#The juxtaposition is just endlessly funny to me

[avemstella]

Oh yeah, fun update on my writing. Currently writing Furina fic parallel/sequel Neuvillette fic (It starts mid-furina fic with their meeting and then goes past the ending of that). So the thing is, I don't normally write with music on (even non-lyrical stuff tends to distract me) but for some reason I've been writing with Turnabout: The Ace Attorney Musical playing in the background pfft. Which is simultaneously very apt because Fontaine, but also not remotely because I've not been writing any trial stuff yet (well hmmm u could maybe argue it but no). Me jamming out to "It's Gotta Be the Butz!" while writing Neuvillette and Furina losing their minds hahahaha. What a time.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 17/04/2024

Super Wonderful World

Season 2 Featured on: The Voice's Highest Quality Video Game Rips

Ripped by Marrow

(Curious about the abnormal audio embed? Read more here)

It's kind of ridiculous that I've taken this long to actually write something about Marrow that isn't so directly tied to his passing, isn't it? Like, yes, Telling Fish Tales is an absolutely beautiful rip, it is still likely my favorite of all of Marrow's output, don't get me wrong...but there was more to the guy than just his death, you know? The tributes have all been beautiful, to be sure, I love 8​-​bit Fish With Dreams in particular, but I want to discuss Marrow's own rips more as well as those. Because while I might not have known Marrow, and can't claim to know anything about him as a person, I know he was just a genuinely good, sincere, funny ripper, and Super Wonderful World is just a damn fun rip.

I've been wanting to cover something from Super Mario Sunshine on here for a very long time - it has almost as much of a notable presence on the channel as its older brother on the Nintendo 64, particularly in the early days. Super Mario 64's Slider theme is unbeatable, of course, WA-HOO DISCO and its brethren can't be toppled, but there's a case to be made that Super Mario Sunshine's iconic acapella-driven Secret Course theme is a more fun listen in terms of rips. There's just something inherently funny about remixing voice samples, even in an acapella context - there's tons of rips of Secret Course in particular because of this, that all play with those deews and doos to great effect.

Super Wonderful World is no exception to that, and the joke of it is made apparent just a few seconds into your listen, arranging Louis Armstrong's lovely What a Wonderful World with those aforementioned acapella sounds, yet...for some reason, it is still likely the one Secret Course rip that has stuck with me the longest. I'm not even sure if its due to any one reason I can pinpoint other than just "Marrow Magic": maybe its my attachment to What a Wonderful World from hearing it at a young age in the original Madagascar, or maybe its the sheer juxtaposition of such a silly sound being used to play such genuine beautiful jazz...OR maybe its the fucking hilarious visuals on the video that you need to be scrolling up to look at now that I've pointed it out. Spaghet. No matter what it is, it clicks - though I think that second point in particular is where the trick lies. Sort of like A Mambo Moment, a lot like My Dr. Eggman Can't Be This Evil!, the contrast in tone between the two tunes is the kind of thing that you'd only get from SiIvaGunner, or at least the only place where you'd get it done in such a genuine, high-quality way. This isn't just some midiswap, this has every bit and piece from What a Wonderful World, every part of its backing and every additional instrument playing throughout, recreated with such finesse - all to push a bit that, as the rip visuals emphasize, is mostly just meant to be funny.

There's an effort made in Super Wonderful World to make the bit not just funny, but very pleasant and listenable as well, is what I'm getting at. The SiIvaGunner ethos, distilled so perfectly in just one simple rip, distilled into a rip that for me has stayed endlessly replayable since its release, striking that perfect balance of novel and pleasant. And sure, there's a part of me that still wishes to dig further, to know lots more about Marrow than I do, to investigate and snoop about and maybe even find out what the Spaghet image is even about...but its also, in some way, just as pleasant to listen to his tunes in bliss, enjoying his work for what it is, not hung up on wishing I'd known more.

I wasn't Marrow's friend, but what he left behind still means a lot to me. And so, continue to celebrate it I shall - more than a long-gone name to be mentioned in SiIvaGunner event recaps, Marrow was downright fantastic at what he did - and I hope we'll all continue to remember and cherish that about him.

[trulyinspiringmovies]

Ready Or Not

“Ready Or Not” was a fun horror comedy that I would love to watch again with a group of friends.

Grace is getting married to Alex le Domas, who is the heir of the Le Domas Family Games company. Alex gives Grace a chance to reconsider, but Grace isn’t going anywhere. After they get married, Grace is informed that she will need to play a game with the family at midnight due to tradition. The family inserts a blank card into a mysterious box that spits out a random game. It just so happens that Grace draws the deadliest game.

I always love a good horror comedy. This movie reminded me a lot of “The Cabin In The Woods”. I knew about this movie due to the YouTube channel, Dead Meat, but I decided to finally watch it after seeing Samara Weaving in “Scream VI”. I knew that Radio Silence, the group who made “Scream VI” also made this movie, so it was at the forefront of my mind when picking a movie to watch. I’m glad I did since I had such a great time with “Ready Or Not”. First off, the jokes are really good in this movie. It’s the juxtaposition of such a dire situation being handled by incompetent people. This isn’t a family who’s been doing ritualistic murders for so long that they have it down to a tee. The hide-and-seek card rarely comes up, so they’re ill-prepared to carry this out. It also doesn’t help that they have to observe traditions that make it harder for them. I found it endlessly hilarious that they started picking and choosing which traditions to observe as they were getting more and more desperate. It’s just a fun contrast to the traditional types of cult-like families in other movies. I thought Samara Weaving was great as the lead. Throughout the whole movie, she felt like an animal backed into a corner. I genuinely believed that she was fighting for her life. I will say, however, that her scream stayed at a consistent level throughout the whole film and it started getting stale and over-the-top for me after a while. There are also tidbits of class inequality that get sprinkled throughout the film that never feels ham-fisted. While I did believe Samara Weaving felt like a cornered animal, I don’t understand why her character doesn’t start making sure she finished off her adversaries. There were so many instances where I thought to myself that Grace should just make sure that her assailant was dead. It would’ve saved her a bunch of trouble later down the line. I felt like with the performance she was giving, all bets were off the table. I also found the characters to be a lot of fun to watch. Fitch is funny throughout and has a great line that is instantly quotable. Emilie was just a joy to watch every time she appeared on the screen. Daniel was such an interesting character. There always seemed to be something brewing in his head at all times. The struggle he felt between wanting to do the right thing but also wanting to not disappoint his family was palpable. As much as I thought the movie was fun, I felt like it was losing steam toward the end. It felt abrupt and not that well-planned. It doesn’t ensure a happy victory for Grace and it left me thinking she probably won’t get one after the screen goes black. Still, this movie is definitely worth watching for a fun time with friends.

★★★★

Watched on March 10th, 2023

[summer-fun-swim]

In the small, dimly lit bathroom, the air was thick with humidity, a testament to the steamy shower that had just taken place. The tiled walls glistened under the flickering fluorescent lights, and droplets clung precariously to the faucet. An odd juxtaposition, perhaps, to the quiet turmoil of thoughts and emotions swirling in the mind of Julian, a nineteen-year-old with tousled dark hair and a gentle demeanor.

Julian loved this time of solitude—the minutes just after a shower, when the world outside faded into oblivion. His clothes clung to his skin, soaked through with the remnants of his unsteady splash under the water. He wore a fitted white t-shirt, now translucent and marked with darker patches where the fabric embraced his body. The outlines of a black tank top beneath were visible, the layers clinging together as if in a soft embrace. His jeans, once a dark navy, had now turned a shade deeper, heavy with water, framing his legs snugly.

As he caught sight of himself in the mirror, Julian couldn't shake off the feeling of vulnerability. He observed the way the water trickled from his hair, splattering against the porcelain sink, just as droplets trickled down the surface of his clothes, endlessly pooling at his bare feet. But beneath the layers of self-doubt, there was a flicker of exhilaration—this was him, stripped to the core, both literally and metaphorically.

His phone buzzed, shattering the peaceful reverie. Startled, he reached for it, noting the name that flashed on the screen—Alex. His heart throbbed a little faster. Alex was not just any friend; he was the boy from school with sun-kissed skin, a carefree smile, and a laugh that lingered like music in the air. They shared a bond that seemed deep and unbreakable—yet there always lingered an unspoken tension, something that sparked each time they were together.

“Hey, you in the bathroom again?” came Alex's teasing voice through the speaker, creating a flutter in Julian’s stomach.

“Yeah, doing some serious contemplating,” Julian replied, forcing out a laugh that hid the deeper uncertainty of his heart.

“Contemplating what? How to get your shirts to dry?” Alex joked, and Julian could almost hear the mischievous grin on his face. The flirtation was familiar, yet exhilarating.

“Very funny,” Julian shot back, employing a playful annoyance as he leaned back against the sink. Despite his casual tone, he felt the weight of their conversation resting heavily in the air, filled with implications lingering just beneath the surface.

“What’s on your mind, really?” Alex pressed, and Julian felt a warmth rush to his cheeks—was it the humidity or something deeper?

“Just the usual… life, I guess,” he answered, skimming the surface of his true feelings.

“Why don’t you let me in on those thoughts?” Alex’s voice softened a bit, plunging into a more serious tone. “You know I’m here for you.”

Julian sighed, contemplating the sincerity of those words. Thoughts of coming out, of revealing the depth of his feelings for Alex, swirled like a tempest in his chest. But just as quickly, doubts surfaced—What if Alex didn’t feel the same?

Suddenly, the bathroom door creaked open, and in walked Alex, unannounced and unapologetic. His presence filled the small space, golden light from the hallway contrasting with the soft, muted glow of the bathroom.

“What are you—?” Julian stammered, caught off guard. The sight of Alex, clad in a loose, soaked white tank top that showcased his toned physique, sent shivers spiraling through him. The fabric clung to him like a second skin, revealing every contour and ripple of muscle, with droplets gleaming on his sun-kissed skin.

“Thought I’d check on you, make sure you weren’t drowning,” he quipped, stepping closer, the playful glint in his eyes never dimming.

Julian's heart raced as he became acutely aware of the closeness, the charged atmosphere that encased them. “I’m fine,” he said too quickly, feeling a misguided sense of control floating just out of reach.

“Mmm, it doesn’t look like you're fine. You look like you've been through a storm.” Alex’s gaze wandered over Julian's wet clothes, his eyes lingering on the way they hugged Julian’s every curve. “Kind of sexy, actually.”

Julian’s breath hitching filled the space between them, a flutter of disbelief sweeping through him. “You think so?” he managed to ask, his voice suddenly soft.

“Yeah, definitely.” Alex stepped even closer, their bodies almost touching. “You should live a little. Sometimes the best moments happen when you let go of those doubts.”

Julian could hardly breathe as he found himself lost in the depth of Alex’s gaze. Was this the moment? In that instant, the bathroom felt smaller, the walls closing in with an unspoken tension. Julian took a deep breath, feeling emboldened by the sincerity in Alex’s eyes, the closeness that felt charged with promise.

“I have something to tell you…” Julian started, uncertain but desperate, the truth bubbling beneath his skin. But his words were interrupted as Alex thrust his hand forward. Without hesitation, he splashed water onto Julian, playfully drenching him once more.

“Hey!” Julian laughed, the tension breaking lightheartedly, yet the spark between them was undeniable. Before he could think, he retaliated, sending a splash back at Alex, laughter echoing off the tiled walls.

What ensued was an impromptu water fight, the mood shifting from serious to silly, both young men lost in joy. Water danced between them, soaking clothes further, amplifying the rush of adrenaline as they fell into bursts of laughter, the weight of childhood connections morphing into something more profound.

Finally panting, both stood still, chests heaving, eyes sparkling with something unspoken—a connection that went beyond friendship. The air shimmered with anticipation, and in that charged moment, Julian whispered, “What if we stop pretending?”

Alex’s expression softened, as if the gravity of their bounding joy had transformed into realization. “I’d like that,” he finally said, stepping closer, his eyes reflecting raw honesty. “I’ve been waiting for you to say it.”

“Then I guess it’s time I let the rain in,” Julian replied, feeling the warmth of authenticity seep through the layers they’d sheltered behind.

With soft smiles shared in the humid air, the boys leaned into each other, the world outside fading into a distant hum. In the steam and laughter of the small bathroom, they realized that love, like water, often flows where it’s least expected—soaked into the fabric of their lives, binding them together in a reflection they were finally ready to embrace.

[ofmccnlight]

𝙷𝙰𝙿𝙿𝚈 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 (𝙽)𝙾𝚇   /   five seven dynamics !

&&.  𝙻𝚄𝙽𝙰  𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝚂𝚄𝚂𝙰𝙽  𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂  /  (  @cursedbcnes  )

listen . this one , i did not anticipate . i am very much in love with this soft / fond dynamic that these two have sort of fallen into with no planning from either of us , i think ? we were just on the same page with this one . your susan is probably my favorite iteration iʻve ever seen of her in that itʻs never really acknowledged how sad of a character she is . you highlight all of her tragedy incredibly well and everything you write her never fails to showcase how she shoulders all of it . i think thatʻs where we find this pretty little space we have for luna and susan , where everything about their interactions are tinged with that sadness they both carry but are altogether very kind . it just feels kind , and i donʻt really know how else to explain it . iʻm very fond of it and i would like you to know that youʻre the fucking cooliest .

&&.  𝙼𝙸𝙺𝙰𝙴𝙻𝙰  𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙵  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙴𝚄𝙻𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙰  𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙵  /  (  @taciiturns​  )

i am obsessed with the kcu and all that it entails , but particularly eulalia and her step-children . the careful way that mikaela and eulalia talk to each other is fascinating to see . theyʻre both silver-tongued and quick-witted and very much still testing boundaries with each other and i am in love with this sort of . . . begrudging respect for each other that they share . itʻs a complicated relationship between the two and it is so entertaining to see play out . i think , as very strong , very sharp women , the two of them are so similar and yet they have this one glaring difference in opinion that hangs over their heads . it colors all of their opinions of each other and i find myself enamoured with the idea of the what-could-have-been if they did not have that one defining aspect ( anton , you shithead ) that divides them the way that he does . iʻm really vibing with them so far and i am super stoked to see what happens next with them .

&&.  𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙸𝚂𝙴  𝚉𝙰𝙱𝙸𝙽𝙸  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙰𝚅𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽  𝙱𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙾𝚁  /  (  @avalcn​  )

alyssa , darling , i would like to start this off by saying that i missed you very much and that i think about this reply all the time because it still sends me . miss avalon is an absolute gift for taking the piss out of blaise in exactly the way he deserves at any available possibility . we literally only have this interaction but i love it very much and would like to see avalon destroy blaise once again because the world needs that . please keep him humble . avalon has always been really cool to me , i think , because you have carved her a little place in nox canon that fits very well . her easy antagonism of blaise kinda shows that , while she didnʻt fall in with the slytherin crowd , she also wasnʻt estranged from them . itʻs a really interesting duality to her character that i like a whole bunch . please , iʻm so glad youʻre back , this is so much fun . 

