#unit 4: heartbreak alley

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

I am currently working my way through Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley, the totally light-hearted, definitely not agonizing section of @bengiyo's queer cinema syllabus where I get to watch countless acts of violence be committed against queer people. Thank fuck I have Lesbians waiting for me at the end of this unit. The films in Unit 4 are: Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004),Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986), Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffery (1995), and Boys on the Side (1995).

Today i will be talking about

Philadelphia (1993) dir. Jonathan Demme 

[Run Time: 2:05, Available on: YouTube for rent, Google Play, Amazon, Lang: English]

Summary: When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.

Cast: * Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett * Denzel Washington as Joe Miller * Antonio Banderas as Miguel

___

To steal a comment from @lurkingshan, it has been awhile since I’ve watched a good legal thriller. Philadelphia is brilliant, and I don’t just mean in the general sense, I mean it is smart. It is smart in how it sets itself up. We start with Andy and Joe on opposites sides of a court room, we can see the rapport between them, but we set them up on opposite sides from the beginning. We move from there to Andy at the hospital, receiving his transfusions, looking across the way to a man whose karposi’s sarcoma has advanced to the end stages a look to where Andy himself will end in this film. And then to Andy’s law office where there is physical touch, after physical touch, after physical touch. Some that happen so quickly, others that linger, that the camera focuses in on, and I only wish that we’d seen Andy the day after that meeting, because I would be curious to see if and how the physical touches changed with people in the office. 

But that’s not what we get, and we don’t really need it because what is truly important is that Andy is sicker than he originally let on. The point is that the law firm set Andy up while he was away. The point is that at so many stages in this film I was mad. And that was how I was supposed to be. I was mad at all the homophobic pieces of shit that were sitting there making excuses, that based a significant portion of their legal argument about not discriminating against Andy because he was gay with HIV, by trying to discredit Andy’s character because he was gay. [and of course the law office used a woman as their representation and had a Black man at their table as well…you know they were really trying to look good]

gif by @rancidtofu

You might know by now that I love a complicated relationship, so I was really thrilled that Joe eventually decided to represent Andy. Because Joe was homophobic as fuck, and he very much did not want to take the case. But again this film is smart, we never have to hear from Joe’s mouth or anyone’s for that matter that Joe decided to work with Andy after seeing how he was being treated by the librarian, but we know there’s no way it isn’t informed by experiences of racism in Black communities. The way Joe was stared at by a library worker when he was sitting at his table, the way Andy was stared at by a library worker when he was sitting at his table. The way Andy was being suggestively ushered away to somewhere out of view to other library patrons. 

I loved that Joe was viciously homophobic because it demonstrates so well the boundary between work and personal life. Joe is able to do his job and do it well, and eventually after months of working with Andy, is able to come around, even touching Andy’s face which we know even has a lesion on it, by the end of the film. That is huge from someone that started the film literally running immediately to the doctor to make sure he didn’t have AIDS from shaking Andy’s hand. From a modern lens I can totally see how that would probably feel stereotypical or derivative or something like that but I think it is important to keep in mind that this film was one of the first Hollywood movies to feature HIV/AIDS and also portray gay people in a positive light. I haven’t actually been adding the for/by/about designations to the Heartbreak Alley films because something about doing that didn’t really sit right to me when we’re discussing the violence to and death of queer people. But this film definitely was not made for queer people, and Tom Hanks acknowledges that he was cast in the role for his “non-intimidating screen persona” and that “one of the reasons people weren’t afraid of this movie was because I was playing a gay man.” 

The casting here was strategic to further assist audiences in sympathizing with a gay, HIV positive character. 

gif by @rancidtofu

I really love all the little moments of solidarity, the smiles between the Black secretary at the law office and Joe because They Know™ about experiences of discrimination in the workplace. The solidarity between the secretary with AIDS and Andy. I loved that a Black woman was teaching Andy how to apply make up to cover his lesions. I loved that Andy’s entire family knew that he was gay, knew he had AIDS, knew he had a partner and that they all loved and accepted him, and that he had so many people in his life that truly, well, and deeply cared for him. 

And I love how that is used to deliver maximum emotional impact, at least to me, in one single stupid opera line. 

I genuinely enjoyed essentially sitting in a court room for two hours watching Joe strategize, and execute his traps for the jury to win them over. I love how you know that they have won the second that a juror repeats verbatim a line Joe had said repeatedly throughout the trial. I am grateful the film was kind enough to let Andy be awake and alert enough to know that they had won. That his one of his last acts on earth was getting to engage with the part of law he loved most: “that every once in awhile, not often, but occasionally, you get to play a part in justice being done” Justice was done here, Joe and Andy both played a role in what could potentially become another precedented case in the roster to build towards a stronger future for gay people in the workplace. I think that (though likely coupled with how much his body was beginning to fail) is what finally made him ready to go. Because for so much of this film he would hesitate when it came to death. 

gif by @rancidtofu

He froze over the line “the actual physical [death]” when quoting the line about AIDS causing a social death. He talked about planning his memorial to try to get a reaction out of Miguel, and when Miguel gave him a response he very much did not want to hear “maybe you should” he took Miguel to a party, he talked about opera instead of practicing his Q&A. 

I am grateful the film ends at his memorial, not just for the memories, though I am especially glad it ends on a video of Andy as a child (to appeal to the ‘he was somebody’s kid type of crowd) but that the memorial was not entirely gloomy. There was life, there was conversation, there were smiles, it made things feel more real. Just like all “see you tomorrow” lies everyone knew they were telling themselves felt real. 

Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington are such powerhouses of actors and I am so so grateful that they did this project together. 

Favorite Scene 

(I am acknowledging that these gifs by @antoniosbanderas have nothing to do with my listed favorite scene, but I just need you all to know that the scene of these two laying in bed was cut from the final edit of the film, so I didn't actually get to watch it, so now you know it exists if you didn't already)

My favorite scene is when the law firm is questioning Melissa Benedict, a secretary that used to work with one of the lawyers in his previous firm. Melissa was diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion, and she was put on the stand to prove one of the lawyers knew what AIDS lesions looked like and therefore was able to identify that Andy had HIV a week before he was fired. 

I was ready to reach through my screen to smack a bitch when the law firm’s representation started trying to make a moral argument, that Melissa’s AIDS was acceptable AIDS to have in an office because she involuntarily contracted the disease through a medical procedure, whereas Andy had had gay sex and therefore voluntarily risked acquiring HIV. And you can just see Melissa looking over at Andy so often when the law firm is trying to make this argument, and trying to get Melissa to answer questions in a way that would make her seem like she is actually of the law firm’s opinion. 

And she doesn’t let them do that to Andy. Instead she looks right at him and she qualifies her response saying: “But I don’t consider myself any different from anyone else with this disease. I’m not guilty, I’m not innocent, I’m just trying to survive” and it is just a beautiful moment for me. Especially because this film is trying to portray queer people in a positive light, having a straight, white woman with a disease she had no way of preventing say that she was just like anyone else with AIDS is hugely important to driving that message home. 

Favorite Quote 

gif by @fran-kubelik

I am so sorry in advance for how long this quote is, and that 90% of it is technically just Andy translating an opera but: 

“‘Look the place that cradled me is burning.’ Do you hear the heartache in her voice? Can you feel it Joe? Now in come the strings and it changes everything. It’s like the music, it fills with a hope. And that’ll change again. Listen. Listen. “I bring sorrow to those who love me” oh oh that single cello. “It was during this sorrow that love came to me.” (sobbing) “A voice filled with harmony. It said, live still. I am life. Heaven is in your eyes. It’s everything around you. It’s the blood and the mud. I am divine! I am oblivion. I am the god that comes down from the heavens to the earth and makes of the earth a heaven. I am love. I am love.” 

The level of emotion, the implication behind each and every line that he translates, the way that those lines spoke to me as a queer person. “Look the place that cradled me is burning” this body, his body is failing; this life, his life is coming to an end. “I bring sorrow to those who love me” we see that with Andy’s mom, with his entire family for that matter, we see how loved he was and know that his death is going to be a devastating blow for a lot of people. “It was during sorrow love came to me” Miguel is there for all of it, through all of it. When he collapses in court, his family is the first to get to him, to try to help him. When he’s in the hospital the entire hallway is flooded with people that love him. Andy breaks at this point in his monologue, choking out the line “A voice filled with harmony. It said, live still. I am life. Heaven is in your eyes. It’s everything around you. It’s the blood and the mud.” I do not think Andy was ready to go until the very end when he finally said he was. Live still. Andy wants to live still. I am life. Heaven is in your eyes. It’s everything around you. It’s the blood and the mud. He will see Heaven soon, he is looking at the world through the lens of a dying man. “I am the god that comes down from the heavens to the earth and makes of the earth a heaven” We have one life to live, we should use it well, Andy has so much love in his life, that’s truly such a heavenly thing to have. He is seeking justice, in such a way that others might be protected the way he wasn’t. “I am love. I am love.” 

I just. 

I don’t know y’all I just really liked this film. 

Score 

9.5/10

I’m salty that Denzel wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, though I am wholly unsurprised, and I am glad Tom Hanks won and that his speech included praise of Denzel. 

““And an actor who put his film image at risk and shown because of his integrity, Mr. Denzel Washington who I very much share this with”

Lovely film, highly recommend.  Now on to The Living End

#bengiyo queer cinema syllabus #queer cinema syllabus #unit 4: heartbreak alley #philadelphia #philadelphia (1993) #denzel washington #tom hanks #antonio banderas #and with this film I am now 60% of the way through Unit 4 #I can see the finish line

[bengiyo]

If you had to pick one film that was your favorite from each unit of your Queer Cinema Syllabus, which ones would they be and why?

The Queer Cinema Syllabus grew out of a conversation that @shortpplfedup and I were having about what queer works I would show to a prospective BL fan, which eventually led to the creation of @the-conversation-pod. Captain Hands here has decided to run the gauntlet and has reached Unit 2.

Unit 1: Coming of Age Post-Moonlight

It's definitely Pariah (2011). This movie and Moonlight (2016) are having a complex conversation about Blackness and Queerness that feels so resonant to me. It's so rare that we see lesbians of any sort treated with this much complexity and sympathy in a contemporary setting. The complex web of lesbian interactions here isn't matched that often, and the only other movie that comes to mind it The Watermelon Woman (1996).

Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class

Probably The Way He Looks (2014) because it's an easy layup to introduce folks to the genre. The intersection between Leo's blindness and his queerness gives the newer person multiple things to think about and forces them to consider how queer people are more than just their queerness. I also feel warmly about this film because it was a project we followed all the way from short film to movie, and I love that we were able to get the entire cast back.

Unit 3: Faith and Religion

You haven't gotten here, but this is where things start to get especially heavy. I think for this section I'm going with The Wise Kids (2011) because I really like the way Stephen Cone approaches the struggle with faith queer and non-queer people have in evangelical spaces. There's an honesty that I really admire. This is not an easy film, but it's lingered with me for over a decade.

Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley

This is the section of straight losses. I don't know that I ever want to watch it again, but I would probably select Bent (1997) as my favorite because the idea that we could still love even in the greatest of horrors spoke to me. I also think the performances in this adaptation are phenomenal.

Unit 5: Lesbians

I think we just passed Lesbian Visibility Day, so happy birthday, lesbians! This is actually a difficult selection because there are so many great films in this section. I think, today, I'm giving it to The Handmaiden (2016), but I almost chose Bound (1996).

Unit 6: Gems

I don't even need to look to know Big Eden (2000) is in this section. This section whips ass all around, but Big Eden is my favorite because there's just so much love all over this movie, and every new fact I learn about the BTS of it makes me love it more. Arye Gross and Eric Shweig did not have to go as hard as they did in this movie. The director left that choice to them a veteran actors and they did that 23 years ago. Nothing but admiration and respect. This is one of my most beloved films.

Unit 7: Asian Film Warm-up

This is a difficult selection because I think it depends on my mood, but for now, I'll go with The Stranger by the Shore (2020). This is a very Japanese take on second-chance romance. I like the way Japan approaches the quiet internalized homophobia that grips us. Some of the same things in Minato's Laundromat can be found here. It's also gorgeous and approaches sex in a frank way that I really loved.

Unit 8: Yaoi

Once again I don't even need to look to know that it's Yuri!!! On Ice (2016). This show is so goddamn gay. I know people feel like it was censored because of the kiss, but these two proposed to each other. It's what sports anime wishes it could be with the open queerness on display from so many characters. It's beautiful and so much fun.

Unit 9: Boys Love

I will not be selecting a favorite BL, but I will say that I really love The Boy Foretold by the Stars (2020) and it's a movie. I loved that we had a femme lead for once and that they explored what faith meant for femmes. It's a film that took the romantic lead's gay awakening very seriously and explored what being together might look like in a sequel called Love Beneath the Stars.

I'm looking forward to you completing the syllabus!

#answered #lgbt film #pariah #the way he looks #the boy foretold by the stars #the wise kids #bent #yuri!!! on ice #the stranger by the shore #big eden #the handmaiden #queer cinema syllabus

[oddmawd]

“— There’s Fire” -  CHAPTER 4

Synopsis: When Commodore Smoker’s unit receives orders to escort a wealthy woman to her new home in the Grand Line, he regards the task before him as little more than glorified babysitting. But there’s more to the Asset than meets the eye, and soon Smoker finds himself drawn to the one woman he’s certain he cannot have. Justice, honor, obligation…what do these things mean if holding true to them will lose Smoker something precious?

Lady Oxley Noa would do anything to protect her family — including sacrifice her own happiness. But when she meets Commodore Smoker, the line between the demands of her duties and the needs of her heart begins to blur. Stolen moments, smoldering glances, unspoken promises…she knows what they all mean, but she can’t afford to place a name to them lest she risk heartbreak unimaginable.

But love doesn’t care about your plans. Soon the spark of shared affection blazes too brightly to be ignored, and while neither Smoker nor Noa wants to admit what burns between them, it is an undeniable fact that where there’s smoke — there’s fire.

[Smoker x OC. Inspired by Bridgerton and other period romance. Slow burn, very eventual smut.]

TAGS & CONTENT WARNINGS

PAIRING: Smoker x OC

RATING: T+ (will change in future chapters)

CHAPTER 4 WORD COUNT: 11,000

FANDOM: One Piece

GENRES: Romance, Drama

TAGS: Slow burn, Romance, Set during the One Piece timeskip, this was definitely inspired by Bridgerton, Duty, Family Dynamics, Social Class, Nobility Honor, One Piece Politics, mutual pining

CHAPTER 04 - Excerpt:

Tension and silence knit a blanket of anticipation, material of the moment pulled taut, just waiting for someone to tangle a fist into the strands and yank. Fittingly, Lady Oxley’s hand found its way to Smoker’s collar, winding fingers into fabric so hard the cloth cut into the back of his broad neck. His own fingers tightened on her waist in response. Protective. Possessive, even. Because Smoker didn’t like the way the men were looking at her, and he liked the way she trembled even less.

She was the Asset. He was her keeper. He’d be damned if anyone tried to snatch her away.

He didn’t react rashly, though. Smoker was too busy calculating, planning, gauging enemies. He needed a moment to regroup before springing into action. Normally he was a punch first, questions later sort of man — a man of action — but here? Now? With Lady Oxley tucked against his side? He’d best have a plan before he put the Asset at risk. No way, no how would he let them get to her. He needed to stall. And while he didn’t have the Asset’s silver tongue, he tried to get the men talking anyway. Talking seemed as good a stall-tactic as any, and he had few options at hand.

“What was that?” Smoker said, head tipping back until he stared down his nose at the men in the alley. “Wanna run that by me again?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” said the ringleader. “I said hand her over.”

Ringleader (presumed as such from the way he stood in front of the others and did the bulk of the talking, not to mention the predatory look in his eyes; Smoker knew the type on sight) pointed at the Asset. Ringleader’s lackeys grinned and murmured agreement. Smoker counted the voices in his head. Five, no six men behind them, and another seven out front. They were well and truly surrounded. So much for constant vigilance; Tashigi would tan his hide when she heard about this.

And Smoker intended for her to hear about it. They’d make it out of here. He had no intention of losing whatever fight lay ahead, just as he had no intention of losing his grip on the Asset.

Speaking of which — his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her even closer. She didn’t resist. In fact, she almost melted against him, turning her body until her hips faced him, one leg nearly curling around his own. Her weight on his hip was grounding, a reminder of the stakes in hand.

“I think you’ve got the wrong woman.” Smoker’s teeth tightened around his cigars. “This is my wife. We’re just on our way home.” He spared her a glance. “Ain’t that right, doll?”

And she played along beautifully. “Of course, darling,” she said, leaning her head against his chest to stare mournfully up at him. “Is it much further? I’m ever so tired. You may even need to carry me.”

Lady Oxley faked a yawn. He almost believed it was real. She was a stunningly good actress, after all. The look of warm, sleepy affection she aimed his way seemed damn near genuine, too...except he stood close enough to detect the barest wobble of her flushed lip, not to mention the subtle dart of her wary eyes toward the men surrounding them. She was scared, but she masked it admirably, and Smoker couldn’t help but send a word of silent gratitude toward the finishing school she had no doubt attended as he pulled her a little closer still. If he didn’t know she was lying through her teeth, it would be too damn easy to fall for her little fiction — too damn easy to think she meant it when she sighed and pillowed her head on his chest, eyes fluttering, contentment and ease written all over her.

The spell broke when Ringleader said, “Do you think I’m stupid?”

Lady Oxley’s eyes snapped open, warmth vanishing as she muttered, “I had certainly hoped you were.”

READ MORE ON AO3: Chapter 01 (<- click here)

#smoker x oc #smokerxoc #Smoker One Piece #one piece smoker #smoker/oc #One Piece Fanfiction #one piece fanfic #one piece

[mariamermaid]

The Heir of Silberstein; schwarzes Schicksal (ch. 4)

“Black Fate”

Fred Weasley x Reader

Summary: As a new school year approaches in Hogwarts, the students are surprised when Dumbledore introduces a group of German siblings joining the school. The royal family of fortress Silberstein is now sent to Hogwarts to learn the matters of a normal teenager life. …

Words: 5.6k

A/N: There will be one more chapter/ some kind of epilogue coming on next Thursday! In this chapter are a few more mentions of blood and violence. Also, it´s explaining a lot more regarding the war.

Masterlist

10th of May, 1933; the local library of Baden-Baden. Queen Clara the second, drifted through the rows in the back of the library on the hunt about another book about specific herbs to heal magical creatures. Among the muggles, she was just another resident coming to visit. Obviously, they were unaware of her origin and especially of the wand pressing against her hip underneath the long coat. Time had flown and evening was coming, it was already dark outside. A little startled, she shivered before packing the two books under her arm and leaving the library. As she stepped out, she pulled the headscarf deeper down to her face, her Pegasus was waiting a few streets down on the roof of the Stiftskirche, the local church. She had to hurry to come home as the nights were still cold, but loud screams made her stop. Quickly, she hid in an alley while lurking towards the yard in front of the library. A couple of men in military uniforms, she counted at least 30 of them, made their way towards the library. Only few people tried to stop them before they eventually entered the library. The men who did try, were thrown to the side, even beaten and punched to make sure they wouldn´t impede again. Clara gasped, pushing her hand over her mouth. The group separated and within only a few minutes, they had created a small pyre and the other half, came outside carrying boxes of books. She peered a little closer until she was able to decipher a few of the titles; all books written by Jewish authors.

Tears started forming in her eyes and she stumbled a little backwards, further into the alley, taken back by the heartbreaking scene. She almost let out a scream, when her back suddenly bumped into someone. Luckily, it was Mr. Landauer, a fellow wizard living in Baden-Baden, and, a Jew.

He nodded with his head as a sign of courtesy, before his eyes wandered towards the fire as well.

