#Gilbert Parlay

[clavissionary-position]

79 more hearts to go... I hope there's a timeline where

Gilbert Copes With One Week Without You

You know, like that one story event

Unlike when you weren't in a relationship, even when Gilbert schedules his week with inspections and covert meetings and shady dealings and nefarious schemings, he discovers it's very much not business as usual. For one, facial muscles relearning their original smile sit at a loss at the sudden loss of stimulus. Dawn and dusk come and go and Gilbert genuinely feels the weight of his non-smiles when you're not here.

Logically, he knows that wondering what you're doing at the very moment he ousts a gathering of corrupt nobles is probably a hazard to his occupation. If he wasn't a veritable genius capable of multiple simultaneous streams of thought. But it's the lovesick-ness that concerns him. He's been down the road of thinking with his heart before, and that road, for all its rainbows and sunshine, inevitably marched him right into Hell. Or did he march himself? Causation is vexing.

Maybe if you hated books he wouldn't jump into daydreams the second he opened up one of his during downtime. Or maybe he would instead busy himself with what he could do to share hobbies with you. Because he's so disgustingly capable of gross thoughts like that. But it's a little upsetting when he raises his nose from his book to tease your reaction only to find an empty sofa.

Every room you're not in is now a room of strict, spartan utility. His eye for aesthetics has become an eye for you, and that's both limited him as much as it's set him free.

That's a lie. He's a changed man with sight that truly sees for the first time. As cliche as it is, he'd never known what beauty could be before you came along. He could almost call it hedonism, if such a thing could be applied to the pure, mere being of someone's heart.

He haunts his aides and entourage for any correspondence from you. He doesn't hound them, he haunts them. They'll attest that he seems completely normal except he sculpts all conversation around the topic of you. And yet he does it so impressively and organically that most of the time no one cares. Everyone in the Obsidian Court secretly wishes they could parlay like Gilbert parlays, with or without the manipulative undertones. Though it seems to them that Gilbert has been doing a little less of that, and engaging in more honest conversation.

There's no one to greet him when he comes home, to warm his hands and give him a hug. One day of this is curious, two days is bothersome, a week is a mirror's glance into who he really is inside. Just once, for a second, he wraps his arms around himself and pretends you're there. Fortunately one week is not enough time to forget human warmth.

Honestly, Michael better not try anything while he's guarding you

◆◆◆◆ this one takes some inspiration from violettduchess's gilfic reunion (nsfw)

[novakspector]

reading about old timey sluts

Reading about some "famous beauties" that dudes went absolutely crazy for in the 1800's and early 1900's, particularly Lola Montez (real name Eliza Gilbert) and Mata Hari (real name Margaretha Zelle). They were very similar- dancers with fake exotic backgrounds, came from rich backgrounds, well-educated, many lovers, and both died around the same age.

One thing that strikes me about them is how plain they were, even by the standards of those days. I'm not trying to be mean, they're just not what I would call especially "beautiful." They weren't ugly, just normal looking women.

Eliza Gilbert, aka Lola Montez

Margaretha Zelle (aka Mata Hari)

There was nothing about their looks that made them particularly exciting. The excitement came from the fact that they were both dancers and wild hoes who traveled a lot and lead crazy lives.

They were different from the other women who moved in the respectable circles of the rich and famous. Their slutty ways allowed them to live the lives of bachelors. Their wantonness sort of freed them from the expectations placed on women of their day, and they were both celebrated and hated for it. It wasn't all fun and games- they both had syphilis; Lola Montez died from it at 40-ish and Mata Hari passed it on to her children who died from it.

I get the sense that in those days, a woman did not have to be particularly beautiful to be a celebrated as a captivating bombshell. Any woman who danced practically naked was considered a "femme fatale" even if she was as plain as can be.

I suppose what it comes down to, is that there wasn't a lot of those women to choose from. Unlike today where stripping is normalized, very few women in the 1800's and 1900's were willing to do a snake dance in a bejeweled breastplate for the titillations of crowds of men. So there's a rarity factor, and rich men love to collect anything rare. To keep one of those ladies as a kept woman / courtesan turned her into a status symbol for the powerful men in their lives. "You saw her dance naked in Paris? Well, I'm sleeping with her!"

Montez came from an upper class Anglo-Irish background, Mata Hari was raised upper middle class in the Netherlands, her family lost their fortune and she later married into Dutch nobility. They were not courtesans out of desperation. They absolutely could have lived comfortable, perfectly moral lives had they wanted to.

These backgrounds meant they were well-educated, which would have helped them be good conversationalists with their clientele. I think the appeal with them was more than just that they were slutty and glamorous. Their background was another thing that enabled them to live in ways most women in those days couldn't. They had the skills and connections to live that way. It simply wasn't an option for a working class or poor woman to become a femme fatale exotic dancer.

I think there are probably many other examples of rich girls who became famous sluts and parlayed that into fame (or infamy) as courtesans and entertainment celebrities, but their names escape me at the moment.

It's just an interesting topic. I like stories like these because it shows how history is not one dimensional. I always thought of that era as being very stuffy all around, but apparently in some cases it wasn't. There have always been wild hoes and sometimes they were celebrated and even sought after by kings.

That's not to say they were good people or worthy of imitating. Montez was a spoiled brat and Mata Hari's crimes are well known at this point. They were complex people and that's what makes them fun to read about.

[themattress]

Narratively, some claim his turn around happened too quickly. Here I both agree and disagree as AM did lay down the proper narrative beats to set up for the plot-turning point for anyone paying attention, but I do think it could’ve been improved. 

The beats were there, but as we know from SS, beats fall flat if the execution doesn’t do them any justice. And in this case, it was a self-inflicted wound, since Dimitri’s turnaround originally took an entire chapter longer, with the betrayal of Felix and Annette combined with the truth about his stepmother’s role in the Tragedy of Duscur bringing him down lower emotionally and then Byleth helping him begin his recovery and redemption. For some reason or other, the developers changed their minds about this and changed things, including cutting out Felix and Annette’s betrayal altogether even though their lines still exist in the battle map’s data. Tellingly, even in the finished version, Dimitri is still using his “evil voice” on that map, which now makes no sense given that he sounds normal in the cutscenes before and after.

AM takes more advantage of the characters than other routes. Character conflict and development drive story beats in AM far more than the other routes.

Does it? Does it, really?

Chapter 13 - Byleth finds Dimitri. Byleth goes along with Dimitri without any conflict despite initial unease. Dimitri largely ignores his old friends in favor of listening to Gilbert's exposition. Byleth then listens to more exposition from Gilbert.

Chapter 14 - Dimitri brushes everyone off and no one really argues / conflicts with him, they just talk amongst themselves about how concerned they are. Dimitri communes with the dead. Byleth mercy-kills Randolph rather than let Dimitri torture him to death, then has no argument / conflict with Dimitri even when Dimitri point-blank says he will continue to use them and his other friends without any concern for their well-being. More Gilbert exposition and more of Dimitri just ignoring anything his friends say rather than converse with them.

Chapter 15 - Dimitri gets a letter from Rodrigue. Everyone just immediately accepts Dimitri's take that the enemy can't be reasoned with and has to be killed. FINALLY some genuine character conflict between Dimitri and Rodrigue. Long strategic discussion mostly between Rodrigue and Gilbert.

Chapter 16 - Talk between Byleth and Rodrigue. Byleth continues to fail at actually arguing with Dimitri, but thankfully Felix succeeds at it. Dedue might still be alive, and it affects nothing since it's optional.

