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oscar-nominee-tournament · 2 months

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Oscar Nominee of All Time Tournament: Round 1, Group A

(info about nominees under the poll)

SARA ALLGOOD (1880-1950)

NOMINATIONS

Supporting- 1941 for How Green Was My Valley

RUTH CHATTERTON (1892-1961)

NOMINATIONS:

Lead- 1928/29 for Madame X, 1929/30 for Sarah and Son

#oscars #academy awards #oscar nominees #actors #film #sara allgood #ruth chatterton #how green was my valley #madame x 1929 #sarah and son 1930 #nominees group a #nominees group a polls

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schneiderenjoyer · 8 days

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I've been meaning to ask this before but I completely forgot until now. Do the arcanists in the suitcase (besides the main gang) know that TWTR Schneider is human?

Only a select number are aware of TWTR Schneider's biological origin! (at least in terms of her willingly disclosing it. Most of them found out against her will) It's kept confidential by the Foundation and Laplace as it could cause a huge scandal and uproar since, well...they technically they committed human experimentation, ahah.

Just for fun, here's a list of confirmed characters that knows that Schneider is human! Hiding it under the break for those that wanna keep themselves unspoiled about it as it includes future characters and vague details about events beyond current TWTR chapters (there are 17 rn) I'll list it in order of who found out first! (the order could be changed tho)

Tooth Fairy (For her first and only check up by a doctor. She's later assigned to be Schneider's "personal doctor" when dealing with medical emergencies involving her)

Constantine, Madam Z, Lucy, & Top Laplace researchers (pretty simultaneous upon receiving Tooth Fairy's medical report on Schneider)

Vertin (From Schneider)

Faustee (By accident)

Medicine Pocket (Assigned to conduct the "research" on Schneider which she consented to disclosing the information for)

Mesmer Jr. (By accident)

Arcana (Through shady means, of course)

Forget Me Not & Druvis (through Arcana outing her)

Sonetto, Regulus, APPLe, Sotheby, and X (from THAT scene)

Matilda (She has always assumed for years, but never confronts Schneider about it. She was almost told about it by someone else, but stops them from saying it. It's Schneider's secret to keep and if she's not going to tell her, then she will not hear it from anyone.)

Blonney (From Schneider. I place the Greenlake event after the 1929 Storm but before they go to Apeiron)

6 & 37, by extension, the whole of Apeiron + Lilya (Weird soul numbers type of thing. Lilya, like Matilda, always got the feeling, but didn't get a confirmation until that moment)

And that's about it so far! Looking at the list, only 3 people ever honestly got told about it with Schneider's consent. (Tooth Fairy and Madam Z are exceptions since they were informed before it was even a big deal to keep Schneider's origin a secret. But if it were a situation where they didn't know, Schneider would've willingly told them about it.)

#reverse 1999 #together within the rubble #asks #I guess this is spoiler for one of the event side story if you end up noticing someone's not in the list c:

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saintmeghanmarkle · 21 days

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I call BS on madam being 43% Nigerian with research. by u/Technical_Ant_7466

I call BS on madam being 43% Nigerian, with research. You can get a DNA tests and results from Family Tree, Genealogy & Family History Records which show heritage, or where a family originated from.Markles mother Doria, was born in the USAMarkles grandparents Jeanette and Alvin were born in Sandusky Ohio and South Carolina in 1929.Markles great grandparents Nettie Mae and James were born in South Carolina in 1897 & 1909.Markles great great grandparents Gertrude Elizabeth and Hunter Allen were born in Georgia in or around 1882.So, considering her father is of Dutch/Irish/American descent, how can she claim to be 43% Nigerian?These percentages provide a location(s) where your family came from, not who you are.It demonstrates what madams ancestry is made up of mainly Irish/Nigerian/English/American background, but it DOES NOT mean that she is that percentage ( 43%) Nigerian. I would be interested to know how she can claim 43% when for over 200 years (I stopped looking back any further )her family has been American born?The fact that this woman even had her profile from early 2000, where she never stated she was biracial and, that even some friends she had back then did not even know she was biracial, and that she lived in a very privileged “white life” to now claim her heritage is disingenuousIt must be a way for her to make headway into Nigerian business deals. There are a great many shady deals going on in Nigeria and the crime rate is high.Like in the Congo , where AFRICAN PARKS has been under fire for not taking action against the atrocities going on, I believe that this kind of abuse of indigenous peoples is happening on a grand scale throughout Africa.Africa is ripe for stripping natural resources including land by other nations, or wealthy businessmen from wealthy nations, eager to enslave, mistreat and pillage the continent of Africa.Hank & Skank are pretending to be on a royal tour, but Hank being a royal is in a position to wheel and deal with the Nigerian Government.It was the government that had a message on X saying they were pleased that both Meghan’s agreed to travel to Nigeria.They’re using the guise of Invictus as their “official excuse “.No way. I don’t believe this for a moment. There’s something bigger going on.https://ift.tt/bpmQfo7 appears that some sort of white colonialism is being perpetrated on the indigenous peoples.https://ift.tt/OlB3QxY post link: https://ift.tt/bV2HXxY author: Technical_Ant_7466 submitted: May 01, 2024 at 12:25AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

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foundtherightwords · 9 months

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All Our Yesterdays - Chapter 14 (last chapter)

Pairing: Ralph (Timewasters) x OFC

Summary: Thu, a museum archivist, only wants to escape her dull life in 21st-century Hanoi. The last thing she expects is to end up in 1929 Indochina via a time-traveling elevator and cross paths with Ralph, an Englishman on the run from the French Foreign Legion. Romance blossoms between them, but in a colonized country, unrest is always looming on the horizon, and Thu must decide if she wants to stay with Ralph in the past or return to the safety of the future.

Warnings: outdated/period-typical attitudes about women, mentions of war, mentions of pregnancy and abortion (involving a supporting character), some angst, some smut (non-explicit)

Chapter word count: 4.6k

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13

Chapter 14

"Thu! You're back!"

Mai looked so happy to see her that Thu felt quite touched. The girl had regained some weight since Thu left, and some of the rosy roundness was back in her cheeks, though there was a new sadness in her eyes.

"Yes, I got your message," Thu said.

"Oh, that's good to know! But I don't get it," Mai said, her moon face scrunched up in confusion. "Ralph told me you've gone back to Hong Kong when he gave me your áo dài—thank you for those, by the way—so why'd he ask me to bury that box for you? How did you..." Here Mai gave her a furtive glance. "Lien is convinced that you're a police spy, and that was why you disappeared. You're not, are you?"

Thu smiled. It appeared that Mai's recent trauma had made little change in her trusting nature. "No, I'm not," Thu said. "But I'll appreciate it if you don't mention my return at the office."

"Oh, didn't you know? The police closed us down. I'm working at a tailor's shop now. It pays less, but at least there's no danger of getting arrested."

Mai tried to smile at her own joke, but she sobered up when Thu asked, "What happened to Madame Phuong?"

"She was moved to a camp for political prisoners, somewhere up north," Mai said, looking down. "That's all I know. Her parents are taking care of the kids now."

Thu sighed. So much for her plan to bust Madame Phuong out as well. But she was here for Ralph; she should focus on him.

"What about Ralph, do you know?" she asked Mai, preparing herself for the worst.

"He's still in Hỏa Lò," Mai replied. "Everything was in chaos after the mutiny, so his case hasn't gone to trial yet. I think it's set for the day after tomorrow."

The hot bile of panic rose in her throat again. The day after tomorrow! Would Homeless Pete and the time machine have been "recharged" enough by then?

"Tell me what happened with him," she said, forcing herself to calm down.

Mai sat down on one of the two chairs in the room and pulled Thu onto the other as she told her story. A few weeks ago, she'd received a message from Ralph out of the blue, asking her to come see him at the police station. He'd explained that he was recognized at the ticket office when he went to purchase the passage on a steamship back to England and was arrested. He'd then asked her to pick up his things from the studio in case the police confiscated them or his landlord took them. He'd also slipped her the letter to be put in the album and buried, per his instructions. "I was so scared that I would get arrested for stealing or something," Mai said, indicating the two suitcases at the corner of her room, "but thank Heavens, I got there in time."