&&.  𝚁𝙾𝙽  𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙻𝙴𝚈  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙻𝚄𝙽𝙰  𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳   /  (  @spelltorn​  )

the way that i would absolutely die for this ron weasley , amanda . itʻs the only right reaction to your absolutely stunning rendition of one of the best boys . i will never not get overly emotional about luna and the weasley family and the way that ron , in particular , has never hesitated in stepping in to protect his girlies ( or anyone , really . heʻs a good egg like that ) . the weasleys give luna that large family dynamic that she never knew she wanted and ron plays a major part in that and in being a steady presence and safe space for her . thereʻs this implicit trust and fondness and tender appreciation of all the best parts of one another that your phenomenal prose encompasses so well . there is a soft spot in my heart for the solace they can find in each other and the steady presence that they are to one another in different ways . this duo means a lot to mean and i will never stop squealing about it . 

&&.  𝙴𝚄𝙻𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙰  𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙵  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙾𝙽  𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙺𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙵   /  (  @dolors​  )​

these two are so sexy , i donʻt even know what else to tell you . absolutely ecstatic that this wc caught my attention and i decided to fill it . iʻve never really played a character that was married before and this being my first foray into a spousal dynamic is hilarious to me . these two are as equally weird as they are incredibly sexy to me and i have so much fun with them . it is endlessly both funny and compelling to think of the two of them and the idea of them being as besotted as they are with each other , because how else is a narcissist meant to fall in love if not with a mirror image of themselves ? this is just such a nuanced dynamic to see and i think it was very sexy of us to develop them like this . i love these goddamn murder spouses and i love you so much , cherry , this is so fun i canʻt wait to see what else they do .

&&.  𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙾𝙳𝙾𝚁𝙴  𝙽𝙾𝚃𝚃  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙸𝚂𝙴  𝚉𝙰𝙱𝙸𝙽𝙸   /   (  @tiimetvrners​  )

my favorite little cowards . i love the idea of these two being the ones to run and ,  yet , having differing thoughts on that all these years later . thereʻs a juxtaposition between the two , with theo trying to be better and blaise not changing all that much but still being so similar at their core . i donʻt know , i just really like theoʻs growth and his job and the fact that he definitely got his shit rocked at work only a few months ago but still tried to come to peopleʻs rescue this month . heʻs neat like that . these two are such testaments to how paths diverge for people and similar choices donʻt always have similar outcomes . them still being friends that give each other shit at all times is very endearing to me . youʻve got such cool characters , wizards of maverly place , i adore you and them <3

&&.  𝙻𝚄𝙽𝙰  𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙽𝚈  𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙻𝙴𝚈  /   (  @petriichvrs  )

rachel , my love , you have my whole ass heart . i donʻt know if you know this but you really do . all of our dynamics are so fucking cool and easy to find our grounding in . every single one of them , i think , never fails to hit it out of the park with how entertaining they are . i go back to this one because i think itʻs the obvious dynamic to look for as someone playing luna lovegood , but you really just hit the nail on the head when it comes to these two . this one is a classic and this is everything i could ask for and more when it comes to the two of them . theyʻre a very nostalgic sort of duo and both of them are so affected by the war , both products of being in the dead center of it all . but all the time they spend with each other --- not even the stuff we see on the dash , but also the sneaking out of their childhood homes and thinking of each other during drinking games --- it all reads as very youthful , which i think is nice for products of war like them . luna lovegood loves the weasleys something fierce  but she always loved ginny weasley first and for all that they lost , they still clung tightly to each other . i donʻt think that would be as clear as it was if i didnʻt have your ginny to play off of , rachel , youʻre brain is so SEXY -

[vaguely-concerned]

Some T.F./Graves thoughts from their bios

I realize what a dumb move it is to base uuuuh basically anything on lol bios, since riot apparently change those like other people do underwear, but if I’m not here to build my castles on sand what am I here for honestly  

- I LOVE the description of their first meeting, it’s such a meet cute lol... these two assholes really did just take one look at each other and mutually went ‘so is anyone gonna enter into a life-defining homoerotic partnership with this lying cheating bastard??’ and then neither of them waited for an answer 

- Though at times Twisted Fate would blow all their shares and leave them with nothing to show for it, Graves knew that the thrill of some new escapade was always just around the corner���

I am genuinely a little emotional about how obvious it is that at the end of the day the money really is secondary to him - what really drives him is how much FUN they have together. (he seems in general quite driven by that sense of Adventure; if it were just about the cash he had steady work in bilgewater before he took the trip over to the mainland as a kid) it’s like the part of ‘the road to el dorado’ in the boat except more sincere... ‘you made my life an adventure bro’ :’) 

(also very funny that graves’ bio is where you learn that t.f. doesn’t always win or get away with his shit hahaha, in his own bio it’s played like ‘oh gotta let people win once in a while to throw off suspicion’ flasdhfjsad. it’s mentioned he gets caught a lot more without graves watching his back too, which also gets me in my feelings a bit) 

- one thing I find interesting is that t.f.’s parents aren’t referenced directly at any point (the only family members mentioned specifically are his aunt and grandfather, I’m pretty sure). I’m wondering if they were already out of the picture somehow and that’s part of the reason no one spoke up for him? I mean it’s fucked up either way, I don’t know what’s worse; that his people found it so easy to exile him because he didn’t have anyone to protect him, or that his parents were alive and JUST LEFT HIM THERE. like what the fuck. from how it’s written it’s pretty clear he was still considered a child at the time too, so, y’know. (Graves is described as ‘little more than a youth’ when he headed for the mainland while T.F. seems to have been a kid when he started being on his own, so I’ve headcanoned something like 16-17 and 13-14 for their respective ages of leaving home, with both of them around 19 when they met) I’m quite curious about what kind of internal family politics were at work for them to apparently all agree -- or perhaps be too intimidated to disagree -- to exile a child for life with no recourse and no resources. like yeah okay he messed up but that’s some next level assholery to pull on a kid honestly, no wonder he grows up to have a bunch of abandonment and emotional intimacy issues (and presumably some prime survivor’s guilt as well. oh buddy) 

- eternally entertained by how much meeting t.f. is worded like the ‘how they met their spouse’ section of a wikipedia article in graves’ bio

Across one table, he met a deplorable fellow named Malcolm Graves is also *mwha* so good 

- for fic purposes I would just like to give a moment of thanks for the paragraph in graves’ bio that mentions a bunch of shenanigans they got up to back in the day, very useful thank you

- from what I understand t.f.’s exile-causing transgression has been changed quite recently from fighting back to running away, which I am so happy about because it makes a lot more psychological sense to me and makes graves’ words in ‘burning tides’ hit so much better.  

- I like that their individual descriptions of graves being captured are so indicative of how they each think about it -- namely t.f. doesn’t want to think about it (repress! repress! repress! very relatable) but probably has the more accurate view of it: The exact details of that night remain shrouded in mystery, for neither of them likes to speak of it—but Graves was taken alive, while Tobias and their other accomplices ran free, while graves does think about it but sort of still has his trauma goggles on for it: During a heist that rapidly turned from complex to completely botched, Graves was taken by the local enforcers, while Twisted Fate merely turned tail and abandoned him. t.f.’s is obfuscating and refusing to engage in the emotional aspect of it, graves’ is much more emotive in the language used, like ‘abandoned’. the lol bios often teeter awkwardly between straight biographies and wanting to dip into prose/flavour text, I must say I usually find them very clunky and unsatisfying, but this juxtaposition works for me.

sort of weird the details that don’t make it in, though -- like the fact that they’re both aware that miss fortune was the one who screwed them over in the whole gangplank Situation? (I love that part in ‘destiny and fate’ where graves is gamely like ‘yeah of course I’ve got a grudge against her but that was pretty metal too so y’know *shrug*’ haha)   

- it’s interesting how much t.f.’s uh connection I guess to the cards is almost described as some kind of... compulsion/unstoppable drive in the middle of his bio and then fades into the background towards the end (because his priorities have changed to repairing his marriage now that it’s an option and by god I support him in that). I really do wonder how his card magic actually works -- it’s a cool mix of extremely unsubtle and undeniable sorcery (straight up throwing fireballs around) and subtle (’hunches’, being ‘guided’, just knowing things he sort of shouldn’t), which seems to be where it started

also it seems like he can do it with just about any playing card he comes across? would be sort of weird if it’s the cards that are special, considering he keeps throwing them away and also I don’t know a lot about gambling but I distinctly imagine that casinos don’t let you use your own decks haha. and t.f. seemingly can’t do magic just on his own, without them. so it’s a thing that happens very specifically in relationship, when all the elements come together, symbiotically sort of thing? could he do magic without the cards but it’s how he’s trained himself to think of it so he doesn’t realize it (well I honestly doubt that but just for the thought experiment)? is there some sort of spirit behind those cards looking out for him? is it lady luck keeping an eye out for her favorite boy lol? we know this stuff can physically change the cards like when they showed the crown in ‘destiny and fate’, and he seems able to ‘prime’ a card with magic beforehand if ‘double-double cross’ is anything to go by, but even then mf can’t actually use or release it. hmmmmm many questions  

- the more of my long fic I write the more I am questioning what the fuck these two DO with all the money they steal -- like they’ve clearly pulled off some HUGE heists, surely it can’t all go into like drinks and cigars and fancy waistcoats and tf’s seemingly unending supply of playing cards

do they have like. a bunch of small caches of gold hidden away all across two continents in case of emergency? are their buried treasures the stuff of runeterran urban legend and people go out hunting for them? Have they invested this stuff in actual banks? (actually no I refuse to accept that as a possibility lol if nothing else this would make it hard to figure out if they were robbing THEMSELVES sometimes, sounds like a lot of hassle)

- His people had always waved away concerns over primitive magic and “cartomancy”, but now Tobias began to seek out ever more dangerous means to bend the cards to his will. 

I’m having a little bit of a hard time parsing this -- does this mean his people didn’t believe the cards were magic at all and he’s the only person he knows who can do it, or do they know but just don’t think can be dangerous??? I chose one particular interpretation for my fic, but I honestly can’t figure out what it’s actually meant to mean haha

- T.F. getting a special satisfaction from robbing people who are Assholes is a good character detail (his colour story really goes out of its way to show that the merchant he’s playing against is a real shitbag, for example); there is some lopsided form of righteousness/sense of justice there, I think. and it also ties in with why I like that his exile was because he ran away rather than because he resorted to violence -- there’s this underlying sense that he particularly enjoys outsmarting people who’re dickish to outsiders in precarious situations (like his people) so thoroughly that they don’t even realize it before he’s long gone, without ever having to even lay a finger on them, because that’s a way to fight back while staying out of reach when you come from relative powerlessness. There’s a... lack of malice, I guess, to both of them that I find quite endearing, you can see in Burning Tides that even at his most mindlessly vengeful Graves doesn’t actually enjoy being actively cruel. ‘mutual sense of roguish honor’ is RIGHT they’re bad men but not Bad men you get me  

- All in all, Twisted Fate is glad to have his old friend back, even if it might take another job or two—or ten—to restore their once easy partnership.

This probably means nothing because as I said the lol bios seem an endlessly shifting kaleidoscope of canon, but I think it’s so sweet that both of their last sentences/’where are they now’ statements are about them wanting to repair their partnership (and do some Cool Big Stuff together in graves’ case, I do wonder if that’s foreshadowing for the ruined king game or what)

[drangues]

There was no pressure, don’t worry!!! I just felt bad, haha. Either way, it sucks that you have so much to do- That sounds exhausting. Try not to push yourself too hard, and make sure to take care of yourself, alright? Anyways! I could definitely see Kyouka as being very good with technology like that, and she’d definitely be the sort to make both serious stuff and Joke Stuff. Dazai, of course, would be flattered to be one of her subjects, and also that Atsushi saved that edit. (Nyanon, 1/5)

All three of them are nerds and I love it (ALSO I feel like Dazai would jokingly start referring to himself and Atsushi as husbands and Kyouka as their daughter and it just. Catches on, haha). Dazai is a meme king no matter the universe and I love it. I feel like there are. SO. Many different ones he could send??? Some funny ones, some cute-funny ones, etc. And! I feel like Kyouka’s videos are, in part, so fucking funny because the only Weird Thing is the voice? (Nyanon, 2/5)

And a few edits and cuts! But she says everything in a straight tone, she clearly knows what she’s talking about, and the juxtaposition would just. Be so well done. Also I may or may not have been self projecting onto Kunikida a bit whenever I get into an Interest with Deep Lore but huuush. Either way I bet Dazai teases him about what is essentially a Fandom Library endlessly (don’t let it fool you, genius or not, as an author, Dazai uses that extensively. (Nyanon, 3/5)

Everyone Knows because he doesn’t make a secret of it). And poor Kunikida keeps trying to play the straight man to his circle’s chaos,,, Rest In Peace, Kunikida, it’s a valiant effort. And! That’s a good point, Atsushi would probably feel bad but Chuuya’s his friend so he trusts him? Kinda??? As long this doesn’t end with Akutagawa murdering him it should be good, at least. Dazai... Would absolutely spill the beans, if only as Revenge on Chuuya for fake dating Atsushi. (Nyanon, 4/5)

Maybe not his crush, because Dazai isn’t a complete ass, but he’d definitely be a brat. Also real talk I could see Atsushi and Chuuya as the type to get married for the tax benefits? Anyways! Onto another Concept: Please consider it being a slow day at the office, so Dazai and Ranpo decide that the best solution is... Playing dumb simulator games with everyone for kicks. I don’t know why, but it’s on my mind and I can imagine them freaking out over Bad Controls and stuff. (Nyanon, 5/5)

I AM TAKING CARE DONT WORRY, YOU DO AS WELL THO. 

dude dazai will definitely jokingly ask atsushi out (not much joking on his part) and “pretend” theyre a couple with kyouka being their child who could talk about the darkest stuff in a show and dissect it to pieces while having a cute voice. also dont wORRY about self projection, kunikida is 4 The Nerds and youre a nerd, so it doesnt surprise me (youre very valid btw, like very valid so dont be feeling bummed out dude) 

dazai: lol nerd ass also dazai in the middle of the night on kunikida’s account: Give Me The Info gIVE M-

i have a headcanon that dazai refuses to write for a fandom that kunikida hasnt done in depth research and info dumping of because hes too lazy to google too much, he ANNOYS kunikida by asking the dude to look up (for example) what every part of a boat is named (kunikida’s twitter is FILLED with threads upon threads and is very aesthetic and his tumblr is ultimately perfectly tagged where everything is easy to navigate)

atsushi and chuuya marrying for tax benefits? yes please. chuuya would rub it in so hard “you mightve finally gotten the balls to ask him out but i asked him to marry me first”

DUMB SIMULATOR GAMES AFGHEJKSHDJK they would annoy the office with it 

[storypraxis]

MARTHA JONES Is The Perfect DOCTOR WHO Supporting Character

Having recently rewatched Series 3 of Doctor Who, not only is it my favourite of new Who, but so is Martha Jones. I’d also go as far as saying she is the perfect supporting character.

First off, Freema Agyeman was the perfect casting decision. The showrunners were really impressed with her in the minor role she played at the end of Series 2. Instead of ignoring this fact, the writing brings up how it was Martha’s cousin who died at the Battle of Canary Warf. This accomplishes a couple of things; it explains how the same actress played two characters on the show without causing continuity errors. Then you have the Doctor forced to be reminded of said battle.

And Rose.

Which brings up to how the Doctor is still dealing with losing Rose at the end of Series 2. He needs a new companion and when a smart, clever, resourceful doctor presents herself to fill the spot, they both take it. The show gives us two doctors for the titular Doctor to choose from to accompany him. It’s obvious why he’d go for Martha given how scared the other candidate is. Unlike Rose, Martha was whisked into an adventure along with a hundred other people yet she’s the one who joins him in the TARDIS.

