#Eve Garrard

[worstjourney]

It was so gratifying to draw pages which were more or less directly drawn from what I see in my head when I read the book. New Year's Eve 1910 was one of them.

[masonhawthorne]

What I read in November

This month felt simultaneously like it went on forever, and like it slipped by. I was very busy. I hardly got any reading done compared to my usual. But I did have a lot of fun.

The Jewel of Seven Stars, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Terror, Dan Simmons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hannibal: The Military Genius who Almost Conquered Rome, Eve MacDonald ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ nf

Luna, Ian McDonald ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hoka! Hoka! Hoka!, Poul Anderson & Gordon R Dickson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dracula, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cicero: The Life & Times of Rome's Greatest Politician, Anthony Everitt ⭐️⭐️⭐️nf

The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️nf

METAtropolis: Cascadia Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Haunting of Willow Creek, Sara Crocoll Smith ⭐️

Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne ⭐️⭐️

METAtropolis: Green Space Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started off the month with a Bram Stoker novel that I'd never read before, The Jewel of the Seven Stars, and as I always am, when I read Stoker's work, I was surprised by how bold and action-forward the story was, while still having a bunch of atmosphere, and, of course, time for a sensitive, sweet solicitor to fall head over heels in love. I don't know why I'm always surprised by how good Stoker's writing is, he's popular for good reason!

I also reread Dracula for the who-knows-how-many-th time, and was struck by how current all of the action feels, even though it's using the epistolary form, which I often feel can lack in oomph since, necessarily, the action has already concluded in such a way that leaves the characters able to sit down and compose a letter or journal entry about it all. Dracula really feels like any of the characters might be in peril, and the switching between POVs really highlights how anyone could be lost at any moment, and the story would carry on from other pens. The scene where Mina falls asleep over her diary, and then it jumps to Seward describing what they saw happen to her gave me the shivers! And the logs of the voyage of the Demeter were a real spook-fest.

The Terror is one that I've been wanting to get around to for a while, and I was happy to devour it. This must be the second or third Dan Simmons book that I've read, and each one has been very different, but all of them are so striking and so well-written. At this point, I'm probably just going to try and read everything he's ever written. The atmosphere, the creeping dread, the deft and visceral horror. It's all so well done it's fantastic.

Stars awarded at my whim.

nf=non fiction

[ramadoodles]

The many, many iterations of

Susanna and the Elders.

TW: Contains references to sexual assault and other harassment.

So my first exposure to a painting about Susanna and the Elders was the Artemisia Gentileschi painting of the same name.

I'm neither Christian nor Jewish, so I don't know the lore. But that painting makes it look like Susanna's probably about to be molested or raped. Susanna is struggling away from the men, and one of them is pulling at her hair and is whispering to the other. This is a pretty fucked up topic to make a painting on, especially considering that we're in the 17th century Baroque period. I reasonably assumed that the Catholic Church of the time wouldn't approve of painting too many stories about such graphic occurences, especially because Susanna didn't seem like some martyr saint- she's just some girl in a bad situation.

So imagine my surprise when I find even more Susanna and the Elders paintings. And somehow they're even worse.

...I mean, now I'm confused about the story. In the first painting Susanna's open gaze to the viewer makes me think she doesn't know what danger she's in yet. But then in the third painting one elder is grabbing her tit, and she looks like she's into it. I probably should read the actual story.

So according to the Book of Daniel, Susanna is a Jewish wife who is spied on while she bathes by two elders of her community. They later accost and proposition her during her bath, but she refuses them. In response, they accuse her of adultery. She's about to be put to death for her crime, when a young Prophet Daniel interrupts the proceedings. He cross-examines the two judges, their stories about Susanna's adultery don't match up, and they get stoned to death in her place.

Pretty dark story, but one thing is clear- Susanna was not interested in the elders. So why do some of these paintings (looking at you, tit-grab) look like the start of a porno? Also why is the darkest part of this tale such a popular subject to paint? Why not paint the stoning of the elders? It's a much happier scene to paint, and conveys the proper Christian themes of righteousness always prevailing.

Quoting liberally from Wikipedia, here's my deductions on the topic:

According to Mary Garrard, the scene has been unusually attractive to male artists and male art patrons as "an opportunity for legitimized voyeurism", an appeal heightened by the fact the naked woman in the story was being watched by lechers, allowing both the artist and the viewer of the painting a point of view character in the scene.

I really don't see how that's appealing. Shouldn't that make the viewer feel like they're seeing through the view of a rapist in this scene?

Garrard argues that the possession of a woman who has clearly said "no" is in fact rape, and that the depictions of Susanna and the Elders as being from the point of view of the elders are depictions from the point of view of attempted rapists.

Absolutely spot on, Ms. Garrard. It's also super weird how she's painted with such a neutral or even pleased expression in some of the paintings.

Susanna's dilemma is most often painted as not her desire to avoid being victimized but instead whether or not to give in to her presumed natural desire to have sex with two elderly blackmailers.

With all due respect, what the fuck? Who read the story and went 'this isn't about how blackmailing women for sex is wrong, but instead about how a woman must remain untempted in the face of old farts who cross her boundaries and won't take no for an answer.'

I know the answer. Rich old dudes with egos to soothe, that's who.

These paintings aren't really meant to be admired for the art, they're 17th century porn fetishes.

Here's another painting (by Rubens!) which really drives home the 'resist temptation' argument-

Rubens in his late 1630s portrayal places Susanna under an apple tree rather than a mastic or oak, a nod to Eve, the garden of Eden, and resisting, according to Mark Leach, "supreme temptation"; according to Garrard, the implication by both Leach and Rubens is that Susanna had to be very strong-willed indeed to resist the overwhelming attraction of being coerced into sex by two elderly lechers.

Yeah, that's fucked however you look at it. Also you know some old guy paid heavily for this commission.

On that depressing note, I gotta end the post because I'm running out of time. Here's a link to the Wikipedia page about Susanna and the Elders art, so y'all can see just how many paintings they've made for this topic alone.

[ourdomesticchurch]

The Relationship of Forgiveness and Mercy to Justice and Reconciliation

Discover both the meaning of God’s teaching on the necessity of unconditional forgiveness (mercy) and how there can be justice in forgiving even someone who isn’t sorry for the harm or evil he has done.  

Introduction

The primary text of catechesis in apostolic times was Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which contains the teaching: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions” (Matt 6:14-16).[1]  This sermon is a “summary of Jesus’ teaching on justice and the moral precepts appropriate for his disciples.”[2]  A key com­ponent of his teaching is The Lord’s Prayer, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church identifies as “the most perfect of prayers…[that] not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.”[3]  One of the petitions of The Lord’s Prayer is forgiveness for our sins – an act of mercy.[4]  We have hope in God’s mercy because of His unconditional love for us.  However, there is an important and daunting prerequisite:  Jesus teaches that “this outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us.”[5]  The purpose of this paper is to discover both the meaning of God’s teaching on the necessity of unconditional forgiveness (mercy) and how there can be justice in forgiving even someone who isn’t sorry for the harm or evil he has done.  It will also address the fact that being open to forgiveness is an act of mercy that involves a choice by the offended person; while reconciliation is an act of justice involving both the offender and the offended. 

