It was inspired by an old poetry, hard to explain the origin, but it means âthe head became the wife of a merchantâ, isen is the head, and Eldain is the merchant đ
Portrait of Isengrim for this monthâs art challenge, put on by the WhumpLovers Collaborate on discord. The prompt was âbroken nose, discovery, and loneliness.â
I saw the movie The Godfather about a year ago, and really liked it. I tend to enjoy movies about the mafia and gangsters, possibly stemming from an early interest in Guys and Dolls. After The Godfather I watched and enjoyed several other classic mob filmsâGoodfellas, Married to the Mobâbut The Godfather remained my favorite.
A few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of The Godfather by Mario Puzo in a used bookstore. I thought it would be a fun, light read, a little pulpy but right up my alley. I also thought that maybe, in a story so heavily populated by men, there would be some homoeroticism going on. I got through âbook oneâ, about the first third of the book, which very closely follows the beginning of the movie, and ends with Michael killing Sollozzo. Up until that point, there had been very little gay shit going on, mostly due to the fact that most of the characters are related. âBook twoâ, however, which is only 36 pages long, diverges.
âBook twoâ focuses on a minor character, Johnny Fontane, who, at the beginning of the book, had some to Connieâs wedding to ask a favor of Don Corleone, who in addition to being the Godfather is also Johnnyâs actual godfather. Johnny, who is a famous singer and actor, is losing his voice, and needs a part in a new movie to stay afloat in Hollywood. The problem is, the producer, Jack Woltz, doesnât like him. Then follows the famous horse-head-in-the-bed scene, and eventually, Johnny getting the part.
Anyway, in âbook twoâ, we check back in on Johnny, whoâs just finished the movie. He meets with Tom, the consigliori, and Tom promises that Don Corleone will continue to support Johnny in Hollywood, by securing him the Academy Award for Best Male Actor for his movie, and bankrolling him to become a producer and make four or five movies of his own. Tom tells Johnny that the Godfather doesnât expect anything in return, but this is a test. What he really wants is for Johnny to figure out what he can do for him and do it before he asks.
And so it begins. Johnny passes the test by deciding to invite his childhood friend and singing partner Nino Valenti to the West Coast to make a star out of him, thinking it might please the Godfather. He calls Nino and tells him that he needs a friendly face, phrasing the offer as if heâs trying to get Nino to do him a favor.
Nino flies out to California, and they make the recording. Johnnyâs voice is still in rough shape, but they get through it, singing traditional Sicilian songs that Johnny knows will please the Godfather. Then, Johnny offers to take Nino to a sex party. The whole affairâs really quite sad, a thing set up by studio exec for older actresses to shack up with up-and-coming young male stars to boost their self-esteem. Johnny introduces Nino to basically his teenage celebrity crush, Deanna Dunn. She blows him but for some reason it feels⌠impersonal⌠and he⌠doesnât enjoy it⌠hmm.
Nino finds Johnny, and they talk. Johnny realizes that Nino feels uncomfortable taking favors from him, and is either consciously or subconsciously sabotaging his own chances at success. So, for the second time, he convinces Nino to help himself by phrasing it like heâs really helping Johnny. This scene is where it started to get really gay for me. I will let the text speak for itself.
Johnny learns that Don Corleone has been shot, and worries that his chances for an Academy Award and the money to produce his own movies are gone. He also recognizes that the Godfather knew he was going to try to help out Nino. So thereâs that too.
Johnny asks Nino to come with him on Awards Night, thinking he will lose, and Nino offers to stay sober to take care of Johnny while he inevitably drinks away his sorrows. This is significant because Nino is a raging alcoholic.
However, Johnny wins, and celebration follows. Nino, true to his word, stays sober, and drags a drunk Johnny out of a prospective orgy that he worries Johnny isnât interested in.
I think the thing that makes this both really gay and also really difficult to describe for me is how beautiful the writing in these passages is. The Godfather is not a beautiful or flowery book. The Saturday Review actually called it âa big, blunt, battering ram of a bookâ, which is very true. However, there are moments in âbook twoâ that I actually found touching and very poetic. The shift is so abrupt and weird that itâs hard not to take into account.
Eh Nino plays Tylerâs part, Johnny plays jackâs part
Inspired by my friend, I really like the part that âNino doesnât really existâ, that explain why the hell Nino so loyal to Johnny and Johnny doesnât give a shit bout ninos diabetes
germansingergirl
vaporwave
stormborns
yousharknotpass
ellievsbear