“We have to be careful, my Queen. Protect your subjects and warn the king. War is coming.”

His voice was low and barely a whisper, an unusual sight of the polite Mr. Landauer. Goosebumps crawled down her spine and Clara could barely form a nod.

“You should come to the Castle with your family, we can protect you.” The worries in her eyes were clearly written, but Mr. Landauer barely shrugged.

“I thank you for the offer, my Queen. But you have to keep going now.” Biting her lip, Clara nodded before hurrying into the darks of the city towards the church. While she climbed up the bell tower with her heart beating in all of her limbs, a man in uniform stepped outside the library. His short cut hair was pulled back under a cap. In his arms a box of books, which looked awfully boring and innocent. But he knew that at a second glance, they had hidden messages. Messages only wizards could read and his hatred burned bright as he starred into the pile of books on the pyre…

 The Night of broken glass had been the starting point in 1938. The annihilation of Jews began and with that, came the slowly but surely assault towards the German wizards. No history books or humans had experienced anything similar.

Oberst (german for colonel) Richter was a highly qualified military leader, but deep beneath the weapons he shouldered in the sight of the coming war, laid something else. Something dark and very surreptitious, no one was aware of what would follow after the 9th of November in 1938. Synagogues and shopping malls were burning. Graveyards, schools and residences of Jews, all burning and being destroyed. It was Hitler´s antisemitism that led to the catastrophe of the minority of the Jews. But Richter, who technically stood beneath Hitler´s commando, followed his very personal goals; the annihilation of wizards.

Driven by deep rooted racism, he declared the wizards as harbingers of the devil. Satan himself sent out his adjutants to bring an end to the world. A world the Nazis fought very hard to make their own. So, the clear conclusion was to exterminate the wizards to make room for the antisemitic ways of new Germany.

  March 1944

“We shouldn’t have gotten involved”, Karl sighed, his hand running through his messed up and slightly sweaty hair.

“What does it matter now?” He paused, but then nodded agreeing. It was all useless.

“You´re right, Clara. They´re safe and that´s all that matters now.”

They starred at the blank wall in front of them, the room was completely empty.

They were alone, but their thoughts remained with the train that left the station in the very mean-time, the wagons were filled by Jews or wizards, who feared the Nazis. Kind Karl and Queen Clara had united their powers to bring together a full train for them to flee in.

The cost; their own life.

The royal couple was captured in order to protect and cover more refugees, so they could reach the train in time. A few tears fell from their cheeks as they remembered their own children, who would grow up without parents. But they remained safely within the new protected realm of Silberstein; no muggle was ever to find the castle again.

A loud slam of the door let them shiver and Oberst Richter entered the room. It wasn´t a prison cell, but offered the same purpose. Both of their wands had been destroyed and Clara was shot in the side, where blood stained her clothes. Oberst Richter hair was still pulled back and Clara remembered how she had first seen him in front of the library years ago. He looked even more cold and cruel now. The room was filled with deadly gas, not enough to entirely kill them, but enough to weaken them and more so their magical abilities. They were left defenseless. Richter wore a gas mask, hiding half of his face but his eyes were still showing and they reflected all the hatred that burned on his inside…

King Karl and Queen Clara were killed on that day in march, but they left behind two young children. Those two siblings later had a child each, and the first born; Michael, then became the father of four children…

 Silberstein was only minutes away now; you could almost smell the scent of horses and pinecones. Fred and George flew a few feet behind you, letting you lead the way. The forest laid beneath them and high firs offered them cover. Suddenly, the two Weasley brothers felt like flying through a spiderweb, like a veil brushing against their skin and then they saw it;

The fortress of Silberstein.

The high tower was the first thing to make out, even in the dark of the night, it looked light and almost shimmering under the starlight. With a wave of your hand, you signalized them to fly closer to the ground, until you landed at the edge of the forest. The castle sat on a hill and the river separated half of the property from the woodland. “If we fly further, they´ll see us coming”, you explained quietly as the three of you snuck through the thicket.

“You´re the princess, shouldn´t they be on your side?” George asked curiously and you shrugged sadly.

“We don´t know on which side the employees are, they´re muggles, some house elves. Many of them are squibs, descendants of once wizard families but with no ability to control or perform magic.”

You nodded towards the stone wall, which faced towards the river side. “There is a secret passage to enter through the tunnels and dungeons.”

“Great, so we´ll just apparate-“

“You can´t apparate within our realm.”

The twins starred at you; shock clearly written on their faces. “The protection spells were created to keep unknown magic out, I don´t make the rules. Now take my hands.”

Fred eyed you carefully, while his brother grabbed your hand without hesitation. “Are you sure that you can handle this?” You huffed, but a glint of nervousness was seen in your eyes.

“Yes.”

The familiar feeling of your stomach turning and twisting took out your breath, and you stumbled a little backwards, when landing on the ground again. Fred was behind you, his hands grabbing your waist and keeping you from further falling. You shook your head, ignoring his continuous worried stare. “I´m fine.”

The twins eyed the stone tunnel they found themselves in. It was dark, the exit of the tunnel laid to their right and even though a metal grid separated the hallway to the cliffs and the underlying river, they heard the loud rushing and the water crashing against the stone. George had his wand ready in his hand; “Lumos.”

You led the group deeper into the tunnel system, several paths and junctions passing. “Do you remember the way?” George asked whispering. Tension was clearly hanging in the air. None of you knew what to expect. The stone was cold and the air was moist from the river water. But to you, it brought back a nostalgic feeling from your childhood.

“My siblings and I used to play hide and seek in these tunnels. I can tell them apart, even if you´d blindfold me.”

“Where does the tunnel end?” Fred asked, his eyes wandering back and forth in paranoia, making sure no one was following you.

“This one leads the closest into the castle; into the storage room behind the kitchens to be exact. There is also one ending at the well, at the armory and a few others.”

A nervous laughter escaped the twin´s mouth. “Love the emphasis on fortress; it´s not even that big!” You chuckled at their comment, but then you reached the end of the tunnel and silence settled again. With your wand, you tapped against the stone wall, the pattern was memorized in your head. Then the individual stones started turning, until a passage was revealed. The room you entered was equally dark as the tunnel, but you could quickly made out shelves with food and bags of wheat, the smell of fresh bread and pumpkins as big as heads.

“We´ll go through the kitchens and use the back hallways leading up to-.”

The sound of steps approaching made you abruptly stop. “Quick, hide!” You advised the twins, who disappeared behind large shelves on their own. They had snuck through Hogwarts enough, well past curfew, to know how to vanish into nothing but air.

“Nox!”

The steps stopped right in front of the storage room, lingering. You found your hideout closest to the door and watched how a mere light shone from the slot beneath. The door opened, slowly and carefully, you held your breath, the wand steady in your hand. The light fled the room and you lunged out, but stopped in your tracks as you came face to face with an old friend.

“Theresa”, you breathed barely audible. The twins lurked out from their hideouts, not sure if they should show their presence just yet. Your wand was pointed right at her and the lamp in her hand was shaking.

“Ich habe gehofft, dass du kommen würdest”, she admitted quietly and ignored the wand. (I hoped that you would come.)

Your eyebrows furrowed and you felt your jaw tensing.

“Auf welcher Seite stehst du?“ (On which side are you on?)

“Wenn du das fragst, weißt du genug um den Ernst der Lage zu verstehen.“ (If you ask that question, you know how serious the situation is.)

„Das war nicht meine Frage.“  (That wasn´t my question.)

She sighed and lowered the lamp a little to her hip height.

“Ich war immer auf deiner Seite, wir sind aufgewachsen wie Schwestern.“ (I´ve always been on your side, we grew up like sisters.)

Finally, you lowered your wand as well. She was right, she and her mother had been serving the royal family even before your birth and so often, you two had played with dolls together. A sigh of relief escaped your lips and you pushed yourself a step forward, your arms quickly embracing her.

“Merlin sei Dank, bist du endlich hier!” She whispered, hugging you tightly back. (Merlin bless, you´re finally here!)

“Wie schlimm steht es?” (How bad is it?)

„Gerade noch genügend Zeit.“ (Just enough time left.)

The twins slowly stepped out and Theresa gasped in surprise. “I brought reinforcements.” You grinned at her and she nodded at the brothers.

“This is Fred and George, they´re friends from Hogwarts.”

“I´m Theresa, I grew up with Y/N and served her as a maid my entire life”, Theresa introduced herself. Even though she was older, she was small and petite. Mouse-gray hair neatly put together and her maid uniform sitting perfectly. The twins noticed her thick German accent, you barely showed signs of an accent and only few words sounded off, when you spoke. They often forgot that English wasn´t your native language.

“Theresa, I have to see my father.” You turned back towards the girl, a hand on her shoulder.

“I know, but it won´t be easy.”

 In the mean-time…

“Why didn´t you tell me earlier?”

August sighed, his brother, five beds across the room was awake and the curtain was pulled back.

“I wasn´t sure at first, like you always say; let´s not act stupid.”

“Does anyone else know? Did someone see him with the ring?”

August shrugged, he found the explanation process tiring and useless. “I don´t know about Paul or Ruben, but I guess that Albrecht doesn´t want anyone to know.”

Paul was head of the guards and Ruben was riding master, both well accomplished and highly ranked at Silberstein. Hendrik groaned slightly as he sat up further, he realized that it was useless asking more questions.

“When will Y/N be back?”

Just as August was about to repeat your words and answer his brother´s questions, the door to the infirmary opened and the youngest of the siblings came running.

“Ruth, what-“, Hendrik worriedly eyed his sister, who was clearly flustered.

“Y/n, she´s gone!”

“WHAT?” All previous pain and warnings to take it slow from Madame Pomfrey, were thrown overboard and both brothers hurried to their sister.

“What do you mean she´s gone?” August asked nervously.

“When did she leave?” Hendrik questioned further.

“Last night after visiting you”, Ruth explained towards August, still a little breathless.

“Did you follow her?” Hendrik wondered, but the youngest shrugged ignoring the stress in his voice. “I first thought that she would play some kind of prank with the twins when they snuck out! She didn´t come back though!”

The brother´s exchanged knowing looks.

“She went home, she went back to Silberstein.” Hendrik voiced what they all already knew.

A short break settled between them until August spoke up again.

“What now?”

Before Hendrik could answer, Ruth cut him off.

“We don´t have a choice, but to go back as well!”

For the first time in a long time, none of them objected.

  “So, let´s make it clear again; I sneak past the guards within the royal wing and you go with Theresa to free Paul and Ruben.” You repeated the plan and the twins nodded carefully. With Theresa´s insight view on the current situation, they had quickly figured out a plan.

“I don´t think you should go alone”, Fred finally admitted and George nodded agreeing. You shrugged acknowledging their worries, but at the same time, there was no better option.

“The guards are wearing silver armors, your wands are useless against them, but you can free Paul and Ruben from the dungeon!”

“I really come to hate your protection methods against magic, you know Y/N?” George added rolling his eyes and you offered him an apologetic smile.

“But I agree with Fred, you shouldn´t go alone nevertheless.”

“I´ll come with you”, Fred announced and his brother nodded. You let out a sigh, there was no time to argue.

“Fine, but stay behind me.”

Fred smiled, feeling a lot more comfortable not letting you go on your own and saluted. “Yes, my princess!”

You watched as Theresa disappeared into darkness, followed by George. In order to free the head of the guards, well the old guard order, they had to distract the sentinels, who were ordered by Albrecht.

He completely took over, the guards are following his commando only and he´s starving the horses, so they´re too weak. You shivered even recalling Theresa´s words in your mind. It was much worse than you expected. Quickly, you shook off your worries and nodded towards the hallways leading up to the right wing of the castle; the wing of the royal family.

An old broomstick was held tight by Fred, the fact that his wand was mostly useless, was not only foreign to him, but it scared him deeply.

“We have to be careful; we don´t want any attention on us. No one knows I´m here, it should stay this way for as long as possible.” You explained whispering. Almost inaudible, you moved through the castle, barely any light was left and only the stars and the moon through the windows offered silhouettes to make out. Up to the second floor, where the royal wing was located, you didn´t even saw any guards. But then, in front of the door that led into the wing and the private section of the castle, three guards moved up and down. Two torches were hung next to the door and alarmed by the light, you stopped behind a corner.

“How do we take them out?” Fred asked. He lingered only inches behind you, the two of your lurking from the corner and observing how the three guards, wearing shiny armor, paced up and down. You felt Fred´s breath on the skin of your neck as he spoke and goosebumps crawled down your spin. You swallowed and ignored the increasing heart rhythm. Then your eyes wandered across the gangway to the windows…

“We don´t, we let them believe no one entered the wing! We just need to take their focus off, then we snuck to the other side of the adjoining hallway. We´ll enter the wing from outside!”

Fred didn´t like the idea of climbing from one to another window, at the height of probably 300 feet or so with nothing but a small edge of stone to hold on. But he knew that it was a matter of life or dead.

“Accio mouse!” You took your wand and pointed it towards a wall and within seconds, a small mouse ran out of a small, barely visible hole. The high shrieking alarmed the guards and they all turned to see what exactly caused the sound. It was just enough for Fred and you to rush right across the vantage point of the guards and disappear in the opposite hallway.

You pressed your back against the wall, the guards couldn´t see you now, but they remained close. You had to be quiet.

A small reassuring nod later, you had opened the window and climbed out. The brim to stand on was narrow, barely enough for your feet, but a few holes in the exterior allowed you to use them as handles. You stepped slowly to the side until Fred climbed next to you. His eyes travelled down for a second, nothing but stone, not even a lug to stop you from sliding further.

His hand was holding onto the handle, and carefully, you placed yours onto his.

“Hey, we can do this, I know it.” His eyes found yours and Fred calmed a little.

“I trust you; you know this right?” He answered and you smiled softly.

“I know, anyway we wouldn´t be here.” A chuckle escaped his lips. “This is what you do with the people you trust? I don´t want to know what you do with people you hate!”

Your smile vanished, he´d soon find out.

Step for step, slowly and making sure you had enough grip, you made your way to the window.

“Alohomora!”

The window swung open and you hissed surprised, but luckily, it didn´t crash against the wall. From there on, you found yourself in the private wing and continued to hurry. The interior wasn´t as posh and rather simple, still you noticed the differences. Family portraits gone, paintings missing, plants and flowers left to die and the air was cold.

You grew sad, seeing your home basically abandoned and lifeless. If you had only known sooner.

“The king´s chambers are right across the corner.”

Theresa had mentioned two more guards right in front of the king´s bedroom, but you came face to face with four of them.

“Eindringlinge!” (Intruders!)

Luckily, the royal wing was fairly soundproof, but you sighed as the four guards came running into your direction. It would take more of the anyway precious time you had left.

“For Merlin´s sake!” You muttered sounding surprisingly calm to Fred, who gripped onto the broomstick like his life depended on it. Two of the guards had actual weapons, spears to be exact. The other two only held a shield. On the shield was a blank spot, where once the emblem of Silberstein had remained. It only made you angrier.

You spun the wand in your hand between your fingers and Fred watched, how a silver sheen briefly enlightened like a flash bolt. Then you suddenly held a sword.

You knocked down the first guard by very simple running towards him and using his shield as a landing spot from your lunge. Then you spun to the side, the second guard groaned as the sword slid across an unprotected spot on his leg. With a kick, you maneuvered him to the side onto the floor as well.

Fred was barely able to keep up, he realized what you meant by training now more than ever.

The two remaining guards shielded themselves with their spears. The left one attacked first, but you dodged and rolled across the floor, finding yourself right in between the two guards. A series of attacks and evasion movements followed, until you were able to disarm one of them.

While he stumbled back, you blocked the other one with the spear. Fred decided to step in and with a hard throw, the disarmed guard trembled backwards. The broomstick had harshly slapped against his head, and he fell over unconsciously. The guard with the spear kept you at a distance, due to the length of the spear, but as he spun to reach back, you slid across the floor. When he faced you again, you were only inches away from him and you pushed the sword through his body. The magical weapon was stronger than the armor, and as you pulled the sword back, spinning it again to reveal your wand, the last guard fell down.

Fred was stunned by your fighting abilities and he recalled for future purposes, not to ever mess with you. He knew now, that being a princess meant a lot more than just having good table manners. With your wand back between your fingers, you nodded towards the twin.

“Let´s go!” Your breathing was quicker and the adrenaline from the fight rushed through your veins. Then you laid your hand on the doorhandle, for a split second, you held back. But Fred´s reassuring presence gave you enough strength to pull down the handle.

“Father!” The look of the once strong king looking more ill than ever, broke you down. You hurried to his side, softly grabbing his hand, while Fred stayed a little back. He wanted to give you some privacy as well as watch out for more guards approaching.

He looked thin, not in a healthy way and his skin seemed collapsed down to his bone structure, pale and dehydrated. In the large bed, he was nothing more than a shadow of what he once used to be. A small groan escaped King Michaels lips; the sudden loud sounds had awoken him from a dreamless sleep. It was painful to watch, how slowly his eyes opened.

“Y/N?” His voice was barely a whisper and you felt tears rolling down your cheeks. The entire scene was heartbreaking to even watch.

“What are you doing here? You can´t be here”, your father explained, his voice quiet but also alarming. You furrowed your brows. “I had to come here, father, Albrecht he-“

“I send you away, so he couldn´t hurt you.”

You stumbled back, you thought you had it all figured out, but you hadn´t seen it coming. It wasn´t at all how you expected this go…

A loud shot shattered through the air; Fred spun around to see a man, who had appeared out of nowhere, holding a gun. He had appeared like a shadow and while Fred tried to attack him with magic, you felt hot burning liquid running down your skin.

“Stupor!”

Fred was thrown against a wall, after his spell simple drifted off, a loud crash followed and the nearby furniture broke into pieces. Everything inside his head was spinning, he watched from his laying position, how the man stepped out of the shadows into your direction. Something about the man seemed not only mean, but purely evil. He really hoped that his twin brother was more successful.

“Oh, if it isn´t princess Y/N.”

“Albrecht”, you pressed out between your lips, your hand was already pushing against the wound on your side. You felt a pulsing going through your entire body and a weakening stroke. You could only guess, that the bullet was poisoned.

Albrecht wasn´t as you remembered him, yes technically he had the same features, but it wasn´t the same person at all. His facial features harsher and his eyes glowing in greed. He didn´t wear his uniform, he wore a royal attire with posh details. Your father had managed to sit up on the bed.

“Albrecht, leave her alone!” His voice was still weak, but at least steady now. You leaned against the bed as your strength was draining by the second.

“Oh, I wish I could Michael, but little Y/n was stupid enough to come back on her own. Now she will follow her father´s fate! I need to follow my destiny”, he paused for a dramatic second.  “All wizards and witches must die!”

Even though your perceptibility wasn´t at its best, you were sure, that something was off about him. You felt a weird, almost mystical power lingering around his aura.

“Why? Do you want the throne?” Your voice was bitter and your eyes remained on him, you had to be careful, not knowing what he was capable of.

“It could´ve been so much easier, if it wasn´t for you all, but no! Karl and Clara had to make sure their descendants survived without my knowledge.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, what he said didn´t make any sense. “King Karl and Queen Clara were killed by Oberst Richter, but they still lost the war! The commando was extinguished!”

Albrecht chuckled, a sound you didn´t like it at all. “Are you sure of that?”

  George had Paul, who was severely injured, thrown over his side and braced him to walk. Luckily, Ruben had only few bruises and he cleared the way together with Theresa.

“Albrecht knows Y/n is here, he´ll kill her with the king altogether!” Paul groaned.

“What about the guards?” George questioned as they reached the entering hall from the staircase that had led down to the dungeons. The guards that had once watched over the head of the guards and the riding master, would soon catch up to the four of them.

