#agatha dysfunctional family all along

[porraaharkness]

The Black Witch - Agathario’s daughter

Now that we have Agatha’s backstory we know she didn’t trade Nicky for the Darkhold. But she got it anyway, so what could have happened to her and what could be as much as powerfull, like a son, for Mephisto had acept the deal?

I already had this headcanon of how could be if Agathario had a daugther, I was reading more about the meaning of the names and I found out that Selene is a name of a powerful Marvel character, so I tried to fill some spaces with Agathario’s backstory. We still have a lot of gaps about the way they met and between Nicky’s death and Agatha getting the Darkhold.

This is me having fun with Marvel characthers and finding one who fits really well with the idea of an Agathario’s daughter.

AGATHA AND THE DARKHOLD

Agatha and Rio would see each other again every time Agatha had killed another coven. Agatha would always be waiting for her arrival, for her to collect the souls, almost like she wanted Rio to feel ashamed for this, to make her suffer and remember she did that with their son. Every meeting her hatred towards Rio, as her pain and suffering, would be more intense. So was the sex. It always started like a war, but the longing would be to much for them to handle, so they would get to the truce point, as they would say, like “Switzerland”, and then they would part ways again. And this would repeat, again and again. Until no more.

Agatha knew what was happening in day one. The feeling of magic through her, a magic that wasn’t hers or from any others witches she had killed in the past years. That feeling didn’t happened with Nicholas. That was a magic force growing on her, and it wasn’t like other women would describre their pregnancy, the dizy, headache, nauseas, nothing of it. Still, she knew what was happening, and if she could feel the magic, Rio, the original Green Witch, could too. At least, that was what she believed.

Would it all be hapenning again? What she could do to save a kid who one of their mothers is a entity, Death herself? Would this be a way of paying for killing her own coven, her mother? Mothering kids who were destined to die at birth and be collected by their other mother.

That’s when she decided to go after the Darkhold.

Agatha actually made a deal with Mephisto, but not because of her son, but because of a daughter. But she wasn’t ready for Mephisto’s request. He would give her the Darkhold, so she could hide from Rio and change their daughter’s fate, but in exchange Agatha would forget her existence, her babygirl. A void in her memory. She would get everything she wanted, the Darkhold and protect and hide her, but in his terms.

The girl would be safe, so she accepted. With one request, her name wouldn’t be changed. The deal was made.

What Mephisto didn’t tell her is that he couldn’t feel Agatha’s baby power. He felt the energy emanating from her but couldn’t describe exactly what it was, like the baby herself put up a barrier against him. He also had a hint on why the original green witch, lady Death, hadn’t shown up yet. Death wasn’t the baby’s destiny, and he doubted it would be so soon, with all that power he imagined was there and was being kept hidden from him. But Agatha didn’t know that, so he used it to his advantage. She didn’t need him, but he was glad she didn’t realize it.

All this made him really interested in Selene, she would be there, growing by his side, he could see how powerfull she could become, and control her, the offspring of a powerfull witch and a entity, and now, an agent of Mephisto.

SELENE

From Marvel comics “Selene’s mother was young when she bore her, but would be dead before Selene spoke her first words. The tribal elders ordered her mother’s people to sacrifice themselves to Selene until none remained”

She would have grown up under Mephisto’s influence, and that would be the story she grew up believing, she had two witches mothers, which explained her powers, and they were murdered trying to protect her against their coven, and that’s it, not knowing anything else about her past.

As for her powers, that’s a lot of similarities with Agatha and Rio’s. It’s almost like she has a mix of both.

Again, from the comics:

“Selene maintains her immortality with her power to absorb the essence or lifeforce of others, a process that also allows her to absorb memories and take control of her victims. By drawing on the power she has absorbed, Selene can also grant herself other superhuman abilities like enhanced strength or speed.”

“Selene is also a powerful telepath with considerable telekinetic abilities. Thanks to her extended lifespan, Selene has become one of the most skilled magic users in the world and was even considered a potential candidate to replace Doctor Strange as Sorcerer Supreme. She is capable of displaying various psionic feats with the minds of others including reading and communicating with thoughts over vast distances.”

Guess who has telepathic powers too and can get inside someone’s mind, even a mind under a powerful Scarlet Witch’s spell.

“If she drains only part of a victm’s life force, she achieves a measure of pyschic control over her victm’s mind. Selene can cause a human being to become a psychic vampire like herself, but be subordinate to Selene’s own will.”

That would explain how she could control and hide herself from Mephisto even when she was still a baby. When Mephisto tried to use his own power to sense hers, unintentionally, she absorbed and used his power against him, hiding and protecting herself. And hiding from her other mother, Lady Death. As a life created by Agatha and Rio, their life force would already been part of Selene’s too.

SORCERER POWERS

“Selene can summon demons and other entitties. Can manipulate magical artifcats and teleport over vast-distances.”

This gives off an Underworld vibe, fitting well for an Lady Death’s daughter and Agatha possessing the Darkhold too.

“Selene can shoot powerfull energy blasts"

“Can disguise herself and others”

“Can restrain others in mystical bonds” As Agatha did with Jen.

“Selene can turn herself into a shadow figure enabling her to blend in and also control darkness around her.”

“In her efforts to obtain power, Selene was responsible for the establishment of the hidden Amazonian city Nova Roma”

And how well this fits with someone who is the daughter of a power-addicted witch and the original Green Witch.

AESTHETIC

In the comics, looking at her style, there is a lot of similarities with Agathario’s.

“No one knows where Selene came from, who she is, what she is” So again, it fits well with the idea of Rio not knowing about her and Agatha not remebering her but spreading a “false” story about exchanging a child for the Darkhold, like she tried to deceive herself, to have some memory of her daughter, in a way she could get her back one day, even if she doesn’t even remember it.

Selene likes some purple too.

There’s a movie called “Underworld” where the protagonist’s style and story was inspired by Selene from the comics.

In the movie she grows up with a father figure and a blurred past in which he saved her when her family was murdered. Later she finds out he was actually the one who killed them.

SELENE AS AGATHARIO’S DAUGHTER

With Nicholas, we know he was created at a time when Agathario were in love and in good terms with each other. This only changed after his birth. So that’s Nicholas personality and soul, easy going, pure, full of love.

With Selene it was different, she would be made on a time were there was a lot of love between Agatha and Rio, but a rejected and denied love, with pain, sadness, and loneliness, as they attracted and repelled each other at the same time. A time when Agatha was absorbing the power of other witches through their deaths. These would be strong themes with her, the loneliness, sadness, feelings burning inside her that she cannot properly explain or understand, so she is always masking and channeling as rage and ambition, trying to fulfill something. And with so much power, she can be very destructive

She could got to much comfortable messing with the underwold, and got Rio’s attention. In Selene’s arrogance, she exposed to much of her powers, what Rio would notice and goes to Agatha, demanding answers about the possibility of them having another kid, a daugther. Daughter that Agatha doesn’t remember that exists.