Unconditional Forgiveness Isn’t Optional

Throughout His public ministry, Jesus Christ teaches the necessity of forgiveness, “which is so much of the essence of the Gospel.”[6]  According to Pope St. John Paul II, Jesus teaches us about the mystery of mercy, to "forgive always," which St. Paul expressed in his exhortation to 'forbear one another in love.'"[7]  The perfect model of this forgiveness is Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer, who prayed on the Cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).[8] In his “Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,” Pope Francis also reminds us that forgiveness is not optional:

“Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves. At times how hard it seems to forgive! And yet pardon is the instrument placed into our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart. To let go of anger, wrath, violence, and revenge are necessary conditions to living joyfully. Let us therefore heed the Apostle’s exhortation: ‘Do not let the sun go down on your anger’ (Eph 4:26). Above all, let us listen to the words of Jesus who made mercy an ideal of life and a criterion for the credibility of our faith: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5:7).”[9]

Jesus insists on forgiveness as much for the sake of the one offended as for that of the offender.  Pope Benedict XVI affirms this: “Forgiveness is not a denial of wrong-doing, but a participation in the healing and transforming love of God which reconciles and restores.”[10]  St. John Paul was convinced, by experience and by what God has revealed, that order can be fully restored to wounded mankind only through a “response that combines justice with forgiveness.”[11]  While both the granting and accepting of for­give­ness may make us appear weak or feel devalued, in reality it “leads us to a fuller and richer humanity, more radiant with the splendor of the Creator.”[12]

Forgiveness and Mercy Are Compatible with Justice

We have all been hurt, sometimes by malicious acts or words, other times by conflict or rejection, and often by unintentional insensitivity.  There are so many interactions and situations that result in deep pain and suffering or in the loss of something or someone dear.  In these instances, forgiveness can be very difficult.  Most objections to unconditional forgiveness fall under one of the following two reasons, and leads to resentment: “First, it fails to take the wrong sufficiently seriously.  Second, it may show a lack of self-respect or self-esteem.”[13] Regardless of the reason, forgiveness is not dependent upon the remorse felt and/or expressed by the offender; nor is it a prerequisite for the offender to apologize and make restitution. The true spirit of forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice to offer unconditional mercy while desiring justice that does not seek retribution but instead balances the need for correcting wrong with the desire for the good of all involved.  The idea of showing mercy (forgiving a wrong) and letting go of the desire for retribution (perceived as justice) can seem irrational and impossible.  St. John Paul points out that this difficulty often comes from thinking that justice and forgiveness are incompatible:

“But forgiveness is the opposite of resentment and revenge, not of justice… because human justice is always fragile and imperfect, subject as it is to the limitations and egoism of individuals and groups, it must include and, as it were, be completed by the forgiveness which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations from their foundations... Forgiveness is in no way opposed to justice, as if to forgive meant to overlook the need to right the wrong done. It is rather the fullness of justice… involving as it does the deepest healing of the wounds which fester in human hearts.”[14]

A prominent convert and professor, J. Budziszewski, with a special interest in virtue ethics, points out that one needs an understanding of both justice and mercy to com­prehend how to forgive when it appears impossible:

 “But to most people today it is not easy to see how justice, which involves punishment, and mercy, which involves remission or forgiveness of punishment, can both be virtues. Contemporary culture swings between an excessively softhearted interpretation of mercy which leaves no room for justice, and an excessively hardhearted interpretation of justice which leaves no room for mercy.”[15]

St. John Paul in his apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris tells us that God’s mercy “corrects in order to lead to conversion.”[16]  Even when God chastises, His "punishments were meant not for the ruin but for the correction... [and are] in fact, a sign of great kindness...Therefore He never withdraws His mercy from us" (2 Macc 6:12-13, 16). 

Forgiveness versus Reconciliation

Forgiveness, according to St. John Paul, is primarily a personal choice that has a “divine source and criterion” urging us“ to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil.”[17]  St. Thomas Aquinas helps us understand the impact of this personal choice to offer forgiveness: “the interior act of virtue is a choice, the exterior act of virtue proceeds from the choice, and the disposition of virtue causes the choice.”[18]  Therefore, being open to forgiveness is a necessary disposition prior to our interior act of forgiving, which is the decision to forgive.  We may need to make the choice to forgive repeatedly when the temp­ta­tion to ill-feelings and retaliation reoccurs.  However, the offender is not a participant in this choice because our disposition, interior act, and subsequent virtuous action of forgiving occur in the private realm of the offended person’s interior.    Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling, and requires God’s grace to overlook faults, to seek healing for hurts, and to love our enemies.  Forgiveness “does not involve demanding a return or remorse from the other person: neither is it tolerating, exonerating, or condoning that person’s actions.”[19]  Another benefit is that it prevents giving the offender control over our decision to forgive, especially when the offender denies responsibility for what he has done or refuses to express any remorse.[20]  The offender, however, does maintain control over participating in reconciliation. Forgiveness “is to offer mercy to someone who has acted unjustly” [21] but “not to condone, excuse, forget, or even to reconcile.”[22]  By making the personal choice to forgive, however, we open the door to reconciliation – an act of justice that restores balance in a damaged relationship through restitution as opposed to a demand for retribution.  Acknowledging “the profound truth that reconciliation is not simply an end in itself,” the USCCB Subcommittee on the Third Millennium teaches that “reconciliation is for the sake of communion... There can be no forgiveness and reconciliation without unity and communion with God and with one another.”[23]  In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI delivered an apostolic exhortation which provided an extensive description of recon­ciliation:

“‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you’, says the Lord, and he adds ‘not as the world gives do I give to you’ (Jn 14:27).  Human peace obtained without justice is illusory and ephemeral. Human justice which is not the fruit of reconciliation in the ‘truth of love’ (Eph 4:15) remains incomplete; it is not authentic justice. Love of truth – ‘the whole truth,’ to which the Spirit alone can lead us (cf. Jn 16:13) – is what marks out the path that all human justice must follow if it is to succeed in restoring the bonds of fraternity...Reconciliation, then, is not limited to God’s plan to draw estranged and sinful humanity to himself in Christ through the forgiveness of sins and out of love. It is also the restoration of relationships between people through the settlement of differences and the removal of obstacles to their relationships in their experience of God’s love... In the wake of a conflict, reconciliation...restores a union of hearts and serene coexistence... Victims have a right to truth and justice.”[24]

Reconciliation is an act of justice, which is a virtue “directed toward the common good… [and] is essentially directed toward what is right (fair and equal) in our relation­ships with others.”[25]  According to St. Aquinas: “Unlike other virtues, justice is always ‘other’-regarding.”[26]  Falling under “commutative justice,” recon­cili­ation “preserves an equality between persons by rendering what is due to each [person]… in situations in which the suffering or loss of one is balanced by the suffering or loss of another.”[27]  While “restitution is an act of commutative justice,”[28] “a person establishes the equality of justice by doing good… and preserves the already established equality of justice by declining from evil.”[29]  This means that we “do good by… respecting the just claims of other persons, and we avoid evil by avoiding harm… to other individual persons.” [30] Therefore, reconciliation requires participation of both the offended and the offender:   

“Jesus called for replacing ‘an eye for an eye’ with love for one's enemies (Mt. 5:38-43). Following this call, Pope John Paul II argued that forgiveness must often accompany justice if reconciliation is to be obtained; otherwise retributive justice may lock people into a repetitive cycle of violence and counterviolence rather than leading to recon­ciliation.” [31]        

Summary

This paper discussed Jesus’ teaching that God's forgiveness and mercy are contingent upon our first forgiving others.  Unconditional mercy by forgiving trespasses is required, even when the offender does not have remorse.  Forgiveness is a personal choice to show mercy to the offender and, accordingly, requires an act of mercy on the part of the offended person.  In addition, forgiveness shows an openness to reconciliation, which is an act of justice requiring collaboration and participation by both the offender and the offended to restore the relationship. In The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to maintain a disposition of forgiveness and openness to reconciliation as a condition for God’s forgiveness.  St. Aquinas explains that “whoever is so disposed that he is prepared to give pardon to anyone who asks, he will not lose the fruit of this prayer as long as in general he does not have hatred for anyone.[32]  Therefore, a person who has chosen forgiveness and who is open and ready for reconciliation indicates the reality of a decision that is not dependent upon a request from the offender, but on the mercy and love within his interior.  The words of St. John Paul, in his message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, summarize the thesis of this paper wonderfully:

“My reasoned conviction, confirmed in turn by biblical revelation, is that the shattered order cannot be fully restored except by a response that combines justice with forgiveness. The pillars of true peace are justice and that form of love which is forgiveness… The followers of Christ, baptized into his redeeming Death and Resurrection, must always be men and women of mercy and forgiveness.”[33]     

[1] All biblical citations in this paper are taken from the New American Bible, Revised ed. (Charlotte, NC: Saint Benedict Press, 2010), unless otherwise noted.

