that was last week on the telly, we were watching an animal talent show” asparagus laughs.

“Asparagus Jnr,” 

*Tony Timberlake*

Asparagus And Munk share a look of disbelief as someone asked ‘what’s a Jellicle Cat?’ “Boys please settle down you know how upset Munk gets if everything isn’t perfect” he chided his sons stopping then from their prank, making them groan.

“,our leader Old Deuteronomy,” 

*Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy*

Deuteronomy sits down on the tire and he sons come up to bow before nuzzling him. A flashback is shown of a younger Deuteronomy with his sons of varying age with the oldest being Macavity and youngest Tugger. “Deuteronomy do you really believe that she’s out there?” Duchess asks him “all Jellicles find their way home eventually” he says as Grizabella and then Victoria is shown.

“The magical, the marvellous Mr Mistoffelees!” 

*Jacob Brent*

Music pauses as Misto And Victoria sit together on a windowsill “what do you really think of Tugger?” She asks him “I think he’s terrible bore,” a shot of Misto winking at Tugger is seen “,he’s my terrible bore” Misto finishes smiling at Victoria. 

“,the queen kittens, Etcetera,”

  *Jo Bingham*

“Wait! You know Tugger likes Misto then why do you fawn over him?” Victoria asks watching Cettie gussy herself up in the mirror. “Because the more I gush the more Tumblebrutus sees me and one day I’m hoping he’ll take me as his mate when we are older” she says excitedly.

“,Electra,”

*Leah Sue Morland*

“Don’t worry about Cettie I think she was dropped on her head as a kitten” Electra jokes sitting next to Victoria. Electra covers her ears as Cettie squeals loudly “Etcetera for the love of Everlasting Cat shut up!” She screams at her best friend.

 “,the youngest Jemima,”

*Veerle Casteleyn*

“You’re very lonely out there, you should stay” Jemima tells Victoria by the entrance of the yard, “How do you know?” “I can feel your sadness as you remember your life, so please for Plato, for duchess, for everyone please stay” Jemima begs grabbing the taller kitten’s paws, Victoria’s ears and tail tilt down “I can’t” a shot of sad Jemima standing alone at the entrance is shown.

 “,and the Tom kittens, George,” 

*Frank Thompson*

“Is he really a cat?” Victoria says not knowing she could be heard, Bomba slides up behind her “not sure we have a theory going he’s part pollicle” she says watching George smile goofily at Electra and wagging his tail.

“,Tumblebrutus,”

*Fergus Logan*

Tumblebrutus does a double flip and backflip before turning around and seeing Cettie wasn’t watching him. “How the hell can I get her attention if she’s obsessed with Tugger” Tumble rants to his friends “go and say hi” Plato says “that’s easy for you, you are tall dark and mysterious Queens love that plus you have very intense eyes. Meanwhile I’m quirky, flippy and akward especially talking to Queens” Plato groans finding Tumblebrutus’ plans stupid.

 “,Pouncival,” 

*Karl Morgan*

Pouncival and the other Tom kits are on top of boxes looking at Victoria after her bath, Pouncival leans forward too much and falls off the box landing on his feet as the others laugh at him. “,And please be wary of anyone named” “Macavity!” Demeter screeches as the other cats run and hide, Munkustrap stands tall in front of Macavity, who calmly walks up to him and Tugger who was hiding behind Munk “look at this a family reunion” Macavity says mockingly “leave Macavity there is nothing for you here” Munk states making Macavity cackle “Give me what is mine and there won’t be any cats getting hurt” he threatens and the light turns red as the other cats hiss at Macavity before everything turns black.

*Elaine Paige*

Grizabella is shown crying as she lays on the floor, Deuteronomy watches shedding tears for the queen he can’t help. “Does she really think one night can make 20 years of hurt disappear just because she’s sorry?” Tugger said enraged and Deuteronomy sighs “no but even the worst cat in history feels regret for actions made out of ignorance”.

*Bryn Walters*

Plato stares dreamily at Victoria as she talks with the Queens “fellas Plato has a case of Love at first sight” Tugger tells the toms as they watch Plato, “go on up and tell her how you feel” Tumblebrutus orders.