“We have to save the princess and the king!” Ruben agreed and Theresa nodded as well. George let out a sigh, the situation seemed more complicated to him, since he wouldn´t risk their lives as well. He wanted to win this fight with as many survivors as possible, hoping not to sacrifice the employees of the royal crown. However, he was sure that Theresa, Paul and Ruben wouldn´t hesitate to do so.

Loud voices coming from the front yard let the group freeze. Were even more guards sent in order to stop them? A loud bang echoed and George felt as the heavy doors trembled beneath the eruption. Then the doors opened, all they could do was watch in fear as the fog lifted.

Hendrik, August and Ruth entered, all of them having their wands or even swords in their hands.

Hendrik was first to approach them, he held the sword steady in his hand and stepped to them with swift motions. He truly looked like a young king leading his kingdom. Ruth was quick to hurry to Paul, inspecting his wound.

“By Merlin´s beard, you all came!” Ruben breathed surprised, but relieved as well.

“Episkey!” Ruth didn´t waste any time and was able to heal a large portion of Paul´s wound. August was able to fetch two further swords for both Paul and Ruben, Hendrik turned towards Theresa and George.

“Where is Y/N?”

“She went with Fred to see your father, but Albrecht knows about her stay here!” George hastily explained.

“I don´t think the king will survive a confrontation with him. He´s not, who he pretends to be!” Theresa added and fear swallowed her voice.

“Let´s not waste more time!”

  “Are you sure of that? Are you sure that truly the entire commando was extinguished?” Albrecht repeated and the spite in his voice felt like a thick piton wrapping around your neck.

“No one could´ve survived”, you trailed off, knowing that it was useless at this point. Your calculations had been wrong.

“Are you a descendant of Richter?” Your father, king Michael, spoke up again and he exchanged a precarious look with you. Your eyes searched the room for Fred, he was behind Albrecht and you saw, how he slowly gained back consciousness. Albrecht´s bitter and evil laugh filled the room once again.

“A descendant? I thought you´d be smarter!”

You eyed your opponent closer, remembering the stories about your great-grandparents…

While she climbed up the bell tower with her heart beating in all of her limbs, a man in uniform stepped outside the library. His short cut hair was pulled back under a cap.

“How is it possible? You must easily be over 90 years!”

It had taken you too long to figure it all out; Oberst Richter and Albrecht weren´t relatives, it was the exact same person.

“Actually 102 to be exact”, he grinned and loathing crawled down your spin.

“But how?”

Winning time was number one priority, Fred was almost completely back and he watched the scene unravel, while you tried to figure out a plan.

“You had them all believe that wizards are evil and Satan´s adjutants, didn´t you? But in reality, you´re just like us.” Your eyes wandered back to your father, his explanation was so simple and logical. Yet, it was the first time it crossed your mind and the image imprinted in your mind, had blinded you before.

“You´re just like him, you´re like Voldemort”, you spit out, but immediate regret followed. The sudden movement brought even more pain from your wound and you hissed. Albrecht on the other hand, only chuckled lowly.

“A big name for such a little girl, but as you can tell; I prefer it to operate in a much more considered manner. I like to stay in the shadows. No one should know my name, until it is too late for them!”

For several seconds, all hoped seemed lost. Strength was draining from your body, your father wasn´t even strong enough to hold a sword and Fred´s magic was useless inside the walls.

Oh, Fred.

Your eyes found his, tears rolling down your cheeks. Why did you bring them with you? What if he died, just because of you? He saw the repentance shinning in the dark´s of your orbs. Without any words he shook his head. No, he didn´t regret coming with you at all. If you fate laid here in the fortress or if it was on the other end of the world, he´d always follow you.

“Any last words? Even though they won´t be printed in any books?”

“Let´s not act stupid!” Hendrik´s loud voice echoed through the room and you felt your stomach drop in relieved. Together with August he attacked Albrecht, a battle between swords and magic escaped.

George fell to his knees, helping his brother get up. Ruth slide across the room, ducking away from the fight and finding your side. But you stubbornly shook your head at your sister, gesturing towards the king. “Him first!” You urged.

Ruth nodded, not arguing and inspecting your father´s condition.

Albrecht was taken back by the sudden appearance of the Silberstein siblings and both of your brother´s were excellent fighter. As Albrecht tried to strike forward, luckily you had a good view on his movement pattern.

“Expelliarmus!” You yelled from across the room and disarmed Albrecht, who was then thrown to the ground by Hendrik. August had previous cut him on his leg, which made him wobble to one side.

Ruth had taken a healing potion out of Madame Pomfrey infirmary, and it seemed to be working rather quickly, King Michael lifted himself out of the bed. Paul hurried to his side; the king was still weakened after months of poisoning.

“This time, I´ll make sure you won´t survive Richter!”

Hendrik exchanged looks with his brother, this would take some more explaining at a later point.

King Michael grabbed Richter and fetched his wand from his coat, apparently, he had the wand with him at all times. Then he spun it in his hand just like you had used to, until the king´s sword appeared. Richter let out nothing but a small, pitiful groan, as blood started dripping from his mouth.

The sword had gone right through his torso.

First cheers sounded from Theresa and Ruben, but you barely comprehended them.

Darkness grew in your vision, which became blurrier and you felt your limbs falling asleep. Only seconds after Richter´s dead body fell to the side, you felt yourself fainting.

“Y/n!” At last, it was Fred´s voice, that you heard and his soft eyes staring down to you, before blackness swallowed you whole.

----------

tags: @ britishspidey @ perfectlysane24  @ acoolnight

#fred weasley imagine #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley fanfiction #oliver phelps #weasley twins #harry potter #harry potter imagine #mariamermaidimagine

[maddie-grove]

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2020

My main takeaways:

I’m glad that I set certain reading goals this year (i.e., reading an even mix of different genres and writing about each book I read on this tumblr). I feel like it really expanded my horizons.

There are a lot of proper names on my Top 20 list this year, which possibly means something about identity? That, or I just tried to read more Victorian novels. 

Be horny, and be kind.

Now...

20. The White Mountains by John Christopher (1967)

In a world ruled by unseen creatures who roam the countryside in tall metal tripods, all humans are “capped” (surgically fitted with metal plates on their heads) at age fourteen. Thirteen-year-old Will Parker looks forward to becoming a man, but a conversation with a mysterious visitor to his village raises a few doubts. This early YA dystopia has gorgeous world-building (notably a trip to the ruins of Paris) and expert pacing. The choices Will has to make are also more surprising and complicated than I ever anticipated.

19. What Happened at Midnight by Courtney Milan (2013)

John Mason wants revenge on his fiancée Mary after she skips town following her father’s death...apparently with the funds that her father, John’s business partner, embezzled from their company. When he tracks her down, though, she’s working as a lady’s companion to the wife of a controlling gentleman who refuses to pay her wages, and John’s fury turns to sympathy and curiosity. This is a smart, well-plotted Victorian-set novella about a couple who builds a better relationship after a rocky start.

18. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1943)

It’s 1773, and fourteen-year-old Bostonian Johnny Tremain has it all: a promising apprenticeship to a silversmith, the run of his arguably senile master’s household, and...unresolved grief over his widowed mother’s death? When a workplace “accident” ruins his hand and career, though, he must “forge” a new identity. Despite its jingoism and surfeit of historical exposition, I fell in love with this weird early YA novel. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking portrayal of disability and ableism, and, to be fair, Forbes was just jazzed about fighting the Nazis.

17. Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf by Hayley Krischer (2020)

After universally beloved jock Sean Nessel rapes starry-eyed junior Ali Greenleaf at a party, his queen-bee friend Blythe Jensen agrees to smooth things over by befriending his victim. Ali knows Blythe’s motives are weird and sketchy, but being friends with a popular, exciting girl is preferable to dealing with the fallout of the rape. This YA novel is a complex, astute exploration of trauma and moral responsibility.

16. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (2017)

Rothstein details how the federal U.S. government allowed, encouraged, and sometimes even forcibly brought about segregation of black and white Americans during the early and mid-twentieth century, with no regard for the unconstitutionality of its actions. He brings home the staggering harm to black Americans who were kept from living in decent housing, shut out of home ownership for generations, and denied the opportunity to accumulate wealth for generations. It’s an impactful read, and I was honestly shocked to learn Rothstein isn’t a lawyer, because the whole thing reads like an expansion of an excellent closing statement.

15. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (2012)

In this graphic memoir, Backderf looks back on his casual, fleeting friendship with future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school classmate who amused Backderf and his geeky friends with bizarre, chaotic antics. Backderf brings their huge, impersonal high school to life, illustrating how the callousness and cruelty of such an environment allowed an isolated, troubled teen to morph into something much more disturbing without anyone really noticing. It’s a work of baffled, tentative empathy and regret that stayed with me long after I finished it.

14. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)

Gwendolyn Harleth, beautiful and ambitious but with no real outlet, finds herself compelled to marry a heartless gentleman with a shady past. Daniel Deronda, adopted son of her husband’s uncle, finds himself drawn into her orbit due to his helpful nature, but he’s also dealing with a lot of other stuff, like helping a Jewish opera singer and figuring out his parentage. I love George Eliot and, although this bifurcated novel isn’t her most accessible work, it’s highly rewarding. The psychological twists and turns of Gwendolyn’s story are a wonder to experience, and Daniel’s discovery of his past and a new community is moving.

13. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2004)

The Roths, an ordinary working-class Jewish family in 1940 Newark, find their quiet lives descending into fear, uncertainty, and strife after Charles Lindbergh, celebrity pilot and Nazi sympathizer, becomes president of the United States. This alternate history/faux-memoir perfectly captures the slow creep of fascism and the high-handed cruelty of state-sanctioned discrimination, as well as the weirdness of living a semi-normal life while all of that is going on. Also: fuck Herman and Alvin for messing up Bess’s coffee table! She is a queen, and she deserves to read Pearl S. Buck in a pleasant setting!

12. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

Young David Copperfield has an idyllic life with his sweet widowed mom and devoted nursemaid Peggotty, until his cruel stepfather ruins everything. David eventually manages to find safe harbor with his eccentric aunt, but his troubles have only begun. Although the quality of the novel falls off a little once David becomes an adult, I don’t even care; the first half is one of the most beautiful, funny, brilliantly observed portrayals of the joys and sorrows of childhood that I’ve ever read.

11. The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt (2017)

Greenblatt examines the evolution and cultural significance of the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible to the modern day (but mostly it’s about Milton). I can’t speak to the scholarship of this book--I’m not an expert on the Bible or Milton or bonobos--but I do know that it’s a gorgeously written meditation on love, mortality, and free will. Greenblatt brought me a lot of joy as an unhappy teenager, and he came through for me again during the summer of 2020.

10. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg (2019)

Self-conscious seventeen-year-old Jordan is mortified when his widowed mother hires Max, an outgoing jock from his school, to help out with their struggling food truck. As they get to know each other, though, they realize that they have more in common than they thought, and they end up helping each other through a particularly challenging summer. This is an endearing, exceedingly well-balanced YA romance that tackles serious issues with a light touch and a naturalness that’s rare in the genre.

9. Red as Blood by Tanith Lee (1983)

In nine wonderfully lurid stories, Tanith Lee retells fairy tales with a dark, historically grounded, and lady-centered twist. Highlights include a medieval vampiric Snow White, a vengeful early modern Venetian Cinderella, and a Scandinavian werewolf Little Red Riding Hood. Fairy tale retellings are right up my alley, and Lee’s collection is impressively varied and creative.

8. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (1908)

Unnerved by an impulsive make-out session with egalitarian George Emerson on a trip to Florence, young Edwardian woman Lucy Honeychurch goes way too far the other way and gets engaged to snobbish Cecil Vyse. How can she get out of this emotional and social pickle? This is an absolutely delightful romance that gave a timeless template for romantic comedies and dramas for 100-plus years.

7. My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918)

Jim Burden, a New York City lawyer, tells the story of his friendship with slightly older Bohemian immigrant girl Ántonia when they were kids together on the late-nineteenth-century Nebraska prairie. It was a pretty pleasant time, give or take a few murders, suicides, and attempted rapes. This is one of the sweetest stories about unrequited love I’ve ever read, and it has some really enjoyable queer subtext.

6. Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn (2012)

In 1956 Maryland, gawky teen Nora’s peaceful existence is shattered by the unsolved murder of her friends Cheryl and Bobbi Jo right before summer vacation. Essentially left to deal with her trauma alone, she begins to question everything, from her faith in God to the killer’s real identity. Hahn delivers a beautiful coming-of-age story along with a thoughtful portrait of how a small community responds to tragedy.

5. The Lais of Marie de France by Marie de France, with translation and introduction/notes by Robert Herring and Joan Ferrante (original late 12th century, edition 1995) 

In twelve narrative poems, anonymous French-English noblewoman Marie de France spins fantastically weird tales of love, lust, and treachery. Highlights include self-driving ships, gay (?) werewolves, and more plot-significant birds than you can shake a stick at. Marie de France brings so much tenderness, delicacy, and startling humor to her stories, offering a wonderful window to the distant past.

4. Maus by Art Spiegelman (1980-1991)

In this hugely influential graphic novel/memoir, Art Spiegelman tells the story of how his Polish Jewish parents survived the Holocaust. He portrays all the characters as anthropomorphic animals; notably, the Jewish characters are mice and the Nazi Germans are cats. I read the first volume of Maus back in 2014 and, while I appreciated and enjoyed it, I didn’t get the full impact until I read both volumes together early in 2020. Spiegelman takes an intensely personal approach to his staggering subject matter, telling the story through the lens of his fraught relationship with his charismatic and affectionate, yet truly difficult father. 

3. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire (2010)

McGuire looks at a seldom-explored aspect of racism in the Jim Crow South (the widespread rape and sexual harassment of black women by white men) and the essential role of anti-rape activism led by black women during the Civil Rights movement. This is a harrowing yet tastefully executed history, and it’s also a truly inspirational story of collective activism.

2. In for a Penny by Rose Lerner (2010)

Callow Lord Nevinstoke has to mature fast when his father dies, leaving him an estate hampered by debts and extremely legitimate grievances from angry tenant farmers. To obtain the necessary funds, he marries (usually!) sensible brewing heiress Penelope Brown, but they face problems that not even a sizable cash infusion can fix. This is a refreshingly political romance with a deliciously tense atmosphere and fascinating themes, as well as an almost painfully engaging central relationship.

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (1814)

Fanny Price, the shy and sickly poor relation of the wealthy Bertram family, is subtly mistreated by most of her insecure and/or self-absorbed relatives, with the exception of her kind cousin Edmund. When the scandalous Crawford siblings visit the neighborhood, though, it shakes up her life for good and ill. I put off reading Mansfield Park for years--it’s practically the last bit of Austen writing that I consumed, including most of her juvenilia--and yet I think it’s my favorite. Fanny is an eminently lovable and interesting heroine, self-doubting and flawed yet possessed of a strong moral core, and the rest of the characters are equally realistic and compelling. Austen really made me think about the point of being a good person, both on a personal and a global scale.

#books #reading #rape #racism #genocide #murder #(it was a more cheerful reading year than these tags indicate) #(or was it? i don't know)

[holdmyhopeinyourhands]

What is your first impression on my little cuties

(Be nice to them please 🥺 they truly deserve all the kindness in this world)

For all of them I give you there actual team, for the record, they all play and start their young career with Porto, I give you their name and age, enjoy !

1. Fabio Vieira, 20 years old, FCPorto

2. Diogo Leite, 21 years old, FCPorto

3. Diogo Dalot, 21 years old, Manchester United (loan to Milan) (you probably know him but I just live him so much and he’s such a sweet boy)

4. João Mario, 20 years old, FCPorto (this one is like my Pierre Gasly, he has just a pure heart you know)

5. Romario Baro, 20 years old, FCPorto

6. Fabio Silva, 18 years old, Wolverhampton

7. Tomas Esteves, 18 years old, FCPorto (loan to Reading FC)

8. Diogo Costa, 21 years old, FCPorto

That’s it, I am so excited to get your first impression on them ! Tell me if you knew any of them, I think maybe you knew Diogo Dalot if you like Manchester United but I had to put him here🤩

1. He looks short. Like very short, the poor kid and he looks so skinny. Someone feed him!!! Plus he he has scared eyes. Like the people who look shocked even when they are not. Yup, that.

2. Tall, physical. I think he might be a winger. Looks very confident and that jawline. Maaan what a jawline. Could be a model but I think he might be a bit shy, no? Hair is a disaster though. Tsk tsk.

3. I do know him! Not a fan of United, but I've seen him with Milan. Still, don't know too much about him either. He looks like a soft spoken giant. Is he tall? He looks tall? Also sleepy. Them droopy eyes. Someone let the man sleep. Also disaster hair but he has an adorable face to pull it off at least.

4. *Points back* Your honor! I love him! I love that one! He has my entire heart. I do not know who he is, or what he does *football you say?* doesn't matter, I love him!!! He has baby face, and fluffy curls and points at the camera!!!! *screams* why is he so soft!!!!!

5. He's either a striker or a winger? He is very fast probably. And also 10/10 hair. I'm jealous. Glorious hair. Absolutely glorious. We stan that hair!!! I think he is soft spoken and maybe a little shy but he is the kind of person that lights up entirely when they laugh. A baby

6...... He looks traumatized, not gonna lie. You know when people are trying to smile inspite of all the pain and suffering they've been through? Yeah, he looks like he's been through some shit. *puts a blanket over him* my least favorite so far. But hang in there my child! Whatever happened to you, you'll get through it!!!!

7. Is Read FC a high school drama? Cuz that kid looks like a high school main lead teenager who the main girl falls in love with when the wind catches his hair and he looks at her all mysterious like lmao. He plays football, does all kinds of sports, but secretary he likes to write novels and read books. Lol. For real though, football wise. I think he might be a bit clumsy. Have more off days than good days. There is potential there but he doubts himself a lot so he is prone to making mistakes.

8. He is huge!!! Maybe it's the camera angel but he looks big!! Dorkie face. Wouldn't fear him in a dark alley. And 100% sure he gives great hugs. Like just warm hugs all around. Feels like he takes life in strides and has great mental strenght. But he also looks like those type of people that when they cry it's absolutely heartbreaking. Definitely adorable with kids too.

Ok!!! I'm done!!! Went really nice on this one, since I didn't wanna insult your boys.😅😅 Hope I at least got something correct😁

#fc porto #football #ask #ask game #guess what?

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of October 23rd, 2019

Best of this Week: Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4 - Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth and AndWorld Design

A Darkness has fallen over Gotham. 

Jim Gordon has always been one of the most trustworthy police officers in the cesspool known as Gotham City. Under his tenure as Commissioner, he cleaned up Gotham PD as much as he possibly could, brought up great officers like Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya and even formed a long lasting partnership with Gotham's protector, Batman. His role gained him allies and enemies alike and he put his life on the line every day he out a badge on.

Unfortunately for him, his number came in the last issue when Azrael impaled him with his sword, leaving him for dead in an alley for Batman and the Gotham PD to see. This issue follows what happens immediately after.

Gordon is rushed to the hospital and the doctors do their very best to keep him alive. The shots are tense and heartbreaking as we get no dialogue except for the words of the flashback that occurs simultaneously. Barbara is frantic, pushing through Renee and Harvey Bullock. We don't hear what she's saying, but her pain is palpable. She doesn't have the cool calmness she maintained as Batgirl, she's just a girl terrified of losing her father.

As the doctors use their defibrillators, Gordon flat lines and Barbara doesn't even acknowledge Batman as she runs into the night, tears in her eyes. Interspersed between the operation are panels showing a flashback between Barbara and Jim. It acts a bit of foreshadowing as Jim tells Barbara to fight back and hit harder after she tells him that a boy bullied her at school. These two scenes play out in perfect opposition to each other.