[2] Servais Pinckaers, The Sources of Christian Ethics, Translated from the 3rd ed. By Mary Thomas Noble. (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995), 164.

[3] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), § 2763.

[4] Ibid., § 2838.

[5] Ibid., § 2840.

[6] John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, Vatican Website, Nov. 30, 1980, § 14, accessed Apr. 3, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia.html.

[7] Ibid.  

[8] Ibid., § 15.

[9] Francis, Misericordiae Vultus, Vatican Website, Apr. 11, 2015, § 9, accessed Apr. 4, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html.

[10] Benedict XVI, “Message on the Occasion of the 18th Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences,” Vatican Website, Apr. 27, 2012, accessed Apr. 4, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/messages/pont-messages/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20120427_social-sciences.pdf.

[11] John Paul II, “No Peace without Justice, No Justice without Forgiveness," Vatican Website, January 1, 2002, § 10, accessed April 3, 2018, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_20011211_xxxv-world-day-for-peace.pdf.

[12] Ibid., § 9.

[13] Eve Garrard and David McNaughton, “In Defense of Unconditional Forgiveness,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 103, no. 1 (September 2002): 40, accessed April 6, 2018, http://at.opal-libraries.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9859752&site=ehost-live

[14] John Paul II, “No Peace without Justice, No Justice without Forgiveness," § 3.

[15] J. Budziszewski, Commentary on Thomas Aquinas's Virtue Ethics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 160.

[16] John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris [Christian Meaning of Suffering], Vatican Website, February 11, 1984, § 12, accessed April 3, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.pdf.

[17] John Paul II, “No Peace without Justice, No Justice without Forgiveness," § 8.

[18] Budziszewski, Aquinas's Virtue Ethics, 160.

[19] George F.R. Ellis, “Afterword:  Exploring the Unique Role of Forgiveness.” In Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Public Policy & Conflict Transformation, (Radnor, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2001), 405.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Robert D. Enright and Chad M. Magnuson, “The Church as Forgiving Community: An Initial Model,” Journal of Psychology and Theology 36, no. 2, (June 2008): 114, accessed April 12, 2018, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/009164710803600204.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Subcommittee on the Third Millennium, Jubilee 2000: A Year of the Lord’s Favor – A Reflection on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1998), 13.

[24] Benedict XVI, Africae Munus [Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace], Vatican Website, November 19, 2011, accessed April 16, 2018, § 18, 20-21, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africae-munus.pdf.

[25] Christopher Kaczor and Thomas Sherman, Thomas Aquinas on The Cardinal Virtues: Edited and Explained for Everyone (Ave Maria, FL: Sapientia Press, 2009), 60.

[26] Ibid., 59.

[27] Ibid., 61.

[28] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. Fr. Laurene Shapcote, vol. 17 (Lander, WY: The Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2012), IIa-IIae, q. 62, a. 1.

[29] Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, IIa-IIae, q. 79, a. 1, quoted in Kaczor and Sherman, Aquinas on Cardinal Virtues, 62.

[30] Kaczor and Sherman, Aquinas on Cardinal Virtues, 62.

[31] David Hollenbach, “Reconciliation and Justice: Ethical Guidance for a Broken World,” Promotio Justitiae 103, no. 3, (Rome: 2009): 2, accessed March 15, 2018, http://sjweb.info/sjs/pjnew/PJShow.cfm?pubTextID=8469

[32] Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Aquinas Institute, Inc., version: 18.0323.1929, 2018, chap 6, lec 3, § 957, accessed April 3, 2018, https://aquinas.cc/180/182/~1698.

[33] John Paul II, “Celebration of the World Day of Peace," § 2, 7.

Printable Version

[aconissa]

hi ana :) can you give some lgbt book recs for pride month? novels and non-fiction?

Of course, happy to! Here's a pretty solid list but you can find even more on my ‘lgbt’ shelf on goodreads or under my ‘recs’ tag ❤️

Biographies:

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave

Gentleman Jack by Angela Steidele 

Christopher and His Kind by Christopher Isherwood

Boy Erased by Garrard Conley

In Search of Mary Shelley by Fiona Sampson

History, essays, and criticism:

Homosexuality & Civilisation by Louis Crompton

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd

The Sexuality of History: Modernity and the Sapphic, 1565-1830 by Susan Lanser

Inseparable: Desire Between Women in Literature by Emma Donoghue

Pride: The Unlikely Story of the True Heroes of the Miner’s Strike by Tim Tate

Gay and After by Alan Sinfield

Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women by Leila J. Rupp

Critical Essays: Gay and Lesbian Writers of Color edited by Emmanuel S. Nelson

Epistemology of the Closet by Eve Segwick

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton

Novels (mlm):

Maurice by E.M. Forster

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (+ gnc character)

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Mary Renault’s Alexander the Great trilogy

Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy

A Land So Wild by Elyssa Warkentin

The Binding by Bridget Collins

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet by Myrlin A. Hermes

A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón

Novels (wlw):

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry (+ mlm & gnc)

Carol (or The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith

How To Be Both by Ali Smith

In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Tell it to the Bees by Fiona Shaw

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

Disobedience by Naomi Alderman

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (+ mlm)

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

The Pull of Stars by Emma Donoghue

Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

Novels (trans & gnc):

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara (+ mlm)

Peter Darling by Austin Chant (+ mlm)

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen (+ mlm & wlw)

Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (+ mlm & wlw)

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson (+ mlm)

Short story collections:

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Monstress by Lysley Tenorio

A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan

The Whole Story and Other Stories by Ali Smith

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages

[antisemitism-eu]

Ireland: Politician says that Israel has ‘taken Nazism to a new level’

Via Harry's Place (Eve Garrard):

Sinn Fein TD has said sorry for a tweet she posted some years ago in which she declared, among other obnoxious remarks, that Israel has ‘taken Nazism to a new level’. She has now announced that “I apologise unreservedly and wholeheartedly to people I have offended …… I never intended to cause hurt or distress to anyone.” This apology is couched in a form of words that is quite frequently used by people who have found that the uncensored expression of their views about Israel and its supporters has turned out to be politically damaging to them. It’s a singularly irritating form of words, and it’s worth pinning down just why this is so. For a start, let’s not overlook just how extreme Réada Cronin’s particular claim was: she was saying that the Jewish state has engaged in the practices which were used by the Nazis at their very worst. Just think what those practices actually amounted to back in the day, and think also of the complete lack of evidence that Cronin provided when claiming that Israel is doing the same kind of thing today. (Nor could she possibly have provided it, since it doesn’t exist.). That appalling and unfounded charge is what she’s apologising for, and she casts her apology for it in the language of regret for giving offence. It’s true that quite a lot of Jews will indeed be offended by being told that Israel engages in industrial-scale mass murder, with attendant rapes, tortures, and hideous medical experimentations on millions of helpless Palestinians, in the total absence of evidence for this. (Why, it’s almost as if people are prepared to make up disgusting lies about Jews – whoever heard of such a thing!)

read more The New Antisemite: https://ift.tt/2PfcVhZ

[between-crowns-and-tiaras]

Royal Tiara Challenge: {14/30} A tiara you would like to see Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg wear --> The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara.

