#Charles in his depression era once again

[vettelander]

Someone check on Charles plz

#another day at Ferrari #scuderia ferrari #Formula One #F1 #Forza Ferrari? #Charles Leclerc #Charles in his depression era once again #poor boy #check in in his mental health #bahrain gp 2023 #excellent editing from me tbh

[hwadam-stories]

⊹ PHANTOM PAINS ⊹ PILOT EPISODE

(black!fem!) mea harper!reader x ceo boss!dhan tae-oh

ᴍɪɴᴏʀꜱ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ

I do not consent to my work being reposted, — stolen or translated anywhere else.

⊹ CW: long post, emotional cheating, unrequited love, depression, fluff, drama, etc.

⊹ SYNOPSIS: Celebrating his niece's birthday at a restaurant, Dhan recognizes you from across the room as his past lover from five hundred years ago and is determined to stop at nothing to be with you again.

⊹ A/N: this is my first serious fanfic, feedback on this pilot (comments, messages & reblogs only!) will help me consider continuing it with motivation. Canon divergent / somewhat canon compliant to the MEA CULPA (2024) film by Tyler Perry with some crossover aspects thrown in. I hope you enjoy!

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Does Your Majesty wish to meet again in our next lives?" You asked, wrapping your arms around him.

"Of course, were you considering abandoning me?" Dhan replied, chuckling.

"Okay then, when the time comes, I'll be your master once more." You promised. "Your love. Your pain. Even your very last breath, please give them all to me."

"They are all yours, y/n."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

There was a time when those words meant everything to him.

A time when finding you meant everything to him.

But after his fifth life, Dhan had given up on his search and the phantom pains have haunted him ever since.

It was a pain that wasn't his, a pain that never faltered in reminding him of his failure despite the many times you two were reincarnated throughout the last five hundred years.

Your souls were connected after all and even though this pain has brought him a great deal of misery, part of him hoped you weren't feeling anything.

Presumably, because he was always reincarnated as a man, he assumed you would be reincarnated as a woman but other than that, he never really had any concrete way of finding you. It was safe to assume that since his ethnicity changed, yours did too.

Not that he particularly cared what race you were now, all that mattered was that he was reunited with you. But that promise has become nothing but a fleeting dream. A delusion Dhan couldn't completely let go of because this pain meant that you were alive, somewhere out there. Hopefully looking for him too.

In every lifetime after the first one, he always accumulated a great deal of wealth somewhere in his mid to late twenties under the name of Dan.

In this era, he was Dhan Tae-Oh, the boss of a CEO corporation in Korea and came from a long line of gangsters that reinforced the values of family and business to a rather high degree.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Tonight, he was celebrating his niece's 9th birthday and his sister-in-law's most recent promotion in the fashion industry.

His younger brother, Charles Kang, arranged everything at the finest Italian restaurant in all of Chicago, Illinois, called up Dhan three days before and here they all were.

"You know, we got lucky tonight." Charles set aside his fork and knife for a sip of wine.

"I initially planned to invite more people for Abby's dinner party but a larger group had already reserved a bigger table and I snagged us the only one they had left."

Now that Dhan gave it a second thought, Piccolo Sogno was unusually packed tonight and much busier than he had initially anticipated.

Even looking over his shoulder he could still see the glimpse of the same crowd he passed through, still waiting in line outside.

His assistant, Seon-woo, mentioned something about a on the rise celebrity artist being one of its more known customers over the last couple of years. No one Dhan had really heard of or cared to for that matter.

"Their celebrating their mum's birthday, I heard." Susan remarked, her posh accent gleaming through. She looked past her husband and over her shoulder, seeing the large the table behind them.

There were about five people and that one particular redheaded woman must've been the birthday mom. "Surely Abby won't mind sharing her special day when two cakes come out." Susan teased.

"You got me a cake?!" Abby gasped, beaming with a smile. "Is it a big one?"

"You can only have two slices, young lady." Susan tenderly pinched her daughter's cheek. "The last thing we need is you bouncin' off the walls at 2 o'clock in the mornin' on a school night."

Abby pouted and brought those puppy eyes straight to her uncle.

Dhan stifled a laugh, hiding that cheeky smile behind a half closed fist. "I'm sorry Abby, not even that can convince me to break your parents rules but I'll make it up to you when dessert arrives, I promise."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dessert was served in the form of a double stacked white and pink frosted cake decorated with strawberries and red icing for the words "Happy 9th birthday, Abigail!"

Candles were blown and nine year old Abigail Kang became tonight's birthday girl that the staff (and some nearby tables) sang to. Pictures were taken and there were smiles all around.

The gift that Dhan purchased was a reasonably expensive one but not something he would ever think to showboat about. He simply had some connections here and there and thought to put them to good use for the short time he was going to be in Chicago.

"All fourteen of Taylor Swift's albums!?" Abby squealed, wrapping her arms around her Uncle Dhan and squeezing him tight. "I love it! I love it! I love it!"

Dhan laughed nervously, patting her head and squeezing her shoulder tenderly. "Your arms squishing my insides make that explicitly clear."

Everything was going great. Dhan was feeling great.

That is, until things weren't great anymore.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dhan suddenly gripped the edge of the table to stop himself from keeling over on the floor of the restaurant.

His chest became uncomfortably tight and his head began throbbed with a splitting sensation.

The phantom pain had returned.

For the sake not wanting to make a scene or ruin what was already a perfect night, Dhan got his breathing under control, keeping some stoicism to his face to not alarm anyone.

The tightness in his chest seemed to lessen but the throbbing in his head wasn't going anywhere.

"Pumpkin, why don't me and you freshen up in the girls' room and leave the boys here, yeah?" As if on cue, Susan took her daughter by the hand and headed straight for the bathroom.

"Dhan." Charles sighed, addressing him in a somber tone of their birth language. Entirely oblivious to what his brother suffering with. "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye but I'm really glad you could make it tonight."

He listened to his brother -- or at least tried to.

The words were being drowned out by a sudden ringing in his ears, leaving him momentarily stunned that it almost felt like the world around him was going to spin.

But he wasn't feeling nauseous from the alcohol or a sudden fever. It felt more like ... resentment.

It put a bitter taste in his mouth and made him clench his fist at the end of the table until his knuckles went white.

His brother hadn't done anything wrong and yet Dhan was being swallowed whole by the sensation, not knowing where to place it.

It's just ... if his brother wasn't the problem, then who?

"Oh look! Her Majesty, The Queen has finally arrived." A woman's voice cackled in the air.

She was an older looking caucasian woman with red curly hair and wine red lipstick, belonging to the group that booked a table for a total of nine and judging by what the already opened and nearly empty wine bottle, she must've had a bit too much to drink.

That's when he saw you approach the table.

It was you. It was really you.

His soulmate.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Don't worry son, your second wife will be on time." Azalia, your mother-in-law cackled, caressing the cheek of Kal, your husband.

His awkward shuffle of a smile made it crystal clear that whatever came out of her mouth tonight, he wasn't going to come to your defense anytime soon.

What can you expect from a man that holds his disrespectful mother over your marriage of three years?

What's worse is that Azalia had the nerve to invite the one woman she favored more.

Your husband's childhood friend, Jenna.

The same childhood friend that had become the topic of your marriage counseling session that your husband Kal had ditched midway through for this dinner party.

A session that you had to finish by yourself, making you the one who arrived late.

Jenna was a tall, light skinned woman with dark curly hair and a bright red dress with a V neck to show off a window of cleavage and a shortened skirt to show off her toned and slender legs.

And to add salt to fucking wound -- Azalia made sure Jenna sat next to your husband while you sat at the end of the table with your only friend and sister-in-law, Charlise.

"I'm sure you won't mind, y/n. You and Charlise probably wanna talk anyway."'

You looked at Kal, searching his gaze for something, any sign of him speaking up to his mother but to your utter disappointment he just let it happen.

You can only push down the intense feeling of resentment and agitation with a passive aggressive smile, taking your seat at the far end with Charlise.

This was going to be a long dinner to get through.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Apart from a brief exchange of words from your brother-in-law, Ray Hawthorne, and the couple sitting across from you, Charlise was the only saving grace at this table and frankly the only reason you kept it together as long as you did.

As much as you wanted to tear off that terrible red wig and burn it, you tuned out your mother-in-law whenever she made any more chide remarks about you.

Not much of a point in ignoring your husband, he was too focused on Jenna and giving Azalia one of the most expensive birthday gifts you had ever seen.

A silver and gold watch that you knew your unemployed husband didn't have the money for.

"Happy birthday mom, from me and y/n."

You scoffed in utter disbelief and stood up from your seat, grabbing your purse. "If you'll excuse me, I think I need some fresh air."

"Oh, well you take your time. We're doing fine here." Azalia insisted, smiling from ear to ear.

Kal was on the verge of getting out of his seat, expressing concern. "I can come with you babe--"

"No." You snapped coldly, barely sparing him a glance as you waved him off dismissively. "I'll be fine on my own, thank you."

Kal frowned, lowering himself back down with a defeated expression. "A-Alright, just don't stay out there too long."

You sighed into the night air, hands pressed against the metal railing while the people behind you carried on with their evening under the lit up patio roof. Glasses clanking, people laughing, wine pouring and plates clinking.

All of it was just background noise to drown out one particular thought that you couldn't run away from.

Maybe it's time to put this relationship on permanent leave.

It's not a pleasant thought. It never was. You and Kal had known each other for eight years and had been married for the last three of them. You've had your ups and downs like any other couple and got through it but this? This was too much. His mother was too much.

But that's probably what SHE wants. The sooner you're gone. The happier she'll be.

You only stuck it out this long because you genuinely loved Kal and Charlise was the anchor keeping you grounded.

As one of Chicago's most successful defense attorney's alongside your brother-in-law, you had everything and yet nothing at all with how your marriage was starting to fall apart, on top of shouldering the numerous bills since Kal lost his job as an anesthesiologist.

God, where did it all go wrong?

"Having a rough night?"

You were snapped out of your thoughts by the deep and smooth voice of a man walking up beside you. The cool night's breeze washing over you both.

He was a tall and handsome man of Korean decent. The darkness of his long hair making the crimson color of his eyes seem as though he were some beast straight out of a fairytale.

Alluring eyes that stared into you with a hint of sincerity and invitation.

You can barely hold in a chuckle, crossing one arm over the other to let your wedding ring glint in the moonlight. "That would be the understatement of tonight."

He sees this and can't hide the smirk on his face. "I don't blame you. In-laws can be infuriating like that sometimes. Especially mother-in-law's."

The restaurant wasn't exactly that big in terms of table arrangements so it makes sense one's antics would be overheard when they're standing around the biggest table in the room.

You chuckle again. The tightness in your chest starting to lighten but your smart enough to keep up you guard to shut down any potential flirting, even the harmless kind. "Can you expect anyone to act cordial on their birthday? I've been here all night without a single drink of my own and tolerating her has been exhausting."

You certainly weren't the type to open up like this to a stranger of all people but it felt good. Yes, you had your friend, Charlise, but there was something different about this man. Something oddly familiar.

"Because she's acting like a cunt towards you and only you and you feel that if you didn't step out when you did you would've tore her a new one right infront of her favorite son and the entire restaurant?" He guessed your exact feelings with a cheeky smile.

You exhale a baffled laugh.

It's like he knew exactly what you were feeling.

"Oh, so you're a mind reader now?"

He raises his right hand, jokingly. "Guilty as charged, your honor."

The both of you laugh.

"Dhan."

"Y/n."

Dhan smiled, staring longingly into your eyes. "A pleasure to meet you, y/n."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Eventually, you were back inside the restaurant. Sitting comfortably beside Charlise and ignoring another passive aggressive comment from Azalia.

You had been gone for a solid eight, maybe ten minutes tops.

The dinner eventually ended and everyone was putting aside their plates and gathering up their coats and belongings while Ray generously secured the bill.

That's when the waiter approached with an expensive looking bottle of wine.

Ray dismissively waved his hand. "No need to send over anymore wine, sir. You can take that back, the dinner party is over."

The waiter shook his head. "I'm sorry sir this isn't for the table. I'm looking for a y/n, is there a y/n here?"

You raise your hand slightly to get the waiter's attention. "I'm y/n."

The waiter smiled at you, presenting the bottle. "Piccolo Sogno would like to formally gift you our most exclusive wine to enjoy right at home. On behalf of a generous courtesy from Mr. Tae-Oh, ma'am who wishes you a fine night. Thank you for you dining with us."

A bit stunned, you still accepted the bottle. That name alone already clued you in to who this was from.

Unaware of your husband's jealous gaze, you can't hide the smile on your lips as you read the note on the bottle.

A drink to wash away all your frustrations - Dhan.

#mea culpa 2024 #mea culpa x reader #kelly rowland #trevante rhodes #kelly rowland x reader #mea harper x reader #black!fem!reader #black!reader #black fanfiction #elixir of the sun #dhan x reader #manhwa x reader #manga x reader #reader fic #black reader

[racefortheironthrone]

So in the early days of the X-Men, was Jean both telekinetic and telepathic? Or just the former and the latter was locked away, I think is what I've heard. And has Xavier ever showed any telekinetic abilities, or is he just a super strong telepath?