Murphy is really good at Panel to Panel storytelling and conveys the happiness and absolute destruction with little dialogue, body language and facial expressions. He wants you to feel the despair that Barbara feels. Pulling in close to Gordon's short breaths as she bangs on the window in the background as he kisses her little forehead in the next panel, it's almost too much.

Hollingsworth colors the operation scenes with cool colors, making everything seem sterile aside from the blood on Gordon's chest. It's bleak and lacks the warmness of the muted pink/purple hue of the flashback. Murphy also does his best to depict how much Jim meant to Barbara by showing her childhood innocence and happiness opposite the fear that she faces as an adult. Barbara is absolutely devastated by what happens to her father and later on, it will drive to her make a reckless decision that will change her life forever.

Tensions are high when the Gotham Terrorism Oppression (GTO) unit meets in the aftermath of Gordon's death. Barbara blames Batman and calls him a coward for operating in the shadows while her father stood at the forefront. Dick Grayson wants to console her, but Renee tells him to stay focused and when he tries to question her authority, she snaps that Jim put her in charge before his death.

Bruce leaves in the middle of the GTO's planning, frustrating Renee as she gets a taste of what Gordon dealt with for years. He goes to visit Leslie Thompkins who's taking care of Harleen Quinzel after she's given birth to twins. They converse and Leslie reveals to Bruce that she and Alfred had known about the journal of Edmond Wayne.

What's interesting about this section is the manner in which they retrieved it. Shortly after Bruce had put on the cowl, Alfred and Leslie found a letter addressed to Bruce and Batman, telling them to go to the oldest part of Gotham. The scene is drawn and colored in a style reminiscent of what I think of when I hear Victorian Era England. There's a lot of smoke, greys, muted colors and vibrant yellows from lamps and fire. The building they enter is very old timey and they meet someone surprising upon their arrival.

While his name is never stated, I believe the Librarian of the New Order of St. Dumas to be Jason Blood. He maintains Blood's red hair with a white streak and his brazenness when speaking to Alfred and Leslie and his lack of care when Alfred  levels a rapier to his throat is characteristic of a man that has lived for centuries and the knowledge he has attained up that point. He tells Alfred to give the journal to Bruce when he thinks the boy is read and then he just suddenly disappears. Alfred and Leslie have been guarding the secret ever since.

While all of this is going on, Barbara tries to find anything she can about the man who killed her father. Dick tries to talk to her, flipping their roles from the first White Knight series. Dick was angry the entirety of that series, blaming Bruce for the destruction of Gotham City, but now Barbara sees what he was talking about back then. Murphy makes the decision to not have Barbara don her mask, but still wear the ears, signaling that she can no longer hide behind her mask while Dick still wears his.

(From Batman: White Knight #6)

She's rapidly removing herself from the world of capes and cowls, saying it's not working, while Dick reminds her that she chose this life, same as him. She gets a hit on the vehicle Azrael used and sets off after him. She removes the bat ears, heads to the armory, grabs a gun and almost takes a tumbler before Harvey Bullock meets her there. Their relationship doesn't need too many words as both of them want revenge, not justice. 

It's wonderful to see because there's no pretense between them. Harvey wasn't exactly the best policeman before he was under Gordon, but he eventually learned to respect his higher up. He became a better officer and person because of Jim, he'd obviously be in the same mindset as Barbara, knowing that there's only one way for this to end. As they race off in the Tumbler, the background is colored in a beautiful shade of light brown, insisting that the fight is on and blood is boiling.

Dick informs Batman that Barbara and a tumbler are missing, so Batman tracks it and catches up to her and Harvey just as they've ambushed Azrael and his crew. Barbara levels a gun to Azrael's head and cries tears of anger as she goes to pull the trigger. Batman wraps a grapple around the muzzle of the gun and rips it away before Azrael's brain is scattered all over the street. The distraction of Batman's arrival allows the rest of Azrael's crew to get their bearings as they begin to shoot at the Bat and Harvey. Azrael lunges at Barbara. 

With fire spreading all around them, the next few pages are coated with an intense orange and the action is impactful. Harvey screams at Batman to shoot Azrael as he overpowers Barbara. Bruce stands there, not knowing what to do and drops the gun, going for his grapple again. His inaction, however, allows Azrael to knee Barbara in the spine, breaking it with an unsettling "CRACK" sound effect.

Batman retaliates in anger, pleading with Azrael to leave the rest of them out of the fight. Azrael responds by saying that God must have spared Bruce for this moment, for this fight and begins to turn the tables on Batman. He manages to cut the cowl off of Batman before one of his crew pulls him away from the fight, saying that they need to leave as one of their men is lost and they escape. In the aftermath, Batman walks out of the fire with Barbara, his facial expression giving it away that he knows he has utterly failed.

One of the best characteristics of this version of Batman is his inability to recognize or change his ways following his failures. He failed to see how his increasingly dangerous battles with the Joker were destroying Gotham City, he failed to see that his protegés were slowly losing their trust and faith in him and only got worse over time. He tries his best to change throughout this series, but he's always stopped by his own mind. 

It was heavily implied that his aversion to firearms is what caused this timeline's original Robin, Jason Todd, to be killed and now it's cost Barbara her mobility. Batman doesn't often face adversity this much, so it's great to see him continually broken down by the circumstances that absolutely could have been prevented. On the flip side, maybe this is exactly what he needed to actually solve the problem of Azrael. Not by killing him, but by using his motivation and willingness to change as a driving force to defeating the Knight and the remainder of his order.

He can't flinch in the face of danger, not anymore.

#comics #dc comics #dc black label #curse of the white knight #batman #batgirl #azrael #sean murphy #matt hollingsworth #jim gordon

[queencatherynerhys]

Alone - Part 4 TRR AU Speak Now

A/N: I’m back!!! Sorry for my long hiatus. I was dealing with a lot with school and my husband leaving for boot camp for the Army and transitioning from a civilian to a military life. Anyway. There isn’t a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but I still hope I capture your attention. Shout-out to the wonderful @katurrade who brought me out of my hiatus and inspiring me with her work to continue my own.

Summary: The aftermath of Liam’s decision of marrying for his country. How will he deal with this? How will it affect him?

Tag List: @kinkykingliam @devineinterventions2 @madaraism @theroyalweisme @drakewalkerwhipped @laniquelove @drakesfiance @hhiggs @hellospunkiebrewster @alicars @mrswalkerreynolds @mfackenthal @simplyaiden-blog @hopefulmoonobject @blackcatkita @cocomaxley @boneandfur @lizeboredom @crayziimaginations @umccall71 @zarina-x-zig @writtenbycandy @ranishajay @heatherfilliez @flyawayblue56 @drakelover78 @indiacater @pens-girl-87 @waitingforsuperman25 @katurrade @speedyoperarascalparty

Previous Parts:

Speak Now

Too Good at Goodbyes

My Immortal

Liam couldn’t fathom himself for being able to say “I do” while Catheryne watches him. How could he have been so cruel to her when all she has ever done is love him and give him the world? She was his world and his everything, yet there they were. His entire being loathes himself for doing this to her. He knows for as long as he lives that he will never be able to forgive himself. He can only pray and hope that one day Catheryne will.

He watches as she walks away from his sight and the agonizing pain is replaced with numbness. The rest of the ceremony passes in a blink of an eye and he had to resist the feeling of vomiting when he had to kiss Madeleine.

The guests’ applause as they walk down the aisle toward the motorcade that is awaiting them in the front. As they glide along, Liam tries to catch a glimpse of where Catheryne could be but to no avail. When they approach the exit, he hears the cheers of his people and he feigns a smile. He always thought this day would be a happy day. He would marry the queen Cordonia needs and satisfy his people just as he was born to do, but now here he stands hating this wretched day.

He should be celebrating along with his citizens but he’s forced to plaster a smile on his face and continue on with a lady beside him that he dislikes. He waves meaninglessly at the crowd that has gathered in front of the cathedral. The sound of flashing cameras and screaming people mixed with the awful feeling of holding Madeleine’s hand become too much for Liam and he starts to feel nauseous. He hurries to the limo that it to carry him to the reception.

Once inside and safe from prying eyes, he lets go of his grasp of Madeleine’s hands almost rudely. He sits as far as he can from her and stares at the window. As the car drives away, Liam catches the most heartbreaking picture of Catheryne alone in a secluded alley. If he wasn’t so focused on her, he would have never seen her there. His heart screams for her and he wishes he can bring himself to stop the car and go after her, but he lets it speed away and take him to an event he has to suffer through.

As one of the dukes of the most prestigious houses, Bertrand had the honor of announcing the arrival of the couple to their reception. “Please, join me in welcoming for the very first time our King and Queen.”

In cue, Liam walks through the archway to a stunning ballroom adorned in exquisite blue and white arrangement of bouquets as centerpieces and white banners and twinkle lights hangs from the ceiling. It was a sight to see, but Liam’s spirit is just not in this moment right now. They slowly stride into the full room and he feels self-conscious of the crowd. He just wants to run as far away as he can from where he is right now. He doesn’t care where he ends up, just not there, but his duty carries him through it.

He arrives at the front and makes his way to Bertrand stands. He takes the microphone and propose a toast, “Nobles and esteemed guests Madeleine and I want to extend our most gratitude for sharing this special experience with us. A marriage is a joining of two houses, but two hearts. With our marriage, we will also strive to join and unite Cordonia to a better future. Thank you and enjoy the party.”

The crowd applauses and Liam make his way to the wedding party table where Madeleine already sits. He finds his seat beside her and to his left is Drake with a disapproving and almost disgusted look for him. He shakes his head silently and doesn’t open his mouth for the rest of the dinner which he is relieved for. He can’t handle another person to deal with at the moment. It is taking his whole willpower to keep upright and smiling.

After the meal, Madeleine turns to him and flashes a smile at him. Through her grin, she speaks with the least emotion, “we need to make our rounds and please wipe the puppy dog eyes you’re embarrassing us both.” She pats his arm and laugh as if they just shared an inside joke, “Oh, Liam, please.”

He sighs. How has is life turned to this? He once thought that love didn’t matter. It was never a factor for previous regents. All married for one purpose: the good of the country. Now, here he is. Lost and lonely. His mind and heart at war with each other. Could it get any worse?

As if life just wanted to toy with him and his fragile heart, he is approached by a reporter and he asks, “King Liam, we couldn’t help but notice that our favorite Everywoman isn’t in attendance at your wedding? Did she decide that court was too much for her and left to become a waitress again?” He flashes a condescending, mocking smile and it sends Liam into a flurry of emotions, one of anger, annoyance and rage but he hides it all with a tiny grin.

“Thank you for your keen observance. Lady Catheryne is indeed not in attendance of the ceremony today. As for an answer to your question, my wife would be able to give you a clearer answer,” he struggles to speak with calmness.

The reporter walks away with disappointment from his dismissal. He guesses that he was looking for a scandal but it would to take a lot more than that for Liam to lose control. Just as he is about to walk away, Bertrand’s voice comes again through the system and announces the first dance.

Before he could slip away, the spotlight finds him. He feigns a smile and walks to the middle of the dance floor meeting his new bride for the traditional dance. As a skillful diplomat and an experienced dancer, he is able to fake a happy dance. To a regular person it would look as if they are a happy couple gliding mindlessly, lost in their fairytale, but to anyone who has known them and is a seasoned court attendee they are as rigid and emotionless in the inside. The last string of the waltz fade and Liam guides them out of the spotlight and loses himself in the gathered crowd.

He tires of this occasion and slips out of the grand ballroom of the palace. His feet set him on a path that even he doesn’t know. A few minutes pass and somehow, he manages to find himself in the middle of the maze. One of the few places in the palace that he knows guarantees him a bit of privacy. The privacy he is grateful for soon turns into a sorrowful moment when memories of what had transpired in this very place comes rushing to him like a bullet train.

He remembers the very first time he was in here with Catheryne on the night of the masquerade and her whimsical persona allowed him to be a child once more and play maze-tag. He remembers taking her here and confessing his love for her, verbally and physically, on the night of his Coronation and promising to choose her only for it to be yanked away from underneath him. All these memories, pleasant yet so painful. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

All the emotions he has been expertly pushing away are now uncontrollable and he collapses on the grass and sobs. He lets it all flow. The loss of his hope and his love. The pain of seeing the woman he loves crush by so much pain and seeing her stand alone in an empty alley when she should have been the one shrouded by the spotlight and the many congratulations that were said since the ceremony.

Tears flow down his face and he put his head down in his hands, gripping his hair. Pain very much stirs his heart, but there is guilt mixed with it. Against his better judgment he gets a horrible idea formed in his head.

He stands and pats his clothes for clinging leaves and dirt and heads up to his room. He changes from his formal wedding attire and throws it away, refusing to have any kind of memento from this horrible day aside from photos from the press has taken. He replaces his clothes with some of his most casual clothing. He dons a pair of blue jeans, a dark blue half sleeve shirt and his only black leather jacket. An inconspicuous attire to be able to sneak away from his home and his guards. Thankfully most of his security is busy with the party so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to get away. Fortunately for him he grew up mischievously with a rebellious brother around and a rugged best friend who taught him the ins and outs of the palace.

After checking how he looked in the mirror for about the twentieth time, he heads out the door of his quarters. The hallways are clear of staff member, most of them being employed for the grand party being held downstairs for his honor. His thought begins to wander about people worrying of his disappearance, but he quickly swats it away concentrating on the stupid mission he has sent his mind to.

He quickly maneuvers through the palace corridors and uses the staff entrances to make his getaway. He emerges from the door of the kitchen and sneaks and pass the one guard on the way to the royal’s garage. When Leo was going through his teenage years he had accumulated many motorcycles and bikes. Unbeknownst to his father, Leo had taught him how to ride one.

Liam picks a black motorcycle from the collection sitting in the corner of the garage. Leo couldn’t take them all when he moved to America after he got married. He walks it out through the spacious side door and climbs on the saddle. The loud roar of the motor fills the air and before the guard can respond Liam speeds away leaving the palace in his rearview mirror.

He puts quite a bit of distance between the court and the palace and himself. He can never and will never be able to stand courtly functions again. Not without her. Not without always expecting to see her radiant smile and beautiful brown eyes through the crowd. Life would never be the same, he knew this the moment he realized who she was at the masquerade ball.

Buildings and views fly by him and the wind rushes his face. He opts out for wearing a helmet. He just wants to enjoy the freedom he has before he truly shackled to his post as king and to his wife and duty. Finally, he arrives at his destination, a tiny bar that has the best view of the country he so loves…loved? Could he really look at this place without reminding himself of what he had to do Catheryne for the sake of his country?

He settles into a secluded table. Thankfully, he isn’t recognized maybe due to his attire or maybe people just simply didn’t care who he is, but either way he is grateful for it. He is pretty sure he will never hear the end of this from his security detail, Madeleine and his parents. He is simply couldn’t care less. He orders a whole bottle of whiskey and in a few short minutes it arrives with a glass to accompany the bottle with the dark liquid.

Tonight, he just wants to drown his sorrows away. and in the spot, he knows no one would find him. He has downed three glasses of whiskey and starting to feel the effect. He looks out the view of the twinkling lights of Cordonia and wonders how his life turned out to be so miserable. What has he done to deserve so much pain? All he wanted was to do right by his country and now here he is wishing he could just run away from it all. Jealousy for what his life could have been if Leo had never abdicated starts to drown his mind and scenarios of maybe’s and ifs overwhelm him.

In all of the scenes that flow through his head a one constant is always there: Catheryne. She is always the front and center. He knows that will always be the case. He will never stop loving her. His heart aches and longs for her company. He wanted to take her here and to a few places that he was fond of that was around the area, sort of a personal tour of Liam’s upbringing and what shaped him to the man he is. So much for that idea.

After the fifth glass, he leaves. His head spins and he decide to cruise on his motorcycle and lets himself be led without thought. The only thing he knows is that he doesn’t want to be home in his own prison. Mindlessly being guided by instinct and alcohol he loses himself in the cool, night air.

Twenty minutes later he arrives on the circular driveway of a familiar home. If he wasn’t intoxicated he would have thought clearly and steer clear away from this place, but that is not the case at the moment. Right now, he is about to do something he might regret tomorrow morning. He dismounts his ride and treads carefully up the staircase leading to the door. He knocks quite loudly, and it startles him. He waits several minutes and pounds on the door again. He hears a muffled voice from the other side and within the blink of an eye the door opens revealing Catheryne and rendering him speechless.

“Liam…”

#trr #trr liam #choices trr #liam x mc #playchoices #choices #choices the royal romance #trr au #trr3 #angst

[bluraydisco]

Life On Mars In Boston: Adjust Time On Hour

Possible Time/Space traveler (or perhaps just a schizophrenic homeless man) leaving cryptic messages and glyphs in the area of Allston, MA (from late Summer to Early Fall 2018).

These images are the main reason I had created both a Redit and a Tumblr, so that I could get answers to the meanings behind it all. If this subject matter piques any readers attention and if anyone can decipher the meaning behind any of it (if there is any at all) feel free to comment with suggestions of what they could mean!

After much research, I know SOME of these are indeed simple hobo symbology (ie: the feathered arrows featured below). However, there is some unknown imagery such as crosses/unfinished clocks, a circle with a "teardrop" left blank on the inside or including either an A, B, a DC or even a question mark! (+/-). This individual also has written messages to a "Lauren" (one legible the other not so much) and has an obsession with the U.S.A., Time and Mars. As a matter of fact that planet was visible to the naked eye during the first of happenings

A little backstory:

I first noticed him in late August/early September while I was on my way to work, waiting to cross the street. He is a short, thin straggly looking man with thick stubble, a gray mullet, wearing a red hat, wire rim glasses (80s style) and a brown blazer. He was sitting at the bus stop. Then, in a flash, I saw him manically get up and he started writing on an advert for a local gym that was on a city recycling/rubbish bin with a sharpie. After work I took a snap of it. It was the first of many *unfinished clocks.

***NOTE: A Reditor with the handle "Qualiawiddershins" concluded on the "Fringe Science" forum that these are known in psychological circles as "clock tests". In which delusional patients are instructed to draw a clock (from memory) by their Doctor in order to come back to reality and to come down from their mania. What intrigued this commenter was the fact that the subject was using this specific method for his own advantage in order to further justify his obsessions/fantasy world. END NOTE***

The next day revealed a rather large diagram at the very same bus stop where ad space is supposed to go. It contained plenty of A's, B's, what I call "teardrops" connected with the word "America" intersected with arrows and, of course Mars, up top and circled. I thought it was scientific, so a close friend (who has a legit background) theorized the following:

"I think he was a physical chemist. Electron cloud diagrams, charges, anion and cation exchange...Or maybe I've been staring at it for too long".

***NOTE 2: I uploaded the pictures on the Science thread. As it turns out, she was indeed looking at it too long. No science to it. Just incoherent ramblings and (as stated at the start of the post) some "Hobo symbology". END NOTE 2***

The blank area behind the route map of the same bus stop was also adorned with a compact oval version. Mars written in the middle curving arrows surrounding it, with A's and B's on each corner of the square surface!

That Saturday, I went clubbing. I passed a Bank of America ATM kiosk in which I had discovered his "Magnum Opus"! There were more mentions of Mars and more lettered circles with tear drops and clock tests! That's when I became tantilized and had decided to follow and record his work. Simply because of the strange, almost "Toynbee Tiles" aspect to it all.

The next few months I had decided to do some field investigations on my days off from work. That's when I realized there were markings in specific areas. Mostly where that certain bus route is!

He had labeled apartment buildings, restaurants, convenience stores. Mainly near doors, entance ways, and in the front, sides and in the rear of these businesses and residences. Hell, he even tagged an old fire call box, a window and a fire hydrant!!!

