#This Is The Margaret Rohan Show

[meyerlansky]

timestamp roulette: BOARDWALK EMPIRE 1.02 “THE IVORY TOWER” ↳ what exactly is the nature of your relationship to nucky thompson?

[runn0ft]

I was tagged by @goatsandgangsters 💕

rules: pick any 5 of your fics, scroll somewhere to the mid point, pick a line, and share it! Then tag 5 people. 

Since I don’t have five fics published, I’ll choose from my two fics and three wips. I know it’s shameful that it’s been like, three years and still haven’t posted anything I’ve had in the works in that time. I swear I work on them, I’m just constantly battling demons around it.

magpie - Boardwalk Empire, Charlie Luciano/Meyer Lansky

It occurs to him in that moment that over all these years, he’s been the sole recipient of what he considered to be Charlie’s misguided generosity. Sometimes Benny would move to take something Meyer insisted he didn’t want and Charlie would snatch it back with a snarl.

“I didn’t go through all this trouble on account of you.” He would say, and in his next breath he’d call Meyer an ungrateful little prick.

glass houses - Boardwalk Empire, Margaret Rohan, Charlie Luciano/Meyer Lansky

His associate, Mr. Lansky emerges looking decidedly more presentable not five minutes later. Unlike his partner, his face is inscrutable and there isn’t a stitch on him that’s out of place. As soon as Mr. Luciano stepped into the hall she’d had a pretty good idea of who might be in there with him. It wasn’t much to go on, but he hadn’t offered her anything beyond a curt “How do you do” after Mr. Luciano made a show of kissing her. She couldn’t fault him for it. Being in love was a difficult thing when you couldn’t lay claim to it.

milk and honey - Boardwalk Empire, Charlie Luciano/Meyer Lansky

Meyer pulls Charlie to his knees, and Charlie moves with him instinctively, reaching behind to guide Meyer’s slicked cock to his entrance. He plunges in with a single, fluid motion that has Charlie tearing at the rank, sticky sheets with his teeth. This is what Meyer lives for. The moment when he pushes passed that initial resistance before it gives and the molten-hot channel of Charlie’s eager body sucks him right in, enveloping him vice-tight and perfect.

“‘S good,” Charlie slurs, turning his head to catch Meyer’s eye—for permission—red-faced with tears gathering in those impossibly long lashes, looking absolutely ruined even with Meyer stilled inside him. “C’mon, give it to me.”

the sky in a room - Boardwalk Empire, Charlie Luciano/Meyer Lansky

Charlie was sweating under his tuxedo jacket, his waistcoat warm and humid with it. Charlie’s mouth fell open with a wet, strangled cry and Meyer gorged himself on the sound of it and the taste of wine on Charlie’s tongue. Charlie clawed at his back, his shoulders, and Meyer had moaned like a wounded animal at the blunt scrape of Charlie’s fingernails against his scalp. He heaved Charlie closer, ducked his head to bite at the hinge of his jaw, and Charlie went limp and pliant in his arms. God. How could he be expected to go without this?

“Meyer,”

It was Benny, one arm outstretched to keep the door propped open. His gaze darted briefly over to Charlie before it settled on Meyer, bemused but decidedly not shocked. To this day, Meyer doesn’t know if he’d ever walked in on them before. If he had, he never mentioned it, but their position was fairly damning. The two of them disheveled and breathing hard with just enough space between them for any kind of explanation to be thoroughly unconvincing. Meyer couldn’t imagine Benny saw it for anything other than what it was. He looked sorry for it, though.

untitled party angst - Boardwalk Empire, Charlie Luciano/Meyer Lansky

His fingers graze Meyer's sleeve. "Would you've let me cut in? If I asked?"

Meyer draws back to take a long drag from his cigarette. "I've got two left feet, Charlie." he says, gaze cast to the floor.

Charlie frowns at the incredulity. "That don't matter. I'd like all them big shots to know who you're here with. Wanna have you on my arm. Just once."

tagging: @portiaadams @fancykraken @johnmarston @cealtrachs @meyerlansky

[fieryphrazes]

If I have to knock mash for anything, it would be the fact that this show is so hard to create aus for. was trying to formulate a LOTR-inspired one, but just couldnt make it work for one reason! names! Hawkeye most definitely works, and Charles and Margaret are pushing it but could still shake out. And then... you remember Radar and B.J. what am I supposed to do with that?? “Arise, Radar of Rohan and B.J. of Gondor” like ahdjfjsjfkf it’s almost too funny

RADAR OF ROHAN...... lmao please for the love of god write this

also love that names were the only obstacle you faced. please tell me more. is hawkeye frodo??? is margaret eowyn???