(credit to Kirby Without Words)

So this is an area in which there have been a LOT of retcons, some I like better than others. When Jean Grey first appears in Uncanny X-Men #1, she's a telekinetic pure and simple. During the Silver Age, at one point Jean's telepathic abilities additionally manifested as part of a complicated plot involving her being the one student aware that Professor X had faked his death once again, and she became one of the first mutants to have two powers.

Then in 1981's Bizarre Adventures #27, there was a major retcon that Jean Grey's telepathic abilities were actually the first to awaken long before her telekinesis. Her childhood friend Annie Richardson was fatally struck by a car while playing with Jean at their suburban street in Annandale-on-Hudson nearby Bard College. This event caused Jean's telepathic powers to activate as she experienced her friend's death from the inside, which caused massive crippling depression and an inability to control her psychic powers that eventually motivated her (horrible) parents to bring in Charles Xavier to help - and he ultimately decided on a strategy of installing psychic blocks to suppress her telepathy until she became older and better able to handle it.

I have very mixed feelings about this retcon. On the one hand, the Annie Richardson event is a classic traumatic backstory and one that advances a lot of interesting themes for Jean Grey in terms of her otherworldiness and her unique perspective on mortality. On the other hand, I feel like the whole business around Professor X installing psychic blocks leads to a pattern of midreading of the Dark Phoenix Saga as one of flawed and corrupt patriarchs unable to handle the cosmic feminine - when the whole point was that Jean established the psychic blocks as a way to control the Phoenix Force while remaining human, and it was the elimination of those blocks at the hand of greedy, self-interested, gaslighting, manipulative, sexual predators that ultimately brought the Dark Phoenix into being.

Professor X has occasionally demonstrated telekinetic abilities, mostly in the Krakoan Era.

#xmen #xmen meta #jean grey #telepathy #telekinesis #retcons #professor x #charles xavier #dark phoenix saga #phoenix saga #phoenix

[carveredlunds]

"But you will leave the family all alone": A Meta on the Stooky Family

So, I just did a quick Google search and discovered that Stooky Sue was not a real doll (unlike Stooky Bill, who really existed). So, Stooky Sue and the Stooky Babbies were inventions for the show. Why do that, unless RTD wanted to make a point? I think the point was that Stooky Sue and the Stooky Babbies were once humans, now transformed into puppets by the Toymaker.

The first clue is what the Toymaker says in the first scene, when Charles Banerjee says he just wants to buy Stooky Bill, and leave the other puppets behind. To this, the Toymaker responds:

"But you will leave the family all alone. Poor Stooky Sue and the poor Stooky Babbies. You would leave them without Papa? The widow und the orphans will be ge-crying."

Obviously, this is exactly what happens later. Now, this could be the Toymaker just messing around - he brought these puppets to life, and this is him foreshadowing that he's going to play this out later, when Stooky Bill is burnt and "the widow und the orphans" are left crying. This could be just another game to him, but why would he bother to make that up? Why build a family of five puppets, when history only demanded one? He went to 1925 to tamper with the real Stooky Bill broadcast. Why bother making four spare puppets - a mother and her children?

The second clue comes in the form of the puppets themselves. Look at Stooky Sue's hair and dress. This looks to me like a typical 1920's style dress, and the simple hair could definitely fit into that era. Her outfit also matches that of the babies - perhaps these were once the matching outfits of a mother and her three children? Stooky Bill also has a surprisingly elaborate and period-accurate outfit.

Speaking of the children - two of them have blue eyes and blonde hair, and one has brown eyes and brown hair. These seem like very particular traits for the Toymaker to have bothered giving a set of puppets. They're more likely to be the hereditary traits of real children than the invented traits of toys. Stooky Sue has blue eyes, like two of the babies, but the third baby has brown eyes, like Stooky Bill. Perhaps they inherited their eye colours from their parents?

And if you listen to what Stooky Sue says again, this doesn't sound like a game by the Toymaker. Yes, he could be forcing the puppet to rhyme in her creepy way, but there's something so flat and depressed about the voice, like a woman honestly recounting what happened to her. The emotion feels more real than the Toymaker's usual playful voice, with his exaggerated accents:

"I'm poor wee Stooky Sue. I don't know what to do. I lost my precious hubby. They threw me in the cubby. They took my Bill away. I mourn him every day. He won't come home to me. 'Cause they burnt him on TV. Now the Stooky Babbies weep. The Stooky Babbies cannae sleep. They miss their dear papa. They seek him near and far. They miss their kiss goodnight. They greet in endless night."

This story suggests that the family were together, even as puppets, but when Stooky Bill was taken and burnt on television, now the family is torn apart. Something else to note about Stooky Sue? She's got a Scottish accent. That's an accent we don't hear the Toymaker put on. Might this have been Stooky Sue's real accent, now being spoken out through the wooden mouth of her puppet body?

On the subject of puppet bodies - the Toymaker says that Stooky Bill's hair is made out of the hair of a real woman. Could the same be said for Stooky Sue, and the Babbies? Might their bodies all be made out of the hair and pieces of their original human forms? I doubt the Toymaker needs to use the parts of each person in their corresponding puppet bodies (so, perhaps Stooky Bill got Stooky, Sue's hair, she got his, and so on.) This also isn't the only time we see him combine human and puppet body parts together in one form, as he does with Banerjee later.

Of course, this could all just be creepy set-dressing by the Toymaker. He might have built a family for Stooky Bill because he was bored, and he can create things out of thin air. He could have used the hair of another one of his victims, who had no connection to Stooky Bill. It's a coincidence the babies have their "parent's" eyes. But all of these little details just seem too minute to be a coincidence. It's entirely in keeping with the Toymaker's personality to have played a game with an entire family, and then turned them into wooden puppets when they lost.

#dw #dw meta #doctor who #doctor who meta #the giggle #the toymaker #sophie speaks #sophie talks about dw #body horror tw

[leqclerc]

yes to everything you said. i don’t have a problem with lewis, but like? dude has seven titles ffs. his fans are already mocking charles, and their journey hasn’t even started yet. i’m not babying charles, he can make his own decisions, but i don’t really think he had anywhere else to go, even if they did not give him a nice contract. ferrari would never pass up the opportunity to give lewis his eighth title and make history once again. this is good for the team, sure. but is it fair to charles? i don’t think it is. a lot of things aren’t fair in this sport, but we still have every right to be upset about it even if it won’t change. it’s hard no to see this multi year contract as a waste of charles’ golden years. if i was in his shoes, idk if i would be able to trust anyone about it. it can go really well, but it can also go to shit. lewis will leave with his titles, and charles? he might leave with nothing. and don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying he can’t do it, but how are you supposed to win without team effort put on you? he can only do so much on his own. my distaste comes from the knowledge that we almost had it, he almost had it to finally fight for what he wants and deserves only for it to be minimized less than a week later. it just doesn’t sit right with me. he has always been loyal to ferrari, but i find it hard to believe they will ever be loyal to him. it’s sad, really.

Apparently he knew about Ferrari's plans to get Lewis in before he put pen to paper, but tbh I would love to know more about how this all actually came about from the parties involved because it stills seems wild and pretty sudden? But maybe it was brewing behind the scenes longer than we know.

Agree 100%

I remember in one of his interviews in 2020, looking back at his time at Ferrari, Seb said something about how most of the people he worked with (mechanics, engineers, etc.) at the start of his career with Ferrari were gone by the time he himself was leaving years later, and how muddy the internal politics were, how difficult it was to have a clear goal and pursue it with a single-minded focus when everyone had their own agendas and ideas behind the scenes, everyone wanted to pull the strings and steer the ship in a different direction. And looking at Charles's time at Ferrari, he's has even less stability (two different TPs, now a third teammate confirmed, lots of mechanics/engineers swapping around.) It seems like during his time Ferrari's been building, rebuilding, constantly in a state of flux and transition with no real prolonged period of stability. Compare that to Mercedes's modus operandi in the consecutive titles era or Red Bull's very much Max-centric project.

And like you said, every time it seems like they're moving towards that, something changes. When Ferrari brought in Carlos no one expected Binotto to flip the script and start backing him and visibly shifting the focus away from Charles. It arguably cost them a championship, or at least a proper shot at it. Now, okay, they want to change things up. For months we've been getting assurances that with Fred at the helm things will be different now, Charles is going to be at the center of the project, his feedback will be taken into account, we're in our serious team era. And now this? It feels so... idk, experimental?

As you said, no matter how this turns out, Lewis will walk away with his titles, stats and GOAT status. Ferrari is an iconic, historic brand—they're not going anywhere either. If anything this is a win for them, having the bragging rights of signing one of the biggest names in modern Formula 1. So the one with the most to lose here is Charles. It's just depressing to think of him ending up as a footnote in Ferrari's extensive driver catalogue, especially if this all ends with no championships for him.

This will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge and biggest intra-team opponent he's faced, and sure, maybe he's looking forward to it, pushing himself to go up against the best of the best. But how many times does he have to do this dance? 😭 How many times does a driver have to prove himself in a team where he's the senior driver? Also all of this is working off the very generous assumption that Ferrari will produce a monster of a car and run a tight ship to back it up. Having these internal battles is a luxury you can only really afford if you're comfortably ahead of everyone else, otherwise you're just gifting points to your rivals. Ferrari might get 2026 right—but what about Red Bull? I doubt they'll just disappear into the midfield. And if not Red Bull, then someone else might get it right. There's just so many variables. Like I can't believe Ferrari introduced another element (a pretty significant one) into the mix when it already felt they were juggling too many things at once.

#replies #anonymous #discussions and predictions #and just working off of like. lived experience and actual precedents #idk maybe im just disillusioned but in the past few years there's been more ferrari got wrong than right #long post

[qnewslgbtiqa]

Sex in Sydney's Depression-era Parks and Gardens

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/sex-in-sydneys-depression-era-parks-and-gardens/

Sex in Sydney's Depression-era Parks and Gardens

Public Parks and Gardens offered men opportunities to meet like-minded fellows for sex at a time when privacy often proved hard to come by.

Young Charles Richards discovered Sydney’s Parks and Gardens when he moved to NSW from Adelaide after leaving his employment as a motor mechanic for his brother. Charles quit his job following an argument and jumped a train to Sydney. Sydney was even then a mecca for gay men searching for others of their kind. Australia’s most populous city offered a more anonymous, and hence safer, existence. The 20-year-old rented a room in budget accommodation five minutes along Bathurst Street from Hyde Park. He strolled down to the park one Saturday night.

St James public toilets

Standing near the St James public toilets, he saw a man checking him out. When 31-year-old Harold Hayes approached, Charles asked for a smoke.

‘I am sorry old sport. I don’t smoke’.

Hayes then went into the toilets but returned soon after and took a bottle out of his pocket.

“You can have a drink of gin if you want it.”

“All right.”

Charles took a swig and said he was leaving, but Harold Hayes had an idea.

“Do you feel like a bit of nonsense?”

“Where?”

“I don’t care,” said Hayes.

“I’m not fussy,” replied Charles and then suggested the Domain, another expansive parkland, a short stroll away. They walked there and sat on a seat under a tree.

“Hayes then put his hand on me then undone several buttons of my fly and started feeling my privates. He then took his private out and showed it to me. He said, ‘Mine is only a little one; if you suck it for me, I will suck yours after.’

“When he undone my fly, I said, ‘It is too cold. I won’t be able to get the horn.’

“I then started to suck his cock, and after sucking it for a few seconds, I stopped and sat up and had a spit.

“Hayes said to me, ‘I won’t be long now if you do it again.’

“He pressed my head down into his lap, and I sucked his cock the second time. I then felt some warm stuff spurt into my mouth, and I spat it out.”

But at the exact moment Charles spat out the cum, a police constable grabbed him.

The Immorality Gang

Sergeant Russell and Constable Walker had been watching Hayes at Hyde Park. Russell headed the ‘Immorality Gang’, a publicity-hungry inner-city vice squad. He had assigned Walker the task of apprehending perverts at Hyde Park and the Domain. Perverts and prostitutes were always good for a headline. Sex sold as well then as now.

Harold Hayes was a well-known beat user, once observed going in and out of the St James bog a dozen times in half an hour. But Harold was too cunning for the cops. He never solicited anyone, gestured suggestively, exposed his dick, or wanked. Harry merely stood outside the cubicle and waited for someone to catch his eye. He then talked to them outside and, if they agreed, sought out a more secluded spot.

The two cops followed Harold and Charles to the Domain. They watched as Charles went down on Harold. When Walker heard Harold say he would cum soon, the constable snuck up on the seat from behind, wanting to verify that Charles had Harold’s cock in his mouth. He got within inches of the men.

“I saw Richards with Hayes’ person in his mouth, and he was moving his head up and down. A few seconds after, Richards sat up and spat on the ground. I then caught hold of the two defendants and said to them, ‘I have been watching you two dirty brutes, and I saw you (meaning Hayes) with your person in this other man’s mouth.’