"That was very brave of you," Thu said.

"Did I do the right thing, telling you about his arrest? He was vehement that I didn't tell you."

Of course he was. He wanted her to believe that he was safe. Thu's heart broke again when she thought about the fears that he must have gone through, that he must still be going through now. "Yes, you did," she told Mai. "Thank you for that."

"Did you know that he used to be a legionnaire?" Mai asked.

"Yes."

"Funny. He doesn't look like one."

"How is a legionnaire supposed to look?" Thu said, amused despite her sore heart.

"I don't know, tough?"

Thu smiled again, though there was pain in her smile. Mai's words conjured up too clearly an image of Ralph, grinning ear-to-ear, bouncing on his feet or clapping his hands at everything and anything that delighted him. No wonder he'd run away from the French Legion. Their brutality would've killed him.

Wait a minute. Why were they talking about Ralph as if they were mourning him, as if he were already lost? She was here to rescue him, so rescue him she would.

"Is he allowed visitors?" she asked Mai.

"I'm sure he is. You have to get there very early to sign up though." Mai tilted her head. "What are you planning?"

"It's best that you don't know," Thu said. "If all goes well, we'll be out of your hair by tomorrow night. Knock on wood," she remembered to add.

Mai was quiet for a while, studying the determination on Thu's face. "I wish I had someone that loves me as much as you two love each other," eventually she said.

Her wistful look pinched at Thu's heart. She wished she could say something to the girl, to warn her of the difficult years ahead, to assure her that it would get better. Deep down inside, she knew the suffering of Mai and others like her did not matter in the long run; their lives would get swallowed up in the current of history, like drops of water in the ocean. That was the problem with being a historian. After a while, you stopped seeing individuals, people. You only saw facts. But having lived through the past few months in the past, she knew that life didn't stop even when you were hurdling toward some world-changing event. And here, now, Mai's happiness mattered to her, because they were friends.

So she took the girl's hand and gave it a little pat. "You will, I'm sure of it," she said.

"As long as he doesn't have a mustache, right?" Mai said, and this time, despite the worry gnawing at their insides, they both laughed out loud at the joke.

***

The next morning, Thu arrived at Hỏa Lò Prison right after daybreak, wearing one of her old áo dài that she'd given to Mai. Even at that early hour, there was already a line of visitors queuing up outside the front gate. The visitors sized each other up surreptitiously, ashamed or afraid of being recognized, of others knowing their loved ones were jail. Thu hardly paid them any attention. Her heart was thudding so hard in her chest that it was almost choking her. She couldn't breathe, couldn't hear anything else other than its beats in her ears. It wasn't just her apprehension of what she was about to do. It was also the thrill of seeing Ralph again. It had only been two weeks for her and a month for him, but it felt much longer. So much had happened.

As usual, she sought to distract herself by comparing the past and the present. In her time, most of the prison complex was gone, and the remaining part, which was converted into a museum, was dwarfed by the surrounding high-rise apartment buildings. Even now, still recognizable by its proximity to the Supreme Court, the complex appeared innocuous, the brown tiled roofs and gray concrete walls looking not much different from the other buildings around it. Only the main gate, painted black and set with iron bars, with the words Maison Centrale curved above it, spoke of the complex's true purpose.

Just then, the gate cracked open, and a clerk came out, a pompous, bespectacled little man in a white suit. The visitors gave him the names of the prisoners they wanted to visit, which he wrote down on a clipboard before disappearing inside again. Sensing a long wait ahead, the visitors took off their shoes and used them as cushions to sit down on the ground. Now that the prisoners' names were out, they seemed to have lost their initial reticence and started chatting with each other more openly; some even took out rice balls and other snacks to share. That's the Vietnamese for you, Thu thought, watching them with affection. Bring out some food and suddenly we're all friends.

The gate opened for the second time. The clerk emerged again and started calling out names. Upon hearing their names, the visitors jumped to their feet and scurried inside.

Finally, the clerk called out, "Ralph Pen-bu-ry," stumbling over the pronunciation of the unfamiliar English name. Dodging the curious glances of the other visitors, Thu went into the black mouth of Maison Centrale.

Just behind the gate, a guard searched her bag for contraband. She held her breath, afraid they might insist on a body pat-down as well, but after running his hand around the inside of her bag twice, the guard was apparently satisfied and waved her on. The path then took her through another iron gate, and another door, smaller but also fitted with iron bars, that led down a gray corridor. In her time, this corridor was brightly lit and hung with framed photos of famous prisoners and other documents showing the prison's history. Here, a single bulb cast its yellow light over the gray walls, which seemed to suck all brightness into them. An abrupt left turn brought her into a room dimly lit by several tiny windows set high on the walls, near the ceiling. She recalled the layout of the museum and realized, with a chill down her back, that this was where the guillotine was displayed.

An iron grille divided the room into two halves, keeping visitors apart from prisoners. A shoulder-height hatch was set into the grille, through which the visitor could pass the approved treats and gifts they'd brought to the prisoner. Several wardens, looking bored out of their minds, kept watch on both sides. The room was not large, and it was made even more cramped by the grille and the crowd of visitors. Their voices, some plaintive, some angry, echoing off the concrete walls, seemed to press down on Thu, worsening the pounding of her heart.

But it was all forgotten when she saw the familiar figure of Ralph emerging from a side door. She ran to the grille. Heavens, how thin he'd gotten! His eyes stood out on his pale face, and his gauntness was further emphasized by a smattering of stubble and the loose, messy curls hanging down his forehead. Seeing him so haggard broke down the wall of calm Thu had been trying so hard to build up, and she burst into tears.

Ralph didn't see her right away. He looked around, not knowing where or who his visitor was. Only when he heard her crying that his eyes locked on her, and a look of disbelief mixed with happy surprise washed over his features. "Autumn?" he said, and the sound of his voice calling her pet name made her tears flow even harder. "What are you doing here?!"

"I came back," she said, clutching at the grille, wishing she had the strength to yank it away so she could wrap her arms around him and whisk him to safety. "I'm sorry, Ralph. I'm so sorry. This was all my fault. If I didn't suggest that you went home—"

"Don't be silly," Ralph said with the same sad smile that stabbed at her guilty conscience. "This was bound to happen sooner or later. I was stupid to think I could get away with it. But how did you know?"

"Mai left me a note in the box she buried. Don't be mad at her, she did the right thing. And don't be mad at me either. I had to come back for you."

"How could I be mad?" he said. "You're here." He put his hand to the grille, and she did the same, but the mesh was too dense for their hands to really touch.

Those simple words, the feel of his palm through the iron, the way his entire face lit up at the sight of her, made her throat and her heart constrict, but she fought through it. There were urgent matters waiting; she couldn't waste time standing here crying.

She glanced at the wardens. The one on her side, an older man with bristly eyebrows, was pacing the length of the room, tapping his truncheon against his thigh, while the one on Ralph's side, the younger one, was leaning his chair against the wall and yawning incessantly. Neither was paying them any attention, and even if they were, they wouldn't understand a conversation in English anyway.

"I'm going to get you out," she said, trying to keep her voice at a normal level. If she acted furtive or suspicious, it would only draw the wardens' attention.

Ralph's eyes widened. "What—how—"

"Listen to me carefully," Thu said. "Get yourself to the infirmary tonight. Do whatever you have to. Pretend to have food poisoning or something. The infirmary is not heavily guarded, and they change at midnight. You can slip out then. Get to J Block, it's a minimum-security section, mostly used for juvenile detention. There's a manhole there, right outside the main door. Go down it and follow the sewer, it'll take you to the street behind the prison. I'll be there waiting for you, and we'll go back to my time."

Ralph was still staring at her with a stunned, slightly terrified look, and Thu had to rattle the grille to get his attention. "Infirmary, midnight, J Block, manhole, sewer. You remember all that?"

"Yes, but—"

"You're going on trial tomorrow, right?" she asked. He nodded. "You'll be found guilty. You'll get up to five years, either here or in the French Legion's jail up north. Either way, it's hell. You won't survive that. I can't let that happen to you."