I could see their meeting, Selene finding someone, after centuries, with the same amount, and even more power than her, and the confusion and feelings of familiarity through her magic.

She begins to doubt her past and the little bit of it that she knows, so goes lurking.

She goes to Mephisto, needing help and looking for answers.

To find out later he is the one to blame.

And suddenly all the hidden feelings of loneliness come back with full force, the family she thought had lost, is there, and don’t even knows her. She grew up thinking about the death of two women who had been alive all this time. But at least she still had this, some feeling for them, even though she didn’t know who they were. Only the idea of how her mothers would be like, the family and the feeling of belonging that was denied to her. And having to accept that her mothers didn’t even know, or remember, her existence.

Maybe I will write a fic about them but for know it’s just fun to imagine the possibilities of it and how they would interact, Rio meeting Selene, them fighting each other and Rio noticing the similarities, thinking that this would be impossibe, she would know. Then looking for Agatha, thinking she lied about them having a daughter all this time. And Agatha can’t even understand what she is talking about, denying it in a way Rio believes she doesn’t know either. The three of them meeting. Agatha still in disbelief, she would never forget her own daugther. And finally, the moment of realization.

Mephisto wouldn’t give up his control over her so easily, Doctor Strange could get involved, so it would no longer be about Rio and Agatha fighting against her but fighting for her.

[aparticularbandit]

Also of note:

Agatha makes a point of explaining the details of blood magic to Billy Teen in Episode Two: Magic that is inherited as a result of birth.

Re: Alice Wu, who inherited her powers from her mother.

I expect this to come up again in relation to Agatha's relationship with Nicholas, Billy's relationship with Wanda (potentially as part of the Reveal), and possibly the Salem Seven's relationship with etc. (although less likely).

I ALSO expect Alice and Billy parallels in that Alice is traveling the Road to find out why/how her mother died and Billy is. you know. Billy.

There's a lot of interesting family dynamics and interplays and layers here that I look forward to seeing the show delve into. Mothers and children especially (since we know Evanora is coming back in some shape or form). Even Rio/Agatha - it's more family dynamics with Nicholas, probably.

This show feels like it's running on Family as the theme.

And I'm looking forward to how it gets unpacked.

(Especially since family - and tragedy - are such a big theme in WandaVision. Jac's unpacking from a different angle this time. And I love that for her.)

[stargatesimp]

Just watched the two episode premier of Agatha all along and my main thoughts are:

1. This is DANG COOL. Loved the first episode and seeing her break out of the spell. The transition through her wandavision characters was awesome.

2. I love Joe Locke’s character. Him and Agatha’s dynamic is already great and I can’t WAIT to see that develop. I’m predicting rather even more witch mom and son she pretends she doesn’t like (and secretly adores) or complete opposite and they end up enemies by the end. Hoping for the first one though! (I’m not a comic reader)

3. GIMME MOREEEE

I like the rest of the witches too, just haven’t seen enough yet to get a read on them. Very dysfunctional family vibes. All in all I am VERY excited for more.

[ao3feed-superbat]

Three Hearts

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/B2sMZmG by purple07 Peter Parker loves his boyfriend Harley, so much that he can turn the world over for him. But he also might be having feelings for Billy Maximoff, his best friend from school. What would he do when his worlds collide? Words: 1027, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Agatha All Along (TV), Justice League (2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi Characters: Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Billy Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, Agatha Harkness, Rio Vidal, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Bruce Banner, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Billy Maximoff/Peter Parker, Agatha Harkness/Wanda Maximoff/Rio, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Not Canon Compliant, Requited Unrequited Love, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Established Relationship, Married Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dysfunctional Family read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/B2sMZmG

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

SO's Bookclub : Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Title: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone Author: Benjamin Stevenson Genre: Mystery

Goodreads Summary:

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I'd killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it's a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Review:

Here's what hooked me on this one -- it's got a catchy title and appealing cover, the author starts out the novel by giving you the rules of Golden Age detective novels, and then lays out the page number of ever murder. Why yes - I am in.

This is a good book. It's a fun book. It's a way too overly complicated book. But man, it's nice to read a really good mystery not written by Agatha Christie.

Intentionally, I'm sure -- a lot like how Agatha Christie does excels at writing mysteries based around family, Stevenson takes the shell of the idea (and let's be honest - some of the twists), updates it, and then metatextualizes it. And it's a relatively functional, albeit silly when you pull it a part a little, mystery.

The crux of it is about a dysfunctional family that gets snowed in at a remote lodge. There's the hook of revealing that everyone in the family is responsible for a death. And the intrigue that a serial killer is in the mix.

The book starts out really solidly. The narrator, of course, breaks the fourth wall all the way through (and while I see it might be tiring for some, I really didn't get sick of it, but I like these gimmicky things -- it tied it into the 'rules' rather well). The cast of his characters (his family) is relatively well drawn is really the right amount of people for this closed-circle mystery.

About half way through - I think the plot gets a little too twisty, and there were times in the second half that I don't think I completely followed what had happened in the past to get all the pieces of the puzzle in motion. The family dynamics were great - but the mystery itself maybe needed to be trimmed just a little because even through the ending explanation I don't think I followed it 100%.

The major twist of the novel I kind of saw coming -- only in that this does play like a Golden Age detective novel at heart, and well, of course it was going to go that way. The crazy twist at the end left me feeling a little confused because... wha--why?? I think the answer is -- because the author could and there's always one thread left open a little.

Overall, though, it's a fun read. I love the fun the author's having with the audience. I enjoyed all the call backs to the Golden Age of detective fiction. I liked that it was a solid mystery that unfolded nicely as it went along. I think the author did well with the title of the book and made it creative enough to make it variations on a theme. And while I think there were some clunkier parts (again the plot is just a little too twisty to follow at times) it's over all an engaging and worthwhile mystery.

I liked it. It was a good book.

