#acacia glover

[aondaneedles]

Every day is a good day to earn money for Gloria.

[bookishfeylin]

Black Fantasy TBR Part 2

Part 1 is here.

Since the last segment of my tbr was more focused on standalone novels and duologies, this list will be more focused on trilogies and longer series. Aside from the first 8 series mentioned here being a mix of adult fantasy and epic fantasy (I know the Acacia trilogy, especially, is an epic fantasy that's been frequently compared to Game of Thrones in reviews), there's no real order to these books either. And ofc, please look up age ratings and trigger warnings :) For simplicities sake I only put the first book of each series on this list.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Acacia: The War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham

Scarlet Odyssey by C.T. Rwizi

Half a Lion by Palle E.K. Oswald

Unleashed: The Saga of Ruination by Ramon Terrell

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

Stars and Garters by Thursday Owusu

The Battle for the Sky by Dalila Caryn

Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo

Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

The Chameleon with a Sword by B.L. Logan

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

We Are the Origin by C.M. Lockhart

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow**

The Royal Heretic by Sarah Macklin

Dragon Connection: The Stone Crown Book 1 by Ava Richardson*

The Soul Cages by Nicole Givens Kurtz

Truth Seer by Kay L. Moody

Dragon Link: Ragond's Portal War Book 1 by Ava Richardson*

The Conductors by Nicole Glover

The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis

Dragon's Mage: Ragond's Witch Hunter Book 1 by Ava Richardson*

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

Nobody's Goddess by Amy McNulty

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

*Dragon Connection, Dragon Link, and Dragon's Mage are the first books of three separate trilogies by Ava Richardson. To avoid confusion I spelled out the whole name of each trilogy.

**In The Ten Thousand Doors of January, January is technically mixed, and I believe she identifies as such.

[wakandaiscoming]

Commentary Facts part one

Got my blu ray today. Very excited to listen to the commentary which does not just have Ryan Coogler, it also has Hannah Beachler (production designer) so that’s super bonus.

Some things I’ve learned:

Hannah made a 515-page “Bible” of the world.

The basketball court and apartment complex that N’Jobu and young Killmonger live in is a real location in Atlanta. It is near the Dr. King Memorial. Coogler says when they were filming, Dr. King’s daughter (I assume Bernice King, because I love her) came and gave them all hugs and wished them well. (Me: SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY. They were blessed.) In fact, in the scene where young Killmonger sees the Wakandan plane leave, they had to touch up the background with CGI to remove the King Memorial.

The color that represents colonization in the film is BLUE.

Zuri wears purple in the past and at Warrior Falls. Many of the characters were color coordinated, to help the viewer keep track of them. The purple represents both spirituality and a high rank/royalty.

Ruth Carter had a story with the necklaces. The three men in the apartment all wear gold necklaces because they are all Wakandan royalty, but N’Jobu’s is also based on 2Pac. 

I will cut now because this is only going to get longer.

Nakia’s mission was inspired by the kidnappings going on in Nigeria. It’s set in the Sambisa Forest but was shot in Atlanta.

Coogler notes that Bambadjan Bamba plays the leader of the convoy and that he is a DREAMer.

Nakia’s color is green, but the women in the back of the truck are also dressed in green. This is because Nakia sees herself as part of the outside world as well as Wakanda. He also mentions that Nakia knows about the young boy and that if she didn’t have Panther’s back, that boy would be dead.

The shot of “Wakanda” as they return are actually shot mainly South Africa and Lesotho.

Ayo is second-in-command of the Dora Milaje.

Ramonda is hiding her grief. She wants to move forward and be there for her son.

The Museum set was built by Hannah in Atlanta. Everyone in London (especially Killmonger) wears blue and there is a blue tint to the film.

The mask Killmonger steals has a simian face, antelope horns and a lion mane. Because he is an amalgamation of many things.

Zuri’s face paint was inspired by warriors in Papua New Guinea. (Definitely listen to Ruth Carter’s video on the Warrior Falls costumes because Cooger doesn’t have time to call it all out.)