[griimrose]

lydia draven for @smallcowplant‘s bedelia

the year was 1831 and margaret draven was buried in her final resting place. the young woman’s early departure left her husband henry draven gutted. a scientist specializing in the animation of inanimate objects, henry set to work creating something new. 

the year was 1834 and draven’s work had finally paid off. as the rain pelted the windows and thunder shook the world, lydia draven was “born.” a doll modeled off of the late margaret, one of two things could have happened. either margie was a freak of nature or henry got the proportions off, because lydia came out looking a little... odd. this fact did not bother henry in the least as he fell in love with his beautiful creature. it is not known if henry saw lydia as more of a wife or daughter, but either way, she stayed by him into his old age to take care of him. throughout the years, lydia wrote journals, documenting her time with her “master.” 

the year was 1876 and henry draven suffered a fatal heart attack and unbeknownst to lydia, he has arranged to have her buried with him. the rain was pouring as the townsfolk arrived at draven manor to take lydia to her grave. she fought back, but it was useless, her screams were silenced as she was placed six feet under.

the year is 2019 and a young man named michael rohan goes gravedigging. after finding the diaries of lydia draven in an abandoned manor, he has been hellbent on freeing the “woman” from her captivity. upon emerging from the ground lydia has realized that life is meant to be lived. she has entered this bachelorette challenge in an attempt to make something of the so-called gift master draven gave her all those years ago.

quick facts + traits below

she/her

5′9

henry had some um... fun making her... she is very curvy and wears outfits that show that off

she is a few hundred years old and time hasn’t been all that kind to her (hence the cracks)

but don’t let that fool you, she is still young at heart

lydia is an amazing musician

she plays the organ, violin, piano, and can sing quite well

her favorite song is “lot o the rising sun” and prefers it on piano

in her past life, she was tasked with cleaning the entire manor

so now she is a total neat freak who cleans for comfort

really great at taking care of others, whether that be children, animals, or lovers ;)

she is a woman of few words, but somehow that makes her even more charismatic

her biggest flaw is her paranoia - after being sentenced to years under the earth by her closest companion, she has a hard time trusting anyone

musical genius, music lover, neat, paranoid, speed cleaner

@smallcowplant - i can’t wait to see your challenge! i hope lydia’s story wasn’t too long, but either way, i hope you and bedelia love her! 

[contemplatingoutlander]

A TRIBUTE: The Awesome (and Fierce) Women of Outlander

Dr. Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser

(Caitriona Balfe)

Jenny Fraser Murray (Laura Donnelly)

Brianna Randall (Sophie Skelton)

Marsali MacKimmie Fraser (Lauren Lyle)

AND HERE ARE SOME WOMEN IN SUPPORTING OUTLANDER ROLES

(In No Particular Order)

Mrs. Fitzgibbons (Annette Badland)

Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek)

Laoghaire MacKenzie (Nell Hudson)

Mary Hawkins (Rosie Day)

Louise de Rohan (Claire Sermonne)

Lady Geneva Dunsany (Hannah James)

Isobel Dunsany (Tanya Reynolds)

Aunt Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy)

Mary MacNab (Emma Campbell-Jones)

Suzette (Adrienne-Marie Zitt)

Mrs Graham (Tracey Wilkinson)

Mother Hildegarde (Frances de la Tour)

Annalise de Marillac (Margaux Chatelier)

Margaret Cambell (Alison Pargeter)

Annekje Johanson ( Chanelle de Jager)

Joan MacKimmie (Layla Burns)

Phaedre (Natalie Simpson)

Adawehi (Tantoo Cardinal)

Wahkatiiosta (Carmen Moore)

Lizzie Wemyss ( Caitlin O’Ryan )

We greatly appreciate all the female characters in Outlander and the wonderful actors who bring them to life! 

See more Outlander secondary and supporting female characters and actors below the cut.

Gayle Bosworthy (Simona Brown)

There are even a few more women who have made appearances in the show (but this post is long enough). But in roles large and small, we all appreciate the women of Outlander who have shown us so many fascinating sides of the female experience!

screencaps and gifs (not from tumblr gifs) via pinterest

Posted 03.08.18; last updated 03.08.19

[naryaflame]

11, 12?

Thanks, @starspray!  I’m going to post 11 and 12 separately, this is already very long...