Rating : 4.5 Stars

[dollycas]

#FlashbackFriday - Reading Between the Crimes (A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery) by Kate Young #Review / #Giveaway @crookedlanebooks @KAYoungBooks

On Flashback Fridays I will share with you the books I was not able to review when they were first released that have been screaming at me from my To-Be-Read bookshelf. Reading Between the Crimes (A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting - Georgia Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (September 7, 2021) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1643857428 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1643857428 Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08PYNT482 Audio CD ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DFST8VZC Audiobook ASIN B097F76BZW What better time than Halloween to dig into a bracing discussion of a diabolical murder mystery? And what better choice for the Jane Doe Book Club than Agatha Christie's Crooked House? Lyla Moody and her friends are soon embroiled in debate over whether the heroine's actions are particularly believable. But not long after the meeting, sleepy Sweet Mountain, Georgia, is rocked by a murder that uncannily echoes the novel in question. When Lyla and her grandmother arrive at the charity event that Lyla's mother is hosting, they barely have time to hang up their fall jackets before they stumble upon a body in the library. Leonard Richardson, it seems, was robbed and then hit over the head with a brass candlestick--which throws suspicion on Harper Richardson, his young widow and a friend of the Jane Does. Lyla and the rest of the Jane Does pool their prodigious intellects to clear Harper's name. Peculiarly, all of the clues seem to have been lifted directly from the plot of Crooked House. But as Lyla probes the pages of Christie's classic whodunnit for hints on catching the killer, she uncovers secrets from her mother's past--secrets that suggest that Lyla's own house may be crooked as well. Dollycas's Thoughts The Jane Doe Book Club is reading Crooked House by Agatha Christie. The group discussion focused on whether the heroine's actions were believable. Soon thereafter, Lyla Moody and her grandmother find a dead body at a charity event hosted by Lyla's mother. Eerily, the murder has similarities to that very mystery.  A brass candlestick to the head appears to have killed Leonard Richardson and his pockets have been emptied.  His widow, Harper is the police's prime suspect but Lyla and the other members of the reading group believe her to be innocent. They work together to piece together the clues while referring to the Christie mystery for anything that will help pin down the real killer. Lyla's investigation uncovers some secrets that personally affect her life too. _____ Ms. Young has created dynamic characters for this series and in this installment we delve deeper into Lyla's mother's and uncle's past and it is quite intriguing. While the Jane Does want to help their friend, Harper, Lyla's mother takes a special interest as well. The murder mystery was fully entangled with every subplot along with the parallels to Christie's Crooked House. I found the story gripping and layered. The victim's family was an eclectic dysfunctional group, each stranger than the next and all suspects. Secrets and lies abound with twist after twist and a powerful turn that kept my eyes glued to the pages. I was so taken aback by the ending. The author brought everything together with an expert hand. I have not read Crooked House. From what I had read others say about the book I thought I should read it before reading this one.  But the synopsis kept calling me. I loved the first book, On Borrowed Crime so last week I decided to start reading.  I found Ms. Young did a wonderful job filling in everything readers like me needed to know and I was able to enjoy Reading Between the Crimes fully. My apologies to her. I still have Crooked House on my To-Be-Read shelf so I will read it someday but I am so glad I didn't wait any longer to read Ms. Young's book. Reading Between the Crimes is a riveting story with characters who are well-developed and continue to evolve. I am very excited to read the next Jane Doe Book Club Mystery, Crime for the Books. I see it has parallels to another Agatha Christie novel but I am not going to let that hold me back again. I have learned my lesson. I hope I can find a spot on my reading calendar soon. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent   Kate Young writes Southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking. Author Links – Website – Facebook – Twitter –  GoodReads – BookBub This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas.   I am giving away 1 Kindle Copy! The contest is open to anyone over 18 years old. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited. You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find something you like here and become a follower. Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow. Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Following My Facebook Fan Page. Add this book to your WANT TO READ shelf on GoodReads for 3 Bonus Entries. Follow Crooked Lane Books on Facebook for 3 Bonus Entries  Follow Crooked Lane Books on Instagram for 3 Bonus Entries Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries. If you share the giveaway on Threads, X, or Facebook or anywhere you will receive 5 Bonus Entries For Each Link. The  Contest Will End October 11, 2024, at 11:59 PM CST The Winner Will Be Chosen Using Random.org The Winner Will Be Notified By Email and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar. Click Here For Entry Form Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.”   Read the full article

[therealvinelle]

What was even the cullens and denali’s cover story when they lived together? How did anyone believe these 12 walking statues who look nothing alike could pass for family/cousins?

I mean, that'd be a weird story for anyone, even humans. The Cullens, alien as they are, will struggle twofold.

Though, I recall reading somewhere (couldn't find the source so don't quote me) that the Cullens met the Denali in the 30's. In which case they wouldn't actually be that many - there'd be the five Denali, but the Cullens... well, they had a lot happening in the 30's.

(And yes, I do think that the time they all tried living together must have been after finding each other. This here, a whole gaggle of vampires who live off the diet willingly - Carlisle's dream come true, he's not leaving.)

1930-31: it's just Carlisle and Esme, until Edward returns in 1931. To my recollection Carlisle and Esme had stayed in the same place for four years, meaning they can't have been with the Denali.

1933: Rosalie is turned. She knew the Cullens from around town, so they weren't newcomers.

1935: Emmett is turned.

1936: The Cullens move to Forks, where they meet the Quileute shapeshifters.

The windows of opportunity we have here is that the Cullens either tried living with the Denali in the 1931-1932 window before coming to Rochester just in time for Rosalie Hale to get used to them being around, or they did so after 1937.

If it's the former, then there would only have been eight vampires living together. If it's the latter, it might still only have been eight vampires living together in public, as Rosalie and Emmett were newborns. Nine vampires, possibly, as Rosalie demonstrated very good control.

But I digress.

It doesn't sonud like the Denali would pass for teenagers, they're described as looking like men and women, never boys or girls. That simplifies things, because they won't have to go to high school and thus require parents.

I imagine they pretended to be living together for economical reasons. Carlisle and the Denali sisters could be siblings (The Denali sisters really do look like sisters, and if 3 out of 4 siblings look alike, people are less likely to question the fourth. Everyone knows a sibling group where one doesn't resemble the rest, and at worst people will assume their mother had an affair), along with Carlisle's wife they bought a house together and Carmen and Eleazar are a married couple who joined in. If it was during the depression they'd have a good cover for it, as everyone was broke anyway. Rosalie and Edward can be the youngest sister who's still in school and Esme's baby brother, respectively.

Still ridiculous, but with this many young adults the only feasible reason they have to be living together is a lack of funds. Of course, the Denali would have to get jobs so as to support this story. (Which, honestly, I'm sure the sisters jumped at the excuse to show up at people's houses as the sexy maid they didn't know they'd ordered.)

If Emmett's in the mix and not just hiding at home, then, god, throw a dart at the wall. He's a fellow roommate.

If I'm wrong about the Cullens having lived with the Denali in the 30's, then Alice and Jasper is in the mix, at which point... honestly, what I would do is to live the Agatha Christie dream and pretend to be a dysfunctional rich family whose tyrannical old father rendered everyone hopelessly codependent so now they live in a giant house and don't ever speak to anyone. Lean into the weird. That, or be an out and about religious society. But that’s me and the Cullens are not me.