*Phyllida Crowley Smith*

Victoria gazes at Plato and the Queen’s look on hesitantly “be careful around him” Electra warns her “why he seems like a nice Tom?” Victoria asked as the Queens just go “you’ll find out”.

 “Who are you?” Victoria asked Plato as they circle each other in the moonlight, “I’m called Plato, and you?” He asks “I’m Victoria”. “Will it hurt?” Victoria asked as they start dancing together “I don’t wanna lie it will hurt, I can’t stop it but what I will do with your permission is give you the most pleasurable experience in your life” he promises and he drags his claws lightly down her back making her moan.

“And so maybe my home isn't what I had known

What I thought it would be But I feel so alive with these phantoms of night And I know that this life isn't safe, but it's wild and it's free”

Various shots are seen including the kittens all smiling as they dance a chorus line behind Tugger, Munk and Macavity fighting, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie in their Peke and Pollicle costumes messing up the barking line, and Deuteronomy nuzzling a shiny Mistoffelees. The final shot is Victoria throwing her magic glitter to the camera as Plato holds her up in the center of a circle of mating partners, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie, Electra And George, Etcetera and Tumblebrutus, Jemima and Pouncival, Misto and Tugger, Demeter and Munk.

*Cats*

#cats the musical #queen-mischief-fanfiction #cats 2019 #Cats 1998 #cats musical #coming to a fanfiction site near you

[atundratoadstool]

if you don’t mind, what are you top 10 (or anything in the vicinity) gothic lit recs?

Sorry this took forever to answer! As is typical of me these days, I tend to answer my asks and empty out my drafts in big clumps around the time that breaks occur or semesters end (and guess whose semester just ended!). I also ended up puzzling over this question for longer than I thought, as I felt–given my blog’s general content–that there wasn’t much of a point in recommending Dracula and I wanted to avoid recommending any of the big titles in my field unless I was very personally attached to them (Don’t get me wrong, Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, and Dorian Gray are all great things and you should read them, but they aren’t as close to my heart as Wuthering Heights or Northhanger Abbey.)

In any event, have my top ten gothic lit recs, ranked in rough order of my enthusiasm about recommending them.

1. Wuthering Heights (1847, Emily Brontë): I unapologetically love this novel and all the irredeemably awful people in it who are not Nelly Dean. (I’ve managed to find a sympathetic side to the character, but I still just viscerally dislike her.) It’s definitely my favorite gothic piece that seems to get accorded high status in the canon, and I first truly fell in love with it reading it out loud in the autumn with somebody I love, which is really the perfect way to encounter it.

2. The Werewolf of Paris (1933, Guy Endore): This novel is almost unknown nowadays, and it’s a real shame, as it ought to have been the werewolf genre equivalent of Dracula in terms of fame and influence. It deals with some heavy stuff (abuse, rape, incest, cannibalism, torture, suicide, massacres), both as regards the murders committed by the “monster” and the atrocities committed by collective groups of people and human institutions, and I’m not sure if I would completely agree with all of the moral messages it attempts to impart were I to re-read it today. Still, it’s a wonderfully written novel that treats its monster of choice with a subtlety I’ve not seen elsewhere in werewolf fiction, and it really appeals to the part of me who enjoys consulting Wikipedia to fact check the author’s own historical research.

3. Rebecca (1936, Daphne du Maurier): I have never simultaneously wanted to be and wanted to marry a first person narrator this much. This novel is a wonderful iteration of Gothic novels of the “I married this dude and his giant mansion has a spooky secret” genre, and Du Maurier’s use of language is breathtakingly gorgeous.

4. The Great God Pan (1895, Arthur Machen): Arthur Machen writes some of the best horror I’ve ever read, and The Great God Pan is remarkable as one of the few stories to truly unnerve me in the days after I read it. (I’m typically not one to be very rattled by books.) It’s mad science meets decadent aesthetics and it’s also a clear forerunner to some of the cooler stuff Loveraft does.

5. Northanger Abbey (1817, Jane Austen): Catherine Morland makes my fillings hurt with her sweetness, and Henry Tilney is forever #1 Austen hunk in my book hands down. I admit that I’m not much of a fan of early Gothic and Ann Radcliffe endlessly telling me about picturesque trees, but I’m intensely into this early parody of the genre, and I recommend it to anyone who might find themselves generally unenchanted with either Radcliffe or with Austen (given how different it is from her other novels).