Chapter 17 - More strategy discussion between Rodrigue and Gilbert, with Felix calling out Dimitri again. Another lengthy talk between Rodrigue and Gilbert. Rodrigue dies and it's treated as more sad than a literal child's death. Dimitri and Byleth have a heart-to-heart.

Chapter 18 - Dimitri snaps back to sanity and Felix completely underreacts to his father's death. Return to Fhirdiad. Dimitri is officially crowned King of Faerghus. Another heart-to-heart with Byleth.

Chapter 19 - Exposition at a meeting. Claude takes a gamble. Dimitri and Claude amicably part ways. Dimitri finally opens up with his friends while Edelgard makes the choice to condemn herself.

Chapter 20 - Fort Merceus Battle.

Chapter 21 - More plot revelations and talking between Dimitri and Gilbert. Conflict between Dimitri and Edelgard. Preparing for the final battle.

Chapter 22 - The Final Battle.

In terms of meaningful character conflict beyond fighting enemies in war, we only have three: Dimitri vs. Rodrigue, Dimitri vs. Felix, and Dimitri vs. Edelgard in a parlay. Byleth is ineffective at arguing with Dimitri or convincing him of anything until after Rodrigue's death, Dimitri brushes all the other Blue Lions off entirely (even fucking Dedue should he come back!), and Gilbert is a total yes-man. Dimitri's conflict with Rodrigue ends with Rodrigue sacrificing his life for him, his conflict with Felix peters out into nothing because of the aforementioned axing of Felix's betrayal, and his conflict with Edelgard goes nowhere because it can only fail so that Edelgard can be the Final Boss. From what I see, "character conflict" doesn't drive shit.

And while Dimitri's development (and Byleth's by extension) drives story beats, it does so at the expense of everyone else. Again, Felix amounts to nothing by the end despite the build-up. Mercedes gets nothing with Jeritza unless you've recruited Caspar and done a Paralogue. Annette gets nothing with Gilbert unless you intentionally build up their Support points. Dedue surviving is optional and as a result his optional presence affects nothing. Sylvain? Ingrid? Ashe? Zip. Really, beyond Dimitri and Byleth, it's Gilbert and Rodrigue who get the most attention: two old dudes who are static characters, with the one who is treated as the huge emotional lynchpin of the piece barely having factored into White Clouds at all.

The poorly written and cartoonishly evil TWSITD are side-lined and killed off almost by accident. Edelgard is the main villain, and is far more interesting.

First off, I'ma remember this, it might come in handy later.

More importantly, side-lining and killing off a major component of the story as if it doesn't really matter is not justified because you deem them "poorly written and cartoonishly evil" and just want to focus solely on someone else (Edelgard, who is deemed "poorly written and cartoonishly evil" by OP's circle of fans anyway). That's as if Game of Thrones decided to just unceremoniously end the whole White Walkers plot thread built up since the first episode in favor of focusing on Cersei and/or Daenerys! ............................OH. WAIT. IT DID.

AM is the only route that utilized the Flame Emperor reveal and the time-skip. In the other 3 routes, these two story aspects fall flat. No one really reacts to the Flame Emperor reveal or seems to care - even Byleth and the Black Eagles. In AM, it's an emotional highlight that greatly impacts important characters. AM also takes the best advantage of the time-skip, as it's the only route where things actually happened during the 5 years Byleth wasn't around rather than seeming like everyone inexplicably hit pause until Byleth came back.

The problem is that it doesn't utilize anything the Flame Emperor actually did. Dimitri overhears Thales linking the Flame Emperor to the Tragedy of Duscur in a roundabout way, and that's enough for him to make the leap to "The Flame Emperor Did Duscur!" The emotional highlight is all centered around an obvious logical fallacy that nobody calls out. Also, I'm pretty sure CF also utilized the time-skip well given that the situation Byleth awakens to is vastly different from in SS, AM or VW, complete with "things actually happening when they weren't around", plus the continued usage of Garreg Mach makes more sense.

Byleth also functions as a character and a self-insert well in AM. You, the player, are allowed to express frustration with the cast - unlike elsewhere.

"Express frustration"....in a line or two of a dialogue choice, which is followed by not being able to really do anything about that frustration. That's kind of worse than not expressing frustration at all. "But Thou Must!" is a problem both AM and SS particularly suffer from.

The biggest success AM had was its willingness to engage with negative emotions and take risks. Three Houses often seems at war with itself - wanting to be both a serious war story where things aren't black-and-white, but also unwilling to make the player question their choices. This results in some odd emotional dissonance and mood whiplash. AM took risks other routes shied away from by prioritizing telling a story rather than making the player feel good. This escalates the conflict and allows for greater character development.

This final sum-up has three major fallacies. The first is the insinuation that engaging with negative emotions is something unique to AM when it's plentiful in every route, plus AM veers largely back into positive emotions for its last few chapters. The second is the claim it "takes risks" - there are some, but for the most part AM is the least riskiest route and the most traditional Fire Emblem style route (and wouldn't you know it, OP is a longtime fan of the series, I wonder if that has anything to do with how much they enjoy AM). And the third is that it's trying to make the player question their choices. Um, no. At no point does AM do anything to suggest that Faerghus is in the wrong or that Byleth is doing wrong sticking by Faerghus and by Dimitri. Everything regarding how Byleth feels about Dimitri's mental trouble is framed with sympathy, sadness and concern: you're clearly supposed to be motivated to double down on your choice to side with Dimitri because Dimitri really needs your help. How is Dimitri's recovery, redemption and ending as the Savior King alongside Byleth anything but "trying to make the player feel good"? Especially given that in every other route Dimitri meets a tragic fate? And concerning "being a serious war story where things aren't black-and-white":

Hegemon Edelgard is the ultimate cop-out. Because before this, the story was trying to be gray-shaded. The parlay between Dimitri and Edelgard wasn't about casting any moral judgements, but was merely a clash between two opposing, incompatible ideals. Edelgard and Dimitri still acknowledged that they understood where the other was coming from even if they disagreed, and that both of them do genuinely believe they're doing good for Fodlan's future. They ultimately agreed to a fight to the finish, each promising to respect the other by going all-out. And then, what happens? Edelgard goes through with her plan of transforming into a Hegemon Husk, a black-scaled, red-eyed, crooked-winged, distorted-voiced demonic monstrosity, with the power she gains basically meaning she's cheating and dishonoring her pact with Dimitri. Leading to this moment where Dimitri does cast moral judgement on Edelgard and her ideals, saying outright that those ideals were inherently bad and wrong all along given that they led her to becoming a monster. It's as clear-cut black-and-white as you can possibly get, all so that the player feels no shame in killing Edelgard (or rather, watching Dimitri, the Good King, kill her, the Evil Emperor) given that she is unquestionably a villain. And given how much AM fans let this shape their entire view of Edelgard and of her conflict with Dimitri, Faerghus and the Church of Seiros, it was successful in its lack of nuance.

Azure Moon Review

My final review! I saved the best for last.

FYI AM, CF, VW, and SS were all my first route since I played them back-to-back one "in-game" week at a time.

Before I started playing, I was the least interested in Azure Moon, but to say it came back with a vengeance is both a pun I'm proud of and an understatement. If asked to rank all four routes, I'd struggle choosing #2-4, but #1 I'd write as easily as my own name - Azure Moon. AM takes the best advantages of what Three Houses excels at while minimizing its weaker areas, uses 3H's narrative structure to the best advantage, and avoids issues other routes run into. It's not without fault, though, so I'll start with those first.

