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octaviasdread · 3 years ago

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any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)

SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.

Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember

Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

1950s Women’s college

Art professor! Julia Roberts

She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world

Feminism vs. Tradition

Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.

Does not end how you expect

Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)

MY FAVOURITE!!!

Free on YouTube under one of its various names

Comedy

1960s all girls boarding school

Young Kirsten Dunst

Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own

Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)

girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme

TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark

1930s girls school in Edinburgh

Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals

Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist

Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1970s movie or 2018 mini series

Never watched either but I plan to

Wild Child (2008)

00s romcom every UK teen girl loves

Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school

Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her

And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no

ICONIC SCENES

Everything! Goes! Wrong!

omg she burns the school down

Feel good, comfort, nostalgia

St Trinians (2007)

English girls boarding school

The kids are all criminals, no joke

So are the teachers

CHAOTIC

gay awakening for british girls

Art heist pulled off by school girls

Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers

Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag

Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...

embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)

Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure

omg Shakespeare was a woman

girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school

Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene

Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood

like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???

The Falling (2014)

1960s all girls school

best friends! but its unrequited love

Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues

Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls

Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)

TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault

READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST

The Book Thief (2013)

Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak

set in 1940s Nazi Germany

Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls

Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window

Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war

TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism

Mary Shelley (2017)

Overall good & roughly biographical

Pretty costumes and aesthetic

Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period

So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth

Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified

Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on a fave childhood book

1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England

Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside

Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens

local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes

Happy ending!!!

Hidden Figures (2016)

African-American women as mathematicians for NASA

1960s space project

Women balancing a career and family obligations

Deals with racial & gender discrimination

Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians

Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)

Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)

Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo

Small town & school years comedic drama

Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers

Inspiring new woman teacher

Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™

Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀

Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics

Collette (2018)

biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette

Victorian & Edwardian era France

More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him

Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels

Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting

Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)

Enola Holmes (2020)

Netflix book adaptation

Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes

Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes

Mother-daughter focus

Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

1960s England

best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years

poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger

off the rails but also catholic! Rosa

Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want

family troubles

TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old

Testament of Youth (2014)

based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain

young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University

abandons to become a war nurse

romance, tragedy and war trauma

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Little Women (2019)

Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy

Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics

the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*

champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood

Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on

set in 1860s America

ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice

Lady Bird (2017)

coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California

all girls catholic school

writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'

Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!

I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction

school theatre program

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Another Greta Gerwig gem

Beguiled (2017)

Virginia, civil war era

Girls school with only five students and two teachers left

Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside

Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him

(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)

Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze

TW: violence, death, underage

Legally Blonde (2001)

No questions will be taken

Elle Woods was the blue print

TV series:

House of Anubis (2011-2013)

I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it

ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!

Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)

Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life

Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff

new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au

Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism

The Alienist (2018 -now)

Mid 1890s, New York

Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)

Serial killer mystery

Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime

TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Woman chess prodigy

1950s & 1960s

TW: drug & alcohol abuse

Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister

Victorian Yorkshire, England

Upper-class lesbians

Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker

Business woman! Anne running the family mines

Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)

TW: violence

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter

bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college

Small town drama is comedic gold

Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references

Comforting & nostalgic

TEAM JESS

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!

Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community

Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation

Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher

Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart

TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school

Victoria (2016-2019)

Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life

Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life

Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)

Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite

Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics

TW: bury your gays trope

Derry Girls (2018-now)

1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles

Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long

English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin

✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher

Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles

Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)

Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon

Main Character! Erin Quinn

Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool

Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire

Dickinson (2019-now)

Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US

Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY

gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems

💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕

Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2

Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage

TW: opium use

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Based on great childhood books

Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth

Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune

Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES

Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes

Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point

Killing Eve (2018-now)

Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down

British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team

Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion

Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section

Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation

‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'

🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨

Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)

Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid

Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in

Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists

girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!

UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!

Gorgeous costumes and set

Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up

TW: abuse, violence, death

Outlander (2014 - now)

haven’t watched yet but plan to

Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743

Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war

Time jumps between 18th & 20th century

#CO posts #answered asks #asks #dark academia girls #dark academia recommendations #dark academia recs #dark academia women #dark academia movies #dark academia tv

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kcrabb88 · 3 years ago

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Queer Movies/Books/TV Shows for Pride Month!

Happy Pride everyone!! For your viewing/reading pleasure I have made a (non-exhaustive) list of queer media that I have enjoyed!

Movies/Documentaries

Pride (2014): An old tried and true favorite, which meets at the intersection of queer and workers’ rights. A group of queer activists support the 1985 miners’ strike in Wales (complete with a sing-through of Bread and Roses + Power in a Union)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman (or, two young lesbians fall in love by the sea, and you cry)

God’s Own Country: Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path (Seriously this movie is GREAT and doesn’t get enough love, watch it! It’s rough but ends happily)

The Half of It: When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, she doesn't expect to become his friend - or fall for his crush (as in she falls for his crush who is another girl. This movie was so good, and really friendship focused!)

Saving Face: A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations (this is an oldie and a goodie, with a happy ending!)

Moonlight: A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood (featuring gay men of color!)

Carol: An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York (everyone’s seen this I think, but I couldn’t not have it here)

Milk: The story of Harvey Milk and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official (the speech at the end of this made me cry. Warning, of course, for death, if you don’t know about Harvey Milk)

Pride (Hulu Documentary): A six-part documentary series chronicling the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America (they go by decade from the 50s-2000s, and there is a lot of great trans inclusion in this)

Paris is Burning (Documentary): A 1990s documentary about the African American and Latinx ballroom scene. Available on Youtube!

A New York Christmas Wedding: As her Christmas Eve wedding draws near, Jennifer is visited by an angel and shown what could have been if she hadn't denied her true feelings for her childhood best friend (this movie is SO CUTE. It’s really only nominally a Christmas movie and easily watched anytime. Features an interracial sapphic couple!)

TV Shows

Love, Victor: Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation (this is a spin-off of Love, Simon, and it’s very sweet and well done! Featuring a young gay man of color)

Sex Education: A teenage boy with a sex therapist mother teams up with a high school classmate to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school (this has multiple queer characters, including a featured young Black gay man and also in season 2 there is a side ace character!)

Black Sails: I mean, do I even need to put a summary here? If you follow me you know that Black Sails is full of queer pirates, just queers everywhere.

Gentleman Jack: A dramatization of the life of LGBTQ+ trailblazer, voracious learner and cryptic diarist Anne Lister, who returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall (Period drama lesbians!!! A title sequence that will make you gay just by watching!)

Tales of the City (2019): A middle-aged Mary Ann returns to San Francisco and reunites with the eccentric friends she left behind. "Tales of the City" focuses primarily on the people who live in a boardinghouse turned apartment complex owned by Anna Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane, all of whom quickly become part of what Maupin coined a "logical family". It's no longer a secret that Mrs. Madrigal is transgender. Instead, she is haunted by something from her past that has long been too painful to share (this is based on a book series and it’s got lots of great inter-generational queer relationships!)

The Haunting of Bly Manor: After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (sweet, tender, wonderful lesbians. A bittersweet ending but this show is so so wonderful)

Sense8: A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world's order (queers just EVERYWHERE in this show, of all kinds)

Books

Loveless by Alice Oseman: Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance (don’t be turned off by this title, it’s tongue-in-cheek. This is a book about an aroace college girl discovering herself and centers the importance and power of platonic relationships! I have it on my TBR and have heard great things)

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel (again, don’t be thrown off by the title, it too, is tongue-in-cheek. This book was GREAT, and written by a trans women with a queer-and especially trans--audience in mind)

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein: A gay Christopher Marlowe, at Cambridge and trying to become England’s best new playwright, finds himself wrapped up in royal espionage schemes while also falling in love (this book is by a Twitter friend of mine, and it is a wonderful historical thriller with a gay man at the center).

Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer: a very very queer remix of The Picture of Dorian Gray (which was already quite queer), featuring amazing female characters, a gay Basil, and a much happier ending than the original.

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: The gay prince of England and the bisexual, biracial first son of the president fall in love (think an AU of 2016 where a woman becomes president). Featuring a fantastic discovery of bisexuality, ruminations on grief, and just a truly astonishing book. One of my favorites!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston: For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train (This is Casey McQuiston’s brand new novel featuring time-travel, queer women, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to read it)

The Heiress by Molly Greely: Set in the Pride and Prejudice universe, this takes on Anne de Bourg (Lady Catherine’s daughter), and makes her queer!

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters: Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins (Sarah Waters is the queen of historical lesbians. All of her books are good, and they’re all gay! The Paying Guests is another great one)

(On a side note re: queer books, there are MANY, these are just ones I’ve read more recently. Also there are a lot of indie/self-published writers doing great work writing queer books, so definitely support your local indie authors!)

#I am inevitably forgetting things!!!#These are just ones that came to mind #Long post #Pride

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dr-who-said-lgbtq-rights · 3 years ago

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i, a fan of superwholock, dissect and give my opinion on the individual shows

idk i thought this would be fun and i currently have 4-5 hours to kill soooo

let’s start with

doctor who

(only new who. i have not seen the older stuff :( )

k. so. i have been a fan of this since i was pretty young. honestly i think i was a little too young to be watching it when my mom first showed me it but that’s beside the point. basically: i really like dr who

this is probably the best show out of superwholock, both in my opinion and in general. however... i am going to be nitpicky bc why not

1. the canon.

(yes the example is abt a dr who episode)

in short, the canon is comprised of a) retcons and b) contradictions. im not an avid follower of canon with any media but good god nobody can keep up with dr who canon

(i am blaming moffat bc i hate him and i think a lot of it is his fault anyway)

2. representation

honestly, the representation isn’t bad. however, i would describe it less as “good” and more as “a good starting point.”

for example, there is quite a bit of queer rep, POC rep, and a lot of characters are women. however, while this is nice, the show could still use a lot more rep, and the rep it has currently should probably be improved upon (for example: jack harkness is NOT straight, but he falls under the “multi-spec person wants to screw everyone” stereotype (i have not seen torchwood so this may be amended in that i just needed an example off the top of my head)).

3. story

some people yearn for romance. i yearn for the days when the doc would take their companion to some party, flirt with a tree, the companion almost dies while britney spears is playing in the background, etc. etc.

basically, the story starts out nice. just a bunch of goofing off, maybe a “big deal” thing here and there. life was fun.

then, the story changes. (this happened specifically from eleven onward, so yeah you can bet your ass im blaming moffat ‘cuz it’s his fault) things gradually became less fun. conspiracies ran amok; just when you thought it was over, turns out there’s an even bigger part of this plan that what you just defeated. the doc actually started caring about the timeline (what happened to time being wibbly wobbly?) sure, there are still fun episodes where the doc and the companion(s) go out for funsies but it’s just not the same as it was.

