Desiree's Depths of Despair and Overshare

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Hi there Litizens,

I decided to post a thread of my own making, in which I can compile my own thoughts, memes, and knowledge of randomass shit. I promise it will occasionally touch on the overtly sexual. Do enjoy.

To start, I will post thoughts on the anniversary of the death of Dracula actor Bela Lugosi.

A few days ago was the anniversary of Bauhaus's breakout single and goth anthem, "Bela Lugosi's Dead." A few days later (yesterday) was the anniversary of the death of the actor himself. Born in actual Transylvania (the Hungarian part), Lugosi soon emigrated to the United States, where he landed a part as the infamous Count, in a play adaptation of Bram Stoker's one hit wonder novel of the same name.

Lugosi, learning English slowly, with his thick Eastern European accent, eventually landed a breakout role of the Count in the 1931 Universal classic. The film, arriving in time for Valentine's Day, portrays a Dracula who is both sauve and calculating. Lugosi offers brief moments of feigned friendliness, tense gazes, and a subtle violence to the part. The slow change of expression to the hypnotic gaze is a talent Lugosi would use in later films.

While there are certain aspects of the Universal film that don't translate well to modern audiences (the asylum, for instance--yikes!), I find myself, as always, cheering for the Count, and sad when he meets his end. Brilliantly, Lugosi begins with the stilted English of a creature who spent centuries in Romania, then improves in dialogue quite quickly.

One of my favorite silver screen actors of that golden era, Bela Lugosi lived a tragic life full of bad spending habits, unfortunate role decisions, and eventual pain medication addiction. After entering rehab for the latter, Lugosi passed away, his last film Ed Wood's infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space. Lugosi's story is not simply one of unfulfilled promise and tragedy. A handsome, intriguing actor who used more than dialogue to convey a point, Bela Lugosi is the definitive Dracula.

 

[Justapet50]

Beautiful song. I like it very much. Both Bauhaus and Bela Lugosi were amazing.

 

[kenbrack]

I didn’t know the history of Bela Lugosi. Thanks for sharing

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Let's talk about Theda Bara.

Born Theodosia Burr Goodman in Cincinnati, Theda Bara (supposedly an anagram of "Arab Death") was a star of silent cinema, and one of film's very first sex symbols. Known as "The Vamp" (short for "vampire"), Bara seduced audiences with her sexually charged femme fatale characters.

Known for exotic, historical roles, her edgy screen persona, and the vamp stare, Bara acted in silent films until the 20s, where she retired to live a quiet life with her husband. She made several allusions to making a comeback, but they never materialized. Assisting in the creation of some of her iconic costumes, such as the one from "Cleopatra" above, Bara was an icon of early 20th century exoticism and perhaps even a precursor to a pinup starlet.

Her look in "Cleopatra" would later be imitated by another famous actress, Marilyn Monroe. You can look up the image. I did not link it here because of copyright. And of course, later portrayals of Cleopatra, including Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, would follow in Bara's shadow.

Sensual, seductive, and macabre, Theda Bara remains an elusive icon of the beginnings of Hollywood and the silver screen. While the majority of her filmography appears to be lost to time, her iconic look and presence transcends, inspiring goth girls and lovers of the screen to this day.

 

[drobert44]

Let's talk about Theda Bara.

Born Theodosia Burr Goodman in Cincinnati, Theda Bara (supposedly an anagram of "Arab Death") was a star of silent cinema, and one of film's very first sex symbols. Known as "The Vamp" (short for "vampire"), Bara seduced audiences with her sexually charged femme fatale characters.

Known for exotic, historical roles, her edgy screen persona, and the vamp stare, Bara acted in silent films until the 20s, where she retired to live a quiet life with her husband. She made several allusions to making a comeback, but they never materialized. Assisting in the creation of some of her iconic costumes, such as the one from "Cleopatra" above, Bara was an icon of early 20th century exoticism and perhaps even a precursor to a pinup starlet.

Her look in "Cleopatra" would later be imitated by another famous actress, Marilyn Monroe. You can look up the image. I did not link it here because of copyright. And of course, later portrayals of Cleopatra, including Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, would follow in Bara's shadow.

Sensual, seductive, and macabre, Theda Bara remains an elusive icon of the beginnings of Hollywood and the silver screen. While the majority of her filmography appears to be lost to time, her iconic look and presence transcends, inspiring goth girls and lovers of the screen to this day.

She looks so fun!

 

[Justapet50]

Let's talk about Theda Bara.