Sergeant Russell then raced over and pulled open the overcoat covering Harold’s lap.

“I could see this man sucking your person, and it is still in a state of erection and all wet.”

Just to be sure, the Sergeant grabbed hold of Harold’s cock.

In a state of erection and wet and sticking out through the fly of his trousers

He later assured the judge, “His person was in a state of erection and wet and sticking out through the fly of his trousers.”

Harold’s brother bailed him out, and he later copped a £50 good behaviour bond. But Charles had no job, no money and no one to turn to. Young Charles Richards went out on a Saturday night looking for companionship and a private ‘bit of nonsense’ with another consenting adult. He had no criminal record. He never hurt anyone, but he was imprisoned in Australia’s hardest jail for at least seventeen days while the state of NSW decided on his punishment.

Judge Curlewis eventually settled on a £50 good behaviour bond conditional on Charles leaving the state.

“I will give him a chance because it is possible, he was drunk, but that is only one reason. The other is that Richards is not wanted in New South Wales, and the state is well rid of a man of his type.”

Phillip O’Loughlin; Parks and Gardens

Youthful playwright Phillip O’Loughlin also ended up in Long Bay for consensual adult sex.

“On Tuesday night, I walked into the lavatory at St Leonards Park, North Sydney. I went there for a legitimate purpose. On entering, I saw a man, though not immediately as it was very dark.

“After about half a minute, he pressed against me with his elbow and then reached across and touched my person. I then touched his person. We moved across into the corner. I then placed his person in my mouth and sucked it. His person was erect at that time.”

The other man, 40-year-old Donald Ellis, insisted that the 21-year-old made the first move.

He placed my person in his mouth

“I made water, and whilst I was doing so, a young man put his hand across and caught hold of my person and started to play with it. He then got down on his haunches and placed my person in his mouth. At the time, my person was erect. He then worked my person in and out of his mouth.”

Once again, coitus interruptus occurred just as one of the men came. Perhaps the police listened for signs of heavy breathing because glimpsing cum provided stronger proof of sex in court. Indeed, some old judges grasped for smelling salts at the mere mention of cum-drenched male chins.

Constable Saville had been standing in the dark watching the blowjob.

“I was in the public lavatory when I saw Ellis walk in, followed shortly afterwards by O’Loughlin. One of them whispered something, and they both walked to a corner. I was not visible to them. I saw O’Loughlin get down on his haunches and place his face near the fly of Ellis’s trousers. A couple of seconds later, I heard Ellis say, ‘Keep on doing it.’

“I could see O’Loughlin’s head moving backwards and forwards.

“I flashed an electric torch on them and saw Ellis with his person erect in O’Loughlin’s mouth. O’Loughlin’s head was moving backwards and forwards.

“I said to them, ‘I belong to the police. What do you mean by doing this?’

“Ellis replied, ‘I was feeling fresh, and I wanted to relieve myself.’

“O’Loughlin said, ‘He told me he was feeling naughty, and I wanted to do it.’

“When I flashed the torch, I saw fluid on O’Loughlin’s moustache which looked like semen.”

The same Judge Curlewis who gave Charles Richards a £50 bond sentenced Phillip O’Loughlin and Donald Ellis to a year in Long Bay for precisely the same ‘crime’. Neither had criminal records. The old bastard must have just been in a bad mood that day. Curlewis was once maligned in the Legislative Assembly for a generally ‘offensive, overbearing, bullying and generally discourteous attitude’. They probably used even less parliamentary language about him in Long Bay.

Consensual buggery in colonial Australia.

1943: Walford Dunbar accidentally lands on dick.

Norman Douglas: from cute little bugger to convicted bugger.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[theliterateape]

A Look at Today’s Approach to Mental Health through the Mind of Hollywood’s Most Convoluted Antihero

By Brett Dworski 

About forty-six minutes into Martin Scorsese’s 1976 neo noir thriller, Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle asks his fellow cabbie, Wizard, if he can talk to him about something. Standing outside a diner on break during their usual graveyard shifts, Travis tenses up, hesitant to speak his mind. But then the camera zooms in on Travis, and he vents.

 “I just want to go out and really, really do something.” ”Taxi life, you mean?” “No… I don’t know. I just want to go out… I really… I’ve got some bad ideas in my head.” 

Even after forty-five years since its release, Taxi Driver remains one of the most ambiguous films of our time. Some believe it’s a gritty, optimistic story of a bum-turned-hero, while others see a volatile loner whose dark urges get the best of him—a ticking time bomb of sorts. Both make sense, with this moment between Travis and Wizard bridging the two. But all opinions aside, there’s an undeniable certainty to Taxi Driver: That Travis—a Vietnam War veteran—is very troubled, and whether his intentions are good or bad, he takes a manic turn, resulting in one of Hollywood’s most convoluted antihero stories. While some of his actions are concrete, most require abstract interpretation, leaving questions that have plagued us for nearly five decades: What does Travis’s journey mean, and what is Scorsese trying to tell us through it?

 Set in a decaying and corrupt post-Vietnam New York City, Travis—played by a stunningly grim Robert De Niro—dreams of ridding the city of the filth and perversion he witnesses during his overnight shifts as a cabbie. The more Travis drives, the more he questions his purpose in life and grows deranged, ultimately leading down a path of violence, hatred, and even redemption. De Niro went all out to prepare for the role of Travis: Besides getting a taxi license and driving the streets of New York City in his spare time, he lost thirty-five pounds and listened repeatedly to a taped reading of the diaries of Arthur Bremer, the man who attempted to assassinate U.S. presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972.

Upon meeting the lonely and depressed Travis, we feel sorry for him. But the more people he encounters, the more he becomes detached from reality, and his actions leave us questioning his morals—as well as what’s real and what’s not.

It all starts with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a beautiful campaign volunteer for presidential candidate Charles Palantine. After watching Betsy from afar, Travis musters the courage to ask her out. Betsy thinks he’s weird, but she’s into it. They set a date. Earlier in the film, Travis frequents a pornographic movie theater—whether out of sexual thrill or a longing for something deeper is up to us to decide—and he takes Betsy there. Unsurprisingly, she leaves in disgust. This is Scorsese’s first test for viewers: Did Travis really lack the judgement in taking Betsy to a porno on their first date, or was it all a maddening trick? Is he a perverted freak despite loathing the sexual activity he sees in the streets, or is he simply ignorant?

Creating empathy for antiheros is a constant challenge for filmmakers, but when Travis calls Betsy to apologize, Scorsese masters it.

“Would you like to have dinner with me in the next few days or something? … Well how about just a cup of coffee? … Did you get my flowers in the ...? I sent some flowers … Can I call you again? Tomorrow or the next day?”

At first, we’re drawn to De Niro’s masterful, cringey acting. We see and feel Travis’s angst and pain. But while he’s talking, the camera shifts right and pauses in an empty hallway—a tracking shot that speaks a thousand words: That in this moment, Travis’s life is too agonizing to watch. Later, Travis storms into Betsy’s workplace and berates her in front of her colleagues, saying she’s going to hell and is "just like the others.” But who is he referring to?

Another woman who attracts Travis’s attention is Iris (Jodie Foster), a child prostitute. But unlike with Betsy, Travis views himself as a fatherly figure to the 12-year-old, as he constantly dreams of rescuing her from exploitation. He tells Iris to leave New York and find her family, to be a kid again. It’s here that we even start rooting for Travis, if only briefly. He tells her he may be going away for a bit, hinting that he’s planning something—a “bad idea” of sorts. While Iris entertains the idea, she’s later convinced to stay by her manipulative pimp, Sport, in what is by far the most sickening moment of the film.

Needing to do something powerful, Travis goes full throttle: He buys some guns, shaves his head into a mohawk, and unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Palantine at a rally. In his eyes, he’s doing a societal service—becoming the force needed to clean New York’s filth and corruption—but has gone insane while doing so. Travis’s journey reaches its apex when he ventures to Iris’s brothel and murders Sport, Iris’s client, and the bouncer.

The ending is especially ambivalent. Despite murdering three people in cold blood, Travis is deemed a hero. Newspaper clippings of his courageousness are hung around his apartment, as is a letter from Iris’s parents thanking him for saving their daughter. When he’s back on the job, Travis picks up a passenger, Betsy, who acknowledges his heroics. In this moment, everything is perfect. Travis has gotten the girl of his dreams, and he’s allowed another to achieve dreams of her own. He’s won. But here’s where Scorsese really screws with us: Upon dropping Betsy off, Travis adjusts his rearview mirror and does a double-take as if he’s seen something alarming, just as a piercing sound hits our ears. We see Travis’s attentive eyes through the windshield before the credits roll to the streetlights. 

This is Scorsese’s final test: Was Travis really the hero, or was it all a figment of his imagination? 

The great Roger Ebert once said that despite their flaws, Scorsese’s characters “want to be forgiven and admired.” This is surely true of Travis Bickle, and his psychotic twist and apparent redemption represents his greater struggle to relate to the world and find inner peace. Whether or not Travis becoming a hero and regaining the admiration of Betsy is reality or fantasy, the final shot indicates he’s running on a hamster wheel, always one moment away from another maniacal tailspin.

In his confinement to Wizard, Travis confesses his emotional struggle for the first and only time of the film, but Wizard provides no support, instead telling him to “go get laid.” Travis opened up and wasn’t taken seriously. In 2021, an era where mental health is more discussed and normalized than ever before, Travis is an extreme and somber expression of what can happen to people who need help but never receive it.

#Travis opened up and wasn’t taken seriously. In 2021 an era where mental health is more discussed and normalized than ever before Travis is #Taxi Driver #Robert De Niro #Martin Scorsese #Jodie Foster #Mental Health #Mental Illness #heroic

[teaspoon-of-salt]

(full article under cut:)

The scariest day of Maria Del Carmen’s life started with a phone call that initially cheered her up.

A native of Mexico, she has spent the last 24 years as a housekeeper in Philadelphia and had a dozen regular clients before the pandemic began. By April, she had three. Food banks became essential to feeding herself and her three children. To earn extra money, she started selling face masks stitched on her sewing machine.

So in mid-August, when a once-regular client — a pair of professors from the University of Pennsylvania and their children — asked her to come and clean, she was delighted. No one was home when she arrived, which seemed like a wise precaution, given social distancing guidelines. What struck her as odd were the three bottles of Lysol on the dining room table. She had a routine at every home, and it had never involved disinfectant.

Ms. Del Carmen started scrubbing, doing laundry and ironing. After a few hours, she stepped outside to throw away some garbage. A neighbor spotted her and all but shrieked: “Maria, what are you doing here?!” The professors and their children, the neighbor said, had all contracted the coronavirus.

“I was terrified,” Ms. Del Carmen recalled. “I started crying. Then I went home, took off all of my clothing, showered, got in bed, and for the next night and the next day, I waited for the coronavirus.”

She never got sick, but she still is livid. At 58 and, by her account, overweight, she considers herself at high risk. That is why she never took off her mask while cleaning that day — diligence she thinks might have saved her life.

“There are a lot of people who don’t want to disinfect their own homes,” she said, “so they call a housekeeper.”

The pandemic has had devastating consequences for a wide variety of occupations, but housekeepers have been among the hardest hit. Seventy-two percent of them reported that they had lost all of their clients by the first week of April, according to a survey by the National Domestic Workers Alliance. The fortunate had employers who continued to pay them. The unlucky called or texted their employers and heard nothing back. They weren’t laid off so much as ghosted, en masse.

Since July, hours have started picking up, though far short of pre-pandemic levels, and often for lower wages.

“We plateaued at about 40 percent employment in our surveys of members,” said Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the alliance. “And because most of these people are undocumented, they have not received any kind of government relief. We’re talking about a full-blown humanitarian crisis, a Depression-level situation for this work force.”

The ordeal of housekeepers is a case study in the wildly unequal ways that the pandemic has inflicted suffering. Their pay dwindled, in many cases, because employers left for vacation homes or because those employers could work from home and didn’t want visitors. Few housekeepers have much in the way of savings, let alone shares of stock, which means they are scrabbling for dollars as the wealthiest of their clients are prospering courtesy of the recent bull market.

In a dozen interviews, housekeepers in a handful of cities across the country described their feelings of fear and desperation over the last six months. A few said the pain had been alleviated by acts of generosity, mostly advances for future work. Far more said they were suspended, or perhaps fired, without so much as a conversation.

Scrubbing a fluffy little dog named Bobby

One of them is Vicenta, a 42-year-old native of Mexico who lives in Los Angeles, and who, like many contacted for this article, did not want her last name used because she is undocumented.

For 10 years, she had earned $2,000 a month cleaning two opulent homes in gated communities in Malibu, Calif. This included several exhausting weeks in 2018, when fires raged close enough to cover both homes in ash. Three times a week, she would visit both houses and scrub ash off floors, windows, walls and, for one family, a fluffy little dog named Bobby.

Vicenta received nothing extra for the added time it took to scour those houses during the fires. She would have settled for a glass of water, she said, but neither family offered one.

“It was incredibly hot, and my mouth and throat were really sore,” she recalled. “I should have seen a doctor, but we don’t have health insurance.”