"But—"

She caught his question before he uttered it. "I got it all worked out, OK? My cousin is going to get an ID for you, you can live with me and find work. It'll be fine."

"What if—what if I get lost in the sewer?"

"I have a map."

Ralph gave the two wardens a quick glance. "They conduct regular searches in here," he said.

"You'll be able to hide it, don't worry."

"How can you be sure?"

"Some political prisoners escaped the same way in 1932."

He gazed at her for a long time, fear and hope waging a war across his face.

"I know I'm asking a lot," Thu said quietly. "It's a huge risk. But I promise you, if you fail, I'll keep coming back with Homeless Pete until I get you out, OK?" When he didn't answer, she pressed her fingers through the grille to brush them across his palm, and repeated the same words he'd said when he taught her to dance, "Trust me."

He still didn't answer. She wasn't even sure if he remembered everything she'd said. Behind him, the younger warden took out a pocket watch and checked the time, before closing it with a hard snap and getting up from his chair. "Time's up!" he announced in Vietnamese and approached.

"Please, Ralph," she said, pushing his handkerchief to her mouth to suppress a sob. "Please tell me you'll try."

Ralph looked back and forth between her and the warden, the fear appearing to win. Thu's heart fell. The warden opened the hatch—she hadn't brought anything, but the warden must have done so out of habit.

The moment the hatch opened, she reached through it. Ralph was so close she was able to grasp the back of his neck, pull him to her, and give him a full, open-mouthed kiss. Ralph's hands flew to her face, desperately holding her close.

"Arrêt!" the younger warden shouted, yanking Ralph away from the grille, while on the other side, the older warden also yelled in Vietnamese, "Not allowed, not allowed!", though he stopped short of actually laying hands on Thu.

"Please, Ralph," she said through her tears, ignoring the murmurs of the other visitors, who were shocked at such a brazen exhibition. "Please, be brave."

But he only looked at her, and the last she saw of Ralph, before the warden dragged him through the side door, was his eyes, wide opened as the first time they met, only now they were full of dismay and things unsaid.

***

At midnight, Thu put on her men's clothes again and set out for Rue Richaud, which ran behind Hỏa Lò Prison. Mai offered to accompany her, but Thu turned her down. If anything went wrong, it would be pointlessly cruel to drag Mai into it as well. In her bag was some clothes for Ralph and a hammer she'd borrowed from the shed of the boarding house. She also brought a long, sturdy bamboo pole, the kind fitted to one's shoulders to carry baskets.

She'd located the manhole cover that morning after leaving the prison, noting that it was a rather rudimentary square one made of concrete, with an iron ring on top. The concrete in one corner had cracked, and now, using the hammer, she knocked the crack wider until it crumbled. The bang of the hammer against concrete reverberated so loudly that she was certain someone would hear it, but the street remained empty. There was nothing in this part of town to tempt the night revelers, who at this hour would be more likely to seek out the teahouses, opium dens, and brothels of Kham Thien.

She inserted the bamboo pole into the broken corner and used it as a lever to raise the cover. The effort strained every muscle of her body, muscles she didn't even know she possessed. She wished she'd brought Mai along. Or had done more weight training at the gym. Ignoring the scream of protest from her arms and shoulders, ignoring the sweat pouring into her eyes, she gritted her teeth and put all her strength into pushing the pole down. Finally, the cover shifted. She wedged several pieces of broken brick and concrete into the gap, then dragged the cover to the side as far as her exhausted arms could. The grinding of the concrete on the asphalt set her teeth on edge, and her arms threatened to pop out of their sockets, but it was the least she could do. Ralph was the one who had to make the more perilous journey.

Now she only had to wait. However, her heart refused to slow its beats. After the strain of moving the manhole cover, it had threatened to jump out of her chest, and the heavy, painful drumming continued even as she retreated under the cover of the trees that lined the street, after her breathing had returned to normal and she was no longer sweating. To keep herself alert and awake, she had downed several cups of strong coffee, but that might have been a mistake. The coffee made her jittery, and, unable to stand still for longer than a few minutes, she kept moving between the trees, her eyes never leaving the manhole.

She should've known that her mind would keep her awake without the coffee. She tried to keep busy by imagining what Ralph might be doing at the moment, using the details from the files she'd read at the prison museum. Now he was in the infirmary, fixing the bedclothes so it looked like he was in bed asleep... Now the guards were changing, and he was darting out of the infirmary toward J Block... Now he was lifting up the manhole cover... Now he was pulling out the map of the sewer, which she'd copied from the files, rolled into a tiny plastic cylinder, and slipped to him via that kiss...

That had been a heart-stopping moment. The files mentioned that the original map was smuggled to the prisoners in a tin of sugar with a false bottom, but she didn't know where to procure such a thing. She'd then thought she could hide it in some cakes or sweets, but there was always the danger of the guards digging through them and discovering it. The idea of passing the map to him through a kiss had come to her quite suddenly—she had seen it in some film or another, and she knew it might just make the guards uncomfortable enough that they would neglect to search Ralph too carefully. So she had hidden the cylinder in her handkerchief and put it into her mouth at the last moment, before the visit was up. She only hoped that Ralph had had the clarity of mind to keep it well hidden after he went back to his cell.

But here her fevered imagination became her downfall. What if he couldn't keep it hidden? What if it was discovered, and he was thrown into solitary confinement? All the horror stories she'd read about Hỏa Lò Prison came rushing back, how the prisoners were shackled for 23 hours a day, how they were tortured and beaten, and how those who attempted to escape were shot on sight. Suppose... suppose Ralph was caught? If that was the case, there should be enough commotion from the prison for her to hear, right? But there were so many other variables, so many things that could go wrong. Suppose the wardens didn't fall for his ruse of pretending to be sick? Suppose he got lost in the sewer, despite her map? Suppose he passed out in the sewer from the toxic air?

She forced herself to stop pacing between the trees like a caged tiger and take a deep breath. Such speculation would help no one. She needed to stay calm. If Ralph didn't show... well, she had a time machine, didn't she? She would try again. And again, and again, and again, until she had him back in her arms, no matter how long it took. She uncurled her fingers to run them through her hair, wincing at the rows of reddened half-moons that her nails had left on her palms.

A clammy mist descended on the city, clinging to the young leaves, dampening her hair and shirt. With that new chill in the air, Thu's earlier anxiety was replaced by cold fear. She feared that, by convincing him to escape, she had doomed Ralph to a fate worse than death. After all, she didn't know for sure how life in jail would turn out for him. He might get a reduced sentence because France wasn't currently at war, and desertion wasn't as serious during peacetime. Most of all, she feared that he might decide to face jail rather than risk escaping to be with her.

Which would be worse, that their love might kill him, or that their love was not enough? She didn't know. She only knew, as the hours stretched on and the prison remained silent and the street remained silent, that she had failed, that he wasn't coming, whether because he was caught or because he chose not to, it didn't matter.

Church bells startled Thu out of her thoughts. Four chimes. Four o'clock. It must be from the little chapel of the nearby St. Mary convent, and the bells were to wake up the nuns for their early morning prayer. Already, the sky was brightening. Soon, there would be too many people around, as farmers from outside the city started bringing in their goods to the markets and the early workers began their day. She couldn't stay for much longer.

As the last of the bell chimes died away, the prickling sensation in Thu's stomach also vanished, replaced by a tightening of her chest, which then formed a lump in her throat, and eventually turned into stinging tears in her eyes. All her nervous energy went out of her like water out of a drain, and she sank to the ground, buried her face in her drawn-up knees, and wept.

The sound of shuffling footsteps reminded her of practical matters. She needed to replace the manhole cover and get out of there before it got any lighter and someone saw her. Wiping away her tears with her sleeve, she struggled to her feet, trying to shake the cramp out of her limbs.

"Autumn?"

She whirled around.

Ralph was stumbling toward her, dripping wet from his waist down and giving off an almost literally breathtaking stench. But all Thu saw was his smile, more radiant than the sun.