This tiara was one of the future Queen Mary’s wedding presents in 1893, and was gifted to her by the girls of Great Britain and Ireland. Specifically, a committee of them chaired by Lady Eve Greville. The committee raised over £5,000 and purchased this tiara from Garrard before donating the remainder of the funds to charity at the request of the princess.

I know it doens’t belong to the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg, but I think this jewel would be beautiful for Stephanie. I think it go with her.

[nemesisbinxartifactseries]

Artifact Series A

A Christmas Story Leg Lamp (canon)

A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson

A.A. Milne's Honey Dipper

ABBA's Champagne Glasses

AFV Video Screen

A.J. Hackett's Bungee Cord

ATLAS Android Test Subject

Aaron's Rod

Aaron's Staff

Aaron Anderson’s Oars

Aaron Swartz's Computer Mouse

Abby Normal's Brain *

Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani's Walking Stick

Abebe Bikila's Jersey

Abigail Williams' Pendent

Abing's Erhu

Abraham's Sapphire

Abraham Lincoln's Top Hat *

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy Chart

Abraham Suydam's Golden Pocketwatch

Abraham Ulrikib's Caribou Pelt

Absorbent Photo Album and Camera

Abu al-Qasim's Bellows

Abu al-Qasim's Forceps

Abu Hurairah's Tombstone

Achilles' Arrow *

Accordion from Kunstkamera

Acme Police Whistle

Ada Lovelace's Dress

Adad-nirari I’s Axe Blade

Adam Lanza's Gun

Adam Rainer's Measuring Tape

Adam Sandler's Idea Pad

Adelard of Bath’s Abacus

Adolf Eichmann's Eagle Insignia Badge

Adolf Frederick's Silver Cutlery Set

Adolf Hitler's Colored Pencils

Adolf Hitler's Microphone *

Adolf Slaby's Snuff Box

Adolphe Chaillet's "Shelby" Bulbs *

Adolphe Dugleres' Menu

Adrian Hill's Sketchpad

Aegean Sails

Aegicoros' Goblet

Aesop's Cloak

Aesop's Grapevine

Aesop's Pendant

Aesop’s Rope

Aeschylus' Turtle Shell

African Ngil Fang Mask *

African Tribal Elephant Tusk *

African Witch Doctor's Staff

Agamemnon's Mycenaean Bronze Sword

Agatha Christie's Car

Agatha Christie's Typewriter *

Agatha Christie's Wedding Ring

Agathodaemon's Natron

Agent Aden Taylor's God-Tier Clock

Agent Aden Taylor's God Tier Outfit

Aggressive Metal Lunchbox

Agnodice’s Tunic

Aguara's Carob

Ahmad Shah Durrani's Pesh-Kabz

Ahmose I’s Armband

Aileen Wuornos' Black Ledger

Aimée Crocker's Hat and Fur Stole

Air from the Great Stink of 1858

Air Raid Siren from Pearl Harbor

Air-Raid Skeet Thrower

Airbrushes from Disney Studios *

Akbar the Great's Water Container

Akira Kurosawa's Mao Hat

Akira Toriyama's Original Pen

Aki Ra’s Landmine Casings

Alain Robert’s Bag of Chalk

Albert Fish's Whip of Nails

Al Capone's Fedora

Al Capone's Machine Guns *

Al Smith's 1928 Campaign Badges

Aladdin's Lamp

Alan Hale Jr.'s Skipper Hat

Alan Seeger's Helmet

Alan Turing's Typewriter

Alan Wake's Flashlight

Alarm Clock

Albert Abrams’ Vials

Albert Anastasia's Barber Shop Chair

Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll

Albert Butz's Glasses *

Albert Camus' Coffee Cup

Albert Einstein's Bridge Device *

Albert Einstein's Chalk

Albert Einstein's Comb *

Albert Stevens’ Paintbrush

Albert Tirrell’s Razor

Alberto Burri's Sacking and Red

Albertus Magnus' Quill Pen

Alboin’s Skull Cup

Albrecht Dürer's Rhinoceros Horn

Self-portrait at 26" href="/wiki/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer%27s_%27%27Self-portrait_at_26%27%27">Albrecht Dürer's Self-portrait at 26 *

Alchemist's Curse

Alcmaeon of Croton's Ring

Aldrich Ames' Chalk

Aldus Manutius’ Vellum

Aleijadinho’s Palanquin

Aleister Crowley's Ruby Studded Universal Hexagram Necklace *

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Keisaku

Tetris" href="/wiki/Aleksandr_Serebrov%27s_Nintendo_Game_Boy_%26_Copy_of_%27%27Tetris%27%27">Aleksandr Serebrov's Nintendo Game Boy & Copy of Tetris

Alessandro Volta's Biscuit Bin *

Alessandro Volta's Lab Coat and Goggles *

Alethiometer

Alex Mercer's Jacket

Alex Sander's Scourge

Alexander of Abonoteichus' Grimorie

Alexander Alekhine's Chess Set *

Alexander Bain's Fax Machine

Alexander Calder's First Mobile

Alexander D'Agapeyeff's Telegraph

Alexander Fleming's Beaker

Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone Wire

Alexander the Great's Bronze Breastplate

Alexander the Great's Xyston

Alexander of Greece's Pocket Watch

Alexander Grey's Owl Pendant

Alexander Hamilton's & Aaron Burr's Dueling Pistols

Alexander Herrmann's Gold Watch

Alexander Hermann's Mustache Scissors *

Alexander Keith Jr’s Barrel

Alexander Litvinenko's Tea Pot

Alexander Morison's Top Hat

Alexander Polyhistor's Animal Fiber Sponge

Alexander Steinert's Grand Piano

Alexander von Humboldt's Fern

Alexander Wilson's Falconry Glove

Alexandre Étienne Choron’s Menu

Alexey Leonov's Near the Moon

Alexis Soyer's Cutting Board

Alexis St. Martin's Musket Powder

Al-Farabi's Shahrud

Alfred Adler’s Coat Rack

Alfred Dreyfus' Sword Hilt *

Alfred George Hinds' Prison Uniform

Alfréd Hajós' Measuring Tape

Alfred Hitchcock's Metal Pinwheel (canon)  