4. morals

morals are good. basically:

you can have a dark past but still have a bright future, and

be kind

bonus 5. cowardice

at least one of the doctors played by one of the male actors should have worn a dress. there were plenty of opportunities but noooooo there’s a gender binary or something (like,,, they’re an alien????? if gender on gallifrey is the same as gender on earth i am going to fly to britain and drop kick some writers)

OVERALL

needs work, but p good and enjoyable.

~~~

now it’s time for

sherlock

just. um. ohhh boy. basically

but i am going to do my best

1. representation

eugh. representation was baaaad in this. like, i think the only POC in the entire show that had any significance were the Chinese gang members and that is like,,, incredibly poor rep. i think the innkeepers in thob were gay but that’s as far as queer rep goes. there were a few women, i would die for all of them, we need more women. also the “im a high functioning sociopath” line makes me cringe everytime

basically this show had shit representation

2. john

okee he’s a great character right??? the common sense of the operation right??? wrong

he cheated on mary??? and we don’t address it like,,, at all??? it made me so fucking mad.

(again fuck you moffat and gatiss probably had something to do with it too so im mad at him as well)

3. sherlock

classic “let’s make him a bitch” mistake. needs the stick surgically removed from his ass

4. story

story’s actually not that bad. it’s not like, great or anything but i enjoy it

bonus 5. ending

i just want to address it. i think the ending was p good and yall tjlc-ers are just upset that they didn’t bang or anything. they’re literally living in the same [two-room] flat??? and they’re raising rosie???? TOGETHER???? like what more do you want

anyway sherlock’s ace soooo

OVERALL

eh. needs LOTS of work. i love mrs hudson tho, she’s beautiful

~~~

and finally

supernatural

ohohoh. boooyyyy.

(plz forgive me this is so shitty but i threw it together in like,,, a minute)

1. story

aight so the first five seasons? p good. not much to say there

the other ten? the skill level of the writing went wayyyyyy down but i still enjoyed it

2. representation

this show is notorious for bad rep and for good reason. kevin, our beloved prophet and the only recurring asian-american character? dead. charlie, so nerdy and fun and also a lesbian? dead. castiel, the angel who was totally gay? dead. basically: if you find yourself in spn and you are not a straight white man, etc etc, you are going to a) die or b) die but in a worse way

3. mythology/treatment of religions

okay so. a while back i had a wicca/witchcraft hyperfixation which was closely followed by a general pagan religions hyperfixation, so i know some stuff here and there abt religions.

and good golly does this show make me MAD

why is christianity the central and most powerful religion? (i know why, it’s a rhetorical question) why do you demonize the other religions?? (again it’s rhetorical)

one thing that really annoys me is when they say something is a “pagan god.” like,,, do you know how many gods that contains??? if you didn’t know, a religion is considered pagan if it isn’t under the abrahamic religions umbrella. what are the abrahamic religions, you ask? well, they are christianity, judaism, and islam. literally every other religion ever is a pagan religion. so, when they say “it’s a pagan god,” i cry.

back to demonizing... they literally made a greek muse eat someone. my greek mythology phase ended a long time ago and i didn’t really get into the muses but i am p sure they didn’t eat people. also the fact that it makes hoodoo look dark and stuff when it’s actually more abt peace and healing... i bet ten dollars it’s because hoodoo was created by enslaved african americans

there are so many examples of this show disrespecting religions... i just can’t

4. general notes

(for you himym fans: *saluting* general notes) (sorry i couldn’t resist)

-the filler episodes/episodes where random shit happened were the best

-the finale memes are *chef’s kiss*

-god there’s so much abt this show that i can’t even choose bc my brain is overloading

-am i glad amara wasn’t ganked at the end of s11? yes. am i happy about the dean/amara kiss? gods no

-john winchester 🤝 steven moffat: getting a spot on my “fuck you” list

OVERALL

there is just. so much improvement needed. however if there is an absolute shit show with likeable characters i tend to gravitate to it

~~~

and for funsies let’s talk abt superwholock as a whole

-honestly im a sucker for crossover fandoms. if you scroll far enough on my blog you may find my rotbtd fanart.

-it’s honestly just a fun idea

-there’s a lot of ways you could make it happen and all of them are fun

-great opportunities for rarepairs so rare no crackshipper has thought of it

~~~

aight that’s it. thank you for reading! if you have any questions abt my opinions abt other aspects of the shows just ask, i like talking abt this

#dr-who-said... something #as a side note: if you wanna hear abt pagan religions just ask #i may not be fixated on it anymore but i still find them interesting #superwholock

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heauxplesslydevoted · 5 years ago

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Bonding Moments

Summary: After a hard day at work, Naomi bonds with an unlikely ally.

Pairing: Mentions of F!MC x Ethan, but mostly F!MC x Aurora friendship

Word Count: 3k+

So...this story took a completely unexpected turn and I think I’m going to add a part 2. But as always, let me know what you think!

Naomi really thought after a disastrous intern year that she’d have a handle working on the diagnostics team with Ethan. But it was hard, much harder than she anticipated. The tension in the air, the lingering glances, the unspoken words, the blurred lines that they constantly tiptoed, it was all becoming too much to handle.

It all came to a head on a fateful Friday. Naomi was having a really shitty day. On top of being exhausted from working over 19 hours straight, she and Ethan had been running tests on a patient—a 13 year old gymnast named Anna—all day, only to find out that she had an inoperable tumor growing on her spine.

This wasn’t the first patient Naomi lost, but it hit her harder than most. She barely made it out of Anna’s room after delivering the bad news before she started crying.

“Rookie?” Ethan started, catching her by the elbow.

“Sorry.” Naomi wiped her eyes hurriedly. “Sorry, just give me a minute, I’ll pull myself together.”

“Come with me,” Ethan said, his grip still on her elbow. He gently lead her to the privacy of his office, where she fully broke into sobs once the door was closed

Naomi sank into a chair and let her tears flow freely. What was the point in trying to stop them? Ethan slid a box of tissues in her direction. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I usually don’t cry, but I can’t help but feel bad,” Naomi continued with a shuddering breath. “She’s just a kid. She has her entire life ahead of her. Or had. She’s supposed to be getting ready for high school, and meeting new friends. And she and her parents put all of their trust into us and we failed them. I failed them.”

“Don’t do that to yourself. You did everything you could, but unfortunately this one is out of your control.”

“I still feel horrible.”

Ethan rounded his desk and crouched down next to Naomi. “I get it, I really do. When Delores died, it felt like a hole in the earth opened up and swallowed me. And I felt hopeless. It always hurts when there’s nothing we can do, but you can’t bog yourself down with guilt.”

Naomi knew Ethan was right, it still hurt. A lot. “I feel like there should be something I can do.”

“Right now, all you can do is make her as comfortable as possible, should she choose to stay here. If not, you let her go and live her life.”

They fell into a heavy silence, Naomi trying to regain her composure and Ethan rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. Naomi found herself relaxing. Her cries subsided, tampering down into a quiet whimper and the occasional hiccup.

“You think you’ll be okay for the rest of your shift?” Ethan asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah. It’s almost over thankfully.” She just had to get through the next hour without incident and she was free for the next two days.

Ethan reached out and swiped at Naomi’s cheek, catching the tears that had fallen. He leaned forward and placed a kiss at the crown of her head, his lips lingering there. Naomi sighed and leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering shut. His hands were warm and his cologne was so intoxicating, she felt herself getting dizzy in his presence. All she wanted to do was lean forward and kiss him. It was too much. Too much closeness, too much intimacy and she was getting overwhelmed.

She abruptly pushed her chair back and stood up. “We need to stop.”

“Okay.”

“Ethan, what are we doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, I appreciate you comforting me, but we can’t do this. You put up a wall, you wanted boundaries, you wanted to keep this professional. This isn’t professional. So, you either want to be strictly co-workers, or not.”

He wished he it could that simple. He wished that his feelings for the stubborn and infuriatingly amazing resident were that black and white. “Rookie–”

“I’m in love with you,” Naomi confessed. “And I can’t keep doing this with you, these fleeting moments of intimacy. If I’m being honest with you, it’s torturing me.”

Ethan felt like he had been hit with a semi-truck upon hearing Naomi’s words. All of the air had been sucked out of the room.

“And I don’t know if you feel the same way or not, because of this push and pull we have going on. One day, I feel like we’re making progress and the idea of us maybe being together seems feasible, and then there are days where I feel like I’m interacting with a complete stranger. So for my own sanity, I need you to respect the boundaries you put in place. Please.”

“Of course.” Ethan cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry.”