Though, the Cullens already being ridiculous, and such a lost cause at any ounce of credibility, I imagine Carlisle just straight up used the same old "I'm 30 and these are my five adult kids" story with an "and here are my five cousins" addendum, and dared anyone to call him a liar. Anyone opens their mouth to say anything to this ridiculous story, and he just stares them down.

[crowdvscritic]

round up // JANUARY 21

New year, not-so-new Crowd vs. Critic! It’s another batch of films, TV, music, and reads that were new to me this month and think you would enjoy, too. As we cozy up inside for the winter, nothing warms you up like a good piece of pop culture.

January Crowd-Pleasers

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Does this sequel reach the heights of 2017’s Wonder Woman? No, but I wish more superhero movies were like this one. I explain why at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

21 Bridges (2019)

A solid action crime thriller with a solid Chadwick Boseman at the center. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

The Lethal Weapon Series (1987-98)

I watched the first Lethal Weapon in 2017 for ZekeFilm, but now I’ve a decade’s pleasure of progressively over-the-top action sequences and progressively more absurd ways to destroy Roger Murtaugh’s (Danny Glover) house. The Murtaugh/Riggs bromance holds this progressively sillier series together, and an supporting cast of charismatic actors (Jet Li, Darlene Love, Chris Rock, Rene Russo) are game for whatever comes their way. Joe Pesci is the true MVP. Series Crowd: 9/10 // Series Critic: 7/10

The High Note (2020)

Tracee Ellis Ross’s Grace Davis is a diva in every sense of the word. A high-strung and highly successful singer, she’s also highly demanding of her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who wants to step out of her shadow and become a music producer. This rom-com-adjacent flick is one of the most fun escapes I’ve had from a 2020 movie, and it’s perfect for a girls’ night in. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

Double Feature—Rom-Coms With a Magical Twist: Just My Luck (2006) + When In Rome (2010)

Disclaimer: These movies are not good. In fact, they’re junk, but they’re my kind of junk. In Just My Luck (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Lindsay Lohan loses her life-long lucky streak when she kisses schlimazel Chris Pine. And When in Rome (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6/10), Kristen Bell attracts unwanted admirers (Will Arnett, Danny DeVito, Josh Duhamel, Jon Heder, and real-life future husband Dax Shepard) after she steals their coins from a wishing fountain. To their credit, both of these movies know they’re silly, which means you have permission to just sit back and laugh along with (or, honestly, at) them.

WandaVision (2021)

I sometimes fear for the world of entertainment when I think of how much intellectual property Disney has gobbled up, but WandaVision is evidence the company is a benevolent dictator at least for now. This odd delight is a send up and a tribute to sitcoms like I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch, and Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are so charming and weird I don’t need whatever mysterious sub-plot they’re building.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

If you want to make the most of watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights, first watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), an action flick I saw last February and didn’t include in my monthly Round Up. This Mel Brooks spoof is a direct response that self-serious Kevin Costner adventure, even down to copying its costumes. While I wish I could find a Mel Brooks comedy with any substantial female character (in every movie I’ve seen so far, the joke is either, “She’s got a great rack!” or “Wow, she’s an uggo!”), I still couldn’t stop laughing at this 104-minute version of the Robin Hood scene in Shrek. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Aliens (1986)

Peak ‘80s action. Peak alien grossness. Peak girl boss Sigourney Weaver. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/.510

Big (1988)

After talking about Laverne & Shirley with Kyla on SO IT’S A SHOW?, I had to check out Penny Marshall’s classic. While a few moments haven’t aged so well, its heart is sweet and the script is hilarious. And that Tom Hanks? I think he’s going places. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

Unstoppable (2010)

I’ve laughed at SNL’s spoof of this movie for a decade, so it’s about time I got around to enjoying this action thriller very loosely based on the true story of a train that got away from its conductor. Denzel Washington (“You’re too old!”) and Chris Pine (“You’re too young!”) are our heroes in this over-the-top ridiculousness, and their chemistry is so extra it makes me hope they team up for another movie again. Crowd:  9/10 // Critic: 7/10

January Critic Picks

Double Feature—‘90s Space Adventures: Apollo 13 (1995) + Contact (1997)

I have no desire to join Tom Cruise as he films in space, but I know I’ll be pumped to watch whatever he makes because I love sci-fi and space  adventures. Apollo 13 (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10) tells the story of an almost-disastrous NASA mission in the ‘60s, and it taps into our hope for the human spirit to overcome obstacles. Contact (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) surmises what might happen if we received communication from extraterrestrial life, and it taps into our struggle to reconcile faith and science.

McCartney III by Paul McCartney (2020)

I spent January catching up on the albums on Best of 2020 lists, and the one I listened to for hours and hours was Paul McCartney’s latest solo album. Catchy, thoughtful, and musically surprising, it ranges from pop to rock to folk in 45 minutes and still feels like it’s over too soon. Like Tom Hanks, this Paul McCartney guy is going places!

The Thin Man Series (1934-47)

Like Lethal Weapon, I watched the first installment of The Thin Man awhile back, and Kyla and I even covered the series on our podcast. But thanks to a full series marathon on TCM earlier this month, I’ve now laughed through all five. When you talk about great chemistry, you’ve got to talk about William Powell and Myrna Loy, who make Nick and Nora’s marriage feel lived in and romantic as they solve crimes together. Witty, suspenseful, and jaunty, this series is still sexy cool over 80 years later. (Also, Asta? Still one of the cutest dogs in cinema.) Series Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The King and I (1956)

Here’s your regularly scheduled reminder Hollywood works differently now, and many casting decisions of the ‘50s wouldn’t fly today. What has aged well in this film: The Rodgers and Hammerstein music and the sumptuous costumes and set design. I love extravagant musicals of yesteryear—perhaps it’s time for Hollywood to revisit and remake The King and I for modern audiences?

Inauguration Day

In a year with no major televised events with celebrities in a room together, Inauguration Day felt like the most exciting cultural event in ages. We’ve been missing major fashion, but then we got Lady Gaga! We’ve been missing live performances, but then we got Amanda Gorman! And I got a lot of tears during that poem—not just me, right?

Good Reads

Writing that made me think and smile this month:

Steven Soderbergh’s list of everything he read, watched, and listened to this year, Extension765.com (2020) – An indirect inspiration for these monthly Round Ups!

“My Year of Making Lists,” NewYorker.com (2020) – I made a lot of lists in 2020, so I feel this author’s #mood

“Betty White Says She Will Spend Her 99th Birthday Feeding Two Ducks Who Visit Her ‘Every Day,’“ CBSNews.com (2021) - “Betty is a treasure,” I say as I watch The Proposal for the 99th time

“A Sculpture’s Unusual Journey to SLAM [St. Louis Art Museum],” SLAM.org (2020) – With a casual mention of an attraction I never knew about in St. Louis

“The Culture Is Ailing. It’s Time for a Dr. Fauci for the Arts.” WashingtonPost.com (2020) – An idea that occurred to me a few months ago: Why don’t we have an Arts Cabinet?