11. Books and authors that influence me the most.Well, we might as well get the obvious one out of the way - I spend a disproportionate amount of my spare time playing in Tolkien’s sandbox ;) 

I was 7 or 8 when I first read The Lord of the Rings, but I never thought of trying to write anything like it.  It didn’t even feel like a story to me - more of a strange halfway between myth and history, something organic that had been handed down over the years, not a book that a human being had sat down and written.  I felt the same thing but even more strongly when I read The Silmarillion years later.  

Whether I’m writing in his world or not, he’s influenced how I work.  For a recent original fantasy story, I spent far less time writing than I did working out how the migration patterns of my characters’ ancestors would have affected the relationship between the languages of their two nations - and when I write fanfic set in Rohan, I go diving off down Anglo-Saxon rabbit holes for hours on end.I think it shows thematically too.  I tend not to write straight up happy endings; there’s usually a bittersweet note, a sense of something lost or fading, whatever I’m writing about and whenever the story is set.  I’m pretty sure that comes from Tolkien.  

As for other books and writers...I’ve read and loved so many, but I have to pull out Poison by Chris Wooding, which I read when I was 13 or 14.  We were driving down to the south of France.  I was stuck in the back of a hot car, utterly engrossed by this weird, dark little book, and feeling this giddy sense of freedom - fantasy didn’t have to be noble kings and epic, sweeping quests and casts of thousands (things I still adore but cannot write).  It could be much smaller scale, tightly focused on one girl’s journey to find her sister.  It could be an unholy soup of Aesop’s fables and Victorian penny dreadfuls and modern metafiction.  I still remember the taut terror of the heroine hiding from a blind witch who could smell her bones, the smug delight as the book went on and it became apparent there was no love interest, the exalted rush when I realised the threads leading to the final twist had been neatly sewn through the book since the first page.  It was a carefully structured, thematically consistent, darkly satisfying whole.  I’d always written stories, but that was the first book that made me think, “I need to get better.  I need to learn how to do that.”  (I’ve never dared to re-read it, in case it isn’t what I remember.)There have been lots of others. Ian McEwan first got me thinking properly about how I craft prose - I drank Atonement in my last year of school, adoring its lush, vivid imagery and the feverish emotional closeups of Briony, Robbie and Cecilia.  I yelped out loud in the sixth form common room during the final chapter, and was teased for weeks afterwards.  Meanwhile Angela Carter, Ursula Le Guin and Margaret Atwood felt like my trio of fairy godmothers, patiently instructing me from a distance and shaping me into a feminist.  

At university I discovered Neil Gaiman and devoured everything he’d written, fascinated by how he overlapped the mundane with the mythical and magical.  I watched the first season of Game of Thrones and then read all the published books in A Song of Ice and Fire, a little late to the party but impressed by the minute, gritty detail George Martin wove into his fantastical world.  I studied TS Eliot and come back to his poetry again and again, hunting for the things that hide between the lines on the page, the ghosts that give the words their weight and meaning.It goes on.  After years of struggling to pass my professional exams, I emerged blinking into a world free from textbooks and revision notes and late nights poring over tax regulations.  I was terrified that I couldn’t write any more.  I read On Writing by Stephen King, which convinced me that I could.  And I did.  And I still do.

[fuckyeahbelleandrumpelstiltskin]

EMMA FINDS COMMON CAUSE WITH GIDEON, AND HENRY’S POWERS GO HAYWIRE, AS HOOK GETS BACK TO HIS ROOTS LOOKING FOR A WAY HOME TO STORYBROOKE, ON ABC’S ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’ Jaime Murray Returns as the Black Fairy and Patrick Fischler Returns as the Author/Isaac “Mother’s Little Helper” – Gold and Belle convince Emma to help Gideon, explaining that together they can stop the Black Fairy. Henry experiences a disorienting shift in his powers that forces Regina to seek counsel from the previous Author. Meanwhile, in Fairy Tale Land, Hook attempts to win the assistance of an old adversary by betting his most prized possession on a game of cards. And, in a flashback, the Black Fairy tortures young Gideon in hopes of molding him into the perfect apprentice, on “Once Upon a Time,” SUNDAY, APRIL 9 (8:00–9:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. “Once Upon a Time” stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O’Donoghue as Hook, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills, Rebecca Mader as the Wicked Witch/Zelena and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold. Guest starring are Patrick Fischler as the Author/Isaac, Giles Matthey as Gideon, Charles Mesure as Blackbeard, Jaime Murray as the Black Fairy, Ingrid Torrance as Severe Nurse, Peter Marcin as Chief, Anton Starkman as Ten-year-old Gideon, Mason McKenzie as Roderick, Grayson Gabriel as Adult Roderick, Rohan Campbell as Male Miner and Eleanor Jane as Nurse. “Mother’s Little Helper” teleplay by Paul Karp, story by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz and directed by Billy Gierhart.