Born Theodosia Burr Goodman in Cincinnati, Theda Bara (supposedly an anagram of "Arab Death") was a star of silent cinema, and one of film's very first sex symbols. Known as "The Vamp" (short for "vampire"), Bara seduced audiences with her sexually charged femme fatale characters.

Known for exotic, historical roles, her edgy screen persona, and the vamp stare, Bara acted in silent films until the 20s, where she retired to live a quiet life with her husband. She made several allusions to making a comeback, but they never materialized. Assisting in the creation of some of her iconic costumes, such as the one from "Cleopatra" above, Bara was an icon of early 20th century exoticism and perhaps even a precursor to a pinup starlet.

Her look in "Cleopatra" would later be imitated by another famous actress, Marilyn Monroe. You can look up the image. I did not link it here because of copyright. And of course, later portrayals of Cleopatra, including Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, would follow in Bara's shadow.

Sensual, seductive, and macabre, Theda Bara remains an elusive icon of the beginnings of Hollywood and the silver screen. While the majority of her filmography appears to be lost to time, her iconic look and presence transcends, inspiring goth girls and lovers of the screen to this day.

Thank you for this presentation. I will check her, trying to find some of her movies online.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Time for another round of Despair and Overshare.

This time, a brief discussion of My Chemical Romance.

I missed out on the My Chemical Romance bandwagon when it started. It wasn't until 20 years later that I started listening to and identifying with "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" as a 30-something goth going through a rough time.

I find MCR's melodramatic and rather emo renditions to be a bit over the top and annoying, but I can't help but love the aesthetic presented in "Helena." Frontman Gerard Way leads a highly choreographed funeral, complete with dancing mourners and a corpse that refuses to stay in the casket. It's definitely a gothic fever dream, but that is part of its charm.

The band, which didn't last very long, its members parting ways in 2013 and Way going on to produce comics and shows for Netflix, definitely had an intense visual element that defined a generation of those transitioning into adulthood at a pivotal time of change, uncertainty, and violence.

While emo was never my genre, I find myself tempted to do a little more exploration of MCR in the context of history. The aesthetic, musically and visually, is macabre and compelling.

I swear I'll get to something more erotic eventually, but this is my foreplay.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Let's talk about Catherine "Skittles" Walters, AKA the "Pretty Horsebreaker" AKA the last great courtesan of Britain

Walters, born at the cusp of the Victorian era, became known for her infamous riding attire as she ascended the ranks of the demimonde. It is said that her riding habit was so form fitting that she had to be sewn into it every time she wore it.

Known by many nicknames, Walters garnered a reputation among the elite, scandalously riding in Rotten Row in Hyde Park, to the joy and shock of onlookers. Her fashion-forward aesthetic made her a trendsetter among the well-monied women at the time. High class ladies attempted to mimic her form-fitting riding attire.

A courtesan, Walters established salons, where great minds at the time could hobnob and converse. Known for her discretion, Walters boasted a rather diverse clientele, including the then-Prince of Wales. She was the subject of paintings and of verse, and fashion trends. Living until 1920, Walters left a large sum for the time in her estate.

I discovered Skittles around the time I was in college, and the above picture really captured my imagination. In modern times, we forget how powerful sex workers could be, and how they relied on more than just their physical charms to entice and capture the imagination. Walters was also a background subject in author Mimi Matthews's breakout novel, The Siren of Sussex. Her life would be more interesting than a brief bit of erotic fiction, I think.

I gathered from Wikipedia to refresh myself with some of the details.

 

[Mrtenant]

Let's talk about Catherine "Skittles" Walters, AKA the "Pretty Horsebreaker" AKA the last great courtesan of Britain

Walters, born at the cusp of the Victorian era, became known for her infamous riding attire as she ascended the ranks of the demimonde. It is said that her riding habit was so form fitting that she had to be sewn into it every time she wore it.

Known by many nicknames, Walters garnered a reputation among the elite, scandalously riding in Rotten Row in Hyde Park, to the joy and shock of onlookers. Her fashion-forward aesthetic made her a trendsetter among the well-monied women at the time. High class ladies attempted to mimic her form-fitting riding attire.

A courtesan, Walters established salons, where great minds at the time could hobnob and converse. Known for her discretion, Walters boasted a rather diverse clientele, including the then-Prince of Wales. She was the subject of paintings and of verse, and fashion trends. Living until 1920, Walters left a large sum for the time in her estate.