Rose’s shadow looms long over the Doctor. The Time Lord takes Martha to the same places he took Rose. People have criticized the showrunner Russell T. Davies of being obsessed with the character of Rose and the drama that came with it, but for me it just comes off as staying true to the character of the Doctor. He isn’t just going to forget about Rose and how in sync they were. That would be very disrespectful to Rose and her fans. Sadly this means Martha does get left behind as a character. She fulfills her purpose perfectly even though it means she cannot compete when it comes to Rose. It makes her character tragic and very sympathetic.

Snog her, you idiot!

Maybe it’s just me finding Freema and Martha attractive but as an audience member you really wish the Doctor could see Martha the way she sees him. Albeit, the Doctor shouldn’t really be dating any of his companions to be honest. Still, Martha isn’t getting enough out of their relationship or lack thereof which is sad.

Speaking of sad, Martha can show her vulnerability as easily as she can be sassy and funny. She can stare at the Doctor with puppy dog eyes in one scene yet demand answers about him and his past the next. All these emotions come off naturally, both in the writing and with Freema’s acting. She’s just a perfect blend of a supporting character. Balanced like all things should be.

Now, having said that, there is a problem with Martha. Despite being a balanced character that also means she doesn’t have the highest of highs or the lowest of low points. For the most part, Martha lacks major strengths and weaknesses that would solidify her as a great character.

Martha’s fun even when she tries too hard to be funny.

For that to happen, Series 3 would have needed a Martha-centric episode. If she had wanted to go back to being a doctor for a while then maybe her personality would have shone through more. This would cause a detour in the story and mess with the pacing though. One could argue that “Blink” does that, but who’d want to get rid of that episode? Plus the Doctor-lite episode was needed so both Tennant and Agyeman could do more shooting for other episodes.

I have loads of ideas for a Martha-centric episode...

Martha is a perfect supporting character, as in she services both the protagonist, story and plot. Supporting characters just tend to not be fleshed out well enough to be great characters. Arguably this changes when Martha decides to leave the Doctor. I haven’t seen her adventures in Torchwood but (I will check them out now!) Martha’s return in Series 4 was glorious. When we last see her in Ten’s last episode she’s an outright badass. So there is growth and character development, I just wonder how much of that is offscreen.

Martha’s main weakness, if you can call humanity that, is her feelings of inadequacy brought on by her unrequited crush/love for the Doctor. It humanizes Martha, adding to the juxtaposition between her and the inhuman Time Lord. Again, serving the protagonist and the story perfectly. The one-sided love story just never goes anywhere. Martha’s decision to just get out is sensible and it makes her extremely likeable and wise. It provides a character arc for her, but it’s not exactly memorable nor does it propel the story into new heights.

Martha literally gives her last breath to the Doctor as they are about to suffocate on the Moon.

That said, Martha went way beyond the call of duty, sacrificing herself to help the Doctor. Especially during the two-parter "Human Nature/Family of Blood” where Martha had to witness the Doctor falling in love with another woman while trying to keep the Time Lord safe from evil aliens. All the while having to put up with the prejudiced attitudes of the early 20th century England.

Right before Martha schools her on all the bones in her hand that’s about to pimp slap her.

In the same two-parter, when the amnesiac Doctor-turned-human falls down the stairs, Martha comes over as soon as she hears of it. Concern for the Doctor’s wellbeing is the first thing on her mind. Sure, Martha’s trapped there with the Doctor being her only way out, but it never comes across like that. The things Martha endures are sacrifices she’s deemed necessary. It really speaks volumes about the true grit of her character.

Waifu material.

She never becomes bitter or hardened by any of it either. Yet she isn’t without some sass either. When Martha’s told she should knock before entering, she steps back towards the door, knocks it and comes back. Martha Jones is such a well rounded character it’s a shame we only had her for a single season.

I’ll reiterate; all this this makes Martha my favourite New Who companion. It makes her the perfect supporting character.

I was going to make a joke about this, but I think the logo speaks for itself...

Martha’s own supporting cast reflects this as well. They all serve to paint a picture of Martha and pushing the story forward. Martha’s mother Francine is excelently utilized with very little screen time. Her skepticism towards the strange Doctor is only natural. It makes perfect sense for Francine to work with Saxon’s people who seemingly want to protect Martha like she does. This side plot in “42″ is actually the best part about the otherwise mundane enviromentalist episode.

Martha isn’t a jokester, but she has her moments. Kudos to Freema’s versatility as an actress.

As a character though, Jackie Tyler, annoying as she could be at times, is far better though. Jackie’s flirty personality, her accent and overall attitude towards life just shines through her every delivery of a line of dialogue. There are plot involving Jackie’s dead husband coming back to life and creating a deadly time paradox, too. Whereas Martha’s dad dating another woman doesn’t have effect on the plot. It doesn’t even phase Martha herself, she just tries to steer clear and juggle between her mom and dad which is easy because by now she lives on her own. Drama free.

That is when she isn’t being jettisoned into the sun!

Side note, I’m glad the character got a happy ending, albeit not with the Doctor like she wished. After all the hardships she endured and sacrifices she made for the Doctor for very little reward, she’s earned a little peace and quiet. She wasn’t lost on a parallel Earth nor forgot her adventures. She didn’t “die” like Amy, Rory and Clara.

It would have been absolutely terrible had Martha died. She’s my favourite of the bunch so it’s good to know she’s still out there somewhere in the Whoverse. The fact she could be easily written back into the show some day warms my heart.

For future reference, should Martha come back to the show and should the writers decide to kill off her character... like they are doing with the show proper at the moment... then allow me to give the showrunners and writers some advice. If Martha has to die, make her sacrifice herself for the Doctor one last time. As a one final act of love towards the man (assuming he’s back to being a man).

She’s talking about Shakespeare, but Martha’s line is very indicative of her relationship with the Doctor.

Don’t give us Mad Martha who decides to burn down whole cities full of people, okay. Don’t give us that “Martha kinda forgot her Hippocratic Oath” crap. You got that? Just making sure...

Anyway, Series 3 wasn’t the end for Martha and I’m so glad the character came back in Series 4 and like I said, I’ll be checking out Torchwood for more Martha appearances. But we’re here to talk about her as a companion so let’s get back on track.

That’s what she said about my tangent.

Now, you could get a good episode about Martha’s family drama, much like how Rose changed time to save his dad. But it’s not really necessary. The family drama in Series 11 has certainly shown how dull and dreary stories like that can be. That is why, even though Martha and her family aren’t exactly great characters that provide great stories, they are perfect at providing a clear context to the imaginary world that the Doctor, the TARDIS and time travel represents.

Freema sells that magical moment of a companion stepping into the TARDIS for the first time perfectly.

Again, perfect supporting characters that don’t waste time away from the things people actually watch the show for. That said, I wouldn’t have minded seeing a cat fight between Francine and her ex husband’s new bimbo girlfriend!

Just a single scene like that would have been endlessly entertaining and damn memorable!

Imagine that but between her and the bimbo: “Keep away from my husband.”

Martha’s sister Tish fares a lot better as a character as far as personality goes. There isn’t really a sibling rivalry going on, but Tish’s remarks about Martha dating a science geek speaks a lot about both her and Martha’s characters. What they look for in a man. When the Doctor asks what a science geek means, Martha explains it’s just someone who’s passionate about science which makes the Doctor happy. Which is what Martha wants, whether she was telling him the truth or sparing his feelings with such an interpretation. Brilliant writing for the characters all around.

Tish working with both Lazarus and Saxon, even if both instances were brought about by Saxon himself, tells about Tish being drawn towards wealth and power.

She was even ready to “snog” a de-aged Lazarus!

Damn right, she is! Not just a pretty face but smart too!

I wish we’d have seen more of Tish. Her interaction with Martha really created a contrast that benefitted both characters. In “The Lazarus Experiment” especially, Martha gets to shine. After helping her family escape, she goes back for the Doctor against her mother’s wishes. Later, Tish comes along. Martha takes control and takes Tish with her so that the Doctor has time to defeat Lazarus himself. Martha let’s the Doctor shine and in doing so shines herself. Tish acts as a great supporting character herself by asking who the Time Lord is. At this point Martha already knows because she’s asked him herself, demanding answers.

“We need to talk.” Never a good sign except in fiction.

Martha or the handling of her character is often criticized for how she had a thing for the Doctor. Her character was much more. In an early episode “Gridlock” we get one of Martha’s best moments; when she demands answers about the Doctor. She forces the Time Lord to come out of his shell, to stop pretending everything was all right. The Doctor tells Martha about being the last of the Time Lords which fits perfectly to the story of the Series.

Namely that the Doctor is not the last of his kind.

The Doctor also mentions how the Time Lords were all lost in a Time War, battling against the Daleks. It’s a great segway into the next two-parter story about Daleks themselves. The story flows really well with one thing leading to the next. The pacing is really good while the characters remain true to themselves. That said, it’s good to have Martha around to challenge the Doctor.

Asking seemingly harmless questions like this is vital for good supporting characters. We get to see the Doctor’s reaction to his home planet being brought up.

That said, I should mention a couple of things. In the episode “Smith & Jones” the Doctor kisses Martha to mark her with some of his DNA. This is done on the fly and while the Doctor had a plan, I dislike how this puts Martha in danger. Now, she doesn’t get into any serious trouble but considering how trigger happy the Judoon platoon upon the moon are, things could have gone real bad. This kiss does start Martha’s infatuation with the Doctor so there’s that.

Wait, don’t snog her, you idiot! Now she’s in danger!

The Doctor’s indifference to cool and hot Martha does make him in return look cooler. Martha is essentially the Doctor’s cheerleader which, despite sounding as not complimentary, really is that. You need the audience to root for the main character and this is partly achieved through supporting characters singing their praises. Of course, the characters still have to earn that praise. You can’t just have characters emotionally validate themselves or others to the audience.

Though it doesn’t hurt when Shakespeare himself is singing your praises.

The downside to the Doctor’s indifference is that he does come across as a jerk at times. Now this can be either a good or a bad thing based on the audience. While Martha is perfect as a supporting character, you don’t want neither her or the protagonist to be perfect. The Doctor missing Rose, as annoying as that can be to some, is keeping true to the character. The Doctor is in mourning. It’s his grief period and Martha is there to help him through it. In doing so, Martha learns that she doesn’t want to wait forever for another person to notice her.

In one of the best episodes in New Who’s history, “Utopia” draws a parallel between Doctor and Martha and the Professor and his assistant Chantho. Much like Martha, Chantho is smart, kind and caring. Based on her interactions and demeanor, Chantho adores the Professor and like Martha with the Doctor, she has a crush on him. Both the Professor and the Doctor don’t notice these signs. For an individual episode this is all well and good, but given the secret about Professor Yana, this parallel is much more impactful than it seems at first.

Spoilers to a Series over ten years old; Yana is actually the Master. This twist alone, the callback to the concept of a fob watch allowing a Time Lord to masquerade as a human was a brilliant touch. Martha of course recognizes Yana’s fob watch instantly and again, Freema sells the feeling of terror and dread so damn well.

Later in the episode Martha recognizes the Master’s voice as Harold Saxon. The name we’ve heard all throughout the Series. A lesser show would not have given Martha’s character such insight. It’s one of the numerous details that make her character clever and likeable.

Unfortunately, likeable characters aren’t always the most compelling ones. This makes Martha an underappreciated companion in the series history. While Martha is my favourite, I can’t really blame the detractors. Martha Jones served her purpose on the show which meant couldn’t shine as brightly of a star of her caliber. I’d still take her any day over Clara Oswald who was such a bad supporting character that it encroached on becoming the Clara Who show. And I say this as someone who loved the past and future Claras and Jenna Coleman playing the character(s).

Anyway, back to the actual episodes. While context is key, I find it interesting how the Master kills Chantho, showing no regard for her life. Now, the Doctor does care about life and he’s risked his own life for Martha many times. Still, being around the Doctor, much like with the Master, is dangerous. Neither can truly love their companions the way they want. That parallel is fascinating and I’m glad Martha was allowed to walk away from it of her own free will. Definitely one of the reasons this Series has the best writing out of New Who.

One of the few times the Doctor rewards Martha’s loyalty and bravery. Her reaction to receiving a key to the TARDIS is everything!

Speaking of writing. Before Martha says her goodbye, she has to walk the Earth and spread the gospel of the Doctor to the people of the world. Many have criticized how the show made the Doctor out to be a god who regains his power through prayer essentially. Rightfully so because even in context the twist does feel outlandish albeit totally awesome. Subjectively I’d say it’s one of the best moments in New Who.

Basically, the people have been subliminaly made to vote Master/Saxon into office. Now the Doctor has tapped himself into the same telepathic field and receives prayers, the word “Doctor” across the world. This turns him basically invincible for a time. Time enough to defeat the Master.

Because the telepathic field had been established in a prior episode and its effects had been reincorporated over and over again in the form of a drumming that the Master himself heard inside his head, I find that the twist is properly set up. That and because Martha has spent a whole year travelling around the world acting as a cheerleader for the Doctor.

The best cheerleader you could ever hope for!

Though how the Doctor’s orders relayed by Martha never reached the Master’s ears is a mystery. Martha was aware of a traitor though and she spoke to her accordingly, feeding false information. I doubt she told the people about the telepathic field. The Master could not put two and two together when the Doctor himself told of the plan. To the Master it was just hope and prayer.

Suffice to say I have mixed feelings about the final twist. None of this detracts from Martha Jones as a companion though and that’s why I wrote this blog post about her. If you’ve managed to get this far I thank you.

Boy, that was a lot of out of order, wibbly wobbly rambling about a show that I love and a companion I adore. Started well, that blog post.

<3

[scapegrace74-blog]

Vacationland

A/N  Written for the 50 States of Sex collaboration so brilliantly thought up by @viceversawrites and @softnow.  I picked Maine, since I just visited this summer.  Set during that vague timeframe that is post-Per Manum flashback, pre-Requiem.  A bit of angst, but hopefully just enough to add some depth to what is otherwise pretty much a fluffy PWP.  Rated NC-17, ‘natch.

It was possible that after many years of miscommunication, frustration and upset plans, it was time for Fox Mulder and Logan Airport to call it quits and go their separate ways.

He stared at the digital terminal display, lit up with row after row of on-time departures.   All except the last remaining flight to Bangor, which had been winking a smug fifty minute delay for the past three hours.   Outside their gate, the New England sky was a tint of robin’s egg blue only witnessed in early September when school was back in session.  He remembered it well.

He paced back to where his partner sat, poised and still, staring out the concourse window at nothing.  Her hands were folded in her lap as though in prayer, and he made a mid-second correction in course.

“I don’t think our plane is ever showing up, Scully.  It’s a regional carrier - maybe they only fly when it’s foggy enough.”

She didn’t react to his stand-up routine, so he took matters into his own hands and lifted the handle on her roller bag.  That got her attention.

“Mulder, what the hell?  This is our gate.  When the plane gets here, they’re not going to wait for us.”

“The plane’s not coming, Scully.  Let’s grab a rental car and drive up.  Bangor’s about four hours’ away on the interstate, and four hours in a moving vehicle will feel like heaven, after an afternoon in purgatory at Logan.”

She didn’t acquiesce, but she didn’t stay staring at the blank canvas of the sky either.  He considered that a win.

***

“This isn’t the interstate, Mulder.”