Like Crimson Flower, Azure Moon bit off more than a Fire Emblem game can currently chew. The genocide of Duscur is not given the attention, resolution, or weight it deserves. Like Fire Emblem Elibe series's genocide of Sacae, it takes an incredibly serious topic and uses it as a background tool for plot and character backstory rather than treating it with the seriousness such topics demand. With Duscur, things get even stickier and ickier because one of the "good countries" rather than the war mongering one did it. At this point, I think FE should quit including genocide in its storylines unless they hire the Tellius team to write it.

Permadeath also kept AM from living up to its fullest potential. AM has the most tightly knit group of characters, but those bonds are limited in their narrative potential because of FE's (in)famous permadeath feature. This forces the plot to revolve around a small handful of characters and has hamstrung the storytelling throughout the franchise's history. It's felt the hardest in AM, though, because of how intertwined the cast is.

The portrayal of Dimitri's mental illness has also received mixed reviews. I've yet to see a mentally ill character get universal praise, likely because mental illness is such an intensely personal experience. There are valid critiques like the harm of associating mental illness with violence while others praise AM for not romanticizing mental illness and not giving Dimitri a happy ending because he's "cured" but will achieve happiness and success despite his ills. Narratively, some claim his turn around happened too quickly. Here I both agree and disagree as AM did lay down the proper narrative beats to set up for the plot-turning point for anyone paying attention, but I do think it could've been improved. 

However, AM is still, overall, the best written route. There are many, many subjective reasons this route ended up my personal favorite, but I'm going to stick to somewhat more objective (though still debatable) points. So I could endlessly gush over how the Blue Lions are all my babies, but I won't do that here. And for anyone reading wondering if I see AM objectively the best because of subjective reasons, I can only ask, what came first, the chicken or the egg? (I don't know) The strength of AM's writing let its characters flourish in a way other routes did not. Because of that, did I like them better? Going into this, Dimitri was my least favorite lord - but boy did that change once I actually engaged with the game's writing. Personal preferences are what they are, but there are undeniable aspects of AM that are superior in terms of pure story construction compared to the other routes. 

AM emphasizes what Three Houses excels at while minimizing the weak spots. It's widely agreed that character-writing is one of FE3H's biggest strengths. Every character in Three Houses is both unique and reads like a natural result of the world and situation they lived in. Supports are often engaging and varied, adding layers of interest to even the most minor of characters. 

AM takes more advantage of the characters than other routes. Character conflict and development drive story beats in AM far more than the other routes. Dimitri gets the most fleshed-out and focused-on character arc among the various leads, the Blue Lions have the most connected cast and thus have the highest number of complicated and complex relationships, minor Blue Lions get the spotlight in various chapters (Ashe and Sylvain in the pre-timeskip), and just about everyone has some piece of the overall plot tie-in to their personal arcs (such as Mercedes dealing with Jeritza or Annette with Gilbert). Because it's the most "personal" and intensely character-driven story, AM takes the best advantage of the game's strong suits. 

This character-driven focus extends to the route's antagonists too. The poorly written and cartoonishly evil TWSITD are side-lined and killed off almost by accident. Instead of them, a mindless zombie, or Rhea randomly going evil, Edelgard is the main villain, and is far more interesting. Her dispute with Dimitri is ideological, personal, tragic, and compelling. Because of this, she's humanized in a way the other routes' antagonists are not, making the conflict with her more engaging in comparison. 

It's a pattern AM continues to follow through on - making the best of what's there. AM is the only route that utilized the Flame Emperor reveal and the time-skip. In the other 3 routes, these two story aspects fall flat. No one really reacts to the Flame Emperor reveal or seems to care - even Byleth and the Black Eagles. In AM, it's an emotional highlight that greatly impacts important characters. AM also takes the best advantage of the time-skip, as it's the only route where things actually happened during the 5 years Byleth wasn't around rather than seeming like everyone inexplicably hit pause until Byleth came back.

Byleth also functions as a character and a self-insert well in AM. You, the player, are allowed to express frustration with the cast - unlike elsewhere. There is plenty of romantic teasing with Dimitri, but Byleth also functions just as well as a mentor. It gives the player some choice in how they want to view the relationship while maintaining an emotional and important relationship between the two. Byleth is also a bit more active here than elsewhere, taking direct actions that help flesh them out as a character. 

While all of this is part of what made AM's story so strong, the biggest success AM had was its willingness to engage with negative emotions and take risks.  Three Houses often seems at war with itself - wanting to be both a serious war story where things aren't black-and-white, but also unwilling to make the player question their choices. This results in some odd emotional dissonance and mood whiplash. AM took risks other routes shied away from by prioritizing telling a story rather than making the player feel good. This escalates the conflict and allows for greater character development. 

While far from perfect, AM ended up the best-written route in Three Houses because it uses 3H's narrative structure to the best advantage and avoids common pitfalls other routes fall into. While it may have started out as the route I was the least interested in, it ended up my absolute favorite.   

[gilbertpardla]

Gilbert Parlay – Steps to Building a Business Empire

Everyone wants to have an elegant smart home with luxurious car parked in his/her ambiance. And what about your own company, which is a continuous source of earning. Starting a business is exciting and a bit challenging task too. You need to have excellent funding support for your newly built business empire. Gilbert Pardla is brilliant mind behind implicating profitable strategies to drive investors to your company. Beside investment you need to have a zeal for your business. Efforts enriched with determination will surely flourish your business. in order to get real inspiration search about successful entrepreneurs who has built their business empire from nothing, they are self-built men who might be born poor but decided to die rich. Knowledge is key to success; a right knowledge can take you to right way and right approach to win the name in business world. It is important to have awareness about the marketing trends. There is a need to be aware about the risk and realities of business world so that you can frame excellent strategy to cope these difficulties. Build good relations with business tycoons, you can learn much from their experiences.

[kendrixtermina]

Two Crucial translation muckups in the Parlay scene

1. The ‘Highborn’ line (Source)

As ppl have pointed out it’s kind of nonsensical since Edelgard is a princess herself. That would be because it’s a translation mistake. Remember, Dimitri’s line before that is, “...I learned all this from [Byleth] and everyone elses”

Her answer is more like “Those who have that [ie, support, mentors, allies] can’t understand what it’s like not to have it.”

Apparently the error comes from the word used for ‘have’ being similar to the expression ‘haves & have nots’ (in reference to something Dimitri said earlier when he talked about her “trampling the weak”) - so there’s still the implication of “Wait dude you were pretty privileged actually” but not per se tied to status. 

It is true that Dimitri has been a beggar but most beggars don’t have Gilbert & rodrigue chasing after them to give them an army. If he weren’t a prince he’d wind up like the people in Abyss. His life sucked no doubt but as in real life,  privilege doesn’t mean no difficulties, it means more safety nets. 

He was born crown prince and always has been crown prince. He’s the prince in part ‘cause his uncle had no crest. He didn’t have to work for his power through schemes and politics like Claude or plot a coup like Edelgard (who would never have been heir if not for her family being murdered)

In AM he had Byleth, Gilbert and Rodrigue in his corner plus many loyal lords. 

Claude has Judith. Edelgard has Hubert. ...and that’s it for them. 

This is not to say that Dimitri’s life was easy, but it wasn’t hard for lack of support or guidance (but for other reasons)

2. The “dear forgotten friend/I never lost my heart” line (Source)

That always struck me as odd because it seems at odds with... Everything else.