Alfred Kinsey's Abacus

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Bronze Statue of Chiron

Alfred's Monarch Ice Skates

Alfred Nobel's Box Detonator

Alfred Nobel's Curtains

Alfred Packer's Gold

Alfred Snoxall's Lee-Enfield Rifle

Alfred N. Stevenson's Military Helmet

Alfred Stieglitz's Tripod

Alfred Watkin’s Theodolite

Alfred Wegener's Parka

Algie the Pig

Al Herpin's Rocking Chair

Al Hirschfeld’s Chair and Lamp

Ali Asghar Borujerdi's Prayer Beads

Alice Manfield’s Trekking Pole

Alice Bailey's Necklace

Alice's Crown

Alice Stebbins Wells’ Police Badge

Alien's Device Prop

Allan Pinkerton's Briefcase

Allan W. E. Jones' Underwear

Alleyway from Kowloon Walled City

Alliance Tenna-Scope TV Signal Booster

All Hallow's Eve Pumpkin

Alphonse Bertillon's Shaving Mirror

Alphonse Cahagnet's Magnets

Alpine Brandy Rescue Cask *

Aloysius 'Alois' Alzheimer's Eye Glasses

Alpharts Tod's Hauberk

Altaïr's Hidden Blade

Aluminum Bluthner Piano *

Álvaro Obregón's Right Arm

Alvin C. Graves' Tie

Alvin C. York's .45 Colt Automatic Pistol

Alvin C. York's Medal

Alvin Straight’s Riding Lawn Mower

Alyattes of Lydia's Electrum Coins

Amanda Palmer's Ukulele

Amanda Todd's Flashcards

Amasa Coleman Lee's Porch Swing

Amaterasu's Yasakani no Magatama

Amazon Fish Tank *

The Amber Room

Amber Sphere *

Amber Spyglass

Ambrose Bierce's Skull

Ambrose Burnside's Jacket

Amelia Earhart's Goggles

Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega 5B

Amenemhat III’s Pyramidion

Amenemhat III's Sistrum

Amenemhat IV’s Sphinx

"American Idiot" Stage Set

Amerigo Vespucci's Armor Plate

Amityville House Windows

Ammunition from the USS Maine

Amphion's Lyre

Amulet of Hapi

Amy Lowell's Cigar

Amy Winehouse's Microphone

An Zhengwen's Brush

Anasazi Rope

Anatoly Onoprienko's Sawed off Shotgun

Anatomical Model

Anaxagoras' Krater

Anaximander's Sundial

André the Giant's Wrestling Singlet

André Citroën's Double Helical Gear

André de Toth’s 3-D Glasses

Andre Devigny's Bedding and Lantern

André Devigny Spoon

André-Marie Ampère’s Notebook

André Martinet's Phonograph

Andrea Aguyar’s Lasso

Andrea del Verrocchio's Workshop

Andreas Mihavecz’s Prison Cell

Andreas Vesalius' Watering Can

Andrew Borden's Couch

Andy Dufresne’s Rock Hammer

Andrew Jackson's Keg of Ale

Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World

Andy Kaufman's Bowl & Spoon

Andy Kaufman's Sunglasses

Andy Lambros' Fishing Pole

Andy the Clown’s Costume

Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans

Andy Warhol's Concept Dress Mannequin

Andy Warhol's Hairbrush

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych

Anfo Merc's Electric Guitar and Battery Amplifier

Angela Cavallo's Car Fender

Angelo Faticoni's Chair

Angelo Moriondo’s Espresso Machine

Angelo Siciliano's Workout Trunks *

Angel Wings from the Pulse Funeral

Angkor Wat Piece of Vishnu

Ankou's Horseshoe

Angry Birdcage *

Animatronic Presidents from the "Hall of Presidents" in Walt Disney World

Anita King’s Lighter

Ann Corio's Bra

Ann Faraday's Jacket

Anna Baker's Wedding Dress

Anna Bertha Ludwig's Wedding Ring

Anna de Coligny's Crown

Anna Pavlova's Swan-Feather Fan

Annabelle Doll

Anne Boleyn's Pearl Necklace and Ornate B

Anne Bonny's Cutlass *

Anne Frank's Diary and Ribbon Bookmark

Anne Greene's Noose

Anne Sullivan’s Doll

Annette Funicello's Beach Ball *

Annie Edson Taylor's Barrel *

Annie Fox's Purple Heart

Annie Oakley’s Bonnet

Ansel Adams' Camera

Antarctic Whaling Station Camp

Anthony Bishop's Manuscript *

Anthony Salerno's Fedora *

Anthony Spilotro's Casino Tokens

Anthony Stewart/Rupert Giles' Glasses

Anti-Boarding Netting from the Mary Rose

Antique Candy Box

Antoine Lavosier's Candle

Antoine Lavosier's Microscope

Anton Aicher's Marionette Handle

Anton Chekov’s Pince-Nez's

Antoni Gaudí’s Chisel and Trencadís

Antonietta Dell'Era's Ballet Slippers

Antonio Stradivari's Violin Strings *

Antonio Vivaldi’s Aspergillum

Anton Praetorius' Hynm Book

Anubis Canopic Jar

Anubis Shrine Pyramid *

Anuket's Necklace

Aphrodite's Ankle Bracelet

Aphrodite's Girdle *

Aphrodite's Hairbrush

Apple of Discord

Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Hoax Set *

Apollo 11 Moon Rock *

Apollo 13 Command Module

Apollo 15 Geologic Hammer and Falcon Feather

Apollonius of Tyana's Amulet

Apollo of Veii's Arms

Apollo’s and Artemis’ Bows

Apollo's Sandals

Apophis Statuette

Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s Goggles

Aquilas from the Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Arachne's Loom

Arceus' Plates

Archibald McIndoe's Saline Bathtub

Archibald Spooner's Cloak

Archilochus' Aulos

Archimedes's Bathtub

Arc Light from the Iroquois Theater

Ares' Gauntlets

Aretha Franklin's Spotlight

The Argo

Ariadne's Ball of Thread

Aristotle's Lyre

Aron Ralston’s Pocketknife

Artemisia II of Caria's Chalice

Armand David's Glasses & Zucchetto

Armand Guillaumin's Soleil couchant à Ivry

Armando Socarras Ramirez's Shirt

Arne Larsson's Pacemaker

Arrow of Alan Gua

Arrow of Time

Artemis' Cloak Pin

Arthur Aitken's Pith Helmet

Arthur Aston's Wooden Leg

Arthur Blessitt’s Cross

Arthur C. Clarke's Telescope

Arthur Claude Darby's Rope

Arthur Conan Doyle's Disintegration Machine

Arthur Conan Doyle's Fairy Notebook

Arthur Conan Doyle's Pipe

Arthur Edward Waite's Tarot Deck

Arthur Evans' Magnifying Glass

Arthur Galston's Soil Knife

Arthur Rostron’s Loving Cup

Arthur Stace’s Chalk

Arthur Wellesley's Boots

Arthur Wynne's Journal

Arthur Zimmermann's Ticker-tape Machine

Artie Moore's Headphones

Artie Shaw's Clarinet *

Asclepius' Offering Bowl

Ash Williams’ Double-Barrel "Boomstick"

Ashes from the 1925 Madame Tussaud Fire

Ashley Revell's Tuxedo

Ashurbanipal's Crown

Ashoka's Hell

Ashoka's Pillars

Assorted Herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme)

Asphyxiating Blackboard Erasers

Atalanta's Spear

Æthelred the Unready's Crown

Athena's Owl Pendant

Athena Parthenos

Athena's Aegis

Athena’s Breastplate

Athens Caryatid

Atlanta Ripper's Balaclava

Atlantean Crystal Pendant

Atlas' Globe

Atomic Bombs from The Dayton Project

Atticus Finch's Pocketwatch

Attila the Hun's Battle Helmet (canon)

Attila the Hun's Swaddling Blanket *

Audio-Healing Tuning Fork *

August Bier’s Needle

August Musger's Projector

August Natterer's Bible

Auguste Escoffier’s Tasting Spoons

Auguste Piccard's Gondola

Auguste Renoir's Young Girls at the Piano *

Auguste Rodin's Hammer and Chisel *

Auguste Rodin's Gateway to Hell

Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss

Auguste Rodin's Rasp

Augustina de Aragon's Cannon

Augustin-Jean Fresnel's Magnifying Glass *

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle’s Touch-Me-Not Plant

Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Double Eagle Gold Coin

Aung San's Pinhole Camera

Aurora's Torch

Australian Boomerang

Automatic Trash-Disposal Waste Bin

Automatic Vaccum *

Autumn Leaves

Avatar Relics from The Last Airbender

Axe Ring

Axel Erlandson's Sycamore Seeds

Axeman of New Orleans' Phonograph

Ayrton Senna's Race Suit

Azletar (by technicality)

Aztec Bloodstone *

[crownedlegend]

The ‘Girls of Great Britain and Ireland’ Tiara was given to the future Queen Mary as a wedding present in 1893. The diamond tiara was purchased from Garrard, the London jeweller, by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1947, Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, as a wedding present.