6. Carmilla (1872, J. S. Le Fanu): Dracula will forever be the #1 vampire novel of my heart, but Le Fanu honestly has a much more beautiful prose style than Stoker, and I think that the short, ghostly, ambiguous novella he writes is a lot more chilling than Bram’s sprawling magnum opus. While Uncle Silas isn’t on this list (because it honestly wasn’t that great…), I think Carmilla’s also utterly fascinating as an inversion of the dynamics of Le Fanu’s major novel in which young women find strength in their love for one another in the face of genuinely malevolent patriarchs and meddling French governesses.

7. The Woman in White (1859, Wilkie Collins): Technically it’s “sensaton fiction,” but if there is an ominous figure lurking about the heath clad in white, I think your novel automatically gets to go under the Gothic umbrella. In any event, Collins is a fun, witty writer who knows how to write an enticing mystery, his use of the epistolary format is foundational and fun, and both Count Fosco and Marian Halcombe are majestically crafted characters that deserve the abundance of praise they typically get.

8. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824, James Hogg): Imagine The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde only it was written earlier and is more confusing. Now imagine all of the early Gothic sensationalized Catholicism that would be typical of the era has been subbed out for early Gothic sensationalized Presbyterianism. That’s what this book is, and it holds the strange distinction of being one of the few stories to truly unnerve my Master’s thesis adviser in the days after he read it. It’s also a useful educational story to give to people who need clear examples of how to tell if their new best friend might be the devil.

9. The Beetle (1897, Richard Marsh): This novel is terrible in a lot of great ways and great in a lot of terrible ways. (It’s also just terrible in a lot of terrible ways, like it’s portrayal of sickeningly orientalist murder orgy cults as directed by gender ambiguous insect people.) One of its peak terriblegreat features, though, is my fave, Sidney Atherton, a mad scientist whom nobody seems to notice is a mad scientist, even though he’s monologuing about making an unstoppable death gas and killing his romantic rival’s cat.

10. Trilby (1895, George du Maurier): This book is vile, antisemitic garbage, and I would not fault anyone for opening it up, glancing at one of Du Maurier’s illustrations, and hurling it through a window. Still, it’s an interesting read if you’re looking into the origins of The Phantom of the Opera or, like me, you are very interested in the literary history of mesmerism. This is like… the holy grail of literary mesmerism texts. I also honestly do find Svengali, as awful a stereotype as he is, to be genuinely sympathetic in his desires to bring the celestial music he hears into reality, and there are moments where I think the prose is very evocative (I love the chilling phrase “flageolet of flesh and blood” to refer to a mesmeric subject, for example.)

#Wuthering Heights #Northanger Abbey #Carmilla #The Woman in White #The Great God Pan #The Werewolf of Paris #The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner #The Beetle #Trilby #Rebecca #Anonymous

[nnjzz]

- - - mercredi 14 Nov-2018

20:00

BRIDGET HAYDEN / uk CHARALAMBIDES / us MARIACHI & AUGUSTIN BETTE / fr JON COLLIN / uk se Le Non_Jazz Les Nautes 1 Quai des Célestins 75004 M° Sully-Morland