Naomi ignored his apology. She knew he truly felt sorry, but it didn’t bring her any solace. “I’m going to finish the rest of my shift. See you around, Dr. Ramsey.” And with that, Naomi scurried out of his office, not even bothering to look back.

~~~~~

And now here she was a few hours later, curled up in a throw blanket, eating a pint of ice cream at the kitchen island, The Notebook playing softly in the background for the millionth time. The apartment was quiet, thankfully. All of her roommates went bowling downtown, but she wasn’t up for it. She just wanted to wallow for the evening.

She heard a set of keys jingle and a few seconds later, Aurora walked in, a large reusable grocery bag in her hand. “Oh! Hey, I didn’t think you’d be home.”

“Hi,” Naomi greeted. Aurora dropped her bag onto the kitchen counter, and pulled out a few avocados, limes, an onion, garlic, cilantro, tomatoes, a bag of chips, and a few jalapeños. “Making guacamole?”

“Yeah. I’ve been craving some for the longest.”

“Cool.” Naomi didn’t say anything else after that. She just silently watched as Aurora washed her hands and meticulously prepared all of her ingredients. The girl was methodical in everything she did.

“You can taste test if you want,” Aurora offered, as she was mashing everything together. “I’m biased because I think everything I cook tastes amazing, but it’d be nice to have an outside opinion.”

“Oh, you do not have to tell me twice.” Naomi grabbed a chip and dipped it into the guacamole. She devoured the chip in on bite.

“Well? Do you think I’m missing anything?”

“It’s perfect,” Naomi said, grabbing another chip.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Aurora smiled. “Thank you.”

“You should’ve told us you could cook a lot sooner,” Naomi continued. “Sienna’s getting burnt out as our resident chef.”

“Well, I can't reveal all of my magic at once. I like to keep an air of mystery around. Hell, you weren’t even supposed to find out, I thought I was going to be home alone tonight,”

“So did I. You didn’t want to go out with the rest of the roomies?”

Aurora scoffed. “Please, they wouldn’t want me there anyway.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I get it. I’m tolerated because I pay rent, not because you guys actually like me.”

“You don’t give us the chance to know or like you.”

“I wasn’t liked from day one.”

“You thought we weren’t going to like you or were just going to kiss your ass from day one, and because of that, you came into last year with a major chip on your shoulder.” Aurora opened her mouth to retort, but she quickly closed it once she realized she didn’t really have a defense. “You came in on the offense, claws out, snipping at us, don’t try to deny it.”

“Fine.”

“I get it.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. I don’t talk a lot about this, but my grandfather was one of the first African American judges to serve for the federal district court in Maryland. My dad is an attorney, my mother runs a nonprofit in DC, my uncle has his own dental practice, one of my aunts teaches international politics at Georgetown, and the other is getting a PhD in clinical psychology at Northwestern. There’s absolutely no room for slacking in my family. It’s success, or nothing.”

“Wow. Impressive lineage, Valentine.”

“Trust me, I know what it’s like to come from an extremely high achieving family. I get what it’s like striving to be your best and having to go the extra mile to prove yourself in a country that looks down on black women. And I’m sure it’s not easy being the niece of one of the best surgeons in the country, a tidbit I tried to bond with you over on our first day, but you rebuffed me.”

Aurora’s cheeks got hot and Naomi could see them turning a light shade of red. “My first year of medical school, people only wanted to talk to me because I was Harper Emery’s niece. Hell, even the professors were kissing my ass. It’s not easy knowing who’s your friend and who’s using you, but it is easy pushing people away. And on top of that, I had her breathing down my neck every 2 seconds. It’s hard trying to carve out my own path.

“We didn’t care about you being Dr. Emery’s niece, well, I didn’t at least. Jackie might’ve had a hang up, but she would’ve gotten over it. The point I’m trying to make is that you need to let your guard down, just a little bit. And if you don’t, I’ll tear it down myself.”

Aurora laughed. “Is that a threat, Valentine?”

“More like a promise. I have a knack for breaking through people’s rough exteriors.”

“Through annoying stubbornness?”

“Yes.”

“That’s going to take a bit to get used to.”

“But it’ll happen.”

Aurora rolled her eyes and ignored Naomi. “I got tequila too. Do you want any?”

“Oh my gosh, why didn’t you lead with that? I love tequila!”

Naomi ran to the other side of the kitchen, and rummaged through the cabinets until she found two shot glasses. Aurora produced a bottle of Patron from her bag and poured the shots. She also cut a few slices of lime and slid a salt shaker across the counter.

Naomi licked the back of hand and sprinkled a bit of salt onto the skin. She held up her shot glass and clinked it with Aurora’s. “Salut!” She licked the salt off of her hand and downed the shot in one swoop. Then she grabbed a lime wedge and sucked it.

“Dang.”

“I was the queen of body shots back in college.”

“And that doesn’t surprise me at all,” Aurora quipped.

Four rounds of shots later, the ladies were still in the kitchen. The alcohol had completely lowered their inhibitions, and they were currently laughing over a bag of tortilla chips.

“You know what we should do?” Naomi started. “We should do face masks!”

“Do you have any?”

“No, but I can make one.” Naomi’s eyes scoured the kitchen, until they landed on a few extra avocados Aurora bought earlier. “Perfect, avocado and honey masks?”

“Avocado and honey?”

“Don’t judge. It’s a tried and true recipe of mine. Guaranteed to make your skin glow.”

“Fine. Do your worst.” Naomi got to cutting the avocados, while Aurora watched. “So, we know the reason I didn’t go bowling with everyone, but why didn’t you go? You’re like, the leader of this little motley crew.”

“Wasn’t in the mood. I had a...trying day.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m all ears.”

“One of my patients is dying. She has an inoperable tumor, and she’s only a kid.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And I nearly had a meltdown in the hallway, but Eth–Dr. Ramsey pulled me into his office and I cried it out there. And then things snowballed.”

“How?”

Naomi took a deep breath. “I’m swearing you to secrecy. I invoking Super Serious Roomie Confidentiality. What is said and seen in this apartment, must stay in this apartment.”

“Fine, fine, I promise not to say anything.”

“Do you pinky swear?”

Aurora stuck out a pinky and interlocked it with Naomi’s. “Pinky swear.”

“So...I slept with Dr. Ramsey.”

Aurora didn’t say anything for a long time. She just stared ahead at Naomi, almost as if she was looking through her. “I’m sorry, what? Is the alcohol playing tricks on me? Did I hear that correctly? You and Dr. Ramsey?”

“Yes.”

“What? Like….wh...how? What?” Aurora shook her head. “Naomi, I’ve never been rendered speechless before. Wow. You’re sleeping with Ramsey?”

“Slept. I slept with Ramsey, past tense.”

“Oh my god, I knew you were his favorite intern in our cohort, but–”

“No, don’t do that. I didn’t sleep with him to get a leg up in the competition. He wasn’t even working at Edenbrook when it happened the first time.”

“The first time? You slept with him more than once?”

“Twice. We slept together twice.”

“This just gets better and better. Was is...good? Is he good? Did he go down on you? Did you do it in his office?”

“Aurora!” Naomi snapped. “Stop asking questions!”

Aurora held her hands up in mock surrender. “You opened the floodgates! You can’t drop a bomb like that and expect me to not have questions. So spill, at least tell me what happened?”

“The first time was a few days before my hearing. We had spent a lot of time together, bonding over working on Dr. Banerji, and I was there for him when his friend Delores passed away. It had been building and building and building, and we almost slept together in Miami, but he stopped it.”

“What?”

“He said it wouldn’t be ethical since he was my attending and I was competing to be on the diagnostics team. So we had to carry around the weight of what almost happened, on top of our Banerji secret. And then he quit. He left Edenbrook without any regard. I was very confused and heartbroken. But Jackie and Sienna told me to reach out, so I went over to his apartment, and we had a huge argument, and then we had sex.”

“And I thought it was the end of us hurtling past each other,” Naomi continued. “I thought it would be the start of some type of relationship, but Dr. Emery gave him his job back. So we had one more night for the hell of it. And then Dr. Banerji promoted Ethan to head of the diagnostics team, and he gave me a spot on it, to our shock. And dismay. Now Ethan is my direct supervisor, so we’ve been trying to act like nothing happened. But it’s hard to do that, because we keep having these moments.”

Naomi couldn’t help but think of all the time she and Ethan spent together. Bonding at the baseball game, watching over little Ethan in the NICU, him taking her to the opera and then making out with her, her making him her (world famous) hangover helper. All of it. All of those big and little moments are what made this hurt so much more. “I wish I could say it was just sex, that he was a guy and I was a girl and we just wanted to fuck each other. I mean, we did, but—”

“You’re in love with him,” Aurora concluded, staring at Naomi with rapt attention. “And now that I know everything, it’s written all over you.”

Naomi blinked hard, trying to will away the tears that were threatening to fall. “I am. I even told him that today. It’s the reason I didn’t want to go out with everyone else.”

“You know what I think?” Aurora asked rhetorically. “I think guys are stupid. You have to lead them to the water and shove it into their mouths.”

“What?” That managed to get a chuckle out of Naomi. “That’s not how the saying goes, at all.”

“The point I’m trying to make is you need to give Ramsey an ultimatum. March right into his office and say, ‘I love you, and I think you love me too. So fuck ethics, and let’s stop playing around and give this thing a real shot, or don’t ever speak to me in a non professional capacity ever again,’ plain and simple.” Aurora gasped. “Call him now!”

“Now?”

“Why not?”

“He could still be working. And I don’t want to have such a serious conversation over the phone.”

“Stop being such a baby, Valentine. Man up.”

“I’ll talk to him eventually. I want to do it with a clear head. And I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him.”

“Don’t rehearse a grand speech. And don’t wait for the right moment. Life is messy, there will never be a perfect time to do anything.”

Naomi knew Aurora was right, but she was scared. “Okay, no more talking about Ethan tonight. It’s face mask time.”

Aurora poured them both another shot. “Geez, Valentine, your life is like a soap opera.”

“Oh please, Grey’s Anatomy wishes they could supply this type of drama,” Naomi teased.

“You got that right.”

Naomi went back to mixing the ingredients for the face masks, while Aurora sat patiently. She had never done things like this when she was younger, so she didn’t know what to expect.

The front door opened and in walked all of their roommates, plus Bryce and Rafael. They were talking and laughing animatedly, but that all stopped when they saw Aurora and Naomi together in the kitchen.

“Hey guys!” Naomi greeted cheerfully. “How was bowling?”

“I kicked major ass,” Bryce boasted. “But that shouldn’t shock you.”

“Oh please.” Jackie rolled her eyes. “He was alright.”

“Jackie, you got like, 3 gutter balls in a row,” Bryce said. “As long as I was better than you, I consider it a victory.”

“So what are you guys doing?” Sienna asked Naomi and Aurora, pivoting the conversation in a new direction.

“Eating guacamole, getting drunk,” Naomi replied. “Making avocado face masks.”

Bryce gasped. “Face masks without me?” Everyone turned to look at Bryce. “What? You think my face is this perfect without a meticulous skincare routine?”

“So you two have been hanging out together?” Jackie prodded. “All night?”

Naomi nodded. “Yeah. Guys, Aurora is a roomie now. She’s one of us, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. She’s part of the gang. We got off on the wrong foot, we misjudged her, she misjudged us, but we’re putting it behind us.”

Aurora sighed. “Look, I’m...sorry. I didn’t give you guys the best first impression of me. I’ve been a lone wolf for so long, and I’m so used to being used and judged because of my last name, I shut people out. I don’t trust easily, which is something I’m willing to work on.”

Jackie visibly deflated at Aurora’s admission. “I guess I didn’t really think of it like that. I was so wrapped up in the competition, I just thought the worst of you, and assumed your aunt was pulling strings. Which was very unfair of me.”

Sienna nodded. “And we didn’t didn’t make matters much better. We stoked the flames every chance we got.”

“So can we all call a truce and get along?” Naomi suggested. “We’re roommates and coworkers, we might as well make the best of the situation.”

Aurora nodded. “I can do that.”

“So can I,” Jackie agreed.

“Us too,” Elijah added. “Welcome to the gang, Aurora. We do Sunday brunches, and go to extreme lengths to make each other happy.”

“Awww guys,” Bryce cooed, miming wiping a tear from his eye. “This is so beautiful.”

“Shut it, Lahela.”

Bryce ignored Jackie, and stretched out his arms. “This calls for a group hug.”

“No,” Aurora deadpanned.

“You’re a part of the gang now, Aurora,” Sienna said. “We hug it out.”

Everyone crept in on Aurora, pulling her into a very tight group hug. After a few seconds, she spoke up, “So how long do these group hugs last?”