He says the fake out where Shuri raises her hand to challenge was suggested by Donald Glover (Atlanta) aka Childish Gambino, who was also in Spider-man: Homecoming.

Coolger says one inspiration for Winston Duke’s speech as M’Baku was the film Lincoln. He thought political speeches in that were cool. He is challenging T’Challa both physically and politically.

“We wanted to make his character one of dignity,” says Coogler of how he didn’t like M’Baku in the comics. He also says M’Baku is “sexy” but that is “all Winston.” He wears white paint on his back to symbolize the silverback gorilla. The Jabari do not have an elder (possibly due to their hard life?--this is speculation from me); M’Baku is the same age roughly as T’Challa and he speaks for himself.

The composer, Ludwig Göransson, picked up and moved to Senegal when he got the job so he’d be seeped in the music of Africa.

T’Challa wins the fight because he gains worth from his identity. His mother yells to show him who you are. He is T’Chaka’s son, and he believes T’Chaka was a great king. He gains strength from his mother and sister’s support.

T’Challa is merciful and doesn’t enjoy taking people’s lives that is why he spares M’Baku, in addition to the fact that he believes M’Baku is a good leader and that the Jabari need him. Coogler hints that it is T’Challa’s mercy that saves his life in the end. (Spoiler alert!) And, if I may editorialize for a moment, this is a good reminder of T’Challa’s arc in Captain America: Civil War. That he is not consumed by the need for vengeance against Zemo or M’Baku.

The necklace Zuri places on T’Challa (again with the necklaces) is supposed to belong to Bashenga.

Coogler and Beachler refer to the caverns where the heart-shaped herb grows as “The City of the Dead.” I did not realize this was supposed to be the Necropolis. I thought it was the Temple of Bast. For those of you who don’t know, in the comics T’Challa becomes King of the Dead and the Necropolis is his seat. I’ve actually wondered if we might see such a storyline given the ending of Infinity War. (Guys, don’t worry about T’Challa. He’s King of the Dead. An argument could be made that Thanos actually increased T’Challa’s power and reach. If it had been Shuri, I would’ve cried. Oh, who am I kidding, I cried anyway.)

T’Challa is buried in a position many people on the continent (pharaohs, etc) are buried and it is also like the Wakanda Forever salute. And it means “love” in American Sign Language. You guys, there are ASL references in this film. It is for EVERYONE.

Coogler says T’Challa has taken the herb and experienced these visions before but this is the first time he’s done it since his father has been dead, so he’s looking for him.

They had a lot of concepts for what the Spirit World would look like. Some more fantastical than others. They decided to go with the Acacia tree (which is often seen in movies about Africa, like the Lion King). It represents Africa. The color in the background is purple because he is still feeling the effects of the Heart-Shaped Herb.

Here T’Challa’s idea of being a “good king” is being like his father. That remains T’Challa’s goal throughout the film but he must stop being so rooted in the past.

I think I need to take a break now. There is more information than I can write about.

[avlt]

The Jebby's are this weekend and we are excited and grateful to see AVLT represented in several catagories! Local Production of the Year - Play Every Briliant Thing Directed by *Whitney Thomas Eads An Octoroon Directed by *Matt Slaybaugh Local Technical Achievement of the Year *Drew Eberly - Song Writer Dear Piqua Local Performer of the Year - Lead Male Play *David Glover, An Octoroon, AVLT *Ian Short, Breaking the Code, CATCO/Evolution Theatre Local Performer of the Year - Lead Female Play *Acacia Duncan, Every Brilliant Thing, AVLT Local Performer of the Year - Supporting Femal Play *Dakota Thorn, Puss in Boots, Actors' Theatre Wilma Hatton, An Octoroon, AVLT * Denotes AVLT Company Member https://ift.tt/2NIIFdj

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The next day at the bar, things seem to be alright between John and Gloria again.

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A day at Agave bar.

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Zelda explores alternative career opportunities.

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Marcus sells Acacia's gift and uses the money to get himself and his little brother a new wardrobe. They've been working with whatever was in their wardrobe for too long.

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