Her tears, which had just started to dry, surged up again, only this time they were tears of relief.

"Look, I love you and am forever grateful for this," he said, "but couldn't you have picked a less smelly way to escape?"

She burst out laughing.

"Guess I should've thought about that," she said, laughing and crying at the same time. "Because I really want to kiss you right now, but I can't."

His smile got even brighter, and everything was all right.

***

Ralph had a quick clean-up with the old towel Thu had brought and changed out of his soiled prison clothes. They dropped everything down the manhole and pulled the cover to its place, before legging it back to the boarding house, where Ralph could get a proper bath. There was so much Thu wanted to ask him, how he'd managed to hide the map, how he'd slipped past the guards, what was it like in the sewer, but all that could wait until after, until they were safely away.

As the sun came up, they got ready to leave. Mai hovered close by, watching them anxiously.

"I can't thank you enough for all your help," Thu said to her.

"Good luck to you two, wherever you're going," Mai said, shaking hands with Ralph and giving Thu's arm a friendly squeeze.

Thu and Ralph exchanged a glance, but they left it at that.

Thu had a moment of fear, as they walked down the street, mingling with the early morning crowd, heading toward the Opera House, that Homeless Pete might not be there. But it was only a brief one. Somehow, in her heart of hearts, she knew they would find him. Homeless Pete always appeared when the time was right, even though they might not know it yet. What was it that Ralph had said? Right, Homeless Pete was like a bad penny. He always turned up.

And true enough, there he was, on the steps of the Opera House, almost as if he were waiting for them. Thu gave him all the M&Ms she'd brought, and they followed him into the printing house. Nobody paid them any attention.

As the elevator's doors slammed shut, Ralph turned to Thu, looking rather queasy. "Are you sure we're going to arrive in your time?" he asked.

"I—well, this is only my second trip. I don't know." She looked into his eyes, saw the dread in them, and took his hand. "It'll be fine. We've survived this far together, haven't we?"

She wondered what would happen if they did end up in a different time, and, surprisingly, felt no anxiety about the prospect. Perhaps it was because Ralph's hand was strong in hers, and his eyes were fixed on her, full of love and hope, and she felt like she could face anything.

"We didn't just survive," he said. "We've had an absolutely smashing time together."

"Here's to more smashing time together then," she replied, leaning into him and finding strength in the way their foreheads pressed close, in the way their mouths automatically found each other.

The elevator was shaking and the light was flickering, but neither of them cared, lost as they were in the kiss, in their arms around each other. By the time their lips parted, the elevator had stopped, and Homeless Pete was gone.

"Ready?" she whispered. Ralph nodded.

And so, hand in hand, they stepped out of the door, into a time that may be the past, may be the present, but to them, would always be the future. Their future.

THE END

A/N: Originally, I had Thu and Ralph arriving in modern-day Hanoi, but it felt too neat to me, so I ended the story on a more ambiguous note to leave room for a sequel, if inspiration strikes one day :)) For now, thank you for going along on this journey, and I hope you'll be back for more stories featuring other JQ characters!

#ralph penbury #ralph timewasters #ralph x ofc #ralph penbury fic #joseph quinn #joseph quinn fic

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gatutor · 9 months

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Ruth Chatterton-Raymond Hackett "La mujer X" (Madame X) 1929, de Lionel Barrymore.

#Ruth Chatterton #Raymond Hackett #Lionel Barrymore

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byneddiedingo · 10 months

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Johnny Mack Brown and Mary Pickford in Coquette (Sam Taylor, 1929)

Cast: Mary Pickford, Johnny Mack Brown, Matt Moore, John St. Polis, William Janney, Henry Kolker, George Irving, Louise Beavers. Screenplay: John Grey, Allen McNeil, Sam Taylor, based on a play by George Abbott and Ann Preston Bridgers. Cinematography: Karl Struss. Art direction: William Cameron Menzies. Film editing: Barbara McLean.

Is Mary Pickford's performance in Coquette the worst ever to win a best actress Oscar? It's certainly a bad performance, full of cute mannerisms and telegraphed emotions, along with a terrible attempt at a Southern accent. At 37, Pickford was about 20 years too old to play the flirtatious young Norma Besant, a fact that becomes especially clear when she sits on the lap of Louise Beavers, who plays her "mammy," the black servant who raised her; Beavers was ten years younger than Pickford. But this was Pickford's first talkie after 20 years in silent films in which she become the movies' first superstar, and unlike some silent stars, she demonstrates a perfectly fine speaking voice. Still, after three more features that did only passable box office, she took the hint and retired. The main problem with Coquette is not Pickford but the creakiness of the vehicle, which had been a stage hit for Helen Hayes. The melodrama, about a flirtatious girl whose carelessness brings about disaster for both the man she loves (Johnny Mack Brown) and her father (John St. Polis) who objects to their love, is stagebound, largely because of the limitations of early sound technology, but also because screenwriter-director Sam Taylor had not made a sound film before. Pickford appears game throughout, and she's certainly a better actor than Brown or St. Polis, not to mention the callow William Janney, who plays Pickford's younger brother. (In one scene Janney wears one of the most eye-offending outfits ever seen on-screen: a plaid sweater tucked into deep-pleated striped pants. My retinas have yet to recover.) There were no official Oscar nominations that year, but Academy records show that Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (Lionel Barrymore), Betty Compson in The Barker (George Fitzmaurice), Jeanne Eagels in The Letter (Jean de Limur), Corinne Griffith in The Divine Lady (Frank Lloyd), and Bessie Love in The Broadway Melody (Harry Beaumont) were also under consideration for the award. I've been unable to see the performances by Chatterton and Compson, but my pick so far would have been Eagels.

#Coquette #Sam Taylor #Johnny Mack Brown #Mary Pickford

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jaspers47 · 1 year

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I watched 154 movies in 2022

Five Stars

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022) Bergman Island (2021) Blonde Crazy (1931) Blow-Up (1966) Cryptozoo (2021) Decision to Leave (2022) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Glass Onion (2022) The Hunger (1983) It Came from Hollywood (1982) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022) Minari (2020) Mona Lisa (1986) Never Let Me Go (2010) Night on Earth (1991) Nope (2022) Pearl (2022) Tár (2022) Turning Red (2022) Wolfwalkers (2020) The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Four Stars

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Black Swan (2010) Blackmail (1929) Bullet Train (2022) Captain Blood (1935) Christmas in Connecticut (1945) CODA (2021) Confess, Fletch (2022) Doctor Sleep (2019) Dune (2021) Encanto (2021) The Fabelmans (2022) The Firemen's Ball (1967) First Blood (1982) Five Came Back (1939) Flee (2021) Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Gilda (1946) The Gospel of Eureka (2018) Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) Harvey (1950) House/Hausu (1977) The Hustler (1961) Hustlers (2019) Kajillionaire (2020) The Killing (1956) Kimi (2022) Kiss of Death (1947) The Menu (2022) Moonwalker (1988) The Mouse That Roared (1959) My Dinner with Andre (1981) The Northman (2022) Parallel Mothers (2021) The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) Predator (1987) Prey (2022) The Punk Singer (2013) Quatermass II/Enemy From Space (1957) Relaxer (2018) Saint Maud (2019) The Seven-Ups (1973) Thelma (2017) Watcher (2022) We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022) Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) X (2022)

Three and a Half Stars

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022) The Booksellers (2019) Blade II (2002) Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022) Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) My Name is Julia Ross (1945) Onibaba (1964) The Party (1968) Pygmalion (1938) The Quatermass Xperiment/The Creeping Unknown (1955) The Song Remains the Same (1976) Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) Wendell & Wild (2022) Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

Three Stars

Amistad (1997) The Bank Dick (1940) The Batman (2022) Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Cries and Whispers (1972) Crimes of the Future (2022) Drive My Car (2021) The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) Emily the Criminal (2022) The Funhouse (1981) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Inland Empire (2006) Jennifer's Body (2009) Jubilee (1978) Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) Life of Pi (2012) Linda Linda Linda (2005) Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) Lucy and Desi (2022) Nobody (2021) Opening Night (1977) Pretending I'm a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story (2020) Repeat Performance (1947) See How They Run (2022) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) Strawberry Mansion (2022) Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021) The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) A Woman is a Woman (1961) Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) White Zombie (1932) WNUF Halloween Special (2013)