“Just enjoy it, Emery.”

A few seconds later, everyone untangled their limbs and stepped back, giving each other personal space.

Naomi clapped her hands together. “Okay, everyone get comfortable. We’re doing face masks and tequila shots!”

While everyone was settling in and getting comfortable for the rest of the night, Naomi felt her cell phone buzz a few times. She dug into the pocket of her sweatpants and pulled it out. She had 3 new text messages, all from Ethan.

Ethan: Naomi, usually I would never text, but I figured if I called, you might not answer. I just want to say I’m sorry. I never want you to feel any type of hurt or pain, and I especially never want to be the cause of it. My feelings for you are extremely complex yet, very simple at the same time, and I know it feels like I’m jerking you around, but that’s just because I’ve never been in a situation like this. I thought if I pushed you away, the feelings would go away, but that’s not the case. What I feel for you is all-consuming and all encompassing, and it terrifies me.

Ethan: Sorry, if it seems like I’m rambling right now. I’m writing this in a rush because if I think about it for too long, I might lose my nerve and backtrack.

Ethan: What I’m trying to say is I think I love you, too.

Naomi’s eyes widened at the last message. “Well fuck.”

#choices: stories you play #open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #aurora emery #jackie varma #sienna trinh #elijah greene #bryce lahela #rafael aveiro

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belauriette · 6 years ago

Text

Chosen (Part 2)

Black Panther fanfiction

Summary: N’Jadaka yearns to leave a part of him behind.

Pairing: N’Jadaka x OC (Akoya Boahinmaa)

OC (black, plus size)

No warnings, just fluff..I may add some smut in the next part

I don’t know how to link properly. Here is Part 1 - http://belauriette.tumblr.com/post/173997692238/belauriette-chosen-summary-njadaka-yearns-to

"What is your name?"

"My name is Ayoka Boahinmaa."

"Beautiful name. What does it mean?"

"Ayoka means a joy bringer and Boahinmaa means one who has left her community." He waits for more explanation, but she is not ready to give that story. "It's a long story."

"Well, my name means simply one who sees the truth."

"Ayoka Boahinmaa, I would like to take you out to dinner, but I don't have much time to court you properly.

"What is the rush?" He ignores the question.

"Can I offer you something to eat from the kitchen?" she nods. N'Jadaka sends word to the chef to bring something special.

Not that Ayoka doesn't feel like she would make an awesome lover for any man. This man is the King of Wakanda. She couldn't help wondering out loud, "Why me?"

N'Jadaka seemed to be shocked by her question. "I like your energy. You make me feel good; at ease. And, you are gorgeous; my kind of beautiful. I don't expect you to fall in love with me overnight or anything, but I must warn you," he says smugly. "I expect that you will fall and there will be animalistic lovemaking, marriage, and babies."

"Whoa! In that order?!, Ayoka jokes. "You have all this figured out."

"What would be your preferred order?"

Looking directly into his eyes, Ayoka says, "animalistic lovemaking." *long silence*

N'Jadaka laughs hardily.

"Hey. I've never had sex with a western foreigner. I'm curious."

"Well, they say in my country that curiosity killed the cat and I assure you I plan to," N'Jadaka says with a sly grin. "You don't want to have my babies?"

"Honestly, I've never pictured my life with babies. And, marriage is an unnecessary technicality."

"Nah, that's just because you never met me."

Smiling at his cockiness, "Why are you so interested in starting a family?"

His whole demeanor changed. "I'm afraid I may not be around long. I must leave a part of me behind."

"Are you ill?"

"No. Some of your people are not happy I have taken over the throne, you know, killed the King. They don't agree with my plans for Wakanda refusing to listen to reason. My way is the only way."

"What way is that?"

"Liberation through war. Freedom must be taken.'

"I don't understand. Our people are already free."

"Yes. Wakandans think they are free and safe; their freedom is based on a fallacy. The fallacy that is hidden in this pseudo-freedom. They have believed in this way of thinking for centuries; to hide in plain sight while the rest of the world burns. Many black people across the African diaspora are not free due to lack of resources. Our people have been kidnapped, sold, enslaved, killed, and under continuous discrimination. They are in desperate need of Wakanda's help. Acquiring the throne was the only way to bring aide to my people. America is sick with racism and my fellow African-Americans are suffering tremendously. I feel like I'm talking too much. How do you spend your days?"

I force myself not to flood him with questions. "Well, my life is not as politically driven. I am a piano instructor. I teach 4th to 7th graders at the local preparatory school how to play the piano."

"Why piano?"

"The piano was my father's, first love. He insisted that I learn under his tutelage. Luckily, I grew to love it and now I can't live without it. Unfortunately, he is unable to play piano like he did when he was younger. Do you want to learn to play the piano? I provide private one on one lessons."

He smiles, "nah, I'm musically inept. Believe me. There is no hope for me."

"You would be surprised. I've heard I'm quite magical. There has never been a student incapable of learning under my instruction."

"You are so sexy. "

"Why do you say that?", while blushing.

"Your confidence. It's always been my weakness. It can be hard to find a woman with true confidence back home. Our society does not encourage unapologetic black women to be confident, especially not plus size women."

"Plus size? What does that mean?"

N'Jadaka realizes that Ayoka doesn't understand some of the American vernacular. "A woman's size is heavily policed and judged in my country. Women feel so much pressure to be thin that many opt to get surgery to change their appearance. Europeans dominate media. They flood our minds with images of white beauty standards. Even our hair in its natural state is frowned upon when attempting to attain employment."

Ayoka gives all of this a lot of thought. His home sounds so sad and oppressive.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. The chef brought an array of traditional West African dishes; jollof rice, beef, plantain, fufu, peanut soup, and puff puff for dessert. N'Jadaka waits patiently while she washes your hands in the bowl of water sent with the dinner and then he does the same. The King waits while she picks out her dinner choices. He went for the obvious; jollof rice, beef, plantain. She eats her fufu and peanut soup for in silence; digesting their previous intense conversation. She looks up and catches him watching her dipping her fufu in the peanut soup. "Do you want to try my food?"

He looks up with mischievous eyes. "As a matter of fact, I do. But, I'm not sure how to eat it properly. Show me."

What a shame. She moves closer to him, she pulls a piece of fufu from her plate and then dips it into the peanut soup. She slowly brings it to his mouth. Staring at her he eats the food right from her fingers. She waits to see if he likes it, "Nandi, kunene?" And, then he leans in to kiss her gently on the mouth. "Indeed, delicious." She is shocked that he knows her language.

She pulls her focus from his piercing eyes. "Now, you try it. You must use your fingers."

He leans over to pull a piece of fufu from her plate, dips it into her peanut soup and brings it to her mouth. "Zidla." Her heart is racing and embarrassed at the possibility that she may have sucked his fingers a second too long. She looks down blushing and clears her throat. "Well, as you can see I love to eat."

"I see. I love to eat as well," grinning.

He brings her attention back to the puff puff waiting to be devoured. "Let's not forget dessert." They both stare at each other hungrily.

@babygirl-bri @babygirlofwakanda

#wakandaforever #michaelbjordan #blackpanther #love #fanfiction #fanfic #chadwickboseman #ryancoogler #killmonger #njadaka #kingnjadaka #king #BEWritings #black panther #marvel

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memphisdepayff21 · 3 years ago

Text

Intro

Kari

“Sire...Hey baby!”

I smiled as my son walked in with my best friend and a Chic-fil-a meal in his hand. Placing my receipt book down, I stooped down to his level, kissing him up.

“How school go?”

“Good. Mimi got me chigga fil a”

I laughed, looking up at Melissa and mouthing a thank you. My hours are long, I’m a single mother, a single women, and my family is..... inconsistent. And not that it’s their job but a little help would be great.

“Alrght, go sit in fi mi office. We leave soon”

He nodded, walking off with his Ipad and food in his hand and to my office.\

“You think you can fix this glue before you leave girl?”

Melissa questioned. I laughed and nodded my head.

“I can fix it now Sit”

She smiled and hopped in my chair.

I’m a hairstylist in New York. The first African-American/ Italian Salon owner and Barbershop on t6his block. I built it from the ground up. Literally. I bought the building, fixed it up, bought all equipment. I don’t owe anybody, but everybody owes me. I rent my booths out to stylist and barbers, and I own 5 investment properties in New York.

My prices for hair are as such:

Leave out’s are $140, Frontal Sew Ins are $180, Closure Sew Ins are $140, Bob leave outs are $150, $360 Frontal Sew Ins are $200, High and Low ponytails are $100, Sweep ponytails with tracks is $120, and so and and so forth. I also make wigs which can goo for $300-$400. And if I install it, it’s $80 extra. Plus my classes which are $1200. Sounds like a lot put bitches go crazy for my styles, wigs, and classes. I walk out and make at least $4,000 a day. And that’s on a slow day. It’s a blessing to be in the position I’m in, I’ve done celebrities head as well, I say local, but I’m well know and travel for certain clients like Ari Fletcher, Toya Carter, Tiny Harris. Nothing crazy, but I’m trying to make my way up the ladder.

“Thank you for picking Sire u-”

“Girl, we’re sisters. It’s nothing. How’ve you been?”

I exhaled. I try not to complain about much, I just take it all in stride and know God is working.

“I’m good, you know. I get lonely. But I’m blee-”

“Hello... Is this Sire’s?”

A older women spoke as she walked in. I meant to lock that shit.

“Yes ma’am, it is. But I’m close-”

“Oh please love. If you could do my hair. My son has a brunch set for me tomorrow and I’m out of options”

I exhaled. Tired, and ready to get my baby home, I wanted to say no. But she was so sweet and respectful with how she asked. I nodded.

“Yes ma’am. I can help you”

8:59 pm

“You can be my honey?”

“What’s a honey?”

Mrs. Phylicia spoke to Sire as he sat in her lap, talking her head off. But she loved it, and was soaking it all up.

“Hayden calls his grandma, Honey. You can be my honey”

She laughed, looking at me and I laughed and shook my head.

“Sire.... you’re tired. And Mrs. Phylicia, we are all done”

Turing her around, she looked at her hair and her mouth dropped.

“Wow... thank you baby. This is beautiful”

“It is beautiful honey”

She laughed, rubbing cheek then looking back at me.

“How would you like to attend my birthday brunch. I’d love to have you two. It’s the least I could do for taking up your time”

“Oh no, we’d had to intrude”

She smiled and shook her head.

“No intrusion at all. Please”

Rasheed

“Baby, I’ll be glad when you buy a home. 90 flights up gives me anxiety”

My mother spoke across from me as she sipped her wine. My dad looked up at the sky and shook his head.

“He’s a bachelor hunny\. Why would he need a home right now”

Nothing my head, I thanked my chef as she handed me an other glass of wine then looked at my mom.

“Exactly, bachelor... I’m living my best life”

“Don’t you want a family baby? Shoot I want some grandkids”

She was pressed more than me. But to answer that, of course I did. But in my position. It’s hard to know whats real and whats fake. I guess now would be a good time to introduce myself. I’m Rasheed Ali Bailon

Thanks to my real father’s inheritance, my mother, and my skill at being really good at keeping and saving money, I’ve extended my money to the next degree. I was at first worth only $198 Billion. Now, as of today, I’m worth $250 Billion

I found out my pops was a fucking Billionaire. I was his side chick child. Had when he cheated on his wife. All these years I thought he just didn’t give a fuck about me. But he wrote letters for me every year and had them put aside. He passed 2 years ago and left me everything. His $198 billion company and all of his billions to me solely. ME. A poor ass kid from The BX. I’m 22 and a Billionaire. He had 5 kids total and a wife and left it to me, all of it. Every single penny. They got the house and a car or two, but fuck it, I’ve bought that time 1000.

The money ain’t changed me though, Just made me smarter. My circle got smaller, my time is a bit busier, and I’ve invested in a fleet of jets, yachts, buildings, residentials, shit the building I live in, I own. I’m blessed.

I am the CEO Of previous Toussaint Incorporation, It’s now Bailon Incorporation. I was also grated the right to change the name. We invests in and hold dozens of major public and private companies. As part of our portfolio, my company also owns and operates several self-titled companies, including Bailon Home Services of America and Bailon Direct Insurance Company.

But apart from our branded companies, Bailon does a bit more than provide insurance. In 2017, Bailon companies and holdings contribute a variety of commodities and services to the market - including producing computers and electronic products, providing insurance, producing clothing, serving food products, automotive products and services and much more. Although Toussaint Inc. originally started out primarily in the textile industry, I’ve grown to make it become a conglomerate that invests in a diverse group of major companies and provides the prime example of my famous value investing strategy.