P.A.F. 6€ ============= CHARALAMBIDES / us Formé à Houston, Tx en 1991 par le couple Christina et Tom Carter (ex-guitariste du groupe psychédélique The Mike Gunn), le duo, devenant parfois + occasionnellement trio (enrichi par les apports de - successivement - Kyle Silfer, Jason Bill et, enfin, Heather Leigh) dès leur premier album, "Our Bed Is Green", avait fait "preuve d'une connaissance affirmée des propriétés "sépulcrales" du blues et de la country américaine, ainsi que d'une maîtrise des manipulations de bandes, ainsi qu'une indifférence aux étiquettes musicales et un penchant certain pour le drone de guitare." (Instants Ch. ) Acid-folk ? Psych-rock ? Impro ? Hybride, tellurique et hantée, défiant toute sorte de catégorisation hâtive, leur musique, tantôt contemplative, tantôt tourmentée, puise ses sources autant du côté de chez Skip James que chez Tony Conrad, Linda & Sonny Sharrock, Robbie Basho, voire même aux racines amérindiennes de leur pays. Guitare acide & bouillonnante de Tom, fin tisserand de textures alambiquées et touffues, crée un canevas-écrin pour les mélopées incantatoires de Christina, évoquant parfois Patty Waters ou Jeanne Lee (entre autres), et les deux s'embrasent dans une étreinte fusionnelle mais fragile. En 26 ans de carrière (?), nombre de LPs, CDs, cassettes virent le jour via leur propre label, Wholly Other d'abprd et ensuite chez Siltbreeze, Kranky, Drunken Fish, Crucial Blast ...   Les Suisses de la Cave 12 disaient ceci à leur propos : "(...)  Fantômes décharnés et méconnaissables du folk et du blues américain ; spectre du psychédélisme des ann��es 60 et 70 ; guitar heroes, défunts, mais à l’esprit et l’énergie toujours pénétrants, ballades bancales, explorations improvisées… une musique habitée, mystérieuse et évocatrice, qu’elle soit sombre ou lumineuse et un duo à la discographie impressionnante De dire que les mots « uniques » et « singuliers » sont sur-utilisés dans le fait de décrire la musique réside à statuer l’évidence. D’appliquer ces mots aux sons créés depuis 15 ans par les diverses configurations duo/trio du groupe texan CHARALAMBIDES serait une litote. Voilà un groupe capital et à l’influence majeure, qui a défriché de nouveaux territoires dans la vallée primitive/folk/mystique/improvisation/psychique dans laquelle ils besognent. « … il y a là une réelle musique ethnique expérimentale du 21ème siècle qui explore la tranquillité et la stase… de la même manière que des musiciens de la deuxième partie du 20ème siècle découvraient l’amplification, le bruit et le vitesse. » ( Marcus Boon in The Wire)

https://charalambides.bandcamp.com/album/our-bed-is-green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU-pOqep2rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGfeFV612jg

http://www.furious.com/perfect/charalambides.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN0fqDYIvpU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuVyeluTEo

BRIDGET HAYDEN / uk " galaxy electrified musical noise" "fut / est / sera à vie liée à l'aura et au mythe du magnifique collectif psych-drone Vibracathedral Orchestra formé à Leeds il y a une vingtaine d'années, Elle fit par la suite également partie -  occasionnellement - des Telescopes ou Sunburned Hand of the Man. Solo, elle compose à base d'un set-up de fortune (trucs trouvés dans la rue et / ou empruntésà droite et à gauche), des chansons minimales, lentes (et très lentes) au psychédélisme latent et / ou lénifiant - des faux / vrais brouillons d'embryons de blues étirés et noyés dans la réverbe, trébuchant sur la delay, voguant à travers de vastes étendues dévastées d'un cosmos intérieur trouble.

Bridget Hayden's music is equal parts scuzz, drift, echo, and dream.

(Black Dead Sea blogspot)

Bridget Hayden wrote history as a violinist with Vibracathedral Orchestra, the mother of early twenty-first century European avant-garde drone rock. In 2006 she left the band to focus on her own work, which alongside that of intense drone pieces also includes poetry, film and painting. With guitar and viola she exorcices the heavy noise from her body. (kraak) "Previously found prizing atom splitting feedback through a horizontal guitar, Bridget Hayden’s solo experiments have more lately sought the brooding, layered blues that we find resonating in “An Indifferent Ocean”. A stripped down set up, featuring an out of tune, hand me down guitar, two pedals of similar origin – no delays – and a donated fourtrack port-a-studio found on the street, has converged to form a crafted storm of abyss kicking improvisation”..(kraak)

http://notwavingordrowning.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YSmHuBMkeo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zQ3McBuQDM