The message to the aforementioned woman read "Lauren, if you care PROVE IT". As I stated previously, this was in two spots, one readable the other...chicken scratch. They were both written on City Utility boxes. If it is the same person (and there are more teardrops and crosses/clocks on these, plus the handwriting is too similar for it not to be, in my humble opinion) this changes the ENTIRE narrative and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

I eventually returned and did a walk through video of the ATM Kiosk. There I found a body of water with numbered bouys where there appears to be a countdown. It's only after someone mentioned it I had realized that 9 repeats. More mentions of Mars. More circles w/ teardrops, crosses and clocks.

Then, there was a crude map of the United States listing (what I assume are) possible places where he has lived or visited and locations such as Cape Canaveral, NASA and Houston, Texas. Some of these locales have question marks over them (Like Kansas). There are even some local-ish areas he had jotted down (Sandwich and Falmouth).

There are also unintentionally humorous misspellings ("Welleft" = Welfleet Beach and "MinneSODA") and oddities such as a mention of Georgia Peaches and Manhattan being placed on the West coast. (Possibly in reference to the "Manhattan Project")?

Eventually they painted over his "Sistine Chapel". Only for a smaller version to appear on a new bus stop marker down the street with the message that read "Adjust time on the hour" and another map of the Good ole US of A, with Houston, TX and with Kansas bold, prominent and inside of a rectangle. (No question mark this time).

The last thing he had done is return to the freshly repainted ATM kiosk!!! There he started a bigger map ( of which remains an unfinished outline) and had drawn a message that read "Navigate" in a circle w/ teardrop with arrows pointing outward. Sadly, he had run out of black marker and used a barely noticeable red pen to finish a smaller scale US Map, with no mentions of other areas but Kansas front and center (and yes, enclosed in another rectangle)!

*** NOTE 3: Thinking it would be right up his alley, I have been sharing my findings with host of You Tube's " Down The Rabbit Hole" Fredrik Knudsen on Twitter and boy was I correct. It resulted in retweets and threads from him and a few of his followers. I often keep him/them up to date on anything recent. (ie: My recent realization that SOME of these markings are mere Hobo symbology or variations that there of) END NOTE 3***

Through the months of late August into early October he has been active. Since then, he has been quiet. The city had cleaned up or covered most of what he has done. I walked down the street to see if he had resurfaced after November Fourth because of his "Adjust Time on hour" message. Unfortunately, I had found nothing new at the moment of this writing but will continue to look.

Perhaps he had simply descended into the ether of his madness or he had truly ascended up into the Red Planet on the day Daylight Savings Time ended? For now he has vanished without a trace. Leaving no more markings. Will he reemerge? Who knows? (Ironically) Time will tell.

***NOTE 4: I have various photos and (full) videos here. Linked is my You Tube channel, which goes more in depth visually about what is contained in this blog. Enjoy!!! END NOTE 4***

Thanks so much for reading.

#LifeOnMarsInBoston.

-DGD

#lifeonmarsinboston #66busdimensionhopper #allstonbrightonbrookline #ToynbeeTiles-esque #AllstonSpace-TimeTraveler #StrangeMarkings

[yukikinomiya]

Your favorite Gene concert: Speedster or Mad Cyclone? Why?

Dear Anon,

 I am really sooooo incredible sorry that it took me so long to answer your question but it’s first of all a kinda quite difficult question and I really wanted to watch both concerts again to answer it properly. Thank you so much for this question. I never thought about it in this way and it was the first time that I actually watched it without being distracted by anything else.

Sooooo let’s go 😄

Speedster

It was my first Gene Live and my first Japanese Live with let’s say such dimensions (Lives of Solidem or X4 are so much smaller) and I was completely stunned. The stage was just f*cking awesome with all the streets and yeah it was the first time that I saw such a stage and it really made me speechless in the beginning. There were people everywhere, not only in front, but also on the side and in the back. I really liked how variable the middle part of the stage was with the stairs and everything. The CGI backstory about the Mad Clowns was just awesome. The Background Sound is great and I really think that they should be available on iTunes. They were really looking amazing in their Mad Clown outfits, but I also liked their „shiny“ suits which they put on before Tell me why.

The concert started with AGEHA (I won’t go into detail with every song, because then it would be a much much longer post, but you can ask me anytime…now I should be able to answer more quickly). When it started, I could really feel my pulse speeding up and it makes you dance immediately. The second song (OMG) was Evergreen. I wrote it already before and I think it’s kinda obvious that it’s my all-time favourite Gene Song. The live version is just sooo amazing because the stage is completely green and the dance sequence is longer. This song, especially the dance break, always reminds me of Hayato, so it’s kinda his song and I was totally happy when he was in the center. Fun Fact: when Ryuto turned his back to Ryota facing Yuta he made so silly faces and Yuta had to hold back his laughing. Never let you go is kinda on place 2 on my most played songs and I really love it. I liked how the guys were goofing around and it’s one of the songs I really miss during Live Performances. For Tell me why they changed the stage setting to NY and it was looking incredible good. And Ryuto hitting the high notes still causes shivers running through my spine. Their painful faces during the Rainy Room performance were so heartbreaking like aaaah….I want to hug them all. And the choreo by Yuta is just awesome. He’s such a talented choreographer so I can really imagine him doing this in the future and I really can’t wait for his lessons for EXPG Online. The Acoustic medley completely caught me off-gurad. I never thought that somebody can make me cry like this, but yeah here we have Ryuto and Ryota, who did this. The acoustic/piano version of 花 was so incredible, you really have to listen to it. I loved that the crowd was completely silent during the song (something you don’t see that often during western concerts). But this version is unbelievable great. Beyond everything. Do I really have to talk about 片想い?? Thx … dead … bye.  The Performer Showcase in short: the guys were so awesome and I really need the sound and somebody who teaches me the choreo. It always amazes me what Hayato is doing with his feet (so it’s not surprising that he needs cool bags on his legs after performances). His style is called Chicago Footwork and he’s the first Japanese performer joining them (So proud of my sunshine). His dancing style is also the reason why I am starting with street dance next semester and started with EXPG Online Studio (dying through the R.Y.U.S.E.I. choreo - but Kenjiro is doing a great job). I always have to jump when Sing it loud comes during a live. I have to sing and jump, it’s impossible not to. They also showed videos from their Generations EX Tour and sang parts of the song in English 🙂 . I didn’t like Organ Donor ~OFF DA HOOK~ in the beginning, but now OMG. It’s in the top10. The song is catchy, the choreo in the MV amazing and totally love it now. I totally love what they did with Gene’s version of Burning Up. The flags and the pyro is just wooooow. Hard Knock Days: you can really feel their energy. It’s song where you have to dance. Like sing it loud but with lots more energy. And yeah the performers minus Hayato were just rude. I fell in love with Namida from the start. I totally like their stories in the MV especially Mandy’s because yeah I’m a small girl and it was soooo cute. Also Hayato’s story was incredible cute. I like that the ending of his story was not so sad as the one of the others. So I was really excited for the live and they did an incredible job (I mean they can never disappoint me anyways).  So during the second part of Speedster they changed the setlist. The beginning of Namida was acoustic and OMG (still dead). The performance was a little bit different but still totally stunning. The Vocal acoustic medley was a little bit different this time. No piano, but they sang 片想い, Story (love this one a little bit too much), I remember and Always with you.  The Mad Show (or the Performer’s show case) was as great as expected and I am really running out of words. I really have no words left for Hayato because his performance always leaves me speechless. Alan and Reo … aaaah …. So extra 😄 Run this Town is just pure energy and power. You can really feel it when you watch it. And now we come to Pierrot … this song is just yeah I don’t know why but it always drives me nuts. The MV is just incredible and seeing it live was just OMG. The choreo is really awesome especially in the MV.

Mad Cyclone

The stage was this time a centre stage because yeah arena tour with the huge screen moving up and down and the stage was rotating during most of the performances. The stage had extensions (I’m not sure to call them like this but yeah) to both sides so the fans could enjoy it from all sides. The CGI Backstory continued from Speedster transforming them into the Mad Jesters. I totally liked the bridge to PKCZ with the laser lights in the arena and Alan’s before the DJpart. The live started with Mad Cyclone. I didn’t like it in the beginning, but now it’s such an awesome song and I get goosebumps every time I hear it. It has an incredible dance break (OMG) and every time they face each other is just wow (I guess they had lots of fun during RH 😄 ). The second song was 太陽も月も. And I think I love this song a little bit too much sometimes. It’s also the first song I hear in the morning (to kinda wake up). The choreo is awesome and during Gene High School TV you can learn it (also for AGEHA and BCR). During the dance break the performers had short solo dances and I totally loved the combination from Yuta and Hayato, because they spend so much time with each other working on their acrobatics. Seeing them doing CF together just made my heart burst 😄 And Reo and Alan next to each other with these hair styles totally look like brothers. Pierrot is my favourite MV of all (minus Evergreen) and also one of my favourite songs. The choreo is just awesome and I loved how Yuta and Hayato could show off their acrobatic skills during the performance. Cuteness overload or live performance of Togetherness. They were so cute especially Hayato, Ryota, Yuta and Alan goofing around with the camera. And aaaaaaah all the happy smiles. And yeah kinda off-topic: I really, really, really want Ryota’s leather jacket. I mean I have already the same Humanmade jacket but aaaaaaah. I really liked how Yuta was in the centre of the stage during Sound of Love  showing why he’s also in charge of chores and being all adorable with this huge smile. Yeah Make you mine or holy sh*t….ALAN…COULD YOU PLEASE NOT….PUT THAT F*CKING SHIRT ON…HAYATOOOO….NOT THAT GLANCE….REO…AAAAAAH TOTALLY SWEATY CLOSE UP…. ALAN….WHERE THE F*CK IS MY HOLY WATER…GO AWAY DEMON… So yeah that was my reaction to this performance. Also for the bridge to Stupid ～真っ赤なブレスレット～ It should be illegal to look that good. Really. I totally loved their solo dance parts during Namida while sitting on the stairs. And that’s just my opinion but Ryota’s voice improved a lot since Speedster. At least that’s what I hear and of course I can be wrong but he was incredible. Love you more in short: thx … dead … bye … They took 4 girls from the crowd, seated them on two sofas and sang for them. Ryuto must have killed them. Those girls will never be interested in anyone else. Looking at the girl while singing “I need you in my world“ would kill me. … Aaaah and the ending …. Both of them singing while facing the girls again … so cute (I would just die there). The performer showcase was called Mad Cyclone Alley this time and it was really kinda funny. Yuta with the flute, Alan with the scooter and Reo acting like the little brat he is. I am still not sure how Reo and Hayato could dance with the backbags on their backs but awesome. I really love how they all have their own style and it really kinda resembles their personalities. I still need an album for DJAlan. His remixes of Gene songs are just soooo amazing. His smiles were so cute during his part and you really see how much he enjoys it. Sing it Loud was the most amazing remix he did. He enjoyed it so much that I am pretty sure that the fans are going to enjoy a DJAlan part during United Journey 🙂 Hard Knock Days Is just aaaaaaaah. I can’t even. Especially Mandy’s rap part. He’s allowed to rap (and he’s really great) but so not allowed to sing. Reo and the skiing goggles…just too funny…but I would love to have Supreme skinning goggles…I am pretty sure I am skiing more than him 😄 During Run this town Hayato (KEEP YOUR F*CKING TONGUE WHERE IT SHOULD BE) had more time for his solo performance and OMG he’s so talented. His acrobatic skills have really improved a lot (yeah I always kinda worried about him but I know that he knows what he’s doing soooo). During the Be the one performance you could really see how incredible adorable they are. The last time I watched it I also made screenshots because it was just too funny to watch. The huge balloons in YMCA were great, but the performance was just f*cking awesome. With the rotating stage and the performers getting microphones (Hayato = pure energy - such a sunshine 😄 and Reo = little brat teasing Mandy as always). I think I talked already enough about Evergreen but in short I really love their group hug at the end of the song … just sooooooooo cute. Next was written by Ryuto and it’s also on my playlist of songs I have listen in the morning to survive the day 😄 It’s an incredible great song and I totally love the MV (It’s kinda the Making Off of Sora while they were in the US - the MV is sooooo adorable … Yuta and the alien 😄 ) During Speedster the opening was AGEHA. This time it was the ending of Mad Cyclone. I love how the taught the song during Gene High School TV and it’s soooo easy to learn. You just have to dance to this song when you hear it. It’s an amazing, catchy song and I’m already excited which song they are going to choose as opening song for United Journey (since they announced United Journey as a song on the next single I would go with this one but we will see).

Sooo as conclusion … I really can’t give a proper answer. Both Lives are amazing in their own way. It also depends a lot on my mood but let’s say 70% of the time I prefer Speedster because of the setlist, but when it comes to the stage I would 100% say Mad Cyclone. It’s completely my opinion but I prefer Speedster when it comes to cuteness (don’t ask why) and Mad Cyclone for all the uptempo songs (never been jumping around so much). The more often I watch Mad Cyclone the more I love it. So maybe if you ask me again in six months then my opinion might have changed.

#generations from exile tribe #mad cyclone live 2017 #speedster live 2016 #yuki talking about concerts #it would be amazing if i would put the same interest sometimes into my research project #also the same motivation #aaaaaaaaaah #this is just a short version #so if someone wants to know more just message me

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

Hello! After a holiday hiatus, I am returning to @bengiyo's queer cinema syllabus. We will be ringing in the new year with Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley, the totally light-hearted, definitely not agonizing section of the syllabus where I get to watch countless acts of violence be committed against queer people. That fuck I have Lesbians waiting for me at the end of this unit. The films in Unit 4 are: Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004) [cannot for the life of me find this film], Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986), Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffery (1995), and Boys on the SIde (1995)

Today I will be writing about 

Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee

[Run Time: 2h 14 min, Lang: English] 

Summary: “Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.” -imdb

Cast: * Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist *Heath Ledger as Ennis del Mar (Rest in Peace)

__

Okay, so unsurprisingly Brokeback Mountain is one of seven of the movies on this syllabus that I had seen before I embarked on this project. I watched it for the first time in 2021 and walked away from it with two images in my head: Jack and Ennis’ reunion kiss and Jack getting his face bashed in with a tire iron. This film is in Heartbreak Alley for a reason and that’s because it is fundamentally depressing as fuck. Jack and Ennis are stuck in unhappy marriages, lonely all their lives, struggling to carve desire out of a life that does not let them have it. Ennis ends up alone, and Jack ends up dead and these things are important. Ennis slipped out of his role as attentive father and doting husband the second Jack walked back in to his life, Jack kept breaking his own heart by daring to dream of the life that he wanted. 

A life he was denied. 

I want to mention these tragedies up front because I want primarily to talk about something else in this film. But i do not want to just push past the violence here. This is probably something other people have heard, it was definitely something I was told by the person who recommended this film to me the first time. But the way Jack dies, the way Earl dies, these are both similar to the way that Matthew Shepard died. Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, pistol whipped, tortured, and tied to a fence in Wyoming for being gay and was so brutally beaten his entire face was covered in blood. Jack was beaten to death with a tire iron on the side of the road, Earl was brutally tortured and left in a ditch. These men are not just killed, but brutally, violently, torturously murdered for being queer. 

That said, this movie felt so different to me the second time I watched it and I am so amazed to see how much I truly missed my first time around. I was younger, freshly queer, and did not have anywhere close to the extensive queer media viewing history I do now. It is wild to me to see how I have grown in my engagement with media after spending a year writing about body language. Because this film is so fucking brilliant, like legitimately intelligently crafted in it’s displays of gay politics. Maybe this is stuff that I picked up on subconsciously the first time through because I never found the movie boring despite it being rather slow. But this time? My brain was buzzing at how expertly crafted the dialogue and body language was around trying to be safe while being queer. 

I am thinking of the way that Jack sizes Ennis up at the beginning, Jack’s posture as he leans against his truck the first time they meet. I’m thinking about the line “Mr. Augirre’s got no right making us do something against the rules” when you consider that queerness is very much against the rules at that time and in that place. The way Ennis refuses to let Jack be gentle with him at first, tending his own wounds, staying distant and quiet, until he doesn’t.

Maybe it’s just because of how much I’ve watched The Sign drift further away from the hyper-masculinity aspect of their story, but I could not stop thinking about the delicate dance that is required to navigate the growing feelings and sexual relationship between these two extremely masculine men. I started looking and I think there are about three times in the entire movie where Jack and Ennis are soft with each other. The first is on Brokeback the second time they have sex, and Ennis is struggling and just rests his head on Jack’s chest before going in for a kiss. The second is when they are cuddling in bed at the motel after their first reunion. The third is the scene after Ennis tells Jack he won’t be able to see him again until November. That’s it. Otherwise they aren’t touching, or when they are touching they are rough, rough housing, rough kissing, rough fucking it doesn’t matter. 

Ennis says he isn’t queer and Jack says he’s not either, but they fuck and then they are drawn to one another for the rest of their lives, because there is no one who could get it like they do. Ennis isn’t lying when he tells Jack that is the most he’s spoken in a year. Ennis is a lonely man. Ennis is a rural, hyper-masculine rancher he does not have emotions, not anymore, if he ever did. Whatever conscious or subconscious queerness he had undoubtedly shriveled and died the day he was shown Earl’s body. And that, I think, is part of why Ennis is just constantly drawn to Jack, why his face lights up when he sees Jack, why he throws such caution to the wind upon their first reunion. 

Ennis does not need words for Jack to understand him. Jack is also a rural, hyper-masculine rancher. He gets it in a way that Alma never will. The violence they bestow upon each other, Jack understands why Ennis would lash out. The need to escape in to the mountains, Hack understands why Ennis needs it. It’s just so smartly written. Ennis so unmoored from his own feelings that his body physically rejects them when he and Jack separate for the first time. The way he has to suck it in, suck it up, pretend like he’s unfazed, unaffected, until the minute he has a chance to be out of eyesight, and then he just collapses retching, sobbing, punching walls. 

And then he’s able to separate himself from his emotions once more, he marries Alma, he stays lonely, he does his duties, until Jack comes calling. I think I remember a story about how the first kiss that Heath and Jake have when Ennis and Jack are reunited, their faces slammed together so hard one of them almost broke a nose. And that is how 90% of Ennis and Jack’s relationship is. Those emotions come back and then Jack is leaving again, and Ennis just starts to crumble. 

I could not stop thinking about the dialogue in this film Mr. Aguirre’s carefully chosen words when he is telling Jack exactly why he isn’t hiring him for another season, the way Jack tries to suss out if the man sitting next to him at the bar after the rodeo is queer and down to fuck, how that man picks up on it, rejects him, and how quickly Jack gets the fuck out of the bar afterwards. The inherent understanding of what being invited to the cabin means in that conversation with David Harbor’s character. GOD, it’s just so well done. 

Favorite Moment 

To continue on the subject of incredible code work in this movie, my favorite scene is when Ennis goes to visit Jack’s parents to try to get Jack’s ashes so he can spread them on Brokeback Mountain. How without ever saying anything directly, Jack’s parents are able to convey that they know the reason Jack died, what Jack and Ennis were to each other, and that they accept Jack and accept Ennis was just beautiful. The way she lets Ennis go up to Jack’s room, Ennis finding the shirts, stained with blood because that’s what it is to be queer, Jack’s mother letting Ennis take those with him, Jack’s father saying: “We’ve got a family plot. He’s going in it.” as Ennis is about to walk out the door, Jack’s mother saying: “You come back and see us again” and not have either of those things feel like a threat or a trap? It was incredible. 

Favorite Quote

Hmm, I know we have the two famous quotes, but it’s hard to pick a favorite line because there is so little dialogue in this film considering it is over two hours long. I think I am going to go with the last line of the movie:

“Jack, I swear”

Cause it made me cry. Alma Junior pays a visit to her father to let him know she’s getting married, and she drives away forgetting her coat, and Ennis opens his closet (intense staring at the visual commentary) and he buttons the top button of Jack’s shirt, and he swears to Jack and to me that feels like a wedding vow. 