I have 100% ownership in multimillion and billion dollar companies. And not all of them are the same. I’ll name a few. For starters, Billups Brick Company, it’s construction, I own it 100%. AlterLinks, Electric Transmission, I own it 100%, and it’s also a subsidiary of Bailon Energy. I mean the list is long, jewelry, auto sales, utilities, Insurance, Bond Insurance, Media, Logistics, Food and Beverage, Pipeline, Clothing, Luxury, Jets, Furniture, Sports Equipment, Pharmaceuticals, Materials and Construction, as I said before the list exceeds my age of life. Plus more.

Once again, I’ll say I’m blessed. I bought my mother a house, she’s well off even though she’s always been her own hustler. The lavish life is the shit, I’ll admit. But a nigga has had his fair share of lame females and one night stands, so much so that I’m ready to settle down. Just hanging with the niggas gets bored. I want a wife, a daughter or a son. Mostly a daughter though.

“Yeah, one day. Not now. I haven’t come across any one that grabs my attention”

“Well it’s coming. I’ve prayed on it, I heard the lord say it. It’s coming. Also, I’ve invited a person to my brunch tomorrow”

I raised a eyebrow. A friend? I’ve planned this thing for 2 months, from what she told me, no adjustments needed to be made.

“Who?”

“Does it matter, a extra 2 will be there. It’s going to be grand”

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charbear177 · 6 years ago

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10 Chick Flick Movies To Watch When Feeling Heartbroken

Whether you are nursing a broken heart, feeling sad and lonely, or just needing a good chick flick to remind you that you can make it through, I have the list for you. Although all of these movies, and the women in the movies, are very different, they are all experiencing the love struggle.

We all go through it at some point in our lives. Breakups are hard, divorce is devastating, and unrequited love feels like torture. When you are feeling down, or sad, and just need a little something to get you out of your funk, I recommend the below list of chick flicks.

10 Chick Flick Movies To Watch

Under The Tuscan Sun - A writer impulsively buys a villa in Tuscany in order to change her life.

Based on the life experience of the author Frances Mayes, this movie will take you from the heartbreak and despair of divorce, to love and romance, and all the in betweens that come with moving on and finding yourself.

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Take away from Under The Tuscan Sun is that sometimes what seems like the worst thing to ever happen to you, can turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Breakups are hard, but necessary at times to shed our old selves and find our happy.

Waiting To Exhale - Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with the male gender.

The single life can be sad and lonely, and so can married life. What I love about this movie is that it shows you that there is no formula, or one way to find happiness. Married life in rich suburbia can turn out to be just as painful and unfulfilling as a life of sleeping around with lots of men hoping someone will love you.

Take away from Waiting To Exhale is to never give up, and know that it is never too late to start over. As scary as the thought is that you may be alone, or that you may not find the "one", you will never know if you do not put yourself out there.

Bridget Jones’s Diary - A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.

Bridget is a bit of a flake, who struggles with her weight, and has body issues. I think many of us can relate to her. She unfortunately falls for the wrong guy, essentially choosing the bad boy over a really good man, only to potentially lose everything.

Take away from Bridget Jones's Diary is to look inward, not outward for happiness and validation. Once Bridget worked on her self and started to feel confident in who she was, she was able to make better life decisions, and find real love.

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How Stella Got Her Grove Back - Stella Payne is a very successful 40-year-old stockbroker raising her son, Quincy, and living in Marin County, California, who is persuaded by her best friend from college, Delilah Abraham, to take a well-deserved, first-class vacation to Montego Bay, Jamaica. As she soaks in the beauty of the island, she encounters a handsome young islander, Winston Shakespeare, who is twenty years younger. Wikipedia

Stella is an uptight professional who takes a chance on a romance with a much younger man, who seems to be her soulmate. With problems at work, and her son spending time with his father, a getaway is just what Stella needed to destress, but falling in love was not on her itinerary.

Take away from How Stella Got Her Groove Back is to be open and willing to take chances. Of course it is possible things will not work out, but you will never know if you do not try.

Bridesmaids - Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef. IMDB

Forever the bridesmaid never the bride is a fear that many women have. Not everyone wants to get married, but most of us do not want to be alone, or feel like we will never experience that special kind of love.

Take away from Bridesmaids is that things change, life can be unfair, you cannot force things, and sometimes everything goes wrong at the same time. You cannot force friendships, and you cannot force relationships. And more importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help when you are going through it, and remember you will come out of it on the other side better and stronger.

Girls Trip - When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling, and romancing to make the Big Easy blush. IMDB

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Life happens and many of us long for the simpler times before there was divorce, cheating spouses, and debt collectors calling. This movie is great comic relief, with some real life stuff we can all relate to on some level.

Take away from Girls Trip is that while we are all entitled to our privacy, and to discuss our woes in our own time, hiding truths and lying to yourself and your loved ones is not the answer. All truths are eventually revealed, but you may find relief in sharing your heartaches, sadness, and struggles with others sooner rather than later.

Romancing The Stone - A mousy romance novelist sets off for Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure hunting for treasure with a mercenary rogue. IMDB

Romancing The Stone is one my favorite movies because it really is like a romance novel come to life. Joan Wilder initially seems really passive and weak, but it is not long before you see that she is wild, and spirited, and longing for adventure.

Take away from Romancing The Stone is step out of your comfort zone, and just go with what feels right. You might be surprised, and might even surprise yourself.

Dirty Dancing - Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle. IMDB

Dirty Dancing is one of those movies I could watch all of the time. I love seeing the romance and feelings grow between Baby and Johnny. They are so different in many ways, but Baby is tough and a fighter, so you can see some possibilities. For me, one take away from this movie is that you can have something lovely and wonderful, but not all things are meant to last.

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If I am being completely honest, Johnny and Penny seemed to be in love and just didn’t realize it. I know no one wants to hear that, but Penny and Johnny had off the charts chemistry. Another take away is that sometimes we are looking in the wrong direction, and can miss someone right in front of us.

Pretty Woman - A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love. IMDB

Pretty Woman is most certainly not your typical fairytale, but still swoon worthy in many ways. Julia Roberts’ character Vivian is very sweet despite her occupation, and Richard Gere is rich and handsome, but somewhat emotionally unavailable.

Take away from watching Pretty Woman is that no matter how much you are hurting or how bad you think life sucks at the moment, it could be worse, you could be “tuting” to make a living.

Never Been Kissed - A newspaper reporter enrolls in high school as part of research for a story.

Never Been Kissed is a sweet, teeny, somewhat mean girl movie with Drew Barrymore. Josie is now an adult, but in high school she was smart, socially awkward, and horribly bullied. Returning to high school gives her an opportunity for a do over, but also brings up painful memories.

Take away from Never Been Kissed is to be brave, stand up for yourself, and go after what you want. We all have fears of failure, and fears of rejection, but isn't it better to take a chance than to live with regrets?

These movies are really great to watch anytime actually, but they are also great reminders that sometimes you have to go through it, to get through it.Life and relationships do not always turn out as we hoped or even imagined, but the great thing is that sometimes they turn out better.

Photo by JESHOOTS.com from Pexels

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#Movies #Chick Flicks

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ourkinfolx · 4 years ago

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No. 2: Alexis

How would you describe yourself in terms of identities and activism?

I am a bisexual Afro-Latina from a mixed-race family. So that basically encompasses all of what I’m into when it comes to activism. Talking about the African diaspora, showing that blackness is not a monolith, we have our culture all across the world and all different continents. Since I’m bisexual I focus a lot on LGBT issues. I educate myself more about that now, because I do hold privilege within that community as a bisexual in a straight relationship.

How does your activism influence your work? Does it influence your day to day?

Oh definitely. So, I am a museum professional, I work at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. I’m a marketing coordinator and museum educator, so a lot of my activism I also use for the work that I do in the museums. Because museums are traditionally very very white spaces, you don’t see a lot of people who look like me working in them, especially higher up positions. With marketing, I get to control what the face of the museum looks like. When you walk into my museum, you’ll see a lot of white faces on the wall, but there are small things like the “please touch” signs in our museum have brown hands in them. When I make posters or flyers, I make sure that they feature a diversity of people.

Since my museum is kind of small, I get to work in all of the departments, work with everyone. I even get to work with exhibits right now. I’m helping with the Reframing the Narrative project where we’re focusing on incorporating more people of color into my museum. I get to help design what the exhibit looks like. So I definitely lean a lot on my identities to make sure they are represented within my museum. But not just my identities. I study up on Asian American history and industry, I study up on indigenous American history because I know what it feels like to be left out, so it’s kind of my responsibility to help open the doors for other identities and communities.

Are most of your co-workers white?

Yes.

Do you feel they contribute to the work or come to you with ideas? Or do they expect you to do it because you’re the black person?

So originally, I was leaned on a lot when I started working there because I was so open about it and they were like “oh she knows what she’s doing!”

But even though my museum is majority white, a lot of my white co-workers have been very welcoming and open to unlearning white and euro-centric museum practices. And they’ve been very open to making sure our museum is more inclusive and making sure our programming and who we are reaching out to is more diverse and that we have more equitable practices to start changing what our predecessors have done with the museum.

I will say that we’re pretty liberal people. My director’s black lives matter statement was [chef’s kiss] beautiful

I’m sure you’ve noticed that a lot of the faces at the forefront of this movement, and others, have been black women. What are your thoughts on that role we often play?

When it comes to civil rights, human rights, when it comes to the African diaspora, black women have always been there. It’s just facts, we’ve always been in the lead. Specifically with the civil rights movement, black women were at the forefront but they were often pushed aside often overshadowed by people like MLK, Malcom X and other NAACP leaders. Black women were always there. Always doing the brunt of the work. And I feel like now, because gender norms have kind of changed, we can be more out there, we have more freedom. We have more accessibility to jobs and to platforms. That’s why it might seem like now, okay, black women are really here. Whereas back then, you know you’re a secretary or you do laundry.

Let’s talk about the George Floyd video. We’ve all seen instances like this, black men brutalized and murdered by police. When you saw this most recent video, was there anything about it that made you expect things might be different?

No. I watched video and of course it kills me every time. When you see something like that it hurts every time. It makes you mad every time. But that’s every time. That video wasn’t anything new. It wasn’t anything different than what has been happening. So I just expected it to have a twitter buzz and then die down. I had no idea that we would be on, what, week three of protests with thousands and thousands of people. Not just in every state in the United States but in different countries as well. I have no idea what made this different from the other ones, but I’m glad.