Scully had dozed off somewhere near the New Hampshire border, and he’d taken the next exit to the coast road.   They’d been averaging thirty miles an hour through one white clapboard hamlet after another since then.

“You’re very observant, Scully.  You should consider a career in law enforcement.”

“Very funny.  But seriously, where are we?  It’s 6pm - we should be nearly in Bangor by now.”   

Scully woke up grumpy.  He had years of experience devising counter-measures; everything from grande cups of her favourite dark roast to humorous observations of local law enforcement.  More recently, he’d developed a technique that included plucking her nipples like a harp and then anchoring his head between her thighs until she levitated, but he couldn’t very well do that and still drive.  He handed her a blueberry fritter, still warm in its brown paper bag.

“We’re not nearly in Bangor,” he ventured after she’d inspected the treat.

“I can see that.”  Her tone mellowed as she licked homemade lemon frosting from the tip of each finger.

“We’re actually closer to Wells.  I decided to take the scenic route.  We can grab a room here and still get to Bangor tomorrow in time for our ten o’clock interview.”  

He glanced in her direction, trying to judge how this change in plans was landing.   Scully could usually be counted on to let her strict professionalism lapse when he was the only witness, but she’d gone far inside herself these past few weeks, and he couldn’t blame her.  This was his first attempt to coax her back out of her shell.

“A room, Mulder?  A room, singular?  We’re on the clock.”   She was still prickly and resistant, however, and he found it endlessly heartening.   A passive Scully was no Scully at all.

“Well, that clock had us landing in Bangor five hours ago.  Right now, Agent Mulder and Agent Scully are sitting in their adjacent hotel rooms, chastely reviewing their case notes before retiring to their separate beds.   You and I are grabbing a room in Wells.  It’s September.  Any one of these little roadside motels will have a vacancy.”

“A roadside motel?  You really know how to treat a girl, Mulder.” 

He made eye contact and gave her his best attempt at a sexy grin.   He might know next to nothing about how to treat girls, plural, but he was the world’s leading expert on how to treat this one.

***

The little efficiency cottage was basic, but clean.  They changed out of their travelling suits and into casual clothes before walking, hand-in-hand, up the main road through town.

“What exactly are you looking for, Mulder?   These places all serve lobster.”

“Spoken like a true non-Yankee, Scully.   There’s lobster, and then there’s lob-stah.   I’ll know it when I see it.”

The restaurant had been there so long its shingle siding had weathered to a nondescript grey.  You ordered at a take-out window, then ate at a collection of ramshackle picnic tables, spread on a sloping lawn overlooking the estuary.

They sat on the same seat bench, facing the marsh that dimmed into darker and darker shadows of green as the setting sun released the day.  The lobster rolls were fresh and buttery, served with coleslaw and house-made pickles, and washed down by pints of pale blond beer.   It was, in his estimation, the perfect meal.

Scully’s left hand crept over and stole his last pickle.   Her hair was molten copper where the last rays of light caught it.   He took a deep breath of salt air, then exhaled.

***

“I would, Mulder, but I don’t have my bathing suit.   The hotel in Bangor - you know, the one where Agent Scully is staying right now - doesn’t have a pool.”

“Just go in your underwear.  It’s dark out, and I doubt there’ll be anyone else swimming at this hour.  This place empties out after Labour Day.”

He saw her struggle with propriety, and decided to stack the deck in his favour.  He stripped off his shirt and jeans.   He heard the little catch in her breath as he briefly bared his naked backside before donning his swim trunks.  

In the three weeks since the last IVF attempt had ended in a whirlpool of blood and tears, they hadn’t made love.  He was a psychologist, and he knew Scully was dealing with a lot of anger and ambivalence over her body’s failure to provide refuge for even one of their offspring.  He doubted she’d even noticed, but she’d ceased to trim her nails, hadn’t gone to the gym, and her roots were growing in: all signs that she was denying her body loving care in the way it had denied her a child.  So her reaction to his nakedness, no matter how minute, was reassuring.

“Oh, alright.  But if I get arrested for public indecency, I’m taking you and those ridiculous board shorts down with me!”

***

The small fenced pool was tucked between the line of cottages and a copse of pine trees.  You couldn’t see the ocean, but you could make out the dull thrum of its eternal give and take.   A single flood light triggered by a motion sensor lit the shallow end, and the water itself glowed aquamarine from a series of underwater lights.

Scully was wrapped in one of the motel’s scrawny bath towels.   She looked furtively towards the curtained windows that overlooked the pool.  Other than their own, none of the cottages showed signs of habitation, so she slowly released the tuck of the towel and draped it over the fence.

She had lost weight.  He could see it in the sharp nip of her waist and the loose fit of her panties.  Still, she was pale and lovely as the moon, and he was struck anew by the juxtaposition of tenderness and lust she brought out in him.  Thinking a tented swimsuit might betray his intentions, he jumped feet first into the deeper end of the pool, appreciating the coolness against his heated skin.

“How is it?”   Cautious as ever, Scully was descending the steps slowly, and he grieved the slow disappearance of her body until he realized the underwater illumination acted like an aqueous spotlight, lighting her up from below.

“Come over here and find out,” he beckoned her towards the deeper water.

She dove fluidly beneath the surface, re-emerging two feet in front of him like a modern-day naiad, cedar-hued hanks of hair and eyes bluer than the sky that afternoon.

“Mmmm, this was a good idea, Mulder.  Thank you.”  She brushed against him, skin polished and warm, and dropped a chlorine kiss on his lips.   He tried to pull her closer, but she pushed hard against the wall and floated away with a laugh.

They paddled languorously as the curious moon rose above the pines.  The floodlight had long subsided into darkness.   Scully drifted easily on her back, nipples and pubic hair umbra signals to his baser self through the opaque cotton covering.  His cock twitched in the loose confines of his trunks, despite the coolish water.  He could feel the tug of something primeval, dark and instinctual, coming from the endless wilderness to the north.  This is your mate, it said.

As she drifted within reach, he pulled her easily into his embrace, kissing the damp from her eyelashes and cheeks.  She settled her arms over his shoulders, light as a feather in the water’s buoyancy.

“I love kissing you, Scully,” he murmured between pecks.  She chuckled at his juvenile admission.

“Yes, I got that impression.   I love kissing you too, Mulder.”  She licked his chin, to emphasize her point.  He growled and initiated a hungrier kiss, holding her  against him in the the ebb and flow of a subtle current, where she could certainly feel the physical proof that he wasn’t exaggerating.

“Is this okay?” he asked as he made his way down her arched neck, one hand now gripping her ass beneath the clinging fabric of her panties.

“Mmm, very okay.  I missed this.  Even when everything else feels wrong, you’re the only thing that still makes sense, Mulder.”  She gasped out his name as he nipped her earlobe.

“That’s how I know you’re my one in five billion.  You’re the only person who’d ever assert that I make sense,” he teased.

“What I don’t understand is why I make sense to you.  Especially now...”

“Oh, Scully.  Are you serious?  You mean besides the fact that you’re the most stunning woman alive, and you put up with all of my shit?  How about this - you’re the only person who already is what I want my future to be.”

She leaned back and observed him, limpid and wet, as though measuring the truth of his statement.  Then, holding his head very still between her ragged fingernails, she kissed him deeper than all the oceans combined.  

By the time they broke for air, they were mindlessly thrusting together, the surrounding water adding an erotic slickness to their movement.

“God, I want you.  Is it too soon?” he gasped.

“No. I don’t think so.  It’s okay.  Let’s go back to the room.”   She was panting like a frightened animal and pawing at the waist of his shorts.

“Mmm, no.  Here.  God, Scully.”  This as her hands finally worked the knot at his waistband loose and dove inside to grab his cock.

“Mul-derrrrrr, we can’t.  Bacteria, lubrication.  C’mon.” She nodded towards the stairs, trying to encourage him into shallower water.

“I know what I’m doing.  You trust me, don’t you Scully?”

Without waiting for her response, he lifted her even higher in the water, so her crotch rubbed his navel.  He shunted his shorts downwards until they dropped to his ankles and he flicked them away.   Tucking her knees beneath his armpits, he lifted the gusset of her panties out of the way, then slid his aching cock into the tight hot space between cotton and skin.

“Like this.  See?  Like this.  Outside.  Oh shit Scully.”  He was frantic already, the head of his cock sliding up the seam of her body, over her clit and then against the elastic membrane of her underwear.  It felt amazing.

“Jesus, Mulder.  Where did you...? Nevermind.  Just keep, yeah.  Ohmygod yeah.”   She had her elbows braced on the pool deck, her torso leaning away from him to create just the right angle for each exquisite slide.   Her head fell limply backwards, chin tipping towards the night sky as she moaned so deeply he felt it inside his body.

“Fuck, Scully.  So good, baby.  So fucking good.”

He wasn’t going to last at this rate.  He looked into the water to see the obscene bulge of the head of his cock advancing and retreating beneath the cotton’s opaque skin.  Shit, that wasn’t helping.   One hand dove down, pushing himself even deeper into her slit with each thrust, letting the ridge stroke over her hood until she let out a sharp yelp and began thrashing against him in ecstasy, stirring up a tiny tempest of waves between them.

“That’s it, Scully.  Fucking come for me.  Come on me.”

He grasped himself through the material, gave two quick tugs, and released what felt like a thousand lifetimes of fervour onto her skin.  His agonized groan tapered off to a whispery chuckle.

“Fuck, I have the best ideas.”

***

Showered and tucked into bed, pink and boneless, he thought Scully was already asleep when she asked,  “Do you really see your future in me, Mulder?  Even now?”

He tightened his hold around her shoulders, tucking the damp crown of her head beneath his chin.

“They say the only thing that can make sense of the past is the future, Scully.  You’re the only answer I want to find.”

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #189 - Spy

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes. #358

Format: Blu-ray

1) So the movie starts by introducing us to a sort of typical white guy spy. A James Bond type, but without the British accent (for some reason). It starts with the familiar, the usual tropes, before really fucking them over when Jude Law (who for some reason is trying to do an American accent and he’s not doing it well) sneezes and accidentally kills a guy.

Which is an excellent joke to introduce is into the film’s wonderfully strong sense of humor. If you think you know how a trope is going to play out, you’re probably wrong. In fact, the entire opening sequence is a strong representative of how the film blends quality action with quality humor which will be consistent throughout the film.

2) Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper.

McCarthy is the foundation on which the rest of the film is built. From the very first minute we spend with her character she is established as not only good at her job but incredible at it. It is easy in spy spoofs for the main spy to be a bumbling idiot, but Susan’s continued competence is in fact one of the key factors which makes this film as incredible as it is. Especially considering the fact she does have some insecurities at the beginning, insecurities which are largely unfounded because she is fucking good at her job. McCarthy is able to have incredible warmth, heart, and vulnerability as Susan which she doesn’t always show in her film roles. But also when the script calls for it she can have this amazing brashness and humorous loudmouth/angry quality. Susan goes through an incredible transformation from the moment we meet her to the moment we leave her and McCarthy is able to play that absolutely perfectly. It’s HER story, it’s HER movie, and we are just along for the ride in an amazing way.

3) “Who Else Can You Trust?” is abbreviated in the film’s opening credits (I own the full version found on the album) but feels like a real Bond song with the opening credits feeling like a real Bond opening credits. This is part of the reason Spy is able to differentiate itself from other spy comedies like Austin Powers. It takes the genre, action, and stakes seriously throughout. This is real danger and true villains who are trying to get their hands on a nuke. It’s not like “oh, it’s funny because the spy is stupid and the bad guy’s want to kill all cats” or something like that. This sort of silly comedies can and have worked in the past, but Spy’s comedy is born out of its strong sense of characters and performances from the actor. Not by making fun of the genre, but embracing it in a wonderfully fun and funny way.

4) Jude Law’s Bradley Fine often times steps over the line which divides nice guy from Nice Guy™.

Susan: “Could you imagine me as a spy?”

[Fine, who has seen how badass she was in training, laughs at the idea.]

He’s an idiot and kind of a jackass. He may not actively be trying to belittle her but that’s what he does in pretty much 99% of their conversations. He’ll talk about how great she is but he gives her chores which she is overqualified for like picking up his laundry. It’s frustrating but then it’s supposed to be. It’s one of the key conflicts in the film that Susan is underestimated and belittled by all those around her because she’s not what a spy is “supposed” to be like.

5) This film is pretty freaking great, but it could’ve used a little more Morena Baccarin.

Honestly, everything could use a little more Morena Baccarin.

6) What the fuck is this bullshit? He’s secretly SLEEPING with this bad guy and yet…

Fine [upon being caught by villainess Rayna with a gun]: “An awfully big gun for such a little girl.”

7) Allison Janney is someone who I love in literally everything I’ve seen her in. Even when she’s pretty much the straight man in this, the CIA director, I am just drawn to her. I just really fucking love Allison Janney.

8) Jason Statham as Ford.

Holy fucking shit. Somehow Jason Statham is in a movie with modern day comedic legend Melissa McCarthy and ends up being the funniest person in the film. He is totally committed to Ford’s arrogance, jackass qualities, intensity, and hyper masculinity in a way which is 100% hysterical! It’s a tricky business because Ford doesn’t think he’s funny. Ford doesn’t think he’s weird or an idiot, and Statham plays it like that knowing it will derive the most laughs. Ford is basically the super testosterone filled action hero in every movie ever and Statham doubles that while stealing every single fucking scene he’s in. And his chemistry with McCarthy is off the charts funny! Melissa McCarthy is the bedrock this film rests upon but Jason Statham is the fucking cherry on top (I think I’m mixing my metaphors but whatever), he is absolutely amazing.

9) I love this because it makes me angry.

CIA Director Elaine Crocker [about why Fine pressured Susan to stay out of the field]: “Yeah, he sniped you.”

THIS IS REAL! THIS IS FUCKING REAL! MEN IN CHARGE KEEPING WOMEN DOWN BECAUSE THEY’RE WOMEN, WHETHER THEY KNOW THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE DOING OR NOT! GAH! I mean, the film including it is fucking awesome and handled really fucking well but holy shit it pisses me off that this is even a thing.

10) I find it endlessly frustrating (and I think I’m supposed to) that all of Susan’s aliases and spy gear are not the “sexy” stuff but things which could be considered “frumpy”. Why can’t she be a gorgeous baroness with a super slick ride and men on her shoulders? Have you seen Melissa McCarthy? She’s fucking gorgeous.

11) Melissa McCarthy has a very strong chemistry with Miranda Hart, who plays Susan’s best friend Chummy in the film. Their relationship in many ways is much more important than the ones Susan has with any other character in the film, including Fine. And you understand how good friends they are with each other as the movie continues. It’s really great.

12) Ugh.

Ford [after McCarthy points out he didn’t even like Fine]: “It’s called the rivalry of men!”

As a man I can say, “The rivalry of men,” is the equivalent of, “who’s dick is bigger,” because society has convinced us that we’re not a “real man” unless we’re the “biggest” man in the room. It’s fucking stupid.

13) One of the key things that makes Susan as strong a character as she is are her motivations. You understand what is driving her VERY clearly: her memory of Fine. It evolves into more than that as the film goes, it evolves into her just doing her job, but you understand why she does things which are outside of her norm. It’s because she is in pain over Fine’s (supposed) death and needs to make right by him. It’s clear and powerful and helps make the film as good as it is.