If Vicenta thought her years of service had banked some good will, she was wrong. Early in May, both families called and left a message with her 16-year-old son, explaining that for the time being, she could not visit and clean. There was some vague talk about eventually asking her to return, but messages she left with the families for clarification went unreturned.

“Mostly, I feel really sad,” Vicenta said. “My children were born here, so they get coupons for food, but my husband lost his job as a prep cook in a restaurant last year and we are three months behind on rent. I don’t know what will happen next.”

Housekeepers have long had a uniquely precarious foothold in the U.S. labor market. Many people still refer to them as “the help,” which makes the job sound like something far less than an occupation. The Economic Policy Institute found that the country’s 2.2 million domestic workers — a group that includes housekeepers, child care workers and home health care aides — earn an average of $12.01 an hour and are three times as likely to live in poverty than other hourly workers. Few have benefits that are common in the American work force, like sick leave, health insurance, formal contracts or protection against unfair dismissal.

‘A treadmill life’

This underclass status can be traced as far back as the 1800s, historians say, and is squarely rooted in racism. Domestic work was then one of the few ways that Black women could earn money, and well into the 20th century, most of those women lived in the South. During the Jim Crow era, they were powerless and exploited. Far from the happy “mammy” found in popular culture like “Gone With the Wind,” these women were mistreated and overworked. In 1912, a publication called The Independent ran an essay by a woman identified only as a “Negro Nurse,” who described 14-hour workdays, seven days a week, for $10 a month.

“I live a treadmill life,” she wrote. “I see my own children only when they happen to see me on the streets.”

In 1935, the federal government all but codified the grim conditions of domestic work with the passage of the Social Security Act. The law was the crowning achievement of the New Deal, providing retirement benefits as well as the country’s first national unemployment compensation program — a safety net that was invaluable during the Depression. But the act excluded two categories of employment: domestic workers and agricultural laborers, jobs that were most essential to Black women and Black men, respectively.

The few Black people invited to weigh in on the bill pointed out the obvious. In February 1935, Charles Hamilton Houston, then special counsel to the N.A.A.C.P., testified before the Senate Finance Committee and said that from the viewpoint of Black people, the bill “looks like a sieve with the holes just big enough for the majority of Negroes to fall through.”

The historian Mary Poole, author of “The Segregated Origins of Social Security,” sifted through notes, diaries and transcripts created during the passage of the act and found that Black people were excluded not because white Southerners in control of Congress at the time insisted on it. The truth was more troubling, and more nuanced. Members of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration — most notably, the Treasury secretary, Henry Morgenthau Jr. — persuaded congressional leaders that the law would be far simpler to administer, and therefore far more likely to succeed, if the two occupations were left out of the bill.

In the years that followed, Black domestic workers were consistently at the mercy of white employers. In cities like New York, African-American women lined up at spots along certain streets, carrying a paper bag filled with work clothes, waiting for white housewives to offer them work, often for an hour or two, sometimes for the day. A reporter, Marvel Cooke, and an activist, Ella Baker, wrote a series of articles in 1935 for The Crisis, the journal of the N.A.A.C.P., describing life in what they called New York City’s “slave markets.”

The markets’ popularity diminished in the ’40s after Mayor Fiorello La Guardia opened hiring halls, where contracts were signed laying out terms for day labor arrangements. But in early 1950, Ms. Cooke found the markets in New York City were bustling again. In a series of first-person dispatches, she joined the “paper bag brigades” and went undercover to describe life for the Black women who stood in front of the Woolworths on 170th Street.

“That is the Bronx Slave Market,” she wrote in The Daily Compass in January 1950, “where Negro women wait, in rain or shine, in bitter cold or under broiling sun, to be hired by local housewives looking for bargains in human labor.”

That same year, domestic work was finally added to the Social Security Act, and by the 1970s it had been added to federal legislation intended to protect laborers, including the Fair Labor Standards Act. African-American women had won many of those protections by organizing, though by the 1980s, they had moved into other occupations and were largely replaced by women from South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

A total lack of leverage

Today, many housekeepers are undocumented and either don’t know about their rights or are afraid to assert them. The sort of grass-roots organizations that tried to eradicate New York City’s “slave markets” are lobbying for state laws to protect domestic work. Nine states have domestic workers’ rights laws on the book. Last summer, Senator Kamala Harris introduced the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which would guarantee a minimum wage and overtime pay, along with protections against racial discrimination. The bill has yet to pass, and if it did, labor advocates and historians say it would merely be a beginning.

“It’s important to get a federal bill, but it leaves unanswered the question of enforcement,” said Premilla Nadasen, the author of “Household Workers Unite” and a professor of history at Barnard College. “The Department of Labor is overextended and it tends not to check up on individual employers. The imbalance of power between employer and employee has been magnified by the pandemic because millions of people are now looking for work. And xenophobic rhetoric has made women more fearful of being deported.”

The pandemic has laid bare not just the vulnerability of housekeepers to economic shocks but their total lack of leverage. Several workers said they had clients who would not let anyone clean who has had Covid-19; others know clients who will hire only Covid survivors, on the theory that after their recovery, they pose no health risk. Housekeepers are often given strict instructions about how they can commute, and are quizzed about whether and how much they interact with others. But they have no idea whether their employers are taking similar precautions. Nor, in many cases, are they accorded the simple decencies that are part of formal employment.

“It would be nice to have at least two days’ notice when someone cancels on you, either to let you know or compensate you for your time,” said Magdalena Zylinska, a housekeeper in Chicago who helped lobby for a domestic workers’ rights bill that passed in Illinois in 2017. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that if I don’t work, I don’t get paid and I still have to buy food, pay bills, utilities.”

Ms. Zylinska emigrated from Poland more than 20 years ago and has yet to get a week of paid vacation. The closest she came was in 1997, when a couple handed her $900 in cash, all at once — for work she’d just finished, work she would soon do, plus a holiday bonus.

“The couple said, ‘Merry Christmas, Maggie,’” she said. “I remember counting that money four times.”

#covid19 #labor

[formula-one-thoughts]

F1 2020 - What Can We Expect?

After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, Formula 1 is officially back. Rather than the intended shortest gap between seasons ever, the winter break has become both a spring and summer break, at 217 days. My excitement levels are so high I’m genuinely concerned for how I'm going to react once I hear the words ‘Its lights out and away we go’ on Sunday. Though the season is taking a dramatically different form to the record breaking 22 races we were promised, I expect it to be filled excitement and upsets a plenty.

Mercedes are (shocker) the clear frontrunners, as per usual, and their reign could now be extended even longer due to the push back of regulation changes to 2022. This throws a spanner in the works somewhat, as it was a possibility some teams (maybe Ferrari and Renault) would have been focusing more on perfecting a car for the 2021 season than performance during the 2020 season. Hence, maybe we will see an improvement in form coming from Maranello, the Italian team realising a chaotic season could throw up an opportunity for them to bring the fight to the Mercs? We can’t forget their assertion during testing though that they were not sandbagging (purposefully making their car appear slower than it is), a rather humbling and depressing thing to have to admit. I still believe though that the future is not all doom and gloom for Ferrari. With the announcement of Sebastian Vettel’s departure from the team for 2021, (more on that another time) I anticipate Charles Leclerc emerging as a true force to be reckoned with. He well and truly earned his place as the team’s number one driver by the end of last season, and whilst I don’t expect Seb to throw the towel in and give up, his lack of commitment to the team will surely be advantageous to Charles. Then again, Seb may just think ‘fuck it’, throw caution to the wind and put everything into a final push to be a Ferrari world champion! We’ll have to wait and see.

Following the pattern of the last couple of seasons, there is much excitement surrounding Red Bull’s chances at challenging for the top spot. If the momentum they have acquired over the last few years continues (as testing suggested), and their partnership with Honda goes from strength to strength, I would expect Max Verstappen to have his first real chance at challenging Lewis Hamilton for the World Driver’s Championship. He has matured considerably since the turning point of his crash during practice for the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, and his willingness to take well-calculated risks may serve him well in what looks to be hectic season of racing, full of unknowns. Alex Albon also appears as the perfect teammate. Fast, talented and reliable, he now looks to have fully settled into the team, and whilst he will surely want to prove himself to Horner and Marko, I don’t anticipate the inter-teammate tensions that existed in the Daniel Ricciardo-Verstappen era.

Beyond the top three there is lots to suggest that the mid-field battle will be just as, if not more thrilling, than the action at the front. McLaren will be hoping to continue their success of last season and make it a top four. Sainz should be filled with confidence following his Brazil podium, 6th place in the driver’s championship and promotion to Ferrari for 2021, whilst Norris can fully unlock his potential having shaken off his rookie season nerves. They will have to watch out for the Racing Point boys though, who have certainly been talking the talk and seem to have a lot of confidence in their car. This is no surprise, seeing as in many ways it is essentially a replica of last years Mercedes W10. If they do live up to the high standards they have set for themselves I think this will be a strong year for Sergio Perez, in which he can make the move out of the underrated driver category and into the great driver category. The return of Esteban Ocon to the grid is great news, and I’m intrigued to see how the dynamic between him and Ricciardo plays out; going by the drama of the Ocon/Perez and Verstappen/Ricciardo pairings I’m expecting it will not be all plain sailing. The pressure is on for Cyril Abiteboul: will his team be able to claw their way back to the top of the midfield, or sink further down it? The newly (and confusingly) named Alpha Tauri team had a solid showing last season, and with Pierre Gasly firmly back in a team he feels comfortable in it should be interesting to see what they can achieve.

This may be Kimi Raikonnen’s last year in Formula 1 so I’m hoping the Alfa Romeo is a strong car capable of earning him a good handful of points and seeing him out of the sport on a high. One can only hope that the fortunes of both Haas and Williams see an improvement. Whilst the outbursts of Gunther Steiner were undoubtedly hilarious to watch on Netflix’s Drive To Survive, it’s difficult to watch the team struggle so much. They completed the least amount of miles by some stretch during pre season and the drivers were reluctant to comment much on the car, so we will have to wait and see. Pre season started on a much better note for Williams than last year, though being ready for the first day isn’t exactly a monumental achievement. I so want them to do well, as do many other fans, but their current financial and sponsorship difficulties are troubling to say the least. Nicholas Latifi is the only rookie on the grid, positioning George Russell as de facto team leader; hopefully he can finally achieve that long awaited points finish!

Whilst it’s difficult to truly gauge a team’s potential and race pace from testing alone, here is my prediction for how the top ten drivers and the constructor’s championship might shape up come the end of the season. Lets hope it's a good one!

Drivers

1.    Hamilton

2.    Verstappen

3.    Bottas

4.    Leclerc

5.    Albon

6.    Vettel

7.    Sainz

8.    Perez

9.    Ricciardo

10.  Norris

Constructors

1.    Mercedes

2.    Red Bull

3.    Ferrari

4.    McLaren

5.    Racing Point

6.    Renault

7.    Alpha Tauri

8.    Alfa Romeo

9.    Haas

10.  Williams

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #lewis hamilton #charles leclerc #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #lando norris #carlos sainz #george russell #motorsport

[twelverose]

you’ve gone too long without a smile (1/2)

Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler

Rating: Teen (For some pretty heavy depressive themes)

Words: 2k

Song: Daylily by Movements

Read on A03

Rose seemed to fall into a depression not long after they left Krop Tor. She seemed fine when they were up to their usual antics: saving people and solving problems. But when they were back in the vortex, something heavy seemed to fall over her.

i sit and watch

Outside for the first time in a longtime. Lose yourself sink into the sunlight. It's been a while since you felt right. But the warm nights are coming soon And you’ll be just fine

Outside for the first time in a longtime. You said you can't remember what it's like to feel more than cold on the inside. But the sunrise will come again Oh, you'll be just fine.

_________________________________________________________

Rose seemed to fall into a depression not long after they left Krop Tor. She seemed fine when they were up to their usual antics: saving people and solving problems. But when they were back in the vortex, something heavy seemed to fall over her. She didn’t sit on the jump seat and call Jackie or ramble on about something she said while they were on the phone. She didn’t discuss her latest favorite reality show. She didn’t ask impossible questions that only he would know the answer to and call him full of it when he did as the Doctor tinkered. She just sat and watched or read, if she sat there at all.

When she did read, he noticed that she wasn’t reading Charles Dickens or Jane Austin or some other classic lit. She was picking up poets like Plath and Bukowski, reading heavy philosophized fiction like Camus and Sartre. It didn’t worry him in the beginning. Given that it was only natural for her to drift through periods and eras of written works.

If Rose wasn’t with him in the console room, he’d find her in the garden or in the library. She’d be sketching most of the time. Sometimes painting. Hobbies she picked up just before meeting Jack. She wasn’t really focused on a style of art. She did focus on realism in the beginning though, at his advice. She was quite good at it too. Drawings of his new and old face, Jack, Mickey, and Jackie were scattered across her old room. Floral, impressionist-style paintings leaned against walls. It was clear that since they shared his room, hers morphed into an art studio.

She drew florals and landscapes when she was in the garden. But in the library, he’d find her creating almost surreal imagery.