And what do you think about the global response?

I think it’s crazy. Because it connects us all together and now that we’re seeing murals and we’re seeing other people from different countries stand up for what African Americans are going through, I’m starting to also learn more about race relations in those other countries. Especially in the UK, about police brutality in London. And they’re like we have George Floyds in London. We have George Floyds in Paris. So they’re showing that this is not just an American issue, that this affects all of us. It’s sad, but it’s exciting.

Do you feel supported in your activism?

I feel supported with friends, I feel supported with my partner and my immediate family. I mentioned before that I’m mixed race. My mother is white and Afro-Peruvian and my dad is African American. On my mom’s side is usually where I get the push back. But my immediate family, they’re down for the cause. My grandmother is white and she’s like “Nah we’re not doing this. Black lives matter!” A lot of my family are educators as well. I’m glad that I have a very diverse group of supporters within my inner circle.

The response you got must have been really different before though, when not everyone was on this Black Lives Matter train, when support wasn’t as widespread. How are things different from then?

Recently I’ve had a lot more white supporters, white strangers reach out to me saying “Hey can I donate for you,” (since I’m broke) or they want to start petitions on issues that I helped inform them on. It’s been really, really cool and it’s been strange because I’ve gotten most of the blow back from black men. Because there are arguments on what fits into black lives matter.

That’s why we get Black Trans Lives matter. That’s why we say All Black Lives matter. But if you’re going to say it, you need to make sure you’re there for black women. And not just black women with looser curl patterns and lighter skin. You need to be there for darker skinned black women. You need to be there for black trans men and trans women. Or black lives that have disabilities. Because a lot of what the media is covering is just black men. A lot people think the movement is just for black men, and that’s not it. When we say black lives we don’t just mean black men or black boys. We mean anyone with melanin!

How are you sleeping lately?

I’m not sleeping. Usually I fall asleep around ten. I’m an old lady. 10 o’clock, I’m out. But recently I’ve been staying up until 2-3 in the morning. On the weekends sometimes 5 in the morning because I’m on social media, watching videos, reading articles, listening to podcasts. I’m completely immersing myself. I can’t fall asleep because it’s all I’m thinking about.

And how often do you log off?

I’m always logged in. Even when I’m working for my museum I’m logged in. We just had the supreme court rule that it was illegal to discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation. My job is at The Museum of Industry, we are the museum of work, so that relates to what we’re talking about. I made sure I put that article up there, I made sure that I’m making posts for them. Making sure that I’m talking about Black Lives Matter. So whether I’m working, whether I’m off the clock I’m always logged in. Even when I take breaks I’m watching documentaries with my mom. We love watching Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.

Alexis Ojeda-Brown is a graduate from the University of Maryland with a bachelors in English literature, History, and a certificate in African American Studies. She is a museum educator and marketing coordinator for the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Alexis is an advocate for making museums diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces and hopes to use her platform to encourage more Black youth to get into museum and preservation work.

To find out how to support some of her causes or just give her a tip for her time, visit kinfolx-lexi.carrd.co

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shorthaircutsmodels · 5 years ago

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the-revisionist · 8 years ago

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The Tristan Chord, chapter 15

[Edited to fix typos, thank you @farminglesbian, and to change a musical selection that came to me out of the blue.]

xv. the book of miracles

The tragedy isn’t that love doesn’t last. The tragedy is the love that lasts. —Shirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus

“High fructose corn syrup.”

The phrase, dropped like a gauntlet at dinner, brings idle conversation to a halt. It is spoken by Lawrence, who points in a very melodramatic j’accuse fashion at Flora.

In turn, Flora blinks at him slowly, decides he’s playing at something, and giggles.

Why do I not have normal children? Caroline wonders. One is terrified of Latin and cries at soppy commercials on telly, the other apparently hears voices and is seriously considering going to clown school. The jury, however, is still out on Flora. Please be normal, she silently begs the child. If I screw you up somehow, I won’t be able to bear it. Meanwhile the others assembled around the table—Alan, Celia, and Greg—stare at her, awaiting a Solomon-like proclamation on Lawrence’s bizarre declaration.

Caroline makes them wait. She gulps wine, girds her loins, and unfurls a mighty sigh. “What are you on about?” she asks Lawrence.

“She said it.” Lawrence wags his finger at his sister. “The other day. Quite clearly, I might add. At breakfast, I swear she was looking right at the cornflakes box—”

Greg gasps. “You didn’t let her eat any of those, did you?”

“What? No.” Irritated at the interruption, Lawrence screws up his face in a profoundly unattractive fashion, the expression on a scatological scale somewhere in the not-so-vast plane between taking a shit and actually smelling one.

“Good,” Greg says, “because they do have high fructose corn syrup in them. Corn flakes are the devil.”

God, I am going to be completely pissed before this night is over if this keeps up, Caroline thinks as she polishes off her second glass of wine. “Can I quote you on that?”

“That’s not the point,” Lawrence says. “The point is, like, totally out of the blue, she just says ‘high fructose corn syrup.’ Just like that. And I was like, ‘What did you say?’ And she looked all smug and wouldn’t say anything else! Not a single word. And she won’t say it now. She just won’t. I’ve been trying all day to get her to say it.”

Bright with paternal enthusiasm, Greg gives it a go: “Flora. Sweetheart. Say, ‘high fructose corn syrup!’”

Celia pinches her brow.

Thoughtfully Flora regards her dinner plate. She positions several tiny pieces of broccoli upright on their stalks near a mound of uneaten casserole, creating a little mini-forest surrounding a hilly terrain. Caroline interprets this as a potential clue to a future occupation: Maybe she will become a naturalist. Or an urban planner. Or a demented celebrity chef.

“See? Nothing. She’s gaslighting me,” Lawrence says.

“Very significant achievement for two years old,” Alan observes. His mobile pings and he pulls it out of his pocket.

Celia glares at him. “Don’t look at it.”

“Just a peek.”

“I said don’t look at it.”

“I’m looking at it.”

“Don’t look at it.”

“I have to!” Alan protests.

“It’s dinnertime. You’re being very rude.”

“You know I have to,” he repeats. “Could be urgent.”

“They’re fine. The worst is over, that’s what the weather service says.”

“It’s still raining,” Alan says plaintively.

It’s been raining for a week, and as a result the valley is flooded. Well, Halifax is flooded; as for Harrogate, Caroline cannot help but summon words of wisdom from Gillian’s own personal saint, Morrissey: the rain falls hard on a humdrum town. It’s not exactly flooding of biblical proportions all around, as a rather hysterical local weatherman had decreed, but bad enough that Gillian’s farm and sheep have felt the effects: washed-out roads, power out, ruined hay, sheep driven to higher ground, and bad enough that Raff has been bunkered at the farm alone with his mother for three days and serving as the reluctant point person in keeping everyone else informed via increasingly irate and desperate texts to his grandfather.

“Well?” Celia prompts. “What does our Raff say?”

Alan squints at the mobile and enunciates slowly: “‘Is matricide a crime?’”

Lawrence gives his mother an inscrutable look. Caroline glares back in a manner that, she hopes, conveys that she will not be very easy to kill. Which he should certainly be aware of by now. He sulks and resumes surveillance of his sister, who tosses a piece of broccoli in his direction; whether it’s a peace offering or a come at me bro challenge cannot be discerned.

“Oh, dear,” murmurs Celia.

“Also, they’re almost out of toilet paper!” Alan places the mobile on the table. “That settles it. I think I should go out there.”

“But the roads may be bad, love.”

“Roads are fine now, rain should stop tomorrow.”

Celia’s eyes narrow. “Thought you said Gillian isn’t convinced the rain will stop.”

“Well—”

“‘She knows rain,’ you said. You always make her sound like she’s some sort of bloody American Indian, out on the prairie doing a rain dance.”

“There’s a mental image,” Caroline says. She starts clearing the table.

Alan frowns. “Harry will come with. If I ask, he will. We’d be all right, together. I just want to know they’re all right, want to see with my own two eyes.”

“Why don’t you sleep on it?”

“‘Sleep on it,’” Alan grumbles. “You’re just hoping I’ll forget.”

“Yes, dear, I am.”

In the kitchen Caroline stacks plates on the counter and grabs a casserole dish to scrape out before putting it in the dishwasher. As she turns around she finds her mother has magically materialized before her with the shocking stealth of a malevolent, enchanted garden gnome; rearing back to avoid certain collision, the contents of the dish—mixed remnants of noodles, various vegetables, and crumbly tofu in some kind of peanut sauce that Greg said was inspired by West African cuisine even though Caroline thinks he probably knows as much about West African cuisine as she knows about Renaissance poetry or the inner workings of her Jeep—find themselves gloppily splayed against her chest before gently sliding down her shirt and plopping onto the kitchen floor.

She counts to ten—normally an effective way of tempering her reactions, but in this case with random food gunk clinging to an expensive silk blouse finds herself going full on sacrilegious: “Jesus Fucking Christ!”

Lawrence enters the kitchen and then quickly backpedals out.

“Must you sneak up on people like that?” Caroline shouts.

“Must you swear like that? Gillian really is an awful influence on you.” Celia frowns at the floor. “Now that’s a right mess.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“I’m sorry but I wanted to talk to you alone, while I had the chance,” Celia says in an undertone.

“Well you’ve a captive audience now, so fire away.”

“You need to go to the farm tomorrow.”

Of course, the old woman would ask her to do precisely the one thing she does not want to do. “Why?”

“If you don’t go, Alan will and he’ll drag Harry along, and those two together—good God. If they don’t get stuck in the mud somewhere or lost God knows where while chasing errant sheep, Harry will drink all of Gillian’s wine and you know how she gets about that. In other words, they will drive her right ’round the bend and none of us, ever, will hear the end of it—well, I won’t hear the end of it, because she’ll blame me for not keeping her father put. She said as much to me when the rains started. She actually called me, can you believe it? She never calls me unless someone has a gun to her head. But she told me to keep him here.” Celia pauses to recharge from this breathless petition and plays with her necklace—pearls, a gift from Alan on their first anniversary. “He’s in fine fettle these days but I know, I just know, he will push himself trying to help her if he goes out there now and I don’t want him to risk making himself sick again.”

“I understand, but why me? Why not send—Greg?” As Caroline marvels at the nonsense out of her mouth, Celia seems to seriously ponder it but exactly five seconds later they burst into simultaneous fits of laughter.

“You are really funny sometimes,” Celia chortles.

“I know. Missed my calling.”

“But really, love. It’s not like you’d have to actually do anything strenuous. Just take them some food, you’ve got that leftover origami—

“—orecchiette,” Caroline says.

“—oh, and toilet paper, and just sweep the floors, wash the dishes, say an encouraging word or two and you’ll have done your duty.”

Like a wife, Caroline thinks.

“So will you?”

She sighs. “If you think it will—”

“Ah, wonderful! Thank you, love! You’ll go tomorrow then, will you? I’ll tell Alan right now.” Celia whirls out of the kitchen.

“I didn’t say yes yet,” she shouts at Celia’s retreating form.

Celia cackles triumphantly. “You’re my favorite daughter!”

She stares at the greasy smears on the floor.

The beginning of the flood had arrived at a most inopportune time: immediately after the pub kiss, which had left her fiery-cheeked and dazed on the ride home, quietly holding herself as she stared at pearl drops of light random and fleeting against the panorama of darkness. Twice William asked if she was all right. Later, alone in bed, she touched herself briefly and found no satisfaction in doing so. Bored before I even began, she had thought and then, oh Christ, quoting Morrissey, and finally, dismally she threw herself off the cliff into sleep. She woke to a morning heavily cloaked in rain and fog, the relentless downpour hissing with such persistence that when it briefly let up three days later the air rang with empty glory, not unlike the ripe silence following the violent peal of church bells.