https://bridgethayden.bandcamp.com/

JON COLLIN / uk se " ...a guitar player from Lancashire, UK, currently based in Sweden. On record he plays either improvised freeform abstract blues or through-composed minimalistic utilitarian drone music. His live shows are improvisations using a system of body, mind, breath, strings and electricity. His most recent LP releases are The Nature (Early Music; 2017) and the forthcoming Water and Rock Music Volume 1 (Feeding Tube; 2018). (Café OTO) Guitariste au style épuré (mots-clés : suspense / délicatesse /abstraction / fragilité / imprévisibilité....) jouant beaucoup avec les silences, égrenant des notes en apesanteur, suspendues au bord du vide. Actif solo ou en groupe (SERFS, WHOLE VOYALD INFINITE LIGHT ou VAMPIRE BLUES...), il dirige par ailleurs l'excellent label "artisanal" Winebox Press. "(...) Initialement influencé par Loren Mazzacane Connors, sa musique s'est au fil des années et des disques émancipée vers des sommets mélodiques d'une intensité et d'une mélancolie qui touche au sublime" (dixit Les Concerts Des Ultimes Adieux Et De L'oubli).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3MHy7sRJYk

https://soundcloud.com/j-collin

https://soundcloud.com/j-collin

https://joncollin.bandcamp.com/

MARIACHI + AUGUSTIN BETTE / fr pariggi Ce n'est pas la première fois que Nina Garcia aka MARIACHI croise le manche et le corps de sa strato avec les baguettes / mailloches / cymbales et fûts d'Augustin Bette pour un duo / duel riche en subtilités / nuances / polyrythmies / échardes soniques, ruptures et brisures.

Elle : outre son explosif projet solo, également "repérée" déjà notamment  chez MAMIEDARAGON & dans son excellent duo avec Maria Bertel.

Lui : joue régulièrement & dans moult configurations / permutations possibles de l'actuelle scène post-jazz / néo-impro de la capitale, notamment avec / dedans le collectif 2035 (avec entre autres Basile Naudet, Alexandre du Closel, Morgane Carnet, Luca Ventimiglia...)... "développe une approche rudimentaire et maximaliste de la batterie où l’espace se remplit de roulements, de frisés, d’harmoniques et se dilate en de longues litanies rythmiques" (Instants Chavirés) Tous les deux jouent régulièrement dans ENSEMBLE ELECTRON, big-band d'improvisation dirigée par 'Olivier Benoit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbPm0NjE3FY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOkf8DuQtFU

Fly :: Jo L'Indien

[ljones41]

"NORTHANGER ABBEY" (2007) Review

"NORTHANGER ABBEY" (2007) Review As far as I know, there have only been two screen adaptations of Jane Austen's 1817 novel, "Northanger Abbey". The first adaptation aired back in 1986. And the most recent aired on Britain's ITV network back in 2007, as part of a series of dramas called Jane Austen Season.