14) Aldo - as portrayed by Peter Serafinowicz (legendary character actor who can be found in Shaun of the Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, the voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I, and most recently “The Tick” on Amazon) is incredibly funny. Every overly sexualized moment with him & just his general chemistry with McCarthy makes him a worthy addition to the already stellar ensemble cast.

15) As I mentioned in note #10, I don’t understand why McCarthy is given all the frumpy gadgets and covers when she can pull this off:

She’s fucking gorgeous.

16) I’ve mentioned this with a few pairings before, but McCarthy and Statham have this intense/incredible comedic chemistry which is born out of their strong bickering. This is most plainly seen when they're both at the hotel/casino arguing and I think the fact I’ve mentioned it so often is just a sign of how well put together this fucking cast is.

17) There is an incredible sense of tension that plays through most scenes (for example: when Chummy is trying to kill power to the casino) which ties into what I mentioned in note #3: it helps elevate the film over silly spy spoof into this engaging and riveting action comedy.

18) Rose Byrne as Rayna.

Rayna was apparently originally written as a 19 year old girl (this according to IMDb’s trivia section), which makes a LOT of sense considering how much of a BRAT she is. Don’t get me wrong, Byrne is absolutely excellent at giving of the appearance of this elegant and sophisticated socialite. But that’s where the humor is from. The juxtaposition between what you expect from her (a refined Bond villainess) and what she actually is: a moronic spoiled brat. Byrne plays the humor and juxtaposition perfectly. The key part is that - like Statham - she’s not actively going for laughs. She’s not hyping up the stupidity or the silliness, acting like Rayna knows she’s stupid, but instead trusting the script and playing it in a way where Rayna takes herself seriously. And THAT’S the gag! And it’s great!

19) At this point Rayna has called Susan a child multiple times, compared her to a depress homeless clown, and insulted her ability to address herself.

Susan [to Rayna]: “Why are you being so nice to me?”

20) I’m starting to sound like a broken record but McCarthy’s ability to hold her own against how Byrne plays Rayna’s horridness is a testament to her talents as an actress and the chemistry between the pair. God, this movie is just so fucking funny.

21) I mentioned earlier that McCarthy gets the chance to play Susan as both more reserved and brash. It is when McCarthy is acting like “Amber Valentine” (the cover Susan uses to make Rayna trust her) that she gets to show off this aggression WONDERFULLY. It’s also wildly cathartic because a lot of people - including Rayna - have just been consistently putting Susan down for the ENTIRE film. Now she gets to go off on them and it’s amazing.

22) I’d like to point out that very few women die or get “fridged” in this film, not when compared to the men. I think during the entire movie only one woman dies but that’s a nice proportion swap to most male dominated action films. (How many women have died on Bond movies versus the men?)

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

23) The Budapest car chase scene is one of the strongest action set pieces in the film. It’s filled with this intense and enjoyable action, sprinkled with just enough jokes to make it hysterical, it’s well choreographed, and just altogether a fun ride.

24) But even the Budapest car chase can’t compare with the kitchen fight.

The action is INCREDIBLY well done. The fight choreography and energy throughout is just truly kinetic and it just grabs your attention and NEVER lets go. It’s just insanely well done and by far the best scene of the film.

25) I would like to point out - similarly as I did in note #4 - that Fine is kind of a jerk to Susan. He attributes her continued success to Rayna’s inexperience just casually, like it’s no big deal, not realizing he just undermined all the amazing things she just did in this film. Meanwhile the creepy sexpot of Aldo supports Susan and reminds her she’s been doing an incredible job in this film.

26) When Susan learns that Fine is alive, her entire initial motivation for going the distance of being a spy is gone. But that doesn’t matter because she’s not doing this for any man anymore. She’s doing this because it’s the right thing to do and because she knows she CAN do it. I love that. And when Susan embraces this and kicks some serious ass, Fine sees her for who she is.

27) Wait…I just realized that Ford didn’t actually DO anything in this film. He just kept getting caught and screwing up.

I love that! It’s so much funnier for me that way! :D

28) I love that it’s Chummy who saves Susan in the end. Not Fine, not Ford, but her best gal pal. Friendship over romance/sexual attraction is something I really appreciate.

29) And by the time the film ends, all three of the main guys - Aldo, Fine, and Ford - want Susan now. But she doesn’t chose a guy, she choses Chummy. She choses a night out with her girls instead of even Fine, the guy she’s been pining over FOREVER. I love that.

Spy is an incredibly funny and heartfelt film with a powerful message about competence/self worth. Melissa McCarthy gives an absolutely stellar performance and is surrounded by a just as strong supporting cast, with Jason Statham being a particular stand out. The action is crazy, the humor is spot on, the characters are well developed, and the relationships are pure. All in all, it’s just a really freaking good movie I think everyone should see.

[mozgoderina]

Sources, influences, racial politics (ArtsATL) / Glenn Ligon

Since the 1980s, conceptual artist Glenn Ligon has incorporated practices of literature, Abstract Expressionism, photo-based media and appropriation to critically explore issues of identity, politics, sexuality and personal desire, to dazzling effect.

The materials Ligon employs to create his large-scale, often monochromatic works are as varied and textured as the subjects he explores. He moves seamlessly across screen printing, oil paint, white neon painted black and even coal dust, and uses quotations from Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin and comedian Richard Pryor in many of his most widely recognized works.

In 2011, Ligon’s first major mid-career retrospective, “Glenn Ligon: America,” was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Although drawing comparisons to artists such as Jenny Holzer or even David Hammons is tempting though tenuous, a more precise parallel is to Abstract Expressionists such as Jasper Johns or Robert Rauschenberg, whom Ligon frequently cites as early influences.

The High Museum of Art’s inclusion of Ligon’s 1988 work “There is a consciousness we all have …” in its current exhibition “Fast Forward: Modern Moments” is felicitous. The piece — a relatively small rust-colored work of oil on paper — uses the text from commentary by former High Museum Director Ned Rifkin (then chief curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden) in a New York Times write-up on the celebrated sculptor Martin Puryear. The quotation reads, in its entirety: “There is a consciousness we all have that he is a black American artist (by madison ), but I think his work is really superior and stands on its own.” The quote suggests a cultural blindness to which the art world was recently exposed again by way of a series of controversial reviews by Ken Johnson in The New York Times, more than 20 years after Ligon produced the piece.

ArtsATL spoke with Ligon in advance of his artist lecture at the High Museum this Thursday, January 10, at 7 p.m. Following is an edited excerpt of our conversation.

ArtsATL: In the summer of 2011, I went to your retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It was really interesting to see the progression from some of the earliest works to the current neon “America” works, so I wanted to start off by just talking about that progression a little bit. One of the things I noticed was this shift from the use of color to a lot of black-and-white monochromatic works and then back to color in the mid-to-late 2000s. I’m thinking of those very early more personal works. What caused that shift from more colorful personal works to using other text or to reappropriating text in your work?

Glenn Ligon: With the works that have color in them — the Richard Pryor joke paintings and the coloring book paintings — I think the shift there was in some ways trying to think about color again, because I started out as an abstract painter. So before the text work I was doing abstractions, but they were just abstractions and very involved in color and composition. I decided that that wasn’t the direction in which my work was going.

The Pryor paintings were a way back to color [while] still using text; it allowed me to think about color more but also think about it in relationship to someone like Andy Warhol and his self-portraits from the 1960s. And also it’s just a very simple idea that Richard Pryor needed to be in color.

ArtsATL: The Richard Pryor works are interesting. They are so bright that they’re almost kind of difficult to look at, because if you stare at them too long, they start to kind of vibrate.

Glenn Ligon: Yes, I think, partially, if you look at the Warhol portraits, he’s a master colorist. A lot of combinations have that kind of electrical charge, and their juxtapositions become difficult to look at or obscure the image — that’s what I was interested in. Also because I think Richard Pryor’s a comedian but he’s not funny, so I was really interested in work that made the viewer work to see [it] but was difficult to look at.

ArtsATL: With a lot of your work, you really make the audience work for it. When you [read it] deeply, all of these complications arise. I’m thinking of the text work created with oil stick on just a white background, where the text starts out as this clean line and gradually crescendos into this mass at the bottom of the canvas you can barely read. When I look at this work, it reminds me of music in the sense that you are using a pre-existing phrase, but you are making it your own or replaying it much like a score in your own way. Obviously literature is a big influence in your work, but I wonder if music is anything that you think about as well.

Glenn Ligon: I was just recently at a concert by Steve Reich, and he was talking about some pieces from the ’60s — “Come Out” and “It’s Gonna Rain” — and the use of repeating, out-of-sync human voices. I’d been listening to Reich for years, and I’d never thought about it in terms of my work. Then suddenly I thought, “That’s ridiculous! Why have I never thought about it?” It makes perfect sense. It’s my work, basically.

So it was interesting to think about how music has been important, though it’s not been in the forefront. I did a piece for the pianist Jason Moran for a concert based on Thelonius Monk called “In My Mind.” What he asked me for, or what I thought he asked me for, was something for an album cover or poster, so I took that phrase “In My Mind” and repeated that and made a drawing out of it. When I went to the concert, there was a whole section where that drawing was being projected on the screen behind the musicians and they were playing, as Jason said, to the spaces in the drawing, and using the spaces as pauses.

I thought that was amazing, this relationship to music in the work, although not something I had thought about consciously but something Jason understood. So yes, I think music has been a kind of touchstone, particularly Monk, who I think was influential when I was thinking about making the Richard Pryor paintings, because the playing is so idiosyncratic and so much his own, but absolutely masterful and virtuosic.

I was thinking about that in terms of thinking about Pryor, who can seemingly get up and tell a story, but then realized that Paul Mooney was his writing partner [and] if you listen to different albums they are pursing their material. They changed the jokes to make them more effective. It’s very interesting when you realize he’s not just up there telling stories. There’s a kind of deep back and forth.

ArtsATL: What is it about text that you find so intriguing? I’ve listened to interviews where you’ve talked about your upbringing and how your mother would buy you and your brother books.

Glenn Ligon: Well, I think for a black working-class family, education is the cliché, education was the key, so there’s a lot of emphasis placed on reading and literacy as a sort of way to achieve. Also when I was younger I was interested in writing too, so I think I was more interested in writing than in art.

ArtsATL: Did you ever want to be a writer when you were growing up?

Glenn Ligon: I did, but at some point I realized that writing is as hard as making art, you know? It got to the point where I could make art as a profession; I just thought, “Well, I know lots of artists write,” but I find it as hard. I’ve written a fair amount for magazines, but it’s maybe once a year. We just published a book of writings right around the time of the Whitney show.

I think literature was around in my childhood, and it’s also a place where you’re legitimately allowed to be alone. I grew up in the South Bronx; it was kind of a turbulent neighborhood. I couldn’t justify staying inside all the time unless I was doing something that required being inside. So I think literature became important to me early on.

But I also grew up around appropriation and text. Why write your own when there are texts in the world? Appropriating text is a way of getting certain ideas into the work directly. In a way it’s very straightforward — like, “Oh, I want these ideas in my work; well, just use them.”

ArtsATL: I think a lot about advertising and the work of artists like Hank Willis Thomas, Barbara Kruger or Martha Rossler and this sort of engagement with the idea of being perpetually surrounded by language. It’s how we navigate the world, so I want to ask you about this interaction with public space and your surroundings and how that comes into the work. You’re operating from this very interesting perspective, which is basically you’re in this body, as am I, as an artist, where you are endlessly navigating this idea of being a black artist or being a gay artist or being an American artist, and there are all these things that play into the work in interesting ways.

Could you explain the process of creating “Notes on the Margins of the Black Book,” in which you juxtaposed images of mostly black nude men taken from Robert Mapplethorpe’s “Black Book” with comments about the images collected from people at a bar that Mapplethorpe frequented?

Glenn Ligon: You’re asking a hard question. Specifically with that piece, I just thought that Mapplethorpe was an interesting figure because he was the subject of a big retrospective, also at the Whitney, very celebrated and because he had this body of work that dealt with representations of black men. Because my work wasn’t figurative, I thought it was an interesting project — to use Mapplethorpe’s images as a sort of ready-made material on which to operate.

But instead of defacing it or whatever the impulse would be would seem very simplistic to me, I thought let’s create this context for it. Put the work in the context of all these debates around black male representation, gay sexuality, censorship, AIDS, personal desire. Put all of that next to the work and let the viewers sort it out. And they can choose. They can not read the text and look at the photos or read the text and sort through those issues in the same kind of process that I went through when thinking about that work. It’s just a way to open up that work to a sort of larger context.

Sometimes I think I am interested in that, and sometimes it’s more hermetic. I think I make abstract paintings. They’re text-based but they’re essentially abstract paintings, so in some ways they’re sort of rooted in the specificity of the text I’m using, but in other ways they feel very far from it and it’s the trace of that language [that] is more interesting to me than the specifics of what that language is.

ArtsATL: You’ve mentioned that some of your influences were people like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, who are both Southern artists. Could you talk about that?

Glenn Ligon: It’s probably less about them being from the South, though I think there’s some interesting work on Rauschenberg’s paintings from the ’50s which I love: “The Black Paintings” and “The White Paintings.” There’s a historian, Mignon Nixon; I think she is actually from the South and she’s at the Courtauld [Institute of Art] now. She did some work on Rauschenberg’s “Black Paintings” and was asking, “Well, if you look at what was on the covers of those papers at that time, it was all about civil rights groups.”

I don’t know what he made of that or what importance that takes, but I think it is interesting to think about how work that is seemingly not about something can be about something. But I think I was interested in Johns and Rauschenberg — I think more in Johns because of the use of language, but now increasingly in Rauschenberg — because I’m very fascinated with how he made images work and with decontextualizing very familiar images. Johns, too, you know [American flags] and all of that, but also because they were painters, and I gravitated more towards them than I did towards Barbara Kruger or Joseph Kosuth. I wanted to remain a painter, and they provided certain kinds of models. Someone like Kosuth or Kruger provided certain kinds of relationships to theory and appropriation and critique of consumer culture, so I was trying to walk the line between those.

ArtsATL: Because your work is so closely connected to language and is also often connected to American history, I want to ask about context. I’m thinking about James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village, which you’ve also referenced in your work. How do you feel that your work changes in different environments? What are the responses to your work outside the United States?

Glenn Ligon: Well, I had a funny sort of encounter. I had a year-long fellowship in Berlin in 2000, and I was making work for Documenta that Okwui Enwesor curated, a body of paintings based on Stranger in the Village. I had an interview with [American critic] Blake Gopnik, who was doing an article about American artists living overseas. He came and picked my brain and then when I got the article it said, “Glenn Ligon’s issues don’t translate in European context.” And I thought, “Well, James Baldwin? Stranger in the Village … what doesn’t translate?” I thought that was fascinating, this kind of blindness or the inability to extend the reading of a text from a different era to a present situation.

I have a show coming up in Japan in March, and one of the neon works I was thinking about using is one that says “negro sunshine,” which is from Gertrude Stein. I asked the curator if she could find the Stein book that it’s from and tell me what the translation is into Japanese. And she said, “Well, it’s not so good. It’s ‘the sunshine of black people,’ ” and I thought that was great. It’s fascinating, but it loses the specificity of the word “negro,” a word in American context that evokes a particular time period.

That kind of slippage is really interesting. It’s not something I’ve worked with extensively — most of the work I’ve done has been in English — but it is an area that I’m thinking more about exploring. But it’s tricky, because one has to sort of dive into a language that’s not your own or trust people’s interpretations.