Two and a Half Stars

Babylon (2022) Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017) Thunderball (1965)

Two Stars

Doctor Mordrid (1992) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Enchanted (2007) Hardcore Henry (2015) The House (2022) My Fair Lady (1964) My Name is Emily (2015) The Princess (2022) Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) Rosaline (2022) Strange World (2022) Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) Treasure of the Amazon (1985) Werewolves Within (2021) Willy's Wonderland (2021) Winnie the Pooh (2011)

One Star

Beyond Atlantis (1973) Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000 (1999) The Crawling Hand (1963) Daddy-O (1958) Demon Squad (1999) Hello Again (1987) Indestructible Man (1956) Munchie (1992) Operation Kid Brother (1967) The Rebel Set (1959) Santo in the Treasure of Dracula (1969) Robot Jox 2: Robot Wars (1993) Shadow in the Cloud (2020) The She-Creature (1956)

#Movies #Lists

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gardeninghoe98 · 10 months

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Cleaning out my movie lists

SciFi List 👽

Barbie Movie List 💖

Barbie List Round 2 📝

Phone Gallery 📷

Off the top of my head ⭐

1920s deep dive 🎞

From an old Tumblr post ⏪

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

The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari (1920) 🎞

The Kid (1921)🎞

Häxan (1922)🎞

Hard Luck (1922)🎞

Norrtullsligan (1923)🎞

Aelita (1924)🎞

Sherlock Jr (1924)🎞

The Battleship Potemkin (1925)🎞

Gold Rush (1925)🎞

Body and Soul (1925)🎞

The Big Parade (1925)🎞

Strike (1925)🎞

Faust (1926)🎞

A Page of Madness (1926)🎞

Menilmontant (1926)🎞

Metropolis (1927)🎞

Sunrise (1927)🎞

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)🎞

Steamboat Bill Jr (1928)🎞

The Docks of New York (1928)🎞

The Man Who Laughs (1928)🎞

Jujiro (1928)🎞

Zvenigora (1928) 🎞

The Crowd (1928)🎞

The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)🎞

Blackmail (1929)🎞

Finis Terræ (1929)🎞

Un Chien Andalou (1929)🎞

Twentieth Century (1934) 📝

Modern Times (1936) 👍

Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) 📝

His Girl Friday (1940) 📝

Philadelphia Story (1940) 📝

Citizen Kane (1941) ⏪

Matter of Life and Death (1946) 📝

The Red Shoes (1948) 📝

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)👽

Tales of Hoffmann (1951) 📷

An American in Paris (1951) 📝

Earrings of Madame De... (1953) 📝

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 👽

Forbidden Planet (1956) is 👽

1984 (1956) 👽

Mon Oncle (1958) 📝

The Children's Hour (1961) 📷

The Ladies Man (1961) 📝

The Cat Who Wore Sunglasses (1963) 📷

Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) 💖

Dr. Strangelove (1964)👽

Young Girls of Rouchefort (1967) 📝

Playtime (1967) 📝

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 📝

Model Shop (1969) 📝

Solaris (1972) 👽

The Godfather (1972) 📝

The Wicker Man (1973) 📷

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Saturday Night Fever (1977) 📝

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 👽

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) 👽

Heaven Can Wait (1978) 📝

All That Jazz (1979) 📝

Wrath of Khan (1982) 👽

And the Ship Sails On (1983) 📝

Splash (1984) 📝

Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985) 📝

Wings of Desire (1987) 📝

Akira (1988) 👽

Woman on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) 📝

Troop Beverly Hills (1989) ⭐

Edward Scissorhands (1990)💖

Party Girl (1995)📝

Ghost in the Shell (1995) 👽

Watermelon Woman (1996) ⏪

Goodwill Hunting (1997) ⏪

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) ⭐

Big Fish (2003) 💖

Saving Face (2004) ⏪

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) 📷

Waitress (2007)📝

Pariah (2011) ⏪

Inception (2010) 👽

Ex Machina (2014) 👍

Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 📷

Tangerine (2015) ⏪

Brooklyn (2015) 📷

Jackie (2016)💖

The Love Witch (2016) 💖

Lady Macbeth (2016)⭐

Handmaiden (2016) ⏪

Moonlight (2016) ⏪

Roma (2018) ⏪

Mama Mia 2 (2018) ⭐

Little Women (2019)💖

Greener Grass (2019) 💖

Knives Out (2019) ⭐

Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar (2021)💖

White Noise (2022)💖

Do Revenge (2022) 💖

Knives Out 2 (2022) ⭐

X (2022) ⭐

The Wonder (2022) ⭐

Nope (2022) ⭐

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twittercomfrnklin2001-blog · 1 year

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Firsco Jenny

There’s a generation of actresses who flourished in the pre-Code era before fading from popularity, because they had either come to the end of the shelf life for Hollywood leading ladies, simply didn’t have the skills to move into more varied roles or fell victim to studio politics. Kay Francis has gone through a critical reclamation in recent years, but others — like Constance Bennett, Helen Twelvetrees and Ruth Chatterton — remain under-appreciated. Chatterton can be problematic. She had a tendency to archness in some films, and playing the kind of decades-spanning roles required for the era’s popular tales of maternal sacrifice didn’t always work out for her. At the start of William A. Wellman’s FRISCO JENNY (1933, TCM), Warner Bros.’ makeup department worked overtime smoothing out any wrinkles she had, while hair put her in suitably juvenile sausage curls, but they couldn’t disguise the full contralto voice and polished line readings that made her seem rather old for a young woman left knocked up just when the San Francisco Earthquake kills her intended. Yet in the final scene, apparently without makeup, she delivers a simple, deeply moving performance in a sort of reversal on her earlier hit MADAME X (1929). As preposterous as the film is, you’d have to be made of stone not to shed a tear for poor little Jenny, who bounced back from disgrace to become the city’s vice queen only to sacrifice it all to save the son she had been forced to give up. Wellman directs with great energy. In the opening sequence, he efficiently sets up life in the clip joint run by Chatterton’s father, using quick wipes to move from one B girl to the next as they ply their trade. He also makes good use of the humor sprinkled throughout, probably the work of co-writer Wilson Mizner. As a pre-Code film, the picture throws in hints of prostitution and even a suggestion that two of the girls are lovers. A young Louis Calhern is the crooked lawyer who becomes a partner in Chatterton’s vice ring, Helen Jerome Eddy yellows up unconvincingly to play Chatterton’s faithful Chinese servant (in this film, Asians are only allowed to work as extras) and James Murray of THE CROWD (1928) plays Chatterton’s lost love.

#pre-code movies #ruth chatterton #william a. wellman

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brennerrama · 1 year

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MOVIE QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“A lady? Me, a lady? Why you poor fool, I was born in the gutter and to the gutter I shall return, if I haven't already done so!”

Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1929)

#madamex #madamex1929 #ruthchatterton #lionelbarrymore

#moviequotes #moviequoteoftheday

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artist-degas · 2 years

Photo

A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), Edgar Degas, 1865, European Paintings

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 Size: 29 x 36 1/2 in. (73.7 x 92.7 cm) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436121

#edgardegas #themet #metmuseum #europeanart

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pwlanier · 2 years

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ÉDOUARD VUILLARD (1868-1940)

Madame Jean Bloch et ses enfants (première version)

stamped with the artist's signature 'E Vuillard' (lower left)

distemper on canvas

192.8 x 179.5cm (75 7/8 x 70 11/16in).