Like you just don’t get the sense that he that level of important to her at any other point. If you don’t get her godess tower event and pick a specific dialoue option, she never even mentions Kid!Dimitri. Silly childhood story at most. 

As for teen!Dimitri she only ever treats him as a rival, act confrontational & seems off-put by his unwarranted friendlyness...

With Claude she’s annoyed at his banter but she respects him as a worthy opponent (at least post-timeskip.) 

With Edelgard expediency always goes before feelings but we know there’s ppl she’d rather have on her side - Petra gets a “plz join our side” letter, she has unique Dialogue with Lysithea, Constance and non-CF Byleth where she laments antagonizing them... 

Dimitri is just not on that list.“Your obsession with me is creepy, you’re deluded” etc... like she understands that he’s just a misguided pawn rather than a bad person, so his death is sad, but she doesn’t like him. Also she doesn’t even consider herself the same person anymore. (though it’s unclear how much that is reality or just her feelings/complexes)

Well... in the original, the second line is simply “my spirit never broke” and the former doesn’t exist at all. Yeah. They adlibbed that. 

[aisakalegacy]

Automne 1867, Hylewood, Canada (2/2)

Je ne peux vous passer sous silence les évènements qui ont agités cette année. Vous comprendrez peut-être pourquoi j’ai mis tant de temps à vous répondre…  Le Canada-Uni a obtenu son indépendance de la Grande-Bretagne cet été. Nous sommes désormais un dominion britannique. Ces grands changements ont causé un certain nombre de bouleversements dans la vie politique. Le Canada-Ouest a été divisé en deux provinces : le Québec à l’est, et l’Ontario où se trouve l’île d’Hylewood. A la fin de l’été a donc eu lieu la première élection générale ontarienne pour élire les députés de notre nouvelle Assemblée législative, où se sont présentés les représentants de deux partis : McDonald pour les libéraux-conservateurs, et McKellar pour les libéraux. Au final, personne n’a gagné puisqu’ils ont remporté chacun la moitié des voix, et ils ont décidé de faire une coalition.

J’ai moi-même voté pour le parti libéral. On ne peut pas dire que leurs idées m’enchantent, mais ils valent toujours mieux que l’autre parti… Jacqueline traite les deux candidats de bandits et m’incitait à ne pas aller voter du tout, ce à quoi je n’ai pu me résoudre.

Cette égalité a fait grand bruit au bal annuel des Rumédier… Le Conseiller Rumédier est mort en 1863, et notre nouveau conseiller n’est nul autre que mon beau-frère, Gilbert Bernard, partisan du candidat libéral. La famille Rumédier soutenait de tout cœur le candidat libéral-conservateur. Autant vous dire que le résultat des élections, loin de concilier tout le monde, n’a fait que mettre de l’huile sur le feu. Pour ces raisons, je ne me suis pas présenté au bal cette année. Je ne me voyais pas passer la soirée à affronter la moitié de l’île et voir ma femme s’écharper avec sa famille… En tant que notable de l’île, Joseph ne pouvait pas manquer l’évènement où il s’est donc rendu avec ma sœur, et ce sont eux qui nous ont tout rapporté. L’actualité politique y faisait grand sujet. Je vous parlais de grands changements : récemment, la cour a validé ce qu’on appelle le « mariage à la façon du pays », qui accorde aux hommes métis le droit d’hériter. Mon épouse et moi-même nous réjouissons de ces nouveautés, mais on ne peut pas dire que ce soit le cas de tout le monde.

Voilà pour les nouvelles d’outre-mer. J’espère ne pas vous brusquer ni vous paraître indélicat de vous entretenir de tels sujets en des temps si graves, mais les évènements récents me semblaient être trop importants pour être passés sous silence en dépit des circonstances. Veuillez agréer avec mille remerciements et mille excuses pour une faute involontaire, mes hommages.

Auguste Le Bris

[Transcription]

Joseph Bernard : Quand même, quelle déception, cette égalité. Je ne comprends pas ce que pensent les gens. Voter pour un candidat libéral, c’est ouvrir la porte à toutes les déviances… Quelle sera la suite ? Voir des indigènes devenir docteurs ?

Marie Bernard : C’est drôle que vous mentionniez cela, le Conseiller Bernard m’entretenait justement du fait que l’an dernier, un chef Ojibwa a obtenu un diplôme de médecine. 

Joseph Bernard : Comment ?! On aura vraiment tout vu…

[blog-bishop]

Nouvelles acquisitions (Septembre 2018) Rattrapage

Samedi 08.09.18 Boulinier Henry Miller - La crucifixion en rose T.1 - Sexus

Gibert Jeune - Nouvelle Braderie, place St Michel Michael Collins - Des souvenirs américains Juan Filloy - Op Oloop Brice Matthieussent - Identités françaises Saul Bellow - La Bellarosa connection Leo Perutz - Le cosaque et le rossignol Ann Beatie - Promenades avec les hommes August Strindberg - Destins et visages - Nouvelles

Lundi 10.09.18

Gibert Jeune - Nouvelle Braderie, place St Michel Eric McCormack - L'inspection des caveaux - Nouvelles Eric McCormack - Mysterium Thomas McGuane - Comment plumer un pigeon - Nouvelles

Jeudi 13.09.18 Via internet Léo Malet - Dernières enquêtes de Nestor Burma - Vol.3 (Coll. Bouquins Robert Laffont) Contient : L'Homme au sang bleu ; Nestor Burma et le monstre ; Gros plan du Macchabée ; Hélène en danger ; Les paletots sans manches ; Nestor Burma en direct ; Nestor Burma revient au bercail ; Drôle d'épreuve pour Nestor Burma ; Un croque-mort nommé Nestor ; Nestor Burma dans l'île ; Nestor Burma court la poupée. Henry Miller - Moloch

Samedi 15.09.18 Boulinier C.F. Ramuz - La guerre dans le haut-pays

Lundi 17.09.18 Via internet Isaac Bashevis Singer - Le fantôme - Nouvelles Isaac Bashevis Singer - Ombres sur l'Hudson Isaac Bashevis Singer - Le certificat

J'ai passé trop de temps sans lire un Singer, me suis-je dit, avant de commander celui-ci. Jusqu'ici je n'avais lu que des nouvelles (La couronne de plumes ; Le Blasphémateur, tous deux excellents) et il est rare qu'un auteur réputé pour ses nouvelles tienne la distance sur un roman. C'est pourtant le cas du Certificat.

En 1922, à Varsovie, les juifs qui le peuvent quittent- la ville où ils commencent à devenir indésirables pour rejoindre la Palestine. Mais il y a une contrainte à ce départ, l'obtention d'un Certificat. Donc une somme d'argent à payer, bien sûr, mais surtout : le certificat n'est délivré qu'à des couples mariés ! Le narrateur, la plupart du temps sans le sou, quasi vagabond, un personnage qu’on dirait sorti d'un roman de Knut Hamsun (que Singer adorait) va donc, entre deux histoires d'amour improbables, devoir trouver l'argent et une fausse épouse. Il la trouvera dans la hautaine et fantasque Minna, mais ça ne sera pas une mince affaire.