[carnelianwings]

Can you please explain why Mikleo, Edna and Lailah are fighting vs Dezel? I mean, I am not up to date with the anime but I would like to know without watching all the bad writing .

They’re fighting because Dezel inexplicably decides the best way to help Rose is to attack the Sanctuary in Lastonbell with a huge-ass tornado.  Never mind that game-Dezel wouldn’t do anything like that, even if he had his own agenda - he was focused on getting revenge on Symonne specifically, as he thought she was the one behind Lafarga’s death.

Speaking of Lafarga, he didn’t show up in the brief flashback we got to cute little kid Rose learning to fight with twin daggers from Brad.  So if you were hoping for further exposition on that whole situation with Lafarga and Dezel traveling with the Windriders . . . yeah, that’s probably not happening.

Anyway, Lailah, decides to go stop Dezel from his rampage, Sorey goes off to protect Rose, and apparently, where Lailah goes, Edna and Mikleo do too, so Edna plays defense (I mean, Zestiria’s elemental paper/rock/scissors does have her at a disadvantage) while Mikleo opts to go for a Freeze Lancer on steroids plus maybe melee Dezel approach, Lailah decides to 1) burn off the tornado, then 2) chuck a huge-ass ball of fire at Dezel to stop him.  How Dezel’s little wind shield took that is beyond me - Lailah should have won that hands down . . . never mind that this situation wouldn’t have happened in game anyway given how both Lailah and Edna cautioned Sorey against flashy displays of Seraphic power in front of Normal People in the game (remember that scene at Griflet Bridge?), and, like I said above, game-Dezel wouldn’t have actually done this.

What gets me is that if they’d wanted to have an action scene, they didn’t really need to have Dezel attack something for no reason.  They could have just done the Margaret side quest - especially if they wanted something Dark and Edgy - this episode instead.  But then they’re so adamantly avoiding the Lord of the Land/domains/blessings mechanic that was such a core part of Zestiria’s world building that I’d forgive the anime-only fans for not knowing about Uno, Rohan, Sindra, Morgrim, and the others.  Which is unfortunate, since Mikleo and Uno actually had a nice little friendship going in the manga and Uno even tells Mikleo to not give up and that he’ll have an opportunity to help Sorey when they meet him for the first time at Griflet Bridge.

Yes, you read that right.  Sorey and Mikleo were so obvious that even Uno tried giving Mikleo a few words of encouragement to not give up and that he would get his chance soon.  (Keep in mind the manga dragged out the Water Armatus reveal until the Marlind Drake fight.  Yes, you read that right.  Marlind.  So yeah, Mikleo’s frustration is completely understandable, especially since Sorey’s dream is his dream too.)

[dachosmin]

Chocolate Box 2016

Hi there, dear writer!

I’m very excited to be doing Chocolate Box! Since I have a million ships, I’ll try to just throw out a short idea or two for each pairing in the interest of sparing you 10,000 words of me blabbering about why I love all of these characters and relationships so very very much. But rest assured I do love them, and despite the brevity of my prompts, I really will be thrilled with anything you come up with for any of these pairings!

Fandoms

Captive Prince

Gentleman Bastards

Westworld

The Dresden Files

The Lord of the Rings

General Likes

Gen Kinks

Time travel fix it AUs, Time loops, Reincarnation

Meddling Gods and Goddesses

Costume/Architecture/food porn

Historical AUs- Viking, Egyptian, Heian, Reconquista, Roman

Guidebook Style (travel guides, custom guides, history guides, food/clothes/grammar  guides)

Myths, fairytales, epic poems

Vivid and poetic imagery, a sense of magic and wonder

Supernatural elements left unexplained

Ship Kinks

Enemies to Lovers/reluctant allies, captivity/hostages

Arranged Marriage Fic

Hurt/Comfort of all of the flavors

Easy-Amnesia, esp the cheesy kind where A forgets their relationship with  B

Drunken Confessions, bedside confessions, presumed dead funeral  confessions

Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings

Kink… Kinks

Begging, crying

Praisekink

Bondage, restraint, denial

Dubcon, under the influence sex

Experience mismatch/instructional sex

dirty talk, humiliation

…tentacles

Captive Prince

Auguste/Damen/Laurent

Option A: a wild canon divergence appears! Auguste lives! I would be happy with both pwp or fluff or plot, but please keep the angst light for this one (I have the books for that!) Maybe both the brothers are taken as spoils of war by Damen? Or the duel happens, Damen secretly spares Auguste, and years later Kastor still rebels and sends Damen to Laurent?