Score 

10/10 This film is gorgeous, just utterly beautiful all around. The cinematography, the script, the commitment and the care the actors give to these characters, to the subject. I am so glad this was on the syllabus so I had this opportunity to revisit this film. I got a whole lot more out of it as a result.

#bengiyo queer cinema syllabus #queer cinema syllabus #queer cinema #unit 4: heartbreak alley #brokeback mountain

[coolgirl]

Fic recs masterpost

ok so i used to have a lot of fics masterposts on my old blog and people keep asking for recs + i wont be able to upddate them or anything anymore so i decided to just move them all to this blog

under the cut: AUS / arkham knight / jaykyle / jayroy / robin!jason / gen / angst fics 

*: last added (april 4) //   for some reason the links arent working so go to jasontodd.tumblr.com/ficrecs for the links, sorry!

AUS

The Virtue of Revenge | young justice au with jason as red x making his own team with roy, starfire, raven, and others. i love it, even if it has shaky moments and stuff pls give it a chance.

crystal silence creeping down | young justice/lost days au

Flicker from View | another young justice au

Live to Rise | yes. you guessed it. young justice au.

Collide &  Convergence | au where post crisis jason goes to the young justice universe

The Changeling Sequence | series where jason meets damian before he went to gotham. The last part is a wip that i doubt will ever get updated again, so uh be careful. read only the first or second part and forget about the third.

The Drag of Fate | au where jason is lady shiva’s son as well. Part of a series, which i also highly recommend but idk if they would be au as well

heavy on the heart | another jason and cass are bio siblings. A+.

Didymous | cass and jason are twins.

repairing the world | i dont know how to explain this series.. its an au and really really good. Jason doesn’t appear in all the pieces.

just go  | jayroy, wings au

In the Shadows (of Who We Used to Be) | jayroy, black widow & hawkeye au

The Family (or how Jason Todd was adopted by the Avengers) | marvel crossover

bad boys bad boys (whatcha gonna dooo) ♫ | jason is damian’s batman. iconic fic imo.

Rise (And Try Not to Fall) | star wars au

A Bird in Morning | bruce finds jason when he’s at the hospital after crawling out of his grave

Moment Between | ghost jason & ghost martha and thomas wayne

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Perhaps The World Ends Here | marvel crossover, future jaykyle

Batten Down the Hatches | a few different aus here. young justice + helena wayne

My Brother's Keeper | jason & damian knew each other from before + damian arrives to gotham just for jason

When the Moon Found the Sun | main story is clark/bruce but it’s preetty cute. soulmates au.

Between the Light and the Dark* | damian & jason uuhm i cant remember what this one was about per se bc im reading like 5487 similar fics but yeah

Two Dead Birds  | time travel stuff

Red Blood, Blue Blood | jason (and the rest of the batkids) are bruce’s biological kids, yeah i wasnt a big fan of the premise at first either but its gud

Rebirth | talia & jason, mind the warnings

you belong among the wildflowers | kate n renee adopt jason instead of bruce

We're the warriors of tomorrow |  Cass, Jason and Damian meet while with the League of Shadows

Can You Hear Me?  | ghost jason

to death's other kingdom I will not go  | bruce makes it on time au

The Ties That Bind  |  The pit restores Jason's body but not his mind, Ra's makes him one of his assassins and Talia adopts him as her own.

death’s outlet song of life* | the gordons find jason before the events of lost days

reflections on shattered mirrors.* | talia & jason stuff

Come Alive* | young justice s3 based

A Path Upon The Ground* | au from lost days, eddie and jason meet again

ARKHAM VERSE

If He Had Come & the sequel  Desiderium | au where bruce rescued jason before he could become the arkham knight.

the roads we know

this gun needs no bullets

JASON & BRUCE CENTRIC (not romantic)

Quack | this one is so crackish but so so cute i love it, robin jason

If He Had Come & sequel Desiderium  | arkham knight verse and its so good and has a lot of bruce & jason feels

Neverland /  Keep Lying To Me | deaged/ little jason from another universe.. sad and cute

Icarus and Bubble Gum | fluff, robin jason

Knock On Death’s Door | bit of both but not so so so angst, red hood jason

dead and dying things | au

In Memoriam | angst, trying to fix their relationship, red hood jason

If the Fates Allow | angst, red hood jason

The D-Word | fluff kind of.. red hood jason

This Place We Built With Grace and Guilt | angst angst angst, red hood jason

I Love You | robin jason, fluff

Wayward Birds | fluff and angst, robin jason

yesterday’s gone, yeah it went away (i’ve been lost but i’m here today) | another trying to fix their relationship fic, its cute and sad

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Little Absences | sad, robin & red hood

Schrödinger's Honest Man | sad, drugs tw, absolute fave

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

Frozen History | de-age

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

Unconventional Family Reunions | bvs setting

Prompt: Trapped | mind the warnings

Safe In My Arms 

The Failures of Reverse Engineering  | ghhm not really bruce & jason maybe?

to death's other kingdom I will not go | bruce saves jason au

points of impact  | glass case get fucked

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)*

waiting for you. *

The Little Things*

World's Finest* | my uwus my uwus have fallen everywhere

JAYKYLE (all iconic)

In Which Kyle Confesses The Same Thing Six Times

milk and honey

Batman vs Space Bureaucracy

deadlock

attention to detail

tempest in a teapot

violet tendencies

no love, no glory (no hero in his skies)

keep the door open for me

waffles and war 

The Art of Subtlety (jason lives au)

Perhaps The World Ends Here | marvel crossover, future jaykyle

Riding in Batcars with Boys

boy, you fill my lungs with sweetness

no chance, no way, i won't say it (no, no)  

a change in the atmosphere

invitation to commitment

Overexposed 

i deserve that, don't i, some sort of blazing love that i can live with 

i won't say 

The water is always warmest at dawn

JAYROY (all iconic too)

sleepless 

Countdown

just go (wings au)

Unspoken

(for thy love is) better than wine (E)

Rooftops

Dick Wolf is a Really Funny Name

A headache isn’t always a bad thing

sad eyes, bad guys, mouth full of white lies [high school au]

kairosclerosis 

The Night They Met 

march down an empty street (like a ship into the storm) *

Archange de la mort (rallume ton flambeau) * | hic warning lol

this time, the loser wins | steph & jason centric though

So Baby Come Light Me Up *

Little Talks *

All the light is never ending, much like you and I; *

Don't let me go, for I feel I may fall * | soulmates au

Something Reckless * 

OTHERS

how to make a home. * | some eddie/jason if you squint, rose/eddie/jason team up

This Car Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us* | could be read as jayconnor :3

Robin/young!Jason

The Art of Subtlety | jason lives au, jaykyle

Little Absences | sad, robin & red hood

I Love You | robin jason, fluff

Wayward Birds | fluff and angst, robin jason

Icarus and Bubble Gum | fluff, robin jason

Quack | this one is so crackish but so so cute i love it, robin jason

we were not tragedies | jason & babs, read warnings

Heavy Home | gen, alfred & jason

Good News (No One Mourns the Wicked) | Jason & steph & damian. harold they’re dead (kinda robin!jason??)

Love Yourself (So No One Has To) | good amazing au with some selina & jason (not really.. robin but it starts as robin!jason i guess?)

Moment Between | ghost jason & ghost martha and thomas wayne

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Tired &  Laundry | kinda au, read tw!

Smoke | jason & jim gordon

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)* | mix of present and past jason

Sidekick* 

waiting for you.* | technically baby jason

The Little Things*

World's Finest* | oh this one.. my uwus

GEN

hold on to what  we are, hold on to your heart | gen, Barbara & Jason friendship. Some dinahbabs & jayroy

gotta give the boy points | gen, absolute fave

Strangers in Nothing but Name | marvel crossover, side steve/bucky

If He Had Come |  Desiderium | Arkham Verse, gen

I can’t  think up a good  name for this | young justice verse, gen apart from canon relationships

A Better Thesis | gen, p short but i loved it

The  F-Word | gen, batboys being batboys

until i’m in my grave | gen, wip 

Robins United | gen, batkids bonding, except for cass, thats my only complaint

Free of Dogma | gen, canon divergence, marvel crossover w Jason & Bucky

bad boys bad boys (whatcha gonna dooo) ♫ | au where damian is jasons robin and not dick’s, obviously damian & jason brotp. 

Heavy Home | gen, alfred & jason

In the  Shadow of Two Gunmen | gen, Marvel crossover

Flicker from View | side Barbara/Dick, young justice verse

I Love You | gen, Bruce & Jason

how to  hide a stray resurrected superhero from your parents/parental figure | au, jason & tim friendship kinda

One For The Road | Jason/Roy/Koriand’r but its SO cute

Baby,  It’s Cold Outside | gen, Dick & Jason

The  (Family) Doctor’s  Appointment | gen, batboys bonding

The Family (or how Jason Todd was adopted by the Avengers) | marvel crossover, gen

Reason | wip, gen, canon divergence

Soliloquy | gen, tim & Jason brotp,  and really cute batfam moments

Red As The Shadow Of Death | gen, young justice/under the red hood verse

Give Yourself a Chance | gen, duke & Jason & leslie brotpish

homecoming | outlaws brotp fic, could be considered shippy if you want to

And I Said What About Breakfast at Tiffany’s | jason & steph

Of Bats and the Forsaken | jason & all the batkids, side steph/cass and jay/roy if you squint

this is a long drive (for three robins who don’t agree on much) | no capes au, steph & jason & damian, background tim/tam

The Dying of the Light | marvel crossover, bucky & jason, canon divergence

Cat | selina &  jason, catlad au

Killing for Love | cass & jason, au  where jason was lady shivas son  

Keep Lying To Me | de-aged au, just heartbreaking imo, cursed fic

The Social Habits of Robin | gen, batboys. Where_is_cass.jpg tho

Steph and Jay’s Excellent Adventures | series, Steph & Jason

Neverland | jason & batkids, young!jay travels to the future. sad asad sad

on a thin chain of moments and something like faith | gen, jason & cass & steph mostly. really good

Good News (No One Mourns the Wicked) | Jason & steph & damian. harold they’re dead

In a Parallel Life | batboys focused, it has amazing dialogue, dynamics, and characterization. It’s only missing Cass and the rest of the girls.

repairing the world | series, not everything is about the batfam.

Born to Run (Born to Rise) | Jason & Talia having a mother/son relationship reblog if you agree

Live to Rise | it updated again p recently so yay! young justice verse

To Save a Dying City  | jason + other people

Let’s Have Some Fun This Beat Is Sick | mostly damian centric

Movie Night: The Mummy  | read trigger warnings, batboys

The Trading Chain  | not jason centric, but it has cass being older than jason and calling him “little brother” so noice

we sure know how to run free  | jason & cass

Yesterday’s Voices | bruce loses his memory au

Nests and Cages series | read trigger warnings

Roots | barbara centric, really good plot and characterization

Love Yourself (So No One Has To) | good amazing au with selina & jason

Retrograde Motion | de aged jason au

Provenance | mostly roy centric, bruce fucks oliver’s life for what he did to roy. iconic

Schrödinger's Honest Man | sad, drugs tw, absolute fave 

Batten Down the Hatches | a few different aus here. young justice + helena wayne

My Brother's Keeper | jason & damian knew each other from before + damian arrives to gotham just for jason

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

until i'm in my grave v2 | this one is already mentioned in this post BUUUT the writer started rewriting it so!

Frozen History | de-age

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

show me yesterday, for i can’t find today | time travel au

Warm Enough | alfred & jay fluff

Parallels | mia & jason team up

Legacy | reverse robins, not jason centric but hes there alright.. i think.. i cant remember :D

What are the words I'm forbidden to say?* | damian & jay fluff

Cracked Foundation| jason n damian

Cat's Cradle  | more jason n damian

spaces in between  | damian & jason again

When the lights go out  | damian & jason, theres a pattern here

in my head, i do everything right | some jason & steph

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)* | past & future jason

life, if well lived* | jason travels back in time and meets martha & thomas wayne

In Charge * | babie jason

Pyrrhic victory* | jason & damian stuff

Twists and Turns* | more jason & damian bonding

Of Brothers and Batcows* | guess what.. yes! more jason & damian

This Car Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us* | jason & connor.. say no more!

First Gear* | back to jason & damian please read this.. damian tries to teach jason to drive

changing, falling, fading (please watch over me)* | jason bonds with damian & steph

ANGST

Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death [read the trigger warnings!!]

in the repairing the world series there are a lot of fics dealing with jason, tho Warm Enough ugh not all are centered around him. I would say read  Escalation | Coup de Grâce |  Interlude for the rh!jason arc, and  Tired &  Laundry for robin!jason. [also read trigger warnings]

Countdown | jason/roy]

those six days [trigger warnings again!!!]

Call | angst

the tune without the words  | kind of character study from jim gordon’s pov

Unspoken | jason/roy, really angsty if you remember how red hood arsenal ended

If He Had Come & Desiderium | arkham knight verse, read trigger warnings!

Reason | on hiatus :/

hold on to what we are, hold on to your heart   | this is my favorite ever.. read trigger warnings

Heavy Home | alfred & jason

until i’m in my grave [trigger warnings!]

Keeping Broken Pieces Together

Monsters | marvel crossover

gotta give the boy points | this one please!!!! another fav. read trigger warnings

The weight of it [trigger warnings!]

Live to Rise | young justice verse

Neverland | THIS ONE IS PURE ANGST!!! please its so sad..

Keep Lying To Me | this one has some angsty scenes too im sad emoji

hangman is coming down from the gallows  | some angst

Movie Night: The Mummy  | read trigger warnings, batboys

Love Yourself (So No One Has To)

All in the Blood [read trigger warnings]

Little Absences

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

Rebirth * | mind the warnings and its really. sad.

The Failures of Reverse Engineering *

Eternal Soliloquy * | sad sad

throw me a lifeline (I might even catch it) *

changing, falling, fading (please watch over me) * | jason & steph & dami angst

#dc: fic #i'm posting from phone so if its fucked.. that's why #if the read more doesn't work i'll fix it tomorrow

[justonesongmore]

XXIII: 1923

On Irreducibile Particles, Rapid Assimilations, and Molasses Funks

1. Billy Jones: “Yes! We Have No Bananas”

One of the four or five irreducible particles of the silliness of the Roaring Twenties, the folly of the années folles, the glitter of the Goldene Zwanziger, the keynote and image of all that was evanescent and soon to vanish, like champagne bubbles, in the era to come. A vaudeville routine sold as a Tin Pan Alley ditty, with a stop-start melody and nonsense refrain that captured a bluff, jaunty mood and lent itself to repetition, sawing relentlessly away with or without the lyrics kidding the incomplete Americanisms of the Lower East Side. But that kidding remains, a none too subtle reminder that the white majority would never consent to seeing immigrants as fully human. Nonsense in the United States is always political; perhaps that too is not unique to us.

2. Clay Custer: “The Rocks”

The consensus among jazz scholars is that Clay Custer is most likely a pseudonym for the tune’s composer, but there are a few other Chicago-area pianists it could be, including his brother Hersal. Regardless, it’s the first disc on record to feature a walking bassline (so early in its development that it’s almost a stumbling one); this, combined with the previous year’s publication of “The Fives” from the same pen, is the birth of boogie-woogie piano. By decade’s end, the genre will have been fully formalized by pianists who all point to the work of Arkansas-born, New Orleans-trained, Chicago-adopted “Gut Bucket” George Washington Thomas as fundamental. Even apart from the all-important bassline, the chromatic opening trills and development of its themes—the rocks could be wave-dashed, or more euphemistic—give delight.

3. King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band: “Dipper Mouth Blues”

Seven years is a long time in pop, which hot jazz still is. The gap between the Original Dixieland Jass Band’s first recordings and the first sides made by Joe “King” Oliver’s band—who would undoubtedly have been one of the ODJB’s primary inspirations back when New Orleans was the quarantined heart of jazz, before it spread like a virus to infect the entire nation—would have been noticeable in any era, but a comparison between the two reveals that while the white boys got the energy and the raucousness right, they missed the funk and the communal interplay. Oliver’s muted trumpet solo isn’t just virtuosity: it responds to and is responded to by the rest of the band, including the young second cornettist, recently arrived to Chicago from New Orleans.

4. Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra: “Elephant’s Wobble”

And just as the first true New Orleans jazz is waxed, so too is the first true Kansas City jazz: less molasses funky, more brightly riffed, with a hard-stomping rhythm that presages much industrialized pop to come, from Motown to techno. Bennie Moten, a nearly thirty year old pianist, composer and now bandleader who had knocked about the Missouri ragtime scene since his youth, scored his first recording date in St. Louis, with a band of Kansas City luminaries who individually hearken back to older forms, from Sousa’s drilled marches to Joplin’s ragtime of theme and recapitulation to Ossman’s savagely strummed minstrel banjo: but together, powered by the newly hot-running engine of jazz, they produce a gleeful, entirely modern sound that piledrives, lean and hungry for rhythm, into the future.

5. Sylvester Weaver: “Guitar Blues”

Most discographies will note this as the first country blues record; but Sylvester Weaver was born and reared in Louisville, Kentucky, which if it wasn’t a New York-scale metropolis was still no dirt-road waystation; nor is it the Deep South. Like most of his Black peers making their way before recording horns in the years before the electric-recording boom, Weaver was an urban entertainer—his first recordings were as an accompanist to blues singer Sara Martin. His instrument was called a “guitjo,” a banjo body strung like a guitar, and his slide technique sounds particularly otherworldly on its resonant body. The technique has appeared before, as played by Hawaiʻian musicians and white southerners; but here the sound connects (on record) to the blues, and the echoes from it will be lasting.

6. Os Oito Batutas: “Urubu”

We have heard the most prominent soloist in this supergroup before: choro composer and flautist Pixinguinha had already left his mark on Brazilian popular music in the 1910s. But when he joined seven other Black and mulatto choristas to form an eight-man group in 1919 so that a theater empresario would have an attraction in between showings of silent films, the result was a music that swung harder than traditional choro and even outpaced early samba: “Urubu” (the Guaraní word for vulture, and you can hear a wheeling, wing-fluttering flight in Pixinguinha’s flute) is just as modern, as dynamic, and as future-facing as any New Orleans jazz. In fact, musicians like Os Oito Batutas (the eight legends), demonstrate that the spirit of jazz was never exclusively a North American phenomenon.

7. Rosita Quiroga: “Sollozos”

Two legends in the field of Argentinean tango make their debut with this recording: Rosita Quiroga, the music’s first great woman singer, born in the lower-class milieu to which a cosmopolitan like Gardel only pretended; and Osvaldo Fresedo, the song’s composer, who when he begins to record in his own right will become perhaps the most emblematic tango bandleader of the decade, with a long career to follow. “Sollozos” (Sobs), with a lyric by the composer’s brother Emilio, is one of the great tango songs, uncovering the everyday pathos within the music’s slinky passion. Quiroga’s direct, unadorned vocal style refuses self-pity even as her words ask us to pity her, and the harmonium which opens the recording casts the plucked guitars which accompany her throughout in the light of eternity.

8. Carlos Gardel: “Alma porteña”

But as tango branched out into newly classed and gendered forms, Gardel the eternal cosmopolite continued to go from strength to strength. “Alma porteña” (Soul of Buenos Aires) is another of the deathless tango songs, in which the music itself is apostrophized as the cause, and cure, of all man’s ills. The mellifluous self-assurance in his baritone voice, the intricate backing of his accompanists Barbieri and Ricardo, and the swooping, tantalizing melody from Vicente Greco, who had been writing and performing tangos since the early 1910s, make a dazzling, almost overwhelming display of what I think of as Baroque tango, tango at its most self-important, self-mythologizing, and capital-r Romantic. If tango is une force qui va and Gardel is its prophet, why should we ever ask for anything more quotidian?