ArtsATL: Right. It is really tricky. It’s also interesting, this sort of discomfort you feel with not being entirely fluent in a language and having to trust somebody to translate for you.

Glenn Ligon: I guess also it’s trying to understand what kind of cultural presuppositions come out of thinking about translation. That word “negro” is not really translatable into Japanese, and so it’s “black people.” Why didn’t they just leave it? If you can’t translate it, just leave it. So I found that all kind of fascinating; whether I can work with that as material, I don’t know. It’s increasingly interesting to me as I start to show in places outside the United States.

ArtsATL: I want to talk about the very beginning of your career. I just turned 29, which is right around the age you were when you received your New York Foundation for the Arts grant. Could you talk a little bit about that transition? I know you were working; you had a “day job” and then you got this grant and it freed up time that allowed you to become a full-time artist.

Glenn Ligon: My mother joked that the day I knew I was an artist was when the government said I was an artist. The NYFA doesn’t trust artists with individual grants any more — they now have to be administered through a handler — so this was back when the government would actually send you a check. I just decided it was a moment where I could try to be a full-time artist for a while.

I don’t remember the amount of the grant, but it was enough to take some significant amount of time off from work, and I thought, “Well, what does it mean if I start working full time or try to have a proper studio?,” because I was working out of a basement in my house. So that was a huge, huge shift — I guess that was in ‘89 — and I had just started to show, a few works were selling. It just became this sort of launch pad for this thing called “being an artist” which I was already doing, which I was just sort of doing part time and kind of decided to do it full time then.

ArtsATL: It’s really interesting, because very rarely do I get the opportunity to hear artists talk about that progression or that jump between working in your basement, or your mother’s basement, and then suddenly becoming a full-time successful artist.

Glenn Ligon: Well, also I didn’t go to graduate school, so it took me a long time to get a working practice. . . . I never had two years where all you had to do was be in your studio.

ArtsATL: I read somewhere recently that you’re working on a piece based on Walt Whitman’s work.

Glenn Ligon: Yeah, it’s a big neon piece for the New School. It’s going to be in the student center in the new building they’re making.

ArtsATL: What made you choose Whitman for this project?

Glenn Ligon: Well, I think because the New School has such a history of social engagement. It was started by refugees from Europe during the ’30s, and not started by but stocked with refugees from Europe. There are some very famous Orozco murals there that were illustrating the history of Communism basically, that are kind of fantastic, and they also collect widely and exhibit work in their various buildings. So I just thought that the history of the New School was about a certain kind of populism, and it would be interesting to think about some author who embodied that. The piece concentrates on Leaves of Grass, more specifically on the city as subject matter and thinking about bodies and how one encounters bodies in the city and desiring those bodies. So essentially it’s a big piece about cruising in the student cafeteria. I don’t think they know that.

  Source: ArtsATL. Link: Sources, influences, racial politics Illustration: Glenn Ligon [USA] (b 1960). 'Warm Broad Glow (reversed)', 2007. Photogravure and aquatint on Somerset paper (62 x 90 cm). Moderator: ART HuNTER.

[ramajmedia]

5 Reasons The Godfather Is The Best Mob Movie Ever Made (And 5 Why It's Goodfellas)

It’s not often that a discussion of the greatest movie in a certain genre boils down to just two movies, but the debate over the finest gangster film ever made usually comes down to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas.

They’re both very different movies – one is adapted from a fictional novel and the other is a true-to-life biopic, one has a conventional timeline and the other has a nonlinear structure with choppy editing etc. – but they’re arguably equally well-crafted. Here are 5 Reasons The Godfather Is The Best Mob Movie Ever Made (And 5 Why It’s Goodfellas).

RELATED: 10 Most Memorable Quotes From The Godfather Trilogy

10 The Godfather: A more romantic portrayal of mob life

The Corleones are not a real family, and they’re essentially royalty in the criminal underworld, so The Godfather was free to make their lifestyle look glamorous. The occasional scene like Sonny getting shot dead at a toll booth might not seem very glitzy, but they’re few and far between.

With romantic ideas about going to lavish parties and the Don giving out favors on the day of his daughter’s wedding, the movie does make being a mobster look awfully fun. No one thought gangsters were cool until Francis Ford Coppola came along and gave audiences an idealized Hollywood depiction of their lives.

9 Goodfellas: A more realistic portrayal of mob life

The biggest difference between The Godfather and Goodfellas is that, while the former glamorizes the gangster lifestyle, the latter provides a more realistic portrait of it. The characters of Goodfellas are often shown doing the dirty work that the Corleones rarely have to get involved in, and while the Corleone family has more money than they know what to do with, the characters of Goodfellas don’t get very rich.

The movie ends with one of the mobsters selling out all of his friends to secure his family’s safety in the Witness Protection Program. The look on their faces as they get convicted sells the point of the film to us. This is the inevitable ending, and it’s not worth it.

8 The Godfather: More nuanced acting

Ray Liotta’s performance as Henry Hill in Goodfellas, a guy who adores the gangster lifestyle, constantly cheats on his wife, and slowly lets the hooks of drug addiction get into him, is phenomenal – it’s intense, and we believe every emotion – but Al Pacino’s turn as Michael Corleone in The Godfather is simply more nuanced.

Where Henry will loudly yell what he’s feeling, Michael will tell us everything in a single facial expression. Add to that the subtle performances of supporting players like Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Talia Shire, John Cazale, and Diane Keaton. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci provide riveting support in Goodfellas, but it can’t compare to the ensemble of The Godfather.

7 Goodfellas: Faster pace

One of the main criticisms of The Godfather from people who are willing to admit it’s not perfect is that it’s too slow. The pacing in Goodfellas, on the other hand, is much quicker. The plot moves by at breakneck speed, jumping back and forth along the timeline of the narrative to make sure you’re only getting the information you need at any given moment.

RELATED: 10 Most Memorable Quotes From Goodfellas

The choppy editing of Goodfellas, the fact that no scene is more than a couple of minutes long, and the way it throws you into the story at the deep end with a corpse in the trunk all contribute to a pace that’s much faster than The Godfather’s.

6 The Godfather: More striking imagery

Obviously, there is plenty of striking imagery in Goodfellas, because Martin Scorsese is one of cinema’s giants and his keen attention to detail has helped him to get there, but The Godfather is in another league. Cinematographer Gordon Willis, whose work has been called a “milestone in visual storytelling” that “defined the cinematic look of the 1970s,” composed some gorgeous shots that could stand on their own as works of art.

The shot of a murder with the Statue of Liberty way off in the background, poking out from behind the long grass, says everything this movie has to say about the American dream in one frame.

5 Goodfellas: Humor

While The Godfather is a terrific film, it’s also a humorless affair. Goodfellas, however, is a hilarious movie, mostly thanks to the actors’ improvisation. From Joe Pesci’s “How am I funny?” monologue to the introduction of Jimmy Two Times, there are plenty of funny moments in Scorsese’s masterwork.

And not only that, the humor is often used to dramatic effect with striking juxtaposition, such as the central trio’s discussion of Tommy’s mothers painting (“One dog goes one way, the other dog goes the other way, and this guy’s sayin’, ‘Whadda ya want from me?’”) while they have a guy bleeding out in the trunk.

4 The Godfather: Better-crafted plot

This one isn’t really fair to Goodfellas, because that movie was based on a true story, while The Godfather was a fictional story, so while Mario Puzo could shape and reform his novel until it had the perfect structure, there was only so much wiggle room Martin Scorsese had with the true-to-life story of Henry Hill.

Still, The Godfather’s script is a masterclass in screenwriting. We meet our protagonist, the tragic hero Michael Corleone, and watch for three hours as he is slowly corrupted by his family’s lifestyle. His transformation is marked by murdering the crooked cop at the midpoint, exactly when a character’s viewpoint is supposed to turn in a screenplay.

3 Goodfellas: Better soundtrack

The musical backing for The Godfather, written by the great Italian composer Nino Rota, is a breathtaking film score. However, there are few movies whose soundtracks hold a candle to that of Goodfellas, which is basically a mixtape of Martin Scorsese’s favorite songs.

(He even wrote some songs into the script, conceiving the scenes with the music he would score them to in mind.) From Tony Bennett to Aretha Franklin to Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton’s bands Cream and Derek and the Dominos, the Goodfellas soundtrack contains tracks by some of the greatest artists of all time, and they all suit the scenes they’re assigned to perfectly.

2 The Godfather: Stronger historical context

While Goodfellas has a real place in history, being based on a true story, The Godfather has a better hold on its historical context. It’s about fictional characters, but it’s rooted in very real history. It takes place between 1945 and 1955, and this post-war setting forms a lot of the plot.

RELATED: 10 Sprawling Crime Sagas To Watch If You Like Scarface

Michael has just returned from war when he attends his sister’s wedding in the opening scene. This sets him up nicely as the wayward one who isn’t going to get into the family business – until he does. The Corleone family came over from Sicily at the turn of the century, and The Godfather has a lot to say about immigration.

1 Goodfellas: It’s endlessly rewatchable

You have to be in a certain mood to watch The Godfather. It’s long, it’s heavy, there’s a lot to take in – you have to really strap in if you’re going to sit through it. Goodfellas, however, is endlessly rewatchable. It doesn’t matter what mood you’re in or what kind of movie you want to watch – it’s never a challenge to get into Goodfellas.

When you’re channel-hopping and you see that a movie’s on, it’s easier to stop and watch the rest of Goodfellas than it is to stop and watch the rest of The Godfather. It sounds silly, but that’s important.

NEXT: Martin Scorsese's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

source https://screenrant.com/godfather-goodfellas-best-mob-movie/

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

7 Travel Books Worth Reading Right Now (and How to Get a Cheap Kindle)

I’ve been picking up a lot of random books in bookstores lately. This can often be hit or miss. I can’t count the times I’ve picked up books only to go “Well, that was terrible.” However, this current stretch has produced some wonderful books and, since it’s been a while since I’ve done a best-books round-up, I think it’s time again! I spend a lot of time on buses, trains, and planes and use that time to devour books so, without further ado, here are seven books worth your time:

1. All Over the Place, by Geraldine DeRuiter Geraldine, aka The Everywhereist, is a hilarious writer (and friend). This book chronicles her travels, anxieties, and relationship with her husband Rand (who is as cool as the book makes him out to be). It really is all over the place – but in a good way. Though I found the book to be less about travel and more about her relationship, it more than lived up to all my expectations. I’m a huge fan of Geraldine’s writing, wit, snark, and humor and this book delivered all of that. I mean who else can make a poop story so damn funny? If you love her blog, you’ll love this book. (And if you don’t know about her blog, well, read that too.) This book was wonderful and devoured it in a couple of sittings.

2. The Worrier’s Guide to the End of the World, by Torre DeRoche I loved Torre’s first book, Love with a Chance of Drowning, about her cross-Pacific adventure with her then-boyfriend. I had the pleasure of getting an advance copy of her second book (and I loved it so much I even wrote a blurb for it!) Whereas the last book was an adventure into the world, this book is an adventure into the self. After meeting the lovely Masha at an event in NYC, Torre meets up with Masha in Europe, where they decide to walk the Via Francigena trail in Italy and then follow Gandhi’s walking route in India. Along the way, Torre encounters snakes, shamans, rude travelers, friendly strangers, and a universe seemingly trying to point her in the right direction. This book is just as fabulously well written and engaging as her first. I grew to love it more with every page — and I can’t recommend it enough.

3. Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World, by Joan Druett Auckland Island, located 285 miles south of New Zealand, is a place with year-round freezing rain, wind, and little food (but apparently a lot of seals). Simply put, it’s not a place you want to get shipwrecked on. Yet in 1864, Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew did just that — and a few months later, on the opposite side of the island, so did the crew of the Scottish ship Invercauld. This well-written account of the how the two crews survived (and didn’t survive) was a wonderful juxtaposition on leadership, camaraderie, and coming together in crisis. It’s not a long book. It took me a few days to read but it was compelling, captivating, and an excellent reminder of the importance of keeping one’s composure in a crisis.

4. Dispatches from Pluto, by Richard Grant As a big fan of the state of Mississippi, I was really keen to read this book. The state is an often-overlooked tourist destination with eccentric but wonderful people; beautiful parks, rivers, and swamps; stunning architecture; and a complex and rich history for history buffs like myself. In this book, English writer Richard Grant and his girlfriend move to rural Pluto, Mississippi, to live a better life, escape the big city, lower their cost of living, and try something new. They learn to hunt, garden, fend off wild animals, handle snakes, and befriend interesting characters along the way. Grant dives into the contradictions of this state — from race relations and class to education, food, family, and everything in between. This book was incredible, nails Mississippi, and is a must, must, must read.

5. The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland, by Barbara Sjoholm Barbara Sjoholm set off one winter to explore this arctic region — then spent two more coming back and learning about it more. In the process, she unearths the region’s rich history and dives into the tension between tourism, mining, and land use. Her book dives deep into the Samis, local indigenous population and their struggle to maintain their culture in the modern era. As a lover of all things Scandinavian, it was really nice to read about an area and people of the region not often given the attention they deserve. As much as I thought I knew about this region, reading this book taught me a lot – and showed me how much I still had to learn. Well written and insightful, you should definitely pick up this book.

6. The Not-Quite States of America, by Doug Mack The United States of America is more than just 50 states. There’s also the non-states of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. In this funny, detailed, fact-rich book, Doug Mack explores these territories largely forgotten by the rest of the country, which play a more important role in our country than we realize. I had the pleasure of listening to Doug talk about his book in NYC, and he’s a wealth of knowledge — just like his book! This one of those travel books that expands your mind about the place you don’t really know. In many ways it reminded me of The Geography of Bliss in its approach. If you liked that book, you’ll like this book too!

7. The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca, by Tahir Shah Inspired by the Moroccan vacations of his childhood, Shah decides to buy a house in Casablanca. He moves his family from England in hopes of breaking out from the monotony of life in London as well as exposing his children to a more carefree childhood. I randomly picked this up in a bookstore and couldn’t put it down. Shah is an engrossing writer and I was glued to every word. While dealing with corruption, the local bureaucracy, thieves, gangsters, jinns causing havoc, and the hassle that seems to come with even the most simple interactions, Shah weaves a story that is simply one of the best I’ve read all year. It’s beautifully written and endlessly enthralling. You must go buy this book!

Finally, in partnership with Amazon, I have some Amazon Kindle discounts to give away. I don’t carry a Kindle (I’m old-school and like paper), but since the Kindle is a traveler’s friend, I think this is a good deal with sharing! If you’re looking to get a Kindle, you can save $20 off one of the bundles below with the code KINDLETRAVEL. The offer is good until 9/17/17.

Kindle Essential Bundle

Paperwhite Essential Bundle

Paperwhite Travel Bundle

That’s all for today! Happy reading!

And if you have suggestions, leave them in the comments, as I’m always looking to add books to my Amazon queue that I binge-buy on weekends!

The post 7 Travel Books Worth Reading Right Now (and How to Get a Cheap Kindle) appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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[perfectlinnamonroll]

Just Between Us [Lin-Manuel x Reader]

Summary: Your friend has a brilliant idea how to fix your lack of date to the upcoming wedding.

Word count: 3184 (whaaat?!)