Option B: canon happens, and Auguste watches, first as a sad and horrified ghost unable to help his brother as awful things happen, then as a matchmaker, subtly influencing things to get Damen and Laurent together, and finally as a voyeur, possibly getting off on his brother getting off and possibly super guilty but unable to help himself. Yay?

Gentleman Bastards

Jean Tannen/Locke Lamora

These two are melodramatic as all hell, I’d love something iddy and over the top to match. Locke fakes his own death for reasons and Jean puts on a funeral and weeps over his grave while alternating between cursing Locke out and eulogizing him, which Locke awkwardly interrupts? They have to pretend to be married and are each suffering stoically for what They Can Never Have?!?! They attend a masque ball as part of a con and kiss and there’s weird identity porn?!?! Either is sex pollen’d and the other has to take care of him while silently cursing his life? YES PLEASE.

And on that note, I will also happily accept straight (hah) up porn. I believe for all his bravado, Locke is at his core very self-flagellating, especially after the events of the first book. I can see him getting drunk and wanting Jean to punish him, and Jean not having any of it and worshipping his body all up and down the damn bed. Or, you know, Jean stoically resisting Locke’s seductions because he doesn’t want to take advantage and Locke getting increasingly frustrated that his seducing isn’t working. Except then it works. Yay.

Westworld

Bernard & Dolores

This is the only “&” pairing I put, but I’m no less fascinated by it! There’s so much to go off here! In a way they’re siblings, in a way she’s his child, before their awakenings she was just a tool to him... I would love to see any moment in their convoluted relationship, or echoes across it. Feel free to play with messy timelines and unreliable narrators!

Hector/Teddy

I’m 110% sure they’ve been made to have sex before, either in a storyline or for the gratification of someone like Charlotte. Would love to see some part of it; it doesn’t have to be explicit- if you want to detail a bit of hero/villain flirtation in a storyline that would rock too. If you want to go deeper and play off the idea of a pwp for the gratification of the reader mimicking the storylines for the gratification of the park visitors, I’d be fascinated to see what you come up with!

Dolores/Teddy/Wyatt

I didn’t nominate this but gosh does it interest me! I assume, based on end of season spoilers, that this isn’t a strictly literal pairing? But I’d love to see how Teddy is torn between the damsel in distress he loves and the soldier he hates, and how he reconciles them as the same person. If you want to do weird hallucinations in the vein of the show, I could see a threesome as a manifestation of this struggle? Also they’re both really hot, sue me?

The Dresden Files

Harry/Thomas

I will read anything about these two, but I love the pairing most when not everything has been neatly resolved yet. So give me the guilt, the pining, the angst, Thomas’s anger over Harry’s little incident on the boat, Thomas’s guilt over using his hunger, Harry’s fear about going darkside and his revulsion to monsters- any and all of it!

Charity/Michael/Harry

Someone mentioned this pairing to me ages ago and it’s fascinated me ever since. Harry has always sort of idolized the Carpenters and their goodness and his perfect life while at the same time telling himself he doesn’t deserve any of it. Perhaps Charity and Michael finally snap and try to show him he does. Through gentle domestic schmoop or a hot threesome where they both get all dommy on him, up to you!

Margaret/Lasciel

As I recall, there’s a projection of Margaret hanging around Harry’s mind, and of course Lasciel is in there too. Have they crossed paths? Margaret flirted with the darkness; I can see them hitting it off in Harry’s subconscious.

Lara/Thomas/Harry

I’m imagining this as “Lara seduces Harry in order to make Thomas jealous and it ends with a dubconny messed up threesome that’s one part hatesex (Lara-Thomas), one part angsty pining (Thomas-Harry), and one part really confused (Harry).”

Lara/Lasciel

Lara is a succubus and Lasciel is a fallen angel that specializes in seduction. What would have happened if Lara picked up Lasciel’s coin instead of Harry? One-upmanship pwps are also welcome!

Jared/Ebenezer

Jared and Ebenezer were reportedly on good terms as young men. That must have been an explosive pairing- a demonic assassin and a hotheaded young wizard, blowing things up across 1700s Europe. And then something went wrong in Istanbul, and now they’re bitter enemies. What happened? And do they still angrily/guiltily/angstily think of each other?