Je range Le Certificat dans ces livres auxquels on pense dans la journée et qu'on n'a qu'une hâte c'est de continuer le soir. Ce sont eux souvent qui ensuite ne vous quittent plus. Le héros est très attachant, mélancolique, mal dans sa peau :

« Des jours passaient sans que je mette le pied dehors. Je ne parlais même plus aux gens chez qui je vivais. J'étais la proie d'une timidité maladive, d'un besoin de me cacher aux yeux de tous. (...) Je croyais par moments être devenu sourd et à moitié aveugle. Je laissais tout le temps les choses s'échapper de mes mains. Si je me mettais à écrire, je ne finissais pas certaines lettres et j'oubliais parfois des mots entiers. J'avais le pénible sentiment que je n'étais plus moi-même, sans être pour autant capable de devenir quelqu'un d'autre. »

Dans ce narrateur, on imagine Singer à ses début, rêveur invétéré, qui veut écrire, mais il ne sait pas trop quoi, alors il part sur de la philosophie. Son frère, qui appartient à cercle de poésie, se moque de ses premiers écrits. Pourquoi écrire sur Spinoza, ricane-t-il, écrit plutôt des romans, au moinsça rapporte ! En plus il veut écrire en Yiddish. Langue morte. Un vrai jargon, se moque Minna :

« (...) du mauvais allemand avec des mots yiddish et hébreu. L'hébreu aussi est complètement corrompu et le polonais plus ou moins. Il n'y a plus ni grammaire ni syntaxe. Pour qui écrivez-vous ? Les journaux en jargon ? »

Une autre, Bella, la communiste, se moque de son désir de Palestine :

« Les Anglais ne quitteront jamais ce pays, en tout cas pas sans y être forcés. Ils laisseront quelques juifs s'y installer et dresseront les arabes contre eux. C'est leur éternelle politique, conquérir et diviser. Les arabes ont le droit pour eux. C'est chez eux là-bas, pas chez nous. »

La religion comme souvent chez Singer est présente, mais comme souvent aussi critiquée. Ses personnages sont des croyants torturés, voire agnostiques :

« Mon frère me lança un regard interrogateur. Nous avions échappé, lui et moi, à un monde de mensonges religieux, pour nous retrouver englués dans autant de mensonges profanes. »

On sent dans la construction une urgence qui s'explique par la publication dans un journal, sous forme de feuilletons. Un livre posthume, retrouvé dans les papiers de Singer et dont, bien que publié dans le quotidien Forward en 1967, on ignore la date de composition ! Mais assurément c’est ce que j'ai lu de mieux ces 5 dernières années. La fin aussi est admirable et très mélancolique.

« Sonia me prit par le bras. « Ne sois pas si triste. Tu connais le proverbe : " Il fait toujours plus sombre juste avant l'aube. " »

C'est rapide, drôle et désespéré à la fois, on se demande parfois comment Singer fait pour être aussi profond dans la légèreté. Mon hypothèse c'est qu'il a beaucoup lu les russes et surtout Tchékhov. Idée pas très originale, puisqu'on a souvent comparé ses nouvelles à celles du grand Anton.

« Une nouvelle littérature doit naître, me dis-je., une littérature sans lois préalables, sans règles. Il ne faut plus faire de distinction entre la littérature et la philosophie, il faut présenter les gens tels qu'ils sont, avec leurs actes, leurs pensées, leurs caprices, leurs folies. »

Mardi 18.09.18 Via internet Isaac Bashevis Singer - Ennemies, une histoire d'amour Isaac Bashevis Singer - Spinoza de la rue du marché - Nouvelles Henry Miller - Nexus 2 - Vacances à l'étranger

Samedi 22.09.18 Boulinier Pete Fromm & David Vann - Textes inédits et entretien croisé Bruno Schulz - Les boutiques de cannelle C.-A. Cingria - Bois sec Bois vert Enrique Vila-Matas - Explorateurs de l'abîme Selby - Retour à Brooklyn

Mardi 25.09.18 Via internet Gilbert Joseph - Une reine de l'occupation, la vie incroyable et aventureuse de Laure Dissard Alexandre Dumas, en société avec Claude Schopp - Le Salut de l'Empire - Hector de Sainte-Hermine

Mercredi 26.09.18 Via internet John Brunner - Le long labeur du temps

Jeudi 27.09.18 Boulinier Olivier Maulin - Petit monarque et catacombes Chen Fou - Récits d'une vie fugitive Jaroslav Hasek - Aventures dans l'armée rouge, suivi de Histoires vraies et populaires Anaïs Nin - Journal de l'amour  - Journal inédit et non expurgé des années 1932-1939

Samedi 29.09.18 Boulinier John McGahern - Le Pornographe DOUBLON et déjà lu Henry Miller - Big Sur et les oranges de Jérôme Bosch

[gascon-en-exil]

FE16 Blue Lions Liveblogging

Chapters 21-22. It’s over, and despite being one of the two longest routes the climax felt a bit rushed.

First off, I am not replaying those two chapters something like nine times just to get all the S ranks Byleth unlocked in this playthrough. They’re both long and tedious and filled with annoying gimmicks like long range magic and beasts with tons of health and reinforcements all over the place. I completely skipped the right side of Chapter 22 just to avoid one caster wielding the long range spell that reduces HP to 1. Like the equivalent spell in Echoes - and unlike the GBA games’ Eclipse, how I miss it - it has reasonably good Hit, so after a few times rewinding I just decided to go the other way.

Dorothea, Petra, and Hubert all die in Chapter 21. I wasn’t expecting to see Dorothea at all, similar to how Marianne never showed up after the timeskip, but she’s thinking of the safety of her old opera company.

Hegemon Edelgard herself didn’t pose much of a threat even with four HP bars and the ability to attack twice anywhere on the map. Still creepy and largely unexplained, which brings me to....

Story/Character observations

Yeah, I can see why people are calling the Blue Lions the standard FE plot route, even if as I pointed out last time it doesn’t really have anything to do with Those Who Slither, or even Rhea, getting summarily ignored. It is odd how Rhea simply steps down without so much as a reunion scene, but I can buy it since she was never the focus of this plot. I actually like that throughout Part 2 various church partisans (as well as Mercedes, the only pious Lion) express their concern that Dimitri isn’t prioritizing Rhea’s rescue. Faerghus’s affiliation with the church in this route is very much an alliance of convenience, giving them a base of operations at the monastery from which to conquer Enbarr and achieve their separate goals. It’s one of the elements of the nation that feels very French.

No, the biggest story element that gets ignored to make this a series-typical tale of heroically invading a hostile country is Edelgard - or more specifically any attempt to really delve into her motivations beyond an unexplained desire to create a new world order. I’m sure the writers wanted to save that for her own route, but it’s frustrating to have her agree to parlay with Dimitri only to have them spout philosophical vagaries on human nature at each other. I wouldn’t expect Dimitri to respond favorably to accusations of the church’s abuses, but at least it would have given him the opportunity to state the point I made just above, that Faerghus is only allied with the church for strategic reasons and that the main purpose of their counter-invasion is to bring to an end the strife caused by Edelgard’s imperialistic ambitions. Instead we get Dimitri - the heir to a hereditary monarchy that prizes the chivalric ideals of a feudal society, mind you - speaking about the people rising up and chiding Edelgard for forcing her hatred of the church onto others in her self-righteous quest for revolution. Dimitri can hug as many orphans as he likes, but sane or not nothing he’s done makes him come across as an advocate of the common people. Edelgard rightfully calls him out for it, and so their parlay ends with a siege and some mutual stabbing with Symbolism™. Really, the most egalitarian thing Dimitri ever does is get buried next to his commoner husband.