Warnings: cursing, some pretty harsh words directed at the reader, huge amounts of fluff

Author’s notes: Okay, so this my first imagine ever. And first fic in a long, long time. This idea just wouldn’t leave me alone, so I had to get it out. Shoutout to @fragmentofmymind for inspiring me to do this and proofreading the first half. I hope you guys enjoy it!! Just a warning - I’m not a native English speaker, so this might be a little awkward in some places. Sorry!

“Oh God”, you murmured, massaging your temples furiously. This was not happening. How the hell had you gotten yourself into this mess?

Oh, right. It was your goddamn cousin’s fault. As usual.

“Don’t worry”, Alice massaged your shoulder in a way that was probably supposed to be comforting. Right now it only added to your overall tension. “Just ask a friend or something. It’s not a big deal, is it?”

“Except I literally have no one to ask. Besides,” you added, flopping onto the bed dramatically, “who in the right mind would agree to go to a wedding with me?”

“Well, it’s free food.”

“You’re a real friend, Al.”

“You know you can count on me.”

You’d called Alice in for a brainstorming session, since the wedding was taking place in a week and you still haven’t solved the big pressing problem: your datelessness.

Usually it wouldn’t matter; you were used to going to parties alone. So far in your life you’ve been in three relationships – none of which lasted longer than two months. Your talent at attracting fuckboys and assholes was uncanny, to say the least. The point was, you could easily just attend the wedding by yourself.

Unfortunately, this was not an option, thanks to your jerk cousin, Corwin. He was two years younger than you and never had any trouble getting a date. His list of ex-lovers was probably even longer than the one in that Taylor Swift song. And, obviously, he had to be there when you were getting invited to the wedding, and had to make a sardonic remark about how there was no point in giving you a “plus one” invitation since you were sure to show up alone.

So, naturally, you decided to show him that he can go fuck himself and made a promise to yourself that no matter what, you were going to that wedding with a date.

Which brought you right to this moment: a week before the party, still very much single.

Right as you were about to say you should probably give up, Alice suddenly perked up and threw herself to the desk, opening your laptop.

“Wha-“

“Shh! I just had a brilliant idea. There’s this guy that-“

“Alice”, you whined. “We’ve talked about this, I’m not taking a random person-“

“Will you listen to me? Sophie met this great guy when she was working in that recording studio, and they’re still in contact. Claims that she’d throw herself at him if she was into men at all, which you know is the highest compliment any male can hope to receive. And I’ve actually met him once, he’s cute and seems nice, so what do you have to lose?”

“So you’re suggesting I ask this dude, who has no idea I exist, to go to a goddamn wedding with me and survive my family for several hours? With the only added benefit of free food and alcohol? There’s no way he’d agree.”

“Well, he’s online right now, and I’m asking him.”

“Alice!”

She turned away from the laptop to meet your eyes.

“No, really. Worst case scenario, he says no and we’re back to square one. Best case scenario, he says yes, you two go to the wedding, fall hopelessly in love and make out somewhere Corwin can see you, so he finally shuts up about your love life. Right?”

You considered it for a moment, then sighed.

“This is the worst plan ever.”

“You’ll thank me later.”

  And just like that, you found yourself in a coffee shop two blocks away from your apartment, fidgeting in your seat. To your surprise, the guy – named Lin – agreed to go with you without any hesitation whatsoever. So, you scheduled to meet for coffee the day before the wedding and get to know each other a bit, so the evening would hopefully be less of an awkward mess.

You’d agreed to meet at ten, but you woke up uncharacteristically early that morning and found yourself unable to focus on anything. Deciding that pacing around your bedroom in circles was useless, you arrived an hour early. Right now you were sipping your second coffee, watching patrons flutter in and out, and nervously eyeing the clock.

It was quarter before ten when the bell above the door ringed, announcing the arrival of a new guest. You looked at the guy curiously. Judging by the messy black hair and dark circles under his eyes, he was your tomorrow’s date. You did a little wave to get his attention and soon he was slipping into the seat opposite you with a wide smile on his face.

“Hi! I’m Lin, great to meet you! So I’ve been told that we’re deflating a jerk’s ego tomorrow?”

You introduced yourself, unable to keep your eyes off the man’s face. The photo Alice sent you did him no justice at all. His eyes, dark and solemn on the picture, were, in fact, rich brown and endlessly warm, and there were no words to describe the brightness of his megawatt smile.

You found out that Alice has briefly told him about the circumstances of the unfortunate wedding. Apparently, Lin was more than eager to knock your cousin down a few pegs. He insisted that you needed to exchange all kinds of information about yourself, so that your fake dating shtick would seem reasonably genuine.

“Well – we don’t have to tell them we’re dating at all”, you stammered. It was painfully clear that this guy was way out of your league.

Lin shook his head, looking appalled at the idea.

“This is a must”, he insisted. “Who am I to miss out on an opportunity to pretend-date a cute girl?”

You did your best to cover your blush with a long sip of your coffee.

“Okay, you go first”, you suggested. “What do you do?”

He started telling you about his temporary job as an English teacher, which payed the bills while he worked on writing his very own musical (which explained meeting Sophie at the studio). His enthusiasm was contagious, and you found yourself constantly laughing at his stories. You began to understand what Alice meant when she mentioned his “easy charisma”.

“Okay, but that’s enough about me”, he said after a particularly funny story about a pop quiz on Shakespeare. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well”, you started, laughing nervously, “there’s not much to talk about. I work in an office downtown. A mind-numbingly boring job, just tons of paperwork and not much else.”

“Okay, so what’s the dream, then?”, he asked with a glint in his eyes.

That was a question you weren’t expecting. You looked down at your empty coffee cup and hesitated for a moment.

“It’s- it’s silly, really, but- I’ve always dreamed of being an author. Fantasy, sci-fi, children’s books, stuff like that. But I’ve never written anything I was really satisfied with, you know? Kept throwing most of it out. I suppose I should just stick to what I’m doing right now.”

Despite your best efforts, your eyes started to tear up a little. These traitors.

You suddenly felt something warm encircling your hand. Looking up in surprise, you noticed that Lin covered it with his. You blushed a little at the look in his eyes – endlessly soft and caring.

“You can’t just give up”, he said, seriousness ringing in his voice. “Everyone starts from somewhere. And throwing out your work is one of the worst offenses ever, trust me. Archive it, store it somewhere you’ll never have to look at it again, but never delete any of it. How else are you supposed to track your progress? And, honestly, I don’t believe you.”

“What do you mean-“

“Your writing. You mentioned it with such passion – I can’t believe this is just a temporary thing. You really want to do it, don’t you?”

“Well, I do – or at least I did, but-“

“Then do it”, he smiled. “If it helps, I’ll gladly read whatever you want me to – and maybe you could look at my writing, too? I need some honest feedback. Just between us writers?”

You looked at him – softly, fondly.

“Yeah. Just between us.”

  The conversation soon returned to more mundane stuff, and before you knew it, it was time to return home. You said your goodbyes and agreed to meet at your place the next day an hour before the wedding, to be able to get there without the need to rush.

You returned to your place, trying to focus on preparations for tomorrow – to no avail. Your mind kept wandering back to the man you just met. Oh, there was no denying he was cute, but that’s not what captured your attention the most. No, you kept replaying his words in your head instead. “Just between us writers.”

Honestly, you’ve all but given up on your writing at this point. No matter what you did, the ideas always felt stale, the words awkward, the characters flat. You couldn’t help but compare yourself to your favourites – Le Guin, Gaiman, Pratchett, Hobb – and feel discouraged by the juxtaposition. Beginning was relatively easy and you were quick to become excited with an idea, but the enthusiasm tended to dissipate in the blink of an eye, leaving you disheartened. Putting words together seemed easy when someone else was doing it; not so much when you were trying it yourself.

So, yeah, you’ve basically thrown the towel in at this point. You couldn’t remember the last time you’ve written something that wasn’t a job e-mail. You didn’t even know why you’d mentioned it today, and why to Lin of all people. Was it because he was a writer too? Or just because his sincerity and openness caught you entirely off guard?

Strangely enough, his words of encouragement struck a chord with you. His passion for theatre, the energy with which he talked about his projects was contagious. It reminded you of high school and nights spent polishing the next chapter of your story. Back then, the distance between you and your idols was inspiring instead of terrifying. When had it changed?

  Next day you spent your whole afternoon in a daze, mindlessly preparing yourself for the party while still mulling over the things Lin had brought up yesterday. You were just putting the finishing touches on your makeup when a sharp knock on the door brought you back to reality.

You rushed to the entrance to find it was Lin, right on schedule. The sight of him momentarily struck you dumb. You were going to a wedding, so logically you knew he wouldn’t be sporting the jeans and sweater he sported in the café. Still, nothing could prepare you for his elegant dark grey suit, which he wore with casual confidence. How the hell did you score a man like this?

Fortunately, you managed not to miss a beat and smiled at him, inviting him inside. “Come in, I just need a couple more minutes and I’m ready to go.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re not ready”, he said, taking in the sight of you. “I’m pretty sure you can’t improve on perfection.”

“Stop it”, you laughed to hide your embarrassment.

“I’m serious. Here I was, thinking we’ll be keeping a low profile during this, and it’s gonna be impossible when you threaten to outshine the bride.”

You couldn’t do anything to stop the furious blush coming to your cheeks.

“Well, I-“ Damn, what was it about this man that made you so incoherent? “It’s gonna take just a moment. Um, make yourself at home?”, you said quickly before returning to the bathroom.

You leaned on the sink, breathing deeply, and trying to contain yourself. It was just some casual flirting, right? Nothing you couldn’t handle. He was probably doing it just to be polite and ease the tension.  You weren’t going to get your hopes up. One night and you’d probably never see each other again. You were fine with it.

At least that’s what you kept telling yourself.

You left the bathroom a minute later, finally ready to go. Exiting, you noticed Lin standing before your bookshelf, looking curiously at the titles.

“Never seen such a collection belonging to someone who didn’t write”, he commented out loud, smirking in your direction. “You should stop lying to yourself about it. This is meant to be.”

“There are tons of people who enjoy reading but don’t or can’t write”, you reminded him.

Lin shook his head.

“Alright, not gonna argue with a pretty girl just before a date. Shall we go?”

He offered you his arm. You gladly took it.

You’d failed to notice he called the evening a date.

  The wedding part of the whole affair went by in a blur. You had to admit that the venue was lovely. The ceremony took place under a blooming apple tree in a vast garden. It was lucky, since you knew how long waiting lists for wedding sites could be. One week later and the flowers could have been long gone.

The bride, a distant relative of yours whose name you barely remembered (Kate? Karen?), looked rather nice, even though her gown was enormous. What was with people and those huge puffy dresses? You couldn’t remember one woman who pulled it off successfully. Except maybe Beyoncé, but that’s because she was, well, Beyoncé.

The vows were exchanged, which gave you an opportunity to hear newlyweds’ names again (Kate and Nathan, you noted, even though you would probably forget them in a moment), and then you were quickly ushered to a spacious hall. The bride must have been insistent on inviting literally everyone from her side of the family, since you were seeing a lot of vaguely familiar faces you remembered from other gatherings.

Thankfully, introducing Lin to your parents was rather painless, since they were preoccupied with meeting aunt Bertha and other relatives. With a promise that you’d be there later for a longer talk, you exchanged simple pleasantries and went to find your seats at the tables.

The official part of the wedding elapsed quickly. As soon as the music started, Lin smiled at you and asked you for a dance. You’ve just managed to approach the dance floor when you heard a voice that gave you the creeps.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Y/N!”, said Corwin in a mocking tone, walking towards you. “So you did manage to leave your house for once? Won’t your books miss you?”

You did your best to cover your annoyance with a saccharine smile. “Hello, cousin. Could you be so kind and introduce us to your partner?” You nodded at the woman beside him. “I can’t keep track of them, you show up with a new one every party.”

“This is Frances”, he said unperturbed, gesturing to his partner. You couldn’t deny she was attractive: the kind of woman who made you feel insecure by simply existing. Her blue eyes seemed vacant, though, and her smile was definitely forced. You wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to be just as vapid as most of Corwin’s dates.

Still, you couldn’t judge her merely by virtue of dating your cousin. You did your best to make your expression friendly when you said hello and introduced yourself and Lin. Corwin appraised him with a smirk.

“Wow. Someone actually agreed to show up with you in public. And he’s a step above the pansies you brought earlier, too. Did she blackmail or pay you?”, he smirked at Lin.

You were used to your asshole cousin’s remarks, but it still hurt to hear that. You knew that you two led very different lives, but it didn’t seem like a good enough reason to put you down. You took a deep breath, trying your best to keep a smile on your face. You were just about to politely tell him to stuff it, when Lin put his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him.

“I don’t know what you mean, man.” You’ve met Lin yesterday, but it was clear to you that he was faking a cheerful tone. “She wasn’t easy to get, but I intend to keep her.”

Corwin outright laughed.

“Hard to get? Her? I don’t know she did to get you to act all adoring like that, but everyone can tell it’s a sham. I wouldn’t go with her even if she offered to spread her legs for me, that freakish prude is just not worth it.”

You could feel your smile fading from your face. Yep, he had to go there. That was it. He was about to get slapped right where he stood. But before you could do anything, Lin put his hand on your cheek, gently turning your head towards him. He looked at you with determination.

And then he kissed you.

Your brain short-circuited for a moment. That was not at all what you were expecting, and you definitely hadn’t discussed that possibility earlier. But you found that you didn’t really want to protest. You closed your eyes, melted into Lin’s embrace and let yourself enjoy the moment.

The kiss was gentle and sweet and ended far too early to your liking. You opened your eyes with reluctance and were immediately rewarded with a clear view of Lin’s face: soft and smiling. You quickly catalogued the memory. Definitely didn’t want to forget that, ever.

And you were right to do so, because a heartbeat later his eyes shifted to harsh as he turned towards Corwin. “You talk about my girlfriend like that again and I swear you will need to be carried out of this place”, he spat. “Let’s go, cariño. I hope the rest of your family isn’t as insolent as this jackass.”

You caught a glimpse of your baffled cousin as you left, walking away from the party and towards the little deserted balcony. Lin hadn’t let go of your hand that entire time.

Saying you were confused would be an understatement. Your head kept spinning and your lips still tingled a little from the sudden kiss.

As soon as you found yourself away from the other guests, Lin turned to you.

“Look, I’m so sorry”, he began to apologize. “I just didn’t expect this guy to be such an asshole, and I tend to act impulsively when I’m angry. I know I should’ve asked you first, and this doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to, and-“

“Lin”, you interrupted him, looking him in the eye. He closed his mouth immediately. “It’s okay. Honestly. I was just a little surprised, that’s all. It was priceless to see Corwin finally shut up. And, just between us”, you said in a moment of courage, “I definitely don’t regret that.”

“…You don’t?”, Lin asked softly.

“No. No, I don’t.”

“Thank God”, he smiled widely. “Because I can’t say I wouldn’t want to do that again.”

He leaned towards you, stopping just shy of your lips. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to”, he whispered.

“I know”, you answered and smiled before kissing him.

[ualscout]

Captain’s Log: Roundabout the Block

We were told at the beginning that this project was a favorite project. I mean, telling a secret? Talking about ourselves? Seems like fun. Everyone likes to talk about themselves, and we know ourselves the most and best. 