The Lord of the Rings

Aragorn/Boromir

I’d love something that plays with Boromir’s conflicted feelings about Aragorn- on the one hand he’s sort of a usurper and has none of the outward polish that one might expect- but on the other hand Boromir is drawn to him despite himself. 

Boromir/Faramir

YES more brothers! I am just realizing that this letter is v incest heavy. I love these two, for all we don’t get to see them interact together. Boromir’s protectiveness! Faramir’s hero worship! Guilt! Shame! Angst!

Faramir/Witch-King

Welp! File this under “things I didn’t know I wanted.” Umm if we matched on this one, please note I am quite fine with dubcon and noncon, but please no detailed mentions of maiming. And, uh, no fluff for this one?

Aragorn/Haldir

UI know Haldir isn’t technically supposed to be at Helm’s Deep, but that meeting and that hug! We-might-die tomorrow late night conversations and makeouts? Or if you are book-canon only, perhaps a look at their various meetings in Lorien?

Eomer/Faramir

They have very different personalities and cultures, and I’d love to see those clashes played with. Culture clashes and miscommunications! How do you flirt in Rohan?! Arranged marriages! Brothers in arms we-might-die tent sex while trying to be quiet ahh!

Aaaand that’s it! Thank you so much, dear writer!

[meyerlansky]

i wanted the gold and i sought it... ↳ 5x08 “eldorado” [original air date oct 26th 2014]

[ber39james]

Reader’s Choice: 10 Books That Will Make Great Holiday Gifts

Grammarly blog readers love many things. Chief among them, grammar advice, writing tips, and of course, reading.

Book recommendations are always clutch, especially at this time of the year. So for those looking for last-minute stocking-stuffers or timely selections for your book clubs, we asked our Facebook audience, “What has been your favorite book of 2017?” Here are their picks for the  books they’re loving right now along with reviews from Goodreads.

1. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles



This was the most common recommendation  from our Facebook crowd. 

“A Gentleman In Moscow and The Underground Railroad are two of my favorite books for 2017,” Grammarly enthusiast Jackie Greenwalt wrote. “Two novels that tell the history of the times; both amazing in their own way.”

“I really enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow,” added another member of our Facebook audience, Andrea McManus.

What Goodreads had to say: “A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.”

2. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

One of our most thoughtful recommendations came from Patricia George, who shared this note about her book choice: “It is so good, so encompassing, and it comprises elements of Tolstoy, Hugo, Dickens, Flaubert, and Balzac.”

What Goodreads had to say: “Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. … Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert’s wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.”

3. 21st-Century Yokel by Tom Cox

A recent addition to bookshelves as of November of 2017, 21st-Century Yokel caught Grammarly enthusiast Sue Radford’s attention as a must-have book.


What Goodreads had to say: “21st-Century Yokel explores the way we can be tied inescapably to landscape, whether we like it or not, often through our family and our past. It’s not quite a nature book, not quite a humour book, not quite a family memoir, not quite folklore, not quite social history, not quite a collection of essays, but a bit of all six.”

4. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

If you enjoy books that become movies, Grammarly blog reader Vivian Guy’s pick is one you’ll appreciate. “Leo DiCaprio has the movie rights,” Guy wrote in her Facebook post. “Read it before you see it.”

What Goodreads had to say: “In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.”

5. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Thanks to Facebook follower Simon Falk, we received the heads up about Doerr’s latest offering.

What Goodreads had to say: “From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.”

6. La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Another Grammarly Facebook supporter, Gill Heaslip, pulled this 2017 Pullman book on our list!

What Goodreads had to say: “Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames (which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them, a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua.”

7. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson



Brush up on an important historical figure with this recommendation from reader Judy Cooper, who said mid-book that she “will be sorry when it’s finished.” The New York Times has listed Isaacson’s book on its best-seller list for seven weeks.

What Goodreads had to say: “Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.”

8. The Cedar by Carmen Butler

Facebook subscriber Lisa Butler recommended this book by a writer with her namesake. A coincidence? Perhaps.

What Goodreads had to say:  “From settling in the newly founded colonies in the 17th century through the pinnacle of the Civil War, The Cedar is an adventurous tale of the trials and triumphs of human endeavor, a broad canvas of emotion, and an epic tale of struggle and strength. A story that is at times heartwarming, at others heartbreaking, we are introduced to generations of the Bodes family and those close to them as they struggle against enemies, the challenges of the new world, and personal conflict.”

9. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life by Richard Carlson

The longest book title recommended this December is from a 20-year old book and comes courtesy of another Facebook supporter, Mayur Jungi.

What Goodreads had to say: “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff is a book that shows you how to keep from letting the little things in life drive you crazy. In thoughtful and insightful language, author Richard Carlson reveals ways to calm down in the midst of your incredibly hurried, stress-filled life. You can learn to put things in perspective by making the small daily changes he suggests,including advice such as “Think of your problems as potential teachers”; “Remember that when you die, your ‘In’ box won’t be empty”; and “Do one thing at a time.” You should also try to live in the present moment, let others have the glory at times, and lower your tolerance to stress.”

10. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

Grammarly blog supporter Christina Reilley shared a book from 2015 with an important qualifier for why it should make our list. “I read it this year, so it counts,” Reilley wrote. “It’s amazing.” We’re sold.

What Goodreads had to say: “Frankie, born in a burning church, abandoned as an infant, and raised by a music teacher in a small Spanish town, until war rips his life apart. At nine years old, he is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possession is an old guitar and six precious strings. His amazing journey weaves him through the musical landscape of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, with his stunning playing and singing talent affecting numerous stars (Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley) until, as if predestined, he becomes a pop star himself.

Other book recommendations to consider from Grammarly’s Facebook audience:


Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward via Judi Grant

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman via Karen Davis

Tribe by Sebastian Junger via Nicole Emm

November 9 by Colleen Hoover via Monalisa Chowdhurry

Let’s Kill Uncle by Rohan O’Grady via Chris Easley

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett via Lesly Livengood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood via Olga Da Polga

Origin by Dan Brown via Deanne Wallace

The post Reader’s Choice: 10 Books That Will Make Great Holiday Gifts appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/holiday-book-gifts/

[goodnewsjamaica]

Prophecy hosts charity show

New Post has been published on http://goodnewsjamaica.com/entertainment/prophecy-hosts-charity-show/

Prophecy hosts charity show

ON Boxing Day, December 26, Good Year Oval in St Thomas will play host to the second staging of Reggae Life Jamaica Music Festival.

The event is the brainchild of reggae artiste Rohan “Prophecy” Brown, who said proceeds from the event will go towards a section of the Princess Margaret Hospital in the parish.

“Proceeds will be donated to the facility for the purchase of an ultrasound machine and a computed tomography (ClT) scanner that are at the top of the hospital’s list of most-needed items,” he said.

St Thomas is regarded as one of the poorest parish in Jamaica. So in 2016, Prophecy established the Prophecy Youth Foundation to give back to low-income families with children in the parish. Through the foundation, Prophecy adopted the children’s ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital, to which he expressed his commitment to making a change to the improvement of the lives of those affected.

The Reggae Life Jamaica Music Festival will feature live performances from Richie Spice, Sizzla, Prophecy and the Reggae Life Band, Junior X, Hezron, Warrior King, Uprising Roots Band, Duane Stephenson, Bugle, Louie Culture, Vershon, Nateesha Stream, Jameik King, Jennifer Barrett among others.

“The music festival is poised to be a staple on Jamaica’s event calendar that will attract visitors from around the world to the parish annually, during the holiday season. Known for its rich history and historic sites, St Thomas is the ideal place to host this event,” he said.

By: Simone Morgan-Lindo

Original Article Found Here

[princestreetco]

Ad of the Day: Cisco Gives a 360 Tour of the Mind-Bending Space Hotel of the Future

There's a Chris Van Dusen book that my kids love called I Built a House, in which a boy sketches his wild and futuristic dream home, which includes an underwater room, a car-racing room, a zero-gravity room and a room with jets that detaches and flies around the neighborhood.

Cisco, working with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, just did something a bit similar, enlisting an interior designer, a space explorer, an astronautics professor and a travel expert to imagine what a space hotel might look like in a future age of galactic tourism.

The experts used Cisco Spark—a set of team messaging, online meeting and whiteboarding tools—to brainstorm during the project. Then GS&P made a short film about it, as well as an immersive 360 video tour of the hotel, including the lobby, bedrooms, dining area, observation deck and zero-G swimming pool.  Check out the 360 experience here:

And the short film here:

"Late last year, both President Obama and Elon Musk announced plans for a trip to Mars, so this idea doesn't seem that far fetched," says Will Elliott, associate partner and creative director at GS&P. "Our new campaign shows how Cisco Spark helps teams turn big ideas, such as the galaxy's first space hotel, into reality."