The tiara was described by Leslie Field as “a diamond festoon-and-scroll design surmounted by nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a bandeau base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds”. Queen Elizabeth II usually wears the tiara without the base or pearls. 

https://fashionistasdaily.wordpress.com/tag/princess-diana/

[kuwaiti-kid]

Vagrant Queen Star Adriyan Rae Discusses the Season Finale and Behind the Scenes

Adriyan Rae is the Vagrant Queen in SyFy's hit series based on Vault Comic's story Vagrant Queen. 

It was divine intervention that led Adriyan Rae into a career in film. She attended the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and became a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist, before moving to Atlanta where she found her passion for performance. She landed her first role in Burning Sands, an independent feature that was produced by Netflix. You can catch her in roles on Donald Glover's Atlanta, BET's American Soul, and Hulu's Light as a Feather.

But lately, she's been playing a child-queen-turned-outlaw on the run from a galactic government as Elida Al-Feyr in SyFy's Vagrant Queen.

Credit: Diana Ragland

Maggie Lovitt (ML): How have things been going with quarantine?

Adriyan Rae (AR): Quarantine, for me, wasn’t really much of a difference. I am very much a person who is in my house all the time. It was just that all my favorite stores were shut down and they still are. It was just converting to home workouts that was the most difficult. 

ML: Have you been bingeing any TV shows? 

AR: Yes, prior to the last week I’ve been bingeing Avatar: The Last Airbender for the fifth time. Which I just absolutely love. It’s so deep. Since March I’ve watched Succession, The Outsider, and Killing Eve. I’m waiting for the last episode of that. 

ML: Oh yeah! I think the finale is this week, isn’t it? I’ve lost track of when shows come out. 

AR: I’ve been a part of the Black Lives Matter movement for the past week, so I haven’t really been watching much TV. I’ve been researching and fighting the good fight. 

ML: So have you been out protesting? 

AR: I have indeed. 

ML: You went to school for Medical Laboratory Scientist, how did you get into acting? 

AR: And Physician Assistant Studies. I got into acting by divine intervention. I swore I was going to be a surgeon since I was like five. I went to school for science and I was doing great and loved it. I graduated and I went to Atlanta, which is the black entertainment capital. While there, I was like, “Alright I want to sing.” In the midst of trying to get on with singing, I met with Epic Records and things like that. 

I was introduced to acting on a video set. Where they were like, “Do you want to be the lead (in the music video)?” I was like, “Uh, I don’t know. No.” They told me I just had to act like this was my boyfriend and I was like “Alright!” I tried it and they told me I was pretty good at it and suggested I try acting. Literally, everything just aligned. I found a mentor who taught me Stanislavski and Stella Adler methods. And trained me in the fundamentals. And then I got on set and I was like, “Oh! This is what it’s like to be at work and have it not feel like work. To really love your job.” 

ML: And then to jump into Vagrant Queen which is such a huge role. What was the audition process like?

AR: The audition process was a self-tape which is really cool. I love doing self-tapes. I got the audition and I was like “Oh! This is cool. It’s comedy, action, and drama. It’s like Guardians of the Galaxy!” I remember we got feedback pretty fast. I had just done another audition and I got an email and I swore it was going to be for that audition. But my manager was like, “No it’s for Vagrant Queen! Wow. They must really like you.” They had some notes, so we redid the take with the notes. And I remember not really liking that tape that much. I cried. I was like, “I really loved that one and now I’m not going to book it.” But then four days later I got an email that said I had booked the role. 

ML: That’s amazing that you found out so quickly!

AR: Hollywood is a fast yes and a slow no.

ML: With the role of Elida, how much of your portrayal is comic-based and how much is a collaboration between you and the showrunner? 

AR: Initially, with my audition, it was based on what I had available. I had the pilot and I had the comic book. It was really cool, because Jem (Garrard) merged the worlds really well. Because she merged it and I had the visual of what the world looked like, it was really easy. Once I was on set I really relied on Jem. I had built Elida from child all the way to the present, because I also had to play teen Elida. Everything from her favorite colors and foods. What she’s eating right now. What she used to love. All those things I’ve built. So I would talk to Jem and make sure that’s what she wanted and what was in the comic, because she loves the comic. That’s more so how we made the character and her arc. 

ML: Were there any challenges during filming you weren’t expecting? 

AR: Heck yeah! I was in South Africa, which was completely different than my normal life. I had never been outside of the country before. It was a challenge because of the time difference with family being so far away. It was a challenge of learning stunts. I did like 98% of my stunts. 

Sometimes with the schedule, we’d have six-day work weeks. So we were working for six days a week, twelve hours a day. It seems like you’d have twelve hours, but that’s really seven hours to yourself for sleeping and showering. Sometimes you have to figure out if you can just eat at another time. You have to study and work out. It’s a lot of that. That was the challenge. Working that schedule. And making sure I had time for my mental health, for Elida, for stunts, for personal development, and working on auditions that were still coming in. Juggling it all was the challenge.

ML: What is your process for getting into character as Elida? 

AR: Are you an actor as well?

ML: Yes!

AR: Then you’ll understand. By episode three or four it was really easy to jump into Elida. When I first got on set, there were those first day set jitters. Music is my sanity. So I started listening to music. Empowering music. That’s what really helped me get ready for Elida. It really set the tone for her confidence and abilities. It got me out of my head of being scared or worried. Elida doesn’t worry about that stuff. I would start my day off with eating my food, listening to my music. Then when I had to get my ears put on I’d take my music off, but once they were dry I put it right back in. Journaling also really helped me.

ML: Did you have a playlist for Elida?

AR: I have a playlist for every character I test for.

ML: I do the same thing!

AR: It’s really helpful. Especially when you’re testing. It’s just so hectic. You get there and there’s other people there and you’re like, “Wait, what are they doing here? I thought they liked me.” It’s a lot so it helps me focus on who I was trying to be. 

Credit: SyFy's “Vagrant Queen”

ML: Looking online, I found that Vagrant Queen has a really solid fanbase. I asked some fans about their burning questions. 

AR: Oh, I love them! 

ML: Their number one question was about this burgeoning relationship between Elida and Amae. At the time of this interview, they just shared their first kiss. So, what can fans expect from that relationship in the finale? 

AR: Some wild things happen in the finale. What’s coming is a possible strengthening of their bond. They both know where they’re at now. They both know exactly who they love, who they care about, and what’s important. They’re both in a good space. That is a trying time for interpersonal relationships to thrive. 

ML: There have been several betrayals and twists with Elida's allies and close friends. How do you approach these emotional scenes?

AR: I approach them as human as possible. I take out the themes of Vagrant Queen. Take it out of being in space or about a monarchy. I make it as human as possible. It became more about “How does betrayal feel? What does betrayal look like? What are the different layers of feeling betrayal? What are the different layers of actual betrayal?” Since many of them are happening. I just went from there and really allowed those to be natural reactions to what was happening. I thought that would resonate the most, as it resonated most with me.

ML: Focusing more on the human emotions, rather than the epic space drama.