“The Arts Are in Crisis. Here’s How Biden Can Help.” NYTimes.com (2021) – Partly in response to that Washington Post piece, a historical look at how artists have made it through difficult times in the past and how we can revive artists’ livelihoods mid- and post-pandemic

“The Right’s Message to Silicon Valley: 'Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee,'” TIME.com (2021) – A more thoughtful and less reactionary take on a volatile moment in the history of modern technology

“'It Makes Me Sick With Grief': Trump's Presidency Divided Families. What Happens to Them Now?” TIME.com (2021) – A study on how politics has done damage to family dynamics in America

“Help, the Only Cinema I Can Handle Is Zac Efron Prancing Angrily in High School Musical 2,” Vulture.com (2021) - In a lot of ways, same

“50 Easy Things To Do When You are Anxious,” ShopTwentySeven.com (2021) – I especially endorse coloring, puzzling, and watching happy movies!

Double Feature—Miss Marple Mysteries: Murder at the Gallop (1963) + Murder Ahoy (1964)

Remember when I was all like, “Watch these Agatha Christie movies so you’re not sad��Death on the Nile is delayed”? Remember when I said I was just a few movies away from becoming an Agatha Christie junkie? Well, I think I’m there because I can’t stop with the murder mysteries! Margaret Rutherford is a treasure whether she’s solving a murder at a horse ranch or on a boat, and a cast of colorful supporting characters (including Rutherford’s husband) makes these breezy instead of heavy. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10

8½ (1963)

File this with 2001: A Space Odyssey—I don’t know if I really understood this film, but I think I liked it? Federico Fellini’s surrealist, male gaze-y drama blurs the lines between reality and imagination, love and dysfunction, and the past and maybe some future that involves clowns? What resonated with me was the story of a director with creative block, wondering if he’s already peaked and if he’ll create anything worthwhile again. Crowd: 6/10 // Critic: 9/10

Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries by Emma Thompson (1995)

Sense and Sensibility is not just one of my favorite Jane Austen adaptations—it’s one of my all-time favorite films. One of the co-hosts of one of my favorite podcasts has raved many-a-time about Emma Thompson’s journals from the making of film, so it was only a matter of time before I read them myself. Witty, informative, and all-around lovely, Thompson’s journals are an excellent insight into the filmmaking process and how novels are adapted.

Also in January…

I reviewed the new-ish documentary Flannery for ZekeFilm, which is all about the writer Flannery O’Connor and feels a little like going back to high school English class.

In addition to the Lethal Weapon and Thin Man series, I rewatched all of the X-Men series this month. You can see everything I am watching on Letterboxd, including favorites I love returning to (i.e. X-Men: Days of Future Past) and the movies I try that don’t make my monthly recommendations (i.e. The Wolverine).

Photo credits: Paul McCartney, Zac Efron, Sense & Sensibility. All others IMDb.com.

[son-of-alderaan]

Rian Johnson has pulled back the curtain on his secretive thriller Knives Out.

The writer-director brought the first footage trailer CinemaCon on Thursday, where he described the film as an interlude he was taking before getting "back to a franchise in a galaxy far, far away," a reference to his upcoming Star Wars trilogy he is writing.

"I've been a die-hard Agatha Christie fan since I was a teenager," Johnson said during Lionsgate's presentation. "Knives Out was my attempt to take everything I love about an Agatha Christie who-done-it, jam it into an all-star cast, give it a Hitchcock thriller, genre twist and set it in modern-day America."

Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette and Katherine Langford star, along with two stars who joined him on stage: Ana de Armas and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Until Thursday, no plot details had been revealed, but Curtis revealed that Johnson plays her husband and Evans plays her son. The film centers on a detective (Craig) investigating a murder when he comes across an eccentric, combative family.

She called the film a "family gathering that turns bloody very quickly. These people put the 'dis' in dysfunctional, which should play very well this Thanksgiving weekend."

[mrsabbington-blog]

Amanda Abbington: “I never want to see a young actress feeling bullied”

The Sherlock actress and star of new Channel 5 film Crooked House talks Twitter, Trump and twisted detective stories

Amanda Abbington has a cold and so do I. The difference is she caught hers from snogging Michael C. Hall whereas I most likely picked mine up from my mother.

“I had to do a kiss with him and he had it and I was bragging, saying, ‘I’m not going to get it’. The next day I got his cold.”

There’s nothing like a glamorous anecdote to put your own mundane life into perspective.

Along with Hall, Abbington is leading the cast of new Neflix series Safe – a new Harlen Coben thriller set for release in April 2018. It’s all part of what Abbington describes as the “fallout from Sherlock”, the BBC drama she bowed out of in dramatic fashion earlier this year when her character, Mary Morstan, was killed off.

The role – which saw her line up alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and former partner Martin Freeman – raised her profile and introduced her to a global audience. “It’s such a worldwide thing that it was on people’s radars a lot more than any of the other work I’ve done. People know me more now than they did three or four years ago and I think that’s because of Sherlock.”

And Abbington’s enthusiasm for the detective drama, based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth, is downright infectious. “I’ll always be grateful to Sherlock,” she says. “It’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever done… It’s one of those lovely little moments in time where it all happened and we told good stories and I loved it.”

Sherlock is, of course, notorious for resurrecting past characters but when I mention the idea of a possible return to the show – well, the string of affirmatives speaks for itself:

Oh, absolutely. In a heartbeat. Completely. I'd go back in a minute. Hell yeah! I'd love to.

In case you had any doubt, she adds: “Andrew [Scott]’s dead – Moriarty is definitely dead in it and he’s come back – and Andrew said you never leave Sherlock, there’s always an outside chance that you might come back in a flashback. So never say never but if they wanted to bring me back I would be there with my bags packed.”

In the meantime, Abbington has plenty on her plate. There is Safe – which finishes filming just before Christmas – and a new film, Crooked House, the first ever adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s lesser-known novels.

With the hole left in the BBC schedules by Ordeal by Innocence (which was pulled in the wake of sexual assault allegations against one of its actors, Ed Westwick), Channel 5 are screening Crooked House – written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes – ahead of a cinematic release next year.

Abbington plays Clemency, the wife of the son of Aristide Leonides – a wealthy entrepreneur who is found dead in a case of suspected poisoning. The film was shot last year and much of the action takes place in a country mansion inhabited by Leonides’ various bitter and twisted family members.

“They all live in this big house together and Clemency is a prime suspect because she works at this place where you develop and analyse poisons,” explains Abbington. “She’s married into this mad family who are all nuts and dysfunctional and she eventually tries to get her husband away because it’s too unhealthy.”