Painted between 1927-1929

Bonhams

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foundtherightwords · 9 months

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All Our Yesterdays - Chapter 12

Pairing: Ralph (Timewasters) x OFC

Warnings: outdated/period-typical attitudes about women, mentions of war, mentions of pregnancy and abortion (involving a supporting character), some angst, some smut (non-explicit)

Chapter warnings: mentions of war, angst, smut (non-explicit)

Chapter word count: 4.5k

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Thu told the office that Mai had acute appendicitis and had to go to the hospital for an emergency operation on New Year's Eve. The other women tut-tutted and fussed and wanted to visit Mai in the hospital, but Thu insisted that the girl was very tired and shouldn't be disturbed. It was such a clumsy lie that she was sure nobody believed her, least of all Madame Phuong, but the editor-in-chief seemed to have other things on her mind. She only said, "Poor girl, her parents are not going to be happy with me," and repaid Thu for the hospital bills out of her own pocket.

"But Madame Phuong, this is too much," Thu said, looking at the money.

"No, that's for after she is discharged. I'm going to be—quite busy in the next few weeks, and the house will be in disarray. It's no place for her to recover. Could you find her a nice boarding house and put her up there for a while? I'll pay you for your trouble."

Thu narrowed her eyes. Did Madame Phuong suspect something and want Mai out of her house to avoid a scandal? Was she afraid Mai's parents were going to blame her for not keeping a closer watch on their daughter? Still, Thu had to admit, whatever the reason was, it was best for Mai to be somewhere else. In the end, she brought the girl to her old boarding house. She figured she owed the landlady as much after moving out so abruptly; plus its closeness to Ralph's studio made it more convenient for her to check on Mai.

Mai recovered physically, though she remained low-spirited. Thu hoped that once she was well enough to go back to work, the girl could put this whole episode behind her. As for herself, Thu couldn't quite shake that feeling of vague unease that had settled on her after the Lunar New Year. She felt tense all the time, but unlike the fluttery, pleasant tension between her and Ralph before they got together, this was heavy, menacing, like the air before a storm. She could forget it for a while in Ralph's cheerful and calming company, only to feel it churning in her stomach again. Despite telling herself that war was fifteen years away, she couldn't shake the sensation that disaster was looming on the horizon.

***

About ten days after the Lunar New Year break, Thu went into the office as usual to find the women all huddled around a newspaper—not their own, but Hanoi Noon Report. There was fear on their faces, and they whispered to each other in low, serious tones. She felt cold all over. Had something happened?

"What's going on?" she asked Lien.

"There was a mutiny in a garrison up north," Lien replied, showing her the paper. "In Yên Bái."

The Yên Bái mutiny. Of course! That was in 1930. She'd completely forgotten about it. "The Vietnamese Nationalist Party was behind it, right?" Thu said, before she could stop herself.

Lien glanced at her sharply. "Why did you say that?"

Shit. Perhaps they don't know yet. Thu scanned the article to avoid Lien's scrutiny. It only stated that some Vietnamese soldiers turned on their French officers, killing two and wounding several others. It made no mention of the Nationalist Party. She had to be more careful letting things like that slip.

Over the next two weeks, the true scope of the mutiny was gradually revealed. It wasn't just a few disgruntled Vietnamese soldiers turning on their French officers. Though nobody dared talk about it, everyone knew it had clearly been an organized attempt by the Nationalist Party to overthrow the French government. The tension Thu had been feeling seemed to spill out all over the city and its people. The streets were full of soldiers; checkpoints were set up; arrests were made; raids were conducted. Firebombs were thrown into some public buildings, though no one was hurt. A 10 PM curfew was imposed, but as soon as it got dark, most streets were already deserted as people hurried back to the safety of their homes.

Everybody at the office was on edge; Madame Phuong seemed a lot more irritable than usual, and more than once, a reporter threw down her work in disgust, asking "Why are we writing about such frivolous things, when there are much more important matters going on?"

Thu spent most nights pacing around the studio, wondering if she should leave, but then she would catch Ralph looking at her, his eyes tugging at her heart, and her resolution would wane again. Could she ask him to come back with her? He would say yes, probably. But it would be difficult for him to stay there, much more difficult than it had been for her to stay here. Perhaps she could just wait until this all blew over. It wouldn't take long, if she remembered her history lessons well.

But it didn't blow over. If anything, it blew up, and Thu finally realized, it was one thing to learn about history. It was another to actually live in it.

On a cold, wet afternoon in late February, two weeks after the mutiny, Thu was coming back to the office after an errand when she saw a crowd outside the office. There were shouts and screams from within. Her heart dropped. Elbowing her way through the rubberneckers, she found her way inside and was greeted with a scene of pandemonium—several Vietnamese police constables were turning the office upside down under the watchful eye of a French officer, while the women huddled in a corner, looking at them with a mixture of fear and hatred. Only Madame Phuong stood alone, tall and motionless, her face deathly pale like a marble statue.

One of the constables emerged from the corner office, brandishing a stack of papers triumphantly and handing it to the French officer. Thu saw a slight waver in Madame Phuong's calm gaze.

The officer threw the papers in front of Madame Phuong and asked her something. She gave a short reply. More questions. Thu had no idea what they were saying, but she caught the words Parti nationaliste vietnamien and could feel the fear from the women around her rise like a wave of cold, clammy air. Then the officer nodded to the constables, and Madame Phuong put her arms out in front of her with a resigned look, accepting the iron cuffs that a constable clinched around her wrists.

"No!" Lien cried out and ran forward, but shrank back in front of the menacing glare of the French officer. The constable yanked at the cuffs, and Madame Phuong was all but dragged outside, bundled into a waiting black car, and taken away.

Once the police were gone, the crowd slowly dispersed as well, leaving only the shell-shocked women behind. They tried in vain to clean up their destroyed office, but all looked dazed. Some went home. Others sat at their desks, burying their faces in their handkerchiefs.

"What was that all about?" Thu asked. "Why did they arrest Madame Phuong?"

"She is a member of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party," Lien said, picking up the scattered papers on the floor.

Thu remembered the New Year's Eve party, the heated discussion, the furtive looks. Had they been discussing the mutiny?

"They're arresting anyone with a connection to the Party now, in case they're connected to the mutiny," Lien continued. Then, remembering something, she looked up at Thu. "You mentioned the Nationalist Party when the news of the mutiny first broke," she said. "How did you know that they were involved?"

"I—I didn't. It just sounded like—like the type of thing they would do," Thu said lamely.

But Lien was not convinced. She stood up, her usual gentleness gone, replaced by fierce anger as her eyes bored into Thu's face with needle-like sharpness. "And how would you know what 'type of things' they usually do, then?" she asked. "I've been watching you, you're a strange one. Nobody knows where you come from, who your family is. Always going around with that photographer, sticking your nose into who knows what." Lien's voice rose. "Did you sell Madame Phuong out to the police? Are you a police spy?"

Lien's accusations were getting the attention of the rest of the staff. They all turned to Thu with suspicious eyes. If Mai were here, she would tell them how silly they were, and that they should focus on straightening up the office and getting some work done. But Mai was still on sick leave, and Thu could only stammer, "No, I'm not—you know I'm not—", before turning on her heel and running away, like the coward she was.

***

She ran back to the studio and sought comfort in Ralph's arms. But it was no good. The guilt she'd felt over Mai was back, only increased tenfold. She knew about the mutiny; she knew would be crushed; she had heard hints of their preparations at the New Year's Eve party; she could've warned Madame Phuong.

"But you can't have known that," Ralph said. "And what if you warned her and it led to some terrible consequences in the future? Like robots taking over?"

She knew he was trying to make her laugh, but this was too big a disaster for her to shake off. Her heart ached when she thought about Madame Phuong's beautiful villa in the modern day, all broken up and in disrepair, and her children. What was going to happen to them?

"They dragged her away like some common criminal," she said. "But she only believes that we should have independence, that we should be free to decide our own affairs. How is that a crime?"

"It's not, but she shouldn't align herself with violent radicals..."

His words stung. She sat up to face him, her nostrils flaring from anger. "And what is she supposed to do? We can't all be Gandhi. France is not Britain. Who do they think they are anyway, coming here and acting like they own the place? Like they own us?"

"I'm sorry," Ralph said quietly.

He looked so apologetic that Thu felt her heart softening. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault."

"But I worked for them."

"You left, didn't you?"

Ralph pulled her to him again, rubbing her back. "Is there anything we can do to help Madame Phuong?"