And on that subject, I got both the Dimitri/Dedue and Felix/Sylvain paired endings so I must have been doing the support system right. Gilbert’s S rank was so dull as to not be worth mentioning, and I’m left only to wonder why he’s a romance option at all, much less a same-sex option. Another victim of the contractual need of every FE Avatar to sleep with every playable character of the opposite gender, I see. 

If I were to do what I never do and indulge the fantasy of an Avatar acting as a self-insert, my Byleth would be pointedly ignoring Gilbert blathering on about continuing to ignore his wife to get out some binoculars and track down some celebratory gay sex. That’s more or less what I’ve been doing this whole time during monastery exploration, anyway. If they didn’t want Dimitri/Dedue to be so damned obvious they shouldn’t have had them in the same room every chapter after Dedue’s return and making Dedue ask Byleth to keep Dimitri alive because he couldn’t go on if he died.

It was particularly noticeable as I unlocked a whole bunch of them at first, but most of the non-Byleth A supports are written to not be obviously romantic, even the ones that end in marriage. This was of course necessary for a support system where characters can easily get a half dozen or more A ranks in a single playthrough, but the side effect is that it lends further credence to fans who want to read more into supports and endings that don’t spell out romance explicitly.

So that’s the Blue Lions route of Three Houses finished. Final impressions and/or longer meta will have to wait until the other routes are all done, but I enjoy getting to jot down my thoughts like this while they’re fresh.

[anneshirleywasmychildhood]

Bash: Parlay. By the tree. Five minutes.

Mary: Parlay?

Gilbert: Pirate code. He wants to meet.

Mary: So everyone here knows pirate code?

Gilbert: I understand it. I can’t speak it.

[agoddamn]

idk if i'd say that dimitri is *fixed* after that scene. in some story/monastery bits as well as some supports that are progress-locked until that point (most of his A ranks, like mercedes, gilbert, dedue, felix, marianne...), he still has severe guilt issues, still mentions hearing voices and having nightmares, and still struggles with survivor's guilt. rodrigue's dying speech and byleth's reassuring only really snap him out of his full-on berserk boar state, iirc.

I have no idea what is and isn't progress-locked since I only started watching the school phase from a chapter or two before the Flame Emprah reveal. I saw the Dedue A, Byleth A, Flayn C, and I think Mercedes...something? There was a girl but it was really bland and I don't remember what happened.

My impression is possibly a result of that timeskip support writing issue where the timeskip clearly should have been taken into account and wasn't. Genki eyepatch Dmitri with Flayn left a strong impression, especially coupled with Dmitri's sudden optimism in the story path with reaching out to Edelgard. After already being sharply rejected at the parlay it almost felt...I dunno, too nice for him to reach out again after the battle and even look back at the end. Just felt like he should have been more hurt?

[thesportssoundoff]

The AAF And Why We Should Care About These Teams

Joey

Feb 5th, 2019

Still bummed about the Super Bowl? Well let's get over it real quick! On Saturday, the Alliance of American Football will be the first of THREE (God help us) spring football leagues to take off. THREE. We really needed that many, huh? Doesn't being announced after the XFL, the AAF will launch this spring under the watchful eyes of Dick Ebersol and NFL executive legend Bill Polian and will air across a variety of platforms such as Bleacher Report's online app, the NFL Network, the CBS Sports online app, TNT and CBS itself. Let that be a lesson to those of you who think that sports can't milk every single penny out of today's weird digital/broadcast era. The majority of the pitches for this game feature stuff football fans do seem to want in some capacity although disagreements about HOW to implement them remain. For instance, the AAF is attempting to shave 30 minutes off of the viewing experience by limiting commercials. They're also scrapping pretty much all elements of kicking from the game (two point conversions only, onsides kick have been replaced by a wacky 4th and 10 scenario and there's no kickoffs either) so fans who are obsessive compulsive about kicking get a bit of a break. We've got a college football style "one foot = catch" rule and a reduction of the play clock from the NFL's 40 seconds to a cool 30 seconds. It's an attempt to do somethings differently and I'm at least willing to give it a try.

With just eight teams to choose from for the AAF,  I'll just go team by team and list ONE reason why you should care. As much as you wanna just consider it a bunch of has beens and never was' playing out here, there's some intriguing storylines for the AAF. So much so in fact that perhaps you'll find a team so intriguing that you'll follow along this year!

Atlanta Legends

Why: Michael Vick Offensive Coordinator

I wanted to do a larger piece on how the NFL's lack of black head coaches boils down to the NFL's lack of black offensive coordinators (the IN demand spot these days). Instead of writing eight paragraphs about something that could be done in one, let's just look at Michael Vick and his new role as Atlanta Legends offensive coordinator.  For starters, the Alliance of American Football being a potential breeding ground for former players to better grasp the coaching game is an A+ decision. We've already seen the offensive coordinator for another team in the Alliance of American Football get the bump up to NFL QB Coach (Jon Kitna went from San Diego Fleet Offensive Coordinator to Dallas Cowboys QB coach) and any opportunity for former players to stay involved in the game is a good one. Michael Vick's name comes with a lot of clout (and plenty of controversy) so right off the jump he's an important get for the AAF. How good he is as an offensive coordinator (be it gameplanning, calling plays or making adjustments on the fly) could determine how quickly he ascends at the position. Vick is a really unique character and a polarizing figure but seeing him in the role of offensive coordinator is going to be a worthwhile experiment. If Vick opens the door for other young out of work players to jump into the coaching game then I for one am all for it. As for the roster, the Atlanta Legends actually have plenty of name value from former Georgia QB Aaron Murray to NC wide receiver Bug Howard to Iowa RB Akrum Wadley to a host of Georgia Bulldogs on defense.

Memphis Express

Why: The "name" QB battle

Let's always be honest about this stuff; your fan interest will only go as far as the QB you have. The Memphis Express may not have GOOD QBs but they have NAME QBs and that's truly what counts. The Memphis Express have Christian Hackenberg and Zach Mettenberger, two "name" QBs who figure to draw in eyeballs if only due to the fact that there's Penn State and LSU involved. Hackenberg was a disaster for two years at Penn State and people excused him for that because the team was bad or the line was bad or the coaching was bad. Turns out Hackenberg was just bad and continued to be bad at the NFL level before getting bounced around by 4-5 different teams. Hackenberg will attempt to resurrect his stock in the AAF, a team that literally named its offensive coordinator in like early January after their original OC bounced. Hackenberg won the job but the back up spot belongs to Zach Mettenberger. I refuse to believe that Hackenberg is a better player than Mettenberger but ALAS! Mettenberger has NFL experience and has thrown actual touchdowns in real football games even if he played like a 6th round pick who was holding onto a roster spot for dear life. He just wasn't that good. Mettenberger and Hackenberg are two guys who share similar traits (big, they throw the ball far) with different reasons (Mettenberger was a problem in college, Hackenberg couldn't really play) that leads to the same development (playing in the AAF to continue their pro football careers). Still a QB BATTEL with name value is STILL a QB BATTEL and here we are. The Memphis Express also have a ton of LSU guys and LSU players don't half ass it so expect a ton of big hits from their defensive which legitimately has an all LSU DL. Also of note, the head coach is Mike Singletary and we can expect plenty of intense coaching gifs and press conference call outs of his own players. That's the finest reality we deserve.

Orlando Apollos

Why: Steve Spurrier is BACK!