9. Bessie Smith: “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home Blues”

Three long years after the record companies learned that there was a market for “race” (for which see blues) records, the most famous and well compensated blues singer on the Black vaudeville circuit finally signed a contract with Columbia to cut her first records, accompanied on piano by early jazz pianist and empresario Clarence Williams, who had published (and supposedly co-wrote) this song. Its co-composer, Charles Warfield, later complained that he was cheated, which was probably true enough: music labels had much to learn from sheet-music publishers on how to screw over their talent. But the song itself is just a trifle: what makes it stick is Bessie Smith’s full-lunged performance, too self-possessed to be melodramatic about missing her lover, but too serious about her heartbreak to treat it flippantly either.

10. Ma Rainey with Lovie Austin and Her Blues Serenaders: “Barrel House Blues”

The blues singer who taught Bessie Smith to perform in public, and whose popular performances since the early 1900s in medicine shows, minstrel shows, and vaudeville had no doubt influenced white singers from Sophie Tucker to Marion Harris, also cut her first records for Paramount in 1923, at the age of forty-one. Accompanied by Chicago-based pianist and composer Lovie Austin and her hot jazz band, Rainey sings three verses that mock at Prohibition while reinforcing her own status as the elder stateswoman of the blues: the “Papa” of the song is presumably is Will Rainey, her husband, manager, and one-time partner, while “Mama” is herself, a creature of voracious appetite whose addiction to port, sport, gin, and “outside men” is a thorough rejection of a respectability that couldn’t touch her.

11. Esther Bigeou with Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra: “West Indies Blues”

Anglo-Caribbean music has not appeared in these pages since 1915, but it didn’t go unheard, nor was its influence insignificant. “West Indies Blues” was written by the great Black jazz songwriter Spencer Williams, with funning lyrics by Edgar Dowell, in the wake of Jamaican-born Pan-African Black separatist Marcus Garvey’s conviction on trumped-up charges of mail fraud: the broad dialect Esther Bigeou, a New Orleans native, uses to caricature West Indian speech is, at this remove, indistinguishable from the Coon dialects white songwriters had been putting in the mouths of US-born Blacks for generations. Even so, the sheet music was subtitled “a calipso,” and though it’s not proper Trinidadian calypso, it’s played by people who have heard it: Armand Piron’s orchestra was one of the foremost Creole bands of New Orleans.

12. Marion Harris: “Who’s Sorry Now?”

As the genuine articles began to take their rightful place before the recording horn, the white women whose imitations of blues shouters had made the racist recording market safe for the blues began to move into more genteel forms of music-making, where Black women presumably couldn’t follow. (We’ll see about that.) Marion Harris, a constant presence here since 1916, has never sounded more polished and inexpressive—which is to say, whiter—than when warbling this ditty by dilettante composer Ted Snyder (who we won’t see again) and Tin Pan Alley lifers, lyricists Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (who we will). A song of vindictive triumph paced like a parlor ballad, it retained enough kick thirty-five years later to jumpstart the career of a teenager who sang like a grown woman.

13. Sophie Tucker: “You’ve Gotta See Mamma Ev’ry Night (Or You Can’t See Mamma At All)”

Of course, La Tucker never followed the trends for white women singers. Now in her mid-thirties, she had built too firmly on a foundation of Coon shouting to move blithely into sweet girlish Tin Pan Alley fluff: but raucous faux-blues Tin Pan Alley fluff would do just as well. “You’ve Got to see Mamma” was written by popular hack Con Conrad (empresario Billy Rose is credited on lyrics), and in general outline it’s a good imitation of contemporary Black women’s songs, slightly saucy, humorously aggressive towards a wayward lover, and firmly self-respecting. But there’s no actual blues structure or emotion to it, which makes it all the better as a cloak for the indeterminately-raced Tucker to wrap herself in: big and brassy, but ultimately respectful of show-biz and social convention.

14. Wendell Hall: “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’”

The ways in which the desiccated remains of minstrelsy were shaped and pounded into country music are a major part of the recording history of the 1920s. “Ain’t Gonna Rain” is considered a folk song (four years later, Carl Sandburg would suggest that it dates to the 1870s), but Hall, a Midwestern vaudevillian who performed under the legend “The Red-Headed Music Maker,” punches out the verses, with nonstandard vocabulary and Southern rural hokum straight out of Uncle Remus, in a minstrel-inflected screech and yowl, a sound which would migrate into the “high lonesome” style which will characterize honky-tonk. But he’s also very much of his time: his instrument was not the banjo but the ukulele, the portable if not particularly versatile instrument which gave a fizzy, irrepressible soundtrack to the 1920s.

15. Fiddlin’ John Carson: “The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster’s Gonna Crow”

Après Eck, le deluge: country fiddlers were still major entertainers in the rural communities where they set and called the dances, and as the South urbanized, they grew into bigger stars thanks to old-time fiddling conventions. The fifty-something Carson, of Atlanta, was hot enough stuff that he was a local fixture on the new medium of radio and appeared in newsreels. A sharp-eyed Atlanta distributor cajoled Okeh’s talent scout Ralph Peer into recording him in a rare acoustic-era location recording, a makeshift studio set up in an empty Atlanta storefront. Peer wasn’t happy with the results (he’d do better later), but the record, “Old Hen” b/w “Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” (see 1907), sold out at the next convention. No hero, as we’ll see, Carson nevertheless lasted.

16. Asako Tanabe: “Sendo kouta”

As country music slowly pushes its way onto record, so too does the music frequently compared to it: Japanese enka, which (like country) originated in a specific milieu but has since broadened to mean any vaguely folkloric or traditional popular music. I’ve been unable to learn anything about the singer attributed here: 田辺朝子 is a common enough name that basic online searches are useless. But 船頭小唄 (often translated as “Ferryman’s Song”) was a major musical touchstone of the era, a street song which borrowed the melody of a Shinpei Nakayama composition. It became infamous in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake, said to have been predicted in the haunting, death-obsessed lyrics. A sentimental 1923 film of the same title inspired multiple recordings; this is the one posted to YouTube.

17. Mounira al-Madiyyah: “Asmar malak ruhi”

1923 was the first full year of nominal Egyptian independence from the British “protectorate” which had begun in 1882 and was formalized during the War to break Ottoman power. Although the British occupation would not be entirely ended until 1953, the promulgation of the first constitution and the convention of the first parliament in Cairo is worth commemorating here, with the voice of the first Muslim woman in the modern era to come to prominence as an entertainer in Egypt: before her (as throughout North Africa and the Middle East), the profession was limited to Jewish and Christian women. أسمر ملك روحي was one of her signature songs, one that has had long echoes in Egyptian light-entertainment history: “Dark King of My Soul” is one way to translate the title.

18. Mohammad el-Wahab: “Ma niish bahebbek”

Egyptian popular music was still only just being born: the September 1923 death at the age of 31 of café singer and musical-theater composer Sayed Darwish, whose melodies (some of which we will hear in future) borrowed Western structures and sometimes instrumentation in a break with classical Arabic formulas, is a useful demarcation point. Mohammad el-Wahab was a friend and close collaborator with Darwish in his last years, and would become perhaps the most important Egyptian popular musician of the twentieth century, but one. This early song, a light taqtuqa from the kind of genial musical romantic comedy which would come to form the backbone of the West and South Asian film industry, is an anti-love song performed in character as a rascal protesting (too much) that he only loves himself.

19. Marika Papagika: “Opou dis dio kyparissia”

The Anatolian Greek singer Marika Papagika was by now more or less the undisputed queen of the ex-Ottoman diaspora in New York City, despite continued challenges from Kiria Koula. Within the next year or so she would even open the first café-aman (and behind authority’s back, a speakeasy) in the Western hemisphere; but here, with her husband on cimbalom and other immigrant musicians on violin, cello, and percussion, she sings a song which takes its title from the Greek folk air “When You See Two Cypresses,” but hares off in other directions in the singing. It’s called a Zeïmpekiko (Anatolian Greek folk dance) on the label, but scholars, noting the modern fusions which New World residence has imparted to Papagika’s musical ecosystem, have called it an early example of rebetiko.

20. Naftule Brandwein’s Orchestra: “Doina and Nachspiel”

As we move further into the 1920s, the number of great recordings by the Eastern European Jewish artists who brought what we now call klezmer to the tenements of New York City will slowly decrease. Partly this is because of rapid assimilation and the inroads made by Jewish artists into mainstream US culture: the next generation of talented Jewish musicians were more likely to aspire to be Gershwin or Brice than Brandwein or Picon. But also, beginning in 1924, the country’s open (to Europeans) immigration policy was for the first time given a permanent numerical limit, heavily restricting (as it meant to) the number of new Jewish immigrants to the United States. There will be more klezmer records in future, but let this be a valediction for the first generation.

21. Isa Kremer: “Dwie Guitarre”

But there was a whole constellation of global Jewish culture which the policies set by a know-nothing Congress could not touch. Isa Kremer, the great Russian Jewish soprano, was born to bourgeois parents in what is now Moldova, but was publishing revolutionary poetry in Odessa as a teenager. She debuted as an opera singer in Italy; within a few years, she included Yiddish folk songs in her concert repertoire, supposedly the first woman to do so. The Russian Revolution left her without a home (her family had backed the moderates), and her peripatetic concert schedule brought her to the United States in 1922, where she was acclaimed by Jewish and non-Jewish audiences alike. This selection of Russian romans or “gypsy” music is illustrative of her clear voice and lively style.

22. Pau Casals: “Kol Nidrei”

Another example of Jewish music having entered the concert canon: the German (Protestant) composer Max Bruch had composed this piece for cello and orchestra in 1880, the melody of the first section based on the Hebrew prayer recited during the evening service on Yom Kippur and that of the second on one of Isaac Nathan’s 1815 settings for Byron’s Hebrew Melodies. (Gentiles appropriating Jewish art and being reappropriated by Jews in turn has a long history.) The great Catalan cellist Pau Casals rendered it sensitively, accompanied only by Edouard Gendron on piano, for Columbia in 1923. In those years Casals was the preeminent cellist in Europe, recording in France and conducting an orchestra in Barcelona. An ardent Republican, he went into self-imposed exile when Franco came to power, and never returned.

23. Marian Anderson: “Deep River”

Only two years out of high school, and still a decade out from becoming world-famous as the greatest African-American contralto of the twentieth century, Marian Anderson recorded her first sides in December of 1923. Her repertoire even then included this Harry T. Burleigh arrangement of a classic spiritual, which would become one of her signature songs. “Deep River,” with a stark simplicity of melody and lyric which contain entire implied universes of emotion and history, is one of the essential, irreducible elements of Black American art. Anderson’s early low, throbbing performance, recorded the same year that hot jazz and the blues fully came into their own on record, after some fifty years of what historians call the Nadir, an era of horrific violence and terrorism toward Black citizens, still resounds today.

#1920s

[ramajmedia]

Chicago PD: 10 Hidden Details About The Main Characters Everyone Missed

Fans of Chicago PD can tell you in many ways why they love the show. The acting is good, the storylines are great, and as for suspense and action, there's nothing better out there. But what happens when the internet is down and the TV goes off? Can a fan close their eyes and try to remember the small stuff concerning members of the cast?

Related: Chicago PD: 10 Most Heartbreaking Scenes

We know that Hank Voight is tough. We know that Antonio Dawson is a bit of a snob and that Adam Ruzek was once viewed as a traitor. But what about the things that may have been mentioned in a split second that was of some importance and we just forgot? What about the way Hailey and Kim wear their hair? Or, how many tight shirts does Kevin Atwater own?

Here are 10 Hidden Details About the Main Characters From Chicago PD.

10 Hank Voight Never Holds His Gun With Both Hands

Most cops will enter a scene with their gun drawn for protection. This is natural, the way they were taught but then you have those select few who just do things their own way. Hank Voight is not one known to do things by the book. Look at the way every officer enters a scene. Guns are drawn to the face and ready to shoot. However, Voight is different. When he enters, normally his gun is down by his side and he walks as if there is no sign of danger. It's a dangerous approach but one that seemingly works for him.

9 Antonio's First Partner Committed Suicide

Ever wonder why Antonio hates Internal Affairs so much? During his rookie year, Antonio lost his partner Sean Patterson to a suicide attempt. The reason for that suicide was because of the pressure IA put on Patterson over doctored timecards. Antonio has tried to help take Voight down at least twice but that was when Voight was viewed as being a dirty cop. Since being in the Intelligence Unit, Antonio has learned how much Voight can be trusted. He's been approached twice by IA to turn Voight in, and maybe, despite not liking Voight at the time, his hatred for IA may have been the reason he turned them down.

8 Alvin Olinsky Never Uses The Bathroom

During stakeouts, why have we never seen Olinsky use the bathroom or say he needs to run into an alley or use some local store to relieve himself? It was said earlier in the series that Alvin wears adult diapers while on a stakeout due to an issue he had some years back. During a stakeout covering a B&E suspect, Alvin broke away and used the bathroom.

Related: Chicago PD: Best & Worst Relationships, Ranked

While doing so, he missed his target and regretted it ever since. So, now what he does is wear diapers so that will never happen again. Smart decision but it must smell really bad in that car.

7 Adam Ruzek Can Get Into Any House

Ever wonder why Ruzek is the guy called upon when there is an issue with a locked door? Despite being able to ram it down with force, Ruzek has a knack for bypassing any electronic door with a keypad. But how is that? Thanks to his Aunt who just happens to be a realtor, she taught Adam the secret to an electric entry. This comes in handy if the Intelligence Unit ever needs to enter a suspect's house quietly. Why force something open if there is no reason to do so? Adam brings many good things to the team and this is just one of them.

6 Trudy Platt Is Old School

Forget the Glocks that most cops carry, Platt still has her sights and hearts set on the old school .38 revolver. The reason people still love this weapon is less chance of it jamming on you when a situation gets tight. But knowing Trudy, would there be a reason to believe she would do anything differently? Although she doesn't get out much, Trudy is always ready to lend a helping hand to the Unit if need be. Being old school doesn't mean you're not up with the times, it just means you're accustomed to your own way of doing things. The end results are--to get the job done.

5 Erin Lindsay Celebrates Two Birthdays

Erin was a tough kid who grew up to be an even tougher cop. Despite her many setbacks as a child, Lindsay took it all in stride and made something of her life. Raised by an abusive father and alcoholic mother, Erin often got in trouble. She would later become a CI for Hank Voight in which they formed a special bond. So special, that Voight and his wife took Erin in and raised her as one of their own. But the most awesome thing about Erin is how she celebrates her birthday. Erin was born on April 11-12 1985. Yes, that's odd but one of the missing elements that was never showcased while she was on the show.

4 Jay Halstead Was Tortured

Before becoming a cop, Jay Halsted was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. While deployed in Afghanistan, it was to believed that Halsted was captured and tortured. This could be known news but it was mentioned just once and never spoken about again. Halsted survived that and that may give some clear indication why he always wants to be in on the action as the first through the door and why he loves to go undercover.

Related: Chicago PD: 10 Fan Favorite Characters, Ranked

He's tough as nails and his time spent in the Army is the reason. Halstead is the real deal.

3 Kevin Atwater Is Never Busted

It's no secret that Atwater still lives in a section of Chicago that's populated by crime. But being a cop in Chicago is hard and yet, he makes it work on so many different levels. But the one thing that often goes unnoticed about Atwater is his ability to just blend in. That's odd considering he's no small guy and the only African-American male in The Intelligence Unit. While he patrols the streets, Atwater goes undercover a lot, mainly in black communities. So, how has he not been recognized in a city where he grew up in?

2 Kim Didn't Always Want To Be A Cop

Before Kim Burgess joined the force, she was a flight attendant. Considering how she acts in the field, that's surprising. Most flight attendants just have this smile that can light up a room. Not saying that Burgess doesn't smile but she's often chasing a bad guy, taking a bullet, or punching someone. She has a soft side as we can tell from her romantic endeavors but directing someone to their seats and telling them to fasten their seatbelts, just doesn't fit her makeup. No wonder she wanted more. Kim needs to be where the action is. Good choice on a career switch.

1 Upton Has No real Relationship With Platt

One would think that a girl who became a cop thanks to an older woman who happened to be a cop, would have such a close relationship as the years moved on. While Trudy Pratt was there for Hailey Upton as a child and was the driving force behind her decision to join the force, where is that bond? While they do speak in passing, there should be a relationship there. Each member of the force has that outside source for letting off steam. While Platt is still a cop, Hailey could use her experiences to help shape her as a person and officer. Why is this detail being ignored?

source https://screenrant.com/chicago-pd-hidden-details-main-characters/

#screenrant

[everysuperherofighting]

Best Albums of 2016

I think we all know how we feel about 2016, though I will say that on a personal level it was actually pretty good, and involved a lot of positive personal development, though also a fair amount of death, and I’m not talking about all the celebrities right now. My aunt, grandfather, and former band instructor all passed away this year.

As far as music, my tastes feel like they fall on the same continuum they always do, though there seem to be a few more old guy rockers than usual, which I guess means I am no longer aiming for “Noisey” but rather “Rolling Stone.” This is probably also personal: I am not an old guy yet, but I am getting closer and I am also becoming aware that I will probably not accomplish all of my artistic goals within the next 5 to 10 years, and so am becoming increasingly open to artists staying relevant into their middle age and beyond.

RIP all the folks, RIP all the artists and celebrities, RIP all the people in Syria and Yemen and the Philippines, and all the people killed in terrorist attacks in Europe and Africa and the Middle East, and killed in shootings (police, mass, and otherwise) in the United States,  and RIP the short term possibility of having a federal government that is at least potentially responsive to the needs of marginalized people. Here are the best albums of 2016, according to me:

Image via the Hold Up music video

1. Beyonce - Lemonade.

This album was cathartic when it was released at the beginning of the year, but now that we’re at the end we probably need it even more.

Though largely about infidelities within an interpersonal relationship (dammit Jay), with a heavy smattering of race commentary (particularly in the videos) and empowerment feminism, the frustrations and self-empowerment in the face of all adversaries expressed in these songs transcend the specifics. Especially in a year determined to put us in our place, to make us feel worthless or powerless.. Whether a cheating lover, an orange race-baiting huckster masquerading as politician (and ascending to the highest office in the land), the goddamn fucking forces of white supremacy/the patriarchy/global capitalism or our own private struggles with self-doubts and mental illness, this album had something to offer, if nothing else than a reminder to hold our heads up and say “fuck ya’ll.”

I didn’t like every song on this album but look: When I saw a room full of women, middle fingers raised, jamming out to “I’m Not Sorry” like a giant “fuck you” to whatever it was that was fucking their day up, telling them they weren’t valuable or whatever, I realized that it didn’t necessarily need to be for me.

Rubbery dancehall, Nahleans jazz,  futuristic (though I guess present now) R+B, diva voice: Beyonce does that thing where she overdubs like 20 different vocal tracks over one another, but her voice is already so powerful it sounds like a chorus of Amazonians or gods. And of course there’s the image of Beyonce walking around smashing car windows with a baseball bat in the “Hold Up” video, which now seems to be remarkably prescient.

The biggest pop star in the world right now has our back. We could do worse.

Watch “Hold Up”

2. Anderson .Paak - Malibu

Deceptively breezy soul and funk that inherently understands the political power of a block party. Like so many artists before, Anderson .Paak understands that sometimes just getting by is a revolutionary act, and thus this album often seems like a celebration of the awe one feels at their own continued existence. Some pretty good jams for fucking also.