"I don't think so. The rest of us were lucky to not get arrested ourselves. She's going to die in jail, I know it." Thu knew Madame Phuong was going to be imprisoned in Maison Centrale, known locally as Hỏa Lò Prison. The name, which simply meant "stove" in Vietnamese, came from the nearby street which sold wood and coal stoves, but it also meant "Hellhole". It was an apt nickname. Thu knew all of its horror stories, though in her time, only the gatehouse remained as a museum. She buried her face in her hands and shuddered. "I can't stay here, Ralph."

Ralph's hand stiffened on her back. "What do you mean?"

All the romance and beauty and glamor of this time were only an illusion, a veil to hide the darkness underneath. She knew that now. Now the veil had lifted, the illusion gone. "I can't stay here," she repeated. "I've just been kidding myself. I can't live in a place where a girl could die just because she fell in love with the wrong man. I can't live in a place where you can go to jail for fighting for your own country. I have to go back to my time. It's not perfect, but at least we're free."

"But... how are you going to go back?"

She took a deep breath. "I actually found Homeless Pete a while ago," she said, not looking at Ralph. "When you got dengue fever, remember? I found him at the War Memorial. He's still there now."

Ralph took a while to respond. "You found him, but you... stayed?"

She nodded.

"To be with me?"

She hesitated and nodded again. He exhaled, as if his whole being depended on that confirmation.

"So stay now," he said. "Stay with me."

His eyes were fixed on her, squeezing her heart, making it hard to breathe. She looked down again to avoid those blazing eyes. "I can't," she said. "In about ten years, all this is going up in flames. Almost literally."

"We don't have to stay here. We'll go to England, or America, or anywhere..."

She hated to throw cold water over his optimism, the thing she loved most about him, but she had to. "You don't understand. Nowhere is safe." She couldn't imagine being an Asian woman in America after Pearl Harbor. Everywhere she turned, there was just more violence and destruction.

"Why? What's going to happen?"

"... Another world war. Longer and much worse than the last one. And once that's over, Vietnam gets another thirty years of war."

"Thirty years?!"

"Yeah. We didn't have peace until 1975." And decades of austerity and reconstruction afterward, that somehow were even worse than the wars. How many times had she heard those stories from her parents and grandparents?

"My God."

Ralph sat back, his arms slipping off of her waist to hang at his side.

"Come back with me," Thu said, suddenly emboldened.

Ralph was taken aback. "What?"

"Come back to 2023 with me." She had been turning this proposal over in her mind for a while, but now, when faced with the ugliness of the past, it didn't seem so absurd anymore.

"You mean... to stay?"

"Yes!"

"But—"

"Come on, what do you have here? You're wanted for desertion, your parents are gone, your sister doesn't care, the girl you love hates you—"

"God, I hope not."

Thu stared at him. He looked back with a sad little smile, and her breath caught when she realized he wasn't talking about Lauren.

"It seems I have a very specific type, don't I?" he continued, still with that sad little smile that broke her heart. "Girl from the future who wants nothing to do with me. That's my type."

"No, Ralph, that's not true." She took his hands, pressing them to her lips. "I want everything to do with you! That's why I'm asking you to come with me."

"How am I going to live there? What am I going to do for a living?"

"You can teach English. You can become a photographer. You can start a vintage photo studio, it'll be all the rage—there are lots of things you can do!"

"But how, when I'm some sort of persona non grata? You said it yourself, they have all these strict rules about ID and paperwork. How are you going to explain a man just appearing out of nowhere?"

"I don't know," she said, with wild abandonment. "We'll figure something out."

Ralph gazed at her for a long time, beseeching, searching for something only he knew. Then the fire in his eyes went out, and he looked away.

"... I'm sorry, I can't."

Thu dropped his hand. She had been so sure that he would say yes; she'd never expected to have to convince him. "Where's your sense of adventure?" she asked.

"I once ran away because of a girl, and look how it turned out for me."

His refusal cut her to the quick. Was he still that hung up on Lauren? Did he really think she would reject him in the same brutal way or abandon him to his fate? Did the past months mean nothing to him?

"So it's OK for me to stay here and brave war and famine for you, but you can't face paperwork for me?" she snapped.

As he kept looking away from her and saying nothing, her heartbreak turned into anger. She knew she was being unfair, but she couldn't help it. What did he know about war and suffering anyway? He was just a boy playing soldier.

But at least he's lived through a world war, that annoying voice at the back of her mind piped up again. All you've got is what you've read in books. If there's one that doesn't know real war and suffering, it's you. And at the first sign of danger, you're running away.

Ignoring that voice, she got up, went into the bedroom, pulled out her backpack, and started throwing her clothes into it haphazardly, careless of the soft silk and the smooth velvet. Ralph ran after her, seized her arms, and pulled her toward him. She pushed him away, but he held on. "I'm sorry," he said, over and over again. "Please—please don't go."

Somehow she was in his arms again, her face pressed into his chest, hot tears running down her face. "I can't," she sobbed. "It's impossible." That precarious bridge they were on had collapsed, and now they were floundering in the void of time, not belonging anywhere. How long could they stay like this before being consumed by that void?

"I'm not asking you to stay forever," he whispered. "Just for tonight."

"Why?" she asked, but made no attempt to move away. "Why draw it out and hurt ourselves?"

"So I can have some memories to carry with me."

She wanted to leave. Her mind was screaming at her to leave. As soon as she said no, she knew he would let her go. But her body wanted to stay. Her heart wanted to stay.

So she stayed. Just for one night.

"Okay," she said, and crushed his lips with hers.

This wasn't like their first time together, with those tentative kisses, those languorous touches, as they explored each other's body. Now they were desperately clinging to each other, holding on to each other so tight it almost hurt, taking each other in with every one of their five senses, filling every second they had with as much of each other as possible, knowing that there would be no more after this, that it would be goodbye. His frantic thrusts seemed to reach to the very center of her, sending through her an ache that was equal parts pain and pleasure, pushing her close, closer to the edge—

"Wait—" she panted, "slow down—I don't want it to be over yet—"

And he immediately did, easing his pace, keeping his forehead pressed to hers so their eyes never left each other's, while his hands and his lips stroked and caressed, drawing out that exquisite ache into a glow that left her gasping and burning for more.

But nothing could last forever, and soon, too soon, the heat blazed once more, and the slow rhythm now turned wilder, more frenzied as they were pulled helplessly into that fire, consumed by it.

"No—!" she cried out, trying to hold on to the moment, but it was gone, slipped away.

She didn't know how long they remained locked in an embrace afterward. They didn't talk. They didn't sleep. These moments were too precious to be wasted in sleep. She lay as motionlessly as possible, as if by doing so she could halt the flow of time. Keeping her mind blank, she tried to memorize everything about him, his face, the way his curls dropped over his forehead, the feel of him still inside her, his breath, hot and uneven, against her neck, and his hands, gripping hers so closely, afraid she would vanish into the night if he let go.

The cry of a bread vendor eventually roused her. That cry of "Hot bread! Hot bread fresh out of the oven!", still used by bread vendors in her time, reminded her of her old life, of what she had to do. With an enormous effort, she extracted herself from Ralph's arms, got out of bed, and put on her modern clothes, shivering in the early morning air. He made no move to stop her, simply followed her with his eyes, eyes that were no longer desperate but had grown sad with acceptance.

She went back to packing, taking more care with the áo dài this time. Unable to fit all of them into her backpack, she only took her two favorites—a pale green silk, and the burgundy velvet. The rest she folded into a neat pile. "Will you give these to Mai, please?" she asked Ralph. She wouldn't have time to say goodbye to the girl as well. "They're a bit long for her, but I hate for them to go to waste. Tell her—tell her I've gone back to Hong Kong or something."

He nodded. There was nothing else to say.

When he saw her take out the album he'd given her and put it on his bedside table, Ralph sat up. "What are you doing?" he asked. "That's yours!"

"But those are the only photos you have of me," she said. "I want you to have them, to remember me by."

"I can always print more." She hadn't thought of that. Seeing her hesitate, he jumped out of bed. "Dammit, I can take one of you right now!"