“What’s that?” He pointed over her shoulder to something that appeared to be wings.

She just sighed, “Wings. Not really sure where I’m goin’ with it though.”

She only worked on the painting when she couldn’t or refused to sleep.

When she slept, it was rarely peacefully like before. Nightmares plagued her like they once plagued him. It worried the Doctor to the point that he no longer left to tinker when she was in deep sleep. He stayed throughout the night, passing time by reading or just watching her. Occasionally sleeping himself. But her REM sleep meant there were whimpers of his name slipping from her lips and hands searching for him. If it was too terrible, she’d cry.

It was when she woke up sobbing his hearts would ache. He’d hold her close. He’d mumble thoughtless comforts into her hair, run his fingers up and down her spine, and let her hold him tight enough to leave bruises. Like she was trying to make them into one.

What made it worse was she refused to talk about the nightmares. Claiming she couldn’t remember what had happened. And her sudden darken moods were passed off as exhaustion.

Her tongue-touched smile was rare now. Only pulling through when they saved the day. Less frequent but still there gave him hope. She was still coping. Still seeing the good in everything. Still so human. But there came a day that was saved and something like paranoia began. What if she never smiled again?

It was after leaving Jackie behind in the parallel universe and nearly falling into a void of creatures built of hate that she truly fell deep into something that she couldn’t hide. Something she couldn’t deny either. Not that she tried.

Her goodbye to her mother took the fuel of a supernova. And the strength of a goddess to admit that they’d never see each other again. The last thing she’d ever hear Jackie say was a sob broken “I love you.” The moment was a blur to him.

One moment she was standing and the next she was collapsed on the floor.

“Figure something out. Please!” She begged between heavy sobs.

He quickly moved to her. Gathering her in his arms and rocking her back and forth.

She repeated “Please” over and over. Crying herself to near-dehydration. Holding onto the lapels of his suit as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

The Doctor didn’t say anything. Wasn’t sure if she really wanted to hear anything. Just took her to the infirmary when she went silent.

She was limp as he took off her jumper to check for broken ribs. There were two. She didn’t seem to notice or care. The bruising nearly covered her entire left side. She didn’t make a single noise as he ran several regenerators over broken bone, busted veins, and bruised muscle. It hurt him. His brave, selfless Rose. So lost in her own mind. So hurt.

He clinched his jaw as those thoughts ran through his head. She was the last being to deserve this. She deserved her every last wish. And the few she had right now were impossible for him to give her.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Gently running his hands up and down her sides.

It was the beginning of a sudden new life. And the end of her old one. Even if she wasn’t ready to accept it yet.

So rather than taking her to their bedroom, he lead her to the media room and put on one of her guilty pleasures, Night of the Creeps. The campy 80s sci-fi didn’t seem to induce the usual fit of giggles and commentary though, not that he expected it. He at least hoped for some kind of reaction. Even if it was her telling him to fuck off. To stop being so overbearing. Instead, she sat with her head on his chest, eyes unfocused on the screen in front of them. As if she were in a trance.

And the trance didn’t just last for a night. Neither did the silence.

It scared him. Terrified him to his core.

Because this was the girl who had brought hope and joy and love back into his life. The one who showed him what something new felt like. Who put together war torn hearts. Who looked gods and devils in their eyes and said “No more.” Who proved that empathy could be the most essential thing. Who was so beautifully human yet somehow such a goddess at the same time.

Now, she was practically mute. She barely ate. Something horrid had truly come over her. Something dark. He understood it. The cloudiness in her eyes was something that had grown familiar to him. Something that didn’t belong in hers. She looked so much older than before. Even though it was technically impossible.

And he wasn’t certain that he could heal her the way she did him. A single heart was so much more reckless with emotion than two. So much more vivid with it.

He wasn’t okay with it. Didn’t want to accept it. But he knew this was a trial that she had to take. And it was lead by her. No genius plan of his could sort it out. She was clever. But Rassilon, was she emotional. He could only be support if she allowed him to be.

He told her this several times. Reminded her of the things he thought she needed to hear. Whispered “I love you”s when she woke from terrors or simply was too afraid to fall asleep. He tried to give her the support he wish he had before meeting her.

They stayed in the vortex for about a week. He gave her space but made sure the TARDIS told him if she was in need of anything. The ship herself seemed to take on a small form of Rose’s mindset. The humming was a deeper tone, the lights a bit dimmer. It was fair, they were quite literally coursing through one another. So he trusted the TARDIS to take care of her as much as he could.

He went back to the Powell Estates and gathered everything in the flat. It was known that she planned on living on the TARDIS for the rest of time. But this was too sudden. She couldn’t bare to even glance outside the TARDIS doors. She stayed in their room as the Doctor lugged each box into a new room his ship had made. To keep everything safe until Rose was ready to confront it all.

It was another few days in the vortex until she actually said something.

They were in the galley. The Doctor was making a light lunch for the both of them. A talk show coming from the radio that replaced their usual bicker and conversation. It would’ve been an unbearable silence without the TARDIS’ hum. Both of them lost in their own minds.

To the point that Rose’s voice made him jump slightly. It was an unfamiliar, hoarse, soft whisper.

“Doctor?”

He turned to see tears forming and immediately kneeled in front of her, “Rose?”

“I’m not supposed to be here, am I?”

His eyebrows furrowed, “Why would you say that?”

“Whatever that thing on Krop Tor said. Nearly losing you. Losing my mum. Nearly falling into that void myself,” Something like anger washed over her face, “It’s almost like something is out to get me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true though.”

The Doctor cupped her cheeks and whipped away the trails of tears with his thumbs, “Terrible things happen to the best people, Rose.”

Silence. This time, stagnate. They just stared into each other’s eyes. He was begging her to say something more. Just one more word.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Let yourself go through it. Don’t force solutions,” He gave her a small smile, “Let help come and show you what’s bright again.”

She didn’t smile. But something in her face softened for just a second. A hint of relief, maybe. It didn’t last long, but it was something that made him sure he was doing something right.

“Do you think she’s happy?” It came out as more of a sob than a question.

He pulled her out of the chair and into the floor. Holding her tightly to his chest, rocking her. Something that was occurring often. He took it as a comfort more than him than her. Knowing she was still here with him.

But this was her moment. A moment he had been asking for since the moment the supernova died.

“She’s going to miss you more than you miss her, Rose. I know that. But the stages of grief are always the same, even if you didn’t really lose them. But she’ll be happy. She’ll figure it out soon enough.”

And she just cried. Something he was strangely happy about. Because it was something other than the silence. Something other than her letting it stay inside her and spread over every one of her thoughts like mold. It was something he could hear and understand. Something she would soon find was the climax of the end.

#writersmonth2019 #ten x rose #tenrose #doctor x rose #the doctor x rose #doctor who #dw #dw fic #whofic #hurt/comfort #rose tyler #tenth doctor #10th doctor #ten #10 #10 x rose #bad wolf #immortal rose #.txt #Vincent writes

[theparanormalperiodical]

The Ultimate Guide To A Dickensian Christmas - Including Horror And Christmas Movies To Stream, And How To Vibe Like A Victorian

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Christmas is complicated.

Okay, fine, it might not quite be the iconic Austen quote you had to memorise for GCSE English, but the reality still stands: bringing family and friends together - mixed with the threat of debt, and drenched in alcohol - can often make for a seriously difficult, disgusting Christmas pudding.

And that’s if you're lucky enough to spend the season with friends or family!

This year I’m in the former position. But whether it’s visiting my grandmother in her care home, or trying not to have a panic attack about my driving test, Christmas has kinda been cancelled in my house.

Bah humbug?

But as a spiritualist, I know that Christmas is a particularly special time for sceptics and believers alike. That’s because sharing a ghost story or two used to feature as a centre-piece to a Victorian Christmas. 

And as your fave paranormal blogger, you know I couldn’t resist making the season that much  spookier.

So, this year, I’m ditching the annual Love, Actually stream on a dodgy website (even if there is a £3 wrinkle trick doctors don’t want me to know about).This year, I’m not going to watch Last Christmas at the cinema (I mean, I wouldn’t anyway, I have some self-respect, christ). And this year, I ain’t dreading seeing my awkward relatives make outdated comments about Caitlyn Jenner..

I’m going back to basics. I’m going to the paranormal past. I’m having my own goddamn Dickensian Christmas.

Now, who’s with me?!

This post is going to take you through the backstory to the Victorian’s spooky Christmas’, the Dickensian traditions that need to be on your to-do list (don’t worry, being in poverty is not a requirement), and all the music and movies you need to stream for the season.

From horror to holiday, I’ve got a list of the best movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime - and links to the trailers. And yes, I’ve checked it twice. 

In true Dickensian fashion, I’ve even brought together the resources to help you find charitable causes you can volunteer for or donate to. 

But before we dive in, I just wanted to say this:

I can make a joke about an urban legend, and I can dissect a horror film like it’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - but I’m not here to joke about something as difficult as Christmas. Even though I’ve always loved the premise of a Dickensian Christmas giving me an excuse to watch a horror film over a mince pie, I wanted to provide a resource for people that aren’t as lucky as me. 

For those that are alone, for those that are struggling financially in the festive season, and for those in need, I wanted to make sure that whoever you are - and whatever you have - you can have a very Merry Christmas. 

And no - it doesn’t mean you have to watch The Exorcist on Christmas Day! I’ve included non-horror traditions and Christmas films, too, so everyone can have their own dosage of Christmas cheer. 

Now, let’s get spooky!

Why Did The Victorians Tell Ghost Stories At Christmas?

Ghosts, spirits, and demons.

All three make frequent cameos on this blog. But there is no doubt about it: the Victorian era was far more terrifying than any ghost story I post as a Spook Of the Day. Industrialisation’s mass poverty and the hold of colonialism ever-tightening on the world both go far beyond the plot of any film featured in my fave genre. 

Yet aside from the racism, sexism, and just, well, general shitness, there is one aspect of Victorian Britain that sticks out to me:

They shared ghost stories at Christmas. 

It all starts with this bloke called Charles Dickens. All English speakers will be know this classic author, and will probably know about one of his most celebrated works - A Christmas Carol. 

Dickens centres this novel around this lad, Scrooge. Well, I say lad - less get-yer-tits-out, more fuck-the-poor-and-fuck-christmas-too. As a result of his rude ways regarding one of his employees and his attitude towards Jesus’ birthday, he is haunted by three different ghosts that explore his past, his present, and his future. 

I mean, it’s obviously pretty damn spooky. 

But beyond Dickens confirming the spooky side to a Victorian Christmas, creepiness at Crimbo is actually quite common! And that’s because most major religious holidays coincide with pagan celebrations. This time, that’s the Winter Solstice. 

In specific terms, the Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. The sun’s path hits the southernmost position, and then begins to move north, making the days longer. In less scientific terms - and rather more spiritual ones - winter suggested a time of death or ageing. Whether it’s embodied by the symbol of The Crone, or by the forecasted lack of food in the bleak months to come, this was clearly considered a time when the lines between the living and dead were blurred. 

This is reflected in the celebrations of the solstice - death features prominently, with ceremonial slaughters taking centre stage. Yet aside from the interest in this depressing topic is the interest in what happens after death. Iranian, Germanic, and Celtic traditions all focus on evil spirits that might once again return to our plain. In fact, believers make a point of staying up to avoid meeting such a spirit!

Given the close links developed between winter and Christmas, some Pagans even used to celebrate it on the solstice, merging the traditions.

And that’s where our obsession with ghost stories on Jesus’ birthday begins. 

So, when you cut out binging on Quality Street, and watching yet another attempt at a christmas special hit the TV, you’re left with family discussion. Team that with the growing interest in spiritualism during the Victorian period, and we arrive at the paranormal pastime that dominated a Dickensian Christmas.

The Films You Need To Watch For A Dickensian Christmas

So we know that a good ol’ ghost story is the go-to for a Dickensian Crimbo. Question is, how do you actually find these stories?

Well. 

You could get lost in your favourite paranormal blog *hair flip*... You could fall down a reddit rabbit hole… or you could sit yo’ ass down and watch yo’self a horror film. 

“But, @thespookiestllama, can’t you just share ghost stories with fellow friends and family?”

Of course you can! But if - like me - your family has a revulsion to discussing the supernatural, or your spending this one alone, tapping ‘play’ on Amazon Prime and scoffing an entire box of Lindt is the best way to celebrate the season. 

So, to make finding these flicks that much easier, I’ve compiled a list of the best horror films to stream on both Netflix and Amazon Prime (in the UK) - fit with the trailers for each. Simply take your pick, and get Dickensian

Feeling a smidge more festive? Don’t fancy watching some kid throw up pea soup whilst your basting the turkey? 

(I mean, it’ll put you off sprouts for life.)

Here’s a list of films - and the trailers - that are less horrifying, and more ho-ho-ho!