AR: Exactly! If you focus on, “My loyalists did this.” It’s not going to resonate as much as, “My father figure did this.”

ML: Do you enjoy shooting the fight scenes?

AR: Oh, I love it! Literally my team would be like, “It’s an action day!” I love the fight scenes. It’s so invigorating and cool to learn these choreos and see how they come out on screen. With this last episode, we worked so hard. With a lot of the fights, I didn’t have time to learn. With the karaoke fight, I had learned that in five or ten minutes. The port fight I learned in probably a half-hour. With the finale fight, I had like a week. I got to practice with Paul (du Toit) and really worked it out. It’s awesome, I love it.

ML: Do you have a favorite location or planet that they visited this season?

AR: I loved the aesthetic of the dunes. It was absolutely beautiful. It was hectic to shoot it because it was sand dunes. It can be really windy. It was a desert so it was hot and it was cold. But aesthetically it was beautiful. I really love the Winnie. It was an actual ship with an upper and lower deck. I used to hang out in my room and kick people out of my room. 

ML: Speaking of rooms, what’s something you always have to have in your trailer?

AR: A candle. It’s so weird, but I always have to have a candle. I always have to have tomatoes. I have tomatoes on every set. 

ML: Is that your go-to snack?

AR: Yes! Tomatoes and vinegar. It would be like one o’clock and I’d be hungry and they’d be like, “Do you want your tomatoes?”

ML: Well, that is a perfect segway into catering. I’ve always said I got into acting for the catering.

AR: Isn’t it great? You get to try something new. And I don’t feel bad for wasting if I don’t like it. 

ML: What’s the best meal you’ve had on the set of Vagrant Queen?

AR: I didn’t really eat much at catering. I had a snack pack. I was in so many scenes and our schedule was so fast, I hardly had time to walk over to catering. They got me this snack pack that would go with me to each scene. I’d probably say chips were my favorite snack. In Cape Town, they have these different flavors of Lays chips. They had this chili flavor that was my favorite. 

ML: What is something you always have to make sure you have with you on set? 

AR: I have this book of Elida. That is like my Bible. It is with me everywhere I go. I always have to have that and my Air Pods. It’s her journey, I mark her out. It has everything she loves and doesn’t love. If there’s a scene where some food pops up that’s blue, but she hates blue food. I don’t want to miss that. It’s written down in my book. I need that so I can hit that beat and to incorporate that nuance. I can’t go anywhere without that book. The crew used to find my book and move it. I’d be like, “Someone has lost my book!” My blue book was a big thing. 

ML: Did you come across any restaurants in Cape Town that you loved?

AR: Elida is vegetarian, so when I’m filming I’m vegetarian. It changed the restaurants that were available for me. Cape Town is known for their barbecue and really good meats. But they had great restaurants like Nü. I ordered from them a lot. They also had Nobu, which was right by the water and they had fresh food. It’s hard to find vegetarian sushi.

ML: So you’re very method when it comes to Elida.

AR: It’s a balance of being method, but being able to come out of it. When there’s episodes like five or six where she’s going through tumultuous emotions of loss with people dying, I have to be able to come out of that when I go home.

ML: Before we wrap up, what can you tease about Elida’s own personal journey in the finale?

AR: Elida finally finds her voice and shuts up other people. 

You can watch the full season of Vagrant Queen on SyFy. Be sure to follow Adriyan on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Vagrant Queen Star Adriyan Rae Discusses the Season Finale and Behind the Scenes appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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[worstjourney]

Just here to ruin your King's College carol service with some penguin hunting ...

[patronizingbunnyrabbits]

Books I Read in 2019

1. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

2. Symptoms of Being Human - Jeff Garvin

3. Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher

4. Fox 8 - George Saunders

5. Postcards from the Edge - Carrie Fisher

6. Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

7. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders

8. Idle Days - Thomas Desaulniers-Brousseu and Simon Leclerc

9. Spinning - Tillie Walden

10. Dog Songs - Mary Oliver

11. Crow Planet - Lyanda Lynn Haupt

12. None of the Above - IW Gregorio

13. Scrappy Little Nobody - Anna Kendrick

14. Dear Fahrenheit 451 - Annie Spence

15. Heartburn - Nora Ephron

16. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

17. Good Me Bad Me - Ali Land

18. Disobedience - Naomi Alderman

19. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark - Michelle McNamara

20. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

21. speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

22. What If It’s Us - Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

23. Take Me With You - Andrea Gibson

24. The Portable Veblen - Elizabeth McKenzie

25. a city inside - Tillie Walden

26. The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin

27. Less - Andrew Sean Greer

28. Higher, Further, Faster. - Liza Palmer

29. Dear Rachel Maddow - Adrienne Kisner

30. High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction - David and Nic Sheff

31. Room - Emma Donoghue 

32. The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert

33. Mindhunter - John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

34. Being Mortal - Atul Gawande

35. The One Hundred Nights of Hero - Isabel Greenberg

36. The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

37. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

38. Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered - Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

39. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

40. Anya’s Ghost - Vera Brosgol

41. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri

42. Euphoria - Lily King

43. The Order of Time - Carlo Rovelli

44. Up in the Air - Walter Kirn 

45. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs - Steve Brusatte

46. Friends with Boys - Faith Erin Hicks

47. The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris

48. Embroideries - Marjane Satrapi 

49. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee

50. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - Carlo Rovelli 

51. American Vampire - Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Stephen King

52. Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself - Anneli Rufus

53. I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman - Nora Ephron

54. So Sad Today - Melissa Broder

55. The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater - Alanna Okun 

56. Bad Friends - Ancco 

57. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

58. Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson

59. Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig

60. The Weight of the Stars - K. Ancrum

61. Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power - Rachel Maddow

62. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

63. Swamplandia! - Karen Russell

64. The End of the Fxxxing World - Charles Forsman

65. I love this part - Tillie Walden

66. Blue is the Warmest Color - Julie Maroh

67. The Vegetarian - Han Kang

68. If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russo

69. Something New - Lucy Knisley 

70. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

71. In the Body of the World - Eve Ensler

72. The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

73. Yes Please - Amy Poehler

74. Letter to My Daughter - Maya Angelou

75. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald - Therese Anne Fowler 

76. two boys kissing - David Levithan

77. Moomin Begins a New Life - Tove Jansson

78. Artichoke Tales - Megan Kelso

79. Boy Erased - Garrard Conley

80. Many Love - Sophie Lucido Johnson

81. Last Day in Vietnam - Will Eisner

82. Bosspants - Tina Fey 

83. The Radium Girls - Kate Moore

84. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

85. Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

86. Logicomix - Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou

87. Juliet Takes a Breath - Gabby Rivera

88. Nimona - Noelle Stevenson

89. The Nature Fix - Florence Williams

90. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments - George Johnson 

Favorites: Less, The Song of Achilles

Least Favorite: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments 

[thatstheticketheresthestory]

Howdy Folks. Happy Sunday

Here’s another stub for your perusal in my weekly nostalgic ticket themed blog #thatstheticket #mylifeibstubs

The Blue Note, Derby (or possibly Rock City Nottingham)

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

1984

Price unknown

The location for this concert is uncertain. The ripped stub bears no venue name. I have the inkling that it was at a cool little venue in Derby where we’d occasionally check out up and coming bands, including memorably, on one occasion, New Order! But my old university mate Rhino, aka Scum, thinks it was at the sweaty, indie temple that is Rock City. Whichever, it was in prime Cloughie country.