I discovered Skittles around the time I was in college, and the above picture really captured my imagination. In modern times, we forget how powerful sex workers could be, and how they relied on more than just their physical charms to entice and capture the imagination. Walters was also a background subject in author Mimi Matthews's breakout novel, The Siren of Sussex. Her life would be more interesting than a brief bit of erotic fiction, I think.

I gathered from Wikipedia to refresh myself with some of the details.

You got me at skittles.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

You got me at skittles.

It's a reference to bowling rather than candy.

 

[Mrtenant]

It's a reference to bowling rather than candy.

Even better. Bowling and skittles!

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Didn't write up a Despair and Overshare yesterday because it was a long and productive day. Today, I thought I'd just plop in a video by Type O Negative here, because it's weird, disturbing, and dark.

Frontman Peter Steele, who passed away in an untimely fashion, was a contentious figure. He famously posed for Playgirl magazine, and was apparently unpleasantly surprised to find that much of its audience was gay men.

In terms of goth, I see Type O Negative as more on the hokey side of things, but definitely entertaining to watch. Enjoy.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

No Despair and Overshare hot takes today. I am too tired and about to watch ghost videos.

How's your day going?

 

[fishnfool]

This work week has done a number on me. Anything crazy that could happened has. I understand the tired.

I am going to get in bed and read 2 1/2 pages. I will wake up at 4:14 with the book on the floor and my glasses perched on my nose. Just a wild guess because that has never happened before.

My only ghost videos will be in my dreams probably shortly before 4:14.

And with that, I will take my rambling self to bed.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

This work week has done a number on me. Anything crazy that could happened has. I understand the tired.

I am going to get in bed and read 2 1/2 pages. I will wake up at 4:14 with the book on the floor and my glasses perched on my nose. Just a wild guess because that has never happened before.

My only ghost videos will be in my dreams probably shortly before 4:14.

And with that, I will take my rambling self to bed.

Hopefully you feel better soon. I have PTSD sleep, so it's often curtailed at 4 hours unless I am not as stressed. I love how stress exacerbates everything. Also, because of PTSD, I now always sleep with my glasses on. It's not great but the fear is there.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

I wonder if I have an audience.

What I post is more longform content, and thus far nothing explicit. If I try to do the latter, I wonder if I will get reaction. Let's try.

It's time to talk about the Perverts of Rococo (Part 1).

Le verrou (The Bolt/Lock) by Jean-Honore Fragonard (1777)

Fragonard, one of the two biggest names to come out of the French rococo (the other being Francois Boucher--who is even hornier), is most famous for his painting Les hasards heureux de l'escarpolette (The Swing, 1768ish). One of the essential rococo masterpieces, The Swing is a voyeuristic delight, with a woman in frothy skirts being pushed in a swing by one man, while another (and the viewer) get a nice, pervy look up her skirts. It is a masterpiece of frivolity and I highly recommend it.

A lesser known work, The Bolt depicts something more overt though, as with The Swing, the implications and possibilities are many. A woman in a voluminous gown is swept from a lavish bed (you can tell it is from and not to, because her skirts waterfall off the bed) by a very scantly clad man. This man swiftly reaches for the bolt of the door, his other arm clasped around the woman, who seems to faintly protest, given the gesture of her arm against him, and the way her head and gaze avert away from him.

The interesting thing about The Bolt--to me, at least--is that we can view this as a consensual, romance novel-like bodice ripper scene of two people attempting to discreetly fuck. There is an apple on the table by the bed, a clear symbol of temptation and lust. The urgency of wanting to get it on is clear, especially with the man. You can almost see the way his buttocks clench through his breeches.

Or there is another way.

While the protesting appears weak on the woman's part, we can view the expression of her face and her gestures in two ways:

1. Since she is clearly a woman of society (no common wench, she), it is seen as vulgar and societally frowned upon that she should want a man who is not her husband to sex her up. Think about it. In the upper classes of society at this time, marriage was tied more to wealth, power, and heritage. A woman of the time needed to come from a family with "good breeding" (consider that term for a moment). Her main duty would be to produce a child who could grow up to take on the title and land of her husband.

Therefore, it would be incredibly taboo and lascivious if she were to succumb to her desires without at least a token of protest. That is one way of thinking about it.

2. (Trigger warning.) This is not a consensual scene. Though one wonders why the man is so underdressed and managed to get into the bedroom where a woman was napping (?), it makes sense that he'd be undressed before her. She's got layers and layers of clothing to contend with (but wouldn't wear an undergarment beneath), so the matter would be simple: flip the skirts and fuck.