The film boasts an impressive cast – among them Glenn Close, Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson and Terrence Stamp: “Terrence Stamp has always been a hero of mine. I was brought up with the sixties by my folks and he was the archetypal beautiful sixties man.”

The star-studded cast left their egos at the door. “Everyone mucked in and we had fun and big dining table scenes and we all sat around and were laughing and playing games. It was a really fun shoot.”

That dining table scene has more than a whiff of Downton about it, which comes as no surprise with Fellowes at the helm. But unlike the lavish ITV drama – where privilege often did buy happiness – Crooked House pivots around a group of desperately unhappy wealthy elite.

“[Money] is great and it helps – you need it – but actually it’s all about love and health,” muses Abbington. “That’s what I’m finding as I get older. It’s about having love in your life and being healthy and everything else pales into insignificance. When I’m ill it’s awful – I can’t cope – and if I don’t have people around me who I love it’s a very lonely time. So in the pecking order it’s health, love… money. You need some but you don’t need a lot.”

There is no question that Sherlock also makes Abbington happy. But she’s keen to step behind the camera, too. “I’d love to direct. I’ve got an idea for a thing I want to write and I’m just trying to secure the rights to the book.”

The project – a true story – is something she’s keen to write herself. “I’d have to think very carefully about whether I’d want to be in it or if I’d want to direct it but the directing is something I’m very interested in. The older I get, the more interested I am in being behind the camera.”

After 20 years spent in the industry, she’s also unafraid to speak her mind (although it’s hard to imagine the effervescent Abbington has ever been a shrinking violet). Instead, she’s refreshingly open and willing to tackle topics that other, more nervy, actors might baulk at – including the recent sexual harassment scandal that has rocked Hollywood and her urge to protect those starting out from predatory filmmakers.

“I will always champion young women – and men as well, because there are young boys who are also being exploited – but it’s mainly women and it’s mainly young girls. So if I see that, I will be the first person to go, ‘That’s not how it works and shouldn’t be how it works – there is no reason for you to be doing that and there is no reason for you to be asking her to do that’.

“I’m always very aware of it on set and I’m always very aware of young actresses. If they’re feeling uncomfortable I will always make sure they feel supported by me and know that they’ve got an ally and can come to me.

“I never want to see a young actress feeling bullied or having to do something they don’t want to do or feeling violated. I think it’s an appalling thing to do: it’s bullying and it’s an abuse of power, and I can’t stand that. I find that abhorrent.”

Anyone familiar with Abbington’s Twitter feed will know she uses it regularly to have her say on a range of topics. “I think it should be a place where you can express yourself in a positive way and if you see something you like or something that’s annoying you or if the establishment is being horrendous, like it is at the moment, we can voice our opinion.”

Does she see it as a means of holding public figures – like Donald Trump – to account? “I do think it is very important that we have a say in what white middle class men are doing because we don’t have a voice – women don’t have a voice, ethnic minorities don’t have a voice, the gay community doesn’t have a voice – so we have a right to say what we feel because they do and they’re running the world in a very bad and dangerous way.

“They’re going to destroy the planet. They’re going to divide and conquer and it’s going to be the end of days. I firmly believe that because they’re not there for the good of man – they’re there for their own reasons and they’re not for the people. Their actions defy that and if one small voice is saying, ‘Don’t do that’, if somebody retweets that and somebody retweets that again, you get a movement and I think that’s important.”

It’s a conversation I could have continued for hours – Abbington is the sort of person you want to share a cup of tea (or bottle of wine) with  – but our time is almost up. There’s just long enough for her to tell me (unprompted, might I add) all about her favourite Christmas ritual…

“I get my copy of Radio Times and start highlighting it before the kids do it – that’s what I do every year. I buy the Radio Times and then I get a mince pie and a glass of wine and I go through the whole thing and ring what I’m going to watch and then what I’m going to record. I am such a geek when it comes to that. I love it – it’s one of my favourite things.”

Maybe I’m biased, but what better way to spend Christmas than that?

[kurai-sensei]

Hey All ^_^)/ we are still in lockdown so might as well watch a movie, while you are deciding what to watch on #Netflix or wherever you get your dose of movies, here is my recommendation, #KnivesOut And while I am at it, here is a spoiler free review on it: At first, it's the typical #whodunnit movie, with lots of respect and hints to agatha christie movies and novels, but it's not as simple: the circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there's one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure: everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. You may ask "Yo, KS, it's Rian Johnson, and based on his work on Star Wars Last Jedi, we don't trust the script to be good, what do we do?" And I would say "dw, this is actually great" he literally did what he did with star wars and fixed on his problems, so now all characters have the right balance of character development, clear intention and goal. Some may argue that this may be his redeeming work :O (dw I am not bought out yet, I am gonna wait for the sequel of this movie to decide if RJ is redeemed or ney) But this one film is great, its definitely recommend to see in cinema when it was there, now I recommend the Bluray if you are into detective shows and great acting gems, also most definitely recommend it to be streamed online in quarantine with your family. 100% a dad movie watch along. (One point tho, I wished the police department were more useful in the movie) #filmreview #movieReview #reviewwriting #review #knivesoutmovie #knivesoutfilm🔪 #RianJohnson #Danielcraig #AnaDeArmas #ChrisEvans #jamieleecurtis #MichaelShannon #detectivemovie #SpoilerFree #KuraiSensei (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-mvdvaACvJ/?igshid=1kq7bhob4o404

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

Perhaps best known as the writer & director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, filmmaker Rian Johnson got his big start in 2005 with the neo-noir mystery Brick. A hard-boiled detective story in the vein of The Maltese Falcon, Brick won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and paved the way for his sophomore effort, 2008's The Brothers Bloom. The caper comedy-drama, about two sibling con artists, was inspired by Bogdanovich's Paper Moon and David Mamet's heist-thriller, House of Games. For his third film, Johnson continued taking innovative approaches to familiar genres with the twisty, multi-layered 2012 sci-fi Looper. Now, the filmmaker is paying homage to the works of Agatha Christie with Knives Out, a black comedy whodunnit influenced by classic mystery films like Murder on the Orient Express and The Mirror Crack'd.

When the distinguished crime novelist and family patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate the morning after his 85th birthday, the debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is enlisted to investigate and help with the police. Aided by Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan) of the police department, the southern-fried private investigator — think Hercule Poirot by way of Foghorn Leghorn — proceeds to interview the Thrombey clan, a gaggle of dysfunctional oddballs played by an all-star ensemble cast: Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water, Midnight Special), Don Johnson (HBO's Watchmen), Katherine Langford (Netflix's 13 Reasons Why), and Toni Collette (Hereditary).