… Thing is, I had no idea what secret to tell. I have a pretty interesting backstory. I’m a foreigner, I was raised in a cult and had to leave, I have an autistic little brother, I work with kids and the wilds or Midwest America, but a secret… 

I started compiling a list. Most of them looped back to “I’m desperately alone in this country and I don’t know to handle” or “I miss my friends at home” or “I wish the people I loved were closer” or “I’m stressed out” but… everyone’s gonna do something like that, right? We’re all stressed. We’re all tired. Most of us (foreign at least) are coping with being away from home. Naw, if I tell a secret, it’s gotta be something funny, something humanizing. This isn’t a chance to open up to the class, this is a chance to show how stupid I can be. This would not only be a Stupid Thing I Did, but a insight into who I am: A Joke. A Jest. A meme. 

I started designing how I wanted to present myself first. Even if I didn’t have a story yet, I had a main character. I spent a lot of time on it… it just never seemed to look like something I wanted to portray myself as. I tried to adhere to the goal of making a simple character, and I think I did okay with that. The body was easy to draw, but fluid and dynamic. 

At some point, I realized a secret I could tell. I almost got struck by lightning in my youth. It had lasting effects on my psyche later on. I realized if I set it to a song called “Roundabout” by Yes, it would show how it affected me the best. I have terrible fears of loud unexpected noise and being out in storms, and all that was impacted in one split second. A second I didn’t know was coming. “Roundabout” captured this feeling almost perfectly.

I designed the other character first, my dog. Then, while I was visiting home, I took sketches of where it happened and figured out where the characters would go. I kept the foreground open to allow for more movement and put more tall stuff in the back to make it more filled, but how far back it was staggered in distance. I had a lot of fun drawing my dog, Brooklyn. I’m not very good at drawing creatures, so finding a style was a challenge. I was kind of inspired by the body style of My Little Pony characters, but didn’t realize this until later on…

“Roundabout” happens in key parts. There’s three riffs, then a drop where the lightning would happen. Each step to that lightning, I aimed for recreating that memory for the viewer. Slowly, the background comes back to life. The clouds roll into the sky to the music. The rain drops slightly, but never really starts heavily, creating a fake sense of calm. Everything is focused on making sure the audience is waiting for something to happen, building tension alongside the song. 

The first part is sketching up the place it happened. I’m in animation, so I’m expected to be able to draw. When you want to show someone what something looks like but you don’t have a picture, you draw it, either physically or with word pictures. I designed the background, then did frame by frame to show how it came into existence. Then, once it does and the building note suddenly ends, it pops into color and becomes more real and tangible to the audience. Then, the color is lost when the clouds come in, showing the situation isn’t as it always is. It only changes when the sun gets blocked out, ‘cause it’s gotta be a little bit of a logical reason. It’s emotional and practical, okay? I wanted to do more with the color shift in the clouds, but whatever, it was a bit too late to change it when I thought of it /shrug. 

Next, the rain has to come in on the notes. I only animated one raindrop and it took me legit hours. I didn’t do heavy rain because it would lead the audience to the conclusion that it was rain/water related too soon. I wanted it to be implied, but not given away. Once the characters enter the scene, the audience should let the raindrops move to the back of their mind. I also didn’t do heavy rain because it was Too Hard To Animate. I tried, it sucked. 

Then, the characters enter the frame. Finally, a more tangible focus. Brooklyn enters the frame first, kind of ushering in my character. The two are supposed to be opposites in movement. Brooklyn is energetic and spirited, Scout is tired and lethargic. She barely moves at all. The moment seems so meaningless and non-dramatic, the key moment seems to be when Brooklyn shits, which of course got laughs… I didn’t mean for it to, but it did so, uh… Anyways, it’s just more juxtaposition between the music and the action, all while happening with instead of entirely against it. The moment is so mundane, when my character had to step back to get Brooklyn and the lightning strikes where she just stood, it should take the audience a moment to think over “wait what the FUCK just happened” because not only did the visual tone change (with a filter) but the musical tone finally gives the drop the audience has been waiting for. The foreshadowing of the music is shown best right before, like the first bit is only adding up 1/4th of the build, but really drags it along to make it heavier. Then the lead up before the drop is a warning, a “wait, whatever’s happening is about to happen” that’s more heavily juxtaposed with the same mundane movement as before- there’s no change in the movement, a tonal inconsistency. 

In conclusion...

THIS PROJECT WAS A MAJOR FUKKEN TECHNICAL NIGHTMARE. 

I swear to god, not one animation software would work on my iPad. I learned maybe three different softwares and had to keep switching between them. I’d animate something for hours then realize I couldn’t use it. It sucked! It was terrible! I did way more work than was shown. Work that will never see the light of day. I don’t want to go too much into detail but it SUCKED. 

I also did way too much action in the segment with Brooklyn. I colored and lined almost 50 frames but only used 25. I cut out a whole action in which he chases a squirrel around a tree, that was so much time lost…

… in all, I tried my best to keep it away from writing and more visual storytelling. I think I did an okay job. I tried to cut it down instead of monologging endlessly, even if I did overload myself with work still, but not as much as I could have. I also got laughs! I was funny! And I was also right about the majority of secrets. A lot of them weren’t necessarily dark, but they were more serious. The fact that I managed to get a big reaction and laughs after the audience watched so much serious material was a shock to me, it breaks the main rule of comedy. 

(And I’m not sure if Léo was mocking me when he asked if we could watch it again…)

[preserving-ferretbrain]

23 boxes of tissues on the Jellicoe Road

by Wardog

Thursday, 05 February 2009Wardog tops off her run of utterly amazing books with On the Jellicoe Road.~

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road. The prettiest road I'd ever seen, where trees made breezy canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-La. We were going to the ocean, hundreds of miles away, because I wanted to see the ocean and my father said that it was about time the four of us made that journey. I remember asking, "What's the difference between a trip and a journey?" and my father said, "Narnie, my love, when we get there, you'll understand," and that was the last thing he ever said.

Are you in tears, yet? On the Jellicoe Road (or Jellicoe Road, as it was published over here, for some inexplicable reason) is an incredible book, a perfectly judged juxtaposition of beauty and pain, like the Jellicoe road itself introduced here in the prologue. I'm probably failing to sell this from the get go book: On the Jellico Road is not an easy book - in fact, sometimes, it's almost unbearable - but it's also superb in every conceivable way, and so full of hope and wonder that if I believed in books could change lives, this would be one of those books. It's a buy and give to everyone you know sort of book.

On the Jellicoe Road is a complex book, with complex characters and you'll spend at least the first hundred pages faintly bewildered because it just throws you straight into the action of the story, but it's incredibly carefully structured and comes together in remarkably coherent and satisfying way. Everything that happens, everything it tells you, is there for a reason. There are two storylines, one set in the past and one in the present; they seem to run in parallel but, as the book unfolds, they turn out to be intimately connected. The Past tells the story of five teenagers who were brought together in tragedy on the Jellicoe Road. In the present, we have Taylor Markham, a teenage girl who was abandoned at 7/11 by her mother on the Jellicoe Road. She becomes the reluctant leader of her school in the annual territory wars between the Jellicoe school students, the Townies and the Cadets, who come in for six weeks from the city, but she's really searching for family she's lost and a sense of belonging in a world she thinks is "just a tad low on the reliable adult quota."

I've deliberately kept my attempt at a plot summary sparse: there is no way I can do such an intricate book justice in a summary and a large part of the pleasure of reading it comes from piecing the past and the present together, and learning how the one informs and influences the other. The sections of the novel set in the present are told in the first person from Taylor's point of view; the past comes to us in fragments from the novel written by Hannah, the woman who has acted somewhat as a surrogate parent for Taylor. I can't say simply what On the Jellicoe Road is about: it's about love, I think, love and pain, and hope, and how to find it. I'm not a sentimental person, and it's not in any way a sentimental book, but I cried all the way through it. I'm kind of welling up a bit writing this review, and remembering. The thing is, because I am not the sort of person who cries at things, I usually get quite angry by books that try to make me. I feel resentful and manipulated: although it is impossible to read On the Jellicoe Road without being moved, the emotion it never fails to evoke feels natural and cathartic.

There isn't much more to say about On the Jellicoe Road without starting to pick it apart in order to look at why it's so wonderful. But it's a sublime butterfly of a book and I have no wish to stick a pin through its heart. I simply can't remember the last time I was so profoundly affected by something in fiction. It's quite a slow-paced read and far from easy but it's undoubtedly worth it. It's such a powerful story, beautifully written, elegantly structured and full of flawed, complex well-drawn characters. And although it's full of grief and pain and despair, the darkness is never absolute: hope and love are always there when you are sure they can't possibly be. And, if you can possibly believe it, it's far from a grueling emotion-fest. It's also extremely funny (Taylor, for example, has a dry, sarcastic narrative voice that suits her difficult, lonely character perfectly) and there's plenty of adolescent bickering and flirting and relating to keep the book grounded. On the Jellicoe Road is quite simply an essential read. It makes me want to have children so I could give them copy when they got to be teenagers. Even though I hate children. It's that good.Themes:

Young Adult / Children

~

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Isabel

at 09:42 on 2009-05-23Kyra thanks SO much for writing this review. Just finished it (was anal enough to get my cousin in Australia to buy and post me a copy because I don't like UK edition) and would never of heard of it if you hadn't written this. Fucking LOVE this book. It's just amazing.

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Wardog

at 10:51 on 2009-05-23Thank you so much - I'm glad somebody else has read it because it's such an amazing book. And I have no idea what they were thinking of with the UK cover (big red poppy of pointlessness??).

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Isabel

at 19:04 on 2009-05-25And especially renaming it Jellicoe Road – that really irked me!

I think what I really loved was the way that everything in it was there for a reason and also because the big points or important sentences and moments didn’t stick in my mind because they were obviously This Is Significant (something which after five seasons of Lost is really. Pissing. Me. Off.) but just because they were the most beautiful – opening paragraph and the ‘more’ stuff being the case in point.

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Guy

at 06:59 on 2009-07-29Hey Kyra, just wanted to add my thanks to Isabel's because I just finished reading this book and it was amazing. If you hadn't written this review I never would have given this book a second glance because I would have (shamefully) misjudged it on the basis of having seen the film of Alibrandi and sort-of liked it and thought that was all I needed to know about Melina Marchetta. I'm half-tempted to write a review of this book in which I ramble endlessly about the hundred and one things that it makes me think of, but I guess the succinct thing I'd say about it is that it's the kind of book that I remember reading that made me Believe In Literature when I was younger and that's an experience I've missed for a long long time.

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Robinson L

at 20:30 on 2009-09-09Oh my god.

Oh my

god

.

(I promised myself I'd restrict this comment to just the one repetition.)

By great good fortune, my library system has this on Playaway (a sort of combination audiobook and player, just add headphones) and I just happened to stumble across it when browsing the online catalogue (I'm pretty sure I didn't go out looking for it).

I listened to it over the summer and was completely blown away. Easily one of the best books I've read in years. Maybe

the

best.

This story is so incredibly beautiful. Tragedy and I have been on difficult terms for a long time, and once or twice I've considered issuing a restraining order. This summer it feels like I've been saturated with more angsty melodrama than at any time since I gave up

Legacy of the Force

in disgust. (At some point when I've got my thoughts better collected I'll have to write a post about the peculiar penchant in the entertainment industry to assume more angst = more literate.) Then again, that may've mostly been due to the third and fourth seasons of

Battlestar Galactica

, a show which must've been pitched like this: “We've got to show the Brits we can produce something even

more

angsty than their new version of

Doctor Who

.” (Ooh, look at all the pretty tangents.)

'Course, some of the tragedy was better than that. I listened to both Jodi Picoult's

My Sister's Keeper

and Audrey Niffenegger's

The Time-Traveler's

(which, incidentally, also had a major character die in a car crash and accidentally shot by a loved one, respectively) this spring and they were all right, but even they felt somewhat forced and melodramatic.

On the Jellicoe Road

singlehandedly restored my faith in tragedy, and reminded me that yes, it can be an intensely beautiful thing. (Anybody else here think tragedy is a lot harder to pull off satisfactorily than happy stories?)

Which is not to say, I hasten to add for the benefit of anyone who hasn't yet read the book, that it's all tragedy. The ending is bittersweet: tragedy and joy blended to perfection and served in a porcelain bowl with luscious fudge topping.

It's hard enough to get my eyes to tear up, but I was crying all through the last three chapters. The epilogue was such a downer note that I just kept on listening and got the prologue and first nine chapters all over again. (Approximately one million things leaped out at me and had me going “Oh, so

that's

what that part's about. Another sign of excellent writing.)

And though it's sad, the story is also uplifting. I think this is because at the end of the road, despite all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the betrayals and perceived betrayals, everyone is forgiven, everyone is loved. I'm tearing up again just writing that.

In terms of plotting, the book is effing fantastic. To borrow a line from Kyra's

“Incarceron” review

:

Read it and weep, JK Rowling, this what a backstory should be.

(Also what tragedy should be.)

Even the serial killer plot thread managed to tie into the whole in the most perfectly unexpected way. *David Tennant voice* Brilliant.

I attended a Young Adult Fiction panel at a Convention this weekend, and at one point realized they were having recommendations from the audience. I gave this book a special shout-out (and Catherine Fisher, too).

Unfortunately, my youngest sisters are too young to read this—I just know it would break their hearts—and the older one has already expressed her disinclination to let me tell her how much

I

loved the book, let alone recommend it to her (which I wasn't going to do anyway, because teenager though she is, I suspect she'd find it overwhelmingly sad as well).

My version had the red poppy too, but it's so abstract I didn't mind, because the Australian cover looks like some kind of ghost story of only middling quality to me. As for the title—I got both versions. The US cover has the truncated title, but the dramatization is Australian and the reader gave it in full.

May I also just give a shout-out to the audio version, by the way? Narration can primarily enhance a story experience, detract from it, or execute it neutrally (I say “primarily” because most have at least a little of each). Rebecca Macauley's reading of

On the Jellicoe Road

lands squarely in the first category. Her Taylor is flawless, and the other voices are good-to-amazing. With her narration, she brings the rich emotions of the book to life.

(Although due to only listening to the book, I was momentarily thrown off rereading this post to learn that Webb's sister is called “Narnie” rather than “Nani.”)

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Wardog

at 12:58 on 2009-09-10I am increasingly pleased I wrote this review - the book had such an impact on me that I'm glad other people reading it as a consquence.

I'm so glad it effected you as strongly as it did me - it's a truly remarkable and wonderful book. I did cry pretty much the whole way through it but I never resented the fact it made me do that, nor did I find it was unpleasant, the way strong emotions can sometimes be.

It's such a hard book to recommend to people because it is such an emotional read.

But, God, yes it's remarkable - and you for commenting, I really think everyone should read this book.

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Robinson L

at 22:02 on 2009-09-10Thank

you

for reviewing it, and putting me on to such a fabulous thing.

(Yes, it is a hard book to recommend, although I seem to be getting the unshakable urge to proselytize it now.)

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Jamie Johnston

at 19:59 on 2017-07-13This review has really stuck in my mind for all these years, so much so that I've come to remember it as possibly the first thing I ever read on Ferretbrain – which is clearly wrong because I'd been not only reading but contributing to the site for over a year before the review was posted. I also remembered 'On the Jellicoe Road' as being the first book I put on my 'to read' list when I got a Goodreads account (over two years after reading this review) and that memory does turn out to be right.

And after all that, I recently got round to actually tracking down a copy and reading it! No need to say any more than that I completely agree with everything you said about it, Kyra, and thank you for the recommendation.