Remember the days of Steve Spurrier? Run and Gun? Mr. Click Clack?  There ya go. The Ol Ball Coach is back and Spurrier in Florida just feels right. Steve Spurrier's offenses in the mid to late 2000s were some of the funnest things imaginable and I'm curious to see if a few years off to refuel the jets don't bring out the fun in the Run 'N Gun offense. Spurrier's offense is helmed by either Austin Appleby or Garrett Gilbert since apparently nobody knows who the starter is as of this moment. Beyond that, he's also got a trio of name running backs (D'Earnest Johnson from USF was a popular name around draft time plus Akeem Hunt from Purdue and De'Veon Smith from Michigan were interesting dudes) and like twelve WRs who all run really fast. Realistically though I feel like this team is about watching to see if Steve Spurrier turns this gig into another college coaching opportunity soon enough.

Birmingham Iron

Why: TRENT RICHARDSON (and friends)

Unsurprisingly given the whole locales theme, the Birmingham Iron roster is LOADED with dudes from Alabama. The one name who immediately jumps out is Trent Richardson and I'm surprisingly intrigued to see how he looks. It's worth remembering that Trent Richardson had a tremendous rookie season and looked to be on the way to being something before he got big/hurt. Perhaps Richardson will be rejuvenated playing at home in front of what figures to be a primarily loaded Alabama crowd. Also keep an eye on Blake Sims who I figure will win the QB job eventually. In fact keep an eye on every player from Alabama (Auburn, Bama, Troy) because chances are they'll be given ample opportunities to show out at home. They also have the coolest uniforms. Lastly Tim Lewis is a long time defensive coordinator/DB coach getting his first crack at a head coaching gig so I'm curious to see if he can parlay that into another big opportunity down the line.

San Diego Fleet

Why: Mike Martz

Mike Martz is arguably one of the more unfairly judged head coaches in NFL history. He was the coordinator for the Greatest Show On Turf and as head coach of the Rams, Martz had five full seasons---he made the playoffs in 4 of those. Martz' ouster in St. Louis was controversial for a variety of reasons but he WAS successful and deserves to be remembered as such. From that point on Martz never got another head coaching opportunity, bouncing around as a coordinator in Detroit (back to back 4,000 yard seasons for Jon Friggin' Kitna of all things), San Francisco and a disastrous run in Chicago with Jay Cutler. Martz was pretty much cast aside by the NFL at that point and his reputation as a pass happy difficult personality pretty much ensured he would stay out the game.  With passing being en vogue (and every QB guru alive being courted for 1,000,000 roles), this might be Mike Martz's last chance to maybe find a place in big time football. The San Diego Fleet roster is relatively bare compared to its contemporaries but Mike Martz almost guarantees to make it as fun as possible given the usual performances of his wacky passing game. Mike Martz making Mike Bercovici look like an NFL level quarterback would probably be his greatest accomplishment ever. Also keep an eye on Nelson Spruce slot WR-ing his way back to the NFL if it's any thing like he was at Colorado.

Arizona Hotshots

Why: Phil Savage and Rick Neuheisel

Phil Savage is in a very weird spot here. Savage had a brief runs as Browns GM and it went about as well as you'd expect it to. He was in, out and done before anybody even knew he was there. Savage re-emerged as a key part of the Senior Bowl process and for the most part, I don't think I ever saw many complaints about Savage's job as the figurehead for the event. Surprisingly at the end of 2018, the Senior Bowl replaced Phil Savage with former scout Jim Nagy. The decision to move on from Savage was not exactly well received at first and it seems like Savage has bounced back well enough with the AAF. Savage should be able to form a damn good roster given that he's probably interacted with and been around most of these players relatively recently as the Senior Bowl's ace executive. Somehow someway Rick Neuheisel has weaseled himself into the picture and into another head coaching job, he of a sparkling 87-59 record in college but a less than sparkling 47-40 from 2000 onward. Plus he's also been pretty much run out of every stop he's had under inauspicious circumstances. Phil Savage should in theory be able to find a competent squad of players (and they have a pretty well known defense with Sterling Moore, Rahim Moore, Will Sutton, Carl Bradford, Scooby Wright and Chunky Clements) and perhaps the time away has rejuvenated Neuheisel. At the very least Trevor Knight will be fun to watch am I right?

Salt Lake Stallions

Why: A Testing Pattern Perhaps?

Utah has one pro sports franchise, the Utah Jazz, which is  intreresting when you consider how beloved the Jazz are. It seems like there's a very big supportive fanbase for sports out there in the Pacific Northwest and yet Utah has no football team, no baseball team and no hockey team. PERHAPS this can be a test. The Salt Lake Stallions overall do not have the most appealing roster in this entire deal but they may be the one best situated to draw the biggest audience. Utah is not blessed with a lot of pro sports options and if the Stallions are good then perhaps they can get people into the stadium. They have a weird eclectic mix of former Utes and three former QBs who if memory serves were all in the draft last year.  Former Vikings RB and Utah legend Matt Asiata is 31 year and probably cooked BUT he figures to be a popular face for fans.

San Antonio Commanders

Why: An Actually Kinda Decent Deep-ish Team

Really. If you were putting together an all star game in 2017/2018 of pretty decent-ish draft prospects, a lot of these dudes would be here. QB Logan Woodside? Pretty good player! Had some issues but was a super productive small MAC QB type dude. RBs David Cobb and Aaron Green? Kinda intriguing RBs! Tray Williams has been on like 12 NFL teams as a third down back over the past two years even if he never stuck. WRs like Greg Ward, DeMarcus Ayers and Mekale McKay? Some draft buzz there! Some of their OL were late round types who wouldn't have been out of place at an NFL camp this season. The defense has draftnik "names" like Joel Lanning, Keenan Gilchrist, Tyrone Holmes, Austin Larkin, Winston Craig and a secondary featuring Jordan Thomas and Duke Thomas on the back end. It's actually not an awful team assuming you can put the parts together.

[dom8888]

Chloe review – Erin Doherty is outstanding in this social media thriller

have dedicated my entire existence to eliminating uncertainty, stress and anxiety in all their possible forms. So there is nothing more compulsively watchable to me than someone not only rushing to embrace those things at every turn but actively creating them – pumping their life so full of exhilarations and potential disasters that it threatens to explode at the lightest touch.

If you are of the same persuasion, settle back – or rather, sit on the edge of your seat and prepare to fall off well before the closing credits – and enjoy the masterful portrait of such a thrill-seeker in the BBC’s rather wonderful Chloe (BBC One). It is a fierce, fresh sort-of-murder-mystery that is as keenly scripted as it is paced, and whose many threads are held firmly together by an outstanding performance from Erin Doherty.

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First (properly) seen as Princess Anne in The Crown, Doherty here plays Becky, a quiet twentysomething living with a mother who has early onset dementia. When not at one of her succession of office temp jobs, she spends her time obsessively scrolling through the social media accounts of Chloe (Poppy Gilbert), another twentysomething, who appears to be living a much more successful and glamorous life than her.

It is soon revealed, however, that Becky has found a way of livening up her drab and (as her mother becomes more and more erratic and wounding) increasingly miserable life – namely, by faking several others instead. She is, in broad terms, a con artist. We watch in more or less grudging admiration as she parlays snippets of information, dates, names on invitations and overheard fragments of conversation as she gets first a toehold then a sturdy entrée into the art world.