"What's really interesting is today's technology is enabling the move from fiction to fact," adds David Barnhart, a professor of astronautics and one of the Space Hotel collaborators. "We are all wanderers and explorers, and now it's time for us to look outside to space."

The other collaborators were Nicole Hollis, an interior designer; Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer; and Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of The Points Guy.

Though clearly a bit outlandish as way of selling collaboration software, the Space Hotel is undeniably cool. The food ceiling, in particular, is a step up from your usual continental breakfast. And the observation deck is pretty awe-inspiring, too (particularly given the apparent lack of other guests to crowd your space).

The work continues Cisco's "There's Never Been a Better Time" campaign, introduced last May. "The platform's perpetual optimism fuels Cisco's drive to make formerly outlandish ideas, like a space hotel, reality," the brand says.

CREDITS Client: Cisco

Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners Co-Chairman: Rich Silverstein Chief Creative Officer Margaret Johnson Creative Director: Will Elliott Creative Director: Patrick Knowlton Art Director: Maggie Bradshaw Copywriter: Jonathan Pelleg Associate Design Director: Angie Elko Art Director: Aaron Dietz Copywriter: Mandy Dietz Executive Producer: Hilary Coate Sr. Producer: John Riddle Account Director: Tanin Blumberg Account Manager: Chris Nilsen Account Manager: Sam Thayer Brand Strategy Director: Mike Ronkoske Brand Strategist: Nora Alibhai Business Affairs Manager: Anna Diokno Project Integration Director: Mallory Frye

Production & Post: Gentleman Scholar Director: William Campbell Director: Will Johnson Director of Photography: Tom Banks Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris Head of Production: Rachel Kaminek Sr. Producer: Jake Hibler, Kirsten Noll

Music/Sound Design: Yessian CCO: Brian Yessian Head of Production: Michael Yessian Executive Creative Director: Andy Grush Executive Producer: David Gold Sr. Producer: Katie Overcash Composer: Marc Jacobs, Daniel Johnson Sound Design: Jeff Dittenber, Benjamin Lantz Audio Mixing: Lime Studios, Rohan Young

—Ad: "Cisco Spark: 360 Space Hotel Tour" Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners Co-Chairman: Rich Silverstein Chief Creative Officer Margaret Johnson Creative Director: Will Elliott Creative Director: Patrick Knowlton Art Director: Maggie Bradshaw Copywriter: Jonathan Pelleg Associate Design Director: Angie Elko Art Director: Aaron Dietz Copywriter: Mandy Dietz Executive Producer: Hilary Coate Sr. Producer: John Riddle Account Director: Tanin Blumberg Account Manager: Chris Nilsen Account Manager: Sam Thayer Brand Strategy Director: Mike Ronkoske Brand Strategist: Nora Alibhai Business Affairs Manager: Anna Diokno Project Integration Director: Mallory Frye

Production & Post: Gentleman Scholar Director: William Campbell Director: Will Johnson Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris Head of Production: Rachel Kaminek Sr. Producer: Jake Hibler Sr. Producer: Kirsten Noll Technical Director: Tim Hayward Designer: James Levy Designer: Paul Kim Designer: Juan Carlos Cuadra 3D Animator: James Lane 3D Generalist: Bill Maloney 3D Generalist: Kevin Lim 3D Modeler: Travis Mangaoang 3D Modeler: Mike DuPree Lighter: Erick Schiele Lighter: Patrick Surace Lighter: Robin Kim Lighter: Paul Hargrave Compositor: Ryan Kaplan Compositor: Rachel Choi Compositor: Steven Escarcega Compositor: Hector Cabrera

Music & Sound Design: Yessian CCO: Brian Yessian Head of Production: Michael Yessian Executive Creative Director: Andy Grush Executive Producer: David Gold Sr. Producer: Katie Overcash Composer: Nathan Padgett Composer: David Voyzey Composer: Dan Zank Sound Design & 360 Binaural Audio Mix: Jeff Dittenber Sound Design: Weston Fonger 360 Binaural Audio Mix: Scott Gatteno

(Source: © 2016 PGM | All Rights Reserved)

[meyerlansky]

boardwalk empire gifset per episode: what jesus said [5x03] ↳ people are losing things all over. some guy, he’s a millionaire. next thing you know, he’s selling chiclets in the street.

[meyerlansky]

boardwalk empire gifset per episode: belle femme [1x09] ↳ i find nucky thompson to be greedy and unreasonable.