There's also the devoted staff to question, including Harlan's frazzled housekeeper, Fran (Edi Patterson of HBO's The Righteous Gemstones), and his caretaker, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas, Blade Runner 2049) — possibly the last person to see him alive. Incapable of lying without losing her lunch, the doe-eyed Marta proves to be a useful partner for Blanc as he sifts through a tangled web of lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely demise. As the captivating investigation intensifies, the Thrombey family, motivated by greed, bitterness, and mutual suspicion, proceeds to slowly devour one another.

Inspired by movies like Sleuth, Murder by Death, Deathtrap, and Clue, Johnson's Knives Out uses murder-mystery tropes and razor-sharp wit to deliver a thoroughly engaging and hilarious whodunnit about 21st Century social mores. Agatha Christie's stories featured characters that we now think of as caricatures — beleaguered domestics, eccentric detectives, stolid colonels, high-spirited heroines — to talk about British society and class politics. For this film, Johnson uses a modern setting, with modern archetypes, to explore the complicated dynamics and dysfunctions of present-day America.

There's Harlan's grandson, Jacob (Jaeden Martell of It: Chapter One & Chapter Two), a preppy alt-right internet troll who butts heads with his progressive cousin Meg (Langford), a feminist college student who's more aware—and more sensitive—to the world around her. Ransom Thrombey (Evans) is a spoiled, aimless trust fund kid while Marta is the hardworking daughter of undocumented immigrants. Watching these characters bounce off each other is half the fun of Johnson's mystery, and while the movie is never preachy or message-y, there's plenty of meaningful subtext to go along with the lively, superbly delivered text.

Rian Johnson's Knives Out is simply delightful. With its star-studded cast, exquisite production design, and clever wordplay, Johnson's latest is one of the most entertaining movies of the year. It's the kind of movie where you can just tell that everyone involved had a total blast making it; the relaxed nature of the set and the enthusiasm for the project give the filmmaking and the performances a confidence and charm that few movies have. The energy created is infectious, making for an absorbing filmgoing experience where you're completely invested in solving the case while taking tremendous satisfaction in watching the assorted weasels, vipers, and sycophants of the Thrombey family get what they deserve. The only thing more satisfying is having a master storyteller like Johnson explain everything to you in a way that makes you kick yourself because you didn't see it coming from the start.

Adam's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Follow Adam on Twitter - @AdamFrazier

from FirstShowing.net https://ift.tt/2rniEsT

[mysteriesandmore-blog]

Murder, Maps, Mansions

This month sadly saw the last issue of IndiePicks Magazine. Below are the last of the mystery reviews I did for IndiePicks. They include one of my favorite books of this spring--Sujata Massey’s The Widows of Malabar Hill; historical fiction is not usually my thing, but I found this one a cut above the rest. Recently I also reviewed some non-mystery titles, including the outstanding Where the Animals Go (maps and infographics...you can’t go wrong) and The Country House Library, a look at the best appointed home libraries of old in Ireland and Britain.

IndiePicks Magazine

The Widows of Malabar Hill. Massey, Sujata. Soho House, $17.95, 9781616957780. The Widows of Malabar Hill is set in 1920s Bombay, where the city’s first female lawyer, Perveen Mistry, finds her gender for once working in her favor. Her lawyer father’s client dies and his three widows, Muslims who live in seclusion from the outside world, need representation. Perveen is a Parsi Zoroastrian, not a Muslim, but she’s compassionate and her kind nature and smarts are put to the test as she tries to help women who find themselves unprotected and in great danger. Over the course of the novel, readers also travel back in time to a few years before, when Perveen engages in a forbidden romance, a period that brings Parsi traditions to the fore. Those who enjoy stories about women using their wiles to make it in tough situations will relish this layered story and find a favorite character in Perveen, while soaking in the details of colonial-era India. This is one to give patrons who enjoyed Suzanne Joinson’s A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, which is set in a different place but the same era and has a similar feel. The Black Painting. Olson, Neil. Hanover House, $24.99, 9781335953810. It’s not exactly your traditional romance, but a years-long hidden affair is just one aspect of the supernaturally tinged family drama in The Black Painting. The book opens as a group of cousins, close as children but now living separate and far-flung lives, gather at their grandfather’s old-money Connecticut mansion. The patriarch has just been found dead, his horrified face staring at an empty space on the wall that, before its theft years ago, was home to the Black Painting. The painting, a Goya masterpiece, was rumored to be cursed—anyone who looked at it would go insane and meet a horrible end. Is that what happened to the grandfather? Who’s going to get his money? Where’s the painting now? And finally, can this dysfunctional, greedy clan get along for even the short time it will take to sort this all out? Olson deftly creates a festering family dynamic with psychological twists and turns that complement the supernatural element of the story, keeping readers wondering to the end as they try to unravel this family’s contorted relationships and buried past. The painting in the story is a real one; book groups that try this tale could pair it with Stephanie Stepanek and Frederick Ilchman’s Goya: Order & Disorder.

Dying Day. Edger, Stephen. Bookouture, $8.99, 9781786812704. Subtitling your book “Absolutely Gripping Serial Killer Fiction” means you’d better come through and Dying Day doesn’t disappoint. This second in the Detective Kate Matthews trilogy sees the Southampton, England police detective on the trail of a serial killer while trying to atone for the misjudgment that she believes led to the death of a young colleague. The guilt is crushing, and Matthews will do almost anything to catch this man, including put her life and career on the line. The trope of a detective who has to go it alone because nobody else cares enough could come across as well worn, but Matthews is a highly relatable character whom women who work too hard will see themselves in, and her quest to make things right is as compelling as the hunt to find the killer. The solution to this puzzle is unpredictable, too, making Dying Day an absorbing trip that readers won’t forget. This is a great readalike for Belinda Bauer’s The Beautiful Dead, another novel that stars a determined young woman on the heels of a monster.

In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Authors, 1850-1917. Klinger, Leslie S. Pegasus, $25.99, 9781681776309. Only the Bible and Shakespeare have sold better than Agatha Christie’s books, says the introduction to In the Shadow of Agatha Christie, but the authors included here set Christie’s stage. The introduction—which provides an extensive early-mystery reading list—also explains what is hard to imagine now: mystery as a genre barely existed until the establishment of a professional English police force in the mid-nineteenth century. Highlights here include “Traces of a Crime,” an Australia-set police procedural by Mary Helena Fortuna, the first woman to write detective fiction. It’s fascinating to see the detective protagonist struggle to find a killer with only the most rudimentary tools and forensic knowledge at his disposal. In another standout tale, L.T. Meade—many female authors of the time used initials or pseudonyms, were anonymous, or were simply uncredited—and coauthor Robert Eustace introduce the social minefield surrounding an heirloom pearl necklace that a disreputable woman has her eye on. A main character in this tale has the shocking habit of wearing her evening dresses too high at the neck, which telegraphs what readers are in for here: stories that delightfully show what made a page-turner in the nineteenth century and the birth of domestically set mysteries of today.