At least Raff will get a good laugh out of seeing her in Wellies; she will actually get use of the pair that she bought years ago at the last threat of flooding. In fact, she is excited to wear the boots because they are a lovely, glossy black that will go smashingly with practically anything. Oh Christ, she sighs, and imagines the women’s mag headline: Dressing for Natural Catastrophe: What to Wear!

The drive to the farm the next afternoon is fraught with detours and muddy roads along a horizon that reminds Caroline of a Rothko: dark gray land and light gray sky cauterized together with a ragged white line across the horizon, the gleaming line absorbing every bit of light that daytime can possibly spare. Splinters of thin, light rain fall against the windshield. In the drive up to the farmhouse the Jeep gets caught in a muddy rut; she manages to back out and then maneuver around it, but the flood-damaged dirt road is bumpier than usual and despite the Jeep’s otherwise excellent shock absorbers Caroline gets a shaky, tediously unsatisfying ride that brings to mind the nadir of her sexual relationship with John.

As she pulls up within sight of the farmhouse she sees that Raff has spotted the Jeep from afar and he awaits her impatiently, bouncing on his heels. She is unprepared for the intensity of his greeting: He throws himself into her arms like a long-lost son or lover. She doubts she will receive a similarly enthusiastic reaction from Gillian; Christ knows you certainly don’t deserve it, she thinks.

“Thank God!” he says. “A normal person.”

“It’s nice to be thought of in that way,” Caroline replies.

“Please tell me you brought—”

“—toilet paper, yes, and pasta, sandwiches, biscuits, salad—”

“None of that healthy stuff for us,” Raff says. “Oooh, look at those fancy Wellies! Very chic, Cazza. You look like a farmer on telly—like you could be on a show about a sheep farmer who solves murders all the time.”

Caroline rolls her eyes in mock exasperation. “So where’s your mum?”

“Out in barn. I find it’s best to keep her out there, away from polite society.”

After they’ve unloaded the Jeep she reluctantly follows Raff out to the barn while he talks of dead sheep, wet hay, and power outages; the sheep were two dumb, young ewes that fell down a ravine, some of the hay might be salvageable but at least half of it might be bad, and the power is back on.

They find Gillian pulling an empty wheelbarrow into the barn. From the knees down her jeans and boots are spackled with mud. Her left elbow looks skinned and the sleeve of the flannel shirt on that arm is torn, and her hair is greasy and pulled back into a ponytail. At the sight of Caroline she drops the wheelbarrow; the clatter echoes and Caroline jumps. Gillian frowns and tugs at her work gloves.

Over the past week Caroline has rehearsed various speeches in her head ranging from the florid to the plainspoken, but all these thoughtful peregrinations made her wish she could simply present Gillian with a Venn diagram of intersecting emotions where each panic-riddled state or practical consideration included Gillian as the common element. Additionally the circular aspect of the diagram alluded rather obviously to Caroline’s typical mental roundabouts on the subject. Even allowing for Raff’s presence, what comes out of her mouth is still light years from either an articulate summation of the current chaos of her mind, or a poetic expression of inchoate desire:

“I come bearing toilet paper,” she says.

As expected she gets Gillian’s flinty look of irritated incomprehension, not unlike the time Greg tried to educate her on the nutritional value of mung beans in refutation of Gillian’s steadfast refusal to eat anything called mung.

“Sometimes you don’t get the hero you want,” Raff says as he claps a hand on Caroline’s shoulder, “but the hero you need.”

Gillian shuffles, stares at the floor. “That’s great.”

“There’s food,” Raff adds. “She’s brought food.”

“Good.” Gillian pretends that peeling off work gloves and tossing them onto a tool bench is an effort requiring both massive strength and supreme concentration.

Resigned to his mother’s surliness, Raff merely shoots her an exasperated look.

Look at me, Caroline thinks, but now Gillian busies herself with wiping dry the handle of some dangerous-looking tool that could easily be used for disembowelment and so she quickly turns her attention back to Raff. “Are you hungry?” she squeaks at him.

“I am, but I was gonna shove off—” He hesitates, fixing a glance on his mother. “—if that’s still all right.”

Gillian nods, digs around in her jeans pocket. In flight, the keys to the Landy flash across the barn.

Raff swipes at the air and catches them. His face softens as he jiggles the keys in his palm. “You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. I told you it’s all right. So go on already, go see your girls. Come back tomorrow.”

Not content to proffer a mere thank you, Raff strides across the barn and engulfs his mother in a bear hug. Caroline allows herself to be amused at the spectacle of Gillian squirming, looking irritated, then pleased, then smiling, and then berating her son’s manhood: “All right, stop hugging me before you start growing ovaries.”

Would that be such a bad thing? Caroline decides not to say this.

“I love you, man,” Raff drawls oafishly in imitation of an American drunkard.

This makes Gillian chuckle and Caroline experience a brief fit of jealousy. There was a time when she used to make Gillian laugh; was that gone now, did the leaden intensity of this thing between them somehow drain the light from their relationship as the cursed, bloody flooded valley drained the sun from the sky?

She clears her throat and asks, “Is there anything I can do?”

Back to the squinty glare. “Yeah.” Gillian grabs a wide broom. She swaggers in Caroline’s general direction and then effortlessly tosses the broom at Caroline, who manages an awkward catch of it. “Sweep in here. Muck it out a bit.”

Once again irritated at Gillian’s behavior, Raff asks pointedly, “What are you gonna do?”

“Well,” Gillian drawls as she continues walking away from them, “since we’ve got toilet paper, thought I’d celebrate by taking a shit.”

They watch her leave. While she walks down the path to the house she occasionally glares up at the sky, as if daring it to rain more.

Raff shakes his head. “She’s really too much.”

You have no idea, Caroline wants to say. Instead she hugs Raff again before he sprints out to the Land Rover. As he drives away, he waves with frantic, grateful desperation, as if she ceded a place on a lifeboat for him. It’s like Titanic and she is Leonardo DiCaprio, Raff is Kate Winslet, and Gillian is the fucking iceberg. No matter, Caroline smiles bravely in a quintessentially English well chaps we’re doomed fashion while waving listlessly back at Raff and murmuring, “God help me.”

After sweeping the barn Caroline sits gingerly on an ancient stool that should be consigned to the woodpile. The stool wobbles and abruptly she stands. She rubs her back, stares at the large metal tool chest tucked under the tool bench. The red enameled exterior has clearly seen better days; the tool chest’s squat body is covered with dents and dings and dirt. There are five drawers of varying sizes, ranging from the smallest at the top to the largest at the bottom. The largest drawer looks a bit crumpled, as if it had been targeted in Gillian-driven fit of pique; as a result, it does not close properly. Caroline is not certain what compels her—other than sheer nosiness—but she pries open the drawer. It is crammed with books: Both paperbacks and hardcovers, all in varying stages of age and decrepitude. History, poetry, literature. Even a Stephen Hawking book. Philip Larkin. J.B. Priestley. Wallace Stevens. Barbara Tuchman. A book called The Transit of Venus catches her eye—her hope that it is actually about astronomy is immediately dashed by an abstract, pastel cover that indicates it’s a novel or perhaps poetry. Some of the paperbacks are warped with damp, their pages as furbelowed as the skirts of a Victorian matron.

All of these, Gillian’s books–as hidden and damaged as she is.

Caroline knows now that she has misjudged Gillian from day one. Thought she was reckless when in fact she possessed patience borne from a lifetime of denials and disappointments. Thought she was fragile and frail until Caroline discovered the untold muscles and sinew coiled under her skin and the sure and steady grip of her hands. Thought she was an uneducated rube and not a woman who secretly read books in a damp dim barn—probably because she didn’t want her shit husband to find out and knock her upside the head and who does it now simply because it’s a force of habit or is unwilling to admit to anyone that she needs the grace of solitude. Or both. Thought she was incapable of fidelity or love when she would gladly accept the smallest scrap of anything remotely resembling love, including its many seductive duplicities.

Tell me a lie, tell me you love me.

The glinting rain, which had stopped shortly before she arrived, picks up again, deepening the puddles and dips along the rough path that leads to the farmhouse. She imagines Gillian walking this path everyday, through all kinds of weather. Day in, day out. Sun warming her skin, wind stiffening her clothes, rain soaking her bones, snowflakes dusting her hair. Or on days when she’s hungover, or menstruating, or too wired on coffee, or walking with a spring in her step because she had if off with someone she met recently and it was good. Or walking slowly because Eddie has broken her ribs and they’re still mending.

Gillian told her this story while in that strangely lucid state of drunkenness that lent itself to her compulsive confessions: She had been too frightened to go to hospital because they would have asked too many questions, so she spent a fortnight in bed feigning a bout of flu to everyone until finally, with her torso bound up with bandages—the perpetrator himself had gently wrapped her up while crying and saying it will never happen again, I swear to you—and stuffed with as much paracetamol and oxycodone as she could take, she went back to work, doing some light chores every day. The path to the barn every morning was the hardest bit, she had said, like walking a gauntlet and every uneven step sent waves of pain beating against her core; once she got past that, everything seemed easier. A miracle then, a bloody fucking miracle that she did not die, a miracle that the man Celia Dawson reacquainted herself with after so many years was not just a widower but a bereft parent showing them photos of his lost child—a handsome, weary woman with haunted eyes the elusive shade of sky, sea, and earth commingled. There, that’s her, that’s my Gillian.

Caroline riffles the stiff, yellowed pages of The Transit of Venus. As words flutter by she encounters her name in the book several times. There are signs and miracles on this rainy day to be interpreted and treasured in equal measure, and the last one is divination for the disbeliever: She stands here looking at Gillian’s books and know that this, all of this, is heading where it’s heading despite her complete and utter lack of faith.

CHAPTER SOUNDTRACK:

The Smiths:

“There is a Light That Never Goes Out” “William, It Was Really Nothing,”

EDITED TO ADD:

Patricia Barber, “You Don’t Know Me”

Note: The great Shirley Hazzard died recently, so the reference to her novel in this chapter is a hat tip to an extraordinary writer who, I fear, will not be as remembered and revered as she should be.

#are we cool vincent #Caroline x Gillian #the one with the books

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harryandmeghan0-blog · 6 years ago

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Royal wedding falls on the same day as FA Cup Final - Daily Mail

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/royal-wedding-falls-on-the-same-day-as-fa-cup-final-daily-mail/

Royal wedding falls on the same day as FA Cup Final - Daily Mail

Prince William is facing a right royal wedding dilemma.

The Duke of Cambridge is the President of the Football Association and would be expected to present the trophy to the winners of the FA Cup Final on May 18.

But I can reveal that this year’s royal wedding is to be held on the same day.

Lady Gabriella Windsor, whose father Prince Michael of Kent is a beloved first cousin of the Queen, has chosen May 18 as the day she will marry businessman Thomas Kingston at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Lady Gabriella Windsor has chosen May 18 as the day she will marry businessman Thomas Kingston at St George’s Chapel, Windsor

The Queen is among those expected to attend the wedding.

‘Poor William, it will give him another headache,’ a courtier tells me. Ella Windsor attended William’s wedding in 2011 and he would want to return the compliment.

Wills faced the same dilemma last year when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose Cup Final day for their wedding.

Keen football fan Wills had to skip the match between Chelsea and Manchester United, leaving Jackie, the widow of England star Ray Wilkins, to present the trophy.

Harry’s polo event hits the skids as Audi deal stalls

When Meghan Markle was pictured kissing Prince Harry before she presented him with the winners’ trophy at the Audi Polo Challenge, it confirmed the event’s central place in the royal social and sporting calendar.

However, I can disclose that this year’s charity tournament is not expected to go ahead amid claims that Audi was asked to increase massively its donation to good causes supported by the Prince.

Last year, both Harry and Prince William played in the competition, held at Coworth Park in Ascot, where spectators included Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne and Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were pictured kissing before she presented him with the winners’ trophy at the Audi Polo Challenge

‘There has been real shock, because Audi has provided 16 years of loyal service holding the event with the Royal Family,’ an insider tells me.