Watch “Come Down”

3. Schoolboy Q - Blank Face

A gangsta rap album that absolutely nails the paranoia and sense of menace that must accompany the lifestyle. The vibe alternates between blazed out soul samples and claustrophobic, almost manic moments of paranoia. Sometimes you’re smoking the Kush and then sometimes there’s a black SUV in your rearview. Schoolboy Q rides over all this with straight-faced hood talk and almost gleeful depictions of acts of depravity, like so many others grasping power in whatever avenue is available to him. Kanye West has a show stealing feature and Vince Staples continues to shine, but I’m all about those Jadakiss and E40 bars.

Watch “John Muir”

4. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

Beats that sound like they were compiled from the intro to old VHS tapes and people banging on trashcans.  Little oft-kilter touches mirror the descriptions of substance abuse, the pitch-heightened background voice in “White Lines,” B-Real’s blitzed nursery rhyme delivery of the hook on “Get Hi.” Not that much music can probably still scare your cool boomer parents, but I’d nominate this one.

Watch “When It Rain”

Image via the Nobody’s Baby video

5. Sheer Mag - III

Sheer Mag sounds like the best basement band in the world, grimy rock n roll made by people who got punk but also grew up on Thin Lizzy and Jackson Five. Guitar solos that sound liberating instead of masturbatory and powerhouse vocals from Tina Halladay about love and heartbreak, like someone’s memory of what 70s rock n roll was like, inevitably better than it actually was.

Watch “Nobody’s Baby”

6. The Falcon - Gather Up The Chaps

Technically this is a punk rock supergroup, with members of the Loved Ones and Alkaline Trio, but it feels very much like Brendan Kelly’s vision, a chance to get a little grittier than the Lawrence Arms and indulge in his ever present artistic interest in the guy puking in the alley, then asking you if you know where to score some coke. There’s a song named after the video of David Hasselhoff drunkenly eating a cheeseburger, and though in a different band this may be a gimmicky (and like, really really out of date) reference to internet culture, here it comes across as a recognition - a dark moment is a dark moment no matter how meme worthy it becomes.

Watch “Sergio’s Here”

7. Jeff Rosenstock - Worry

Massive sing alongs, noisy genre hopping (or combining), and huge power-pop hooks that always seem to be just on the verge of descending into chaos. Jeff Rosenstock has often managed to make whatever he’s going through personally seem to speak to larger scale generational woes (I’m pretty sure there were at least two albums about not wanting to get a job, which came out at the same time that I and most of the people I know also didn’t want to get jobs). A reoccurring theme here seems to be the gentrification of places that you love, which is connected to the experience of getting older and feeling like you’re missing out. Jeff has definitely crafted his own “sound” at this point, so when he switches styles to the straight genre homage in the three-song punch of “Bang On the Door,” “Rainbow” and “Planet Luxury” (garage punk, third-wave ska and hardcore) in 3 blistering minutes, it’s a perfect reminder of all the music we (well, me) grew up loving.

Watch “Wave Goodnight To Me”

8. Kamaiyah - A Good Night In the Ghetto

Remember when people used to call beats “slappers?” Probably only if you were into Bay Area hip-hop circa 2007. Anyway, this shit slaps.

Watch “Out the Bottle”

9. YG - Still Brazy

Similar to how A Good Night in The Ghetto feels like an amalgamation of several decades of Bay Area hip hop, this is puuuuuure fucking LA fat bass, eerie keyboard sampling G-funk. Gangsta rap has always been political. Have I written that before? It’s worth saying more than once. Those last three songs though. FDT will obviously have a lot of shelf life, but “Blacks and Browns” and “Police Get Away Wit Murder” are sharp contributions to the tradition of “fuck this shit” also.

Watch “FDT”

10. Run the Jewels - RTJ3

A rush of weird beats, shit talk, and surreal imagery, hip-hop dispatches from a dystopian future, but one that feels weeks rather than years away. El-P and Killer Mike are honestly not that similar stylistically, (El-P is more from the highly conceptual east coast underground school, Killer Mike is more the southern testifying and telling straight truths school) but their mutual love of the game has always made this work and they are both world class shit talkers.

Watch “Talk To Me”

Image via the Chili Town video

11. Hinds - Leave Me Alone

Garage… pop I guess? that feels close to the vein, emotionally. I don’t mean heartbreak, though that’s here too, but also friendship, drinking wine in the sun, with surfy guitar melodies. There’s something that sometimes happens with some lady bands, where people kind of get into some sort of perceived naiveté or innocence or something, so I’m going to assume these women can fuck you up.

Watch “Warts”

12. Pup - The Dream Is Over

The frustration of reaching your mid-20s, realizing that you have not accomplished any of your goals and that you don’t have any prospects. In song form. It would sound like a kiss-off if the singer wasn’t desperately grasping for change.

Watch “DVP”

13. A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service

Classic Tribe components still here - the swing in the rhythm, the walking bass lines, motherfucking Busta Rhymes(!), but with a foot firmly planted in the present. Did they used to swear this much? I don’t remember. Extended music breaks. Guitar flourishes. Q-Tip is clearly the ringleader, wearing the role more comfortably than ever, but with a kind of quiet humility that comes from age. Yeah, we still here, shit still sucks, but sometimes you find those little moments, you know?

Watch “We The People”

14. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker

Is there hope for salvation before death? Or just further disappointment and failure? An album to drink wine to in a dark room, alone but for ghosts.

Watch “You Want It Darker”

15. Drive-By Truckers - American Band

Pretty sure the Truckers have always been angry and political, it’s just never lined up with current events quite this overtly - but there’s always been a real siding with the have-nots, the people screwed over by bad economics, and the (not just white) working classes, though sometimes this manifests as concept albums about Lynard Skynard. Still, with a band that clearly flirts with a Red State target audience, at least sonically, and judging from the youtube comments on some of their videos, hanging their hat so clearly on the “blue side” is a risky move and one that should be commended. Here we get stories about the founder of the NRA murdering a Mexican teenager in the 20s, the shooting at Umpqua community college, hypocritical religious folks, and Black Lives fucking Mattering.

Watch “Surrender Under Protest”

16. David Bowie - Blackstar

To be honest, I thought this sounded a little bit too much like Pink Floyd the first time I heard it (plus a sax player) but the sultriness of cuts like “Lazerus,” the keyboard line in “’Tis a Pity She Was a Whore” that sounds like it came out of an 80s fantasy movie, and the weird vocal flourishes and marching rhythm of “Girl Loves Me” won me over. Bowie has left this mortal coil, and either ascended to a tinsel covered 70s movie set or an 80s computer game about going to the moon, but it’s definitely some kind of heaven.

Watch “Lazerus”

17. Death Grips - Bottomless Pit

A soundtrack for glitchy meme art, ordering 2CI off the Silk Road, and those computer generated DeepDream images, while MC Ride bellows avant-garde street poetry. I’ve never been sure if Death Grips are railing against or with the shitposting internet culture that’s embraced them. Some of these tracks are just fucking metal though.

Watch “Eh”

18. clipping - Splendor and Misery

Breakneck raps over the sound of an airshaft opening on a spaceship. This is supposedly a concept album about a slave revolt in outer space. Musically this equates to old spirituals and malfunctioning computers.

Watch “Air Em Out”

19. The Coathangers - Nosebleed Weekend

In the music video for “Nosebleed Weekend” the women in the band crash a party of hipsters to punch everyone in the face, but then the video ends with them probably trying to keep a straight face while they get covered with buckets of fake blood. Tough sounding surf punk, much about heartbreak.

Watch “Nosebleed Weekend”

Image via the Victim of Me video

20. Descendents - Hypercaffium Spazzinate

There’s a lot of older musicians on this list for whatever reason (all the dead guys I guess,) but a few lyrics about dietary changes aside, this band could have stepped wholesale out of their 1994 variation. Fast, hooky, with the most underrated bass lines in punk.

Watch “Victim of Me”

21. Paul Simon - Stranger to Stranger

Alright, this one’s a little NPR but I will say that I think Paul Simon sounds a little more of-kilter, a little moodier than he sometimes does. There are dark things around the edges in this one, whether it’s the ghostly guitars on the title track, or the way his funny song about getting stuck outside a club you’re supposed to play suddenly starts alluding to class uprising, a buildup that feels both surprising and also strangely inevitable.

Watch “Wristband”

22. Mikey Erg - Tentative Decisions

A lot of emotionally earnest music (dare we bring up emo?) gets slammed, essentially for being melodramatic. It’s a difficult balancing act, but I’ve always felt like the Ergs managed to avoid this, and here Mikey Erg continues that streak on his first solo album, with tastefully poppy tunes full of yearning melodies and (more) broken hearts, ala Big Star or an early Beatles album. When I saw this guy live a few years ago, it made my friend get back together with his ex-girlfriend.

Watch “Faulty Metaphor”

23. NOFX - First Ditch Effort

There is no way I’m not putting an album that has a song where Fat Mike sings about being a fetishistic crossdresser in my top 25.

Watch “Six Years On Dope”

24. Ramshackle Glory - One Last Big Job

It’s amazing how many people’s favorite band this is with virtually no mainstream recognition. Like, even Bomb the Music Industry put out stuff with Asian Man, who’ve put out Alkaline Trio records and stuff. And yet this (and Patrick Schneeweis’s other projects) is like Bob Dylan to thousands of kids across the country. I knew something was up when all the kids at the Rainbow Gathering I went to (2011) were playing Johnny Hobo covers. Anyway, this is their last album, and as such is a somewhat slow, contemplative affair. Pat’s always been excellent at espousing anarchist ideals while also representing that problems and hypocrisies that accompany radical lifestyles. Swan song for a true alternative.

Listen to “Face the Void”

25. AJJ - The Bible 2

Very much continuing ideas first developed on Christmas Island, a collection of noisy rock/pop tunes with upbeat melodies and lyrics about losing your shit, dirty middle schoolers who hang out by themselves in construction sites, and the Herculean task of feeling kind of ok with yourself.

Watch “Goodbye, Oh Goodbye”

[back-and-totheleft]

Jeju Island

In 1986, a young American director burst out on the screens with a raw, charged, kinetic film.  Depicting a country on the verge of popular revolution, it documents the right-wing terror and massacres that are instigated, aided and abetted by the US government. Beginning as the chronicle of a gonzo journalist on his last moral legs, the film starts out disjointed, chaotic, hyper-kinetic; the un-moored, fragmented consciousness of a hedonistic drifter. As the events unfurl towards greater and greater violence, the clarity and steadiness of the camera increase, its moral vision clearer and fiercer, carrying the viewer through a journey of political awakening even as the story hurtles inexorably towards heartbreak, tragedy, and loss.

The name of the director was Oliver Stone. The film was “Salvador." Opened to dismissal, derision and poor distribution, it nonetheless garnered two Oscar nominations and is now lauded as one of the most important films of the period, acknowledged to have influenced the political debate, if not the policy, around Central America at the time.

27 years later, Oliver Stone is discussing this film with the renowned Korean film critic Yang Yoon Mo. Professor Yang mentions Salvador and the powerful effect it had on his generation during the violent, brutal military dictatorships of his era. “We loved it. It was a big inspiration to people all over the world. We obtained bootleg copies of it and watched it. It inspired a whole generation of young Korean filmmakers for the courage and clarity of its vision. It was a model for us of what ethical and political cinema could be.” Stone smiles gently, and then reciprocates with his appreciation of current Korean cinema — cinema that he himself may have had a hand in shaping — as he mentions “The President’s Last Bang,” a wry, understated morality tale about the assassination of the Dictator Park Chung Hee during a dinner party-cum-orgy procured by his own intelligence services.

The rapport between two is warm and genuine and they talk as if they are old friends, old film buffs. It’s almost possible to forget for a moment that this is taking place inside a Korean prison on Jeju Island, where Professor Yang has been sentenced to 18 months as a political prisoner, that he has been 70 days on a hunger strike, and that there are 6 of us crammed into a closet-sized visiting room: Oliver Stone, Father Moon, several activists, and a violent-looking police officer, whose every gesture and look intimates a furious desire to pound us into submission. On the other side, behind dual paned Plexiglas, the gentle Professor Yang is with another police officer, who is furiously transcribing every word that is exchanged.

It’s almost possible to forget that minutes before we had been stripped of all cameras and recording equipment, had our ID’s confiscated and recorded, and had been escorted by half a dozen policemen to “have tea” with the chief of police, so he could “chat” with us. The police chief is warm and congenial, as only someone with absolute mastery of the rhetoric and machinery of power can be: Pontius Pilate, surrounded by his centurions, speaking softly to send the just the right mixture of benevolence and imminent threat. Out the window, to the left, we are surrounded by a panorama of verdant trees and hills. To the right, inches away, a squadron of blue suited, glaring police. It’s clear that there is more than one director in the room.

Professor Yang is being held in this jail for 18 months, along with dozens of other protestors, for the non-violent protest of a deep water Naval Base that is being constructed in Gang Jeong village on the Island of Jeju. He has been imprisoned 4 times.[...]

Oliver asks the police chief about the conditions that prisoners like Yang are kept in: He asks whether they are able to exercise, read, receive and write letters. The police chief, ever the congenial diplomat, answers that he is extremely attentive to the health and well-being of his inmates, and that they are allowed all manner of comfort and recreation. He adds a comment about his concern about the hunger strike, and states with a worldly flourish, that “esteemed director Stone will find that the conditions of prisons in Korea are not that different from conditions in American prisons.” “Esteemed director Stone” does not seem assured, and without missing a beat, points out that “the conditions of U.S. prisons are, according to the United Nations Rapporteur on Human Rights, some of the worst in the world. The systematic and routine use of prolonged isolation has been found tantamount to torture.” The police chief accedes than that perhaps there are differences, and with the hair-splitting skills of a trained bureaucrat, mentions that Korean inmates sleep on traditionally heated floors, whereas American prisoners must sleep on beds. There’s no easy conversion scale to weigh the tradition of intimidation, bastinado and torture of a Korean prison against the isolation, violence, racism of the American penal system. [...]

90 minutes earlier, Oliver had flown directly in from Barcelona, after 7 days of non-stop night shooting for a commercial, and had landed in Jeju exhausted and bleary eyed. “I don’t usually do commercials,” he says, “but this was soccer — it encourages people to exercise, get healthy, so I’m okay with this.” Oliver looks to be needing a bit of exercise himself: 10 time zones and 20 hours of non-stop flying and transit have left him exhausted and drained. He has wiped clear his schedule and made a huge sacrifice to travel to Jeju, but as his exit from customs is delayed, the greeting team of local activists at the airport has become anxious that he will simply be denied entry into the country. The Korean government has already denied entry to several international peace activists at the airport—most notably Elliot Adams, Tarak Kauff and Mike Hastie from Veterans for Peace, and it is not inconceivable that they would do the same for any perceived rabble-rouser.  Alternatively, they are not above a little “rough play,” and for the Korean authorities - for whom a beatdown is just a friendly way of getting acquainted - a sound drubbing could be spun as just an over eager welcome or a misunderstood expression of solicitude. The burly men in suits and earpieces tailing the greeting team make this not an unlikely possibility. Finally, when Oliver is released from transit purgatory, all of us breathe a sigh of relief, although for some reason his luggage has gone AWOL. Over the next 48 hours, the luggage will be repeatedly located but yet somehow unrecoverable, claim documents will not be filed, others improvised, leading activists to wonder if this is part of the harassment: disrupt morale by disrupting logistics, separate the “enemy” from their materiel—in this case, Oliver’s clothes, toiletries, medicines, and his colorfully subversive collection of bandannas.[...]

Oliver expresses his concerns for [Yang's] well being, and inquires as to the depth of his support among other artists. Then all too quickly, visiting time is over, and we are reduced to silent gestures of goodwill and hope across the Plexiglas. Professor Yang touches his palm to the glass, Oliver touches it, and then he slowly bows to each of the visiting team, hands together in traditional blessing. Professor Yang seems to have been deeply moved by the visit, but for us, it’s hard to avoid the sense of abandoning a comrade in prison. We stop as we are exiting the prison to do a quick interview with a wire agency, and Oliver fiercely denounces the detention of Professor Yang. “The courage of Professor Yang inspires me,” he states, with fire in his voice. “I believe without a doubt that he is a prisoner of conscience and I call for him to be released immediately. I deplore the militarization of Jeju Island. I deplore the building of the base." There is passion and heart in his voice. He will reprise this theme many times over the next few days, but like the other stories about Jeju, these statements will pass largely unreported in the mainstream press. [...]

Drenched in sweat, Oliver puts on a yellow T-shirt on top of his sweat-soaked shirt, and is invited to join the march at the front. He modestly declines to walk “point,” and falls into the ranks. Fabled director, Hollywood icon, decorated war veteran, becomes just another marcher in a sea of protestors, a forest of banners, marching, this time, against the Imperium. [...]

Centered around the economy of the Haenyo, Jeju island has, for centuries, been a traditional matriarchal society. “No thieves, no beggars, no gates,” was a phrase commonly used to describe the society of Jeju island; cooperative, communal, matrifocal, an indigenous form of socialism that led itself naturally to the grassroots workers’ councils that flourished after the liberation from the Japanese. These worker’s councils were the basis of the “red island” designation by the US Military Government and were the trigger for the genocide. Bases will finish off what death squads, napalm, free-fire zones, and killing fields could not. If and when the base is completed, the traditions of generations of powerful women will be replaced with bar girls, prostitutes and housemaids. A young girl who would have learned from her grandmother to read the tides, dive to a hundred feet with only the air in her lungs, and talk to the spirits of the ocean to face down death, will be servicing GI’s on her knees in back alleys. Cultural genocide, if the term has any meaning, seems appropriate here. [...]

Turning the corner of the island, we witness full on the devastation of the base construction.

We stop the boat.

From the ocean, we can see the entire scale of the violation.  It is monstrous.

“Fuck,” Stone blurts out.  .

Do not touch a single pebble, a twig, a flower.  All of it is sacred, the protestors have been shouting for years.

Seven stories of 10,000 ton, steel-bladed caissons have been sunk into the soft coral below, exposing themselves above the waterline like the bared fangs of a mad predator. Construction has blasted, pulverized, and befouled the sacred Gureombi, the living kidneys of the island, paved it over with concrete, leaving it looking like a massive latrine. Pile drivers, bull dozers, cranes and high explosives have gashed the womb of the Goddess of Mt. Halla, leaving concrete and steel maggots writhing out of its innards, and bleeding dark silt and slurry into the pristine ocean.

Around the crime scene, a sanitary cordon of buoys and construction curtains.

It is the scene of a heinous rape-murder.

Oliver gets up on the edge of the boat. Part lecture, part possession, part jeremiad, he points to the shoreline and launches into a full blown soliloquy.

“This base will host U.S. destroyers, aircraft carriers, Aegis missile batteries, nuclear submarines. It’s part of Obama’s Pacific pivot, a chain of offensive bases from Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Okinawa, a necklace of bases to choke off the Pacific. It’s being put in place to threaten China. Even as we speak, war materiel is being shifted from Iraq, Afghanistan to the Pacific."

“We have to stop this. All this is leading up to a war, and I’ve seen war in Asia.” His voice trembles. “I do not want another war here. I’ve seen war in Asia and we cannot have another war here. We have to stop this thing."

He turns to the Shaman, invites her to put a hex on the base, to invoke Gods higher than those of empire, profit and militarism.

Oliver then gestures himself, hurling passion, heart, grief onto the shoreline.

We all scatter our prayers, curses, tears, to the waves and the setting sun.

Everyone is silent as we head back to the shore.

K.J. Noh, "Why Oliver Stone came to Jeju Island," CounterPunch, Aug 23 2013 [x]

#oliver stone #south korea #korea #jeju island #yang yoon mo #activism #Salvador #korean film #militarism