Her grift takes on a sudden focus, however, when the object of her obsession dies – apparently by suicide, preceded by a soulful quote put up on Chloe’s Instagram account, then confirmed by friends’ heartbroken posts beneath. Armed with a plausible backstory, a more suitable name (Sasha) and a designer coat she has lifted from a coat hook on the way out of the office, Becky gradually worms her way further into the scene. She covertly surveils the funeral, does some online digging and befriends Livia (Pippa Bennett-Warner), one of the bereaved posters and Chloe’s closest pal, to find out more about the non-curated version of Chloe’s life and the circumstances of her death. Another motivation is Becky’s slightly sociopathic instinct for meeting any emotional or practical need presented to her.

The kaleidoscope twists again when we realise that there is a buried connection between Chloe and Becky so great that Becky was, in fact, the last person Chloe called – twice – before she died. Add further complications via a one-night stand, Josh (played by Brandon Micheal Hall with a perfect combination of amused detachment spiked with just a little fear, as he realises that there may be much more to the woman he knows as “Helena” than he ever suspected), and you have an absolute feast of a show.

Created, written and directed by Sex Education alumna Alice Seabright, it has much of that show’s brio and fleet charm, although the subject matter couldn’t be more different. The central intrigue builds and never gets forgotten, but the real tension comes from seeing how far Becky can go – how big a house she can build with purloined business cards, how many plates she can keep spinning, how far out she can go with this jazz riff of a life and still get herself back in. On top of that, it’s a drama that examines the always fascinating gulf between the haves and the have-nots, and the increasingly common abyss running crossways to that – between the perceived figures (all filtered and posed shots presented for public consumption) who seem to be effortlessly winning at life and the ragged, very different realities behind them.

Vitally for a drama about fake identities and shifting truths there is not one false note in it. That’s not to say it’s all massively likely (although before you decide quite how impossible Chloe’s events might be, do watch the upcoming fact-based Netflix drama about Anna Delvey, Inventing Anna, if you haven’t already mainlined everything you can about the most extraordinary scam artist of modern times). But you do understand what drives Becky, with all her gifts – whose useful expression is truncated by circumstance and crammed into a life that promises only to become smaller – to take the risks she takes and thrive on them. I hope she gets away with everything – and then joins Villanelle in Rome.

[mrslandgraab]

The Jacquets left everything they had behind and tried to build a new life in Bluewater Village. Will they go from rags to riches and create a healthy franchise system that goes public? Or will they fail and watch their dreams crumble like a week old croissant?

Welcome to the Jacquet family, aka the most amazing mom and her wonderful failure of a son. I’ve always been pretty fond of Gilbert and Denise but gosh, I feel like I failed a lot in this rotation because I tried things but they would not happen? Oh well. See for yourself!

Que’st-que French? Je ne parlais pas francais! Please, just...just click this button for me and start at the beginning okay? Merci!

Next season we have these nice things falling to your feet!

And now? What is happening? Encore, encore!

[kendrixtermina]

So I’ve seen a handful of fairly good “Ferdinand finds out the truth” fics but not a single “Edelgard learns about Patricia” one. 

It’s harder I suppose, since Ferdie could easily, say, stumble across old files in his father’s old office (esp on the CF route where Edelgard and Hubert are right there, and otherwise he could get it out of Lysithea) whereas Rodrigue Gilbert and Dimitri all die in the CF route. 

I guess you might have Thales taunt her with it when she comes to finish him off, or one of the kingdom recruitees recognizing Patricias name. Or an AU where Dimitri brings it up at their parlay and maybe this leads to their actually understanding each other for once. 

That said it wouldn’t be the same level of earth shattering revelation since Edelgard doesn’t have half her identity built on the family pride, never even knew Patricia so there wouldn’t be that dissilusionment with someone she once trusted and looked up to. Still, she seemed rather fond of that story of how her parents met, shes already kinda aware that she’s choosing to believe it and that it’s kinda silly, you’d be taking away one of the last little illusions and sentimentalities that she allowed herself. 

Still, it’s nothing compared to what it was like for, poor, poor  Dimitri - he may not have her blood but she raised him. In a sense she’s more his (horrible, horrible) mother than she ever was Edelgard’s. Same thing but more extreme: He can’t even trust the good memories anymore. 

At least she’d have plenty of ppl to commiserate with, I can picture Ferdie breaking out the booze and Hubert just unphazedly stating something about how being related sometimes means little more than to have some body fluids in common. 

[pkstudiosindia]

Central Arizona Supply unveils plans to renovate historic Potato Barn in Gilbert – AZ Big Media

Featured Post in Water Filter India dot com - Water Filter India

A fourth-technology, Mesa-based household enterprise is shifting ahead with its plans to renovate and develop the long-lasting Old Potato Barn in Gilbert, respiration new life into the 54-year-outdated barn that when housed the world’s potato provide.

In June, the City of Gilbert authorized plans for The Higley Barns, a multimillion-greenback, adaptive, combined-use growth that may rework the 20,000 sq.-foot Potato Barn in Gilbert into a singular multi-tenant area, plus add an extra eight,000 sq.-foot constructing, a 10,000 sq.-foot constructing and a 14,000 sq.-foot constructing to the three-acre property.

The Smith household, homeowners of Central Arizona Supply, Arizona’s premier plumbing provide and equipment firm, have owned the property since 2015 and see this is a chance to parlay their greater than 50 years as an Arizona household-owned and -operated enterprise into an expanded new position as actual property builders.

Owners and siblings Andrea Willey, Brandon Smith, and Jeremy Smith.

“It has always been our vision to create a community-focused collection of restaurants, shops and home products in a landmark location that has such history in Gilbert,” mentioned Jeremy Smith, co-proprietor of Central Arizona Supply. “The Higley Barns will become a mercantile for goods, services, history, art, music, entertainment and culinary, all within a gathering place that enriches the surrounding community in a meaningful way.”

The Smiths will open their 12th Central Arizona Supply location inside two areas of the property. Half of the barn will home a shocking 10,000 sq.-foot plumbing and equipment showroom that may showcase the most recent in luxurious kitchen and bathtub plumbing, home equipment and designer lighting. A primary of its type in the East Valley, the showroom will welcome designers, owners, builders, plumbers and contractors for an immersive expertise with the world’s high manufacturers.

The eight,000 sq.-foot constructing will uphold the corporate’s origins with a plumbing provide and components counter and warehouse, which accounts for practically half of Central Arizona Supply’s general enterprise. With 1000’s of merchandise on-hand, it providers the plumbing commerce and do-it-your self owners who’re in search of unmatched stock at any worth level. The two extra buildings, and the opposite half of the barn, will likely be out there for lease or buy.

“The Higley Barns location will be our first showroom in nearly a decade, and with it we aim to raise the bar nationally with how clients and home professionals experience all of these design elements in one beautifully curated environment that honors the home,” mentioned Smith. “From working kitchens and cutting-edge products on display, to local chefs hosting cooking demos for the community, it will be a fun and inspiring place to gather and collaborate.”

Phoenix-based Brick & West, identified for designing a number of the Valley’s most notable eating places, has been employed because the architect and Lee & Associates Arizona will handle the leasing and/or potential gross sales of the combined-use area.

Located on Williams Field Road between Higley and Recker Roads, the barn was initially constructed in 1966 to retailer potatoes. It was then a furnishings showroom for the Potato Barn, the favored house furnishings retailer, till the corporate moved to a bigger location in 2011 and the barn has sat empty ever since.

Construction is slated to start this fall with accomplished anticipated in summer time 2021. More particulars will likely be introduced in the approaching months. For extra details about Central Arizona Supply, go to CentralAZSupply.com.

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