Netflix

Cheesy Christmas (S)Hits

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oEAwuC-AyM

The Princess Switch (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W24IK7YJ4fo

A Christmas Prince (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG4Fbj1B1bY 

Christmas Inheritance (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4STcvndzbE 

The Knight Before Christmas (2019)

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

Films About Dickensian Christmas

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx3ctBjG6yI

Dickensian (Tv Series)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U57l3XUKZP4 

Family Friendly Flicks

Elliot The Littlest Reindeer (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viUFB3Oitnk

Rise Of The Guardians (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OxDZKordaM

Nativity (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lLpFYdKj8

Nativity 2 (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmqB5ZRhWA0

Klaus (2019)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taE3PwurhYM

Comedies

Nativity (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lLpFYdKj8

Nativity 2 (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmqB5ZRhWA0

A Bad Mom’s Christmas (2017)

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

Christmas With The Kranks (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTzyGuB9V6c

Holiday Rush (2019)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2U6diYTnxA

Bad Santa (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQvaoRScND4

Amazon Prime

Family Friendly Films

Arthur Christmas (2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tk-WZSqIGQ

Nativity (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lLpFYdKj8

Nativity 2 (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmqB5ZRhWA0

Nativity 3 (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OyV2xSakI0

Comedies

The Night Before (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShIAH_G-Iuw

Nativity (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lLpFYdKj8

Nativity 2 (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmqB5ZRhWA0

Nativity 3 (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OyV2xSakI0

Four Christmases (2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v0Rbf5xI9o

Love The Coopers (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TSX_0rwPNc

The Holiday (2006)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDi5zH18vxU

Love Actually (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOS-HMiVejo

Elf (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a54yC1etmVc

Nativity Rocks (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBmHMl7qjzQ

Mixed Nuts (1994)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwBG2CXDXcc

Films About Dickensian Christmas

A Christmas Carol (1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99BfCytGEGY

A Christmas Carol (2009)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ3lr3urgDU

Scrooged (1988)

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

The Classics

Love Actually (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOS-HMiVejo

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr6N_hZyBCk

Die Hard (1988)

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

Elf (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a54yC1etmVc

The Dickensian Christmas Playlist You Need To Listen To

Hands up if you work retail.

Keep your hands up if you also hate retail.

(I also have a foot in the air to confirm my dislike for working a Sainsbury’s till.)

Chances are, this same group has faced what all employees dread: Christmas. Why? Because whilst your earning minimum wage on your tedious tasks, you’re also being tortured via Christmas No. 1.

All the shops play is the same loop of the same christmas songs.

And on top of that you’re trying to fend off customers claiming they are entitled to the meal deal discount when they haven’t picked the meal deal  discounts items cause it’s the red ticket items only and the crisps they’ve got are Kettle like who are they kidding Kettle crisps are the Waitrose of lunchtime snacks how would this be discountable.

*Breathe*

You can see how it can make Christmas, well, crap.

Are you tired of Mariah? Are you sick of Slade? And are you really simply having a wonderful christmas time? Me neither.

It’s time to take things Dickensian:

No points are going for guessing that the Victorians didn’t pull out their bluetooth speakers when they were having a post-supper singalong. Instead, carolling on the streets and going door-to-door was their alternative to hitting shuffle on your fave streaming site.

(Who knows - Jay Z could be reading this!)

The most popular carols sung and played by musicians in the Victorian era included:

O Come All Ye Faithful, Once In Royal David’s City, See Amid The Winter’s Snow, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, and Away In A Manger. 

So, I’ve brought together a variety of versions of these songs authentic to the era. 

That means there’s no Mariah Carey “whistletones” piercing through the awkward silences of christmas dinner, and no Destiny’s Child squeezing a festive classic into an anti-feminist box.

(And that’s because the the Victorian songs are already infused with their own special brand of sexism...)

The spotify playlist

And Finally, The Dickensian Christmas Traditions You Need To Try

To some, Christmas means peace on earth, and goodwill to all men.

To others, Christmas means capitalism driving the innocent into debt. 

However you view the festive season, one thing is for sure: each and every tradition filling up your dinner table or lighting up your tree started with the Victorians. 

Many historians point to Queen Victoria, herself - but don’t worry, not all traditions require a regal budget. The Christmas tree was the most iconic feature brought to Victorian Britain, plaguing us with dropped pine needles since the 19th century!

Christmas cards also began to be sent and shared, and were even crafted by pauper and prince alike. In fact, by the 1880s, 11.5 million cards bringing seasonal cheer to mailboxes across the countries were created. 

Another tradition birthed by the 19th century was gift giving. 

But before you clutch your wallet for dear life, the presents passed between families and friends were small and simple. Trinkets, fruits, nuts, and sweets were hung on the tree due to the minimalist size of time gone-by.

So yes, Cliff Richards was right. 

Speaking of food, mince pies - made from actual meat - were a popular treat eaten during this time, as was Turkey as a part of a grand feast shared among family and friends.

Don’t have the budget for this binge?

No time to trinket-the-tree?

No matter; the Victorians only had one thing in mind. Okay, aside from the desire to support the empire as it snatched innocent victims and territories…

And that was family and charity.

Never read A Christmas Carol? Chances are you won’t know the iconic ending to this iconic book. The final moments of the novel see Scrooge waltzing down the street, struggling under a huge turkey meant for an employee who was humbled by poverty. 

Together they eat and enjoy a magnificent feast!

Yet despite the image evoked of this old man trying not to buckle under the sheer size of the table’s centrepiece, it's not actually about the turkey. It's about giving to others, and being together. 

“God bless us everyone!” - Tiny Tim’s famous line from the book

You don’t need a healthy bank account to have a merry Christmas, nor do you need to accoutrements to prove it’s the festive season. In fact, you don’t even need family or friends around you to celebrate Christmas.

Giving to others is the true meaning of a Dickensian Christmas.

Its for that reason that I’ve brought together a few links to help you find places to volunteer this Christmas, and charities you can support (UK):

To help you find volunteering opportunities near you:

https://do-it.org/channels/volunteer-at-christmas 

A guide to the best places to volunteer this christmas

https://money.howstuffworks.com/economics/volunteer/opportunities/volunteering-on-christmas1.htm 

So - Are You Ready To Do Things Dickensian?

Are you hunkering down with a hot chocolate to check out La Llorona? 

Or are you about to press play on Love, Actually, instead?

Be sure to hit follow for more spooktastic stuff - and a spooky fact every damn day!

#christmas ideas #christmas #christmas movies #best christmas gifts for bride to be #christmas gift ideas #christmas present ideas #dickensian christmas #charles dickens #elf #love actually #a christmas carol #disney's a christmas carol #ghost stories #real ghost stories #true ghost stories #victorian #victorian era #british history #history of christmas #christmas tree origins #christmas movies 2019 #netflix #prime #amazon prime #horror movies #Best horror movies 2019 #christmas hacks #christmas playlist #classical music #traditional christmas

[mautadite]

october book round up

19 books this month, which brings me to 125 for the year, and i’ve officially completed the yearly challenge! :) a little later than last year, but still earlier than i expected. i don’t imagine that i’ll read as much as i did last year, but i can still get a good bit done in two months i think. this month was pretty much just different flavours of romance, once again all audiobooks.

poison kiss - ana mardoll ⭐️⭐️⭐️ mixed feelings about this one. urban fantasy/paranormal with a neat setup and world building, but i feel like the author didn’t tell the story in the most effective way? not enough time spent on certain sections, time skips that were not needed, too many flashbacks. the poly romance was really sweet, though i didn’t much care for the love at first sight aspect when the third character was introduced. but this was a good book overall, with a unique plot and cast; might revisit the series.

the best boy ever made - rachel eliason ⭐️⭐️⭐️ very cute coming of age/ya romance. a conservative country girl is at first shocked when her best friend comes out as trans, but she slowly finds herself becoming his biggest champion, and then falling in love with him. took me a while to warm up to it bc i found the protagonist to be kind of obnoxious. and some of the later plot events were kind of ham-fisted. but i definitely liked it, mostly for sam and how good and kind he was.

i wish you all the best - meason deaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ BRUH I’M CRYING IN THE CLUB. this was a really fucking sweet ya romance. the main character finds themselves homeless after they come out as nb to their parents. they move in with their sister, enroll in a new school, and find themselves making friends with (and slowly falling for!) a literal ray of sunshine. this was great, another one of those books i wish i could have read when i was younger. dealt with coming out, depression, anxiety and first love, had great writing, and i’m still thinking about how great the ending lines were.

the neighbour - gerri hill ⭐️⭐️ eh... a book that COULD have been good (woman with a stunted career as a writer moves back home to take care of her ailing mother, finds herself falling for the rich lesbian player next door) but both main characters were so thoroughly unlikable lmao. judgemental, snooty, made jokes about harmful things, kind of elitist... there was one aspect of this book that i really liked (the main character changed careers later in life and it wasn’t seen as a failure, just moving on) but otherwise this was a disappointment.

the turner series - cat sebastian ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ historical romance!!! always a fave. this was a pretty fun series; first three m/m, last one f/f. a bit of mystery and intrigue in all of them, good humour, and a great cast of characters through and through. the second one was probably my favourite; one of the mcs suffered from anxiety attacks in an era where there was a lot of wrong information about mental health, and his love interest (a cheat and a scoundrel) ended up being the best thing that happened to him. although now that i’ve said that i just remembered how very much i love the third book’s protagonist (the rake, to be specific). standout character for sure. the last book has a dear place in my heart bc even though you can tell that the author doesn’t often write f/f, and it was a pretty short novella, it’s still historical lesbians, and i eat up historical lesbians with a spoon. (i could make a pretty bad joke here but lo and behold; i have GREAT self control.)

the secret casebook of simon feximal - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ when k.j. charles is good, SHE’S REALLY FUCKING GOOD. this is a paranormal-mystery/romance book styled after the adventures of sherlock holmes (if you must know one thing about me it’s that i’m a slut for acd holmes, don’t fucking @ me), set in the very universe itself. not quite a pastiche but close enough, and it was so well written, with great world building around the magic and paranormal events, great characters, GREAT ROMANCE. told as stories published by robert, simon’s biographer and lover. i adored this and will definitely reread.

puppy love romance - georgia beers ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a trio of f/f novels centred around an animal rescue, and the women who work and volunteer there and fall in love there. each of these novels was really sweet, grounded in a way that i like for contemporary romance, and they all had adorable dogs in them. and i feel like beers really knows her way around plotting and pacing a novel, especially small town romances. but i also had pretty sizeable nitpicks for each of them lol. part of it is that i just got tired of beers’ writing style (as you can see, i took a break between the series). this is such a weird complaint but oh my god she uses too many adverbs lol. also there was always an emphasis on how amazingly stunningly gorgeously beautiful all six women were and it got so tiresome. idk who wants to read about women who are physically perfect all the time, but it’s not me. and one half of the romantic pair in each book (lisa, emily and sydney, in that order) had attitudes that i found obnoxious and were not resolved and i felt bad for their girlfriends having to deal with them. a fun read all in all, but some of those things rubbed me the wrong way, and i’m ready to take a break from this author. 

bound series - ava march ⭐️⭐️ a resounding meh. historical m/m romance that wasn’t bad, but there wasn’t anything great about it. i only read these like maybe a week and a half ago but i’m struggling to remember details. there was bdsm, which i didn’t hate, but i also didn’t care. the plot was bleh, the sources of conflict were weak, and one of the dudes was kind of an asshole. /shrug emoji

reverie - eliza andrews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ god... GOD. the ride i took with this book was like... a really sexy butch took me out to dinner, wined and dined me, and in the very last course she leaned over and spit in me food. the premise: a woman on the run from her abusive ex-husband settles into a small town where she find herself drawn to the only out lesbian in town, a sweet butch ex-marine, and her mysterious nurse of a neighbour. this book was soooooooo well written, so well crafted, so moving, so beautiful. a paranormal mystery that actual kept me guessing. i was ready to name it the best f/f book i read this year, if not the best romance period. and then the ending. the FUCKING ENDING. i’ve rarely been so let down in my life. i’m looking at the four stars i gave this and wondering if i should go lower because SERIOUSLY. thinking about it is getting me kind of upset. this book could have been SO good. uuuuuugh. 

brothers of the wild north sea - harper fox ⭐️⭐️ this is tricky because like. this book was definitely like, not good lmao, but it was good enough that i almost feel guilty giving it 2 stars. this is a historical romance that takes place more than a thousand years ago between a viking and a monk. it wasn’t badly written, probably wasn’t historically accurate but i mean, i don’t care. but it was too long, i didn’t care about the characters, it was badly plotted, and just really confusing overall. i think harper fox is great at writing romance, but all other aspects of this novel fell flat.

escape velocity - anah crow, dianne fox ⭐️⭐️⭐️ sci-fi m/m romance. a linguistic researcher and a pilot struggling with his religious beliefs fall into a whirlwind romance. pretty cute. i found it too short as i find most novellas, but i think the authors did a lot in relatively few words. definitely wish there was more worldbuilding. kind of hope the authors have plans to make this a series.

nowhere ranch - heidi cullinan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a sweet romance between a farm hand and his boss. i didn’t think i’d like it much, but it was pretty enjoyable! very simple writing stuff that fit well with the gruff, no-nonsense, trying to shut everyone out protagonist. i really liked him; identified with him a lot, and his journey into opening up, dealign with his anxiety and self-worth issues. and the romance was sweet (though oooof, some of the sex scenes were too much). the book went from being really raunchy to really domestic and i kind of liked that. the resolution came a bit too quick, but i enjoyed it nonetheless.

that’s it for october! still currently unemployed, waiting for the people i signed a contract with to call me. since i don’t want to dip too much into my savings i’ve been doing odd jobs here and there, and might take a more steady part-time job in the meantime? all of that to say: i probably won’t be reading as much in november. i’m currently reading the first book in the spencer cohen series, and not... really loving it, lol, so i might pass on the others.