So we can see the painting in a different light. Perhaps she just woke up. Perhaps he locks the door so urgently because he wants to make sure he can get what he wants without intrusion. The curtains that drape the bed are an ominous red, juxtaposed with the white of the satiny sheets. Potentially it could symbolize blood.

So which is it? Is it a sexy romp between two people who want to fuck? Or is it something more insidious? You can even see her smaller hand reaching out as though to fight back his that clasps the lock.

How gothic.

This would be in keeping with the later novels the gothic genre of literature such as Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole would produce. So many steamy scenes of heroines constantly fighting off rakes.

I used to think Dracula was so much more interesting than Jonathan Harker and Mina would have been so much happier with the vampire. But there is no way it is allowed to work. Perhaps this painting is similar.

​

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

More delicious rococo perviness.

This is Venus Playing with Two Doves, 1777 (same year as the Fragonard) by Francois Boucher, a drawing. While ostensibly she's being cute with birds, there is a clear hint of her mons and even pubic hair. Nudity in art was common, but depictions of female anatomy vulgar at the time.

Also stumbled on this in my searches.

Les deux amies (N.D.), by Jean-Jacques Lagrenee (1739-1821)

In addition, here is a modern version, which is Literotica in a nutshell.

Web Surfer (2010) by Patrick Richmond Nicholas, inspired by....

L'Odalisque brune (1745) by Boucher

Do enjoy and don't say I never gave you anything sexy.

 

[Awaywego]

More delicious rococo perviness.

This is Venus Playing with Two Doves, 1777 (same year as the Fragonard) by Francois Boucher, a drawing. While ostensibly she's being cute with birds, there is a clear hint of her mons and even pubic hair. Nudity in art was common, but depictions of female anatomy vulgar at the time.

Also stumbled on this in my searches.

Les deux amies (N.D.), by Jean-Jacques Lagrenee (1739-1821)

In addition, here is a modern version, which is Literotica in a nutshell.

Web Surfer (2010) by Patrick Richmond Nicholas, inspired by....

L'Odalisque brune (1745) by Boucher

Do enjoy and don't say I never gave you anything sexy.

I feel so smarter now, thanks

 

[BellaBestia]

Ahh thank you I was just looking for a visual character reference for a plumpish odalisque for a story I’m writing!

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Moving away from the rococo for a moment, let's talk about Hole's "Violet."

I know Courtney Love is a problematic person in the history of music. To say the least. She apparently ripped several relationships to shreds, not to mention the issues with the sainted Kurt Cobain. That is an entire kettle of fish.

But this video (which I highly recommend) is a disturbing masterpiece of music cinema. The song, which, it has been said, was written in reference to Love's relationship with Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, screams about sexual assault and violence in the most primal of ways.

"Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to," Love screams while aggressively pole dancing at a point. That juxtaposition of aggression, sex, and despair is strange to the uninitiated. In fact, the entire video offers images of innocence, childhood, the male gaze, and sex work. This was something I didn't understand until I was myself sexually assaulted.

People talk about and try to defang feminism. This song is feminism with teeth, whether you like it or not.

PS: The cover of the single for this song is a Victorian post-mortem picture of the corpse of a young girl. Death of innocence? I think so.

 

[Barbelle]

I love the raw aggression of “Violet”. It’s one of my go-tos for certain moods, and I’d love to do a cover of it.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

I love the raw aggression of “Violet”. It’s one of my go-tos for certain moods, and I’d love to do a cover of it.

It is perfect. I went through a whole part of my life where I wanted to copy that "kinderwhore" fashion sense of Courtney Love and give everyone the finger. I never got around to it, though.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

And now for another session of Despair and Overshare.

Vision Video hails from famed Athens, Georgia (my state of residence). I've had this particular song on repeat for the past month. The lead singer (also known as "Goth Dad") is a veteran and spends a lot of the time discussing trauma in his music. They have a very nostalgic sound, like The Smiths without the obnoxious addition of Morrissey. Highly recommend. I will be listening to Haunted Hours again when I post this.

 

[Barbelle]

…like The Smiths without the obnoxious addition of Morrissey.

 

[Desiree_Radcliffe]

Another diversion. CHVRCHES, a goth-adjacent band, has kept me alive over the past two years. Saw them live two years ago, and Lauren is a compact, powerful stage presence. Screen Violence is an album I revisit often, full of feminine rage, despair, and hope. There is hope.