"In this getup, after that sleepless night?" she said with a rueful grin. "Not on your life."

"You always look beautiful to me."

He reached for her, but she pulled back slightly, shaking her head. "Don't," she said, and he dropped his hand, looking crushed.

"What about you?" he asked. "What do you have to remember me by?"

His pleading tone broke her resolve. She went to him, took his face between her hands, and kissed him, hard. "Do you honestly think I'm in any danger of forgetting, after all this?" she asked, once they drew apart for a breath.

"...Yes," he whispered, "and that's why I have to keep reminding you"—he pulled her back for another kiss, and another, and another, until she steeled her heart and turned away.

She then took an envelope out of the inner pocket of her backpack, where she had hidden all the money she had saved. She kept back a few bills and coins as mementos, and handed the rest to him.

"I believe it's enough for a steamship ticket out of Indochina," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I can't take this," he said.

"I have no use for it." She pressed the envelope into his hand. "Please, Ralph. Take it and go... somewhere. Stay out of the war. I'll feel better if I know you're safe."

"But how would you know?"

Thu thought about Doc Brown sending Marty a letter from the Wild West at the end of Back to the Future II. That wouldn't work here; there was no business reliable enough that was still operating after decades of wars and reconstruction. What still stood in her time that was accessible? Then she remembered. "You remember that cotton tree by the archaeology school?"

"Yes."

"It still stands in my time. If you do go home, leave me some sort of sign there, OK? I'll know that way."

He clutched at both the envelope and her hand for a moment, before letting go.

"Look me up on that goggle thing when you get back, will you?" he said.

Despite the lump in her throat, Thu had to smile. "Google," she corrected him.

"OK, Google. Maybe I will have become a famous photographer or something."

The forced cheerfulness of his voice, which contrasted with the look in his eyes, was unbearable. She nodded, knowing she would break into tears if she opened her mouth. Hoisting the backpack onto her shoulder, she turned, opened the door, and fled into the freezing winter morning.

***

She didn't remember how she'd found Homeless Pete. She must have gone to Robin Park, put the chocolate into his hand, and dragged him back to the IDEO Printing House with her, because the next thing she knew, she was back in the elevator as it shook and disintegrated and reassembled around her. When she opened her eyes again, the light was back on and Homeless Pete had disappeared once more.

She stepped out of the elevator. A gust of air-conditioned wind blasted her in the face, along with the smells of coffee and pastries. She looked around. She was back in the French Institute, standing in front of the boulangerie that took up the right-hand side of its entrance hall. People were hurrying back and forth, nobody paying her an ounce of attention.

She grabbed a woman walking past. "Excuse me, what's today's date?" she asked.

"First of September," the woman replied.

"What year?"

The woman shot her a curious look, but answered anyway, "2023."

September 1st, 2023. A clock on the coffee shop's wall told her it was just past seven PM. Homeless Pete had taken her right back. She had never left at all.

Dazed, Thu left the building and walked the familiar street back to the museum, dodging traffic by instinct rather than actual awareness. She would get her motorbike, which was still in the employee's parking lot, and get home.

As she reached the museum gate, however, a tall, dark shape out of the corner of her eyes caught Thu's attention and shook some of the daze out of her. It was the ancient cotton tree, its straight trunk rising above the museum, its leaves rustling by the octagonal roof. Dusk was falling, but she could still see by the light of the street lamps. She had to check... she had to know...

But even as she pulled out her phone, another fear reared its head in her mind. What if, since she'd returned to the exact moment she left, those months with Ralph had never happened at all? What if they had never met? But no, her necklace was gone. That told her that her six-month trip in the past did happen. She turned her phone on and inevitably flinched at her lock screen, which was set to a photo of her and Ralph. Trying hard not to look at it, she switched her flashlight on and shone it over the tree trunk while she walked around its base, checking it carefully inch by inch.

Her fingers felt it first—a difference in the roughness of the bark, a slight raise. Then her eyes saw it. Carved into the trunk of the cotton tree, just a little above her eye level, was that classic shape that anyone who had ever been in love would recognize—a heart framing two letters, R+A. It had been carved a long, long time ago, and the tree had filled in the deep groove, turning it slightly bumpy, making it easier to notice. R+A. Ralph and Autumn. That was his sign. He had gone home. He was safe.

Thu leaned against the tree trunk, heedless of its scratches on her forehead, and cried, half from relief, half from sorrow.

A/N: And that's the end.

I'm totally kidding! But we only have 2 chapters left, so the end is nigh...

#ralph penbury #ralph timewasters #ralph penbury fic #joseph quinn #joseph quinn fic #ralph penbury smut #ralph timewasters smut #joseph quinn smut #i've sufficiently recovered from that teaser clip of hoard so it's back to business

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lesbiancolumbo · 3 years

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hello !! do you have any recommendations for 20s/30s movies?? I've been watching a lot of 40s and 50s ones lately but I'm not sure where to start with earlier stuff ❤

sure! i’m actually gonna go back even farther to the 1910s because if you’re going back that far you might as well go all the way back :) (also there was a movie i want to recommend but it’s from 1916 lol)

this is going to be long - i’ve highlighted the films i think you should start with, though i’d recommend any of these. i also just want to say that because this is my list and it’s my taste, when editing this down (yes, it was longer) i took out as many of the most “popular” films as i could because i want some underseen gems to get more love! that’s all - happy watching! 💛

shoes (1916, lois weber) scandal (1915, lois weber) falling leaves (1912, alice guy blache) mabel’s strange predicament (1914, mabel normand) bread (1918, ida may park) the dream lady (1918, elise jane wilson) the cheat (1915, cecil b. demille) the curse of quon gwon (1917, marion e. wong) la cigarette (1919, germaine dulac)

safety last! (1923, fred c. newmeyer and sam taylor) the grub stake (1923, nell shipman) the smiling madame beudet (1923, germaine dulac) sherlock jr. (1924, buster keaton) strike (1925, sergei eisenstein) the adventures of prince achmed (1926, lotte reininger) flesh and the devil (1926, clarence brown) metropolis (1927, fritz lang) sunrise: a song of two humans (1927, fw murnau) the passion of joan of arc (1928, carl th. dreyer) celles qui s’en font (1928, germaine dulac) show people (1928, king vidor) a woman of affairs (1928, clarence brown) ethnographic films (1929, zora neal hurston) the letter (1929, jean de limur) the wild party (1929, dorothy arzner)

the divorcee (1930, robert z. leonard) m (1931, fritz lang) private lives (1931, sidney franklin) merrily we go to hell (1932, dorothy arzner) back street (1932, john m. dahl) one way passage (1932, tay garnett) i am a fugitive from a chain gang! (1932, mervyn leroy) frisco jenny (1932, william a. wellman) the eagle and the hawk (1933, stuart walker) the story of temple drake (1933, stephen roberts) baby face (1933, alfred e. green) dinner at eight (1933, george cukor) design for living (1933, ernst lubitsch) night flight (1933, clarence brown) the sin of nora moran (1933, phil goldstone) journal of a crime (1934, william keighley) magnificent obsession (1935, john m. dahl) hands across the table (1935, mitchell leisen) the petrified forest (1936, archie mayo) dodsworth (1936, william wyler) born to dance (1936, roy del ruth) the last of mrs. cheyney (1937, dorothy arzner and richard boleslawski) stage door (1937, gregory la cava) the bride wore red (1937, dorothy arzner) it’s love i’m after (1937, archie mayo) the divorce of lady x (1938, tim whelen) holiday (1938, george cukor) pygmalion (1938, anthony asquith and leslie howard) the mad miss manton (1938, leigh jason) tail spin (1939, roy del ruth) love affair (1939, leo mccarey) only angels have wings (1939, howard hawks) the rules of the game (1939, jean renoir) bachelor mother (1939, garson kanin)

#asks #hope this helped anon!#also inb4 'where's this film' my list my rules babey!!!!!!!!#movie posts #Anonymous #and again. this is my taste so you'll find no horror no westerns none of that. no disrespect. just don't like them as much lol

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met-european-paintings · 3 years

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