#book talk #long post

[rpgsandbox]

The dark and malevolent forces of the Cthulhu Mythos mostly ignore humankind. But these entities are also shrewd opportunists. Many of them see humans as a resource to be harvested, corrupted or enlisted for their dark plots. Humanity, with all its noble aspirations, has many flaws. Greed, lust, envy, hatred and fear are ripe fruits for these forces to exploit. Division and separation makes the humans easier to control. While the best of humankind fights for just laws and civilization, those who cling to power and privilege stand ready to quash protections for those who need them most. In the shadows of human injustice lurk loathsome, inhuman entities. As investigators square off against the worst aspects of mankind, they also find themselves entangled with the parasitic powers of the Mythos.

Welcome to An Inner Darkness, from Golden Goblin Press. 

This is collection of Classic 1920’s era scenarios of 7th edition the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (published by Chaosium, Inc) with several goals in mind. We hope to present well researched, historically accurate and challenging adventures, with a slightly darker, harsher and more brutal tone than our fans might be used to. For Golden Goblin Press, this will be a more mature book, one focused on adult themes, designed to spark deep conversations among your players for years to come.  

These scenarios will of course feature the malignant taint of the Cthulhu Mythos, but at the forefront of each will be one or more examples of social injustice, societal corruption, and mankind’s inhumanity to man. The 1920’s was a period of great social upheaval in America, when the borders between classes, races, and genders were changed. In this time of social upheaval and chaos, eldritch forces found fertile ground to exploit us. Mankind is never so vulnerable than when we are divided from within.

When this Lousy War is Over, by Brian M. Sammons – Arkham, Massachusetts, 1923. At the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars association, men who fought in the “war to end all wars” gather together, seeking a bit of solace from those who’ve shared similar experiences. Many are wounded in body, in mind, and in spirit. Many suffer from horrifying nightmares, violent outbursts, disfiguring injuries, or alcoholism, but their pain and struggles are mostly ignored by society. They are reminded that the war is over, and told to just “get over it” by a public who finds it all too easy to judge. Then, chapter members start to mysteriously die in violent and terrible ways, with clues pointing to the occult, possibly involving a member of the association no less! Can the investigators find those responsible and stop them, before it’s too late?

They Are From Away, by Charles Gerard - Bangor, Maine, 1923. Maine has become a major battleground for the Ku Klux Klan. Protestant nativists have grown fearful about the recent influx of Catholic Immigrants, mostly Irish and French-Canadians. This provides the KKK with fertile ground for spreading their message of hate, division, and violence. Enter Eugene Farnsworth, a charismatic former stage magician, hypnotist and filmmaker, now known as King Kleagle, the head KKK recruiter for Maine. He hosts “wholesome” public events while spearheading an aggressive recruitment drive, making alliances with area politicians and heads of industry. Meanwhile, macabre, inexplicable and unnatural events begin to occur, aimed at humiliating and terrorizing the area’s Catholic citizens. Investigators must discover if there is a link between the two, and find a way to stop it if they can.

Fire Without Light, by Helen Gould - Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1922. Less than a year has passed since the Tulsa Race Massacre, when the wealthiest black community in the United States was destroyed and hundreds of innocent people were murdered by rampaging white mobs. Though most of the 10,000 black residents left Tulsa, some remained to rebuild their devastated community. Now tensions are on the rise once again. A new pastor and his wife have arrived, preaching hate and violence to the white population. Their congregation is growing at an alarming rate, and violence is spilling out from their church and into the streets. Strangely, even families and friends of the same race are turning against each other. Something very wrong is going on here. Investigators must tread carefully to discover just who - or what - is fanning the flames, pushing the citizens of Tulsa towards another wave of catastrophic violence.  

A Fresh Coat Of White Paint, by Jeff Moeller - Los Angeles, California, 1931. Early in the Great Depression, the U.S. institutes its first mass deportation policy, supported by a cross-section of interests such as racist nationalists, eugenicists, paternalistic "charities", and labor unions "looking out for their own." This leads to a roundup of thousands of ethnically Mexican families, many of them U.S. citizens, carried out federal employees, local police, various "charities", and outright vigilante groups. The deportees were (sometimes) given summary hearings, detained in makeshift conditions, and then loaded onto trains. On the outskirts of Los Angeles, one such "charity" is refurbishing an old prison to "give the unfortunates somewhere to stay." However, this long abandoned facility has a dark past, which is quickly becoming a horrible, otherworldly nightmare for those interred there. Can the investigators get to the bottom of things in time to save the prisoners?  

A Family Way, by Oscar Rios – New York, New York, 1925. The investigators must come to the aid of a dear friend, a student at Columbia University. She’s found herself "in trouble" after what should have been a harmless girls' night out. Her group ended up drinking and dancing with the wrong sort of fellas, the kind willing to slip them a mickey and take what they wanted from their unconscious victims. Now the girls need help, as the authorities won't act, or even take their stories seriously. These men have deep pockets, powerful allies, and dark secrets. When the men return with offers of marriage and gifts of strange, pale gold jewelry, it becomes clear they aren't the sort to take no for an answer. There aren’t many options for girls in their “condition”, and one of the few happens to be illegal. But your friend just wants this nightmare to be over, if such a thing is still even possible.  

Dreams of Silk, by Christopher Smith Adair (Stretch Goal bonus scenario) – Pennsylvania, 1922. The cosmetics industry is growing fast, as the public’s obsession with youth and beauty grows. As profits soar and businesses expand workers at such companies suffer due to lax regulations and poor conditions. At Hempstead Cosmetics, located in Brights Mill, Pennsylvania, a state infamous among labor advocates, conditions are especially bad. Local government turns a blind eye to protect their economic boom, ignoring any indiscretions or complaints against chemist and owner Mervyn Hempstead. Consumers marvel at their newest skin cream, promising to give a complexion as smooth as dreams of silk, and the youthful glow of Imelda Hempstead, Mervyn’s wife and chief model.  Meanwhile, his employee’s bodies and minds deteriorate and their complaints of rashes and troubled sleep are ignored.  But things are much worse than anyone can possibly imagine, as they are drawn into a web of literal nightmares as unspeakable horrors from beyond our reality are tied to Hempstead Cosmetics' “miraculous” secret ingredients.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Mon, April 15 2019 4:59 AM BST

Website: [Golden Goblin Press] [facebook]

#RPG #kickstarter #Call of Cthulhu #An Inner Darkness #Golden Goblin Press

[locke-writes]

i need books to read what did you go looking for and what did you buy today

I went in for Good Omens as well as Genetics in the Madhouse. Ended up buying the following:

Supermarket - Bobby Hall

Summary: Flynn is stuck—depressed, recently dumped, and living at his mom’s house. The supermarket was supposed to change all that. An ordinary job and a steady check. Work isn’t work when it’s saving you from yourself. But things aren’t quite as they seem in these aisles. Arriving to work one day to a crime scene, Flynn’s world collapses as the secrets of his tortured mind are revealed. And Flynn doesn’t want to go looking for answers at the supermarket. Because something there seems to be looking for him. A darkly funny psychological thriller, Supermarket is a gripping exploration into madness and creativity. Who knew you could find sex, drugs, and murder all in aisle nine?

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

Summary: When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?

Ohio - Stephen Markley

Summary: One sweltering night in 2013, four former high school classmates converge on their hometown in northeastern Ohio. There’s Bill Ashcraft, a passionate, drug-abusing young activist whose flailing ambitions have taken him from Cambodia to Zuccotti Park to post-BP New Orleans, and now back home with a mysterious package strapped to the undercarriage of his truck; Stacey Moore, a doctoral candidate reluctantly confronting her family and the mother of her best friend and first love, whose disappearance spurs the mystery at the heart of the novel; Dan Eaton, a shy veteran of three tours in Iraq, home for a dinner date with the high school sweetheart he’s tried desperately to forget; and the beautiful, fragile Tina Ross, whose rendezvous with the washed-up captain of the football team triggers the novel’s shocking climax. Set over the course of a single evening, Ohio toggles between the perspectives of these unforgettable characters as they unearth dark secrets, revisit old regrets and uncover—and compound—bitter betrayals. Before the evening is through, these narratives converge masterfully to reveal a mystery so dark and shocking it will take your breath away.

Good Omens: The Nice And Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

(Yes that’s actually the full title for anyone who doesn’t yet own a copy of the books)

Summary: According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

A Darker Shade of Magic - V.E. Schwab

Summary: Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

You Were Never Really Here - Jonathan Ames

Summary: Joe has witnessed things that cannot be erased. A former FBI agent and Marine, his abusive childhood has left him damaged beyond repair. He has completely withdrawn from the world and earns his living rescuing girls who have been kidnapped into the sex trade. When he’s hired to save the daughter of a corrupt New York senator held captive at a Manhattan brothel, he stumbles into a dangerous web of conspiracy, and he pays the price. As Joe’s small web of associates are picked off one by one, he realizes that he has no choice but to take the fight to the men who want him dead.

Heart Of Darkness and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble, Soft Leather Collectors Copy) - Joseph Conrad

Contains: Heart of Darkness, The Secret Sharer, Youth, Typhoon, Kerain: A Memory, Falk: A Reminiscence

Summary (Heart of Darkness only): It is a story within a story, following a character named Charlie Marlow, who recounts his advanture to a group of men onboard an anchored ship. The story told is of his early life as a ferry boat captain. Although his job was to transport ivory downriver, Charlie develops an interest in investing an ivory procurement agent, Kurtz, who is employed by the government. Preceded by his reputation as a brilliant emissary of progress, Kurtz has now established himself as a god among the natives in “one of the darkest places on earth.” Marlow suspects something else of Kurtz: he has gone mad.

This is a re-read for me.

A Tale of Two Cities (Barnes & Noble, Soft Leather Collector’s Copy) - Charles Dickens

Summary: After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

This is a re-read for me.

Norco ‘80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History - Peter Houlahan

Summary: Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily-armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born-again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, Norco ’80 transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all. A group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military-grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turned the surrounding towns into war zones. When it was over, three were dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter was forced down from the sky, and thirty-two police vehicles were destroyed by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trials shook the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society today: from racism and the epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces

What can I say. I love to read.

[marcelavenegas9-blog]

Hip Hop And R&B Surpass Rock As Biggest U.S. Music Genre

Electronic music is music which uses non-conventional digital instrumentation and sound manipulation expertise as the first musical backbone of a composition. The addition of those further notes added the flourish and trim associated with the styles of the time that were dominantly ornate. These musical ornaments grew to become much less of a function within the Classical period as composers strove for the purity of melodic line with balance and poise. The possible exception is the trill that was usually be used to show a performer's virtuosity in a efficiency and used to bring a bit of music to a rousing close. These are all subgenres. It's mainly rock that died out utterly and different music developments that phased out over time. I am glad dubstep is over, I like EDM but that shit is horrible. Classical music may be of several forms: Symphony, Sonata, Concerto, Suite, Cantata, Oratorio and so forth. These are either performed on devices resembling a piano or a violin or sung. boomblatin - Comedy rock in the '80s and '70s. Influenced by the digital music that perionted or significantly and hardcore punk, and various rock that emples metallic and bass dance music, and percussion people music produced to the music metal that started minimalist that always performed dinge pop music that folk music standard music widespread music, who the genre methods people, metal, blues, ond rock custom the more performent in the '70s on the '60s and '90s. It folks music.

In 1962, Ray Charles had more to supply nation music than nation music had to supply Ray Charles. For an R&B star with two latest pop chart-toppers to cross over into a genre typically thought of a industrial backwater with a niche rural viewers was a stroke of counterintuitive genius. As the wrestle for civil rights raged down South, this self-aware train in integration reminded fans on both aspect of the racial divide of their frequent musical roots. Yet by embracing the new string-laden Nashville Sound quite than wanting backward to the honky-tonks, http://www.audio-transcoder.com/ Ray's fusion was as trendy as the title promised, not simply increasing the viewers for country however increasing the concept of what nation may very well be for future musicians.

With Bowie, the clues were all there. However with Prince, you didn't really see it coming. Sure, there have been rumors of drug use and an emergency airplane touchdown , however his death on April 21 was a punch in the intestine. The greatest songwriter , performer , and musician of his era, Prince's music was as idiosyncratic and transgressive as pop music will get. Nobody wrote about fucking better than Prince, earlier than or since. To label Prince classic rock" feels sinful: Prince made Prince music, and Darling Nikki" is not exactly blowing up basic rock radio like Resort California." Prince fused a number of genres—funk, soul, R&B, and, sure, rock—without neatly falling into one category. But Prince also marked one thing of an evolutionary finish for rock music: After him, rock stars appeared backward greater than they did forward, and they definitely looked more to rock's own previous than they did to different genres.