"NORTHANGER ABBEY" followed the misadventures of Catherine Morland, the 17 year-old daughter of a rural clergyman and Gothic novel aficianado. She is invited by her parents' wealthy friends, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, to accompany them on a visit the famous spa city, Bath. There, the friendly and somewhat naive Catherine becomes acquainted with Isabella Thorpe (who becomes engaged to her brother James), and her crude brother, John. She also befriends Eleanor Tilney and falls in love with the latter's brother, the witty and charming clergyman, Henry. The Thorpes are displeased with Catherine's friendship with the Tilneys, due to John's interest in making her his future wife. Both sister and brother assume that Catherine might become the future heir of the childless Allens. But when Catherine's relationship with the Tilneys - especially Henry - grows closer, a jealous Mr. Thorpe plays a prank by falsely informing Henry and Eleanor's father, the tyrannical General Tilney, that Catherine is an heiress. The joke leads the Tilney patriarch to invite Catherine to spend some time at the family's estate, Northanger Abbey. There, Catherine and Henry's relationship become romantic. However, between her penchant for Gothic novels, her overactive imagination and Mr. Thorpe's lie; Catherine's stay at Northanger Abbey threatens to end in disaster. My review of the 1986 version of Austen's tale made it pretty clear that I harbored a low opinion of it. Fortunately, I cannot say the same about this 2007 version. Mind you, there were aspects of it that I found troubling. As in the 1986 television movie, a castle (this time Lismore Castle in Ireland) served as Northanger Abbey. Was finding an actual estate with an abbey that difficult to find? Also, screenwriter Andrew Davies seemed determined to inject some form of overt sexuality into his recent adaptations of Austen novels. In "NORTHANGER ABBEY", he allowed the engaged Isabella Thorpe to have sex with the lecherous Captain Frederick Tilney, instead of simply flirting with him. My biggest problem with the movie turned out to be the last fifteen minutes or so. Quite frankly, I found the finale somewhat rushed. For some reason, Davies decided to exclude General Tilney's reconciliation with Catherine and Henry. Frankly, I found the movie's flaws rather minor in compare to its virtues. I thought "NORTHANGER ABBEY" was a fun and delicious soufflé that proved to be one of the most entertaining 93 minutes I have ever seen on television. It is a wonderfully funny and elegant tale about the coming-of-age of the 17 year-old Catherine Morland. Andrew Davies did a pretty good job of conveying not only the charm of Catherine, but also the personal flaws that prevented her from opening her eyes to the realities of the world. But her acquaintance with the Thorpe siblings, General Tilney's vindictiveness and Henry Tilney's practicality finally opened those eyes. Another aspect of "NORTHANGER ABBEY" that I truly enjoyed was the array of interesting characters that participated in Catherine's journey to young adulthood. And it took a cast of first-rate actors to bring these characters to life. Unlike other Austen fans, I had not been impressed by Sylvestra Le Touzel's portrayal of Fanny Price in the 1983 miniseries, "MANSFIELD PARK". Her performance as the giddy Mrs. Allen is another matter. Le Touzel gave a deliciously zany performance as Catherine's flighty and social-loving benefactress. And it is amazing how the actress' skills had improved after 24 years. Liam Cunningham made an impressive and rather foreboding General Tilney. In fact, he struck me as so intimidating that a black cloud seemed to hover about every time he appeared on the screen. William Beck, who portrayed the brutish John Thorpe, did not strike me as intimidating . . . only sinister. From a physical perspective. Yet, the moment the actor skillfully embodied the character, his Mr. Thorpe became a gauche and desperate loser who injected a "demmed" in nearly every other sentence that left his mouth. Carey Mulligan was wonderfully radiant, sexy and scheming as the manipulative Isabella Thorpe. She almost seemed like an intelligent Regency sexpot, whose lack of impulse control led to her downfall. And Catherine Walker made a charming and intelligent Eleanor Tilney. However, it seemed quite obvious to me that "NORTHANGER ABBEY" belonged to the two leads - Felicity Jones and J.J. Feild. The role of Catherine Morland proved to be Felicity Jones' first leading role as an actress. And she proved that she was more than up to the challenge. She did an excellent job of portraying Catherine's development from an innocent and over-imaginative bookworm to a slightly sadder and wiser young woman. More importantly, her chemistry with J.J. Feild literally crackled with fire. Speaking of Mr. Feild, I can honestly say that his Henry Tilney is, without a doubt, my favorite on-screen Austen hero of all time. Everything about his performance struck me as absolutely delicious - his charm, his pragmatism, his wicked wit and occasional cynicism and especially his voice. Pardon me for my shallowness, but Feild has one of the most spine-tingling voices among up and coming actors, today. I also have to commend the movie's production values. David Wilson's production designs did an excellent job of conveying viewers back to the second half of the Regency decade. He was ably assisted by Mark Lowry's art direction and Grania Preston's costume designs, which struck me as simple, yet elegant and stylish. But it was Ciarán Tanham's photography that really impressed me. The movie's colors were rich and vibrant, yet at the same time, rather elegant. Tanham's photography did much to project the movie's elegant, yet colorful style. I would never consider "NORTHANGER ABBEY" as one of the heavy-hitting Jane Austen adaptations. But it has such an elegant, yet witty aura about it that I cannot help but enjoy it very much. I was also impressed by Andrew Davies' development of the Catherine Morland character, which lead actress Felicity Jones did a great job of transferring to the screen. "NORTHANGER ABBEY" is, without a doubt, one of the most likable Jane Austen adaptation I have ever seen, hands down.

#jane austen #northanger abbey #northanger abbey 2007 #felicity jones #j.j. feild #sylvestra le touzel #william beck #carey mulligan #desmond barrit #bernadette mckenna #hugh o'conor #liam cunningham #catherine walker #mark dymond