Booklist

The One. Marrs, John (author). Feb. 2018. 416p. Hanover Square, hardcover, $  26.99 (9781335005106); e-book (9781488084874). First published December 1, 2017 (Booklist). In this mystery with an SF twist, it’s the present day, but the world has been radically changed by a new kind of dating service: Match Your DNA, which pairs love-seekers with the one person in the world who is their genetic soulmate. It sounds perfect at first, and many couples worldwide are blissfully happy with their match, but the downsides are considerable. What if your match is decades younger or older, or he or she lives in a far-off country? What if you’re already married when you’re notified that your match has been found? The possibilities can become knotty, and they’re well illustrated by the several people featured in Marrs’ alternating chapters, among them a young Englishwoman whose match is in Australia, an engaged couple who didn’t meet via Match and fear their test results, and a career-focused scientist who wants to find love at last. Complicating the story still further is a serial killer who uses dating sites to find his prey. Marrs’ engrossing, believable thriller raises intriguing questions about our science-tinged future.

Library Journal

The Country House Library. Purcell, Mark. Yale University Press. 9780300227406. Purcell (deputy director, Cambridge Univ. Library; formerly libraries curator, National Trust) meticulously portrays dozens of libraries throughout Britain and Ireland in what is or was a private home (some are now museums). In an introduction that sets the tone for the book, Purcell carefully defines a "country house library"; like the rest of the work, each sentence has been deliberated at length and is packed with meaning and references. Thereafter are chapters that each cover a trend in country home book collecting over the past 2,000 years, starting with the likelihood of villa libraries in Roman Britain and continuing through today, when the dwindling fortunes of the aristocracy and the politics surrounding wealth have meant a certain amount of downsizing. The trends are illustrated by top-quality photographs and charts of the libraries and reproductions showing some of their treasures. The back matter is also impressive and includes a lengthy notes section and thorough index. VERDICT Libraries covering British or Anglo-Irish history, library science, and architecture are encouraged to acquire this gorgeous volume.

Where the Animals Go: Tracking Wildlife with Technology in 50 Maps and Graphics. Cheshire, James & Oliver Uberti. Norton. 9780393634020. This gorgeous data trove is refreshing in its admission that scientists are nowadays awash in the flood of information that comes from animal tracking devices and methods, and that even that is a fraction of what could be collected. Cheshire (geography, Univ. Coll. London) and Uberti (formerly senior design editor, National Geographic; both, London: The Information Capital) are relative amateurs in a field that doesn't even have a fixed name yet come across as pleasantly wonderstruck by the technology involved in, and the results of, animal tracking work. They impart earnest accounts of scientists' endeavors and some of the individual subject creatures involved. Accompanying the text are beautifully designed four-color maps and other visualizations that illustrate some of the breakthroughs that have been made using this newly found information—one map shows, for example, how the Ethiopian government had to redraw the boundaries of a giraffe conservation park after tracking data made it clear that the giraffes lived elsewhere. VERDICT The illustrations and step-by-step data-collection efforts combine to create an inspiring introduction to an important area of science.

School Library Journal

Festival of Color. Sehgal, Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal. S&S. Beach Lane. 9781481420495 PreS-Gr 3—Brother and sister Chintoo and Mintoo are getting ready for Holi, the Indian festival of colors. Their process is slowly revealed as the siblings gather petals, dry and separate them, and then crush the dried petals into powders. Lively digital illustrations show the children's excited family members and neighbors carrying the powders through the streets, and then "POOF!" wet and dry powders fly through the air in a rambunctious celebration. Readers will learn from the book's endnotes that Holi celebrates "inclusiveness, new beginnings, and the triumph of good over evil." This is useful information, but the real beauty of this attractive book is that it shows the country's home life and community togetherness beyond the holiday celebration. Children in primary grades will find this an accessible read, whereas younger patrons can enjoy it as a read-aloud and learn about colors and cultural festivals in an engaging way. VERDICT A must-buy for picture book sections that will delight children regardless of their familiarity with the holiday. Cool Cat Versus Top Dog. Yamada, Mike. Frances Lincoln. 9781847807380. Preschool-Gr 1—All year long, Cool Cat and Top Dog tinker, tweak, and polish their race cars to perfection until it's time for the annual showdown the Pet Quest Cup. Each competitor has an arsenal of tricks ready on the big day: this time, Cat has her Bone Bazooka, while Dog's packing the fearsome water gun Soggy Moggy. Something's different this year, though—the competition takes a twist when the sometime-rivals work together and are joint winners. Don't take this for a preachy tale about cooperation. The competition is cutthroat and resorting to shenanigans to win by any means necessary is hardly an exemplary message. Nonetheless, the lively text keeps the suspense running high and action-packed illustrations featuring expressive animal characters will hold little readers' interest until the end. VERDICT An exciting choice for children who are fans of car races and readers who have outgrown Penny Dale's Dinosaur Zoom Pigín of Howth. Kathleen Watkins. Dufour Editions. 9780717169726. Pigín (pronounced "pig-een" and meaning "little Pig") enjoys three adventures in this gentle and colorful look at life in a well-to-do Irish seaside town. Pigín lives in the fishing village of Howth in a cozy house overlooking the sea. He spends his days enjoying friendship with Sammy Seal, Sally Seagull, and other animals, as well as some human pals. The three stories depict Pigín learning to swim, going for a magical picnic with fairies, and dressing up to go to the horse races. While the dialogue can be clunky in places, the tales are a little reminiscent of what Paddington and Lyle the Crocodile get up to, with love and friendship complemented by the odd, nutty activity. Suggs's striking watercolors are up to the task, depicting the Irish town, its inhabitants, and the child and animal characters with colorful aplomb. VERDICT This is sure to be a hit in Ireland as Watkins is well known there—in her own right as a harpist but also as the wife of one of Ireland's most beloved celebrities, the broadcaster Gay Byrne. The book should find fans on these shores, too, as well-depicted friendship and seaside outings are hard to beat. An additional but nonessential purchase.

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Three Hearts

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/AusetWM by purple07 Peter Parker loves his boyfriend Harley, so much that he can turn the world over for him. But he also might be having feelings for Billy Maximoff, his best friend from school. What would he do when his worlds collide? Words: 1028, Chapters: 1/5, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Agatha All Along (TV), Justice League (2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi Characters: Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Billy Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, Agatha Harkness, Rio Vidal, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Bruce Banner, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Billy Maximoff/Peter Parker, Agatha Harkness/Wanda Maximoff/Rio, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Not Canon Compliant, Requited Unrequited Love, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Established Relationship, Married Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dysfunctional Family, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/AusetWM