Previous to the 1930s, the study of people music was primarily the province of students and collectors. The Thirties noticed the beginnings of bigger scale themes, commonalities, themes and linkages in people music developing in the populace and practitioners as properly, typically associated to the Nice Melancholy 24 Regionalism and cultural pluralism grew as influences and themes. During this time folk music began to become enmeshed with political and social activism themes and actions. 24 Two associated developments were the U.S. Communist Get together's curiosity in folk music as a approach to attain and influence Individuals, 25 and politically active outstanding people musicians and students seeing communism as a possible better system, via the lens of the Nice Depression. 26 Woody Guthrie exemplifies songwriters and artists with such an outlook.Narcocorrido first appeared within the 1970s earlier than going mainstream within the Nineties. Musicians often focus on cartels that get the most media coverage. So the extra the cartel's crimes make the information, the extra musicians honor these criminals in their songs. However, narcocorrido musicians often keep away from extreme glorification of the drug lords and cartels as a result of their felony competitors in the drug world might take offense. Other deaths have rocked the music world as effectively. Can any fan of hip hop or R&B every really get better from Aaliyah's dying in 2001? She was solely 22 years old when her aircraft crashed in the Bahamas, killing not only her but in addition eight others. This gifted musician died earlier than reaching the age of 40, and the world of R&B isn't the identical for her loss.Pop radio radically changed once more in 2013 and pop rock made a comeback. Electro-rock band Imagine Dragons and pop punk band Fallout Boy enjoyed success on both various and pop radio. Indie, folk, and country impressed music achieved pop success as did R&B and funk. The visualization is sort of revealing, and offers us a good sense of A) what musical aspects are mentioned within the evaluations (e.g. what sonic or other musical qualities are deemed related to describe in a music evaluate?) and B) how these music descriptions differ throughout the varied genres.In dance band mento, dwelling-made instruments were changed by skilled saxes and clarinets and basses. Usually, banjo was left behind in favor of electrical guitar. Along with clarinet, piano was often a featured instrument, because the music became overtly jazzy. Percussion was much less rustic, and typically had a Latin feel. Almost all of the rural fashion's rough edges had been smoothed out. Within the Sixties, a calypso inflection was usually heard in city reggae, changing the jazz sound. Dance band mento appears to have largely died out by the 70s, while the unique rural type continued. Nonetheless, the musicians of this type of mento contributed vastly to the jazz that was such an necessary component of ska.cassette. In 1989, two Jolly Boys CDs appeared on the American Ryko label. This was followed by a number of more CDs on non-Jamaican labels. Though none of those releases are in print immediately though some are coming again in print. See the information web page., they must have finished properly enough to point out that there was a marketplace for mento. Different releases adopted. A Lititz Mento Band CD was launched out of Germany, which may be defined by the fact that Jamaica is a popular vacation destination for Germans. A 1997 The Buzzing Birds CD was launched solely in Japan, the place they're loopy for Jamaican music, and mento seems to take pleasure in a small but dedicated fan base. In 1997, the ultimate Jolly Boys CD, a reside set recorded in 1992, was launched in Japan only.Undergraduate college degrees in music, including the Bachelor of Music , the Bachelor of Music Schooling, and the Bachelor of Arts (with a serious in music) usually take about 4 years to finish. These degrees provide college students with a grounding in music concept and music historical past, and lots of college students also examine an instrument or study singing technique as part of their program. Graduates of undergraduate music packages can search employment or go on to additional examine in music graduate packages. Bachelor's degree graduates are additionally eligible to use to some graduate packages and skilled faculties exterior of music (e.g., public administration , business administration , library science , and, in some jurisdictions, teacher's faculty , legislation school or medical school ).

[sophygurl]

WisCon 43 panel Favorite Queer Depictions In Fiction write-up:

Whether it's a coming-of-age coming out story, a love story about queer characters, a drama or comedy centering the lives of a queer found family, or any old story that just includes a queer character or three without making a big thing about it—we all have out favorite queer stories. Whether it's books, TV shows, movies, video games, or something else, this is the panel to share the ones we love, and why we love them!

Moderator: Kate JohnsTon. Panelists:  Cat Meier, Charles Payseur, Sarah Waites, Alberto Yáñez

Disclaimers: These are only the notes I was personally able to jot down on paper during the panel. I absolutely did not get everything, and may even have some things wrong. Corrections by panelists or other audience members always welcome. I name the mod and panelists because they are publicly listed, but will remove names if asked. I do not name audience members unless specifically asked by them to be named. If I mix up a pronoun or name spelling or anything else, please tell me and I’ll fix it!

Notes:

I missed some of the panelist intro info, but Alberto identified himself as “queer AF” and Cat added “yes, I am also very queer.”

Kate asked the panelists to discuss what brought them to queer fiction, citing Mercedes Lackey as her intro point. She added “we existed and didn’t die in the first book.”

Sarah brought up Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner. When she read it, she wasn’t consciously queer yet. Once she realized that she was, she began to read a lot more.

Alberto also mentioned Lackey, specifically Magic’s Pawn. He had gotten it as a library book and found someone had written in the front of it “this book is about f**gs” and he thought “well, alright then!” He also talked about the short story Things With Beards, a re-telling of The Thing through the lens of HIV/AIDS. 

Cat mentioned Henry Fitzroy as her first queer character love. [ I didn’t catch the specific work/author but it involved the bastard son of Henry the 8th as a bisexual vampire - a quick search shows me this is probably Tanya Huff’s Blood and Smoke novels?]

Kate brought up that queer characters often don’t get a family and asked the panelists about queer characters that either have found families or that remained in their families of origin. 

Cat talked about the novella Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian and Iona Datt Sharma.

Alberto said that, as a Latino writer, he writes a lot about family “because some stereotypes are true.” 

Sarah mentioned that Becky Chambers writes about found family quite a bit. Another example was a world where homophobia doesn’t exist in a Beauty and the Beast re-telling - In the Vanisher’s Palace. 

Charles mentioned the found family in Jacqueline Koyanagi’s Ascension [also a fave of mine!], as well as Geometries of Belonging by Rose Lemberg. He also talked about Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed as a story that imagines different ways of thinking about family and queerness, as well as Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics by Jess Barber and Sara Saab about decoupling possessiveness in relationships. 

Charles also said that he has written both kinds of stories - found family and family of origin, specifically mentioning a found family in his short story Undercurrents.

Kate talked about how the 60′s SF genre was a lot of men going into space without any women, but it was still supposed to be read as cishet. Now we’re at a point where we actually can send women without men into space and it tends to be read as queer. 

She also asked about stories where it’s not just the same nuclear family and/or gender binary but just with same-sex couples slotted in.

Alberto mentioned Nicola Griffith’s Ammonite, which is about a whole world that is female in many different expressions without having to label them all. 

Cat talked about being both queer and poly and feeling very seen by Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night more than any other book. Having an example of a poly community where all relationships are equally as important as one another. 

Sarah brought up The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley where the male/female nuclear family structure is just not possible. 

Charles again brought up Ascension as an example of family structures on space ships. Also Hurricane Heels by Isabel Yap, which has a magical girls trope - heavy on friendship but the importance of friendship is highlighted and some, but not all, in the friend group are queer. 

Kate talked about James Tiptree’s Houston Houston Do You Read and some of Melissa Scott’s work.

Cat added that Melissa Scott has a wide variety of books with queer relationships in them showing a range of queer experiences. The newest - Finders - has queer poly. 

Sarah talked about some of Scott’s fantasy series and the structure of the culture being that male/female relationships were for procreation but the expectation is that love is between same genders. [I didn’t catch the title of these books/the series]

Kate brought up bisexuality in fiction. She first noticed the lack of bisexual representation when she started dating a bi woman. 

Charles said “all I write is bisexual - even if it’s not explicit.” Since it’s generally assumed for people to be either gay or straight if it’s not mentioned, he likes to write worlds where it’s assumed for the characters to be bi. 

Charles also talked about bi rep in Rose Lemberg’s work - Birdverse, Splendid Goat Adventure, and A Portrait of the Desert in Personages of Power. 

Alberto said he wants more queer characters where the drama isn’t about their queerness. In real life, acceptance can take awhile but he’s been there for a long time now and for reading and writing - he’d like for the drama to be focused elsewhere. 

Cat talked about not knowing that bisexuality existed at 13 when she discovered Henry Fitzroy.

Kate talked about the importance of bi representation in creating understanding for others. “I’m a skier. I ski in the winter. It’s summer. I’m still a skier.” 

Kate brought up Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth. Also Tanya Huff’s work [missed the title] about omnisexual aliens who would screw a hole in a donut and everyone’s happy about it! Also for YA/teen reading - Foz Meadows. 

Alberto mentioned Six of Crows and it’s sequel by Leigh Bardugo as having bisexuality and found family in it. [Gosh I need to get on to reading this series]

Cat brought up Peter Darling - a trans re-telling of Peter Pan with a Pan/Hook romance. [!!] Also The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue as well as The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee. The former has an ace character.

Sarah also rec’d the Guide to Petticoats and Piracy book. She is ace and the character in the book is ace and aro - society wants her to be one thing and she isn’t. Also the character gets called out on the “not like other girls” thing. 

Sarah also mentioned Chameleon Moon, which has a F/F/F triad, as well as an ace man with anxiety. Sarah wants more ace characters who are not sociopaths or robots.

Kate brought up the TV show Lucifer which is “really really really bisexual” [lol]. Kate also likes that the show doesn’t explain how Lucifer, who is white, has a black brother and an Asian sister.

Someone [I only wrote “C”, so either Cat or Charles? unless that meant continued and was Kate?] talked about Tanya Huff’s work having so many queer families with a variety of experiences.

Charles said there are a lot of examples that are just sad and messy.

Kate talked about lots of queer and black fiction is depressing because - “have you looked at our lives?” She added that we need more positive examples of queer characters. 

Alberto brought up Lara Elena Donnelly’s three books - Amberlough, Armistice, and Amnesty - which are about surviving fascism and rebellion. There’s crime, adventures, spies, etc. This is a strong recommendation.

Sarah added on to that by saying that this example of a dystopia is not about the queerness. Also talked about the Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee [oh look! one of next year’s GoH’s!], which has no homophobia and almost all of the characters are queer. It also subverts the sociopathic ace trope - other characters think he is and he encourages that belief, but isn’t.

Charles mentioned a short story in Glittership Year Two [missed what it was], as well as The Root by Na'amen Gobert Tilahun which he said has a good depiction of queer families.

Kate posed the question of what there should be more queer characters in. She said video games and TV shows and that both should also be less male gaze-y.

Charles agreed with video games and said whether it’s a relationship game or not. He wants more background characters to be queer. He doesn’t want to have to headcanon it.

Sarah said “besides everything?” Big SFF movies, like the MCU - and that they should stop making such a big deal about adding super small scenes with queer characters. 

Alberto said more TV - especially for stuff aimed at kids and their parents. A good example of this is She-Ra.

Kate said it should be written in the stories - not retconned like Rowling does or killing them off right away. More 3D queer characters. She added that, especially having been out for most of her life, the struggling with queerness/coming out stories are getting old for her.

Cat mentioned movies that are adaptations that have queer characters in the source material, such as the MCU - there are lots of queer characters in the comics but they don’t make it to the TV shows or movies. 

Kate added that Deadpool keeps his pansexuality in the movies. Kate also wants more queer poc characters who are okay with who they are not evil aliens. This is a problem for white cishet Hollywood. 

Charles talked about the issues still affecting us from the Hays Code era legacy. Queer characters are always sad and end up dead - this was once enforced but has now just trickled down. 

Charles also said he enjoys cozy mysteries but the queer characters always die. There was one that he liked that was turned into a TV series and they finally had a queer character - the actor was leaving and the series could have given them a happily ever after but killed them off instead.

Sarah talked about the importance of diversity behind the scenes. It’s easier to get representation in a book because there is less gatekeeping, fewer hands in the pot. When everyone in the writer’s room of a show or movie are straight, it makes it harder.

Cat [I think? just wrote “C” again] mentioned The Wicked and the Divine - gods are reborn into people every 12 years - they’re all queer. [This was rec’d often this con - deffo need to read]

The audience got to throw out recs next. The ones I got down are: [I can’t find this in a search but it was something like Kaitlyn Sterling - Luminent... something? if anyone knows please chime in], Lifelode by Jo Walton, Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold about a planet of men, A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski about a world of women, A Big Ship at the End of the Universe by Alex White, The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, “everything by Seanan McGuire” [agreed!!], and then apparently Magic: The Gathering has recently been doing some exploring of genderless species and also a trans warrior woman character. 

The audience were still tossing out recs when I left, so I did not get them all, nor any possible closing remarks by the panelists.  

#wiscon #wiscon 43 #queer representation #queer fiction #queerness #wc43