The show was just after their debut album came out. To me, Rattlesnakes is one of the finest albums of the eighties. A lyrical delight. In 1984, it was rarely off my Garrard turntable. Ironically the lead single, Perfect Skin was ubiquitous at Nottingham student parties frequented by pimple-faced adolescents.

With an unfeasibly high and tousled barnet and a cherubic face, Lloyd Cole had a touch of the Elvis about him. Although, in retrospect, he was actually more Jimmy Carr than the King. He exemplified bohemia and was rarely seen without his black polo neck.

Evidently, he just left his English Literature and Philosophy course at Glasgow University with a goal of making it big. His star shone brightly, but all too briefly. He’s rarely heard of these days and is not the type of artist you”d expect you’ll see on an 80s revival tour package with Kajagoogoo or Dollar

His lyrics were evocative, hyper-literate and quite possibly totally pretentious. “Read Norman Mailer: or get a new tailor” But I loved this record; still do. Not many artists could get away with casually name-checking philosophers like Simone de Beauvoir or Joan Didion, but he did. He was a dab-hand at conjuring up grandiose images of mysteriously complex girls ‘with cheekbones like geometry and eyes like sin’ Unfortunately these unattainable creatures were in short supply in our world.

But nevertheless, because of our cultured upbringings, the high brow literary references chimed with me and Rhino. Existential philosophy was particularly in vogue on his council estate in Doncaster and of course, my nose was rarely out of a Mailer novel whilst having a cup of Rosie Lee with Chas & Dave down Edmonton Green. That, or I was seeking out a new tailor.

But we had aspirations, buying Granta fiction in order to nonchalantly leave books lying around the house in a woeful attempt to try and impress the girls. In reality, the most intellectual reading matter was the humorous postcards of Biff cartoon that were stuck on the bog door that we’d laugh at whilst having a poo.

Sadly I don’t recall too much of the gig (it was a while ago after all!) In keeping with his hairstyle, the wordsmith wore his guitar up high. He was a very accomplished player. Naturally many other arty type students were in attendance. Quite a few polo necks I suspect. We all seemed to know each and every lyric.

When he got to Rattlesnakes, we all sang along with his most quotable line:- “ She looks like Eve Marie Saint In On the Waterfront’. Personally, I could really relate this lyric. I actually once had drunken grapple with a girl who looked like an actor in On the Waterfront. Sadly, not sultry Eva Marie Saint. She resembled he co-star, Karl Malden 😉

It was a fantastic gig. We left the venue (whichever one it was) to return to our student house to watch a VHS of that evening’s Brookside, or for some other intellectual activity. An unread copy of the Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse gathered dust on the coffee table

Fancy a scotch egg?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSc46sEZdl4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Jb2Qeeuks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLx5MKrr-g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWrpuYssFZ8

[gunboatbaylodge]

Filming in Vancouver: Christmas TV movies abound, Idris Elba and Kate Winslet praise Vancouver

Idris Elba hit the Toronto International Film Festival’s red carpets with his new girlfriend from Vancouver, Sabrina Dhowre.

While, inexplicably, egg nog has already hit Vancouver store shelves prior to Halloween, if you happen to see elaborate Christmas decorations around town, they may not necessarily be companies trying to push the Noel season upon us prematurely.

What you might be witnessing are the numerous Christmas TV movies being shot around town.

In fact, there are so many seasonal TV specials being shot here, Vancouver might as well be renamed Hollywood North Pole.

Here’s a list of the wintertime holiday shows being shot here at the moment.

Alas, full details are limited as most of them haven’t announced any story details or cast members. But if you’re watching specials over the holiday season and the settings look strangely familiar, you’ll know why.

Dermot Mulroney

The Christmas Train, directed by Ron Oliver (Degrassi: The Next Generation), started on August 21 and will wrap on Wednesday (September 20).

Based on the novel by author David Baldacci, the romantic journey follows international journalist Tom Langdon (Dermot Mulroney), who is forced to take a cross-country train ride from Washington, D.C. so that he can reach Los Angeles by Christmas.

Along the way, he encounters a range of personalities—including a movie producer (Danny Glover), a script doctor (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), and a woman who seems to know his business better than he does (Joan Cusack)—and finds that an opportunity for love that he thought was no longer possible.

The show will premiere on Hallmark Channel on November 25.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Secret Santa, directed by Marita Grabiak (American Horror Story), started back on September 11 and continues until September 30.

Christmas in Evergreen, directed by Alex Zamm (Inspector Gadget 2), kicks off today (September 18) and keeps shooting until October 6.

After that, Allan Harmon (Untold Stories of the ER) will be directing Christmas for Joy from September 25 until October 14.

Jem Garrard

At the same time, Evergreen Inn, directed by Vancouver filmmaker Jem Garrard (Mech X-4), also runs the same dates, from today (September 18) to October 6.

Later on, Finding Santa, directed by David Winning (Van Helsing), starts on September 28 and continues until October 19.

Anna Kendrick

As if that’s not enough, that’s all in addition to a major Christmas-themed Disney feature film coming to town that’ll be filming from October 23 to January 19.

Nicole, directed by Marc Lawrence (Music and Lyrics), stars Anna Kendrick (Into the Woods) as the titular heroine, the daughter of Santa Claus, who takes over her family’s business when her father retires and her brother backs out at the last minute before his inaugural flight on Christmas Eve.

Bill Hader

Funny guy Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) is reportedly in talks to play Nicole’s brother.

Idris Elba

In non-Christmas-related but wintry-related filming news, Vancouver has seems to have made quite the impression upon Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. The two starred in the romance-drama The Mountain Between Us, which was filmed in various locations around B.C. from December 5, 2016, to February 24, 2017. (Incidentally, the film also stars the aforementioned Dermot Mulroney.)

Based upon the novel by Charles Martin, the story follows a writer (Winslet) and a doctor (Elba) who have to depend upon one another to survive in the wilderness after their plane crashes.

Kate Winslet

But it was more than just romance on-screen for Elba while in Vancouver.

For the premieres of both Molly’s Game and The Mountain Between Us at the Toronto International Film Festival, the 45-year-old British actor stepped out on the red carpet with his new girlfriend, Sabrina Dhowre.

Dowre is a 29-year-old model of Somali descent who was Miss Vancouver in 2014. The two met while working on set.

During a red-carpet interview in Toronto, Elba praised Vancouver crews and the quality of the air in Invermere, B.C.

Congrats @idriselba on @MountainBetween an amazing film! Thx for shoutout to Vancouver & Invermere BC! @BCCreates @VancityBuzz @VanEconomic http://pic.twitter.com/JQJbS31hQO

— Film in Vancouver (@FilminVancouver) September 14, 2017

Also in a red-carpet interview, Winslet heaped even more praise upon Vancouver.

“I was so happy to be there and so sad to leave,” the Oscar-winning star stated. “Canadians are incredible people.”

While she raved about the “incredible nature” and is even considering finding a way to leave here, she particularly expressed her love for Honey’s Doughnuts and Goodies (4373 Gallant Avenue, North Vancouver) in Deep Cove.

The bakery has also been graced by visits by several other stars while filming here, including Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Garner, and Ben Affleck.

Thx #KateWinslet for #TIFF shout out to Vancouver & @HoneysDeepCove! @MountainBetween @VanEconomic @MyVancouver @creativebcs @VancityBuzz http://pic.twitter.com/fYX4kTk3aN

— Film in Vancouver (@FilminVancouver) September 12, 2017

Well, that’s what we can consider an early Christmas present to Vancouver—and one that couldn’t be nicer.

On that positive note, that’s it for this week’s roundup but be sure to check back in with us for more on what’s shooting in Hollywood North (Pole).

Inside Vancouver Blog