‘The sum it was expected to stump up was a huge increase on its previous donation.’

Kensington Palace is keen to deny suggestions that Audi was asked to donate £1 million — and that Meghan inspired the increase.

‘The Princes decide which charities their matches support,’ the spokesman insists.

Last year, Harry helped raise £1 million for his African charity, Sentebale, when he played in the Sentebale Polo Cup, which he hosts annually.

‘This is the sort of money they want to be making through polo from now on,’ said Malcolm Borwick, polo ambassador of Royal Salute, which sponsored the cup in 2017.

‘We want to help Prince Harry raise £1 million per event in the future.’

Borwick added: ‘They have a limited number of days to play polo, so they really want to make it count.’

The Audi event’s cancellation would, at least, reassure Meghan that her husband won’t be tempted by any alluring fellow actresses.

In 2015, Harry was pictured with his hand on the knee of Victoria star Jenna Coleman as they chatted intimately in the sponsor’s marquee.

The event’s future appears to be a very hot potato, with Audi referring all inquiries to Kensington Palace, where Harry, Meghan, William and Kate are based. A palace spokesman will say only: ‘Polo matches will be announced in the usual way.’

The smart set’s talking about…Ella Balinska

Ella Balinska (left and right with mother Lorraine Pascale) is making her mark on the big screen

Her mother, Lorraine Pascale, was the first black woman to star on the cover of American Elle magazine before going on to become a television chef. But Ella Balinska is making her mark on the big screen.

The 22-year-old, whose father is Pascale’s aristo ex-husband, the Polish musician Count Kaz Balinski-Jundzill, has been cast as one of Charlie’s Angels in the new instalment of the film series alongside Twilight star Kristen Stewart.

‘I’ve always wanted to do [an] action [movie], but I thought that at 5ft 11in, I was too tall,’ says Ella, who was educated at the £18,000-a-year James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich, South London.

‘I’m qualified in 12 types of stage combat, so it’s safe to say the brief for my character was very familiar.’

Ella, who describes Vogue editor Edward Enninful as a ‘godfather’ figure and supermodel Naomi Campbell as a family friend, could have become a sportswoman, having thrown the javelin for Team London.

Shaken and stirred-Jodie’s link to 007

Bond girl: Jodie Kidd with her godfather George Lazenby, the star of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Jodie Kidd, who would make a great Bond girl, has revealed that her godfather is George Lazenby — the kilt-wearing 007 in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

The 40-year-old model turned pub landlady made the disclosure at the Leica store launch party in Mayfair this week, which she attended with Lazenby, 79.

With secrecy that would make James Bond proud, she declined to go into details about why the Australian actor was chosen for the role, but her family is full of fascinating connections.

Her father, who was also at the party, is Johnny Kidd, grandson of Lord Beaverbrook and a former champion show-jumper.

Pictured: The kilt-wearing 007 George Lazenby in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Heather finds elixir of youth

As the owner of an anti-ageing clinic, Heather Bird encourages the well-heeled women of Knightsbridge to spend a small fortune on treatments to hold back the years.

For her own part, she has found a cheaper cure — a toyboy.

The estranged wife of property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz is courting Spandau Ballet’s new lead singer, Ross William Wild, 20

The estranged wife of property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz is courting Spandau Ballet’s new lead singer, Ross William Wild, 20 years her junior.

‘We met at a party at The Savoy,’ Heather, 49, tells me at the Nina Naustdal catwalk show at Bagatelle London. ‘It was his idea to date, not mine.’

She adds: ‘I never would have thought about having a toyboy, but I know a lot of women who are doing that nowadays.’

I’m ready for another love match, says broody Boris

The former model Lilly Kerssenberg, ex-Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is nevertheless considering expanding his family

Still enmeshed in a rancorous divorce from his second wife, the former model Lilly Kerssenberg, ex-Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is nevertheless considering expanding his family.

‘If my [next] partner desperately wants to have a child, I would be open to it after years of togetherness,’ admits the 51-year-old, who has four children by three women, one of whom was conceived with a Russian waitress on the stairs of a Mayfair restaurant.

‘I have a lot of experience in how to deal with children, and I am still of viable age.’

Form an orderly queue, ladies…

Will Philip join Land Rovers at Balmoral

Prince Philip doesn’t appear to have lost his love for Land Rovers after the road accident in which his Freelander flipped over in January.

For Balmoral is staging a Land Rover ‘self-drive and trek’ later this year, in which car owners are invited to motor through the 50,000 acres at the Queen’s private estate in Scotland in guided convoys, at a cost of £135 per vehicle.

‘I do not doubt it will be very popular,’ a spokesman tells me.

Presumably, the Duke of Edinburgh will not be taking part, as the terms include: ‘Drivers must hold a full driving licence for the UK.’

The Duke recently confirmed he had given his up.

Born in New York, artist Alexander Newley moved to this country four years ago and has now painted a ‘love letter to London’ in the form of works devoted to the capital.

The son of Dame Joan Collins and late actor and singer Anthony Newley has called the exhibition London: Sacred City, and it will be on display at Home House in Marylebone until August.

‘I wanted to do some cityscapes,’ Newley tells me. ‘I agree with William Blake that London is a holy city, like Jerusalem. I want to convey my love and celebrate its complexity, mystery and depth as the capital of the human spirit.’

His ten works include portraits of actors David Suchet and Sir Derek Jacobi, but none of his radiant girlfriend, Sheela Raman, a U.S.-born jazz singer.

It’s just water for slimline Stanley

Boris Johnson’s confession that he stopped drinking ‘bathfuls’ of booze in an effort to shed the pounds seems to have inspired his father, Stanley.

‘I lost a tremendous amount of weight on I’m A Celebrity — and what’s even better is I’ve kept it off!’ the 78-year-old boasts at a book launch in Marylebone. ‘I went from 91kg to 82kg [a loss of almost 1½ stone in old money].

‘I don’t diet, but I think drinking less alcohol must have something to do with it. I’m going out for dinner after this party, which is why I’m only drinking water.’

(Very) modern manners

Baroness Mone of Mayfair used to enjoy boasting about her extravagant lifestyle, sharing selfies online of herself reclining in private jets or with her ‘billionaire’ fiance Doug Barrowman.

So imagine the surprise when the underwear tycoon — nicknamed Baroness Bra — was spotted lugging her Louis Vuitton luggage aboard a grimy carriage on a standard-class train from Gatwick airport to London Victoria last Saturday.

‘If I was about to marry a billionaire, I would ask to be picked up at the airport, at the very least,’ remarked one of Michelle’s fellow passengers.

Such snobbery. Elevated to the peerage by David Cameron, Lady Mone should, surely, be commended for ‘keeping it real’.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6762665/Royal-wedding-falls-day-FA-Cup-Final.html

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readincolour · 7 years ago

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New Books Coming Your Way, October 24, 2017

A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter by Nikki Giovanni 128 p.; Poetry The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She’s been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents’ marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou’s death in 2014. Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds by Yemisi Aribisala 357 p.; Cooking/Essays A sumptuous menu of essays about Nigerian cuisine, lovingly presented by the nation's top epicurean writer. As well as a mouth-watering appraisal of Nigerian food, Longthroat Memoirs is a series of love letters to the Nigerian palate. From the cultural history of soup, to fish as aphrodisiac and the sensual allure of snails, Longthroat Memoirs explores the complexities, the meticulousness, and the tactile joy of Nigerian gastronomy. Calling My Name by Liara Tamani 320 p.; Young Adult Liara Tamani’s debut novel deftly and beautifully explores the universal struggles of growing up, battling family expectations, discovering a sense of self, and finding a unique voice and purpose. Taja Brown lives with her parents and older brother and younger sister, in Houston, Texas. Taja has always known what the expectations of her conservative and tightly knit African American family are—do well in school, go to church every Sunday, no intimacy before marriage. But Taja is trying to keep up with friends as they get their first kisses, first boyfriends, first everythings. And she’s tired of cheering for her athletic younger sister and an older brother who has more freedom just because he’s a boy. Taja dreams of going to college and forging her own relationship with the world and with God, but when she falls in love for the first time, those dreams are suddenly in danger of evaporating. Told in fifty-four short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, Calling My Name follows Taja on her journey from middle school to high school. Literary and noteworthy, this is a beauty of a novel, a divine and tender enchantment. Calling My Name deftly captures the multifaceted struggle of finding where you belong and why you matter. Courage Is Contagious: And Other Reasons to Be Grateful for Michelle Obama edited by Nick Haramis 128 p.; Essays In October of 2016, in response to Michelle Obama’s now famous campaign speech—a powerful salvo for women’s rights and common decency—T Magazine published a dazzling feature called “To the First Lady with Love,” edited by Nicholas Haramis. Here, Haramis expands the T Magazine tribute, by gathering together nineteen essays, fifteen of which have never been published before, from a stunning array of prize-winning writers, Hollywood stars, fashion gurus, and famous chefs including Chimamanda Ngochi Adichie, Tracee Ellis Ross, Alice Waters, Charlamagne tha God, Issa Rae, Jason Wu, and Gloria Steinem—and two of the new essays are by eighth-grade girls. Not only did Michelle Obama use her time in the White House to build a substantial legacy for women, minorities, and health and education advocates, she’s vowed to keep fighting for the causes that matter, now that her husband is out of office. And her impact continues to transcend easy categorization; her cultural imprint is as nuanced as it is indelible. Her influence, it was clear, had been felt in many different ways. Michelle’s persona freed people—especially women—to speak, engage, even dress as they wanted to; she was an accessible insider, representing a thrilling combination of establishment culture (Princeton, where she went to school) and the striving middle class (the South side of Chicago, where she grew up); she was an equal partner in her marriage and parenthood; she had an unabashedly ethical bent; and she had genre-busting style. Still Can't Do My Daughter's Hair by William Evans 96 p.; Poetry Still Can't Do My Daughter's Hair is the latest book by author William Evans, founder of Black Nerd Problems. Evans is a long-standing voice in the performance poetry scene, who has performed at venues across the country and been featured on numerous final stages, including the National Poetry Slam and Individual World Poetry Slam. Evans's commanding, confident style shines through in these poems, which explore masculinity, fatherhood, and family, and what it means to make a home as a black man in contemporary America. 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 496 p.; History The first edition of Joel Augustus Rogers’s now legendary 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof, published in 1957, was billed as “A Negro ‘Believe It or Not.’” Rogers’s little book was priceless because he was delivering enlightenment and pride, steeped in historical research, to a people too long starved on the lie that they were worth nothing. For African Americans of the Jim Crow era, Rogers’s was their first black history teacher. But Rogers was not always shy about embellishing the “facts” and minimizing ambiguity; neither was he above shock journalism now and then. With élan and erudition—and with winning enthusiasm—Henry Louis Gates, Jr. gives us a corrective yet loving homage to Roger’s work. Relying on the latest scholarship, Gates leads us on a romp through African, diasporic, and African-American history in question-and-answer format. Among the one hundred questions: Who were Africa’s first ambassadors to Europe? Who was the first black president in North America? Did Lincoln really free the slaves? Who was history’s wealthiest person? What percentage of white Americans have recent African ancestry? Why did free black people living in the South before the end of the Civil War stay there? Who was the first black head of state in modern Western history? Where was the first Underground Railroad? Who was the first black American woman to be a self-made millionaire? Which black man made many of our favorite household products better? October 20, 2017 at 11:00AM from ReadInColour.com http://ift.tt/2xTqRCW

#Books #ReadInColour #WeNeedDiverseBooks 100 Amazing Facts about the Negro #A Good Cry #Calling My

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